Fun, yet mostly predictable, “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” is a good, fun story following the conventions of Charles Dickens’ classic tale of a jerk (Matthew McConaughey as Connor Mead) visited by ghosts that change his outlook on life… er, dating.

This was a fun premise, a decent story, and a solid cast of mostly B and C-list stars that works… for the most part.
 ( My spoiler-free review )

McConaughey plays a relationship jerk, but women still flock to him… Jennifer Garner is the object of his affection… and Michael Douglas is his womanizing uncle/mentor… some of the details of the movie you can’t think about and just have to accept.  

For example:  If his uncle is a ghost, how does he drink a “beverage”?   If Garner is the girl of his dreams… why didn’t he try harder and have so many other relationships?   Why is there a ghost of someone who is still alive?   Where are Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim?

Because of the predictable pattern laid out by the three ghosts, this movie does little to try to not be predictable… in fact, the ending is anything but surprising… a little too predictable for my liking.

But I did like the way they brought the classic Dickens into modern times and twisted into a romantic comedy… other than that, I was not impressed with anything else, just your average romantic comedy.

There were some decent performances from supporting cast of Douglas, Emma Stone, Breckin Meyer, and Lacey Chabert.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

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If it weren’t for “The Hangover” and “I Love You, Man”… this would have been the funniest movie of the first half of the year.

Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds are great, but their supporting cast really makes this movie one of the best date movies of the year.

 ( My spoiler-free review )

Bullock has built her career on rom-coms… and this is another one to add to the collection… but she doesn’y play the same type of character she plays in so many other movies… this time she’s more of an agressive businesswoman with a very cold shoulder.

Reynolds is a great compliment as his career is exploding this year, but we’ve been watching him get better and better in bigger and bigger roles … he’s a draw for both male and female audiences with his comedic timing and facial expressions that nail the jokes all by themselves.

But you can have too much of a good thin.. and the filmmakers were wise to see that they had a great, but small supporting cast like Mary Steenburgen and Craig T. Nelson to give some funny lines and moments to.  But the real scene stealers were TV Legend Betty White amd “The Office”’s Oscar Nuñez.

THE BOTTOM LINE: (more…)

 ”Fragments” is slow and broken, good acting, good premise… but overall a disappointment.

Forest Whitaker, Kate Beckinsale, Guy Pearce, Jennifer Hudson, Dakota Fanning, Jackie Earle Haley, Josh Hutcherson, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Embeth Davidtz are a very good group of actors showing their craft… but they are not enough to make this movie the hit *it could have been*.

“Fragments” is ultimately a victim of its own style – too many characters – too little time to develop them well and tell everybody’s story.

PS – This movie is rated “R” for violence, adult themes, and language.

 (My spoiler-free review)

“Fragments” (aka “Winged Creatures”) features a great cast of talented actors… which got me to rent it soon after it became available… with all of the main cast mentioned above putting on an acting clinic with their performances.

Whitaker is great as a troubled bad luck guy who finally finds good luck, Beckinsale pulls off a character that you’re forced not to like, Fanning delivers a performance that is good but jarring, Hudson and Pearce and the rest suffer from not enough screen time to really appreciate their work.

There are good production values with framing, symbolism, lighting, and the style of storytelling is not a bad formula – it just may have been the execution of the style that left me a little disconnected from the characters.

There’s a central theme the director seems to be trying to point us to, but then there’s another them, then another… its stylistic… but causes confusion for the audience.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

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“Surveillance” is a twisted R-rated thriller, Bill Pullman is good and plays uneasy like a champ in a creepy role.

If you like thrillers, go ahead and rent this… but if thrillers are not your type, this movie isn’t strong enough to convince you of the genre.

You’ve been warned: “Surveillance” doesn’t have scene after scene of graphic violence, but there are a few scenes where the violent images are pretty grisy, earning the R-rating, along with with the language, drugs, and adult themes that may not be okay for younger viewers.
 

(my spoiler-free review)

This is a more difficult task because the movie has some twists and turns but I don’t want to ruin the plot or storyline for you.

Pullman and Julia Ormand are solid as Agent Hallaway and Agent Anderson… investigating a series of serial murders across the country.  The supporting cast holds up well – some are witnesses/survivors  to the latest murders, the others are the law enforcement in a small town.

The strongest supporting performance is 9-year-old Ryan Simpkins that plays ”Stephanie”, one of the survivors of the serial killers’ latest attack that killed her parents and older brother.   Simpkins’ role is one of the best child performances of the year so far.

Pell James is solid as a drug addict/witness, Kent Harper and French Stewart are convincing as two less than honorable police officers that get closer to the case than they would have wanted, and Michael Ironside makes it look easy playing the police Captain.  Hugh Dillon and Cheri Oteri are okay as Stephanie’s parents, but Oteri almost seems like she’s going to break out in comedy, rather than play the serious role she was selected to play.  She does play the impatient/upset mother well.

The story sets up well with the typical local cops vs. federal agents uneasiness… which really works later in the movie.

As Agent Hallaway and Agent Anderson interview the witnesses, there is a overall feeling of uneasiness and confusion that something isn’t quite right with the incident the witnesses are all talking about… two of witnesses describe the story leaving out all the facts to paint themselves in a better light, while little Stephanie is very reserved while trying to tell the story of how her family was killed.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

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 I’ll start by saying I saw approximately half of “Love Happens” (my explanation on twitter), so I’m deferring the overall rating to my wife… but even she wasn’t overly excited after seeing this one.

You should know that “Love Happens” is not a typical romantic comedy, sort of like Jennifer Aniston’s other recent movie “Marley & Me” wasn’t really completely a comedy… mostly because some of the material is more dramatic than comedic.

 From what I saw (my explanation on twitter), “Love Happens” was different, but also slow and at the same time, typical and formulaic… almost cliche.

Smart boy (Aaron Eckhart) meets clever girl (Aniston)… sure its different because he’s something we don’t see much in rom-coms (a motivational speaker) and she’s a florist… but the way they meet and things start is all mostly storylines we’ve seen before in the multitude of  rom-coms churned out over the last three decades.

Aniston’s character is similiar to many of the characters we’ve seen her play before, especially similiar to “Rachel” from “Friends”.   Eckhart is in a different role, but also similiar to the way he has played conflicted characters before.  The two don’t have the kind of chemistry we’ve come to expect in romantic comedies… I’m not going to say they were just going through the motions, but there was little connection on screen, and less with the audience.

In the end, the movie focuses more on how Eckhart’s character is dealing with his problems than an actual romance between the two.  If you’re expecting a “Sleepless in Seattle” sweet budding love story, you’ll be disappointed – just because its set in Seattle (and all the cliche typical shots of Seattle), its not on the same level as “Sleepless in Seattle”.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

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 ”Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” is a visual smorgasbord and a delicious story… available in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D… you’ll enjoy it no matter what format you see it in.

This movie is fun for kids AND adults.. a nice combination of fun and good storytelling.
 ( My spoiler-free review)

“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” has a good story, with sharp writing, a great fantasy atmosphere and is full of fun characters.

Flint Lockwood is interesting, but the supporting characters like the monkey “Steve”, Police Officer Earl Devereaux, and Sam Sparks, the tv weather girl.

This is a good use of the new 3D technology.. the screening I saw this movie in was 3D… but that is not what makes this a movie I would recommend to you.

Its fun for its target audience: kids and the parents that go with them.  The movie is full of jokes and references that adults can enjoy (Atari, Simon, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and a Death Star-like meatball).

There are plenty of little moments to appreciate, like kids in the town making face-first snowangels when it rains ice cream… there’s also a well conceived spaghetti tornado that wreaks havoc on the town.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

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This is what sound is supposed to sound like

When you ask a company to review a pair of $130 dollar headphones, you’re expecting a lot.   The Logitech G35’s carry a price tag that my cause some people to shudder at first glance.

Would you really think about doling out more than $100 on some headgear? (It’s actually less than that right now, because of a sale at Amazon.com)  Logitech is definitely pricing the G35 headset in to the premium product segment when it comes to gaming peripherals.  But when you survey the landscape you’ll find the G35 headset is actually quite a bit cheaper than its 7.1 competition from Razer (The Megalodon headset logs in at $150).  It’s also one of the cheapest 7.1 options available when compared to speaker setups.

I’m absolutely enamored with the G35, the features and functionality are so complete I want a pair to keep forever. (more…)

 ”Extract” is okay, clever, and funny, but never reaches the level of a new comedy classic, like creator Mike Judge’s “Office Space”.

The movie does earn its “R” rating with adult themes… its not gratuitous or overly raunchy, but it does have language that you might want younger viewers to avoid.

 Like “Office Space” and “Idiocracy” before it – Judge creates some great characters in “Extract”.   It starts with Jason Bateman’s solid turn as Joel – the boss of the factory making extract…  his talkative neighbor, Nathan, played expertly by David Koechner… J.K. Simmons nails another supporting role as Joel’s factory manager … Ben Affleck pulls off Joel’s goofy friend Dean… Mila Kunis is convincing as the scheming new girl Cindy… while Kristen Wiig, Clifton Collins Jr., Beth Grant, Gene Simmons, and Dustin Milligan add to the solid mix with their characters.

Where the characters are fun and interesting, and there are some funny jokes – the story never completely connects with everyone or gains any real comedic momentum - just several mildly amusing jokes and funnies.  The movie is very deliberate and matter-of-fact, even slow for some… and while it gets where its going in the story, it is not overly entertaining.

While the cult-classic Mike Judge movie “Office Space” focuses on workers in an office, this movie focuses more on the boss in a factory… those two differences may be the reason why it didn’t connect to me on a personal level.  I’m curious if this is funnier to anyone who has worked in a factory and/or is the boss of a business.  (If so, please post a comment below)

THE BOTTOM LINE:

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Sometimes a good cast, a funny concept, and good release date add up to a movie worth recommending…. “All About Steve” is not a movie to rush out and see at theaters… the disappointment with this romantic comedy has both my wife and I saying “wait to rent” on this one.

Sandra Bullock is convincing as a quirky workaholic crossword constructor who becomes obsessive over a tv news photographer.  Bullock has to stay in this contrived character more than her hit “The Proposal” earlier this summer… but overall, that movie is much better than this one.

Bradley Cooper, Thomas Haden Church, and Ken Jeong are a decent supporting cast, but the rest of the cast is marginal despite appearances from Howard Hesseman, Beth Grant, M.C. Gainey, DJ Qualls, Keith David, and Holmes Osborne.

The story is neat, but I never really totally got into the movie… there were some funny moments, but most of the funniest moments were in the trailer (something that will top my 2009 Wish List)… that I already laughed at four or five times… the rest of the jokes were on the level of a chuckle or a smirk.  

THE BOTTOM LINE:

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(”Weather Girl” to play one-night only on Lifetime network, Wednesday 9/23 at 9:00pm – stars Michigan native Ryan Devlin, who went to High School in Grand Rapids area)

(”Weather Girl” made its Midwest Premiere June 12/14, 2009 at Waterfront Film Festival and was in limited release in West Michigan starting September 4th for one-week only)

“Weather Girl” is cute and funny, but not great, if you really want to see it you should… but you could wait to rent it and be happier with your decision at home.

Waterfront Film Festival doesn’t have awards, but even if it did, I don’t think “Weather Girl” was good enough to beat out a solid crop of movies.  “Weather Girl” did win at two other film festivals: it won Best Film at Vail Film Festival and Best Feature in Oklahoma City.

“Weather Girl” is more of a 16 and older kind of movie, its not raunchy, but it does have some colorful language and sexual references.

( My spoiler-free review )

Going into it, this movie had several things going for it: the story is set in Seattle (the TV market where I attended college) and its about TV news… the profession I started in before graduating from college.  But there’s something a little bit off… not quite making this movie great… its nice, but not all the characters have depth, and there’s some things about the story that were problematic.

The story of Sylvia (Tricia O’Kelley), a weather forecaster on a Seattle morning show, is cute, funny, and feisty… O’Kelley is the strength of this movie, if she didn’t pull it off, the entire movie would have crumbled.  Unfortunately, as good as she was in this role, this movie still failed to wow the audience.

“Weather Girl” features some well developed characters: brother Walt and his friend Byron… and some shallow characters: Dale, Sherry, and Sylvia’s friends. 

Patrick J. Adams, Michigan native Ryan Devlin, and Tricia O'Kelley in "Weather Girl" courtesy Secret Identity Productions

 The brother of main character Sylvia is Walt, played by Michigan native Ryan Devlin.  Devlin was (according to IMDB) born in Lansing, graduated from Forest Hills Central High School in 1998, and graduated from Michigan State University.

Patrick J. Adams is good as Walt’s friend… and the now-popular comedic actress Jane Lynch (”Role Models”, “The Rocker”, “The 40 Year Old Virgin”, etc.) is good as expected.

But then the performances start to tank… despite names like Mark Harmon, Jon Cryer, and Blair Underwood… luckily the other characters take up a lot less screen time.

Harmon plays Sylvia’s ex-boyfriend Dale, the self-centered prototypical anchorman of the group.  Dale’s co-anchor Sherry (Kaitlin Olson) is also Hollywood’s version of what TV news people must be like… right? 
Wrong… well, maybe right for this story but it was bothersome how dumb (considering Seattle’s market size) and how shallow the characters were and how average the acting behind the other characters was… I never felt like they were real characters… or working at a real TV station… or really living in the real world for that matter. 

THE BOTTOM LINE:

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