Movie review - "Scary Movie" (2000) **1/2

 Tasteless in many places but I laughed. Benefits from being based on Kevin Williamspn's strong Scream sccript.

Movie review - "The Dictator" (2012) **1/2

I wanted to like this movie more than I did, but while it has some great moments (e.g. the dictator's wall of conquests, the sports competition) it never seemed to work for me. There was an aura of "trying too hard" about it, gags striving but never quite making it, and some of them being too old and obvious e.g. gags about feminist women with hairy underarms running an organic co-op, doing a turd from high up on a wire. Maybe I couldn't get past the fact that the Dictator, who they try to make sympathetic (he's lonely, the people he sent off to be executed just emigrate to the US, he falls for Anna Faris), is still, even at the end of the movie, a sexist, anti-Semitic, anti-Democractic murderer whose regime is full of torture. His country would have been better off having democratic reforms and selling all the oil to China. That's right - in this movie the antagonists are pro-democracy.

The support cast is excellent, particularly Jason Mantzoukas as the Dictator's ally, and Sasha Baron Cohen throws his heart and soul into it, but for me it just doesn't get there.

Movie review – “What’s Your Number” (2011) **

Anna Faris is a dynamic comedy star, full of energy and talent, and certainly good looking enough to play leads in romantic comedy, but she never seems to have much luck with them. This had a silly idea so wasn't as much a disappointment as House Bunny (which had a fantastic idea badly muffed), but it was serviceable enough. They never get the rhythm right - there's all these awkward flashbacks to comedy moments, all these support characters are set up who you think are going to be used again but aren't (eg Joel McHale, Heather Burns), they set up possible great comedy scenes then get bored with them (eg Faris joining Chris Evans on stage), Chris Evans struggles without a definite character to play, Faris' idea of a dream job is really stupid and impractical, there's too much time spent on her un-interesting sister. There are some good bits, like a sexy strip basketball scene (spot the body double) and Faris is good even if she's not always photographed flatteringly, you just wish she could get her hands on a really good commercial script and a strong director.

Movie review – “Take Me Home” (2011) **1/2

Inoffensive teen film, with a similar plot to Can’t Hardly Wait only set in 1988 and with the characters a few years older - kind of a The Graduate vibe. Topher Grace works at a video store and has a long crush on Teresa Palmer - and why not, since she's stunning here (looking great in that 80s hair). She's a lot more attractively shot than Anna Faris, who is normally attractive but not here (it's her hair colour or cheeks or something) - she's wasted too in far too small a role. At least she doesn't hook up with Dan Fogler, which is what I was worried about.

Topher Grace isn't a real slacker - he's a graduate of MIT (hence The Graduate reference), Teresa Palmer's acting is exposed in a few places (she's good with dialogue, but still hasn't grasped the acting of conveying what she's thinking with her face), I can't recall a teen film which was so pro-cocaine (Fogler has some blow and has a terrific night under the influence, scoring with hot chicks, winning a breakdancing contest), Michael Biehn seems too young to play Topher Grace's dad (I'm guessing he probably isn't,  it just seems that way), pleasing tunes, shonky period detail (were they breakdancing in the late 80s?), a lot of predictability, but it has a lot of charm and I enjoyed it.

Movie review – “House Bunny” (2008) **

Terrific idea undone by inept execution. Ana Faris is perfect in a Marilyn Monroe type role as the playboy bunny who heads to a sorority and there are some terrific moments and bits. But even these are either not developed enough (eg the feminist who agrees to become a ditz for research – a great idea thrown away, the sexual politics), or repeated too often (eg Faris speaking in a deep voice to help her memorise). The romantic sub plot with Colin Hanks starts promisingly but then goes off the rails when you realise it’s not believable he would be attracted to her apart from shallow physical reasons, and Hanks seems to be channelling his dad’s everyman persona without his dad’s skill. The male characters are weak and poorly developed, the climax is contrived and it is very bad directed (pacing, blocking, etc). Also the filmmakers often go for unrealistic gags, eg the tall geek character who tells guys that she wants to take a dump. It feels like a hastily written first draft of a quite detailed scene breakdown. On the sunny side, the set design is gorgeous – love that Aztec Party - and the scenes in the Playboy Mansion are fun.

Movie review - Waiting (2004) ***

I approached this film with some trepidation – Clerks set in a restaurant – but was surprised to find it clever, warm and delightful. OK, maybe not “warm”, but a lot better than I thought it would be. Had a lovely feeling of reality and authenticity (that slightly hedonistic early 20s restaurant world of drugs, alcohol and sex), the cast had real camaraderie, the characters were recognizable (the girl who hates the world who works in hospitality, the lady killer with a taste for high school girls, the Lolita-like vixen at front counter, the two bus boys who slack off and want to be rap stars, the manic chefs), the running gag about showing genitals genuinely funny. 

There are flaws, which struck me more after seeing the film: the female characters are under-utilised (Anna Faris is wasted, in particular – you keep expecting her to do something but she only gets to have one monologue), Ryan Reynolds is a little too old for his role, the device of having a wise old black man as a yoda figure is irritating. It’s pleasing to see Justin Long playing slightly less wimpy than usual.

Movie review - "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" (2006) **

One of the best ideads for a comedy in the last decade: a man finds out his girlfriend is a super hero, dumps her, and has to deal with her rage. Main problem - they make it Luke Wilson's story, and while it's funny to have him run from a mad woman, Uma Thurman plays a super hero so she's inherently sympathetic, so he's a prick. I mean, she just wants to find a nice guy and she really likes him, it can't be easy, she has to spend all her spare time fighting crime. And he decides it's too much and goes off for his pretty co-worker. 

The character of Uma is so strong - it's out of whack not to have her at the centre. And why didn't they use Eddie Izzard more, have him plan some evil scheme? Do something evil? They could have adjusted the script, kept the gags - have Uma as the main character, and she mistakenly thinks Luke is cheating on her and goes a bit crazy, then turns good. 

Maybe they were keen not to go with the obvious - but what they have instead isn't satisfying. Another alternative would be to make Uma's character evil, then we mightn't hate Luke Wilson as much when he sells her out. Or have Luke be a bit more of a prick. 

Also irritating are the subplots at Luke's work - the lecherous best friend and the boss worried about sexual harrassment. These go nowhere. 

Two fantastic scenes: one where Uma doesn't want to leave Luke Wilson alone with his friend from work even though there is an emergency (it makes Uma so sympathetic - see what I mean?), and the one where she throws a shark through his window. That is brilliant.

Movie review - "Just Friends" (2006) **1/2

The central story of this struck a chord - and why not, the myth is so strong: a man comes back to his home town ten years after leaving; no longer fat and a loser he's now handsome and successful and the girl of his dreams is still single. So far so good and they add a hilarious character in an Ashlee Simpson type, played brilliantly by Anna Faris.

The script feels as though it needed another story spine apart from the central relationship and the character of the girl (Amy Smart) I just couldn't warm to: she didn't go out with Ryan Reynolds because he was fat and now he's rich and handsome she's interested in him, and I couldn't see any more depth to the character than that. I kept waiting for the writers to give her a "pat the dog" moment but they never did apart from the fact she is good with children. (By way of contrast, in There's Something About Mary, Cameron Diaz genuinely likes Ben Stiller at the beginning - it's Stiller's fault their date ends so disastrously; so he is an object worthy of affection.) 

Ryan Reynolds would have been better off with the Ashlee Simpson character, who seems to genuinely like him, has talent (of a kind) and pays for a trip to Paris. So what if she's a bit mad?

So the film didn't work for me, though the cast give their all, including a funny Chris Klein.

Movie review - "Brokeback Mountain" (2005) ***1/2

A film that hit the zeitgeist in the way that few others have in recent memory - Lost in Translation would be one, Pulp Fiction, Marty, etc. In addition to a strong central gimmick - gay cowboys - it has some stunning location photography, senstive handling and good acting. Heath Ledger seems to be nabbing a lot of the kudos, mainly I guess because he gets to be taciturn and tormented and has that scene with the shirt, but Jake Glyenhall is even better as the chattier and smarter cowboy (Ledger's character seems unable to live above the poverty line). 

But the film is stolen by Michelle Williams as the sad eyed wife of Ledger. Anne Hathaway is fine as Glyenhall's wife, though her variety of wigs is a little distracting. Moving at the end, but it did feel a bit long - did we need that whole subplot about Heath and the waitress? Could have easily been set in Australia.