Short Reviews - June 2009

Man! I got nothin' this month! Shame on me.

Whatever Works - Tamest episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm ever.

The Hangover - They should've called it "Ed Helms's Missing Tooth: The Motion Picture."

Up - If you don't like this movie, you're not human.

Eddie Murphy in 'Imagine That' - First of all, there's only ONE Imagine That with Hank Azaria.. all TWO episodes of it! Second, this better not be directed by Brian Robbins...
nope, but... oh, Ed Solomon. Is work really that sparse these days?

Bubble Boy and Donnie Darko - Two movies from 2001, both with Jake Gyllenhaal. Both cult classics. What else can me say? He's got the magic touch!

Away We Go - My God! Mendes pumps out a new film prematurely! He didn't wait three years after Revolutionary Road, in other words. It just can't be good.

Land of the Lost - This is just Jurassic Park with Will Ferrell in it, right?

Donnie Darko - Let me just say this about Donnie Darko, and this is addressed to those of you negative types out there who can't say anything nice about a movie. Sure, it's like a Twilight Zone on acid, sure the cinematography's damn moody and stand-offish, and sure, we're all not ready for an 80s flashback just yet, but this is how I know Richard Kelly is a damn DIRECTOR. And, an actor's director to boot. Did you see the look on Maggie Gyllenhaal's face at the end? I don't know what the director did, but that's how I know he's a damn DIRECTOR.

Southland Tales - Still haven't seen it yet.

Purple Violets - Who knew? Edward Burns has finally slipped into almost complete obscurity. Maybe Redford finally got tired of losing money on Burns' films. Maybe he could hook up with Jean Doumanian instead.

G-Force - The Caddyshack gopher's kids finally get a picture...

Punchline - From the writer of The Omen comes a movie about stand-up comedy... makes perfect sense.

The Clearing - Sequel to Spy Game, with Redford reprising his role, and with Willem Dafoe as William H. Macy.

Ice Age 3: Dinosaurs - Dinosaurs? I thought they lived before the Ice Age... oh, skip it. Why question it. The series will be much better now, that's the main thing.

Alex & Emma - So, is Rob Reiner's name in this supposed to be a German anagram of "wishcrafter"?

Mad Dog Time - Oh, Rob Reiner. Didja really need to do this cameo?

Cheri - Oh, Michelle Pfeiffer. Don't tease me like that!

The Hurt Locker - From the director of Point Break and Strange Days comes a serious war movie. I miss Bodhi.

My Sister's Keeper - Another film from Nick Cassavetes, but somehow I feel like Donald Petrie could've handled this one.