We Bought a Zoo (2011)

2/3

Cameron Crowe is a favorite writer/director of mine and his Almost Famous is one of my top favorite movies. I also like Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson and Thomas Haydn Church. Plus, the title itself is intriguing, then I find out it's based on a true story. So, there was no question. I had to watch this movie. And it was okay, it did the trick, but wasn't phenomenal.

It was drenched in emotion and love. Which is why I’m sure Cameron Crowe brought in Aline Brosh McKenna as his co-writer, who did Devil Wears Prada and 27 Dresses, to nail all the nuances of those emotions. The film also focused on family and family dysfunction all around: The mother is dead, the father-son relationship was pretty miserable and they're going bankrupt. I guess I’m glad that I never had to deal with that as a child.

Nonetheless, it was a cool story and told about being adventurous and courageous and saying “why not?” In the end, I wish we had had more of Thomas Haydn Church's sarcastic comic relief and less mopey scenes, actually.

PS- great soundtrack.

Crazy, Stupid Love (2011)

1/3

There were a few amusing parts but overall it was just too sappy and cliché for my liking. I ended up being kind of bored with the emotional fluff that took up a vast part of the film.

I thought that Ryan Gosling played a super smooth guy who was amusing to watch. Too cool for school. And the babysitter (Analeigh Tipton, who has been a model) was super hot, as is Emma Stone, always. Both are of age, by the way. I checked.

Steve Carell has been on this binge of doing semi-serious family/love roles and I just don’t get it, especially thinking back to his days on "The Office" and hilarious Will Ferrell/Apatow-esque roles in The Anchorman and 40 Year Old Virgin. What's up? I guess this is sort of what lots of comedians do when they hit their mid-life crisis: Jim Carrey, Robin Williams, and, God help us currently, Adam Sandler.

Julianne Moore here reminded me of her family role in that one where she was a lesbian (The Kids Are Alright) as kind of a clueless person dealing with the complexities of love and marriage, driven to ramble to herself. The take-away message was that you should fight for your soul-mate no matter how crazy or stupid that may seem to you. Cliche. I want more humor and less sap please. Is that cuz I'm a guy?

Contagion (2011)

3/3

This review has simmered for a while but I finally decided it’s a three because of its unique spin on this outbreak/super-virus/zombie theme. It was realistic and very thoughtful/pensive/methodical/measured. The director, Steven Soderbergh, really strove to make it play like it would probably work in real life, i.e. it wasn't science fiction. But beyond that, it was the tale of the heroes in this world who risk their lives and reputations, break convention, to do the right thing. We got lots of different perspectives and levels of it, from top to bottom.

There were also bad guys: it was interesting that the young journalist/blogger was made to be an antagonist and it showed how he was really corrupt and used the public’s fear for profit, all while manipulating their thoughts and exascerbating the problem. People directly died because of the chaos he helped promulgate. Also, the unfaithful gambling alcoholic wife had a lot of blame, as well as the multinational company she worked for that was clear-cutting in the Third World. There was some real skepticism of goverment, politicians, the military and CIA as well.

In the end, the movie tells of how these heroes worked to try to beat the virus, find practical solutions, and save the world, which is a different ending to these kind of movies too: it was optimistic and provided hope, which is refreshing. So even though this is not what I was expecting from the title, I liked its overall message.

The Avengers (2012)

2/3

I haven't always been too impressed with Marvel's movies. I think often that they can be sort of cheap entertainment in a massive, over-the-top Hollywood kind of way. Captain America, The Hulk, Thor, not totally my favorites. It always seems like it has to be a toss up between huge special effects sequences and quality writing. But, I have to say that I love the idea of The Avengers, one movie to connect them all and bring them all together (also an ingenious marketing strategy!). So, there was no way I was going to miss this Blockbuster with a $220 million budget.

I found it a little long and certainly full of its Blockbuster-self, but it was at the minimum entertaining, just what I had hoped for. The crowd also really got into it, which is fun, and just went wild at the comic inserts. Actually, I'm thankful for Robert Downey Jr because his arrogance and wit are quite amusing to watch and probably saved the movie for me. I also enjoy Samuel L Jackson, naturally, as well as the subtle softness contrast of Mark Ruffalo’s genius scientist side of the Hulk. Scarlett Johanssen’s outfit was enjoyable too. The rest, the plot-line etc, was as I expected.

Dark Shadows (2012)

2/3

It's a 2/3 for sure, meaning that I liked it, but with some reservations. First of all, it wasn’t as funny as the trailers promised. Actually, the writing was not all that compelling and I kinda got bored by it; it seems like the writer tried to put an entire season's worth of 1960's story into one two-hour script and it felt crammed or disjointed or something. Also, Johnny Depp’s character was a little 'off' here, almost as if he was fighting back the urge of acting like Captain Jack too much. I think his role here came out a little dull or too serious.

Overall, the movie felt kind of old-fashioned and outdated as a script, like Tim Burton wanted to do a throw-back movie, with the small Hollywood set, Danny Elfman music and quiet quips, a la Beetlejuice. That's not totally a bad thing, I guess. And, I will concede that there were funny parts and, sure, the 70s reenactment was fun. And, as always, Eva Green, my favorite Bond girl thus far, was a bit mysterious and hot.