This week in DVD - Jan 8th

Shark Night 3D

As I said in my original review, how can you possibly make an effective movie about shark attacks and only have it be PG-13?  It's like they missed the entire point.

0 (out of 5) Death Stars.  There's no point in renting it even as there's nothing entertaining about it.  This movie has a firm place on my 10 worst films of the year list.


Contagion

I thought this was pretty good.  The story has some flaws and there are too many characters and plot threads that really aren't wrapped up well, but overall I liked it.  You can read the original review here.

3 (out of 5) Death Stars


The Guard

Honestly one of the funniest movies of the year it's been in my top ten since I've seen it.  You can read more about it here.  As I mention in the review, it's a buddy cop movie if it had been written by the Coen Brothers and directed by Guy Ritchie.

5 Death Stars!  Again, it's one of my favorite movies of the year.  They only reason I haven't bought it yet is that I'm waiting for a sale.


Puncture

This was kind of interesting.  Chris Evans stars as a functional, drug-addicted lawyer trying battling hospitals to force them to buy retractable syringes.  The movie is actually based on a real case involving accidental needle sticks and the risks faced by heath care professionals.

Chris Evans actually gives a pretty good performance and it's nice to see him do something different after Captain America.  However, the movie can't settle on a tone or topic.  It doesn't know what it wants to be and it suffers as a result.  Is this a legal drama?  Is this about watching a man battling addiction?  Is this a about a medical conspiracy?  It's all over the place.

Then, just as it's getting interesting, they wrap it up with a clumsy ending and they just tell you what happened after instead of showing you.  It's frustrating.

2.5 (out of 5).  I think it's a good rental for Chris Evans' performance alone.


I Don't Know How She Does It

I'm on the fence about this one as well.  There are people in the cast that I liked and some moments I thought were funny, but the movie felt kind of dated with its subject and the roles.  The movie itself is very formulaic.  It's basically a working woman trying to balance her career and being a mother.  You've seen it all before, even right down to the lessons learned by the characters, but it's been done better in other movies

The movie's s use of voice over, and the fact that it stars Sarah Jessica Parker, made it feel like it was a Sex in the City movie, only years later after she's had kids and has finally settled down.

I didn't hate it, but it's not a good movie either.

2 (out of 5).  If you really like SJP, then I'd say to rent it, otherwise, it's not really good enough to recommend.


Final Destination V


Movies like this are usually guilty pleasures for me.  I'm a sucker for gore and over-the-top deaths and I like seeing how creative they get with some of them.  However, outside of the opening sequence, I thought many of the deaths this time around were just plain silly.  Like at one point a girl slips and manages to crash through an upper story glass window and fall to her death.  If it were that easy to break a window like that, they wouldn't be able to use them in buildings.  People would fall to their deaths on a daily basis.  In fact, many movies have used the fact that you cannot break them as a gag.

There were other deaths that involved things that just weren't physically possible.  It's best to just shut your brain off when watching a movie like this, but even then, I can't help but notice stuff like that.

I think this franchise is out of ideas and has run it's course.  You don't even care about any of the characters and want to see them die.  Generally the point of horror films is that you want at least someone to survive, but with these movies you root for death.

1 (out of 5) Death Stars.  I can only say to rent it if you absolutely love the series, otherwise, there's just nothing to recommend here.


Atlas Shrugged Part 1

I have to admit that I know nothing about Ayn Rand, but I decided to give this a whirl anyway.  Boy, was this a stinker.  It felt like a TV-movie, but with worse acting.  It doesn't even have unintentional comedy going for it. As bad as it is, it takes a turn for the ridiculous when they involve Atlantis in the plot.  Is this supposed to be a sci-fi film?  I know there's a philosophy behind this, but the movie was so bad that I didn't care about what it was.

Worse yet, it ends on a 'cliffhanger', as if after watching this 90 minute mess, I would have any interest in sitting through another.

0 Death Stars - This is one of the worst films of 2011 and do not recommend it on any level.