It's been far too long since I've watched any of these films. My memory has faded on the details, so they will now be reduced to a picture, a line or two of commentary and a rating. Sorry for the slacking.
Adventureland
Adventureland was a fun little film about guy (James) who gets a crap summer job working in an amusement park in hopes to save up for graduate school and ends up having the time of his life. I enjoyed pretty much everything about the movie except Kristen Stewart playing the main love interest. Repeatedly rolling your eyes does not equate to acting, Missy. Anyway, Ryan Reynolds and Bill Hader made the movie for me, and I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't full of high school boy humor, unlike director Greg Mottola's other major hit, Superbad.
Rating:
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
After being dumped by his famous actress girlfriend, Peter decides to unwind in Hawaii and accidentally ends up at the same resort his ex is staying with her new beau. Russell Brand is the real star of this film, as Sarah's new rocker boyfriend. He is freaking hilarious, as well as, Paul Rudd and Bill Hader. Other than that, the movie is pretty predictable and I didn't really care for all the non-Wolverine male nudity. It made for an entertaining 2 hours though.
Rating:
The Phantom of the Opera
You know the classic story of the beautiful singer Christine and her hideous mentor, the Phantom. This one was very exquisite to look at, but that was about it. I didn't particularly care for the music. The story I liked okay, but I felt the music really slowed everything down to a crawl. And I didn't find it particularly memorable, as even now I'm having trouble recalling much of what occurred. And I don't appreciate them trying to ugly up Gerard Butler. Not cool.
Rating:
Slumdog Millionaire
Ahh, this year's Best Picture Oscar winner. Poor Jamal lands the chance to be on the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" Suspected of cheating, he tell the sad stories of his life, which led to him knowing the answers on the show. I found it to be pretty good. Not the greatest picture of the year, but good. I wouldn't say it was my favorite Danny Boyle film, far from it, but it wasn't a waste of time either. It was just another "rags to riches" tale with a spin. Definitely over-hyped for its own good. Unfortunately, I didn't get to catch many Oscar bait films last year (still haven't) so at this time I can't offer my opinion of which was more worthy of Best Picture. Sorry.
Rating:
AdventurelandAdventureland was a fun little film about guy (James) who gets a crap summer job working in an amusement park in hopes to save up for graduate school and ends up having the time of his life. I enjoyed pretty much everything about the movie except Kristen Stewart playing the main love interest. Repeatedly rolling your eyes does not equate to acting, Missy. Anyway, Ryan Reynolds and Bill Hader made the movie for me, and I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't full of high school boy humor, unlike director Greg Mottola's other major hit, Superbad.
Rating:
Forgetting Sarah MarshallAfter being dumped by his famous actress girlfriend, Peter decides to unwind in Hawaii and accidentally ends up at the same resort his ex is staying with her new beau. Russell Brand is the real star of this film, as Sarah's new rocker boyfriend. He is freaking hilarious, as well as, Paul Rudd and Bill Hader. Other than that, the movie is pretty predictable and I didn't really care for all the non-Wolverine male nudity. It made for an entertaining 2 hours though.
Rating:
The Phantom of the OperaYou know the classic story of the beautiful singer Christine and her hideous mentor, the Phantom. This one was very exquisite to look at, but that was about it. I didn't particularly care for the music. The story I liked okay, but I felt the music really slowed everything down to a crawl. And I didn't find it particularly memorable, as even now I'm having trouble recalling much of what occurred. And I don't appreciate them trying to ugly up Gerard Butler. Not cool.
Rating:
Slumdog MillionaireAhh, this year's Best Picture Oscar winner. Poor Jamal lands the chance to be on the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" Suspected of cheating, he tell the sad stories of his life, which led to him knowing the answers on the show. I found it to be pretty good. Not the greatest picture of the year, but good. I wouldn't say it was my favorite Danny Boyle film, far from it, but it wasn't a waste of time either. It was just another "rags to riches" tale with a spin. Definitely over-hyped for its own good. Unfortunately, I didn't get to catch many Oscar bait films last year (still haven't) so at this time I can't offer my opinion of which was more worthy of Best Picture. Sorry.
Rating:
4 pieces of fan mail:
Well, your mini-reviews make me want to see Adventureland and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I still don't think that Slumdog Millionaire looks interesting. I hate that you didn't like Phantom. I love it! I really should have raised you better. Too late now.
I really don't think you'd like "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and I'm not sure about "Adventureland." You are difficult to predict sometimes. "Slumdog Millionaire" is okay, but I don't think it's an absolute must-see. And we already knew we disagreed on "Phantom," but at least I finally gave it a chance.
Finally! Someone who saw Adventureland expecting another Superbad that was PLEASED that it wasn't all that similar. You don't know how rare you are! I grew tired of hearing about/from people that got their panties in a bunch that it wasn't raunchy and/or a laugh riot. I happen to like both (a lot), but was really pleased with what Adventureland was. It's in my top 10 for the year so far.
LOL at the "non-Wolverine nudity" line. Hey, beggers can't be choosers...
I enjoyed FSM quite a bit as well, though I must be the only person that thought Rudd was pretty wasted/useless in it. The 30 Rock kid was better for me.
I think people will come back around to Slumdog in time. No, it's not Pulp Fiction in terms of cultural importance or even enjoyability, but it's a really nicely put together film with beautiful music, a clever twist, exotic locales (to North Americans, anyway) and great acting. There's a lot to like - a lot more than what there is to not like.
And I saw all of the Best Pic noms (and other Oscar bait) and it was my choice. Had The Wrestler, Wall*E or TDK been given a nom, I might've rooted for one of them, but 'twas not to be.
I laughed during Adventureland, so I don't know what's wrong with some folks. "James...am I pronouncing that right, 'James'?" (Favorite line.)
Kenneth from 30 Rock was gold in FSM (sad I don't know his real name and am too lazy to look it up). It was far from Rudd's best role, but I still found him enjoyable. I really didn't care for Peter, he was too whiny for me to root for, but the film had a great supporting cast.
As for Slumdog, I'm sure had I seen it prior to the hype and winning of every award on the planet, I would've liked it better. Unfortunately, it just became too built up during awards season, and I expected more than what I got out of it. Maybe in a few years, I'll check it out again and find what I missed the first time, once the dust settles. I liked it, really, just didn't LOVE it, like so many. At the same time I'm not one to join the backlash, just because it was so popular either.
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