We're not dead yet

by Mr. Blunderson

It's been a while since anything has been posted here so we'll knock out a whole bunch at once if you don't mind too much.

Gone Baby Gone
After the movie was over I had to scrub the Boston off me and I loved that. Casey Affleck demonstrated some unbelievable chops here carrying the weight of a private investigator hired to "enhance" the police investigation. He more than holds his own with cinematic heavy weights Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris. The cast was solid, the directing (from Ben Affleck no less) was extraordinary, the only thing I didn't love about the movie was the "twist" at the end. I didn't buy it, it was a little much, at the end of the day I didn't need it. The good news is it didn't completely ruin the movie for me, which is why I give it a "way decent" on the Mr. Blunderson scale. I could watch these characters going about their normal lives for hours and hours it was that damn good.

Shallow Grave
This is a movie I have heard good things about and I was particularly interested because it was the first big film from Danny Boyle. I have had a hard time putting this review into words and as much as I wanted to like this movie I will just say that it took me three days to watch this movie from beginning to end. It was too dark for it's own good and I hated the characters and wanted the actors that played them to die horrible deaths, I hated them all as soon as they were introduced. At that point it wouldn't matter if this was the best plot in the history of cinema I simply didn't give a shit anymore. As much as it kills me to do it, Shallow Grave registers a "Meh" and no better.

Southland Tales
This movie was going to have to be spectacularly bad for me to not love it, so color me surprised when I didn't. This movie is just. plain. weird. It is full of characters I wouldn't mind getting to know better but the plot never seems to settle enough for that to happen. It felt like three movies crammed into one. There are some cool ideas but none of them get a chance to flow or be realized. Imagine watching a trailer that lasts for more than two hours, that's what I felt like. And if I hadn't been following the Southland Tales since Richard Kelly had started lensing the damn thing so I knew background on the characters and situations that enhanced my ability to follow the narrative (if it can be called that) I would have been really, really lost. Maybe this movie really kicks ass when you are high. I'll let you know if I ever find out. Until then this movie gets a (and it kills me to say this) "don't bother."

Dan in Real Life
I'm convinced Steve Carell can be in any movie and make it better. Definitely the case here, even though the movie isn't all that bad. It manages to rise above also staring Dane Cook, a story that is bent on focusing on the eccentricities of a family over developing the relationships between the characters, and not having the balls to make someone (anyone!)be the "bad guy." Dan in Real Life is sweet and light and slightly sentimental and thus earns a "mostly decent."

Walk Hard
The longer the memory of this movie sits in my mind the better it is. John C Reilly is a funny, funny guy, and does a great job carrying a silly, silly film. Even though it's tough to recommend this movie, I liked the shamelessness of it all, the music was surprisingly top notch, and the bit with the Beatles was worth the price of the rental. It's worth seeing once, which is why I'll give Dewey Cox a mostly decent, on the Mr. Blunderson scale.