Is anyone else feeling sluggish during this past month or is it just the movie studios? There have been some really vanilla movies released in August. The first bit of September seems to fare no different. Where are the good post Summer releases? I think we, as a collective movie audience, should be rewarded by surviving through some cheesy blockbusters, with a groundbreaking original movie or something that the studios were too afraid that mass audiences would stray from in the intense Summer battleground.
I think the best time I’ve had at the movies for the past month was at a midnight screening of Expendables 2. And that should be nothing to brag about.
This week the only major release is a Sundance hit called “The Words.” It stars Bradley Cooper (the man who somehow beat Ryan Gosling as People’s sexiest man alive), Zoe Saldana (the hot blue chick from Avatar), Dennis Quaid (Still alive?), Jeremy Irons (One of the greatest voices ever), and Olivia Wilde (the future mother of my love children).
If you’ve seen the trailer, it’s a little misleading. I’ll clear it up for you without spoiling much. Dennis Quaid plays an author who is reading a few chapters of his latest book to an audience to celebrate its release. The story he reads is that of Rory (Cooper) who is a wannabe author who can never catch a break and is afraid to admit that maybe he just doesn’t have the writing skills it takes to be published. He and Dora (Saldana) are a struggling married couple looking to make ends meet. On a vacation to Paris, he buys an old case and in time finds typewritten pages hidden inside it that contain a beautiful story. Internal struggles follow, but basically he takes credit for the book and becomes a new golden boy in the literary world.
His lie and life hit a wall as “The Old Man” (Irons) finds him and tells Rory that he knows he stole the book because he is the true author. The old man then tells his story and how the book came to be. The movie is pretty layered. It’s a story within a story within a story. Confused yet?
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| What if this movie is actually Innerspace 2, and Quaid is in Cooper…? |
For a character driven story, it kept my attention. The most captivating part of the movie was Iron’s flashback which takes nearly a half hour to tell. I could have watched a whole movie about that alone. I was disappointed every time the film went to Quaid’s story. This movie would be twice as good without that plot.
This movie will not push a moral dilemma like you think it would. The ending basically ruins that. In short, decent viewing up until an unsatisfying end. Rent it.
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| Has anyone used this service since the internet was invented? |
Not much time should be spent on “For a Good Time, Call…” It’s also an indie release looking for a wide release this weekend.
I actually went into this one expecting to like it much better than The Words. Strange how that works out. Basically two women Katie (Ari Graynor) and Lauren (Lauren Miller) become reluctant roommates. Katie works for a phone sex line, while Lauren is a prude looking for work so she can pay her share of the rent. They magically start their own phone sex business and start making bank.
Equation of For A Good Time, Call….
Superbad X Estrogen – Actual Humor + (sex jokes)37 + unecessary Justin Long – Timing = For A Good Time Call
If you’ve seen the trailer, you know what to expect. This is an incredibly raunchy comedy. Apparently these operators need to say some trashy stuff. There are 2 funny cameos by Seth Rogen and Kevin Smith but that’s the only time I smirked. I even like(d) Justin Long as an actor (in other roles), but his gay best friend character was completely unecessary. Ari Graynor has some great charisma, but sadly she will be relegated to “quirky best friend” in every Kate Hudson rom-com.
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| “Ohhhh, but I want to be Kate Hudson’s quirky best friend!” |
I wanted to laugh, I really did. But I just didn’t. There were some scattered laughs from women in the audience but it was mostly due to shock value.
While watching this movie I felt like I was eavesdropping on two drunk chicks with dirty mouths having a sleepover, staying up all night telling inside jokes that only they can laugh at. Not surprising given that it was written by one of the stars, Lauren Miller.
Skip this one. You won’t have much of a choice. If you can find it in theaters it will only last 2 weeks.
