Damsels in Distress: Movie Review

 

Romance, depression and intellect set to an uptempo dance beat.

Three mistakenly wise-beyond-their-years damsels seek to help those less fortunate — socially and intellectually less fortunate than themselves. All three are crazy, obviously, and Violet (Greta Gerwig) is book smart with a presumed air and affected way of speaking. “Damsels in Distress” is a comedy about depression, heartbreak, suicide, the education system, homelessness, linguistics, musicals, dancing and love. Every character is crazy, the film is too, but it’s also hilarious.		2011 Directed by: Whit Stillman Screenplay by: Whit Stillman Starring: Greta Gerwig, Analeigh Tipton and Adam Brody

What to Expect When You're Expecting: Movie Review

Twenty floating heads can’t make you laugh but a couple of actors can grab your heart.

I was expecting to come away with a sassy name for this new genre, the Hollywood-ensemble rom-com, but there was nothing clever to provide any inspiration in “What to Expect When You’re Expecting”. The best line that I have heard to describe this comes from a fellow IMDb user, gregeichelberger, “It’s “New Year’s Eve” in the neo-natal unit; “Valentine’s Day” with a uterus; “Knocked Up” times five.” That sums up the whole thing perfectly.		2012 Directed by: Kirk Jones Screenplay by: Shauna Cross and Heather Hach Starring: Cameron Diaz, Elizabeth Banks, Jennifer Lopez, Anna Kendrick

Hick: Movie Review

Loses the characters, the point and our interest long before the end.

I thought I was going to like “Hick”. Not because of Derick Martini’s “Lymelife” but because of the very under-appreciated “Jolene” and “Dirty Girl”. Where teenage girls make bad decisions (because they choose to or because they have to) and set out on a road trip. “Hick” should have been a dark comedy version of that and even with the 0% positive reviews on RottenTomatoes, I still thought I was going like it.		2011 Directed by: Derick Martini Screenplay by: Andrea Portes Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, Eddie Redmayne, Alec Baldwin, Blake Lively

Dark Shadows: Movie Review

 

A beautiful but boring production of vampires and witches and love and other nonsense.

I’m assuming it’s the recent obsession with vampires, including teenage vampire love and nonsensical vampire lore, that has made it okay to make movies based on bad 1960s horror- drama soap operas. I had also assumed that Tim Burton’s remake of “Dark Shadows” would be a comedy. In that case, at least, I was wrong. Unfortunately, the film stayed faithful to the original and was more soap opera-like than comedic.		2012 Directed by: Tim Burton Screenplay by: Seth Grahame-Smith Starring: Johnny Depp, Eva Green, Bella Heathcote and Michelle Pfeiffer

Juko's Time Machine: Movie Review

Creating rules of time travel that are clever and hilarious.

There are some genres where the less money you have, the harder it is to make a worthwhile film. Science fiction is one of those genres. But Juko’s Time Machine does it right. Juko (Nathan Cozzolino) has been in love with Rory (Zibby Allen) forever, but she is now engaged. The only way he can win her over is if he goes back in time and gets her to fall in love with him.		2011 Directed by: Kai Barry Screenplay by: Kai Barry Starring: Nathan Cozzolino, Alex Moggridge and Zibby Allen

Happily Never After: Movie Review

The opposite of a family dramedy but fits the definition of dysfunctional.

Jason Carrougher stars as Cole Killian, a professional photographer, but who is creepy and dysfunctional enough that he’s likely just a guy who thinks he’s a professional photographer. After meeting an old high school flame and then hearing about an orphanage with abandoned teenagers, he has decided that Bo (Ryan Wichert) is his son.		2012 Directed by: Jamie Heinrich Screenplay by: Jamie Heinrich Starring: Jason Carrougher, Ryan Wichert and Katherine Bending

The Diary of Preston Plummer: Movie Review

Preston falls in Love, Kate falls apart, and the universe expands as it always does.

Preston Plummer (Trevor Morgan) is graduating from university with the feeling of never really having loved anything. At a party he meets a girl who wants him to drive her home. Not just college home, but home, home – in another state. She needs to go home and he needs an adventure which he never got to experience. “The Diary of Preston Plummer” is about the long journey home — physically, emotionally and spiritually.		2012 Directed by: Sean Ackerman Screenplay by: Sean Ackerman Starring: Trevor Morgan, Rumer Willis