Obvious Child: Movie Review

Surpassing the romantic comedy genre with hilarity.

Obvious Child stars Jenny Slate as Donna Stern. She’s an aspiring stand-up comedian, and night after night she bares her soul for everybody to see who she is, to relate to her, to laugh at her, and to laugh with her. Her material is certainly risqué but it’s also just life. She challenges everybody with acknowledging the facts of life and then just laughing at the absurdities of it all.		2014 Directed by: Gillian Robespierre Screenplay by: Gillian Robespierre Starring: Jenny Slate, Jake Lacy and Gaby Hoffman

The One I Love: Movie Review

One part reality, one part mystery, one part love.

The One I Love stars Mark Duplass and Elisabeth Moss as a married couple desperately trying to recapture the spark, magic and love of their marriage. Their therapist suggests a weekend away is all they need. A house, a gardened backyard, a pool and a guest house is theirs to make use of as they will. While both are willing to try, I would venture that both are looking too far outside themselves.		2014 Directed by: Charlie McDowell Screenplay by: Justin Lader Starring: Mark Duplass, Elisabeth Moss

Very Good Girls: Movie Review

Very dull girls make for a dull movie.

Very Good Girls opens with Lilly (Dakota Fanning) and Gerri (Elizabeth Olsen) skinny dipping at a public beach in the middle of the day and with that the girls shed their good girl exteriors. It’s the summer before college and they’re struggling with that coming of age time. They’re virgins, their happiness and their confidence is fragile, and they’re both determined to change who they are, or how they are perceived.		2013 Directed by: Naomi Foner Screenplay by: Naomi Foner Starring: Dakota Fanning, Elizabeth Olsen

Camp Takota: Movie Review

Going back to camp with three funny and entertaining women.

Camp Takota starts in the city where Elise (Grace Helbig) has a handsome fiancée and is dutifully working in the publishing industry before she finds success as a writer. Then that all comes crashing down and through a series of drunken phone calls, finds herself returning to work at the all-girls camp she used to attend as a kid. The opening is surprisingly very funny and Elise’s flaws are front-and-center, making her likable and entertaining.		2014 Directed by: Chris Riedell, Nick Riedell Screenplay by: Lydia Genner, Mamrie Hart and Michael Goldfine Starring: Grace Helbig, Hannah Hart and Mamrie Hart

Are You Here: Movie Review

Here, there, life is everywhere.

Are You Here is a light-hearted drama about some of life’s heavier themes – death, love, friendship, moving on and what it all means, and then offers some interesting laughs at the strangest times. Whatever you thought this film was supposed to be, it’s not that. It is a comedy, but hardly the road trip comedy it's advertised as. It's funny and clever, and it most certainly is a very odd look at life after loss.		2013 Directed by: Matthew Weiner Screenplay by: Matthew Weiner Starring: Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson

What If: Movie Review (AKA The F Word)

A romantic comedy with romance and comedy.

What If asks questions like, “what if your best friend is also the love of your life?” Alternate title The F Word stands for friendship, but it also wants to make sure you know how fun, fresh and explicit the dialogue is. Like a modern take on When Harry Met Sally, but one of the best things about the movie is that it’s a pure romantic comedy — plenty of romance and comedy and never veering away from that.		2013 Directed by: Michael Dowse Screenplay by: Elan Mastai Based on play by TJ Dawe, Michael Rinaldi Starring: Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan

About Alex: Movie Review

About an ensemble that gives a new generation a film to call their own.

About Alex is advertised as The Big Chill (1984) for Millennials or Gen Yers, but in an effort to not sell this film short, it’s for anybody who was too young to be able to call The Big Chill their own. The main actors are all over 30 and the social media references weren’t over-done. It also boasts an indie cast to die for. I’m a big fan of pretty much all of them and they are cast perfectly for their skills.		2014 Directed by: Jesse Zwick Screenplay by: Jesse Zwick Starring: Jason Ritter, Nate Parker, Aubrey Plaza, Max Greenfield and Maggie Grace

If I Stay: Movie Review

Come for the tears, stay for the romance.

If I Stay builds up the characters and their relationships long before it really presents the title dilemma, but that’s probably best for your tear ducts. Only a fraction of the movie is set in present day but the car accident that places 17-year-old Mia Hall (Chloe Grace Moretz) in a coma is at the beginning and then we get flashbacks to her childhood, musical education and especially to her boyfriend Adam. It’s just as much a romantic drama as it is a tear-jerker.		2014 Directed by: R.J. Cutler Screenplay by: Shauna Cross Based on novel by Gayle Forman Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, and Jamie Blackley

Magic in the Moonlight: Movie Review

A whimsical air of love and magic.

There are two movies within Magic in the Moonlight. One is a plot-driven, thematically-heavy comedy about a realist magician desperate to unmask the secrets of a spiritualist. The second is like a romantic drama asking if opposites can attract. The former is much better but knowing that Woody Allen isn’t going to include unconnected ideas, the film can be quite good for his die hard fans.		2014 Directed by: Woody Allen Screenplay by: Woody Allen Starring: Colin Firth, Emma Stone

Into the Storm: Movie Review

Into a whirlwind of intense stupidity.

“Let’s get outta here!” There’s a storm coming, so this means every character must scream that sentence every 20 minutes. Audiences should also heed their warning and just run aimlessly wherever you feel like it. The tornadoes (yes, that is plural, not just one tornado) in Into the Storm are far greater than anything ever recorded and not even storm shelters can save you.		2014 Directed by: Steven Quale Screenplay by: John Swetnam Starring: Richard Armitage, Sarah Wayne Callies

Boyhood: Movie Review

An epic slice of Texas life.

Boyhood literally examines all the points that make up a boy’s formative years. While viewers are free to extrapolate it to any boy, this movie is about one boy. Writer and director Richard Linklater first cast Ellar Coltrane as Mason at age 6 and filmed him and his movie family for the next 12 years. It is a flawless, moving piece of life in general that encapsulates all major moments and emotions.		2014 Directed by: Richard Linklater Screenplay by: Richard Linklater Starring: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke and Lorelei Linklater