Palooza's Top 125 Films of 2012

[Palooza]

59 . Sinister

Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, Clare Foley, Michael Hall D'Addario, Fred Thompson, James Ransone, Vincent D'Onforio

Director(s) - Scott Derrickson
Writer(s) - Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill
Source Material/Connections - n/a
MPAA Rating - R
Release Date - October 12
Runtime - 1 hour, 49 minutes
RT Score - 63%
Metacritic - 53/100
Views - 1
Viewed - torrent
Quote - " Is there anything you won't do for your goddamn book?!"
Review - The best way to describe this movie is if The Ring and 1408 had a baby. It's the shitty parts of 1408 (minus John Cusack) and the good parts of The Ring. Ethan Hawke is perfect for the main role, he is the rich man's John Cusack. He can act - be a dick and still be likable. The movie is suspenseful and interesting, I admittedly jumped multiple times. A really fun, cynical ending is the best way to go about concluding a film like this. Really solid supporting cast with James Ransone (Ziggy from the Wire) as a Deputy who Hawke's character uses to his advantage, Fred Thompson (Law & Order, REAL LIFE POLITICS) as the Sheriff who is of NO help and Vincent D'Onforio as an expert of (insert weird shit) here that Hawke skypes with. The movie is more creepy, chilling and shocking than scary and feels like a breath of fresh air from the gory horror or corny ghost handy-cam films we've been subjected to as of late. Thar be spoilers ahead, mateys.

So we start the movie with a cool, beat up Super 8 video of four people getting lynched. We move on from that and into a bit of cliche. Ethan Hawke is a down-on-his-luck true crime writer whose chasing the success of his first novel and simultaneously running away from the controversy of his last. He moves his family (wife, 2 kids). He is writing about the aforementioned murders and the disappearance of a fifth member of the slain family. Little does his family know, they are living in the actual house that the murders took place in. This lie will obviously come into play later and probably ruin his marriage and force him to lose his mind. So he starts digging and he finds a set of 8mm films in his attic and we get into the art of snuff films! Hawke watches all of the films in the box and comes to realize they are all a string of families murdered in their home. We'll skip through the meat and jump into the potatoes - after some digging and some help from Deputy So and So (Ransone), Hawke thinks moving out is the successful choice and goes back home to where ever the fuck. WRONG! (SPOILER ALERT)! Moving is exactly what got them killed, if you live in the house where the last murders take place, the next house you move to you will die and will become the next stop on the death train. Each family was linked by having lived in the house of the ones murdered before and then moving and dying in their new house, creating a never ending cycle. Pretty cool to see Ethan Hawke realize it and get himself killed seconds after. Really well done, IMO. Totally leaves you with a great taste in your mouth, something necessary for horror films. The ending will make it or break it for you. And for someone who is super critical of the turd horror films that come out that I endlessly ignore, seeing this one was nowhere near a mistake or a regret. Very entertaining movie.

The "twist" is pretty cool, even though it's pretty extreme. It's well executed and while not refreshing, per se, it always feels better when films like this stay consistent and keep a pattern going or allow an unknown, unstoppable force carry on. The death of the central character is always a ballsy move and it proves extremely effective here, but with a planned sequel, it's interesting to see where they will go. I'm only excited for the sequel is if James Ransone is back in some capacity, but I'm sure they'll just create a new scenario and new characters to thrive within the realm of the patterned deaths. It'll become an easy cash grab and it will suck. Oh dear.
Rating: C

[Palooza]

58. Being Flynn

Paul Dano, Robert DeNiro, Olivia Thirlby, Julianne Moore, Lili Taylor, Dale Dickey, Victor Rasuk, Liam Broggy, Wes Studi

Director(s) - Paul Weitz
Writer(s) - Paul Weitz
Source Material/Connections - Based on the memoir "Another Bullshit Night in Suck City" by Nick Flynn
MPAA Rating - R
Release Date - March 2 (limited)
Runtime - 1 hour, 42 minutes
RT Score - 53%
Metacritic - 53/100
Views - 1
Viewed - torrent
Quote - "I'm Jonathan Flynn. Everything I write is a masterpiece."
Review - As a huge fan of the book, I was pleased in terms of an adaptation, but Robert DeNiro's hamming it up and over-the-top acting kept it from being as good as it could have been. A lesser known actor would have been more suitable although he did look almost exactly what I envisioned him to be. What also greatly disappoints me is that they had to change the title to a really, really indie family drama title. Another Bullshit Night in Suck City is an amazing title and it’s unfortunate that we as a society aren’t ready for publicly displayed cursing. David O Russell’s upcoming project is now “formerly titled American Bullshit” for the same reason. Beat. Oh well. As much as Paul Dano looks like a little weasel he has done a good job of picking roles that fit that creepy look of his. Here, he is a perfect Nick Flynn a young man who, even though he knows nothing of his alcoholic, delusional, homeless father (DeNiro), can’t help but slowly become. The film did a good job of capturing the book’s depiction of the inevitable reconnection of the two as pity rather than warmth. A lot of nothing happens and I can totally tell that the personal connections and interest I gained from the book helped me coast through some of the boring parts of the film. Paul Dano does a pretty perfect job as Nick Flynn, his ugly, raggedy look is exactly what the character needs. Like I said earlier, though, Robert DeNiro is his own worst enemy, trying too hard to capture of the eccentricities of the delusional homeless man. Mediocre at best.
Rating - C

[Palooza]

57 . Cloud Atlas

Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Wishaw, James D'Arcy, Zhou Xun, Keith David, David Gyasi, Susan Surandon, Hugh Grant

Director(s) - Tom Twyker, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Writer(s) - Tom Twyker, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Source Material/Connections - based on the 2004 novel of the same name by David Mitchell
MPAA Rating - R
Release Date - October 26
Runtime - 2 hours, 43 minutes
RT Score - 66%
Metacritic - 55/100
Views - 1
Viewed - in theaters
Quote - "What is an ocean but a multitude of drops?”
Review - As a whole, the term "beautiful disaster" was never as appropriate of a title for anything than it is for this film. An ambitious project made by some people who aren't afraid of a movie as impossible to adapt as this film. Behind this adaptation we have the Wachowskis of The Matrix fame and Tom Twyker, the genius behind Run Lola Run, one of my favorite foreign language movies. Together they make an extremely ambitious attempt at adapting the 6-part epic that spans centuries. The plot gets extremely sloppy and contradictory toward the end but you've had so much fun and have been blown away by visuals of the the past, present, and future that it makes it all okay. This movie has so many problems but so many enjoyable aspects that it the absolute definition of mediocre. It's flaws don't ruin it but the impressive parts of the film don't elevate it up anymore than it can. The basic theme that runs throughout the film is that of ever lasting love and the connections people have span throughout multiple lifetimes, each effecting the other in some way. Each actor plays about 6 characters, with only a few being left out of each. I'm not going to go into each storyline individually, but I will list them and give a brief, spoiler-y summary -

1849 - South Pacific Ocean (dir. Wachowskis)
Jim Sturgess meets Tom Hanks on an island and sees some negro whipping first hand. He doesn't like it. On the voyage back, Sturgess becomes ill and is actually being poisoned by Hanks. The negro who was whipped is actually on board and Sturgess helps him. He's actually a monkey so they free him and he becomes the best worker ever! Sturgess and his wife become anti-slavery advocators. Hanks is beat up by the negro.
1936 - Cambridge, England - (dir. Twyker)
A period drama where Ben Wishaw is gay, young and free. He is also a composer. He abandons his lover, Sixsmith (D'Arcy) to work for an aging, genius composer (Jim Broadbent). They hit it off and create some great music. Wishaw creates his masterpiece "The Cloud Atlas Sextet". He and Broadbent have a moment while playing and then Wishaw kisses him, they fight, threaten blackmail and then Wishaw shoots him, runs away and kills himself upon finishing his masterpiece and just before Sixsmith can stop him. The entire time Wishaw had been reading the diary of Sturgess's character in 1849.
1963 - San Francisco, California - (dir. Twyker)
Halle Berry is a journalist who uncovers a conspiracy of a nuclear reactor that is unsafe and being hidden from the public by Hugh Grant and his evil hitmen (Hugo Weaving, Keith David). Keith David actually knew Berry's pops, he saved his life, so he jumps sides and helps her expose the truth in a solid thriller. Twyker does a good job of keeping this one tense. Berry gets the initial story from an elder Sixsmith from the previous storyline, who is now a nuclear physicist.
2012 - UK (dir. Twyker)
After the gangster-turned-writer (Tom Hanks) throws a critic of his newest book off a roof at a party, he becomes an infamous star, but also goes to jail. His agent, Jim Broadbent, is sitting pretty until Hanks boys come after him for a ton of loot. He can't pay obviously because he's a bum who sucks at money. So he goes to his brother (Hugh Grant) who tosses him in an old folks home. There, Broadbent is tortured by theNurse Ratched esque head nurse (Hugo Weaving). Along with three other people, they escape in elaborate fashion. This storyline could have easily been The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel gone wrong. I dunno how awful that movie is, but this portion of the film is really lighthearted and funny, ending in a bar fight with futbol fans on their side, beating up Weaving and the rest of the staff. Once Broadbent gets out, he publishes a novel based on his experiences and also a novel about the life of Halle Berry's character from the previous storyline.
2144 - Neo Seoul, Korea (dir. Wachowskis)
The most visually stunning of all the stories, here we have a clone who is a servant in a futuristic world that is segregated. Sonmi-451 tells an interrogator her story leading up to her execution. After witnessing some things happen to her clone friend by a human, the human dies and she escapes with a resistance soldier (Jim Sturgess). Sturgess dies fighting the good fight, but not before Sonmi can record the gospel of their people and she becomes a martyr and a symbol for the resistance. She is executed, but not before watching a film about Jim Broadbent's character from the previous story.
2321 - The Big Island (dir. Wachowskis)
The most frustrating of all the stories, this one has Hanks as a tribesman in a post apocalyptic world. He is completely untechnological, relying on ancient voodoo and hunting to support his family. These people also believe Sonmi-451 to be a goddess and she is pretty much their Jesus. Enter Halle Berry from the futuristic part of the world where they are dying and hoping to send a signal from a point near their tribe where supposedly the devil lives. So the two trek together after Hanks owes her a favor and they struggle, but achieve their goal, but not after Hanks's tribe is slaughtered by cannibals. Hanks kills the leader (Hugh Grant), defeats his hallucination (Hugo Weaving) that feeds him his fear and escapes with his niece to the new world with Halle Berry. Jump ahead some time and they have made it to where they sent the signal to and now they are in love and Tom Hanks has been telling all these kids these stories.

Obviously the Twyker storylines are more plot driven and work well storytelling wise. The Wachowskis are visually stunning and extremely sloppy. The long runtime may seem like a drag, but the film works in like 5 minute intervals at each storyline. We jump and jump and jump. It's an ADD kids dream. They keep things flowing really well and it keeps you engaged. You cannot look away or get up. Sure the plot is extremely sloppy and completely contradictory at certain points (example - EVERYONE CAN BE GOOD AT SOME POINT, except Hugh Grant and Hugo Weaving play a villain every time and Susan Surandon is consistently useless). Each story has something really good and really "Wtf" about it, but it all seems to work for the sake of "art". This movie is completely experimental and, like I said - it's quite the beautiful disaster.
Rating - C

[Palooza]

I'm not going to go into each storyline individually

I totally lied.

[NAHSTE]

I am so into these. Gosh, you are great.

[Palooza]

56 . Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

Steve Carrell, Keira Knightly, Rob Corddry, William Peterson, Melanie Lynskey, Adam Brody, Tonita Castro, Mark Moses, Derrick Luke, Connie Britton, Patton Oswalt, Melina Dillon, Rob Heubel, Gillian Jacobs, T.J. Miller, Amy Schumer, Jim O'Heir, Martin Sheen, Nancy Carrell

Director(s) - Lorene Scafaria
Writer(s) - Lorene Scafaria
Source Material/Connections - n/a
MPAA Rating - R
Release Date - June 22
Runtime - 1 hour, 41 minutes
RT Score - 55%
Metacritic - 59/100
Views - 1
Viewed - torrent
Quote - "I won't steal anything, if you promise not to rape me."
Review - Even though this movie relies heavily on the "end of the world" scenario, backs itself into a corner and relies heavily on formula, the unlikely chemistry between Steve Carrell and Keira Knightly paired with some quirky side characters keeps this movie from falling flat on its face.

The movie is actually pretty damn funny, but it relies so heavily on the gimmick of the end of the world. The reactions to the recently announced end of the world are pretty hilarious. Carrell's wife literally runs away and leaves him, people are rioting out in the street, there is a half assed orgy with drugs and recklessness, among other things. Patton Oswalt relishes in the fact that women no long care who they are having sex with and he's loving the end of the world. Characters like Rob Corddry have lost all sense of anything and have simply fallen into a life of I-don't-give-a-fuck and his neglected wife (Connie Britton) wants to fuck Carrell as he sulks in a tub during the orgy. It's fun to see that everyones lives have gone into these two directions (I don't give a fuck and sex/drugs wahoooo) except Carrell's Dodge. Nothing has changed for him except now he is sad and lonely, not just sad. He even goes as far as to go to work like selling insurance means anything with 3 weeks left to live.

This movie actually starts off really funny with everyone's initial reaction to the impending doom, but once we get past that this movie feels tired, just trying to over do each ridiculous end of the world scenario. Even though it is one of my favorite scenes, the Friendzy's scene completely represents everything about this movie. It is taking a bleak situation and making an obnoxious joke out of it. If Keira Knightley and Steve Carrell weren't so damn likable, I'm sure the relationship between them would have seemed forced. What Steve Carrell promises Knightley in helping him find his true love before the world ends (ugh, horribly cliche rom com bullshit) is completely unrealistic. "Yeah, I haven't spoken to my dad in FOREVER, but he has a plane he will fly you from New York to England on his one passenger plane." Well, they all have a serious bonding experience before and after they meet Dodge's dad (Martin Sheen) and Knightley decides against going home to England and instead stays with Dodge.

But where does it all go? It starts off promising, but then it's just one ridiculous situation after the next after the next and it just feels so much like we're watching a movie it is hard to get caught up in the characters and the situation. You know how it will all end and these two best friends turned lovers would never exist without the situation that is ending their lives and even so, it's equal parts heartbreaking and forgettable. Since watching this movie I don't think I've thought about it once.
Rating - C

[Palooza]

55 . This is 40

Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Maude Apatow, Iris Apatow, Jason Segel, Charlyne Yi, Tim Bagely, Melissa McCarthy, Megan Fox, Albert Brooks, Ryan Lee, Lena Dunham, Chris O'Dowd, Rob Smigel, Billy Joe Armstrong, Annie Mumolo

Director(s) - Judd Apatow
Writer(s) - Judd Apatow
Source Material/Connections - somewhat sequel to 2007's Knocked Up
MPAA Rating - R
Release Date - December 21
Runtime - 2 hours, 13 minutes
RT Score - 52%
Metacritic - 59/100
Views - 1
Viewed - torrent
Quote - "What's the difference between a straight mustache and a gay mustache? The smell."
Review - While Judd Apatow's films usually have this genuine feel to them, they are always way too bloated, way too long and always some sort of sappy conclusion that only kind of fits within the spectrum of the film. The main problem with this film and with all of Apatow's movies is that he has fallen too much in love with what he is creating. He is blinded by the passion that he puts forth into his movies and there is never anyone there to bring him back to reality because he's always the big dick. This no more obvious than this movie, his exploration of Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) and their kids (Maude and Iris Apatow) a few years after the events of Knocked Up. Do you see those names up there? Leslie Mann. Maude Apatow. Iris Apatow. Do you see how Judd Apatow is too caught up in this things he loves? Yeah, he forces his family on the audience and they're easily the worst parts of the film. Leslie Mann, who has some pretty impressive range, is just a manic mess. She's happy then she's sad and nagging and annoying and bitchy and then Paul Rudd makes her happy but then a second later she's back to being a mess. Maude and Iris fight constantly and are easily some of the most annoying human being to grace god's green Earth. Iris is more tolerable because, even though she is no longer googling murder, she isn't the emotional mess that emulates their mother. She is a young girl trying to find her place in the family. I will admit though, Maude's side story about being obsessed with LOST is pretty funny if outdated.

What pissed me off more than anything is that you have allllllllllll these celebrity cameos. From Lena Dunham's fat ass to Robert Smigel to Melissa McCarthy to Megan Fox and you can't manage to get Seth Rogen in the movie for ONE SECOND?! I hate Katherine Heigl with great vengeance and furious anger, but the fact that she doesn't even exist a few years after being a staple in their life is ridiculous. Yeah sure, there is a picture of her in the living room and Rogen's Ben plays Words with Friends with Pete while he is taking a dump and Ben hooks Pete up with hash brownies, but WHERE ARE THEY?! Not even a nonchalant, "I can't believe Ben and Bitchface aren't at your party." "Oh yeah, Ben got deported to Canada." NOTHING. Fuck you, Judd.

All in all, Paul Rudd and the supporting characters essentially carry this movie through it's ups and deep lows. Just look at Leslie Mann's character for a representation of what this movie's feel is like. It's up and its down and it has many flaws which all stem from the complete control and stubbornness of the filmmaker. Don't think Apatow will be changing his formula any time soon, which is a shame because I used to look forward to his movies.
Rating - C

[Palooza]

54 . People Like Us

Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Hall D'Addario, Michelle Pfeiffer, Olivia Wilde, Jon Faverau, Mark Duplass, Philip Baker Hall

Director(s) - Alex Kurtzman
Writer(s) - Alex Kurtzman, Robert Orci, Jody Lambert
Source Material/Connections - n/a
MPAA Rating - PG-13
Release Date - June 29
Runtime - 1 hour, 55 minutes
RT Score - 56%
Metacritic - 49/100
Views - 1
Viewed - torrent
Quote - "Most doors in the world are closed, so if you find one that you want to get into, you damn well better have an interesting knock."
Review - Sometimes you watch a movie and you're like.. damn, this is such a movie. This is one of those cases. Here we have a family drama whose plot is based solely on a piece of knowledge one character is keeping from another. I can absolutely see where this frustrates people to the point of hatred toward the film. Usually, that would force me to hate a movie, but here Chris Pine is as smooth as ever and Elizabeth Banks shows off some of her acting chops and they carry the movie very well. Well enough to help you get over the secret-driven plot. So, Chris Pine is estranged from his parents, most notably his dad and we begin the movie where he has just found out about his passing. Pine is a salesman who has seemingly botched a deal and he is struggling to recover. He runs away to his mom's (Michelle Pfeiffer) for a weekend, mostly because he is forced by his hot girlfriend (Olivia Wilde). There he finds out there is no money for him, just for this lady named Frankie (Elizabeth Banks) and her son (Michael Hall D'Addario). Pine soon finds out that Frankie is actually his sister and he forces himself into their life, struggling to reveal the truth after becoming so close. Obviously, this is where the secrets come into play because he is being such a nice guy and leading her on, being a father to her son and when the secrets finally come out (after she tries to hook up with him, yuck!), they fight blah blah blah, you know how movies work. Now we have to reconnect in someway that is relevant to things we've seen in the movie. They finally make up and Pine gets the girl and everyone is happy that they're a family. It's actually really emotional and entertaining stuff. I really enjoyed it, but you have to be able to accept the plot for what it is and the tiring movie conventions it exploits. I'm a huge fan of Pine, Banks and Wilde, so it was not hard for me to get into this. Pine has that coolness that oozes out of him, no homo, that makes the movie very easy to watch. Surprisingly written and directed by the sci-fi action guys of today Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek, Fringe, Transformers, Mission: Impossible III). It's a really strange change of pace for these guys but you can tell it was something of a passion project. It doesn't fail but it doesn't necessarily deliver either. Without Pine and Banks charisma, I wonder how bad of a movie this really would have been.
Rating - C

[Cornelius]

Entertainment Weekly gave This is 40 an A. I haven't seen it, but it seemed like a 'Judd Apatow casts his wife again' type movie. I'll watch it without judging it any more.

[Palooza]

Entertainment Weekly gave This is 40 an A. I haven't seen it, but it seemed like a 'Judd Apatow casts his wife again' type movie. I'll watch it without judging it any more.

Leslie Mann is tolerable, it's Maude who sucks. An A is ridiculous, though, Entertainment Weekly is beat.

One, maybe two more Cs left. Been on the fence about a few and have been seriously rearranging the rankings as I go. A ranking isn't set in stone until I post it. How fun!

[Goober]

Did 'This is 40' even have a plot? It seemed to get really serious with the financial problem stuff, which was weird.

[Palooza]

53 . The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey

Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Graham McTavish, Ken Stott, Aiden Turner, Dean O'Gorman, Mark Hadlow, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Peter Hambleton, William Kirchir, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee, Sylvester McCoy, Ian Holm, Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis, Manu Bennett, Lee Pace, Benedict Cumberbatch, Barry Humpfries, John Rawls, Bret McKenzie, Kiran Shah, Jeffrey Thomas, Michael Mizrahi

Director(s) - Peter Jackson
Writer(s) - Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Toro
Source Material/Connections - Based on the 1937 children's fantasy novel "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkein. Prequel to The Lord of the Rings films.
MPAA Rating - PG-13
Release Date - December 14
Runtime - 2 hours, 50 minutes
RT Score - 65%
Metacritic - 58/100
Views - 1
Viewed - in theaters
Quote - "I would have doubted me too"
Review - On one hand, there are so many things wrong with the idea of making this movie - Peter Jackson was essentially forced into it, so the passion was lacking, this story is much more lighthearted than the Lord of the Rings and even looking past that, was it really necessary to do this? No, probably not. On the other hand, sometimes a world and its source material are so good, you can't help but want as much of it as you can get. This movie is equal parts cash grab and fan-pleasing. Somewhere blurred inbetween is a weird mix of Peter Jackson not having the heart or passion for this anymore and trying so hard to recapture what made the Lord of the Rings trilogy so great.

Martin Freeman as Bilbo is a perfect choice. He knocks it out of the park, but the problem is that the film is already so long and so bloated with characters who need screentime that Bilbo gets lost in the shuffle. Outside of the best scene of the movie where Bilbo meets Gollum, Bilbo is more a part of the audience, looking on as Gandalf makes things happen. He does have a heroic moment of sorts during the film's climax that helps erase the thoughts of "why the fuck are you there, Bilbo?!" even though you know very well why he is.

The screentime that is taken away from Bilbo is handed off to another wizard, Radaghast the Brown, who is an animal whisperer and also the weirdest dude in Middle Earth. His entire body looks like a Hobbit's foot. He's annoying and brings the movie down. He takes up way too much screen time, even if it isn't all that much. In a movie that's already pushing 3 hours, you could have cut some of his bullshit. In addition to this, there are so many damn dwarves it is almost impossible to keep track. All I paid attention to was the only one who was important - Thorin Oakensheild, who is a stubborn badass and pretty much the poor man's Aragorn at this point. On top of that shit, all their make up made them look like Christopher Meloni as Freakshow in Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle.

The comparisons between Lord of the Rings will forever haunt this trilogy. This is supposed to be more appropriate for children and lighthearted, but for someone of my age and interests, it's hard not to watch a bunch of dwarves toss around dishes while singing weird tunes and not laugh at how stupid and ridiculous it is. It really takes you out of the movie because it feels so corny and childish, even if it is supposed to.

48 fps. The biggest crime of the film. Peter Jackson, the visuals are ruined because of this. Everything looks like its painted on a canvas and the makeup for the characters, especially the dwarves is so laughable. It really takes you out of the film. A piss poor experiment, I don't wanna see a pseudo-violent soap opera reality show that takes place on Middle Earth. Nuh uh.

All in all, it's hard not to blame both myself and everyone involved for the disappointment that this movie is. Not sure what the fuck was going on with Peter Jackson for this one, but he's all over the place. My expectations were low, I thought, but once I was back in Middle Earth, I didn't want it to be as disappointing as it was. I hope things get better as they go along and there is more of the tension and fun that there was during the climax and the Bilbo/Gollum meeting.
Rating - C

[Palooza]

52 . Bachelorette

Kirsten Dunst, Lizzy Caplan, Isla Fisher, Rebel Wilson, Kyle Borheimer, James Marsden, Adam Scott, Horatio Sanz, Hayes MacArthur

Director(s) - Leslye Headland
Writer(s) - Leslye Headland
Source Material/Connections - n/a
MPAA Rating - R
Release Date - September 7
Runtime - 1 hour, 31 minutes
RT Score - 55%
Metacritic - 52/100
Views - 1
Viewed - VOD
Quote - "What do you call a bachelorette party without a bride?" "Friday."
Review - This movie will forever get lost in the shadow of the HIGHLY overrated Bridesmaids and it's totally unjust. Simply because they have similar titles and deal with the same basic concept of women celebrating their marriage. It's actually more in the vein of a dark version of a previous entry on our list 10 Years. What we've got here is essentially a reunion/wedding movie that really serves as a way to allow the three leads to reflect on their lives from when they ruled high school to where they are currently as they watch their least favorite friend (Rebel Wilson) get married. The three main bridesmaids played by Kirsten Dunst, Lizzy Caplan and Isla Fisher all represent the high school stereotypes, but grown up. These three women (the bitch, the burnout, the ditz, respectively) will make or break the movie for you. For the most part, they are awful people. Everything they do is selfish and fucked up, but I couldn't help but root for them. Kirsten Dunst is a perfect controlling bitch and here she thrives, carrying on the success she had with 2011's Melancholia. Lizzy Caplan is a fucking goddess and can do no wrong and when you pair her up with FUCKING ADAM SCOTT HOW CAN I NOT LOVE THIS MOVIE?!!?! Seriously, that is fucking incredible. If every filmmaker does this, you have a good movie in my book. I don't even wanna talk about this movie anymore. PARTY DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

p.s. Rebel Wilson is hilarious and so much funnier than Melissa McCarthy's fat ass, I'll do her justice in a few posts...
Rating - B-

[DoubleDeuce]

Hobbit too low imo.. but then again I'm a LOTR nerd and loved it

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Hobbit is definitely too low.

On par with the original trilogy? No. But, I felt Jackson gave LOTR fans exactly what they wanted, which was a trip back to Middle Earth...a little more light hearted than the original Trilogy. The "Fellowship" of this series, I supposed.