I went to the free preview of The Rocker today, and I went by myself because you all wimped out (or more likely, don't live in Denver). It's a cute little movie, nothing great, certainly worth watching for free! Rainn Wilson is a former drummer whose heavy metal band dumped him right before they went big, and he's been bitter about it for 20 years. When his nephew's emo band A.D.D. needs a drummer, he jumps at the chance to play again, and when the band improbably becomes briefly popular because of a YouTube video, he sees it as his second chance of being a rock god. That description makes it sound like it has more edge than it really does; it's a genial comedy where everybody has learned a lesson and done some growing by the end.

Interestingly, the movie poster on the ticket says the movie would be released July 30, but now the website and imbd both say it's coming on August 20 instead. Someone has apparently got cold feet about its chances....

The movie has lots of SNL and 30 Rock cast members in large and small roles -- I wonder what the connection was? Also, I went thru the whole movie wondering where I had seen Emma Stone before -- turns out she was in Drive! That's pretty random...

Beth and I saw Step Brothers tonight at a free preview! It is basically just Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly creating two ridiculous characters (two 40-year-old men who still live at home and act like they are 12) and exploring all the possibilities of their interactions when they become stepbrothers, but it's very funny (and filthy too). It even holds up for the whole film, avoiding the usual problem of movies like this -- running out of material before the end of the movie. (It helps that the movie is only 100 minutes long or so.)

As long as I'm writing about movies, Beth and I saw WALL-E on Wednesday night. Now, there's a great movie! All the attention to detail and the heart and the cuteness and the message and the humor and on and on... It's not perfect (the ending is a little pat), but you really should see this movie! Wow!

We saw Hancock today with Scott & Jene. It's a pretty good little movie -- in fact, I'd probably say it's the best original (not based on a comic book or some other source) super-hero movie made (but I'm probably forgetting some obvious example that I really like). I'm not saying it's great, but it's fun and has some good action sequences and an unusual protagonist.

I hadn't heard all the buzz about the twist in the middle, so I was completely unprepared -- but Beth guessed it! I was wondering a little why Charlize Theron had taken such a minor role...

I couldn't convince anyone to go to Speed Racer with me, so I had to go alone, and you know it's not in real movie theaters anymore, so I had to go to the dollar theater.  But still, I had a blast!  I don't know why everyone was hatin' on it, 'cause it's pretty good.   It is relentlessly artificial, but once you buy into the look, it's very effective.  The racing scenes where thrilling and not at all hard to follow.  And I loved they way they handled the (frequent) flashbacks, with the past scene sliding into view behind the person who was remembering the flashback.

It does have some problems.  It is a family film, so there is a certain amount of juvenila you have to tolerate.  And it's kind of weird to hear all the sports movies clichés about playing for the love of the sport and doing the right thing in a movie about an essentially fictional sport (the racing in this movie bears little resemblance to auto racing in the real world).  But those are minor -- the movie is thrilling and fun to look at and it has Christina Ricci in it, so i recommend it. But you'd better move quick before it is gone from all theaters!

Went with Scott & Jene to see Get Smart today. It's pretty good, doesn't insult the TV show it's based on, lots of funny moments, Steve Carell wisely doesn't imitate Don Adams but instead makes the part his own, Anne Hathaway is coolly efficient (and hot!), and the whole thing is cast very well. And most importantly, it's not stupid (which seems to be a problem with comedies lately).
 

We saw this on Friday, and I'd have to say most of the reviews are accurate. It plays like a patchwork movie, with the individual parts clumsily sewn together. But -- those parts are all really good! You will be entertained.

Last night, we went and saw The Chronic. It was pretty good, with a lot more war than I expected -- and I'm not complaining (who doesn't like centaurs fighting Spaniards?), I just wasn't expecting it. It was best whenever Peter Dinklage or Eddie Izzard* were on-screen, and I got pretty tired of Aslan jerking everybody around and demanding they have faith in him (the Christian allegory this time bothered me much more than in the last movie for some reason).

Next, we really need to see Speed Racer before it is gone from theaters. The incredibly mixed reviews it is getting have me very intrigued...

*Technically, Eddie Izzard wasn't "on screen"...

Like most of the free world (it seems), Beth and I (and Scott & Jene) went to see Iron Man last weekend. And like everyone else, we really liked it, mainly because of Robert Downey Jr. So, if you haven't seen it yet, I recommend it...

Gee, that's short.  I'll post something else later too.

Beth and I went with Scott & Jene to see Juno on Sunday. (Beth was going to go to the Persuasion screening instead, but left that and joined us at Juno just in time.

I really liked Juno. It's filled with snark, but the pregnancy storyline is surprisingly touching too. I don't know how realistic its portrayal of teen pregnancy is (it's been a while since I was in high school, and even then I wasn't pregnant), but all the character's displayed emotional realism -- there wasn't a moment where they did something out-of-character or stupid to drive the plot (a curse of more plot-driven comedies, especially romantic comedies). Ellen Page is a great find, and Michael Cera is very good (although he doesn't seem to have much range, based on this and his earlier roles). And I want to own the soundtrack!