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wendybrown2128
Reviews
Rock of Ages (2012)
Can you make the 80s boring??? The answer is yes. WARNING SPOILERS
In 1987 I was 22. So I actually lived through this musical era. And it was a lot more fun being there in person in the 80s than sitting through this movie. First of all, there were filming glitches. In a couple of places including the bus station early in the movie there were things on screen that would not have existed in the 80s. That threw me off right away because the attention to detail of the era was lacking. But on to the acting and the music. The only real shining star of the movie was Tom Cruise. And I don't even like him. But he was fun to watch. Everyone else seemed air brushed and auto tuned. Russell Brand and Alec Baldwin were also decent. But the entire movie just didn't seem 80s enough to me. I'll put it this way. During the first hour I was debating walking out. The second hour I was checking my watch. I made it through but wish I had been more into it.
On another note, what was 80s about the strip club? The outfits, the interior....nothing said 80s to me. I feel like whoever was styling this movie either wasn't alive during the 80s or doesn't remember how everything, including outfits, looked.
Anyway, I give it a 4 for Tom Cruise. Other than that, it's 2 hours of my life gone forever.
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011)
Horrible memories of 9/11
Saw this finally a couple of weeks ago on an out of town trip and an evening with nothing going on. I'd heard that if you were directly involved in 9/11 or perhaps experienced Lower Manhattan on that day, this movie might be a *bit* much for you. Well, let me just say, its TOO much for anyone that experienced 9/11, period. Between the continued shots of the burning WTC towers to the slow motion pictures of falling bodies, to the lost posters, it was constant and extremely painful. What could have been a love story to the city of New York (similar to Midnight in Paris being a visual feast of Paris)fell short of that. Although the boy traveled all over the city, the movie did not take advantage of that in it's visuals.
The 9/11 visuals, details, audio, etc. just overwhelmed anything else in the movie and I was literally sick to my stomach by the time the movie ended. We all know what happened on 9/11...if they'd left it at the father dying in one of the towers it would have been fine. But it was a very brutal delivery of 9/11 over and over and over.
Midnight in Paris (2011)
Great movie, beautiful and fun to watch
Loved it! If you like Paris and you like famous authors and artists from the late 1800s and early 1900s, you will love this movie. Paris is beautiful, the unbelievable plot is fluidly believable. Rachel McAdams nails her character and Owen Wilson is perfect. Every time he runs across another famous person, it's like magic - like actually being there in the flesh. However, I do know someone who saw this movie and thought it was boring, mainly because they had no idea who the historical characters were, which frankly would make this hard to understand.
Loved the message of the movie and I can't wait to watch it again on a rainy night with a glass of wine.
The Tree of Life (2011)
Ugh, you lost me half way through
I love indy films and obscure art films but I just wasn't expecting what I got on this one. I guess with Sean Penn and Brad Pitt involved, I had anticipated something that at least made sense. It was like watching a slide show of slow, hazy, piecemeal scenes of a boy's life combined with images of volcanoes, waterfalls and dinosaurs. Yes, dinosaurs. And Sean Penn staring pensively out of what I believe is Pennzoil Plaza in downtown Houston....
Frankly, if it had moved a bit faster/started tying it all together earlier, I might have survived to the end. I can't tell you the last time I couldn't finish a movie - it's been years - but this one had to come out of the DVD player without seeing the end. It had a few memorable images, but it took too long to help you understand where it was headed.