Do you like dry humor and slow moving plots? Then you will love “The Life Aquatic”. After finishing the movie, I felt like I needed a glass of water: the movie was so dry! I would compare the humor to that of “Napoleon Dynamite”; however, Napoleon’s saving grace was the quotability of the lines.

The life aquatic has a great cast: Bill Murray, Angelica Huston, Cate Blanchett, Owen Wilson, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Gambon, and many others. It follows a documentarian, Steve Zissou (Murray), on his mission to track down and kill the shark that ate his best friend. They encounter pirates, relationship issues, and attempted mutiny along the way. The story is off the wall and just quirky. There were moments that were unbelievably hillarious, but there was also a lot of scenes that were completely stagnant. Much of the movie (the relationships, conflicts, etc.) seemed completely artificial, which was probably intentional, but left any of the important plot developments with little or no weight; ergo, the viewer was not at all invested in the movie or the outcome.

I wouldn’t say that I hated the movie, but I didn’t find it very enjoyable either. I would liken this movie to a cold cup of your favorite type of coffee: you want to like it, and you feel like you should like it, but it’s cold and ultimately unsatisfying. If you liked “Rushmore”, “The Royal Tenanbaums”, or “Lost in Translation”, this is your type of movie. I would recommend renting it, trying it out, and approaching it with an open mind. However, don’t be too upset if the movie leaves you unimpressed.

Jim Carrey, Téa Leoni, and Alec Baldwin star in this comedy. This movie is a humorous commentary on corporate scandals and American society. It starts with Dick (Jim Carrey) getting a huge promotion just before his company tanks. His company, like Enron, went bankrupt because of the decietful bookkeeping and corrupt actions of the company’s big men (CEO and CFO). As in the Enron story, the big men escape with all the money and the rest of the employees are left with nothing. The rest of the movie follows Dick and Jane while they unsuccessfully search for jobs and finally resort to a life of crime out of desperation.

The movie was hillarious in many parts, but, overall, it is not quite as funny as Jim’s old movies (Liar Liar, Dumb and Dumber). I loved the fact that it reminded all of us about corporate dishonesty; we need contunual refreshers, lest we don’t forget. The acting was very good by Carrey as well as Ms. Leoni. I don’t think that Baldwin was the right person to cast in his role: his accent was not very convincing, and he didn’t seem as sinister or as snobby as he should have. Overall, I think it was a very entertaining movie.

Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Robbie Coltrane, Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, and others star in this epic fantasy film based on the fourth novel in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.

This movie was tremendous! In my opinion, it was the best of the series. The acting was very good on the whole. The story was excellent and captivating. It explored some more complicated themes than the previous films: true friendships, the rigors of dating, choosing between “doing what is right and doing what is easy.” (I suppose our heros are growing older, so that goes with the territory). The movie made me laugh, and it almost made me cry. However, it is not a movie that I would take young children to see as it is much darker than the last few films (hence the PG-13 rating).

The problem with the film is not really even a problem with the film; it’s a problem with the book: the book is long…very long, and it’s tough to sqeeze everything from a long book into a 3 hr. movie. I had heard rumors that the people making the film wanted to split it up in to two movies so that everthing in the book could get covered, but I think that would have been a mistake. However, at the end of the movie, I found myself wishing I’d gotten to know all of the new characters much better, especially: Fluer Delacour, Cedric Diggory, and Victor Krum. None of these people had very substantial speaking to do, and their characters were not very well developed at all (and they seemed like such cool people too). Also, I wish some of my favorite people from prior films would have played a more substantial role: Snape, McGonagal, etc..

I felt like the movie had the potential to be 6 hours long, but that would not have been a pleasureable experience for your average movie goer; I, on the other hand, am a big nerd, so I could have handled it .

Most of the complaints I have heard in other reviews are from disgruntled fans who are upset about things from the book that have been left out of the movie. I can understand those feelings…but length is a luxury that books have that typical movies don’t. Even though some parts of the movie seemed abbreviated and many characters were left underdeveloped, the movie is already 2 hrs. and 40 min. long: give them a break.

Overall, this movie was very entertaining, and I recommend it highly.

Perhaps it is just me, but I love biopics. I love learning about someone’s life behind the scenes. It is especially cool to see a bio of a musician because you always wonder: “Where did he think up those lyrics? Why did he carry himself the way he did? How did he become the man that he became?”

Personally, I am a Johnny Cash fan just because my father would listen to Johnny Cash every so often. Johnny Cash has one of the most recognizable and enduring voices in music history. I didn’t grow up when he was at his prime, so I don’t remember him in the news or anything about him. In fact I didn’t even know what he looked like. I just knew his voice.

Well, in this flim, Joaquin Phoenix not only does an excellent job of making the drama real, but he does an impeccable job of imitating the legendary voice and guitar of Cash. Phoenix has proven himself to be an outstanding actor in this film…I was amazed. Reese Witherspoon does a fantastic job as well at complementing Phoenix’s performance as Cash’s longtime friend and eventual wife June Carter.

Though it’s not the happiest film you will see at the theatre, it is a great story, and the acting is phenomenal. I give the film five stars. Here’s a link to the review on Fandango.

Here’s a link to see the trailer and get movie times on Fandango.