2 Minute Movie Reviews.

Beowulf (B-)
I’m a big fan of 3D ever since The Bu. So I had to go see Beowulf while it was in theaters. I also read an article in Wired about how 3D technology is going to be the predominant way films are shot in a few years after Spielberg, Zemeckis, and King have all signed on to start working with the technology almost exclusively. So I wanted to see what the “new 3D” was like. And I’ll have to say, it’s not your momma’s 3D. None of the cheesy stuff that just flies at your face every 30 minutes. Instead, everything was in 3D. Scenery, nature, characters, objects. It was really, really cool. The move in and of itself wasn’t all that great. They could have just gone with the first 30 minutes and the last 15 minutes, but decided to kill an hour in the middle with boring plot structure. But it was worth seeing the 3D. Without it, I wouldn’t watch the movie or give it the time of day. And I should give a slight disclaimer. Just because they say the movie is “animated” (meaning it’s computer generated) doesn’t mean that Angelina Jolie looks animated when she walks around naked for 5 minutes. Parents and men beware.

Eagle vs. Shark (B-)
I love Jemaine Clement. Partly because of Flight of the Conchords. But mainly just because he’s so incredibly good at being the moody, eccentric guy from New Zealand. He’s like a grown-up, more refined Napoleon Dynamite. The plot by itself wasn’t all that great. If you saw the previews, you definitely saw the highlights. But for it being not as good as I thought it was going to be, it was surprisingly ok. Charming even. Only a certain kind of person would like this movie. And you already know who you are. If you’re unsure, then I would definitely stay away from it and hold on to those extra 2 hours of your life.

In The Land of Women (D)
This is a horrible movie. I have no idea why I downloaded it. Partly because there was nothing else to download at the time. Partly because I find Adam Brody to be an affable fellow. And partly because the soundtrack looked good. But the movie was bad. Really bad. Like in no plot, poor acting, Meg Ryan isn’t what she used to be bad. The only bright spot was that Adam Brody still remained affable and Makenzie Vega was pretty cute in her role. The only redeeming quality is that I found a new band that is amazing, Kingsbury Manx. Only problem being I can’t find them anywhere without buying them on iTunes. And they have 3 albums and I can’t decide which one I want to buy because of the freaking 30 second clips. And the 2 local record stores I visited don’t have them. But you should listen to them.

The Ex/Fast Track (C+)
This movie is what it is. The kind where after the first 5 minutes you know what’s going to happen in the last 5 minutes. I don’t know if it was just our mood (cuddled in an over-sized chair, Christmas tree lights, and fireplace) but we laughed out loud a lot and often. Jason Bateman was the bright spot. He’s freaking hilarious as always with his facial expressions and dry looks. I really like Amanda Peet (after seeing her in The Whole 9 Yards). But Zach Braff is starting to get on my nerves. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it’s because I hate Scrubs and his character and it’s always on one of the only 5 channels we get. I’m sure I’d like him in person. I’m just tired of his movie characters post-Garden State. They seem to be trying to hard to recreate that, cheap knock-offs of his role there. It’s an ok movie and something to watch if you’re bored and/or like Jason Bateman.