2 Minute Movie Reviews.

Juno (A-)
I liked this movie. I didn’t love it. To be fair though, I only have 2 complaints. Juno’s voice and dry wit got on my nerves after an hour. There was a 10 minute window in the middle of the movie that I kind of wanted to claw her eyes out. But I still found her to be extremely likable despite her voice. Ellen Page reminded me of Janeane Garofalo. My other complaint was that they didn’t give Michael Cera near enough time to work his magic. That dude is freaking hilarious and all we got was a cursory glance every now and then. Jason Bateman kind of creeped me out. And Jennifer Garner isn’t attractive as a suburban yuppie stay at home wife. But other than those glowing critiques, I like the movie a whole lot. It was cute. Charming. Unique. And honest. And the soundtrack is pretty sweet. And I don’t want to go all music snob on anyone here but Anna can vouch that I was listening to Kimya & The Moldy Peaches about 6 years ago. Back in the days of Napster (pre-Kaaza and Limewire) if that tells you anything.

Once (C)
The soundtrack is amazing. The movie didn’t do it for me. I know that’s going to get me killed by all the indie, movie/music lovers. But it just didn’t work for me. To be fair, I watched this movie with my parents while in Alabama over Christmas. Probably not the most conducive audience to watch it in. But I think I’d feel the same no matter what. It just felt slow to me. And while I loved the music. I just felt like I was watching like 20 music videos in a row. Which isn’t my thing. No matter how good the music is. But this is coming from a guy who pretty much altogether loathes concerts. The plot was kind of sappy and not believable as well. Again . . . I love The Frames (listen to Lay Me Down now). Love the soundtrack. Just didn’t love the movie.

The Golden Compass (A+)
A lot of people didn’t like this movie. Better yet, a lot of people didn’t even see this movie. Thanks a lot paranoid suburban moms and Christian isolationists! I felt like it was a really good story with really good acting. It was supposed to be a children’s movie (I think) but it felt like an adult movie to me. Way more mature and complex than Narnia (although I like the Narnia stuff better). It was so good that I actually went out and bought the first book when I got out of the theater. Fortunately, or unfortunately as it were, the book is not anywhere near as good as the movie. And they are drastically different in tone and content. So for once, I actually think the movie was better than the book. But I’m not a committed fan of the franchise so I should just remain silent. The movie was good. Entertaining, dark, complex, and adventurous. Not bad for a children’s franchise.

Cloverfield (A)
Despite me hyping this movie in ridiculous ways and despite there being no LOST tie-ins what so ever (that we know of currently), J.J. Abrams’ Cloverfield was really good. It had a rolling slow start (15-20 minutes) and then the action didn’t stop until the closing credits. It wasn’t really scary. But just intense action. I was nervous that the monster was going to come off hokey. But it was actually pretty freaking scary. My only complaint is that I have a splitting headache even as I write this from the hand held cams. Think of Blair Witch in downtown New York with a big monster destroying the city that just won’t go down. Even when it gets carpet bombed by B-52 bombers. That monster took a lickin and kept on tickin. Amen? Anyway . . . it’s good. I still think there is some sort of LOST connection at some point. I’ll keep you posted.