Most Anticipated Review: This is 40

21. This is 40 (R) - Runtime: 134 minutes
Starring: Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Albert Brooks
Director: Judd Apatow
Writer: Judd Apatow

I'm a big fan of Judd Apatow. He knows comedy and has, I think, been growing as a director through each of his first three films. Unfortunately, his fourth outing is somewhat of road bump (at least I hope it's only a road bump). What could have been a stroke of genius with making a sort-of sequel to Knocked Up, This is 40 ends up being a funny mess of a movie. It has its moments - and I laughed hard in some places - but as a cohesive movie, it does not work at all.

I can't really explain the plot to This is 40 - basically it's a look into the life a somewhat dysfunctional family and their trials and tribulations. What bothered me the most about this movie is there's this forced conflict of money problems. Of course Paul Rudd's Pete has been losing money - his business is failing, he's lending out money to his chump father and he doesn't say a word to his wife about this! This is basically the same plot structure of the most laziest comedies/sitcoms. The whole plot hinges on this dishonesty and I cannot believe that a couple that has been together this long could be so uncommunicative with each other. The movie tries very hard to show us these are real people but this is not how real people react in real life. I found this to be a very hard pill to swallow.

The other problem with the movie is the characters themselves. As side characters in Knocked Up, they were nice comic relief. Here, everyone is a complete asshole with pretty much no likability. Almost every character, including one of the kids, are such selfish jerks that the movie made me feel no sympathy for their problems. These characters don't develop - at the end of the movie, I felt that nobody learned anything - they're all still going to be a bunch of assholes living under a different roof.

It's a movie that seems stitched together - there's no real advance in the story. It's like Apatow had a few great comedic scenes he wanted to film, but decided he could extend into a feature-length film. So there's no development of a plot whatsoever - it's extremely frustrating because the movie is OVER two hours long! There's absolutely no reason for this movie to be more than an hour and a half. It suffers from poor editing (or no editing) and a lack of progress from an actual plot. Even the acting isn't top notch - Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann defintely inhabit their roles really well, but everyone else seems like they half showed up to this movie. John Lithgow, Albert Brooks, Chris O'Dowd and Jason Segal all seem to be phoning it in; they don't seem present within the movie.

Don't get me wrong, I laughed a lot - that 's a testament to how well the jokes land in this movie and how Apatow can still make me laugh despite not making a great film. It's just a terribly plotted movie and the characters are completely unrealistic. Some of the movie is just lazy filmmaking and bad editing. I cannot recommend this movie, even as a rental - there's just nothing really memorable about it!

Rating: Not Worth Paying For!

Review: Paranorman

Paranorman (PG) - Runtime: 92 minutes
Voiced By: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Directors: Chris Butler, Sam Fell
Writer: Chris Butler

I couldn't muster up too much excitement for this movie. I love stop motion animation and thought Coraline was a brilliant movie, but everything I saw about this movie made me think "meh" and maybe I'll check it out on DVD. I'm happy I did, because this is a wonderful film that is one of the best animated movies to come out this year.

Norman can see dead people. But instead of being a family-friendly retread of The Sixth Sense, the movie is more of a homage to old school horror flicks and filled with a lot more action than any of Shyamalan's films. He's an outcast and is ridiculed, but soon finds out that his power to see dead people will be the only thing to save his small town from an evil witch. Where the film ultimately ends up is amazing - I did not see it coming and I thought it to be more fitting than some spectacular action sequence that would have been fun to watch, but less fulfilling.

The characters are charming and the voice work is excellent. I loved the side characters just as much as Norman. It has a lot of funny moments and the movie is well-paced. It has a great message along with the paying homage to horror films in a cute way. This movie hits all the right notes - it's worth watching!

Rating: Rent It!

Review: Ruby Sparks

Ruby Sparks (R) - Runtime: 104 minutes
Starring: Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Chris Messina
Directors: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
Writer: Zoe Kazan

I feel like I was getting a bit of deja vu while watching this movie. I remember a film called Stranger Than Fiction coming out a few years ago and completely loving that movie. It was a bit odd and off-center, but fun and heartwarming all at the same time. And here we are with Ruby Sparks - a story very much similar to Stranger Than Fiction, but it's told from the opposite viewpoint - that of the creator, not the creation.

Paul Dano plays Calvin - a once-successful writer (really a one-hit wonder) who after succumbing to a bit of writer's block, stumbles upon a brilliant story and character that viola! comes to life! Ruby is his creation and his real girlfriend, but she doesn't know it. Whereas Stranger Than Fiction mostly dealt with having no control over your life, Ruby Sparks looks at the idea of having control over someone's life and relationship. The other major difference from these two movies is that STF is more light-hearted, sometimes comedic and Ruby Sparks is simply a dramatic drag at times.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie, but boy does it try to hit you over the head with it's MEANING and SYMBOLISM. The problem stems from the main character - Calvin. He's an overly pompous and unlikable twat. He's so full of himself and thinks his life is so miserable even though his book is getting made into a movie and he basically doesn't have to worry about money at all so all he has to do is write every now and then. It's completely off-putting and the film is intentional with this, but to a fault. I didn't care too much if he found true love. I just felt really, really sorry for Ruby and that she had to deal with Calvin.

What surprised me the most was his family - Calvin has an awesome family. Who wouldn't want Chris Messina as a brother? And Annette Benning may be a tad to hippieish for my tastes, but she loves her sons. Antonia Banderas shows up Calvin's mother's boyfriend who's also a hippie and I totally did a double take. This isn't your typical Banderas - he has a beard and white hair! It's crazy, but I totally dug his character - he made a chair for Calvin and my heart grew ten sizes! And although the shit Calvin puts Ruby through is pretty awful, I liked the ending. It was fitting and certainly made up for all the brooding and ostentatious dialogue. It's a movie worth checking out - it doesn't overstay its welcome and you'll end up with a smile on your face at the end and what more could you ask for?

Rating: Rent It!

Most Anticipated Review: Moonrise Kingdom

29. Moonrise Kingdom (PG-13) - Runtime: 94 minutes
Starring: Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis
Director: Wes Anderson
Writers: Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola

Let's just get this out of the way: I really, really enjoy Wes Anderson's movies. In fact, there hasn't been one movie I haven't enjoyed that's he's done. I've been a fan since he made Rushmore and even though he's pretty much not grown as a filmmaker, he's still one of the more imaginative and creative filmmakers out there. I'd call Anderson comfort food - you know what you're going to get and it won't ever surprise you, but it won't disappoint you either.

Moonrise Kingdom isn't a disappointment either. The story follows two young lovers who have a myriad of problems at home. They decide to runaway together and set up camp in the wilderness on their home island in the face of a breaking storm. Like most Anderson films, the characters are quirky and slightly off from reality but there's a certain charm and likeability to their traits. And the cinematography and design of the whole movie is gorgeous. What's a little different from most of his movies this time around is the story is always driving forward to this inevitable ending confrontation with the kids and the authorities that is also represented by the storm hitting the island. Usually Anderson's movies meander a bit and linger on certain scenes. But here, there's this drum beat of a pace that keeps pounding until the climax of the movie.

And although the pacing and story is quite refreshing from this perspective, there's still the always charming and oddly bizarre characters that seem somewhat familiar. There's a lot of stuff going on in this movie - there are a lot of characters and they all seem to carry their own baggage. And even if the cast is excessive, it's such a tightly wound movie that nothing really comes unravelling - the characters are all memorable and they all have their roles to play in the outcome of the ending. If I'm being vague with my description, Moonrise Kingdom is a hard movie to describe without telling the whole story and characters in great detail. You'll just have to trust me that this is a more rapid-fire, faster-paced Wes Anderson film than his previous installments and it's a fun ride the whole way.

The cast is exceptional, of course and I really think the standouts are the two lead kids. They totally sell their romance and I thought their whole relationship was truly romantic, if not a little absurd. They're both a little odd (and slightly mental - which after watching this right after the Sandy Hook shooting, it was interesting to see it from this mental health angle. At one point Suzy goes into a daze and stabs a kid that's attacking them! I really don't know what to read into this other than that it was more funny than serious from the film's perspective).

If you're not a fan of Wes Anderson this movie will not change your mind about him. Otherwise, if you like him or if you're just looking for a fun, quirky movie, Moonrise Kingdom will fill that void. It's an oddly romantic film and somewhat of a dismally cheerful movie (if that's a thing). It's really quite entertaining and I think multiple viewings are in store for this movie from me.

Rating: Own It!

Most Anticipated Review: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2

23. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (PG-13) - Runtime: 115 minutes
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner
Director: Bill Condon
Writer: Melissa Rosenberg

At long last I finally get to see how this all plays out. While I still think the first Twilight movie is the best (and probably the story should have just stopped there!), Eclipse was a fun movie, but the other two (New Moon and BD Part 1) could have been boiled down into twenty minute prologues before their subsequent sequels. It's a fairly satisfying ending to the franchise and I hope I never have to hear the name Renesmee again.

I'm not going to summarize the story - most people are familiar with it anyway and I don't feel like rehashing the fairly dull details. Suffice to say, the head vampires find out about the human/vampire hybrid child and want to kill it because it's like a metaphor for abortion, or something like that. So the whole movie is the build up to the end showdown between the Cullen family versus the Volturi. I honestly cannot remember too much about the rest of the movie except for the ending, which I will get to in a minute.

The first thing that bothered me about this movie was the CGI baby/toddler/child. Yes, instead of finding real, cheap babies and children to fill the screen with as Renesmee (seriously, the most effed up name on the planet! Gawd!), the filmmakers decide to throw away money (although it wasn't really well spent!) on a CGI baby. And it's disgustingly unreal and awkward in so many ways. I understand they wanted to show us how fast this kid will grow up (she goes from being a baby to like ten in less than a year), but it was handled so badly that I threw up a little in my mouth every time the kid was on screen. Seriously - they CGI'd a toddler's face to match the real (Mackenzie Foy) actor's face! Every time the kid was on screen it was completely distracting and I think I could have suspended disbelief just a tad more if the kid was real, just played by different actors at different ages. Although Maggie doesn't necessarily disagree with me, I don't think this absurdness bothered her as much as it bothered me!

And now onto the aforementioned big showdown. I really was looking forward to that wrestling-style spin and kick combo that Edward and Bella did in the trailer and this showdown did not disappoint! There was so much violence (but not that much blood! This is a PG-13 affair and think of the children!) that I was completely shocked at how much heads were decapitated and jaws were ripped apart without any real blood spilling or guts hanging out. I will spoil the whole ending here, so beware. The battle starts with Carlisle's head being ripped out! I was like, "Oh hell yes!" and shit started flying everywhere and the earth literally opened up to swallow wolves and vampires alike and so, so many people died. It was epic and awesome! The whole time Maggie's jaw was on the floor and at one point she was flipping off the screen and yelling obscenities at the movie. I asked her why she was so upset and she told me this didn't happen in the books AT ALL! I started laughing and couldn't help but revel in all the delicious carnage. It was really fun to see all those people die - it made the story seem more powerful - all of these martyrs dying for their cause.

BUT WAIT! Snap back to reality and it was all just a vision of the future from Alice! Nobody died! She shows this to the head Volturi dude and they all conclude it's not worth fighting over. So instead of the previous shitstorm becoming a reality, they all go their separate ways and Edward and Bella live happily ever after with their poorly named and creepy looking daughter. Who also happens to fall in love with Jacob in a way that just sends chills up my spine in a bad way. The whole ending is pretty awful.

Maggie was upset in a much different way. The movie totally punk'd her - she thought the whole overly dramatic battle was real and that the movie completely deviated from the book. Psyche! I don't think I've ever seen such a blatant and obvious scheme to lure in a male audience. They promise us with an epic battle and they deliver, but it's all not real! I felt a little bit shafted, albeit from a different perspective than Maggie.

So while I maintain the Twilight Saga is a decent to mediocre story, I think the universe Stephanie Meyer created is much, much more interesting than Edward's, Bella's and Jacob's silly little romantic story. Aside from the sparkly vampires, I'm way more intrigued by the history of the vampires, including the Volturi and how they came to power. That's a story I'd like to hear and I think it would be way more bloody and dramatic than a cheesy love triangle. Would I see these movies again? Probably not, but I was more invested into how the story would end and the movie does a fairly decent job of keeping my attention.

Rating: Rent It!

Most Anticipated Review: Safety Not Guaranteed

54. Safety Not Guaranteed (R) - Runtime: 86 minutes
Starring: Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Jake Johnson
Director: Colin Trevorrow
Writer: Derek Connolly

Much like Jeff, Who Lives at home, Safety Not Guaranteed is a small, quirky comedy that packs a lot of warmth and heart into its characters. It's a charming movie that runs under an hour and a half. It's hard not to at least like this movie, if not completely fall in love with the characters. It's surely high praise, but when a movie does so many things right, it's easy to forget some of its flaws.

The premise is simple - Darius (Plaza) is a Debbie Downer intern at a magazine and gets sucked into a story that "journalist" Jeff (Jake Johnson) wants to write about - a classified ad that reads: WANTED: Someone to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. You'll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. I have only done this once before. Safety not guaranteed. Jeff is a major toolbag and just looking for an excuse for a paid vacation and maybe make fun of the dude. But Darius (not the best name on the planet!) starts to question her intentions when she begins hanging out with Kenneth (Mark Duplass).

It's not a movie that has a lot of belly laughs - it's a bit more subtle than that. But it's clever and just quirky enough to make you smile. I wouldn't go so far as to call this a "hipster" movie, but it definitely has that hipster sensibility. The great thing about this movie is you really have no clue where it's going and the ending is masterful. I don't want to spoil the story too much, but it's an ending that a few will loathe and most people will smile and say "fitting."

The performances are great - Duplass is quickly becoming a favorite dude of mine (he can act, write and direct - triple threat! Watch out, ladies!). Aubrey Plaza plays pretty much her role in Parks and Recreation here and that's not a bad thing. But once again, props to Jake Johnson for stealing every scene he's in. Even though he's a complete douchebag, you grow to love him for all of his flaws.

The movie does feel a bit rushed and the love story that develops between Kenneth and Darius seems a bit out of left field to grasp. I wouldn't say I didn't see it coming, but felt it needed more time to sink in for the audience as well as the characters. But this is a minor quibbles in an otherwise charming and quaint movie.

Rating: Rent It!

The Most Anticipated Movies of 2013: Finale

List: 50-46 | 45-41 | 40-36 | 35-31 | 30-26 | 25-21 | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | 5-1 | Runners-Up: 10-6 | 5-1 |

We've finally arrived at the top five movies. I'm so very stoked for these movies, it's hard to explain how I feel. There's just so much potential for these films and they all have incredible talent both in front of and behind the camera. 3 of the 5 movies on this page are original scripts. Not based on a book or anything else - these are strictly Hollywood blockbusters in the making. It's pretty awesome that when a lot of sequels and reboots keep getting the green light and grab all the attention, there's still a hefty amount of awesome original stuff coming out. With that in mind let's start off the top 5 with one of the hardest working and most creative man working in Hollywood: Guillermo del Toro.

The Most Anticipated Movies of 2013: The Real Deal

List: 50-46 | 45-41 | 40-36 | 35-31 | 30-26 | 25-21 | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | 5-1 | Runners-Up: 10-6 | 5-1 |

The top ten has arrived a little late - but no worries, there's still plenty of time to figure out if I'm a giant d-bag for my selection! If there is going to be only 10 movies that I would pay full price on - this would be the list. I have really high expectations for all of these movies and if they come even close to fulfilling the hype they've landed on this blog, then I consider it a win!

The Most Anticipated Movies of 2013: Reboot!

List: 50-46 | 45-41 | 40-36 | 35-31 | 30-26 | 25-21 | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | 5-1 | Runners-Up: 10-6 | 5-1 |

We're getting down to the wire and I'm getting more and more excited as I write about these movies. I think there's a lot of potential for an amazing summer blockbuster season and these next five movies mostly fit that bill. It even seems like the studios want to extend that summer lovin' all the way through Thanksgiving because there's a summer superhero flick destined to show up during the least sexiest holiday of the year. I don't want to jinx anything, but 2013 is turning out to be a lot better than I expected.

The Most Anticipated Movies of 2013: Extra Point

List: 50-46 | 45-41 | 40-36 | 35-31 | 30-26 | 25-21 | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | 5-1 | Runners-Up: 10-6 | 5-1 |

Time to get back to the countdown after an unplanned hiatus. I feel like an idiot this week because I completely forgot about one of the biggest comedies coming out next year - Anchorman: The Legend Continues! Instead of leaving that movie out or kicking out a really awesome movie I want to see - I've simply added it as number 17A. I would have loved to put it much higher, but there's a great pairing with another comedy that works out really well and frankly, there's a lot of really kick-ass movies I want to see next year that I couldn't possibly bump down, even if it was for Ron Burgandy. So after feeling awful for being sick and busy at work the past few days, on top of feeling really really stupid, here's the next five (six, really!) movies!