Movie Review

You've definitely seen a movie like The Art of Getting By before. It's the coming-of-age story of a young man trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life, and falling for his dream girl in the process. Though the Manhattan-set dramedy doesn't break new territory, it's still a heartwarming, clever film with a pair of appealing leads in Emma Roberts and Freddie Highmore.

Highmore plays George, a high school senior whose penchant for avoiding his assignments has earned him something of a reputation — and the risk of not graduating. The only things that can keep his attention are his art (well, his very concentrated efforts at doodling) and a girl named Sally (Roberts). Sally is the prototypical high school princess who beguiles George from the moment they start hanging out. Sally is intrigued by George and his talent for slacking, and they become friends, though it's obvious that George has more-than-friendly feelings for her. Even though the course of their relationship is as predictable as that of a Hollywood romantic comedy, watching George and Sally go from friends to something more is a pleasure. To find out what else I thought of The Art of Getting By, just read more

I dare you to say that you're not curious about Super 8, J.J. Abrams's 1979-set film about a group of kids who witness a spectacular train crash. The film has generated a lot of hype for what it doesn't show in trailers and promos, and it's the mystery that's the big draw. The previews do reveal that something escapes the crash and then stalks and terrorizes a small Midwestern town, which Abrams uses as a premise for a sentimental, nostalgia-filled portrait of a group of boys making a movie.

Joel Courtney leads the charge as Joe, a sensitive boy who has just lost his mother in an accident. He and his newly widowed father (Kyle Chandler) are figuring out how to get along with each other without the woman of the house while dealing with their grief. Joe's group of buds help distract him from his home life, as they fill their Summer vacation by making a movie for an amateur film festival. When they're filming a climactic scene near the train tracks, they watch — and film — an intense accident that has some pretty distressing repercussions. With Steven Spielberg on hand as producer, Super 8 often feels like one of his classic sci-fi standbys, but it's just not quite as memorable. However, it's still a fun, heart-pumping ride (the train crash is one of the best action sequences I've seen in a long time). To find out what else I thought, just read more

In a Summer full of sequels, X-Men: First Class does more than live up to its franchise — it improves upon it. With a combination of great actors, a compelling story, and a fun, swingin' '60s setting, X-Men First Class is an entertaining blockbuster that doesn't sacrifice any substance for style. Technically a prequel rather than a sequel, First Class visits the universe of the X-Men before they came into their own as superheroes. James McAvoy is the young Charles Xavier, a new professor studying genetic mutation, with his own to boot: telepathy. Michael Fassbender plays Erik Lensherr, a man who witnessed the murder of his family during the Holocaust as a boy, and who has spent much of his adulthood tracking down and killing those responsible. At his disposal is his own mutation: the ability to attract and manipulate metal like a magnet, eventually earning the nickname Magneto.

When upstart CIA agent Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne) is monitoring suspicious businessman Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) and his involvement with nuclear weaponry, she witnesses his alliance of mutant minions. Moira consults Charles for his mutant research, recruiting him to help in her investigation. Erik and Charles encounter each other while Erik is hunting Shaw, who happens to be the man who killed Erik's mother. Erik and Charles find that they have much in common and form a fast friendship. Though the plot is propelled forward by the pursuit of the villain Shaw, the real meat of the movie is in the origin story of the mutant characters and how they came to harness their powers as X-Men. It's an angle that breathes fresh new life into the series, and the clean slate is an opportunity that's not wasted by director and writer Matthew Vaughn. Find out why I enjoyed X-Men: First Class so much when you read more

It's impressive when a film can find magic and beauty in the everyday, and it's even more remarkable when a film can find such things in life's tragedies. The drama Beginners does just that, forging a lovely, touching gem from its main character's personal sorrow. Ewan McGregor stars as Oliver, a thirty-something man dealing with the death of his parents. When the film begins, Oliver has just lost his mother, but her passing prompts his father Hal (Christopher Plummer) to come out to his son. His other admission is that he has terminal cancer, so Hal only has a few more years to live, and he declares his intention to live the rest of his life as an openly gay man and experience all he had missed out on.

From there, the film follows two courses; one in which we witness Hal's final years as he lives it up and becomes closer to Oliver, and another that takes place after Hal has died. Grieving the loss of his father, Oliver tries to move on, and attempts to connect with a new love interest, Anna (Melanie Laurent). When Oliver meets Anna, a French actress who's frequently traveling for work, he's a melancholy shell of himself. His grief is heightened because his father's rediscovery of himself and subsequent happiness makes Oliver miss a man he was just getting acquainted with. As Oliver struggles to recover from loss, he finds solace in his memories, but it's uncertain whether he'll be able to let go enough to find the total happiness he obviously wants. While it's a setup that could be depressing or frustrating, the gentle hand of writer/director Mike Mills makes Beginners a gem of a movie that meditates on love, death, loss, and hope. To see why I loved the film, just read more

The expectations for the sequel to The Hangover really couldn't have been higher, considering how beloved the original is. Before you see the film, I advise that you severely lower the bar for The Hangover Part II, because it is, unfortunately, a shadow of its predecessor. In the second film, Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Doug (Justin Bartha) and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) are headed to a wedding and want to have one last bachelor party hurrah before one of them gets married. Sound familiar? It should. The plot is exactly the same as the first movie.

Sure, there are some tweaks. This time, it's Stu that's getting married, and the boys are all headed to Thailand for the event. When the guys decide to have a low-key night before the wedding, they toast their beer bottles . . . and then wake up the next morning in Bangkok with absolutely no memory of the previous evening. They spend the rest of the movie piecing together the details of the night so they can locate a missing member of their group.

The Hangover Part II is a retread that's so close to the original, you wonder if the writers doubted its audience's intelligence or were just too lazy to come up with something new. Either way, the movie and its signature wolf pack still get laughs, but it's lacking the magic that made the original Hangover an instant classic. To see what else I thought, just read more

Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life is, in a word, ambitious. The film is a mixed bag of rich imagery, fragmented storytelling, and commentary on the circle of life and how we're all connected. Malick tackles themes that resonate with all of us: life, death, religion, and family, but what you take away from the abstract film is entirely up to you. I left the theater impressed by Malick's effort and execution, but wishing for a more emotional response. In a nutshell, The Tree of Life is like looking at a painting: to some it may be a masterpiece, others will just see another piece of art they don't get.

In the midst of enough gorgeous footage to fill a National Geographic documentary (Malick certainly puts the "tree" in The Tree of Life), is the story of the O'Brien family in the 1950s. More specifically, the film follows Jack, the eldest of three brothers who reflects on his childhood and the milestones that shaped him as he came of age. Sean Penn plays present-day Jack, who struggles with the meaning of his younger brother's death in battle and his relationship with his family and God. As a child, Jack is adored by his doting mother (Jessica Chastain) and berated by his father (Brad Pitt). The struggle between his innate desire to be just like his father and his will to defy him present one of the bigger conflicts of the film. As his voice-over whispers in prayer: "Why should I be good if you aren't?" To find out what else I thought of the film, just read more

Even though Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides has the shortest running time of all the installments in Disney's adventure series, its overstuffed treasure chest of filler makes it feel hours longer than it is. While the plot is solid and makes more sense than those of the earlier Pirates movies, there are too many distractions. Overly long battles, boring action sequences, and unnecessary scenes stretch what could have been a snappy amusement into a bloated, almost two-and-a-half-hour movie.

Johnny Depp is back as Captain Jack Sparrow, this time with a new nemesis: his scorned ex-lover Angelica (Penelope Cruz). Though she's furious that Jack left her years ago after seducing her, she's not the villain of the movie — her boss, the evil Blackbeard (Ian McShane), is. Angelica serves as the first mate on his ship, which she drags Jack onto so he can help direct them to the elusive Fountain of Youth. The mythical place can save Blackbeard from his predicted fate: death at the hands of Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), who's on their tail, eager to fulfill Blackbeard's destiny.

To read about the movie's few redeeming qualities, just keep reading.

You don't need to be a Francophile to appreciate all that Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris has to offer. The film is immersed in gorgeous French scenery, bathed in the kind of soft lighting that just makes you sigh with a sense of satisfaction. It's easy to see why Gil (Owen Wilson) wants to hunker down in Paris's quaint coffee shops to focus on his novel, an idea that his shallow wife Inez (Rachel McAdams) scoffs at. During a trip to France, the couple embodies the two stereotypical sides of spending time abroad: he's filled with appreciation and seeking inspiration while she's seeing the sights but not really experiencing them.

It's obvious from the start that Gil and Inez are incredibly wrong for each other, but it takes a few separate adventures in Paris to illustrate their fundamental differences. Inez is unabashedly attracted to her former professor, Paul (Michael Sheen), whom she and Gil bump into at a restaurant. When she splits off to go dancing, Gil gets the chance to wander the streets alone — and he gets a lot more than he bargained for when a car comes by to pick him up at midnight.

To see why Midnight in Paris is another hit from Allen (warning: some spoilers ahead), just read more

Comedies of the past few years have been heavy on boys being boys, but Bridesmaids gives the girls a turn to show off their comedic chops — and they're overachieving here. Though the title screams "wedding movie," it's more about female friendships and the strain that wedding planning can put on them.

Kristen Wiig plays Annie, a 30-something struggling with her career after losing her business and sleeping with a man who won't date her (Jon Hamm). Needless to say, Annie isn't exactly living the dream when her best friend Lil shows up with a ring on her finger, but she's truly happy for her friend. However, she realizes how much work being the maid of honor is going to be when she's pulled out of her element by the wide variety of women joining her in the wedding party: Rita (Wendi McLendon-Covey), Becca (Ellie Kemper), Megan (Melissa McCarthy), and Helen (Rose Byrne). Once the group is assembled, the ladies embark on a series of rather unladylike adventures that make up two hours of nonstop laughs.

To find out why Bridesmaids is one of the funniest movies of the year, just read more

Something Borrowed presents the kinds of conundrums and moral dilemmas that we've seen on screen a million times before: what do you do when you have the hots for someone who doesn't want you in return? Or what if he does return your feelings, but he's already spoken for? These issues may exist beyond teenage years, but Something Borrowed is so fluffy that the film is more like an extra long episode of Gossip Girl than a realistic portrayal of love and friendship.

At the epicenter of the tangled web is mousy lawyer Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin), who's spent her life loyally playing second fiddle to her outgoing, obnoxious-but-hot-so-she's-forgiven best friend Darcy (Kate Hudson). Rachel's self-esteem is at an all-time low on her 30th birthday, and after a few drinks she inadvertently admits to Darcy's fiancé Dex (Colin Egglesfield) that she had a crush on him during their law school days together. They end up in the sack, thus inciting a Summer of longing glances across the room, weekend rendezvous, and a whole lot of secret keeping. Though there are plenty of jokes along the way, ultimately there's no way to make light of the fact that we're supposed to be rooting for a relationship dripping with betrayal.

To see why Something Borrowed falls flat, just keep reading.