Our Idiot Brother

When the writers of Our Idiot Brother titled it that they did not understate the character. Paul Rudd's character Ned is just that: an idiot. At times he was far too much of an idiot to even handle, but that was the whole point of the movie.

We meet Ned selling produce at a farmer's market where he proceeds to sell marijuana to a uniformed police officer. From here we follow him to jail and then see him getting out early for good behavior. He is an outstanding person. Ned's philosophy is that if you put your trust out there for everyone they will rise to the occasion. This acts both as a blessing and curse.

After he gets out of prison he needs a place to live so he couch surfs between his sisters' houses. Throughout the movie Ned does what he does best and people love him for it. As he meets new people he instantly becomes friends with them, but as he does this he hurts the people around him just by being himself. The pressure builds during the movie and the fun ensues from there.

Paul Rudd is, as usual, in a role perfect for him, though this time he isn't playing a lovable jerk, but is just a lovable man-child. His acting was spot on for this role and he was surrounded by outstanding supporting actresses: Emily Mortimer, Zooey Deschanel, and Elizabeth Banks, all giving great performances. Fans of Deschanel and Rashida Jones will be excited and surprised about their performances.

The script was perfect for the movie. Witty dialogue and entertaining characters were only possible because of the script. And these characters are similar to people that every family has. Every family has an "idiot" whether it's a brother, a sister, or a different relative. But the way this script is written it actually feels like most of the events could actually be real, which is surprising for a movie like this. The idiot brother gets himself into many different situations, but he is so naive that he doesn't realize the things he says are to the wrong people.

The music throughout was great too. With many songs by the great Willie Nelson fittingly played through the movie as a nod to Ned's dog Willie Nelson. The songs fit the mood of every scene and event. Especially the opening track: "Tie A Yellow RIbbon Round The Old Oak Tree".

Overall this was a good end of the summer comedy about living life your way and putting trust into everyone around you. Everyone should find a way to connect with at least one of the characters in Our Idiot Brother, though the language could be a bit much for some ears. Other than that this was a good movie and nearly everyone would enjoy it.

6.5/10

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark

Guillermo del Toro has the ability to take premises that have been done before and put a new spin on them. In this case Don't Be Afraid of the Dark takes an older movie Darkness Falls and revamps it and makes it new and exciting. While at some points I found myself thinking how dumb the characters were and some plot points just seemed stupid, I still enjoyed the storyline and the scarier moments of the film.

Throughout the film we follow a young girl Sally played by Bailee Madison as she learns the dark secrets of her new home. Not only does DBAOTB follow her journey in the house, but it follows her father and and his girlfriend spiraling into a state of mental peril. The acting from Katie Holmes and Bailee Madison is spectacular, portraying every emotion that a new "mother" figure and a young girl should have. The awkwardness and the developing relationship and all the emotions that come along with those interactions. 

While the two female roles were acted very well, a consistency in most of Guillermo del Toro's films, the male counterpart, Guy Pearce was not as well acted. However, this was partially due to the screenplay. His character, Alex, was the dumbest and most enraging character in the movie. Never listening to anybody but himself, following his own intuition making his girlfriend Kim angry and he is supposed to anger the audience at the same time. So in that regard his acting worked the way it was intended to, but he never really showed any emotion outside of a few minuscule moments.

The storyline was great! I loved the idea behind the creatures and how they moved and attacked. Outstanding! It may not have been the most believable premise, but horror movies rarely follow believable premises. The acting made up for that fact, but how the creatures came to be was very well established and for some people could be believable. Right from the start the audience is made to root for the little girl Sally because of her family situation, which of course works against Sally when the creatures start terrorizing the entire family.

Watching Don't Be Afraid of the Dark made me feel like a kid again. The sense of curiosity emanating from Sally through the movie was great fun to watch and reminded me of times when I was a kid. This movie can act as a reminder to adults and children alike that curiosity isn't always a bad thing and that you should rely on others just as much as you rely on yourself.

Overall, the movie was good. It was entertaining, but not very scary. The sets were massive and great fun to explore with Sally during the movie.

7/10

Transformers Dark Of The Moon

Following Shia LaBeouf, reprising his role as Sam Witwicky, this Michael Bay film has everything that makes a Bay movie what it is: crashes, cliches, cleavage, and CGI. We learn that the space race of the sixties wasn't just to be the first country to set foot on the moon, but was to study some alien technology that crashed on the moon.

The story made more sense this time around compared to the second one, but really, really lacked in any emotional connections that the first one had. There were still holes throughout the story though, but most of those holes were filled by Michael Bay just fading to black and coming back and everything is okay and already happened. The characters are in about to save the world? Fade to black, come back, and there are decepticons everywhere. I did like how they took some old footage of historic events like the landing on the moon and JFK addressing the men landing on the moon. It's always fun to see old footage combine with current films to create something new. The writers seemed to try and put more story into the movie rather than just focus on the action. This was a mistake in my opinion. They dragged the story out far too long, but I won't say that most of it wasn't fun to watch.

One of the many ironies of this film was the acting. It was really funny watching Shia LaBeouf and crew pump out different emotions and lines automatically, like robots. And then on the other end of the spectrum  Michael Bay tried to humanize the Transformers a little too much for my liking. Not only were the Transformers acting more like humans, but Michael Bay added red oil to the machines to look like blood as they were cut and injured. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley playing Carly Spencer, Sam Witwicky's new girlfriend, was a better actress than Megan Fox, and I actually think is more attractive. And of course she is wearing minimal clothing for most of the film.

Another thing that really bothered me was how much the idea of fighting for freedom was pushed onto the audience. It almost felt preachy at times. There would be Optimus Prime narrating and then he would pause and end his narration with "Today we fight for freedom". Why was that needed? I just don't get it.

While the story and the acting were less than proficient, the CGI and action sequences were outstanding! That's more of why Michael Bay's films still make money is because of his great use of CGI and special effects. The slow motion, while sometimes overused, worked well and was fun to watch. Seeing the actual transformers change always makes me want to go home and pull out my old transformers toys and play with them.

Overall, it was another Michael Bay film full of his trademarks, and was a fun summer blockbuster, but as far as movies are concerned this butt-numbing two and a half hours was far too long for this Transformers.

5/10