WALL-E (2008)

“WALL-E” is Pixar Studios latest offering. It is about a small robot WALL-E that is cleaning up the planet Earth after seven hundred years of desolation. It is the last WALL-E in existence. It is friends with a cockroach that reminds you of Kenny from “South Park.”

One day, a scout ship comes and drops off, EVE. WALL-E falls in love. It shows EVE his ship and also the 1950s musicals on the TV. It’s so touching the love story. The scenes of the planet were superb.

However, when the action goes into the mother ship when Eva is summoned back with WALL-E close behind, I have to say that it turned me off. The whole ship is filled with advertisements for the Buy N Large, a company that is controlling everything on the ships. The ship is home to four hundred pound humans that drink their meals, talk to people beside them on virtual screens, and them reclined in their chairs. People that are completely myopic that they don’t know how to walk, read or see what is around them.

It is painting an unflattering look at consumerism, commerialism, our carbon footprint, global warming, littering and what will the future unfold if we don’t change our ways. It’s basically saying that this is what America is. I don’t need your propaganda.

The animation on the spaceship looks cartoonish. WTF! Another thing, if they stayed in those chairs for 700 years. How did they have sex?

Doesn’t WALL-E remind you of Short Circuit?

I loved the love story between EVE and WALL-E. You have to get past the preachiness of the spaceship scenes.

Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)

Mike Leigh’s latest effort, “Happy-Go-Lucky” is a primary school teacher named Poppy that constantly happy. Everywhere she goes she wants to brighten up there day with a little quip, “Try a smile” or making meaningless small talk to get people out of their funky moods.

In the beginning – while in a bookshop – her bicycle is taken. Most people would panic, scream, and curse. Not Poppy. She shrugs it off that it happens and moves on.

She goes to take some diving lessons from a hotheaded driving instructor, Scott that thinks her cheery laissez-faire demeanor irritates him. Poppy is like in her on world of Poppyland Nobody really understands that. She like a child to me, without a care in the world. So carefree.

There is one scene I thought it needed to be cut out is the scene with Poppy and the homeless man. Everything stops in that scene.

Look out for the interaction between Poppy and a little boy in her class, Nick. Wow.

Go see this film. I was having a bad mood, but Poppy’s exuberance is quite infectious. Is this film better than Prozac? Kidding. It doesn’t have the bad side effects.

Sally Hawkins is good here. Is she Oscar material? Maybe. The Oscars doesn’t like comedic performances. Eddie Marsan, who plays the driving instructor has a better shot. I think the Best Actress will be very crowded.

I have to say this, be prepared for “Enrahah.”

Waitress (2007)

“Waitress” is a slice of life debut from actor/writer/director Adrienne Shelley. It tells the story of an unhappy waitress, Jenna working at “Joe’s Pie Shop”. Deals with her day-to-day stresses by making pies with weird ingredients that somehow work well together. Some people swear that the maker puts their heart, soul, and love into their creations. It’s so true here.

Kerri Russell plays Jenna that has to deal with her pathetic man-child of husband, Earl (Jeremy Sisto), the cantankerous shop owner, Joe (Andy Griffith), and dealing with the fact she found out that she’s pregnant.

At first, Jenna doesn’t want the baby, because it would remind her of the things she didn’t accomplish in her life after her mom died.

Then, she meets Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion) who is her OBGYN. For some odd reason, she is attracted to him. An affair happens during the course of her pregnancy.

I won’t spoil the ending, but I will say it was a perfect ending for Jenna. She needs to start over with a clean slate. I am going through the same situation. Somewhat.

The movie is all about trying to find some kind of happiness in your life. If you are not happy, then you have to change in order to find your happiness. Everybody in “Waitress” are longing for some kind of excitement in their lives that they could only do in their small town.

This is a must see movie.

Grindhouse (2007)

All I have to say is “What the fuck?” What are they smoking when they thought to finance this schlock?

Pineapple Express (2008)

I recently caught “Pineapple Express”. I have to preface this by saying I hate stoner comedies. They are not funny to me. I watched “Half-Baked” and “Bongwater” and I don’t find those kinds of movies funny.

Like some Apatow movies that he directs or produces—only produced this, the characters would get high. Those times I think it’s funny like “40 Year Old Virgin” or “Knocked Up.” It lost me here.

“Pineapple Express” is about stoner process server, Dale Denton. Dale witnesses a drug deal gone wrong when Gary Cole and Rosie Perez characters kill a guy. A domino effect happens. Hilarity ensues. I thought that I was in a shoot ‘em up movie for awhile. What’s up with that?
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James Franco plays the pot dealer, Saul. He was good in this movie. Better than Seth Rogen.

The beginning of the movie needed to be cut out. I know that Seth Rogen co-wrote this film. I didn’t find it funny at all.

“Pineapple Express” comes from the brand of powerful ganja from Hawaii. I would rather watch “Knocked Up” again then this movie.

Cinderella Man (2005)

I have seen this movie a couple of times. I don’t get it. I hate the title. Awful title. I know that Braddock was called that, but damn.

I know people heard the story about the American boxing hero of the Depression, Jim Braddock and his rise to fame.

Personally, for me this movie is not my kind of movie. If this movie was made in the 70s, then it would have been better. Maybe that Ron Howard directing it was a big problem of the movie. I was not moved or rooting for Braddock to win.

I heard that they have to put prosthetics to make Russell Crowe look like Braddock, but he doesn’t look anything like him. I didn’t look any different that Crowe in real life.

It’s really getting bothersome with Howard casting the same leading men in his films, like Crowe or Tom Hanks. Boring.

Fallen (1998)

Denzel Washington plays a detective that witnesses the execution of a killer, Edgar Reese. Afterwards, a series of murders happened that follow the same pattern as the killer that was put to death.

At first, Det. Hobbes (Washington) think it was a copycat, then he realizes that a demon that was living inside of Reese was responsible, Azazel.

I think the possession of random people surrounding Detective Hobbs was cool.

I was fine with the ending. How could a cat be out in the middle of woods? That’s all I have to say.

I wasn’t the best of Denzel’s movies, but it was certainly different.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)

“Elizabeth: The Golden Age” is the continuing story of the original from 1998. Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush reprise their roles of Elizabeth I and Francis. It opens on the English court trying to marry off the “Virgin Queen” to sire a male heir.

I thought the dating service scenario at the beginning was so silly. Elizabeth meets Sir Walter Raleigh the legendary way with draping his cape over a puddle for her to pass. She becomes goo-goo-ga-ga over her and her chambermaid, Bess.

The “love triangle” was so soap opera after—if you read the history books, Raleigh impregnates Bess and marries her. It was so unnecessary in this movie.

The Spanish Empire and Catholics want Elizabeth to die and let Mary, played by Samantha Morton, become queen.

I think that this movie is mish-mash of what happened to Elizabeth towards the end of her reign.

I love the costumes, which won the Oscar and the lighting effects.

It was an okay movie. Did I think it should have been made? No. The strength of the original “Elizabeth” was more than enough.

Pearl Harbor (2001)

I caught a glimpse of “Pearl Harbor.” Ugh. I shudder at that movie. One of my pet peeves on the movie side is filmmakers romanticizing a tragic true story like “Titanic.” I hate that.

This movie is over three hours long. WTF!

I have to say that is looked beautiful, but the dialogue was so wooden. Some scenes needed to be cut out. There is a ridiculous love triangle between a nurse (Kate Beckinsale) and two military men, the older brother (Ben Affleck) and the rebel younger brother (Josh Hartnett). Was that storyline necessary? No.

The movie is abysmal. The ending was so maudlin that you have to throw something at the screen.

Sideways (2004)

I was hesitant in seeing “Sideways” back when it received a bunch of awards back in 2004. Everybody was saying that this was the best movie of 2004. I disagree with that.

I saw the movie and I liked it. It was a good movie, but it was not the best movie.

I also read the book by Rex Pickett after I saw the movie. I want to personally reprimand Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor for fucking up the source material.

They made Miles into a loser. In the book, he is a failed screenwriter who has a problem with the vino that he knowledgeable about. He uses his “advanced vocabulary” to make other stupid to hide his pain from his divorce from Victoria. Miles drives a Range Rover. Jack is marrying a costumer named Barbara, who is closer to his age actually. Changed some of the situations around. Maya was a voluptuous, raven-haired vixen and changed the Jack’s lover whose name was Tara, a pseudo-hippie earth mother girlfriend.

There was one scene that I loved in the book was the love scene between Miles and Maya in the cabin with a glass of wine being dribbled on a certain body part. Classic.

I understand that they had to jettison some subplots, entire scenes and peripheral characters, but damn. I would like to see most of book on screen. I didn’t see that.

They made a Frankenstein of a movie. They took equal liberties with “Sideways” like that did with “About Schmidt”. People complained about the way that they changed the second half of that movie. How dare you.

I want you two to hand back your Oscars now.