Movies I've seen Recently

It's been a slow few weeks movie theatre going-wise, due to some economic reasons, I've been staying away from the movie theatre for the most part. However I've been able to steal up a little time at my local movie houses, so here is what I've seen.

I Love You Man: It's strange how some movies have a certain effect on you, and some seem to move you in very unexpected ways, which is why it is such a delight to go to the movies in the first place. I have to say all I was looking for from "I Love you Man" was a good hearty laugh to chase my blues away. I got that, but what I also got was a film that I could relate to. Paul Rudd plays a fuddy duddy type who's about to get married but it is pointed out to him that he has no male friends to be his best man. He starts on a quest to find a guy who could fit the bill, and he soon finds lovable slacker Jason Segal. I found myself really liking these guys and I'm not ashamed to say their relationship moved me. Paul Rudd deserves an Oscar nomination for his pitch perfect comedic performance but he'll probably be snubbed. The film is full of great observational humour, but it also has a goofy heart at its center. This is probably the best film I've seen so far this year. 4 stars out of 4

Monsters Vs. Aliens:A visually stunning film, though that's about it. What could've been a terrific send up of classic 50s Sci-Fi films, turns out to be a self-consciously too hip for it's own good cartoon. After missing my chance with "Coraline" (which is bar far the superior film) I decided not to miss this movie in 3-D. After all the hype behind this movie and 3-D technology, I was underwhelmed by it's somewhat pedestrian approach. The 3-D in this film reduces the technology to the way it was done in the 50's as a cheap trick. Things are thrown at us, but it fails to do what it promised and move the technology forward to more innovative and useful ways to telling the story. The voice actors do a fine job with a somewhat bland script that depends more on cheap laughs rather than character development. This was a missed opportunity all the way. 2 stars out of 4

Observe and Report: A comedy that doesn't play it safe, and that's what I liked about it. This will probably be one of the most polarizing films of the year, but the fact that it's a comedy is somewhat surprising. The story involves a mall security guard who suffers from bi-polar issues and dreams of one day becoming a cop. When a flasher is seen terrorizing the mall parking lot, Ronnie the guard (Seth Rogen) makes it his mission to find this pervert before he can harm anyone else. The film takes some very surprising twists and turns particularly for a comedy, and sometimes you may be confused weather you are supposed to laugh or cry. However the film captures a dark and disturbing tone that I felt could not be ignored, it's not always pleasant, but I was fascinated nonetheless. Still I'm unsure about the way Ronnie is handled at the end of the film as sort of a hero who should be rewarded. Perhaps those are my own prejudices clouding my judgement, but perhaps "Taxi Driver" was thought of the same way in its day. How long has it been for a comedy to raise these kind of issues? 4 stars out of 4