Featured Reviews: NOVEMBER

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Yikes, I'm really behind! So many things going on right now, and it's a shame for my movie watching because I haven't had time to do any personal choices, only going with friends & family, thus I haven't even seen Changeling yet. As always though, check out the mini review database blog for every movie I've seen this year. So here's a roundup of films I've seen since the last front page update:

Body Of Lies - Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong
Director Ridley Scott peppers some unorthodox moods and settings into an otherwise typical cat and mouse chess game of spy intrigue, thus making Body Of Lies interesting and watchable aside from its two main stars. DiCaprio and Crowe are certainly fine here, but the film just nearly misses going south on its own prestige, ala Scott's American Gangster a year ago. Mark Strong, as a Jordanian leader and possibly the British equivalent to Andy Garcia, is a quiet force that hits the right marks.
Grade: B (10/10/08)

City Of Ember - Starring Saoirse Ronan, Harry Treadway, Bill Murray
Usually obscurer, secondhand children fantasy novels such as City Of Ember fizzle out as movie adaptations. But unlike say, The Seeker or The Golden Compass (though Ember's box office numbers say otherwise), Ember has the feel of a cult classic kids adventure that hasn't been seen widespread since the 1980s. Though it treads into some mundane and quirky aspects, the film features some fun performances and Oscar/Prezzie deserving Set Design/Costumes.
Grade: A- (10/10/08)

The Express - Starring Dennis Quaid, Rob Brown, Omar Benson Miller
Saved by the surprisingly nuanced performance by Brown as the titularly nicknamed player, The Express is an otherwise stereotypical feel-good-to-feel-bad sports drama ala previous football films about race and death such as Remember The Titans and Brian's Song. Frankly it's amazing a story like Ernie Davis' has went this long without a film treatment. Solid film to watch, even if you've seen similar variations of every cliche in the football film playbook several times before.
Grade: B- (10/10/08)

Passengers- Starring Anne Hathaway, Patrick Wilson, Andre Braugher
It's not the out and out worst movie of the year, but Passengers is so boring and cluttered with curious mistakes that it fares worse than many pointless films that you know are going to be bad. Horrendous story with a nonsensical ending that flips between vague thriller and peppy romance, anchored by uninspired performances and the dreariest shot location in history. Has there EVER been a good film made in Vancouver?
Grade: F

RockNRolla - Starring Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Strong
Entertaining if stereotypical Guy Ritchie British gangster noir, RockNRolla has a mix of great performances (Wilkinson, Strong, Toby Kebbell as the title nickname) and atrocious ones by Jeremy Piven (a surprise) and Thandie Newton (no surprise). Although quick-paced and fun, the quirkiness of Ritchie's characters and situations have never been this full tilt, and it starts to get annoying towards the end.
Grade: C+ (11/9/2008)

Role Models - Starring Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott, Elizabeth Banks
There's something about a little boy, not even yet a teenager, shouting extreme expletives that kind of bothers me. Curse words are a great tool for humor, but not when it's so out-and-out obvious. I can watch kids get blown up, shot, murdered all sorts of ways on screen, but Role Models' sort of lopsided raunch-to-heart ratio couldn't muster up the affection. File this under the underwhelming category with the similar but blander Drillbit Taylor.
Grade: D+ (11/9/2008)

Zack & Miri Make A Porno - Starring Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Craig Robinson
Though not as cohesively funny and warm as Judd Apatow's 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up, director/writer Kevin Smith fills in for Apatow's producer misfires this year with his own knock-off that follows the same raunchy-but-sweet formula. Crude, quite possibly deserves an NC-17 in its own right, but downright more touching and funny than 95% of PG-13 movies. Justin Long, Brandon Routh and surprisingly Jason Mewes are highlights along with usually durable Rogen & Banks.
Grade: B+