One Movie to See and Another to Skip (No. 50)

Movie to See #1: Red Riding Trilogy

As a three part miniseries from the BBC, there is definitely a 'stretched-out' feel to this series, but it isn't bad (just long). There is definitely a lot of intrigue in the series, which is the good part of the show. In fact, it is so full of corruption intrigue that the serial killer element the series is based upon is completely lost along the way. There is a surprising amount of brutality for a made-for-tv show, but it does feel very genuine. If you can stand the rough-and-tumble, then this isn't a bad watch.

Movie to See #2: Julie & Julia

This movie is probably a little on the 'trite' side, but the Julia Childs element of the movie was actually very interesting. Meryl Streep does an amazing job portraying Childs (surprise, surprise), and the movie goes into just enough detail about the life of Childs to make it interesting. While I do like Amy Adams, and the story is really supposed to be about her character's discovery of Childs' life, this movie might actually have been a little better if that element of the story was absent. Sad, but actually very true. While the Childs storyline actually had something at stake, everything about Adams' character feels extremely convoluted. Not a terrible movie; not a great movie. But one that is ok to watch.

Movie to See #3: Barry Munday

I was pretty sure that this was going to be a stinker when I sat down to watch it, but I was pleasantly surprised. While this was not a laugh out loud movie, it was generally pretty funny. Patrick Wilson and Judy Greer play well off of each other (Judy Greer in particular makes a particularly convincing psycho 'girlfriend'), which makes for some of the most amusing parts of the movie. Don't expect much, and you'll probably find it enjoyable.

Movie to See #4: Randy and the Mob

This is truly a silly, silly movie. The premise is a little bizarre, and frankly, some of the characters in the movie are just down right disturbing. And yet somehow, this is still a mildly amusing movie. There are just enough laughs to make this watchable, but I wouldn't be surprised that IF you found this one at your local video rental store, it was collecting a fair amount of dust.

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Movie to Skip #1: Bad Lieutenant - Port of Call New Orleans

This movie really appears to be an attempt to resurrect Nicholas Cage's character from Leaving Las Vegas by giving him a badge, a gun, a pretty heavy coke habit... and a will to live. Like the much better Leaving, the slow spiral of the main character is not unsurprising, and certainly expected. In Leaving, the point is to watch the spiral and to feel Elizabeth's Shue's frustration with being unable to save Cage. It's a terribly sad movie, and it really makes you ponder the dark horrors of addiction. But that is not Bad Lieutenant. In fact, the "recovery" at the end of this one makes me really wonder just what the moral of the story really is. I mean is it really what i think it is? Yikes! Not a great film. Not a good film. One of an increasingly long list of bad Cage flicks in recent years.

Movie to Skip #2: Legend of the Tsunami Warrior

The fighting in this movie was great, and the mystical element really had a lot of promise, but ultimately it just fell flat. There wasn't enough "story" in this movie to carry the rest of the elements. The result is an oddly disjointed eye candy romp. Normally, I wouldn't mind that, but when you're having to read the disjointed plot elements, it makes the nonsensical nature of the film in general pretty hard to forgive. You can skip this one and just watch one of the Ong Bak movies instead.

Movie to Skip #3: Moon

I really wanted to like this movie. I love Sam Rockwell, and I could really see what they were going for, but ultimately the film suffers the same fate as 2001: A Space Odyssey -- it was just too boring. It takes too long for anything to happen, and there is too much mystery about something that was pretty easy to figure out within the first 30 minutes. (It would have been the first 15 minutes, but it took twice as long to get there as it should have...) If you like Rockwell, you may forgive the slow nature of the movie, but you're going to really have to like him to forgive the pace of this one. You can go ahead and feel free to skip this o

Movie to Skip #4: Wilderness Survival for Girls

This movie suffers from several key problems: low budget, poor acting, a stupid plot, and nonsensical relationships between the characters. In particular with the last point, the lesbians in the movie are written as if imagined by a college frat boy rather than by an empathetic human being that has actually ever met a lesbian... no less chatted with one about her views on relationships, society and its ills or the world in general. The movie will insult your intelligence a dozen times before the opening sequence is actually completed, and it should be pointed out that this film has nothing to do about wilderness survival. Hanging out in a cabin, regardless of whether or not there are actual trees involved, and especially when neighboring cabins are within a fifteen minute walk over fairly easy to navigate terrain, is not the "wilderness." It kind of makes me wonder if I should be insulted all over again for that lame slight against nature. Anyway, the point is: this movie sucks. It really sucks. Do yourself, and your television, a favor and just skip this one.