The Adjustment Bureau

This is a movie that examines what we perceive to be reality, somewhat similar to The Matrix, but this is different.  We become acquainted with The Plan (destiny), and the concept that once in a while there are accidents, things that happen that are not part of The Plan, enter The Adjustment Bureau, a group whose responsibility it is make sure that these diversions are corrected. 

Now imagine a man falls in love with a woman and that is not part of The Plan.  What you end up with is Love vs. Destiny.  This movie is the story of the struggle between the two. 

It’s an interesting enough premise and an enchanting love story.  

A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas

I'm not a huge fan of Christmas movies, but I do love the Harold and Kumar franchise.  This is the third installment of the series.  A few years have past since the last movie and the characters' lives have progressed in a realistic time continuum.  Well at least Harold’s has.  He’s married his dream girl and he’s now a member of the 1% that owns 99% of the wealth.  Kumar hasn’t fared quite as well.  He’s living in a dump, his girlfriend recently left him and he’s still nothing more than pothead looking for his next hit.  Throw Neal Patrick Harris in the mix (again) along with a pissed off mob boss, a waffle making robot (Wafflebot) and Father Christmas himself and you’ve got a wild ride of a Christmas movie. 

I have to admit that I didn’t expect much from this movie, but I was surprised.  This movie was so dumb that it was smart, so wrong that it was so right and so messed up that it was neat!  Harold and Kumar have done it again.  

One hint of advice, if you’re going to see it make sure that you see it in the 3D, there’s a couple of gags that really play up to the effect...have fun and Merry Christmas!

Horrible Bosses

Once again a movie that I expected would be very funny, failed to make me laugh.  This movie had a promising premise:  Three long time best friends find themselves in terrible work environments and they come to the conclusion that they would be better off if their bosses were to stop breathing and set about to help make this happen. 

The problem is that the premise is flawed.  For one  of the guys, his boss  is truly a horrible person and when he threatened to quit, his boss threatened to ruin his career if he went elsewhere.   For another guy, his cocaine-addicted boss just recently inherited the company from his father after he suddenly dropped dead and his cost cutting threatens to cause an environmental disaster, the world would truly be better off without him around.  The error in logic occurs with the third guy who is trapped in his present job because he is undeservedly on sex offender registry and no one else would hire him.  It just doesn’t make sense him wanting his boss to die because he’d still have the same predicament of not being able to find employment elsewhere. 

Despite the lack of laughs and the imperfect premise, the movie isn’t half-bad and still worth a look if you’ve got some spare time and not very high expectations. 

The Tourist

The Tourist is a movie that had been on my to-do list for awhile but after seeing many awful audience reviews of it, I’d kept it on the backburner for quite a while.  After seeing it, I thought maybe everyone else had been a tad too harsh.  It’s not as bad as the reviews would have you believe.  

Starring Angela Jolie, it reminded me of her previous outing, Salt, without the huge stunts and effects of that movie.  Johnny Depp is also a very watchable actor.  

One of my favourite things about this flick was the setting.  Most movies use Venice, Italy as a backdrop, but The Tourist gives a great view of this magnificent place.  The city is just gorgeous.  

All in all, I would not say that The Tourist is the total waste of time most of its reviewers declare it to be.

127 Hours

Without a doubt the most decorated movie of the past year was The King's Speech. It won four of the twelve Oscars it was nominated for, including Movie of the Year, yet I have to admit that I didn't care for it. This dumbfounds just about everyone that I tell, but in a word, I found the movie to be quite dull. 

Another movie that garnered much accolade during the award season earlier this year was 127 Hours and I just couldn’t imagine a full length movie whose sole topic was a man trapped in the wilderness, but I came across an opportunity to see it and decided to find out what all the fuss was about. 

Right from the opening seconds I was hooked and I realized that this was a movie that I was going to enjoy, I could tell from the music and from the pacing of the shots.  This movie did not disappoint, in fact, it exceeded my expectations.  

Admittedly there were a few times where I felt lost, but these were during the scenes depicting Aron Ralston’s delirium, so it was appropriate that I wasn’t able to make sense of it.  

Danny Boyle’s directing was masterful and Jon Harris must have worked his fingers to the bone editing the shots so tightly.  This film really gives one an appreciation for fine film making.  Full credit also to James Franco for his outstanding on-camera appearance, in what could only be a difficult role to play.    

From what I’ve read after watching the movie, what we see on the screen is incredibly true to what actually happened.  

Well worth seeing! 

8/10