Our Idiot Brother (2011)

  I don't even know why this movie exists.  It's not funny, it doesn't have anything prescient to say, and it doesn't work as a character study.  The female characters are strident and bitchy while the male characters shuffle along with little to no interest in participating in their lives.

Ned (Paul Rudd) is a happy-go-lucky hippie who gets arrested for selling pot to a cop.  After his release, he struggles to find somewhere to live after his girlfriend (Kathryn Hahn) kicks him out of their goat farm/co-op.  He tries to live with each of his three sisters in turn, but keeps bumbling into areas of their personal lives they don't want to confront.

Nothing about this is funny and it stars some incredibly funny people.  I'm not sure how that happens.  It's like reverse alchemy.  All these golden stars turned to lead.  It's depressing if you stop to think about it.

Do yourself a favor and avoid this movie.

The LXD: The Uprising Begins (2010)

  I really enjoy watching people dance.  One of my favorite shows is So You Think You Can Dance and it kills me that it is not available on DVD.  The LXD does not quite fill that void but it does show off some incredible talents.

The world is in chaos and it is up to an elite group of superpowered dancers to save us all from The Uprising, a force of darkness.  This movie is actually a collection of ten episodes of the web series.  It features dance luminaries like Christopher Scott, Harry Shum, Jr., Lil C, and more in vaguely comic book styled routines.  Some of the episodes were only so-so but there were several gorgeous ones that made it worthwhile.

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

So it took me a little longer to buy this than I thought it would and even longer to actually see it again.  The good news is that I was able to show it to my godchildren, aged 7, 6, and 5, and they loved it.  This makes me feel like I'm actually doing a decent job with this godmother gig.     Originally posted 02 Jan 2011.  This is one of the best animated films I have seen in a loooong time.  And it's Dreamworks, not Pixar.  That's a shock.  That's like Mad Dog 20/20 winning a wine-tasting.

Harsh?  Maybe.  But, come on.  Dreamworks is like the slightly less accomplished younger sibling to Pixar.  You know, Pixar is the one playing a piano concerto while Dreamworks farts Mary Had a Little Lamb?  That kind of thing.  It always seemed like the studio went for more of the juvenile demographic as opposed to Pixar appealing to all ages.  And I liked Shrek.  I liked the second one better, but that's just me.  

The story is about a kid named Hiccup growing up in a village that has a dragon problem.  Instead of being burly and blood-thirsty, Hiccup is a blacksmith's apprentice and junior engineer.  Or, in Viking, a fuck-up.  His dad, the chief, is constantly disappointed by his son's clumsy attempts to join in the dragon defense.  Then one of Hiccup's amateur siege engines brings down a Night Fury, a specimen previously thought to leave no survivors.  He finds himself unable to kill the captured beast and sets it free.  An unlikely friendship is born.  

Granted, I just watched it about forty minutes ago, but it seems like one of those movies where you could watch it over and over and still find it funny.   We'll have to see.  I borrowed it from my uncle but it is definitely going on the short list of movies to buy.  ...Okay, it may be a slightly longer than short list.  The point is, this one is on it.  And you should watch it.

House of Wax (1953)

  This is the classic horror film, not that Paris Hilton bullshit.

Henry Jarrod (Vincent Price) is a sculptor and his passion is creating wax figures that rival real life.  He and his partner, Matthew (Roy Roberts), have a small wax museum but the money isn't really coming in.  Henry tries to court another investor but Matthew thinks it would be simpler to just set the whole place on fire and collect the insurance money.  Henry, believed lost in the blaze, reappears after a decade to rebuild his dream only this time with a whole lot more murder.

I could have sworn that I had already reviewed this one on here but I couldn't find it.  I can't believe it slipped through the cracks but it has been a few years since I went through the letter H.  I love pretty much every Vincent Price movie I've ever seen but this one is especially near and dear to my heart because it's the first one I ever bought.

It was originally intended to be shown in 3D but it's just as good without it.  The effects are all practical so they don't seem as dated as later movies.  I never really got the horror vibe but I see where other people might.  Plus, this has a very young Charles Bronson as the mute assistant so there's an extra bit of Hollywood glamor for you.

The Other Guys (2010)

  I have to be quick about this because my friend is on her way to pick me up for a wine tasting.

This was not a good movie.  I don't like Will Farrell as a leading man and the humor in this left me completely cold.

Every police precinct has a pecking order and Officers Gamble (Will Ferrell) and Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg) are at the bottom.  Gamble is a former forensic accountant more than happy to sit at his desk and do paperwork.  Hoitz is still stinging from a mistaken identity where he accidentally shot Yankees player Derek Jeter.  But when Gamble stumbles upon a case involving a shady businessman (Steve Coogan) and the National Lottery, the pair manage to pull themselves together.

This is supposed to be somewhat of a buddy cop parody but it's not good.  It's not bad enough to make me get up and turn it off, but I would never watch it again.  Also, I'm fairly certain it was intended to be some sort of protest against the Wall Street bailouts but it missed the mark entirely.  The only real mention is over the end credits, where stats about golden parachutes and wage disparity roll over the cast and crew.  Seeing as most of your audience has turned the movie off at that point or left the theater, I'm not sure what that was supposed to accomplish.

Barney's Version (2010)

  I added this to my queue way back in 2010, I think.  It was nominated for a Golden Globe.  I remember that but I don't remember which one and I'm too lazy to look it up right now.  I thought it would be funny and it was, then it sucker-punched me with sadness and I was not prepared.

Barney (Paul Giamatti) is a moderately-successful producer of a Canadian soap opera and a less-than-successful husband.  The reason for that is partly because he meets the love of his life (Rosamund Pike) at his wedding reception to a totally different woman (Minnie Driver).  The other reason has to do with his inability to manage his life, his bohemian friends, and his lovable but uncouth father (Dustin Hoffman).

This movie is adorable right up until it kicks you square in the feels.  Barney isn't exactly the greatest guy but you sympathize with him, even when he's accused of murder.  Seriously, there's a little bit of everything in this.  You should give it a shot, just be aware that you might need some tissues near the end.

OSS 117: Lost in Rio (2009)

  Like most sequels, this isn't as good as Nest of Spies, but it's still pretty hilarious.

Agent OSS 117 (Jean Dujardin) is sent to Rio to deliver a blackmail payment.  An escaped Nazi colonel (Rudiger Vogler) has a microfilm with a list of French collaborators and wants 50,000 francs to keep quiet about it.  Once in Brazil, however, OSS 117 is picked up by Mossad agents who want to bring the colonel back for trial in Israel.  They team 117 up with Dolores (Louise Monot), a highly capable field agent, and order the pair of them to track down the Nazi's hippie son (Alex Lutz) and get enough intel to break into his lair and bring him to justice.

The humor is broader here, more focusing on OSS 117's ignorance of culture, race, and creed.  He's also stupider this time around, less capable of random flashes of brilliance.  Still, it's worth it if only for his costume to the secret Nazi masquerade ball and the LSD-fueled orgy on the beach.

As a warning to all my good readers, I nearly killed myself trying to watch 66 movies in the last 40 days in my Oscar fervor.  Things will probably be slowing down a bit around here but that doesn't mean quality will suffer, just quantity.  I can't sustain that kind of output and keep my day job.