Reviews by Matt

I will fully admit that I am a geek. I have my obsessions—movies, television, all things Whedon. There has been a big geek movement in the past few years where fans are allowed to be obsessed and be proud of it. With all this geek love out there, it is a great time to be a geek. Earlier this year the geek friendly “Kick Ass” was released. Now we have another movie that targets the geek set, “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.”

The movie, based on the graphic novels by Brain Lee O’Malley, is about Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is an unemployed twenty-something. His life is pretty standard and plain. One day he meets Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and falls in love with her. The only problem is that Ramona comes with baggage—seven evil ex-boyfriends. If Scott wishes to be with her, he must defeat the League of Evil Exs.

I tend to find Michael Cera very, very annoying. As Scott Pilgrim, not so much. Scott is kind of a wuss, but has plenty of moments where he has a backbone. So despite my worries, Cera did not ruin this movie for me.

I started out this review talking about being a geek because this is a very geeky movie. It is in essence, a video game. When Scott fights the evil exs, it is set up like a fight from any number of fighting games. When the ex is defeated, they turn into coins. The world is one where all this is completely normal. Everyone apparently have fighting abilities and to see a battle break out is not unusual.

What I love most about this movie is the care that went into making this movie. Director Edgar Wright is a geek. Movies like his zombie film, “Shaun of the Dead,” action movie “Hot Fuzz,” and television show “Spaced” showed that he loves what he does and takes care to pay tribute to all he loves. I have not finished reading the graphic novels, but he kept the spirit of O’Malley’s vision and the quirk of the Scott Pilgrim series. It takes filmmakers like this to make truly great works of art.

This movie is not for everyone. It has been targeted to the geek demographic and that is whom it will appeal the most to. I wish I could say that it everyone can find enjoyment in the movie, but that is not true. It is very geeky and there are references and homages to the 8-bit video games of the past. If more people would embrace their inner geek, maybe this movie would be the box office success it should be.

9/10
Rated PG-13 for stylized violence, sexual content, language and drug references
112 min

There are times when watching a movie that you can smell a blatant attempt to garner an Oscar. The usually happens when an actor/actress plays someone with some sort of handicap, or the movie deals with the Holocaust. There are plenty of movies that wish to be more than they are and have high hopes for Oscar glory. Most of these fail miserably but some actually get the golden man on that glorious night in February. One movie that could go either way come Oscar time is “The Kids Are All Right.”

Two kids conceived via artificial insemination, Laser (Josh Hutcherson) and Joni (Mia Wasikowska,) become curious as to whom their father is. When they being Paul (Mark Ruffalo) into their lives, the children’s mothers, Jules (Juilanne Moore) and Nic (Annette Bening) find themselves dealing with issues they never thought that they would.

I could not help but be disappointed in this movie. I like what it tried to do--show that even the most unconventional families have the same problems as everyone else. It just did not do it that effectively.

This is where reviewing movies is actually harder than it looks. There was something missing from this movie, but I cannot put my finger on it. When I walked out of the theater, I expected to feel differently, or more than I did. If I had to guess, it might be the resolution of the conflict. I felt like there should have been more to it that what it was. Please excuse the vagueness of that last sentence, I try to avoid spoilers as much as possible.

The movie it worth seeing, but I might wait until DVD to see it. The movie could have been worse. They could have tried harder to get an Oscar nomination. I enjoyed the performances and the overall story, but I just was expecting more.

7 out of 10
Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language and some teen drug and alcohol use
106 min

I have a movie review to write, but it can wait. There is something more pressing I have to write about. I watch a ton of TV. I am sure that if there were a way to weigh my viewing it would be a literal be a ton. So that should lend some weight, no pun intended, to the fact that my favorite show is “Friday Night Lights”

The show just wrapped up its fourth season and it reminded me why I love the show as much as I do. If you need a plot synopsis look here, here and here for my reviews of the first three seasons.

This season Coach Taylor is the coach of the new East Dillon Lions. Tami, his wife is still the principal at Dillon High so her loyalties are split. The season looked a lot at the new team and the new players, specifically the QB Vince (Michael B. Jordan). He has a past that includes a wrap sheet and football is the only way to keep him out of jail.

What is it about the show I love so much? I think the question is what don’t I love. The high point of this and every season was the relationship between Tami and Eric Taylor. They are the best married couple in the history of television. They extremely supportive of one another, but they are not afraid to speak their mind or give the other a hard time (even in a light hearted fashion.) They listen to one another and stick by one another regardless. They are not a television couple, they don’t bicker aimlessly and are never on the verge of big drama, they are a real couple.

You cannot help but care about these characters. That is the strength of the show, the characters. You get invested in these people. When they mess up you feel for them or wish you could be there to smack some sense on them. When they do something great you root for them. I watch the football scenes just like I watch a really good football game. I am standing up and pacing. I raise my arms in celebration when they score. It is because I care about the characters. They are real and you have to care for them or the show will not work.

The show’s final season will be next year. I ask you…no, beg and plead with you to use the next 11 or so months to catch up on the first four seasons. It is an amazing show and I simply cannot recommend it enough. Trust me, you will fall in love with the Taylor’s and the other people of Dillon, Texas.

Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. Can’t Lose.

In one of my reviews I said that a lot of the time my movie experience is tainted by the fact that I read a lot about movies. It is a rarity when I can go into a movie knowing next to nothing about it. “Inception” was one of those movies.

In an effort to give those who for some reason have not seen it yet the same experience I had I will keep this short and simple.
Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his team are hired out to use dreams to get or implant information in someone.

That is as simple as I can make it. It is all I really knew going in and to be honest, I would have not enjoyed it as much.

The cast is great. Leo has been on a roll lately and is now someone I look forward to seeing. There was a time where I thought he was just cast for his looks, kind of like Megan Fox is now, but he is an incredible actor. We do not know much about Cobb as the movie starts but there are skeletons in his closet. Now this would not be a problem were it not for the fact that those proverbial skeletons can effect the dreams he is in.

The effects are stunning and really impressive. Nolan is a director who likes to do the practical effects as much as possible, but when he does use effects in this movie it is amazing.

Just go see it and experience it.

Told you it was going to be a short one. I really believe the less you know about the movie the better. It is not a movie you go to see. It is a movie you experience and the less you know the better.