Brian's Reviews

The Brothers Bloom - A-
(Potential spoiler)
Clever film with great characters. I loved the background gags and more subtle humor. I felt it foreshadowed that Steven would die at the end. But even expecting that in the end, I was still asking "Is this real or is this a con?"

The Dinner Game - B
I liked that the plot points wove together like a caper or a good Seinfeld episode. Bouchant & Pignon were great, the best friend (author) seemed a little weaker as an actor. I would recommend it to others, but probably wouldn't watch it again.

The Fall - A
A fun movie about storytelling. It reminded me of The Princess Bride but I liked this movie more. I liked how the girl put in details of her own when they weren't expressed explicitly by Roy. I think that's how most children accept stories. It was nice to see how a child's imagination made a story into a work of art. 

Frenemy - D
The movie seemed a bit low-budget, which was made worse by the bad writing. It had a vague theme of "good vs. evil", but it tried so hard to be clever that it lost its impact. I didn't care about the characters, and the scenes with the talk show seemed heavy-handed. 

Limitless - C
An interesting concept told in a clumsy manner. It was odd that film tricks like the x-ray, when he first takes the pill, and the fish-eye lens were all pretty much dropped halfway through the movie. As for the story, it was unfortunate that the only downside was not having the drug. There was no downside to accessing 100% of the brain, which seems convenient. The ending was rushed as if the filmmaker wanted that specific ending but didn't know how to get there. 

Moonrise Kingdom - A
Being a fan of Wes Anderson in general, I was happy to see him branch off a little bit with his plot, focusing more on the love story and amping up the visual aspects. I liked it more the 2nd time I saw it. Previously, the lighting & other impossible parts annoyed me, but this viewing I appreciated the lightness it brought to more serious parts of the movie. 

The Talented Mr. Ripley - C
Some great performances, especially from Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Too many coincidences that moved the plot along. I liked how Tom straddled the line between knowing what he is doing and just being a sociopath.

Wet Hot American Summer - A
A funny movie with a fun cast. A lot of the cast had a sketch comedy background and it showed. A few of the jokes fell flat for me, but that might just be because I've seen the movie a few times before. It was just a good parody of summer camp movies, without making too many obvious jokes.