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Reviews
Knocked Up (2007)
Had its moments, but pretty overrated
I remember all the hype surrounding this movie, and how it was supposed to be the funniest movie of 2007, or the summer. Umm, okay, sure...whatever you say. The problems I had: 1. The fact of the matter is, this movie ran way too long. It ran a little over two hours, which is unheard of for a comedy. They drew way too much out to make this movie.
2. The characters were all inconsiderate jerks, but no one wanted to realize it, mainly the women. The men were forced to realize how "wrong" they were, but we don't get a full resolution of the women's bitterness.
2a. It played on the idea of men being irresponsible loser idiot, and women are ball-busting b***hes who can say or do anything they want because they're women. For example, the Debbie character was a completely selfish example, who gave husband Pete a hard time over anything he did, even though she completely overreacted (i.e. his reaction to a possible sexual offender in his neighborhood). When he explains the "band concerts" he's attended (really a fantasy baseball league") he explains that he lied because he knew she would harass him over it. I'll admit the lying on his part was wrong, but her reaction showed just how she didn't care about anyone other than herself. Apparently this anti-male sentiment spills over to Alison's character, as she throws Ben out of her car in the middle of the street, following a bitter argument.
3. The ad-libbing was just horrible. They tried too hard in way too many scenes.
4. Some people got tired of the foul language. I got tired of the constant brand name dropping every other line.
The movie had its moments, but it wasn't nearly as good as everyone hyped it up to be. And yea, I could've dealt without the "crowning" scene.
Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)
Uplifting message, but way too clichéd
I went to see this with two others, and was actually anticipating the release. I thought it was pretty decent, had some laughs, and more or less had a good message. However, the writing was EXTREMELY clichéd and predictable. I swear, you could smell some of the plot five minutes before it happened! Boy meets girl...boy likes girl...Girl hates boy...but slooooowly grows to like boy...girl loves boy. It's been done before, millions of times. But wait! It's like, somewhere, during the movie, Tyler Perry went from being "stageplay Tyler" to being "fairy tale Tyler." What do I mean? 1) during the church scene, Helen's with her recently paralyzed husband (who she went back to after his mistress leaves him) and he's suddenly able to walk again! But wait!...there's more! The drug addict wife of successful Brian all of a sudden walks through the door of the same church, and just CONVENIENTLY joins in on the choir's song, and just happens to blow the roof off with her solo! Not only that, but she's now cleaned-up, just days after looking like she's been to Hell and back. That rehab is something else! And of course, there's the fairy-tale ending lifted straight from "Officer and a Gentleman." I'm sorry to analyze this movie so heavily, esp. for me to say I enjoyed it. It's just I couldn't help but be bugged by the last 30 minutes or so, which was just so clichéd and typical Hollywood. If it hadn't stretched so far to be realistic, it would've been a lot better. I'll give it a 6.
The Longest Yard (2005)
Not the Burt Reynolds version, and that's not a bad thing (MINOR spoilers)
Let it be known that I would be one of the first to stand up against all the Hollywood remakes. This is actually the first time I've wanted to see a remake, and I caught it the weekend it came out. And I must say, I was entertained the whole time. I think if you look at this movie as a football comedy, and not try to compare it to the Burt Reynolds version, you'll enjoy it. I think a lot of people are turned off by this movie for that reason, and because they see this as being nothing more than "The Waterboy Pt. 2". But it's not, despite the cameo by Rob Schneider (sp?), which honestly, I could've done without. The characters could've been a little more developed...I mean, why should we root for the "Mean Machine", other than the fact that the guards were really corrupt? With no character development, it just seemed like we were rooting for the lesser of two evils. The library racism scene w/Nelly was a nice start, but there could've been a few more scenes like that.
Like I said, it's a pretty entertaining movie, once you realize that 1) it's not the Burt Reynolds version, and 2) it's not trying to be. I give it 7/10. If you're a football fan, you'll like this movie. The game will probably get you energized, especially the last moments of the game. I usually don't like a bunch of gratuitous split-screens and camera shots, but for a movie like this, it works (in this case, it almost seems like a homage to the original).
7/10
Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)
Mediocre, not much to remember
I picked up this movie at the recommendation of a friend, and must admit, I was less than impressed. It had a lot of potential, but the plot was all over the place. It felt like it was just too much going on during the 90 or so minutes of dialogue. What was worse was that they'd just jump into a scene, and add something in without any rhyme or reason. For example, right after the prostitute hotel scene, Ben narrates something about how his Academic Challenge team won the national championship. I felt they could've had something to elaborate on that moment, rather than just throw in a quick "Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you, we won the national championship." Ditto to the scene where one of the characters (IIRC Ben) wakes up in a daze, with a bloody nose, the result of cocaine. Not much of a build-up or anything. It's just BAM! All of a sudden, he's a cokehead.
This movie had potential, but was poorly executed IMO. With better pacing, and even writing, it could get a higher rating. But with such sloppy execution, I must give it a 4.
Ready to Rumble (2000)
Who wrote this movie?
I saw this on TV last night, and I must say this movie just plain sucked. It seemed like it was written by a 13-year-old. I was a big wrestling fan when this movie came out, but I'm glad I didn't waste my money or time watching this in the theater. The jokes were simply childish and just flat out unfunny. Besides, the fact that this used WCW instead of WWF/WWE is a joke all in itself. This is a movie that only the die-hard wrestling fans will appreciate. Of course, if it had been written a little more intelligently, I probably could've appreciated it as well. 1.5/5
A Season on the Brink (2002)
Horrible and ridiculous
I can't believe ESPN took so much time to promote this film, for it to turn out the way it did. Every time I turned on ESPN, there was a commercial or an on-screen ad for this movie, and it never lived up to its hype. It seemed like nothing more than an excuse to say the f-word on TV. Watching the edited version on ESPN-2 was even more ridiculous, if not hilarious, with some of Knight/Dennehy's "multiple-expletive" phrases being nothing but quick bleeps. (What was supposed to be the f-word three times in succession, was done as bleep-bleep-bleep). If I were Brian Dennehy, I would not include this on his resume.
Big Momma's House (2000)
awful and unfunny
This movie was, in a word, horrible! I expected more out of Martin Lawrence, and this movie fell incredibly short of what I expected. It was not funny at all. I tried to give this movie a second chance on HBO, and, I probably laughed the same number of times I did in the theater...and those were only forced chuckles. Martin needs to try again, and I don't think his new film "Black Knight" is going to be his redemption film, although I should see "What's the Worst that Could Happen."
Baby Boy (2001)
Could've been better
I was surprised to see that this was a John Singleton film, given some of the other urban hits he had. Boyz in the Hood did a really good job profiling life in the ghetto, and Higher Learning was excellent. This movie fell short though. The plot was good, but the script seemed weak, not very solid. Besides that, it really seemed ignorant to me, not quite stereotypical of ghetto life. I didn't totally hate the film; it tries to send a message, but it could've been a lot better.
4/10
Trois (2000)
Had a lot of potential
One of my friends rented this movie last year. Honestly, being an NC-17, we naturally expected more than what we saw. The scenes in this movie weren't enough to get an R rating. The plot was good, and it was a good script. However, the performances were poorly executed. The actress who played the wife was dull and dry with the delivery of her lines. However, the ending had a great twist, and this was a good film, especially being on such a low budget, but some of the acting was low budget as well. A 5 at most.
Kingdom Come (2001)
This was a great, down-to-earth film!!
This is absolutely the best film I have seen this year! As a black male, I am glad to see that there is a film that does not use excessive foul language (i.e. "F-this, F that") in every other line, or sex in every other scene. This is a film that will probably remind you of your own family. I definitely recommend this light-hearted, but hilarious film.