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An excellent movie, even though it has Seth Rogen. (For the life of me, I don’t get why he is so popular.) Best performance by an actor I’ve seen in a long, long time. (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Of course there is some ridiculous crassness because of Seth Rogan, Gordon-Levitt conveys so much with just his face. Along with Wit, another great movie detailing the pain of facing cancer essentially alone. Not for kids, of course.
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Wow, that was a good movie. Recommended by friends at work, and they were right. If you like movies from India, you’ll like this one a lot.
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Really fun summer action movie. Chris Hemmerline does action and comedy both well, Natalie Portman is great. Anthony Hopkins is even decent (occasionally Sir Anthony can be a little hammy). The only thing Your Movie Monkey found a little funny was that the realm (planet) of bad guys was called Yodenheim (or Jodenheim or something). Every time Your Movie Monkey heard this, he thought it sounded like a mid-sized town that Borscht Belt comics knew well. (Oy, when you work Jodenheim, be sure to stop at Bubbie’s for a knisch!)
Your Movie Monkey was surprised it’s rated PG-13. He thinks the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe was rated PG, and it was more violent. Alice in Wonderland was PG and it was way, way more violent. Very little language, and that was mild. No “adult situation”. Just a fun movie. Your Movie Monkey took his 9 year old and had no issues with it.
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So, I knew critics wouldn’t like this because it presents a family that actually likes each other and doesn’t swear. They will claim unrealistic, of course, but this movie (based on a true story) was inspirational. Sure, maybe a few times that the dialogue feels a little stiff, but my guess is that they had a much smaller budget than other big Hollywood movies. A moving story, for sure.
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Another good recommendation, this time from mom. (Awwwww.) Based on a true story, the movie is about a pair of brothers who box. The older brother knocked Sugar Ray Leonard down (or he tripped, it isn’t clear) in a fight 12 years ago and still relieves his glory days, but is a crack addict. Christian Bale is brilliant at this part, and is almost uncomfortably thin while doing it. (Actors who do this have always amazed Your Movie Monkey). The younger brother is played by Mark Wahlberg, who is also great. The influence of the crack, and the problems that arise from having his mother as manager all make this a great movie about about difficult family relationships, but also the will to succeed, etc. Normally Your Movie Monkey is not a fan of sports movies (if you’re thinking of recommending a movie to YMM where a ragtag group of group of kids is able to beat all odds and win some kind of contest through the help of a noble coach, please don’t bother 
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So Your Movie Monkey was skeptical when this was out in the theaters, and then it was recommended by a friend, and he rented it, and it was great. Lots of action (violent – not for the squeamish), a hilarious storyline, and completely over-the-top. Like Batman meets Pulp Fiction meets Revenge of the Nerds, if that’s possible. Definitely 100% not for kids… quite a bit of coarse language and very brief but R-rated situation (could have done without that). But if you like a good action movie with lots of humor thrown in, this one’s the one.
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Really interesting, funny, well-acted movie. Beuadelaire liked it too. Probably not for kids under 14… inappropriate in small bits, would be boring to them anyway.
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Another great movie. Not quite as good as True Grit but definitely worth seeing if you like this kind of thing (movies about historical kings with speech impediments).
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Wow, that was a good movie. Your Movie Monkey is not even a fan of westerns, but this was great. Sure, it had a bit of Coen brothers level graphic violence, but it fin in with the story. A friend of Your Movie Monkey said it was one of the best of 2010, and Your Movie Monkey agrees.
Overall Rating: B+
Filmmaking/Artistic: B+
Storytelling: A−
MPAA Rating: R (Zombie violence, Some language)
The pitch
What if we did Shaun of the Deadwith Woody Harrleson as the “funny guy”, and added a Napoleon Dynamite loser to it?
Overview
A well-done zombie comedy, with enough anti-zombie violence for the action fans and plenty of loser comedy. The very funny script even makes the 90 minutes of Woody Harrleson shtick acceptable.
Review
Your Movie Monkey heard from multiple sources that this was great, and it did not disappoint. The world has been taken over by zombies, and there are very few survivors left. The movie focuses on one Napoleon Dynamite type loser, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), who is trying to get to his family (in Columbus, Ohio… everyone is known by the town they’re from in this film). He explains to us how he survives, basically he has a set of rules he lives his life by. (Example: Rule #1, Cardio. You’ve got to be able to outrun the Zombies.)
We get to know Columbus throughout this movie, as he becomes more alive in his quest to survive than he ever was before the invasion. Columbus hooks up with Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), who basically just loves shooting zombies. Tallahassee has suffered a big loss, and basically doesn’t care about anything else.
It’s the script that’s really funny… constant reminders of the rules. Nothing much actually happens in the film, but the adventures along the way are worth it. Your Movie Monkey’s hesitancy was the idea of watching Woody Harrleson for an entire movie. (He’s funny in small doses, but 90 minutes?) But the writing is so good, that it’s even worth it. A lot of fun and laughs, and not too deep, Zombieland is definitely worth a rental, if you like the genre.
Your Movie Monkey, who can’t deal with horror films or with gangster films very well, found this one easy enough because the zombies are so clearly not real, it’s a complete fantasy. Some may find it too violent, but those who would probably don’t need this review to help decide.
It’s rated R for some language and for violence. Definitely not for young kids.
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