Napoleon Dynamite. An odd little comedy about how Napoleon Dynamite befriends the mustachioed new boy at school and talks to a girl. There's not much more to it than that, but it's nicely observed and has some excellent comic moments.
Vacation (2015)
I had expected a crude film with cheap laughs, and it lived up to that expectation. Rusty Griswold, the boy from the original Vacation series, takes his family on vacation, and everything they do turns to disaster. There are some humorous, unpredictable moments, but much of the humor was recycled from We're The Millers. The older son, James, is a carbon copy of Kenny from We're The Millers, as is his awkward love story, and there is even a scene where all four family members sing an R&B hit from the 90's together. In comparison, this one is at least funnier than We're The Millers, which I did not care for, but the younger son swearing gets played out more times than it needs to.
The Castle of Cagliostro. The directoral debut of anime auteur Hayao Miyazaki is a fun and colorful adventure about an eccentric master thief trying to rescue a princess from a villainous count.
Adaptation. Directed by Spike Jonze, and written by Charlie Kaufman, it centers on Charlie Kaufman, played by Nicholas Cage, who is trying to adapt the book The Orchid Thief for the big screen, but ends up writing it abut himself trying to adapt the book. Yeah, this film is weird and meta. But good.
Ant-Man. It was alright for a Marvel film, I guess. I'm still a bit disappointed by the lack of depth to which characters are developed in exchange for constant flashes of shallow humour and fast-cut action.
Tropic Thunder - A thoroughly asinine yet very funny and enjoyable comedy about actors (Stiller, Black, and Downey Jr.) that get caught up in an actual battle while filming a war movie in southeast Asia.
I re-watched Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but it has excellent visuals, a rich vein of wry and surrealist humor, and a killer soundtrack. Not as good as the comics, but worth watching.
I just re-watched Shaun of the Dead and it was just as fantastic as the first time. The humour was hilarious and the way it foreshadowed things was perfect. The romance wasn't cheesy, it was very nice and Pegg and Frost's performances were great. It had an awesome story and I loved it. This movie was lovely. Shaun of the Dead: A
I also saw Whiplash before Shaun of the Dead and it was even better. It had one of the best stories I've ever seen and Simmons' character was the best villain I've ever seen. Everything was first rate. This is the kind of movie that lingers and the finale was totally nail-biting. One of the best movies I've seen this month and probably for a long time. Whiplash: A+
The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
A typical spy movie with enough action and several laughs. CIA agent Napoleon Solo teams up with KGB operative Ilya Kuryakin and a mechanic from East Berlin to find an ex-Nazi scientist, who is the father of the mechanic. Armie Hammer plays the Russian agent well, but Henry Cavill could have done a better job in his lead role.
