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Reviews
The Tourist (2010)
The Jolie carnival
They should have named this movie The Angelina, instead of The Tourist, because it's really all about how beautiful this magnificint creature is. And maybe that's even a good thing. Because as a director you have to bring something worth watching to distract the audience from a truly awful storyline! OK, so we have a criminal on the run who's stole a bunch of money from his evil former Russian boss. And than we have eyecandy in the form of Angelina Jolie AND Johnny Depp. My two favorite actors in one movie! Too good to be true? A definite yes, unfortunately. Angelina plays Elise Ward, a mysterious woman who's in some devious business with her lover. She chooses a stranger, Johnny Depp as Frank Tupelo, she's met on a train to distract the police. She wants the cops to believe Frank is her lover and the one they are after.
This doesn't sound too bad does it? Well it does when all men and women in the entire film are almost hypnotized by Elise and every time she walks by everyone almost break their necks too catch a glimpse of her. I mean c'mon we all know Angelina is beautiful, FHM knows it, I think even blind people know it, so there is really no need to put the emphasis on it all the time. It's kinda getting old. And what's up with the orchestra music that's playing every time there's a romantic moment between Depp and Jolie. This movie can't decide whether it wants to be a comedy, a romcom or an action flick. Of course these genres can mix together great, but The Tourist just jumps to one bad joke to another cliché and then back to a Disney feeling. I think this movie would have been great if the director just decided to go for a slapstick comedy, because it almost was already. Angelina's make up is perfect all the time, on a boat, in bed and in a chase and the way she poses on the promotion poster, that's her one look through the entire movie.
I can tell the ending was supposed to be the great plot change, but it was just the crazy cherry on top of an already uneatable, boring cake. What a waste of talent of two of the best actors out there! I think they were short on cash. Desperately.
La doppia ora (2009)
Foreign and fabulous
Now I don't watch too many Italian movies, especially not on a tuesday evening in a commercial theater. And that's obviously a giant shame, because sometimes there's a foreign flick that stands out and is definitely worth your free time.
La doppia ora (The double hour) contains the story of Sonia, a lonely woman looking for love in a devious speeddating bar. She actually does meet the interesting but remote Guido and the two strangers become two lovebirds. When Guido takes her up to his house in the forest to show her his work as a security agent, the house he's watching gets mugged. Both he and Sofia get shot and from then on strange things start to happen. In Sofia's surroundings people are committing suidice by the dozen and she starts to lose her mind. Guido, the only she trusts, is dead, or isn't he? La doppia ora is a smart, psychological thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat for 95 minutes. The camera angles in the scenes are just a little bit different than normal and the overall sounds are well applied. The acting is good and very natural. This all together makes La doppia ora a terrific foreign flick. I'm excited to see more of award winning director Giuseppe Capotondi. Italy scores!
Greta (2009)
How to pick a really bad movie?
Sometimes you're just in the mood to watch a really really, really really really bad movie. You know the kind that you can watch while doing laundry, putting on a hideous facemask and doozing off. But how to choose a bad flick in a huge pool of awfulness? Keyword: Hilary Duff. Admit it, in shame when no one else is around, it's always fun to watch good old Hil skipping around town, being a total geek and suddenly turning into Cinderella and other really important stuff. But even more fun than watching Hilary being a good girl, is Hilary Duff being a bad girl. Fine feature: Greta.
Greta introduces a 17 year old confused and suicidal girl who makes her mothers live miserable and gets send off to her grandparents for the summer. She meets a boy and falls in love. So far so good. It's a simple story that might work out good if this movie wasn't trying so hard. It's just one cliché after the other and totally over the top. For example, Hilary acts real hard to be this dark, sinister girl but it's totally not believable. Too much eyeliner, Gothic tees and foul language has to convince the audience that this girl is trouble. She want to shock her poor grandpa and grandma with all things possible and it helps that her love interest is of African-American descent and, even worse, an ex con.
Now where have we seen this before? Ah yes, Crazy/Beautiful starring a lovely Kisten Dunst and hansome Jay Hernandez. Same storyline, except that this movie is actually good. Kirsten really is a troubled teenager who destroys everyone and everything around her, and most important herself. Her father can't handle her and wants to send her to bootcamp. Jay as Carlos is the love of her life and tries to get her on the right path. Kirsten and Jay have major chemistry and the acting is great. Greta just made me laugh all the time, the movie is a big parody on itself.
So pretty please Hilary, stay away from 'dramatic' movies and stick to the genre that made you a star, simple romcoms with a hint of Lizzy.