Quick Reviews: Six Recent Films

I'm giving myself an assignment: put up a post about as many of the eight films I've seen this month as possible before I go to bed, which will be soon as I'm off to Washington, DC in the morning, Three nights away from home are beckoning, so...

Cloud Atlas: I nearly walked out on multiple occasions. There are six different storylines set at various times, from the days of slavery to a post-apocalyptic future, and the film cuts back and forth between them constantly. They're tied together by the fact that many of the actors (including Tom Hanks and Halle Berry) appear as multiple characters, and by some other plot points. There's some grand theme about humanity and how we treat others and so on, but it was such a confusing mess it's a miracle I didn't leave. I guess it was a novel attempt at something different, which keeps it from being a complete failure. My grade: D-plus.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower: Really impressive and well-acted. Emma Watson completely makes you forget she was in the Harry Potter movies. Definitely deserved a better box-office fate. My grade: A.

Wreck-It Ralph: Like the "Toy Story" of video games in its nostalgia. Funny moments, interesting premise, ultimately not quite as brilliant as the "Toy Story" films. Still definitely worthwhile. My grade: B-plus.

Flight: Quite good but a little overrated in telling

Quick Review: Eat Pray Love

I sooooooo wanted "Eat Pray Love" to be a complete disaster, worthy of nothing but utter disdain and contempt, so I could write a three-word review such as "Barf Scream Stab" and be done with it. Alas, it was not to be. Not that it's all that great. "Eat Pray Love" is based on a memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert, and she's played by Julia Roberts. Poor Liz is unhappy in her failing marriage (husband played by Billy Crudup); then she's unhappy with her younger rebound guy (played by James Franco) so she decides to take off for a year. She goes to Italy (to eat), then to India (to pray) and then to Bali (not with the explicit purpose to love, but she finds it anyway with a fellow divorcee played by Javier Bardem). Even with voiceover narratives I couldn't quite figure out exactly why Liz was so unhappy. Maybe the book spells it out more clearly. Instead of being an insightful journey of self-discovery, it all seemed a bit trite. At least there's a variety of male eye candy in the film, including a gorgeous Italian man named Luca Argentero, who posed for a 2004 calendar. He actually looks better now then he did back then. One of the calendar shots is below; if you do a search, you can see a full rear nude shot as well. You're welcome. My grade: C-plus.