Archive for the 'DVD Movie Reviews' Category
During my viewing of this movie I thought I was enjoying it, maybe I was but in hindsight it was one of the worst movies I’ve seen in a long, long time.
There is no base for reality with Catch and Release, even with actors such as Jennifer Garner and Kevin Smith, it was a shocker. To name an obvious flaw to start with, no woman in her right mind would be calm about the news that her deceased fiance had another girlfriend and had a child with this person, let alone welcome her with open arms into the fold. Granted there was some awkwardness but apparently this was all resolved over an impromptu dinner party. Sorry, I just don’t buy that at all.
Another error is that people need time to grieve, they do not fall in love with the best friend of the deceased fiance. No matter how bad the relationship is, when someone dies they can do no wrong. Death washes away your sins, albeit temporarily.
Besides those two plot holes, the acting from all concerned was rigid, the story line weak at best, which makes me ask do these people just need the money because they really didn’t look like they were enjoying it at all.
So my suggestion here is walk away people. Don’t get sucked in by the temptation of “romantic comedy” or the smiling Jennifer on the front. Walk away otherwise you will just waste 90-120 minutes of your life.
Babbler Rating: 
In 1950, the World Cup Federation invited the US to play against the best in the world. Considering that there was no National League this was quite a surprise at the time. The Game Of Their Lives looks at this period from a St Louis biased point of view.
Trials were conducted for selection between players from St Louis and New York. Both sides had different styles of play which needed to be adapted and both sides had their own leader who they followed. Attitudes had to change to make the team work and for them to actually become a team.
In a trial game against the English seconds squad (players that didn’t make the official World Cup Squad) they take a huge drumming, which apparently inspires them for the Wold Cup. For the actual World Cup, they aren’t ranked at all and the odds on them winning were so astronomical that no one could bet on them.
The problem I had with this movie is that it is so fast paced, a bit like the formation of the squad. As it was trying to cram so much information into a movie shorter than 120 minutes, you don’t get an opportunity to care about the players, the game or if they win or lose.
This could have been an interesting and riveting story, but due to time constraints you might as well give it a miss.
Babbler Rating: 
Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen are multi-millionaires and their movies appeal to the younger generations. After watching Getting There I can understand why, their movies reflect what every teenage girl wishes they could do.
Sure there is no real basis in reality, no parents are that lenient but every kid wishes they were. In Getting There Kylie and Taylor with their five friends plan to go on their first road trip to the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. As with most good intentions things go extremely wrong!
A car gets stolen, kids get abandoned in the middle of nowhere and there are more mishaps than in Planes, Trains and Automobiles. I agree with comments that most parents wouldn’t react so calmly to a stolen car but it’s a movie and that is a good reason for common sense to go out the window.
It is a bit inane in parts, such as the character Toast who all he ever does is eat, this gets a bit annoying and gross, especially when he eats and talks with his mouth open. There are the essential morals, such as don’t set up your friends for bad jokes, don’t take friends for granted and be prepared for every situation. All important lessons for kids.
As long as you don’t expect a masterpiece and are prepared to lose touch with reality for 90 minutes this is a reasonable film.
Babbler Rating:
I would have to recommend this for the boys, it is full of “fart” humour and I don’t think many women would get the jokes. I definitely didn’t. Chris Klein and Brendan Fehr star in this comedy and they do work well together.
Ed (Fehr) is looking at losing his job and his brother, Cooper is concerned about his sex life. Cooper (Klein) is an actor who is able to pick up women with the wink of an eye and does all he can to get Ed laid as he feels that this will put him back in the advertising game.
As you can imagine, hijinks abound in this comedy and surprisingly it does have its witty moments, but they are few and far between. Neither character is likeable nor do you feel for or care about either of them.
The Long Weekend has an interesting premise, it could have been a lot better, but again I think that it wasn’t given enough time to have a real story develop.
Babbler Rating:
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I had reservations about how good this movie would be as Hollywood has a tendency to romanticise military life. Anthony Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal) has written an accurate and detailed story about life as a “Jarhead” (Marine) that will keep you enthralled. If you have seen From Here to Eternity, you will notice similarities, differences and how the Marines have developed over the last 40 years.
Jarhead begins on Swofford’s first day of boot camp. We are taken on his journey from recruit to Marine sent to Saudi Arabia as part of the initial troops that were sent on a peace keeping mission in the early days of Desert Storm.
We experience his excitement, his fear and all the other emotions in between. The makers of Jarhead have taken the time to develop the characters, making you feel for them when they are on missions, undertaking training and you sit on edge when you think they are in danger.
You see how the team pull together and work together. They acknowledge their differences while in camp, but get over it when out on patrol. We see how boring waiting to go to war can be and how long distance relationships can suffer.
This is a movie that will make you sit up and take notice of what happens in modern day wars. It won’t change your life but it may change your attitude. I think this is a must see for those older than 12.
Babbler Rating:
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