Spy

Spy had potential, but the vibe is just off. It's not serious, it's not a parody, and it doesn't do a good job of being in the middle. It is consistently funny, but it could've been a lot better.

It's October, and apparently Spy is the second movie I've seen that came out in 2015. I really liked The Heat, and you can pretty much tell from the trailer which if Melissa's movies are going to be unwatchable. I figured this one would at least be passable, and that wasn't far off. There was something weird about the tone. It didn't quite work. I've seen most of the commentary, and the director keeps talking about how it's not a spoof or a parody, and they were going for serious (as much as they could with a comedy), but the general feel of the movie was really off.

I had a hard time investing in the plot. Maybe Melissa works better when she only has one person to play off, like in The Heat, than so many people. There were a *lot* of funny things about the movie, but something about it really brings my rating down. Most of the songs were jarring and just terrible choices in general, and the CGI was inexcusable. 

American Beauty

This was a lot like Six Feet Under. The fantasy sequences, the themes, the music, the lighting..it was all very reminiscent of the show, which is interesting considering the fact that the director, cinematographer, and composer apparently never did much work on it. I don't think it deserves the type of "most original awesome thing ever" acclaim that it got, but aside from that it was as good as it was supposed to be.

Juno

Not realistic in the least, but entertaining nonetheless.

The Chumscrubber

Feels empty and contrived, but still manages to be interesting. Also: yay Ralph Fiennes.