Punch-Drunk Love

I liked Punch-Drunk Love when it first came out 17 years ago, and I watched it again to see what I would think of it now. It's not a movie for everybody, but it hits perfectly for me. I can totally identify with Barry. The soundtrack gets a bit obtrusive, and the plot isn't terribly realistic. But I love the humor, and the way his sisters act is a spot-on representation of how people really are.

I generally haven't hated Adam Sandler movies. I liked 50 First Dates. I liked Billy Madison, although I was nine when I saw it, so my opinion might change if I saw it again. I think he eventually went south with the dumb comedies, though, and I haven't seen him in anything for a long time.

I saw Punch-Drunk Love when it came out, but that was 17 years ago, which is insane to think about. I liked it then.

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote is a cool movie, if you're in the mood for that sort of thing. The tone hits all the right notes; it's farsical and, dare I say, quixotic. Jonathan Pryce and Adam Driver bring a lot of charisma, and the side characters are interesting, too.

I read excerpts of Don Quixote in school, but I haven't read the entire thing. I remember liking it, though. I don't think I've watched anything Terry Gilliam has been involved with, other than Tristram Shandy, which I felt like was one of the worst movies I had ever seen.

Snatch

Guy Ritchie might be my favorite director. I love his style, and it really shines here, more than in any other movie of his that I've seen. Snatch has a ton of good actors, all playing great characters. Each one contributes something, even if they’re only in a few scenes. It's consistently funny throughout, there's always something new and unexpected happening, and the way it all comes together is great.

I'm pretty sure I must have seen Snatch at some point. But I was only 14 when it came out, and I didn't remember it at all. I knew where the diamond ended up because I read a reference to it somewhere, but other than that and the fact that Brad Pitt played a gypsy, I didn't know anything about it.

I like Guy Ritchie's movies a lot, with the exception of Lock, Stock. Maybe I should watch it again. Or maybe not. Snatch seemed a lot like Rocknrolla and Layer Cake (not a Guy Ritchie movie), only a million times better. I don't know what the point of making Rocknrolla even was since he had already done Snatch. Lock, Stock would probably be similar enough that I wouldn't get anything out of it.
 
Snatch had me hooked right from the beginning. I love Jason Statham, although by the time I watched the second movie that I saw him in (The Bank Job, which incidentally, I didn't like him in), I had completely forgotten that he was in Snatch. To be fair, that was eight years later, which is a long time to remember an actor you've never seen in anything else.
 
But his character was great in Snatch. Although I didn't get why he needed to reference "zee Germans" three times. I loved his sidekick, too. I felt like I knew him from somewhere, but I don't think I really did, even though I've seen a few things that he's been in. I also felt like I had just seen the diamond guy and Brick Top as bad guys in similar movies, but apparently I hadn't.

What We Do in the Shadows

I liked Flight of the Conchords, but What We Do in the Shadows is profoundly not my thing.

I liked Flight of the Conchords, but I didn't have any interest in seeing What We Do in the Shadows. The version I watched wound up having the opening text in a language that was similar to German, so I missed out on a bit of context there, but looking it up now, I see that it wasn't critically important.

I'm starting to think that Taika's sense of humor just isn't my thing. There's something off about it. It's sort of flat, and cringey, and not funny.

Fist Fight

Fist Fight is long, boring, and most significantly for a comedy, not funny.

The trailer for Fist Fight was funny, and I stubbornly insisted on watching it even though most of the reviews were terrible. Strangely, the reviewer on Ebert's website liked it, which everyone in the comments section was rightfully confused about.

The Nice Guys

I probably would have enjoyed The Nice Guys more if I had understood what they were going for when I watched it. It was consistently funny, but some of the characters were annoying, a lot of the scenes didn't work, and the ending was strangely unsatisfying.

The trailer for The Nice Guys looked funny, and Roeper liked it, so I guess I had unreasonably high expectations. It was kind of disappointing. Russel Crowe's character was cool I guess, but March kind of got on my nerves. Ryan Gosling did look good at least.

Hail, Caesar!

I'm not the biggest Coen brothers fan, but I liked "Hail, Caesar!" All the actors are good, it's fun to see how they used to make movies, and there are a lot of funny scenes.

I'm not a huge Coen brothers fan. I either haven't seen or haven't been that into most of their movies, although I did like The Ladykillers (what) and True Grit. But Hail, Caesar! just looked interesting on its own merit. Roeper liked it; the friend I watched it with had seen it already and didn't like it because it seemed too "disconnected." Maybe I was inclined to like it just to be contrary. I didn't really find it to be disconnected. Everything seemed to go together pretty well. And overall it's exactly what you're promised – a funny look at how they used to make movies back in the '50s.

Deadpool

Deadpool as a character isn't entirely my thing, and the voice Reynolds went with was pretty obnoxious. But T.J. Miller was great, the action was cool, and it was funny as a whole.

Congratulations to me for finally seeing a movie from 2016. I hadn't heard great things about Deadpool, and I wasn't expecting to like it that much. I haven't seen much of the comics, so I spent a lot of the movie going, "I wonder if it's like that in the comic." I wasn't a fan of all the "fourth wall" stuff, but maybe because I had heard people praising a lot of it already. The tone as a whole didn't 100% click with me. Maybe more like 70%. It was a little too fast/cocky/self-aware for my taste. 

I don't know what Ryan was doing with that voice - another "is it like this in the comic?" moment - but at first I was pretty sure I was going to hate the entire movie because of it. It didn't seem so bad after we got to see Wade, though; and somehow it was even easier to take after we saw how he became Deadpool. He probably still could've dialed it back a smidge, though.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Maybe because I had low expectations going into it, and/or maybe because I just like Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer, I thought The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was brilliant. There are so many hilarious scenes, and the timing and delivery of the lines is (frequently, although not always) dead on. The plot is less than inspired, but it looks slick, and the soundtrack really stands out.

I didn't have high hopes for The Man from U.N.C.L.E. It got pretty mixed reviews. People like to pick on Guy Ritchie for some reason. I liked Snatch, and I wasn't impressed with Lock, Stock, although I can't remember either movie anymore at this point. But Sherlock Holmes was great. I need to see RocknRolla. I wanted to see The Man in the theater, but circumstances prevented me from doing it, the first time it came in from the library I flat out didn't have time to watch it, so I've been wanting to see it for forever.

I *thought* I hadn't ever seen Henry Cavill in anything until I just checked and found out he was the super hot guy from The Tudors. He's still super hot, and I love his voice. Solo reminded me a lot of Neal from White Collar. They're basically the same guy - a thief who got caught and is now working for the government. Although Neal wasn't in the Army. Henry's acting wasn't exactly perfect. There was something a little *too* mannered/deliberate/campy about it. But it did work most of the time. 

The only thing I'd ever seen Armie Hammer in was The Lone Ranger, but he was great in that. So I was basically just interested in The Man because of the two lead guys. And the trailer had some great lines. I liked the idea of these two guys who hate each other having to work together. I'm sure it's not the first time it's ever been done, but it looked interesting anyway. It was really tough at first to buy Armie as a Russian guy, though. I don't know how authentic his accent was, but I just kept thinking, "this guy isn't Russian and I know it." He and Henry did absolutely kill it a lot of the time in terms of comedic timing/delivery/tone, though.

Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters is a classic. It's probably worth watching just as a point of reference, and it does have its funny moments, but it's pretty simple.

Somehow I've never seen Ghostbusters. I feel like I must have seen it at some point, I just didn't remember it. I'm surprised nobody ever made me watch it. Bill Murray's performance was interesting. I haven't really ever appreciated him in anything, but I heard right before I watched this that he ad libbed a lot of the stuff. He was pretty charismatic. Really the center of the movie.

Zoolander

The humor in Zoolander ranges from dumb to tasteless, and there's pretty much no reason to watch it.

I wanted to see Zoolander when it came out - and I was 15 - but at some point I realized it wasn't worth seeing. I should've stuck with that. I'm not a huge fan of Ben Stiller, and the schtick he did for the movie didn't help. I do sometimes like Will Ferrell; he didn't have a huge part here, but he was good. Owen Wilson was probably the best part of the movie, but that didn't make it anywhere near worth watching.

Suburban Gothic

Suburban Gothic is pretty much a throw-away. The main character is likeable and interesting, and there are a couple funny scenes, but that can't make up for the vacuity of the plot and the other characters.

The reviews for Suburban Gothic weren’t that great, and I probably should've listened to them and not watched it, but it looked like it could be funny and/or interesting. It had a really weird vibe that didn't quite work, though. Raymond had an intriguing look. I was kind of mystified by the fact that Becca never smiled, which is actually one of the main problems I had with the movie - everyone was so much a caricature, you couldn't take it the slightest bit seriously.

Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead

Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead is fairly disjointed in terms of actual mechanics and plot, but there are some cool ideas, and I loved the outfits, the vehicles, and the look of a lot of the scenes in general.

Wyrmwood has been described as "Mad Max with zombies," and I guess you could kind of look at it that way. I did love the look of the movie; the outfits and the truck and everything. There was some cool editing and camerawork going on. I probably should've had the subtitles on; I had to struggle to hear what was being said, and I didn't always catch it.

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. 

It's All Gone Pete Tong

It's All Gone Pete Tong (which is about a DJ who goes deaf, if you haven't heard of it) is one of my favorite movies. It's not super deep, but it is funny and good-natured.

It's All Gone Pete Tong is one of my favorite movies, and I don't care if it is unrealistic and simple. This was either the second or third time I've seen it. Paul Kaye's eyes are so striking, and I love Frankie's whole "Ibiza" look. There are so many great lines in the first half of the movie.

Inherent Vice

 Inherent Vice is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Josh Brolin, Joaquin, and Benicio all give standout performances. It's definitely confusing, it does drag on a bit, and the ending isn't completely perfect, but the humor is so refreshing and spot-on that I'm giving it 4.5/5.
Inherent Vice looked interesting from the trailer. I don't remember what Roeper said about it, but he gave it a B, so I guess he didn't hate it. I think Chris liked it more after thinking about it than he did right after he saw it. All that put together, and I still wanted to give it a shot, but I went in prepared to just enjoy the ride and not have everything wrapped up at the end.

I was surprised by how funny it was. It's subtle humor; they don't beat you over the head with it, but it's good. I'd say it's the funniest movie I've seen in a year, so that should count for something. I love that they shot it on actual film. It looks amazing; it has character without looking dated - although since it is set in the 70s, you could probably allow some dated-ness leeway. I liked how most of the women didn't look like they were wearing makeup. They all looked clean and natural. I'm sure they were wearing some makeup, but it just wasn't over-the-top like usual.

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Kingsman: The Secret Service looks good, aside from the weird jumpy camera style they went with for a few of the fight scenes. There are some interesting ideas, but Eggsy's protégé character is totally one-note, and I would've liked it better if it had less immature violence and more parkour. 

I don't have many thoughts on Kingsman: The Secret Service that don't involve spoilers. It had just the right amount of "gadgets" to keep things interesting without being gimmicky. I was disappointed the parkour scene wasn't longer; they should've done more of that. And I hated the weird jumpy camera style of the fight scenes.

The Art of the Steal

The Art of the Steal has quite a few funny moments, but it comes off as staged and gimmicky, and I felt more cheated by the ending than impressed. 

Online reviews were mixed for The Art of the Steal, but I like Jay Baruchel, I don't mind Kurt Russell, and it looked like it might be funny. The style was too "gimmicky." I didn't like all the "x-ray" shots of things inside of things, or all the times the names of people's roles popped up.  It felt really light. It didn't go in-depth into anything. It was like an unsatisfying episode of White Collar.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

 
I almost didn't make it past the first five minutes of Anchorman 2. It wound up being mildly interesting to watch, but it's not that funny, and most of the time it's just disturbingly bizarre.

I liked Anchorman, and Roeper said Anchorman 2 was funny, so I watched it. I almost didn't make it past the first five minutes. It wasn't funny in the slightest, and Will Ferrell looks weird these days. This was the first movie I've seen him in since someone pointed out how jacked his bottom teeth are. I never noticed them before, but it's like the arrow in the FedEx logo - once you see it, it's all you can see. Everything was just over the top and bizarre and off-putting.

I thought it might get better once the other members of the news team appeared, and it did a little, but overall the movie only made it to about 50% funny. The first one must have been better, but I don't remember it well enough to know for sure.

The Lone Ranger

I don't know why The Lone Ranger got such bad reviews. It's a fun Disney movie with action, comedy, villains, likeable characters, and great cinematography.
 

The Lone Ranger got some pretty bad reviews, but it still looked like it might be fun. I don't really know anything about the TV series, so I went into it with a completely blank slate on that front; no expectations, and nothing for the movie to live/match up to. I was skeptical about Johnny Depp playing a Native American, and I was right to be; it wasn't so much like watching "Tonto" as it was just watching "Johnny Depp in makeup," but that's okay. I enjoyed his performance anyway.

I really liked what Armie Hammer did with the character of The Lone Ranger. He was pretty endearing. I liked how he always wanted to do the right thing, but he was naïve and kind of bumbling. He just seemed like a good guy, totally out of his element.

It kind of came across as a kids' movie, but then there was a lot of drinking and prostitutes and eating people going on, so it was weird in that respect. It was Disney, after all. I don't think Helena's character Red really needed to be in it. She didn't do much. And Helena's starting to look old. 

William Fichtner gave the performance of his life as Cavendish, or maybe the character design people just did an awesome job. He was barely recognizable; I didn't even know it was him until halfway through the movie. That lip problem he had going on was really disturbing. All the rangers were so dirty, too. That was weird.