Bron Studios, Gary Sanchez Productions,

Thomas Mann, Joan Cusack, Kristen Wiig, James Marsden, Linda Cardellini, Tim Robbins, Loretta Devine, Wes Bentley, Alan Tudyk, Jennifer Jason Leigh

Alice Klieg (Kristin Wiig) is quite a bit off. She’s seeing a shrink and taking her meds and trying to live a normal life, but one day she wins the lottery and suddenly has a boatload of money. Alice is a fanatic for daytime TV, and when she see’s a public domain show on a small local station, she fires the shrink, stops taking the meds and buys herself a TV show called “Welcome to Me” which is all about herself. The folks at the TV station know they’re going under so they play along with this psycho lady, but things don’t go well for TV host Alice as she alienates everyone except the viewing public.

There is a quirky movie, and then there’s a QUIRKY movie. This is definitely QUIRKY

    movie, that’s for sure. This is clearly written for Kristen Wiig as this looney lady is right in her wheelhouse. It was interesting and mildly funny film, but I think that at the end of Kiristen Wiig’s run on SNL it suffered from too much Kristen Wiig. I’m afraid this one suffers from the same thing, a bit too much of her. She started to get on my nerves after a while. There is a mix of humor and sadness, and it never got a decent balance between the two. It suffers from the inability to decide what it is. This film has a similar feel to UHF starring Weird Al Yankovic. UHF is a cult classic, but Weird knew that he could not carry every scene, so he brought in a bunch of supporting characters which made this such a pleasure to watch over and over again. They could have used that formula in this film too, as the few sideline characters are not used very well, not very funny or dramatic, and mostly a snooze-fest. That leaves Kristen having to carry every scene which is not really fair. I like Kristen and when she’s in an ensemble cast she is fantastic. This just heaped too much on her shoulders. I don’t recommend this one, as I didn’t find it really that special.

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Abbolita Productions, Gotham Group, Starstream Entertainment,

Jennifer Aniston, Mos Def, Isla Fisher, Will Forte, Mark Boone Junior, Tim Robbins, John Hawkes, Clea Lewis, Charlie Tahan, Kevin Corrigan

Frank Dawson (Tim Robins) is a developer who has earned a lot of money rather unscrupulously. He’s a bit of a bastard, and his long suffering wife, Mickey (Jennifer Aniston) does her best to put up with his crap. Frank is off on another business trip which is really a tryst with his girlfriend Melanie (Isla Fisher) and Franks divorce papers are in the mail so that Mickey will get it while he’s away and he won’t have to deal with it. But things don’t go as planned when Mickey is kidnapped by a few quirky common thieves who lock her away and demand a million dollars from Frank who doesn’t want to pay. Things get really screwy in this drama with a side of comedy.

Jennifer Aniston is amazing, isn’t she? It’s because of her performance that this movie even works. As it is, she was really good. This story seems very, very similar to “Ruthless People” with Bette Midler and Danny DeVito where she was kidnapped from a husband who didn’t want her. But this is quite different. “Ruthless People” was done as a slapstick comedy with laughs coming every minute. This film, though very funny in parts, is much more dramatic and a lot more serious. The crooks who kidnap her are about as incompetent as “The Apple Dumpling Gang” but somehow they are clever enough to pull it off without being silly. Tim Robbins was perfectly cast as the uncaring husband and he did a good job, but the gem in this film has to be Isla Fisher who is really perfect as the mistress who has an angle of her own. There are twists and turns throughout the movie, and it’s actually a very interesting story. I was impressed by this film as a streaming movie (I haven’t found a place to buy it yet, but it’s available for streaming) and it was a pleasant journey watching this movie. I recommend this as an unusual relationship story with a side of crime and treachery topped with a heaping helping of comedy. If you find this one, give it a shot. If just for Jennifer Aniston’s performance alone it will be worth it.

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Class 5 Films, Olympus Pictures,

Mark Ruffalo, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim Robbins, Josh Gad, Joely Richardson, Patrick Fugit, Carol Kane, Pink

Adam (Mark Ruffalo) is battling his way through a 12 step program to overcome sex addiction when he meets Phoebe (Gwyneth Paltrow) who has, based on past experience, cast off all recovering addicts. So Adam has to lie to her, by swearing he’s not an “alcoholic” but leaving out the rest. As he battles through problems with his group, and with his sponsor (Tim Robbins) he finds himself really falling for Phoebe, but as in all romantic comedies, sooner or later the lies are going to catch up with him.

This is a fairly complicated romantic comedy, and is about the addiction as much as the romance, but it’s just not as good a film as it could have been. I just didn’t feel the chemistry between Gwyneth and Mark, and I just can’t see them really liking each other. Furthermore, Mark Ruffalo’s Adam is really rough. I never really got to care much for this guy. One bright spot was surprisingly Pink/Alicia Moore as Dede, a really funny member of the group. I am not sure I’ve seen her act before, and though her part was not really big, she was really good. Surprisingly the background characters in this film are much more interesting than the lead. This is not a really horrible movie, but I’m not sure where the target market is for this, as I don’t think the usual market for romantic comedies will enjoy the whole background sex addiction plot, and I doubt that 12 step addicts are big movie buffs for the most part. So it’s all rather ho-hum, and giving it three stars is probably even a little generous.

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Warner Bros. Pictures, De Line Pictures, DC Entertainment

Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Temuera Morrison, Jenna Craig, Jon Tenney, Tim Robbins, Angela Bassett, Jay O. Sanders

There is a group of superheroes, the Green Lantern Intergalactic Corps, who watch out for the entire galaxy. They are chosen and are up against an evil called Parallax. a super-powerful being who feeds on fear who has broken out of his prison. The Green Lanterns are chosen by their inability to feel fear. Hal Jordan is a hot shot test pilot who is in a bit of trouble for crashing a jet and destroying his companies ability to sell jets to the government. He is chosen as a green lantern, and given a ring and a lantern and super abilities to fly and fight. But the GL’s are in trouble and just maybe Hal is the “human” for the job.

I debated on seeing this film in the theater. The 3D was inviting, but the reviews and the box office of this film was dismal. So I decided to use my hard earned bucks on the other superhero movies of the time. Then, I paid my penance in the 30 day delay punishment that certain members of the movie industry have place on us humble Netflix customers, and finally Saturday the film arrived. I decided to pop it in the DVD and give it a try.

Well, first let me say it wasn’t a BAD as I expected from the horrible reviews and the lack of attendance at the film. It’s a better rental than you would expect. But by the same token, it’s not a very great movie either. I tried really hard to get into the story, and just couldn’t get involved in it. I even tried rewatching the first hour to see if maybe I was wrong, but I wasn’t. Ryan Reynolds was an emotionless nerd throughout most of the film. No matter the unbelievable and remarkable things that happen to him, being yanked away from Earth to receive the ring, and to be trained as a superhero. Throughout it all, his face is frozen, with no emotion. I guess it’s to show no fear, but no fear is a little different than reckless and arrogant which he is most of the time.

Furthermore, Parallax is the most evil thing in the universe, but he’s quickly forgotten when Hal sets off on a different quest after a different bad guy. They are going to destroy Earth, and though none of the other Lanterns object, Hal sets off on his own to save the Earth. When we get pack to Parallax, nobody cares much. The CGI is popping off all over the place, but there’s not much heart. I was very underwhelmed with the story. Granted I’m not a big fan of superhero stories to begin with, but there were many better than this, in the current year alone. I don’t recommend this unless you’re a big fan of the story, or a big superhero movie fan to start with. It was less of a disappointment than I feared, but just not good enough to keep my attention.

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