PCP on DVD - Movie Backlog Clearout

Since I haven't had the time to write reviews because of grad school, but have still had the time to watch movies, I have once again developed a backlog of movies that need to be reviewed. Like I have in the past, I'm going to do a clear-out post of my backlog by posting really short reviews of 23 movies I caught within the past 6 months that I don't want to write more than a paragraph about. There were some good movies in this batch, some bad ones too, but I just want to get their reviews done so I can focus on longer posts on the movies I actually want to write about (i.e. the really good ones).  So, without further ado, here are the quick reviews in alphabetical order.

21 & Over - 2013, rated R. My rating: 5 out of 10. It's a college drinking movie about a 21st birthday celebration. It has its funny moments but nothing particularly original really. Basically, it's a lot like The Hangover retold for a new generation.

About Cherry - 2012, rated R. My rating: 4 out of 10. A lame girl moves to California and gets into the skin industry. Probably the most pointless well acted film I've ever seen. Lame ending left me asking "what was the point?" Don't waste an hour and a half of your life.

A Good Day to Die Hard -2013, rated PG-13. My rating: 5 out of 10. Were this named anything else and not part of the Die Hard franchise it'd probably warrant a 6 or 7, but it gets points off for sullying the name of the greatest action flick ever. Please stop making films in this franchise, thanks.

Beautiful Creatures - 2013, rated PG-13. My rating: 6.5 out of 10. Yet another young adult novel adaptation hoping to be the next Twilight franchise. It has cool effects for the witchcraft moments, and fun scenery-chewing performances, especially from Emmy Rossum. I don't think it did well enough for them to continue the series though.

Celeste & Jesse Forever - 2012, rated R. My rating: 8 out of 10.  Funny but touching, but also majorly depressing. It's not a romantic comedy date movie, it's more sort of like PS I Love You in the fact that it's a depressing love story. Rashida Jones & Andy Samberg are awesome though.

Hanna - 2011, rated R. My rating: 6 out of 10.  Well done action sequences offset by sucky plot meant that I found it hard to care about any of the characters. But, as I said the action sequences were pretty bad-ass, so that prevented the film from being a total waste.

Keep reading! There's more after the jump! --->

PCP on DVD - The Hangover Part III

The first Hangover film was one of the more enjoyable comedies of the past decade. It's first sequel was derivative, telling the same story but set in Bangkok instead of Las Vegas. For The Hangover Part III, they are back in Vegas, but without the massive memory loss story line of the past two films. Does a new story idea result in an enjoyable movie? Not really.

The Hangover Part III - 2013, rated R. My rating: 4 out of 10.

The Wolfpack returns for what I hope is their final adventure. I say that I hope that it's the end, because after this one I don't want to spend any time with these characters again. This time they are dealing with inadvertent consequences of their misadventures from the previous two films. The plot isn't really all that believable though, in reality a crossed mob boss would've just capped them and the movie would've been over after 10 minutes.

While it was nice to hang out with these characters for the third time, their stories were pretty played out and tired. All of the best jokes from the film were in the trailer too. Really, there's not a lot we haven't seen before. Zach Galifianakis is weird, Ed Helms is increasingly fed up with Zach's antics, Bradley Cooper the man in charge, and Justin Bartha missing for the majority of the film.

Really, unless you're a diehard Galifianakis fan (because he's the best thing of this movie), don't waste your time on this one. There are far funnier comedies out there than this mess.

PCP on the Page - John Grisham & Stephen King Go Back to the Well

Recently, two authors I really like, Stephen King and John Grisham, released sequels to books they had written many years ago. This was a new thing for both of them. While King has written direct sequels before, specifically with his Dark Tower series of books, and has linked the locations and events of his books together, he hasn't really written a direct sequel to one of his "standalone" novels. Likewise, outside of his series of young reader novels set around the character Theodore Boone, John Grisham had never written a direct sequel to one of his books either. So, I found it interesting that both authors had direct sequels to two of their most popular novels come out right around the same time as each other this fall. I guess that I have gotten used to Hollywood's endless sequel machine, because I'm actually somewhat surprised that these two authors hadn't done this before and waited so long to do so.

For John Grisham, the well that he goes back to is the character of Jake Brigance, the southern lawyer from Grisham's first novel, A Time to Kill, published back in 1989. Set three years after the trial that freed Carl Lee Hailey who killed the Klansmen who raped his daughter, Brigance is desperate for a flashy case and eager to fight a tough fight. He gets one when a wealthy local recluse kills himself, but right before doing so mails Brigance a brand new, extremely controversial last will and testament. Brigance has to figure out why this multimillionaire is leaving 90% of his estate to his Black housekeeper, instead of to his children and grandchildren, and to defend this will in court from the legal challenge by the man's family.

I thoroughly enjoyed Sycamore Row. It had a crackling energy that had been somewhat lacking Grisham's work of late, perhaps because he was going back to a highly popular character. Unlike A Time to Kill however, I don't see them adapting this one into a film, even if Matthew McConaughey wanted to reprise the role. The book doesn't lend itself to a film the way some of Grisham's earlier works did. That doesn't mean it's not a good read, because it is, it just doesn't have as many thrills or the life and death stakes of some of his other works.

Continue after the jump for the review of Stephen King's Doctor Sleep -->