Movie #242 - Grandma's Boy

Grandma's Boy
2006 - Rated R - 1 hr 34 min
Director: Nicholaus Goosen
Starring: Allen Covert, Linda Cardellini, Peter Dante, Shirley Jones, Shirley Knight, Joel Moore, Kevin Nealon, Doris Roberts, Nick Swardson, Jonah Hill

Allen Covert's not exactly the kind of guy you'd pick for a leading role.  He's not handsome or charming, he's not lovable or even likable for most of the movie.  He plays a low life kind of guy, stuck in a job that's beneath his abilities, evicted from his apartment and forced to live with his grandma, and seriously addicted to pot.  Also, he's 36.

Time to grow up, right?

Somehow, you still end up rooting for him, even if only because everyone else in this movie is equally or more unlikable. Particularly his nemesis JP, a video game genius who talks like a robot when he's nervous and dresses like he just fell out of The Matrix. By comparison, Allen Covert's character actually is the most likable.

His grandma, though, is probably the best part of this movie.  Yes, it's the mom from Everybody Loves Raymond. And her two roommates are pretty cool as well, one of whom is classic TV's Shirley Jones, or the Patridge Family mom.  Sweet.

There's not much of a life lesson to be gleaned from this one.  It's entertaining, but very middle of the road in terms of comedy.  Meh.

Movie #43 - Avatar

Avatar

Twenthieth Century Fox

2009 - Rated PG-13 - 2 hr 42 min

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovani Ribisi, Joel Moore

I have a feeling there's going to be some backlash about the following comments... but oh well.

Avatar is many things... James Cameron's CGI dream world, a commentary on Americans' total disregard for ecological fragility, a visually pleasing attempt at racking up Oscars in art director etc, a romance for giant nerds, and largely overrated.

Yup, I said it. I think Avatar is overrated.

Now, before you start attacking me (Fong), hear me out. I really, really enjoy watching this movie. It's pretty to look at, the actors are great, the CGI unbelievable, and even the concept is very unique. The whole human-to-Avatar-body connection could probably be better explained, but it's not really necessary. The point is the concept - it's just cool. Something we probably wish we could do (and so much more exciting than Surrogates). Anyway, there's lots of action, gorgeous rolling hills, even a nice little love story.

But the number of people who said "You. Have. To. See. Avatar." to me was insane. I thought this movie was going to change my life eternally. Maybe I'm just not getting it.

Not to be nit-picky, but there were a few things that drove me insane about this movie. First of all, they're drilling and ripping apart this gorgeous planet for an element called UNOBTANIUM. Oh, really? Does that mean it's unobtainable? James Cameron, you clever bastard, you. If we're calling it that, why don't we just forget about calling the planet Pandora (actually, that right there, myth-o-philes, is a pretty obvious allusion). Instead, so everyone else gets it, why don't we just rename it Rainforestia?

Also, did anyone else notice that this movie is just a CGI version of Disney's Pocahontas, with elements of Ferngully? Except, instead of Native Americans or fairies, we've got blue aliens. Giant. Blue. Aliens. Who use their hair extensions as power cords to plug into their animals.

Alright, alright. I really do like this movie, I just get frustrated when directors get preachy or audiences go nuts over some pretty pictures. Good movie. End of story.