Month: September 2005

So yeah, took in a “chick flick” with the wife last night…largely due to a). free tickets and b). John Cusack, who is likely one of my favorite actors. The premise of “Must Love Dogs” is rather simple: a woman and a man both went through recent divorces and their family/friends make them sign up at an online dating site, where they both meet each other. She and he both go through the motions of “men/women are all evil, why can’t I find someone perfect, why is the world so messed up,” etc.

Overall, the story is pretty derivative and not thoroughly inventive…as most romantic comedies are, anymore… On the other hand, I did find myself laughing at a few points throughout and I didn’t find myself guessing all of the twists (although, I did guess quite a few of them…). Also, again, John Cusack is the man. One of my favorite movies (and one of the few I identify with on a personal level…) is “High Fidelity,” in which he starred. Both “High Fidelity” and “Must Love Dogs” include his singular wit and humor, which is always fun for me to watch. If you remember, Cusack was in “Serendipity” a few years back with Kate Beckensale and I didn’t think they matched that well (that, and the story was quite unbelievable and didn’t have as much of Cusack’s wit, if I remember correctly)…but Diane Lane and Cusack seem to “mesh” quite a bit better. At the very least, the supporting cast in “Must Love Dogs” is stronger (Christopher Plummer, Stockard Channing, Dermot Mulroney, etc.) than in “Serendipity” (…which consisted of Jeremy Piven…and that’s about it…)

Therefore, if you liked “High Fidelity” and the style of humor that Cusack portrays so well, you’ll likely be able to sit through “Must Love Dogs” and almost enjoy it. If you like chick flicks, you’ll love it. If you don’t like chick flicks and hated “High Fidelity,” I think you ought to avoid it…’cause you won’t find anything of value.

So yeah, saw “Transporter 2” yesterday, not looking to be terribly impressed… I saw the first iteration in theaters when it came out and was quite dissappointed in it. For the most part, the first movie had some cool action scenes, but everything else was just boring. The movie only barely held my attention, only to be revitalized whenever a badass fight scene would pop up.

The second movie improves on the first one in that there is some form of plot that is somewhat entertaining to follow. The action scenes are even more badass than the first movie was and the storyline held my interest for the vast majority of the film.

Overall, I guess I liked it, but there have certainly been better movies… The acting was marginal at best; most of the effects were excellent, but some were a little cheap; and Jason Statham still could have been better used (it seemed to me that he spent more time fighting than he spent talking…perhaps if there was more intelligent dialogue to listen to, a good plot may have developed more clearly…oh well).

On the other hand, maybe “The Cave” would have been a better choice… 😛

(for those who don’t talk to me much, that was sarcasm…)