No Strings Attached

No Strings Attached
2011
Directed by: Ivan Reitman
Starring: Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher

The mere genre of romantic comedy has hit this level. The reality factor has always been pretty bland in the films. And to be honest, this movie was not very different. But there was some sort of truism to the fact that two friends could be lovers and whether it works or not is up to them. Now, going in, I thought the two people in the movie (Portman and Kutcher) would have been friends for a very long time. This, to me, would seem to be a little better hook. Every person has at least one very good friend of the opposite sex and wonders what it would be like if they were to ever hook up.

The answer is, it's weird to think about. How could two people that are such great friends ever be in a purely sexual relationship? Well, they can't. The humor and realism of the movie brought forth these feelings of authentic emotion and affinity. With steady laughs throughout the movie, I found myself smiling throughout.

Kutcher and Portman bring a somewhat realistic nature to their relationship, also being 2 of the most beautiful people in the business. Portman's style and glamour bring about a quirky way of beauty she pulls off with almost no effort. And, I don't really care what people say, Ashton Kutcher is cool. I forgive him for Dude, Where's My Car? but I like his way. He has a realistic way and a nice-guy type feature made for the big screen. That's all I have to say about that.

Kevin Kline plays a sinisterly funny character in Adam's (Kutcher) dad. He's an old man who used to star in a hit television show. He is a pot head asshole who doesn't seem to care about anyone else but himself. His character breaks through the wall when he tells Adam that he (Kline) is now sleeping with Vanessa, one of Adam's exes. The father-son bond is pulled tightly by the strings (no pun) in an effort to create a tension filled bucket of lies and terrible parenthood. Fortunately, the humor does not allow the awkward to take over and completely monopolize the movie. Kline is brilliantly hilarious in this portrayal.


Other than small quirks and cracks, the storyline stayed true and was pretty new and inviting. It brought the technology factor through without the obnoxiousness of dumb characters. The movie was straight to the point and I appreciated that.

Stars (out of 5): * * *

A Revamp To The System

So, because I cannot sit still for a long time without doing anything, I've decided to revamp my blog. I'm not sure how many people read it, but I'm hoping that the few that do enjoy reading my writings. I know there are matters of a difference of opinion, but honestly, that's why I believe it's interesting.

The reason I do this is to entertain myself and make my opinions known to the few people that do read what I put down on this technological page. I find it difficult to please people, so I do it to please myself.

Over the course of the next year (and possibly beyond), along with my normal write ups of movies that I see, I will be revisiting movies from the past. I may write a new review of a movie I have seen again since the first impression. I may watch a movie again from years ago and talk about the differences I found and if I liked it more or less now. There are plenty of titles I can think of that I do need to watch again. To name a few:

Gladiator
Die Hard
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Schindler's List
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Mystic River

That's not even close to all of them, but those are the ones that came to my mind, and yes, they are all on my Netflix list. Or I could probably just borrow one from a friend. Anyway, getting back to what I was saying, the reason I am doing this is because of the debacle that arose from Inception. During the summer I went to a midnight show of the film, but was exhausted from the day's work before. I did not know much about the movie and didn't know that it would take all the strength in my brain to make sense of the back and forth situations that occur.


(Photo from: thehydramag.com)


Bringing me back to my next point. The reviews of movies that I come back to will probably not be as formally written as the previous. I may just ramble and insert things about movies I have seen. Who knows? I sure as hell don't. Getting back, Inception was good. Not great, but good. After viewing it for a second time last week, I see now what the fuss is about. It was still confusing, and I did have to dig into my deep, intelligent brain to figure out just what exactly was happening. The true magnetism of the story brings you in to this world of imagination, and quite frankly, Matrixism? Sure, we'll go with that, I'm okay with it. The sheer velocity of the plot brings forth the presence of too much going on. I'm okay with that, but I feel that Nolan completely went over the top. The whole movie was over the top. With drama, not great acting, and only one action scene that was awesome which involved Joseph Gordon-Levitt floating in mid-air and mid-fight, still over the top. The deluxe grandeur of a big budget movie seemed too much for this filmmaker, and he made a very confusing, yet very (intelligent?) film. I still can't decide what I liked about it. I can't decide what I didn't like about it. To a point, it was fine. But honestly, as my brother said to me after his viewing, I don't care that much.

As for the new format, deal. Please just comment if you have an issue or like something. That is all.

Blue Valentine

Blue Valentine
2010
Directed by: Derek Cianfrance
Starring: Michelle Williams, Ryan Gosling

Well, here we are. It's a new year. Meaning new movies and new reviews. I'm going to bring things up a notch or two this year. Maybe reviewing not just new movies I see, but continuing the judgment of every movie I see. Netflix is truly a beautiful thing. Adding pictures and certain details might also help in the spicing of this blogged out relationship.

Blue Valentine. One of the things I judge a movie on can be its trailer. It doesn't have to be awesome, it doesn't have be long. It just has to have that valor and sticking nature that a tease should have. Like a girl running her cool hands down a long arm, the tease should be enough to get interested and stay interested. Blue Valentine's trailer brought my attention to this film diving in to the realism of modern relationships.

(Photo from: joblo.com)

Focusing on a young couple married for about 5 years with a young daughter, this melodrama brings forth the true nature of how relationships have very high ups and very low downs. The chronology jumps back and forth from the time when they met to a point in their current relationship struggling to keep it together. Gosling portrays Dean, a job jumping non-high school graduate trying to keep his family together. His drinking is too heavy, and his jobs do not help the cause. His true nature of the character finds the audience lost in his eyes, smile, frown, and Stanley Tucci look from The Lovely Bones. Yet, he loves his daughter and his wife so deeply that he loses himself in the relationships to a point of a crumble.



Williams characterizes Cindy, a hard working nurse in a Gynecologist's office. She loves her husband and her daughter, but realizes that trying to keep them all together is nearly impossible. The film begins showing the awkwardly crazy relationship of the three people in their Pennsylvania home.

The story transcends the ultimate beauty of love and torture in a relationship. Bonds are built and broken from the shattered hearts of two individuals too damn blinded by the sanctity of their truth to one another. People wonder how love is never like a romantic comedy.

(Photo from: thejosevilson.com)

How come going to the library or coffee shop does not bring back that one true feeling? How come people have to work hard to find true love? And why do we have to work so damn hard to keep it once we have it?


The film boasts on realistic nature of relationships. Meeting someone, falling in love, being with them, and the ultimate show of affection and trust rearing its ugly, truthful head. The mind boggling connection between the two main characters in this gore fest of drama brings about the truth behind every relationship. It is impossible to be madly in love and happy for the entire course of a relationship. The problem with most romantic comedies is that they do not show what happens after that day in the park when the woman jumps in the man's arms. They do not show the toll that relationships take on people. They do not show the overwhelming frustration of wanting something, getting it, and losing it. This two hour love/hate fest brings our souls to a realistic and truthful stand still.

Stars (now out of 5, due to my overwhelming amount of time spent on my Netflix account): ***