Reviews

This movie finally taught me the true meaning of the genre term "romantic comedy". Second Act has literally no more than five minutes of any kind of a romance. It's about work life, and a mother/daughter relationship. Those are the two premises. No romance. Very little comedy. So my conclusion is that "romantic comedy" actually translates to "lightweight drama that's made predominantly for women".

It's OK for what it is. Lighthearted fluff, male roles few and superficial as usual, mildly entertaining. 5 stars.

This time Apple really went too far. Up until now the worst was the scene in Silver Linings Playbook where Julia Stiles' character utters "You don't have an iPod? Who doesn't have an iPod??" but this is a hundred times worse. There's hardly a scene in the first half of the movie where we don't see the logo. You actually forget you're watching a movie. It borders on farce when Bridget is holding her phone and adjusts her fingers so that you can see the Apple logo from between her fingers. Google have their bit too, but smaller. I get it, Apple own Hollywood so modern movies happen in this alternate universe where not only everyone's area code is 555 but everyone uses Apple products. Kind of like Acme in the cartoons. But isn't product placement supposed to be subtle and work subconsciously, rather than be shoved down our throats all the time?

What about the rest of the movie? I remembered Bridget being a nice and kind person. Here she comes out as selfish, inconsiderate and unlikeable. The story is uninteresting. I didn't even care what happens in the end. I found Patrick Dempsey's character annoying. Sarah Solemani and Kate O'Flynn have some semi-funny moments. Colin Firth is the same as usual. I give it a three.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable ride from a fresh director and features great performances from three promising young actresses.

Hailee Steinfeld continues to show her versatility as Megan, a trained assassin who just wants to be a normal teenager. Dove Cameron gives a strong performance as the daughter of the host family. I hope to see her in many more movies. Sophie Turner plays Megan's nemesis and has less scenes, but shines in the ones she's in, especially in the end. I'm very much looking forward to seeing her in the title role of X-Men: Dark Phoenix.

The guys in this flick are mostly ornaments. Good old Samuel L. J. and Jessica Alba also play second fiddle here to the youngsters.

Definitely worth a watch. Some action, some high school drama, very much fun. Looking out for more from director Kyle Newman.

Many romance movies are essentially about infidelity. The girlfriends, boyfriends and spouses are just sort of extras in the way of the love story. This always makes the story less romantic to me. At least this movie doesn't deny it, since the issue of cheating is actually talked about throughout the movie. Wallace has a friend Allan whose current relationship started with cheating, and neither Allan or his girlfriend Nicole seem to see anything wrong with that, quite the contrary.

The writing is good and there are some genuinely funny moments with Wallace and Chantry joking with one another. I also like the scene where Chantry's bitchy-but-not-completely-evil sister is about to tell her a vicious lie about Wallace but then apparently changes her mind mid-sentence and ends up turning the story into a joke, saying something like "and then the cops came and Wallace shot them all in the head, he's such a jerk".

I don't get the comparisons to "When Harry met Sally". Wallace has a crush on Chantry from the first time they meet, and it's hardly one-sided either, so theirs is never a real friendship like that of Harry and Sally. This movie is also nowhere near as sweet, most of the characters don't come out very likable at all, and it's just not as good either.

Well, I only watched it because Laura Leighton is in it, and as it turned out, that is the only reason to watch this TV movie. Leighton is believable and natural in the starring role and gorgeous as always. That's what the four stars are for.

Other than that, there is very little to it. I didn't think any of the characters had real depth. I found the male lead character rather boring. The story of Cate finding out more about her father and his motives falls short and unsatisfactory. Subplots involve a slight marital conflict and a falling out of two best friends, but there's not a lot to those either.

Oh, and the posh gay guy is not sharp enough a dresser for a posh gay guy.

The story takes place in a village that appears to be an Irish settlement in the state of Massachusetts, which adds a nice different flavour.

I agree with the reviewer who pointed out that this is a drama movie, not a comedy. The DVD cover and the taglines give the impression of a wacky comedy. It's not. It doesn't try to be. "A comedy about how not to fall in love"? No idea what they meant by that. I guess the movie makers and the marketing people just had different visions.

The movie is a drama about two people who have both just faced a disappointment in their respective relationships. I found the behaviour of the leads natural and believable seeing what they've just been through. Don't expect much adventure. It's mostly just the two leads hanging around at the country house and its surroundings. Not bad, not depressing, just a down to earth story that could happen in real life. I may even watch it again one day.

This is the way to make a band documentary! I knew most of the story from Snider's book but this brought so much more to it with all the pictures and the awesome video material from the 70s. Here you can really see what the band was originally about and where they came from. All the right people are involved: all the band members, ex-members, managers, record company people and early die-hards. None of the usual praising the band from a bunch of irrelevant artists. There's not a lot of insight on the personal relationships within the band, but that would have taken time away from the incredible story, which is more than enough to fill the 135 minutes running time.

The movie opens with a TV clip from '82 with the band playing their classic opening track "What You Don't Know". One might think that would have been the beginnings of Twisted Sister. Then we go back 3267 shows...