It took me four days to finish the crummy dram-rom-com “Life As We Know It.” Translation: I fell asleep watching it not once, not twice, but THREE times. So not only is it bad, but it’s agonizingly boring. Give me corny and derivative before boring because at least those movies are bearable.
The movie isn’t even worth me doing a Wikipedia search to be reminded of the plot and the characters. From what I can remember, it revolves around the misadventures of Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel trying to take care of a baby, and they are totally incapable of doing so. They aren’t married; they aren’t even together – it was some sort of cruel joke in the will of their mutual friends. It’s a good thing they get to play repulsion most of the time because Heigl and Duhamel have about as much chemistry as a toilet seat and a pair of butt cheeks.
So if there’s no romance in this dram-rom-com, there must be some drama and comedy, right? If you count sappy melodrama that soap opera actors could do better than Heigl and Duhamel, then sure, there’s drama. And if you count Katherine Heigl having a big poop on her face, then there’s a minuscule shred of comedy. But hey, speaking of poop, have you heard of “Life As We Know It?” D /
In less than two weeks, we are headed into October. More quality fall entertainment, more Oscar contenders. But really, “The Social Network” leads off the month and it’s all downhill from there. Sorry, every other movie coming out in my month of birth. AND PLEASE TAKE THE POLL AT THE END … I blanked and left it off for a few days, but please vote!
October 1
I’ve stated twice that I’m dying to see “The Social Network,” and I’ve predicted it twice now to win Best Picture. I’m counting on a great movie, and I’m planning on catching the first showing after school on Friday.
“Let Me In” reminds us of a time when vampires were still scary, not sexy. Chloe Moretz (best known as Hit Girl) plays the blood-sucking child in question in this remake of the 2008 foreign horror flick “Let the Right One In.” I think subtitles make anything creepier, but Hollywood sees English-language versions as a way to make things more accessible.
I love the book “Freakonomics,” and I think the documentary montage without any particular focus is a perfect complement to the bestseller. If it’s anything like the book, it will be fascinating and incredibly thought-provoking. It’s an interesting tactic to put it on iTunes before releasing it in theaters, and I’ve been asking myself whether or not I should wait for the big screen.
And on another note, poor Renee Zellweger has dropped so low as to start doing low-brow horror like “Case 39.” To think she won an Oscar just 7 years ago…
October 8
Ugh, “Secretariat.” Inspirational sports movies now give me an averse reaction. And there’s also more gross horror in 3D with “My Soul to Take.” Way to sell your soul, Wes Craven. With the only other wide release being a corny Josh Duhamel-Katherine Heigl romantic comedy, “Life as We Know It,” it looks like I may be seeing “The Social Network” for a second time.
On the indie side of things, I’ll be happy to see some of the offerings. For example, I’m sure “Inside Job” will be an illuminating (and probably slanted) view of what really went down with the economic meltdown in 2008.
“Stone” looks intense, much like “Brothers” appealed to me this time last year. With an impressive cast of Robert DeNiro and Edward Norton (Milla Jovovich to a lesser degree as well), it could be a pretty good under-the-radar movie.
“Tamara Drewe” has been playing at a lot of film festivals this year to mixed/positive reviews, most of the praise going not to director Stephen Frears but to leading lady Gemma Arterton. “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” has also been playing film festivals recently albeit to much less success. Despite the widespread acclaim the filmmakers’ past two movies, “Half Nelson” and “Sugar,” have received, this just hasn’t caught on. “Nowhere Boy,” the story of John Lennon, premiered at Toronto this week, but I didn’t hear anything about it. No news is NOT good news at a festival.
Marshall and the Movies 
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