Ted (R / 1 hr., 46 min. / Director: Seth MacFarlane / Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Seth MacFarlane)
Check out the red band trailer.
I was bored and wanted to get out of the apartment—so, I went to see Ted at the theatre. I was just going to wait for it to appear on Redbox but ... you know, bored.
RECOMMENDATION: Wait for Redbox or Netflix.
REVIEW: It was as raunchy as I was expecting—it is a Seth MacFarlane movie (the guy behind Family Guy). The movie was at its best when it was raunchy. When it was sentimental, it was ... not so good. Fortunately, the sentimental parts did not last too long. The plot was pretty predictable. The acting was okay to good. Mark Wahlberg was okay. Mila Kunis was good (and hot). Seth MacFarlane as the voice of Ted was the primary source of the raunchiness and pretty good at it. The special effects behind Ted were great. It did feel like a teddy bear brought to life.
Evolution (DVD / PG-13 / 1 hr., 42 min. / Director: Ivan Reitman / Cast: David Duchovny, Orlando Jones, Seann William Scott, Julianne Moore)
Check out the trailer.
I had bought a version when living in France. It has a different region code. In France, you can buy a DVD player and they will make it regionless for a reasonable fee—not so in the States. So, I bought another version since it was on sale at Amazon.
This is a bit of a guilty pleasure ... it is just pure (stupid) fun. I will sometimes watch this while doing other things. The story is over-the-top ridiculous. The actors all look like they are having a good time. The special effects are surprisingly good.
It is available on Netflix (but not instant streaming). Give it a try! There is an animated version as well. I have not seen this before. I will have to add it to my queue!
The Amazing Spider-Man (PG-13 / 2 hrs., 16 min.)
I went to the local theatre to see The Amazing Spider-Man (in 2D—not a fan of 3D). I picked a time and day when I thought the theatre would be mostly empty. I guess I am weird—I do not really think of watching a movie as a social occasion. It was pretty empty; unfortunately, a young boy (?) decided to start talking very loudly during the dialogue of the last 10 minutes or so of the movie. He was speaking loudly enough that I had to strain to hear the dialogue—and the parent(s) did not ask him to be quiet for several minutes. I was more than a little bit annoyed! So, my enjoyment of the movie was somewhat muted by this experience.
RECOMMENDATION: In spite of my bad experience, I would recommend seeing this in a theatre. I have a nice set-up at home but there were several very good scenes that look a lot better on the movie screen than on the TV screen. I will end up adding this to my Blu-Ray collection when it becomes available.
REVIEW:
Story
In case you did not know, this was a reboot of the Spider-Man franchise. Apparently, when you reboot a franchise, you must start again with an origin story?! I have read more than a few (but, definitely not all) Spider-Man comic books/graphic novels and I have never seen the origin story in this movie. This is mostly not a bad thing. I did enjoy the story. It was a good origin story and set-up nicely for the next movie. My one complaint may be a bit of a nitpick. The movie did not have a scene where Uncle Ben imparted his wisdom in the form of, what I believe is the essence of Spider-Man, a well-know quote. Watch the movie and let me know if you missed that quote as much as I did.
Acting
The acting was good to excellent all around. Andrew Garfield is a good Peter Parker and Spider-Man. Emma Stone is an excellent Gwen Stacy. Rhys Ifans is an excellent Dr. Connors/Lizardman. Martin Sheen and Sally Field were also good as Uncle Ben and Aunt May. I even liked Denis Leary as Captain Stacy.
Special Effects
The special effects were great. There was nothing new but they were very well done.
