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(500) Days of Summer, a review by Critter

(500) Days of Summer



Year: 2009

Director: Marc Webb

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel, Geoffrey Arend, Chloe Moretz, Matthew Gray Gubler, Patricia Belcher

Plot: An offbeat romantic comedy about a woman who doesn't believe true love exists, and the young man who falls for her.

My Thoughts:
Romantic comedies are probably my least favourite type of film to watch next to horror. I find them predictable and boring every time and usually while watching one I feel like I have already seen it before. They seem to have fallen into some sort of repetitive rut which is why I was so surprised by this little gem.

I found (500) Days of Summer quite a refreshing film and enjoyed almost everything about it. I found the pattern of the narrative refreshing, it was a somewhat circular narrative but flicked back and forth in time throughout the film. This never became confusing to watch though as a shot always appeared counting which day we were up to out of the 500.

I have been a fan of Zooey Deschanel for a while now, despite the fact that she has starred in some awful films of late I always kept strong my belief in her acting ability and I feel she shines in this. I also loved seeing Chloe Moretz in her fantastic, if somewhat secondary role as the younger sister who seemed to know anything, I almost wish her scenes were longer.

Some scenes here were quite fun, such as an unexpected musical number which was a nice parody of both stage and film musicals, fun as the film was though it also had many contrasting scenes that were quite sad and depressing. This balance was handled well though and I can see myself enjoying this film more times in the future.

My Rating:


(From Critter's Random DVD Watchings on April 20th, 2010)

Arthur (1981), a review by Antares

Arthur (1981) 72/100 - It is so sad that this film has been pretty much blacklisted by the PC police. I remember watching this countless times in the 80's on HBO & Cinemax and every time, it made me chuckle. What's even sadder is the amount of people today who love watching movies who have been brainwashed by the politically correct dogma that you shouldn't laugh at an alcoholic. Foster Brooks must be resting so comfortably in his grave, knowing that he came along when it was OK to be the bumbling drunk. I was surprised to read some reviews on this film from people whose thoughts and comments I respect. Lighten up! It's a comedy. It's worth it just to see John Gielgud steal every scene he is in.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on July 11th, 2020)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Monk: Season One (2002/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Universal Studios Home Entertainment (United States) Length: 561 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, French: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

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Plot:TONY SHALHOUB is a riot" (TV Guide) in Monk, the show that critics are praising as "fresh, exciting and utterly original." (Chicago Tribune)

Monk's hilarious, offbeat antics have made him unfit for duty but he's back as a police consultant to help out on their most baffling cases. The brilliant but neurotic Monk is now fighting crime as well as his abnormal fears of germs, cars heights, crowds and virtually everything else known to man in "the best detective show to come along in decades." (New York Post)

"Nothing on TV generated more fun than this" (Los Angeles Times) and now you can enjoy the entire first season of Monk on DVD.

*Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (2002)
**Best Performance by an American Actor in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy (2002)


Monk
1.01 Mr. Monk and the Candidate
Writer: Andy Breckman (Writer)
Director: Dean Parisot
Cast: Tony Shalhoub (Adrian Monk), Bitty Schram (Sharona Fleming), Ted Levine (Captain Stottlemeyer), Stanley Kamel (Dr Kroger), Gail O'Grady (Miranda St. Claire), Michael Hogan (Warren St. Claire), Ben Bass (Gavin Lloyd), Jason Gray-Stanford (Lt. Deacon), Kane Richotte (Benjy), Rob Labelle (Sheldon Burger), Vincent Gale (Jesse Goodman), Fred Ewanuick (Jake), Shawn Reis (Ian Sykes), Dion Johnstone (Lieutenant Gitomer), Chris Shyer (Carl), Edmond Wong (Cop at Kindergarten), Alexis (Elevator Gal), J.B. Bivens (First Cop), Dax Belanger (Second Cop), Esme Lambert (Angry Old Lady), Stellina Rusich (Trudy), Carmen Aguirre (Uniform Cop), Ray Galletti (Cop at Rally), Doris Chillcott (Jason's Mother), Michelle Addison (Nicole Vasques), Dean Marshall (Cop in Lobby), John Sampson (Jason Rondstadt), Guyle Fraizer (Detective)

Monk is a series I enjoyed watching, but I thought it stayed on air too long. The series got a little tired later on.
Nice surprise: There is an actor I revcognized here which I didn't know the first time around. Fred Ewanuick, who plays Hank on "Corner Gas".

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on June 9th, 2012)