Justin Cox Presents:

Year in Movies: April

You guys, it’s totally time for the greatest feature no one comments on, the Year in Movies! I know you’re excited, so excited that you’re going to love every movie I watched in the month of April and cackle hysterically at every witty word I’m about to spit. Brace yourselves, It’s YiM time!

Quantum of Solace
This movie picks up about an hour after Casino Royale finishes. It’s more a continuation than a sequel. Either way, 007 has found that his former gal-pal was into in some heavy stuff and decides to kill everyone involved. But when James stumbles upon a highly secret world order and they try to kill M, it becomes even more personal. In a somewhat confusing roundabout way, James Bond extracts his revenge and exposes the Quantum, kind of. I only noticed the name of the group mentioned once, but despite it being the plot it wasn’t really the point of the movie. It’s more about Bond’s revenge than anything else. Throw in some action and a few attractive Bond Girls and be sure to shake, not stir. It’s entertaining, but no where near as good as it’s predecessor.
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Slumdog Millionaire
Winner of this year’s Best Picture Oscar, Slumdog Millionaire tells the life story of a boy from the Mumbai slums who spends his days surviving and looking for the love of his life. Throw in some mobsters, child exploitation and Who Want’s to Be a Millionaire and you’ve got this film. It’s good and the story is sweet, but I’m not sure if it fully lived up to the hype. The Bollywood-esque dance number during the closing credits was pretty interesting but didn’t really fit with the rest of the film. Still, the film is worth seeing.
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Swingers
I’ll admit it, I’d never seen Swingers before actually watching it — did that make sense? Anyway, Jon Favreau stars as a guy on the mend with nothing really going for him. His friends are doing everything they can to try and get him back in the game, but it’s just not working. The pièce de résistance is actually Vince Vaughn’s part which is throughly enjoyable and extremely hilarious. Oh yeah, and Ron Livingston and Heather Graham are in it and there’s a really fun knock on Tarentino and Reservoir Dogs as well. Nice flick.
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Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Penelope Cruz won an Oscar for her performance in this film and the film itself took the Best Picture (Musical or Comedy) Golden Globe. I’m not really sure how either was merited. Granted, the film wasn’t bad and Cruz’s performance was pretty good, but how can you win an Academy Award for a movie you only spend 40 minutes in? Maybe the Academy knows more than I do. The film is an unconventional look at love and stars Scarlett Johansson which gives it some points, but maybe it’s Woody Allen’s humor or… no, it’s Woody Allen’s humor that takes me out of this one. Not a horrible movie but not a great one either. Skip it unless you are into Scarlett Johansson or witty European love triangles squares.
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Woody tries to convince the cast that this really is a comedy and not just an excuse to get Scarlett and Penélope make out on camera.

Dark City: Director’s Cut
This is the tale of a man who wakes up in a bathtub with no memory of who he is or why there is a dead naked woman with spirals carved into her body. As he tries to figure out who he is, he’s being chased by the cops, his “wife” and a group of strangers. Throw Jack Bauer Kiefer Sutherland in as a creepy doctor and you’ve got yourself a nice picture. The climax of this movie is pretty solid, it just takes a little to get there. This is the Director’s Cut but it’s been so long since I’ve seen the original that I can’t really tell what’s been added or if anything was taken away.
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