Anyway, I just watched Smokin’ Aces, which I only got in the mail because I forgot it was in my Netflix queue and it worked its way to the top. I’ve seen the movie probably a dozen times so it shouldn’t have been in my queue to begin with, but there ya go. I am pretty glad I got it though. I adore the movie. I recognize its many, many faults without any denial whatsoever, but I still somehow love it.

The movie was dripping with style, and the cast is full of incredibly fun-to-watch people. Ryan Reynolds, Alicia Keys, Jeremy Piven, along with a little bit of Jason Bateman? Yeah, I’m down with that. I am absolutely down with that, especially when we get to see Ryan Reynolds all roughed up with that amazing beard of his. No, I’m still not gay, I promise.

Again, the reason I love this movie comes back to the ‘characters’ thing. I love watching unique characters interact. Love love love. If I could watch a 2 hour long movie that is just about two interesting people talking back and forth throughout their work day, I would probably watch it! In Smokin’ Aces, there was quite a bit of that. Taraji Henson‘s character was, by herself, not a terribly likable person. She was pretty crude and obnoxious. But when you put her and Alicia Keys’ characters together, there was magic. That’s the kind of stuff I love. There’s a history there between those characters. We don’t know it and we won’t ever know it, but their interaction makes you want to know.

It’s very stylish, like I said. The scene outside of the elevator (spoilers in the linked clip, FYI) with the sniper rounds ripping through FBI agents was pretty much visual bliss. The characters were all extremely distinct, which was only mostly a good thing. I could have done without the Tremor Brothers altogether. Somehow they became the most popular characters of the movie ’round the world, but I personally loathed their presence. They were not only unlikable, but they fueled the few scenes I couldn’t actually watch. I love me some gunplay and swordplay in movies, but I actually can’t physically handle things like on-screen dismemberment and such. The Tremor Brothers love dismemberment. Though, one of them is Chris Pine… so maybe I can forgive them. A little.

The only significant problem is that the movie’s tone shifts wildly. Very, very wildly. It’s silly some moments, dead serious other moments, and that’s okay to some extent but Smokin’ Aces didn’t quite hit that mark. The very end of the movie completely changes its tone. It flies from one end of the spectrum to the other. And don’t get me wrong, I liked the end of the movie, I thought it was brilliant. It just didn’t feel like it belonged with the rest of the film. It’s a bit like if Pirates of the Carribean ended with Captain Jack Sparrow being hanged. Sure, that ending could be very meaningful and tear-jerking… but considering the tone of the rest of the movie, it would be jarring as all hell. That being said, if you’re a very observant individual, you can figure out the ending from the first 10-15 minutes of the movie. Still doesn’t mean the tone was right, though.

There’s a second Smokin’ Aces movie in production, but… I actually probably won’t watch it! Why? Because it’s a prequel with a significant focus on the Tremor Brothers, the part I hated most about the first movie. So. There goes that.

As always, I have a mini-review on blippr.

I just finished watching Knocked Up, it finally worked its way to the top of my Netflix queue. I didn’t really have many expectations for the movie, I haven’t read any reviews and I pretty much tuned out any of my friends talking about it. I knew it was a comedy/drama, and for some reason I already had some preconceived notions about Seth Rogen already despite the fact that I haven’t seen many of his movies. About Knocked Up itself, pretty much a clean slate.

I’m going to start trying to remember to use blippr immediately after I see a movie so I don’t forget to do it, and while I tried to give this movie a mini-review, I was never happy with the wording of it. My thoughts on Knocked Up are a bit more complex than 160 characters can handle. Did I like it? Yes, of course. There’s much more to it, though.

Knocked Up is a great story, but it suffers from one issue. The comedy relief was far more crude than I enjoy in movies. I can handle profanity, I can handle drug jokes/use, I can handle sex and all of that sort of thing. All of that can be pushed a little too far and it just makes everything uncomfortable, and Knocked Up did that a few times. It was unsettling, but not enough to make me turn off the movie. I think the comedy relief had a place in the film, but they could have toned it down a little.

That sort of thing aside, I loved it. My biggest weakness when it comes to books and movies and all of that sort of thing is that when a character is likable, I get attached to them really easily and I’m a sucker for happy endings. The movie had its ups and its downs, and throughout all of it I just wanted all of the extremely likable characters to work things out and be happy. The fact that some of the issues are resolved while two of the characters are on shrooms? Well, that’s just a plus!

It is a good movie, and if you can weather the absurd amounts of profanity and drug use, you really should see it. Alan Tudyk makes an appearance, too. Who doesn’t need a little more Tudyk in their lives? He even made the end of Dollhouse awesome, and that’s damn impressive. Oh, and Katherine Heigl, of course. She’s pretty much a complete and total hotty, knocked up or otherwise.

I guess I could’ve wrapped that up in 160 characters, huh? Well, I tried. If you want to follow my mini-reviews, check them out over on blippr.