Jenny Loves Movies

I didn't see my boss in this movie, did you? Just kidding! I don't know if many of us can relate to the three employees in this movie and their bosses. But the actors who play these horrible bosses are in top form.

First we have Kevin Spacey, president of the company Nick, (Jason Bateman) works for. Nick hopes to snag the vice president spot and has a good chance since he is a good employee and comes to work early every morning and stays late just like the boss asks him to. But one morning he shows up 2 minutes late and Kevin Spacey is furious. He tells Nick that he doesn't feel he would be right for the job, even though he has been hinting for months that Nick would get the job, and makes himself VP. Yes, he is now president and vice-president.

Then we have Jennifer Aniston, a dentist who is constantly sexually harassing engaged Dale, (Charlie Day) her dental assistant, every day. She insists that they must have sex before Dale runs off and gets married. She calls him in to her office to tell him this in her doctor's jacket. Wearing only her doctor's jacket. Most guys might love to have a boss like this, but Dale does not. Especially when Aniston suggests Dale and her have sex on top of his fiance while she is gassed in the dentist's chair!

Last we have Donald Sutherland, a great old boss that Kurt, (Jason Sudeikis), loves and respects. He takes care of his employees and runs the business well, Kurt sees him as a father figure. However, Sutherland dies and his son, (Colin Farell) becomes the new boss. He wants to down-size and fire veteran employees to pay for his cocaine addiction and partying. He wants Kurt to fire them for him. Oh, and of course he hates Kurt because of the good relationship Kurt and his father had, and makes his life hell.

So these three employees are friends, and over beer one night, they complain about their horrible bosses. They can't quit their jobs, for fear of not being able to find other ones, so they jokingly suggest to kill their bosses. This soon becomes less of a joke, and the only option for any of them to survive their jobs. So they decide to find a hitman, because they don't feel they can murder their bosses themselves.

They venture to the "bad side of town" to find a hitman. I mean, that's how you find hitmen right? Go to a scary looking bar and announce that you need one. Jamie Foxx volunteers for the job and tells them he will kill their bosses for $5,000. They bring him the money, only to find out that he expects them to kill their bosses themselves, the money is paying for his advice on how to kill them. The guys get even more anxious and fear they will get caught because the cops will trace the murders back to each of them. So, Jamie Foxx convinces them to kill each other's bosses. He tells them they need to follow them to learn their habits, schedules, anything they can gather to kill them properly. What follows is ridiculous, but hilarious adventures, including two of them accidentally getting high off of cocaine, and one of the bosses actually shooting and killing one of the other bosses!

I absolutely loved this movie. All the main characters are great, especially Charlie Day as Dale, the dumbest and silliest of the three guys, and Kevin Spacey is perfect as a jealous, arrogant maniac. Jennifer Aniston is equally as good as a seductive and manipulative nymphomaniac. I have to say, I like her better in a comedy when she is not the main character and it's not a romantic comedy.

However, I was disappointed with the ending. I think it dragged on for too long and there is a point in the movie where it could have ended, but they had to try to get in another laugh. I think it is pretty obvious, but as a whole, the movie was great. Original and funny, with a great cast.

Stars: *****

Have you ever been waiting to be seated at a restaurant, so hungry you seriously consider walking up to a table and helping yourself to someone's appetizer, and then the host/hostess calls out a name and no one answers?

And then you think to yourself, would it be so bad if I lie and say it's me, "I'm Flaunderschloss party of two!"

Well, after you watch this movie, you might just consider stashing a bag of peanuts in your bag and waiting.

Tina Fey and Steve Carell are perfectly matched as "boring New Jersey couple" Claire and Phil Foster. Their relationship seems fine; they have pretty decent jobs, two kids and a scheduled date night every week. But after hearing a pair of their friends are splitting up because they feel more like perfect roommates instead of lovers, Phil and Claire decide to spice up their date night and head to the city. New York City that is.

But the fancy restaurant they are trying to get into books a month in advance so they are instructed to wait by the bar with no promise of a table, much less dinner or a drink.

When the hostess comes by asking for the Tripplehorns, party of two, Phil jumps at the opportunity to be seated. They clink their glasses and hope for a great night.

Instead they get a night of hell. Believing they are the Tripplehorns, two rough guys come in demanding Claire and Phil come with them. When they get outside the men pull guns on them and ask for the flash drive that they have supposedly stolen. Phil and Claire try to explain that they are not the Tripplehorns and they "stole" someone else's reservation to have a nice dinner. But these bad guys aren't biting.

Luckily Claire and Phil get away, but the rest of the night is filled with action and comedy as the two of them try to figure out what is going on, who the Tripplehorns really are and how the hell they are going to get out of the mess they are in.

This movie is so entertaining because Fey and Carell's comedy styles work so well together. The scenes are hilarious but not over the top, and you get a little action mixed in with suspense. I especially like the part where Phil, after stealing Wahlberg's Porshe to make a quick getaway, hits a taxi cab driver. Their cars get stuck together, and Phil has no choice but to keep going on in a high-speed chase through the city.

James Franco and Mila Kunis are equally funny as the white trash real "Tripplehorn" couple and Mark Wahlberg shows off his sexy abs and cut body as an old client of Claire's who tries to help them out of their pickle.

The movie, which was directed by Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum, Cheaper by the Dozen)starts out pretty slow, but once Claire and Phil are confronted by the two bad guys and escorted out of the fancy restaurant, it is a wild ride until the end. I think the movie is a perfect "date night" movie to remind couples that whatever happens in their relationship or however comfortable it might be, as long as you love each other, it's never too late to add a little excitement!

Oh, I almost forgot the best part, MY BROTHER IS IN THIS MOVIE! Check him out as the guy sipping his wine behind Steve Carell at the restaurant.

Stars *****

I have always been fascinated by the dream world and really enjoyed how director Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, The Prestige) created it for this movie.

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Tom Cobb, a man who specializes in entering people’s dreams and stealing information from their minds. It’s called Inception and Cobb is the best in his field. But a tragedy has kept him from being as good as he once was and he fails to deliver on his current job.

To avoid being “fired,” Cobb decides to disappear for awhile, but is convinced by a wealthy Ken Watanabe (Saito) to do one more job. Saito promises Cobb that once the job is complete, he will have the murder charges, of which Cobb insists he’s been wrongfully accused, dropped, and he will be able to enter the U.S. again and see his children. Cobb agrees and assembles a team to aid him with the tricky procedure.

But Cobb’s secrets are starting to get the best of him and he risks the lives of his team members as well as his own sanity.

The ensemble cast is incredible. DiCaprio is always good in my book and Joseph Gordon-Levitt is equally as good as his partner Arthur. Ellen Page, who plays Ariadne, an architect student, has a natural ability to mold into any character and holds her own with DiCaprio and Gordon-Levitt. Tom Hardy adds a nice charm as Eames, another team member and Cillian Murphy is fine as Robert Fisher Jr., the man who’s mind the team enters. Marion Cotillard is chilling as Cobb’s deceased wife who won’t leave his dreams.

Nolan’s visions of the dream world are awe-inspiring from the scenes where Page first enters the dream world and proceeds to create the architecture for the job to the mesmerizing end scenes where the dream world is tumbling round and round.

The suspense and action are great and there were many moments where I gasped and was literally on the edge of my seat clenching my fingers into my husband’s arm.

I went into this movie, feeling a little worried, like it might be too complicated and I wouldn’t be able to follow what was going on. But Nolan has a great way of explaining everything along the way and you get a sense that all this could be real. Maybe so much that you wonder if you are in a dream or not! ;)

The ending is probably my favorite part! You will see why, if you go see it. And trust me, you should!

Stars *****

I find it quite intriguing when actors who do not normally sing and dance in films are cast in a musical.

And this is not just any musical, but an ensemble cast complete with A-list actors and top-notch talent all around.

Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis), is a film director in 1960's Italy known for his racy Italian films which have had a huge impact on the viewing world. But his last couple of films have been flops and Guido is feeling the pressure to make his next film, Italiano, an over the top hit. He has 10 days until filming begins, but hasn't written a page of the script.


Feeling overwhelmed, Guido tries some "remedies" to help him get back on track. He is examined by a doctor, advised by a priest, and pleasured by Carla (Penelope Cruz), his mistress. But nothing seems to give him inspiration and his slump is having negative affects on his working relationships while he tries to juggle the women in his life: his mistress (Cruz), his wife Luisa (Marion Cotillard), his muse Claudia (Nicole Kidman), his loyal costume designer/assistant Lilli (Judi Dench, ever so elegant), a flirty reporter, Stephanie (Kate Hudson) and his mother (Sophia Loren) from afar.


But Luisa is getting tired of not being the lead woman in her husband's life and Guido risks losing not only his marriage, but his film career all-together.

The movie, which was directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago) is full of outstanding choreography and musical numbers. Each of the actors can really sing; even Daniel Day-Lewis has a charming singing voice. We've heard Nicole Kidman's velvety voice before in the movie Moulin Rouge and Fergie's vocal range is incredible as she belts out "Be Italian" as Saraghina, a woman from Guido's childhood. Kate Hudson brings a lot of spunk to "Cinema Italiano" and Penelope Cruz is seductive in her number "A Call from the Vatican."

My favorite, however, is Marion Cotillard. Her singing and acting in this film are heartbreaking, yet beautiful as we see her ever so faithful to her husband even though he in return is not.

I love how the musical numbers are filmed as each actress steps out from their scene into a kind of daydream and perform their songs.

The movie drags on a bit and though the singing and acting are superb, the film lacks a bit of excitement and flow. But it does have an old Hollywood-style feel to it, and I do like that.

If you liked Chicago, you will like this film as well, and it is worth it to see this much talent in one film.

Stars *****

If you are a fan of Terry Gilliam films (Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Time Bandits, 12 Monkeys, The Brothers Grimm) you would expect nothing less than a crazy and wild ride. And you would get no less in this film.

The movie starts out a little strange and it's hard to figure out what is going on at first, but once you do it is fantastic.

Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) travels from place to place with his daughter Valentina(Lily Cole), sidekick Percy (Verne Troyer) and assistant Anton (Andrew Garfield) promoting his "imaginarium": a world of imagination created out of the doctor's mind. All you have to do is buy a ticket and come on the stage that unfolds from the carriage the group travels in. When you walk through the magic mirror and enter the doctor's world, all your dreams come true.

The troupe however, is not having much luck promoting their act, scaring more people off than intriguing them. Meanwhile, we find out that Dr. Parnassus has some trouble brewing. Years before, when he was a monk, he was visited by the Devil (Tom Waits) who offered him a bet in exchange for immortality. Dr. Parnassus wins but starts to regret his victory when, at 1000 years old, he falls in love with a young woman and decides to trade the Devil his immortality for youth. The Devil agrees, but on one condition. If the doctor ever becomes a father, the Devil gets to take the child on its 16th birthday.

Valentina turns 16 in three days and the Devil is ready to collect. But not before offering Dr. P another bet, an offer the good doctor cannot refuse! If Dr. P can get five souls before the Devil does he gets to keep Valentina. The way they do this is by getting people into Dr. P's "imaginarium." While in there, a person will have the opportunity to choose between good and evil. It seems like an easy decision, but not when one is lured by the Devil's temptation.

But with business not exactly booming, Dr. P fears he will lose Valentina forever! But all that is about to change when the group finds a man hanging from a bridge one night. They cut him down and try to resuscitate him. He wakes up with no recollection of who or where he is. Valentina takes an instant liking to him and they decide to make him part of their gang.

The Devil recognizes the guy and tells Dr. P that his name is Tony and that he used to do charity work, but that's all the information he shares. Tony (Heath Ledger) convinces Dr. P to modernize his act and perform for rich people to make some money. Intrigued by Tony's power of persuasion, Dr. P agrees and before long business is finally booming! Dr. P quickly gets four souls and only needs one more! But not everything is that easy when the Devil is involved, and we learn that Tony is not exactly who he claims to be and every one's world, even in imagination land turns upside down!

This film was absolutely fantastic from the beautiful visions of the dream worlds to the magnificent performances especially from Heath Ledger. This was his last film, though he died before it was complete and Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell each fill in for his role. I had read they were going to do this and thought it might be a bit strange but it totally works in the film and they all do a great job.

Lily Cole is gorgeous and sweet as Valentina and Andrew Garfield is funny and charming. Both are fairly new to the acting world.

Terry Gilliam movies tend to go off the handle a bit and this film might not be for everyone. But it is good light fun and it's worth it just to see Heath Ledger perform. He was a magnificent actor, I wish that his life had not ended so quickly. Step through the mirror and explore this film!

Stars *****