Inkheart left me with no heart

Don't get me wrong, I love movie premieres. The glitz, the glamour, the press, flash...flash, the red carpet, the free snacks, the excitement. Adam and I went to the premiere of Inkheart last night. I had never read the book and had no idea what the movie was about. For those of you who don't know, Inkheart is a young adult fantasy novel by German author Cornelia Funke and is the first book of the Inkworld trilogy. Oh yes, they plan on making movie sequels as well but I'm not sure they will follow through with that plan after the reviews come out for this one. The other books in the series are Inkspell and Inkdeath, something which I think I experienced 10 minutes into this film.

We made it to our assigned seats, grabbed our free snacks on the way in and wondered whether Brendan Fraser was going to watch the movie. If I were him, I don't think I could bear watching myself this time around. I was hoping for something satisfying, something that kids and adults could enjoy. Is that too much to ask for? Adam pointed to the fact that this was the first Brendan Fraser movie he would be seeing in the theatre and I'm almost definite it will also be the last. The great Helen Mirren and Jim Broadbent's talents were wasted in this film. And Jennifer Connelly appears for a few brief seconds.

I powered off my cellphone and eventually the movie began. Here's the basic premise of the film directly from IMDB:

An adventure of a father and his young daughter, searching for a long lost book that will help reunite a missing, close relative, this fantasy takes a darker side whenever we hear Mo 'Silvertongue' Folchart reading out aloud from books. His ability to rise to life, to export, to release figures out of the page and into the real world is only relevant when the darker side of his stories appear to reek havoc and destruction. Join in the fantasy and revel at the marvel of Books in this adventure of adventures' that brings the best stories throughout the decades to life that transcends beyond imagine.

Intrigued? I sat through the film wishing myself into a book, any book. For being in any book would have been better than watching this movie. When the end credits started to roll, not only did I feel lifeless but my cellphone wouldn't turn on, the battery was dead. This film drained the life from my little buddy.

For all of you who always say I like every movie, I hope you are reading this post. I don't like every movie. I was trying to think of one positive thing to say about this film and I can't think of anything. If you want to see a movie in theaters, go check out one of the many great films now playing and skip Inkheart.

One Christmas Will Do

Christmas regurgitates early this year with the the new film, Four Christmases. Directed by Seth Gordon(The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters) and written by Matt R. Allen, Caleb Wilson, Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. The amiable Vince Vaughn (Brad) and Reese Witherspoon (Kate) star along with a myriad of familiar faces in this over-the-top silly and at times funny film.

Brad and Kate are a couple who enjoy traveling to tropical locales, role playing at the bar and avoiding their dysfunctional (to say the least) families. We are twice hit with the line, "There is no way to spell families without lies" and there are quite a few as we later find out. When their Christmas vacation getaway plan is ruined because of fog and an intrusive reporter, the couple is forced to visit each of their four divorced parents, hence the Four Christmases. We are set up for disaster and boy do we get it. The plot, if any, is very weak and the film felt a little too separated into sections. Okay, now we saw one crazy family, how will the next one top it? It felt like there were too many ideas thrown into the pot when the writers (and there were four) came up with as many ways to make the families as dysfunctional as they could. And they used all of them in the film.

I found myself laughing during parts of this film and there are definitely some scenes that steal the show, along with Vince Vaughn who really carries this film. He plays his usual character but does have some wonderful lines and we even get to see him team up with his pal Jon Favreau for a few scenes. Reese Witherspoon's performance can't compare.

When I wasn't laughing, I was thinking about how bad the movie was as a whole. The filmmakers went too far with it and scenes could have been toned down but perhaps this is what they were going for. The viewer has no emotional feelings towards Brad and Kate until possibly the end (cue the dramatic music,Sam)

If you're looking for goofy fun you'll enjoy this film and Vince Vaughn is worth the price of admission. In theaters November 26th.

Speaking of movies, I am tired of hearing about Twilight. All these tweens screaming about vampire star Robert Pattinson. Is the movie even supposed to be any good? I won't be seeing the film but if you do, please post a review.

When the weather channel starts laying off staff, people should start to worry.

A dog drove a '92 Ford van into a coffee shop in Long Island and when asked what happened the dog replied, "I wanted an iced cawfee becawse I was a hawt dawg."

Have a great weekend everyone!