How many explosions does it take to make a Julia Roberts' movie interesting? Well, usually, none, but, in this case, it probably wouldn't have hurt to have a few! This is "Movie Night"!
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Hello, and welcome to "Movie Night," the only movie review show here on YouTube that's watched by 7% of the cast of "The West Wing"!
Hi, I'm your host, Jonathan Paula. Our first film tonight is "The Expendables."
Veteran action star and Oscar-nominated actor Sylvester Stallone wrote, stars in, and directed this over-the-top action blockbuster that was released nationwide just 4 months ago.
As advertised, this film was a venerable who's who of Hollywood's action celebs, from Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, and Mickey Rourke...
...who all join Stallone as an elite team of highly skilled mercenaries known as The Expendables. Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger also show up for a single-scene cameo, which, honestly, seems a bit forced, just to get their faces in the trailer.
Stallone is no stranger to action films, though, and "The Expendables" is well paced and doesn't disappoint in the one department everyone is watching for- explosions and gore.
The film especially shines in a couple of the large set-piece sequences, one involving Statham crawling into the nose of a seaplane to gun down and then torch an entire dock of enemy soldiers.
This scene is entirely unnecessary but incredibly gratifying to watch. And although Stallone's directing is occasionally a bit too fast and distracting, most of the hand-to-hand fight scenes in this film are well choreographed and easy to follow.
This is great, considering roughly 20% of the film is just people being punched in the face. As you'd expect, though, where "The Expendables" fails is with its mammoth cast. There's just not enough time to develop most of the supporting characters.
Mickey Rourke receives all but 8 minutes of screentime in this film, but delivers such an incredibly moving monologue in one of his few scenes, that it makes you wonder why such a talented actor was given such a small role.
The same goes for Eric Roberts, who, despite being given just a few minutes of screentime, is quite convincing as the film's sadistic villain.
Besides Rourke's seemingly out-of-place monologue and the underdeveloped supporting cast, the only thing I had issue with in "The Expendables" was some of the surprisingly cheesy and unrealistic special effects and digital blood.
Considering the caliber of the cast here, it's no wonder that Stallone had to go cheap on the visuals, as I imagine most of the $82 million budget went towards the actors' salaries.
But with a high body count and plenty of explosions, "The Expendables" is a damn entertaining 103-minute film, even if you do have to leave your brain at the door. Stallone and explosions: always fun.
Now, let's see what you had to say about "The Expendables" in the YouTube comments.
Now, it's time to bring in the Rate-o-Matic, to see how you and I scored Stallone's latest action-packed blockbuster.
A double "7"! For the second week in a row, it seems we've agreed on a film's score. The movie definitely had its flaws, but it delivered where it mattered. I gave it a "cool." And you agreed.
Moving on to tonight's second film, let's take a look at "Eat Pray Love."
Wait- how come I've never seen this side of the movie theater before? Anyway...
Released four months ago on the same day as "The Expendables," "Eat Pray Love" is the film adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's 2006 bestseller starring Julia Roberts, who just happens to be the sister of our last film's villain, Eric Roberts.
Attempting to play a character 11 years her junior, Roberts portrays Elizabeth Gilbert in the lead role, and also serves as the narrator for most of the film.
She takes the audience on a journey through a year of her life after a messy divorce, where she tries to find herself and discover what she wants to do with her life.
Billed as a "romantic comedy," "Eat Pray Love" is most certainly neither, which, besides its length-time of over 130 minutes, is just the first of its many problems.
Julia Roberts is, as always, delightful on screen, but she does very little to convince anyone that we're not just watching Julia Roberts, instead of the character she's attempting to portray.
The film starts off terribly slowly, taking nearly 30 minutes to reach the first development in the plot, and even then, almost nothing significant happens for the entire middle hour of the film.
Normally, a bloated, slow-moving movie is great for character development, but throughout the film, all we learn is that Gilbert is impatient, afraid of commitment, and quite fond of food.
The one saving grace, however, is the large and engrossing supporting cast that Gilbert meets along the way as she travels the globe, looking for answers in her life.
And while the stories, relationships, and acting that result from these supporting characters is all great, we unfortunately don't get to see much of them.
This is because, just as soon as we start to understand and connect with the character, the movie transitions to its next location, and we never get to see them again.
"Eat Pray Love" is not a terrible movie, but it takes far too long to get to the real meat of the story, with Gilbert's main love interest not arriving until the final 30 minutes of the movie.
Even typical romantic comedy fans here won't find much to enjoy, as the film's serious themes and tone won't have many people laughing. "Eat Pray Love"? More like "a boring mid-life crisis."
Well, that's what I thought about "Eat Pray Love." Now, let's see what you had to say in the YouTube comments.
Now, let's rate "Eat Pray Love," to see how we scored it.
A "meh" and a "bad." I was not impressed with this film, and, although it was slow to get there, it did eventually have a satisfying conclusion. So, I scored it a "4."
You were a touch harsher with this film, expressing disinterest in the subject matter and the lengthy runtime, giving it a "3." Well, that does it for tonight's films. Now, let's take a look at some Tweet Critiques.
Next week, on a special Friday edition of "Movie Night," we'll be reviewing two of the biggest films of 2010.
These are the yet-to-be-released "TRON: Legacy," which opens nationwide on December 17th, and Christopher Nolan's latest modern masterpiece of cinema, which needs no introduction.
If you haven't already seen these films, I hope you get the chance to check them out before next episode.
But if you have already seen them, please let me know what you think about them in the comments down below, or by voting in the polls, using the links below.
Thank you for watching "Movie Night." Once again, my name is Jonathan Paula. I hope to see you right back here next Friday.
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