Film: American Reunion

GENRE: Comedy
RATING: R for nudity, language, crude & sexual content
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 53 minutes
STARRING: Jason Biggs (Saving Silverman, Loser)
Seann William Scott (Road Trip, Role Models, Goon)
DIRECTORS: Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg (Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay)
WRITERS: Hurwitz & Schlossberg (All the Harold & Kumar films)
PLOT: The gang reunites for their high school reunion and end up getting into similar hijinks as the first three films.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 I admit that I have seen the other American Pie movies (theatrical not direct-to-video). While there is definitely a bunch of raunchy guy stuff, not too far removed from Judd Apatow fare, I still find humour in the innocence of Jim and the predicaments he finds himself in. I almost felt nostalgic watching this, especially all the nineties music piped into the reunion scenes. Kudos to the producers for getting pretty much every cast member (big and small) to return for this installment. I’m sure some needed the paycheck, but still.
2 While Oz, Kevin and Finch are given some sub-par storylines this film is definitely the Jim & Stifler show (Biggs & Scott are also exec producers). Jim continues to be a stand-up guy trying to do the right thing to great comic effect. Stifler is not only the same outrageous jerk but also shows the most need for redemption. They play well off each other and get most of the laughs.
3 The rest of the laughs go to Eugene Levy this time around as Jim’s dad. While he usually gives awkwardly hilarious advice, he gets to party and let loose in this installment. He almost steals the show from the younger ones.
4 Jason Biggs doesn’t age. He looks just as young as he was in the first film thirteen years ago. His kitchen conversation with his dad looks almost identical to the post-pie talk in the first installment. I also like the Adam Sandler look-alike comments.
5 There’s a fun cameo in Oz’s Celebrity Dance Off footage.

RECOMMENDATION: Wait for the DVD or TBS
UPCOMING REVIEWS: The Avengers

Film: The Cabin in the Woods

GENRE: Horror 

RATING: R for horror violence, gore and some nudity 

RUNTIME: 1 hour and 35 minutes 

STARRING: Kristen Connolly (As the World Turns) Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Fran Kranz (Dollhouse) 

DIRECTOR: Drew Goddard (newcomer) 

WRITERS: Drew Goddard (Buffy, Alias, Lost, Cloverfield) Joss Whedon (Avengers, Buffy, Firefly, Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible) 

PLOT: The classic horror with five friends in an old cabin, but there is a lot more going on.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS: 
1 Got to hand it to Goddard and Whedon, they produced a horror that is full of fun and intentional laughs. This meta-horror goes so much further than Scream as only Whedon can. There are many fun twists and turns and I’m nervous to write any more in fear of ruining it for other viewers. You'll just have to trust me that it's pretty cool. 
2 Bradley Whitford (West Wing) and Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under) are hilarious. They make this film the joyride it is. Them and Kranz who plays a convincing stoner with conspiracy theories. 
3 The bear-trapish weapon used to terrorize the kids looked pretty painful. Ouch! I would prefer a knife. 
4 An elevator opens and things come out. Can’t say more but it was truly a sight to behold. 
5 Three words: Angry molesting tree.

RECOMMENDATION: Wait for the DVD
UPCOMING REVIEWS: The Avengers

Film: The Hunger Games

GENRE: Action/Drama
RATING: PG-13 for violent images
RUNTIME: 2 hour and 22 minutes
STARRING: Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone, X-Men: First Class)
Josh Hutcherson (The Kids are All Right) Woody Harrelson (Cheers)
DIRECTOR: Gary Ross (Pleasantville, Seabiscuit)
WRITERS: Gary Ross (Big, Dave), Suzanne Collins (newcomer)
Billy Ray (State of Play, Flightplan)
PLOT: A boy and girl from twelve districts have to fight to the death on live television. Action ensues.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 Shaky camera work to minimalize the uncomfortableness of teen on teen violence worked well. I was a little worried when the shaky cam was used in the introduction of District 12 though. Totally unnecessary and didn’t set the right mood. Luckily the camera stabilized.
2 Jennifer Lawrence does a ‘killer’ job as Katniss Everdeen. Great drama, great commitment to the character, great facial expressions. She does the perfect eye roll when she sees someone else stupidly make a fire in the woods. Perfection.
3 I actually read the book before seeing the film this time. I found the film covered almost everything in the book. I guess having the book’s author help write the screenplay helps. A good pace even though the film runs a tad long.
4 While there were small differences between the film and the book, they drastically changed the character of Haymitch. In the book, he’s a complete bastard who only reluctantly helps Katniss when he’s not yelling at her. In the film, he’s pretty much a Katniss fan and somewhat lovable. Don’t know if it’s the script or Woody Harrelson’s take; I was a little disappointed.
5 The film is called The Hunger Games, yet food doesn’t play as big a deal as it should. The book is full of descriptions of the food; the movie barely touches on it. This is unfortunate but not enough to wreck the movie so you should still check it out.

RECOMMENDATION: See it in the theatres
UPCOMING REVIEWS: The Cabin in the Woods

Film: The Lorax

GENRE: Animation/Family
RATING: PG for mild language
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 26 minutes
STARRING: Zac Efron (Hairspray, High School Musical)
Danny DeVito (LA Confidential) Ed Helms (The Office)
DIRECTORS: Chris Renaud (Despicable Me)
Kyle Balda (newcomer)
WRITER: Ken Daurio (Horton Hears a Who, Despicable Me)
PLOT: A boy looks for a tree to win over a girl but first he has to hear a story of how they became extinct in the first place.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 The Suess-ified world of Thneedville is very colourful and lively. The art direction is stellar, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from the folks at Despicable Me.
2 Why did they make this movie into a musical? The songs are noisy and unnecessary. Not one of them is memorable. And why did they give The Once-ler an electric guitar? Are they trying to attract the rock crowd? I'm confused and annoyed. Stick with acoustic at least.
3 Minions punching each other is funny, cuddly bears being thrown as footballs, not as funny. The bears were cute. The fish, however were trying to hard. Did not like their high voices.
4 Why did the villain Mr. O’Hare look like Gene Simmons? Was this intentional? I thought he would be providing the voice but instead it was Rob Riggle (The Hangover). Bizarre. Oh, and Taylor Swift is barely in this film. I thought they would justify her presence with a song about trees or something, but she didn't really sing that much. Maybe she was too busy recording music for the upcoming Hunger Games.
5 I haven't seen the original TV cartoon of The Lorax but I have a feeling it's better and shouldn't have been messed with. The makers of this film should have just stuck with their far superior Horton Hears a Who.

RECOMMENDATION: Wait for TBS
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Hunger Games