Alyssa Reviews "The Angriest Man in Brooklyn"

I watched  "The Angriest Man in Brooklyn" for a few reasons: Robin Williams, Peter Dinklage, and the plot of this movie (oh, and Sarah: Sutton Foster is in this a little bit). It was one of Robin Williams' last films, and an unintentionally dark one at that. It's about a man named Henry, who lost touch with his family after a tragedy and a fight, then finding out he has a terminal illness - a brain aneurysm - and has only 90 minutes to live. (Granted, he's an extremely quick-tempered man and got on the doctor's (Mila Kunis') nerves, so she blurted out the first time frame she could think of.) It was a decent movie, worthy of a thumbs up, I suppose.. But the strange bit was how odd it was seeing it all pan out and almost coincide with Robin's own story. It made it uncomfortable at the end, for sure. It was sweet, though. A little under-budgeted action towards the end, but still good in my book.


Here's my daughter giving it the thumbs up:

Alyssa Reviews "Robocop"

I saw my boyfriend watching this two nights ago and it looked really good. It sounded even better when he said, "I think Gary Oldman is in this. Is that him?" I actually watched this one yesterday but but was so late that I just wanted to go to bed and there was no way I was gonna be able to think and put my brain to work like that. It was awesome, though. So many awesome actors that I really like, but maybe don't really see in movies anymore. (Except the main guy, I don't think I saw him in anything before this. He was really good, though!) It was good, kind of has some emotional parts that really pull at your heartstrings. But OH. EM. GEE. the best part was seeing Gary Oldman and Michael Keaton interacting with each other. My favorite actor (Gary) with one of the coolest, classic actors that is just amazing in anything (Michael). It was so cool to see them acting together. Plus, come on.. It's the older Batman with the newer Commissioner Gordon! Yeah.

Alyssa Reviews "Paycheck"

Wow. My dad sent me a text last night that said, "Good netflix movie.. Paycheck". Every other 2-3 weeks or so, my dad will tell me a good movie he sees on Netflix, so it's cool to be able to have suggestions now for reviewing! Yay!

So, I watched "Paycheck". It is one of those movies that has you from the start. It's about this guy (Ben Affleck) that is a reverse engineer. He does these technical jobs and then gets his memory wiped clean afterwards and a hefty paycheck to boot. After finishing a job, he finds out that before his memory was wiped, he waived the rights to his money and that all of his belongings were replaced with someone else's. Then things really get going and he's being chased by bad guys and he starts to figure out all of these little trinkets from his envelope of belongings were put there for a reason. It's super, super good and full of action and suspense. I even shooed my daughter and boyfriend out of the kitchen so I could put all of my attention on the screen. Thumbs up!

Sarah Reviews "In Your Eyes"

"In Your Eyes" is about two people on opposite sides of the country who seem to be able to hear one another and see everything the other sees. It takes several years for the two to realize they have this telepathic link, but they inevitably fall in love while those around them are basically convinced they're crazy. While the basic storyline felt a little typical of every other Hollywood love story, the telepathic link gave it an interesting edge and the characters were endearing. I didn't feel myself getting bored while watching it. At first I thought the ending was a bit abrupt, but it was actually pretty perfect. I've given it the thumbs up, but it wasn't so good that it stayed in my Netflix queue for a second viewing.

Alyssa Reviews "Soapdish"

I decided to watch a movie while preparing dinner, but I'm SUPER picky about what I watch while preparing/eating food, so I went with Soapdish. It's about this famous soap opera actress, Celeste Talbert (Sally Fields). She's famous, and because of that, she is hated by most of her co-stars. Everyone wants to get her fired. A lot of hilarity ensues in the process of them trying to can her in any way they can. It also stars Elizabeth Shue, Kevin Kline, Robert Downey Jr., Whoopie Goldberg, and a slew of other popular actors and actresses. It's a good film for its year. It's your average 90's comedy.

Sarah Reviews "The Long Walk Home"

"The Long Walk Home" is a movie that has been sitting in my Netflix queue for months. Had I known I'd like it as much as I did, I would have watched it ages ago. Set during the bus boycotts during the Civil Rights Movement, Whoopi Goldberg and Sissi Spacek really brought to life the struggle that was Montgomery, Alabama, in the '50s. I love watching movies that center on a little piece of American history, and it was interesting to see one from the perspective this movie offered. Watching the movie made me wonder if I would have had the courage to make the choices Miriam (Spacek) did or if I would have kept quiet amid the social injustices of the time. It reminded me that we're all the same, and while we may feel that we can't individually make a difference, collectively we can.

Alyssa Reviews "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood"

Okay, so I was a little lazy today. I waited until around 11PM to look for a movie to watch and hadn't realized how late it would be until I started going through my Netflix queue. I decided to go with "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" because I had started watching it a few days prior and only had about half an hour left to watch. It was pretty good, though! The acting was stellar until Vivi (Ashley Judd) has her breakdown, and suddenly everyone except Caro (Katy Selverstone) forgot how to act. It was a lot like a Lifetime movie. You really have to keep your eyes and ears on the screen the whole time, too, because most of the movie is little flashbacks that lead up to how Sidda (Sandra Bullock) and her mother's relationship got so screwed up in the first place. I have this book and took a break in reading it for quite a while, but I will definitely be finishing/possibly restarting it since the movie was decent. 

Alyssa Reviews "She's The One".

I decided to try watching "She's The One" because it had John Mahoney in it, and who doesn't love John Mahoney? When the film started up, it also said that Tom Petty planned the music for it, too. I thought, "Hey, this has to be a pretty awesome film if these two are tied to it." Nooooot realllly. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't great, either. Almost not even good, but the last 10-15 minutes kind of saved the day and made it a little more enjoyable. John Mahoney was barely even in it except the first 10 minutes and the last 15! Sad.. I didn't even get into any of the characters really, and there were only like 6 or 7 characters in the whole movie now that I think about it. The main characters are brothers. Whiny, constantly bickering brothers (Ed Burns, Michael McGlone). One is in a relationship with Renee (Jennifer Aniston) (although cheating on her with Heather (Cameron Diaz)) and the other meets, falls in love with, and marries in a day Hope (Maxine Bahns). Their father (John Mahoney) is pretty much exactly the same as he was in Frasier (before he moved in with Frasier and became the softy everyone loves). Then blah, a bunch of crap happens and bickering and break ups and make ups and blah blah blah whine whine whine, the end.

-A

Alyssa Reviews "Teen Witch"

My first review! And it was an awful movie, go figure. This had a cute idea, but man did it have some of the worst things that came out of the 80s. It was about a shy teenager with big dreams of being with the most popular guy (kind of like every 80s Molly Ringwald movie), with the kooky and awesomely dressed best friend (.. kind of like every 80s Molly Ringwald movie, hmmm). Soon into the movie she finds out she's a witch and can pretty much make all her wishes come true. Then she pretty much screws everything up right til the end and you end up making that sucking-on-a-lemon face, wondering what the hell just happened and how the hell did that solve anything. I hope that wasn't too spoiler-ific, but I can't really explain it any other way, sorry. There were some major corny 80s scenes that again gave me the sour lemon look. It was bad. BAD. 

-A