My attention span is short, and I will almost always fall asleep during a movie - at home or in the theater, it doesn't matter. This isn't the fault of the films I'm watching, because I've dozed during some really good ones. I'm just wired so that once I get settled, I can (and will!) fall asleep faster than any human being you've ever met. When I was 14, I went on a school trip to New York, and for some reason, the adults thought it would be a good idea to take teenagers to see A Secret Garden on Broadway. I remember nothing about the show - only being woken up by an usher because I was snoring. So given my reputation, you should be impressed that, within the past 30 days, I've seen a few movies from start to finish.
The Proposal - A romantic comedy that I expected to be the stale, stereotypical chick flick - the kind of movie that's kept the careers of Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey afloat. But, while The Proposal doesn't break new ground, it's actually not an awful movie. Sandra Bullock plays Margaret Tate, a bitchy, high-powered book editor, and Ryan Reynolds plays her office lackey, Andrew Paxton. When Tate (a Canadian) is threatened with deportation over a green card issue, she is forced to feign an engagement with Paxton to stay in the country. The plot line is highly predictable, but some pretty big laughs come from the awkward discomfort and embarrassing moments when the two try to pass off the relationship as legit to Paxton's family. This is one of those movies that will be playing in perpetuity on TBS or on your preferred airline. Better than expected, I'll give it a C+.
American Swing - Documentaries are the exception to my movie snoozing rule. I'm much more easily drawn to a film that has some basis in reality. American Swing chronicles the rise and fall of Plato's Retreat, a New York swingers club in the 70's and 80's. The film includes extensive interviews with former employees and patrons, and documents the evolution of free love as an accepted practice. This movie captures the hedonistic nightclub scene of the '70s that's likely never to return, and although there's something a bit disturbing about listening to senior citizens reminisce about wife swapping, this film appeals to the voyeur in all of us. B
Paranormal Activity - The grassroots buzz on this movie and the home video shooting style drew comparisons to The Blair Witch Project. The comparisons should stop there. I thought Blair Witch didn't live up to the hype, but Paranormal has stuck with me longer than any horror film since The Shining. The premise is that Micah and Katie, a live-in couple, are being haunted by strange nighttime happenings that date back to Katie's childhood. In an effort to determine exactly what is going bump in the night, Micah purchases a video camera and shoots 24/7 in hopes of catching the spooky activity on film. To give any more detail here would be a spoiler, but let's just say it moves from spooky to downright scary. The first half of the film is slow, but once it gets in gear, it will definitely have you on the edge of your seat and replaying scenes in your head for hours afterward. A solid A-.
Facing The Habit - This movie plays like an overly long and more depressing episode of the A&E series Intervention. The documentary follows Dave, a former millionaire who's now addicted to heroin, broke, and running out of options to get clean. He heads south of the border to undergo treatment with Ibogaine, a plant-based African "drug." While the focus is mostly on Dave's struggles, there are testimonials from recovering addicts who have gotten clean on Ibogaine. The recovering addicts and a few medical "experts"argue that Ibogaine is the most effective method of treatment for addiction. The problem is that the film, at times, comes across as an endorsement or infomercial for the treatment. C.
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