The Upside of Anger

New DVD review from Nick at Nite:

The Upside of Anger

This is a fine, fine film. It proves that Kevin Costner can be in a movie that is a box office failure, but is still good. Joan Allen gives a heartwarming performance as a mother who turns to alcohol following the disappearance and apparent departure of her husband. She raises four daughters. There is some hilarity, some tenderness, and some outright uniqueness. I am often dragged kicking and screaming to movies like this . . . this one actually sucked me in. It was so good that I caught only about thirty minutes of it one day and waited for it to come on again so I could watch the whole thing. Greg advises me that some people were critical of the movie because of the way it ended. These are the same people who don't like Where the Red Fern Grows or Old Yeller or how the last Presidential election turned out. Relax. Just enjoy the movie. I give it an "A."

Dead End - Flightplan

New DVD reviews from Nick at Nite

Dead End

Like its title, this movie is a dead end. It is like sitting in your car on Central Expressway at rush hour without a cell phone and a broken radio. Frankly, I am not sure why I even watched. It was billed as a horror movie and seemed more like a bad after-school Halloween special. It is an intriguing concept; it had very poor execution. Basically, people are stuck on driving on a road that seems to go nowhere. No matter how fast or far they drive they can never get off the road. A mysterious lady in the woods surrounding the road haunts them and a guy in muscle car is supposed to be very scary when his car appears on the road. Almost all of the passengers in the car die. Everyone but the passably cute girl. I was mostly bored. I feel like people are not even trying. I long for Jeepers Creepers 3 or another good zombie movie. I give Dead End an "F."

Flightplan

I used to like Jodie Foster. Every movie she was in except Nell was great. Some people even liked Nell. You know, people who eat granola. Seriously, what's the point. Granola doesn't even taste good unless it comes in the shape of a rectangular bar and is coated in chocolate. Anyways I rented this movie because it has Jodie Foster in it. She is always in clever, enjoyable films like Contact, Taxi Driver, Little Man Tate, and Panic Room. I should have gone with my gut and passed on this garbage. The producers thought they had it all - great actress, good story, and recurring plot twists - but they missed one thing. This movie is set on a plane. All movies set on a plane, with the exception of Airplane, stink. Passenger 51, Executive Decision, Air Force One, Airport 77, and all of those plane disaster flicks of the 70s. Jodie knows better and so do I. I give this movie an "F."