The House Bunny (2008)

I knew I was in trouble when the Happy Madison logo came up. I didn't realize Adam Sandler had his Zohan dipped into this production. Fortunately, Anna Faris can spin crap into comedy gold. If not for her, this movie would have been a 24 carat F. 

Rating: D

The Hot Chick (2002)

Funny despite being incredibly dumb.

Rating: C

Observe And Report (2009)

Lots of dark and crude humor, as expected. Many of the usual suspects that appear in Seth Rogen movies are present. This is the antidote to Paul Blart. My favorite scene was the severe beat down Seth gave to the street gang. Hilarious.

Rating: C+

Waiting… (2005)

An off-color comedy that is much funnier if you've had the opportunity to work in the food service industry, which most of us have. If you watch this film and are still dumb enough to give your server a hard time, then you deserve to eat everything that gets wiped onto your food in the back.

Rating: C+

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs (2009)

Creative and fun. Entertaining for kids with plenty of grown up humor for adults. Sounds simple enough, except for the dumpster full of animated duds that have bombed in dramatic fashion. Well done.

Rating: C+

Take Me Home Tonight (2011)

Not terrible, but below average across the board. Writing was weak. Acting wasn’t great. Editing was poor. I made it through to the end intact, but I’m not sure the reputations of those involved did.

Rating: D+

Lost in Translation (2003)

Great indie film. Performances were all solid, but I think Bill Murray was recognized by the Academy and Globes for his body of work rather than this specific role. They seem to do that a lot. I think he should have won for What About Bob? -- they always overlook amazing comedic performances by comedians because they don't see it as a stretch, but he went far beyond his normal schtick in that role.

Back to Translation. Sofia used a very loose, casual shooting style that worked nicely for this film. The plot is really simple, if you'd call it a plot at all. It's more about people interacting at difficult periods in their lives, which happens to occur in Tokyo. One thing it does really well is make viewers want to visit Japan. At least it did for me. Check out the Behind the Scenes feature on the DVD - great!

Rating: B+