Guess Who (2005)

3/5

Guess Who is a light, fun romantic comedy that provides solid entertainment for an hour and a half. It tells the story of a white boyfriend (Kutcher) who visits the parents (Mac, Scott) of his black girlfriend (Saldana) during their renewing of vows. Of course, the dad is giving the boy a hard time. And of course, things go wrong. The girlfriend is mad that he didn't tell her he quit his job, the boyfriend is mad that she didn't tell her parents he was white, the mother is mad at the father, and on and on and on. And so, instead of announcing their secret engagement, the young couple breaks up (oh no!). The movie throws a few curveballs your way (e.g., his reason for quitting his job), but is otherwise fairly predictable. The writing is simple but funny. The scripted characters felt shallow at first glance, but the acting filled them with honesty and heart. Bernie Mac is funny as always and Kutcher is charming as always. All in all, Guess Who is an expected 90 minutes of simple pleasure with cute couples and a tender family dynamic.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372237/

Ocean's Thirteen (2007)

4/5

Ocean's Thirteen is entertainment of the guiltiest form. Although far from an artistic endeavor, it keeps you hooked. You know what will happen, but you watch anyway because the ride is so much fun. With its wonderful tongue-in-cheek style, you can tell just how much the actors were enjoying themselves. The numerous self-references, movie references, and in-jokes prove this. (I am a sucker for Godfather references.) I think Soderbergh really hit home with the style. From the 60's credits to the wipes and zooms, it truly felt like the movies it stole from. The pacing worked exceptionally well and I loved how the stories interweaved. Ocean's Twelve unevenly favored a few characters while most of our favorites were imprisoned and helpless. Here we see everyone working their magic the way we first met them, in perfect synchrony and balance. In this movie, Soderbergh fixed all the mistakes present in Twelve. And Pacino is great as the bad guy. It's a fun movie, so check it out if you liked the others (or at least the first one).

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0496806/

Transformers (2007)

3/5

Transformers was a really, really fun movie. It's a summer blockbuster action movie that delivers for the entire two and a half hours. The special effects and the fights just blew me away. Some of the scenes were absolutely hilarious and had me laughing and smiling. Even though the movie was long, it was varied enough in content and mood to keep you interested and entertained. I especially loved the shout-out to Bay's earlier movie, where a kid runs around with a camera shouting, "This is so much better than Armageddon!" Also, I hear fans of the original cartoons were very pleased with how it turned out. The music was excellent and kept your blood pumping strong. The multiple storylines weave together really well.

As expected, the dialogue was extremely corny the entire time. The acting was awful. There were a ton of minor characters that were worthless (the hackers), along with subplots that were worthless (sending out a code while trapped inside). It could have easily been a much tighter, better-acted, better-written two hour movie if they had tried a little harder. Also, the main actress was pretty hot, I guess, but her face was really weird. Most of the scenes went on for too long and, at two and a half hours, the movie definitely overstayed its welcome. Although it never really got to the point where it was boring, I definitely felt some of the scenes to be quite tedious and tiring. Some of the fights were too short and there wasn't as big of a climax as I expected there to be; also, some were really confusing because of how it was shot and it was hard to tell what was going on. Also, I didn't like how the Transformers were so alien; I really didn't like their new designs. Anyway, if this movie ever interested you or you thought it might be good, go watch it, because you will not be disappointed.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0418279/

Ocean's Twelve (2004)

3/5

Ocean's Twelve was an enjoyable comedy/heist movie. The heist elements were pretty subpar for the most part with a couple cool things thrown in here and there, but I thought it was just so funny. My expectations were so low because everyone came out disappointed (because the first one was so good) that I actually had a really fun time watching this. The acting as always was great, the laughs consistent and solid, and the directing light and fun. There are cameos and big names like nothing you've ever seen before. And, for the most part, it just works. You let go of small inconsistencies because you're entertained.

However, the plot was pretty pitiful, a fact that cannot go ignored; it felt like it was trying to construct a story around the actors' schedules and not the other way around. Because of that, I was actually impressed when all the actors were on the screen together. But the story's limitations really hinder it, considering it's a crime movie with more than twelve main characters in it. Each character really should have some fundamental role in the narrative, and they don't. They're merely accessories. This is what is lacking in this movie that people seemed to love about the first one. Anyway, I greatly enjoyed myself while watching it, and if you're interested you should definitely check it out.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0349903/