More movies

I rented some more movies...

Blades of Glory - A silly satiric-type flick revolving around the "sport" of figure skating, It stars Ron Burgundy himself (ala Will Ferrell) and Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder) as rival skaters who eventually come together, in attempt to earn a gold medal. All-in-all, it was about what I expected- silly, stupid, and fun, with a few more laughs than I had initially expected. While I'd say this isn't quite as funny as Anchorman, I would rate it as being better than Talladega Nights.
Comedic Grade: 6.5/10
Overall Grade: 5/10

Duplex - Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymoore team up in Danny DeVito's film about the couple's Duplex experience, where they have to deal with an older lady who is cause for some problems. While I felt the second half of the film was better than the first, I was so disappointed with the first that I couldn't get as into the second as I typically would. The comedy, whether dark or otherwise, wasn't very funny. There were a couple of slight chuckles here and there, but "Throw Momma From the Train," another DeVito film, was much more entertaining than "Duplex".
Comedic Grade: 4/10
Overall Grade: 4.5/10

How to Murder Your Wife - Another Jack Lemmon film, but unlike "Some Like It Hot," this one wasn't nearly as funny. I found this film to be a tad funnier than "Duplex," but to my surprise, of the three comedies I picked out this time around, I have to say that I found "Blades of Glory" to be the funniest of the trifecta. In this film, Lemmon mistakingly marries the beautiful Virna Lisi, whom doesn't speak a word of English, and must quickly adapt to a life he swore he'd never live. It's a definite old-fashioned "guys'" film, as there are several cheap shots taken at females, in general. I was slightly turned off, because of that. The first half of the film didn't contain many sexist references, but the second half contained several, enough to compensate for the lack of lines in the first half. There are a couple laughs here and there, but overall, I was disappointed. Unfortunately, that makes me 1 for 3 in the comedies I selected. Hopefully, indies/foreign films I selected will make up for this film and "Duplex".
Comedic Grade: 4.5/10
Overall Grade: 4.5/10

The Host - The Host is a Korean film which entails dark political humor and an unusual looking monster attacking an entire city. Was it realistic? No, but are these types of films ever realistic? Are they supposed to be realistic? I don't think so. The slight chuckles were nicely spread throughout the film, the character development was strong for this type of flick, and although the ending was predictable, the suspense was nicely built. Overall, while not the best film I've seen, it was an entertaining bit of work with some interesting political parallels that (gasp) makes one think a bit.
Overall Grade: 7/10

The Science of Sleep - An English/French/Spanish film, which mainly takes place in France and stars a young man who has trouble differing the real from the dream world. The film's creators do a good job at giving the film a dream-like feel and while some may find it frustrating, in that it can become difficult for the viewer to know what's real and what isn't, there's a critical point to that. It's an attempt to get the viewers to feel what the main character feels and to see things from his perspective. While The Science of Sleep was visually compelling and quite unique, if I do say so myself, I just felt like something was missing. The dialogue was too adolescent at times and even though the producers/director, through the constant alterations between reality and dream-state, create an almost hypnotic feel to the movie so that viewers can better understand the main character, I had trouble feeling much attachment to that main character. If I had, then I feel that I would give this movie a great score, but without that and with the dialogue being so pourous at times, I have to give it a slightly better than average grade. I recommend seeing it once, as it is a very unique movie-going experience, but I can't say that I'll be seeing it again.
Overall Grade: 6/10

Time Out - A French film where a family man, who was fired from his job, fictionally creates another profession which he lies about to his friends and family. As could be expected, this double-life catches up to him and he has to make some very important decisions. The music is haunting at times, the acting solid, and the storyline interesting, but the plot is a bit thin and gradually wears out its welcome. Time Out is a decent film, but not one of the first few French films I'd recommend a viewer to see.
Overall Grade: 6/10