Movie Review: Quick Looks

I watch a lot of movies, a whole heckuvalot, and while I would love to do individual reviews for each one, it's just not possible.  So while I was on vacation, I thought I could post a few full reviews and a few mini-reviews of movies.

Happy Feet : A dancing penguin is the loser amongst a culture of singing in this film.  I have been wanting to watch this movie for quite some time, but I was left rather ambivalent after watching. The concept was cute but the execution was so-so, except of course for Robin Williams who was hilarious in both his roles. And while I agree with the message - love our planet - I was a bit overwhelmed by it in the film. I did, however, appreciate the "humans as aliens" concept.

The Beach : Richard, a traveler, tries to join other travelers on some sort of hippie-beach-paradise, but as with all communes, the project fails spectacularly. If you want a good people-on-a beach story, read Lord of the Flies.

House Bunny : Shelly (Anna Farris) is kicked out of the Playboy Mansion and finds herself playing house mother to a sorority of the unpopular girls. It's exactly what you would expect, but Colin Hanks, who plays Shelly's love interest, is as always an unexpected and happy surprise. I just like him. I did not hate this film, and parts of it were even rather hilarious.

Live Free or Die Hard : The fourth installment in the Die Hard franchise, this film brings Die Hard into the twentieth century by making the bad guy a technological terrorist intent on making America aware of its vulnerability. I love Die Hard as a rule, so this movie could have been below average and I would still enjoy it. I enjoyed Bruce Willis, I enjoyed Timothy Olyphant's character, and I loved their interaction in the film.

Now, I typically wouldn't do this, but since these movies are very unrelated, I thought it would be fun to rank them:

1. Live Free or Die Hard
2. House Bunny
3. Happy Feet
4. The Beach