Cowboys & Aliens

Movie: Cowboys & Aliens

Genre: sci-fi-western

Synopsis: Set in the Arizona town of Absolution in the 1870’s.  Jake (Daniel Craig) awakens in the middle of the desert with a strange wound, a strange looking metal wrist band and no memory of anything. Woodrow (Harrison Ford) is the local cattle baron who runs the town.  The two make an uneasy alliance to battle aliens who have arrived in a spaceship and are abducting humans.  Joining them to get revenge for the loss of her family is Ella (Olivia Wilde).

My two cents: This was certainly a new entry in the science fiction/western genres.  Although there are a lot of holes in the plot, I found the movie to be pretty enjoyable.  Harrison Ford is really perfecting the portrayal of a grizzled old man.

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Crazy, Stupid, Love

Movie: Crazy, Stupid, Love

Genre: romantic comedy

Synopsis: Cal (Steve Carell) is married to Emily (Julianne Moore).  When Emily unexpectedly tells him she wants a divorce, Cal does not know what to do.  Jacob (Ryan Gosling) is extraordinarily good a picking up women.  He decides to take Cal under his wing, give him a wardrobe makeover, and teach him how to pick up women.  Ultimately, Cal realizes what he really wants is to win back Emily.  There are several side story-lines, including a romantic triangle: Cal’s son has a crush on his babysitter, who has a crush on Cal.  The movie also has Kevin Bacon as a co-worker of Emily  who slept with her, Emma Stone, and Marisa Tomei. 

My two cents: I think that when it comes to romantic comedies Steve Carell is in a class by himself.  He can be a hopeless doofus of a nerd, but you still respect him and pull for him to win back his true love. Ryan Gosling is like a chameleon.  From “Lars and the Real Girl” where he was just a sweet but lost soul to “Blue Valentine” where he was a borderline psychopath with anger management issues to this role as a pickup-artist. 

This was the best romantic comedy I have seen in a while.  Definitely worth seeing.

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