1981 - The Change-Up

Having had developed a body-swap film for some time it’s a genre I always enjoy - and when you throw a cast like this at it eventually I’ll get around to it!  This time we’ve got Ryan Reynolds a slacker swapping with family man Jason Bateman.  I’ll be honest - I had a hard time buying into Reynolds’ character actually coveting his buddies life - although he does say he was just trying to be nice.  That said, I’ll give a little leeway for the set-up, especially since the rest of the film is so enjoyable.  It’s your pretty typical broad comedy fair, but done pretty well - funny bits, and some nice little performances, especially by Leslie Mann who, despite her CGI nudity, turns in a really sweet performance here.  

You know what kind of film you’re walking into with this one and it absolutely delivers.

1973 - Drinking Buddies

This film is an absolute exercise in restraint.  It's like a modern date update on the question posed on "When Harry Met Sally".  Well, not exactly.  Drinking Buddies is the story of two work friends who you spend the whole time wondering when they're going to wonder if they should be more.  The chemistry between Wilde and Johnson is palpable.  Add Livingston and Kendrik into the mix and you've got a pretty goddamn good cast there - in fact, it makes an indie filmmaker jealous.
Swanberg makes his films from an outline, and that's not a surprise here with the aesthetic, but it never takes away from the film itself.  Everyone is so natural and honest, which I'm sure was the intent.  This film messes with you in a good way - you think it's going one way then it dekes left.  It's emotionally honest and awkward and universal.  We've all had that friend we met while we were with someone else that made us comfortable and question everything we thought we knew.
I wanted to see this film a lot earlier, and was bumped to discover it on Netflix.  If you like relationship films at all - this is a must see!

1873 - In Time

Apparently I was on a Justin Timberlake kick last night.  Mostly I just wanted to watch something high-concept and entertaining, and this was a pretty decent pick.  It got some picky reviews, but I think that centers around the fact that it's so hard sci-fi, which means that it's a morality tale, and as such it's going to be a bit heavy handed in places - I'm fine with that.  As I was at a take-out place this morning it even sunk into me, the beauty of having a world where time is the currency - is it really so different from real money anyway?  You need it to survive, it dictates so many things.  It's a solid concept and they do well enough by it here.  The action isn't there just to be awesome like it is in so many films now.  It's a very solid genre piece, not going to be for everyone, but if you like hard sci-fi you could do a lot worse.  Timberlake does the part justice and Seyfield is pretty darn enjoyable herself.  It's on Netflix.

1603 - Cowboys & Aliens

After a week filled with working on side-projects at night I decided to treat myself to a big-old film.  Like most I thought this title was pretty damn ridiculous, but at the same time I was mighty intrigued - especially as they started assembly the cast - pretty high standard stuff going on here in regards to that.  We need to be reminded that Jon Faveau is the man who wrong and starred in Swingers, one of my all-time favorites, and is now behind a series of this big fun summer films. Not to set the context, I'm going to poach part of Roger Ebert's review:

Here is a movie set in 1873 with cowboys, aliens, Apaches, horses, spaceships, a murdering stagecoach robber, a preacher, bug-eyed monsters, a bartender named Doc, a tyrannical rancher who lives outside a town named Absolution, his worthless son, two sexy women, bandits, a magic bracelet, an ancient Indian cure for amnesia, a symbolic hummingbird, a brave kid with a spyglass, and a plucky dog who follows the good guys for miles and miles through the barren waste and must be plumb tuckered out. This is not a satire. Nor is it a comedy.

Believe it or not but this film is played completely straight - and it's all the better for it.  It's a real story (well...) with real stakes.  The aliens have come and, in spectacular fashion, take away the kin of these here cowboys, and so it's up to this unlikely group to go and get them back.  This is what going to the movies is all about, and it's the kind of film that I can't wait to be able to start taking my son to.  It's big and it's fun - it's smart with how it organically fuses the western and sci-fi genres.  Is it perfect?  No.  If you really want to you can start picking holes into it - but come on - it's called Cowboys & Aliens - are you really looking for the reality-sandwich-of-the-year with this one?  Even though it's a big summer film I'm not sure that this is one that you absolutely have to see in the cinema - but if you're curious you shouldn't hold off.  I quite enjoyed this.
I liked this film a lot, I liked that each character had an investment in the film and that these talent actors had stuff to do, they were just standing around looking good in front of special effects.  I think this film is getting less-than-stellar reviews because it's not as hooky as people would expect - but to me, that's what makes it exceptional.