Vudu Streaming Audio screenshot

Now, we had waiting to see this in the theater upon initial release, but schedules never worked out. I’ve used Vudu in the past, and never had a complaint. Vudu offer 3 video resolutions — SD (480p), HD (720p), and HDX (1080p.) Now some film material is available with Dolby Digital Stereo (2.0), 5.1, and 7.1. During the film, I noticed we were only getting stereo sound, which boggled my mind. Wait a minute, stereo? I would have stopped it and done some investigating, but that would have ruined “date night”, so I let it be. I’ve been researching, and it seems that not all films on Vudu are streaming in surround sound. I went online just now to check out the forums, and the “More Info” tab for Bridesmaids. Check out the video/audio format on the right of the attached screenschot. Dolby Digital Stereo. Egads, who’s verifying available audio formats before you rent a streaming movie? Live and learn.

What can you do? What’s done is done. Might as well get on with talking about Bridesmaids. You know, I didn’t know exactly what to expect from this film. There was much comparison to 2009′s The Hangover, except from a bachelorette perspective. In that case, wouldn’t it be more like Tom Hanks’ Bachelor Party? The cast is huge, featuring Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Ellie Kemper, Melissa McCarthy, Chris O’Dowd, John Hamm, and many more. Turns out, the film is much different than I thought.

Kristen Wiig’s character Annie is the best friend of Maya Rudolph’s bride character Lillian. As Annie comes into conflict with one of the other bridesmaids, her life continues to fall apart during the pre-wedding planning. The film features all of the idiosyncratic bridesmaids, including an outstanding and memorable performance by Melissa McCarthy. The film’s plot didn’t go where I thought it would exactly go, so I found it entertaining.

Bridesmaids (2011)

Metropolitan Cafe, Freehold NJ

Dinner worked out well at Metropolitan Cafe. It initially appeared that we’d missed the last free table, and would have to wait 30 mins, but they then immediately sat us (albeit near the kitchen.) We ordered quickly, and while we were still eating our bread, dinner came out. With a full restaurant, and our entrees were readily quickly? That was fast service, and much appreciated. I was in the mood for some protein, so I ordered the “Twice Cooked” Cuban Steak — skirt steak, black beans, arroz verde, and the tomato salsa. I’m trying to drink more wine, so I had a glass of this Spanish red wine (“Garnacha”) — Castillo De Monseran. You know, cuban steak, spanish red wine, I figured they must go together. I’m a newbie with wine, but I’m all for practicing! Dinner was very good, and I liked drinking wine with steak.

My Cuban skirt steak dish from Metropolitan Cafe

With plenty of time before the 8:45pm showing, we drove to the mall, picked up the tickets I ordered on my phone using the Fandango app (worked out very well), and we had good seats to watch…. 25 agonizing minutes of previews/trailers we had no interest in watching. Final Destination 5? Nah, I never saw 1-4. Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark? Who buys spooky houses anymore? When you’re on a tight schedule, who wants to watch trailers at the movie theater anymore? I can watch them at home on my computer. Or on my phone.

How was Horrible Bosses? My wife liked it a lot, and she laughed a lot throughout the movie. Personally, I thought it was alright. It stars….well, all the people you see below in the movie poster. The bosses are terrible, but I thought Spacey, Aniston, and Farrell played caricatures of “bad bosses.” I’m not saying their particular acting wasn’t good, but I think it was more to do with the script. For me, the way the bosses acted and what they said seemed to ridiculous, or maybe cartoonish. You know, if you had a “bad boss” who was so outrageous, this is how they would act. The boss characters didn’t work too much for me. I take that back, as I liked Jennifer Aniston’s character, who did the sexual harassing. I liked her, because I enjoy raunchy humor, and I found her behavior entertaining. I’m not into gross-out humor, but I do like raunchy humor that takes chances and shocks you.

Of the three main stars (Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day), at times they were a little dumb, but overall, they were funny. Charlie Day’s character Dale had me laughing, because he was such a sweet-hearted dumbass. Sudeikis and Bateman were okay, but they all worked well together, much like a modern day Three Stooges.

Horrible Bosses (2011)

Wow, this was a strange, trippy movie. The premise for this film, which takes place in Toronto, Canada, is that Scott Pilgrim is a dorky 22-year old guy in a band. He initially dates this 17-year old girl, Knives Chau, but later starts dreaming (then meets) Ramona Victoria Flowers (she of the colorful hair seen in the movie trailers.) Ramona is more of Scott’s type, but he finds out that to win Ramona, he must battle her seven exes. The film is trippy, because there is a lot of pop-up videogame-themed “stuff’ that shows up on the screen during scenes. The fight scenes are highly reminiscent of the old Street Fighter game, and overall it gets artsy with all the cuts.

From what I’ve read, the film itself didn’t do well last year, and is considered a flop. I liked the film though. It’s not the plot or themes that won me over, but the creativity and uniqueness of the film that I found entertaining.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

So, it’s not a good sci-fi movie. Is it a good comedy? Sadly, no. I like a good gross-out comedy if it is funny, and the characters are interesting or endearing. Not everyone may like how crass The Hangover was, but the characters grew on you. Since you like the characters, you like the movie. Unfortunately, I found the characters all rather annoying and somewhat unlikeable. Clark Duke was okay, but he wasn’t all that.

So, to summarize, it wasn’t a good sci-fi movie. It wasn’t a  good comedy. The plot was dumb. The characters were unlikeable. Yup, I would actually discourage people from watching this film. That doesn’t happen very often, but I feel comfortable doing that.

Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

Annie Hall is about Allen’s character Alvy Singer who meets a woman named Annie Hall, played by Diane Keaton. They fall in love and get into a relationship that lasts a few years. They eventually break up, and the film’s premise is a view of adult relationships. Not being a student of the 70′s, I thought it was an interesting look at love and life in the 1970s. I don’t quite understand the fashion choices, but it was interesting to watch the beginning and end of a relationship. I was reminded that relationships are complex and difficult and wonderful.

Annie Hall (1977)

Wow, what a great movie. The first 10 mins of the film tell so much about the friendship and marriage of Carl and Ellie, presented so well, and so moving. The animation was good, the story was good, and the usual Pixar magic regarding the characters. This was a nice adventure story, a sweet little film about aging and life. It has so many elements — adventure, fantasy, comedy, suspense, and certainly a sentimental aspect. I need to see it again.  I watched this over streaming video, but I read that the blu-ray is excellent.

BTW, seriously, how funny was Dug the doug? “Squirrel!!!”

Up (2009)

The jokes that hit were good, but the jokes that fell flat weren’t so good. It’s a decent rental if you’re a Futurama fan, but not the strongest of the four installments. As a matter of fact, looking back through my four reviews, I’m not a big fan of any of the four films. The first few seasons of the tv series were great, but the quality has certainly dropped overall.

Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009)

I’m not particularly a fan of the zombie horrow genre. That whole creeping death thing freaks me out, and not in a good way. I don’t like more anxiety than I have now, and really, zombies slowly approaching you to eat you isn’t my idea of fun. Still, I’ll enjoy a good movie, even if it involves the aforementioned zombies. I watched most of Shaun of the Dead earlier this year, and that was fairly entertaining. I’ve heard good things about Zombieland, so I thought I’d give it a go.

Zombieland stars Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin as survivors of a zombie apocalypse. They meet up during a road trip in an attempt to find survivors or some sort of sanctuary. They don’t reveal their original names, but go by the names of their respective home towns. It was an entertaining movie, and I liked the characters. There’s some talk online about a sequel, and I’d watch that.

Zombieland (2009)

What I liked most about the film were these rules that the Jesse Eisenberg character (“Columbus”) explained to the audience on how to survive in the United States of Zombieland. According to Wikipedia, they are:

1. “Cardio”
2. “Double tap”
3. “Beware of bathrooms”
4. “Wear seatbelts”
5. “Cast iron skillet”
6. “Travel light”
7. “Get a kickass partner”
8. “Bounty paper towels”
9. “Bowling Ball”
10. “(Don’t) be a hero”
11. “Limber up”
12. “Avoid strip clubs”
13. “When in doubt, know your way out”
14. “The buddy system”
15. “Check the back seat”
16. “Enjoy the little things”
17. “Swiss army knife”
18. “Hygiene”

What attracted me to this film was Pegg and Freeman, a comedic duo who I first saw in Shaun of the Dead (a 2004 action. I didn’t see all of Shaun of the Dead, nor do I like zombie movies, but these two guys were utterly brilliant.  If they can make me enjoy a zombie movie, I can watch them in anything. This film runs about two hours, and I did find it entertaining. However, I think it ran 20 minutes too long. Definitely a good rental.

Hot Fuzz (2007)

Dennis Quaid plays a middle-aged ad exec who gets demoted when the magazine publisher he works for is taken over, and his new boss (Topher Grace) is nearly half his age. Grace’s character is an up-and-coming 26-year old executive who thinks he’s got it all, but he doesn’t quite understand what is and isn’t important in life. His own life experiences chaos when his wife (Selma Blair) asks for a divorce, and he begins seeing Quaid’s daughter (Johansson.) Considering that Quaid’s character despises the new manager, and non-hilarity ensues.

Here’s my review: the film was interesting to watch, but I wasn’t as moved as I thought I’d be. I was expecting a strong story, a moving-your-soul theme, and a conclusion that made me think. Maybe it was the trailer, or the six years of “getting around to it”, but I probably attached more to the film than I should have. I’d say it was a decent movie, told a story, wasn’t outlandish, and had a realistic conclusion.

In Good Company (2004)