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Short little reviews to make up for the utter lack of writing over the last week. Enjoy:

Resident Evil: Extinction had some really good jump-out-at-you scenes, but they were 90% predictable if you’ve seen enough horror movies… Simone hasn’t, so I left the theatre with indents on my arm where she was grabbing me. Like I said, it looks like Mad Max with zombies, and it IS Mad Max with zombies. Not that it’s a big deal for a movie like this, but there were a lot of “conveniences” in the plot, and a few plot holes you really have to ignore.

Of course there are loose threads (note plural) at the end, allowing - as I figure - for another movie, and/or spinoff video game and/or TV series… yes, I’m serious, there was a loose thread that leaves itself open for a parallel storyline.

While over at Paul’s place on Friday we watched the Larry The Cable Guy: Health Inspector movie. It really was as bad as you would expect. Since Paul and I moved to GTA, we’ve been embracing our redneck roots. We laughed our asses off and even Simone found a few parts funny. His character drives around a truck that looks a lot like Mater from the Cars movie (who he voiced) and I couldn’t stop laughing at the home air conditioning unit in the rear window.

I’m going to group reviews for Superbad and Knocked Up, since they came out only a few months apart and share much of the same key creative team. These were also the geniuses behind 40 Year Old Virgin.  Steve Carrell is damned good, but that movie was great because of the writing, direction, and supporting cast. For the same reasons, Superbad (which feels like a satire on teen movies) and Knocked Up (with a terribly unoriginal plot) both are good because the journey from the start of the film to the credits is so entertaining.

I would not say that Superbad is “The funniest movie I’ve seen all year”, even though I can’t say off the top of my head what that movie would be. However, critics and commoners alike are all saying that. I cautiously have to say, “it’s not as good as everyone says it is”, because it is still a far funnier film than most attempts by Hollywood these days.

That’s about it for now. Simone and I are going to Eastern Promises tonight. It’s starting to get Oscar buzz for Cronenberg as well as for Viggo Mortensen.  I imagine the complete snub for History of Violence last year (and Cronenberg’s subsequent hissy-fit) had at least some part in the build-up of recognition this year.

Naomi Watts also stars in the film. Personaly, I can’t resist crossover jokes between “Lord of the Rings” and “The Ring“. Maybe I should make a trailer mashup between the two?