Shorts

Warner Bros. Pictures

Rated PG

Running time: 89 minutes



Warner Bros. Pictures Shorts is another cute children's film by Robert Rodriguez. Made as a series of short vignettes, Shorts is about some kids finding a wishing rock and the greed everyone has for it.

With the film as a series of vignettes, the shorts are not always shown in sequential order which may make following the story a little confusing. Visually, the effects are better than the earlier of Rodriquez's children films. I liked that Jolie Vanier's character was named Helvetica Black, which is named after the type font. Even though she is named after a type font, Vanier was a sort of bad girl and her name sounded quite evil with the background choir chanting Helvetica, Helvetica as she races her bicycle down the street at night.

While the film has some heavy hitter stars such as James Spader and William H. Macy - Spader and Macy were never promoted in the marketing campaign as far as I know, as I never knew Spader and Macy were involved in the movie. Too bad about this lack of promotion, as they could have brought more interest to the movie with the adult audience - as well as getting more box office for the movie.

Rated PG. Running time: 89 minutes.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

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The Ugly Truth

Columbia Pictures

Rated R

Running time: 96 minutes


Columbia Pictures The Ugly Truth is about male chauvinist TV host Gerard Butler trying to teach his driven uptight woman TV producer Katherine Heigl on how to pick up guys.

This is a cute predictable romantic comedy set in the TV industry. The behind-the-scene aspects of the TV industry is fairly accurate of the industry in dealing with the egos in the TV industry and the business-driven concerns for TV ratings dollars. While there are child actors in the film, this is not a children's movie as the film deals with adult themes so you do not want to bring your kids to this movie to watch the kid actors.

Rated R for sexual situations. Running time: 96 minutes.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

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Funny People

Universal Pictures

Rated R

Running time: 146 minutes



Universal Pictures Funny People starring Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen is about comedian Adam Sandler who finds out he has a rare blood disease and hires fellow comedian Seth Rogen to write his jokes, but swears Rogen to secrecy about Sandler's disease. The marketing campaign makes the movie seem as more of a comedy, but this is really a dramatic film with Adam Sandler in his most dramatic role that I have ever seen him in. The comedy routines by the comedians can be funny, but do not expect the movie to be a laugh riot.

The first half of the movie deals with Sandler's life as a comedian, while the second half deals with Sandler's ex-girlfriend Leslie Mann who now has her own family. The film is also a long movie. I did not check my watch, but I did keep wondering towards the second half of the movie "when is this over?" The family aspect of the movie was interesting, but that made the film too long and the family storyline is good enough for a movie to be developed on it's own.

Rated R for language. Running time: 146 minutes.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

 Pancho's Movie Reviews