The Other Guys (2010) PG13 - 2 Stars

Oh brother! What can I say about throwing a bunch of named stars together and making a piece of crap. The only reason I am given it 2 stars is I still love Will Ferrell. But the days of his off beat innocence on "Saturday Night Live" and movies like "A Night at the Roxbury" are over. Will, why do you keep doing these mindless comedies - it's boggling to me. Reading some of the reviews that say how funny it is well to me it's stupid, not funny. The best part of the movie is Samuel L. Jackson and the "Rock" Dwane Johnson at the beginning and even then it wasn't funny to me. I think this is one you can miss completely.

Detective Allen Gamble, (Will Ferrell), and Detective Terry Hoitz, (Mark Wahlberg), have been doing their time in the office instead of out on the streets where the action is. Detective P.K. Highsmith, (Samuel L. Jackson), and Detective Christopher Danson, (Dwayne Johnson), were the macho heroes on the street until they jumped to their death going after once last bust. Now Captain Gene Mauch, (Michael Keaton), needs someone to step up to the plate and take their place. Gamble and Hoitz are the two least likely to succeed but rise to the occasion where the other guys could not.

Mosaic, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures
Director: Adam McKay
Writers: Adam McKay, Chris Henchy
Producers: Adam McKay, Jimmy Miller, Will Ferrell

I viewed 12/10

Catfish (2010) PG13 - 2½ Stars

Social networking can be a positive experience for those unable to communicate properly or in a normal fashion. But stuff like this goes on all the time. Who are you really chatting with and think you know? Some people live in a virtual world built solely on fantasy and this story is about one woman who paints a portrait of Nev Sculman, mails it to him and concocts a fantasy world around it. This film documents what he thinks may be the beginning of a love affair. Myself, I didn't feel the documentary was totally true. It gives me the impression that it's made up though I wouldn't accuse anyone of that. But it does go to show you, the influence of social networking has on today's society.

Nev Schulman is a photographer in New York City. He receives an email from Abby, an eight year old girl in Michigan, that wants to paint a portrait of him after she has seen him in the newspaper. Nev develops an on going conversation with this young girl until his painting arrives in the mail. The art work is amazing and he is very intrigued how such a young girl can paint so masterfully. In future conversations, Nev is introduced to more members of the family including Abby's sister, Megan whom Nev finds attractive. They speak on the phone and develop a romantic bond. But as his friends Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, begin to document this love story, things don't add up. The three young men decide to pay a surprise visit to the family to get behind the mystery of who is who.

Rogue Pictures, Focus Features
Directors: Ariel Schulman, Henry Joost
Producers: Andrew Jarecki, Henry Joost, Marc Smerling

I viewed 1/11