First on Wednesday I got free passes to a sneak preview of Attack the Block. An independent British sci-fi movie. The movie was recently released in the UK but has no release date in the US yet. To generate buzz for the movie they had a one time showing in 25 cities across the country. Luckily for me Chicago is close enough to drive to and I was able to get tickets. I enjoyed the movie. It was a lot of fun and really entertaining. The movie is about aliens that invade inner city London and these kids that try to fight them off. I love the movie because it doesn't take itself real seriously. There is a lot of silly drug humor and more then a few things that don't make sense but they are easily overlooked. The action is fun and exciting and the alien creatures are very cool looking. This movie is being compared to The Goonies one of my favorite movies of all time. Besides being about kids I don't think the two movies have much in common. Goonies is a feel good adventure movie where nobody gets killed and Attack the Block is a sci-fi movie where there are lots of people being killed.
On Thursday I saw the first of two documentaries this week that had their debut at Sundance. POM Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. This was directed by Morgan Spurlock the guy who made Super Size Me. And like Super Size Me this is an entertaining documentary. Spurlock has an over the top personality that is perfect for these documentaries. In this one he explores the world of product placement in TV and movies. He decided that he will make a documentary completely funded by product placement. The movie follows Morgan as he tries to get sponsors for the movies (not surprisingly no fast food place will do it). As he gets more sponsors he interviews directors and spokesman for products to find out how much influence advertisers have. While the topic isn't as serious as the one he tackled in Super Size Me he manges to make it fun even if in the end we are not really sure what he learned.
On Friday I managed to see the second film on my opening weekend must see list The Hangover Part II. This movie pretty much follows the same exact formula as the first but takes the jokes up a few notches on the gross factor. I guess if the formula isn't broke don't fix it because I laughed so hard during the movie. One of the few sequels that lived up to the hype.
Saturday I took the ay off from going to the theatre and watched the Netflix movie I have had for a while Love and Other Drugs. Being a pharmacist the story about drug rep intrigued me also when I found out that Anne Hathaway was naked a lot in it I had to see it. It wasn't too bad even if it had a sappy ending. Both Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhall were good in it and the story moved along pretty well even if there were some parts that were a little over the top.
Sunday morning I woke up and HBO was showing the documentary How to Die in Oregon. The movie won the Grand Jury prize at Sundance this year and wanted to check it out. The movie is about the controversial Death with Dignity law in Oregon. This law allows doctors to prescribe medication to terminally ill patients that will hasten their death. Basically an assisted suicide law that gives full control to the patients when they want to die. The movie follows one terminally ill patient as she decides to get the medications and her and her family's struggle with the decision of if and when to use it. The movie also show the struggle of a women who's husband died a very slow painful death to pass a similar law in Washington state. The movie brings up a lot of difficult issues and as my wife pointed out not the most pleasant movie to watch on a Sunday morning. I love documentaries that challenge me and can't wait to see it with other people to get their opinion.
