Films to Skip

I'm very far behind on movie reviews. Here are some quick ones of films to avoid.

Whiteout - I liked the graphic novel of a murder investigation in Antarctica, but as a film this just didn't work. Boring, predictable and not interesting.

The Invention of Lying - Clever idea of a world in which no one lies until Ricky Gervais figures out how useful a skill it can be. It's not just that they don't lie, it's that they are compelled to tell the whole truth. It's interesting at first how different the social decorum is but then you realize it just doesn't work. That people forget things from one moment to the next and their complete honesty mean that their reality is constantly being rewritten by Gervais. I liked the comentary on religion it became but never really liked or cared much about the characters.

Angels & Demons - There are elements of this beyond Tom Hanks' haircut, that are better than The Da Vinci Code but it becomes a wrote exercise working through the setup. Oh there are four symbols so there there will be four setup murders and there's no chance of catching them before the fourth. There are a few more twists but it just become overwrought.

Couples Retreat - This was amazingly bad. It's set up a comedy but it's not funny and then it becomes marriage counseling as each of the four couples has a different problem to work through.

Terminator Salvation - It's fine, but an unnecessary addition to the series. I saw it a while ago and don't remember much about it aside from the fact that it all looked the same.

The Box - Frank Langella shows up with a half a face and gives Cameron Diaz a box but with button. If she pushes it she gets $1 million and someone she doesn't know dies. There were some good ideas here but it got too involved and too ridiculous.