Final Destination 5 (2011)

I have to admit, these movies are a guilty pleasure of mine.

The only reason I really watch them any more is to see the interesting new ways they decide to kill off the characters.

Other than, I can pretty much recite the basic script for one of these films before I even see it.

Lead character has a vision of a terrible tragedy that results in the gruesome death of his friends and himself in some horrifying and highly unrealistic way -- Character realizes it was a vision, but things start playing out just as they were in the dream so character makes a scene and gets his friends and a few other 'believers' out of the situation -- Horrible situation actually happens -- People are like "Woah, how did you know that was going to happen?" -- Character becomes chief suspect in police investigation -- Survivors start dying off in same order as they would have died in the tragedy -- They realize they can perhaps 'cheat death' if they kill someone else -- It doesn't work -- They all die. 

Somewhere in there is a weird cameo from the dude who played "Candyman," who I guess is supposed to be Death. He always gives them the same warning about no one being able to cheat death, although the teenagers always seem to think he's crazy.

I feel like the screenplay writers are literally just filling in blanks for the names and locations.

Again, the only thing that changes with these films are the death scenes, but I do admit, those can be entertaining. And the ending on this one was a nice touch for those of us who have been watching these from the beginning.

"Final Destination 5" is nothing to write home about (although is a 5th of any series ever going to be?), but if you're bored and are in the mood for a predictable horror flick, it's perfect.


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R, 1 hr. 32 min.
Horror

Directed By: Steven Quale

Written By: Eric Heisserer

In Theaters: Aug 12, 2011 Wide
On DVD: Dec 27, 2011
Box Office:$42.6M

Warner Bros.

Ted (2012)

Much to my surprise, "Ted" actually turned out to be one of the funniest movies I've seen in a while.

I recently took my parents to see this film because we had no desire to see the new Spider Man movie, at least not until it releases on DVD (there's something about rebooting a movie that was made in the past 10 years that seems so ridiculous to me), and nothing else of interest was playing. I didn't go into it expecting much, which is probably why I ended up loving it as much as I did.

The movie is about the relationship between a guy named John Bennett, played by Mark Wahlberg, and his teddy bear Ted, who came to life after John made a Christmas wish as a little boy. The two are inseparable, but John's girlfriend Lori (Mila Kunis) tests their friendship when she asks John to do some growing up. Blah blah blah - comedy and hijinks ensue.

This was Seth MacFarlane's big movie directing debut, and I certainly hope this will be the first of many for him. I do have to say, I think you need to enjoy the humor of his show Family Guy to enjoy "Ted." Much of the humor is similar, and by that I mean raunchy and irreverent. Luckily, that stuff is right up my alley. Speaking of Family Guy, many of the show's cast are actually in the film, including Kunis (who voices Meg), MacFarlane obviously, Alex Borstein (Lois), and Patrick Warburton (Joe). Basically, if you enjoy Family Guy, you're going to love "Ted." 

A lot of what Ted and John do is sit around and get high while telling profane jokes (what's not to enjoy with a plot like that?). They are both kind of stuck in this state of arrested development and tend to enable each other's bad behavior. They manage to get themselves into some pretty ridiculous situations along the way, which gives the viewer some pretty consistent laughs throughout.

While their relationship is funny to watch, it was actually endearing at times, too. The two have been best friends since childhood and have been by each other's side ever since. What's funny is that their relationship appears so realistic that after only a few minutes into the movie, you begin to look past the fact that Ted is a stuffed toy. Towards the end of the movie, you realize you actually care about the pot-smoking teddy bear and the bromance between Ted and John.

I feel like this will be one of those movies that gets funnier every time you watch it, kind of like "Anchorman" and "Zoolander." There were just so many great one-liners and humorous pop culture references, which MacFarlane is so great at. While there may have been some jokes that fell flat, the majority of them made the movie.

Leave it to Seth MacFarlane to take such a goofy premise and completely make it work.


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R, 1 hr. 55 min.
Comedy

Directed By: Seth MacFarlane

Written By: Seth MacFarlane

In Theaters: Jun 29, 2012 Wide
Box Office:$159.0M

Universal Pictures