ALL GOOD THINGS - C

Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst, Frank Langella
All Good Things may star the always compelling Ryan Gosling, but this love story / mystery – based on a notorious unsolved murder case – is vague and clichéd, with major structural issues. Director Andrew Jarecki places far too much reliance on the intrusive score, ultimately dulling any suspence.

LIFE AS WE KNOW IT - C-

Katherine Heigl, Josh Duhamel, Melissa McCarthy
Someday, Katherine Heigl may star in another romantic comedy that isn’t groan-inducing (her last decent one being Knocked Up), but this awful and woefully predictable effort – centered on an ridiculous story about irresponsible parents - certainly isn’t it. It’s as painful as teething.

Ladies and Gentlemen... It's The Muppet Alphabet

Just as a lark, I started to play around with designing the letters of the alphabet as Muppet characters. Turns out that a few of them translated quite well, so I thought I would put it all together as The Muppet Alphabet. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed putting it together. It has also inspired few other Muppetational ideas that I may post in the future.

By the way, I know I cheated a little with Sam the Eagle as "E." The only other idea I could come up with was the Elvises, but I thought Sam deserved the spotlight. Plus, I couldn't come up with any ideas for X, not even after considering Fraggles and Sesame Street Muppets.

UPDATE: I've posted a NEW and IMPROVED Muppet Alphabet at http://muppet-mania.blogspot.com/2011/06/ladies-and-gentlemen-its-muppet.html. I think this may have solved the issue with the missing "X"

UPDATE: Along with the NEW Muppet Alphabet, I've also started taking on a whole bunch of new projects. Designs based on The Simpsons, Sesame Street, Pixar, the Muppets and more can be found at http://baboondesign.blogspot.com/.

LOVE RANCH - D+

Helen Mirren, Joe Pesci, Sergio Peris-Mencheta
Love Ranch is set in a legal Nevada brothel in 1976, but this aimless drama from director Taylor Hackford sidesteps its interesting backdrop for a woefully bland plot about a boxer (Peris-Mecheta) looking for redemption. It’s at turns deadly dull and unintentionally ridiculous.

I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS - B

Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor, Leslie Mann
Glenn Ficara and John Requa direct this so-crazy-it-must-be-true tale of a conman (Carrey) who found love in the slammer and went to great lengths to protect it. It’s a tricky balance of humour and heart, but the compassion of the actors and directors help pull it all together.

WILD TARGET - C

Emily Blunt, Bill Nighy, Rupert Grint
The Brits take on a 1993 French farce with Wild Target, a frustratingly uneven comedy about a bachelor hitman (Bill Nighy). Despite an appealing cast, the screenplay is desperately low on real laughs and Grint’s character in particular comes across as interesting as a blank wall.

JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK - B+

Documentary
Even if you aren’t a fan of Rivers’ often crass and mean-spirited comedy, this look at the woman beneath the plastic surgery is enlightening and often very funny. The Rivers on screen here is at turns prickly, protective, insecure, needy, clever, desperate and almost always fascinating.