last night’s feature was 21. i admit i was excited to see it. it killed (in a good way) at the box office and i heard jim sturgess was great (which he was). frankly, i liked the movie. i know it didn’t get the best reviews from critics and sure, it was a little ocean’s 11 (not really), but it was entertaining and the story had substance.

ben (jim sturgess) needs money for harvard med, so he resorts to teaming up with his corrupt professor, the object of his affection (kate bosworth, ugh.) and a few other miscreants. aaron yoo (shia’s sidekick in disturbia) played a klepto card-counting accomplice. i love that kid. he’s hilarious and c’mon, his hair is amazing. well anyway, despite some predictability in plot and kate bosworth’s horrific hair/acting, i enjoyed myself. def one of the better films i’ve seen this year so far (granted i haven’t seen many), which leads me to…

shutter. i wanted to like it. i really did. but i knew i wouldn’t. and i didn’t. i don’t like horror movies to begin with because they always achieve cliche status, but i went anyway. i can tell you as an avid joshua jackson fan that it wasn’t good. i mean, i get scared easily. very easily. and i wasn’t jumping out of my skin as i had hoped. the parts i did enjoy (i.e. josh half-naked) were few and far between.

i get it. he wants money. and roles. but, i dare say that was worse than cursed. and that was about werewolves for christ’s sake. such a shame because his acting wasn’t bad. it never really is. he’s a talented actor. but the script was just terrible. not to mention, i hated the ending. absolutely hated it. i won’t give it away, but prepare to be disappointed. i really wish he would just stick with indie films. the writing is better and so is the acting. ok, so you won’t make as much money and you won’t sky-rocket to a-list status, but you will keep your talent and dignity. and let’s face it, you won’t be making movies about werewolves and the paranormal. so, my recommendation for you movie-lovers is this: skip out on shutter and check out aurora borealis. a great movie and josh’s best, hands down.

side note: you have no idea how hard it was to write such a bad review for him. but, it had to be done. sadly.

oh, and i plan on renting across the universe asap. my new love for jim sturgess and my age-old love for the beatles needs to be fulfilled. that, and my sister has been bugging me to see it. she’s quite obsessed.