A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST

Seth MacFarlane found fame in television, and in writing, directing, and starring in A Million Ways to Die in the West his tv roots show through a bit too much.  While the film's R rating gives him more opportunities for cursing and gross-out gags, it still feels like an extended episode.

Albert (Seth MacFarlane) lives in the small town of Old Stump, Arizona 1882 -- and he couldn't be in a worse place or time.  While everyone around him is violent and too ready for a gunfight, Albert is both intelligent and cowardly, preferring to negotiate and joke instead of kill.  As he puts it, "I'm not the hero; I'm the guy in the crowd making fun of the hero's shirt."  He's a sheep farmer -- and a bad one -- and his girlfriend Louise (Amanda Seyfried) just left him for rich moustache merchant Foy (Neil Patrick Harris).  Albert's only friends are nervous virgin Edward (Giovanno Ribisi) and his busy prostitute fiancee Ruth (Sarah Silverman), who's screwing virtually everyone but Edward.  Albert gets some help from Anna (Charlize Theron), a beauty and killer shot who agrees to help Albert win Louise back.

But there's violence on the way.  Albert foolishly challenges Foy to a duel, leading to several training montages as Anna teaches Albert how to shoot.  Also, violent and abusive gunslinger-thief Clinch (Liam Neeson) is working his way to Old Stump -- where he sent his wife, Anna, earlier.  What happens next is, well, what you'd expect from both the romance and action angles.

There are some funny moments and performances through A Million Ways to Die in the West -- but there's far too much of MacFarlane's usual jokes.  There are tons of gross-out gags (from urinating animals to Ruth's messy profession), celebrity cameos (the best of which was revealed in several trailers), casual racism and sexism, and musical numbers scattered through the movie.  There aren't any real surprises in the movie, and the laughs are inconsistent.  MacFarlane is decent but not outstanding in the lead, Neil Patrick Harris is quite good as the pompous villain; and while Charlize Theron does well as a stronger woman, Amanda Seyfried is there to look pretty and be disliked.  And the Edward-Ruth storyline could be put anywhere in the movie, or removed entirely, without affecting the main story.

A Million Ways to Die in the West is full of curses, violence, and scatalogical humor.  It could have used more laughs -- and more than its R rating to differentiate it from MacFarlane's television cartoons.

Overall grade: C
Reviewed by James Lynch

Perfect Stranger (2007)

I'm no fan of either Halle Barry, nor Bruce Willis. Maybe that explains why this disc sat next to the TV set for months, and never seemed to make it into the machine. The other reviews of this film aren't even good. This all makes me wonder why I really liked this film.

Halle Berry plays Rowena Price, an investigative reporter that writes under a pseudonym. When she gets shut out of exposing a Senator as a pedophile, she turns her attention to a childhood friend's murder. The trail leads to Manhattan ad exec Harrison Hill's doorstep, so Rowena infiltrates as a temp. Along the way she gets some help from Miles Haley (Giovanni Ribisi) who is her computer expert from the paper.

A thriller plot lives or dies on two things in my mind: can I figure it out halfway through, and am I on the edge of my seat for the majority of the film. On both counts, Perfect Stranger does succeed. The film did have me wondering till the very end, but in retrospect, there were clues to the final outcome throughout, which makes for a satisfying "aha" moment with only a few minutes till the final credits.

After months of avoiding this film, I'm surprised to say that this is the best film I've seen this week (although there wasn't much competition). Don't be a perfect stranger to Perfect Stranger.

Overall Grade: B+

Reviewed by Jonas