Kick Ass If you want an awesome, funny movie with good action in it, go see it. The story is somewhat predictable, but it benefits from this more than it hurts. Worst part of the movie: Nicholas Cage. Mind you, he is less Nicolas Cage than his previous movies, but the Cage-nis still shows through too much Verdict - Go see it
Kick-Ass In lieu of a long essay about why you should watch it, I'll just leave you with this: It wasn't produced by FOX, Sony Pictures or any other wants-to-be-cool-but-always-fails studio - it's a movie that didn't hold back in any measure. It's what movies should be: fun, colorful, kinetic and thoroughly entertaining.
Been in the theaters a good bit recently: 1. Clash of the Titans 3D. Waste of...well, everything. They packed a ton of action scenes into this with no development, and the action scenes themselves were difficult to follow. I liked Cracked's suggestion that you watch this movie listening to Iron Maiden or Slayer, then it would be more entertaining. Also, the 3d was a waste of money, it didn't enhance the movie in the least. 2. Kick-Ass. I don't know about the book, but this movie was fantastic. Funny, bright, over-the-top and seriously entertaining. Seriously worth checking out. It's like Pulp Fiction meets Spider-Man. 3. How to Train Your Dragon 3D. Cute, funny, and entertaining. Of the three of them, I would watch this again the soonest. We took a 12-year old to this and all of us enjoyed it. Again, the 3D wasn't really worth it, but the movie itself was fun.
Mid-August Lunch Another of my trips to the E Street Cinema here in Chinatown DC. It's an Italian film that centers around a middle aged man named Gianni, who's unmarried and cares for his mom in the heart of Rome; jovial, friendly, unselfish if not a bit of a doormat, he's suckered into putting up his landlord's mother and aunt in exchange for a pass on some of the utilities. Even his doctor gets him to put up his elderly mom for a night, and the next thing you know he's under the same roof with three elderly, chatty Italian women for a couple of days. There's really no story to speak of other than that, but in a way that's OK. The film scores on weaving a tapestry of funny characters with their own idiosyncrasies, across what amounts to a day or two during Rome's celebratory "mid-August lunch." The women are loving and touchy-feely and quarrel and bicker like Italians are apt to do, yet bond over food and the television. Dare I say it as a 24-year-old male, but it was cute. If you've ever been caught enjoying the mores of the elderly and the reduced wants of their remaining years, you'll love the portrait this film portrays. One of the ladies is prone to sneaking out at night and enjoying a drink and the fresh air to Gianni's chagrin, almost as though she's a teenager. Another is even caught sneaking a late-night feast of macaroni casserole when her diet clearly forbids it, inciting from Gianni a parent-like scolding. If there's one minor flaw, it's that it ends too soon. The film only lasts a mere 75 minutes, to which a great deal of resolution and development was left unsaid. But as I stated before, there was little story to even develop. A simple film with a simple message held together with deliciously simple characters doesn't need much of a story to reel you in. I think the next time I go to E Street Cinemas, though, I have to find some obscure French film with a hot female lead leading some steamy romance in Paris or whatever. First a prison drama, now a movie with a bunch of old people... what I need now is a hot foreign girl to drool over. Any suggestions, let me know.
I saw this movie last night in regular old 2D. The story line wasn't at all what I was expecting, but it was good. There weren't any parts that seemed slow or boring, the action was good, and the plot and characters were very engaging. The movie is entertaining on a lot of different levels. Really young kids will be entertained just by all the fun action scenes, slightly older kids will be able to identify with the way the main character feels at least a little bit, and learn some good lessons from the story. Adults will be entertained by everything in this movie, the story, the action, the animation style, the way it all works together. Even my review sounds over-complicated to me. It can all just be boiled down to: "Fun and thoroughly entertaining."
The Losers. Meh. Chris Evans was a highlight, as was Idris Elba (Stringer Bell from the Wire). The action scenes were good, the plot was ludicrous, overall I'd give it a B-. I feel like the best and most memorable scenes were ruined by the trailer. A fun action/comedy, overall, but nothing remarkable.
Iron Man 2 (Came out earlier in Mexico, FACE) You should definitely watch it. I won't say it's miles above the first or anything like that, but it's at least as good as the first. The biggest improvement is probably the action sequences this time around. I wanna figure out who did these, cause they are pretty goddamn awesome. The last action sequence is amazing this time around, though still a bit short. Also, for anyone wondering, there is something waiting after the credits as usual. It's no big spoiler actually, not nearly as awesome as Iron Man 1's reveal: Spoiler We see a SHIELD agent in New Mexico, near a crater, and he says: "We found him." On the zoom, we see Thor's hammer lying on the ground. If anyone has any specific question, feel free to PM. I don't wanna spoil anything.
Nightmare on Elm Street was mediocre. As scared as I am of gingers, this wasn't all that scary. But I did appreciate the fact they made the teens as annoying and whiny as possible. I think they intentionally made the kids look like the butt nuggets from Twilight. Lame.
The odd thing I found about Clash of the Titans is that the lead actor Sam Worthington did nothing to hide his Aussie accent.
Iron Man 2. I will not say anything about the movie other than I enjoyed it very much. Be sure to stay through the end of the credits.
From another board I post on, responding to a guy who's been known as Ironman for years, before the 1st movie came out. Spoiler I had a problem with one part of that, the after fight flight. Wasn't the whole problem with the mk 2 that it couldn't sustain flight at altitude? Sure, maybe he was keeping it out of the stratosphere, but... If I could have used anything better in this movie it would have been her. She had like three scenes, one of which was her kicking 10 dudes asses while Favreau struggled with one, which was great. But she wasn't a character, she was a caricature. I actually really didn't like Rockwell's performance. I don't know that character, having never read the storylines, but he was more annoying than anything else. And not in an annoying character kind of way, in an annoying actor playing a character kind of way. Which is weird, cause I normally love Rockwell.
How to Train Your Dragon Adorable but pretty standard fare as far as children's movies that adults can relate to go. I didn't think it was as amazing as everyone else said it was, but I liked it nonetheless. The dragon is what I imagine would happen if you had a puppy and kitten crossed into one scaly creature that could fly you around the world while destroying everything and also looking cute as hell. 7/10 Date Night I really enjoyed this movie. It was kind of slow in spots, and the relationship problem-solving between Tina Fey and Steve Carrell felt kind of forced sometimes, but it was overall a solid, funny movie. There weren't laughs throughout, but a few places where it was supposed to be funny, it was DAMN funny. Also, Fey and Carrell make a really sweet couple on screen and play very well off of each other. Mark Wahlberg, as always, is a fantastic cameo, and James Franco/Mila Kunis are a stroke of genius together. 7/10
Iron Man 2- B+ Very enjoyable sequel, Robert Downey Jr. does another awesome job as Tony Starks, Don Cheadle was decent, Scarlett Johanssen is nice to look at but not much else...the movie doesn't take itself too seriously following in the lightness of the first film. Where the Wild Things Are- B- I liked this but not sure where I really stand on the film. Visually outstanding, but doesn't feel very complete after its over...I probably need to watch it again.
Iron Man 2 It has Dark Knight Syndrome. Very enjoyable sequel, great performances, but as a standalone movie it doesn't hold up too well. Either way, I was thoroughly entertained and I am happy to say Hollywood didn't just cash the check for the sequel and screw it up a la Spiderman 2. They actually seem to want to continue to produce movies of the first one's caliber. Here's hoping the third is just as good. 8/10
Wait, does that mean the first film in the franchise was total garbage, but the follow-up was a great, outstanding action film that fixed most of the original's problems? I've seen the first Iron Man (for free), and I have a chance to watch its sequel for free. I am spoiled when it comes to entertainment, so I want to know how the second one compares to the original before going. Better, worse, same?
Exit Through The Gift Shop Excellent film by street artist Banksy. Highly recommended if it is showing in your area. I saw it this Tuesday in Boston, and since then 2 Banksy pieces have been put up around town. I'm going tomorrow to check them out before someone ruins them. Here's one... <a class="postlink" href="http://bostonist.com/2010/05/12/banksy_in_boston.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://bostonist.com/2010/05/12/banksy_in_boston.php</a>
Men Who Stare at Goats Just watched this on Blue Ray. It's like a mix of The Big Lebowski, an Army version of Jarhead, and SLC Punk...or some psychic crazy bullshit. It's all about a secret Army experiment that deals with psychic Soldiers trying to locate kidnapped personnel and mind-fuck the locals in Iraq...or something like that. Starts out with Jeff Bridges in the Army taking some LSD and going on a 4 year long trip to find himself. When he's done he brings his report back to his superiors and they start a secret PsyOps program that drugs all its participants. Clooney turns out to be a big success and they send him on special missions. Ewan MacGreggor is a reporter who goes on a trip with Clooney in Iraq. yadda yadda yadda, there are goats, drugs, lots of actors, no women, and psychic stuff. All-in-all I wouldn't really recommend it unless you just want something on in the background. It's a pretty stupid plot that doesn't really end up anywhere. Possibly a 2/5 stars.
Robin Hood Technically an origin story, but the worst origin story I've ever watched. There was barely emotional tension. You kind of prayed everyone would get killed after three hours of tedium. There were a few cool bits peppered throughout, but only the last twenty minutes of the movie is worth seeing in my opinion. Now, that said, there was one redeeming feature of this movie: Mark Strong. This guy is a badass all around and should be in every movie. Spoiler I found it ridiculous that they happened to just have a Magna Carta sitting around, waiting for some stonemason's son to bring it to the king. Everything was just too convenient in this movie to have taken place in the Middle Ages.
Iron Man 2 What the hell was Justin Theroux on when he wrote the screenplay to this movie? The rest will be in spoiler tags: Spoiler This movie was all over the place. The reason I loved the first movie so much was because it was obvious that the reason Tony Stark was silly and sarcastic was because he is always by far the smartest guy in the room and he knows it. I don't know what happened in the sequel but the only time it was present was during the congressional hearing. Sam Rockwell's character was an unlikable douche but even he was a more compelling villain than Mickey Rourke with a terrible Russian accent. Did they really play the "our fathers were rivals and I swear to kill you because of what your father did to my family" card? Not only did they do that tired trope, they also did the "Dad really does love me and hid the answer to all of my problems in a relic so I could find it after he died." I have a hard time remembering a movie where those plot devices didn't feel forced. Speaking of forced, look at all the characters they shoehorned in. They introduced Scarlett Johansson with very little fanfare and don't explain what her future position is going to be. Pepper calls her the notary and she ends up sticking around for the entire movie when Pepper could have clarified her position with a sentence. The worst offender of all was that babysitter from S.H.I.E.L.D., he gets one forced snappy line and then doesn't exist again until he awkwardly says that he has to go in order to set up the stinger after the credits. I LOVED the soundtrack of the first movie. Tom Morello is one of my all-time favorite guitarists; he knows how to turn a pentatonic scale into all sorts of driving funky riffs. Who is he largely replaced by? AC fucking DC playing their ancient hits, how much money did their label offer the studio for that one? The only thing that I really loved that wasn't touched in the sequel was the holographic UI in Tony's workshop. I love the way it looks, I love how he can make the models smaller and larger by pushing and pulling on them; I want it. However, that doesn't counteract the fact that Iron Man 2 has broken one of my cardinal rules of movie viewing: it used a scene for that trailer that wasn't included in the final cut of the movie. The scene where Gwyneth Paltrow kisses the Iron Man helmet and throws it out of the plane was a perfectly cool scene. I don't understand why they didn't keep it. I really enjoyed the first one but it seems like a lot of the things that made the first one so much fun didn't carry over into the successor.