The Losers

To be fair, by the time late April gets here, people just want summer movies. Everyone is waiting for Ironman, or the kids are waiting for the next Shrek, or the females are waiting for Sex and the City 2. No one is looking out for new movies this week or next week (Well, I am anxiously awaiting Nightmare on Elm Street this Friday!), so this week kind of felt like it was a dumping zone for movies. Granted, The Losers did not suffer from a lack of promotion. As Erik put it "I want to see the movie, but I never want to see the trailer again." The Losers did seem hindered by a year full of this kind of movie. Later this year we have The A-Team and The Expendables that are both similar in plot and probably tone. The other two movies are summer movies, so those are the ones we are actually waiting for. However, The Losers has a great cast of actors on the rise and that was my initial pull into the film.

A small group of soldiers with names like Clay, Pooch, Jensen, Roque and Cougar (Jeffery Dean Morgan, Columbus Short, Chris Evans, Idris Elba and Oscar Jaeneda, respectively) are on a mission to kill a bad guy. However, things take a turn when they realize the place they are about to bomb has 25 little kids in it. They try and stop the bombing, but they realize they have to go in and save the kids. They have this awesome shoot out and get the kids out, but they were being set up and the opening sequence ends in tragedy a lot more serious than I was expecting given the overall tone of the movie. These four men are always cool under pressure and always have quick quips to bring levity to any situation, which is good because in their quest to find out who set them up, they need that levity. Helping them find the villain Max (Jason Patric) is the super sexy Aisha(Zoe Saldana). She may or may not have ulterior motives and Clay may or may not have really bad taste in women, but the girl is super sexy and can kick your ass, so how can one blame him? Max is connected somehow, and he is trying to sell some sort of eco-terrorism weapon and that does not really matter to the story. What matters is The Losers need to find him, kill him and get their lives back.

Shot, scripted and acted with a sense of breezy confidence, the Losers is an effective mindless action movie that does not take itself seriously enough to make the plot holes that important. In a similar fashion to The Oceans franchise, this is a movie that when the good guys need something, they just find it. When they need to get somewhere, they are just magically there. The soldiers are all excellent at their jobs and they have no reason to be overly concerned, so we never are either. We know this will turn out alright and even the twist, which is moderately effective does not rile us up, because these good guys are just too good at what they do for us to worry about them. Hell, one of the guys gets shot in both of his legs and we still know he is going to somehow help the good guys come out in the end. The action is fast paced, with the usual mix of slow motion and hand held camera stuff that is far too common in action movies, but it is still fun.

The acting is fine. All of the guys are similar in personality, so we never get a great idea of what the actors are capable of, except Chris Evans does his usual snarky, sarcastic humor that is funny, but worries me in terms of his ability to play Captain America. Idris Elba is a star in the making searching for the right role, he just cannot seem to find it. I really like Jeffery Dean Morgan. He has this old Hollywood charisma to him that he just looks cool all of the time. He is a pretty talented guy, but I wonder if he is better served on television. I really like Columbus Short. I keep waiting for him to break out, but his movie selections just keep him right under the radar. Zoe Saldana has very little to do other than look sexy, which is not tough for her. She is too skinny, but she oozes sex appeal and while her various accents in the movie are less than effective, she can wear a tank top. However, the real acting star of this movie is Jason Patric. He is the perfect villain, getting into Over-the-top Bond Villain status.

Sylvain White does not have much in his filmography as a director and there is nothing in that filmography that makes me think he should be directing action movies, but he does a pretty good job handling the action. There is not a serious visual flair, but he is capable. The first fight scene between Morgan and Saldana is sexy, funny and pretty brutal for a PG-13 movie and the climatic action sequence which spans about 15 minutes and takes place all over this dock, is quite entertaining. In fact, I just think the movie is entertaining. It does not aspire to be some big sweeping epic and it is not out to be this genre busting, subversive form of entertainment. It just tells a simple story in a snappy and breezy way that made me laugh and held my interest for the entire 97 minutes. I think the cast could have handled meatier material, but they are clearly having fun and in turn I had fun.

Final Grade: B

My 10 favorite movies from 1990

I find myself in the mood for another long term movie list project. I had a lot of fun with the Anytime Movies series last year, so I thought I would try out another series. I plan to take each year of the 1990s and make my top 10 list from each individual year. I will mostly use IMDB, but there will probably be a few other sites I use to determine the movies on the list. Yes, my real hardcore movie viewing did not begin until 1993 with Jurassic Park, but since 1993, I have watched movies from all over the place and have seen enough to be able to fill out these early years. These lists will contain where the movie are on my list NOW, not when I saw them initially. Granted, some of these movies I will have seen more than others but such is the way of a film buff. I hope you enjoy the series!

10. The Hunt for Red October- I am just going to say it, more movies need to feature both Sean Connery and James Earl Jones and they should always have scenes where they just yell back and forth at each other. It has nothing to do with this movie really, but how cool would that be? Jack Ryan makes his very first foray into film in the person of Alec Baldwin and any movie that takes place on a Submarine is automatically a little cooler than it should be. It has been a few years since I have last watched it, but I remember it being a pretty awesome thriller, almost claustrophobic in how it was shot and acted, making it that much more combustible. Baldwin never really became the leading man this movie set him up to be, but he is pretty cool, and that is not an easy feat when next to Sean Connery, the ultimate in cool.

9. Flatliners- The first time I saw this movie it was on television and I was totally taken by the story about med students who start getting their kicks by dying and being brought back to life by the other students. The cast was beautiful, young and talented, full of energy and ready to take this thriller to the next level. Joel Schumacher has a nice flare in his directing style in this movie. It does not hold up as well these days, but I still enjoy it when I catch it on the television. It never fully reaches above the idea of a thriller, which a movie like this could, but it is essentially a bleed over from the 1980s excess, where pop philosophy of life and death were not as important as style. The film might lack the substance, but it is a stylish film with some nice thrills.

8. Total Recall- Every year has to have one pure awesome action movie on a top ten list. For this year, it is this bad boy. Arnold's awesome sci-fi adventure that was actually interesting and had a complex plot. Following a Phillip K. Dick story (That guy knew how to create a story, didn't he?), Arnold stars as a man who keeps having these wicked dreams about something that may have actually happened. Quickly the movie spirals into a tightly paced action movie with clever looking visual stunts, great action sequences and insane violence. Plus, Michael Ironside is in it and that always spells awesome.

7. Dick Tracy- Crazy colors, colorful characters, over the top performances from Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman and a script full of awesome cheesy hard boiled dialog make this movie one I enjoyed more over time. Ten year old me was awed by the color palate and the crazy twist at the end, but as I get older, I actually enjoy the movie on different levels. It is pretty much a disaster, but it is a glorious disaster with bright colored suits, Tommy guns and a pretty sexy Madonna. Warren Beaty makes such a cool Tracy and his pretty low key performance only enhances the over the top nature of the villains. I was not terribly familiar with the comic books, but I loved the cartoon and we had all of the action figures, so this is just fun like crazy!

6. Misery- It does not matter what else she does, Kathy Bates will always be Annie Wilkes. She is ferocious, interesting, complex and ultimately venomous and off her rocker crazy and Bates nails every single moment. She gives a master class in deranged, while grounding the whole thing in the very real possibility of something like this happening. It is a scary movies, for sure, but more than scary, it just haunts you after it is done. James Caan gets credit for being an actor willing to defer to the crazy character and because he does that, it makes the movie that much better. As far as his scary stories go, this is the best Steven King adaptation and Rob Reiner does just enough to let you know he is a confident director, but he does not do too much to get in the way of the actors who spend most of the time on the screen. It takes a good director to know when to just get out of the way and let the actors do their thing.

5. Home Alone- There are very few things I love more about the holidays than watching this movie repeatedly as it airs on television. it is a classic little boy movie. I do not know any boy who saw this movie and did not go home and try and figure out how he would rig his house with awesome traps in case of being left alone and near a string of break-ins. Culkin is the perfect little cute curious boy to make this movie just the right mix of cartoonish violence and hilarity. It helps that Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern were willing to fully commit to everything that was being thrown at them. I can quote a good portion of it and I never tire of any of it. I even appreciated the sequel in New York.

4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- Ah the classic of my youth will always hold a special place in my heart. I can still quote huge chunks of dialog and can vividly remember hours spent in the backyard of our new house running, kicking and fighting pretending we were all the ninja turtles. The movie is funny, full of action and I love the outfits the turtles are in. Shredder makes an insanely awesome villain and I can always put this movie on and just sit back and bask in all of the childhood memories attached. It may be a sentimental choice, but the movie is really good. It does all the things you expect from a movie called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

3. Edward Scissorhands- The disdain I have for Johnny Depp and Tim Burton can be mostly attributed to this movie. They are both so brilliant in rendering this melancholy, tragic story of love, loss and weirdness that when I see the garbage they do now, it just angers me! Depp's portrayal of the ultimate outcast, mixed with Burton's gorgeous surroundings turns this from a navel gazing freak show into something incredibly beautiful. Winonna Ryder gives a heartfelt believable performance as well, which is not that easy, but she makes everything seem so believable. Unlike many of the movies Burton and Depp make now, Scissorhands not only is masterful movie making, it resonates real emotions within this viewer, which really is a nice bonus on top of the gorgeous film making.

2. Miller's Crossing- Here is another great mob movie. Granted it is not as obvious or as loved as Goodfellas, but it is that kind of movie that truly gets better with every viewing. Three years after the madcap hilarity of Raising Arizona, the Coen brothers switched gears and directed this deep, cinematic piece of art, full of nuance, subtlety and the flashes of brilliance that the Coens show in every movie. Using violence and sex in a way that is more implied than shown on the screen, the Coens leave the audience wondering and get the people thinking. The film also has some great performances from Gabriel Byrne and John Turturro, especially Turturro. Turturro, like Christohper Walken, has kind of become a parody of himself, but watch this movie to remind you that the guy knows how to act.

1. Goodfellas- If you ask most film geeks, they will say Goodfellas not winning Best Picture at the Oscars is the worst oversight in the history of The Oscars. Of course, it might sound like hyperbole until you realize it lost to Dances With Wolves. Goodfellas is a tight, stylish mob flick with a wonderful script, a great director's vision and most importantly amazing performances from the 3 main actors. There are a handful of excellent mob films in the history of cinema and this is certainly one of the best. Scorcese directs with the confidence of a man who can do no wrong and the movie's visual palate looks beautiful even as the most gruesome violent things are happening. Ray Liotta has never been better and De Niro and Pesci are perfectly at ease in their roles. Not only is this the best movie of 1990, but it is one of the best movies of the decade.

Kick-Ass

The R Rated superhero movie is slowly becoming a nice little sub-genre and Kick-Ass is the next entry. Based on a comic book, of course, I have been pretty excited about this since day one. Not because I am a fan of the comic, to be clear, I have not yet had the pleasure of reading it. I just liked the idea of it. I will eventually get around to reading the book, but for now, I just had the movie on the horizon to keep me going. The first trailer was actually underwhelming a bit, but then the Red-Band trailer came out and showed me what the movie was really going to be about and I was hooked. Since it came out, the movie has generated a heaping of controversy for the violence committed by a 12 year old girl, so obviously the movie is not for the timid. With all of this in mind, Erik and I went to a midnight screening to watch this world with people just as excited as we were.

Dave Lizewski(Aaron Johnson) is a pretty typical high school nerd. He is invisible to girls, gets picked on and loves comic books. he has nerdy conversations with his friend about why no one in real life has ever tried to be a superhero and so he decides to give it a shot, with the name Kick Ass. His first time out does not go as planned as he is stabbed and hit by a car, but after the surgeries, his ability to take pain and not feel it, becomes a de-facto super power. He stops a mugging and he becomes a you-tube sensation. Will this spark a whole wave of costumed superheroes without powers? Well, kind of. We have an ex-cop and his 12 year old daughter (Big Daddy(Nic Cage) and Hit Girl(Chloe Moretz)respectively) who have some serious fire power and are really out to kill the bad guys and we have Red Mist(McLovin), another costumed hero who teams up with Kick Ass. All of them appear to be after the same bad guy, an old style Mobster boss(Mark Strong, new go to villain). All the while, Dave is trying to maneuver the typical high school problems, but finds his masked superheroism has given him a little confidence and in a series of voice over narrations we are treated to his Peter Parker-esque inner thoughts.

Filmed with slick precision, splashes of bright colors and brutal unrelenting violence, Kick-Ass joins Watchmen in showing how superhero movies should be shot, if they were not overly concerned with the ratings system. Kick-Ass is a subversive mixing of genres, but it has one main objective, shock and awe. Every time we have adjusted to the world something throws us totally off. The actions appears to be grounded in some sort of reality, until Hit Girl shows up and starts kicking ass. Then we adjust to tat and we are thrown a jet pack and Gatling Guns. Matthew Vaughn, directing from a script he co-wrote, is out to keep his audience off balance and is out to challenge our morality. Is it morally reprehensible for us to cheer on a 12 year old girl saying "Cunt" and shooting and stabbing people with confidence and ease? Should be disgusted that the movie fetishizes her with a pleaded skirt and pink wig? The answer is "Probably" but it all just looks so damn cool! Sure, watching a 12 year girl take a massive beating by a grown man is tough to do, but she always gets up. She is the real superhero here and Moretz is a star in the making. She is a great actress, makes interesting movie choices and is very charming on screen. She steals this movie every time she is on screen.

Nic Cage also gets notice for his 1960s Adam West Batman spoof. He is hilarious, while being totally dry about it and finding the perfect release for his acting tics. The rest of the acting is fine as well, Johnson makes a totally believable high school nerd and his American accent is spot on and McLovin does his best to shake the likable McLovin attitude and get laughs from a much darker place. Strong is always a reliable villain, but he deserves better. he is a talented man who happens to look like a nastier version of Andy Garcia. He cannot really help that. However this movie is not really about the acting.

the action sequences are all highly stylized and all very effective. The final hour of this visually striking cinematic adventure is tightly paced, action packed and displays firepower, knives, hand to hand combat and the slow motion action shots we are now accustomed to in this style of film making. The violence is a constant attack on the senses and yes, it may be excessive and possibly made to make violence seem cool, but so what? The idea behind the movie, or of any superhero movie is 'What do we do when no one can see our face?" And Kick-Ass believes we shoot and kill bad guys. Perhaps the film could benefit from a little subtlety, but that is not the point. Vaughn and company are showing us how comics should look when they are in a film medium. Violence is messy and brutal, and why should it not be that way in movies?

Of course, none of it would matter if the movie was terrible, but it is excellent. I laughed and cheered and had a wonderful time. It does get a bit slow for a little while and the suspension of disbelief will need to be extended in the awesome climax, but the pay off is so worth it, I think. There are 3 great action sequences, an awesome explosion and a lot of really solid dark comedy. It has all of the things a superhero movies should have. Kick-Ass did not open to the numbers people expected, but an R rated superhero movie never will. There will always be hesitation. We do not want our superhero movies getting much darker than The Dark Knight and that is fine for the mainstream movie going audience. However, there are those of us who want something more subversive from our comic book movies and while this is not the first and will not be the last, it does further this little sub-genre nicely.

Final Grade: A-

Death at a Funeral

in 2007 a British movie came out called Death at a Funeral. It was a well received comedy and in my circle of movie friends, it was called one of the best comedies of that year. I saw it and was incredibly underwhelmed. Apparently, someone thought all the movie needed was an African-American cast and BAM! comic gold. So, in 2010 we have an American remake, with African American actors being directed by the once interesting Neil LaBute. To be perfectly honest, there would have never been a way I would have seen this if I had had to pay for it. I love Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence and think this cast could make a fantastic movie, but this did not look like it was going to be that movie. Also, the original screenwriter came back, just armed with a lot more F-bombs. Not sure why that is, but I guess he wanted to keep his point of view, just adding a splash of color.

Many families only ever get together for a funeral and this is one of those families. Aaron(Rock) is the eldest son and the responsible and he has been in charge of his father's funeral. He is an uptight, hard working man who is constantly overlooked because his younger brother, Ryan(Lawrence) is a successful writer and his much more charismatic. Ryan is flighty and he and Aaron do not see eye to eye. The funeral has all kinds of crazy things that happen including, but not limited to, the boyfriend(James Marsden) of a niece(Zoe Saldana) accidentally taking some acid laced acid and going all kinds of crazy, a cranky uncle pooing on someones hand and face, and the main thing, a white midget(Peter Dinklage) trying to extort money to not show pictures of him and the dead father engaging in some gay sex. You also have Luke Wilson's fat scary face as a family friend who wants to make Zoe Saldana his girlfriend, even though they only had one night of drunken sex and she does not want him.

In what amounts to a pretty straight remake, Death at a Funeral offers some laughs, but it does not do anything in my mind to make me understand why it was made. Rock, Lawrence, Tracy Morgan, Dinklage, Danny Glover, Marsden and Colombus Short are all capable of being together in a great movie, but this is not it. Rock is not much of an actor, but he can be hilarious when you let him out of the box, but here he is handcuffed in a role that requires him to act too much. Lawrence is less handcuffed, but his role just is not very funny. I saw the movie on Friday night and it is Monday and I am struggling to remember anything funny the guy said. Tracy Morgan is his usual on and off self. He can say some seriously funny stuff, but he can also miss big time and this movie is no different for him.

the slapstick is where the comedy actually works. I liked Marsden, even if it comes off a little too over the top, but his drug induced antics are certainly the highlight of the movie. He commits wholeheartedly to the role and it shows. The stuff with Dinklage is pretty funny because Dinklage is another guy who just commits to the movie. He is reprising his role from the original and it seems funnier here. I am not sure if it is the fact that the family is black this time around, but it might be. When he goes into his drugged out shtick, it works pretty well, because Dinklage always looks so distinguished and to see him jumping around licking things is funny.

There is nothing in this movie that is very original, but it was an alright distraction. When it was over, I was already forgetting things that happened. Zoe Saldana and Colombus Short are totally wasted and that bothers me because I believe Short has some serious talent and I guess I have to hope The Losers makes him a more bankable star. I am not sure why this movie exists, or why Neil LaBute agreed to direct it since there is nothing particularly interesting in the script or on the screen. I will say this though, Peter Dinklage on screen is always a good thing, so any time there is a movie role for him, I am ultimately okay with it.

Final Grade: C-

Pre Summer Movie Bash 2010!!

I have weird feelings about this summer movie season. I am not nearly as excited as I usually am this summer and only about 5 movies really truly make me excited. However, there are a good portion of movies that look like they could be good, and look as if they could be bad as well. It should be an interesting summer movie season with The Twilight Series making its first try at summer and hoping not to have a Chronicles of Narnia type result. Plus, we have a few sequels bound for big bucks and a few franchise hopefuls. However, I do not see any comedies that are really screaming out to me and I am curious to see if there is going to be a Hangover style breakout hit. Enough with this, on to the lists!

the 10 movies I am most excited about

10. The Adjustment Bureau- I am kind of working sight unseen on this bad boy because there is not a trailer that I have seen, but it does not come out until the end of August, so I have some time. I just know it stars Matt Damon, is based on a Phillip K. Dick story and Anthony Mackie is a supporting player. Those 3 things are all I need to start to get excited. I could change my mind when I actually see the trailer, but for now, I am looking to it.

9. Salt- I know, I know. This does not really look very good. I get it. However, I am a total sucker for Angelina Jolie in an action movie. It is just how it is. I do not love her, or think she is particularly hot these days, but still, there is something about her in an action movie that gets me going. The action does look fairly by-the-numbers, but I cannot help myself. A strong supporting cast helps matters and I like that Jolie got cast in a role that was written for a man.

8. Dinner for Schmucks- I am not as excited about this movie as I want to be considering it stars Paul Rudd and Steve Carrell, but because it stars those two, I am putting it on this list. The premise could go either way, but Steve does excel at playing strange characters and Rudd, well Rudd can do no real wrong in my book. Ron Livingstone is also in it and the trailer does offer some laughs, I just thought I would be way more excited.

7. The Sorcerer's Apprentice- This is another movie that should not be on this list, but it is summer and what is summer without a gloriously over the top Nic Cage movie? I can barely contain my glee at the ridiculous trailer with the stupid effects, bad one-liners and awesome Nic Cage hair. Mock if you want, I can take it. I know this is going to be a mess, but it is a mess I want to see and giggle through.

6. Knight and Day- Tom Cruise has long been a favorite of mine and I know that so many people have vile vitriol towards the man, but I respect his talent. I like how he effortlessly moves from action to drama to romance. After being off screen for a few years, he made this his first big screen effort in a few years. The trailer is snarky, breezy fun and the action looks cool. I am not sure exactly how it will go, but I am optimistic, even if it has Cameron Diaz in it, which is always hit or miss.

5. The A-Team- I was a fan of the show, but I am more a fan of the trailer for this bad boy. Bradley Cooper shoots a plane down from a tank, that is falling for the sky! Cooper is shirtless! There is action, and laughs. There is the theme song being whistled, A Bazooka is fired! Someone repels down a skyscraper, pulls someone out of a building, throws him out and they are both taken away by a helicopter! It is so damn packed full of explosions that I get mesmerized! Joe Carnahan makes pretty ridiculous movies and I enjoy the hell out of them and this looks to be no exception! Plus, Patrick Wilson is in it!

4. Scott Pilgram Vs. The World- If you have seen the 90 second trailer, well you should just know exactly why I am amped about this flick. It has comedy, action, crazy visuals, and hot talented people. It is helped by Edgar Wright being a phenomenal director with a spotless record thus far. Sure, maybe Michael Cera needs to grow up, but for now, I am ready to take this journey with him. I am not familiar with the Graphic Novel on which this movie is based, but having flipped through the pages a few times, the tone of the film looks perfect. I hate that I have to wait for August to get here before I get to witness this glorious genre bending post-modern movie and it cannot get here soon enough!

3. Toy Story 3- If you are not anxiously awaiting the return of Woody, Buzz and the whole gang of toys, well you have no soul! Sure, I had a certain level of trepidation when I heard they were bringing back my favorite gang of talking toys, but the first trailer eased those nervous thoughts. Pixar continues to push the boundaries of animation, but more than that, they continue to tell amazing stories with rich characters, wonderful humor and honest emotions. In the second film, Woody gave up eternal life to go back to his friends and here we are many years later and the toys are on another quest of true friendship and love. I expect Toy Story 3 to be the biggest money maker of the summer when you throw in the 3D money, but I also expect it to be the most heart warming film of the summer.

2. Inception- Chris Nolan is the best director working right now. Yes, I said it. I stand by it as well. He makes great movie after great movie. His films are rich in visual style, point of view and story. He pulls great performances and directs tight scripts and he makes it all look so easy. He is on the cutting edge of film and this movie looks like it continues the trend. He bucked full CGI in favor of building these elaborate sets to discombobulate his actors and with every sliver of footage that comes out, I get more and more intrigued and excited. I love the cast and am very curious to see what Nolan gets out of Decaprio. I am not sure how this will play at the box office and Nolan swears it is not a twisty film, but it looks twisty and intimate while being on such a huge scale. I simply cannot wait!!

1. Ironman 2- When Ironman came out, I was pretty stoked for it, but even I could not imagine it would be as wonderful as it ended up being. The stakes for a sequel as always higher and it is more difficult to find good story to tell because the origin story is always such an easy way to go. So what do you the second time? Well, in this case, you hire Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell to be your villains and you get an upgrade at sidekick, with Don Cheadle. The teaser and the full length trailer are both rockin and rollin good times and Robert Downey Jr looks just as snarky and perfect this time around. It is going to be tough to be as good this time because they are not catching anyone off guard, but if the scene in the trailer with all of the Ironman robots is half as good on screen as it is in my mind, this is going to be a damn amazing time at the cinema!

5 movies I feel could really go either way

Sex and the City 2- I very recently (last month) finished the entire series and the first movie and have to admit, the whole thing grew on me and by the time the movie was half over, I was totally involved (just ask my movie watching partner). However, the trailer looks just too ridiculous for me. I do not want to see the girls leave NYC. I hated the episodes set in Los Angeles because NYC is a character of these ladies' stories. That being said, the characters still pull me in and while it is utterly implausible for Carrie to run into Aiden half way around the world, I loved Aiden and want the movie to go well for everyone.

Grown Ups- Having some of the main players from the early 1990s SNL that I grew up on, is a HUGE draw for me, but these actors are so far away from being those young hungry edgy comics that it is tough to get too wrapped up in the prospect of them being in a movie together. Replacing Chris Farley with Kevin James is too on the nose, but James is likable on screen and is responsible for the funniest part of the trailer. I am hoping the movie has enough funny moments between the guys to make up for what I am sure will be a sappy message in the end, but it could very much end up a mess. I want to into it and I want it to be hilarious, but I am very cautious about it.

The Karate Kid- Not going to lie, this actually looks pretty damn good, and the blogs coming out of ShoWest were all pretty positive. I have romanticized feelings towards the original flick, but that does not mean I cannot give this movie a fair shake. It is obviously a younger, gentler Karate Kid starring the cute-as-a-button son of Will Smith and with Jackie Chan filling the Mr. Miagi role you can expect this to be fairly different from the original, which is actually a plus in my book. The trailer does actually grab me a little bit and I feel like if I were in the age range of like 10-14, I would enjoy the hell out of it. As it stands, I am curious and I will be seeing it, which I would not have said when I first heard about it.

Killers- Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl does certainly make an attractive movie couple, but can I buy Kutcher as some sort of killing machine? The movie has a Mr. and Mrs Smith feel, which is good and bad. If the light hearted comedy aspects hit, then this could be a really fun summer distraction. If the comedy does not work, well, I expect it to be a dud. The trailer is hit and miss, with half of the stuff working alright and some of it just bombing, but they are an appealing couple and they might have what it takes to pull it off.

Get him to the Greek- I am not sure Forgetting Sarah Marshall needed a spin off movie and I am not sure I am ready to buy Russell Brand as a bonafide movie star yet, but this could work. Nicolas Stoller as the director revs it up a little bit and I really think Jonah Hill has the chops to be a big time comedy star if he so desires. The trailer has a lot of funny stuff in it, but I worry that the best stuff is spoiled in that trailer. I have hopes that the movie will surprise me, but I am not so sure it will. I have fears that I am going to be disappointed and I hate being disappointed in a comedy.

Random Thoughts:

I cannot even fathom a world where I need Ridley Scott's Robin Hood.

Shrek 4? Really? Seriously? Honestly? Shrek 4?? Why...oh WHY????

SNL sketches do not need to be movies, certainly not McGruber!!

The Twilight Saga:Eclipse has a great director, but it still stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, so how good can it be?

The Other Guys might be the first Will Ferrell summer movie I do not mind seeing. Funny trailer

Yet another re-launch; this time for real!

I know this is about the third of fourth time in the last few months I have tried to mount a re-launch of this blog, but I have rededicated myself to the project. The last 5 or 6 months have been a whirlwind of craziness in my life and now I am settling back into the routine of my life, I realized how much I missed writing about movies. Plus, it gave me something to talk about with people and made the messages in my Facebook inbox more interesting. To start, I will go Sun-Wed, with an occasional Thursday. It breaks down like this:

Sunday- Lists (I am always looking for list suggestions. Do not hesitate!)
Monday and Tuesday- Reviews of movies currently in theaters, or new to DVD, or semi new to DVD.
Wednesday- trailer reviews. I will review two trailers every Wednesday.
Thursday- This is a kind of wild card. I may review random DVDs if I see something interesting, or perhaps an essay/rant, or just random movie related thoughts. This may also be used to music or theater reviews.

As always, I love to have feedback. I want to know what people think of the movies, or even what they think of the reviews. I do want the comments to be thoughtful and interesting. I am not interested in on-line flame wars, which is why I have never heavily promoted the site beyond people I know. If you like what you read and want others to see it, awesome!