The Green Lantern

I was always more of a Marvel guy than a D.C guy. Superman is too perfect and Batman has always been better on screen than on the page for me. However, I always kind of dug the Green lantern. It is a totally goofy Sci-Fi adventure, with green lanterns of power, an entire galaxy of creatures who protect galaxies from things like mass energies of fear. The Green Lantern Corp comes with its own oath and everything! It was always entertaining to me as a kid because it combined those goofy B-movie type sci-fi campiness with the superhero stuff. Green Lantern was about the Corp, but also about the flawed human being who wore the ring, especially when Hal Jordan was the Lantern. However, it seemed like an awful idea for a movie. Would the general public be able to get behind the goofiness? After spending nearly 300 million dollars (reportedly) to get the CGI looking good, Warner Brothers was hoping the public would. However, the movie kind of sputtered out of the gate. Banking on Ryan Reynolds' star power might have backfired.

Hal Jordan(Reynolds) is a pilot with a death wish. He is a rebel in the air and is constantly defying orders and doing whatever he thinks is possible to be the best. This reckless attitude along with his natural instinct to run away when things get serious makes him the least likely person to receive an intergalactic ring to make him a protector of our galaxy, yet the ring chooses him. The Green Lantern ring does not make mistakes and when one of the Corp members is dying, the ring finds Jordan. At first, Jordan is elated. The ring projects anything he can dream up and makes it a reality. Plus, he can fly without a jet. However, it is a huge responsibility and he is not sure he can handle it. A Green Lantern Corp member has to be fearless, and has to clear his mind in order to be successful and Jordan is not that guy. However, as the giant evil cloud of fear gets closer to taking out Earth, Jordan must find it within himself to man up and take a stand for all of human kind. There is also a love story with Carol Ferris(Blake Lively) and a human villain, Hector Hammond(Peter Sarsgaard) who has the Green Lantern powers, but he uses fear as his motivator and eventual downfall.

The Green Lantern is not nearly as bad as it is being made out to be. I know that is not exactly a ringing endorsement, but that is how I feel. It is a good movie, with decent action and some good laughs and a few nice thrills, but it never quite kicks it into high gear. Reynolds is clearly a movie star capable of carrying a movie franchise, but I think he was let down by the rest of the creative team here. The script has far too much expository dialogue and not enough of anything else. The action sequences are clever and well done, but there are not enough of them and the climatic action sequence is over far too quickly. For a movie that runs a little over 2hrs, I would have expected much more action.

Reynolds and Lively make an extremely sexy couple and they have a really great chemistry, especially during the slower more tender scenes, but even they never get a chance to really light a fire under those scenes. There is too much time spent getting the lighter to ignite and not enough time watching the wick burn or explode. I think there is a very good movie to be found in the Green Lantern world now, which I did not think going in, but this is not it. A lot of time was spent on the CGI aspect and in all honesty, I think it looks pretty great. I have heard complaints about it, but I really enjoyed them. I think part of the reason why is that they look kind of goofy and Sci-Fi like and that is how they should look. I thought all of the things Jordan imagines through the ring that come true, looked great, even if the hue of green looks a little silly as the color of a Gatling gun and other various weapons. Again, The Green Lantern has always been a big goofy.

The Green Lantern comic has had various incarnations and Hal Jordan is the most famous and recognizable of this group, so it makes sense to tell this story. It also has a nice theme about fear and how to overcome it. Jordan changed the entire thought process of The Green Lantern Corp and the movie does a good job of showing that difference. I am always down for a theme and superhero comics have often been about themes of belonging and find one's place and this is no different. There is nothing really wrong with The Green Lantern, but there is nothing terribly right with it either. it just kind of exists. If you stay after the movie and about half way through the credits, you will be rewarded with a nice moment that sets up a sequel, which Warner Brothers is writing, but I would be surprised if it ever actually gets made.

Final Grade: C

Super 8

J.J Abrams gets me. He gets what I like and what I want to see. He also gets how to keep a movie mysterious and has the absolute best trailers for his movies. I truly believe Abrams is the future Spielberg, once he better figures out how to connect humanity to his epic stories. Star Trek was certainly on the path to that and it looked like Super 8 was going to make giant leaps forward in that category. It does not hurt that Spielberg was a major producer on the film and clearly his presence was felt in terms of story. I was crazy excited about this from day one. The moment i heard Abrams and Spielberg were teaming up, I was sold. My favorite director and one of my favorite up and comers together? Yes, please! There was nothing that I saw from the trailers or the reviews that made me think this movie would be less than totally awesome, which is always dangerous, as I have mentioned many times in this blog. But, I believed Abrams would not let me down! Would he?

In a sleepy Ohio town, a factory accident has left Joe Lamb(Joel Courtney) motherless. His father, Jackson(Kyle Chandler) is a well meaning man, but he is not equipped to raise a young boy on his own. Joe and his group of friends spend their days making movies and at the moment, they are making a zombie film with Charles(Riley Griffiths) as the writer and director. Joe is a master with make up, Cary does explosions, and Martin and Preston fill out the cast and crew. Charles, thinking the story is not emotional enough, decides to add a wife to the main character, Alice(Elle Fanning) is asked to be the wife. On a late night shoot near a train station, the group of kids witness an insane train derailment and total explosion. They talk to an ominous black man who warns them to keep quiet. This Ohio town is quickly overrun with military personal and Jackson, as the deputy, is soon in charge as the sheriff goes missing. It is not long after the train wreck that things start to go weird. First, all of the dogs in town leave, then electronics all over the town are either stolen or damaged, there are rolling black outs and of course, people are going missing. The young kids try hard not to talk about it and all they really want is to finish their film, but soon as the military evacuates the town, the boys set off to find answers and they find something in their footage.

Super 8 is the best movie of this year so far. It has heart, thrills, genuine laughs, and a great sense of nostalgia. It reminded me so much of all of the movies that made me a movie lover in the first place. It remembers a time when kids wanted nothing more than to be outside being creative. It has elements of Stand By Me, The Goonies, Jurassic Park, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. It also has young kids filming a zombie movie, so you have those references as well. it is a wonderful blend of low budget humanity and big budget blockbuster. It is the kind of movie I know I will watch and love many times because of the feeling it gives me. Yes, there are issues and it is not a perfect movie, but when a movie makes you feel this wonderful sense of joy, how can you really start nitpicking at it?

let us begin with the wonderful cast. The young actors in this film are just outstanding. The moments between the kids feels incredibly organic and the dialogue between them is often times hilarious and peppered with really honest lines and emotions. Elle Fanning is a star in the making for sure and she has great chemistry with Courtney and it lies at the heart of the story. Joel Courtney, in his first movie ever, is exactly what the movie needs and he really makes you believe everything he is feeling. If you have not seen Kyle Chandler in Friday Night Lights on television, you are really missing out. Very few actors can say more with a shift of weight, or with eye movement than he can. He says more with actually talking less than most actors and he brings that to the role of a father doing his best to figure out life.

Abrams knows how to direct action, there is no denying that. The train crash is about the best crash of that level I have seen. It is littered with thrills, explosions and death defying moments with the kids. He also does a great job of concealing the creature until he absolutely needs to show it to us. The final action sequence that interlocks the human side and the blockbuster side is quite a wonderful spectacle, but I felt like it never lost the human core. In fact, it kept it so intact, one of the people I saw it with thought it bordered on cheesy, but to that I say, the movie is about a father and son trying to come to terms with the death of a loved one, it had better be a little bit cheesy! I will never tire of watching people dodge tanks, bullets and exploding houses and Abrams shoots this finale in a nice blend of long and tight shots. He shoots overhead when we need to see the scope of what is going on, but he knows exactly when to pull it in and give us something intimate.

I am very much aware that there are some flaws. yes, it is a little convenient as certain points for the boys to stumble upon exactly what they are looking for, but if that is what you are focusing on, then the movie is clearly not for you, because the movie did not grab you and fill you the way it did me. I will not listen to anyone complaining about Lens Flares because it is a J.J Abrams movie and you knew what you were getting into. It is like going to a Michael Bay and complaining about sweeping slow motion shots, it is part of who Abrams is as a film maker. I am not sure Super 8 will stay my favorite movie of the year, but I am pretty sure it will end up in my top 5 and it will be a movie I love for years to come. Any movie that can combine the adventure of The Goonies and the thrills of Jurassic park is always going to be watchable in my book. Super 8 is the kind of movie that makes me glad I can just get lost in a movie.

Final Grade: A+

X-Men: The FIrst Class

The filmmakers here had an impossible task; they had to reboot a franchise nearing death, without restarting the franchise, which means they could not use the characters the general public knows and loves. X3 was a disaster and Wolverine was such an all over the place mess that I wondered why this movie was even being made. They went about it the right way, at least. Bryan Singer was back in the X-Men world, but only as a producer, story doctor and consultant. He brought in Matthew Vaughn, a wonderful and varied director, to helm the project and as the cast filled out, it looked promising. Yet, I was not sold. The original marketing was not good and while the trailer looked pretty solid, I was worried that it would be difficult to connect to these mutants that were not household names. So, with these lowered expectations, I made my way into the theater.

Erik Lehnsherr(Michael Fassbender) and Charles Xavier(James MacAvoy) could not be more different in terms of how to use or access their mutant powers. After being in a Concentration Camp and watching his mother get shot in front of his eyes, Lehnsherr uses anger and believes mutants should rule the Earth. Xavier wants to help humans and believes that humans are good. Yet, somehow a friendship forms. As part of a secret C.I.A team, Lehnsherr and Xavier find other mutants and begin a training facility in hopes of getting these young mutants strong enough to fight back against Sebastian Shaw(Kevin Bacon), Emma Frost(January Jones) and two other evil mutants. Against the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis, that was actually a plot by Shaw to gain infinite power, this is an origin story, or more like origin stories. The first class of X-Men includes Havoc(Lucas Till), Beast(Nicholas Hoult), Banshee(Caleb Landry Jones) and of course, Mystique(Jennifer Lawrence).

X-Men: First Class is the best X-Men we have. It is funny, has killer action, makes perfect use of the mutant powers and tells a wonderful story with great writing and wonderful acting. Matthew Vaughn is, by my calculations, 4 for 4 in terms of the movies he has directed. He knows how to pace this movie without letting it derail because it is, after all, a summer blockbuster. However, he lets the story hit all of the beats it need to. We get angsty mutant moments and we get the parallels between the civil rights act, or more to the point, the Nazi/Jewish parallels in the story as well. I loved how well Vaughn told this story because with so many mutants, and with a story moving in essentially three different directions, things could have gotten muddled. Direction 1 in the overall arc of Shaw as the villain, but the two other moving parts are Erik's revenge and of course, Xavier's desire to save Erik. With all of this going on, it could have easily crumbled, but Vaughn keeps it moving by effortlessly switching from kick ass action scene to quiet contemplation about the meaning of being a mutant.

This is of course helped by the wonderful acting, especially from MacAvoy, Bacon and most importantly, Fassbender. MacAvoy and Fassbender had the unenviable tasks of playing young versions of beloved characters that are played by amazing actors when the characters are older. MacAvoy is right at home playing Xavier like a playboy. it was fun to see Charles Xavier as a young, intelligent flirt who is not afraid of a lot of alcohol. So, the real task was Fassbender and what a star making performance. He is funny, angry, sincere, scary and very cool. Fassbender does what Hayden Christianson could not do: he took an iconic villain and made him human without losing the edge that lets us see that he is still going to become Magneto. He switches from accent to accent effortlessly and plays every moment in such an honest way that it makes everyone else look good as well.

Of course, this is an X-Men movie and so the action has to be crisp and it is. I loved the epic climatic battle, with all of the different characters spread out this awesome ocean landscape, but this movie is more than just the climax. And the action scenes are not always just straight up battles. There is a training montage that also provides some great action, and the scene where the young mutants reveal their abilities is very well done. The action does not overwhelm the story, but moves it forward. Azazel (think Nightcrawler, but looking like Satan) gets a lot of great action stuff to do and I loved the effect of Banshee flying and using his power. It is easy to make Havoc look cool with his red energy being flung, and when Beast gets in his full beast Mode, it is easy to make him look good as well, but to have a kind of wimpy looking kid, whose power is to high pitched frequencies, look as cool as Banshee does, you know the movie has it working.

If there is a weak spot, it is January Jones as Emma Frost. Frost should be more of a bad ass, but Jones is so weak next to the incredibly charismatic Bacon. She looks totally hot, but not entirely comfortable with her hotness, so it is kind of a bummer. I loved her silvery look and actually all of the effects were top notch, so if my only complaint is that the hot actress was not very convincing, I think that can be forgiven. X-Men: First class is a top notch entry into the Superhero genre and I hope people can look beyond the fact that there is no Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Cyclops or Jean Grey and just enjoy the ride because it is definitely worth the trip!

The Hangover 2

The Hangover took the world by storm. It starred 3 not-that-famous guys, it rehashed Dude. Where's my car's plot and went on to become the highest grossing R Rated comedy of all time and I believe the third or fourth top grossing R Rated movie of all time. It was hilarious, but not super raunchy, so it had that mass appeal. Something about the chemistry of those three, mixed with a baby, a tiger, Mike Tyson and some serious memory loss resonated with the public. I loved it, as well. It has physical comedy, ridiculous situations, really funny lines and a genuinely interesting story. The Hangover could have been recut as a mystery film very easily. There was no way a sequel was not going to happen. Hollywood knows how to cash in on money making properties better than anything. The teaser trailer hinted at nothing but a very dirty Bangkok. The trailer looked like a complete retread of The Hangover and that actually suited me perfectly. With INSANE box office numbers in the opening weekend, it is clear The Hangover 2 will lead to a Hangover 3, but is it funny?

Opening with another messed up phone call about how they lost someone, Phil(Bradley Cooper), Stu(Ed Helms) and Alan(Zack Galifinakis) are at it again. There is a wedding, this time Stu is getting married to a ridiculously hot Asian girl(Jaime Chung) and as Stu has not forgotten what happened the last time this crew threw a bachelor party, he refuses to have one. Instead, Stu, Phil, Alan, Doug(Justin Bartha) and Stu's soon to be brother-in-law, Teddy(Mason Lee) grab one beer and have some marshmallows. Next thing they know, the Wolfpack is in a dingy motel room with Chow, a finger without a body and no memory. Thus repeats the pattern. The guys empty their pockets, go to a strip club, a tattoo parlor, a monk monastery, hook up with a chain smoking, drug dealing monkey. They get mixed up in the Russian mob, an Armenian arms dealer and Paul Giamatti. Oh, the person they lost is Teddy.

If you are looking for variety, go somewhere else. The Hangover 2 follows the comic, mystery and ridiculous beats from The Hangover exactly. In fact, the movie plays more like a remake than a sequel, but that is just fine with me. This is a ride I am willing to take as often as they offer it. It is just a flat out funny time. Cooper, Helms and Galifinakis make such a great comic team and they are all very much game for whatever director Todd Phillips throws at them and it makes for such an awesome adventure. I love the reactions from the characters as shit just gets crazier and crazier. yes, it is absolute stupid that this nonsense keeps happening to these same three guys, but that is a big part of what makes the second film work. These guys cannot believe this shit is happening either.

Helms is, of course, on the receiving end of most of the wildest stuff. I almost wish the face tattoo had not been revealed in the trailer, because it would be such a great reveal, but that pales in comparison for the raunchiest, funniest, nastiest thing that happens in this movie. That is what The Hangover 2 has going for it. It's raunch is actually hilarious, unlike Bridesmaids. Cooper still plays Phil as the ultimate Go-With-the-Flow attitude that helped bring levity to The Hangover and Helms is even better this time around as Stu. He is so perfectly over the top in how much he cannot believe what has happened to him. In fact, the movie goes to a petty dark place momentarily with Stu and in the third one, I hope they come back to it. Galifinakis makes Alan the right mixture of asshole and helpless child which is becoming his specialty.

I loved the flashback with the guys as kids doing the debauchery. It was a nice touch and the photos at the end are even more insane than the last time and I really liked that Doug was still around. This movie seemed less focused on the mystery and more on the insanity of what these guys do when they get black out nuts and that was fine because the kid playing Teddy did not matter much to me. I got the point of him, but I think the stakes did not matter as much to me this time. The cameo at the end is great, even though I totally should have seen it coming and really, the only negative thing I can say about this movie was that I did not come out of it with as many quotable lines. It is probably not going to be as memorable as the Hangover.

Final Grade: A-

P.S. This movie makes me want to avoid Bangkok at all costs, whereas The Hangover made me want to fly to Vegas as soon as the movie was over.

Bridesmaids

I was never totally sold on this movie by the trailers. I thought they all sort of missed the mark. However, I think Kristin Wiig is a brilliant comic actress and Maya Rudolph and Melissa McCarthy are both great character actresses in search of a breakout. The reviews were pouring out adoration for the movie and producer and director team of Judd Apatow and Paul Feig was infinitely intriguing to me. I figured the trailers just had to be a very tame version of this R-Rated comedy. It was being mentioned as a female Hangover, of a female version of a Judd Apatow movie and who would not want to see that movie? I was excited at the prospect of all of these women coming together and creating something hilarious. After missing it opening weekend, I heard even more raves from co-workers and the general public coming out of the movie wiping away tears from laughing so hard.

Annie's(Wiig) life is not going exactly how she pictured. She is having sex with a guy who can barely stand her (he does not appear to be very good at sex either), her baking business went under and she is paying bills by selling jewelry. She has awful roommates and her only other living option is to live with her mother who goes to AA even though she has never had a drink. To top it off, her best childhood friend, Lillian(Rudolph) just got engaged and asked her to be the maid of honor. While Annie is excited for Lillian it only magnifies how off track her life is. It does not help that Lillian's life is easy street and Lillian has a friend, Helen (Rose Byrne) who has a ridiculous amount of money, is gorgeous and undermines all of Annie's ideas for the wedding party. The rest of the Bridesmaids also have their own ideas of what the bachelorette party and wedding shower should look like, and it is up to Annie to try and juggle it all.

Bridesmaids was so unbelievably disappointing. I laughed a lot in the first 25 or 30 minutes and then had a few sporadic laughs after that, but I found that most of the movie missed the mark. People around me seemed to be having a good time, but I was fidgety, bored and ready for the whole thing to be over long before its bloated 2hr run time was over. Wiig is a wonderful comic actress and she even handled the dramatic moments very well, but I am not sure this movie is worthy of her talents, or maybe I think she is meant to be a character comic actress, not a leading woman. All of the other actresses were fine too. Byrne did not drag the picture down even though she has nowhere near the comic background many of these women have and Melissa McCarthy was probably the only one who managed to be funny throughout, even though I did not get most of what everyone else was laughing at.

Also, Bridesmaids is more than a little bit depressing. I get that desperation and awkwardness make for humor all of the time, but this was just tough to watch at times. There is a scene where Annie and Helen go back and forth trying to outdo each other with speeches about Lillian and many people were laughing, but I was just left cringing because it reeked of depression from Annie. She knows her life sucks and that she may be losing her best friend and it was difficult to laugh at the pain. I like my raunchy comedies to get serious and not be afraid of emotion, but the general tone of this movie was to laugh at this woman's life spin so far out of control she has to move in with her mother. Of course, the character of Annie is not inherently likable either. There is this great cop character, Officer Rhodes(Chris O'Dowd) and Annie does everything she can to sabotage the possibility at happiness. It gets old pretty fast.

I have received the remark that I did not enjoy this movie because I have something against women who act the way we expect men to act in movies. This is false. Fart, poop and vomit jokes are not funny to me no matter who is farting, vomiting or pooping. The big gross out scene in this movie may make a lot of people laugh, but I was just left sitting there. I wanted so very much to be left with tears of laughter. I wanted my gut to hurt from laughing and instead I was just left wondering how much longer I had to sit and wait for the inevitable conclusion. I did laugh at the sex jokes. I actually appreciated jokes with women talking about sex, but not in that Sex and the City way. I really did want to love Bridesmaids, but it just did not go that way for me. I wish I could say there is a good movie somewhere in this mess, but I just do not think there is.

Something Borrowed

If you know me, one of my general movie going habits is to avoid Kate Hudson movies at all costs. She is grating, unfunny and not particularly attractive, in my opinion. However, when you put her in a movie with the adorable Ginnifer Goodwin and hilarious John Krasinski, I cannot be so harsh on my habit. I still probably would not have seen it if I had to pay for movies and did not have a girlfriend who wanted to see it. There is just something so annoying about everything Kate Hudson says and does. So, it is with my Anti Kate Hudson glasses on that I went into this movie.

Rachel(Goodwin) and Darcy(Hudson)are best friends and have been since childhood. Darcy is loud, flirtacioud and fashionable and Rachel is bookish, awkward and a pushover. Darcy is engaged to Dex(Colin Egglesfield), who was Rachel's good friend and crush from law school. The night of Rachel's 30th birthday, she and Dex have sex and after she admits she always had a crush on him. Dex becomes quickly confused as to what he wants. He thinks he loves Darcy, but he always wanted Rachel, so for a while he gets them both. he and Rachel start secretly dating, and Darcy remains oblivious. Rachel's other best friend Ethan(Krasinski) becomes her sounding board and he sometimes has to tell her what she does not want to hear.

It has been roughly a week since I watched Something Borrowed and I am still undecided what exactly I feel about it. The movie is undoubtedly funny. John Krasinski is just hilarious in every scene that features him and the script has some genuinely funny moments and situations. Goodwin and Hudson have pretty good chemistry and there is a wonderful moment involving them and a Salt N Pepa song that might be the highlight of the movie. Goodwin is her usual adorably self conscious self on screen and she really sells the drama of the story, especially in the big confession at the end. She is sexy in a subtle way and even though Hollywood keeps trying to sell her as more on the frumpy side, the girl is gorgeous.

However, there is something deeper going on in this movie that keeps me from really liking it. The premise of the movie is essentially a girl has sex with her best friend's fiance. Rachel's selfishness is constantly rewarded, Dex is an indecisive asshole and Darcy is an obnoxious brat who has nothing nice to say to anyone throughout the entire movie. These are the three people we are supposed to care about enough to watch them for nearly 2hrs, but I honestly did not like any of them. Hudson's Darcy is the kind of movie character that should have no friends and only in film does this kind of personality come across as charming to a group of people. Krasinski's character is the only one who can seem to call Darcy on her shit and he is the only one really worth caring about.

I do not need likable characters in my movies, but in what is supposed to be a kind of breezy ROMCOM, I should. I should care if the characters are happy and I honestly did not. In fact, I think the movie takes the easy way out in the climax. These characters do not deserve the Hollywood ending and in giving it to them, the movie cheats life. Granted, there are consequences and the consequences are long lasting, but in the end, we get the ending we all knew we were going to get at the end of the movie. The writer got lazy which is too bad because there are at least 3 inspired scenes where the writing really helped sell these characters. The scene involving the Salt N Pepa song has a really great feel to it and almost endears the Kate Hudson character to me. Then Ethan's confession is honest, sad and beautiful and of course, the big major confession from Goodwin is wonderful, but it is all spoiled by false moment after false moment.

When the lights came up, I felt incredibly mixed emotions for the film. I was super annoyed by the ending and by the actions or lack of actions by the characters, but I also laughed a lot during the movie, especially at two side plots involving Ethan's one night stand and this super douchey guy Darcy tries to set up Rachel with. So what I have decided is that I loved everything about the movie that was not directly related to the main story. I love Goodwin, but as likable as she is, her character is too much of a pushover and by the time she grows a backbone, it is too late, I was over it. Hudson actually looked hot a few times in this movie, which is a rare thing for me to say, but she did not help make Darcy any more likable. I would have rather seen a movie built around the supporting characters!

Final Grade: C+

THOR

Hopefully I remember how it is I do this review thing. THOR seemed like an odd choice for a stand alone character movie in the Marvel and Avengers universe. Not to say that any of these marvel movies are based in a sense of reality, but would audiences be willing to go to another world for this Superhero stuff? They cast basically a no name and hired Kenneth Branagh to direct and I just did not think it was going to work. Would it be too silly to have a dude with a spinning hammer as the hero? I was curious about it and found myself way more excited than I would have thought at the end of Ironman 2 when they showed Thor's hammer. Clearly they had me hooked! The trailers were good, but not great, but I had read some good things about the 20 minutes shown at ShoWest. Plus, there is this whole big plan with Marvel and this entire world being connected meant it would be wise to watch it. Oh who am I kidding, it is a Superhero movie, of course I was going to see it!

Thor(Chris Helmsworth) is a powerful but arrogant warrior in a realm of Gods where magic and science are one in the same. His father (Anthony Hopkins) is a powerful king and is all set to pass the kingdom to Thor, but Thor's childish arrogance starts a war and he is banished to Earth where he meets up with a trio of American Scientists. Thor's power has been taken from him and he believes if he can get his hammer back, he can get his power back. With the help of the trio (Natalie Portman, Stellen Skarsgard and Kat Dennings) Thor tries to fight through the secret government agency known as SHIELD, but as he reaches his hammer, he cannot pull it out of the ground. Back in his home world, Thor's brother, Loki(Tom Hiddleston), sets off a chain reaction to kill their father, take over their world and maybe, just maybe destroy everything.

Thor is an origin story, but not in the same way as most Superhero origin stories. Thor has always been a bit of different kind of comic. It is a very straight forward story and is told in a very straight forward way, to the point where it almost feels like a series of short films tied into one film. This is not a bad thing as I found Thor to be quite an excellent movie. My biggest fear was that they would take the material far too seriously, but the first 15 minutes of Thor on Earth are very funny and set a good tone for a summer movie. The action is a little too frenzied at the beginning, but as the movie settles in the action gets a lot easier to follow. Branagh has too many tight shots of the action, which he did not need because all of the effects looks great. I wanted him to pull the camera back and let us get a more broad scope of what was going on in the action sequences, but he does give us plenty of action. The pacing is excellent and while there is a serious amount of exposition, the story does not get bogged down in it, mostly because Portman and Helmsworth are so great together.

Chris Helmsworth is going to make hundreds of girls and gay guys drool throughout the movie, but beyond being chiseled like a statue, he makes a very great Thor. he has the right mix of arrogance, playfulness and strength to pull of a pretty oddball character. He handles the action flawlessly and there is never a time when I questioned whether he could do all of these insane action stunts. He also handles the Earth stuff very well. His chemistry with Portman was a pleasant surprise for me. Portman is her usual solid self. She clearly was having a great time with all of this big summer blockbuster stuff and it helped bring a sense of levity to the movie. Skarsgard is great as well. I expected it to be a throw away role, but the way he played it made the character incredibly important. Hiddleston, as Loki, was another pleasant surprise. It is good he was so great because we have not seen the last Loki in the Marvel universe of movies. Hopkins was the only disappointing aspect in the movie to me. He was clearly just phoning this in and I know he had issues with Branagh, so that may have had something to do with it.

Superhero movies are becoming almost overdone and people wondered if maybe Thor was signalling the end of the genre, but Thor is a breath of fresh air. With flying spinning hammers punching through crazy Ice Monsters(best action sequence in my opinion), a great cameo from another Avenger, great comedy and a solid cast, Thor borders on being truly epic. The world created is gorgeous and some of the shots of Thor's home world are stunning. I feel like Branagh and company did a very good job of making Thor workable to the general public. It is easy to have audiences embrace Spiderman, or Robert Downey Jr as Ironman and it will probably be easy to ask audience to cheer for Captain America, but it was tougher to make Thor accessible and this movie more than accomplishes that. This movie makes me hope Thor has a major part of The Avengers. It also makes me hope Portman will have at least a cameo in The Avengers.

Pre Summer movie bash!!

I know I do not really write in this thing anymore, so it would not surprise me if no one came back to read it, but I am hoping to, at the very least, write reviews during the summer months. The summer movie season is always fun for me and with school being on hiatus,I am confident I will have the time to dedicate to writing reviews. So without further ado, here is my annual pre summer movie bash!

My 10 most anticipated movies of the summer.

10. Green Lantern: I am not sold on this movie because the trailers have not wowed me. The 7 minute sizzle reel was nice, but I am still missing something.

9. Friends with Benefits: So far, it is the funniest trailer of the summer and I love the cast. yes, we have seen a version of this movie already this year, but this looks flat out hilarious

8. X-Men: First Class: X3 was bad, Wolverine was bad, so why do I even care? Well, it looks really damn good. The cast is strong, I like the director and the footage so far intrigues me.

7. Thor: Curiosity is what makes this so high on the list. How are they going to do this movie. It is not the easiest character to translate to the mainstream and casting a virtual unknown as Thor is not the Marvel way, but I am curious enough.

6. Transformers 3:The Dark of the Moon: The fact that this is outside of my top 5 goes to show how bad part 2 was. Everyone involved swears they have fixed it and I love the teaser trailer!! I will miss sexy Megan Fox, but excited for more Robots beating the crap out of each other.

5. The Hangover 2: I do not care if the trailer looks like a rehash of the first movie, there is something about it that makes me giggle every time. I love these guys and want to see more crazy adventures.

4. Cowboys and Aliens: Until a week ago, this movie would have been probably down at number 7 or 8, but the new full length trailer came out and it totally rocks! I am still unsure of the full tone of the movie, but I am super amped.

3. Captain America: I love the idea of a Captain America movie. He is not my favorite in the Marvel universe, but the idea of a Captain America movie just feels right. The trailer is solid and Evans looks great, which was a big hurdle in my opinion. It has a great classic cinema look, with killer action and I think the suit looks excellent. Also, Tommy Lee Jones is a total bonus.

2. Harry Potter 7 part 2: The saga finally comes to an end. An entire generation of people were raised on this group of characters and here we are at the end. The first half was moody, creepy and totally awesome, so I can only imagine how totally epic part two will be.

1. Super 8: I am not sure I have ever felt like a director/producer team mattered as much as Abrams and Spielberg. J.J Abrams is the man in my book. I love everything of his I have seen. His mind works in a way that makes him the perfect geek director. I cannot wait to see how this one plays out. It looks like a total throw back movie and everything being written about it is positive and I just NEED this movie now!!

My guesses for the worst 5 movies of summer:

5. Cars 2: This is the first time in quite a few years that I was not excited about a pixar movie. It actually makes me sad to say it, but this looks absolutely awful

4. Kung fu Panda 2: The first movie was pleasant enough, but the action was cool and the comedy sucked. The trailers really push the comedy, so bleh!

3. The Smurfs: I will see it because NPH is in it, but there is no reason for this movie to even exist. No reason at all. The trailer looks awful and honestly, why??

2. Zookeeper: If you take Paul Blart and smash him into Dr. Doolittle, you have this movie. Kevin James is likable enough, but honestly, this is nonsense. I am typically against talking animals in live action movies anyway.

1. Pirates 4: If you know me, you know i am not shy about my hatred for Pirates 2 and 3. Getting rid of Orlando and Keira and adding Cruz does nothing to excite me. Johnny Depp has been playing nothing but Jack Sparrow for almost a decade now it seems and I am over it. I am hoping to avoid this movie, but since I see movies for free, I will probably see it.

Random Thoughts:

There is no Adam Sandler movie this summer. It weirds me out.

Priest looks sufficiently bad ass

I feel like this year is going to determine what happens with 3D. Many big movies being released in 3D this summer and winter. I hope 3D dies.

The Beaver could be Lars and the Real Girl level brilliant, or it could be a total suckfest. I do not think there is a middle ground.

Bridesmaids just missed my top 10, but will it be the female Hangover? Will Kristin Wiig be the breakout star SNL is breeding her to be?

A few interesting looking movies being released in limited release this summer: Everything Must Go, Hesher, Tree of Life
I feel like Bad Teacher would have been a good movie for Cameron Diaz a few years ago, but now it just comes off as desperate.

Until I see a trailer for Horrible Bosses I cannot in good faith be excited, but the team involved make me anxious for a trailer.

Winnie the Pooh is coming back to theaters and it is in traditional looking animation. This is the most exciting animated movie this summer, in my opinion.

CrazyStupidLove intrigues me based on the cast and the trailer is promising, but can Ryan Gosling keep up with such comic actors as Steve Carrell and Emma Stone?

There is a serious over loading of comic book movies this summer and next summer looks to be more of the same. Will people stop coming to see them?

2010 top 10 and other thoughts

I admit the blog kind of got away from me in 2010. I hope that I can get it back this year. The hiatus was due to many things. First off, for half of the year I did not have reliable internet on which to post. Secondly, I saw less movies because I did not have the money to see the amount I usually see. And lastly, it was possibly the worst year of my life and I just could never bring myself to find the energy to post. Things have turned around and for now, I work at a movie theater so I get my movies for me. This should make the viewing of movies a lot easier. I am not going to retroactively review the movies I missed, but there are a few of them on this list, so you will get mini reviews. I hope I still have some readers and I hope to get the ball rolling again in 2011.

Kyle's Top 10

10. The Town: Wrapped in Ben Affleck's blue collar sensibilities, this crime heist raises the level of tension by mixing balls to the wall gun fights with moments of quiet tension. When a scene that takes place at a table in restaurant can carry the same level of tension as the final shoot out, you know the director has done a wonderful job. Affleck is going to be nominated for an Oscar for best director some day, this I believe. It was also nice to see John Hamm branch out and he has some killer cop lines.

9. The King's Speech: I did not go all crazy for this movie the way so many have, but I am going crazy for Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush. These two performances give the movie a level of brilliance I am not sure it deserves. The supporting roles, the directing and the script could be improved, in my opinion, but because of the two men this movie is an absolute joy to watch. Every scene between Firth and Rush is a treasure of acting and they play off of each other so well, I want to watch them in other movies together.

8. True Grit: I honestly thought this movie would be top 5 easy for me this year, but even at number 8, I do not consider it a disappointment. The script is one of the Coens' tightest, mixing wonderful language, broad humor/appeal and a pretty gripping character study. Matt Damon is hilarious, the lead girl does amazing work and Jeff Bridges is a wonderfully gruff version of Jeff Bridges. However, the epilogue drags the movie down and I think because it is a Coens' movie, the straight forwardness of the movie was kind of off putting at times. Still, they took a genre I hate and put it in my top 10.

7. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: I would not be surprised, if over time, this movie grows on me even more. I think this movie, more than any other, has been analyzed in my head. I want to teach it, study it and just talk about it all of the time. It is a fantastic feat of direction more than anything else, but it is very much a movie aimed at people like me. I can identify with the characters, the images, the thoughts and the ideas. It is the ultimate coming of age in a digital age story. Like a movie featured later in this list, it is an in-the-moment movie that I think will be more appreciated in years to come.

6. The Kids are All right: Wonderful performances, a great script, a fun and interesting story and interesting direction choices are all one needs to make an engaging intimate movie about real life. This movie features all of those things, especially some very winning performances all the way around. You understand the motives of all of the characters and the ending leaves you wondering what will actually happen to these people because after 2hrs, I began to really feel for them. I think you own life experiences will sway your opinion on the characters, but I think that is intentional.

5. Exit Through the Gift Shop: Best piece of performance art by Banksy, or interesting, gripping documentary? No one really knows, but I do know that I was riveted in a very real way throughout. This movie is getting at what it means to be a celebrity, it speaks to how the masses are easily swayed by a name or by trying to get the next big thing, but ultimately it is an engaging story about this guerrilla style of art that at its best is pure and raw and at its most manufactured is an interesting study on what makes art real.

4. Black Swan: I cannot remember the last time I was this floored by a young woman's performance in a movie. Natalie Portman flat out gives the best performance of the year of any gender. She gets in this movie and becomes everything it is supposed to be. Arronofsky hits another home run in a film about obsession, addiction, insanity and the blurred line between reality and fantasy. it is a gorgeously dark tale with a twisted sense of humor and the most intense moments I have ever seen involving hands. It is hard to watch, but impossible to turn away from. It is controversial, brilliant and is the ultimate mind fuck. If nothing else, it is worth seeing to watch Natalie Portman give the performance of a career. I am not being hyperbolic in any way. It is truly spectacular.

3. Inception: I know this movie has been talked and talked and talked to death, but I do not care if I understand it or not, I loved it. The first half builds us the world and tells us what is going to happen and how it is going to happen, but the second half just shows us and what a brilliant piece of film making it is. Chris Nolan is juggling 4 or 5 balls in the air at the same time throughout the whole picture and he manages to land them all cleanly. The performances are great summer event film performances and the action sequences are among the most interesting I have seen, especially the hotel hallway fight. The movie is a testament to how editing can make or break a movie and honestly, I liked feeling like the rug had been pulled out from under me. People have cooled off on this movie a bit now, but having recently re watched it, I still love it and plan on always loving it.

2. Toy Story 3: Nothing seemed like a worse idea than making a third Toy Story movie. How dare I question Pixar!! This movie is more than just a wonderful cartoon. It is joyful film making at its best. It twists and bends genre conventions, from Film Noir to a jail break movie, to buddy movie to slapstick style comedy. The voice work is beyond top notch and the characterization of Ken from Barbie and Ken is worth the price of admission. It is a scary, sad, dazzling, hilarious, sweet and comforting journey that left me in tears all 3 times I saw it. The ending should choke everybody up and the way the movie unfolds is perfect.

1. The Social Network: This should come as a shock to absolutely no one. I was on this movie from day one and saw it 4 times in theater and tomorrow will be buying it on dvd. It has a perfect, complicated script full of sharp humor, brilliant lines, and great structure. Fincher's direction is flawless, especially the interesting way he lets the movie work for him instead of him working for the movie and the performances all around are perfect. Jesse Eisenberg sheds his "Michael Cera light" tag and even sheds his likable charm and dives head first into playing this asshole who may or may not have cheated 3 people out of millions of dollars. The movie does not point fingers, even less so than the source material, but allows the audience to make up its own mind about what really went on. Sorkin has always been a brilliant writer of dialogue and structure, but in this he outdoes himself by surrounding himself with top notch people across the board. It also features the best score of the year. Yes, even the music is perfection here.

Random thoughts

The A-Team was grossly underrated. It is a wonderfully perfect action movie for the summer months.

Robin Hood and Sex and the City 2 were the absolute worst movie this year had to offer, at least of the movies I saw.

Kick Ass just barely missed the cut of my top 10, but I still think it is wonderful and spawned a great movie conversation between Robbie and I since we disagree on a movie so rarely.

Harry Potter 7 part 1 was excellent, even though almost nothing happened. It makes me crazy excited for the second half.

2010 also saw the rise of movies being released in 3D but the box office draw of those 3D diminishes as the price goes up.

The Fighter also just missed my top 10. Christian Bale is perfect.