Catchup - Movies

I've been to quite a few movies in the past few months that I've not posted my thoughts on.  I will not remember them all at this point, so I can only make comments where memory serves.  *Spoilers Galore*  This list goes in roughly reverse date order, newest to oldest.

I Am Number Four:  I have ended up seeing this movie three times.  It wasn't necessarily because it was the greatest movie ever.  It was a good flick, which followed a very standard WB-tv network formula (insert scenes where modern pop music is played by barely known bands and have everyone get dramatic or walk in slo-mo).  I saw this with three different sets of people, all of who enjoyed it it.  It's made by the people who make Smallville for The WB, which shows why it follows this familiar formula... and it worked for me.  Good show.

Black Swan:  I heard a lot of hype about this movie, and mention of some special effects that were not the primary drive of the movie, so I figured I'd give it a view.  I'm not clear what the big deal was about the movie, because frankly, it was like watching borderline kiddie-porn (because I'm sorry, but no matter how old Natalie Portman gets, she still looks about 16-17 years old to me, and since her part in this movie basically involved her masturbating, having a brief lesbian fling, and being fondled by her teacher to prove a point, I really didn't see whatever it was people were ooh-ing and aah-ing about).  It was an "okay" movie.  I saw nothing award worthy (and she won Best Actress for this thing).  Oh well.

Tron Legacy:  Being a child of the 80's, a computer geek, and a lover of the original Tron, I of course looked forward to this movie.  I was not exactly thrilled with it in hindsight.  There were plot holes, unexplained things (was that Clu 2.0 from the first movie, or was Clu "brought back from oblivion, for instance).  It COULD be they were holding certain facts back (why was Tron's face obscured at all times?) for future sequels, but frankly, it was only a decent movie overall.  Nice to have the sequel, but the whole idea of a life coming out of the grid (versus one of us going in) was also severely underplayed (unless, again, they had planned more revelations for sequels).  The animated series coming to TV soon looks really good, but at this moment, there is supposedly no plans for another sequel.  Fail.   :-/

Little Fockers:  Amusing.  I only half-heartedly ever see these "Fockers" movies.  It was amusing, that's about all I can say.  (yawn)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1:  (big yawn)  They shouldn't have split this into two parts.  First 45 minutes was exciting.  Last 2 hours should have taken 45 minutes or less to tell.  They're blatantly milking the Potter franchise.  It's too bad.  Also too bad that it's grossing more than any other Potter movie.  Just proves once again that there are a bunch  of LEMMINGS out there that will spend money on something just because it's from some franchise they like.  Hundreds of millions of dollars.  It wasn't worth it.  It really wasn't.  :-P

Justin Bieber:  Just kidding.

The Social Network:  I was surprised by this movie, because I knew it would be over the top in the acting and the storyline generally speaking, but I still really enjoyed it.  You can't accept it as anything approaching the real truth about "what happened" in Facebook's history, just a vaguely similar story with a lot of exaggeration and drama added... but for the purpose of a movie, it was good.  I wanted to be Facebook's founder at many points of the movie (I loved his attitude and self-righteous no-care attitude that others didn't like what he may say, because "he was right", end of story).  ;-)   Before I relate too closely to this guy, I better end this review.  I really enjoyed this movie.

Megamind:  This was only okay, to me.  Good guy gets tired of being the good guy, bad guy ends up becoming the new good guy, whatever.  *shrug*

Red:  Really great action flick that was well edited, directed, acted... the whole package.  The action of a Die Hard movie with the fun and attitude of Watchmen or The Matrix.  I could see this again, actually.

Jackass 3D:  Silly.  Amusing.  Was worth seeing in a $1 theater, that's about it.

Despicable Me:  Better than I thought it would be, but ultimately slow moving, not a great story, much more childish than I thought.  Watch it with your 9 year old, but expect them to enjoy it.  You may not.

Unstoppable:  I can only say... that I was making out during 75% of this movie.  I only got the basic story line.  It wasn't rocket science.  They had to stop an out of control train from crashing.  They did.  The making out was really fun.  The movie was passable.  Worth a buck, not sure about full price.  Unless you are going to make out in the back of the theater.  Then maybe.

Easy A:  A very good movie, in my opinion!  Emma Stone is cute, and has that dry humor that can be enjoyed in the right arena, and this was it.  I could easily watch this again.  No award material here, but fun to watch.

Skyline:  A neat little scifi/invasion flick.  Looks like it was done on a budget, but it took full advantage of that budget.  Decent story line.  But the surprise ending was really awesome.  Literally, the last scenes (which take place during the credits actually).  Cool stuff.

The Town:  I didn't get why a lot of people thought this was some kind of fantastic movie, fantastic acting job, or whatever.  It was "okay".  It wasn't something to "write home about".  It had a decent story line.  That was about it.  No special effects, just a decent story, decently acted.  *shrug*   A comparable movie, that was much better in most ways, would be "City Island".

Saw 3D:  It was a Saw movie.  Nothing amazing here.  Not the best in the series, that's for sure.

Toy Story 3:  Very touching, very well written, extremely fun, and a great ending to the series, which could also server as a launch pad for a "next generation" of sequels.  By far the best of the series!

Devil:  A good M.Night Sham-al-whatever movie.  Since his movies are like 67% miss and 33% hit, it was nice that this one is (what I consider to be) one of his hits (unlike things like the "Lady In Lake" or *ugh* "Air Bender" movies).  It was a well assembled mix of story, acting, lighting and suspense.  Worth a ticket price.

Alpha and Omega:   Who thought this would be appropriate for children?  Who thought this would be a good story?  Who thought this was worth making?!  Good Lord.  A total waste and NOT something to take your children to!

Resident Evil - Afterlife:  A good installment in the Resident Evil series. Nothing spectacular, not the best episode, but good.

Lottery Ticket:  Pretty funny, though an obvious "african american" aimed movie.  I enjoyed it.

The Expendables:  A bunch of old actors who wanted to look macho one last time, I guess.   The testosterone was dripping off the movie screen.  Enjoyable in the "Rambo" sense of the word, I guess.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice:   A cute adaptation of the classic Disney animation from so long ago.  It "worked" overall.   I wouldn't bother seeing it again, but it was fun to watch generally speaking.

Inception:  Worthy of all the praise it received.  Effects, acting, suspense, surprises, tricks and treats throughout.   A well made movie that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Dinner For Schmucks:   This wasn't that good at all.  It was like watching someone who had never made a movie in their life try to make a comedy about an awkward subject, and failed.  This movie, along with another that starred Steve Carrell, makes me wonder how he ever got past the fun he added to "Bruce Almighty" and "The Forty Year Old Virgin".  And what's that "Office" thing he does?  Is it really any good?  Never watched it, have no desire to.  Oh well.

Grown Ups:   Funny stuff, but had 2x the number of comedy actors that it needed.  It should have just had Sandler and James in it - the others were overkill.  Good movie overall despite this.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World:   This movie rocked!   It did poorly at the box office, but frankly, I'm sure that's because it was an odd mix of teenage angst, young adult humor, and a comic-book themed "graphic overlay" system that (like the Watchmen) probably confused many, turned some away as being too childish, and really just was "too busy" for many people.  I loved it, I love it, and I still play it occasionally when I'm bored.  It, along with "Kick Ass", were misunderstood movies that just didn't get enough exposure to the public, I think.

Kick Ass:  (see Scott Pilgrim above)  Another great flick, based on a great "realistic comic series" by the same name.  Loved it, enjoyed it, look forward to (hopefully) the sequel.

The Karate Kid:   Will Smith's son is cast into the "remake" of the original Karate Kid movie with Ralph Macchio.  Unfortunately, it had too may "ripped off" pieces from the original movie.  It didn't work well for me.  I could have lived without having seen it, or seeing it only at a $1 theater.  Oh well.

Knight & Day:   Tom Cruise tries to cash in on the (pardon the phrase) MILF factor.   Mission Impossible meets How Stella Got Her Groove Back maybe?   Eh.  Nothing special.

Salt:   Not bad, not great.  Angelina as a programmed foreign agent.  It just didn't hit me as "great".  I enjoyed it, but could have waited for a dollar-theater showing.

Prince Of Persia:   A fun flick, like watching the first 1990's "Mummy" flick when it first came out.

The Last Airbender:  Fail.  Epic fail.   No sequels.  Please.

The A-Team:  A good reinvention of the classic 80's TV series.   It worked overall.  I understand that it is not (currently) set to have a sequel.  That's unfortunate.

Killers:   I think someone told Ashton Kutcher that Tom Cruise was making "Knight & Day" and Ashton wanted to upstage Tom so they rushed this movie out.  It was only worth seeing in a dollar theater in my mind.  Like a poor man's "Mr and Mrs Smith" but kinder and gentler.  :-P

Date Night:   I think this woman is "pretty hot" but this movie was not.  Oh, Steve Carrell again.  Explained.  Done.

Jonah Hex:  A decent comic-book turned movie, though I obviously am not up on my "Hex" lore because some aspects of the movie confused the comic-collector in me.

I can't really go much further than that.  There are several more movies, but at this point, it would be vague memories.   Wow, that's a long list.