More Movie Reviews

It's been a while since I've reviewed any movies.  I have quite a few (for me) to get through.  If this were Nuke, this would be a short movie review since he only reviews movies about twice a year.  I've been watching a lot of animated DC movies on Netflix Instant Watch, and not too many discs lately.  So, here are my reviews.  A lot of 3 and 4 star movies that I'll rate in the order that I think you might care about them.

"The Bourne Legacy":  The latest installment in the Bourne series doesn't feature Jason Bourne at all.  This movie starts a new story line with Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner).  Cross is the next step in the Bourne Evolution.  He has been physically and mentally enhanced, so he's stronger, faster, able to heal quicker and smarter than your average Bourne.  While on a training mission in Alaska, the CIA attempts to kill Cross, to eliminate the threat of program exposure.  Of course they fail, because it wouldn't be much of a movie if they succeeded.  Now, with the risk of losing his abilities, Cross must find the only doctor (Rachel Weisz) who can help him while evading his CIA pursuers.

The movie gets a 4 star rating because I absolutely love the Bourne movies.  Honestly, 45 minutes in, I was quite worried.  "The Bourne Legacy" starts off very slow, but picks up in the 2nd half of the movie.  Jeremy Renner is good as Aaron Cross, but not great.  I really like Rachel Weisz in this role, and Edward Norton is good as always. 

So, overall, a pretty solid follow-up to the Bourne Trilogy.

"Pirates of the Caribbean: Stranger Tides":  Finally, a "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie that comes close to capturing the genius of the original.  While not as great, this movie is so much better than the last two that it's not even fair to compare them.

Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is back again, this time playing a dangerous game with the English, the Spanish and the evil Capt. Blackbeard (Ian McShane) over the location of the Fountain of Youth.  We also meet Angelica (Penelope Cruz), apparently a love interest from  Jack's pass.  Honestly, there are so many plot turns that I can't do it justice by trying to talk about the plot, but let's just say it's mostly fun. 

Missing from the cast were Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightley, and that was ok.  Geoffrey Rush was back and Capt. Barbosa, which I thought was a good move.  There is kind of a dumb plot line about a mermaid and a missionary, but other than that, I really liked "Pirates of the Caribbean: Stranger Tides".  I'll give this one 4 stars as well.

"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter":  This was a movie that I was going to see in the theater, but after really poor reviews, I decided to skip it.  It was a good decision not to spend theater bucks on "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter", but as a popcorn eating flick for a Tuesday night, it suffices as a 3 star movie.

The plot is fairly simple.  After watching his mother get murdered by a vampire, a young Abraham Lincoln dedicates himself to revenge against the vampire that killed her.  After a near fatal encounter, Lincoln meets a man who can teach him the skills he needs to kill a Vampire.  Once trained, Lincoln becomes a one man Vampire wrecking machine, until realizing that his battle is a futile one unless he gains political power.  Hence Lincoln embarks on a political career that ends with the Presidency and the Civil War, which is really a battle between the Vampire free north, and the Vampire lead south.

I know a lot of people were upset about the portrayal of Lincoln in the movie and about the fact that the Civil War in this movie was essentially a war between Lincoln and Vampires, and not about freeing slaves.  To those people I say, it's fiction!  Lighten up!

"Lemonade Mouth":  This is a Disney movie that we considered watching as a family back when it came out in 2011.  For whatever reason we didn't see it, and we missed out.  "Lemonade Mouth" is a really fun, clean, family movie with some pretty good music.  Also, surprisingly, it doesn't follow the typical Disney feel good ending, though you end feeling pretty good anyway.

"Lemonade Mouth" is the story of 5 high schoolers who are sort of outcasts, but band together in detention to form a music group that turns life in the high school on it's head.  Led by Stella Yamada (Hayley Kiyoko), Lemonade Mouth becomes a symbol for all the kids who don't fit the mold of the perfect high schooler.  But, can they pull it together and win the rock band competition, or will life conspire against them?

We really liked this movie.  I'd give it 4 stars.  It's not as cheesy as "High School Musical", but also not as unique.  The cast of Bridgit Mendler, Naomi Scott, Adam Hicks, Blake Michael and Kiyoko really seem to like each other and works well.  Christopher McDonald plays the school principal and basically brings "Happy Gilmore's" Shooter McGavin to the role of high school principal.  A very fun movie that's good family viewing.

Now on to quick reviews of the animated DC movies that I watched.  No pictures for these.

"Justice League:  Doom":  What happens when all Batman's secret plans for controlling rogue justice league members fall into evil hands?  Bad things man...bad things.

I really enjoyed this movie.  The correct vocal casting (Kevin Conroy) is used for Batman, which is critical.  Tim Daly also appears as Superman, again critical.  This is a 4 star movie.  

"Batman: Year One":  In this movie, we follow the first year of a 25 year old Bruce Wayne as Batman, as well as the future Commissioner Gordon's first year as a cop in Gotham.  The two must band together to save Gotham from corrupt cops and the mafia.

I'm a sucker for Batman movies...4 stars.

"Superman vs. the Elite":  In the 21st century, the ideal of Superman has become old fashioned and his methods have become tired.  When a new band of anti-heroes show up and take steps Superman will not, the public embraces them.  But, when they go too far, will Superman have enough to save the day.

I'll give this one 3.5 stars.

"All Star Superman":  After being tricked by Lex Luthor into overexposure to the sun's rays, Superman has weeks to live.  But with new powers from the sun's rays, Superman performs some of his greatest feats.

This is 2.5 stars.  Kinda sappy and not real action packed.

The Biggest Movie Truths

I am a big time movie fan, as anybody who has read this blog knows.  As such, I have realized certain truths about the movie universe and the movie watching experience that I want to share with you, my faithful readers (I'm not giving away all my movie truths here, just the most important ones from my first 100 movie truths):

Movie truth #1 - Low expectations are the key to a good movie watching experience.

Movie truth #7 - Ryan Reynolds and Brendan Fraser automatically suck the life out of a movie.  My recommendation is to avoid movies with these actors.

Movie truth #12 - Denzel Washington always make good movies, except when Movie truth #7 is in place.

Movie truth #17 - All Keanu Reeves movies that don't require him to act will be passable to good (see "Bill & Ted" or "The Matrix" for examples).

Movie truth #24 - Once an actor or director has won a multiple Oscars, they believe the hype about themselves and make movies that are "Critically Acclaimed."  For examples, see Tom Hanks or Steven Spielberg and note that Clint Eastwood seems to be the exception to this rule.

Movie truth #25 - "Critically Acclaimed" is code for "93.64% of the population won't actually like this movie."

Movie truth #37 - Kristen Stewart is on her way to being the female equivalent of Ryan Reynolds and/or Brendan Fraser.

Movie truth #39 - Pixar movies are almost always better than Dreamworks.  The exception to this rule seems to be "Kung Fu Panda".

Movie truth #40 - Jack Black's best character is a talking panda.

Movie truth #49 - Everything J.J. Abrams or Christopher Nolan touch is gold...pure gold!  If they ever team up on a project, my head may explode.

Movie truth #57 - Frodo was annoying in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

Movie truth #61 - There is a place in this world for Cheesy Feel Good Disney Movies, and we all secretly like them, though we pretend that we don't.

Movie truth #73 - James Cameron is overrated...like highly overrated.  Personally, I wouldn't want him directing my son's middle school play.

Movie truth #80 - Green screens are over used in movies today.

Movie truth #84 - If Will Smith is in the movie, it will do a huge box office, but will probably be slightly disappointing.

Movie truth #91 - When in doubt, watch a movie about super heroes.

Movie truth #100 - If the masses voted for the Oscars, Bruce Willis would win Best Actor every other year, and nobody would know who Daniel Day Lewis is.

Top 5 Fictional Coaches

Earlier this week, my friend sent me a youtube video of Coach Norman Dale's speech prior to Hickory High taking the court in the 1952 Indiana State High School Championship against might South Bend.  It's a great speech, and it's all fictional.  Yes, this is the speech from the classic film "Hoosiers", starring Gene Hackman as Norman Dale.  That video got me thinking, who are the top 5 fictional coaches from the movies.

I tried to stick to fictional characters, so while Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks in "Miracle" was great, "Miracle" is based on the 1980 USA vs Russia Hockey Game, so I didn't count Herb Brooks as a fictional character.  Anyway, here's what I came up with:

Honorable Mention is Gordon Bombay from "The Mighty Ducks".  Go check 'em out...those movies are fun.

5 - Bagger Vance ("The Legend of Bagger Vance") - Yes, he was Ranulph Junah's (Matt Damon)caddie, but he's also the guy who helped Junah find his "one true swing".  And I'm a sucker for golf movies with lines like this...
"Yep... Inside each and every one of us is one true authentic swing... Somethin' we was born with... Somethin' that's ours and ours alone... Somethin' that can't be taught to ya or learned... Somethin' that got to be remembered... Over time the world can, rob us of that swing... It get buried inside us under all our wouldas and couldas and shouldas... Some folk even forget what their swing was like..."

4 - Mickey Goldmill ("Rocky") - What can I say?  Mickey was the classic boxing coach, and father figure to Rocky.  Plus he said this line..."You're gonna eat lightnin' and you're gonna crap thunder!"  How can you not love that?

3 - Jimmy McGinty ("The Replacements") - Not only does McGinty (Gene Hackman) pull a rabbit out of his hat when his Washington Sentinels beat Dallas, but he plays a significant role in making Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves) into a cult hero for sports movie junkies like me.  Plus, he wears a cool hat.  This is my favorite Jimmy McGinty quote...
"Listen up! By this time tomorrow the strike will be officially over and you men will be out of a job. Up until now Dallas hasn't been afraid of you, and they should be because you have a powerful weapon working for you. There is no tomorrow for you, and that makes you all very dangerous people!"

2 - Lou Brown ("Major League") - Lou Brown (James Gammon) can be the manager of my baseball team any time.  With his dry delivery and no nonsense approach, Brown turns a bunch of baseball castoffs into a playoff team by rallying them against the evil owner of the Cleveland Indians.  "Major League" is still my favorite sports movie, and Lou Brown has to be near the top of my list of top 5 fictional coaches.  Here's my favorite Lou Brown quote..."Forget about the curve ball Ricky, give him the heater."

1 - Norman Dale ("Hoosiers") - You had to see this one coming.  Gene Hackman's second entry on this list is the greatest fictional coach there is.  Norman Dale takes little Hickory High all the way to the top by doling out tough love, working hard, pushing fundamentals, and taking risks.  "Hoosiers is a great movie, and Norman Dale is the greatest fictional coach there is.  The best Norman Dale quote is his speech before the championship game, and it's good enough that I'll post the youtube video here:

Greatly Overdue Movie Reviews

I've got six movies to review.  It's been a while, but I have some good ones in here, so keep reading.

"Battleship":  This movie is the surprise of the bunch.  I had super low expectations, and found that I really, really enjoyed the 2 hours and 11 minutes I spent watching "Battleship".

Taylor Kitsch stars as Alex Hopper, a Navy Lieutenant who never quite manages to realize his full potential.  While participating in Naval exercises, Hopper receives some bad news.  Before he can realize the full implications of that news, the earth is attacked by aliens.  His ship is at the center of the initial wave, and after his captain and first officer dies, Hopper finds himself in command of the only ship left with a chance to stop the aliens before they establish communications and send for reinforcements.

Is the premise a bit far fetched?  Sure is...but it's a fun movie that is decently acted and packed with cool Naval battles.  Liam Neeson plays an Admiral, and as he generally does, Neeson raises the class of the movie just by his sheer presence.  Kitsch is better in "Battleship" than he was in "John Carter" and I think he has a bright future ahead of him.

This is a 4, almost 4.5, star movie.  "Battleship" is a great popcorn eating movie.

"Men in Black 3":  Yes, Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) are back again, and as good as ever.  I watched this one on my recent trip to Brazil, and was not disappointed.

"Men in Black 3" finds us 14 years after the original "Men in Black".  A ruthless alien that Agent K put away in 1969 has escaped from his prison on the moon, and is looking for revenge.  When the Agents face off against this menace, Agent K suddenly becomes very secretive and protective.  The next day, Agent J wakes up to find that he's the only one at MIB that remembers Agent K.  Deducing that the timeline has been changed, Agent J, with the help of one of the many crazies living in New York, goes back in time to 1969 to find a younger and happier version of Agent K (Josh Brolin).  The two of them have to work together to save the world once again.

I have always liked the "Men in Black" movies.  I find them entertaining first and foremost.  Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are always a great pair.  The majority of this movie is Will Smith and Josh Brolin, but that's ok.  Brolin does a great job playing a young Tommy Lee Jones. 

"Men in Black 3" kept me laughing and entertained for 2 hours of a 10 hour flight.  For that alone, it gets 4 stars.

"The Muppets":  David became a big fan of The Muppets earlier this year, and he begged me to get "The Muppets" from Netflix.  For those of you who are Muppets fans from way back, this movie will bring back a lot of nostalgia.

The premise is pretty simple.  The Muppets have fallen on hard times.  They aren't relevant any more, and the implication is that kids today have moved beyond the relatively tame comedy that the Muppets bring to the stage.  But, when Walter (a muppet), his brother (Jason Segal) and his girlfriend (Amy Adams) visit The Muppet Studios, hi jinx ensues to bring the Muppets back.

I really enjoyed this movie.  It took me back to when I was a kid...from the opening theme to Rainbow Connection, it was great stuff.  Although Jason Segal is not a great actor, he sings one of the best songs in the movie, asking the eternal question, "Am I a Man or a Muppet"?

This is a 4 star movie...really good stuff!

"The Hunger Games":  I read all the books in "The Hunger Games" trilogy, and while I was disappointed with the 3rd book, this was still a good book series.  I wasn't sure how the series would translate to a movie, so I skipped the theater and waited for the DVD.

In case you aren't familiar with the premise, "The Hunger Games" is set some time in the future.  The United States has fallen, and is divided into 12 districts, controlled by The Capital.  People in the Capital live high on the hog, so to speak, but as you get out into the districts, life gets harder and poorer.  In response to a rebel uprising, each district is required to send two tributes, age 12-18, to compete in The Hunger Games, a "Survivor" type show with only 1 survivor.  Our hero, Katniss Everdeen, finds herself competing along with her fellow district 12 competitor Peeta.

"The Hunger Games" made a very compelling movie, and stayed relatively true to the book.  I thought Jennifer Lawrence was a great choice for Katniss, and I liked Donald Sutherland as President Snow.  I had heard the camera work was shaky and hard to follow, but I didn't seem to have trouble with it at all.

"The Hunger Games" is a 4 star movie.  Lets see how Hollywood handles the next 2 movies.

"Man On A Ledge":  I was intrigued enough by the trailers to put this movie in my DVD queue.  This movie was on it's way to being really good, but somewhere along the line it took a detour and ended up at mediocre.

"Man on a Ledge" stars Sam Worthington as Nick Cassidy, a former cop, who is sent to prison for committing robbery.  When Cassidy escapes prison, he ends up on the ledge of a building.  This is where a suicide specialist (Elizabeth Banks) is brought in.  However, it quickly becomes obvious that Cassidy is not on the ledge for suicidal reasons...he definitely has something else in the works.

The parts of this movie where Cassidy is actually on the ledge are really well done, other than the fact that Sam Worthington keeps slipping in and out of his natural Australian accent.  However, when his plot is discovered, "Man On A Ledge" turns into just another action movie, and not a great one at that.

I'll go with 3 stars for "Man On A Ledge".

"Snow White and the Huntsman":  I'm not gonna spend a lot of time on this movie.  This was another airplane movie.  I knew it had gotten rotten reviews, and my friend Nick said it was terrible, but there wasn't much selection on the plane, so I decided to give it a whirl...what a waste of time.

This movie is a new telling of the traditional Snow White story.  Kristen Stewart plays Snow White, Charlize Theron is the wicked queen, and Chris Hemsworth is The Huntsmen. 

Here are the problems I had with this movie:
1)  The story is horribly weak.  Snow White never appears heroic or particularly inspiring, but at the end of the movie, all of the sudden she is supposed to be heroic and inspiring.  It just doesn't work.
2)  Kristen Stewart is terrible.  She spends most of the movie looking stoned.
3)  Charlize Theron way overacts...I mean almost Shatner overacting, but not in a good way.
4)  Chris Hemsworth is wasted.  He was so good in "Thor" and "The Avengers" and could have been good in this, but the movie was so bad, he never got a chance to be good.

I rate this one 2 stars, only because Ian McShane has a cameo appearance, and I still think Chris Hemsworth is pretty good, despite being set up for failure with this terrible script.

Not Too Exciting Movie Reviews

I have four more movies to review, and sadly, none of them were super good.  In fact, all were in the 2-3.5 star range.

"Safe House":  Anybody who knows me, knows that I believe it's not possible for Denzel Washington to make a bad movie.  I think he's one of the best actors in Hollywood, and I've really liked pretty much every movies he's made that I've seen.  Apparently, my hypothesis was wrong.  All you have to do is add Ryan Reynolds and he immediately sucks the life out of the Denzel movie.

"Safe House" is really about Reynolds' character.  He plays a relatively inexperienced CIA agent, Matt Weston, who is in charge of a safe house in South Africa.  When Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) walks into Weston's safe house as a prisoner, Weston's life changes forever, and he is faced with challenges he never expected.

My biggest problem with this movie is the way Ryan Reynolds plays a CIA agent.  He spends the entire movie looking horrified or about on the verge of tears because of what is happening to his character.   My thinking is, "Dude, you're a CIA agent...man up!"  Denzel does a nice job, as always, but he cannot overcome Reynolds' ineptitude.  This is a 2 star movie at best.

"Mission Impossible:  Ghost Protocol":  I've never been a big fan of the "Mission Impossible" series, but the trailers for "Ghost Protocol" looked cool enough that I decided to give it a shot. 

Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt.  Hunt has been in a Russian prison for an unspecified amount of time.  Early on, he is broken out by 2 other IMF agents, and put on a super-secret mission by the IMF secretary.  In fact, this mission is off the books, so they have to invoke "Ghost Protocol", meaning the agents are on their own and are the only thing standing between the world and nuclear war. 

Lots of cool action here, but not much of a plot.  Basically, it's Tom Cruise running around, fighting and shooting things...oh and scaling the side of the tallest building in the world.  Jeremy Renner is added to the "Mission Impossible" team, and he's excellent...is anyone surprised?  After all, he played a character in "Avengers" that was from Iowa.  Just the association with Iowa helps. 

Overall, the cool action manages to elevate this movie to a 3 star movie.  I can't see giving it any higher than this, but it's worth a watch if you are in the mood for mindless action.

"I Am Number Four":  I really liked the book, "I Am Number Four".  After resisting for quite a long time, I watched the movie after hearing from others that it was actually a pretty good movie.  Well, it's not a terrible movie, but I wouldn't classify it as pretty good.

The premise of the movie is much the same as the premise of the book.  Nine aliens and their guardians from Lorien are on earth.  The evil Mogadorians, who destroyed Lorien, are hunting the nine because the nine possess special powers that are a threat to the Mogadorians.  Each of the nine are assigned a number, and a special charm requires that the Mogadorians kill them in order.  As the movie begins, Number Four is with friends as number three is killed.  A scar is burned into Number Four's leg indicating the death of number three, and meaning the Mogadorians will be coming for him next.  So he and his guardian, Henri, flee and end up in Paradise, Ohio where Number Four takes the name John Smith and begins a new life.  But, he quickly gets too involved, his secret gets exposed, and a battle with the Mogadorians ensues.

"I Am Number Four" is a three star movie.  I thought the cast was actually chosen pretty well, though I always pictured John's friend Sam as more nerdy than he was portrayed in the movie.  Plus, it's always tough when you are getting 20 somethings to play high school sophomores and juniors.  Overall though, it was a nice job of casting, especially Timothy Olyphant as Henri.  But in the end, the movie doesn't quite do the book justice, hence my 3 star rating.

"John Carter":  This is the best movie over the four I'm rating, and I'll put this one at 3.5 stars.  My wife actually liked it more than I did, which is rare.  She says that she like it "a lot".  I know Nuke also really liked this movie.  Maybe that set my expectations too high.

"John Carter" is based on Edgar Rice Burroughs "Barsoom Series".  Starting out in 1868, John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is in a cave on earth where he has just found gold.  After fighting with and killing an alien, John Carter wakes up to find himself on Mars, which is in the midst of a Civil War.  Due to the different gravity, Carter has the ability to leap extreme distances and possesses great strength.  After some struggle with the aliens who initially find him, Carter comes to the aid of Princess Dejah Thoris in the Civil War.  But how much difference can one "earth man" make in the struggle?  And what of the mysterious Thern (sp?)?

I liked "John Carter" well enough.  It's not fantastically acted, but it's not bad either.  I think where it fell short of 4 stars for me is that it just never quite reached the epic status that I think it was trying to reach.  I am interested enough, based on the movie, to read the Edgar Rice Burroughs series, or at least add it to my list to read. 

So my basic review is "John Carter" is a good movie that falls a bit short of really good, and well short of great.

A Nearly Perfect Ending to the Trilogy

Before I review "The Dark Knight Rises", I'd like to say that my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by the shootings in Aurora, CO. 

I saw "The Dark Knight Rises" this afternoon, and loved it!  Of the 3 movies in the trilogy, I think this one is the 2nd best.  My favorite in the series is still "Batman Begins", but I'm a Batman nerd and I just love the way Director Christopher Nolan did the back story.  All three movies in this trilogy are 5 star movies, so it's splitting hairs to say which one is better than the other.  This may be the best trilogy in the history of movies...there, I said it.

"The Dark Knight Rises" begins 8 years after the events at the end of "The Dark Knight".  Batman has not been seen in 8 years, and Bruce Wayne has become a recluse.  But, beginning with his meeting with Selina Kyle (a.k.a. Catwoman), events conspire that bring Batman out of retirement.  When terrorist Bane begins a crime spree in Gotham City, The Dark Knight has to rise to save his beloved city, but has he been gone too long and will he have what it takes to stop Bane from destroying Gotham?

At two hours and 45 minutes, "The Dark Knight Rises" is a very long movie, but it didn't seem like a long movie.  It moves very quickly and is simply packed with story and action.  I know some other reviewers have complained that Christopher Nolan tried to do too much and that, while the movie was good, it would have been great had they left a few characters and plot lines out.  Personally, I think the movie was nearly perfect.  Yes, there was a lot going on, but it was never hard to follow and all fit together nicely.  I did find a couple of plot points a little predictable, but was very satisfied with the ending.

The cast of "The Dark Knight Rises" is fantastic.  Christian Bale is Bruce Wayne/Batman to me.  He's fantastic in the role, but almost takes a back seat to a few of the other characters.  Anne Hathaway is surprisingly good as Catwoman.  I've always liked Hathaway in her roles, but I just wasn't sure if she'd make a good Catwoman.  Not only was she good, but she nearly stole the show.  I say nearly, because Tom Hardy does a fantastic job as Bane.  Hardy will inevitably be compared to Heath Ledger, but the Joker and Bane are completely different characters and it's not fair to compare them.  The rest of the cast, from Gary Oldman to Joseph Gordon Levitt to the incomparable Michael Caine round out the movie really nicely.

I must admit that I'm a bit bummed that we won't get any new Batman movies for a few years.  I'm sure it will get rebooted at some point, but topping Christopher Nolan's epic trilogy will be nearly impossible.  If you liked the first two movies, I think you'll be really happy with this finale.

Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-Man

On Saturday night, I went to see "The Amazing Spider-Man" in the theater.  I didn't know what to expect, but I saw that it was doing reasonably well on Rotten Tomatoes (73%), so I decided to give it a whirl.  I typically want a movie to be over 70% on Rotten Tomatoes before I'll consider seeing it in the theater.  This is the reason why I did not see "Snow White and the Huntsman" or "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" in the theater.

But I digress.  As I said, I didn't know what to think about "The Amazing Spider-Man" so I had relatively low expectations.  And we all know, the key to a good movie watching experience is low expectations!  I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.  In fact, I enjoyed it more than any of the three Tobey Maguire Spider-Man flicks.  I went back and forth on whether this was a 4.5 or 5 star movie...I settled on 4.5 stars.  It's a notch below "Avengers", but on par with the first "Iron Man" movie.

"The Amazing Spider-Man" is a reboot of the Spider-Man franchise, and if you saw "Spider-Man 3", you know that this franchise needed a reboot.  Because it's a reboot, we get a retelling of the origin story, but with a few new twists.  Once Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), discovers his calling as a hero, the movie takes off and Spidey has to face off against The Lizard and save New York City from certain doom.

The cast is much better than the original movies.  Andrew Garfield is wittier and more confident as Spider-Man than Tobey Maguire ever played the character.  Emma Stone plays Gwen Stacy, and is really good in the role.  Some might remember Emma Stone as Wichita in "Zombieland", which is another great movie by the way.  A nice addition was Denis Leary as Police Captain Stacy, Gwen's father.  Leary has come a long way since doing crude comedy in the early 90s.  Martin Scheen and Sally Field sort of round out the cast as Uncle Ben and Aunt May, and both are excellent as one would expect.

The biggest problem with Spider-Man is his villains are sorta lame.  The Lizard is actually Dr. Curt Connors after a science experiment gone bad.  Connors is played by Rhys Ifans, but in my opinion never rises to the level of the great villains (see Joker or Loki).

I'll be very interested to see where director Marc Webb takes a second movie.  We are definitely set up for a second movie in this darker reboot.  Hopefully the momentum from the first movie will be sustained going forward.  Sadly so few super hero movies succeed with sequels, so we'll have to wait and see.

Many Many Movies to Review

It's been a while since I've reviewed movies, so this will be a long one with a record number of movies...for this blog anyway.  I still can't compete with Nuke's blog for movie reviews, though I'll try to put more behind my reviews than Nuke does (see how I complimented Nuke and picked on him in the same sentence):

"The King's Speech":  Amanda had watched this one a while ago in the theater and she loved it.  Netflix kept recommending it for me, so despite my usual tendency to not watch Oscar Winners, I decided to give "The King's Speech" a try.

I really enjoyed this movie.  I give it 4.5 stars.  It was funny, clever, heart warming and moving all in one.  This is the story of King George VI, who struggles with a speech impediment...or as he put it in the movie, "I bloody stammer!".  After not having success with any doctor, George's wife introduces him to Lionel Logue, who helps the King and forms a life long friendship. 

Colin Firth is fantastic as King George VI.  I can see why he won best actor for this role.  Helena Bonham Carter plays Queen Elizabeth (George's wife), and she does wonderfully.  It was so weird to see her play a "normal" character.  Finally, Geoffrey Rush portray Lionel Logue.  Rush is such a great actor.  I'm very glad I decided to see this movie.

"Defiance":  Why is it that Daniel Craig is so good in everything, except James Bond movies?  I haven't found a Daniel Craig movie I don't like, yet I think he's completely ruining James Bond. 

Craig stars as Tuvia Bielski, one of 4 Jewish brothers who escape the Nazis in Belarus during World War II, and survive in the forests of Russia for the duration of the war.  "Defiance" tells the story of how Bielski eventually saved over 1200 Jews, forming a community in the forest, while being constantly on the run from the Nazis.

This was another really good movie...another 4 stars.  Daniel Craig is excellent as the tough, yet compassionate Tuvia Bielski.  I found the story compelling, and decided to read a little more.  From what I've read, the movie is fairly accurate, though somewhat dramatized.  If you are a fan of World War II history, "Defiance" should be on your list.

"Planet Hulk":  Based on how much I enjoyed "Avengers" as well as the fact that I've enjoyed many of the DC Comics full length cartoons, Netflix has been recommending a set of Marvel cartoons for quite a while.  With the family gone, I decided to give these a shot over instant watch. 

"Planet Hulk" was the first movie I watched.  It was ok...3 stars.  The premise is interesting.  The heroes of earth, tired of the Hulk's constant raging, banish him to a far away planet.  But the Hulk gets angry and throws a fit causing the ship to go off course.  Hulk ends up on a planet ruled by an evil dictator, and through a series of Gladiator like battles earns the respect of the people of the planet.  Hulk then participates in/leads a revolt against this evil leader.

Not a bad movie, but not on par with the movies that DC comics has been putting out.  It may just be due to the fact that the brooding Hulk annoys me a bit.

"Ultimate Avengers:  The Movie":  This was the worst of the movies I saw.  There's just too much going on in the Avengers to pack it into 81 minutes.  Plus, the Hulk was able to lift Thor's hammer...that's just not accurate and really annoyed me. 

This movie is mostly a story about Bruce Banner and Captain America.  Iron Man, Thor, Giant Man and Wasp play supporting roles.  While I really enjoy Captain America, the version of the Hulk in this movie is not likable at all, and really saps the entire movie.

I'd give this one 2 stars and suggest not watching it.

"Doctor Strange":  I think "Doctor Strange" was the most well done of the 3 full length cartoons I watched.  Perhaps because he's a more obscure Marvel character, we got a lot more plot development in this movie than the other two. 

Doctor Strange is actually a medical doctor, until an accident ruins his hands.  After hitting rock bottom, he meets a mysterious man who tells him he can heal him if he comes to Tibet.  Why do you always have to go to Tibet?  Anyway, Strange makes his way to Tibet and discovers his power as a magician, and begins to use those powers to save humanity from the forces of darkness.

As I said above, this movie was really well done.  I actually rated it 4 stars, and think it's on par with anything DC Comics is putting out there.

"Hoosiers":  I've seen this movie before, but I've never reviewed it.  I decided to watch it on Tuesday night, as I was off on the 4th of July.  It had been years since I'd watched "Hoosiers" all the way through, and I'm so glad I decided to watch it again.

For those who don't know, "Hoosiers" tells the story of the fictional Hickory High School basketball team.  Hickory is one of the smallest schools in the state of Indiana.  When Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) comes to town to coach the team, he initially turns off the townspeople with his style of coaching, and his attitude.  But through the movie, Dale turns the team and the town around, eventually leading the team to the Indiana High School basketball championship  This story is loosely based on the 1954 Milan High School team that won the title against the big schools

To me, "Hoosiers" is Gene Hackman's defining performance.  He's perfect as Norman Dale.  The rest of the cast compliments Hackman well, including Dennis Hopper who nominated for an Academy Award for his performance.  This movie has everything you could want in a sports movie.  Easily 5 stars and definitely worth watching over and over again.

"Gettysburg":  Rarely is a movie worth over 4 hours of my time, so when I got this one from Netflix a while back, I ended up sending it back without watching it because I just didn't have 4 hours.  I borrowed it from Nuke a few weeks later as he agreed that I didn't need to return it right away.  I told him it would probably be Christmas break before I got to watching it.

Well, with the family away, I spent the evening of the 4th of July watching this Civil War classic.  "Gettysburg" tells the story of the most famous battle of the Civil War from the perspective of several of the participants.  Most notably, Colonel Lawrence Chamberlain (Jeff Daniels), General Buford (Sam Elliot), General Longstreet (Tom Berenger) and General Armistead (Richard Jordan).  General Robert E. Lee (Martin Scheen) also plays a prominent role.

This is a fantastic, epic movie.  I learned a lot about this famous battle by watching this movie.  The story jumps around to each of these characters, but not in a bad way.  You really see the struggle that Armistead feels, going up against one of his best friends.  To me, the story surrounding Chamberlain was the most compelling, as I was not aware of his contributions to the Union victory...darn public schools! 

"Gettysburg" is a 4.5 star movie and definitely worth 4 hours and 14 minutes of your time.

"Real Steel":  Hopefully you are still with me.  This is the last movie I have to review.  I had heard "Real Steel" was a chick flick, dressed up as a robot boxing movie to attract male viewers.  That's not quite an accurate description, but close.  Think "Rocky" but with robots instead of real boxers.  Throw in a tenuous father/son relationship and you have a good idea of what "Real Steel" is all about.

It's the year 2027, and Robot boxing has replaced human boxing and become one of the biggest sports going.  Hugh Jackman is Charlie Kenton, a down on his luck former boxer, trying to make his way in the robot boxing gig.  Early in the movie, he finds out that the child he fathered (Max) 11 years ago is now in need of him after the death of his mother.  Kenton plans to sign custody rights over to Max's aunt, but swings a deal to take Max for the summer.  After Max finds an old fighting robot and begins to restore/reprogram him, Charlie and Max's relationship takes off.  With Charlie to teach the robot how to fight, they begin to win some bouts and catch the attention of the world champion's team, leading to a turning point in the father/son relationship and a bout with the undefeated world champion.

This was a really good movie...again think "Rocky".  If you don't get a little choked up at the end, you have no heart.  I liked "Real Steel" a lot and give it 4 stars.  Jackman continues to impress as an actor, and the kid that plays Max (Dakota Goyo) is actually a good actor, which is rare for so many child actors.

Another Trip, More Movies To Review

So, my blog has basically become a movie review blog.  I just got back from another trip to Brazil, and I watched 3 more movies:

"Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows":  I watched this movie on the way to Brazil.  I liked it a lot...at least a 4 star rating.  In fact, I think it's better than the first "Sherlock Holmes" movie.

Robert Downey Jr. is back as Sherlock Holmes and Jude Law is back as Dr. Watson.  The two actors are really great in these roles.  In this movie, Dr. Moriarty is more than a shadowy figure manipulating events, he is now Holmes' #1 nemesis, and is capable of matching wits with Holmes throughout the movie.  In fact, it seems that Moriarty often has the upper hand.  With the fate of all of Europe hanging in the balance, Holmes has to overcome his greatest nemesis to stop all out war.

As I said above, "Game of Shadows" is a very good movie.  With lots of action and humor, I found this was 2 hours well spent.

"We Bought a Zoo":  I have to admit, I was very skeptical about "We Bought a Zoo", but after hearing rave reviews from many friends, I decided to give it a try on the way home.  I was glad I agreed to give this a shot, as it turned out to be a really nice feel good story.  And anyone who has read this blog knows how I love feel good movies.

Matt Damon stars as Benjamin Mee, a recently widowed journalist raising two children.  When his son is expelled from school, Benjamin decides to move the family.  The family settles on buying a great home in the country that has one small catch, it's also a zoo.  With the help of the zoo staff, led by Scarlett Johansson, Benjamin and his family set about repairing the run down zoo, and in the process they repair their family and learn that life moves on, even after great loss.

This is a very touching story.  It's based on actual events, but from what I've read, Hollywood changed it up a bit.  Matt Damon does a great job in this role.  Add in the always capable Johansson, rising star Elle Fanning and Thomas Haden Church as Damon's older brother, and you  have a cast that melded really well. 

There is a little language and innuendo, but I think this is a family appropriate movie.  I think we'll watch it as a family at some point.  I give "We Bought a Zoo", 4 stars.

"Haywire":  Don't watch this movie...1 star.  Sometimes when on a plane, you pick a movie because the time it runs happens to fit the schedule you want prior to going to sleep.  That was the case with "Haywire".  It's a really stupid movie, and I'm sorta ashamed that I watched the entire thing.

The biggest thing I don't understand is how the producers got Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Bill Paxton, Ewan McGreagor and Channing Tatum to appear in this movie.  Didn't they read the script? 

Avengers Assemble!

At the Super Bowl about 16 months ago, the first trailer for "The Avengers" debuted.  This was before we had even seen "Captain America" or "Thor".  That's a lot of hype to live up to...and "The Avengers" lived up to that hype.

Marvel has done a wonderful thing here starting with "Iron Man" in 2008.  For the last 4 years and 5 movies, Marvel has been building toward this...the first big super hero team up movie.  And while I don't think "The Avengers" qualifies for "best movie ever" status, it is an exceptional film.  I do think Marvel has elevated the super hero movie with this film, and I expect it will be hard for others to keep pace in the short term.  I'll be really interested to see what Chris Nolan does with "The Dark Knight Rises" later this summer.  "The Avengers" is gonna be really hard to top.

This movie picks up about a year after "Thor" ended.  Loki (Tom Hiddleston) has allied himself with an evil alien race, and is planning to use these aliens to help him take over the earth.  Loki's grand plan is to rule the planet his half brother, Thor, loves so much.  Somebody has "family issues".  To secure the aid of the aliens, Loki must give them the Tesseract (see "Captain America"), which is currently on earth.  So, Loki begins a war, which S.H.I.E.L.D, led by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is powerless to wage.  But, Fury always has a plan.  He enlists the help of Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemmsworth), The Black Widow (Scarlette Johannson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner).  But, these heroes have egos and agendas...can they co-exist in time to save the world?  I know the answer, and you'll find out if you go watch. 

Joss Whedon directed "The Avengers" and did a masterful job.  No one character dominates...in fact, Whedon does this movie so well that fans of each hero will be satisfied with the role their favorite hero plays.  Each character has his or her moment to shine, and the cast meshes very well.  Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo seem to really mix well on screen.  I hope we will see another standalone Hulk movie with Ruffalo playing the part of Bruce Banner...he's perfect.

As with any great super hero movie, you need a great villain.  Tom Hiddleston provides that great villain as Loki.  For those that thought he wasn't evil enough in "Thor", he's one bad dude now.  Hiddleston is the perfect actor for this role, and he has great interactions with each character, but especially with Chris Hemmsworth (Thor).  You can really see that Thor wants his brother back, but Loki has truly grown to despise his brother, which makes for very good on screen dynamics.

As with all Joss Whedon directed movies and TV shows, "The Avengers" is very funny, but not in a ridiculous way.  In fact, the mix of humor, action and drama is just about right.  And the length of the movie is not overwhelming.  Though it's about 2 and a half hours, nobody was getting up to go to the bathroom...in fact, I didn't even check my watch.  Time flew by.

So, "The Avengers" is a 5 star movie.  I highly recommend it.  I think PG-13 is the right rating, but it could really be PG-11 or so.  There is nothing gratuitous, just a lot of fantasy action, and a few scary moments with The Hulk.  I'm gonna take David to see it later this weekend. 

Recent Movies

Another Double Movie Review...and fittingly, the first movie is...

"The Double":  This is a movie that Nuke described as a "twist-a-thriller".  I like that description, so I'm gonna steal it, but give credit, so it's not really stealing.  "The Double" is similar to "Salt" in a lot of ways, except instead of Angelina Jolie, it has Richard Gere and Topher Grace.  I'll leave it to you to decide which is better.  Honestly, I think the two movies would be great in a double feature.

I really liked this movie.  I don't think Richard Gere is getting too old to play these roles, which was one of the comments Nuke made.  What I really liked about "The Double" is we get a twist in the beginning, another twist at the end, and a satisfying ending. 

I wish I could tell you more about the plot, but it's hard without giving things away.  If you like "twist-a-thrillers", I suggest you give "The Double" a shot.  I liked it enough to go 4 stars on my rating!

"The Eagle":  I have to admit, I was semi-disappointed by "The Eagle".  From reading the latest Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan, I was very excited about this movie, which mixed in the Roman Eagle.  I thought we'd get an action packed, thrill a minute, sword fighting, axe wielding action flick.  Instead, we got a largely dull film, punctuated by a few really good action scenes.

Channing Tatum is fairly wooden as the lead actor, which I think contributed to some of the dullness.  Despite this, I think the Eagle had a lot of promise until the end when the last battle sorta fizzled in my mind.  I'll give this one 2 stars and recommend you stay away.

Why Don't These Super Heroes Have Movies?

I am very excited about the upcoming "Avengers" movie.  In fact, I may be excited enough to go to the midnight showing.  I can't really decide if the midnight showing is for 30 something married dads though...but I digress.

Over the last 15 years, we've had tons of super hero movies.  Everyone from Spider-Man to the X-Men, from Daredevil to Elektra, from Superman to Batman has had a super hero movie made.  Well, that's not true...not everyone has.  Here are some of my favorite super heroes who have yet to grace the big screen, but should be considered very soon. 

Author's Note:  Come to think of it, Marvel will make a movie about any character they have (Ghost Rider, The Punisher, etc.), so this list is going to focus on the DC Universe.

-Captain Marvel - ok...maybe a story about a 10 year old boy who says "Shazam!" and turns into Superman's equal is a bit awkward, but come on, we had to sit through 3 Blade films and soon to be 2 Ghost Rider films!

-Wonder Woman - She had a run on a TV series...but it's time for a movie.  Yeah, the costume is a bit out of date, and the invisible plane is sort of hokey, but she is the queen of the DC universe.

-Aquaman - Ok, so he's not that powerful out of the ocean, but who didn't love the underwater scenes with Jar Jar Binks in "The Phantom Menace"???  This could work...couldn't it?

-Green Arrow - It's gotta be better than "Green Lantern", doesn't it?

-Martian Manhunter - This is one I'd really like to see...the others are sorta tongue in cheek.  Martian Manhunter is one bad mama jama...this would seriously be a cool movie.

Ok, if we actually got Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman and Aquaman movies, to go along with the lame Green Lantern movie, The Dark Knight series and the new Superman film, we could easily roll into a Justice League movie!  That would be most excellent.  Hey, if they can pull it off with "Avengers", why not the Justice League???  It would be superb!

Two Movies in One Week!!!

It's been sort of a crazy week.  I watched two movies!

"The Three Musketeers":  This updated version of the classic tale is wall to wall fun.  With lots of action, some humor, and a great role for Orlando Bloom, this is easily the best movie I've seen in quite a while. 

The story has all the elements of other Musketeer stories, including young D'Artagnan coming to join the Musketeers, the evil Cardinal Richelieu, the battle against Europe's foremost swordsman and finally D'Artagnan's acceptance into the Musketeers.  But, what this story has that others don't is some really good effects, updated stunts, and great action sequences.  Plus some of the more traditional battles are reinvented. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the 2 hours I spent watching "The Three Musketeers".  This is easily a 4 star movie, and I recommend it if you are in the mood for action and a good laugh.

"The Last of the Mohicans":  It's entirely possible that I am the only person in the world who hadn't seen "The Last of the Mohicans", and frankly, I could have remained the only person in the world to not have seen this movie.  I just don't get it...I don't understand how it can be so critically acclaimed?  I think Nuke put it best today when he stated something to the effect that I have the movie tastes of the average Joe, and to truly appreciate this movie, you need to have the movie tastes of a film critic.

That said, I did feel like this movie had one of the best film scores ever, so I still rate it 3 stars.  But it would have been 2 stars if not for the seriously good music.  If you like movies such as "The English Patient", and if you haven't already seen this 1993 film, give "The Last of the Mohicans" a shot.  If you didn't like "The English Patient", you won't like this.

Another Round of Airplane Movie Reviews

Last week's trip to Brazil gave me the opportunity to watch 3 new movies...well, new to me anyway.

"In Time":  Despite the fact that that Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried really can't act at all, this was the best movie I watched on this trip.  The premise is kinda interesting.  Each person on earth is genetically engineered to stop aging at 25 years old.  When you turn 25, a clock on your arm starts counting...you either earn more time like you would earn currency, or you die.  Of course, there are those in the world that are practically immortal, while others live (literally) day to day.

Enter Will Salas (Timberlake), who gets over a century of time when a "rich man" decides he's tired of living and gives him the time.  After being accused of stealing time, Salas and his girlfriend (Seyfried) go on a Bonnie and Clyde type of run, stealing time and giving it away to the masses, thus upsetting the balance of the "time market". 

I really enjoyed this movie, despite the really poor acting.  I was a little surprised there are that many 25 year old people in the world to play parts in this movie, but hey, you roll with it.  I would give this one 4 stars.

"Hugo":  I was really excited about "Hugo" and frankly I was disappointed.  I was expecting this to be a really good movie, but it fell sorta flat from my expectations.  It was still an ok movie, but I'd only give it 2.5 stars.

Let me list out the things I didn't like about this movie, rather than the things I did.

1 - Sascha Baron Cohen is just terrible...he shouldn't be allowed to be in movies.

2- Ben Kingsley is not likable.  For a central character in the movie, you really don't find yourself liking him at all.

3 - The trailers were misleading...based on the trailers, I expected something completely different.

I would say don't spend your time on this one.

"The Adventures of Tintin":  Does Spielberg make good movies anymore?  Another disappointment!  Similar to "Hugo" it just wasn't what I expected, so another 2.5 star movie.  Here's what I didn't like about this movie.

1 - The animation...I'm never going to get adjusted to this style of animation.

2 - The story...it just didn't have a flow.  I was told that Spielberg took bits and pieces from Tintin stories, which Tintin fans really liked, but I found made for a disjointed story.

3 - The comic relief wasn't funny.

So there you go, three movies on this trip and really only one good one.

Latest Movie Reviews

Now that our move is nearly complete, I can get caught up on all the movies I've been watching. 

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium:  This was one we watched as a family in our old house.  I had no desire to see this movie, but my wife and kids wanted to see it.  As it turned out, I liked it, as did my kids, but my wife thought it was sad.  I thought it was a 3-3.5 star movie.

Natalie Portman stars as Mahoney, the manager at Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, a toy store.  Her boss, Mr. Magorium, is played by Dustin Hoffman.  Mahoney is disappointed with her lot in life, and her situation doesn't improve when the 243 year old Mr. Magorium tells Mahoney that he is about to die and he leaves the store to her.  Can Mahoney discover her inner magic in time to save the Wonder Emporium?  Well, I know because I've seen the movie, but if you want to find out you'll have to watch Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.

Bulletproof Monk:  I saw the start of this movie on TV a few months back and it looked like a cool Kung Fu action flick, so I added Bulletproof Monk to my queue without really checking on the premise of the movie.  As it turns out, the opening 15 minutes are the best 15 minutes of the movie.  I lost interest quickly, and while I did finish it, I also found the need to multi-task to stay awake.  This is 2 stars, at best.

The problem is Seann William Scott shows up, and I just can't take him serious as an actor.  Just skip this one.

The Goodness of This Movie is "Unknown"

Whoa!  Two movie reviews in 1 week!!!

My wife has been trying for the last 2 days to watch the longest tennis grand slam final in the open era.  She recorded this match, as it was on in the very early morning hours of this past Sunday.  But, when it's a nearly 6 hour match, it takes time to watch, even with being able to fast forward through commercials.  So, I had the opportunity to watch my 2nd movie in a week last night.  The latest is "Unknown", starring Liam Neeson.

In this thriller, Neeson stars as Martin Harris, a University Professor who awakes from a coma to find that another man has assumed his life.  As Harris struggles to maintain his sanity, he allies with Gina (Diane Kruger) and Juergen (Bruno Ganz) to try to recover his life.  What he finds though, may not be what he expects.

This is a very entertaining movie that I did enjoy, though it's really only a 3.5 star movie.  The car chases are really well done, and Liam Neeson kicks butt as usual.  Where it fell a little short is the plot was thin, and the (*****************spoiler alert!!!*******************) "Salt" like twist near the end was not as unexpected as it was in "Salt".  If you haven't seen "Salt", then that wasn't a spoiler, and you should watch that movie instead of "Unknown" if you get the chance.  Even if you have seen "Salt", that may not have been much of a spoiler.

Anyway, "Unknown" is fun ride that I would recommend for a night when your significant other is watching a seriously long tennis match, or just doing stuff without you.

Sci-Fi Western - the next great Genre!

I was thinking about writing another political blog tonight, based on a discussion I had today with an Obama disciple, but I am still too annoyed about that conversation to write a blog about it.

So instead, I will talk about one of the new really fun movies out there.  This movie would be "Cowboys & Aliens", which turned out to be surprisingly good.  Will this usher in a new genre of Sci-Fi Westerns???  Well, I hope so, but if not, at least this was a really solid movie.

When I first saw the trailer for "Cowboys & Aliens" during the 2011 Super Bowl, I scoffed a bit.  I was really skeptical, but I thought actors like Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig wouldn't be in a movie that is stupid, so I decided I would give it a shot.  But, then I got busy and never got around to watching it, until a few nights ago.

"Cowboys & Aliens" opens with amnesiac gunslinger Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) alone in the desert.  Soon, Lonergan wanders into the town of Absolution, and after "rocking the boat" a bit, gets caught up in a crisis when the town is attacked by demons (a.k.a. aliens).  The aliens are kidnapping humans and experimenting on them.  So, the townsfolk, led by Col. Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) and Ella Swenson (Olivia Wilde), set out to track down the "demons" and get their people back.  They are soon joined by Lonergan, who with his mysterious wristband weapon and flashback memories seems to be the key to stopping the invaders.

As Nuke put it, this movie starts out as a great western and Daniel Craig is an awesome cowboy.  But then it gets weird when aliens show up and all of the sudden and POW!!!!...we have a Sci-Fi movie on our hands.  I didn't find it weird at all...instead I really enjoyed the nice balance struck between western and sci-fi.  As stated above, Daniel Craig is a really great cowboy.  Harrison Ford is good in what turns out to be a very different role for him.  The rest of the cast is solid as well.

I liked "Cowboys & Aliens" a lot.  I almost rated it 5 stars, but then cooler heads prevailed and I settled on 4.4 stars.  I highly recommend this movie to all Sci-Fi and Western movie fans.

Lazy Day Movie Reviews

Yesterday afternoon/evening was a lazy day for me.  The family was in South Dakota, so I was batchin' it.  So, other than making Buffalo Wings, I decided to just chill out and watch movies.  I watched 3 yesterday.

"The Captains:  A Film By William Shatner":  Nuke already rated this one, and I agree with his rating of 3 stars.  I had virtually no expectations of this Shatner directed film.  Basically, Shatner goes around and talks to each of the Star Trek Captains about being a Star Trek Captain, including Chris Pine (though he doesn't talk to Pine very much).  It's a little weird, but once you realize that this is Shatner's attempt to justify the fact that he will forever be known as Captain James T. Kirk and justify his place in Star Trek history, it's sort of a fun ride.

A couple other observations from this.  Avery Brooks, who played Capt. Benjamin Sisko is a weird dude.  Patrick Stewart and Scott Bakula are the most down to earth of these actors, and both seem the most comfortable in their own skin.  Finally, for being 80 years old, Shatner isn't doing too bad.

"Memphis Belle":  How is it possible that I had never seen "Memphis Belle"?  That was the question I was left asking myself after watching this 4 star movie for the first time yesterday. 

Made in 1990, this film is loosely based on the actual Memphis Belle, a B-17 that flew during WWII that is believed to be the first bomber to successfully complete 25 missions.  The movie focuses on the crew of the Memphis Belle as they prepare for, then execute their final mission.  The story weaves between the battle and the relationships of the crew members, who don't all get along, but somehow band together when most needed to complete the mission.

If you like WWII movies, this one will be right up your alley.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.

"Narnia:  The Voyage of the Dawn Treader":  The 3rd movie in "The Chronicles of Narnia" franchise is, like it's predecessors, much more action packed than the book.  In this installment, we find Edmund and Lucy Pevensie back in Narnia with their cousin Eustace, aboard the Dawn Treader on a mission to find the 7 lost lords of Narnia.  Again, they are aiding Caspian, who is still King of Narnia.

I actually liked this movie better than "Prince Caspian" because I got really tired of the bickering between Peter and Caspian in the last movie.  They did attempt to have a little conflict between Edmund and Caspian, but it was not to the extent or annoying level of the 2nd film.  Still, neither movie has captured the excitement or epic nature of "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe."

I gave this one 4 stars.  If you are a fan of the Narnia movies, I think you'll like "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader."

Overdue Movie Reviews

Again, I'm not watching many movies, but I have watched 2 worth rating recently. 

"Cars 2":  Those who know me know that my favorite Pixar style animated movie is "Cars".  My kids got "Cars 2" for Christmas so I finally got to watch it.  While it's not as good as the original, and wouldn't make my top 5 list, it's still a really good movie. 

In this sequel, Lightning McQueen is off to race against the best racers in the world in the World Grand Prix.  But, that's not the real story here.  The real story is that Mater, who finally gets to come along to a race, gets mistaken for a secret agent and drawn into a James Bond style action movie.  Along the way, Lightning has to learn the value of a friend, and that he has to accept Mater as he is.

Like I said, really good movie.  I give it 4 stars.

"Season of the Witch":  The best thing I can say about this Nicholas Cage flick is that it's not terrible.  In fact, if you go into this one with really low expectations, you might actually enjoy it.  I had almost no expectations, and found that it was a bearable 94 minutes of movie watching.

Nothing really stands out in this movie, good or bad.  Basically, if you're really bored, you might enjoy this movie.  Otherwise, stay away.

Top 5 Movies Starring Leading Actors Who are Otherwise Awful

Anybody who has read this blog knows that I have a few actors that drive me crazy.  Chief among them is Nicholas Cage, who can make some of the best movies, but then makes a bunch of duds.  And, generally, Cage is really bad except for a few specific roles.  Other actors in this category include Brendan Frazier, Keanu Reeves and Mark Wahlberg.  Nuke would put Ed Harris in this category too I think.

Since I do not have any Mark Wahlberg movies in this list, I suggest you go watch the SNL Skit:  Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals.  I've seen it several times and it's always funny.

Brendan Frazier doesn't make the list below, and is frankly the worst actor of the bunch listed above.  His only passable movies are The Mummy movies, and that's only because there is some really good CG monster action.

Anyway, here are the top 5 movies starring some of these otherwise awful actors:

5 - National Treasure 2:  The first Nicholas Cage movie in this list.  He doesn't carry the movie, but he doesn't ruin it either.  Really, this movie is just a lot of fun and Cage doesn't wreck the funness.

4 - Constantine:  This movie is so underrated.  It's actually really good, and this movie has the best type of roll for Keanu Reeves...one where he is not required to talk to much and participates in a lot of cool action scenes. 

3 - Sorcerer's Apprentice:  Another Nicholas Cage movie.  As with #5 on our list, Cage is not required to carry this movie, Jay Baruchel does that as the title character.  But, Cage has his moments in this recent movie that was my favorite movie of last year.

2 - The Rock:  This movie is why Nicholas Cage confounds me so much, and why he has been one of main subjects of another top 5 list already.  In The Rock, I think Cage really carries the movie, and it's a really good movie.  Of course, having Sean Connery never hurts, but I still think Cage carried it.

1 - The Matrix:  The best possible role for Keanu Reeves.  Spend the entire movie looking bewildered, not saying much, and participating in a lot of fight scenes.  The first of the Matrix Trilogy is the best, in my opinion, and Keanu Reeves doesn't destroy this movie, in fact, he actually works well in the role of Neo.