Captain America: The First Avenger

This was a fantastic movie! It had so much going for it and it leads in perfectly to the Avengers!
When we first got to the theater we were surprised to see that the showing we had chosen was in 3D. Don't get me wrong, 3D in certain movies (Avatar, Green Lantern) is very cool but I am getting a little annoyed that every movie is being transferred to 3D to milk the public for more money. I felt that Captain America could be just as good in 2D and was needlessly transferred to 3D. And I stand by my original conviction that this movie is great in 2D. But this was the first 3D movie which made me jump! There was a part when the shield richotes and comes straight at the screen. I jumped like a little girl! It was great!
As the 4th part in the Avengers lead up series, this film far surpasses Thor and Iron Man 2. While it was not better than the first Iron Man, its up there with the new Marvel greats.
The film is bookended with short prologues and epilogues in the present, but the real meat of this movie is in the middle set during World War II. The CGI on young Steve Rogers was incredible. To see such a huge guy like Chris Evans be a little scrawny kid was impressive. Chris Evans was backed up by a great supporting cast. Tommy Lee Jones was very funny and played his role well. Dr. Erskin played by Stanley Tucci did an excellent job as tutor and victim. Sebastian Stan was decent as Bucky. As a movie goer you will enjoy his role. As a comic book fan you may feel a little cheated as Bucky Barnes becomes such a huge character in the Captain America universe. Hugo Weaving was an incredible Red Skull. The make up was a massive improvement over the 1991 Captain America movie. It was even cool to see Dum Dum Doogan played by Neal McDonough. Dominic Cooper was like a young Tony Stark and it was neat to see that arrogance was a family trait!
The end was very impressive bringing in Nick Fury to recruit the future leader of the Avengers. Make sure you stay after the credits!!! While there is no additional scene leading into the Avengers, there is about a 1:30 teaser trailer that showcases next summer's huge blockbuster!!
I have to say this is a close 2nd to X-Men First Class for best Comic Book movie this year! The action was plentiful and throughout the whole movie. The comedy was light and not too much. Definitely go see this movie and get pumped up for next summer!

Horrible Bosses

Horrible Bosses adds to the great comedies of the summer (Bridesmaids and Hangover 2). After a disappointing watch of Bad Teacher I was all but ready to call Bridesmaids the hit of the summer and while Horrible Bosses does not top the all female Hangover-esque comedy, it comes pretty darn close. I would say it is neck and neck with the second installment of the Hangover. This may come as a shock to you- 3 B-level comedians funnier than Zach Galifinakis, Bradley Cooper, and Ed Helms? Its true, Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day were hysterical!! Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, and Kevin Spacey all had their moments but the real stars were the three main characters looking to off their horrible bosses.
Many people have been annoyed by Jason Sudeikis in the past especially on SNL, but after him stealing the show with better lines and timing than Owen Wilson in Hall Pass he has earned his right as a lead comedian. Charlie Day who hasn't been in much other than the cult classic It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, also performed very well alongside the other two B-level veterans.
The movie never really slowed down and had many laugh out loud parts. Unlike Bad Teacher that had some very funny parts but the laughter was far and few between large sections of bad story telling and plain boredom, Horrible Bosses is solid laughs from start to finish.
Also don't forget to stay during the credits for some great bloopers!! While Brett Ratner is a disgrace to comic book movies and pretty much every other genre, he is pretty decent as a producer/director of comedies (Rush Hour Series) and does a great job compiling bloopers for some after credit laughs.
I give this movie 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. This was absolutely hilarious and I highly recommend adding this to Bridesmaids for your top comedies this summer!


Movie poster from: http://www.studiobriefing.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/horrible-bosses-movie-poster-hi-res-01-405x600.jpg

Transformers 3

Wow! What a way to close out a trilogy! Michael Bay was not lying when he said this was the best of the three and a fine way to end the series. Transformers 3 was by far the best of the series. Even though one was pretty cool to finally see the robots on the big screen- 3 had a similarly strong story line but much better action scenes.
The script was infinitely better than the last Transformers movie. Excuses were made for the second installment because of the writers strike, but few people will excuse that for a bad, weak, and confusing movie. This movie had a strong plot that carried the story from start to finish. Basically they go back in time to the destruction of Cybertron (Transformers home planet) and describe a weapon that could have saved the planet being taken by the leader of the Autobots. The leader and his spaceship were shot down and crash landed on our moon. The story ends with the Decepticons trying to bring what's left of their destroyed home world to Earth and create a new Cybertron on Earth using the humans as slaves.
Now for the casting, which also was enhanced with this final chapter. First, and most obvious, the replacement of Megan Fox by Victoria Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Michael Bay does not hold back by taking a few jabs at the departure of Megan Fox and he uses his foul-mouthed Autobots to describe how she left (the director-actor relationship did not end well). Rosie is 1) a much better actress and 2) much more beautiful. Her sexy (at times even ridiculous) poses felt more like natural movements than Megans did. Granted this is her actual career but still it made her character more believable. While she will not be winning Oscars any time soon she does contribute much more to the film than Megan ever did.
Another new addition was Leonard Nimoy voicing the old leader of the Autobots, Sentinel Prime. His iconic voice was fun to listen too and I have been a huge fan of his re-emergence with Fringe and the new Star Trek.
Patrick Dempsey played a wonderful part- although I will not go in to too much detail with his character. I was surprised by how good he was since we normally only see him in romantic comedies and Grey's Anatomy.
The cast also included surprises by John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, and Ken Jeong (Mr. Chow from the Hangover). All played fantastic supporting roles.
The action was top notch. One of my biggest complaints with the second installment was there was too much happening on the screen to really tell what was going on. Not this time. We even saw it in 3D and it popped much better than the last one. Michael Bay had used new technology to make sure the 3D was not darkened and it worked beautifully. There was a fantastic scene in which Bumblebee changes from car mode into robot mode with Sam in the car, ejects Sam, grabs Sam and turns back into a car- all coming at the screen in 3D!!
If this truly is Michael Bay's last outing directing the robots in disguise- he left with style. I give this 4 stars! Great summer fun and a must see on the big screen- preferably in 3D!!!


Movie poster from:

Bad Teacher

Bad Teacher is about a truly horrible person (Cameron Diaz) who is desperate to quit "teaching" and marry a rich man. The story revolves around her pursuit for a new substitute teacher (Justin Timberlake), her battle royale with a rival teacher (Lucy Punch), and the evolving friendship with the gym teacher (Jason Segal).
Some critics hailed this as the funniest movie of the summer. I have to disagree. There were several parts which were hilarious, but those moments were far and few between leaving long bouts of poor story telling and bland conversation. I have to liken this to Hall Pass which I felt was similar with its rare but truly funny moments. Bad Teacher's funniest moments come from Jason Segal and even Lynn Davies (Phyllis from The Office). Like Hall Pass, this film was carried by its sub-cast, not the main characters. Cameron Diaz's character was very difficult to like with little to no redeeming qualities. Her humor was predictable and flat. Justin Timberlake really was a empty shell of a character. His character works well in a short 10 minute SNL skit, but on the big screen his forced dorkiness is just absolutely annoying. He is not a terrible actor (The Social Network) but clearly he cannot adapt to every character and story.
Bad Teacher is definitely worth a rental (especially if you can get a free one or have Netflix). Its worth a watch- but don't expect side-splitting humor or it to rival the great Bridesmaids, The Hangover, and Old School. Its more on par with Hall Pass and Bad Santa. I give it 2 1/2 stars.



Movie poster from: http://www.movienewz.com/wp-content/gallery/bad-teacher-posters/bad_teacher_movie_poster_01.jpg

Green Lantern

Just saw Green Lantern in 3D and I have to say, I don't know why its getting such bad reviews. I honestly liked it a lot. Granted I did go in after reading some reviews so I had very low expectations but I thought it was very entertaining and a great summer blockbuster. Was it the best comic book movie ever? Absolutely not. It was not better than X-Men: First Class but I did like it better than Thor. And I am a Marvel guy!!!
First of all- this is one of the rare 3D gems. While it still does not stand up to Avatar's level of 3D, it far surpasses some other recent films. The opening title sequence was very impressive in space. The 3D gave it a nice depth effect without the traditional overally used gimmicks of swords coming at the screen or someone shooting a gun at the screen.
Next to the cast. I felt Ryan Reynolds did great. He is receiving a mixed review from other critics for being too annoying and funny (but not funny). I did not feel that way at all. He was funny, some of it was corny but at the same time- its a comic book movie. Not everything has to be so dark and serious as the Dark Knight. Iron Man was cocky and funny and no one minded Downey Jr. Blake Lively was hot. Thats about it. She did not do a tremendous job (like in The Town), but she wasn't abysmal like Megan Fox in Transformers. The love story between the two could have used some more work and the chemistry wasn't quite perfect. Peter Saarsgard was a good villian. He is also receiving harsh criticism for not being a good enough villian. Is he Magneto or Joker? No. But he has his reasons for turning evil. He used his powers quite a bit. And he overall served his purpose. Mark Strong was great as Sinestro.
Now to the Corp. (extras). The voices of Toma-Ra (Geoffrey Rush) and Kilowag (Michael Clarke Duncan) were spot on. It was a shame to see the most well-known non-human Lanterns cut from most of the film, but this movie is about Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) and his new Green Lantern career. It was about saving earth and unlike a 70 year old comic book, this was a two hour movie. An entire 70 years of history could not be forced into one movie. The CGI to create these characters looked great. The only extra I missed seeing was the flying squirrel- always hilarious!
The CGI was incredible in this movie. The first trailer made everyone doubt the quality of this movie, but sure enough, the finished product looked as real as CGI can and furthered the story and the origins of the Green Lanterns. Many reviews compared Parrallax (the main villian) to the stupid Fox-Created Cloud- Galactus from Fantastic Four. Once again- this is a movie. Do you really want a giant purple humanoid alien actually eating a planet or will general audiences be more understanding of a nebula like being that devours planets. So Parralax didn't look like he did in the comics- honestly I had no idea what he looked like. So far me, his structure made sense.
And finally the story. The story and direction is taking the most heat of the bad reviews. I just don't get it though. I felt like the story was good. Could it have been tweaked- sure. Villian development was not as strong as it could have been. Hal Jordan's training on OA (the Green Lantern planet) was only about 10-15 minutes long and was the only time we really saw Toma-Ra and Kilowog. But once again, the studio decided to make cuts and shorten the length of the film. I am sure a directors cut will include an extra 20-30 minutes of footage that fans will appreciate but that weren't neccessary to a wide audience.
Normally my reviews are much shorter but I really felt this movie got a bad rap from some really critical reviewers that were hoping for another Dark Knight or Iron Man. This is not those movies, its not even X-Men First Class. But its a lot better than X-men 3, Wolverine, Elekta, and Daredevil contrary to some reviews. Someone even said the Phantom with Billy Zane was better. Clearly these people just had way too high expectations for this movie and are now just committed to destroying the future of any DC movies.
I recommend this movie. And I think you should definitely see it in 3D- it really did make a fun difference. I am very critical of 3D movies but this helped the movie. I give it 3 1/2 stars.



Movie poster from: http://www.onlinemovieshut.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/green-lantern-movie-poster1.jpg

Limitless

Limitless was a very entertaining movie. It takes a brilliant idea that any person would jump to take advantage of and then show you exactly why you do not want it. The movie is about a struggling author (Bradley Cooper) who starts taking an illegal black market pill that turns on his left side of the brain so that he can do anything. It basically creates a better version of you. Of course there are downsides like with any drug (cue the 5 minute rant on side effects): memory loss, drug dealers, dead hookers, nausea, vomiting, and death! But hey, plug into the stock market- make a couple million- sounds like a fair trade off right?
The end did come rather quickly I felt. The movie was just over 1 1/2 hours so it could have played out a little more instead of rushing to the end. But the end did make sense and was done very well.

Overall a very fun movie to watch but definitely watchable as a rental- 3 out of 5.



Movie poster from: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1BRf_E6Ab-BzCSVKOlAe0H83P-XZaadOKns47qowvVUbBGBY9vaMAQsIJtpQSny4dlnFM-SvbYTzDPwC8fhXZNT8ZiWxcjKEJ1aZYHfFOiIk6f3RCVVW1sHY0AdnBAJgT7TwxkPF4vss/s1600/Limitless+Poster.jpg

The Rite

The Rite was a rather obscure exorcism movie that came out in the early part of this year. Not much was heard from the movie and before anyone noticed it was already on DVD. The movie stars Anthony Hopkins as an Italian priest who performs exorcisms and who begins training a new protege who has his doubts of God and the practice of exorcisms in general. As the story progresses the new priest is forced to reconcile his family issues, doubt of the existence of God and the Devil, and perform a practice he never thought necessary.
The movie was okay but not greatly interesting until the very end when it turns out the two main priests are real people. One practices outside of Chicago and Anthony Hopkins still performs exorcisms outside of Florence. The movie was about average for an exorcism movie. Nothing made it stand out as unique. Anthony Hopkins recreated the eeriness of Hannibal Lector but failed to be convincing in his role. The rest of the cast was a bunch of nobodies that was quickly forgotten.
The movie wasn't bad but it definitely lacked anything memorable. I give it 2 stars and definitely recommend it as a rental.



Movie poster from: http://www.onlinemovieshut.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/the-rite-movie-poster.jpg