The Fighter

At least once or twice a year (maybe more depending on how avid of a movie-goer you are), there will be those films that you cannot wait to see. There is an unexplainable excitement; a Christmas morning excitement if you will. These are the movies with the big actors and actresses or with the story that is extremely relatable. In 2010, there have been three films that I have had this feeling for. The first one was in June when ‘Toy Story 3’ graced theatres nationwide. The second was in October when ‘The Social Network’ came out. These first two followed along the lines of the story that meant something to me. But this last one, ‘The Fighter’, peeked my interest just because of all the hype it had received, and it did not disappoint.

Directed by David O. Russell and starring the likes of Mark Wahlberg as Mickey “The Irish” Ward, Christian Bale as Dickey Eklund, and Amy Adams as Charlene, Fighter is not just about boxing. It tackles the issues of loyalty, family, drug addiction, and trust. The story follows Wahlberg’s character through a stretch in his career where Ward, his brother (Eklund) and his mother (played by Melissa Leo) are struggling to get Mickey his break in the boxing world. There are many obstacles that hinder this; whether it be sketchy behavior by crack-addicted Eklund, unfortunate opponents for Ward, or conflict in the family by the entrance of a new girlfriend (Adams), and it’s up to Ward to find out what really matters to him in order for him to make his big break, no matter what happens or who is affected.

I often find myself in danger of over-hyping films that I’m excited to see, but this thankfully lived up to my expectations. The lead acting in this movie is phenomenal. No, phenomenal isn’t good enough. This is Packers-make-the-super-bowl good (I hope I don’t jinx it). Christian Bale delivers the performance of a lifetime, and it will probably pay off come Oscar time. Wahlberg, who trained for this role for four years, shows his dedication to the role by portraying Ward beautifully. Oscar time is the most wonderful time of the year, and this film will definitely be a big player when the awards get handed out.


Rating: 4 out of 4 stars

Despicable Me

There's always been a saying that I try to live by, but always fall short. It is a great saying though. It basically goes along the lines of 'even if you know what the outcome of something will be, that surely does not mean that you can not enjoy the ride. That is super true. This is exactly, EXACTLY what happened in the movie.

In Despicable Me, we come across the standard story of spy vs. spy, as we meet the worlds' best...or 2nd best...super villain Gru, with the voice being done by the one and only Steve Carrell. He's got all the tools, but he is always being upstaged by his rival, vector (Jason Segel). After vector tops all the heists by stealing The Great Pyramid, Gru decides to go big or go home. Him and his minions (literally called minions) concoct a plan to steal the moon by using a shrink ray that is being built in a secret lab. Gru gets hold of the shrink ray, but of course vector sweeps in and steals it. Gru is all out of ideas until three little girls come trottin alond selling cookies for what appears to be an kid's orphanage. Gru realizes that through these girls, he can gain access into vector's house and steal the shrink ray, all while being unetected. Gru ends up getting control of the shrink ray, but then is at a crossroads when he realizes that these girls need more than just a person to look up to and a place to stay; they need a role model, a dad.


This was incredibly predictable and kind of boring because of that, which keeps it from getting a perfect score. But it's not an excuse to not enjoy what's being shown on the screen. The voice acting is really, really well done, and the humor is a unique blend of sentiment and raunch. The soudtrack, produced by Pharrell Williams, is pretty fly and it's an overall pretty darn entertaining movie.


Rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars

Toy Story 3

There are always some things to get really excited about. There are the holidays such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years, etc. There also things like birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, and other celebrations. There are things that happen to you like promotions, good luck, raises, etc. But then there are things you get excited about because you remember how good of times you had when you experienced that. This is exactly how I felt in line to buy my ticket of Toy Story 3. I was more jacked up then the sugar high kids piling in with their parents.

In this third installment of the Toy Story franchise, the toys and their owner Andy are all getting to that point that no kid wants to have to face; what do you do with your toys once you head off to college? You obviously outgrow them right? Well Andy is given four choices by his mom: he can take them to college with him,donate them, store them in the attic, or chuck 'em. Andy decides that he only wants to take Woody with him to college. He decides to store the rest in the attic, but after a mishandling by his mom and a near trip to the garbage, the other remaining toys decide that they would rather be played with then be stored away. They then all pack themselves into the 'Sunnyside Daycare' box. Woody, who is trying to convince the toys that they were not intended to be thrown out in the trash, ends up in the daycare box and they all are brought to the daycare. When they get there, it is almost like a paradise in this Butterfly Room of the daycare. Everyone but Woody loves it here, because they will be able to be played with again. Woody insists that they all return home, but nobody will budge, so Woody sets off for home by himself. The group then meets the other toys, lead by Lots O' Huggin Bear. They appear welcoming and friendly, especially the Ken doll, who in a hilarious way, wins over the affection of the barbie doll donated by Andy's little sister Molly. But when all of Andy's toys are sent to the other room, the Caterpillar Room, things aren't as awesome as they had once thought. These kids in the Caterpillar Room are younger than the other kids, and therefore just like to destroy the toys. After a destructive playtime, Buzz sets out to find Lotso to maybe ask for a promotion to the better of the two rooms. It is at this point that Buzz finds out that these toys aren't so nice as they once seemed, and that they are all in a lot of trouble, trouble way more serious than what kids get to play with you.


There is something seriously amazing going on in Emeryville, California. This is where Pixar Animation Studios is located. They are second to none when it comes to entertainment both for kids and adults. This brought me back to my childhood immediately, so I couldn't help but smile they whole time. I was absolutely drawn to the screen the whole time. These movies are just so breathtaking. There is a perfect blend of humor, sentiment, and action. Movies like this is why this is why I want my career to be in this field. This is letting your imagination go free and believing that these are almost real people. It's amazing. Can't get enough of it. This is definitely an instant classic.

Rating: 4 out 4 stars (3rd perfect score of 2010!!)

The Karate Kid

There seem to be a lot of remakes coming out in the last 5 years. I have since then wondered whether Hollywood was running out of ideas or not. There are obviously sequels made for the wrong reasons such as Garfield, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Sex and the City. Others you just need to like Meet the Parents, Toy Story, and Pirates of the Carribean. But sometimes people make remakes to relive the times of the original release. Examples of this are the upcoming Wall Street, Star Trek, and now the Karate Kid. These usually are better than sequels, because they don't try to expand on the story. They just try to spice up the original versions. Luckily this one didn't miss.

There were some changes made from the 1984 original starring Ralph Macchio. This movie is more about kung-fu. This also takes place in China, which the original didn't have much of. Anyways, 12 year old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) is forced to move from Detroit to China, because his mommy got a job offer over there. Like any normal human being, Dre is not exactly pumped about this switch. Whatever. He has to go. Dre obviously has a tough time fitting in. He does hit it off with a local girl, but he is almost immediately accosted by a group of older kids that a pick a fight with him and beat him pretty bad. Dre is immediately ready to head back home, but he must stay. During another fight with the boys, one is about ready to lay the finishing punch on Dre when the punch is stopped by the maintenance man in Dre's building, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan). Then Chan proceeds to humiliate the kids and send them on their way. Han then decides to teach Dre kung-fu so he can defend himself. They then begin to train together, with Han's discipline clearly crossing paths with Dre's attitude. They struggle getting along, but when Dre has to sign up for a kung-fu tournament to keep the kids from attacking him, they begin to bond. They then have only a short amount of time to get ready before the biggest battle of Dre's life.

This movie was fantastic. If you can sit through the beginning and middle parts of plot setup, which isn't that bad actually, you will be greatly rewarded. The end tournament gave me chills and kept me on the edge of my seat. Jaden Smith is a star in the making, and has all the talents that his pops Will Smith had and has. This was just a smidge too long, but I think it needed all that time to set up everything else. It's great entertainment, and a great motivational movie.


Rating: 4 out of 4 stars (2nd perfect score this calendar year!!)

The A-Team

It's hard to think of a clever opening sometimes. These aren't ever really that long, but they do take some time to think up. I went to the midnight showing of this movie, which was my first one of those. It wasn't packed at all, but then again it was midnight, and this wasn't a massive blockbuster along the lines of 'Harry Potter' or 'Avatar'. But enough jibber-jabber, let's actually talk about the movie, whaddya say?

The A-Team movie was originally a television show back in the day. It centers around four military men: Hannibal (Liam Neeson), Face (Bradley Cooper), B.A. (Quentin 'Rampage' Jackson), and Murdock (Sharlto Copley). These men are the best of the bunch. "They specialize in the ridiculous". The movie begins with them forming this said group together. The movie then skips ahead a few years, and they are all now stationed in Iraq. They hear word from CIA agent who goes by the name Lynch that there are some illegal bills being made and that these guys should stop them. The team then finds out that another branch in their militia is actually in on the whole thing, and when they try to stop them they end up getting framed for this crime, and off they go to jail. Of course, being the brilliant men they are, they escape pretty easily. They are then determined to bring these real criminals justice, all while clearing their name of any wrongdoing. But not everything, or everyone, are what they seem to be.

This movie is the definition of action-packed. It's not just a guys' movie, with people and everything getting mutilated. This is genuine, high-octane fun. The four leading members are all very good, even 'rampage' was pretty decent. If you're lookin for that adrenaline rush type of movie, here it is. Good, solid fun.


Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

Get Him to the Greek

I loved Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I enjoyed all the characters, except for one. Aldus Snow. He bothered me. He didn't seem like a real person, he was too over the top and just not a believable character. He was funny though. Lucky for me, I got to see him again. This time he seemed more believable.

In the dubbed 'spin-off' of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, a music industry staff member Aaron Green (Jonah Hill) comes up with an idea to save his company: a ten year anniversary rock concert at the Greek Theater featuring Aldus Snow. There is a problem with this idea. Snow is on the decline. He had just come out with an album titled 'African Child' which was poorly recieved by every critic across the world. Just think of anything offensive, and it probably was on that album. The movie starts on set of the 'African Child' video shoot. It basically tries to do what Forgetting Sarah Marshall did with their music videos, which is push the boundary line of offensive or joking and funny. Unfortunately, this tries to have a comic twist to something as unfunny as impoverished African children and culture. It's really up to the viewer to decide whether it is funny to them, or if they have gone too far. Anyways, Green gets the green light from his producer (P. Diddy) to do this concert, the only catch being that he has to go to London to get him back to LA; and he only has 72 hours to do so. At this point the viewer will know that it's not going to be easy to accomplish this.

When I had first heard about this movie and saw that it had the same director from Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I was unbvelievably excited to see this. Then I found out that it had different writers. 'Ssrah Marshall' was written by its star Jason Segel, and 'Greek' was written by director Nicholas Stoller. There is a noticable difference in the two films. Forgetting Sarah Marshall had much less gaps in humor and seemed to have more focus. This movie seemed to drag a few times, but it made up for it when it was funny. The central theme of getting back to doing your passion because that is the only thing that makes you happy was really well displayed once they got to the ending of the movie. Overall, this movie was very strong but had a few weak parts. But you should go see it nonetheless.


Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

Macgruber

Ok this one will be a real, real short one because I can't say anything nice about it. This movie was incredibly disappointing. This begs the question 'Why'?

Macgruber comes from the popular SNL 90 second skit with the same title. I was hoping that this movie's humor would follow the same type of humor as Hot Rod, but this movie was just disappointing, stupid, and really not worth my time. Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, and others just really don't deliver anything new or funny at all. I was just hoping for something cool and refreshing, but it all sucked. I can't even tell you what it's about, it's just not worth the time to explain it. Do not see this, no matter how bad you love SNL. I really love SNL, and this was just nothing up to par.


Rating: 1.5 out of 4 stars

Just Wright

So I didn't exactly have high hopes for this one either. I didn't expect a whole lot from a movie whose male lead is Common. But I read and watched plenty of reviews for this movie, and although the reviews were mixed, there was a consensus opinion that this movie had some feel to it. The critics had said that the characters were believable and the story was also believable.


Let's stop there. The story is about a physical therapist played by Queen Latifah who is and has been a die hard basketball fan her whole life. She has especially been a fan of her hometown New Jersey Nets. These Nets are lead by star player Scott McKnight. Don't ask me where he came from, but he ranks above the likes of Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade, and Bucks' reject Bobby Simmons. He is all that is basketball, apparently. After a Nets game at a local gas station, Latifah is filling up her run-down car when who else shows up but McKnight. McKnight has a little bit of car trouble (can't find his gas tank) and Latifah offers her services. Apparently one act of kindness and lots of enthusiasm got her invited to McKnight's party. The two begin to develop a friendship, but Latifah's cousin played by the gorgeous Paula Patton ends up dating McKnight. It's All-Star Weekend and every big star is on display. Towards the end of the game, McKnight cuts towards the lane, bumps into his fellow competitor, and somehow manages to tear his PCL. You would never guess who ends up being able to take care of McKnight. It's not the teams' liscenced physician; nope, it's Latifah's character. Then the typical rom-com plot kicks in for a bit as the two start to develop a really good friendship, but before I spoil something, I will stop the summary there.


Ok, my biggest problem with the whole 'believability' factor in this movie is if you want it to be so realisitic, why don't you pick somebody that can act? I'm sorry, but Common would not be my first choice for a leading male actor. I just could never actually believe that this was a believable story. This movie wasn't horrible, but it had some major flaws. I'd say rent it for the NBA cameos and because it'd make a reasonable date movie.



Rating: 2 out of 4 stars

The Messenger

When I saw that this movie had come out on DVD, I was really excited because I liked both the main actors in Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster, and also the movie itself looked really good. It got one or two oscar nominations, one for best screenplay. Nonetheless, this movie tries to tackle and delve into the lives if CNOs. These are casualty notification officers in the U.S. Army. At the risk of leaving anyone else in the dark, Casualty Notification Officers bascially are the soldiers who go around their parts of town and deliver the bad news about the death of a loved one to their next of kin. As you can probably figure out, it's not exactly an easy subject to make a movie about or even watch. This movie basically shifts from one notification to another, and I really was brought in by the different reactions that the loved ones had. The filmmakers really did a good job in showing all these different emotions. Also there were some very, VERY good performances given by Harrelson and Foster. I know that Harrelson got nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, but in watching this I was surprised that Foster didn't recieve more accalades.


There is a problem with this movie however. It may not even be a flaw, it's just something that I did not like. This movie was kind of boring. It was very good at parts, but when it let its guard down, it was really boring. I also wasn't exactly paying full attention during the whole movie, so I guess I'll have to watch the movie again. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt, but for now, there is much room for improvement.

Rating: 2.5 out of 4 stars

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

So I really have no idea why I felt the need to go and see this movie. It was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, who usually doesn't have a whole lot of depth or sensible entertainment in his movies. The trailers did not look all that entertaining to me, but I went to go see it anyway.


Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is about a young boy named Dastan, who lives in the slums of Persia. During a confrontation with Persian hierarchy, the King at the timue admires Dastan's bravery and decides to adopt him, making him a Prince of Persia. The first ambush we see of theirs is of a city named Alamut. Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) disobeys orders but ends up succeeding in the ambush and ends up getting a hold of the special dagger. This dagger has the ability to turn back time, because of the sand it contains in its handle. Unfortunately for Dastan, the beautiful princess of Alamut is also supposed to guard that with her life. So their little journey begins across the land.

It's hard for me to describe the movie because I hated it so much. I was really just anxious to get out at so many different junctures of the movie. It's just dumb. You can argue that you can zone-out and just enjoy the movie for the action, but there is nothing to enjoy. It's so pointless. I don't know why studios give out money for movies like this to be made. It's annoying. It's a waste of money, don't see it.


Rating: 1 out of 4 stars.

Robin Hood

I was reading Roger Ebert's review of this movie before I went to the 9:55 opening night showing of it, and the one thing that I took from it was that it was kind of frightening to realize that Hollywood today is taking these once innocent movies or shows and turning them into something completely different. The only example I can think of off the top of the dome right now is Harry Potter. That's not as bad but it is starting to get more and more ominous in it's appearance (Harry Potter, that is). That gave me mixed feelings heading into this, but we'll get to my opinion later.

In Ridley Scott's rendition of 'Robin Hood', we actually go way back to the very beginning, before we knew anything about Sir Robin Longstride. He is merely just an archer in King Richard the Lionheart's army. Unfortunately, the king gets killed in battle. On the way to deliver the king's crown, the man in charge of the mission also gets killed. They're not having such good luck at the moment. Robin then takes it upon himself to bring back the crown. So him and his men set off and do indeed deliver said crown. This makes the fallen king's son, John, king. One of the kings' men, Godfrey, ends up betraying King John and making his own army. Somehow it all falls on Robin to keep things safe, once their home is attacked by Godfrey's army. There ends up being a lot of fighting, a lot of scottish sounding accents, and as many beards and olde english dialogue to make you're wildest dreams come true.

It is hard for me to describe this movie without rambling on forever, so forgive me for sounding vague. I do have problems with this movie. First of all, it was really long at 140 minutes. I can only take so much Russell Crowe in one sitting. The other problems I had was that it was really confusing in the first chunk of the movie, which then led me to lose interest in the movie. There is plenty of action, and that was a bonus, but when it was all said and done, I did not enjoy my time watching this. I was hoping for something more, but it fell short. A must see though if you like action.


Rating: 2 out of 4 stars

Kick-Ass

This will be a short review because, frankly, I don't have time to tinker around and write reviews. Kick-Ass, in short is about a nerdy little fella who is curious as to why nobody ever just becomes a superhero for fun. It's all for the greater good, right? His first heroic act is sticking up for a stranger, which consequently makes him a YouTube sensation. His friends and love interest are all obsessed with this masked hero, but 'Kick-Ass' can not reveal himself yet. Of course he runs into loads of trouble and he ends up having to really be a superhero.

This movie is not bad. You really do you have to take it for what it is. The 'third act', if you will, is actually really action packed and it truly did have me on the edge of my seat. I can almost guarantee that you will feel super badass while watching this, because that's just what this movie is. For lack of a better word, it's pretty kick-ass. Sorry for the short review, but it's all I have time for.

Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

BROTHERS

This surely is a late review, but I need to do this. This is a movie that had the potential of being great, but at the same time had the potential to suck. Luckily, it didn't suck. It was very good. We'll get to this in a bit though.

'Brothers' is the next movie in a long line of war flicks. Although it's nowhere near as good as the recent war film 'The Hurt Locker', both movies do the same thing. They both put the viewer in tense, practical situations. 'The Hurt Locker', hypothetically, physically puts you in the day-to-day life of a bomb defusing soldier. 'Brothers' poses the 'what would you do..' or 'how would you react..' type situations. The three main characters (Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhal, Natalie Portman) all do a great job of embodying these situational emotions. I can't tell you what those situations are, as to avoid spoiler alerts galore, but you'll know what I'm talking about when you see it.

Wait. Rewind. You may not know what this movie is about. My bad.

'Brothers' is about a family with ties in the war. Sam Cahill (Maguire) ships off to war and leaves his wife (Portman), kids, parents, and slumping brother (Gyllenhal) behind. Once the family learns that sam was 'killed', Gyllenhal steps in to ease the grieving. But Sam isn't really dead we come to learn. He's been captured. He eventually returns home, but nothing is the same. He can't relax or take a joke, and now he has suspicions that Gyllenhal's character slept with his wife. This obviously draws a huge division amongst the family, and eventually tempers come to a boil as things reach their ultimate level of secrecy.

This movie kind of ends on a flat note for me, but for most of the movie I was very much into everything that was going on, because of the emotions that this movie drew out of me. The frontline acting was very good and it really made me believe that this may actually happen in some homes across the world. The acting enough is worth seeing, but the story has more to it then you may expect. Go see it if you haven't already

Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

What's coming in 2010?

This monkey's face says it all. Utter confusion. He or she is clearly confused about what movies are coming up this spring, summer, fall, and winter. Luckily, I contain that information...or the internet does-something like that. Well here are some movies that I'm looking forward to in the upcoming calendar year ( early april and beyond).

Date Night- This literally came out a few days ago, but I'm interested in seeing how well Steve Carell and Tina Fey can do off the television screen. They're both hella funny, so I hope all works out well. This movie is directed by Shawn Levy though, and he sucks at directing. Not really, but his track record isn't very good.

Kick-Ass (4/15)- Ok, I'm not exactly pumped to see this, but it's gotten good reviews so far. It could be Tarantino-esque, or it could be total shit. There's a little bit of mystery as to how it will be recieved, but it should be entertaining nonetheless.

The Losers (4/23)- I'm not excited to see this. It looks annoying--check out the trailer

A Nightmare on Elm Street (4/30)- A remake of a classic horror pick. However, it's directed by Michael Bay. That's reason enough for me to not see it (he directed Transformers 2, which was just loud as hell).

Iron Man 2 (5/7)- I'm just not sure if anyone is excited to see this. I've tried watching the first Iron Man about six times now, and I have not made it through yet. I'm just not sure this sequel will be any better.

Robin Hood (5/14)- Again another reamake. This one is led by Russell Crowe and directed by Ridley Scott. This looks like it is more violent than a Robin Hood should be, but it could be a real good movie, if done right. I can only hope.

MacGruber (5/21)- Coming from the maybe popular SNL skits with the same title. It should be funny. I'm not sure the critics will like it, but it may be good for a zone-out movie.

Shrek: Forever After (5/21)- The last movie in the Shrek series? Who knows. I've stopped watching them, but hopefully the small lapse in release times for this series won't affect its fan base at all.

Sex and the City 2 (5/27)- Don't go.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (5/28)- Beefed up Jake Gyllenhal! Oh joy! Can't wait! No seriously, I have mixed feelings. It'll probably suck, but who ever knows when Jerry Bruckheimer is directing. It's also a Disney movie, which could make it less intense than it could be.

Get Him to the Greek (6/4)- The 'sequel' to Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It looks to be incredibly funny. I'm excited.

Marmaduke (6/4)- Cartoon dog voiced by Owen Wilson? yes, please!

The A-Team (6/11)- Bradley Cooper, Liam Neeson, Quentin 'Rampage' Jackson, and Sharlto Copley relive this oldie but goodie. I'm super pumped to see this!

The Karate Kid (6/11)- Jackie Chan and Will Smith's little youngin'. I didn't take this seriously at first, but it looks kind of sweet. I may actually check this out.

Toy Story 3 (6/18)- Why wouldn't anyone want to come see this? It's Toy Story!!! This has to be one of the most anticipated movies of 2010.

NOT TWILIGHT'S ECLIPSE!! HA!!

The Last Airbender (7/2) Not is this only my birthday, but this movie seems to be gaining a lot of hype. M. Night Shamyayay.aylayalalan is taking another chance at making a good movie, let's hope it works out.

Predators (7/7)- This looks to be super intense. It's led by Adrian Brody and Laurence Fishbourne. Check out the trailer if you already haven't, cause this could be a goodie.

Despicable Me (7/9)- This is my pick for best animated pick of the year. This should be a great comedy with a loaded cast. Absolutely loaded. Cannot wait till I get to see it.

Inception (7/16)- I don't know if you've seen trailers for this, but it looks to be one hell of a mental thriller. It has Leo Dicaprio and Ellen Page and little itty-bitty Joseph Gordon-Levitt. This cast is directed by Christopher Nolan. Should be a doozy.

Dinner for Schmucks (7/23)- This should be a solid comedy with Steve Carell and Paul Rudd. Those two alone are reason enough to see it.

Salt (7/23)- All I know about it is that it stars Angelina Jolie, and I think it's a superhero-ish movie. It seems to be good though from what I've heard.

The Adjustment Bureau (7/30)- I hadn't heard of this until I wrote this, but apparently it stars Matt Damon and he gets a glimpse into his future and wants something else. It also stars Anthony Mackie and Emily Blunt. Seems pretty good.

I Love You Philip Morris (7/30)-If you want to see a different Jim Carrey; here ya go. This was supposed to come out in February.

The Other Guys (8/6)- The next in line for Will Ferrell and his entourage, if you will. I just checked out the trailer, and it looks pretty funny. Hopefully Will doesn't stink it up as he did in Land of the Lost.

...apparently there is a Step Up coming in 3d on 8/6

Eat, Pray, Love (8/13)- Seems really interesting, check it out. It has that 'Into the Wild' feel to it.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (8/13)- Michael Cera's next movie. I think it's some type of blend of awkward annoying Michael Cera and action star Michael Cera. Could be a good one. You definitely get the video game vibe just by watching the trailer. Check it out.

The Switch (8/20)- This one stars Jason Bateman and Jennifer Aniston. Apparently it involved Bateman's character swapping sperm with another guy? Something like that? Hopefully it's funny.

The American (9/1)-An apparent suspense thriller starring Geroge Clooney. Sounds interesting already.

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (9/24)- This looks super sweet. An animated flick about owls. Not just regular ones, some pretty badass owls. Good song in the trailer as well.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (9/24)- This looks to be pretty interesting. It stars Shia LaBeouf, Carey Mulligan, Michael Douglas, and Josh Brolin. Directed by Oliver Stone.

The Social Network (10/1)- Drama starring Jesse Eisenberg and yes, Justin Timberlake. We'll see how that goes.

Your Highness (10/1)- Adventure comedy starring Danny McBride, Zooey Deschanel, and James Franco. By the looks of it, it should be pretty funny.

The Zookeeper (10/8)- Comedy starring Kevin James and Rosario Dawson. Let's hope it's not anything like Paul Blart

apparently around the 15th or 22nd of October there will be a jackass 3D movie and a sequel to Paranormal Activity.

AND A SAW 7! IN 3D!. That should suck.

Due Date (11/5)- Comedy starring Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis about a first-time father being stuck on a plane with a complete idiot.

Megamind (11/5)- Big time animated flick starring Will Ferrell.

Unstoppable (11/12)- Another train thriller with Denzel Washington and Chris Pine. Hopefully it's not like Pelham at all.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (11/19)- The beginning of the end.

These Next Three Days (11/19)-Thriller starring Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks.

Tron Legacy (12/17)- Animated feature featuring Jeff Bridges that's supposed to be unlike anything we've seen yet.

Yogi Bear (12/17)- I can't believe this is coming out, let's hope it's good.

The Green Hornet (12/22)- Seth Rogen as an action hero? I'm pumped to see how it plays out.

Little Fockers (12/22)- The third in this line of pretty funny movies.

Gulliver's Travels (12/22)- Animated movie featuring Jack Black and Jason Segel.

True Grit (12/25)- Drama/Western starring Matt Damon, Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin and directed by the Coen Brothers, whose last western won them an oscar (No Country For Old Men).

IT'S OVER!! Finally! There ya have it, though. That should be all that's new and good in movies this upcoming calendar year. If you've made it this far in the article, I applaud you. You truly do care about what I'm writing. Thank you.

How to Train Your Dragon

I'm not the first one to say it, but I'm really hopeful that every movie does not take it's turn at trying 3-D. It's really annoying seeing all these really cool movie trailers and then realizing that it'll be in 3-d and you'll have to pay extra. Sometimes the use of it isn't even that effective. However, 'How to Train Your Dragon' gets it right on all levels.

The latest production from DreamWorks Animation (Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar) follows a viking colony named Berk. Basically all they do is fight dragons. The people of Berk see the dragons as nothing more than the enemy. There are all different types of them, but none of them are good; especially the Night Fury. Nobody has ever seen a Night Fury, let alone had the chance to catch one. So when the dragon attack in the beginning is happening, the clumsy, nerdy protagonist of the story, Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel), decides that this will be his platform to the real world; the world of the viking men. He is clearly ill-equipped for the task but somehow manages to hit the Night Fury and send it falling to the other side of the island. He sets out to go find out what he exactly hit, and finds himself with the chance of killing this prestigious dragon. However, he can not. He can't bring himself to harm the dragon at all. He decides to keep this whole ' I caught a night-fury' thing to himself, because he is afraid of what his village mates might do to it. He then has to decide what is right; whether he should tell the people back home about what he has done in order to gain acceptance from them; more importantly his father (Gerard Butler), or to save this dragon's life and maybe set a new example of how they should treat people or beings that are unknown to them.

I can usually catch on to this kind of story pretty quickly. It's your typical " oh be nice to everyone and nothing bad will happen from it" message, but it's so amazing to watch the growing process between Hiccup and the dragon (named Toothless by Hiccup). I also must add that the 3-d really indeed does help this movie. It is especially evident in the flying scenes with Hiccup and Toothless. I don't know, there's something really cool about the fast paced movement of flying, but also the beauty and innocence of it as well. Having those scenes in 3-d really captured both sides of it, and made to become what I think is the best movie of 2010 so far.

Rating: 4 out of 4 stars

P.S.-There are tons of recognizable voices in this movie--Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Kristien Wiig, T.J. Miller, and Craig Ferguson

Hot Tub Time Machine

It's been a while.

From director Steve Pink, possibly known for his directing roles in 'High Fidelity' and 'Accepted' comes 'Hot Tub Time Machine'. Despite not having an attractive title, the movie got a ton of pre-release press. There were tons of mixed feelings in anticipation for this movie, and tons after watching it.

'Hot Tub Time Machine', if you're looking for a theme, is about how you could change your past if you had the chance. But that is at it's most deep level. This obvious deadpan comedy flick stars John Cusack ('2012', 'High Fidelity'), Clark Duke ('Sex Drive'), Craig Robinson (The Office), and Rob Corddry ('What Happens in Vegas', 'Blades of Glory'). After Corddry's character is believed to have attempted suicide, Cusack and Robinson's characters decide to take him to Kodiak Mountain to rehash old memories from when they visited the same place back in college. They bring along Duke, who plays Cusack's nephew. After a awkward car drive and a night of partying in their hotel's hot tub, the tub short circuits and somehow manages to send them back to 1986. I don't want to give any of the movie away but it pretty much reminded me of 'The Hangover', with it's 'what the hell is going on' type of mystery.

This isn't full of the laugh out loud moments I was expecting, but it's still very funny. Corddry is very unique in his delivery and it was refreshing seeing new faces in comedies of late. Overall, if you're looking to mentally check out and have fun, this is your movie.

Rating: 2.5 out of 4 stars

Worst of 2009

Pretty self-explanatory. And I am going to try shorten it up a little bit. So without further adieu, here are the worst:

PAUL BLART: MALL COP- This was obviously geared for kids, hence its G rating, but come on. There was nothing funny about this movie. Not even the kids that were there with laughing. With Kevin James at the helm, I really expected something more.


FIRED UP- I seriously don't know why I saw this. I wasn't expecting much from it. At least it didn't disappoint me. The title of the movie is kid of ironic, because that's probably what most people were after seeing this. Not in the good way either.


WATCHMEN- Sorry to everyone out that loves this movie, but I hated Watchmen. This beginning to the movie was so incredibly boring that I almost lost all interest in finishing the movie out. I don't know why I finished it, because it still was really crappy. Probably one of the biggest disappointments of 20009.


OBSERVE AND REPORT- This feels like evidence to me that Seth Rogen is getting less and less funny, although he did redeem himself in 'Funny People'. I literally can not think of anything to say about this movie, because nothing comes to mind that is worthwhile of saying.


DANCE FLICK- Expectations were pretty low going into this one, knowing that this was a spoof movie. But the jokes were really bad; corny, cheap, just really, REALLY bad. I hope that these spoofs can eventually get their act together, because a really well done one can really be a bright spot in theatres.


NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: BATTLE AT THE SMITHSONIAN- I don't care how creative you are with your charcters and how many big time actors you can get to work for you, if you don't have a good script, your movie will suck. I could tell what was going to happen in the end, within the first 20 minutes of the movie. What fun is that when watching this? Amy Adams was really good as Amelia Earhart, but nothing else was good about this sequel.


LAND OF THE LOST- Runner up for biggest disappointment. I hadn't seen a lot of Will Ferrell in 2009, so I was hoping for something good from him. At times, this movie was as funny as advertised, but when it wasn't, the movie stunk. There was much room for improvement, and hopefully they saw that so something like this doesn't happen again.


YEAR ONE- Not that funny. I feel like showing the trailers and TV spots for this movie killed it once it was actually released in theatres. I thought at first that I didn't like it because I had such high hopes for a Jack Black/Michael Cera comedy combo, but when I saw it for a second time, I realized that this couldn't be taken seriously as a movie, because of the horrible job of story telling it had.


BRUNO- This movie was flat out stupid. Don't even get my started on the first five minutes of it. I thought that kind of filmmaking was reserved for the adult section of video stores. I can not believe that the producers let this movie fly. It was just outright offensive, not like 'Borat' where Sacha Baron Cohen's character just played dumb. Huge let down for all the press this movie got.


G-FORCE- This movie makes me laugh at how bad it was. I think that the story was just a stretch itself. There's only so much you can do with secret agent guinea pigs. I'm actually impressed with how much they got out of it. The fact that it was in 3-D didn't help either. I'm sure it was a hit with the kids, but I guarantee you any age group outside of that probably hated it.


SHORTS- Oh no. I don't even know why I'm putting myself through typing about this. Worst movie of 2009. I hated this so much. It was like the director and every member of his cast are pulling a prank on the viewer, making us think that this is an actual movie. Everything about this movie is annoying. If you have kids that are jacked up on sugar, they'll love it, because that's how unfocused and frenetic this movie is. Garbage, in my opinion.


JENNIFER'S BODY- Runner-up to garbage movie of the year. Yeah people went and saw it for Megan Fox, but I hope that when they saw it they saw just an abismal movie. A girl that feasts on men to stay alive? Really? That's what you came up with? Yikes.


2012- The end of the world movie that I'm sure nobody was anticipating. What's that? They've made like 5 of these movies before? About end of the world events? This one will be better, right? At 158 minutes, 130 of them being pure action and destruction, this would probably be the biggest waste of your money you could spend on a movie in 2009.

Best of 2009

Although it is almost time to ring in the bell for the new year, I'd like to take a moment and look back to what has happened in the movies over this last year. There have been some duds (we'll get to that a little later), but there have also been some very bright spots. I'd like to dedicate this article to those movies that stood above the rest. Disclaimer: these are only selected from the list of movies that I have seen the whole way through, there are handfuls of hidden gems that could be discussed. Nevertheless, here is the list, in no particular order, for best movies of 2009.

SIN NOMBRE- This is the story of two very different paths crossing, but striving for the same goal. On one path is a honduran teenage girl named Sayra. Sayra and her family are taking the opportunity while it lasts to essentially 'train-hop' to the United States. On her journey she comes across El Casper, a member of the MS-13 gang. He has realized how violent his lifestyle has become, and he is looking for a way out. This doesn't make the gang happy, so they decide to kill him for leaving. Now Sayra and El Casper are running away from their old lives and hoping to reach their dream. The United States and a brand new start.


GOODBYE SOLO-This is the story of two unlikely people meeting, and how it changes both their lives forever. It is also the story of one man's life winding up, while one's is just starting. A newly immigrated man from Senegal, named Solo, gets a job as a cab driver. One of his passengers, William, asks Solo to take him up to a very specific mountain and to not pick him up. Solo then takes it upon himself to find out why, and the journey that these two men end up taking is one that could be celebrated during Oscar season.


STAR TREK- The first 'blockbuster' of the year, 'Star Trek' was down right awesome. The ever-so-familiar story of Captain Kirk and Spock and the rest of the crew is rewound all the way to the very beginnning of their reign. Led by newcomers Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, this will surely set up a new Star Trek dynasty, and bring in a whole new generation just like the last ones did.


RUDO Y CURSI- This is the story of two brothers experiencing the dream of professional soccer in Mexico together at the same time. They both go through their trials and tribulations, and their careers eventually are on the line due to their shortcomings. If you don't mind reading subtitles the whole time, then this is a must see.


THE HANGOVER- This was the biggest hit of the summer. A hilarious comedy about having one hell of a night in Vegas in celebration of a bachelor party, and then not remembering one thing the next day; all on top of losing the groom in the course of the night/morning. A really funny twist on the mystery genre. If you have not seen this movie yet, do it immediately.


THE HURT LOCKER- Hands down my favorite movie of the year. This is the most tense and on-edge you will ever feel at a movie. A story about the difficulties and stresses of being on a bomb-defusing unit out in Iraq, this movie is flawless in almost every single way, and will surely need a few hands to hold all the Oscars it could recieve.


(500) DAYS OF SUMMER- The best romantic comedy in the last five years. It is so fresh in the way the story is told, that it is an automatic easy-to-watch film. The chemistry between leads Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt will have you trying to relate this to any past relationships you've had, thus proving that this is one of the more authentic and refreshing comedies in a while.


THE COVE- This thrilling documentary about to secretive killing of dolphins in Japan will surely bring a few Oscars home. The thing that is most fun to watch in this film is that the film crew wasn't allowed to get their shots the way they wanted, so they had to do everything secretly; whether it be hidden cameras in trees or underwater, or shooting things at ridculous hours in the morning just to have something substantial. The results of what they ended up getting are incredible and shocking.


ZOMBIELAND- You can thank lead actor Jessee Eisenberg for getting this one on the list. It's not a tremendous movie by any means, but his comedic timing had me laughing throughout. Also, something about swarming zombies and an amusement park in the final act just worked for me.


PRECIOUS- Wow. This movie was phenominal. Held together by very strong acting, this movie (based on the novel by Sapphire) will have you holding back tears for longer than you could imagine. You will not be more touched by a movie this year.


FANTASTIC MR. FOX-Shot in stop-motion animation, this quick-witted, hilarious, and creative comedy will be a hit with every generation. Voiced by George Clooney, Meryl Streep, and Bill Murray, 'Mr. Fox' will be one that you'll have to look for on DVD.


UP IN THE AIR- Never have I watched a movie that was more relevant to the times we are in than this one. Lead by George Clooney, this movie about recession and how people deal with losing jobs in tough times is very well choreographed by director Jason Reitman. It went along pretty slowly, but I enjoyed every minute I had my eyes on that screen.


INVICTUS- If you are looking for that pick-me-up or that inspirational boost, this is the movie to see. A true story about the presidency of Nelson Mandela in South Africa and his relationship with national rugby team, Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon deliver and then some on this sure to be Oscar winner.


AVATAR- This is undoubtedly the most hyped up movie of the year. Directed by James Cameron, who won an Oscar for 'Titanic', and hasn't made a movie until this one, delivers on every level. The movie is highly regarded for it's visual effects, which are absolutely incredible. However, the story itself holds its ground, all in all making a very wortwhile movie; one that everyone that loves movies should go out and see.

Invictus

As of December 11th, viewers have been able to see the movie that may take home a handful of Oscars, 'Invictus'. This is the story of two people bring others together. The first story is of Nelson Mandela and his time as President of South Africa. Up until this point in his life, Mandela was imprisoned for about 30 years, because of his anti-apartheid stance. As they show in the movie, Mandela's cell had a single wooden chair in the middle of the room, with a blanket and possibly a thin cot on the floor, accompanied with a pillow. Think about that. 30 years of that kind of life? How he endured it I don't know.

Anyways, after his release on February 11, 1990 he decided to run for President of South Africa. On May 10, 1994, with 62 percent of the vote, Mandela became the first black president of South Africa. Obviously this wasn't warmly recieved by everyone, because there was a ton of racial tension still amgongst the South Africans. Mandela preached that reconciliation would be the necessary step to uniting the country again. The other story of reconciliation is with the South African rugby team, the Springboks. They are in a current slump, much to the shagrin of the country. Racial seperation is shown in their first match the viewer sees, when a man explains to Mandela that the whites are cheering for the Springboks, while the blacks are cheering for England. The reason why they don't cheer for their Springboks, is because it reminds them of the Apartheid and all that happened to them during that time. Mandela than gets news that the Rugby World Cup, hosted in South Africa, is only a year away. He then sends out an invitation for the captain of the Springboks, Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) to have tea with him. During their meeting, a message is given to Damon that he will have to rally the Springboks, and win over the black portion of South Africa, thus uniting the nation behind their World Cup run.

This is one of the more inspiring movies I've seen in a while. Morgan Freeman as Mandela and Matt Damon as Pienaar will probably be heavy favorites for Best Actor and Supporting Actor respectively. To me this movie shows what the human spirit is capable of. Not many people, after being in prison for 30 years, would do what Mandela did. He did not show any anger, but yet compassion for the same people that threw him in jail. So, if you're looking for that pick-me-up during this dreary winter session, go out and see this; you can't help but feel good after it.

Rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9Ovkye6lac

The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Those of you who are fans of the Cartoon Network show 'Robot Chicken' are probably familiar with the stop-motion technique of animation. What stop-motion does in animation is that it takes a physically manipulated object, and makes it appear as if it is moving on it's own. The object is moved slowly in a frame-by-frame sequence, giving it the illusion that the object is actually moving by itself. Clay figures are usually used to do this, because they can be easily repositioned. So why am I telling you all of this? Because 'The Fantastic Mr. Fox' is one hundred percent stop-motion animation. The difference between this film and most of it's kind is that they used animals, not just clay figures. I seriously thought this was a joke when I saw the trailer for the first time, but the more I read up on it, the more amazed I was at the process. Then, after sitting through a brief 87 minutes of this new animation, I was astounded. It was awesome.


Lead by Academy Award winners George Clooney and Meryl Streep, 'The Fantastic Mr. Fox' is about battle between good and evil, good being represented by Mr. Fox and company, and bad being represented by the three bad farmers: Boggis, Bunce, and Bean. It starts with Felicity (Mrs. Fox) telling her husband that she is pregnant and wants them to stop robbing farmers of their produce and instead get real jobs. When Mr. Fox realizes that he doesn't have a whole lot of 'fox years' left, he makes a bold move and moves into a house in a tree. This is not a wise move according to his lawyer, Badger (Bill Murray), because it is right across the field from the three farmers' respective houses. Two years go by and nothing really is keeping Fox's interest anymore, so he decides to go and rob each of the farmer's house of produce, whether it be duck, chicken, or alocholic cider. Once the farmers find out what Fox has done, they plan an attack on him. Their first attempt fails, but it sends the message. Now Fox and his family are stuck, with nowhere really to go. The following sequence of events all work well together and turn out to make a pretty watchable wild goose chase.


This movie may be a little rough on the eyes, because of the choppiness of stop-motion, but it's so revolutionary that it didn't even matter. I personally would never expect to see a movie made like this because it seems like such a foolish way to be shot, but I was wrong. It's incredible. This adaptation of the popular children's book of the same name is a crowd-pleaser; child, teen, or adult. There's something to be said about how different people's visions can be when they make a movie, but when it is this enjoyable, it doesn't really matter how you make it.


Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
Trailer:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2igjYFojUo