John Carter

Well, I went to see John Carter last night and I thought it was great! A fun and thrilling adventure on Barsoom. The critics panned the movie and Disney says they will lose $200 million by March 31st...what the hell happened. We were 4 people in the theater for a 9:30PM show. All the while, people were lining up for the Hunger Games!!!

I feel the same way about John Carter as I did for Conan The Barbarian. Classic adventure stories that flopped at the movies for whatever reason. Star Wars had many flaws but it was a smash success. So what is Conan, John Carter and Green Lantern had flaws as well, at least it gave us the most important thing that a movie can give us...escapism!!!

If my words convince at least 1 person to go see any of the 3 movies just mentioned, then I will feel great. I had great fun watching them and will now look into reading the Barsoom series to compare the movie version of John Carter to the pulp fiction version.

Movie Review: Bridesmaids

Last night, my wife and I watched Bridesmaids on TV. Everyone had spoke highly of the movie since its release and we really enjoyed it. Some of the scenes were absolutely hysterical (especially the bridal shop scene). It did remind me of what happens when friends get older and when our lives adapt to new experiences like marriage and the consequences to the non-married people. Having kids also does this.

My Top 5 Superhero Movies

I saw Green Lantern this week and the reviews were mostly bad. I liked it. It is not my favorite superhero movie nor is it the best but as long as you have fun watching it, that's what matters.

My top 5 all time is this (listed chronologically):

• Superman with Christopher Reeve
• Batman with Michael Keaton
• Batman Begins with Christian Bale
• Iron Man with Robert Downey Jr.
• The Dark Knight with Christian Bale

These movies were well written, well directed and had a great cast. Obvious things to have a great movie. Thor and Green Lantern (the 2011 movies) have been lauded by fans as awful, crappy, unworthy films. GET A LIFE!!! These movies aren't Gone With The Wind or The Godfather. They are over the top characters that exemplify aspects of the human condition (Thor is arrogant and Green Lantern must overcome fear).

Green Lantern

The reviews were bad for the most part but I liked it. It is NOT as good as many other superhero movies but it was still a fun movie to watch. The special effects were cool and hopefully, the 3D version added to the fun.

The crappy reviews and the way the movie was lauded by the press do not detract from learning about Green Lantern, a 2nd tier superhero. While not as well known as Batman, Superman and Spider-man, he is still part of the DC mythos and Ryan Reynolds did a good job of playing a selfish, brash thrill seeker who realizes that his greatest ability (Hal Jordan's) is to be able to overcome fear and use his willpower in a way that the Green Lantern Corps has never seen.

The Hangover Part 2

This afternoon, I dropped by the movie theater and watched The Hangover Part 2. A great funny movie!!! What made both movies great to me is the depth of the mystery about what happened that crazy night and the cast of characters.

I was puzzled as to the choice for the cameo. I won't spoil it for anyone but I was left puzzled. I laughed of course all the way through.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

On Tuesday night, I got the chance to see the new Jack Sparrow adventure. I have not seen the 3rd installment but the 4th one is very good. Johnny Depp is a great actor and has the best role. He nails a complex funny character with such ease. The supporting cast is very good as well.

On Wikipedia, the synopsis makes it sound like a sequel to the 4th movie. I felt (without seeing the 3rd one) that is felt like a prequel. I will try to see watch the entire trilogy this summer and formulate a better theory.

All in all, a great summer movie!

X-Men: First Class

I saw X-Men: First Class last night with my wife. We have enjoyed watching the previous 4 movies and we looking forward to this one. We thought it was GREAT!!! The dynamic between Charles and Erik was so well done. The story was great and there were 2 fun cameos as well. The only bad thing I can say is that there is no secret scene at the end of the credits.

Check it out!

The Social Network

My wife and I watched The Social Network on TV on Sunday night. It was a very interesting movie. I know it won some awards a few months back. The story of the creation of Facebook and its creators was very enlightening. I don't know how accurate the characters are to the real people, but if so, Mark Zuckerberg and Sean Parker are 2 of the biggest assholes in the world or at least they were.

I would highly recommend it to anyone who has heard of Facebook.

Red

I got the chance to see Bruce Willis in Red on Saturday night. I was really surprised by how good this action-comedy was. The characters were great. The plot was intriguing and overall it had a great 2 hours watching it. I have to say that I have enjoyed watching pretty much everything Bruce has done over the last 30 years. Hope he continues for a long time.

Project 5: Movies I want to see this summer

Well, I went to see Thor this weekend and I liked it. The visuals of the movie were great, especially those of Asgard (home of Thor) and the land of the Frost Giants. I was a little disappointed by the writing in some spots. The movie was co-written by J. Michael Straczynski of Babylon 5 fame. He wrote several Thor comic books and knows the material. Yet, I feel his last few writing projects (Wonder Woman, the last Babylon 5 movie and Thor) are weaker than his work in the 90's.

Still, it is a COOL movie and don't leave until the secret scene at the END of the credits!


Other upcoming movies I would like to see this summer are:

• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
• The Hangover Part 2
• X-Men: First Class
• Green Lantern
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon
• Captain America: The First Avenger
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
  
• Cowboys and Aliens
• Conan The Barbarian

Project 4 - Movies I've seen in 2011: Part 4

Hello again! Here is the review for the worst movie I've seen this year: The Expendables. This movie had promise based on the amount of testosterone that the cast brought to the project: stallone, Statham, Li, Lundgren, Willis, Schwarzenegger. A true collection of action stars from the 80's, 90's and 2000's. However... it REAKED!!! The story is soooooooooooo bad. The acting is sooooooooooooooo bad and the person who speaks the most understandable english is JET LI and he was born in China!!!

My friend Simon, who is a semi-professional screenwriter and director, loved The Expendables and did not like The Green Hornet. We are SORELY at odds when it comes to those movies. To each his own...

Project 4: Movies I've seen in 2011 - Part 3

Today's movie review is for the Ridley Scott - Russell Crow version of Robin Hood. The reviews weren't that great when it came out in theatres. Movie critics and fans seemed to poo-poo on it. It was on TV on a Saturday night and my wife and I watched it for kicks. We felt is was very good with some nice twists.

Everything about the movie was believable. The Kevin Costner version was great but was a Hollywood movie. This one is a British version. Which is better? They both have their merits and faults. Have Scott and Crow worked on too many movies for people to start snubbing them? Time will tell.

If you want a good action movie with British accents, give it a try.

Project 4: Movies I've seen in 2011 - Part 2

Here is another movie I saw. The coolest movie (very funny as well) was The Green Hornet. I saw it on my birthday in 3D and I was very impressed by the 3D effects as well as the story. Great laughs from Christoph Waltz, Seth Rogen and Jay Chou.

Seth Rogen can seem like a big loud-mouth in most of his movies, but you can deny his writing ability in all the films he contributed to. I hope they do a sequel to this one.

Project 4: Movies I've seen in 2011

This week, I will post some reviews of movies I've seen this year ahead of the blockbuster season that starts this Friday with Thor!

Let's start today with Get Him To The Greek. This is the funniest movie I saw in the last 6 months. It was a SCREAM!!! Russell Brand and Jonah Hill have great chemistry together. The story is great and Sean Combs is a riot all through the movie.

Well worth the rental price!

The A-Team

I saw The A-Team movie on June 16th. I thought it ROCKED!!! Very true to the original show. The new actors step into the archetypes very well. It's a shame the reviews weren't that great.

Iron Man 2

I went to see my first movie in a while last Thursday, Iron Man 2. I loved the first one and the second is great as well. A sequel will always be different from the original since the overall story must progress. Robert Downey Jr. was again fantastic and the entire cast was great as well.

I was disappointed by 2 things: no Iron Man song by Black Sabbath and a BLATANT error in the end credits before the secret scene.

What was the error? Towards the end of the credits, the song credits appear and one of my all-time songs appears, "Highway to Hell" by AC/DC. The credit lists the song as being written by the Young brothers and Brian Johnson. Brian Johnson was not with the group yet when the song was written by Angus young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott in 1979.

Weekend Movies

My wife and I had the chance this past weekend to watch both Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Star Trek. While the FF movie was good, it was not as good as the first one. Star Trek was a great once again to watch. I am disappointed in the lack of deleted scenes on the 1-disc DVD version. I am looking forward to seeing the Blu-Ray version one day...

G.I. Joe : The Rise of Cobra

I went to see the new G.I. Joe movie on Sunday night. It was a blast! This is not an award-winner but a lot of fun! The action was great. The story was believable. A few threads were left open for possible sequels... Well worth the money.

Ice Age 3

I went with my family to see Ice Age 3 last weekend. It was a great movie. something for kids and something for adults. I highly recommend it to all.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

I got the chance to see the new Transformers movie last week while on vacation and really liked it. I still haven't watched the entire first movie, but I was able to understand the basic story.

Great special effects!