After the hype coming out of the first nationwide screenings of Avengers last week, I started to get worried - would the movie end up being over-hyped? Would it be as good as it seemed like it would be due to the buzz those screenings generated? Tonight, I found out what the hype was about.
(No spoilers...) The Avengers is a very enjoyable action hero movie. It's very good, but isn't great, and I was really hoping for great.
The action scenes are sweet and the comedy is there. Hell, I never knew Hulk could be so funny! The weak points in the movies are the plot (plot? action hero movies need these? ) and the villains.
Surprisingly, for me at least, the movie does a good job of featuring all of the Avengers. I had feared that there wouldn't be balance, but there definitely was!
If you're an Avengers fan, even if you're a HUGE Avengers fan, do not waste the money to see it in 3D. I'd only do that if you were given the sweet Avengers themed glasses at your theatre (I ended up w/ Thor glasses at the screening I attended), but it's definitely not worth the extra price just for the 3D.
In summary, The Avengers is a fun summer popcorn movie. It's very good...it's just not epic, IMHO.
On another note, The Five Year Engagement surprised the hell out of me. The first time I ever saw Jason Segel on tv or in the movies was in The Muppets. I was extremely impressed by his writing for that movie, and his performance in the movie wasn't bad either. I didn't realize that he had also co-written The Five Year Engagement, but he in fact did, and yet again, he did a damn nice job w/ it.
The Five Year engagement is a 2 hour comedy that has its laughs scattered throughout the film. Both lead actors do a nice job w/ the material and, and surprisingly, have pretty good chemistry.
If you like comedies, I'd definitely recommend this movie. Now, after these 2 Jason Segel movies, I need to go back and see Forgetting Sarah Marshall to see if it's as good as his last 2 movies. This guy definitely knows his comedy!
No one gave their opinion on Dark Knight Rises? That's weird. I guess I won't either, then. Instead, let's talk about...
Killer Joe: I had never seen an NC-17 rated movie in the theatre previously to seeing Killer Joe. For those of you old enough, you should definitely make this your first NC-17 movie if you also had never seen one at your local cinema.
This movie is about a bunch of idiotic red necks, a killer for hire, and chicken. It surprised me in that it turned out to be a very funny dark comedy. Following up on his terrific role in Lincoln Lawyer, Matthew McConaughey puts in another awesome performance as Killer Joe. Despite it being a bit slow in parts, and despite the fact that it will offend many people that see it, I highly recommend that you go out of your way to see it, that is, unless you're under 17, in which case, you'll have to wait!
Pitch Perfect: I didn't think I'd like this movie going into it (seriously, a comedy/musical about A Capella groups?), but it turns out my expectations were completely wrong. Starring Anna Kendrick, this movie was quite little comedy that kept on delivering laughs. This movie, about an A Cappella group trying to win competition after competition, delivers really good performances from all of its young cast. Rebel Wilson, portraying Fat Amy, steals the movie.
If you want to see this movie, you're going to have to wait another few months as it doesn't come out until October...which is ok, as that's only a month or so away from snow angel season...and what do snow angels have to do w/ the movie? See it and find out, and truly, you'll never think of the motion people make when making snow angels again in the same way.
John Carter (219) - My review in 1 sentence: The movie was more exciting on Earth
Project X (234) Ummm... SFGAmWorld needs to step it up for the next Great America Meetup. You guys need to destroy Great America
A Thousand Words (233) So much bad. It feels like Eddie Murphy's "Click" and if you've seen both films, You''ll know what I'm talking about. Not to mention It's blatantly outdated (There a flip-phone, A Michael Jackson joke, and the highest paid celebrity: Miley Cyrus)
Diary Of A Mad Black Woman (232) The Funniest Tyler Perry thing. I wish I could re-enact scenes from the film to people who've ticked me off
Wanderlust (227) Everything about a Comedy... Without anything funny. Just hippies doing nothing for 90 minutes
I just got back from an early screening of "End of Watch..."
Wow..wow..just..WOW! This movie runs you through the gamete of every emotion that you have ever experienced while watching a movie. It's definitely the most intense movie I can remember seeing in a LONG time.
The movie really keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire feature. The acting is superb and the shaky came is only annoying once or twice during the movie.
I can't recommend this movie enough. Support good cinema and see this film!
I just saw an old movie again, and I just wanted to comment on one HUGE plot hole in this movie. It's the famous Jaws movie. This movie is great, but the biggest thing I didn't like was that when they were going after
Jaws **SPOILER ALERT**, they were just harpooning him, and attaching barrels to him. At the end of the movie, all of a sudden the guy has a gun, and he just blows up the gas tanks that are in Jaws mouth. If they had a gun all this time, why didn't they just shoot Jaws all along instead of harpooning him?
---------- Also, seen Despicable Me 2 recently, and I really enjoyed that movie. Those yellow Minions say or do so many funny things. They really remind of the Toy Story aliens - the way they talk. It might not have had the greatest plot, but it didn't matter because of those minions. It was funny with the one minion, and how he had the glass of something on his head the entire movie.
"I've been staring at the world, waiting. All the trouble and all the pain we're facing. Too much light to be livin' in the dark. Why waste time? We only got one life. Together we can be the CHANGE. So go and let your heart burn bright"
Percy Jackson 2, Not perfect but still better than Deathy Hallows Pt. 1 and way more plausable than Die Hard 5
Die Hard 5. John McClane goes to Russia to meet his son and stuff happens. It makes it seem like I'm not spoiling a plot but to be honest, There is no plot. What do you expect from the Director of Behind Enemy Lines, The Remake of Flight of the Phoenix, The Remake of the Omen, and the Film Max Payne!
I forgot about this thread! I guess I'll add some quick comments of movies I've seen of late...
Just saw Don Jon last night w/ write, director, and star of the movie, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, in attendance for post screening Q&A.
Considering it's JGL's first ever script and it's his directorial debut, this movie far exceeded my expectations! A movie about relationships and an addition to porn, this movie works well in how it displays the pitfalls and triumphs of relationships between men and women. The flick also had a much more humor in it than I expected. I'd recommend it!
You're Next - Pretty good humorous home-invasion movie. Another recommendation!
Paranoia - Ugh. Such a talented cast wasted in such a dumb story. If you absolutely MUST see it, rent if on bluray/dvd.
The World's End - Brits rule! Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright unite to complete their trilogy in an action packed, comedic masterpiece. I saw it a month ago and hope to see it again soon!
Elysium: Skip! This movie is way too heavy headed with its social commentary.
Lee Daniels' The Butler - A well acted and directed drama featuring the true story of a black butler that worked in the White House for decades. This movie may possibly win some Oscars.
I pretty much could have written the above post. I've seen everything except The World's End and agree 100% with comments regarding the other movies listed. You're Next really caught me off guard, I liked it far more than I thought I would, and JGL surely did impress and exceed with his debut.
World War Z - I love me a good zombie flick, and for about 3/4 of the movie it delivers. The world goes to hell within the first 10 minutes, and Brad Pitt, who use to work for the UN is forced to help figure out how to stop the outbreak. There is a span midway through the movie that is pretty intense, but it's also at the end of these two sequences that the movie seems to slam on the breaks, and idol to the finish line. For a zombie flick, the remake of Dawn of the Dead is what I set as a standard of zombie movies at, and World War Z meets it about half way, only because the ending is so blah. As I say that, if Pitt, and company would have followed the excellent book by Mel Brooks son Max that this movie is "based" on, it would have been much, much better. Do yourself a favor, and read the book. It is nothing like the movie. First 3/4 of movie - B+ Last 1/4 - D
I know this isn't a movie, but the series finale of Breaking Bad... I don't think I can ad enough +'s at the end of A.
I guess I'll add a few more comments over a few movies I've seen over the past few weeks...
Delivery Man - If you can get ignore how unbelievable and silly the plot is, you may find this comedy quite charming.
Inside Llewyn Davis - Nothing beats watching a movie featuring someone who has misfortune after misfortune! This Coen brothers movie is probably their most melancholy yet.
Lone Survivor - Mark Wahlberg stars as one of four Navy Seals doing recon in Afghanistan. Based on a true story, this is a tough movie to watch as it does as good of a job as any movie could ever do in making you feel like you're in the fight of your life in a foreign land. I'd definitely recommend this feature, but please know going in that you're going to be watching a pretty brutal movie.
Transcendence - Can't say anything about this Johnny Depp feature - silly nondisclosure agreements! This one comes out in April and is definitely not your typical summer popcorn movie.
) and the villains. 
