Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011)

Dinner for Schmucks (2010)

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

Moneyball (2011)

Ides of March (2011)

Phenomenon (1996)

This came on TMN, so I sat down to watch it. In a lot of ways, this is what Limitless should have been: a story about unlocked potential and the emotional consequences of that potential. It's so well played here, maybe Limitless had to completely diverge in order to establish it's own path.

It's funny that in 1996 this movie pushed the idea of green energy (solar panels, etc) yet today those technologies still haven't been established in a widespread fashion. Being a bit of a treehugger, I liked seeing those references.

All of the main characters here were captivating, and had great chemistry together. Kyra Sedgwick really brought this home for me.

X-Men: First Class (2011)

I've pretty much liked all of the X-Men movies, and as an origins story, X-Men: First Class does a great job.

January Jones has been added to my short list of infatuations (along with Rachael McAdams and Amy Adams), and she was great here, both from a sexual presence standpoint, as well as being able to hold the character. I've been meaning to check out Mad Men for sometime, and am more inspired to now.

McAvoy and Fassbender kept me engaged throughout. In a lot of ways, I'd almost say this came across similar to Batman Begins, wherein we get a seedier more down-to-earth telling of the mutant world, especially with Fassbender and all of the Nazi background. You really get to see where his anger comes from.

Thor (2011)

Chris Hemsworth played George Kirk in Star Trek (2009) and to me his performance felt forced and stiff. In that role, he had a familiar quality to me, and searching IMDB and Google, I can't seem to find any performance that I would have seen him in. I did find a quick note from someone saying that Hemsworth reminded them of a young Nick Nolte, so I'll go with that for now.

In Thor, Hemsworth didn't feel stiff nor contrived, he felt right at home. In a lot of ways, his Austrailian roots showed through, in so far as he kept reminding me of Heath Ledger. Not a bad thing, but if he can't separate himself from Ledger a bit, it might be hard for people to accept his acting for what it is, rather than compare him to Heath.

Natalie Portman was great in this. She compellingly portrayed a driven scientist who's spent her life researching atmospheric phenomena, yet she digs deep into her vulnerable side to become the girl smitten by a new love interest, and contrasts it all with some sass when she looks upon a transform Thor and says "Is this how you normally look?" To his affirmative response, she says "I like it!" There's attitude in the delivery, and she really pulls it off.

There were no real surprises in the plot points, but the movie pulled you along with a great pace, and even better special effects. Asgard strikes us as a completely fantastic place, but never looks out-of-place.

The cast, padded with a few well-known stars, namely Russo and Hopkins, gave performances that were real yet fantastic, and through it all never felt over-the-top. I think there was a very real risk of these performances going over-the-top given the source material, and we can see this in other films like the Stephen Lang's performance in Avatar which to me was very overdone and cardboard like. Lang could have made the Colonel's performance more like R. Lee Ermey's Sargent Hartman from Full Metal Jacket who had a lot more realism and believability (mind you, he was a retired Sargent). I can't help but wonder if Tim Colceri, who was originally cast to play Sargent Hartman, would have delivered a performance similar to Lang's had he maintained the role.

One of the aspects of Thor that I didn't fully expect was how inspirational it was. Natalie delivered passion, and you always felt like she was striving towards something, and that left me with the verve to go and do something great. Not many super-hero movies leave me feeling that way, as they're often too far fetched, which speaks to the well-grounded nature of Thor.

Just Go With It (2011)

On Valentine's Day, we try to go see a movie. Our first Valentine's Day was Message in a Bottle, the others since were a mixed bag of romance, romantic comedies, and other flicks too. In recent years I've been trying to put a push on seeing the romance movie of the year, or at least a romance movie. Recently, it was He's Just Not That Into You (2009), which I didn't get a feel for at first blush, but has grown on me since. Then it was Valentine's Day (2010), which I can give or take. This year, it was a toss up between Just Go With It (2011) and No Strings Attached (2011). I read reviews in each, and both left me feeling lukewarm. In the end I figured I'd enjoy Ashton Kutcher a bit more than Adam Sandler... ultimately I made the right decision, but that's not because Just Go With It isn't a great movie.

This Devlin is great--if you pardon the movie reference. :) If you liked 50 First Dates (2004) then you'll definately like this. From the reviews and the trailers I sort of expected there to be this brother-sister sort of banter between Jennifer and Adam, but that was only in the scene from the trailer. Instead, the movie opens and you forget about the plot for a bit, feeling an instant connection to Jennifer and Adam's characters, not to mention their chemistry together. All throughout the film you feel this, and it really pays off.

Adam's love interest is supposedly the main attraction, yet the camera doesn't love her as much as it loves Jennifer here, despite the age disparity, in almost every way the filmmakers have made Jennifer Aniston the love interest of not only Adam's character, but of the viewer too. For the guys out there, there's a great bikini scene where Brooklyn dives into the water, meanders under a waterfall, etc., then 5 minutes later the Jennifer's on camera diving in the water too. The difference is that there's a lot of focus on Jennifer, and I'm pretty sure the camera is zoomed in a lot tighter to her body. Maybe they air brushed the scenes some, but she comes off looking far more attractive than Brooklyn.

I believe Jennifer Aniston recently made a public statement that she was going to start avoiding the low-budget fare her post-Friends acting character has generally followed to date, and if that's true, she's done well with this one. Here we have the Rachel we all knew and loved back in the 90s, except she's mature, filled with character and a knock out. If Jennifer can find a few more to follow suit--if you pardon the half-pun--I think she's on the right track. Wanderlust (2011) might be a nice continuation of this.

Last but not least, Orson Scott Card has written a review of Adam Sandler's more serious movies like 50 First Dates, and specifically this movie. In it he talks about the regular interjection of the comedic style Adam's known for. While I agreed with Orson's review at the time I read it, after seeing this film I think it works. If you don't like Adam's style, don't watch his movies. Granted, Adam's foray into more serious roles has not mimicked actors such as Jim Carrey or Steve Carell, but everybody has to find their own way, and I, for one, appreciate Adam's more recent acting roles.

Source Code (2011)

Excellent film! This has all the moral conflict and story development that I really enjoy, and it involved quantum mechanics to boot!

In the previews, you're told that he's got eight minutes to find a bomb on a train. Knowing this, I was really worried that all 95 minutes were going to be tied up with the different ways in which he tries to find the bomb. The filmmakers didn't do this, they mixed it up well, really well. The combination of the obvious conflicts that arise, and some moral ambiguity really kept me interested right through to the end.

Perhaps my thought patterns run a bit different, but while the main character was communicating with command, I couldn't help but think 'hey, you can communicate with the outside world... what's the big deal? Why don't you just make do with the situation?' And I still hold true to having those thoughts earlier in the film, but ultimately it's the character's plight, his joie de vivre that makes the climax what it is, and satisfies the ending. He wasn't just doing his job, he was more than a cog in the wheel... he saved the world, and got the girl.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

One third of a century into the future, what will life be like? How will where we came from affect where we're going? Will our inventions rule us, or will we rule our inventions? How will it all end?

I'm a noted Kubrick fan... I've loved Full Metal Jacket--without a word of lie--since I was 8 years old. Yes, a bit early, but c'est la vie! I've tried to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey a few times, and maybe it's just my sleep apnea, but each time I would fall asleep shortly after we got into space. Today, I was determined to watch it, and I swear the combination of beautiful scenery and spectacular classical music still threatened to make me fall asleep, but I endured, and was rewarded for it.

2001 is as trippy as any modern day science fiction movie you'll find--there is a whole segment at the end I plan to rewatch again and again, and can only hope to dream about. Despite the clearly 1960s style "high tech" they were using, the film has aged extremely well. This is an adventure, but it's not easy. I'm confident the concepts Kubrick left me with will ruminate for some time to come, but I feel challenged to consider them further.

Is this movie for you? I'm not sure. This is a fantastic display of imagination, but you have to stay the course in order to get the full experience. Kubrick fans will love it, and most already do. If you haven't seen it, grab a coffee (or a few) and sit down, it's worth the ride.

The Man from Earth (2007)

Five minutes into the movie my finger hovered over the STOP button...

Then I gave it a few more minutes, and once the premise was set, I was hooked, line and sinker too!

A 14,000 year old man who originated in neanderthal times? This is science fiction mixed with my interest in neanderthals which was inspired by Robert J. Sawyer's Neanderthal Parallax trilogy. Love it!

If you're deterred by dialogue rich films, stick with it, there's depth here, and it's worth the ride.

TRON: Legacy (2010)

For me, TRON: Legacy is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time!

The opening scene shows an actor with a similar hair-style to Jeff Bridges (at least, 1982 Jeff Bridges). At first I just figured we'd only see the back of Jeff... then as the scene progressed, it became evident to me that it was a digital character! WOW... neat! I kept watching, expecting to never see the digital face, but we did! So then I figured that was that, and they wouldn't risk using such a new technology throughout the whole film, and yet they do! I was impressed, and will be for some time.

Some things rubbed me a little weird, like the current-day Jeff Bridges' constant use of 1980s style 'man' and 'dude'. It kind of works, but also seems misplaced.

Morning Glory (2010)

The first thing that struck me about this movie was the composition of the opening scenes... but in my experience, this seems to be a recurring attribute of films set in New York, they always look spectacular.

Composing scenes is one thing, but here the writers and directors took a bunch of really good actors, added a few great actors--really great actors--and put them in roles that they probably couldn't play at any other time in their lives. Diane gives us an almost-drama-queen performance. Harrison--and for awhile I thought he wasn't acting, especially after seeing him with George Stroumboulopoulos--almost acted uncomfortable in front of the camera. Then there's Rachel, whom I adore and who plays the role of up-and-coming executive producer with ease.

Take any of these three actors out, or change their age and experience just a little bit, and I don't think this movie would have the magic it does. There were times when I was watching Rachel rabble on awkwardly and it become hard to tell if she was acting. I'm sure you've heard people talk about various performers and say that they make it look easy--well Rachel sure makes it look easy here, and you can't help but fall head over heels for her while she's doing it.

It's endearing, absolutely hilarious and is worth waking up for.

Inside Job (2010)

WOW. Watching a documentary within such a short period of time of the subject matter is crazy. The argument is very compelling, and you should watch it to get a perspective on what happened to make the most recent recession come about.

From a filmmaking perspective, they did an excellent job of piecing everything together, keeping it graphically rich, and they included a great sound track. If more documentaries can pull this sort of filmmaking off, there's cause to believe today's children (including my own) might start watching documentaries like this to expand their worldview.

Having recently participated in a petition that seems to be gaining some ground, I found the political implications and discussion surrounding financial regulation fascinating.

Last, but not least, I really enjoyed this quote when discussing the use of drugs and prostitution by bank managers:

Neuroscientists have done experiements where they've taken individuals and put them into an MRI machine and they have them play a game where the prize is money. And they notice that when the subjects earn money, the part of the brain that gets stimulated is the same part that cocaine stimulates. -- Andrew Low, Professor & Director, MIT Laboratory for Financial Engineering

The Kids Are Alright (2010)

When searching for a term to describe it, I settled on 'authentic.' The portrayal is a nuclear family filled with non-standard roles, save the kids who portray fairly typical teenagers.

The climax of the movie gave a glimpse of how the family could have grown to accommodate another member and grow in a different direction, yet the conclusion has the family remain true to itself. It was funny without using a single punchline. You really should see this movie.

When You're Strange (2010)

As mind-blowing as is The Doors' music, this documentary takes you on tour with them, from starting their fire right through to their flame out.

My favourite quote: "Morrison is both innocent and profane, he's a rock and roll poet."

Burlesque (2010)

This is live performance entertainment brought to the small screen! Really, it is! Look, the plot might be predictable, and the movie might remind you of others (Coyote Ugly, Moulin Rouge), but the movie has undeniable charisma. It's sexy, has spectacular music, and exceptional performances! If you want high drama, get off the stage! If you want great entertainment, admission is worth it! I'm really looking forward to the DVD/Blu-ray extras, especially the 'alternate full musical performances'.

The Company Men (2010)

I loved it! I enjoy corporate drama and think there should be a whole subset of films geared toward this (similar to courtroom drama). This movie delivered. Tommy Lee Jones' evolution through the film was great. Characters stagnated as they should have, grew when they needed to and delivered an engrossing film of boom and bust only to raise a beam and start building it all over again.

Junebug (2005)

I've had a growing love affair with Amy Adams for awhile now, and I've always enjoyed a great low-budget film. Amy and Junebug delivered, not to mention the art too--which I really enjoyed. It was funny, but not hilarious, charming but not gaudy and real but not tacky.