Limitless: 1 star

*this will be a humorous review because this movie is awful

"A writer discovers a top-secret drug which bestows him with super human abilities." This is from IMDB and a horrible summary. I guess who ever updates IMDB didn't think this movie deserved the time it takes to write a proper summary. He doesn't discover it, someone he knows gives it to him. It doesn't' make him super human; that makes it sound like he can fly and shoot webs from his wrists. It just makes him smart, which last time I checked wasn't super human. However, the people involved in this film's production may think otherwise. 

Seriously, I went into this film with absolutely no expectations. I just wanted to have fun with it. I knew it wasn't Shawshank Redemption. I just wanted to turn my brain off and watch Bradley Cooper be cool. Unfortunately this film hurt my brain. I had to turn it off. That's right, please welcome Limitless to the very small group of films (three I think) that Patrick Mooney couldn't finish watching. I guess these days I just don't have the time to waste. I'm 30, I have things to do...like sit on the couch and watch anything but this. I gave Limitless one star instead of zero because it does have Bradley Cooper in it, and Bradley Cooper was in Wet Hot American Summer (which looks like Hamlet next to Limitless) therefore Limitless gets one star. 

One of the aspects of the film that was a huge turn off was it's treatment of women, or lack thereof. Limitless could be used to teach a college level film studies/media course on the treatment of women in modern society; specifically in media and film. If anyone still thinks women are now treated as equals and sexism is over then please watch this movie. Example: Eddie Mora's (Cooper) girlfriend breaks up with him at the start of the movie. Eddie is failing as a writer, doesn't take care of himself anymore and is a horrible boyfriend. He's no longer the man she fell in love with.  She delivers a very well thought out reason for her decision and they part amicably. Eddie obtains the magic pills and becomes smart and successful. He then bumps into his ex on the street and says some stuff that is really smart. He's also no longer dressed like a homeless person. She immediately (give or take a few hours) disrobes and has sex with him. Only after a few weeks does she realize that he still isn't the guy she fell in love with years ago. Oh, and prior to his ex, he met a few other women along the way who reacted the same way. Apparently you gals only care about suits and money and absolutely love New York club bathrooms; so romantic. I guess her previous reasoning for leaving him was a lie and she really only cared that he looked gross and had writers block (remember: he wasn't dumb, he just had writers block). 

Another turnoff was the direction. Director Neil Burger uses an absolutely nauseating effect to portray passage of time while Eddie is on the "medication". It's kind of hard to explain, but it's basically blocks and blocks of city streets collapsing into the 2D plane of the TV. It's meant to seem like you are travelling quickly down these streets, but since the images are coming towards you while you stay still it feels more like everything is collapsing into the viewers brain instead of the viewer moving forward. It's awful. Other than that, nothing really impressive to report artistically. 

Basically Limitless is a waste of your time. Unless you want to have an "objectifying women" drinking game I would stay away from this one.

Drive: 4 stars

A Hollywood stunt performer who moonlights as a wheel man discovers that a contract has been put on him after a heist gone wrong.

Drive is nothing like Fast and the Furious. Lets get that straight out of the way. Apparently I missed something in the advertising, but I'll assume more than one person thought that Drive was going to be a gear head action movie since the studio was sued by a woman who felt she was led astray by the trailers. When there was little to no dialogue for the first twenty minutes and an 80's synth soundtrack she probably realized The Driver (Ryan Gosling) wasn't going to be anything like Paul Walker. 

Drive is directed by Nicolas Winding Refn who brought us Valhalla Rising, Bronson and the Pusher series. While I haven't seen any of those films (except the first 10 minutes of Valhalla Rising) I certainly do know a little about them and that was enough to know Drive wasn't going to be what it seemed. No matter what impression the trailer left on me I figured I'd be in for a surprise; and what a giddy surprise it was. Drive is, simply put, an extremely badass art house flick. It's hard to call it action because the action is sparse and brief. It's not really a chase film because there are only a few. The best way to describe it is a modern and twisted Bullitt, but even that doesn't really work. Drive stands alone and while the story isn't that original the delivery of that story certainly is. 

Drive works well on many levels. It's beautifully shot, has solid acting (some great), gritty violence and a good story. However, what makes it excellent is the mysterious main character. The Driver is known as just that, or Kid as his boss Shannon (Bryan Cranston) calls him, and that's what he does; he drives. He is a stunt driver part time in movies, a mechanic at Shannon's body shop, and he moonlights as a nameless getaway driver whose rules you must abide by if you want to get away. He knows cars and can do anything behind the wheel. We don't know his name, where he came from, who his family is or how he got where he is; we just know he's been there a few years. It's this mystery that makes his actions so fascinating and we realize we're watching the origin story of a legend. Shannon has a business partner Bernie (a fantastic Albert Brooks) who agrees to front Shannon money to invest in a stock car that The Driver will drive (duh). Let's just say we get the impression that Bernie isn't a legitimate businessman. The Driver has a neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan) who cares for her young son while her husband is in jail. The Driver helps her out for a few weeks, bonds with her and her son and then her husband Standard gets out of jail. The story then kicks into full gear with The Driver agreeing to help Standard with a heist that goes wrong. It gets complicated, but as always I'll let you discover the important parts on your own. 

There are a few scenes that are there to simply illustrate that The Driver, while the hero of this story, is not a very nice man. We don't know much about him and we probably don't want to or need to. The important thing is that this time all of The Driver's actions and decisions are based in the desire to help Irene and her son in anyway he can. 

By the end of the film we can see someone in our minds, two years later, telling the story of the The Driver. He knows somebody who knew somebody who knew somebody who knew him. He doesn't have all the details of his life, but what he does for Irene and her son are bigger than life. Isn't that what legends are all about? It's not necessarily what they do, but why they do it. Life isn't black and white and sometimes you have to get your hands dirty to be a real human being; to be a real hero.

http://youtu.be/-DSVDcw6iW8

The Interrupters: 4 stars

Shot over a year during the time Chicago became a national symbol of urban violence, The Interrupters is shot from the point of view of three "Interrupters" who work with the organization Cease Fire to stop the cycle of violent culture in the city. 

I will try to stay un-biased in this review as my love for Steve James is no secret. I saw Hoop Dreams three times in the theater (at 3 hours long, I deserve to brag) , I've watched Stevie multiple times on DVD and couldn't wait to check out The Interrupters after seeing the trailer. While I feel that The Interrupters is his third best film (Reel Paradise comes in last) that makes it no less worth seeing as they're all amazing documentaries. The Interrupters feels to me like James had a little less invested personally, but his at arms length documentarian style is a perfect fit for this material. 


Anyone from a big city knows when the most violence occurs; Summertime. Something about the heat makes people go crazy. The Interrupters is broken up into four segments by season and drops us right into the thick of things during a hot Summer day argument. It is interesting to watch because while it is a documentary the film still follows the formula of any well paced film; start off strong and get people hooked, lay out the story structure, dig deeper into the characters while letting the story unfold and finish as strong as you started (this can be either a positive or negative outcome). First we are introduced to Ameena Matthews as she attempts to mediate the above mentioned argument. While it ended with some bruises and missing teeth, it could have ended in death if she wasn't there. She's the daughter of Jeff Fort who is one of Chicago's most notorious gangsters. He is currently serving a life sentence for conspiring with Libya to commit domestic acts of terrorism. She wasn't always the woman we're introduced to either. Through interviews with other employees and founders of Cease Fire we are then brought up to speed with their goal; to stop the spread of violence through interrupting it. Of course they go into more theory then that, but I don't want to spoil everything for you. Then we meet Cobe Williams and Eddie Bocanegra who are the two other interrupters whom the film focuses on. Both have spent time in jail and are dealing with their own demons. The film jumps back and forth between these three subjects. In addition to their normal everyday mediations each has their own special case. Sometimes it isn't enough to just intervene; you have to help a person grow to keep them from succumbing to the virus that is taking over their neighborhood. 


What makes The Interrupters so powerful is how close the filmmakers are able to get to their subjects. These people are in areas of Chicago where I, as a Chicagoan by proximity and association, would never set foot in voluntarily. They get footage that is everything the cliche quotations from the trailers suggest; gut wrenching and raw. We are exposed to situations, conversations and locations that without this film many of us would never be able to experience. With that sentence the beauty of the documentary is explained. We are given a window into the subjects' world and the subjects are given a voice they didn't previously have. It's documentary filmmaking 101 really. They chose a great subject, got great footage of amazing people and edited it together to tell their story well. What sets James and his films apart from the material of documentarians such as Morgan Spurlock and Michael Moore is that James' only desire is to tell someone else's story and not his own. That's a beautiful thing and something Michael Moore should think about. James finds beauty and knowledge in the world around him and wants to share that with you. Im so happy he does as his small canon of work is something to behold. 


You may wonder why I ranked The Interrupters third amongst James' films and not higher. Well for me it was the smaller amount of footage. Hoop dreams and Stevie were both shot over much longer periods of time and had longer running times. They just felt more dense. I felt like we could have been given more with The Interrupters. By choosing to shoot for only a year we don't get the character growth we get in his other films. Considering the power of the footage they do have, it really is a small complaint. There is plenty of conversation to be had over what we are given and there is no question it is good enough to earn four stars. 


Go see The Interrupters as soon as you can. Then, if you haven't yet, watch Hoop Dreams and Stevie. If things get a little heavy feel free to slip Reel Paradise in there to take a break from the weight of the  other three.

The Social Network: 3.5 stars

IMDB's summary states, "The story of how the social-networking website Facebook was founded."
The Social Network is not the story of how Facebook was founded; it is the story of why there are so many lawsuits surrounding the website. You may have read elsewhere that The Social Network is the story about how Facebook was created, or simply the Facebook movie, but it is much more specific than that. While we learn in general terms how the website was created, and are given the fictional motivation of said creation (note: there is no Erica in real life), The Social Network is more about the cons of fame and unfortunate drama it can create for those it touches.

The Social Network is directed by David Fincher, so you already know its technically outstanding. Even though he has used different cinematographers throughout his career his films always have similar photography. If you like/love the look of his previous films then you'll like/love that about this one. There is a reason why The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a Criterion Collection film, and it's not because of the story. I can see The Social Network ending up in that collection one day as well. Not only for it's technological brilliance but also for what it represents; for it's place in time.

Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) is the centerpiece of a script which tells the story of how he created Facebook, and was then accused of stealing the idea. The writers do this by presenting the story of two separate present day depositions and using flashbacks to delve deeper into what is being examined in those depositions. Zuckerberg was not only sued by the people who accused him of stealing the idea, but also his best friend and original CFO Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) for fiendishly cheating him out of his fair share of the business.

As I noted in my introductory paragraph, The Social Network is definitely more about the lawsuits, missteps and backstabbing that occurred during and not actual the creation of Facebook. There are many different films that could have been created out of this scenario. What we end up with is definitely strong, however not as engaging as it could have, or should have been. It's a fascinating story and Eisenberg's representation and performance of Zuckerberg is outstanding, however Fincher's obsession with technical excellence once again leaves the viewers at arms length and results in a frigid product. It definitely works more with this story then it did with Benjamin Button because of how ruthless and emotionless The Social Network's main character is portrayed. While the sterile presentation fits the subject matter it can definitely be a turn off to some. It wasn't for me, but it was definitely what kept the film from being perfect. David Fincher may need to revisit his own work in Seven for inspiration on future projects. 

Five Films That Shaped Me

In case you haven't heard, At The Movies is back and is presented by Roger Ebert. You should be able to find it on your local PBS station friday nights, and its a welcome return to the show's original format. The jury is still out on the new hosts, but they're slowly coming into their own. The new hosts are Christy Lemire of AP and Ignatiy Vishnevestsky of Mubi.com. I have issues with both of them, but they are better than any incarnation of the show since Ebert left. Ignatiy is only 24, and while it's impressive that he is co-hosting this show at that age his reviews are all over the place. However, his knowledge of the medium is quite impressive. In February (when I first started writing this post) they did a special in which they presented the five films which shaped them as critics (Ignatiy's were as annoying and pretentious as you could imagine a 24 year old film buff's choices to be). I figured I would take that as a cue to share my own choices. Each of my choices is a film that opened a new cinematic door for me and made me look differently at the possibilities of the medium. 

Beautiful Girls

Beautiful Girls is just such a joy to watch. The script is perfect and the cast is full of some of the most likable actors in Hollywood. The direction is understated and the story is down to earth and relatable. If you know me then you know I love what I call "a time and place" films. By that I mean the movies where there isn't exactly an ending where every issue is resolved and wrapped in a bow (some of them may not have a real beginning either). They tell the story of a very specific place and time in the characters lives and the transformations that occur during that sample. Beautiful girls isn't an extreme example of this type of movie, but it still qualifies. Somewhere out there Birdie is plowing someone's lot, Kirkwood is screwing up another relationship and Marty is in college; and something about that is comforting. Beautiful Girls showed me that it doesn't have to be all about action, melodrama and special effects. 

Hoop Dreams

When you're a stupid teenager and know everything, the last thing you want to do is go to the theater to see a documentary with your parents. Well I did; twice. That documentary was Hoop Dreams. Thanks for taking me Mom! While it was a nationally recognized film, I'm pretty sure it was playing in much bigger theaters and for a much longer time in the Chicago area then in any other part of the country. It really is a perfect film. It showed me that documentaries aren't always like sitting through a lecture. Sounds silly, but when you're thirteen that's what you think. All I wanted to see were movies like Independence Day. Hoop Dreams opened my eyes to the documentary medium and how powerful it could be.

Leon

Leon (or The Professional) again opened my eyes to what else was out there in the world of cinema. I wish Luc Besson would get back to making films like this one instead of producing crap like The Transporter series. Like Seven, Leon was like no other action/crime/thriller movie I had ever seen. It blew my mind. Not just because of the thin wire it walked with Leon and Mathilda's relationship, but also the care in which their characters were developed. The ending is still gut wrenching to this day because we watched as the love they had for each other grew and became something real.  Lets not forget I'm talking about a hired assassin who takes an orphaned twelve year old under his wing and trains her to follow in his footsteps. This could have been a simple action flick and that would have been fine. However, Besson cared enough to make it more, make it unique and create a classic.
My full review of Leon can be read here.

Seven

Seven is a movie that is really hard to categorize. It can put into the crime thriller group, however I think it's more of a subtle horror movie. The crimes are gruesome, the killer arguably a genius and the imagery is dark and disturbing throughout. If the idea of the conclusion doesn't scare you a bit, or even how the Lust murder was carried out, then you truly are desensitized. When Seven came out there was nothing else like it; not only because of the story and imagery, but also because of how well made it was. Usually this kind of story is saved for writers, actors and directors who can't rise above the cliches.
Seven showed me horror movies could be of award winning caliber.  

State and Main

Ah, my good friend David Mamet. I was young and naive when I first found State and Main in a Hollywood Video and I had yet to hear of Glengarry Glen Ross. State and Main was my introduction to the canon of David Mamet. Later I would revel in Heist, The Spanish Prisoner, House of Games, Oleanna, Spartan and most recently Red Belt. State and Main showed me that words are just as important as imagery and are in and of themselves an art form. Joseph Turner White: "You like kids?" Ann Black: "Never saw the point of 'em." Joseph Turner White: "Me either."

The Town: 3 stars

As he plans his next job, a longtime thief tries to balance his feelings for a bank manager connected to one of his earlier heists, as well as the FBI agent looking to bring him and his crew down.

The Town wants badly to be something that it never becomes. Somewhere in this film lies a two and a half to three hour crime drama masterpiece, however we're dealt a two hour action flick that fails to deliver the emotional punch it should. There is an extended cut on dvd that runs thirty minutes longer, which tells me the re-emerging Ben Affleck tried to give us more, but just couldn't put it all together.

The Town is based on the Chuck Hogan novel Prince of Thieves and I'm guessing that once again the novel trumps the film. However, the film is definitely worth the time of anyone who enjoys a good heist or action flick. The Town just never becomes great, which is a disappointment given everything it has going for it. Ben Affleck returns to the director's chair following his outstanding and somewhat surprising debut Gone Baby Gone, but this time steps in front of the camera as Doug Macray; a man we're told was simply born into a life of crime in the bank robbery capitol of America. Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) is wonderful as Doug's best friend & crew mate and Jon Hamm is very convincing as FBI Agent Frawley who is dead set on stopping them. The films starts off with an exciting heist where we are introduced to the crew and love interest Claire played by Rebecca Hall (Vicky Christina Barcelona). They end up taking Claire hostage (I didn't catch why...) and then immediately let her go. Worried she might have seen too much Doug agrees to follow up on her to make sure she doesn't rat them out, but falls in love with her instead. The story rolls on as the crew plans more heists, Doug pursues Claire and Agent Frawley zeroes in on them. We meet Doug's jailed father, we're introduced to his drug addicted past love Krista and we're given a quick explanation of how he ended up following his fathers footsteps.

While The Town is well written, acted and paced the ultimate problem is that I never got to the point where I cared about what happened to any of the characters. By the time the climax is reached I was just talking aloud and predicting everything that would happen next. The sequences unfold in a formulaic manner, and the tension and drama that should have been there was somehow lost in the proceedings. The information we're given to add back story, depth and character all seemed tacked on and routine, leaving me with no one to root for. In the end, I didn't care what happened to Doug or Claire and already knew what would happen to everyone else. However, I still enjoyed myself. In no way is it a bad film; it's just a disappointing one. The Town is a slight step back for Affleck as a director but is still a good film with excellent production, exciting action and dead on performances that are well worth anyone's time.

Humpday: 3 stars

When Andrew unexpectedly shows up on Ben's doorstep late one night, the two old college friends immediately fall into their old dynamic of heterosexual one-upmanship. To save Ben from domestication, Andrew invites Ben to a party at a sex-positive commune. Everyone there plans on making erotic art films for the local amateur porn festival and Andrew wants in. They run out of booze and ideas, save for one: Andrew should have sex with Ben, on camera.

I wanted to start my 2011 reviews with Humpday because of it's relative obscurity. Introducing people to new things is always fun. Do you really want to know what I thought of all the big name films? Yes? Well too bad, you're going to hear about two adult heterosexual men who want to have sex with each other for the sake of art.

Humpday stars Mark Duplass who, along with his brother Jay (usually found behind the scenes), introduced the world to the now confusingly labeled genre "mumblecore" with their wonderfully refreshing full length debut The Puffy Chair. Let it be known that I hate that label. These films, which includes Humpday, are basically just lo-budget indie films. Why are they now called Mumblecore? I have no idea; I can hear all of the actors just fine. If you haven't seen The Puffy Chair yet, or their follow up Baghead, do yourself a favor and rent them. They're worth seeing and you may love them. You may hate them too, but so goes lo-budget indie filmmaking. Their newest was Cyrus, which features much bigger stars and had a much larger release. I actually assumed Humpday was written and directed by the brothers Duplass until I wrote this review. It is actually written and directed by unknown filmmaker Lynn Shelton.

I found Humpday to be a very fascinating character study, as it tackled the male psyche through sexuality. I think I've been out of academia way too long to write intellectually on said study, so I'll stick to the movie review. What I think sets these "mumblecore" films aside from your usual indie flicks is the unbelievable level of authenticity they portray. It's a fictional story, largely un-improvised, however if you were stumble upon it on cable one night I wouldn't be surprised if you thought it was a documentary. The true to life conversations, vocabulary and accurate situational reactions make Humpday completely accessible and believable. When you connect to these characters and find bits of yourself in them, it makes the experience so much more satisfying.

I think I speak for most straight men out there, at least the ones who care to admit it, when I say that while the set up of two heterosexual friends agreeing to have sex with each other on film seems out of left field for some, sexual acts between two straight friends is a completely normal thought or conversation that occurs. While most don't end up up on as serious of a level as they do in Humpday, that thought is still there in the background for most guys....what if? Could I? How many beers would it take? I think the true to life reactions and rationalizations that occur between Ben and Andrew are startlingly real. Humpday could have just focused on Ben and Andrew's relationship, however the film also tackles the changes seen in Ben since Andrew's arrival and how their decision effects Ben's relationship with his wife Alycia. With just as much clarity, we watch as Alycia tries to come to terms with her husband's strange actions and decisions.

It's fascinating to witness how the injection of one dude from your past can completely change someone you love. They start acting differently, treating you differently, and having sex on film. It's wonderful to see that change studied with such authenticity as it is in Humpday. This subject matter has been superficially taken on countless times in other sitcoms for the sake of easy humor, but Humpday hits home with its spot on performances and documentary feel. Oh, and that is indeed the guy from The Blair Witch Project. I love him!

2010: A Poor Year for Patrick

When I realized exactly how many 2010 releases I've watched, it was very alarming. I barely even viewed fifteen 2010 films TOTAL. I did get married in the past year, so that took up a lot of my time. Still, there is no excuse for enjoying so few films. I saw more films from 2009, so I'm just simply behind. Picking ten out of a list fifteen seemed easy to me, so I figured I would just list all the 2010 films I was able to catch, followed by some quick thoughts.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: Wow. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World blew my mind. I wish I could have seen this on the big screen, but blu ray wasn't too shabby. If you were raised in the time of Nintendo and enjoy music, all things fun and general silliness then you will love Scott Pilgrim. It's just unbelievably cool and geeky. I geeked out. I'm capable of geeking. 4 stars.

True Grit: This film was excellent. While it isn't classic Coen brothers, it does have their stamp on it. Jeff Bridges breathes new life into Rooster Cogburn, but Hailee Steinfeld steals the show as Mattie and I hope she wins the Oscar. There is also another welcome appearance by Barry Pepper (can the man do any wrong?). Great script, great story, great acting, & great photography = great film. Is it the Coen Brothers best? Not in my opinion. It's really good, but not best picture good. 3.5 stars

Inception: See previous review posted. I forgot to mention, the acting is very solid as well. Noting extraordinary, but nothing detrimental either. 4 stars.

Girl With The Dragon Tattoo: This trilogy is all the rage right now in the movie blogosphere. It has already been picked up by Hollywood and is being remade by the wonderful David Fincher. In the hands of anyone else I would be worried, but I have faith that my main man Mr. Fincher will blow the original out of the water. As far as the original Swedish release, it is very very good. It is a very enthralling story that had me hooked from the start. It is full of moody atmosphere and mystery, it's well paced and sports very solid acting . Rooney Mara has her work cut out for her filling Naomi Rapace's shoes. For the most part I've read that the sequels (Girl Who Played With Fire & Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest) aren't as strong, and I'm assuming that is most likely due to a change in director, but still worthy films. So catch them all while you can before the US versions are released! The first two are already out on DVD/Blu-ray and the 3rd is coming soon. 3.5 stars.

Easy A: I had a lot fun with Easy A. It tries really hard to be as relevant as all of the John Hughes films that it pays homage to, yet it doesn't even reach the level of Mean Girls. However, I still loved it. Emma Stone (Olive) carries the film and along with her cool progressive parents (played by the lovely Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci), makes the movie worth watching. Hell, I even plan on buying it. However, I wish I never had to see Ally Michalka's stupid face and fake boobs again. I cringed every time she was on screen as Olive's annoying and promiscuous best friend. Her, and a forced spontaneous musical scene, hold it back from true greatness. Other than that, it's is a well done and fresh take on the High School genre. 3 stars.

Shutter Island: This was a quasi-controversial release by Martin Scorsese. Not for anything other than people didn't know what to make of it. Adapted for the screen from the Dennis Lehane novel (which I have on good authority is just as odd to read as the film is to watch) Shutter Island is the story of two detectives (DiCaprio and Ruffalo) who are investigating a missing inmate in a maximum security insane asylum. Mystery and twists are everywhere, but it's the performances and Scorsese's visual excellence that I responded so favorably to. I think the one word that describes Shutter Island best is LUSH. This is another one (see Book of Eli below) where your reaction to the resolution will make it or break it. It didn't bother me one bit. 3.5 stars.

Alice in Wonderland: Is it Tim Burton or Johnny Depp's best? No, not at all. Is it as bad as critics and people have been saying. No, not at all. If you're a fan of this combo, you should like this film. It's classic Tim Burton, and Classic Johnny Depp. Neither will follow the rules, or do anything similar to the classic Alice you may be familiar with or fond of. Overall I thought it was a lot of fun, and Johnny Depp was fantastic. Visual feasts abound, and style over substance is not necessarily a bad thing. 3 stars.

Macgruber: BEST SEX SCENE EVER! You can spoil the fun and see it on Youtube, but I urge you not to, and just rent this silly parody flick. It's really worth the watch just for that scene. It's not a good movie by a long shot, but I would definitely buy it for the days I just feel like something silly and mind numbing. If you hated the skit from SNL, you still might like this flick. It's a more fleshed out parody of bad 80's action movies, and I had a lot of fun watching it. 2.5 stars of ridiculous re-watchable fun.

Iron Man 2: Iron Man was such a fantastically fun introduction to the character, that the sequel was bound to be a let down. It was a let down, but I don't think it was as big of a let down as some critics will lead you to believe. The humor, fun acting, good script and general bad assedness is still there, but it's a bit more muddled than the first one. Still fun, but nothing too great. Note: Don Cheadle makes any movie enjoyable. 3 stars.

Get Him to The Greek: "Barkeep! Absimff!" I've watched this movie twice, and it was even better the second time through. If you've seen the trailers, you might think that Get Him to The Greek is all raunchy humor and no heart. However, director Nicholas Stoller picks up right where he left off with Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and improves on all of that film's strengths. He gives the raunchy comedy a big heart and characters we actually care about. The film even gets pretty touching towards the end (although the heart is sandwiched between a threesome and a Jeremy (you'll see)). Oh, do you hate Sean Combs? You won't after seeing this. He's hilarious. 3.5 stars.

Twilight: Eclipse: Soooo, I'm totally on team Jacob now. I get it. Vampires make horrible boyfriends. There is really no reason for me to expand on these films. Either you are willing to enjoy a horribly cheesy high school romance film about vampires, werewolves and overly dramatic tweens or you're not. Eclipse is the most appropriately stylish films of the series so far, but the first one is still the best overall. 2.5 guilty pleasure stars.

Until the Light Takes US: This was an incredibly bad documentary and has joined the ranks of the very few films I couldn't even finish. This is a good example of what is scary about trying to make a good movie. It is obviously made by newcomers, and it is obvious they are very passionate about the subject matter, however nothing ever comes together. The filmakers just don't have the skill. It's about Norweigian Black Metal! I was so excited and so sure this would be fun to watch, but it wasn't. The editing was poor and no context was given to any of the sequences. It was just an hour or so of watching people who were involved in the music movement, more specifically the crimes committed in Norway, ramble on about it with no discernable direction. I could have taken away just as much information from a newspaper article. A quick check on IMDB shows two new directors, five producers, and an editor who actually does have quite a few projects under his belt. I just don't think they had the material to make a full length documentary. Give me a voiceover, tell me what question you were asking; give me something! Zero stars.

Kick-Ass: Early in 2010 this film had huge buzz surrounding it. It's part of the "normal people become super heroes" genre that is becoming more and more popular. I had high hopes for this, but it just didn't live up to them. The ending did not sit well with me at all. It was just too easy and too predictable; especially for a movie that was the opposite of that for the first three quarters. In addition, Christopher Mintz-Plasse rubbed me the wrong way this time. He was great in Superbad and Role Models but was reaching too far here. However, it does have many things going for it. Nicolas Cage proves why he used to be in such big demand with a fantastic performance, and Chloe Moretz shows amazing promise in her role as the ass kicking Hit-Girl. Definitely still check it out if you were meaning to, but Kick-Ass just didn't do it for me. 2.5 stars.

How To Train Your Dragon: I finally saw this the other day and loved it! Granted it's no Pixar release, but it is a HUGE step forward for Dreamworks animation studios. They finally balanced themselves with improved animation, a unique story (on top of a familiar structure), solid voice work and fun action. It was an easy breezy 100 minutes. 3 stars.

The Book of Eli (jan '10 release): This is one of those movies that is best viewed completely cold. If you're at all interested, which you should be because Denzel Washington is awesome, don't read anything about it. It has one of those endings that will have you revisiting earlier scenes to see if it is even possible. I loved it. Others hated it. There is enough style and action to keep everyone entertained, but your reaction to the resolution will determine it's worth. 3 stars.

Daybreakers (jan '10 release): The earth is populated by vampires and it's the humans who have been pushed to extinction while vampires harvest their blood and sell it like soda at train stations?! Sign me up! Such a great idea with tragically poor execution. I was hoping this would be one of those bad vampire movies that I still like, but it turns out to actually be a complete mess. The ending was obviously tacked on and re-worked, and you can just smell behind the scenes tension on this one. I love Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe, but you can't act your way out of bad writing and directing. 1.5 stars.

Here are the 2010 films on my to do list. The list could be as long as all the well reviewed movies of the year, but these are the ones I'm most excited about seeing: The Social Network, Machete, The Town, The American, Cyrus, Despicable Me, The Kids Are All Right, Micmacs, Going the Distance, Red Riding Trilogy, Winter's Bone, Black Swan, 127 Hours, Greenberg, Hereafter, & Somewhere. If you haven't heard of any of these yet, check out the trailers on Yahoo or Apple, and add them to your list if they look good.

Here are the films from 2009 that I watched in 2010 with a quick star rating: A Single Man (4), The Crazies (1), Gran Torino (3.5), The Road (3), (500) Days of Summer (2.5), 9 (2.5), Humpday (3), Extract (2), Vicky Christina Barcelona (4), The Hurt Locker (4), A Serious Man (3), Zombieland (im not sure yet), Up In The Air (3.5), Ponyo (3), The Informant! (4), The Invention of Lying (2), Fantastic Mr. Fox (3.5), Terribly Happy (2), District 9 (3.5), & Big Fan (3).

The good thing is that the majority of these from 2009 were on my to do list from my end of year 2009 post. Hopefully I can get through my 2010 to do list a bit quicker. My goal this year is to write a full review of all the films in this post. It's a tall task, and I probably will completely fail, but I think I can slack off at work just enough to get it done. Thanks for reading.