X-Men: First Class

Expectations: Love the other X-Men movies, but I still find myself skeptical.

The only way I can think to describe this movie is that it’s more graphic than I remember the others being. I adore James McAvoy and he’s a great Charles Xavier. Nicholas Hoult was great as Beast, too. The biggest surprise, though, was Kevin Bacon. So good. So evil. His only fault was that he couldn't freeze in that pose at the end of the movie. Don't they have special effects now? Couldn't they have digitally frozen him so the poor man wouldn't have to stand there in that awkward pose and shake?

Of all the super-hero franchises X-Men has been my favorite. This one, however, is not my favorite of the series. I would see it again, but purely for Charles and Erik’s scenes together. I think there needed to be a stronger emotional pull on the audience at the end. It felt a little disjointed and it left me very confused. I will say that their attempt at being a 1960’s ‘period’ piece was only successful in the submarine set and the girls’ hair. The costumes were a little obvious, and at times the attitude towards the women – borderline offensive (as today’s depictions of the 50’s or 60’s in media often are) and also an obvious choice.

Overall Reaction: The movie lacks subtlety, but it’s a good story with good actors.

Favorite Moment: the scenes with Charles and Erik - wish there was more build up of their friendship. Maybe that’s what was missing at the end.

On the Scale: 7

P.S. A note on the previews…why the hell are they remaking Footloose? Do they really think they’ll do better than Kevin Bacon and John Lithgow?

Green Lantern:

Expectation: Hmm. Yet another super hero movie – I’m certain there’s a formula by now. If I watch it, however, I might understand references in The Big Bang Theory. This is my big hope.

Green Lantern is not like other super heroes. This movie definitely piqued my interest and there is a lot of material that made for the possibility of a great movie. In fact, there was enough potential in this one movie for a whole trilogy. Plot, plot, plot. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a movie implode on itself like this one. There are great, great actors who have great, great chemistry, but it became the Ryan Reynolds show. You meet his entire family and there’s this great relationship with his nephew, but they are literally in this movie for about 90 seconds. There was never time enough to build relationships. Many characters’ only purpose was to provide information in the most efficient manner possible and then their scene was over. Most disappointing was his relationship with his best friend. I think they have a total of two and half scenes together. The actors are so good that you want to see them act, but the script is so messed up – they don’t have a chance. Blah. Do over.

Now, the funny thing is: this whole movie I’m getting too much information and then the credits start rolling and these guys want to set up the sequel. (Now without trying to give it all away – although I hope you don’t put yourself through this…) The leader guy goes and does the one thing this entire movie was preventing. No lead up. No explanation. Just a producer’s desire to make you go, “ooo…I wonder what’s going to happen…when do you think the next movie will come out?” When in fact you’re thinking, “wtf…why’d he just do that…I thought that’s why Ryan saved the day…weren’t they on the same team?”

Overall Reaction: Too much potential with not enough skill to see it come to life. Totally frustrating. Don’t waste your time.

Favorite Moment: They were so fast, but the scenes with his best friend and the one scene with his nephew. I’m surprised I have a favorite from this movie – but I do. I guess that means it’s not a total failure.

On the Scale: 4 (Why so high? Because Ryan is pretty dreamy and he tries his best to carry this mess of a movie solo.)

Super 8:

Expectations: I love JJ Abrams, most of the time. Pretty excited, although nervous of being too freaked out. (You’ll never see a horror flick reviewed here. Sorry.)

JJ Abrams is kinda brilliant. I don’t think this would be overly disputed at this point in his career. That being established, I was completely blown away by this movie. I'm putting it on my list of the best movies I’ve ever seen. You think this is an exaggeration? Go see it. Prove me wrong. I watched his promo on American Idol, so I had that bit of background information – specifically the concept of the kids making an amateur film and how he wanted to honor that generation of imagination artists. I think the greatest honor he could give to that era was making this movie in that same style. It’s as if he’s back in the 70’s, this time with ridiculous amounts of money. He used every old trick in the book, but he used them flawlessly and that’s what made it so fantastically fun.

All the classics came to this party: Views of the monster in the puddles, dead silence, freaky and suspensful music, close up views of main characters so you loose track of the monster - then pow! there he is... It's everything a kid could come up with for a great thriller. The bonus here is that Abrams has the money, clout, and special effects teams to pull it off. Never once did it feel contrived. Nor did it come off as a stunt show - There's a great story to tell.

Overall Reaction: If I could run back in there and see it again, I would.

Favorite Moment: Every time I jumped out of my seat.

On the Scale: 9.5

Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer

Expectations: Silly, fun family movie. Looking forward to Heather Graham (love her in Scrubs). Should be good time.

If I had ten-year old nieces I would take them to this movie. As an adult, the best this movie had to offer were nostalgic reminders of my own childhood. Judy’s character is slightly off-putting in her search for ‘thrill’ points and her need to be the center of attention. Aunt Opal (Heather Graham) is the crazy, child-like, cool aunt who flies in to babysit Judy and her brother for the summer. However, she very much plays a supporting role and is sometimes non-existent. As a result, I found myself bored. Nevertheless, the chemistry between the kids is fantastic. Also, it’s refreshing to see kids playing kids. Look for really great brother-sister moments between Judy and Stink. You know the kind of competitive, murderous moments siblings conjure? These kids do a great job of not holding back and also making you believe that they love each other deep down.

Overall Reaction: Slightly boring, but cute. Definitely aimed towards a younger audience.

Favorite Moment: The night before Opal leaves at the end of the movie, when she takes Judy to the Library to put hats on the Lions - super cute and very touching.

On the Scale: 6.5