Recent theatrical viewings

[Rev. Powell]

Fast 5 - I like these films cause they are so bad. Paul Walker is a douche. The acting was dreadful and there was some real bad (in a good way) one liners. Having said that the heist idea is quite a well thought out affair.

I know this may not was well with quite a few of you, but each to their own.

It looks "goodish bad" from the trailer.  I never saw any of the other movies in the series.

[crackers]

Fast 5 - I like these films cause they are so bad. Paul Walker is a douche. The acting was dreadful and there was some real bad (in a good way) one liners. Having said that the heist idea is quite a well thought out affair.

I know this may not was well with quite a few of you, but each to their own.

It looks "goodish bad" from the trailer.  I never saw any of the other movies in the series.

2 Fast 2 Furious is my personal favorite. It seems none of the sentences are longer than 3 words (due to the actors not being able to remember anything longer, probably) Poor acting, over the top action sequences and again terrible one liners that make it entertaining bad viewing.

I'm not at all into cars so another thing that makes me laugh is when car enthusiasts say that they are the best films ever made and try to modify their car and hang out at a McDonalds car park.

[Rev. Powell]

WIN WIN: A lawyer and high school wrestling coach (for a winless team) finds himself the guardian of an old man and his troubled teen grandson; the latter also happens to be a championship caliber wrestler.  Pleasantly predictable happy ending dramedy with a good performance from Alex Shaffer as the teen phenom.  I assume this is like an indie version of THE BLIND SIDE (haven't seen it) with Paul Giamatti and wrestling rather than Sandra Bullock and football. 3/5.

[Pilgermann]

Insidious (2011) - This starts out as an OK haunted house picture, but gets kind of silly later on.  There's a demon in it that looks like Darth Maul. Otherwise, it's not a terrible piece of entertainment.  I'm happy to see that James Wan, writer/director of the horrible Saw has gotten a little better at making films.

[Psycho Circus]

I'm not at all into cars so another thing that makes me laugh is when car enthusiasts say that they are the best films ever made and try to modify their car and hang out at a McDonalds car park.

You should visit Lancashire!

[BoyScoutKevin]

"African Cats"
The latest Earth Day documentary from the Walt Disney Company.

I noticed it played out more like a film than a documentary, which may have been the aim of the filmmakers. I also noticed that you could have replaced the cats in the film with human actors, and you'd have a starting script for a fairly good film.

"Prom"
Which made me once again raise the question: "How did my fellow classmates and I from the class of '70 ever manage to survive three years of high school?" We went to a three year high school.

[Pilgermann]

Priest (2011) - Absolutely horrible.  Boring, goofy, and derivative.  No fun.  Crappy acting.  I watched it in 3D and while the effect was actually pretty good, it didn't really help the film.  Please don't watchi it!

[Rev. Powell]

POETRY (2010): A Korean grandmother in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's takes a poetry class to fulfill a lifelong ambition.  Dry, subtle character study that gains narrative drive from a slow-boil subplot about the suicide of a local girl; it's poetic indeed.  4/5.   

[JayJayM12]

Hangover 2 - I had read a few reviews saying that it was an almost carbon copy of the original, but I figured "nah, that's just lazy journalism - it can't be THAT similar.". Then I saw it - it really did follow the first one almost beat for beat.  Same order of events, similar song cues, deja vu ending...  Having said all that though, I still enjoyed it quite a bit.  If it ain't broke, i guess you shouldn't try to fix it.  It had a lot of laughs, went to a lot of darker places than the first one, and moved along at a good pace.  Not a game changer by any stretch, but an entertaining way to spend a couple hours or so...

[MrMari]

Kung Fu Panda 2 - Great movie. I think I might have likes this one more than the first. The sequel defiantly had more of a darker edge and it pulled on the heart stings a little but it was still humorous enough for the kids. Seems like this series might go on. This is the ONLY way I can stomach Jack Black (Fat Sandler).

[Rev. Powell]

BRIDESMAIDS: A failed bakery operator whose personal life is a mess is asked to be maid of honor for her best friends wedding, with predictably disastrous results.  It's the female answer to THE HANGOVER, character based rather than plot based, but just as funny (if not quite as original).  Guys, if she insists on dragging you to a chick flick, you're not going to do better than this one; there's even a bout of barfing bridesmaids that will likely wind up as the funniest grossout scene of the summer.  3.5/5.

[MrMari]

BRIDESMAIDS: A failed bakery operator whose personal life is a mess is asked to be maid of honor for her best friends wedding, with predictably disastrous results.  It's the female answer to THE HANGOVER, character based rather than plot based, but just as funny (if not quite as original).  Guys, if she insists on dragging you to a chick flick, you're not going to do better than this one; there's even a bout of barfing bridesmaids that will likely wind up as the funniest grossout scene of the summer.  3.5/5.

Saw this in the theater a couple of days ago. Its been a while since I laughed this hard. People in the theater were in hysterics. I love Kristen Wiig and I love her even more now. She wrote this film and now the question on everyones mind is can she duplicate her success? I took a lot of crap at the office for telling people I loved it but what the hell, I'm comfortable with my manhood. Go see BRIDESMAIDS. 

[BoyScoutKevin]

Not anything new in the way of films, but I have seen three new trailers.

"Real Steel"
Whatever the focus of the old trailer was, the new trailer changes that to the father and son relationship and how a sparring bot can help the two bond.

"Green Lantern"
I just do not not like superhero films. Never have and probably never will, but if there is a superhero film I might see, this might be it, as the Green Lantern is one of my favorite superheroes.  And the new trailer makes me even more likely I'll see it. Much more so than the old trailer. Though, like alot of recent films, it looks like the filmmakers are letting the SFX overwhelm the other parts of the story.

"Cars II"
Which will be out June 24, which is only a week after "Green Lantern" is released on June 17. Thus, it'll be interesting to see how the two films do in competition with each other.

[Pilgermann]

[]Super 8[/i] (2011) - If any film is deserving of being a big summer blockbuster this year, this is it.  It's not a great film, but it's a fun and exciting one.  The gist of the story is that some kids are working on a Super 8 zombie film, and while filming a scene they witness a massive train deraliment (I'm not buying into a pickup truck derailing a massive speeding train in such a way, but I'll play along) and some strange cargo is released.  I won't say too much but weird things happen in the town, like dogs running away, car engine blocks and microwaves disappearing, and people going missing, too.

Like I said, it's a lot of fun, and while it kind of forgets to maintains an emotional hold on the audience towards the end, it introduces some tragedy at the outset that helps give us characters to empathize with.  The cast perform very well, especially the group of kids.  I liked that the main character was into building and painting monster models 'n' stuff.  Some downsides are phony modern CGI, a score that's not very memorable (but not bad by any means), and use of overplayed popular songs from the late 70's.

I'm thinking that if I was young enough while watching this it would stick with me like Jurassic Park, but I don't think anything will beat that as far as being my most thrilling movie-going memory.

[Flick James]

Midnight in Paris - I don't know how many people here like Woody Allen. His work can very very spotty, especially over the last 20 years. Woody Allen himself said something recently along the lines that he just makes movies, many as he possibly can, and knows that some will work and some won't. The last film of his that I liked was Match Point from 2005, which I thought was excellent.

Midnight in Paris was quite good in my opinion. It's certainly not going to appeal to filmgoers who have no interest in European ways, but for those that do, it is an enchanting portrayal of the city, and one of his best concepts in a long time. Owen Wilson plays a Hollywood writer, who self-identifies as a bit of a hack, visiting Paris with his fiancee (played by Rachel McAdams). His romantic obssession with 1920's Paris is a constant annoyance to his fiancee, who comes across as an enormous shrew. One night, while walking around Paris around midnight, he finds himself lost and stops to rest on some steps. Along comes what appears to be a vintage 20's automobile who convince him to join them as they drive around Paris for some fun. This ends up being a portal to 1920's Paris, and over the next few nights, he continue to travel time and runs into the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemmingway, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Gertrude Stein, and about every artistic luminary that spent any time hanging out in Paris at that time.

The film is goofy, nostalgic, occasionally poignant, and was a lot of fun to watch for me. The hour and a half runtime also made it really fly by. The film reminded me of similar concepts Allen has explored in the past in films like The Purple Rose of Cairo and Sleeper.

In my opinion, Midnight in Paris is one of Woody Allen's better films. I would go so far as to place it in his top 10, but I understand some may find that a stretch. If you appreciate Woody Allen, I am convinced you will like it. If you don't, then I'm sure you'll be in no hurry to catch it.

I give it a 4.8/5