Easy A - rental

I remember this movie getting good reviews when it was released earlier this year.  It didn't look like my type of movie and I'm guessing when it was made they didn't market it toward 50 year old white males.  I rented it out of boredom and was pleasantly surprised.

The movie is about a high school senior who makes up a college boyfriend to keep from having to go to a party with her girlfriend.  The next day her girlfriend misunderstands and thinks the made up college boyfriend deflowered her.  Things turn crazy from there.

As I said this normally would not be a movie that would interest me.  Two things set this movie apart from most goofball comedies.  The script was very good.  Very witty and funny.  Second, Emma Stone.  She has been in several movies before Easy A (none of which I have seen) and is funny here.

Good movie. Well worth the rental.

True Grit

True Grit- Rating 7 out of 10

Out of all the December movies being released I think I was most anxious to see this one.  Big fan of the original released in 1969.  Hard to compete with the first one since that was the only film John Wayne won an Oscar playing US Marshall Rooster Cogburn.  This version is more of a retelling of the book (by Charles Portis) than a remake of the movie.

In case you have seen neither version of this movie.  A bad man named Tom Chaney kills a good family man.  When the law does little to bring him to justice his spunky twelve year old daughter (Mattie Ross) hires the drunken, fat US Marshall to hunt him down.  A Texas Ranger joins force and off they go.

Jeff Bridges does a good job as Cogburn.  Matt Damon is a pretty good actor and is likable as the Texas Ranger with the strange French last name LaBoeuf.  Josh Brolin is okay as the bad Tom Chaney in a roll that could have gone to anyone with what I'd guess to be less than two minutes of screen time.  It's little Hailee Steinfeld that steals the show as the young Mattie Ross.  She is perfect in her smart talking little girl that is afraid of no one.

The movie drags in a few places and the ending is a little hokey in parts.  This keeps my rating lower than it should be.  Overall I'd still highly recommend this movie if you like Westerns at all.

3D??? I've had enough!

Now everyone will admit there is nothing more stylish than a cool looking pair of 3D glasses. As you can see from my picture I should have taken these glasses to wear in public. That said I have had enough with the onslaught of movies in this dimension.   I feel 3D movies belong at the amusement parks and IMAX theaters.  

The only people that benefit from most 3D movies is the theaters in the $3-5 upcharge they get for letting you wear their glasses.  

I have seen many movies that came out in 3D.  Most of the time I will drive across town to go to the 2D version.  The only movie I think was made better by being in 3D was Avatar and it was not THAT much better.  

I recently saw the new Tron movie not only in 3D but on the IMAX at the local AMC movie theater.  The $18 per ticket price tag normally would have made me ill but this time my son Danny coughed up the dough for the tickets so I was okay.  

I wish there was a phone number where I could call Hollywood and tell them enough is enough.  Hopefully this is a fad that will run it's course like ti did in the 50's. 

Don't even get me started on the shaky cam...

Burlesque

Royces rating 7 out of 10

While there is nothing ground breaking in this movie I found it fun to watch.  Small town girl comes to Los Angeles to be a star.  Can't get a break in the hip dance place that is half a step away from going under.  Her big chance comes and she brings the house down.  You can guess the rest.

Christina Aguilera plays the small town girl who can sing like nobodies business.  This is Aguilera's first movie.  While she is no Meryl Streep she is no Brittney Spears either.  She holds her own and considering the good cast that's saying something.  Cher (who must be pushing what eighty?) still looks good and can sing a tune pretty good herself.  The always good Stanley Tucci runs the place.

If you like this type of movie you'll enjoy this one.  The biggest problem I see with this movie is it has not one big hit song that you'd hear on the radio or hum to yourself walking out of the theater.  Still I enjoyed it.

Welcome to my Blog!

I have never made a blog before.  Come to think of it I don't think I have ever read a blog.  We will see how this goes...

Anyone that knows me knows I'm a movie person.  Have been since I was a kid.  I like most kinds of movies.  Like a good action movie with lots of guns and things that go boom like most men.  I also like a good comedy and while I don't admit it around the wife (or any of my men friends) I like a chick flick every now and then.

Movies are my release.  Love to go into a dark room and be transported somewhere else.  I see alot of movies compared to most.  I have seen as many as 72 movies in a year.  I have seen 57 movies so far in 2010.

I'll post my reviews here along with my rants on how I don't like 3D movies and REALLY don't like the shaky cam (hold that camera still!).  Glad to see you here.