Where have all the good movies gone?

I have been thinking of writing a blog on how crappy the Summer movies have been when I ran across this article in USA Today.  I agree with most all of the article.

Summer is supposed to be the time most of the big blockbuster movies come out.  This year there were far more duds that movies I'd want to see again.  That is how I rate a VERY good movie.  If I come out of the theater thinking I'd pay money to see that again in a theater it stands a good chance of making my top ten list.

For me Summer movies start in May.  It started with a bang with Fast Five.  I think at this point Fast Five is my favorite movie of the year.   Thor came next.  It was a good super hero movie but not great.  Lots of duds and very average movies followed.  I liked Crazy, Stupid, Love alot.   Horrible Bosses had some funny parts.  I thought Bridesmaids was funnier than my wife did.  Priest, Xmen, Captain America, Super 8 and Conan were average.  Really didn't like Hangover II.  It's not meant for old farts like me.  I hope Bad Teacher is the worst movie of 2011 for me as I really don't want to sit thru anything worse than that!  Can not believe that movie nearly grossed $100 Million!  Zookeeper and Kung Fu Panda II were also pretty bad even for kiddy movies.

Sadly September looks to be even worse.  Here is a list of movies set to be released in September 2011 and Billy Ball with Brad Pitt is the only movie I have any interest in seeing.  Even October isn't looking gangbuster at this point.  Ugh.

Anyone agree?  Disagree?  Feel free to post your comments below!

Cowboys and Aliens

Cowboys and Aliens

Rating 6.5 out of 10

This movie opened to yawning reviews that were mostly repeated by people I know that saw it.  It is very rare that I see a movie in theaters that has been out for more than a couple weeks.  I just like to see them when they come out or wait to rent.  I had written Cowboys and Aliens off to the Blockbuster line.  Rocky and I were in the movie mood and mean Mom had a problem with her teenager seeing Friends with Benefits so we strapped on our boots and jumped on our horse.

You have to give this crew an E for Effort on the movie.  They mixed the Cowboy movie genre with Aliens from outer space and somehow signed an very A-list cast.  The movie starts with our star Jake (Daniel Craig putting down his Bond martini for a cowboy hat) waking up in the desert with no memory of who he is or where he is at.  Bad guys show up and he quickly takes them out showing us he is one bad dude.  He has this cool looking bracelet hooked to his arm.  No idea what it is for.

When he goes into town he finds out what the bracelet is for.  Alien ships attack the town zipping towns people up right and left and flying off with them.  The bracelet turns into a cool gun that can shoot the ships down. The towns men assemble a posse to hunt down the aliens and get their people back.

The cast is incredible in this movie.  Harrison Ford must be pushing 90 but can still ride a horse and shoot bad guys.  Olivia Wilde seems to be in every movie this summer.  Sam Rockwell and a who's who of character actors.

The movie was much better than I expected.  The effects are not out of this world but work just fine.  The movie takes itself just serious enough.  I still say with a cast like this the movie should have been better.  This will make a good rental in a month or two when it comes out on dvd.

Conan the Barbarian

Conan the Barbarian

Rating 6 out of 10

You don't go to see Conan for complicated plot lines or mushy love stories.  This is pure testosterone from start to finish.  Slice, dice and repeat.  A movie like this rests on the muscular shoulders of it's star.  Especially when it's a remake of a movie Arnold Schwarzenegger made famous back in the 80's.  This is where I think this movie falls short.   Conan is played by Jason Momoa.  I see alot of movies and tv and I had never hear of him.  He handles the fight scenes well enough but not quite enough beefcake for a role like this.  I'm thinking someone like the Rock would have been a better choice.


That said this movie has plenty of action and fighting for any action movie fan.  It starts when Conan is a small boy.  Bad guys roll into town and do evil things to his dad (the only name in the movie, Ron Perlman- from Hellboy) and his people.  Conan vows revenge and we soon find out you don't want Conan mad at you.  Only ten bad guys?  This won't take long.  No guns back then so lots of limbs get chopped and body parts sliced.  If you don't like blood this movie is not for you.

There has to be a babe to be saved and that babe is the lovely Rachel Nichols. She was in the tv show Alias and was in the 2009 movie GI Joe.

I would say this movie delivers what is expected and no more.  I'm not sorry I paid to see it but probably would not recommend it either.  Good rental.

Fright Night

Fright Night

Rating 5 out of 10

I have to admit I'm not a big fan of horror movies like I was in my younger days.  Too easy to see the scares coming long down the road.  This is a remake from a movie made in 1985.  I saw the original but darned if I can remember it.

This movie is not intended to scare you every step.  It gives you gore from vampire attacks along with some tongue in cheek chuckles.  Colin Farrell has gone back to the pretty boy look after several movies looking grungy.  He plays the hunky vampire that moved in next door in a neighborhood outside Las Vegas.  A high school student and his single mom live next door and notice strange goings on.  People turning up missing and weird things happening late in the night.

Farrell does a good job mixing charm and fear.  Toni Collette was the mom in the wonderful Sixth Sense.  She is a mom here too.  Mother of the teenage boy who snoops into the vampire next door.

This is a harmless popcorn movie you will most likely get a kick out of.  Not real scary but has some scary parts in it.  Some of the vampire attacks are gory but only in quick spurts.  Like most movies released this summer it's not bad but not real good either.  See it on the early show.  Do not waste your money on the 3D.

Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Rating 7.5 out of 10

I had heard this was a good date movie.  I would say that is correct.  I liked this movie alot.  I think Steve Carell is made for a part like this.  Very funny in parts and touching in others.

Carell plays Cal Weaver.  A man in his mid-forties who thinks he is happily married until his wife tells him at dinner that she has cheated and want's a divorce.  He is blown away.  Trying to move on he starts to hang out in a local bar.  There he meets a younger smooth talking ladies man (Ryan Gosling) Jacob.  Jacob takes him under his wing and shows him how to pick up women.  He is a good teacher.  Except he falls for Hannah (the lovely Emma Stone) who is immune to his lines. The two men become friends and bond.

Acting is pretty good with Julianne Moore, Marisa Tomei and the actors playing the kids are good. There are some funny parts.  I was laughing so loud a couple times Cassie tried to shush me.  I wouldn't call the movie a comedy as there are alot of serious parts too.

I wouldn't call this a great movie but compared with most of the junk that has been released this Summer this is a classic.  A good date movie.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Rating 5.5 out of 10

I'm not sure what I was expecting out of this movie.  Probably alot more action.  I wouldn't say this is a bad movie.  Just not a real good one either.

If you have seen the previews or know anything of the original Apes movies you have a good idea what this movie is about.  In the original Planet of the Apes movie of 1968 with movie legend Charlton Heston an astronaut lands on a strange planet that is run by Apes and humans are treated as pets.  At the end we find that strange planet is actually Earth in the future.  Sorry for the spoiler but the movie is 33 years old and a classic.  You should have seen it by now.

In this movie you learn how the Apes took over the planet.  James Franco (from last years very good 127 Hours) plays scientist Will Rodman who is working hard on a new drug that will stimulate brain cells in hopes of saving his dad (John Lithgow).  They are testing the drug on chimps when things go terribly wrong.  Because they need a babe in the movie we get the lovely Frieda Pinto (from Slumdog Millionaire) as the monkey doctor.

The movie has to establish how the apes go from A to Z and takes it's time.  The CGI is okay at times and others it is obvious it's a CGI monkey.  When the action starts it brings more questions than it answers. Where did all those monkeys come from?  It does answer the main question though.

Catch this on an early show or wait for DVD.

Moving... no time for movies

I have been moving the past couple weeks.  It has left no time for movie watching. : <

Several I want to see. I want to see Cowboys and Aliens even with all the very so-so reviews.  Wife wants to see Crazy, Stupid, Love so that means I'll see it too.  It does look like it has potential.  I like the cast.  Friends with Benefits looks like it has some funny parts.  If anyone has seen it please email me and let me know if it's any good or not.

This weekend Rise of the Planet of the Apes opens.  I'm sure I'll be seeing that.  The Change-up also opens.  Not sure on this one.  Previews look funny but also have the feel that could be all the funny parts in the movie.  Only so many directions they can go with the body switching stories.