Battleship

OK, don't laugh, but I actually enjoyed this movie.  It probably helped that I went in with incredibly low expectations, but still, I will admit that it was fun.  This movie is the epitome of a brainless popcorn-munching action flick; I found myself subconsciously cheering and smiling and hurray-ing throughout the film.  The plot is ridiculous, the acting is terrible, but you cannot help but let yourself get carried away with the go-America-whoop-that-alien-ass mentality.  Loosely based on the game Battleship (which if you aren't familiar with you clearly had a sheltered childhood) the film even brings in some pretty solid game references - you will indeed hear things like "B-15" and "you can't sink this battleship".

So go ahead, hit a matinee, get a large popcorn and let the film wash right over you.  Predictable and cheesy, I can pretty much guarantee this film will at least crack a smile across your face.

HOP - Safe and The Avengers

Mind as well just skip the first and go straight to the second...

SAFE - From what I can recall, this movie was a typical Jason Statham flick - completely ridiculous and just like every single other film he has done.  Mind as well call it Transporter 8, or whatever number we are up to with those films.  A bad-ass fight scene here and there, but otherwise total crap.  Honestly, I don't even really remember this movie as it was completely eclipsed by the second film of the hop.

THE AVENGERS - Amazing. Awesome. Fantastic. You will not be disappointed. This movie exceeded all my expectations.  Granted, my expectations were for a comic book movie so let's not start comparing this to Shawshank or anything, but DAMN was this movie intensely enjoyable.  There is great risk in an ensemble cast, especially when taking so many characters that have already been solidly established in comic book lore, but I think this film was a soaring success.  You have to keep in mind that I don't read comics or watch the cartoons so I can only approach this from a purely off-the-cuff standpoint, but from where I sat this movie was so much fun that I am considering jumping back to the theater to see it again.  Robert Downey Jr stole the show, as I expected he would, but I appreciated the flushing out of Scarlett  Johansson's character (Black Widow) and the new Hulk, played by Mark Ruffalo.  Captain America and Thor were kind of lame, but who cares when the rest of the movie has such an insanely high production value, incredible CGI, snappy dialogue, and the myriad of other elements that make you literally hoot and holler while watching?

HOP - Lockout and The Raven

I have seriously been slacking... this hop was weeks ago haha  The movies were both pretty average, not particularly inspiring, and while I might not say outright "bad", I may encourage you to simply eat your popcorn and roll with the punches here.

LOCKOUT - This movie was the more brainlessly enjoyable of the two.  I am a fan of Guy Pearce, and he did a solid "tough but ultimately nice" guy with this role.  However, seeing as how every aspect of this film was essentially channeling its vibe from Escape from New York all this film made me want to do is watch some Snake Plisskin.

THE RAVEN - I was super excited for this movie!  I dark, gritty thriller with a distinctly intriguing plot, starring John Cusack?  Yes.  Granted, my first reaction after watching the trailer is "why isn't Edward Norton playing this role" but after actually watching the film I can completely understand why he may have turned down the script (if offered).  This is one of those movies where you keep waiting for it to get better, and it simply never does.  Granted I may have missed some subtleties, not being an avid Poe reader, but I am familiar with his most famous work and besides, this is a silly Hollywood action-thriller it should not depend on my reading of poetry for success.  Anyway, not great and not bad, this movie was nothing of note.

A Dangerous Method

Bad bad movie.  Interesting concept, poorly acted and executed.  Director was a bit "split diopter" happy (sorry, no other way for me to describe this type of shot haha) and the whole movie was just stagnant.  It was a whole lot of nothing happening.  I am yawning and boring myself just trying to think back on this movie that I watched just the other night.  Don't be lured by the big names - Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fassbender, Kiera Knightley, and Vincent Cassel - like I was.  At the end it was like wait, what?  What dangerous method?  There was something dangerous about this movie?