When you can't wait for DVDs
...you do like my family and see pretty much everything in the theaters. So here are some reviews or at least short blurbs for a lot of the summer blockbusters. They have been a long time coming, and since it's my birthday today, I feel less guilty about posting so much TL;DR. And there is a lot of it, folks. Two posts worth, I think. Humor me. It's not like I'll know that you're not reading it. ~_^
1. Iron Man - obviously a total treat. Robert Downey Jr. is my flipping hero. In an era where superhero films are becoming the norm, it's refreshing when it gets done exactly right. (Because let's face it; Spiderman 3, the Fantastic 4 series, the list goes on for superhero movies that we really could have done without lately.) I hadn't laughed so hard in a long time.
2.Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - okay, it wasn't as good as the first movie. Neither was the book, people. They changed a few things that were a little irksome, obviously because they're trying to fix the Susan story by making her and Peter a little more equal in growing-upness. It sucks if you were a fan of Peter as a child reading those books (as I was), but I can get over it. Doesn't change the fact that I bawled through a good half of the movie
3. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - short story is I loved it. No, you can't change my mind about it. Let me start by saying that all these people complaining about the alien thing? (if you are one of them, I apologize in advance here) are kind of annoying me. Mainly because they are forgetting what Indy was created as; an ode to all those Saturday matinée serials where a hero was involved in every kind of adventure the writers could pull out of their butts. Keeping that in mind, yes, aliens exist in Indy-verse. Everything exists in Indy-verse. God, pagans gods, giant bugs, aliens, werewolves and vampires, etc. He's intended as that kind of hero. I'm sorry you don't like aliens. I thought the premise worked just fine
I will admit that it was better the second time I saw it. The first time I had stalling moments where I would go "huh? why are they doing that?" The second time I just held on for the ride and had more fun for it. I applaud Spielberg for not going digital and for recreating the visual vocabulary he had as a young director. It really was shot very similarly to the first three. And the scripting was similar as well. Same sense of humor and story flow. The only character who didn't work for me was Ray Winstone's. After the second double cross I yawned and waited for him to die.
They brought back Marion, didn't give Indy some young hot girl to chase around for the first half of the movie, and did right by them after all those years. Hell, I was completely in love with that relationship when I was like... four years old. And they hadn't lost that timing between them, that perfect chemistry that makes the movie better when they're on screen at the same time. Mutt was great too, and I will admit I had been worried when I'd heard that Indy's kid was going to be a main part in the film. But they didn't make him an annoying stereotype of a teenage greaser. He and Indy had a great dynamic before they even knew they were father and son, which was the right choice, rather than making them argue the whole way through. I hope Lucas convinces the guys and makes movie five. I'd go see that one at midnight too.
4. The Incredible Hulk - Woot. After such a disappointing start to that series, the reset button did wonders. Norton is brilliant as ever. And the last scene? Had me grinning from ear to ear like an idiot long after I left the theater. Seriously. My parents thought I had lost some brain cells. So... when's that movie coming out?
5. Get Smart - Did you really think there was any chance that it could suck? Steve Carrell was born to play Maxwell Smart. Still, Alan Arkin steals the show and wins all the points for the swordfish line because I literally couldn't stop laughing for five minutes after he said it.
6. Hancock - Another surprisingly good superhero yarn. Didn't regret a minute of it. And I like seeing Will Smith in just about anything.
7. WALL-E - D'awwwww. Love. I mean, this movie was practically made for me, seeing as it's all about robots and humanity needing to get up off their asses and do stuff. But omg with the cute. I could almost like Hello, Dolly! after that movie, even with my horrifying 8th grade experience doing the show. Those two songs were certainly stuck in my head for long enough after.
8. Journey to the Center of the Earth - in 3-D!!!! You know, it was just fun. A great romp that was just the right length and right for families of all ages.
9. Wanted - This is the best action film I've seen in... five years? More? Fantastic cinematography, great script with narration points that engage you rather than making you want to shoot yourself, perfect score (done by Elfman, as usual. Love that man). And, you know, James McAvoy. He's just too fucking good. Another movie with a killer last scene.
Part Duex is coming....
1. Iron Man - obviously a total treat. Robert Downey Jr. is my flipping hero. In an era where superhero films are becoming the norm, it's refreshing when it gets done exactly right. (Because let's face it; Spiderman 3, the Fantastic 4 series, the list goes on for superhero movies that we really could have done without lately.) I hadn't laughed so hard in a long time.
2.Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - okay, it wasn't as good as the first movie. Neither was the book, people. They changed a few things that were a little irksome, obviously because they're trying to fix the Susan story by making her and Peter a little more equal in growing-upness. It sucks if you were a fan of Peter as a child reading those books (as I was), but I can get over it. Doesn't change the fact that I bawled through a good half of the movie
3. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - short story is I loved it. No, you can't change my mind about it. Let me start by saying that all these people complaining about the alien thing? (if you are one of them, I apologize in advance here) are kind of annoying me. Mainly because they are forgetting what Indy was created as; an ode to all those Saturday matinée serials where a hero was involved in every kind of adventure the writers could pull out of their butts. Keeping that in mind, yes, aliens exist in Indy-verse. Everything exists in Indy-verse. God, pagans gods, giant bugs, aliens, werewolves and vampires, etc. He's intended as that kind of hero. I'm sorry you don't like aliens. I thought the premise worked just fine
I will admit that it was better the second time I saw it. The first time I had stalling moments where I would go "huh? why are they doing that?" The second time I just held on for the ride and had more fun for it. I applaud Spielberg for not going digital and for recreating the visual vocabulary he had as a young director. It really was shot very similarly to the first three. And the scripting was similar as well. Same sense of humor and story flow. The only character who didn't work for me was Ray Winstone's. After the second double cross I yawned and waited for him to die.
They brought back Marion, didn't give Indy some young hot girl to chase around for the first half of the movie, and did right by them after all those years. Hell, I was completely in love with that relationship when I was like... four years old. And they hadn't lost that timing between them, that perfect chemistry that makes the movie better when they're on screen at the same time. Mutt was great too, and I will admit I had been worried when I'd heard that Indy's kid was going to be a main part in the film. But they didn't make him an annoying stereotype of a teenage greaser. He and Indy had a great dynamic before they even knew they were father and son, which was the right choice, rather than making them argue the whole way through. I hope Lucas convinces the guys and makes movie five. I'd go see that one at midnight too.
4. The Incredible Hulk - Woot. After such a disappointing start to that series, the reset button did wonders. Norton is brilliant as ever. And the last scene? Had me grinning from ear to ear like an idiot long after I left the theater. Seriously. My parents thought I had lost some brain cells. So... when's that movie coming out?
5. Get Smart - Did you really think there was any chance that it could suck? Steve Carrell was born to play Maxwell Smart. Still, Alan Arkin steals the show and wins all the points for the swordfish line because I literally couldn't stop laughing for five minutes after he said it.
6. Hancock - Another surprisingly good superhero yarn. Didn't regret a minute of it. And I like seeing Will Smith in just about anything.
7. WALL-E - D'awwwww. Love. I mean, this movie was practically made for me, seeing as it's all about robots and humanity needing to get up off their asses and do stuff. But omg with the cute. I could almost like Hello, Dolly! after that movie, even with my horrifying 8th grade experience doing the show. Those two songs were certainly stuck in my head for long enough after.
8. Journey to the Center of the Earth - in 3-D!!!! You know, it was just fun. A great romp that was just the right length and right for families of all ages.
9. Wanted - This is the best action film I've seen in... five years? More? Fantastic cinematography, great script with narration points that engage you rather than making you want to shoot yourself, perfect score (done by Elfman, as usual. Love that man). And, you know, James McAvoy. He's just too fucking good. Another movie with a killer last scene.
Part Duex is coming....