Thor

Just like Iron Man did in 2008, Thor has surprised a lot of people and busted blocks to reign in the arrival of summer movie season (Fast Five, did open before it, but lacks a superhero, so it doesn’t count). Chris Hemsworth has got to be the talk of the town, with a successful opening, a rumored offer from the Snow White and the Huntsmen people, and just generally women swooning over his chiseled self for 120 minutes in cineplexes across the country.

The movie probably isn’t as “good” as Iron Man, but it’s leading star is easily as entertaining as Robert Downey Jr. One aspect that it’s inferior to Iron Man in, is the chemistry between the two stars that Downey Jr. and Paltrow had onscreen. It was so obvious when watching their scenes unfold that those two were friendly/comfortable with each other when the cameras weren’t rolling. Natalie Portman, who is the leading lady in Thor, doesn’t have that before mentioned chemistry with Hemsworth, but she’s an adept enough actress that audiences will certainly focus on her other qualities instead. This is hardly a major squabble to have with a $150 million blockbuster, but I’m trying to be a bit critical of a movie which I really loved, so bear with me.


Not being very familiar with the Thor comic books, the learning curve to understand where he comes from, what he can do, and why he’s doing it is more than adequately addressed by director, Kenneth Bragnagh, Stan Lee, and the rest of the film’s producers. But, I think the ultimate goal of familiarizing the audience with Thor and his abilities is to introduce another character of the Marvel universe and build anticipation for The Avengers Summer 2012 release. Well, this plan worked on me as Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk now have some serious competition in my book for “Most badass contemporary superhero”. I think Stan Lee and the rest of the Marvel execs hope Chris Evans, as Captain America, can add even more clutter to this later in the summer.

Scream 4

It all started with a panicked 911 call in a small, fictional California town called Woodsboro, and it ended in a blood bath. The closing words that Courtney Cox’s character, Gale Weathers delivers at the end of the original Scream movie are synonymous with the horror franchise and they bring the story full circle, in as close to a perfect ending as possible, in my opinion. I’m a very biased Scream fan, as it was one of the first movie franchises that really made that business of moviemaking appealing to me. I remember how big of a deal it was to be seeing a gory, R-rated movie as a middle-schooler, I remember almost all of the nutty one-liners that Stu and Billy Loomis recite in that final act, I remember what the original did for the horror genre during the late 90’s. The franchise has a lot of history to me, so it’s difficult to write an objective review of it, but nevertheless I can still try, can’t I?

I’m going to rundown the plot synopsis of this movie rather quickly, because there are so many other topics that I want to discuss. But, it’s the fifteenth anniversary of the original Woodsboro murders and Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is returning to town for some publicity for her new book, Out of Darkness. Sidney’s return though is coupled with a grisly murder of two Woodsboro High student. The killer eventually makes it known that Sidney and those who she loves are primary targets and the rest of the town become suspects, like in the previous three movies. But, Scream 4 is unlike the movies that came before it (Thankfully it’s much different than Scream 3). The biggest difference I noticed was how the screenplay addressed slasher-movie cliché’s. Like the infamous opening scene murder sequence, the police chief’s buffoonery in solving the murders, “the rules to surviving a sequel or trilogy”, and various other cliché’s. This time around Wes Craven, Kevin Williamson, and company dispelled all the major cliché’s by basically creating a joke of them. It’s evident from the somewhat confusing, somewhat controversial first scene, but I think it was an extremely wise play and it achieved one of the most important tasks for the movie, to keep your core audience guessing/interested/satisfied. I’m sure if they wanted to they could’ve wrote an opening scene with Sidney being “off-ed” and turn everybody on their heads, but that would’ve made the rest of the events of the film very difficult to come up with and also left little doubt in the audience’s minds on whether she’d survive the movie or not. They could’ve had a scene similar to Drew Barrymore’s from the original, but more over the top of course, this probably would’ve been met with displeasure because of the whole “been there, done that” notion. I think they got it just right this time around.

In terms of casting, I’m so glad that Emma Roberts got the role of Sidney’s cousin, over Ashley Greene. Roberts really “killed” the role, and I can see her being cast as a similar character in the future because of how well she pulled it off. Hayden Panetierre, as Kirby Reed, was another casting choice that I really enjoyed. Panetierre not only nailed the look, but had all the right moves to go along with it. Nico Tortorella, as (INSERT CHARACTER NAME) , was another savvy selection, as every time he appeared on screen it echoed the creepiness of Billy Loomis to me. Anthony Anderson and (GUY FROM THE OC) did provide a little comic relief, but their characters were both too one dimensional and lacked enough screen time to really have an impact on the movie. Lastly, Alison Brie’s character, Sidney’s publicist, was acted incredibly, with me finding myself hoping for her death because of how nasty/unlikeable she was in the film.

Honestly, some scenes in the film were too over the top, nothing really with blood and gore, but more in terms of just, “I saw this coming a mile away, and they’re still going to have it happen”. This is I think unavoidable when dealing with the fourth movie in a franchise, but I don’t feel that it happened to often where I was checking my watch to see when it would all be over (But, again I’m a long-time fan of the Scream franchise). But, with a young nucleus of actors coming on board for this movie there have been rumors of this being the first installment in a new trilogy, as long as this film performed at the box office. Unfortunately, the movie has had a very dismal showing at the box office and any hopes of a Scream 5, are as unlikely as Drew Barrymore surviving the opening scene of the original movie.

The Adjustment Bureau

The Adjustment Bureau is a science fiction thriller built around a romance between characters that Matt Damon and Emily Blunt play. Although, I think it's a bit light on the thrills, it does portray an intriguing viewpoint on fate, free will and the involvement of the "powers that be". The story comes from a Phillip K. Dick's short story about "adjusters" who influence the outcomes of events from the shadows. Dick more famously is responsible for the story that the film, Minority Report, is based on.

The movie is set in New York City, so many are these days, but director George Nolfi manipulates the many intricacies that Manhattan has in an exceptional way that sort of makes the city backdrop a character all its own. Doors, which the adjusters use to travel, transport the audience from the MoMa to Yankee Stadium and on to the Statue of Liberty. Nolfi really does well for a first time director, but one of the few gripes I have with the film, is that he could've used a couple more scenes to establish the passionate feelings between Damon and Blunt's characters. A few of the scenes towards the end of the movie are reminiscent of the Bourne trilogy, which shouldn't be shocking because of Nolfi's involvement in both films.

Damon and Blunt, do certainly have an on screen chemistry that doesn't seem fake or forced, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them collaborate on another movie, but credit should be given to Nolfi's script and how it allowed the two stars to seem so comfortable with each other.

There are very solid supporting performances given by Anthony Mackie, John Slattery, and Terence Stamp. They all play case workers for the Adjustment Bureau, with Mackie portraying a more compassionate adjuster, Slattery is a smug, calculating adjuster, and Stamp's character is the most feared adjuster of them all, who is known as the Hammer.

The Adjustment Bureau, might not have fully lived up to all of the potential that it had, but it is still a good movie. It's entertaining, it has two very watchable stars, and it's a sci-fi movie that doesn't require the nerdiest of nerds to thoroughly enjoy. These elements should be enough reason to see it at the theaters over Battle: Los Angeles and Red Riding Hood.

The Next Three Days

Unfortunately, Russell Crowe's off screen issues may have deterred a lot of people from seeing this movie initially, I know that's what took me so long to see it. But, this is unfortunate because Paul Haggis's, The Next Three Days, is a surprisingly exceptionally well paced crime thriller that went completely unnoticed throughout the awards season. If Winter's Bone could secure a nomination for Best Picture, why not this movie?

Anyways, say what you will about Crowe and his performances and how they relate to this one, but I'm pretty convinced that anybody in the circumstances that his character, John Brennan, found himself in would've acted accordingly. It's unfair to be harsh on Crowe because his character's ability to adapt to the situations he finds himself in, draw close similarities to another character that Crowe played in some other film.

The shining performance of this film though is Paul Haggis. You should remember him as the screenwriter/director who "Crashed" the Oscars back in 2006. His ability at crafting a screenplay that unfolds with such complexity and drama that this film does is truly an amazing accomplishment. I found myself marveling at the way he connects little occurrences during the film, almost like how he did in, Crash.

I've been griping a lot over the Oscars for the last couple weeks, and I don't think this gripe isn't worthy of mention, that either Roman Polanski's Ghost Writer or Haggis' direction in this film deserved an Oscar nomination more than David O. Russell for the Fighter. The awards show has been criticized by many for being a political, popularity contest, but this year more than recent years it is certainly seems to be the case.

It's Kind of a Funny Story

It's not often that you see two names credited as director on a Hollywood movie, but with, It's Kind of a Funny Story, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck share the spotlight and deliver a truly touching film. Apparently, they also collaborated on writing the screenplay for the film as well (Credit is due to Ned Vizzini also, as he wrote the novel which the movie is based off of). This film delivers laughs, while examining the life of a modern day American teenager who's dealing with pressure from his parents, friends, and community to be successful.

I'm interested to know what aspects of the film were directed by Fleck and which ones by Boden, primarily because it's unorthodox and sort of strange for a movie to have two directors. Especially, for the actors in the film to have competing voices telling them how scenes should be done and that such. But, also because I really enjoyed the film the way it was released, so I can know more about which director pushed more for this scene to make the final cut or how he/she wanted this scene to be scored. Really, very interesting stuff..

Anyways, It's Kind of a Funny Story, is just that and it's quite a lot more. It has a big heart and some familiar faces in different roles than they usually play, which I usually find to be a good surprise.

Rabbit Hole

Nicole Kidman is astoundingly enrapturing in her role as, Becca, a mother dealing with loss and the resulting grief and anguish that comes with tragically losing a child. Her Academy Award nomination is well deserved, and I think more praise for the film is due as well. Of all the actresses nominated, besides Natalie Portman, I think she is most deserving of the golden statue. But, considering that she's already won and how popular Portman's performance in Black Swan is, she's the hands down favorite.

Speaking more about this film though, it examines the relationship between a husband and wife as the deal with the loss of their child in a very touching way. Aaron Eckhart, who plays the role of Howie, also does a brilliant job at showing the different combination of emotions that someone dealing with a major loss like this might have. Director John Cameron Mitchell does an exceptional job at depicting David Lindsay-Abaire's play. He paces the movie very well, with only being 91 minutes in length.

Bottom-line, Rabbit Hole is an excellent indie film that should have received more accolades, but hopefully Kidman's Oscar nomination can shine some light on it and make it more attractive for people to see.

The Company Men

John Wells, well known for being the show-runner behind long running hits, The West Wing and ER, writes and directs this fantastic film about corporate downsizing and how affects the lives of three men. Set in Boston, Massachusetts, a fictional company, GTX, is reeling from the economic crisis and is cutting jobs left and right to appease shareholders in an attempt to drive up their stock price. The scene to open the movie is quite powerful in the way it captures the feeling of "this sort of thing can happen to anybody, when you least expect it".

The movie stars Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, and Chris Cooper. Each actor plays the role of an employee at GTX, with Jones' character being someone in executive management, Cooper's a notch or so below him, and Affleck as a highly paid salesman. These characters don't have too much interaction on screen, the film examines more the relationships between themselves and their families, neighbors, and communities. The three actors turn in pretty incredible performances, and its a wonder that the film wasn't released earlier in 2010 to be eligible for awards consideration. Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, and Rosemarie DeWitt also play pivotal roles in the film and do superior jobs at being enrapturing and authentic.

The film reminds me a lot of, Up in the Air, and perhaps that's the reason it wasn't released for awards consideration, but instead for commercial ambitions, because Reitman's already did that. But, it's very different than the prior film in how it depicts the lives of those higher up the corporate ladder and the descent that occurs when one's income disappears. Critics can take shots at Wells pacing of the movie, but it's no easy feat to write and direct a major motion picture and I believe he does an excellent job at showing and challenging several aspects of American culture and lifestyle. Definitely, worth a watch.