21 Jump Street.

Actors:  Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Brie Larsen, Dave Franco, Rob Riggle, Ice Cube

Rating:  8 out of 10, this movie was so funny and Tatum is an absolute revelation in the film.  He demonstrates real comic timing which is not easy.  He is quickly establishing that he is much more than just a pretty face.  This is of course the homage film to the 80’s iconic TV show and they decided to make it a comedy which works on a number of levels.  It was funny to see the differences pointed out with today’s high school kids, mostly positive.  I won’t ruin the surprises but there are some very funny cameos in this as well.  Cube once again plays the angry black guy but also pokes fun at himself.  I think this was supposed to be a Hill vehicle also but he’s just not that funny as a lead and the movie slows way down when it focuses solely on his story line.  He is much more sympathetic and funny when he works as part of a duo.  This movie was just a whole lot of fun to watch. 

MVP:  Tatum as the clueless Jenko is a breakout comedy star in this  

Wrath of the Titans

Actors:  Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Edgar Ramirez, Toby Kebbell, Rosamund Pike

Rating:  7 out of 10, a surprise when a sequel is better than the original film but this film is clearly superior to the original, Clash of the Titans.  Worthington is an interesting actor but in this movie he spends almost the entire film getting his ass kicked repeatedly and thoroughly.  He’s supposed to be the hero but in each instance he wins (he is the hero after all) by some last minute gambit.  This prevents him from being truly heroic and steals some of his luster.  The special effects are truly special, especially the father of gods Chronos who looked like the LOTR’s Balrog on steroids.  The supporting cast was extremely talented if cursed with some truly unfortunate hair cuts.  Kebbell (as always) and Pike were both extremely credible in their roles as comic foil and romantic interest.  I liked this movie so much more than the Clash of the Titans which I don’t even remember very well other than mild contempt. 
MVP:  Worthington as Perseus shows he can take a punch and carry a movie

Project X

Actors:  Thomas Mann, Oliver Cooper, Jonathan Daniel Brown, Dax Flame, Kirby Bliss Blanding
Rating:  6 out of 10, I missed this when it was in theaters mainly because I couldn’t convince the wife to accompany and boy am I glad I couldn’t.  She would have hated this and I’m not sure I really liked it. It revolves around the story of three high school nobodies who change their lives by hosting a truly outrageous birthday party that escalates way out of control.  Apparently their high school has a bunch of twenty something playboy models going to school there which I guess is a good thing.  The leads are not sympathetic at all, especially Cooper who transcends to truly unlikable.  This was made by the same guys who made Hangover but in those movies you at least had someone to root for – not so here.  I wanted to see this because I used to have parties at my house when my parents were out and I thought it would be nostalgic but I never had angry dwarfs locked in the oven or a flame throwing drug dealer burning down the neighborhood so I guess I was pretty lame. 
MVP:  Blanding was memorable as Kirby, the love interest for one of the leads, because she seemed to be the only one who “got it” in the entire cast and she didn’t have to take her clothes off to be memorable

Camelot

Actors:  Richard Harris, Vanessa Redgrave, Franco Nero, Lionel Jeffries, David Hemmings Rating:  6 out of 10, a Father’s Day gift and a film I really cherished from my youth.  Camelot was the first play I ever saw, put on by my high school drama department while I was still in Junior High.  I’d always been a huge fan of knights in shining armor stuff and this had them in spades.  I always wondered about Redgrave whom I never found attractive in the role of Guinevere.  The movie has not aged well with the sound stages obviously fake which makes this seem more theater than movie and at times just silly.  The knights seem a lot more effeminate than I remembered and Arthur absolutely prances occasionally.  Nero was a huge mistake as Lancelot as he seems to be a spaghetti western actor dumped in the middle of a bunch of British thespians, which is of course exactly what happened.  He’s clearly out of his league and it hurts the movie.  Harris and Redgrave though carry the film and are so good that you wonder what the hell Guinevere was thinking.  One of my favorite scenes in movie history is the ending where Arthur sends off the young boy to remember the dream that was Camelot.  I’m glad I now have this cherished film of my younger years in my collection but it certainly has aged, but then, so have I.
MVP:  Harris was a much better actor that I ever gave him credit for, lot of nuance in his role as Arthur

Devil’s Double

Actors:  Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier, Raad Rawi, Philip Quast

Rating:  7 out of 10, this was a fairly entertaining movie, rented from Netflix, supposedly recounting the true adventures of an Iraqi forced to serve as Uday Hussein’s (Saddam’s less than sane son) body double.  The plot turns out to be more of an ego piece for the guy who obviously portrayed himself in the most heroic way possible.  The movie was interesting, if only for a look inside the depraved life of pre-invasion Iraq.  I don’t know if this ever happened the way the movie claims but the performances here were solid, especially Cooper in a dual role.  I also liked the fact that it didn’t descend into a polemic about the war but simply explored the decadent life of Uday which has been fairly well chronicled.  Sagnier was almost unrecognizable as an Iraqi and is not aging well.  I first saw her in Swimming Pool and thought she was going to be something special – not so much.
MVP:  Cooper as both Uday and his double skillfully made them seem like completely different people

This Means War

Actors:  Reese Witherspoon, Tom Hardy, Chris Pine, Chelsea Handler, Til Schweiger
Rating:  7 out of 10, this movie really couldn’t figure out what it wanted to be, an action movie or a romantic comedy.  The action bits really worked, especially those involving Hardy, who has fantastic physical presence.  Pine is more of a pretty boy who seemed a little miscast.  Witherspoon, remarkably, seemed a little old for the part of the female lead but she’s such a good actress that she pulls it off.  The funniest parts of the movie were the interaction between her and Chelsea Handler who steals every scene she’s in giving Witherspoon terrible dating advice.  Hardy and Pine play best friends who are also CIA undercover agents who are competing for Witherspoon’s affections.  They end up employing literally millions of dollars worth of assets to pursue her and threaten their own friendship.  Schweiger plays the bad guy but is only sparsely used which is a shame because he’s an extremely interesting actor.  I liked the movie but the director needed to make up his mind about where he was going and never really did.  Luckily the actors were up to lifting the plot above his indecision and the result was pretty entertaining.
MVP:  Hardy as Tuck, the CIA killer looking for love

Dazed and Confused

Actors:  Jason London, Joey Lauren Adams, Milla Jovovich, Rory Cochrane, Adam Goldberg, Ben Affleck, Cole Hauser, Parker Posey, Matthew McConaughey
Rating:  7 out of 10, a coming of age movie set in the 1970s that I had never seen.  My daughter felt this was an atrocious failing on my part and on a drive back from Rhode Island, found and purchased the movie at a Best Buy using her I-phone.  We stopped and picked up the movie on our way home and she made a father's day gift of it to me.  I can’t believe I’ve never seen this movie as it has some really big stars in one of their first roles.  It also brought back a lot of memories of my own high school days, mainly due to the hair cuts and fashion styles.  I can’t believe what we thought was cool.  There was also a lot less political correctness which was cool.  The movie kind of meanders between funny bits, Affleck couldn’t act back then either.  McConaughey has the movie’s best moments as a loser who comes back to hang out with high school kids.  I really enjoyed watching this for the nostalgic feelings that were tapped.  London was very good; I can’t believe we haven’t seen more of him.  I really liked the plot line involving a young freshman allowed to hang out with the seniors - every freshman's dream and that's what teh movies are for.
MVP:  McConaughey as Dave Wooderson with the immortal, “all right” line

Sherlock Holmes, Game of Shadows

Actors:  Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, Jared Harris, Stephen Fry

Rating:  8 out of 10, this sequel to Sherlock Holmes was a little better than the original, something that isn’t easy.  It takes the same characters into the epic confrontation with Professor Moriarty, hinted at in the first movie.  Strangely for a Ritchie movie, there were some real problems with pacing, something he usually excels at.  The center plot line and the strength again of this movie is the relationship between Homes and Watson.  Law and Downey make a great team and play off each other superbly.  They obviously felt the need to get a strong female presence, something they did extremely well in the first movie with Rachel McAdam, gone too soon in this one, and the wife of Watson.  This time they went with Rapace, who once again is awesome and steals every scene she’s in but she doesn’t really have a big enough role for the amount of screen time she gets.  It’s almost as if the part was intended to be small but she was so good that they left in some scenes that were better off on the cutting room floor in the interest of pacing.  I liked the move although Downey seems to have some sort of masochist need to get the living daylights beaten out of him repeatedly.  I though Holmes was smarter than that.  I really enjoyed the scenes of him and Harris, an able Moriarty, squaring off.       
MVP:  Law as the redoubtable Dr Watson enduring the worst stag party ever

Sherlock Holmes

Actors:  Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Eddie Marsan

Rating:  7 out of 10, I bought this the other day in conjunction with the sequel and watched it last night.  When I was growing up Sherlock Holmes was Basil Rathbone (great name there) and I’ve always judged the countless actors who play the part against him, usually finding them extremely lacking.  Downey was an interesting choice, being American, for this deeply British role and his English accent kind of came and went throughout the movie.  Downey once again shows his range by handling the role with aplomb.  The best part about this movie was the increased responsibility they allow Dr Watson, usually an afterthought in most versions but not so here.  Jude Law is fantastic as a slightly flawed moth circling Holmes self-destructive light.  Guy Ritchie directed this and there were his usual techniques which at times could distract but this is an actor driven film and they all deliver.   I wasn’t a huge fan of this when it first came out but this kind of grows on you and I really enjoyed it this time.  Strong once again plays an eerily evil villain, something he seems to be carving out as his niche. 
MVP:  Downey as the uber-detective Holmes, generous with sharing the spotlight with other actors and making the movie stronger

Act of Valor

Actors:  Bunch on un-credited Navy SEALs, Roselyn Sanchez, Alex Veadov, Jason Cottle
Rating:  8 out of 10, this was an interesting blend of real life and Hollywood.  The action scenes were some of the best I’ve seen in film.  The use of real life SEALs was also very well done and as an old infantryman it was heartwarming the see the tactical scenarios run using actual techniques versus the usual Hollywood embellishments.  All this being said the acting, understandably, was uniformly terrible.  You could really tell when a real actor was in a scene opposite one of the military guys, it was starkly obvious.  The movie comes to a lurching halt whenever they try to get the military guys to act.  The plot moves right along and is coherent if a little fast paced for a non-military viewer.  I was watching this with my wife who has a tough time seeing contemporary military films because it drags up some the fears she experienced with her quarter century as an Army wife.  She was alternating between tears and satisfaction throughout.  By the end of the movie she agreed with me, they mostly got it right.  Watch this for the action scenes which will get you through the cringe worthy dramatic scenes.
MVP:  The SEALs, probably the worst actors in history of cinema but also the most dangerous

John Carter

Actors:  Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Mark Strong, Dominic West, James Purefoy, Willem Dafoe, Samantha Morton, Ciaran Hinds
Rating:  7 out of 10, I was truly excited when I heard they were making a major movie about another one of Edgar Rice Burroughs’s characters. The creator of Tarzan as well as several other memorable pulp fiction series I loved the Carter series as an adolescent.  The only downside seemed to be the involvement of Disney which would certainly take some of the edge off when it came to scantily clad red ladies.  The movie did not do well at the box office and I do not understand because the action is almost non-stop and the CGI characters have reached a level of sophistication that you forget they are computer generated.  Kitsch readily handles the action role as a Civil War vet who is trying to re-establish meaning in his life only to be transported to Mars where he is thrust into yet another civil war.  The only miss in the cast is Collins who just does not have the appeal needed for the part of Dejah Thoris.   While physically attractive she has no screen presence and no chemistry whatsoever.  This does drag at the movie because the relationship between Carter and Thoris is the driving theme to bring Carter back from depression over the loss of his first wife.  Strong, always a great villain, delivers as does West, though it was a little strange seeing him in this and then immediately afterwards as McNulty in The Wire.  Great popcorn fare that delivered but for some reason has not been well received; ignore the critics and see this movie. 
MVP:  Kitsch in the title role shows depth and athleticism

Safe House

Actors:  Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds, Brendan Gleeson, Vera Farmiga, Sam Sheppard, Ruben Blades
Rating:  8 out of 10, this was a really good action movie with a superb cast at the top of their game.  Reynolds holds his own with Washington, no mean task.  Reynolds plays a CIA house minder named Weston who yearns for more action until it literally explodes in his face. I like the way he slowly adapts as his world falls apart and he tries to remain true to himself and his beliefs.  Washington dominates as the world weary super spy, Frost, on the run from the CIA in possession of devastating secrets.  The movie is a little too preachy about the evils of governments but that what you get with Hollywood – they never met a conspiracy they didn’t like.  I also wish they made better use of Farmiga who elevates whatever scene she’s in.  That aside, I was very impressed with the pyrotechnics for this movie, especially the gun fights which had a real edge of realism.  The action is almost non-stop and both Reynolds and Washington do a credible job with the physical aspects.  I liked the arc for both the main characters as Frost sees himself in the young Weston then watches their friends get stripped away until all they are left with is each other.  I’m surprised we didn’t hear more about this movie – it rocks.  I also really liked the ending as Weston goes to Paris but doesn’t cliché out.

MVP:  Washington as Tobin Frost (great name) both cool and extremely dangerous

One for the Money

Actors:  Katherine Heigl, Debbie Reynolds, Jason O’Mara, Daniel Sunjata, John Leguizamo
Rating:  5 out of 10, I l let my wife rate this one since she was responsible for me having to sit through it again.  I saw this when it came out in the theater and was similarly unimpressed at that time.  My wife was out of country so she didn’t see it but had seen the previews, which, in truth, did seem fairly funny.  She has been badgering me for weeks about why this was not on our Netflix list despite me warning her that it wasn’t very good.  I finally succumbed to her entreaties and my warnings were borne out.  She admitted that I was right (I basked in this rare approbation).  While Heigl is a very attractive actress, she just wasn’t right for this role.  She looked like a California girl trying to play a Jersey girl – too much of a stretch for her.  She is very likable but definitely not believable.  I know they threw in a shower scene just to get guys in the seats but even that wasn’t memorable.  There were moments that made me laugh but too many that made me cringe.  For an obvious chick flick, the best parts were for men, Sunjata was great as Ranger, Heigl's bounty hunter muse and O'Mara had most of the best lines as the object of Heigl's hunting.  Definitely a pass on this movie, I keep waiting for Heigl to land a movie role where she can tap into her undeniable charisma and be believable at the same time.  I really want to like her but she hasn’t got there yet.  This was obviously set up as the first in a series but thankfully I think it ends here.  Hey, at least it afforded me the rare opportunity to have my wife acknowledge I was right about something.
MVP:  O’Mara, an Irish actor, as Joe Morelli, a New Jersey cop was totally believable