Wanderlust

Actors:  Paul Ruud, Jennifer Anniston, Justin Theroux, Alan Alda, Malin Ackerman, Joe Lo Truglio
Rating:  6 out of 10, a Netflix rental that I probably won’t buy because it just misses.  This comedy has Ruud fired from his job and trying out life in a Georgia commune.  I will watch any movie Ruud is in and he plays the same character he seems to play in half a dozen other movies but there was just something missing in this one, at least for me.  There didn’t seem to be a lot of chemistry between him and Anniston.  I was surprised to learn that they are virtually the same age because I left the movie thinking that Anniston was too old for him.  The hardest part for me was that Anniston was just not believable as a gal who couldn’t figure out what she wanted to do with her life.  I was kind of disappointed because she was so good in a couple of recent comedies, Just Go For It and Horrible Bosses.  Theroux is strong again as the hippy too good to be true and the rest of the loonies in the hippie colony are stand outs as well.  The sub-plot of the evil brother just did not work.  The writing overall was very smart and there were some great throw away lines.  There was also one extremely uncomfortable scene where Ruud is obviously ad libbing while talking to the mirror.  This is usually one of Ruud’s strengths but most of this scene should have been left on the cutting room floor.
MVP:  Alda as the drug addled aged hippie, Carvin, still got it

Cabin in the Woods

Actors:  Kristin Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Fran Kranz, Anna Hutchinson, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford, Sigourney Weaver
Rating:  10 out of 10, probably my favorite movie of the year so far and more so because it surprised me so much, something I did not think possible in the horror movie genre.  That is because this really isn’t a straight horror movie but a mix of horror, drama, comedy, and definitely satire.  How it was possible to generate a new angle on the slasher horror movie just amazed me. The cast was smart and the script was incredibly funny and intelligent.  Hemsworth continues his strong series of roles but the real star is Kranz who is the total slacker who emerges as the hero.  I think some of the writers identified with him and saw their chance to make him transcendent; it totally works; as does the entire movie.  The funniest bits are left to Jenkins and Whitford as civil servants with the future of the world hanging in the balance.  Whitford has the best line in the movie and it is simply, “C’mon!”  There were some subtle odes to past horror movies like the cabin itself was a replica of the one from The Evil Dead. I cannot say enough good things about this movie.  It was still macabre but had so many truly funny moments. I really can’t say too much about it because it will ruin some of the delicious surprises offered and I do want you to go see it. It’s such a rare opportunity when a movie can combine two seemingly opposite genres such as comedy and horror so successfully – go see this movie.  I tried to get my wife to watch it with me but she didn’t even last until the first decapitation, so it goes. 
MVP:  Kranz as Marty the stoned out slacker who saves the girl if not the world

Funny Guys

Gone

Actors:  Amanda Seyfried, Wes Bentley, Michael Pare, Katherine Moennig, Daniel Sunjata, Jennifer Carpenter
Rating:  7 out of 10, this was another Netflix rental that I missed when it was released in theaters because I thought it was just a chick flick.  It turned out to be a really good thriller with Seyfried getting out of her usual comfort zone and showing some real depth.  You’re left wondering for the whole movie if she is crazy and just imagining the killer stalking her and she does this with a lot of aplomb.  She definitely demonstrates that she is more than a pretty face and, for me, this justifies a huge comeback from Red Riding Hood.  The supporting cast is solid, especially Sunjata (another strong performance) which keeps the fast paced plot moving right along and keeps you guessing.  The police are treated as complete incompetents, unless they’re chasing Seyfried.  I’m still trying to figure out what Moennig was trying with her hair.  It must be her part was so small that she wanted to stand out but it looked like she went out of her way to look idiotic. Bentley is wasted in a part where you figured he had to be a bigger part of the story but wasn’t, definitely a red herring for the viewer.  There were some huge holes in the plot such as the police being able to track her cell phone only when it was needed for the plot but overall this was a very solid thriller with a nice little edge to it.  I really liked the ending.
MVP:  Seyfried shows some depth as the lead Jill, carries the whole movie and makes you wonder if she’s just driven or insane

The Raid: Redemption

Actors:  Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Donny Alamsyah, Yayan Ruhian, Pierre Gruno
Rating:  8 out of 10, this was another Netflix rental that I checked out because I’d heard some really good things on some of the nerd sites I wander through.  It is the first Indonesian film I can remember seeing and it was awesome.  I watched it with sub-titles which didn’t really matter because you watch this movie for the action which was non-stop.  A SWAT team is led into the apartment building fortress of a crime lord on false pretenses and a young (and very deadly) cop (Uwais) is one of the few survivors trying to fight his way out.  The plot was paper thin but that’s okay because the fight scenes more than make up for that.  It was obvious that Uwais and the other actors were doing the fight scenes themselves and the brutal hand to hand fights were taken to a level I’ve never seen on film before.  I guess this is some form of Indonesian martial arts but it reminded me of Snake Plisken for some reason; which is a huge compliment.  The action was extremely well choreographed and filmed.  The toughest thing about a movie like this is to keep the viewer interested in repetitive fight scenes and this movie achieves it by making you care about Uwais, a tribute to his skill as not only a fighter but an actor.  I really liked this movie, definitely not a date movie (my wife walked out after the seventeenth knifing) but a real guys flick.  I discovered afterwards I could have watched it with English dubbed in, glad I didn’t.
MVP:  Iko Uwais is very memorable as the lead as last policeman standing - Rama

Machine Gun Preacher

Actors:  Gerard Butler, Michele Monaghan, Kathy Baker, Michael Shannon
Rating:  6 out of 10, this was a Netflix rental that we checked out after seeing the preview on another movie because my wife swoons at any appearance of Mr. Butler.  This is the real life story of a Pennsylvania hood who found Christ and is trying to save children in war torn Africa.  This film had a really good premise but it couldn’t figure out how to tell the story.  The plot becomes very episodic and they never delve enough into the reasons behind some of his biggest life decisions.  I mean we get it, this guy is driven, but they don’t spend enough time developing the background. There were a couple of moments where they could have spent just a little bit of time demonstrating why he was doing certain things, Butler is certainly a good enough actor to have carried it off.  The film also severely under uses Monaghan, one of my favorite actresses, as Butler’s wife.  It’s obvious that their relationship is one of the prime motivations for Butler’s character but it is given very little quality time on screen.  This could have been something really cool, but missed.
MVP:  Butler carries the movie as the scarily driven Sam Childress

Safe

Actors:  Jason Statham, Chris Sarandon, Catherine Chan, Robert John Burke, James Hong, Anson Mount, Reggie Lee
Rating:  8 out of 10, mindless, action thriller – check, gratuitous violence and huge body count - check, me loving the movie – check.  Mei, a young girl (played ably by Chan) has memorized an important criminal code, is pursued through New York City by the Chinese mob, the Russian mob, and corrupt NYC cops. Coming to her aid is a street person (Statham) whose life was destroyed by some the same gangsters on her trail.  Of course he’s a whole lot more than just that as we gradually learn. He plays the same deadly, kick ass character again, but boy is he good at that. He’s also my wife’s latest heart throb so she was gushing about his shirtless scenes.  This movie doesn’t try to be anything more than it is and for that reason it works. The supporting cast is excellent in small roles led by Chan.  Burke is scarily ominous as a corrupt cop and Lee is exceptional as a conflicted but still vicious Chinese gangster.  The action scenes are incredibly well choreographed and Statham does what he does best – let the mayhem commence.  The plot has just enough meat on it to justify the mayhem and that makes for a great ride for the viewer – as long you weren’t expecting the Great Gatsby.  Great popcorn fare.
MVP:  Statham as Luke Wright brings his Transporter personae into a new role and still kicks massive ass

Battleship

Actors:  Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgaard, Rhianna, Brooklyn Decker, Laim Neeson, Jesse Plemmons, Tadanobu Asano
Rating:  9 out of 10, in a word was AWESOME! This is the kind of movie my daughter and I completely disagree on as she is a lot more cerebral in her cinema preferences while I just revel in this type of popcorn corniness.  Of course this movie did have Kitsch which seems to help women overcome their cerebral tastes.  I worry that the director, Peter Berg, may also be love with Tim Riggins because of the long, lingering camera shots of Kitsch. It was almost uncomfortable at times but I guess that was for the ladies because there was a hell of a lot of action for the guys – must be the new paradigm. The last 45 minutes of the movie was some of the best action I’ve seen in a long while – it just really rocked, especially when the battleship Missouri took the field.  Seeing the 16” guns bellowing was almost worth the price of admission in and of itself.  The editing was kind of choppy and Neeson was severely underused but overall this was a great action thriller. I don’t understand all the bad reviews because it was not like they were trying to make Hamlet here and you get exactly what you expect, a big, overblown, heroic fight against a technically superior alien invader - what's not to love?  If the critics scared you off this movie and you love action – go see this movie – the last 45 minutes make it all worth it.  I loved the old board game of Battleship which I played incessantly as a kid and really wondered how they could make a coherent movie out of it, Brooklyn Decker helped a lot. Seeing Riggins and Landry (Plemmons) together again was also interesting with both playing very similar characters to what they did in Friday Night Lights.  Rhianna can actually act a little bit which surprised the hell out of me but she held her own with the real actors.  Put your brain on hold and just revel in the completely over the top insanity that is Battleship.
MVP:  Asano as Japanese naval Captain Nagano was the best actor on the screen, I’m not saying there was a lot of competition but he was very good

Yeah Baby!!