Summer of Movies - "Brave" and "The Dark Knight Rises"

I'm not seeing as many movies as I hoped to this summer, but I managed to get a couple more in this past week.  Of course, I went to see "The Dark Knight Rises" on opening day because, well, I like adding my stats to the opening day numbers.

Brave
I was very excited to see this movie about another strong female character blazing her own trail in the world.  And it's Scottish - I love the accent!  We took our munchkin - I think she's been looking forward to the movie as much as I have. She likes saying that "Merida is better than the boys."  The movie had a great story about family and doing what's right.  There were some parts of the movie with more violence than the munchkin is used to (which is not much), so she was a bit scared, but once it was over, she was okay and didn't dwell on those parts.  I really enjoyed the story of the mother and daughter learning to understand one another.  What teenage girl doesn't have stories about butting heads with her mom?  This was a great movie that will become part of our movie collection and will be watched many times, I'm sure.

The Dark Knight Rises
I won't give anything away for anyone who hasn't seen this yet!  I love Batman.  Seriously.  I didn't read the comic books, so I don't know all the stories, but I was hooked in 1989 and 1992 when the Tim Burton films came out.  I watched them both many times, loving the look of the Burton-esque Gotham.  That and I thought Michael Keaton was a great Batman.  The two later films, "Batman Forever" and "Batman & Robin," killed the series for me. 

Then "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight" came along.  Wow.  I love them.  I like the backstory of Batman's origins, and Heath Ledger's Joker was eerily creepy.  I liked "The Dark Knight Rises" though it was difficult to understand Bane with the weird almost TV-announcer lilt to his voice behind the strange mask.  My niece said the movie was predictable, and I found it to be true in some places, but I go to the movies without any preconceived ideas and I don't analyze what's happening while I watch so that I can be surprised and just let the action unfold.  There was some foreshadowing in this film, so while I wasn't surprised at some turns of events, I didn't think they were ruined by the foreshadowing. 

As always, Christian Bale and Gary Oldman turned out good performances (I love Gary Oldman!) and the additions of Anne Hathaway and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were interesting.  Hathaway has the sex appeal down (she's come a long way from "The Princess Diaries"), but I didn't completely buy into her character.  I always see Levitt as the little kid as "Angels in the Outfield," but he showed that he's grown up in this film.  I thought he played the part of the NY cop quite well.  Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Matthew Modine were also very good.  I do think these films were well casted and have always enjoyed the onscreen rapport between Bale and Caine and Freeman. 

Summer of Movies - "Prometheus"

I waited too long to write this!  So we went to see Prometheus in IMAX 3D about two weeks ago - I have not seen a 3D movie at a theater since Captain EO at Disneyland as a kid (I just aged myself).  I wasn't keen on 3D, but we thought we'd give it a shot anyway.  I'm glad we did - I really liked the movie.  I was waiting for the aliens, as I had read that this film is a sort of prequel to the Alien films.  I was not disappointed.  I liked the action and the story was interesting. The film was decently acted, and I was shocked by Guy Pearce's role (yes I looked up the plot summary, but didn't bother to see who is in the movie - oops).  Overall, I liked it and would watch it again (on DVD).  

Summer of Movies - "The Avengers"

I had a date with my teenager to see "The Avengers" on the big screen today.  What can I say - I really like these comic books turned movies.  I'm not a comic book reader, but I like the action of the film versions - the fighting, the crashing, all of it.  A lot of my students saw "The Avengers" when it first came out and told me I needed to see it after I told them I like "Batman" and "X-Men".  They were right - it was a great movie.  It had lots of action and fighting, but I also enjoyed the repartee between the characters.  I have loved Robert Downey, Jr., since first seeing him in "Weird Science" and his portrayal of Tony Stark is so much fun to watch in this film.  There were a lot of laughs, even if I was the only laughing (at least out loud).  I was surprised by Scarlett Johansson's performance, though her ass and lips got more screen time than was necessary.  Yeah, we all know she's hot, but c'mon, guys!  If you haven't seen "The Avengers," you should, but make sure you stay through the credits!  And now I need to see if Iron Man is on Netflix - it's time I finally watched those movies...

Summer of Movies

In 2001, between May and August (4 full months), I saw about 2-3 movies every week and remember it as one of my favorite summers.  I've decided to do it again.  In the last few years, I've been lucky to see 2-3 movies a year and feel very much out of the loop.  Beginning June 1, I've decided to see as many movies as I possibly can this summer.  I've already seen 3 since Saturday - woo!  And I will document my Summer of Movies here with reviews of all the movies I see.

I should make a disclaimer about my movie reviews before I begin.  I love the movies.  Going to the movie theater is one of the best things in life.  I go to be entertained, and I can see just about anything and find something good to say about it.  I don't go to the movies to be critical - if I've chosen to spend my money on it, I plan to get lost in the movie.  So on that note, my reviews will mostly be positive most of the time - except, well, when they're not.  Please comment if you've seen the movies and have anything to add!

Men in Black III
I still watch the original once in a while and always have a good laugh.  The second film was also quite funny, though not as good as #1.  I expected to be entertained in the third film, and I was.  There were a few little tie-ins to the previous movies that I thought worked really well.  Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones make a great pair as always, and Josh Brolin was a great addition.  He did the whole "Tommy Lee Jones" accent so well!  The twist at the end was a fantastic way to bring the whole trilogy to a close.  I was waiting for a little joke after the credits, though, so I was a bit disappointed when there wasn't one. 

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
I knew I wanted to see this movie from the first time I saw the trailer.  The cast is an outstanding group of actors that I have enjoyed watching in many movies, especially Judy Dench and Tom Wilkinson.  The movie was focused on the characters and how they learn about themselves, and I felt like I was part of their lives.  They were so believable.  I laughed and cried and will definitely have this in my Instant Queue on Netflix when it comes out. 

Snow White and the Huntsman
I was a bit skeptical about this one before I went.  I like Charlize Theron, but am not a fan of Kristen Stewart.  In fact, I don't think she was the best choice for Snow White - she just was not believable as a strong female lead and her acting still needs work.  Despite my dissatisfaction with KS, the movie as a whole was a good piece of action.  I enjoyed Charlize Theron's portrayal of Ravena - she does evil very well.  And I was pleasantly surprised to realize that Bob Hoskins played the part of Muir.  We all know how the story basically goes, and this adaptation was a good one. 

Movies I'm looking forward to seeing:

• For Greater Glory
• Prometheus
• Rock of Ages
• Brave
• Magic Mike
• The Amazing Spiderman
• The Dark Knight Rises
• The Bourne Legacy
• Total Recall
• And many more once I read up on them all!

What are you seeing this summer?