Almost the end of summer movies...2011 Summer Report Card pt. 1

Thor       n/a         First of all, the trailers for this left me totally unimpressed.  This movie had several factors going against it, to me, BEFORE it even opened.  A) I never really followed the Thor comics, growing up…I was more X-Men, Spider-Man, Batman, Punisher….  B) Avengers was another series I didn’t follow too much, and since a lot of the hype surrounding this movie (along with Captain America) was the tease of the Avengers movie in 2012  C) The trailers for this movie sucked. 

The one thing this movie had going for it, to me, was Natalie Portman.  There’s just something about her….ever since her “SNL rap” years ago…that does something for me…  …and hey did she grow some boobs?  At least that’s what you’d think after seeing the trailer…

Well, in the days leading up to the opening, with several factors going against the movie, it would take a tremendous amount of good reviews and positive word of mouth, to get me to make the effort to find a babysitter and pay to see this movie.  Well, the reviews came pouring in, Rotten Tomatoes “top critics” total came out about 64%....not enough for me…. I guess Thor will have to wait until DVD for my  take on him…

Bridesmaids       A-           Another movie where I wasn’t completely sold on the trailer, although the trailer was still waaay better than Thor.  I like the “Judd Apatow” type comedies, but lately they’ve been getting kind of stale.  Bridesmaids was pretty good… A-, but the more I think about it, I almost want to downgrade it to a B+.  It was funny, Melissa McCarthy was good, a lot of critics say she stole the show, I disagree, she was funny, but let’s just say it was a good thing she wasn’t the star of the movie.  Kristen Wiig seems to be on a roll though…her act is pretty  much the same every movie she’s in, and on SNL.  If you watch SNL, you know what to expect from her, I’m not tired of her yet, but I can see her schtick getting old pretty soon, so she better take advantage now.  Anyways she’s good here, scenes that pop out are the opening scene with Jon Hamm and her “drive by” scenes….very hilarious.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides        n/a         Trailers actually looked entertaining, what killed it for me, was the last Pirates movie.  I didn’t think it was good, so in the words of W, “Fool me once…shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again.”  So just like Thor,  (I’m gonna keep using Thor as a reference, so suck it up) it would take positive reviews to get me to bite…..Rotten Tomatoes “top critics” 29%.  I’ll wait for HBO. ‘nuff said. 

The Hangover Part II      B-            I know I shouldn’t fall for sequels that you KNOW are going to be the same damn movie as its predecessor.  Hopefully if or when they do a third Hangover they NEED TO CHANGE THE PREMISE.  Anyhoo, in this case, the original was sooooo good (and quotable…which is a huge factor, to me, in what makes a movie good) that unless the trailer made it look like a watered down version of the original (Revenge of the Nerds II, Caddyshack II) I was going to go see it.  Well, the trailer came out, and it showed NOTHING of the movie, but was cool enough that yes, I was suckered into seeing it.  Did I like it?  Yeah….just as I thought it was exactly the same as the first, except you substitute Bangkok for Vegas.  What I liked, though, was that it DID NOT water down the jokes, instead they took them a step further without ruining the movie.  Ed Helms and Zach Galifinakis save the movie.  Ken Jeong was okay….nevermind, the more I think about the movie, it’s actually his character that stands out the most.  Where in Hangover, it was Alan who is the most quotable, I’d say in this one, it’s Mr. Chow.  Standout scenes are the Thai club reveal “Stu you loved it, you were crying saying how special it was. I had to slow down so I didn't drop my load too quick”,  and any scene with Mr. Chow.  One last thing….and this is huge…*spoiler alert* the movie ends with a huge JUMPED the SHARK moment with Mike Tyson singing at the wedding….that was a very sad thing.  I might have given this movie an A if it wasn’t for that.

 

Kung Fu Panda 2               A             The first one was pretty enjoyable, I don’t put too much stock in trailers for “kids” movies… for me if I’ve seen the original and it was pretty good, I’ll take a chance and take the kid to see the sequel…  KFP2 (see how I made the title really cool by using initials?) was pretty good, basically an ‘origin’ type story, explaining what happened to the Pandas existence prior to the first film.  The action was good, not to many contemporary references (which I hate……you hear me SHREK!!!  I hate you), and there was little room left in the end for a third movie, which I wouldn’t  mind with this franchise.  

NEXT UP:   Super 8, Bad Teacher, X-Men: First Class, Green Lantern

as usual,

Follow me on twitter...

If you're game, check out Sonarak and his blog...