Movie Review: The Art of Getting by. 3 stars

For Father's day my daughter took me to this movie which we both loved.   The lead is played by Freddie Highmore who did such a great job in the horrible movie August Rush (1 star).   This is a very well done "coming of age" story.  Slacker played by Freddie can't get his act together and if he doesn't he won't graduate high school.  He is befriended by one his A list classmates and their relationship is what the movie is all about.  Well done by all in this movie and a compelling story.   The slackers whining about his life as he lives in the upper west side of NY gets old real quick but the rest of the movie overcomes that slight.

Movie Review: Green Lantern 1.5 stars

Ouch!  The dialog is so painful in this movie you almost yelp out loud after they say a line.   If the dialog wasn't bad enough, the entire story was boring, boring, boring.  Rather than wasting your money, if you want to have the same experience as sitting in the theater and watching this movie do the following:   Take a chair into your yard and stare at the lawn.  Watching that grass grow exceeds the excitement in Green Lantern.  That's not it though.  You need to get a neighborhood kid to poke you with a stick so you can feel the pain of the horrible dialog.

It's such a shame too that this movie is so bad.   I think Ryan Reynolds makes an excellent Green Lantern.  Peter Sarsgaard is always a great evil villain.  The special effects were well done.  Unfortunately, they hired a crew of four hacks to throw together a script together.   With a science fiction movie you can do ANYTHING so why they put together such a lame story show a lack of imagination and ability.

movie Review: Midnight in Paris 3 stars

It was a good movie weekend with two 3 star movies.  Midnight is a Woody Allen movie so if you don't like Woody Allen movies like Play it Again Sam, Purple Rose of Cairo, or Melinda Melinda then you won't like this movie either.   It's all talking, so it's the witty dialog that carries this movie.  If you can't sit through 2 hours of dialog them this isn't for you.  If you can, then you are for a treat.  Woody is in top form in this movie.  Owen Wilson is a the main character in Paris who finds himself whisked back to the golden years of the early 1900's where he can interact with likes of Cole Porter and Earnest Hemingway.  Great dialog and excellent performances.  I was sorry to see it end.

Movie Review: Super 8 3 stars

Super 8 is ET meets Goonies.  A cute movie that is worthy of your movie dollar.  Good special effects but mostly it was a good story that made the movie enjoyable.  Excellent performances from a group of young actors whom we'll see again as they grow up.  You have to ignore the plot holes and just sit back and enjoy.  It's nice to see a good Spielberg movie again.  If you enjoyed the movies I mentioned above you'll enjoy this movie.

Movie Review: Kung Foo Panda 2 2 stars

I guess this is the year of the bad sequel.   Another example of marketing over quality.   I enjoyed the first movie which had a good story and was funny.   This movie has a boring story and is not funny beyond a couple of slapstick moments.   Do not bring your kids to this movie!!!!   The movie theater I watched this movie in was filled with young families with young kids.   They were bored to tears (literally) and you heard a group laugh maybe twice.  I know that the parents who just plunked down $50 for tickets and popcorn didn't think it was a good value.   Just like with hangover 2, just sit home and enjoy the first one and skip the second, nothing there to see.

Movie Review: X-Men First Class 3.5 stars

I have really enjoyed all the X-men movies although I'm not necessarily a super hero movie fan.  You can see from my reviews that I do not find superhero movies very well done.  Two poorly done movies recently were Thor and Green Hornet were just paycheck movies.  Spend more money on marketing than script and you make money by ripping off the movie going public.

The X-Men have been a totally different experience.  They have all been well written with excellent casting and direction.  They are a pleasure to watch and even the worse one is better than another other super hero movie except Iron Man.

This movie is a prequel to all the other X-Men movies. Again, super story and great casting.  James McAvoy, Keven Bacon and Michael Fassbender were all excellent in their roles.   This one of the few movies this year that are actually worth your movie dollar.

Movie Review: Hangover 2 2 stars

You probably heard this review before because most people and reviewers who have seen this movie have the same reaction to it. 

It's the same as the first one except, less funny and more raunchy.   In fact, it follows the same script as the first one but since we have seen the first one it loses its shock value.  It's similar to Mummy I and Mummy II.  The kept the same script, just changed around some of the words and you have a new movie.....not really.

So, same group of guys have the same thing happen to them with the same result and ultimate outcome.  They even came up with an unfunny ending.  Where the singer was very funny in the first one they left that joke out of the second.  The photos of what really happened to the guys, found in a camera is the same as the first except since we know what's coming again, it doesn't have the same effect.

My recommendation is to skip the new one and just watch the old one again.