BrockTalk

Youth in Revolt

Youth in Revolt stars Michael Cera once again playing the timid high school virgin character he has perfected. What's different this time around however, is that he also gets to play the complete opposite of this side when his character develops an alternate personality akin to Jim Carrey in Me, Myself, and Irene. Hilarity ensues, and his character learns a few things about life along the way. If you're a fan of coming-of-age movies albeit with slightly darker undertones you might give this movie a shot.

My Grade: B

Shutter Island

Forget all you Leo haters. Mr. Dicaprio proves once again that he can act. He may just well be my favorite actor working today, and his on-going collaboration with legendary director Martin Scorsese has produced some of the best movies released in the last decade. Shutter Island is probably my least favorite from the actor-director combo, but that isn't saying much. That's like saying chocolate is my least favorite flavor of ice-cream. It's still ice cream.

My Grade: B

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

I am a huge Harry Potter fan. I went into Percy Jackson looking for something to hold me over until the last two Potter films are released, and holding out hope that maybe this franchise could fill the gap once Potter is gone. Sadly to say I was greatly dissapointed on all fronts. This movie was absolute torture. I can't remember the last time I wriggled in my seat so much at the theater, constantly checking my watch, praying for the agony to end. I got so frustrated at one point that I actually called out loud during the movie, "This movie is killing me!".  The main character moves along the movie's plot without a care in the world. He finds out he's a demi-god, then a couple of scenes later his mother gets killed, and all along he shows no emotional reaction to the events that are transpiring around him. He's just simply along for the ride. The characters treat the audience like kindergartners by constantly stating out-loud the blantantly obvious, and the movie makes no effort to make me care for any of the characters or their motivations. To make matters worse all of the demi-god children get their demi-god combat training at what looks and feels like boyscout camp. Hogwarts this most definitely is not. In case you couldn't tell, I absolutely hated this movie. Do yourself and me a favor and avoid it at all costs.

My Grade: F

Alice in Wonderland

Tim Burton's movies have always been hit-and-miss with me, but even when he misses I find myself intrigued by the canvas he paints with each new world. Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland created what is now referred to as literary nonsense, and Burton's talent of exploring the strange seemed like a perfect fit. Thankfully, it was. Rather than re-treading the story so many of us are no doubt familiar with, the movie's creators decided to create a semi-sequel of sorts to the events that transpired in Carrol's books by having Alice return to Wonderland as a teenager who has forgotten the innocent and imaginative days of her childhood. I felt this gave the story a fresh twist, and made it seem somewhat new again. I do have one complaint however. I chose to see the movie in 3D as it was promoted, and was thoroughly disappointed. I wasn't too impressed with 3D in the first place, and Alice put the final nail in the coffin for me in regards to 3D. In my experiences 3D does exactly the opposite of what it is trying to accomplish. Instead of immersing you further into the world you are viewing, I feel it detracts from the experience and pulls the viewer out. The glasses cause the movie to look very dark and shadowy around the edges and dim the colors tremendously, which is sad because Alice had some beautiful coloration. Needless to say I will not be seeing another movie in its 3D form until they have greatly improved the technology, and I am actually hoping the fad will suffer a quick and miserable death.

My Grade: B

How to Train Your Dragon

Dreamworks finally pulled it off. After living for years in Pixar's shadow, they have created a film that is worthy to be mentioned in the same breath as some, but not all, of Pixar's works. In fact, I am predicting that How to Train Your Dragon will finally beat out Pixar at the Oscars for the Best Animated Picture award this year since Pixar's entry  this time around is not only a sequel ,but the third entry in their Toy Story franchise. Toy Story 3 will just not be as fresh and fun as Dragon proved to be. This movie had great characters, thrilling action sequences, and breathtaking visuals. Its weakest attribute is the story, and not because it isn't good, but just familiar. It has an eerie resemblance to Avatar, which we all know by now was not original in and of  itself, but that shouldn't stop you from seeing this movie. Prior to Kick-Ass, this was my favorite movie of the year so far, and whereas I can't recommend Kick-Ass to everyone, I can whole-heartily recommend How to Train Your Dragon to each and every person young and old. This movie is a treat.

P.S. - Yes, I kept my vow and did not see this film in 3D in case you were wondering.

My Grade: A

Clash of the Titans

I had somewhat of an advantage going into Clash of the Titans ,as I have never seen the original and thus could hold no bias in comparing the two. Sadly for this film, it didn't help its' case. Clash had one of the same major problems as its' fellow Greek mythology movie, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, in that it gave me no reason to care about any of the movie's characters whatsoever. In fact, I almost felt as if I were watching the same movie I had just watched a month prior. Here we have Perseus rather than Percy, both are bastard children of gods, and both have lost family members at the hands of these same gods. Really? Seeing as how Clash of the Titans is a remake it seems Percy Jackson stole a few notes, which doesn't help my already avid hate for that film, but Titans does little more to make me like it any better. Perseus is shuffled as quickly as possible from one special effects extravaganza to the next, all in an effort to get revenge on  Hades and save a princess that he, or the audience for that matter, has been given no reason at all to care about. Add this to the fact that the build up to the big Krakken showdown is quickly resolved and  hugely anti-climactic, and you are left with my overall feelings about this film. Meh......... It's not a terrible film, but it's not worth  two hours of your time either. What's so frustrating is that if it had been given 30 to 45 more minutes to help flesh out the characters, this review could have been quite different.

My Grade: D

So there you have it, my quick report card on the movies I have seen so far this year. If you were still trying to decide whether or not to see some of these films, I hope this helped. Feel free to agree or disagree with me by posting your comments, and be sure to check back soon if you're a gamer as I plan to do a report on the first quarter video games as well.