She's Out of My League

Yes.

Even though he had absolutely nothing to do with it, She's Out of My League could fit in with some of Judd Apatow's best work. The writer's behind this film also brought us the not-terrible Sex Drive and are also responsible for the potentially great Hot Tub Time Machine (releases in theatres on 3/26/10); it looks as if they are getting better and better by the film.

The director is virtually unknown, and his lack of experience shows. I counted at least 4 montages during She's Out of My League (which is 4 more than should be in any movie, post 1989). Those four don't include the two super short montages that were so short that I wasn't sure if they could be defined as a montage or not.

Jay Baruchel has begun his train ride to stardom. After stealing just about every scene he was in in Tropic Thunder and giving a convincing performance in this movie, he will be heard as the voice of the lead character in Dreamworks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon 3D and then stars opposite Nicolas Cage in Disney's live action summer blockbuster The Sorcerer's Apprentice. If he keeps this up, he'll be the lanky version of Shia LaBeouf in no time.

The story and the message are as unoriginal as any of the sequels and remakes that have been coming out lately, but what the plot is missing in originality, the screenplay makes up for.

Green Zone

Yes. Green Zone is intense from the opening scene until the very end.

In past years, the political-war-conspiracy movies have left much to be desired. Shooter, Body of Lies, and The Kingdom are some examples of movies that had potential, but for one reason or another, just didn't fit the bill. I strongly believe that one of the major reasons Green Zone was a success and the others weren't (in my opinion) is the cast. The affore mentioned films relied on the performances of Mark Wahlberg, Danny Glover and Kate Mara - Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe - and Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, and Chris Cooper. I know what you're thinking and I'll get to that in a moment, but in the mean time, you have to admit that the majority of these casts are severely lacking the believability factor. As for you're concern: I think the problem with Body of Lies was that it had too much star power. One of the two roles should have been played by a lesser star. As much as I HATE Russell Crowe, my feeling is that DiCaprio's role in that movie should have been portrayed by someone with less star power... like Ryan Reynolds, Channing Tatum or Sam Worthington. Matt Damon is the strong lead in Green Zone and he is supported by Greg Kinnear, Amy Ryan and Brendan Gleeson who put forth subtle, yet strong/convincing performances.

The way the movie mixes fact and fiction was also kind of fun. Unfortunately, there will be some idiot liberals who think that this movie proves something and asshole Republicans who try to claim that the movie is a liberal conspiracy to convince people... I don't know what. The fact of the matter is that it is a work of fiction, but it fits into history as a possible scenario that led to the situation in Iraq.

Green Zone isn't getting rave reviews from critics, but if you are looking for a popcorn movie that makes you feel smart, then check out Green Zone.

The Crazies

Yes.

I was kind of surprised by how much I like The Crazies. Even with the good reviews it was getting, I was just expecting a half-way decent "zombie" flick that wasn't good, but wasn't bad, either.

The characters never do anything that's blatantly stupid. Yes, they take risks, but not completely unnecessary ones and I never thought any of the main characters made any idiotic decisions. I suppose The Crazies represents how rational people would handle the situation.

I prefer the weapons grade biological weapon leak to the traditional zombie stories where the "disease" is contagious and no one really knows what it is or where it came from. The military's attempt to quarantine the outbreak added an interesting element to a story that usually consists a much more clear-cut identification of who the good guys are and who the bad guys are.

The Crazies was good. If you dig these kinds of movies, definitely check this one out.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightening Thief

Yes...

I was told that I would enjoy Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightening Thief more if I left my brain at the door. I tried... I popped my brain right out (it has to be easily removable these days with all of the mind-numbing entertainment that's passing for Oscar-worthy films.) It wasn't long before I had to put it back in because there were just sooo many questions. "How shitty of a god does a god have to be to have his power stolen from him?" This question became even more perplexing when I found out who had stolen it. "If a mysterious black cloud begins forming over Europe, how would anyone be able to predict that it's final destination is America?" and the most baffling of them all: "Why do studios keep letting Chris Columbus direct movies when he fairly consistently ruins them?"

The writing and direction leave absolutely NOTHING up to your imagination. Every mysterious aspect of the story and the world they live in is explained immediately after the question is raised.

The kids in this movie were good, as were the special effects and it's for those reasons along with the hope of a new director on future installments that I'm recommending Percy Jackson & the Olympians. Just ask someone who is going to see Shutter Island to hold your brain for you so that you won't be tempted to think at all during the movie... besides, they may need the extra brain power.

The Book of Eli

Yes.

I didn't think it would happen so quickly, but I'm here to tell you that it's (temporarily) safe to return to the cinema.

The Book of Eli is very slowly paced; they spend a lot of time walking. It is clearly a western in style but also has a touch of action, science-fiction and faith-based drama. Denzel Washington plays a man who has been traveling west across what was once America prior to a war that ended 30 years ago. To tell you anything else would give away more than I should and since the marketing plan for the movie didn't include any further details, I won't spoil it for you.

I really liked this movie. To say that it's the best movie of the year wouldn't be saying much since I've only seen three so far and one of them was Leap Year; suffice it to say that The Book of Eli will most likely remain in my top 10 movies of the year... at least until mid-summer.

Daybreakers

Yes, thanks to the Halo effect.

Vampire movies and movies in January all tend to suck these days. Since I didn't absolutely HATE Daybreakers, I'm actually willing to give it the stamp of approval.

Daybreakers is over-the-top, overly gory, over acted and over directed. It's clear that the directors are really really trying to create a moody atmosphere, which they do... unfortunately we can tell that they were trying to create it instead of just wallowing in the gloom along with the characters. The special effects are good but the action sequences are boring and always needed to shock you at the end with something gross in order for you to remember it.

I like how they stuck, for the most part, to the original rules that governed the vampire population in their original tales. They can't go out in daylight, they need blood to survive, they have no reflection, etc. This is, however, the first time that I've seen a movie try to cure vampirism as if it were a disease. The way that they do it is... kind of clever.

There is no twist at the end of this movie, the whole thing pans out exactly as planned and so after the movie, there is little to talk about. If you're into vampire movies you can go see Daybreakers, but as I've said a million times... it's January, keep your expectations in check.

Seven Pounds

Yes.

I really don't want to say too much about Seven Pounds. All of the advertising was extraordinarily cryptic. The poster doesn't really give any hints and after seeing the 2 minutes and 30 second trailer, I thought, "I still have no clue what that's about."

When I sat down to watch it, I made a conscious decision to just sit back and let the story unfold. At no point did I guess at what was going on, only to find out later that I was way off. Like the advertising, the plot remained esoteric for much of the movie. When all finally becomes clear, the film transforms from a bizarre mystery drama, to an emotional powerhouse of a film.

Seven Pounds is not getting very good reviews and the only reasons I can think of to not recommend it would be because it's a mite long and that it has the potential to force moviegoers to examine their own existence. Not that those are necessarily bad things, but it's the kind of statement i expect out of some of these self important critics. Those, however, are not the reasons for the bad reviews. The reasons for the bad reviews contain the words "preposterous", and "unintentionally ludicrous". Bear in mind the source of the following statement, but some critics are way too cynical for their own good.

Seven Pounds is a good movie about good people doing good things for other good people. At the end, it made me want to do good things for good people, too. Unfortunately, I was too tired to do something nice at the time and now I've had a chance to sleep on it. Check out Seven Pounds, it won't win any awards, but it will move you... at least momentarily.