SERIOUS CURIOSITY...

Not familiar with the graphic novel series so I'll be judging this project on a movie-only basis (similar to my experience with Watchmen). The teaser trailer that's showing in theaters and online is very dynamic and stylish.

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

For the first time in recent memory, I won't be heading to the movie theater this Memorial Day weekend. Sex and the City 2 got utterly destroyed by the critics so no thank you. Prince of Persia looks like leftovers from The Mummy and it's based on a video game that I've never played, so, once again, no thank you. What the hell has happened to Jerry Bruckheimer? What happened to ass-kicking actioners like The Rock and Con Air and Enemy of the State and Crimson Tide? He seems totally focused on family fare (National Treasure, Prince of Persia, Sorcerer's Apprentice) which is a shame. Where are the mean, hostile, aggressive action flicks that he cemented his brand on? C'mon, Jerry...get back to doing what you used to do. (Hint: Give us Bad Boys 3 with Bay back in the director's chair).

From Netflix is the indie Lovely and Amazing. I just sent back The Messenger, which was extremely powerful. I'll have a write-up soon on that one.

My wife and I just closed on our 1st house yesterday, so my guess is that next few months are going to be very, very hectic.

A MUST-SEE

From the director of Happiness, Welcome to the Dollhouse, Storytelling, and Palindromes. 'Nuf said.

DREAMY...

...or nightmarish?

TODAY'S BLU

Riveting.

LOOKING FORWARD TO THE BLU

Missed this one earlier this year when it was in theaters. I'm a fan of Antoine Fuqua (King Arthur is much better than it got credit for being and Training Day is pretty phenomenal) and I love this cast. Also, the cop genre is one of my favorites.

AWFULLY CURIOUS...

I've heard it's sick, deranged, extremely violent, and very, very good. Michael Winterbottom (A Mighty Heart, The Claim, 24 Hour Party People, Tristam Shandy) is a challenging filmmaker and his latest looks quite interesting...

TOM HARDY

Tom Hardy, the mesmerizing star of the brilliant film Bronson, has a co-starring role in Inception. I'm normally not a fan of face-centric one-sheets but this one is very heady.

I'M NOT A SOCCER FAN BUT...

...this is pretty incredible. From director Alejandro Gonzalez-Innarittu (Babel, 21 Grams, the upcoming Biutiful).

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

It's all about Macgruber for this weekend. Looks like an f'ing pisser. Not sure when I'll see it but it will be seen. I have zero interest in Shrek 4 (only saw the 1st one and I guess I'm the only person in the world who found it to be staggeringly overrated).

From Netflix I've got The Messenger -- very much looking forward to it based on the incredible reviews. Big fan of Woody Harrelson and I've heard he's sensational in the film.

Tetro was only OK -- it looked gorgeous (the black and white cinematography was luscious) but the story was meandering, and while the narrative has a nice trick up its sleeve late in the game, the film wasn't punchy enough.

I'll be posting a review for Robin Hood soon, but in short, I really, really enjoyed it. It's much better than most critics are giving it credit for being (it's most definitely NOT a re-tread of Gladiator), and it's a shame that this sort of old-school, epic Hollywood entertainment isn't doing better at the America box-office, as I'd love to see a follow up. The film is going to make more than double it's American take at the overseas box-office, so maaaaybe there'll be a follow up, but I highly doubt it. Ridley's got too many percolating projects.

LOOKS HYSTERICAL

Huge fan of Jonah Hill. I think this is gonna be extremely funny...

LADY BOURNE

I like Angie when she's in ass-kicking mode. Salt is from director Phil Noyce (Clear and Present Danger, Rabbit Proof Fence) and it looks to be a Bourne-esque, on-the-run thriller with Jolie donning a wide range of wigs and disguises. Looks like a crisp thriller. Also, one of my favorite cinematographers (Bob Elswit, The Will Be Blood & Michael Clayton) was behind the camera.

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

Despite the mixed reviews, I am quite anxious to see Ridley Scott's Robin Hood. Scott is one of my absolute favorite filmmakers, and when he does "epic," well, I think he's the best in the biz when it comes to "epic." And it's been interesting to read some of the reviews, as critics seem to want to complain about what they think the film should have been, rather than what it is. Critics shmitics...

I still have Tetro from Netflix -- it's been a busy week with final preparations for our new house (we close in 2 weeks) so I'll have to catch up with it soon. I also want to check out Edge of Darkness, which just hit Blu Ray.

REVIEW: IRON MAN 2

Jon Favreau has brought a lot of wit and humor to the Iron Man franchise. Iron Man 2 was about as enjoyable as the first Iron Man, and while they are different from each other but also similar in many respects, it’s clear to me that Favreau is the right guy to be calling the shots with these movies. Of course, he’s helped enormously by Robert Downey Jr. in the lead role, who expands on the Tony Stark/Iron Man character somewhat while still delivering what everyone now expects from the role. The deep cast is well-used for the most part (Don Cheadle seemed to be a little expressionless at times), with Mickey Rourke (man does he look grimy and filthy in this thing!) registering strongly as one of the villains. But the entire film is stolen by ace character-actor Sam Rockwell. Sure, his character is Lex Luthor-lite, but I just loved watching Rockwell’s Justin Hammer chew the scenery. He brings life to the film every time he appears, and his scenes with Rourke are dynamite. Scar-jo looks wonderful in her tight, body-clenching, black-leather costume as Black Widow/Natasha Whoever and Gwyneth Paltrow (who’s looking way too skinny) retains her snap and charm as Pepper Potts. Favreau has always been an actor’s director (see Made) so it’s no surprise that his action scenes, while occasionally thrilling (the Monaco race-track sequence is positively awesome), seem to be at times a little haphazard and less than mind-blowing. The climactic battle, for instance, was a bit of a let-down from a summer-movie-spectacle P.O.V; nothing that we haven’t seen before happens in the big showdown, which is something you can’t say when thinking about other action movie behemoths like Transformers 2 or Avatar. But I’ll come back to the Monaco sequence for a moment; the blending of CGI and practical effects during this sequence (which takes place during the day with lots of sunlight which is the toughest environment for the FX wizards to work in as it requires major attention to photo-real detail) would put a smile on Michael Bay’s face. There were a few shots (the ones of the race-cars being severed in half and then flipping end-over-end come immediately to mind) that seemed as real as possible even though you know what you’re watching can’t be real. Also, after reading a lot of the reviews, for some reason, a ton of people have taken exception to the idea of Iron Man 2 including references to The Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. Why? For me, those were some of the best parts; just thinking about the all-star team-up movie that The Avengers will be in 2012 makes me giddy like a 10 year old. The superhero universe that the Marvel filmmaking team are building is shaping up rather nicely (Thor and Captain America are due in theaters next summer) and I think it’s going to be ridiculous fun when all of these characters appear together in a movie. I haven’t said anything about the plot, and that’s OK, because, really, do I need to explain the plot of an Iron Man movie? You know if you’re going to enjoy this sort of thing before you even sit down in the theater. It’s Iron Man for Chrissakes; this isn’t Shakespeare or Bresson or Scorsese. It’s just solid, comic-book movie fun, made by people with respect for the material, made for people who have been anxious to see these sorts of adventures played out on the big screen in all of their $200 million glory. Is Iron Man 2 perfect? Hardly. Is it a solid way to kill two hours in a movie theater this summer? Most assuredly. And BTW -- the Thor teaser at the end is very cute.

PROMISING

Looks highlarious. And I love Kristen Wiig -- she's one of the funniest people on the planet. And I also love that this is a hard-R. It also seems that Val Kilmer is really, really in on the joke. Looks like a fun time...

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER...

I could care less about the new M. Night Shymalamadindong movie. The Last Fartbender, er, Airbender looks like a complete 180 from all that has come from M. Night in the past, and while it's not a bad thing that he wants to try something new, I just wish it wasn't a Nickelodeon property that looks like an f'ing video-game. Where the hell is Unbreakable 2...?

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

I've got my tix for Iron Man 2 tomorrow at 11am -- very excited. Looks like a stylish blast of explosions and beat-downs. I'll probably thrown on the first film tonight for a little re-fresher.

I've got the Blu Ray of Francis Ford Coppola's latest film, Tetro, from Netflix. I have heard some good/interesting things about it.

I got a chance to see The Losers and it was exactly what I expected -- stylish, idiotic action with some witty one-liners (the script was co-written by Peter Berg) and some phenomenal, primary-color-saturated cinematography. Also, Jason Patric was f'ing hysterical as the bad-guy -- he looked like he was having way too much fun on that set. It's a shame that there won't be a sequel considering the terrible box-office receipts it brought in because the film sets itself up nicely for a follow-up.

Last weekend I finally watched Sherlock Holmes and I was pleased with it. It didn't reinvent the wheel but the chemistry between Downey and Law was crisp and snappy and Guy Ritchie's handling of the action sequences was predictably stylish and energetic. I'm also a huge fan of Mark Strong, who played the baddie in Sherlock, as well as the baddie in Kick-Ass and the upcoming Robin Hood and Green Lantern.

JUST ORDERED THIS

This Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans one-sheet is gonna look slick on the wall in the man-cave of the house my wife and I are in the process of purchasing.

REALLY?