May movies

So it's that time of the year again. The time of the year that the summer movies come out. So far I've seen all the ones that I have wanted to see. Here are my takes on the big summer movies that are already out.

Fast Five:

I know, I know, these movies can be cheesy, but we enjoyed the newest addition to the Fast/Furious franchise. Basically they took all of the character from the past movies, put them together and added The Rock. Yeah, it's kind of silly and definitely unrealistic in parts. But it was full of major adrenaline and fun actions scenes. So if you're willing to turn your brain off, this will be a fun movie. If you're looking for a movie that will have you thinking days after it's over, avoid this one. This movie gets a B.

Thor:
I really enjoyed Thor. I've actually seen it twice. I saw it the second time because there were a few distractions during the first viewing, including that I saw it in 3D. I'm done with 3D. It's like watching a movie with dark sunglasses on. I'm tired of the dim picture. Watching Thor the second time I caught a number of things that I missed during the first viewing because I could actually see the screen. I thought Chris Hemsworth did a great job as Thor. The supporting cast was also great and Natalie Portman was pretty (she didn't get to do a lot). It really gets me excited for the upcoming Avengers movie. Hopefully Captain America is good so there won't be a weak link in Avenger. I rate this movie somewhere in the B+, A- territory. Definitely worth seeing.

Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides:

I found this movie entertaining enough but ultimately unfulfilling. I've enjoyed the Pirates movies, but they've never been my favorite. I only saw 2 and 3 once, so it's hard for me to remember if I really liked them or not. I do know they were too long, convoluted and overstuffed. The new Pirates doesn't suffer from those problems but it does suffer from lack of character motivations. I'm just not sure why a lot of the characters in this movie did the things they did. In addition, when the movie started I found myself thinking that the Jack Sparrow routine was getting a little old. It's probably worth catching at the Redbox, but not much more. The story needed to be more focused and actually provide character arcs for its characters. This movie gets a B-.

Kung Fu Panda 2:

I quite enjoyed the first Kung Fu Panda movie. The same can be said for this movie. It was funny, moving and action-y. And it wasn't long -- which is usually a good thing for an animated movie. If you're looking for a something to take the kids to or if you just enjoy a good animated feature film, be sure to check this one out.

Side note: All four of these movies feature bonus scenes during or after the credits that tease sequels, so be sure to stay to the end.

I'm really looking forward to seeing X-Men and Super 8, both of which are getting pretty fantastic reviews. So look for my opinions of them in the coming weeks.

It's almost summer

Once again it's been a while since I've posted here, but to be honest not too much has been happening in theaters or on TV. But there have been a few bright spots. Let me discuss them here.

Science fiction movies: The Adjustment Bureau and Source Code to be specific. I really enjoyed both of these movies. I don't know that I'll be adding them to my collection, but they were great distractions that had me thinking after I left the theater. They were both solid 3 star movies. I read a number of reviews that talked about plot holes and things that supposedly didn't make sense, but I didn't find any problems when I watched the movies. Definitely worth seeing either in theaters or on Blu-ray.

Fringe: This show just keeps getting better and better. I never know what's going to happen next... and that's always a good thing.

Award nominated movies: The award nominated movies are all now making their way to DVD and Blu-ray. So far I've quite enjoyed, 127 Hours, Winter's Bone, The Fighter, The Town, True Grit and The King's Speech (the last two in theaters).

Music: I got a record player for Christmas and I have enjoyed listening to oldies albums that I have either bought or had given to me. There's something cool about that crackling sound on a Beatles/Dylan/Stone album that's just cool. Plus I found an awesome live Neil Diamond album that I now love.

Sitcoms: Parks and Rec, The Office, Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, and The Middle are all really funny right now. They are much better than most dramas that are on the air right now.

The fall season: The list of pilots being created by the big networks look amazing. If only 20% are as awesome as they sound, this fall will do a lot for bringing back genre television. Not to mention the great stars coming back to TV: Zooey Deschanel, Sarah Michelle Gellar, half the cast of Battlestar Galactica, Will Arnett, Friday Night Lights alums, etc.

So there you have it. Now I look forward to summer where there's almost a movie every week that I can't wait to see.

See you then.

I'm bothered

So, I'm not going to review any media today, though I think if you haven't seen the PBS/BBC series "Sherlock," you definitely should. Today I'm going to talk about one of my pet peeves.

I like to read entertainment blogs. I enjoy ew.com, popcandy.usatoday.com, tvline.com, aintitcool.com and other sites. One thing I've noticed is that several blogs like to have the occasional articles about why certain things are not popular with the movie going public. Some examples include "Why don't people watch westerns anymore?" "Why aren't people going to see star-driven movies?" "Are comic book movies on their way out?" etc. Then they go on to say that people aren't going to see these types of movies because of the genre or because they are played out.

I saw one the other day that posited, "Is America ready for second-tier superheroes?" It drove me crazy. America is ready for good movies. People went and saw "Iron Man" because it was a good movie. People didn't go and see "Daredevil" and "Electra" because those movies sucked. People stopped going to westerns because Hollywood stopped making good ones. People stopped going to Batman movies in the nineties because "Batman and Robin" was awful, not because people were tired of Batman. They came back to the theater once Christopher Nolan made some good Batman movies.

Now to be fair, plenty of good movies make no money. But never do I see those movies as examples in these articles. It's always "Sex and the City 2" didn't make any money, so American women must not want to watch movies made for them.... NOO. It's because (from what I hear) the movie sucked hard. Women will go see "women movies" if they are good.

People went to see a western in droves recently. The new "True Grit" is one of the highest grossing westerns of all time. Why did people suddenly want to watch westerns? Because the Coen bros. made a good one.

Here's another example, bloggers always ask, "Do people not want to watch sci-fi on tv? They watched "Lost" but they didn't stick with "Heroes" or "FlashForward" or whatever the sci-fi show of the moment is. NO, people love sci-fi. Look at the top grossing movies of all time. Most of them are sci-fi/fantasy. It's because "Lost" was good and those other shows weren't.

So, sorry to go off on this rant. But I just find it so lame that these articles keep finding their way on to the Internet. Are there any blog topics that infuriate you? Perhaps ones that go off on pointless rants...