"Letters to Juliet" A-
Love stories are a popular genre in cinema. They tend to inspire loved ones to go out there and believe in true love. Love stories can be romantic, they can be comedies, or they can be tragedies, for example, William Shakespeare's popular works of literature. It is appropriate, in my opinion, to make a feel good movie about how true love can prevail, even after 50 years. Today on Mother's Day, I got to pleasure to attend a sneak preview for free of "Letters to Juliet" with my wife. The movie doesn't open until Friday May 14th, but some lucky viewers got to watch this one today. In my opinion, it was a really good love story with some funny moments, sad moments and romantic moments. The movie stars Amanda Seyfried (Dear John, Mamma Mia!), Christopher Egan (Eragon) and Gael García Bernal (Babel). Sophie, Amandas Seyfried's character, travels to Verona, Italy with her fiancee for a pre honeymoon. Basically instead of a vacation, he treats it as a business trip for his new restaurant. They are apart for most of this vacation and they just seem to be okay with it. Sophie then joins a club that answers letters to Juliet and she finds a letter that was written 50 years ago. She writes and sends it and low and behold, Charlie (Christopher Egan) shows up and is angry with her. However, Charlie's grandmother wants to help and her companionship. She is looking for her long lost love, Lorenzo Bartolini. Its a very good story and the scenery of the vineyards of Italy are breathtaking. They are so beautiful and it really makes you want to take a vacation to Italy, not to mention eat Italian food. It is the perfect feel good movie and it is also the perfect date movie.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
Iron Man 2
"Iron Man 2" A-
The summer movie season has officially started and there seems to be a new trend every year. We get the opportunity to see a Marvel superhero in action as the summer movie kick off. Am I complaining? Not at all! Two years ago, a superhero movie was released and that was when we first heard that Robert Downey Jr. was playing Industrialist Billionaire Tony Stark AKA Iron Man. I was skeptical at first at how he would play the role, but he surprised me by bringing charisma and heroism to the role. Two years later, we get a sequel appropriately titled Iron Man 2. Director Jon Favreau returns to the director's chair and brings back most of the cast and then some. Robert Downey Jr. returns (way more cocky than he was in the first one), Don Cheadle plays Jim Rhodes AKA War Machine (replacing Terrance Howard from the first movie), Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts and a couple more familiar faces. We also get many people added to the cast. Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko/Whiplash and the predictably cast Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. Basically this one starts right where the first one left off, showing once again Tony Stark's "I am Iron Man" speech. Then we get introduced immediately to Ivan Vanko. After he loses his father, he wants revenge on Tony Stark because their fathers were business partners. You see how much he wants to defeat him in a rousing action scene at the Monaco Grand Prix. Whiplash definitely is a darker villain than Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger played by Jeff Bridges in the first movie. After that scene, things get more complicated for Tony. His best friend Rhodey betrays him, the US Government is on his case about taking possession of his suits. In Iron Man, we see the Mark I, II and III. In this one, we see the Mark IV, V and VI. The suit coming out of the suitcase is pretty awesome. The movie is bigger, louder and way more action packed than the first one. That is all well and good, but the main thing this sequel lacks is the charm of the first one. Tony seems more cocky and pompous this time, although he still has some good one liners. It has a darker, more complex story. It even goes into more about his relationship with his father, Howard Stark. The climactic battle is sure to be exciting for fans, especially in IMAX. Lots of explosions, lot of drones and the awesome team up of Iron Man and War Machine. Of course, we get not only a hint at a 3rd Iron Man movie, but we are getting more and more hints of the Avengers movie. In fact, there are two teasers of the "certain weapons" of the Avengers. Be sure to stay after the end credits. You get a very nice teaser then. As for the other teaser, It will make you even more excited for the Avengers movie. Overall, this sequel has enough firepower and action to kick off the summer movie season. I was impressed and the Marvel superhero movies keep getting more and more awesome every year.
The summer movie season has officially started and there seems to be a new trend every year. We get the opportunity to see a Marvel superhero in action as the summer movie kick off. Am I complaining? Not at all! Two years ago, a superhero movie was released and that was when we first heard that Robert Downey Jr. was playing Industrialist Billionaire Tony Stark AKA Iron Man. I was skeptical at first at how he would play the role, but he surprised me by bringing charisma and heroism to the role. Two years later, we get a sequel appropriately titled Iron Man 2. Director Jon Favreau returns to the director's chair and brings back most of the cast and then some. Robert Downey Jr. returns (way more cocky than he was in the first one), Don Cheadle plays Jim Rhodes AKA War Machine (replacing Terrance Howard from the first movie), Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts and a couple more familiar faces. We also get many people added to the cast. Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko/Whiplash and the predictably cast Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. Basically this one starts right where the first one left off, showing once again Tony Stark's "I am Iron Man" speech. Then we get introduced immediately to Ivan Vanko. After he loses his father, he wants revenge on Tony Stark because their fathers were business partners. You see how much he wants to defeat him in a rousing action scene at the Monaco Grand Prix. Whiplash definitely is a darker villain than Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger played by Jeff Bridges in the first movie. After that scene, things get more complicated for Tony. His best friend Rhodey betrays him, the US Government is on his case about taking possession of his suits. In Iron Man, we see the Mark I, II and III. In this one, we see the Mark IV, V and VI. The suit coming out of the suitcase is pretty awesome. The movie is bigger, louder and way more action packed than the first one. That is all well and good, but the main thing this sequel lacks is the charm of the first one. Tony seems more cocky and pompous this time, although he still has some good one liners. It has a darker, more complex story. It even goes into more about his relationship with his father, Howard Stark. The climactic battle is sure to be exciting for fans, especially in IMAX. Lots of explosions, lot of drones and the awesome team up of Iron Man and War Machine. Of course, we get not only a hint at a 3rd Iron Man movie, but we are getting more and more hints of the Avengers movie. In fact, there are two teasers of the "certain weapons" of the Avengers. Be sure to stay after the end credits. You get a very nice teaser then. As for the other teaser, It will make you even more excited for the Avengers movie. Overall, this sequel has enough firepower and action to kick off the summer movie season. I was impressed and the Marvel superhero movies keep getting more and more awesome every year.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Kick-Ass
"Kick-Ass" B+
How come nobody has ever tried to be a superhero? That is the question that Dave Lizewski poses to his friends in the first 5 minutes of the movie. Honestly when I heard him say that, I kind of wondered it myself. I mean, wouldn't it be cool to get a costume, give yourself a cool superhero name and go out into the world and help people? Yes it sounds like an awesome idea. However, we are quickly brought into reality with this movie. Not long after Dave buys the $99 wetsuit does he get taught a true lesson in superheroism (he gets stabbed and then hit by a car). Even after that though, he goes out and fights again and actually saves someone on a convenience store parking lot. That is when the movie takes an unexpected turn. There really are superheroes out there that are well trained and know what they are doing. They are named Hit Girl and Big Daddy and they steal the show in my opinion. The twist of the movie comes in when Red Mist comes into the picture, appropriately played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse (also known as McLovin). It has some similarities to the popular graphic novel written by Mark Millar, but overall, it has a very different feel. I would have been surprised if the MPAA allowed the ending of the graphic novel to even be on screen. I really enjoyed this movie. It had a really good story, emotion and some funny parts (mainly from Dave's best friends). And of course, there is the love interest who thinks he is gay. That plays a big role in the movie too. I found this movie to be a good take on the superhero genre and I enjoyed the action scenes and the costumes. The movie has a Tarantino feel to it too, especially when Hit Girl and Big Daddy are on screen. Mark Strong also plays the villain once again, like he usually does in his movies (Sherlock Holmes and the upcoming Robin Hood). He seems to be the go to guy to play villains. I can see why, he really does make it work. So the important question is, does Kick-Ass kick ass? Absolutely! It's a fun movie and I recommend it!
How come nobody has ever tried to be a superhero? That is the question that Dave Lizewski poses to his friends in the first 5 minutes of the movie. Honestly when I heard him say that, I kind of wondered it myself. I mean, wouldn't it be cool to get a costume, give yourself a cool superhero name and go out into the world and help people? Yes it sounds like an awesome idea. However, we are quickly brought into reality with this movie. Not long after Dave buys the $99 wetsuit does he get taught a true lesson in superheroism (he gets stabbed and then hit by a car). Even after that though, he goes out and fights again and actually saves someone on a convenience store parking lot. That is when the movie takes an unexpected turn. There really are superheroes out there that are well trained and know what they are doing. They are named Hit Girl and Big Daddy and they steal the show in my opinion. The twist of the movie comes in when Red Mist comes into the picture, appropriately played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse (also known as McLovin). It has some similarities to the popular graphic novel written by Mark Millar, but overall, it has a very different feel. I would have been surprised if the MPAA allowed the ending of the graphic novel to even be on screen. I really enjoyed this movie. It had a really good story, emotion and some funny parts (mainly from Dave's best friends). And of course, there is the love interest who thinks he is gay. That plays a big role in the movie too. I found this movie to be a good take on the superhero genre and I enjoyed the action scenes and the costumes. The movie has a Tarantino feel to it too, especially when Hit Girl and Big Daddy are on screen. Mark Strong also plays the villain once again, like he usually does in his movies (Sherlock Holmes and the upcoming Robin Hood). He seems to be the go to guy to play villains. I can see why, he really does make it work. So the important question is, does Kick-Ass kick ass? Absolutely! It's a fun movie and I recommend it!
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