Robin Hood (April 9, 2010) PG-13

Starring:
Russell Crowe (Gladiator 2000, Westworld 2012)
Cate Blanchett (The Aviator 2004, Indian Summer 2011)
Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes 2009, Green Lantern 2011)
Kevin Durand (3:10 to Yuma 2007, Real Steel 2011)
Oscar Isaac (The Nativity Story 2006, Sucker Punch 2011)
Danny Huston (30 Days of Night 2007, The Warrior's Way 2010)
Matthew Macfayden (Pride and Prejudice 2005, The Three Muskateers 2011)
Max Von Sydow (The Exorcist 1973, Truth and Reason 2011)
William Hurt (The Village 2004, Shadows 2010)


I knew, as soon as I saw that Danny Huston (Who's vampiric performance in 30 Days of Night made Salem's Lot look like a Twilight prequel) was going to play King Richard (typically a character who inspires hope) I knew that Ridley Scott's version of Robin Hood wasn't going to be wearing TIGHT tights!

Russell Crowe, who's delivered outstanding performances for the past decade since Gladiator, played history's famous quasi-fictional character Robin Hood. He brought the character in both a traditional, but, also, totally different direction as other Robin Hood films. They stayed true to his ever-famous archery abilities, and his persuit of the Lady Marion, but also surprised me with much of the plot and story.

Mark Strong played the new Robin Hood villian, Sir Godfrey (at least I never heard of him before) with skill, and I would have been impressed had his performance in Sherlock Holmes not been so much better.

I could go on about Danny Huston, Cate Blanchett, and William Hurt's dramatic performances, but it would get redundant after a while and you REALLY should experience this movie for yourself in theaters. I'm sure, since it's good, that it won't be in theaters much longer...

Robin Hood shot a bulls-eye. Did I seriously just write that?

And did I mention it's a prequel?

Factoid: True to his record, Russell Crowe recently stormed and cursed his way out of a BBC radio interview when the interviewer accused Crowe of having an Irish accent in Robin Hood. I love Russell Crowe. He and Christian Bale need to freak out on people more.

Iron Man 2 (May 7, 2010) PG-13

Starring:
Robert Downey, Jr. (Sherlock Holmes 2009, The Avengers 2012)
Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda 2004, The Avengers 2012)
Gwyneth Paltrow (Two Lovers 2008, Don't Let Me Down 2010)
Scarlett Johansson (The Prestige 2006, The Avengers 2012)
Sam Rockwell (The Green Mile 1999, Cowboys and Aliens 2011)
Samuel L. Jackson (Snakes on a Plane 2006, The Avengers 2012)
Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler 2008, The Expendables 2010)

I liked the first one better, but Iron Man 2 definitely can hold its own against other super-hero movies.

Downey, Jr. reprised his "born-to-play" role with more attitude and cavalier than in the first movie. He once again contributed something new and welcomed to the Iron Man legacy.

Different from the first movie, Iron Man 2 wasn't the expected battle against terrorism. This one seemed more "Hancock-ish", with our hero battling himself as much as villians.

And what awesome villians there were! The United States Gov't (Garry Shandling never had a chance), Sam Rockwell (sort of a Lex Luther's witty cousin type), and the ever-impressive and show-stealing Mickey Rourke as he plays Whiplash--the smaller-time Iron Man villian who is the primary villian in this story.
Whenever Rourke was on screen I was enthralled. After seeing The Wrestler I'll never doubt Rourke's abilities as an actor (not to mention Killshot and Sin City).

Overall, I liked this movie a LOT.

Factoid: Terrence Howard was slotted to reprise his role as Tony Stark's best friend and ally Rhodey, a.k.a. "War Machine." However, after demanding pay equivalent to Downey, Jr.'s, the film-makers replaced him with Academy Award-winner Don Cheadle. Cheadle was happy to play the role for less money than Terrence Howard (who'd only claim to fame is Iron man) had demanded.
In short, this is the worst case of an actor "blowing it" that I've ever heard of. His short-sightedness, however, didn't stop him from landing the role of Nelson Mandela (A politician ranked among legends like Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and Winston Churchill) in the 2011 film Winnie.

Kick-Ass (April 16, 2010) R

Starring:
Aaron Johnson (The Illusionist 2006, Chatroom 2010)
Lyndsy Fonseca ("How I Met Your Mother" 2005-2010, The Ward 2010)
Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad 2007, Marmaduke 2010)
Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes 2009, Robin Hood 2010)
Chloe Moretz ((500) Days of Summer 2009, Jack and the Beanstalk 2010)
Nicolas Cage (Matchstick Men 2003, Drive Angry 2011)

I wasn't prepared for how good Kick-Ass was! I thoroughly enjoyed this entire movie. I had to pee 10 minutes into it, but couldn't bring myself to leave and miss one minute of this film.

The movie follows Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) who decides to become a "super-hero" named Kick-Ass so that he can fight crime. His motivation: To see if being a super-hero can really be accomplished.
His easy-going, mild, crime-fighting side-life is escalated into something much more dangerous and serious, however, when the destructive, disruptive, and heroic actions of Big Daddy and Hit Girl (played by Nicolas Cage and Chloe Moretz respectively) are mistaken for the actions of small-timer, Kick-Ass. The ameteur quickly finds himself in the cross-hairs of big-time, no-nonsense villians.

This isn't your typical comic-book movie by any means. There are no super-powers, there are no "death-rays" or plots to destroy earth. It's just a bunch of people; some good, some bad, some who do bad things to good people, and some who do bad things to BAD people.

I must also point out that Hit Girl is my favorite. The the best movie character of this decade so far.

Movies this good are going to give me bladder problems later in life...

Factoid: Before dropping a very articulated C-word in Kick-Ass, Chloe Moretz had a very extensive acting career, including (500) Days of Summer (2009), The Amityville Horror (2005), The Poker House (2008), and voice work on numerous Winnie the Pooh cartoons as the character "Darby". Chloe actually did have to learn to be very skilled with butterfly knives for her part in this film. Not bad for a 13-year-old...

Factoid: Kick-Ass the movie is based off a comic book series of the same name.

Up in the Air (December 23, 2009) R

Starring:
George Clooney (Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? 2000, The American 2010)
Vera Formiga (The Departed 2006, Source Code 2011)
Anna Kendrick (Twilight 2008, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World 2010)
Jason Bateman (Extract 2009, Arrested Development 2011)

I can see from this film why it was nominated for 6 Oscars. But naturally, since the film was really good, it didn't win any.

The story itself is so relevent to current events and modern society. It really spoke to our time.

The acting was wonderful too. Even though I'm completely head-over-heels in love with Vera Formiga, I found myself liking Anna Kendrick's performance more. She was beautiful and real. Her character was a unique and called-for addition to an already original movie.

Clooney's performance was nothing deserving an Oscar, but he did do a good job.

And I can't say enough about Vera Formiga. I LOVE that woman. I truly hope she gets cast in "The Walking Dead" TV show.

Factoid: Vera Formiga grew up in Jersey, but spoke only Ukrainian until she went to school.

Clash of the Titans (April 2, 2010) PG-13

Starring:
A great cast I don't feel like listing right now.

This movie sucked. It's 1:13 am and I'm tired and I don't feel like getting into the nitty gritty.

Don't bother with this movie.

Don't waste your $8 on this movie.

Here is a list of movies that were better than Clash of the Titans:

The Mummy Returns
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Avatar
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Spiderman 3

Believe it, it's true.

The plot was the worst part of all, but almost as bad was the acting and lame characters. There were attempts at comic relief that failed throughout the movie. There were overly dramatic characters. There was computer animation when real people could have been used.

Plus (and I say this having not seen the original) there were no Titans "clashing".

Oh, and Zeus was naive and bipolar. First time ever I'm complaining about Liam Neeson...

It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO LAME!!!! And I HATE using all caps so you KNOW I mean it.

Factoid: This movie was a remake, and a bad one.
I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO disappointed. I thought it would at least be GOOD.

Shutter Island (February 19, 2010) R

Starring:
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Departed 2006, Inception 2010)
Mark Ruffalo (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 2004, Margaret 2010)
Ben Kingsley (War, Inc. 2008, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time 2010)
Michelle Williams (I'm Not There 2007, Meek's Cutoff 2010)
Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen 2009, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2010)

This movie followed District 9 right onto my unofficial Top 10 List.

I thought I'd already seen all of Leo's tricks, the best he had to offer, after seeing The Departed, Blood Diamond, and Basketball Diaries, but he still impresses and shows me things I've never seen before. He was fantastic.

The story, also, was so great it would have been enormously successful even without Leo, but the combination of a totally unique story, Scorsese's directing, and Leo made for an totally successful, original, bar-raising thriller/drama.

The music deserves recognition as well, as it was very uniquely utilized. The music road shotgun for a number of scenes, and was different and contributed much to the moods and intensities.

And, of course, the exchange between Leo and Jackie Earle Haley totally rocked my world and broke my heart. It was amazing to see Haley go from Rorschach (emotionally unbreakable and borderline murderous) to George Noyce (meek but apparently still murderous). His performance in Shutter Island is one of the best movie moments (however short) I've ever seen.

Factoid: Leo himself admits that sometimes he'd be filming a scene and wasn't sure if it was a dream sequence or "reality" in the film.

The Crazies (February 26, 2010) R

Starring:
Timothy Olyphant (Live Free or Die Hard 2007, Elektra Luxx 2010)
Radha Mitchell (Silent Hill 2006)
Joe Anderson (Across the Universe 2007, Flutter 2010)
Danielle Panabaker (Mr. Brooks 2007, Weakness 2010)
Glenn Morshower ("24" 2001-2009, Walking Distance 2010)
Brett Rickaby (On the Doll 2007, Bereavement 2010)

This movie was DISTURBING, just like I'd hoped.

Timoty Olyphant delivered a great performance, as expected, as did everyone else in the cast. Joe Anderson disappeared into his role, as always, and was a point of interest throughout most of the film. Of course it's also always good to see Glenn Morshower, gotta love him.

I was surprised how easy to follow the plot was though. The whole time you pretty much knew exactly what was going on, versus other George A. Romero films that are plagued with deadly viruses and lots of questions that start with the word "How...?"

I must conclude by saying that this film was INTENSE. It was GROTESQUE. It was HORRID and SICK and I enjoyed the whole thing.

Not for the faint of heart.

Factoid: This film was a remake of the 1973 film by George A. Romero of the same name.