MacGruber and Shrek

I saw MacGruber hoping it'd be one of those intentionally dumb movies that's actually quite entertaining. Unfortunately, it's just intentionally dumb. It does have a couple of nice laughs and some silly moments, but just not quite enough for my taste.




I'll admit, I don't think the world needed yet another installment of Shrek as it is. The filmmakers must have sensed this very same notion because they cleverly gave us a fourth Shrek that feels like a first Shrek. Shrek Ever After puts a nice spin on the characters we've come to know so well. While it isn't as entertaining as the first Shrek (or second, in my opinion), it is leaps and bounds better than the third, which is all I really wanted.

Robin and Juliet

I will say this about Robin Hood, it was a lot better than I thought it would be. I especially thought the film found some great momentum once Robin and his three travel mates made it to Nottingham and he assumed the identity of Robert Loxley, the husband of Marion, played by Cate Blanchett. I thought Blanchett was great and once the film got to this point it had some great humor and the story really came together. My gripes about Robin Hood are that it's not precisely about "Robin Hood." The movie ends where the real story of Robin Hood begins. My other complaint was that I often had a difficult time understanding what the characters were saying. Mumbling must have been very popular at the turn of the 12th century.


There hasn't been a sweeter, more harmless movie than Letters to Juliet in quite some time. Fifty years after writing to Juliet at a famous wall in Verona, Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) receives a response from one of the "secretaries of Juliet," Sophie (Amanda Seyfried). What follows is a journey across Italy as Sophie, Claire and her grandson Charlie, attempt to find Claire's long lost love Lorenzo. Letters to Juliet is romantic and pretty and just a happy picture that makes you feel good.

Summer is Here!

The Summer Movie Season kicked off last weekend with Iron Man 2. I loved the first Iron Man and Tony Stark has become the ruler by which I measure all other charming and suave movie men. I did also like Iron Man 2 quite a bit, but I don't think it quite matched the original. It was fun, very entertaining and it had some great humor, but there seemed to be just the smallest something missing. Overall though, I'm glad I've seen it twice so far.

Comic Craze

We've had kind of a lull at the cineplex lately, so I haven't been very motivated to post. Let's catch up before all the summer blockbusters are unleashed.

I'm not really into comic books, but I think that if I was, I would have LOVED Kick-Ass. As it is, I'm not and therefore didn't love Kick-Ass as I would have hoped. I will give it its props though for direction, style and fun. It had those in excess.




Yet another comic book movie is the aptly titled The Losers. This movie just felt flat to me. It too did have some nice stylistic touches, but nothing really beyond that. I felt sorry for (hunky) Chris Evans trying to be funny and pump life into the film, but the screenplay wasn't doing him any favors.



I got to see Date Night again. Kill shot!