Source Code

I can't really say much without plot spoiling, so I'll just say that this is a good one. The Conway Boys will like it. I'd say it's a sci-fi/thriller. There are some great views of Chicago, and the red brick building next to where the train blows up is a building on the campus of Illinois Technical Institute (it's the oldest building on the campus) where Kurt Haenicke works. I saw that building last week!

Four stars.

The Switch

Romantic comedy with Jason Bateman and Jennifer Aniston. I really wanted to like this movie: there are some really funny moments with the sidekick characters played by Jeff Goldblum and Juliette Lewis, but the plot was predictable and a bit boring. Jennifer Aniston looked bored the entire movie, and they didn't give her many funny lines. Jason Bateman is funny, but the movie was dull. If you are going to have a bad, predictable plot, you really need to cash in on the laughs, and this movie didn't do that. Two stars.

The Fighter

Good all around boxing movie here. You could probably kind of guess the plot line if you've seen the trailers or heard anything about this movie. No real surprises here, though Christian Bale is very scary in how much he resembles a real addict. Mark Wahlberg is pretty sympathetic as well.

What separates this from simply being a Rocky cover song is how messed up and dysfunctional the main character's family is. The dysfunction is not drawn out in an exploitative, my mother's a crack whore kind of way, but in a more believable, working class kind of way, where no one wants to be the one who lets the family down. Seems like they really got the gritty details and the extras straight off the streets of Boston too.

Four out of Five stars for this one.

Iron Man 2

This wasn't a bad movie, but it wasn't a great movie. It was just pretty good. I guess after the first one, it's pretty difficult to come up with a great sequel?

I didn't really care for the main villain, though Sam Blackwell is great as usual. The story line for the main character isn't as interesting as the first one's was.

The A-Team

If you've watched the original show lately, then you know what to expect here. They did a good job of capturing the cheesiness that was at the foundation of the predecessor. Also, the campy back-story of each character is intact as well. I'm not sure why they would even want to call this a remake other than there are different actors, more explosions and violence, and the story's setting is a bit updated. Also, it's the origination story of how they become soldiers of fortune in L.A, and not the team actually soldiering of fortune in LA.

Other than that, it's just like the TV series. That being said, the directing wasn't the greatest. I think they could have slowed the tempo down a bit for each scene, and there were some disagreeable conceited moments in the plot line where the writers just seem to have gotten lazy, and found an easy fix that doesn’t really make sense. Of course, certain catch phrases and motifs from the original are intact.

All in all, watch it if your brain needs a break from reality, and you want to see stuff explode.

Robin Hood (2010)

This was a surprise! I wasn't expecting much. This was Ridley Scott's film. He took major liberties with the old Robin Hood story, so the only thing that really resembles Robin Hood of old are the names and certain aspects of the setting. Besides that, it's a pretty good movie about 13th century politics and war. Some good fighting. Russell Crowe is good. They totally set it up for a sequel which I wouldn't mind seeing.

Black Swan

Jen and I were expecting some awful, over-the-top movie since this was Darren Aronofsky. Turns out the movie was good. The grotesque elements weren't overdone, and they were employed at the right times. Watching Portman pluck one tiny, black feather is much more horrific than a full-out transformation. The plot and characters are simple and elegant. The movie moved nicely, so we both really liked it. I'd give it four stars.