X-Men: Days of Future Past

 

“Please, we need you to hope again.”-Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart)

After the dreadful X-Men: Last Stand, X-Men fans have been hoping for a movie of matching caliber to the comics. Director Bryan Singer's new film hopes to make up for that.

Days of Future Past was originally a two-issue story arc in the Uncanny X-Men comics #141-142. The story involves time travel; a formula that always intrigues in movies but never has a satisfying ending. Like Terminator 2, the best of the time travel movies, someone has to be sent from the future (2023) to the past (1973) to save the world from a robot apocalypse.

Lucky for the franchise, the only character whose body can survive the transit is Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine (future). Also, lucky for the franchise, the key to changing the future is to find Jennifer Lawrence’s Mystique (past), a minor character whose role has been heightened to maximize on her star power and talent.

If casual moviegoers can just accept the time-bending, mind-bending plot, they’ll be able to enjoy a fun collection of characters going full superhero in amazingly creative heists and fight sequences. An appearance by a young Quicksilver sets the standard. James McAvoy’s Professor X (past) and Michael Fassbender’s Magneto (past) are excellent as battling bros. Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen have a blast (from the future) re-playing those same characters. And Hugh Jackman, as Wolverine, is always movie screen magic.

Simply put: The X-Men movies are never as good as they should be, but you can consistently expect an x-cellent time at the movies.

Award potential: The cast has 10 Oscar nominations. But not for movies like this.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.

Neighbors

Seth Rogen, and a bunch of boobs like Zac Efron and James Franco’s little brother, try to pull off a funny frat comedy.

I don’t think any moviegoer will expect more than a few laughs from a Seth Rogen frat house comedy. I didn’t. The plot doesn’t really matter with a movie like this since it’s just a loose structure to fill up with jokes; and one out of every ten gags actually works. One gimmick surprised me so much that I think I laughed in a way that might only be described as a “guffaw.”

The script put some token effort into creating real characters and this makes them just a little more interesting than the college stereotypes we all know. Neighbors is directed by Nick Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), who probably owes us something more substantial than this, but I recommend this film with a good beer.

Simply put: Don’t expect a classic, but chuckles and guffaws await.

Award potential: This gross-out film’s only award will be a large box office gross.

The ten buck review: I had at least ten laughs, so that’s a fair exchange. It’s worth ten bucks.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

The Amazing Spider-man returns for a big number 2

Just ten (10) years after director Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, comes The Amazing Spider-Man 2, a second sequel to the redundantly redundant 2012 reboot film. That film’s greatest great flaw was its need to retell (tell again) the super-familiar superhero origin story. I wish that all future superheroes would just simply pass the torch like the James Bond franchise does when an actor or director changes.

Even worse for the audience, this film begins by retelling the original origin story that they retold us in 2012. And, as a bonus, they give us not one accidental accident that turns someone into a super bad baddie story, but we get a double dose of those, too.

What did I like? The techno score was a great choice for the fight scenes with Electro, the actors are lovingly lovable and director Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer) knows how to pull emotional emotion from teen angst. The warm and just-right comic comedy scenes in this film with Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Sally Field and newcomer Dane DeHaan all worked somewhat amazingly. That is, until everyone decided to overreact for the seriously overblown and overblown serious ending.

Yeh, I did find an amazingly amazing moment during this film — this movie marks the first time I ever laughed out loud (LOL) during a funeral scene.

Simply put: Somewhere in this film is an emotional Spider-Man story, but mostly I wanted to cry about paying for my ticket.

Award potential: Hans Zimmer’s score is noteworthy, but not Oscar-worthy.

The ten buck review: Not worth ten bucks.

Fading Gigolo

If you’re looking for a threesome with John Turturro, Woody Allen’s stylings and Hasidic Brooklyn, start taking off your pants.

Director, writer and actor Turturro has cast himself as a leading man. He plays ladies’ man Fioravante and Woody Allen plays his lifelong friend, Murray.

An offer for a suitable partner for a ménage a trois sets up an implausible plot where Murray becomes a pimp for his cash-strapped friend (and first time gigolo), Fioravante. The unlikely pairing of Allen and Turturro in these roles was obviously built for immediate humor and they definitely provide that.

You can almost see how the female characters assume this gigolo, who gets his hands dirty, could be worth their money because he’s “disgusting in a very positive way.” Almost. It’s really difficult to grasp why every woman in the film is dumb enough to fall for all of this, and that’s where the film fails.

That aside, Turturro directs his characters with some lovely performances. Sharon Stone plays vulnerable and understated. Sofia Vergara is less cartoonish than I expected she could be. French singer Vanessa Paradis makes us believe her ridiculous story is sweet and not cruel. And Allen gives one of his most relaxed performances — ever.

Sometimes the dialogue, the jazz soundtrack and the enchanting New York setting tossed me into the wonderful world of a Woody Allen film. Sometimes I was thrilled that I had landed in a modern Moonstruck. Too many times I thought I was watching a bad Turturro dream.
But the sweetness of the film, and the small moments throughout, made up for the thin plot — and I was charmed-off-guard.

Simply put: Not top shelf, but it’s funny and more charming than it should be.

Award potential: Nope. Director Turturro pulls some great performances out of everyone, but he didn’t write the characters as strong as Allen does.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The fantastic Mr. Anderson creates a new Old World

Wes Anderson's new film, The Grand Budapest Hotel, is a visually stunning comic film set in an Old World hotel in Zubrowka, a fictional '30s European nation. It’s full of Wes Anderson’s trademark whimsy and it’s another showcase of how evolved Anderson is at crafting delightful cinematic visuals.

The plot, like many Anderson films, isn’t worth commenting on. Unfortunately, neither are the characters. I respected this new Wes Anderson film, and many are calling it his masterpiece, but I wish I had enjoyed it more. I’d love to watch the sled scene again or actually visit any of the oversized buildings shown onscreen, but I just can’t fully recommend the complete two hours.

Simply put: Wes Anderson’s visuals and universe are delightful to watch, but without characters to care about, I was ready to check out early.

Award potential: Ralph Fiennes pulls off proper Anderson comedy and I hope he joins the team again, but there’s not enough here for award consideration.

The ten buck review: Barely worth ten bucks.

Muppets Most Wanted

“We’re doing a sequel, that’s what we do in Hollywood, and everybody knows that the sequel’s never quite as good” – a song from Muppets Most Wanted

  

Muppets Most Wanted  follows 2011’s The Muppets, but lost most of the charm and feel-good fun that Jason Segel brought to the script and screen when he re-introduced the Muppets to the world.

It starts promisingly with another fabulous Brett McKenzie (Flight of the Conchords) song about the limits of doing a sequel. And then the film delivers on that very thing.

The actors don’t help the convoluted story about a world tour, espionage and a Kermit lookalike who’s a criminal mastermind.

Ricky Gervais seems uninspired by his uninspiring role and Tina Fey may laugh and enjoy her own performance as a prison guard, but no one else will. 

Luckily Ty Burrell decided to bring something comedic to this movie and has a few funny moments with the Sam the Eagle and many of the Muppets that hint at what this movie should have been.

Simply put: Two kermits are not better than one. It’s always fun to see the Muppets, but I don’t see much fun here for the kids or adults.

Award potential: None of the songs will challenge the Man or Muppet Best Song Oscar win.

The ten buck review: Not worth ten bucks.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

I should warn you — I have superhero fatigue.

Chris Evans returns as the Cap', in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, to defend America’s ideals in the modern world.

I should note that I walked into this film with a super case of superhero fatigue, but this film entertained me. It’s a little more on the Iron Man and Avengers side of the comic book spectrum; not The Hulk, Iron Man 2, Fantastic Four, Amazing Spiderman side.

For starters, there’s no origin story. And there’s no baddie who accidentally turns himself into a powerful monster. As part of a more complex storyline, Cap finds a marvelous villain in modern government and the very military unit he defends. And who better to head that group up than — Robert Redford, star of 70’s paranoid movies (3 Days of the Condor, All The Presidents Men).

The banter is witty, the one-on-one fights are fun and curves are thrown at you at unsuspected moments. And by curves, I mean Scarlett Johansson, winning in her sidekick role. Eventually, the plot and the action got bigger and my interest got smaller.

Simply put: In the world of comic book films, this is a hero.

Award potential: None, but the FX are just right.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.