Many critics and audiences agree that the Andrew Garfield-led (The Social Network, Never Let Me Go) reboot of Spider-Man occurred too soon after the completion of the Toby Maguire trilogy. Because it was a given that the reboot would generate hundreds of millions of dollars on name alone, many wondered how strong of an effort there would be to tell a great story. On the other hand, an uninteresting story and poor reviews from the critics that still resulted in $200 million would have devastated superhero movies. Heck, Ryan Reynolds’ disaster The Green Lantern earned a measly 27% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and still made $116 million at the box office. Fortunately, while there were many parallels to the Tobey franchise, this movie was much darker. This was my number one criterion going in. I just wanted it to be more adult-oriented. Some thought it was too dark, saying things like Spider-Man isn’t Batman, but as a guy in his mid-30s, I’d rather see any PG-13/R type superhero movie over a PG/PG-13 type one.
I’m officially calling Michelle Williams the best actress of my generation. Some people will agree with this statement, but many more will probably disagree. I think most people would say she is a very good actress but will be more hesitant to say excellent. To call her the best is a bold statement. But that’s what she is. To those who would quickly dismiss this statement, I encourage them to explore her complete filmography. She has some gems out there that are relatively unknown. Williams is very deserving of the three Academy Award nominations she has received (Best Actress in a Leading Role – Blue Valentine 2010, My Week with Marilyn 2011, Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Brokeback Mountain 2004). It is merely a matter of time before she wins her first of many Oscars.
Bradley Cooper, you have a new fan. In the first blockbuster movie of your career that you were asked to carry, you knocked Limitless out of the park. So no longer will I reference you as “one of the guys from The Hangover.” After looking at your filmography, I’ll be the first to tell you that you’ve made terrible career choices, but maybe you were getting your feet wet. Maybe at the ripe age of 34, after eight years of meaningless roles in some of the awful movies of the last decade, including Failure to Launch, Valentine’s Day, Yes Man, Case 39, The A-Team, He’s Just Not That Into You, and, perhaps the cream of the crop, All About Steve, you’ll finally be recognized for what you potentially could bring to a movie. When I first saw the trailer for Limitless, I thought there would be no chance I would see it. But after reading some reviews about it, I added it to my Netflix queue and slowly watched it work to the top of my list. Continue reading Limitless (2011)→
Wow. We Need to Talk About Kevin is not a movie for everyone. It’s a movie that most people I know could not get through. This movie aimed to educate and encourage discussion about a topic that feels like it is becoming all too familiar. It’s hard to target an audience for this movie. It has two things going against it that might turn viewers within the first 15 minutes or at any point after that. The first and more important one is the topic. This movie tells the story of a mother whose 16-year-old son is in prison after having murdered many of his classmates in a mass killing that resembles the Columbine High School massacre. There will be a large number of people who will not even consider watching a movie based on a topic like this. The second, and far less important, reason, why people might struggle to make it to the end is because of its, at times, randomness. It goes back and forth between the present and past and between real and imagined life. The transitions are inconsistent. If you’ve seen either Melancholiaor The Tree of Life, it sometimes has that sort of feel. I liked Melancholiaand hated every second of The Tree of Life. However, I gave. We Need to Talk About Kevin a chance. It held my attention for the entire movie. Continue reading We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)→
Young Adult is one of those movies that some people will love and some will hate, while others will only be able to decide if they love it or hate it once it concludes. It is more of a polarizing movie than most. People will remember this movie more than they would an average $10 million budget dramedy. This is particularly true for many Generation Xers who can identify with its lead character Mavis (Charlize Theron – Monster, North Country), a woman approaching 40 who is going through a major midlife identity crisis. Continue reading Young Adult (2011)→
Many critics and audiences agree that the Andrew Garfield-led (The Social Network, Never Let Me Go) reboot of Spider-Man occurred too soon after the completion of the Toby Maguire trilogy. Because it was a given that the reboot would generate hundreds of millions of dollars on name alone, many wondered how strong of an effort there would be to tell a great story. On the other hand, an uninteresting story and poor reviews from the critics that still resulted in $200 million would have devastated superhero movies. Heck, Ryan Reynolds’ disaster The Green Lantern earned a measly 27% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and still made $116 million at the box office. Fortunately, while there were many parallels to the Tobey franchise, this movie was much darker. This was my number one criterion going in. I just wanted it to be more adult-oriented. Some thought it was too dark, saying things like Spider-Man isn’t Batman, but as a guy in his mid-30s, I’d rather see any PG-13/R type superhero movie over a PG/PG-13 type one.
I’m officially calling Michelle Williams the best actress of my generation. Some people will agree with this statement, but many more will probably disagree. I think most people would say she is a very good actress but will be more hesitant to say excellent. To call her the best is a bold statement. But that’s what she is. To those who would quickly dismiss this statement, I encourage them to explore her complete filmography. She has some gems out there that are relatively unknown. Williams is very deserving of the three Academy Award nominations she has received (Best Actress in a Leading Role – 
Bradley Cooper, you have a new fan. In the first blockbuster movie of your career that you were asked to carry, you knocked Limitless out of the park. So no longer will I reference you as “one of the guys from The Hangover.” After looking at your filmography, I’ll be the first to tell you that you’ve made terrible career choices, but maybe you were getting your feet wet. Maybe at the ripe age of 34, after eight years of meaningless roles in some of the awful movies of the last decade, including Failure to Launch, Valentine’s Day, Yes Man, Case 39, The A-Team, He’s Just Not That Into You, and, perhaps the cream of the crop, All About Steve, you’ll finally be recognized for what you potentially could bring to a movie. When I first saw the trailer for Limitless, I thought there would be no chance I would see it. But after reading some reviews about it, I added it to my Netflix queue and slowly watched it work to the top of my list.
Wow. We Need to Talk About Kevin is not a movie for everyone. It’s a movie that most people I know could not get through. This movie aimed to educate and encourage discussion about a topic that feels like it is becoming all too familiar. It’s hard to target an audience for this movie. It has two things going against it that might turn viewers within the first 15 minutes or at any point after that. The first and more important one is the topic. This movie tells the story of a mother whose 16-year-old son is in prison after having murdered many of his classmates in a mass killing that resembles the Columbine High School massacre. There will be a large number of people who will not even consider watching a movie based on a topic like this. The second, and far less important, reason, why people might struggle to make it to the end is because of its, at times, randomness. It goes back and forth between the present and past and between real and imagined life. The transitions are inconsistent. If you’ve seen either 
Young Adult is one of those movies that some people will love and some will hate, while others will only be able to decide if they love it or hate it once it concludes. It is more of a polarizing movie than most. People will remember this movie more than they would an average $10 million budget dramedy. This is particularly true for many Generation Xers who can identify with its lead character Mavis (Charlize Theron – Monster, North Country), a woman approaching 40 who is going through a major midlife identity crisis.