Aliens In The Attic

Aliens in the Attic is an adventure/comedy about kids on a family vacation who must fight off an attack by knee-high alien invaders with world-destroying ambitions--while the youngsters' parents remain clueless about the battle.

Unless you have gone to see this movie with kids and are only there for their viewing entertainment - this is a truly horrible movie going experience for you. This movie is blatantly for kids and adults who are used to watching movies/television with their kids. If it wasn't for Stinka being such a wonderous part of my life - this movie would have been beyond painful. However, I was able to laugh at parts and just be happy that she was loving the movie. This is one of those movies that Hollywood makes just to make money off of parents having nothing else to do on a rainy day in the summer with their kids.

I wouldn't really recommend anyone who doesn't have kids check this out. If you do have them - go ahead and take them and just keep reminding yourself that its only an hour and half and enjoy the 3 - 4 laughs.

500 Days Of Summer

An offbeat romantic comedy about a woman (Deschanel) who doesn't believe true love exists, and the young man (Gordon-Levitt) who falls for her.

This movie was great. I really enjoyed this movie. I thought it looked good from the preview but I didn't think I would enjoy it nearly as much as I did. It is one of the more realistic relationship movies I've ever seen. The back and forth storytelling was very well scripted and filmed. The chemistry between the two main characters was very believable. The supporting characters were well written (especially the young girl helping Gordon-Levitt). They also had these really great mocking film/commercial scenes randomly throughout the movie that were hilarious and fit in perfectly. SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT . . . . . . . . This is probably the best non-"happy" ending date movies you could possibly imagine.

I fully recommend that everyone check this bad boy out. Its opened very limited, but if you have the chance, its definitely worth your time and money.

Funny People

Judd Apatow directs Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Leslie Mann in Funny People, the story of a famous comedian who has a near-death experience.

This movie was completely great . . . . . . . for the first 2/3 of the movie. It was more of a drama than a comedy, but I was totally in to the characters and the one liners were all perfectly delivered by the great cast and were hilarious. I was really impressed with Adam Sandler actually acting and not being over the top silly like he always is. The relationship between him and Seth Rogen seemed very genuine. You really felt for Sandler as he coped with death coming. You were excited when he found out that he wasn't going to die. And then the movie just kind of hit a wall and had no idea where it wanted to go. It just sort of stopped and treaded water. It was so disappointing considering how in to the first 2/3 of the movie I was. I ended up not caring what was going to happen with Adam Sandler and Leslie Mann and was generally annoyed at how it turned out.

I fully recommend that everyone check out the first 2/3 of this movie. Its awesome. Just be sure to stop watching after Adam Sandler ends up being okay because it becomes rather pooptastic from there on.

Orphan

The tragic loss of their unborn child has devastated Kate and John, taking a toll on both their marriage and Kate's fragile psyche as she is plagued by nightmares and haunted by demons from her past. Struggling to regain some semblance of normalcy in their lives, the couple decides to adopt another child. At the local orphanage, both John and Kate find themselves strangely drawn to a young girl named Esther. Almost as soon as they welcome Esther into their home, however, an alarming series of events begins to unfold, leading Kate to believe that there's something wrong with Esther--this seemingly angelic little girl is not what she appears to be. Concerned for the safety of her family, Kate tries to get John and others to see past Esther's sweet facade. But her warnings go unheeded until it may be too late...for everyone.

I am completely surprised with how much I enjoyed this movie. This was a really well done creeper. The girl was scary as hell and the build up of tension was exactly as it should be for a scary movie. For the record - I called the twist two months ago when I saw the preview, but its pretty crazy how it all pans out. This is probably one of the three best scary movies (out of 100 it feels like) in the past year with The Strangers and Drag Me To Hell.

I fully recommend that everyone check this movie out. Its probably the biggest surprise of the summer in terms of enjoyment.

G-Force

G-Force is a comedy adventure about the latest evolution of a covert government program to train animals to work in espionage. Armed with the latest high-tech spy equipment, these highly trained guinea pigs discover that the fate of the world is in their paws. Tapped for the G-Force are guinea pigs Darwin (voice of Sam Rockwell), the squad leader determined to succeed at all costs; Blaster (voice of Tracy Morgan), an outrageous weapons expert with tons of attitude and a love for all things extreme; and Juarez (voice of Penelope Cruz), a sexy martial arts pro; plus the literal fly-on-the-wall reconnaissance expert, Mooch, and a star-nosed mole, Speckles (voice of Nicolas Cage), the computer and information specialist.

Lets be honest. This movie is completely brainless. Its stupid. Its an insulting assault on our wallets. Its assinying. Its just another marketing masterpiece by Disney where they blatantly target our children 24 hours a day on the Disney Channel forcing us all to throw away or time and money because of our love for them. I could easily see this being on many peoples 10 worst movies of the year list. All of that being said . . . . . . . . I enjoyed the movie. I know full well how terribly horrible the movie was in terms of quality and substance. However, I chose to leave my brain at the door (and it definitely helped that it was free) and enjoyed going to a simple, "fun" movie with the wifey and the little stinker. It was simple fun after a crazy weekend and was enjoyable. I also chose to see it in 3D and would have to say that the 3D in this is better than most of the 3D ripoffs that have been put out there lately.

Regardless of me being able to enjoy this movie, I could never truly reccomend it to anyone. It is absolutely a bad movie. However, if you have kids they will absolutely enjoy it and if you can leave your mind at the door you might be able to as well.

The Ugly Truth

The battle of the sexes heats up in The Ugly Truth. Abby Richter (Katherine Heigl) is a romantically challenged morning show producer whose search for Mr. Perfect has left her hopelessly single. She's in for a rude awakening when her bosses team her with Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler), a hardcore TV personality who promises to spill the ugly truth on what makes men and women tick.

This is a great date movie. The chemistry between Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler was awesome. Even though you know damn well where this movie is going to end up from watching the commercial for it, the connection between the two of them makes you completely enjoy the short ride to get there. This movie also had a great collection of supporting characters that provided a lot of humor to go with Gerard Butler's great one liners. There is a restaurant scene in this movie with Katherine Heigl wearing vibrating underwear that is beyond hysterical. Just that one scene is worth the price of admission alone.

I fully recommend that people check this out. Its a great date movie for both guys and girls. Its also one of the funnier movies to come out in a summer full of comedic duds.

I Love You, Beth Cooper

Buffalo Grove High School valedictorian Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust) has had quite an academic career... on paper, at least. Superlative student, conscientious young gentleman and patently obvious dork, Denis has played it safe and made it all the way to graduation day without ever having really experienced some of the joys of higher learning: breaking curfew, destruction of property, over-consumption of alcohol, fist fights, late nights, fast cars or faster women (actually, women of any sort). But all of that is about to change, and all by uttering five little words: "I Love You, Beth Cooper."

This is yet another of those movies that is just kind of there. It can't really decide what kind of movie it wants to be. It pulled up short of being a pushing the envelope sex comedy. But it went a little too far to be considered a teeny bopper movie. Its basically a movie that is meant for the type of nerdy guys that the main character is. Outside of that, there really is no hook that gets you with any of the characters and I found myself pretty bored and not caring. I laughed a couple of times but it was too few and far between to be considered a funny movie.

I wouldn't really recommend this movie to people. Its not that its flat out horrible. Its just not that good.

Bruno

Sacha Baron Cohen's gay Austrian supermodel Bruno comes to the big screen with similar hijinks and celebrity interviews as seen on "Da Ali G Show."

The first thing that I can't help but wonder after seeing this movie is how in the blue hell it didn't get a NC-17 rating. I mean really . . . . . a penis speaks after spinning and slapping about. I would think that would be the bottom line guideline in terms of rating. Its inevitable that this movie will constantly be compared to Borat, which I absolutely loved (and as a bit of a history lesson was the movie that started this blog site people. Show the love!), so I'll go on record as saying that I didn't find this movie nearly as funny as Borat. Don't get me wrong, there were some really big laughs in it. Unfortunately, this movie played a hell of a lot more like that one "oh my god - why am I watching this" scene from Borat with the naked wrestling and running. 3/4 of this movie are more scenes like that. I found the other 1/4 very funny but really wasn't too entertained by the over pushing of the rest of the movie.

I can't really recommend that anyone see this not. This is one of those movies where you really have to know who you are recommending it to before doing so. I know people that would love this movie and I know people that would think I was out of my mind if I told them to see it. Just be forewarned that this movie is beyond raunchy in a full frontal male nudity kind of way and see at your own risk.

Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince

Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemort's defenses and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, the well-connected and unsuspecting bon vivant Professor Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information. Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry finds himself more and more drawn to Ginny, but so is Dean Thomas. And Lavender Brown has decided that Ron is the one for her, only she hadn’t counted on Romilda Vane's chocolates! And then there's Hermione, simpering with jealously but determined not to show her feelings. As romance blossoms, one student remains aloof. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again.

Harry Potter movies are always awesome. The books were awesome and every installment in the movie franchise always makes my top ten list at the end of the year. This movie is no different. The magical effects are great and not too over the top. We are just as attached to the characters as we've always been and its actually pretty amazing to see how much the kids have grown as actors. The back and forth between Harry and Ron in this movie was some of the funniest moments in the franchise. There really is only one knock that I can make against this movie and its only because of how I felt about the book. The movie standing alone is awesome. However, my favorite part of the book was the battling at Hogwarts that led to the climactic scene in the tower. I couldn't wait to see that all played out on screen. Apparantly I'll never get to see it though because that was what ended up on the editing room floor. The bad guys showed up and the next thing you know they are in the tower talking to Dumbledore. It was a little disappointing because of how excited I was to see that part from the book. Outside of that, this movie is just as good as the others. If I had to rank them in order, this would probably be in the top three for me with Prisoner Of Azkaban and Goblet Of Fire.

I don't really think it matters if I recommend this movie or not. Most people are going to see it and the ones that haven't seen any of the Harry Potters probably won't. Its yet another great addition to an already amazing franchise.

Public Enemies

In the action-thriller Public Enemies, we are shown the story of legendary Depression-era outlaw John Dillinger (Depp)—the charismatic bank robber whose lightning raids made him the number one target of J. Edgar Hoover's fledgling FBI and its top agent, Melvin Purvis (Bale), and a folk hero to much of the downtrodden public. No one could stop Dillinger and his gang. No jail could hold him. His charm and audacious jailbreaks endeared him to almost everyone—from his girlfriend Billie Frechette (Cotillard) to an American public who had no sympathy for the banks that had plunged the country into the Depression. But while the adventures of Dillinger's gang—later including the sociopathic Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) and Alvin Karpis (Giovanni Ribisi)—thrilled many, Hoover (Billy Crudup) hit on the idea of exploiting the outlaw's capture as a way to elevate his Bureau of Investigation into the national police force that became the FBI. He made Dillinger America's first Public Enemy Number One and sent in Purvis, the dashing "Clark Gable of the FBI." However, Dillinger and his gang outwitted and outgunned Purvis' men in wild chases and shootouts. Only after importing a crew of Western ex-lawmen (newly baptized as agents) and orchestrating epic betrayals—from the infamous "Lady in Red" to the Chicago crime boss Frank Nitti—were Purvis, the FBI and their new crew of gunfighters able to close in on Dillinger.

This was a very enjoyable movie. I have always been of fan of Michael Mann directed movies. I just like the look that his movies have. Johnny Depp is one of the top three actors in Hollywood and has pretty much reached that "We'd watch this guy take a $hit" status. Christian Bale finally shed the Batman overacting voice and was a solid supporting actor in this. The bank scenes and action scenes were great and the tension going back and forth between the bank robbers and the cops getting towards their eventual climax was very well done. The one real downer of this movie was the lovey dovey garbage between John Dillinger and his girlfriend. The movie would be trucking along at a great pace and then would hit such a wall when the two of them were on screen together. It really didn't seem to work at all. Its unfortunate because this movie would have been excellent without that major distraction that kept rearing its head every time the movie would build up a great head of steam.

I would still recommend people checking this bad boy out. Its not a must see by any means, but is a pretty good watch.

Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs

The sub-zero heroes are back. Scrat is still trying to nab the ever-elusive nut (while, maybe, finding true love); Manny and Ellie await the birth of their mini-mammoth, Sid the sloth gets into trouble when he creates his own makeshift family by hijacking some dinosaur eggs; and Diego the saber-toothed tiger wonders if he's growing too "soft" hanging with his pals. On a mission to rescue the hapless Sid, the gang ventures into a mysterious underground world, where they have some close encounters with dinosaurs, battle flora and fauna run amuck - and meet a relentless, one-eyed, dino-hunting weasel named Buck.

I'm usually a huge fan of animated movies. However, I never really got in to the Ice Age franchise. I thought that the first one was pretty good. I thought that the second one could have easily been a straight to DVD sequel. I can't really put my finger on why. It actually bothers me that I don't like these more because like I said before, I tend to always love animated movies with these kinds of characters and humor. This one definitely fell in line with the others. I would say it was better than the second one though. Its watchable and if you are taking kids to see this they are pretty much guaranteed to love it.

I can't really say if I would recommend checking this out. I'm admittedly biased to not being that big of a fan of the franchise. I also saw this in 3D and it is definitely another one of those movies that isn't worth the extra money and what not because there wasn't remotely that big of a difference.