Gone

In the thriller Gone, Jill Parrish (Amanda Seyfried) comes home from a night shift to discover her sister Molly has been abducted. Jill, having escaped from a kidnapping a year before, is convinced that the same serial killer has come back and taken Molly. Since the killer leaves no trace, the police don't have any evidence and can't help her. Afraid that Molly will be dead by sunrise, Jill sets out alone on a nail-biting chase to come face-to-face with the killer. Will she have enough time to find and outwit him, expose his secrets and save her sister?

Ugh. This was like going to a movie theater to watch one of those lame made for tv movies on lifetime or some other random cable network. The story is dull. Everyone overacts. You know how it's going to play out and you really don't care at all before the first twenty minutes are over.

I wouldn't recommend anyone wasting their time with this like I did. It's pretty much a big pointless turd.

Coriolanus

 Caius Martius 'Coriolanus' (Ralph Fiennes), a revered and feared Roman General is at odds with the city of Rome and his fellow citizens. Pushed by his controlling and ambitious mother Volumnia (Vanessa Redgrave) to seek the exalted and powerful position of Consul, he is loath to ingratiate himself with the masses whose votes he needs in order to secure the office. When the public refuses to support him, Coriolanus's anger prompts a riot that culminates in his expulsion from Rome. The banished hero then allies himself with his sworn enemy Tullus Aufidius (Gerard Butler) to take his revenge on the city.

This movie was absolutely awesome at the beginning.  I was completely not understanding how this got a quiet and limited release.  The action was great.  There was awesome tension build up between the two main guys.  And then all of a sudden they started talking.  And it was like really long, ancient Roman speeches with big words and seemed to go on forever kind of like this sentence.  It pretty much destroyed the movie for me.  Either have it be an Ancient Rome movie or have these two generals battle it out in modern times.  Doing a mashup of the two - not so good.

I wouldn't really recommend that anyone bother watching this.  I honestly couldn't take it anymore and pulled the plug halfway through.

Goon

Goon is the story of Doug Glatt (Scott), a dumb but loveable bar bouncer plucked from obscurity to be the enforcer for a minor league hockey team. In the tradition of great sports comedies like Slapshot, Goon delivers bone crunching action and laughs in equal measure.

This was a simple and funny sports movie.  I've never really been a big hockey fan but this was still enjoyable.  The pacing was good, the characters were a little over the top but still funny and as always in sports movies you get to root for the underdog.

I would somewhat recommend people checking this out.  It's not a must see by any means but a decent watch if it opens up in your area. 

Intruders

Though no one can see him, Hollow Face lurks in the corners, desperately desiring love but only knowing how to spread fear and hate. He creeps into the life of John Farrow (Clive Owen) after Farrow's beloved 13-year-old daughter Mia (Ella Purnell) is assaulted in their home. The line between the real and the imaginary blurs as fissures start to open within the family unit. It seems that no security measure can keep Hollow Face out.

A surprisingly watchable creeper with the whole psychological twist.  I had called it pretty early on but it was still well played out and it wasn't overly long.  Although Clive Owen was supposed to be the acting that carried the movie, I actually really liked the daughter.  She had to carry at least the first half plus of the movie and did a really admirable job. 

This movie is only opening limited so I don't know how many people will actually get a chance to see this, but it is kind of worth it for those of you looking for a good scare flick. 

This Means War

The world's deadliest CIA operatives are inseparable partners and best friends until they fall for the same woman. Having once helped bring down entire enemy nations, they are now employing their incomparable skills and an endless array of high-tech gadgetry against their greatest nemesis ever - each other.

This was a really fun movie.  It was short and tightly paced.  The three characters played awesomely off of each other.  The action was good.  The laughs were huge.  Chelsea Handler's one liners were perfect with the supporting friend character she played to Reese Witherspoon and both Chris Pine and Tom Hardy continue to get better with every role they are in. 

I would definitely recommend people watching this movie.  It's a fun, simple, forumla movie with great characters and banter.

Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance

Nicolas Cage reprises his role as Johnny Blaze in Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance. In this gritty new vision for the character, Johnny is still struggling with his curse as the devil's bounty hunter - but he may risk everything as he teams up with the leader of a group of rebel monks (Idris Elba) to save a young boy from the devil... and possibly rid himself of his curse forever.

Dearest lord in heaven this was awful. I wasn't expecting much. The first Ghost Rider took care of that. I loved this comic book when I was younger and was hoping that maybe they would make it better the second time around. At least the flaming skull effects looked better in the trailer. I was beyond wrong. About halfway through the movie, Stinka and I were BEGGING WW to leave. It just got worse and worse and she finally relented after they showed Ghost Rider peeing fire. I mean really? What in the blue hell made anyone think that was necessary?

This is pretty much a lock for Bottom 10 of 2012. Nobody should see this. Ever. Spare yourselves. And Hollywood - I am officially begging you now. Stop putting Nicolas Cage in movies. No good can come of doing this.

The Secret World Of Arriety

Arrietty (voice of Bridgit Mendler), a tiny, but tenacious 14-year-old, lives with her parents (voices of Will Arnett and Amy Poehler) in the recesses of a suburban garden home, unbeknownst to the homeowner and her housekeeper (voice of Carol Burnett). Like all little people, Arrietty (AIR-ee-ett-ee) remains hidden from view, except during occasional covert ventures beyond the floorboards to "borrow" scrap supplies like sugar cubes from her human hosts. But when 12-year-old Shawn (voice of David Henrie), a human boy who comes to stay in the home, discovers his mysterious housemate one evening, a secret friendship blossoms. If discovered, their relationship could drive Arrietty's family from the home and straight into danger.

This was a pretty enjoyable movie. Sure, it was Japanese animation which isn't really everyone's cup of tea. Yes, the voices were not completely in line with the mouth movements of the characters throughout the film. But the bottom line for me was that it was a good story - reminded me alot of the cartoon Monchichis from when I was a kid. You care about the characters and are invested enough to want to see how it plays out. 

I would somewhat recommend people checking this out. It's not a must see by any means but it was a pretty enjoyable watch for me.

Safe House

Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds star in the action-thriller  Safe House. Washington plays the most dangerous renegade from the CIA, who comes back onto the grid after a decade on the run. When the South African safe house he's remanded to is attacked by mercenaries, a rookie operative (Reynolds) escapes with him. Now, the unlikely allies must stay alive long enough to uncover who wants them dead.

Now these kind of political suspense/intrigue movies I like.  As long as there is enough action (as well as not too many talky talky suits) to keep a story moving - I'm all in.  I like both actors regardless and they played surprisingly well off of each other.  At no point did I feel myself bored or not caring about where it was going to go.  This was a nice breath of fresh movie going after an atrocious month of January.

I would definitely recommend people checking this movie out.  It's a fun watch.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

In this follow-up to Journey to the Center of the Earth, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island begins when 17-year-old Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson) receives a coded distress signal from a mysterious island where no island should exist. It's a place of strange life forms, mountains of gold, deadly volcanoes, and more than one astonishing secret. Unable to stop him from going, Sean's new stepfather, Hank (Dwayne Johnson), joins the quest. Together with a helicopter pilot (Luis Guzman) and his beautiful, strong-willed daughter (Vanessa Hudgens), they set out to find the island, rescue its lone inhabitant and escape before seismic shockwaves force the island under the sea and bury its treasures forever.

This movie is exactly what you thought it would be.  A quick, no real story, creature effects heavy movie for young teens.  However, they put The Rock in it.  Therefore, it was much more watchable.  I absolutely love this guy and his going back and forth with Michael Caine and Luis Guzman was vintage stuff from his WWE days.  In terms of continuity - there really is none from the first movie.  I don't remember any explanation as to why Brandon Fraser wasn't in this or what happened post Journey 1, but I didn't care because The Rock was in it.

I would somewhat recommend this movie to anyone that was interested in it.  There are some scenes that might be a little too scary for little kids and it's overall a pretty cheesy movie.  However, The Rock is in it so that always makes everything better.

The Vow

Paige and Leo (Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum) are a happy newlywed couple whose lives are changed by a car accident that puts Paige in a coma. Waking up with severe memory loss, Paige has no memory of Leo, a confusing relationship with her parents (Sam Neill and Jessica Lange), and an ex-fiance (Scott Speedman) she may still have feelings for. Despite these complications, Leo endeavors to win her heart again and rebuild their marriage.

This movie was not nearly the massive waa-waa tear jerker that I thought it would be.  Honestly, I don't think that anyone got choked up at any point.  It was more of a character drama that is textbook predictable and somewhat watchable.  Wasn't great . . . . wasn't bad . . . . . it was decent and watchable - mostly because I like Rachel McAdams I guess in these types of roles.

I would somewhat recommend people checking this out.  It's a decent watch but nowhere near the level of must see stature of other chick flicks like The Notebook.

Chronicle

Three high school students make an incredible discovery, leading to them developing uncanny powers beyond their understanding. As they learn to control their abilities, and use them to their advantage, their lives start to spin out of control, and their darker sides begin to take over.

This was a surprisingly entertaining movie.  I say surprisingly because most of these catchy/home video camera type movies end up being great trailers and then garbage movies.  This movie definitely delievered.  It was super short, had a super simple story and the effects were awesome because of - again - how simple they were.  Imagine an X-Men movie without the crazy over the top explosions.  I really enjoyed it.

I would definitely recommend people checking this out.  It's a surprisingly fresh and short take on "superpower" movies.

The Woman In Black

The story follows a young lawyer, Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe), who is ordered to travel to a remote village and sort out a recently deceased client's papers. As he works alone in the client's isolated house, Kipps begins to uncover tragic secrets, his unease growing when he glimpses a mysterious woman dressed only in black. Receiving only silence from the locals, Kipps is forced to uncover the true identity of the Woman in Black on his own, leading to a desperate race against time when he discovers her true intent.

This was pretty good for one of those PG-13 creepy movies.  It took a little while to get there and the ending was a little bit eh, but the part with all the fright/creeps was more than good enough for me to enjoy the movie.  And it needs to be said how completely weird it is watching Harry Potter not play Harry Potter.  I give him kudos for picking a role to completely break out of that typecast, but it's going to take awhile. 

I would definitely recommend this movie to people into creepy/scary movies like this.  It has a decent story and the scares are good.