Magic Mike - Review

Ok ladies, it's time for a little magic in your life.  If you saw the trailer and thought, I want to see this movie, then go see this movie you won't be disappointed.  


Anne and I decided to see this at the Landmark theater, since the audience would probably be as entertaining as the movie.   When TJ met us at the theater he looked around puzzled.  "Aren't we seeing A Friend for the End of the World.""Nope, Magic Mike.""Great, I'm the only straight man here.""Yep."

I learned a few things during this movie.  If you wonder how costume shops stay open year round, the male stripper community keeps them in business.  Channing Tatum can dance.  I never saw him in Step Up, but my money is on him for a dance off.  Matthew McConaughey was made for this role.  I don't know if that is a good or bad thing, but once you see it you will understand.  For other educational elements you will have to derive them from your own viewing pleasure.

My favorite part of the entire movie was when I went to get a refill on my drink.  No I wasn't thirsty from screaming/cheering at the screen.  What I saw was a woman run from the bathroom back into the theater.  Didn't want to miss a thing.

After the movie we were of course all very giddy and happy, well I dont know if TJ was.  I did wonder if I would find him practicing his dance moves at home one night.  (Hasn't happened yet).  Anne's only disappointment with the movie was that she wanted more character background and development for the brother.  To really understand why he was who he was.   My reply, "I'm sorry, you wanted this movie to have more substance?"

Ladies, Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey, Alex Pettyfer, Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer, Adam Rodriguez and Kevin Nash give you all the substance that you need.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

If you are a vampire slayer loving history buff, this movie is for you.  

For those of you who have no idea of what this movie is about, the title kind of explains it all.  Still confused, well let's break it down.  Abraham Lincoln is a vampire hunter.  He moves to Spingfield to find and kill vampires.  The civil war was really about saving America from vampires taking over the country.

Could Abraham Lincoln have saved America from being under vampire rule?  This movie shows that it's possible.  The UN can also be keeping the entire underworld at bay.  President Bush may have saved the world by secretly getting rid of the true weapons of mass destruction-vampire cells in the middle east.  It's all plausible.

The movie does show how the history and the historical characters of Abraham Lincoln's time fit into this new look at this great time period, which shaped our nation.  Which in lies the problem, no matter how good the fight scenes are, no matter how good the actors are, you can't get over the fact that it is Abraham Lincoln fighting vampires.  For those of you who think the title is ridiculous, it is, but it is still entertaining.

TED - Movie Review

TED answers the question of what would happen if children's wishes everywhere came true and their teddy bear came to life.  They would he best buds who enjoy the same activities and they would grow up together.  In adulthood you would have your teddy bear living with you, your drinking/getting high buddy who occasionally brings home hookers.  It's every child's dream. 

Seth MacFarlane's movie debut is hilarious.  Seth, you had the entire theater laughing out loud.  Well done, well done.  Mark Wahlberg is great in this role.  Many of my friends think he's better in comedies, though his action skills are put to use in the teddy bear fight scene that leaves him and Ted trashing a hotel room.

There's been a lot of great comedies this year and TED is towards the top of the list.  Put this movie on your week's to do list. Leave the kids at home and go to see a movie about a teddy bear.

Rock of Ages - Review

I didn't know much about this movie before I saw it.  I saw a preview with Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand and said, "I'm in."  Imagine being in the same room as those two during the taping, must have been hilarious.  Too bad this duo wasn't enough to carry the movie.

The good:

Tom Cruise - Amazing in this role.  (There's no role he can't turn into gold, well except for Mission: Impossible 2, Tom you were set up to fail on that one).

Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand - all I wanted and more.

Catherine Zeta-Jones - great musical numbers, your Broadway experience shows through.

Paul Giamatti - you play a scumbag too well.

Best movie soundtrack ever.

The not so good:

The transitions - I'm a fan of musicals, but the transitions from speaking to singing were horrible about 70% of the time.  I expected it to be more like Grease or Moulin Rouge.  I guess it was too much to ask for.

The really bad:

If you have a rock movie, you need rock leads with strong rock voices.  TJ put it best, if they wanted a young Britney Spears look alike for the lead role they should have just cast Britney Spears.  It was too much pop and not enough rock.

Overall: it has a good story line and has great potential.  I recommend seeing the live musical production, because the movie just didn't deliver.

Men In Black 3 - Review

Now this is how you do a trilogy.  MIB 3 is one of the top movies this year so far.  If you haven't seen the first two you will understand it, but you won't love it. 

In this third installment Agent J travels back in time (because where else do you go after saving the world from aliens twice) to save the world from an alien attack (well how original.  Even more importantly he must save Agent K's younger self from being killed.

Let's talk about Josh Brolin.  I have loved him since the Goonies.  In MIB 3 he plays young Agent K so amazingly that you forget the part is being played by two different actors.  I can only imagine the Tommy Lee Jones impression he did in his audition.

The movie will give you a whole other level of understanding to the story and the characters.  I laughed, I even almost cried.  More importantly to the franchise I look forward to a MIB 4.  The only thing that could of made this movie better is if they played the original MIB music video during the credits.