Bad Teacher

Funny! Funnier than Bridesmaids. I laughed a lot. What’s peculiar, it’s not a very well-made movie. There’s not a lot of filmmaking craft. There’s no mind-blowing direction or shots, there’s no fantastically ribald set pieces. It’s pretty bland visually. But it’s funny. Cameron Diaz and the rest of the cast got it done. It’s all in the delivery.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

I said it before: it’s a tragedy. So many HUNDREDS or maybe THOUSANDS of technicians obviously worked extremely hard building the sets, crashing the cars, and creating some of the best cg effects ever seen in a movie. When a giant robotic phallus eats an office building, the amount of detail is astonishing. Office supplies are flying everywhere! The sheer amount of work is awesome. Therefore the tragedy is: why couldn’t that much work be put into the script? Because the story is SOOOO STUPID! So, so, so UNBELIEVABLY stupid! Even for a giant, fighting robots movie, it’s a travesty.

The Double Hour

On tonight’s arthouse menu: herring. How would you like it? Atlantic? Italian? Red, perhaps?

The Devil's Double

A ballsy, guns-a-blazin’ depiction of Uday Hussein and his reluctant body double during the first Gulf War. British actor Dominic Cooper plays both parts and he NAILS it, drawing superb distinctions between the two men, one a quiet, decent and dutiful soldier and one the psychopathic rapist son of a megalomaniacal, murderous dictator. Director Lee Tamahori aims for a true-life Scarface, but embellishments abound in a calculated effort to gloss over the horrible truth of Uday Hussein’s barbarism and spin an over-the-top piece of pulp fiction. It’s a well-made movie, but also a pro-war, “These guys had it comin’...” agitation, akin to, but not quite equal to, Inglorious Basterds.

Pirates of the Carribbean: On Stranger Tides

It’s like… It’s like… It’s like… Disney tried to make a “Pirates” movie WITHOUT Gore Verbinsky! (sigh.) This is a cautionary tale about how important a director’s vision can be. You can throw all the money, effects, cast and Johnny Depp’s amazing Jack Sparrow character into a stew, and if Gore Verbinsky isn’t the chef, for some reason, it just doesn’t taste right. It’s hard to say WHY, but there’s something missing.

The Green Lantern

Flash Gordon (1980) < Ghost Rider < Superman 3 < The Punisher (2004) < The Fantastic Four < Electra < Batman and Robin < Spawn < The Green Hornet < The Shadow < Blade: Trinity < Wolverine < The Green Lantern < Daredevil < Thor < Watchmen < Superman Returns < The Incredible Hulk < Blade < X-Men: First Class < Superman 2 < Iron Man < Hellboy 2: The Golden Army < Batman (1989) < X-Men 2 < Batman Begins < The Crow < The Dark Knight < The Incredibles < Hulk(2003) < Superman < Spiderman 2

Super 8

The second tribute to the Spielberg catalog of space movies this year, after Paul. It’s a nostalgia soup, focused more on invoking memories of the past than actually producing a compelling narrative. It’s very well-made, the performances are good and it’s enjoyable. But the plot lacks sophisticated science fiction. The alien’s methods and motives are unclear, and the conclusion is harried and muddled. Even the attempts at Spielbergian sentiment feel rushed and clumsy; an imitation rather than the genuine article. It’s still a good movie, though. Maybe attempting to emulate classic movies will at least yield a good movie? Here’s hoping J.J. Abrams will move on from flattery and into individuality.

I Am

Filmmaker of comedies, Tom Shadyac, fell on his head, had an epiphany and decided to make a film about it. It’s a vague thesis about how we should quit accumulating financial wealth, we should live within our means, we should quit waging war and be nicer to each other, exercise more, etc. It’s a noble effort I suppose, but a real scattershot doc.

X-Men: First Class

At times it has a funny, Austin Powers/James Bond/Mad Men retro vibe. It’s well-made, fast paced, and at times, surprisingly violent. The performances from the new kids and the non-stars are all top notch. There’s a showy performance from Kevin Bacon as the main villain. There are also some quick but pleasant reminders of the Brian Singer movies. It’s a serious and respectful adaptation of the hero comic, grounded in the realistic era of the Cuban Missile Crisis. It’s a fun night at the movies.

Kung Fu Panda II

More manic and more hyper than the original, this sequel still offers some funny physical comedy and some excellent animated Kung Fu. I only wish that they would hold on a shot for a while longer. Because live-action fighting has to be cut up to make it physically possible, animated fighting should do the opposite. The script is pat and archetypal. Like X-Men: First Class, the story features a lot of philosophy 101 about “making peace with your past will make you a better fighter.” It seems oxymoronic, but hey, as long as there’s cartoon violence, who cares how we get there.