Air Force (1943)

A movie from 1943 that covers Pearl Harbor and the early days of our involvement in World War II, focusing on one bomber (the “Mary Ann”) and its crew.  Even after extensive damage and a sentence of demolishment -- to keep anything usable out of Japanese hands -- the remaining crew works to repair it and get it airborne again.  There's a lot to like in the movie, but it relies too heavily on shortcuts in the "personality" department (e.g. "the soon-to-be-redeemed apathetic guy" the "angry at a recent loss guy" the "sad at a recent loss guy" and the "inspiring leader," to name a few).

Robert Osborne said that after the movie debuted, the Mary Ann was once again pressed into service and subsequently lost in battle -- which made it sound like this might be a true story. Huh? Really?

C+

Wanderlust (2012)

A New York couple have no choice but to leave the big city when he gets laid off. On their way to his brother’s house, they stop at a Bed & Breakfast -- which turns out to be more of a commune -- and they decide to give it a try. The expected hijinx ensue.

There are quite a few laughs, but it stays firmly on the "mild" side of the raunch line, which means it never achieves all-out hilarity. In the end, it's fun but safe.

B-

Can't Hardly Wait (1998)

A genial “graduation-day house party” movie, the main thread of which concerns an earnest guy who might finally have a chance with the girl he’s loved for four years now that her jock boyfriend has dumped her. That is the least interesting of the plot threads as the lovelorn dude is played as a bit of a nerdy doofus and the girl is played as boobs attached to Jennifer Love Hewitt's generically pretty head.

The house is packed with a who's who of Gen X actors: Lauren Ambrose, Freddy Rodriguez, Eric Balfour (Six Feet Under 3-pack!), Seth Green, Amber Benson (Buffy 2-pack!), Donald Faison, Peter Facinelli, Jason Segel, Melissa Joan Hart & lots of etc.  The non-lovelorn doofus storylines all land fairly well, including a nerd who plans a revenge but gets sidetracked, a band that can't stop arguing long enough to play the gig, and a sarcastic girl and a pathetic guy remembering they used to be friends.

I definitely get why this would be beloved by people who graduated anywhere from 1997 to 2002, but Empire Records gets to keep its “Breakfast Club of the ‘90s” rights.

B

The Hangover Part II (2011)

Just a pale imitation of the first one. And when I say “imitation” I mean it -- Zach Galifianakis drugs the crew, Jason Bartha gets left behind, Ed Helms does something crazy to his body and has a relationship with a prostitute, there’s an extra “little” being in the group (baby in first, monkey in second), and someone’s lost/thought to be in danger and is later found safe and sound. A couple of chuckles but that’s it.

D

Real Steel (2011)

A pretty good idea done in by 1) the miscasting of Jackman, who simply couldn’t carry the role of a fast and loose gambler/con man -- he’s just way too affable without a whiff of danger about him and 2) the kid -- though I’m not sure if it’s more that he’s not a great actor or that he was written as an asshole (who wasn’t, by the way, mourning his recently-dead mom at all).

The robot fights were great with the final match agreeably Rockyesque.

B-

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Dark, dark, dark. Way TOO dark, as a matter of fact.  The villain (Bane) had no fun in him, he was just mean. Sure, there was an attempt to humanize him at the end, but it didn’t work.  Also, the fact that we couldn't see his mouth and most of his face made it difficult to listen to him.  My least favorite scene in Pulp Fiction is the one (below) in which all we see is Butch's listening face as the unseen Marsellus delivers a monologue.  Every single scene with Bane is just like that one in PF: I was annoyed at not being able to have the extra information that was being deliberately hidden (strangely, I had no such problem with V for Vendetta...hmmm).

Anyway. The movie just felt hopeless and endless. I was not a fan.



D+

The Campaign (2012)

I laughed harder watching this than I’ve laughed at a movie since...well, hell, I can’t even remember. So many funny situations that somehow managed to be way over-the-top without veering into non-relatable territory.

Just about everything Galifianakis did had me in stitches.

B+

Tangled (2010)

Pretty delightful... but I'm kind of a sucker for light-hearted romantic animated musicals (is that too specific?  well, anyway, it's true). Rapunzel is downright adorable as is the roguish thief who winds up rescuing her against his will.

B