Battleship

 

Battleship is an action-adventure that unfolds across the seas, in the skies and over land as our planet fights for survival against a superior force. Based on Hasbro's classic naval combat game, Battleship stars Taylor Kitsch as Hopper, a Naval officer assigned to the USS John Paul Jones; Brooklyn Decker as Sam, a physical therapist and Hopper's fiance; Alexander Skarsgard as Hopper's older brother, Commanding Officer Stone of the USS Samson; Rihanna as Lt. Raikes, Hopper's crewmate and a weapons specialist on the USS John Paul Jones; and international superstar Liam Neeson as Hopper and Stone's superior (and Sam's father), Admiral Shane.

I don't know if I just had super low expectations for this or what but I ended up enjoying it. I was actually flat out loving the movie until the aliens became mobile. The excitement that was there until that point kind of faded a little bit. And I really like Taylor Kitsch. He was always my favorite kid on Friday Night Lights and he could have a bright future. Hopefully this movie will make him a bigger name and people can forget that whole John Carter thing. This was a throwback to Jerry Bruckenheimer summer popcorn movies. Lots of action. Lots of young actors. Funny one liners. You know the drill. The effects were very Transformers like and to be honest - this movie was waaaaaaaaaay better than either of the Transformers sequels . . . . . . not that an accomplishment like that would be hard to pull off.

I would definitely recommend people checking this out. It's an entertaining summer movie for all to see.

Think Like A Man

 

Based on Steve Harvey's best-selling book, Think Like a Man follows four interconnected and diverse men whose love lives are shaken up after the ladies they are pursuing buy Harvey's book and start taking his advice to heart. When the band of brothers realize they have been betrayed by one of their own, they conspire using the book's insider information to turn the tables and teach the women a lesson of their own.

This was a funnier version of most Tyler Perry's movies. You could tell with how much they kept mentioning/mocking Tyler Perry movies. It was basicaly about four couples learning to be real with each other about their feelings and Kevin Hart was thrown in there purely for laughs. And he was a perfect mix in to keep this movie flowing. All of the couples had good chemistry and the movie was watchable but it was absolutely his commentary and riffing that carried this movie for me.

I would somewhat recommend people checking this out. It's not so heavy on the melodrama like most Tyler Perry movies are. It's light, the characters/relationships are believable and the laughs are aplenty.

The Lucky One

 

U.S. Marine Sergeant Logan Thibault (Efron) returns from his third tour of duty in Iraq, with the one thing he credits with keeping him alive--a photograph he found of a woman he doesn't even know. Learning her name is Beth (Schilling) and where she lives, he shows up at her door, and ends up taking a job at her family-run local kennel. Despite her initial mistrust and the complications in her life, a romance develops between them, giving Logan hope that Beth could be much more than his good luck charm.

This movie is exactly what you would expect it to be. It's a Nicolas Sparks adaptation. There's lots of drama, there are lots of emotions/drama, etc. etc. This one was definitely one of the less heavy ones. Neither one of the main characters died or had some disease slowly killing them like his other entries. It was a decent enough watch for a "chick" flick.

I would lukewarmly recommend people checking this out. It's not a must see by any means but it isn't awful either. It's probably the most credible acting that Zac Efron has done in his career to date. 

The Pirates! Band Of Misfits

 

In The Pirates! Band of Misfits, Hugh Grant stars in his first animated role as the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain - a boundlessly enthusiastic, if somewhat less-than-successful, terror of the High Seas. With a rag-tag crew at his side, and seemingly blind to the impossible odds stacked against him, the Captain has one dream: to beat his bitter rivals Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek) to the much coveted Pirate Of The Year Award. It's a quest that takes our heroes from the shores of exotic Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London. Along the way they battle a diabolical queen (Imelda Staunton) and team up with a haplessly smitten young scientist (David Tennant), but never lose sight of what a pirate loves best: adventure!

This was a decent watch kids movie. It wasn't great but it wasn't bad. It' entertaining enough and short enough that you are ok with it. Not really much more to say about this movie at all.

I would lukewarmly recommend people seeing this. It's not a must see by any means. Kids will like it. Adults won't hate it too much. Again - that's really all I've got.

The Dictator

The film tells the heroic story of a dictator who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed.

This was a slightly different Sacha Baron Cohen movie. I was expecting another of his mockumentary type movies. This was actually a movie with a "story" and other "actors." It kind of took away a little bit from the laughs when it was part of a script as opposed to the usual freelance rantings. There still were plenty of laughs and the usual sight gags and when it was funny - I was bellylaughing. Unfortuantely, it seemed held back by the actor interacting and the parts that weren't as funny, I found myself bored.

I would somewhat recommend people checking this movie out. It's nowhere near as funny as Borat was, but I definitely liked it more than Bruno. It's a shame that they decided to try and have a story. I feel like this could have been hilarious if they didn't.

The Hunger Games

Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the evil Capitol of the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. A twisted punishment for a past uprising and an ongoing government intimidation tactic, The Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which "Tributes" must fight with one another until one survivor remains. Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy. If she's ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

I loved this movie. I tore through all three books and had sky high expectations for this movie and it delivered across the board. The cast was great. The tension and story build up was there. There were definitely parts where reading the book helped, but in any good science fiction or "different" world stories - the trick is to make me believe that it could be like that and this movie delivered.

I would absolutely recommend peopled checking this out. It's easily the best movie of the year so far. You should read the books as well. I can't wait for the next two.

The Lorax

The Lorax is an adaptation of the classic tale of a forest creature who shares the enduring power of hope. The animated adventure follows the journey of a 12-year-old as he searches for the one thing that will enable him to win the affection of the girl of his dreams. To find it he must discover the story of the Lorax, the grumpy yet charming creature who fights to protect his world.

This is kind of tough one to review. It wasn't necessarily a bad movie because the animation was really good and there were laughs in there. However, it might be the longest hour and half movie I have ever seen and to be quite honest I was bored out of mind for massive portions of the movie. It ended up being a really long ad for taking care of the environment.

I don't really know that I would recommend this movie. At least not for adults I guess. My niece that saw it with us loved it and I that is ultimately what matters with movies like this. Sadly, this is one of those animated movies that really ends up being for the kids and the adults just kind of sit through it. Ah . . . . .the joys of parenting.