Green Lantern 3D

Movie: Green Lantern 3D

Genre: Superhero

Synopsis: Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) is a top test pilot with a reputation of being reckless. There is an intergalactic organization of aliens who are protectors of the universe.  They derive their power from green rings that enables them to create a physical manifestation of whatever they think.  When one of these protectors fatally crashes on earth, the alien’s green power ring selects Hal to replace the dying alien.  Ultimately, Hal has to come to terms with the responsibility of having this power . . . and to save earth and the universe from the bad-guy alien force.

My two cents: A pretty decent entry into the superhero genre.  The power the ring provides is really pretty extraordinary.  Ryan Reynolds has the body for a superhero and the requisite smart-ass attitude along with a dose of insecurity.  Blake Lively was quite fetching as Hal’s sort-of boss and sort-of girlfriend.  Tim Robbins made a good evil U.S. Senator and Peter Sarsgaard made a decently creepy ‘human’ opponent after he is infected by the evil “yellow” power.

Bottom line: if you like superhero-type movies, you should like this.

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The Art of Getting By

Movie: The Art of Getting By

Genre: Drama

Synopsis: George (Freddie Highmore) is a very bright high school senior. His problem is that he thinks too much.  A few years earlier, he read that “that you are born alone, die alone and everything else is an illusion”. Since reading that, he cannot get motivated to do anything . . . he does not see the point.  As a result of his lack of motivation, he is close to getting expelled from school.  Complicating things is the tensions with his mother (Rita Wilson) and his step-father.  George meets a girl, Sally (Emma Roberts).  Although she is MUCH more worldly than George, they become good friends.  He was in love with her from the first time he saw her, but could not bring himself to say anything to her.  The movie follows him as he tries to repair his relationship with his mother, tries to make up a year’s worth of school work in order to graduate, and try to figure out what to do about Sally and his feelings for her.

My two cents: I have been a fan of Emma Roberts since “Nancy Drew” (2007) and a fan of Freddie Highmore since “Finding Neverland” (2004), so I went into this movie with high hopes.  Both of these actors are still firmly on my “A” list.  There is just something about Freddie that I really enjoy.  George and Sally made a great couple.  I got a kick out of watching both of them struggle to figure out what kind of relationship they each wanted with the other.  The scenes between George and his principal (Blair Underwood) were well done.  The principal could see the wasted potential in George, while George was disarmingly honest in his self-assessment as simply not being able to get motivated to do his school work. Needless to say, I really loved this movie.

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Beginners

Movie: Beginners

Genre: comedy/drama

Synopsis: Hal (Christopher Plumber) is a 75-year-old widower.  After forty+ years of marriage, he has decided to come out of the closet and become actively gay. The bad news is that he also has terminal lung cancer.  Hal’s son, Oliver (Ewan McGregor) is trying to help his father through his final days, while at the same time trying to make his relationship with a new girlfriend work.  Through flashbacks, we also see the relationship between a young Oliver and his unhappy mother.

My two cents: Christopher Plumber and Ewan McGregor both turned in pretty good performances. It was a bit slow moving at times, but worth watching if you like character-driven movies.  A real plus for me was the cartoons or caricatures that Oliver would periodically come up with (he was some kind of artist).

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The Tree of Life

Movie: The Tree of Life

Genre: strange

Synopsis: From IMDB: “The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s.”.  The father is played by Brad Pitt.  He has three sons.  The story centers around the complicated relationship between the father and his son Jack (the adult Jack is played by Sean Penn).

My two cents: I walked out of the movie after 55 minutes. The 30+ minutes of the movie was like watching a slideshow put together by a drunk.  You would see a clip of a volcano erupting followed by a school of hammerhead sharks followed by pictures of deep space nebulae followed by a clip of a dinosaur crossing a creek followed by a clip showing blood flowing through a blood vessel followed by a fetus still inits mother’s womb, . . . Every couple of minutes a mysterious voice would say a sentence or two -  and then back to “impressionistic” images.  When they finally started showing actual actors, it was difficult to keep track of the timeline.  When they showed Jack an adult, I would not have known who it was supposed to be if I had not already known Sean Penn was the adult Jack.  I think I was so turned off by the first 30-40 minutes that when it started actually looking like a movie, I could not get past my irritation.  I have read such glowing reviews that I will probably give it a 2^nd try when it comes to HBO, but as of right now, it gets two giant thumbs down from me.

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13 Assassins

Movie: 13 Assassins

Genre: Samurai, Subtitles

Synopsis: The movie takes place in Japan in the early 1800’s.  There is peace throughout Japan and the era of the Samurai is drawing to a close.  The half-brother of the reigning Shogun is a bloodthirsty sadist whose actions threaten to plunge Japan back into war. A noble decides that for the good of Japan, the Shogun’s half-brother must be killed.  He organizes a group of 13 Samurai to accomplish this.  The odds are stacked against them, as the half-brother travels with a huge armed escort at all times.  There is a climactic battle between the thirteen Samurai and 200 body guards.

My two cents: This was not the cheesy Samurai movie I expected.  The idea of never disobeying the rulers is so deeply engrained that when, for the good of the country, someone disobeys the ruler . . . it is understood that the transgressor will commit hara-kiri.  These 13 Samurai understood this, but were willing to put their lives on the line for the greater good.  The deeds of the half-brother of the Shogun were breathtaking in the crass disregard for human life that they demonstrated.  This is probably the best movie out of Japan that I can recall seeing.

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