Ted

Movie: Ted

Genre: comedy

Synopsis: When a young John Bennett gets a teddy bear for Christmas, his makes a wish for the teddy bear to be real so they can be friends forever.  His wish is granted – and his teddy bear comes to life.  Flash forward to John in his thirties.  He and Ted are still best friends and still live together.  The problem is that they are both stoners and John is not making any progress in growing up.  His girlfriend, Lori (Mila Kunis) starts pressuring John to make a split from Ted.  Naturally, both Ted and John resist this idea.

My two cents: This is an R-rated film and the humor is often off-color.  That said, this is the funniest movie I have seen in years.  Ted is voiced by Seth McFarland, so it was like watching Peter Griffin re-incarnated as a teddy bear.  Scene after scene of people just accepting a teddy bear walking around, talking, making crude remarks and groping women never got old.  To see Ted making amorous advances on anything in a skirt . . .  to paraphrase Nora Jones (she played herself in the movie): “Sex with Ted was pretty good – which is surprising since he doesn’t have a penis”.   If you don’t mind some R-rated humor, this movie should keep you in stitches.

[74]

The Dark Knight Rises

Movie: The Dark Knight Rises

Genre: thriller

Synopsis: This is the third and final chapter in this reboot of the Batman series.  Batman (Christian Bale) has been off the grid for seven years.  After Harvey Dent died in the previous movie, Batman took the blame for his death.  He wanted the (good) image of Dent to remain with the public rather than the true evil side of Dent.  Now it seems that crime is returning to Gotham City – in the form of Bane (Tom Hardy).  Bane is absolutely one of the most intimidating villains of any of the recent super-hero movies.  While Bane tries to take over the city, Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) tries to get Batman back on the job.  Fox (Morgan Freeman) and Alfred (Michael Caine) are back for the ride.  New players are Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levit), an eager young patrolman; Miranda (Marion Cotillard), a wealthy philanthropist; and – best of all – Selina (Ann Hathaway).  Selina is really Catwoman.  She is a cat burglar who keeps getting the best of Bruce Wayne, although they ultimately team up.  After a lot of waffling, Batman finally dons his suit and enters the battle to save Manhatten.   

My two cents: This might just be the best of the three Christopher Nolan-Christian Bale Batman movies.   Lots of nice gadgets and action.  They also spend some time on the relationship between Bruce Wayne and Alfred.  Batman is far from invincible in this movie – he actually gets his butt kicked early on.  Anne Hathaway could not have been better as Catwoman (although they never use that name).  It was great to see her consistently out-fox and out-maneuver Bruce Wayne.  My favorite part of the movie was in the last five minutes or so.  It wraps things up brilliantly.  I can’t say more without giving too much away – but even if the rest of the movie had sucked (which it did not), the final couple of scenes would have made up for it.  If you are any kind of a Batman fan, you should love this one.

[73]

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

Movie: Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

Genre: romantic comedy

Synopsis: Dodge (Steve Carell) is an accountant.  When it is announced that a meteor is soon going to strike – and destroy – the earth, things start to fall apart.  After his wife leaves him, he strikes up a friendship with his neighbor, Penny (Keira Knightley).  He decides to try and help Penny get back to her family (in England) before the world ends.  This launches the two of them on a rather unusual road trip.

My two cents: I went into this movie curious about how you make the end of the world humorous.  Well, they did it.  I think Steve Carell is the go-to-guy for romantic comedies.  He was perfect in this movie.  The stops the two of them make on the road are hilarious – and touching.  Definitely a movie worth seeing if you like romantic-comedies.

[72]

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Killer

Movie: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Killer

Genre: horror

Synopsis: It seems that vampires were all over the place in Lincoln’s time.  After one kills young Abe’s mother, he is determined to seek vengeance.  Several years later, he gets his chance when a vampire hunter takes Abe under his tutelage to train him in the fine art of vampire slaying.

My two cents: This is definitely puts a unique twist in the biography of Abraham Lincoln.  If you can suspend belief for a while and go with the flow, it is not a bad movie. – but it also remains a far cry from a really good movie.  As far as vampire movies go, I would rank it as no more better than an average low budget movie – but with a definitely new twist with the Abe angle.

[71]

Men in Black III

Movie: Men in Black III

Genre: sci-fi thriller

Synopsis: Agent J (Will Smith) and Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) – along with a Agnet O (Emma Thompson) and a Young Agent K (Josh Brolin).  This time the bad guy is Boris the Animal (Jermaine Clement).  Boris is a really bad-ass.  He is kept off-planet in a prison made especially for him.  When he escapes, he comes after the one responsible for his incarceration – a young Agent K.  His quest for vengeance involves time travel – with a very confused Agent J following him.

My two cents: I liked this installment as much as the first and better than the second. Boris is every bit as scary as Edgar (Vincent D'Onofrio) from the original movie.  If you are a Men in Black fan, you should like this movie.  We get to see the origin of the relationship between Agents J and K.

[69]