Thor

Movie: Thor (IMAX 3D)

Genre: super-hero

Synopsis: Thor (Chris Hemsworth) gets carried away in trying to provoke a war and is stripped of his powers and banished to Earth by his father, King Odin (Anthony Hopkins).   This gives his evil borther the chance to try and take control of Asgard.  When he lands on Earth, Thor is found by Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), a physicist.  His missing hammer is found and ‘captured’ by a government unit headed by Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg).  You may remember Agent Coulson from Iron Man and Iron Man 2.  Jane and her sister and her partner eventually believe in Thor and help him try to reclaim his Hammer and b ecome the man (god?) that his father was hoping for.

My two cents: Wow!  I saw this in IMAX 3D – totally worth it.  Chris Hemsworth is a natural as Thor.  He has a natural cockiness and brashness that is great fun to watch.  There are some really great battles.  When Thor gets wound up, it is a real blast to watch.  I felt it was a toss-up as to whether or not 3D was necessary for  this movie -  but if you get a chance to see it in IMAX,  definitely do it.  I hope to see a lot more of Thor.

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Water for Elephants

Movie: Water for Elephants

Genre: drama

Synopsis: Jacob (Robert Pattinson) is a test away from getting his veterinary degree from Cornell in the middle of the Great Depression.  Then tragedy hits and he flees school and joins a circus – the Benzini Brothers.  He gets a job with them taking care of the animals.  The circus is run by the charismatic and sadistic August (Christopher Waltz).  August’s wife, Marlena (Reese Witherspoon) is the star attraction of the circus.  When Jacob falls in love with Marlena, August quickly becomes suspicious.  Jacob must walk a fine line between caring for the animals, placating August and not revealing his love of Marlena.  When August buys an elephant (Rosie) for the circus, Jacob is the key to training the elephant for her a act.

My two cents:  I might have liked the movie a lot more had I not read the book.  I was appalled and disappointed at how much was left out of the movie.  It was interesting to see how a circus was run in the 30’s.  Christopher Waltz was great as August.  Robert Pattinson actually managed to make me forget the annoying Edward Cullen for a while.  They followed the book enough to make it a good  movie,  but left out too much for it to be great.

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Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil

Movie: Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil (3D)

Genre: animated comedy

Synopsis: This is a sequel to the 2005 “Hoodwinked” animated film about the real story of Little Red Riding Hood.  It follows Red Riding Hood (Hayden Panettiere), The Big Bad Wolf (Patrick Warbirton) and Twitchy (Cory Edwards) as they try to rescue Granny Puckette (Glenn Close) from the clutches of the evil Verushka the Witch (Joan Cusack).

My two cents: Well, I was a big fan of Hoodwinked! And went into this movie with high hopes.  Alas, I don’t think it lived up to the original.  There were a lot of good lines and a lot of pretty funny gags, but I was still kind of disappointed.

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Soul Surfer

Movie: Soul Surfer

Genre: drama

Synopsis: The true story of Bethany Hamilton (AnnaSophia Robb), a teenage surfer in Hawaii who lost an arm in a shark attack.  Following the attack, we follow Bethany and her family (father played by Dennis Quaid and mother played by Helen Hunt) as she recovers from the attack and ultimately is able to surf at a championship level.

My two cents: Many parts of this were absolutely gut-wrenching in their emotional impact.  The whole story was pretty amazing.  The courage and determination of Bethany are truly inspiring.  If you can get past the horror of the accident, you will find a lot to like in this movie.

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Potiche

Movie: Potiche

Genre: drama

Synopsis: French movie with English subtitles, takes place in the late 1970’s.  Suzanne Pujol (Catherine Deneuve) is the wife of prominent businessman Robert Pujol (Fabrice Luchini).  Robert’s prominence comes from the umbrella factory he runs and is majority owner of, thanks to Suzanne’s father’s will.  When disgruntled factory workers take Robert hostage, Suzanne steps in to try and patch things up.  Suzanne does an amazing job, but then her husband wants his job back.  The situation is further complicated by her ex-lover, the local union head played by Gérard Depardieu.

My two cents: I was quite disappointed by this movie. The previews were a bit misleading – not unusual, I know.  The whole movie just felt kind of amateurish to me.  I think if it was an American release in English (no subtitles) it would be a flop.

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Dylan Dog: Dead of Night

Movie: Dylan Dog: Dead of Night

Genre: horror-comedy

Synopsis: This is a tongue-in-cheek movie about Dylan Dog (Brandon Routh) is a private detective in New Orleans.  Formerly, he was the designated arbiter or investigator for disputes between werewolves, vampires and zombies.  He is dragged back into the business when a man is brutally killed by a “monster”.  He is soon tracking down a device, lost for centuries, that will allow the vampires to  invoke a super-monster who will be able to wipe out all opponents.

My two cents: I got a kick out of this movie.  Definitely not to be taken too seriously.  There is a lot of humor . . . such as a spare parts store where the “parts” are body parts that zombies buy to replace body parts that have fallen off.  I hope there are some sequels.

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The Conspirator

Movie: The Conspirator

Genre: historical drama

Synopsis: This is the story of the trial of Mary Surratt (Robin Wright) as a conspirator in the assassination of Lincoln.  She is defended by Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy) and tried by a military tribunal. The evidence against Mary is thin, to say the least – but someone had to be punished . . .

My two cents: A fascinating movie.  Until this movie, I had never heard of any conspiracy trial related to the assassination of Lincoln.  The arguments made for trying a civilian by a military tribunal sounded like they could have come straight out of the law firm of Cheney, Rumsfeld and Ashcroft.   There was the classic conflict between those who felt that the end (giving the country closure over the assassination) justified the means (trampling all over an individual’s civil rights) versus those who hold the individual’s constitutional rights to be sacred and untouchable.  It definitely gives you food for thought.  Although it is easy to see both sides, the movie definitely comes down on the side of the individual/  I am just mystified how I managed to go my whole life without hearing about this trial.

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