Hey kids!
Summer Movie season is in full swing.. this week’s releases. Pretty decent movies to check out this weekend – a little something for everyone!
Rated: PG-13
Run Time: 128 mins
Genre: Action/ Comedy/ Mystery/ Fantasy/ Crime/ Thriller
3.5 frames out of 5
If there was ever a franchise that needed a modern reboot, then God save the Queen.
In this modern remake of the classic character created by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and Dr. John Watson (Jude Law) are on the case protecting the streets of London. Set in 1891, Holmes and Watson are closing in on the sinister Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) and stopping him from his latest murder. They apprehend him and months later as he is about to be hung from the gallows for his crimes against humanity, he summons Holmes to issue a warning. Blackwood vows revenge and that there will be 3 more murders before complete chaos ensues. Holmes blows him off and goes on with his day but the threat remains in the back of his mind. With the Blackwood case closed, Holmes is bored and itching for a new case.
As Holmes is experimenting with various way to keep himself occupied between cases, a woman from his past makes a grand entrance back into his life, Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams). Irene is the only woman to capture Holmes’s heart, outwit and bamboozle him. She offers him a fresh lead for a missing person’s case. Little does Holmes know that this case intertwines …
Rated: R
Run Time: 118 mins
Genre: Romantic Comedy
4.5 frames out of 5
Divorce is messy but infidelity with your ex… it’s complicated.
It’s been about ten years since Jane (Meryl Streep) has been divorced from Jake (Alec Baldwin) and she is finally in a good place in her life. It doesn’t mean that it gets any easier as she ages. There’s a few more wrinkles that weren’t there, she hasn’t had sex in… well, let’s not go there and the fact that her ex-husband and his much younger and sexier new wife are trying to get pregnant with a child can be a bit too much for a woman to take. So Jane decides to move forward with a home improvement project she has been dreaming about for years. Her head architect is replaced by Adam (Steve Martin) another architect assigned to the project. He’s a bit geeky, awkward and shy but Jane is too distracted by other things in her life to notice that Adam has taken a fancy to her.
The relationship between Jane and Jake is cordial but the history between them is hard to ignore. On the eve of their son’s graduation in New York City, Jane is ditched by her children and she ends up in the hotel bar where she runs into Jake. They consume copious amounts of alcohol and the chemistry…
Rated: R
Run Time: 109 mins
Genre: Comedy/ Drama/ Romance
5 frames out of 5
Losing your job can be a traumatic experience, but if done with a smile and does it lessen the sting of rejection any less?
With the current state of economic uncertainty and the way so many industries are in a technological social revolution, there are those that are salivating at the conditions and are ready to pounce and make their money. Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) works for a company that travels to corporate or large businesses to help them downsize and their soon to be ex-employees transition to life after current job. Bingham is good at what he does and although he encounters a gamut of reactions from the people encounters, he takes the opportunity to promote his side gig of personal motivation. He loves everything about his life on the road, the non attachments of relationships and the perks of the various places he stays.
During one stop in a hotel bar, Bingham meets his female version of himself in Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga). The chemistry is intense and both are content in the status of the relationship. On Binghams next trip is to his corporate headquarters where his boss, Craig Gregory ( Jason Bateman) is excited about a new development that will revolutionize how they do corporate firings. The next generation of firings is to be done via web-cam and is all presented by rookie Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick). With this new technology all the people that normally travel to the companies to do the firing face-to-face, are being pulled off the road effective immediately. This does not fly with Bingham and…
Rated: R
Run Time: 111 mins
Genre: Drama
3.5 frames out of 5
Based on the book by Thomas Cobb, Crazy Heart tells the story of Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges), a washed up country singer whose life is now the epitome of a sad country song. He’s has several marriages, is an alcoholic and his fall from stardom from the rise of his protégé Tommy (Colin Farrell), now has him opening bowling alleys instead of concert halls. He can’t get through the day or a performance with out being stone cold drunk and he picks up women in each town he performs in.
On one stop in Santa Fe, he does a favor for the piano player that is playing the gig with him. He asks if Bad would let his niece interview him for the local paper because she’s trying to get her foot in the door with journalism. He begrudgingly agrees and becomes enchanted by Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhaal) through out the interview. Bad turns up the charm to conquer Jean and as he does…
Boy meets girl. He falls madly in love but she could care less. Let me re-emphasize the point that the narrator has a disclaimer in the opening credits of the film: THIS IS NOT A LOVE STORY. This is a smart, fantastic movie about falling for someone and the aftermath of love scorned.
Tom is an average, everyday guy played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He hates his job, has his friends and his idea of love stems from the childhood notion of The Graduate and weird pop bands. Then in walks Summer, played by Zooey Deschanel. Summer has been hired as Tom’s boss’ new assistant and Tom wakes up. Summer is not your average girl. She’s quirky, independent, and beautiful in her own way… basically damaged goods from her parent’s divorce of when she was young. She doesn’t believe in love. Or titles. Just having fun.
Tom and Summer start dating and everything is fantastic. Or so Tom thinks. A wonderful musical number, a fun look at IKEA and all of the gratuitous sex a guy could hope for. This relationship has an expiration date only he doesn’t know it. Somewhere around day 250 something Summer drops the bomb and asks to be the dreaded f- word… friends.
Tom is, of course, devastated and the rest of the film is the exploration into the depths of human emotions that go along with relationships- the good and the bad.
500 Days of Summer is such a breath of fresh air in films today. It’s a romantic comedy that is told from the guy’s point of view without getting cliché or ridiculous. It’s quarky enough to keep the artsy people engaged and the heartbroken hopeful. When watching the movie you can picture yourself in either Tom’s or Summer’s shoes with a relationship in your own life.
Things to watch for: Great way of looking at the post- breakup job performance. Some really great lines that should and will be quoted.
Who should see this movie: Women and Men. We all suck in one way or another. And we are all looking for our Autumn.
Letters to Juliet – Click title for review
Robin Hood – Click title for review
The Reel Critic
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