Kung Fu Panda 2

Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)
Starring: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, and Dustin Hoffman
Directed by: Jennifer Yuh
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Grade: A+

I liked the original Kung Fu Panda. And this one beat it hands down. I loved it (I might have been tired that day and thought everything was super funny...idk). It was hilarious. I love Jack Black, even when he isn't actually on the screen. In this movie, Po (Black) and the Furious Five (one of which is Jolie) are practicing their kung fu when they find out that a peacock who's parents used to rule China is wanting to get his kingdom back. He's also developed a weapon that will destroy kung fu. Very funny movie. Adorable characters, too.

How Do You Know

How Do You Know (2010)
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, and Owen Wilson
Directed and Written by: James L. Brooks
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Grade: B+

I love Reese Witherspoon (as anyone who has read my info will know) and she was great in this movie. She is such a strong, confident woman and she is such a neat actresses to watch. Paul Rudd is equally enjoyable. Owen Wilson...eh, but hey, it's Owen Wilson. Lisa (Witherspoon) is a great softball player, but the coach decides she's too old. So he cuts her. She's kind of going out with a famous ball player named Matty (Wilson), who is stuck on himself and hardly ever listens to her. One day, a couple days after she meets Matty, she meets George (Rudd), who is a lawyer who has just been informed that he's being indicted. Lisa has more in common with George, so when she breaks up with Matty, she turns to him. It isn't long before Matty has talked her into coming back to him, but George thinks he might be in love with Lisa. But, of course, things get worse for George before the get better...much worse, in fact. Oh, and Jack Nicholson is Paul Rudd's dad. Just thought I'd mention...

Skyline

Skyline (2010)
Starring: Eric Balfour, Scottie Thompson, and Donald Faison
Directed by: Colin and Greg Strause
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Grade: C

This movie was an interesting concept (as most alien movies are). The aliens in this movie are much different than any other movie I've ever seen. They suck you up into the air if you look at the blue colored air. I gave this movie a low score for two reasons. Number 1: the characters are horrible. Seriously. They are awful and you actually don't mind if they die. Which is not something you want in a movie. Viewers want characters that they can relate to and that they don't want anything to happen to. Number 2: This movie has no hope at the end or anywhere in the middle. These aliens are basically invincable and there is no way to kill them. Who wants that?? At least in Battle: Los Angelels there was hope. We could kill the aliens. The aliens in Skyline...there was no killing them. Jarrod (Balfour) and his girlfriend Elaine (Thompson) are visiting friends in LA (one of whom is Donald Faison from Scrubs) when the aliens attack. They almost abduct Jarrod but the guy from Scrubs saves him. They then proceed to yell at each other and run up and down the building for two hours...it's surprising how boring this movie is while aliens are chasing them all over the place. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't good either. Just kind of...blah.

Source Code

Source Code (2011)
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, and Vera Farmiga
Directed by: Duncan Jones
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Grade: A-

I love Jake Gyllenhaal. I think he's an underrated actor and, yes, he's good looking. I mean, have you seen him?! Anyway, he's pretty good in this movie, though he wasn't as good as he was in Love and Other Drugs and I didn't enjoy this movie as much as I enjoyed Prince of Persia (which was a lot...I saw it twice in theaters...) Jake stars as Colter Stevens, who flys a helicopter for the Army. The last thing he remembers is flying one in Afghanistan. But, when he wakes up, he is on a train and he has assumed the indentity of another man. As Colter runs around the train, trying to figure out what's going on, the train explodes and he wakes up in some kind of pod. He talks to a soldier named Goodwin (Farmiga), who tells him that he has to go back on the train and find who the bomber is. After being sent back several times, and failing, he finally gets to talk to Rutledge, who is the scientist in charge. Rutledge tells him that he is part of a project that can project another person into the last 8 minutes of someone else's life. To add to the already not-ideal conditions, Colter also has to try to ignore Christina, who is across from him every time he wakes up on the train. But soon he realizes that he doesn't want to ignore her anymore and that, if he can stop the bomb from going off, maybe he can save her life. Goodwin tells him that he can't save the lives of the people on the train, but he can figure out who did this to make their sacrifice worth something. When Colter finds out what happened to him in Afghanistan, will he even want to stay in this reality? Or is another one more promising?

The Adjustment Bureau

The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
Starring: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, and Anthony Mackie
Directed by: George Nolfi
Based on the Short Story "The Adjustment Team" by Philip K. Dick
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Grade: A

This was an enjoyable movie. Let's face it: any with Matt Damon in it is going to be. He's a great actor. I didn't like this one as much as the Bourne movies (really though...what action movie IS as good as the Bourne movies???) but I thought it was pretty good. I really liked Emily Blunt in this too. The only other movie I've seen her in (besides The Devil Wears Prada, which I have only seen half of) was Gulliver's Travels and she was infinitely more serious in this movie. (Which makes sense...) Anyway, this is about David Norris (Damon), a politician running for Senate. One day, before a big speech, he meets a dancer named Elise (Blunt) and falls for her. In this movie, our fate is arranged by "people" called The Adjustment Bureau. They make sure each person ends up with the "right" person. We have no say at all. So, when David meets Elise, she is supposed to inspire him to give a great speech after he loses that will make him even more popular with voters. But his "agent", who is supposed to make sure David and Elise never meet again, falls asleep and David makes it to the bus on time. On the bus, he sees Elise and he gets her phone number. They end up meeting several more times over the next couple of years, every time an agent jumping in to end it. Eventually, David meets the Adjustment Bureau. One agent, Harry Mitchell (Mackie), is tired of doing the "job" so he decides to help David be together with Elise - just like he was supposed to be in another version of reality.

Date Night

Date Night (2010)
Starring: Steve Carell, Tina Fey, and Mark Wahlberg
Directed by: Shawn Levy
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Grade: A-

Everyone was so excited about a movie starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey that I think any movie that came out would have disappointed. That's why I think this movie got so many bad reviews, because it's actually a decent movie with quite a few funny moments (the pleading by Steve Carell for Mark Whalberg to put on a shirt comes to mind.) Steve and Tina's chemistry is very funny. And Jimmi Simpson is in it, which makes it that much better. Phil and Claire's marriage has grown stale and Phil just wants to thrill his wife with a nice dinner in the city. They are late to Claw, the newest and coolest restaurant in Manhattan, so, of course, they don't get a table. On a whim, they decide to take reservations for the Tripplehorns, who missed their reservations. Halfway through dinner, two men (Jimmi Simpson and Common) come over to their table, seemingly to ask them to leave. Once they get out in the alley, it becomes apparent that they aren't from the restaurant and they actually work for a gangster named Joe Maletto. The men are looking for a thumb drive that the actual Tripplehorns stole. After the Fosters luckily get away, they find Holbrooke Grant (Wahlberg), who runs a successful private security firm. With his help, they are able to locate the actual Tripplehorns to get them to give the thumb drive back. With several fun surprises and cameos (like James Franco and Mila Kunis as the Tripplehorns), this is a movie that will make you laugh and just might surprise you. (It also goes to show that reviewers are cranky, old men who only like movies like The King's Speech, bleh.)

Super 8

Super 8 (2011)
Starring: Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, and Kyle Chandler
Directed, Written, and Produced by: JJ Abrams
Produced by: Steven Spielberg
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Grade: A++

This movie was AWESOME!! Just as good as its hype. Joel Courtney is wonderful and this is his first movie. Elle Fanning is great, too, just like her sister. The rest of the kids are Ryan Lee as pyrotechnic expert Cary, Zach Mills as geeky Preston, Riley Griffiths as chunky and bossy Charles (who is kind of reminiscent of a less lovable Chunk from the Goonies), and Gabriel Basso as the "star" of the boys' homemade movie, Martin. The movie is about Joe (Courtney) and his band of friends, who enlist the help of Alice (Fanning) to play the part of "the wife" in Charles' movie, which is about a zombie outbreak. While filming at the train station, a truck drives onto the train tracks to deliberately derail the train. While the kids scatter to try to protect themselves, Joe sees something trying to escape from one of the cars. When Joe meets up with the rest of the kids, they find that the truck was driven by their biology teacher, Dr. Woodward. He tells them to run far away and not tell anyone. They just barely get away from the Air Force troops coming in. They decide not to tell anyone, not even Joe's dad, Jackson (Chandler), who is the sheriff of the small town. Since the accident, not only have people been dissappearing, but all of the local dogs as well. As Jackson tries to find out what's going on, it becomes clear that the Air Force is involved in this accident and they want to throw him off the trail. This is as good of a movie as everyone is saying it is. Several scary parts, but definitely worth paying extra money to go see it in theaters.

The Town

The Town (2010)
Starring: Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, and Jon Hamm
Directed by: Ben Affleck
Oscar Nominations: Jeremy Renner - Best Supporting Actor
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Grade: A++

I had heard negative things about this movie from some friends, so we didn't see it until we were bored one night decided to watch it. And I loved it! I loved it so much, I bought it the next day. It's about Doug (Affleck) and his three friends, Jem (Renner), Gloansy, and Desmond. They rob banks in Charlestown, the place of the most bank robberies in America. (Why anyone would open a bank there, I don't know.) Things start to get difficult after their latest robbery because impulsive Jem takes a hostage, named Claire (Rebecca Hall). To make sure she doesn't go to the FBI, Doug follows Claire. When Doug begins to fall in love with Claire, he decides to leave the robbery life behind, for good. But when The Florist, a imfamous gangster, decides Doug needs one more score, this one his biggest yet, he doesn't know if he'll make it out alive. Jeremy Renner deserved his Oscar nomination, but I think Ben Affleck deserved one for acting and directing. This movie was extremely well acted (even by Blake Lively) and beautifully directed.