Men in Black 3 is not a great film but it has great performances and truly incredible CGI to marvel at, but the absence of any fun action sequences cripples this lukewarm installment. Considering the film has a price tag of $215 million dollars, you’d think that it would have at least one “WOW” moment in there somewhere. I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t. Sony must have forgotten they were making a summer blockbuster for audiences who want to see things blow up. Throughout the run-time, I also couldn’t shake the feeling that everything that was playing out on the screen had been done before and much better at that. It felt like Sony just repackaged the original film, tied it up with recycled jokes, and put a big ribbon of 3D on it.

Men in Black 3 begins with the revolting alien menace Boris the Animal (Played by Flight of the Concord’s Jermaine Clement) breaking out of a massive prison that happens to be on the moon rather than good old Earth. Boris is also missing one of his arms and he is pretty pissed off about it. It turns out that his arm was shot off by Agent K (Played by Tommy Lee Jones) way back in July of 1969, who then took him into custody and shipped him to his lunar prison cell. Boris quickly figures out a way to time travel back to 1969 so he can kill the young Agent K (Played by Josh Brolin) before K can shoot off his arm and arrest him. He also wants to stop K from planting a device that protects earth from a massive alien invasion. After older K disappears, it is up to suave Agent J (Played by Will Smith) to travel back to 1969 and join forces with the younger (and nicer) Agent K to prevent the alien invasion and stop Boris before he completely alters history.

Men in Black 3 was plagued by script rewrites and multiple delays that almost drove director Barry Sonnenfeld to the breaking point. The good news is that despite all the rewrites, Men in Black 3 tells a fairly engaging little story with some mildly clever moments. The bad news is that screenwriter Ethan Coen doesn’t ever really do much with J’s appearance in 1969. He resorts to dated jokes like telling Andy Warhol that he’d “have no problem pimp-slapping the shiznit” out of him and jokes made about dated technology. The film only take a few opportunities to really play with the race relations of the late 60’s, mostly in a scene where two white police officers stop J and accuse him of stealing the car he is driving. It is jokes like this that would have really went over big in 1997, when all of this seemed fresh and slightly innovative. If those jokes aren’t enough to make you roll your eyes, once again, the film cracks jokes about certain celebrities being aliens as well as extraterrestrials hiding in plane sight. Is it 1997 again?

What ultimately saves Men in Black 3 from crumbling right in front of our eyes is the acting, especially from Brolin, Clement, and Michael Stuhlbarg, who shows up as a neurotic alien who can see multiple futures that all have different outcomes. Brolin steals the show with his impersonation of Tommy Lee Jones, an impersonation that is eerily spot-on. From the drawl in his voice to the sleepy eyes, Brolin is an absolute knock out, getting every twitch, step, and head turn just right. It is also the funniest aspect of Men in Black 3.

Clement does a damn fine job making you remember him once the credits crawl across the screen. Boris could be one of the nastiest aliens from the Men in Black universe, snagging what has to be one of the most disgusting kisses in motion picture history. Coen and Sonnenfeld really hold back with his character and he is someone that I wished we had seen more of. The underdog of Men in Black 3 is Michael Stuhlbarg as the sweet Griffin, who turned out to be one of my favorite characters in Men in Black 3. He was just such a likable soul—one whose faith in humanity was so infectious, you couldn’t help but root for him.

As far as our two veteran protagonists are concerned, they fair about the same as they did in the previous two films. Smith is still the wild child, the one who is more concerned with making the job look good. The scenes in which he uses the Neuralyzer on crowds of people are some of his best. A touching last act twist gives his character a heaping amount of emotional weight that, in a way, comes a little too late. Jones, on the other hand, is absent through a good portion of the film, allowing Brolin to take the driver’s seat for a while. Jones is his usually crabby self, one who smiles by letting his face droop. I won’t deny that Smith and Jones do have an odd-couple chemistry that somehow has kept through three films and it is no different with Men in Black 3. They really find their groove early on and in a way, it is sad to see it cut off even if Brolin does a fantastic job.

The biggest problem I have with Men in Black 3 is the uneven action sequences that feature fine CGI, but just have no adrenaline to keep them moving. I was never on the edge of my seat once during the film. An action scene at the beginning that features multiple aliens seems like it was included just to give the partnering toy company some ideas for action figures. I couldn’t help but feel the same about the handful of new gadgets that we see. Sadly, Men in Black 3 plays things a bit too safe for my tastes. It seems to cater to the kiddies, who will surely eat it up and have a few good laughs at some of the slapstick moments.

Men in Black 3 would have fared a little bit better last summer, when Hollywood had a fixation with period piece blockbusters, ones that were heavily interested in rewriting history (mostly with superheroes). Men in Black 3 ends with a showdown on Apollo 11 that is mixed with a handful of scenes showing in-awe spectators glued to their televisions screens, sitting on the edge of their seats waiting to be blown away by this sublime moment.

For all the eye-candy Men in Black 3 throws our way, I truly never felt like one of those grinning, in-awe spectators even though I so desperately wanted to. I was fighting back yawns.

Grade: C+

I blew that away before August was over.

So I set a new goal of 85 movies, which was at least 11 films too low based on my rate of seeing movies, but I did it anyway…

…and I’ve already passed that.

I’m not going to set a new goal, but it would be cool to surpass the number I set last year.

September

70. Precious

Maybe I’ll take flack from some of my readers for this review, but I wasn’t really all that impressed with this movie. It was a sad story about a very tough life, and it was well executed, but was it worthy of a Best Picture nomination? Not by my standards. I don’t even think Monique was deserving of a nomination for Best Supporting Actress, when in reality she had one scene that displayed decent talent, and I think you’d be hard pressed to find a decent actress in Hollywood who wouldn’t have done as good a job as Monique in that scene were they given the chance… and that’s basically the only scene in the entire movie which impressed me from that character’s standpoint, and it wasn’t a hugely impressive scene nor was it a very lengthy scene. I don’t recommend paying money to see this film, but it’s probably worth watching.

71. Hall Pass

This certainly wasn’t the best comedy I’ve seen all year, but it was entertaining. It was interesting how the concept of the Hall Pass came about during the plot, and the side-plot that it created with the wives was unexpected but valuable to the plot as a whole… though it didn’t add any comedic elements to it. One thing that can be said for this film is that you’ll appreciate Nicky Whalen after watching it, and you’re likely to know who Jason Sudeikis is, if you don’t already. If you’re like me, you’ll appreciate Jenna Fischer about as much as you ever did, and you’ll not gain much more respect for Christina Applegate… though admittedly I’m probably in the minority regarding Applegate, as I’ve never been a fan of hers. Do yourself a favor… when it comes time in the movie where Owen Wilson falls asleep in the hot tub, just close your eyes for a few minutes, there’s no need to see the wangfest which shows up in the minutes which follow.

72. Winter’s Bone

This was a very gritty film which does a great job of helping you get sympathetic for the protagonists. None of the antagonists “feel” like Hollywood performers, which is not to say they weren’t talented. On the contrary, they do such a good job with this film in distancing you from the production that it feels that much more real. Jennifer Lawrence did a great job with this role, and because of it she’s someone I’m keeping an eye out for with her future projects.

73. True Grit (2011)

I can’t decide which is more over-rated, the older version of this movie with an uninspired John Wayne or this slightly-above-average remake. Hailee Steinfeld certainly did a great job with her character, and Jeff Bridges was fairly good, but neither Matt Damon nor Josh Brolin did much of note with their characters. And the plot as a whole is just above average as well. Typically I recommend that people watch both the new version and the old version in cases such as this, and while I wouldn’t recommend skipping True Grit, I wouldn’t say too much is to be gained by watching both, so it really comes down to whether or not you love John Wayne. If you do, you likely already saw the original. If you also love Jeff Bridges, you may as well see both, but you’re probably better off looking elsewhere for on-screen entertainment.

74. Peacock

I was surprised when I stumbled across this film on a cable movie channel. With performers like Cillian Murphy, Susan Sarandon and Ellen Page, I was surprised it didn’t get enough mention to show up on my radar, especially with the unique plot and the well-executed performances involved. I don’t want to give too much away about this film, but I would recommend against spending too much time looking into the film. If you like dark, weird movies which aren’t the least bit comedic and you enjoy watching actors perform, you might enjoy this flick. Not nearly a favorite, and the ending could’ve used another couple minutes thrown in or an alternate outcome, but all in all it was a valiant effort by those involved, and I’m happy to have seen it.

75. Harry Potter 7 part 2

Though I was cutting it close, I managed to have seen all eight of the Harry Potter films in the theater, and I’m certainly glad this wasn’t an exception. I won’t be surprised if it gets nominated for an Academy Award, though I’d be surprised if it won. They went darker with this film than I thought they would, even though the third film and portions of the last three were fairly dark as well. It was a fitting end to the saga which stuck fairly close to the novel and executed nicely on all of the elements which I can remember from reading it two years ago. It was certainly more enjoyable than the first part, though I’m looking forward to someday watching at least the last two films back to back.

76. The Beaver

When I heard that Mel Gibson had made another independent movie, my ears perked up, especially when I found out that it was a dark comedy which involved him wearing a Beaver puppet on one of his arms for nearly the entire film. It was brilliantly executed and had very strong performances by Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster and Anton Yelchin. As an added bonus, the aforementioned Jennifer Lawrence (from Winter’s Bone) had a somewhat small role in the movie, giving me another opportunity to expand on my opinion of her ability. If you don’t mind dark comedies with a decent amount of heavily dramatic content in it with a slightly odd aspect to it, you should definitely see this film. Unless, of course, you can’t set aside your opinion of Mel Gibson and what he has said and done over the past few years… and if that’s the case, you should count your blessings that you don’t have a greater insight into the lives of more Hollywood performers.

77. Bridesmaids

Forget about the hype. This wasn’t the greatest comedy of all time. It’s definitely not a classic. It was a highly enjoyable flick that guys can see, assured of the fact that it’s enjoyable for both genders despite the large percentage of female characters involved. Is there some potty humor? Sure. Is it crude at times? No doubt. Do they deal with issues which are primarily female-oriented? At times, but it’s not the focus of the film. Definitely a safe bet for an entertaining Saturday night, especially if you’re watching it in mixed company. Kristen Wiig is more entertaining and less over-the-top than she is on Saturday Night Live. Maya Rudolph doesn’t necessarily provide a lot of comedy to it, but the rest of the group including Wendi McLendon-Covey, Megan McCarthy and Elli Kemper more than hold their own. It’s tough to say whether Rose Byrne was funny in the movie, as she was playing a “straight” character, but I definitely laughed at a few gags she was involved in, and she’s more than “nice” to look at. Mad Men fans will appreciate Jon Hamm’s character in the film, which is interesting to compare to his Don Draper role.

78. No Strings Attached

I was never really very interested in watching the Ashton Kutcher / Natalie Portman flick about friends whose relationship is primarily built around having meaningless sex, but when I saw it on a cable movie channel I set my DVR, as it seemed decent enough to waste a weekend afternoon on. I don’t regret having spent that time watching it, but it wasn’t overly entertaining. It was far better than Kutcher’s SPREAD flick, but neither Kutcher nor Portman seem to take this movie very seriously, and at times it just seemed like they were going through the motions, not even necessarily having fun with their performances. I’ve never found Portman particularly attractive, so it’s tough for me to say whether her “fans” will even enjoy this movie from that aspect. I don’t remember any scenes which were particularly “sexy”, so to speak, nor very revealing in terms of skin content. I’d like to say you should skip this movie and just watch Friends With Benefits with Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, but to be fair, I haven’t seen that film yet so I can’t say it’s necessarily any better.

October

79. Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop

Did you ever wonder what Conan O’Brien did between the time his stint on The Tonight Show ended and his new CONAN show on TBS started? Did you maybe even hear about his traveling comedy show and fail to buy a ticket and wonder what it was all about? CONAN O’BRIEN CAN’T STOP was an interesting documentary which gave you a glimpse into what he was feeling and how he coped with that entire situation. True Conan fans have already seen this documentary, but if you’re at all interested in the situation you should really check it out. Nothing groundbreaking here, and it’s not necessarily even very funny, but I was intrigued and enjoyed my time.

80. Walking Tall

I wouldn’t say I ever got my hopes up for this movie, but out of any of the movies made by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, this one looked to be the best, and for some unknown reason it was the one which took me the longest to watch. Had I seen it while my expectations were at their highest, I would’ve been slightly disappointed, but as it had been a couple years since I had given any thought to the movie at all, I was able to enjoy the film for what it was. The plot was decent, the action was average, the performances were average, but all together it was better than the other movies from the former WWE Champion.

81. How Do You Know?

This isn’t the first time I’ve been disappointed with a Reese Witherspoon movie. I didn’t have huge expectations for this film, but I was hoping that it would be above average. Paul Rudd did about as good a job as you can expect from him, aside from the scene in the restaurant where he and Witherspoon share a meal. Owen Wilson plays pretty much the same character in this movie as he does elsewhere, and Jack Nicholson plays his somewhat-slimy-but-not-a-crime-boss role that you’ve seen him portray before. Reese Witherspoon, though not my favorite actress in the world, has done some good work in the past, and this was far from it. It’s hard to explain that position further without painfully trying to force myself to remember her painfully poorly acted scenes. Avoid this movie, though if you get roped into watching it, you probably won’t need to pretend like you’re sick. It’s not THAT long, nor is it THAT painful to get through. It’s just frustrating in how sub-par it is.

82. CARS

I’m not a huge NASCAR fan, so the idea of an animated film about cars didn’t excite me, even though I had enjoyed almost all the other Pixar productions I’ve seen thus far. When someone said it was like an animated Doc Hollywood, my interest level went up, and when I saw it was showing on Disney Channel, I set the DVR. It made for an entertaining Saturday afternoon, as there were certainly parts of the movie which got me to laugh a little bit. Certainly not the best Pixar movie I’ve ever seen, but there are far less entertaining animated films out there. I am interested to see what they did with the sequel, though I didn’t enjoy CARS enough to put CARS 2 very high on my list.

83. Robin Hood (2011)

I don’t know what it is about the Robin Hood story, but I always find myself interested when a project arises. I was disappointed when I heard the negativity about this Russell Crowe flick, but I didn’t let it keep me from watching it. I’m actually surprised more people didn’t enjoy it. Sure, there were a few more characters in it and a few more subplots than I maybe would’ve preferred, but it was still an entertaining flick. Russell Crowe was a better Robin Hood than Kevin Costner, and at least as good as Cary Elwes (and I can’t compare him to Errol Flynn). Cate Blanchett did a good job as a new take on Maid Marion. Mark Strong was a bad ass in the role of the primary villain. The only main problem I have with this film is that it definitely felt like a prequel to something bigger, and they tried to establish WAY too much. If you’re interested at all in the mythology of Robin Hood, you won’t regret checking out this movie. In fact, even if you wouldn’t classify yourself as a fan of the Robin Hood character, this movie will still likely provide a couple hours of entertainment and some decent action.

84. Restraint

When someone recommended that I check out RESTRAINT, I almost skipped it. Sure, I remember Teresa Palmer from TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT, and while I was curious to see what her acting range was like in something with a little more depth than a throwback to 80′s comedies, nothing about the description of RESTRAINT drew me to it. I don’t watch True Blood, so Stephen Moyer’s involvement wasn’t a draw to RESTRAINT either. I’m glad I decided to watch it because what I found was a very intriguing story with the type of ending I haven’t stumbled across in years. There’s a reason it’s not a mainstream movie, but if you’re alright with indy flicks, you should definitely check this one out.

85. Thor

I kept hearing that THOR was nearly as good as IRON MAN, but they were wrong. Was it as good as IRON MAN 2? Probably. Better than either of The Hulk movies? Definitely. It was a good introduction into what the character is all about, which I personally needed because I didn’t know anything about his history in the comic books. I had heard some things about his background, but just like with Captain America, the 2011 movie certainly gave me enough information that I feel ready for THE AVENGERS. If you’re going to see that movie, you’d be foolish NOT to see THOR, and you’re probably not going to be disappointed with it.

86. Group Sex

No, I didn’t watch a porno as one of the movies in the Drive For 66. GROUP SEX was a comedy I found out about when looking to see what other projects Greg Grunberg (ALIAS, HEROES) and Odette Annabale (October Road, House) had been in. Not a great movie, but it was way more entertaining than you might think, and there were not really any scenes where I found myself wishing they’d move on to the next scene like has been the case with movies that are far more high profile than this one (STEP BROTHERS, PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, TROPIC THUNDER). If you don’t mind a little crude humor here and there, give this one a look, especially if you have Netflix Instant.

Potential Award Nominees

At the end of each year, I give out awards for the movies on my lists. As I write up these articles, I like to keep track of the nominees and let you, the reader, know what I’m thinking along the way. Feel free to comment and show support – or lack thereof – for my nominees (or let me know what I erroneously omitted).

Best Actress Nominee – Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone)

Best Actress Nominee – Cate Blanchett (Robin Hood)

Best Actress Nominee – Teresa Palmer (Restraint)

Best Actor Nominee – Cillian Murphy (Peacock)

Best Actor Nominee – Mel Gibson (The Beaver)

Best Actor Nominee – Stephen Moyer (Restraint)

Best Picture Nominee – Winter’s Bone

Best Picture Nominee – The Beaver

Best Picture Nominee – Harry Potter 7 part 2

Best Supporting Actress Nominee – Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)

Best Supporting Actor Nominee – Anton Yelchin (The Beaver)

Best Supporting Actor Nominee – Jon Hamm (Bridesmaids)

This project is being written by Mark Protosevich, who recently penned THOR and I AM LEGEND before that. According to SpinOff, a previous attempt at remaking OLDBOY would have been helmed by Steven Speilberg and starring Will Smith.

Production on OLDBOY is set to begin in March of 2012.

(Originally reported by Deadline)

Box Office Top 10:

1. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($169.2 M)

2. Transformers: Dark Of The Moon ($21.3 M)

3.Horrible Bosses ($17.7 M)

4. Zookeeper ($12.3 M)

5. Cars 2 ($8.4 M)

6. Winnie The Pooh ($7.85 M)

7. Bad Teacher ($5.15 M)

8. Larry Crowne ($2.6 M)

9. Super 8 ($1.97 M)

10. Midnight in Paris ($1.87 M)

Source: BoxOfficeMojo.com

Cars 2 has been in theaters for four weekends, but it has only recouped 80% of its budget, meaning there’s over $30 m to go before it’s profitable. As it slips into 5th place and has its revenues decreased 38% from last weekend, they may have to rely on DVD sales and merchandising to make money on the project.

Winnie The Pooh, despite being a classic from my childhood, will have a much tougher time making a profit from its theatrical release. Despite a budget of $30 M, only 15% of what was spent on Cars 2, an opening weekend revenue which constitutes roughly a quarter of its budget and the trend of movies declining in earnings by at least 25% each weekend means it will likely not be profitable.

Bridesmaids, which slipped out of the Top 10 this week, should be considered the big winner of the summer, with this week’s earnings bringing its total to a sum of nearly 5 times its original budget.

Big losers from this summer:

Green Lantern – after 5 weeks, it’s earnings are at less than 60% of its budget

Tree of Life – after 8 weeks, it’s earnings are at roughly 1/3 of its budget

Non-Financial News

With the success of BURN NOTICE, Bruce Campbell is on his way to becoming more of a household name, and he’s cashing in by going back to where he built his cult following. EVIL DEAD is getting the remake treatment, and according to BadAss Digest, Diablo Cody (JENNIFER’S BODY, JUNO) has writing duties.

Deadline reports that David Goyer is now being attached to a third movie franchise surrounding one of history’s highest profile characters. First it was Batman, and then he and Christopher Nolan moved to help reboot Superman with MAN OF STEEL, and now he’s attached to GODZILLA.

It might not be news that most people care about, but to a certain cult group of fans this is significant. Japanese classic OLD BOY is getting a remake, and according to BadAss Digest, Spike Lee is confirmed to take the director helm. According to TWITCH, Josh Brolin is rumored to be the front runner to get the lead role.

The L.A. Times official blog 24 Frames is reporting that Bad Santa, the 2003 film starring Billy Bob Thornton, is getting a sequel. Two screenwriters have been hired to write separate scripts, and one of those will be chosen for the film. The other could be considered for a third film.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the producer for the upcoming SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN, Joe Roth, indicated that the upcoming film is “meant to be the first in a series of films“, and all indications point to a trilogy being in the works.

Stemming from the success of this summer’s BRIDESMAIDS, which she co-wrote, Kristen Wiig is now being given the green-light to go ahead with her “passion project” IMOGENE, according to BadAss Digest. The project in the works is described as a film about a playwright who “affects a suicide attempt to win back her boyfriend and is then forced to live under the custody of her gambler mother”.

According to SpinOff, the 23rd installment of the James Bond franchise has added Rhys Ifans to its cast. Ifans appears currently in the Harry Potter series as well as portraying Dr. Connors in the upcoming Amazing Spider-Man.

MGM is planning a reboot of the Robo-Cop franchise. They’ve already attached a director to the first of the films, Jose Padilha, and Twitch reports that they’re looking at Chris Pine (STAR TREK) as the front-runner for the lead role.

For anyone who enjoyed watching cartoons on television in the 90′s, you might be interested to note that CAPTAIN PLANET (you know… “Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Heart! Your Powers Combined…” pollution typically gets the boot) is in the works to be brought to the big screen in live action. (Source: Collider)

According to SpinOff, Edward Norton is in talks to portray the villain in the upcoming spin-off from the BOURNE IDENTITY trilogy.

Though there was quite a bit of buzz, apparently Universal Pictures isn’t buying in. Literally. They’ve decided not to go forward with the Stephen King property DARK TOWER, a project which, at one time, was said to include three movies and an accompanying project for television. (Source: Deadline)

According to TV Line, in one of the most exciting news notes (to me) in this article, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, a freakin’ great television show which was spun off from a movie, is now possibly moving BACK to the theater for a second film. Apparently Peter Berg, the creative force behind both the movie and the television show, wants to continue the story for the principle cast from the show on the big screen.

Below is a list of the films I’ve seen in the month of April and my corresponding review of each film.  Following those reviews is a list of potential superlative nominations from those films for various categories along the lines of what you might see in the Academy Awards and such.

With no further ado, here are the reviews for the seven films I saw in April which I had never seen prior to the start of 2011.

19. True Grit (old version)

Given the Oscar buzz surrounding the remake, I was enthusiastic when I saw that AMC was showing the original version of True Grit, so I set my TiVo and anxiously waited. I’m not a huge fan of westerns, though I have enjoyed a few of them, but True Grit isn’t on that list. I know John Wayne is a film legend, but I found his acting for most of this movie to be underwhelming.
The Bottom Line: The story was interesting enough, but I’m sure the remake is going to be more enjoyable.

20. It’s Kind of A Funny Story

This is the reason I watch previews when I rent DVDs, especially when the DVDs I rent are lesser known films. That’s how I found out about this little gem, and I’m glad it didn’t escape me too long. Zach Galifianakis showed more of his range in this film, which I really appreciate from actors who rise to stardom in comedies. Emma Roberts wasn’t pushing the limits of her talents, but she was probably the perfect person for her role. Keir Gilchrist doesn’t shine in the lead role, but he took a somewhat challenging part and did an acceptable job. The story was feasible enough, though half of the deleted scenes would’ve helped bring it more into the realm of believability.
The Bottom Line: As a coming of age film, it’s above average, though certainly not great.

21. The Romantics

Another indy flick I found out about while watching DVD previews, and for a film which didn’t get a major studio release, there are plenty of good actors in this one (Elijah Wood, Katie Holmes, Anna Paquin, Candice Bergan, Josh Duhmel, Malin Ackerman and Dianna Agron). The premise is decent enough, a group of friends reunited for a wedding featuring two of their own… the groom a former long-time boyfriend of another member of the group). The resulting film was above average, but just slightly so. It doesn’t feel like a wasted evening, but I feel like the movie could’ve been better – which makes their efforts feel slightly wasted. Maybe if the cinematography had been better – something I don’t usually notice, but it was frustratingly inconsistent in this film – it would’ve felt like a better movie.
The Bottom Line: If you like good plot exposition and strong characters and aren’t afraid to take a chance on a film you might find slightly tedious at times, this would work.

22. X-Files: I Want To Believe

I wasn’t an X-Files fanatic growing up, but I did enjoy the dozens of episodes I did see. While I was let down by the first movie they released, I was cautiously optimistic about this second X-Files film. I heard some negative reviews, so I wasn’t expecting much, so I wasn’t too let down when it delivered on a lot of the things I had heard about it. All in all it was a decent mystery and gave us some more character development (and potentially closure?) on two characters I enjoyed watching over a decade ago.
The Bottom Line: If you liked X-Files, you’ll probably think this is a decent film. If you loved X-Files, you’ll probably hate it. If you’ve never seen the X-Files television show before, you should probably ditch this film until you’ve at least seen seasons 1 and 2.

23. Trading Places

There are certain classic films which I’ve somehow managed to avoid all these years despite them having mass appeal, and this was one of them. The plot was entertaining and mostly believable, and unlike some of their other work that I’ve considered over-rated, both Dan Aykroid and Eddie Murphy were very entertaining in this. I thought Jamie Lee Curtis was alright in her role, though there wasn’t a ton of meat in it. This won’t rank too high in my list of favorite comedies of all time, but it’ll get decent representation.
The Bottom Line: I won’t be watching it again, though I’m glad I saw it at least once. If you haven’t seen it before, I’d recommend you checking it out.

24. Weird Science

Despite really enjoying the television series it spawned back in the 90′s, I’ve somehow gone 15 years after watching the small screen version without watching the movie – which I always knew existed! John Hughes is certainly a film-making genius, and although some of the 1985 fashion and references are certainly dated, it didn’t take away much from the film as a whole. Kelly LeBrock was hot, Anthony Michael Hall and Robert Downey Jr were funny, but Bill Paxton had such an absurd character that he was certainly the highlight of the film. Alright, I lied, that has to go to Kelly LeBrock, but Bill Paxton is easily second place.
The Bottom Line: If you’ve never seen Weird Science, I’d consider it just as much of a classic as Trading Places… and if you could only see one of them… I’d need to know more about you to decide which to recommend, but as for me, I’ll go with Weird Science.

25. SALT

This one’s hard to review without giving away too many plot points, but I will say that the story is maybe a bit too convoluted, and they made some questionable/regrettable storyline choices along the way. The acting was decent, and the action was good. Not an unenjoyable time, but a bit underwhelming or disappointing based on my expectations going into the film.
The Bottom Line: Decent action film which is mostly enjoyable.

26. Jonah Hex

There was quite a bit of fanfare for this one when it was making its way into the theaters. Being a fan of decent comic book movies, I was interested. I had never read the Jonah Hex stories, but if it was good enough to make a movie of the character, it must’ve been an interesting one, right? After watching the film, I do have interest in the character, but not enough to buy a copy of the DVD to have in my personal collection. Turns out that all the hype this movie had going for it was based on Josh Brolin and Megan Fox being involved, not due to any sort of quality the film had – not from its story, anyway. Some of the special effects were good, as well as the action, but that’s about all the good stuff I can say about this film.
The Bottom Line: If you’re a fan of Megan Fox, check out this film. If you’re on a quest to see comic book movies, see this film. All others look elsewhere.

27. Punisher: War Zone

When the predecessor was panned by critics, I was disappointed. I thought the 80′s throwback flick with Thomas Jane was exciting and gritty and the only part of it I didn’t like was John Travolta. Marvel decided to do a reboot, this time with the grittier Ray Stevenson as the arsenal-collecting anti-hero, I was cautiously optimistic. What I found with War Zone was  a film containing tons of graphic violence, but little else. Stevenson’s portrayal of Frank Castle wasn’t any better than Thomas Jane did a few years prior, the graphic kills didn’t add much to the enjoyability, and although I didn’t think it was possible, the Jigsaw character by Dominic West was harder to watch than John Travolta as Howard Saint in the predecessor.
The Bottom Line: If you enjoy bad movies with tons of violence, you might think this is entertaining, but Marvel’s going to either need another reboot, or they should just ditch the character as the center point of future films.

28. Cop Out

I wasn’t expecting a ton from this movie, and I was almost pleasantly surprised. It was enjoyable enough for a lazy afternoon, and Tracy Morgan didn’t annoy me like I thought he might. Sometimes with Kevin Smith behind the scenes things can get a little raunchy, but that wasn’t really the case in this one.
The Bottom Line: Decent movie, though I can understand why Kevin Smith fanatics didn’t go crazy over it.

29. Tourist

Yet again a movie with plenty of good reviews falls flat in my eyes. Again Angelina Jolie stars in a film I saw in April which is hard to review for reasons I can’t fully explain. The movie starts building an interesting mystery, and although the performances by Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie and Paul Bettany are all decent, the setting (Venice, Italy) is the only thing that stands out in The Tourist. There are a couple of plot turns which I felt like I was forcing myself to sit through, and the ending was slightly off-putting for several reasons… and not just the final outcome – but the way it evolved in the final couple of scenes.
The Bottom Line: The first viewing was an okay ride, but I’m sure that subsequent viewings would be significantly less enjoyable.

Potential 2011 Nominees from these 11 films:

Potential Best Supporting Actor – Zach Galifianakis (IT’S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY)

Disappointing Film Nominee – True Grit

Disappointing Film Nominee – Punisher: War Zone

Potential Worst Film Nominee – Jonah Hex

Potential Worst Film Nominee – Punisher: War Zone

On Deck For May and June:

Mystery Team
Pink Panther 2
88 Minutes
Alice in Wonderland
Batman: Under the Red Hood
Easy A