The Man With the Iron Fist

A movie that knows itself better than anyone can expect. No fooling around with accents here, even the Asian actors are American. (Byron!) The direction by RZA is consistently action oriented, even in scenes of emotion. Who doesn't love quick zoom in and out of the faces of romantic leads proclaiming their love?

Great job all around, RZA. A spectacularly silly mess of pure eye catching entertainment.

8 out of 10.

Dredd

When the casting announcements came out I was excited. Urban is a supreme actor. Great in LOTR, saved Doom, strong in Riddick, perfect in Star Trek, and his turn as Bourne's pain receptacle was easily the top Bourne beating. That's a solid resume and he lives up to it in this blood soaked baby. Problem is, not too many others have Urban on their top shelf. No matter the quality, this thing was destined for a box office grave.

Dredd is a victorious cinematic achievement. It's Scott Pilgrim meets Thomas Jane's Punisher. Its the last ten minutes of Doom for an hour and a half. The setting was so well done that adding an hour to the runtime could only have made the movie better. I was left wanting to explore the world of MegaCity 1, to dive into more Judging around the city before the plot took hold. I can't really fault it, though, the plot is focused, the one liners are effective, and the shear brutality of both the violence and the camera work is bone chilling. 

Karl Urban brought the full force of his talents here. His portrayal was stoic, commanding, and contained a hidden level of humor vital to level the dark tone. Most important of all he was human without ever removing the helmet. 

Surrounding Urban's Dredd with captivating characters was key to this film's success. Thirlby was affective as Anderson, a strong female character who held her own and was more defined by being a rookie than being a woman. Headey was enticingly evil, providing yet another counter gender norm detail, the elusive alpha female. 

The subversion of tropes, the depth in character and the overall brutal creativity in its deaths made this film captivating in every way. Best of all, no love story to cheapen the relationships built throught the story. I can only hope the DVD has more Urban, more Dredd.

10 out of 10.

Limitless

The movie that proves Bradley Cooper to be a stud. A kinetic style and quick pace are maintained for the entire run. You get those drippy eyes of Cooper in a complete panic. The camera work and effects in sync with the story. As a cast bonus, Anna Friel drops by and no matter what state of mind her future characters will be in, she'll forever be Chuck. And Chuck is wonderful. The ending provides a payoff that you cant help but feel satisfied by. The film had numerous chances to blow a good thing but somehow refused to do it. Great movie, no matter how fiction the science and its nice to see Di Nero in something worthwhile again.

Battleship

I feel awful for Taylor Swift. Guy gets put in films that are unjustly torched. I cant write his actual last name because it positions my tongue in a way that induces vomit. Don't get me wrong, I find him to be a very good actor. He was the third best part of that awful Wolverine movie (behind Ryan Reynolds and that intro), he was very good in John Carter and now here. He was a solid lead. I was with it, man. He had me with that chicken burrito stunt and nailed that little never-in-too-big-a-rush-to-help-a-kid-learn bit.
The movie itself was actually very entertaining. The action was ridiculous, over the top, unnecessary, illogical and heavily inspired by Transformers, but for a movie about a board game? Well done. It rode that line of taking itself as seriously as a story while knowingly accepting the absurdity that it is in fact based on a board game. I especially applaud it for acknowledging the monumental death count. Something previous movies (even far superior ones like The Avengers) don't fully accomplish. (Lets not forget how Fast Five nonchalantly genocided all of Rio De Genaro.)

8 out of 10.

Secret Movies 2012

2012

1. Cabin In the Woods

2. Looper

3. Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters

4. Upside Down

5. 47 Ronin

6. Chronicle

7. Hotel Transylvania

8. Premium Rush

9. Red Dawn

10. Ted

11. The Wettest Counrty

2011 Recap

1. Immortals (11.11.11) - Finally Henry Cavil lead role! - Watched!

2. Now (9.20.11) - Andrew Niccol directing/writing, Cillian Murphy lead.

Title Changed to In Time, Lead roles actually Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried. Degradation of excitement level and as a result, Unwatched.

3. Fright Night (8.19.11) - David Tennant is in it. Brilliant. - Watched! Owned.
4. Super (4.1.11) - Dwight K Schrute and Nathan Fillian and Ellen Page + utter brutality. Watched!
5. Paul (3.18.11) - Pegg, Frost + Alien. Pending!
6. The Appirition (9.9.11) - Malfoy being a good guy? - Totally forgot about it. Moved to 2012
7. Cabin in the Woods (unknown) - Whedon et al. - Bumped to 2012
8. The Thing (10.14.11) - Solid cast and promising, but obvious, story. - Pending!
9. Your Highness (4.8.11)- Everything about it. - Incredulously Pending!
10. Limitless (3.18.11) - Bradley Cooper looks like Aleem. - Incredulously Pending!
11. Restless (1.28.11) - Trailer kind of ruins it. - Cant remember a thing about it.

12. Bunraku (unknown) - Some freaky combo of live action and animation as yet unseen. - Saw the trailer and it looks good. Still pending!