Larry Crowne Review

Directed by Tom Hanks
Written by Tom Hanks and Nia Vardalos
Starring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Cedric the Entertainer, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw

 Larry Crowne comes out in a summer full of the same, super hero films, Disney films, or big budget action films. Walking in I was excited for this film because it was different from the rest of the films. So lets get started.

 Larry Crowne is about Larry Crowne a navy seal veteran who loses his job at his local retail store. With him in a bad position in life he decides to go to college after talking to his neighbor (Cedric the Entertainer). When he goes he meets Talia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) who is a free spirited girl who invites him into a motorscooter gang along with Talia's boyfriend (William Valderrama)

 When he goes to his class he meets Mercedes Tainot (Julia Roberts) his speech teacher. She has very little passion about her teaching job because most of her students dont care. After awhile the class starts to grow on her a bit especially with Larry Crowne. Will Crowne a fired retail worker change these peoples lives?

 Larry Crowne is just fluff. Its so sweet and sappy and I just took the film for that and really enjoyed it. I think critics are being way to harsh on the film expecting a real story about being fired from your job like a Company Man or Everything Must Go. Its nothing like that, its a pure television sitcom.

 The cast is solid with Hanks being a extremely likable person that you cant help to root for. He is just the most optimistic guy you can meet and just really pleasant. Newcomer Gugu Mbatha-Raw absoulty shines in this film and is an actress who should become a name in Hollywood soon. Most of the jokes in the film come from Valderrama and Cedric the Entertainer and they do a good job at making some funny and good jokes. Roberts and Hanks both connect very well which is a plus to have your two stars have chemistry.

 The film is being marketing wrongly which is not a complaint but its something to point out. The film looked from the trailer like it would be a romantic comedy but it is actual more like a coming of age film like Garden State. It's all about Crowne finding himself in this college and finding where he belongs. Sure its not a serous as Garden State but that is the sub text of the film.

 I do have some complaints about the film. Tom Hanks directing style reminds me alot of Denzel Washington's directing of The Great Debaters. Both actors turned directors do a fantastic job directing actors but the problem is they have very little visual flare or style. They just direct the film straight foreword which gets kind of boring. To be fair to Hanks he does a better job then Washington with some cool visual things but not many. One more thing, at times it is hard to just total forget realism as something that happen in the film are too insane.

 Overall, Larry Crowne is a very charming and heart warming film that I think could grow on me like Be Kind Rewind which was also a very fluffy film. As of now I have to give the film a recommendation with a rating of.

3.5/4 out of Stars

X-Men First Class Sequel?

 I am so happy to break this news story. X-Men First Class sequel!

According to The Geek Files, Fox is “discussing sequels internally” which they undoubtedly have been since opening weekend.

Both Singer and Vaughn have plenty of ideas for X-Men: First Class 2 which would likely keep the series set in the ’60s, but based a few years later, again tied into real historical events. When you think about it, they could go on with many more films before needing to introduce some of the characters we met in Bryan Singer’s first X-Men film (Cyclops, Jean Grey and Storm, etc.).

 I cant wait in Matthew Vaughn i trust!

Transformers wants Jason Statham

 Transformers 3 has been a monster hit already so the studio is talking a fourth one. They want to go in a different direction and have actor Jason Statham take over. Here is what themovieblog.com said.

The suggestion isn’t a huge leap. The current third film’s female lead, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, is the real life girlfriend of Statham and would likely come back for the fourth film if he were involved.

Their source claims “It’s clear the franchise still has huge potential but with a new leading man capable of taking Transformers in a new, darker direction. Jason could be just the man to do that and his relationship with Rosie would be an added bonus in marketing the movie.

 I like Statham alot but this is a long shot at best.

 

The Best of 2011......so far

 2011 is already halfway over so its time to give out some awards. Now I will focus on the good in 2011 and soon I will review the bad. Lets get started.

Most underrated film 


Drive Angry                     Arthur                              The Green Lantern                  
                            


Explaining the nominees.


 This category is to honor the films that I liked that got bad to terrible reviews by the critics, In picking the winner I ruled in which one I enjoyed the most and which had the worst reviews by critics that I liked.

The Winner is 
                                                                The Green Lantern

 I choose the Green Lantern because it was the second worst reviewed film and I enjoyed it alot. The winner really came between Drive Angry and The Green Lantern but since Drive Angry had a much higher rating on Rotten Tomatoes (45 percent for Drive Angry 27 percent for Green Lantern) I gave the edge to the Green Lantern. I recommend all of the nominations check them out if you can.

Most anticipated film of 2011's second half

Sherlock Holmes 2      The Adventures of        Mission Impossible

                                     Tin Tin                          4

  

Explaining the nominees 

 This category is to honor the films I am most looking foreword to. Here I weighed in the previous films, any clips or trailers that were released, and the casts.

The winner is 

                                                                Mission Impossible 4

Choosing the winner for this award came down to two films that come out on the same week, Sherlock Holmes 2 and Mission Impossible 4. Dont get me wrong, I am looking foreword to the other nominations alot it just one having a few things that worry me (Tin Tin's animation.) I choose Mission Impossible because it came down to the trailer which was spectacular and Sherlock Holmes has not yet release a trailer.

Funnest movie 

The Green Hornet             Fast 5                                Drive Angry           

                   

Explaining the nominees 

 This award is for all of the films where you could just turn your brain off and have a fun time. The criteria was pretty simple I just picked the film I had the most fun watching.

The Winner is  

                                                                   The Green Hornet 

 What a way to start of the year 2011 with just a film that was a load of fun. It was such a pleasure to watch this film it had me laughing throughout and had some really cool action. I just love to see films like this come out in the baron because it just puts me in the summer mood.

Best performance by an Actor

James McAvoy                   Steve Coogan                     Jake Gyllenhaal           

                    

X-Men First Class             The Trip                        Source Code        

Explaining the nominees 

 This one is pretty basic I choose what I thought was the best performance of 2011 so far.

The winner is 

                                                                  Jake Gyllenhaal 

Source Code

 So far in 2011 there has been plenty of fantastic performances. I think Gyllenhaal had a career defining performance. He showed alot of things that I have not seem for him before. I think Gyllenhaal could get Oscar notice for his outstanding performance.

Best performance by an Actress

Jennifer Lawrence               Michelle Monaghan                Elle Fanning                

         

X-Men First Class               Source Code                     Super 8                           

Explaining the nominees 

 Like best actor I picked what I thought was the best performance by an actress that simple.

The winner is

                                                             Jennifer Lawrence 

   

X-Men First Class

This was by far the best performance by anyone this year. Lawrence fresh off her Oscar gives a fantastic performance and adds a lot of character to Mystique.

Best Director 

Matthew Vaughn             Duncan Jones               Jenifer Yuh Nelson

                 

X-Men First Class            Source Code                  Kung Fu Panda 2

Explaining the nominees 

 This category honors the directors that incorporated the best visuals, story, emotion and human quality. These three did it the best but only one can win.

The winner is 

                                                               Matthew Vaughn 

X-Men First Class

This is an easy choice for me. Matthew Vaughn took a franchise that was down in the dumps and just revived it completely. Just a fantastic job by him.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST Best Picture

X-Men First Class         Source Code                  The Trip

             

AND THE WINNER IS 

 

The battle between X-Men First Class and Source Code is the tightest battle of any of these awards. I give both four stars but the thing is Source Code is the first film of 2011 to make me cry which gave it the advantage.

Marvel has made 2 Shield shorts

 Well Marvel has kept this news on the down low. Supposedly, Marvel has made two short films. Here is what the Film rejects reported.

 "Film School Rejects is reporting that Marvel has in fact shot their first two short films, which will follow SHIELD Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) and serve as a prequel of the sorts to next summer’s THE AVENGERS. The shorts, according to FSR, will debut on the upcoming DVDs for THOR and CAPTAIN AMERICA, both of which will likely hit discs sometime later this year (think Christmas)."

 This is very cool. This actual kind of makes me want to at least buy Thor on DVD because it was a good film and the added bonus of the short film.

The Trip Review

Directed by Michael Winterbottom
Written by  Michael Winterbottom
Starring Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, and Margo Stilley

 The Tip walking in I knew nothing about. With Larry Crown and Monte Carlo getting bad reviews I decided to give this film a chance. It starred one of my favorite actors Steve Coogan who I find extremely witty in every film he is in. So I saw the film but first let me tell about the origins of the film.

 The Trip is a British film that in Britain came out late last year but released in America last month. The film is Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon's roles as fictionalised versions of themselves are a continuation of their performances in Michael Winterbottom's 2006 film, A Cock and Bull Story. The story is Coogan and Brydon going on a restaurant tour of the north of England for a column in their monthly food magazine.

 Ok so time for the review. The Trip is by far the funniest film of 2011 so far. The film is not for everyone because it is very smart. The film also surprised me having some truly genuine moments that really have a lot of heart which is rare to find in a comedy these days.

 The best thing about the film is the chemistry between Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. While watching the film at times I thought that these guys were best friends because they just play off each other perfectly. The best scenes in the film is when they are sitting down and eating and having small talk. These scenes just feel so genuine to me. The film actual makes me want to check out more of Brydon's stuff because I never heard of him before the film.

 The film is absolutely beautiful. The film has plenty have fantastic scenes with Coogan and Brydon traveling across northern England. The pass alot of landmarks and each looked great. I would rather see images of the beauty of nature then giant robots battling each other (cough Transformers). Also each time they go to a restaurant, we see the creation of this food and it just made me super hungry.

 Steve Coogan gives an amazing performance in the film is the best of his career. He still has the same funny dry wit but in this film hes kind of going through a mid life crisis. Through his performance I kind of thought I was seeing himself maybe as he showed that he is frustrated of the way his career in america is playing out which seemed genuine because he is not a very popular actor.

 The Trip is one of the best films of 2011. It may have some jokes fall flat and dragged a bit but its still fantastic. The ending of the film almost had me in tears which surprised me. Overall I have to give the film a very strong rating of.

3.5 out of 4 Stars 

Thor 2 News

 Well I have some sad news. Kenneth Branagh the director of the critical and financially success will not return for a sequel. I am actual not too surprise because when Thor first came out, Branagh was not informed about a second Thor film. 

 Also, Thor 2 has officaly gotten a release date. The date Marvel choose is July 26, 2013. They better get a director quick unless they are going to rush the film.