Iron Man 2 (2010)

Was this as good as the first one? Absolutely not. But I still had fun watching this. Robert Downey, Jr. is great as Tony Stark, no matter how good or bad the movie.

Now that the world knows that Tony Stark is the Iron Man, they know to avoid him. However, even with international crime down by a substantial margin, Congress calls Mr. Stark in for a subcommittee hearing to try and get him to turn over the iron man suit to the US Army. Tony refuses saying that the technology for people other than himself to make a suit similar is still years away. In Russia, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) sees the hearing and decides he needs to get revenge on Stark because Vanko's and Tony's fathers worked together before a rift was created. In 6 months time, Vanko creates a machine crudely similar to the Iron Man and gets into an epic battle with Tony in Monacco. After seeing this, Congress demands the suit and gives the contract to make more to Stark's rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell). After that, Tony goes into a tailspin and doesn't know what to do. One thing is for sure, he needs to stop Hammer from completing his project. But now that he's gone off the deep end, can he hold it together long enough to stop him.

This was a fun movie. The substance was there for a great sequel, but it was not executed as well as it should have been. Everything moved so fast from Point A to B to C in what seemed like no time. It was visually pleasing though. As for Rourke, his Russian accent was OK. There were times I believed it, and other times it seemed forced. Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson and Don Cheadle were all great additions to the cast, but my favorite may have been Garry Shandling as the Senator who had it out for Stark. All in all, fun but not as good as the first.

Wall Street (1987)

I know, I know. I should have watched this movie years ago. I didn't, so deal with it. That being said, I was still not disappointed. The fast talking and fast moving world of the 1980s never looked so...good?

Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) is a young, upstart stockbroker who is just trying to make a buck for his clients and spread the best information to make them the most money. Subtext: He's not very good at it. Bud feels that the one person who can help him get the tips/money/notoriety that he deserves is Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas). Gekko is the king of "don't call it insider" insider trading. Gekko is the man who has a plan to make the the rich get richer, and Bud wants in on the ground floor. After Bud gives Gekko a tip that sort of pans out, Gordon takes him under his wing to make him a Wall Street superpower. Bud gets the money, gets the notoriety, gets the girl (Daryl Hannah). However, one things leads to another and Bud causes a series of events that may result in his father (real life dad Martin Sheen) losing his job after 20+ years. How is Bud going to right his wrong? Better question: Will Gordon let him?

What ever happened to Charlie Sheen acting THIS good in a movie? Or anything for that matter. Either way, this was Michael Douglas' film. He empowered every single frame he was on the screen. Gordon Gekko was not a good man, and Douglas made sure that you knew that. Oliver Stone managed to weave his way from one point to the next so seamlessly. It's a shame his more recent movies haven't been able to capture that as well as this film. I know a lot of you have seen this, but maybe this will spark interest to watch it again.

Waiting For "Superman" (2010)

If you've ever listened to any sort of political ad or debate over the last 20+ years, then you know that politicians and voters believe something is wrong with our education system. This movie takes a look at how much/little people are doing about the problem.

The movie follows five families, 4 of them in the lower class homes but all of them struggling in school. Some are single parents, others are newly laid off, and some just want the best help they can get for their children to be better educated. However, the problem doesn't seem to lie with the parents or the schools, but with the teachers and, more specifically, the teachers unions (dum dum DUMMMMM). While some of the students act like nothing is wrong, all of them are aware that money is the issue that's keeping them from the best education they can have, in one way or another. An ambitious superintendent in the Washington DC school system and a Harlem-based educator are some of the people trying to spearhead particular issues in their respective cities. The movie culminates with all 5 kids having to go in a lottery for their education.

That last sequence, with the lottery drawings, is exciting and heartbreaking at the same time. These kids clearly want to learn and only a certain few are going to be able to based on a bingo ball, index card, raffle ticket, etc. The movie is nothing new about how bad the schools are, but it does show it in a different way. This movie shows the problems and offers solutions, but I'm not quite sure if anything said in this movie will be treated as demonstrated. It was a great documentary and I strongly recommend it to all.

From Paris With Love (2010)

A good movie this was not, but I did have a mild amount of fun during the action scenes. John Travolta has the distinct ability to not pick out great plots for his movies, but he does have fun with them.

James (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is a top aide to the US Ambassador in France but he's also trying to become a CIA operative at the same time. He lives with his fiance in Paris while trying to balance the job he has with the job he is passionate about getting. One day, the call comes to meet his new partner, Charlie (Travolta). Charlie is not the picture of CIA class. His clothes are as grungy as his crime fighting style. With both James and Charlie trying to adjust to each other and figure out if they can possibly work together, a problem keeps rearing its ugly head: Cocaine. The laws against drugs in France help lead the two towards a bigger problem and now they have to see if they can stop an assassination attempt. Maybe this is the thing that brings them together.

Like I said, the action was fun. It had some very unique and very intense action scenes that managed to use over-the-top violence with a balance of realistic fight scenes. Other than that, there was not a whole lot to offer. The plot was simple and been done to death. It's got some fun parts, but I can't really recommend this.

The Social Network (2010)

I went into this movie expecting a great movie and I got that and then some. This is not the "Facebook Movie." This is the movie about how this spy, nervous computer geek got revenge in the most fiscal way.

Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) just got dumped by his girlfriend. She knows he's smart and capable of doing whatever he can to get rich, but he's also a socially-inept ass. As a result, Mark enlists the help of friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) to make facemash.com, a site dedicated to choosing which Harvard female was more attractive than the one next to her. After that erupts over campus, he's a sensation. He then gets the idea for a social network website that puts all the college experience online...or did he take the idea from the Winklevoss twins who hired Zuckerberg to build a similar site. As TheFacebook.com expands, Zuckerberg is feeling the heat. Napster co-founder Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) helps Mark build up the a franchise and subsequently pushes Saverin out. Exactly how many friends will Mark have left?

As good as this movie was, nothing stood out more than the performance of Jesse Eisenberg. He managed to nail the character and kept him moving at the same Aaron Sorkin pace. That means, he kept talking and talking and talking until there was nothing left to discuss. Him and Andrew Garfield are both deserving of Oscar consideration. Director David Fincher as well. He managed to make a movie about computer nerds exciting. Also, kudos for the most exhilarating rowing (I'm sorry, crew) race in the history of film. Go see this movie.

Easy A (2010)

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. Basically, the same effect was had on me when I first saw Mean Girls. The trailer made this movie look like another generic teenage high school movie. Far from it.

Olive (Emma Stone) is your average high school loner. She's not one of the cool kids. She's not an outcast. She's just there and she likes it that way. However, when she tells of a sexual encounter that never happened, rumor spreads quickly and she's the school's resident tramp. How can she use this to her advantage? She sees this as an opportunity she can't pass up to make her high school days seem less trivial. But when things start to swirl out of control, the school's Christian brigade led by Marianne (Amanda Bynes) feels it's their duty to make sure Olive doesn't go to Hell. Nobody knows she is making this all up and when she starts to tell people, will they believe her?

Stone was fantastic in this. A little hard to believe that she would be the loner with her sense of humor and style, but she pulls it off. The best lines of the movie went to her parents though, played by Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson. Basically, they play the coolest and most understanding parents ever. I recommend this movie because it will exceed any expectations you have.

Date Night (2010)

If this had been any other lead actors, this movie would have failed miserably. However, Tina Fey and Steve Carell were just funny enough to save this from being a complete wreck.

Phil and Claire Foster (Carell and Fey) are just your normal workaday couple who live in suburban New Jersey. Every Friday night, the babysitter comes over and the parents go on a their date night. One week, after seeing their friend's marriage crumble, they stir things up a bit and go to the swanky new restaurant in Manhattan. When they can't get a table, they steal someone's reservation. When two thugs accost them about something they've stolen, the Fosters now realize they probably shouldn't have taken the Tripplehorns spot. After evading the thugs, the couple are now running for their lives in a city they barely visit outside of work. They're going to need help, but don't know where to turn. Personally, I'd consider that to be a good date.

As I mentioned, Carell and Fey save this movie. I'd like to think they knew the script wasn't that strong because there were a lot of improvised scenes in the movie and those tended to be very funny. The supporting cast did what they could. Mark Wahlberg, Taraji Henson, Common, Leighton Meester and Ray Liotta (who seems to be in everything lately) all try their best with their characters. I can't totally recommend this, but fans of the comedians will get a kick out of this.