I like to collect my own movie ticket stubs so I can look back on all the movies I have paid to see in theaters throughout my years. The sad thing (at least something I always regret after the year) is that I never see enough movies. But it can’t be helped considering the closest theater is the type that plays the wrong film half the time, forgets to open the curtains wide enough to show the full screen, and even forgets to change 3D lenses to 2D so the image is exponentially dimmer. But that is no excuse. I will always need to see more movies. Here is the horribly small list of movies that I have ventured out to fifteen minutes and even two hours to see.
Rango – The best animated film of the year so far is surprisingly not from Pixar or Dreamworks Animation, but from Nickelodeon. Rango culminates into many things. It can be viewed as a homage to old Spaghetti Westerns especially those of Sergio Leone and his
Man with No Name Trilogy. It can also be viewed as a story about crisis of identity and coming into one’s own skin, but involving geometrically impaired, hyper stylized creatures from a child’s light nightmare. But what it all comes down to its incredible sense of fun and imagination. It is one of the best movies of the year.
Sucker Punch – So this movie is bad. Really bad. The story becomes incoherent once you give the slightest effort to understanding its plot, but who comes to
Sucker Punch for the story? People in their right minds would want to watch this movie for its attractive female protagonists kicking butt against giant stone samurai, steam-punk styled robotic Nazis, fire-breathing dragons, and 50s styled futuristic robots. Is that there? Yes, but in the sense that your pet cat will be there as well. Sure it’s in your eyesight, but it doesn’t interest you because your cat is the fattest and laziest bastard alive.
Insidious – Oh man, oh my, oh me. This horror film was not what I expected. Given the poster it seemed I was walking into another “creepy kid” style horror film but what I got was a roller coaster thrill ride. Usually I’m against jump scares. Usually they are used to trick the audience into thinking something bad will happen when really it’s just that damn lazy fat bastard cat that jumps at you and screams for no reason. But this film has just enough jump scares where you feel tense the entire film waiting for them. What it culminates into is a fun haunted house ride that should be experienced with a lot of friends.
Your Highness – Coming from the director of Pineapple Express, I had at least some expectations for this film to create a few good laughs throughout its runtime. But what the film actually presented itself as was a string of highly promising jokes resulting in dick jokes. I love the nuance a good dick joke can bring, but
Your Highness believes that just the mere mention of said dick is funny. It never is fun to come up with better jokes during the movie when it seems that the writers obviously did not know where else to go other than treading familiar dicky waters bad dick joke after bad dick joke.
DICK. See, was that funny?
Hanna – UNTS CCCS! UNTS CCCS! UNTS CCCS! Hanna is the third movie by director Joe Wright (Pride and Prejudice, Atonement) and is becoming one of my favorite recent directors. He visual flare comes off as confident and slick. Hanna is a mix between a fairy tale and a Bourne movie, but with a 15 year old lead. Saoirse Ronan, who plays the lead role as Hanna, shines with an amazing performance involving an entire spectrum of acting including intense action scenes and emotionally deep drama. The fight and chase sequences incorporate strobe lighting and fast editing that give off a sense of a rave party and a dance club; A rave party that even a recluse like me would enjoy experiencing.
Thor – I believe I was little too harsh on this movie after I had seen it. I found the acting to be hammy, the love story to be forced and overall a movie that was insubstantial. But as time progressed and I saw more summer blockbusters I found myself remembering more fondly on this movie. The acting sure is hammy but quite fun, while the love story is forced, it didn’t distract from the story and while insubstantial, I had a lot of fun. And although Asgard, Thor's home world, seems to be inhabited by only 20 people, doesn't steer away from the fact that it is a beautiful place to gawk at.This movie does not take itself too seriously and overall it is easily recommendable.
Greatest Movie Ever Sold – Morgan Spurlock of Super Size Me fame came out with a new documentary about the process of gaining sponsors for the movie industry. In a Meta way, Spurlock’s film IS the process he has to go through to fund his film. While clever and entertaining throughout, I came out feeling just slightly more informed than I had been before. Although I found it a little slight, if you are a fan of Super Size Me, this documentary is bound to please you. 
X-men First Class – Two words. McAvoy. Fassbender. The two leads playing Dr. X and Magneto are the driving force of this well made film. The relationship between these two characters is the main reason X-men is so beloved by fans and this film does not disappoint. While I found the story to be rushed and certain secondary characters plot lines to be present only for the hardcore fans, X-Men First Class is still a first class summer blockbuster. (Heyoo…)
The Tree of Life – Terrance Malick (The Thin Red Line, The New World, Days of Heaven) is not for everyone. His fascination with unanswered questions, his deliberate pacing, and overly philosophical stories can turn some people off. Tree of Life is no different. What some people can find boring, I experienced an enriched lyrical way to tell a coming of age story. The fragmented timeframe expertly shows how we remember our past. We never really remember things in broad terms, but we remember the feelings, the smells, how someone says something, or how the light was shining in through the window. I can’t argue with someone who finds it hard to mold into this type of storytelling because I find it difficult at times, but I feel elated when I come out of a theater realizing that through almost 100 years of cinema I have not seen anything quite like it.
Midnight in Paris – Do you like Woody Allen movies? Do you like looking at a gorgeous city? Do you like looking at gorgeous people like Marion Cotillard or Rachel McAdams? (Maybe Owen Wilson is cute to you ladies?) Do you like a great soundtrack? Do you just like movies? How about pointless questions? Do you like those? Because I’m giving them to you. Midnight In Paris is a delight to watch from start to finish. With a character who believes he was born a generation to late, someone like me who also believes this at certain times, connected with the movie very easily. Woody Allen’s latest is one of the year’s best so far. 
Transformers Dark of the Moon – I admit I was a fan of the first Transformers but after hearing the putrid reviews of the second movie from the internet and from trustworthy friends, I avoided it like a plague. What brought me to this movie is a mystery but I sat for a overly long 2 ½ hours to only get 30 minutes of honest exciting action. Is it worth going to the theaters to see it? Definitely not. I would hold off until a rental so you can skip the first 2 hours to get to the nonstop action of the last 30 minutes.Or not rent it at all and watch something worthwhile. Because it's incredibly stupid. But you probably know that already. So go read a good book. I hear books are good. 