Now Playing

Earlier this year, when going through my summer movie preview, I postulated the possibility that June would be the best month of the summer movie season. With one excellent release down and another poised to open tomorrow, it looks like that might be the case.

X-Men: First Class
Starring: Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Lawrence, Rose Byrne, January Jones, and Nicholas Hoult
Synopsis: In the middle of last week, when I was looking at reviews for "X-Men," I found one with this headline — "'X-Men' first class indeed." I thought it was not only a funny play on words, but gave me hope that the film would start the turnaround we need among summer blockbusters. To this point we've had a passable "Thor," which was better than expected but still not something that got me too excited, an awful action film in "Priest," a mediocre "Pirates" sequel and a couple hard-R comedies. Not an auspicious beginning. But with the dawning of a new month, apparently our cinematic fortunes are changing. "X-Men: First Class" chronicles the budding friendship of Charles Xavier (McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Fassbender) during the turbulent Cuban Missile Crisis. The men — both mutants imbued with superhuman abilities — both want to stop Sebastian Shaw (Bacon) — one-time Nazi scientist and current nefarious megalomaniac — from plunging the world into nuclear war. But both have very different reasons for doing so. The best part of the "X-Men" series, to me, has been the ideological debate surrounding Charles and Erik. This film captures that beautifully, adding some context to the debate and showing the foundation of the friendship, and the life-long divergent missions the pair engage in. The film does an excellent job of telling a compelling original story while creating a believable and engaging prequel to the original "X-Men" series. It's a credit to director Matthew Vaughn ("Kick-Ass," "Layer Cake") that the film is a solid blend of action, comedy and drama with plenty of character development built in. Fassbender and McAvoy are great in the lead roles, with Bacon doing well as the villainous Shaw. The supporting cast — including recent Academy Award nominee Lawrence, Byrne, Jones, and Hoult — are strong as well. To this point, "X-Men: First Class" is the class of the summer blockbusters.
Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, some sexual content including brief partial nudity, and language.
Rating: Four stars out of four.


Upcoming Releases:
Friday, June 10 — "Super 8," "Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer"
Friday, June 17 — "The Green Lantern," "Mr. Popper's Penguins"
Friday, June 24 — "Cars 2," "Bad Teacher," "A Better Life"
Wednesday, June 29 — "Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
Friday, July 1 — "Larry Crowne," "Monte Carlo"
Friday, July 8 — "Zookeeper," "Horrible Bosses"
Friday, July 15 — "Harry Potter And the Deathly Hallows, Part 2," "Winnie The Pooh"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Burial a courtroom drama with heart

Image
Willie Gary (Jamie Foxx) is a brash trial lawyer who is good at rallying a jury to his cause. Jeremiah O’Keefe (Tommy Lee Jones) is a quiet grandfather who is trying to ensure the business his family built remains viable after he’s gone. These two don’t appear to have much in common on the surface. But when they’re brought together by young lawyer Hal Dockins (Mamoudou Athie) brings them together, a connection is formed over their shared background of working hard to become self-made men. And it turned out that Willie was just who Jerry needed in his corner to win the fight of his life. The new Prime Video film The Burial, which opened in theaters October 6 and started streaming October 13, captures that trial against the Loewen Group that changed the course of their lives. The film is based on the true story and covers the trial, but more importantly captures the relationship between the men. The film plays out like a traditional courtroom drama. Foxx is solid as Willie Gary, while Ju
Read more

Broncos Draft Targets

Image
  The NFL Draft is just a few days away. On April 25, the Denver Broncos will head into the draft in the midst of something of a rebuild. In the draft, the Broncos have the No. 12 pick in Round 1, then have a Third Round Pick, Fourth Round Pick, three Fifth Round Picks, a Sixth Round Pick, and a Seventh Round Pick. So, what might they be targeting? Let's dive in and look at possible positions. Quarterback : The team clearly needs a long-term quarterback. Jarrett Stidham and Ben DiNucci are there but the team could certainly use someone else. Could they move up for Drake Maye or J.J. McCarthy? Yes, they could. Will the take Bo Nix at 12? It's possible. Or will the Broncos wait until next off-season to make a move? Anything is in play for the Broncos in 2024, but quarterback is surely a need. Tight End: The team brought back Adam Trautman and still has Greg Dulcich, but it's still a need. Dulcich hasn't been able to get on the field and Trautman hasn't been great. Co
Read more

Favorite Westerns, No. 43

Image
  Do you like a good Western? It's a classic genre in film and this year I've decided to look at some of my favorite Westerns. So, join me each Friday as I count down my favorite Westerns from No. 50 to No. 1. Rooster Cogburn : [ watching Mattie ford the river hanging on the back of her horse] By God. She reminds me of me. True Grit (1969) Starring : John Wayne, Kim Darby, Glen Campbell, Robert Duvall, and Dennis Hopper Director : Henry Hathaway About: This is the third straight week with a film from Wayne. As you might guess, we're not done. As I've mentioned, he sets a standard for the genre. Here, we seen him bring to life an iconic character. This one is based on a novel, and it has endured. He's great as Rooster Cogburn, so good that he got a sequel in the same character. But this is a later film in his career. This is a different, more grizzled Wayne. He's still quite good and this is a film that really has stood the test of time. It's not the only ve
Read more