Winnie the Pooh

Earthdaughter Sarah and I took little grandpeople Jayla and Kevin to see this. It was Jayla's first theater movie! The little ones were very excited and behaved beautifully. The movie is only 65 minutes long, and just the perfect time for this age (4 - 5). Just long enough to be fun but not so long that they're bored and wiggly.

I was so happy to see all of the favorite classic Winnie the Pooh characters here - all in place - voices sounded right, all following the original book. It is a fun, happy, interesting, sweet homage to the classic. What a relief that they did such a good job and didn't veer off into New territory and mess up a really good thing.

Lots of little people in the theater and lots of laughter so it was clearly holding their attention.

This was a very fun movie experience.

Tinseltown in Colorado Springs was the theater. Hot, fresh popcorn and sprinkle cheese. It's always fun to see this theater now and then because it's so much larger than ours.

We all gave this one a "5".

X-Men First Class

Good Times at the movies - been waiting for this one to come out and it does not disappoint!

This X-Men movie is a prequel, showing us where everybody came from and how they got to be who they are. Every since I was a little kid those were always my favorite episodes - I loved the comics showing Superman as Superboy and how he grew up and discovered his powers. I loved Spiderman comics and loved Toby Maguire being bitten for the first time and trying to figure out how to harness his new powers. So this movie is a natural LIKE for me - getting to see The Beginning and if not exactly how the powers are discovered, at least how they're grown and harnessed.

It's quite a lot of fun seeing each new person come onto the scene. There are new faces and new powers here that I don't remember ever seeing - neither did my son who checked this one out with me. There are a couple of cameos that are very cool and neat little surprises.

The pacing is nice - not frantic and overloaded but never drags, either. It just moves right along and you get swept along with it. The effects are excellent, the story is interesting, and my only problem is that Kevin Bacon is in this movie. Nothing against Kevin Bacon, but over and over I was absorbed in the story and they would cut to Kevin Bacon and that would jar me right out of the movie and back to reality. Everyone else plays wonderfully as their character - he was.... well, always Kevin Bacon. He made me laugh at least 4 times (out loud) - at times in the script that were decidedly not funny. :)

This is a fun movie - even if you're not a big X-Men fan. Just about anybody could go along with their geek friends and still have a good time. Just ask them to explain some parts of it to you later over burgers.

We gave this one a 3 teetering on a 4. A 3.5

Pueblo Tinseltown was the place. Caleb sold us our tickets while assuring us it wasn't overly crowded yet (or we wouldn't have gone - no front row for me, thank you) and James did a great job of serving up hot, FRESH, Orville Reddenbocker popcorn from the new BIG poppers they just installed - very YUM. Super Manager Shane was on hand to grab me a quick refill later so I didn't miss the movie - that man is fast! Great job, you guys.

Thor

After much build up and much anticipation, Thor has arrived. Earthdad went along not really knowing much about this one before hand. As it was beginning he asked "Who is this guy again?" And I reminded him - "You remember - Thor - the god of Thunder, son of Odin - the guy with the hammer?" "Oh yeah" he said. We sat in silence for a minute and I whispered "I never liked him in the comics come to think of it." "Me either" So what the heck were we doing there?? :D That must be said, though - neither of us were die hard Thor fans before coming to this show.

But you have to see em all - especially all of the Marvel comics movies. They made magic happen with Ironman, but this is no Ironman. Chris Hemsworth stars as Thor. He is nice to look at but not especially charismatic as an actor. Natalie Portman is his love interest, the mortal Jane (plain?). Raise your hand if you're tired of seeing Natalie Portman on the screen. Her role is really one of be there, look cute, wait for the next movie before you really have a part.

Sir Anthony Hopkins is here - which is funny since it seems to be a lowering of his standards to be in this comic movie, yet he does get to be the god Odin. Couldn't let that one pass, I suppose. He does a decent job.

Everyone in this movie is doing a decent job. And there are plenty of explosions and fast cuts and definitely a high quality production. It was just sort of boring. Hard to explain but it didn't grab us or hold our interest.

Stan Lee has a cameo appearance as usual. :) Always nice to see him.

Idris Elba was the most controversial element of this movie - as a black man playing a Nord god - and some said they would boycott because of that. He does a great job and definitely adds a needed element here. I just wish he had a larger part.

The credits are the longest of any movie I think I've ever seen - but if you can manage to stay around through them there is a preview clip with Samuel L Jackson and Stellan Skarsgard from The Avengers.

Nearly forgot to add that we gave it a "2".

The place was Pueblo Tinseltown. Caci sold us tickets and gave some sympathy about the crazy weather, Avril did a great job quickly serving us up freshly popped popcorn and real butter (and sprinkle cheese!), and we were happy to see Super Manager Shane working hard as usual!

Looking ahead - Oh My God - Cowboys vs Aliens!!! Can't wait! Jon Favreau, Ron Howard, Steven Spielberg, Harrison Ford - this one cannot miss! :)

True Grit

We normally avoid the theater during the holidays and this year was no exception - almost ridiculously so :( But thank you for the emails and Facebook pokes - yes I'm alive and yes we've been back to the movies and have a couple to share with you! :)

I heard they were remaking True Grit some time ago and was really unhappy about it. As a child I saw this movie and loved it - that's right - I saw myself in the role of Mattie Ross, of course, and it was one of the few westerns I truly enjoyed. The Duke was the star, it's a great story. Why mess with that success? I poo-pooed to anyone who would listen.

OH BOY am I eating those words. (not eating poo-poo, thankfully) What a great movie! Even without John Wayne, even without the original script, even even even. What a great remake.

The Coens (Ethan and Joel) did this (No Country for Old Men, O Brother Where Art Thou) and they did it right. First, they stuck to the original story without messing it up - good. They added much richer and more authentic dialogue from the book - very good. They cast with an amazing hand - Very very good. And they added that Coen magic touch - a bit more real, a bit more grisly, just a little truer and grittier.

I'm not a big Jeff Bridges fan and have not gotten on the bandwagon of his fairly recent success, but darn if he isn't really good as Rooster Cogburn. I didn't want to like him in this.... but I have no complaints of any kind. He did it right. He's more flawed and uglier and odder than John Wayne - and it really works.

The star of course is Hailee Steinfeld (there's a 't' in that one - not Seinfeld) who just runs away with the movie. She's superb as Mattie Ross.

Josh Brolin also stars in a hysterical half witted role that he plays to the tee :D

It's just a great movie. We gave it a "5".

Pueblo Tinseltown was the place. Our marvelous hot fresh popcorn was served up with a big smile and friendly words from Mariah. A nice day at the show!

Wall Street Money Never Sleeps

The money may never sleep but I nearly did. Zzzzzzzzzz

What went wrong here? Michael Douglas is slimey enough. Snake-like, even. He talks about cancer 3 times with regard to the financial industry which now seems uncomfortably forshadowing since the man is battling cancer himself.

The performances were not the problem. Douglas - excellent. Shia LaBeouf - excellent (I'm a fan anyway tho) Josh Brolin - good enough. Carey Mulligan - eh. Susan Sarandon even shows up in a small bit and does a decent job.

The problem is the thing gets confusing - muttled - hard to follow. Then they slip in a small zinger of reality (how corrupt Wall Street really is) and then hurry and bury that again. The whole thing gets smothered in a romance/try to make up with daddy/bad guy becomes nice guy after all story. It seems like the whole financial thing wasn't that bad after all and the real people responsible get caught and punished so everything is okay now.

Huh?

For an Oliver Stone movie this is horribly disappointing. Wall Street is a huge subject, one that affects all of us and is historically the most corrupt and outlandish thing to ever happen in the country. To push all of that aside with one sweep is really dropping the ball. Stone has no stones in this one, clearly.

I'm giving it a '2'. Less for the story but more for the performances and for what was attempted.

We saw hard working Super Manager Shane today and had some of the best Hot Fresh Pueblo Tinseltown popcorn with sprinkle cheese! Everyone was friendly and doing a great job as usual. It was a good crowd for the first showing of this movie, too. Many others looking forward to it as I was, and most likely feeling a bit let down afterward.

Toy Story 3

Went to Toy Story 3 with my daughter and her little guy.

Toy Story is a much beloved franchise, with gorgeous graphics and always a heart warming story. This one is that and more. The story is nice, toys are fun, images even more gorgeous than ever before. Our own complaint was that it went on for what we thought was too long (and the restlessness of the little people in the theater reinforced that feeling) and seemed to repeat itself in many scenes.

Other than that this is nice, feel good, fun movie with some neat updated characters. You can't ask for much more in the summer from an animated film.

We gave it a '3'! Pueblo Tinseltown was the place - popcorn fresh and hot and Caleb sold us our tickets with a nice smile. Everyone working there seemed to be handling the wave of little people very well. ;)

This Is It

I'm very happy to introduce a Guest Reviewer today - Mara Gordon. She watched and reviewed the film about Michael Jackson - This Is It - for us today. Thank you, Mara! :)

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When earthmom asked me if I would like to write a review of the film, This is It! I was thrilled, but not for the reasons you may expect. Not because I think of myself, in anyway qualified to critique a documentary film for it's cinematography, editing, directorial skill, or sound engineering. Nor am I in any position to decide whether you should or shouldn't go to see this film. Instead, it had everything to do with the 46 years I have spent as a die hard Michael Jackson fan.

While watching This is It! I found myself experiencing the same sensation I have when seeing a film for the second time, knowing the ending, but somehow hoping that this time the villain will be caught early enough that the good guy lives. Unfortunately, no matter how many times I see it, the ending never changes. That's just not the way life works. At the end of This is It! Michael Jackson is still gone.

As a small girl, I watched the Jackson 5, and wished I could sing and dance like Michael. He was so cool, so smooth. The way he would spin around and dip his hat like a grown-up in a little boy's body was incredible. MJ, as Michael was later often known, was only six months older than me, yet he was light years ahead of me in cool. He was my first crush. Sitting on the floor watching him perform “ABC” and “I'll Be There” while his older brothers backed him up was amazing. This is it! captured some of that magic.

When This is It! came out in theaters I was unable to see it for reasons that are irrelevant, but I was determined to watch it when I had access to a quality sound system coupled with a good screen, and not on my laptop. That opportunity came last night when I brought the DVD to a friend's home who has 5.1 surround sound and a 48” screen. After dimming the room lights, and adjusting the volume, I was ready for the performance of a lifetime. MJ had never let me down.

First, the dancers who were selected for the tour were highlighted. They choked up as they described their reactions to getting news of their selection. They understood that not only was this a huge career opportunity. It was also the chance to work with a legend, and a great artist. Once again, I was left with a sadness, knowing the inevitable outcome to the story. What had each of these young people risked to come to this tour? To get so close to something, and then a phone call ended it all. Were they able to use this as a platform to find other work? I also wondered if they had known that this was going to be Michael Jackson's final rehearsal, would they have dressed better that day? Would they have put on lipstick?

Michael was a teacher. His ear for music; his instinct for what would move his audience; his sense of rhythm were his gifts to his students – and he gave them freely. He respectfully encouraged and pushed his dancers and musicians. There was one young woman in particular, a lead guitar soloist, who was not hamming it up enough. MJ kept telling her that this was her time to shine. When she eventually got what he was telling her, she was remarkable. That gift will stay with her forever.

In one scene, Michael pauses right before the big crescendo at the end, and says to someone off camera in explanation of why he is singing the way he is, “I'm saving my voice”, and I almost started to cry. He then sang the ending beautifully, but not in the way I know he would have if he had known he was doing it for his fans. And, that is really what I would have to say about much of the music in the film. I loved every second of it, but I wanted him to belt out every song as if he were doing it for the last time – and he knew it!

The Wolfman

Benicio Del Lobo! :)

When I first saw the trailer for this movie I burst out laughing (loudly, I'm afraid) and realized quickly that I was the only one. Turns out my son, Josh, in a theater several states away, had the same reaction. It just seemed like an incredible and ridiculous movie for Benicio del Toro to star in!

But we've waited with wolfbane baited breath, counting off the moon phases, and finally today it arrived.

THIS was a movie - THIS bordered on semi epic - THIS was a film that didn't need to be made!

Earthdad and I are fans of the genre, and the individual actors. We're both fans of Lon Chaney and the Creature Features of decades ago. But why remake a movie if you don't have much of anything to add to it? It follows so closely the original, even certain exact scenes and images. But the sets are larger and sweeping, and the actors are better quality. A touch of pithy dialogue, and Anthony Hopkins. Other than that it follows - exactly - it's an old movie set to a new screen. The pacing is slow, the music dramatic, at times it appears to be making fun of itself (accidentally?) and there are many moments left open for witty and silly remarks - so be sure to take a friend who has a sense of humor. We found several of those and fell into the giggles. Unfortunately the movie was moving on taking itself very, very seriously.

Anthony Hopkins is wonderful but there's not enough of him to make it worthwhile. Benicio was fine - just odd still that he's even in it. He didn't seem to bring anything special to this. Emily Blunt was an odd choice (The Devil Wears Prada) and the weak link in the ensemble. She simply is not mature enough or a strong enough actor to be the female lead here. A snapshot of her was fine - she appeared to be made up very well and fit the role, but she didn't have the presence that her character required.

For me the one who stole the show was Hugo Weaving - Agent Smith from The Matrix. He doesn't have a huge role but his scenes are excellent and his dialogue is about the best. He was worth watching.

They've left the door wide open for Wolfman 2 but I don't think the revenues will allow that to happen. Ironic that a lack of silver at the box office may be the death of The Wolfman.

Pueblo Tinseltown was the place - we were happy to see Super Manager Shane who served us up piping fresh popcorn with real butter and sprinkle cheese. We were unaware that today was a school holiday (or we never would have gone) but the staff were doing an excellent job moving everyone along quickly on a tough day. The crowd in The Wolfman was quite thin, but other shows (the children's movies especially) were full.

This one gets a "2".

Up In The Air

George Clooney has been very busy lately with many movies coming out - and this one is my favorite.

I saw 'Up In The Air' by myself which seems perfect when you consider the theme. Clooney plays a loner - a person who has isolated himself from others and is happy that way. He flies continually for his job, which is going from place to place to lay people off for companies. Just that area alone was interesting - how the science of laying people off has developed, how people react to the news, what can make it better for them, what companies do to minimize their own risks, etc. Fascinating and timely stuff.

Enter an interest... I won't say love interest because this man doesn't need any of that... Vera Farmiga ("Orphan") She is just wonderful in this role - strong and confident and funny and ... well interesting. The third member of this 3 person ensemble is Anna Kendrick ("New Moon") as the very young, very ambitious woman who is out to change the world, or at least the workplace she finds herself in.

This movie is directed by Jason Reitman, who did "Juno" and "Thank You For Smoking" and several episodes of "The Office". All excellent things to sit and enjoy, in my book, so it's no wonder I loved the pacing and the direction of this film. It was very absorbing.

The plot is not a huge surprise - I didn't find anything unexpected but even though I anticipated the plot turns I wasn't disappointed when they did go the way I thought. Hard to explain but maybe it doesn't have to be a huge surprise if you're just having a good time enjoying the ride already.

It was an interesting and fun movie. I give it a '4'. Pueblo Tinseltown was in great shape - popcorn hot and fresh and right out of the popper, served up with a smile by Sean.

Vampire's Assistant

The trailers looked great! The story looked interesting! The movie looked creepy!

Buddy, buddy - none of the above.

This movie should have definitely been a Made For Tv Movie and nothing more. It is desperately trying to ride on the coattails of the current Vampire Mania that has swept the country inexplicably. It's helping to fill the gap in those poor 8 to 12 year olds who are too young for TrueBlood and Twilight but need some kind of vampire entertainment. In comes The Vampire's Assistant to try and fill that gap!

The entire movie was a setup to either a string of movies or a tv show to follow. Not sure what's in the works but it's obvious they have something in mind, everything was a setup of the characters and the only thing missing was "To Be Continued...." at the end.

It's slow... it's made for kids... it stars a young Ashton Kutcher lookalike who is supposed to be the Good Guy and his best friend who is the Bad Guy. It's not a very good movie. Possibly if you have a young kid who wants to get in on the vampire craze, fine. Maybe.

I really hope this current vampire craze dies off faster than a vampire. It's so tiresome now. TrueBlood was interesting, I am proud to say I never saw Twilght but the 2nd installment of that cash machine is about to be released. Vampire Diaries on tv, there's a vampire comedy coming out that we saw the trailer for today. Yikes.

Speaking of a cash machine - the lines were long today for the Michael Jackson movie. That's one we're so not seeing.

This one gets a '2'

Super Manager Shane served us up our fresh, hot popcorn with a smile. Pueblo Tinseltown was good - movie was not.

Whip It

Whip It is directed by Drew Barrymore, and she has a role as well. It looks like it was a LOT of fun to make - all these actresses skating and falling and crashing and playing Roller Derby. Looks like fun. Watching the movie - not so much.

I was a big Roller Derby fan way back - 1969, 1970, The T-Birds in Chicago. I'd sneak into my parents room and dig out the old black and white tv that they had stored away, hook it up and hold onto the antenna trying to get the Chicago station in that would let me cheer along for Big John and the T-Birds. :) Good times.

This movie captures a bit of that same fun, with a heavy handed coming of age story that doesn't really play out well and is lacking in realism.

Girls falling down, skating, roller derby - it's all silly fun but very forgettable.

Pueblo Tinseltown looked good - popcorn was fresh and hot. This one gets a '2'.

Zombieland

Zombieland has some good trailers and a good premise but something terrible happens along the way. I've seen this movie get good reviews, but can't figure out why.

We like this type of movie, had high hopes going in and were happy for the first third maybe. Then it seems that someone maybe lost the script and everyone just started ad libbing. The story went right out the window, it becomes an awkward coming of age movie with no regard to the zombies.... and the characters begin to do things that are completely against their character.

For example, after beating over our heads the fact that two girls in the movie are smart, street smart, clever, intelligent, etc. they both just lose their brain cells and turn into total idiots doing idiot moves that make no sense.

I guess we'd give this movie a 3 for the first third to half, and a 2 for the last half. Averaging into a 2.5

Good popcorn, nice people at Pueblo Tinseltown. Marissa was our favorite employee this trip. :)

The Time Travelers Wife

It is opening day for Inglourious Basterds, and even tho I don't like Nazi movies and don't particularly like Brad Pitt (eeeek, sorry about that but it's true) it IS directed by Quentin Tarantino so we just HAD to go.

The best laid plans.... even at the first show of the opening day it was PACKED. So going with our constant mantra that a mediocre movie in an uncrowded theater is better than a great movie in a crowd, we changed up and went to see The Time Traveler's Wife. Sorry Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams, you were not our first choice.

Long ago I read the book, or at least I read part of the book. I'm not sure I finished it. I don't read much fiction. You can't miss the trailers for this film, it's been HEAVILY promoted, but we had pretty much decided not to go see it. Well there we were and lo and behold, it was a bit more interesting than we expected.

Here is where I warn you to check your logic at the door. Check reality at the door, check common sense there too. I went in with the "Okay I'm believing in Time Travel - hey it could happen!" theory, but even with that in mind, the logic really escapes the writer of this story. Do yourself a favor, don't keep track of the rules of time travel, don't try to make sense out of the things they do, just expect a sweet love story and let yourself get swept up in just that. You'll enjoy the movie if you do.

As usual I don't give away the plot, but Eric Bana is a time traveler and he and Rachel McAdams fall in love and he keeps popping in and out unexpectedly throughout their lives. Thankfully there's more to it than that but that's the premise.

Eric Bana is a very good actor (we last saw him in 'Funny People' with a thick, Australian accent) and Rachel McAdams does a really good job here. It's nice to see Arliss Howard in a small role (last seen on tv on 'Medium') and it's nice to see Ron Livingston do a good job here (the star of 'Office Space'), but the stand out performance we felt was by two little sisters, Hailey and Tatum McCann. They were mesmerizing on screen and I bet we see a whole lot more of them.

We were happy to see Super Manager Shane at our Pueblo Tinseltown, he served us up totally fresh and delish popcorn with real butter and added some nice words to his great service. Concession Leader James was also a nice smiling face, as was our favorite ticket taker Adam. Earthdad and I commented today that long time ago we were sad to see Tinseltown come here because it ran some smaller theaters out of business and was just a big corporation with a cold feel. For at least the last 5 years we've noticed just the opposite about this particular Tinseltown. It's a big, beautiful, clean, well maintained facility with great seating, but it also has that small town friendliness and nice touches to it like the smaller theaters did.

Somehow this place has managed to do both and do them very well. I think they have some very caring and hard working people here. It really shows in their work and it really makes the experience better for anyone who comes in.

The Time Traveler's Wife gets a '3' - it's fun and better than we thought it would be, but check your brain cells at the door!

Year One

This movie was shockingly, and really surprisingly, bad. If you saw the trailers on tv, you have seen the only funny lines in the movie. It starts off with some promise, giving us those quotes from the trailers.... and then just falls off the cliff. Story lags, the genius of Harold Remis and even my new fav actor Hank Azaria, just do nothing to save this. It may have been a party to film, and a hoot to play with the costumes, etc, but none of the fun comes through to the audience.

There are alot of jokes about penises and peeing and pooping. Those are the lowest common denominator in a comedy movie - they've run out of anything creative or interesting or clever when all they do is poop or vomit jokes. This movie is full of em. Plot? Ummm.... there isn't really one. And things keep happening that the lead characters just magically get out of with no explanation - like someone cut out a foot of the film and spliced it together in the middle of another scene. :\

Very, very disappointing.

Pueblo Tinseltown was in great form - fresh popcorn and friendly folks. And the rating for this one is nice - it's already built into the title! A '1'!

The Taking of Pelham 123

This is a remake but I didn't see the original so it's all good. That said, there are many things that are modernized and up to date - from some very nice graphics to an eye catching directing style (Director: Tony Scott) to internet access.

We really enjoyed this movie - from start to finish. Denzel Washington is wonderful as the 'ordinary' transit system control center worker. John Travolta is wonderful as the bad guy. He plays a guy who has more than one dimension and is interesting to watch. A nice script, fun and pretty stuff on the screen - hey, what else do you want in a summer movie?

Other notable performances - John Turturro, Luiz Guzman, and particularly James Gandolfini ('Sopranos') who plays the Mayor of NYC. He manages to build his character with not many lines and does a great job.

This one grabs your interest, provides the right degree of tension and action and story and keeps you going. We liked it alot.

Pueblo Cinemark was great today - fresh popcorn and we got to see Super Manager Shane during our visit. :)

Pelham 123 gets a 3!

Up

I dragged earthdad to this movie. Have to admit it - and I sold out by promising to go see "Drag Me To Hell" if he would just tag along to "Up". The deal was made. And so we went. He was sure he was just putting in the time going to see a cartoon, but boy was he wrong.

This movie has nothing going for it that most adults normally are attracted to. A cartoon, an old man, a fat little boy scout, possibly a talking dog. But it really, truly works.

'Up' has a true and deep story, it is touching, it is funny, it is silly, it is beautiful to look at with a feast of gorgeous graphics, and it just works. I don't remember ever getting teary eyed while watching a cartoon, not until now.

Ed Asner is the lead role voice (Carl Fredricksen), with Christopher Plummer as the voice of Super World Adventurer, Charles Muntz. We had a hard time placing the voices but I did catch Delroy Lindo in a small role.

Without giving anything away, this movie may be a little hard to explain to small children. I'm not sure how they would take some parts, and the beginning moves a bit slowly. It certainly does take off when it takes off, though. The action scenes rival any live action film and you'll find yourself tensing up in your chair right along with the characters!

This is a wonderful movie.

Pueblo Tinseltown was in great shape today - new faces that were working hard and doing well and made the trip very enjoyable.

A big "5"!

Terminator Salvation

This was highly anticipated - but why? Because we loved the original Terminator. Because it was a LONG time ago that we loved the original Terminator. Because our memories have forgiven the franchise for other Terminator movies that followed. And maybe because it's been a bit of a dry movie season so far.

Christian Bale plays the adult John Connor, the savior of the human race against the machines.

Here's the good, bad and ugly of this film. The good is that it had a spark of an idea. A little seedling about seeing John Connor as an adult, in a timewarp where his father exists as a teenager and he must save him. There is a little kernel of an interesting plot line with a mass murderer... there's a nice couple of scenes with Helena Bonham Carter ('Fight Club') that made me wish she had been in more of the movie. The other good part is a recreation of young, strong, Ahnold - the Original Terminator. That was fun.

But you wade through an intense amount of muck and crud and dirt and CG to get to those little kernels. That's the bad AND the ugly.

The demographic for this movie must be 10 - 12 year old boys who are so hopped up on ICEEs that their eyeballs are bulging going in. I think only that mind can absorb this kind of crash, fire, explode, metal on metal, fire, machine gun, crash, explode that just never ends. It's one big CG scene. There's actually very very little acting in this entire movie. Instead it's ruled by stunt people - all we see of our 'actors' are their stunt doubles falling, rolling, dodging, shooting, diving, plummeting.

Very soon into this your brain just checks out.

A key thing that action movies must create is some connection to the core characters, creating some desire on our part that they make it out okay. Frankly I didn't care, and I already knew they'd be fine. They had to be - after all there's another movie showing them in it and we know how that one goes so we know who lives to go on. Taking away that element of suspense just leaves you with.... a couple of hours of things exploding, things on fire, things shooting or being shot at, lots of fast camera takes and flashing stuff on a black and white dismal backdrop.

This was a lousy movie.

Popcorn at Pueblo Tinseltown was fresh, hot and fast - served up by the fast and helpful young Eden at the concession stand. That was the only redeeming thing to going to the show today. Oh, that and getting to see the Sherlock Holmes trailer - wow what a franchise Robert Downey, Jr. has gotten himself into! It looks promising and if it takes off, he could do sequels forever with that one!

Earthdad and I both gave this one a '1'. We feel kind of tired and beaten up from sitting through it. :P

Wolverine

Opening Day - Wolverine! This is one I've been waiting for and I'm left with mixed feelings about it. Visually, action scenes, fight scenes - all those were excellent and really interesting to watch. Storyline is questionable, I thought the pacing was off, and it filled in space at times that made it feel like they took half of a movie and stretched it out and let it coast along because they know that there's another movie on the way that will provide the second half. That's the overall impression I was left with, anyway.

As far as interesting characters - Marvel always gave us those and they're fun to watch come to life. That's the whole interest point for these comic book movies - we want to watch that guy laser everything around him with his eyes or that guy freeze the whole city or that guy leap through the air - we read it in the comics and we want to see it happen. Isn't it interesting that most of the time the special effects don't live up to our imagination?

This movie goes back to Logan's childhood and shows us a bit about him. Not nearly enough if you ask me. The childhood scenes actually brought up more questions than they answered. I think with every Wolverine movie, they're making him nicer and kinder. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's a good thing if the guy with the huge handknives is nice and kind.

Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber do very good jobs as Logan and Victor (Wolverine and Sabertooth) but the scenes were stolen by Ryan Reynolds ('Adventureland') as 'Deadpool'. Makes you wonder why he's wasting his time in movies like Adventureland and Harold & Kumar when he's just amazing in this kind of flick. I would have preferred it if he was given a much larger part - it would have made this movie so much more interesting and lively.

There are a few funny spots - very few. There *is* a nice love interest so it makes for a good girlfriend movie ;)

The fighting was good, popcorn was good. This one gets a '3'.

Watchmen

Watchmen on Opening Day! Oh Yeah! :)

I dragged earthdad - he thought it was a cartoon and I knew it was based on a comic but neither of us were familar with that comic or the book or anything about it. All I knew is that our son, Adam, is a big Watchmen fan and has been waiting for the movie! So where was he today? Not sure - I haven't even seen him to yet to rub it in that we went!

This movie was fabulous - we both LOVED it. Walking in knowing next to nothing about it was not a problem. When it starts I felt that it was odd - unusual. I also felt impatient with it in general for around 15 minutes or so. Be warned if you experience the same thing... it passes. The direction is gorgeous, the script is excellent, the actors are wonderful, and this movie is not in a hurry. You get pulled in and then it wraps itself around you and soon you realize you really care what's going on.

Yes, I started to believe that these super heroes are real, and in our real modern day world (circa 1985) and that it's all possible!

Several times you're thinking the characters are knock offs - this girl looks like Zena and that guy is Clark Kent but in his costume he's Batman....except they're not. They're humans, no actual super powers (except for Dr. Manhattan) but they each have a story. Very compelling stories. Rorschach was the most annoying to me at first and later became the most dynamic, the most compelling and the most interesting of the bunch. He remained true to his character, something I admire about the writers.

This movie may be from a comic but it IS rated R - and for many reasons. Graphic bloody violence and nudity and naughty bits - several sexual situations. DON'T make the mistake of thinking "comic" and send or take kids.

The story was layered and very interesting - we were drawn in and stayed there.

Giving this one a 5!

Tinseltown Pueblo did a decent job - they seem short of help so there was a wait for the popcorn but it was fresh!

Coming attractions - we're going to see the new Wolverine movie that's on the way. Funny how one scene he walks through a hallway scraping his hand-knives along the walls like Freddy Krueger. I want to see this movie: Wolverine Meets Freddy Krueger! (Don't fall asleep, Wolverine......)

The Wrestler

Mickey Rourke is back.

He earned the Academy Awared nomination - but Sean Penn took home the statue. Was Sean Penn better? Everyone seemed shocked when Rourke lost, and it can be argued that he's made enough enemies in Hollywood that they just won't give him the prize. He certainly did a great job in this movie, but one thing came to mind throughout. How much was he acting?

Sean Penn actually *became* Harvey Milk and did a fantastic acting job. Mickey Rourke was gritty, intense, real, but maybe the cameras just followed him around in his normal life and got alot of that footage.... just joking but it did come to mind. Maybe the old trailer 'The Ram' lives in is really his..... no sets needed for this movie!

This movie has been called "depressing" but I don't think that's accurate. It's reality, it's gritty, it's close up, it's unflattering - I guess that is a bit depressing. But it's actually a good story, of a man who was on top and 20 years later never moved on. I think a similar story plays out all too often here in America. How many people have had their few fleeting moments of "fame" and then have to deal with regular old life afterward? We're shown here that it can be a tough and bitter pill to swallow. Especially those who never grew past that time and didn't evolve.

Marisa Tomei is the only other lead in the movie and she is fabulous as a stripper. She is a wonderful actress. With a combination of perkiness and beauty and sweetness, she shines in the midst of the raunchiest settings and wearing the worst outfits (or nothing at all). It's really unfair that she seems to not have aged much at all since My Cousin Vinny (a favorite). *sigh*

It's not a cheerful movie, it's a slow paced, thoughtful, up close look at reality. We give it a 4.

earthdad and I liked this one - the popcorn was great - our buddy Super-Manager Shane was at the Pueblo Tinseltown box office and always a pleasure to see. It was a good afternoon at the movies.