The Tooth Fairy

When you tell me that a pro wrestler is going to be in a movie where he is going to wear a tutu, my first thought is...this has been done before, remember Hulk Hogan in Mr. Nanny? So my thoughts of The Rock doing, yet another, kid movie to where The Rock is going to be wearing a tutu was pretty bleak. I expected nothing out of this movie, and quite frankly, I was surprised.

After The Scorpion King, The Rundown, The Gameplan, and even Wallkng Tall, The Rock has arrived in this movie. I believe this is his niche'. The days of replacing Stallone, Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis are gone. The Rock has found himself being the action hero for kids. As long as these movies make money, The Rock will be very successful in this genre. As for his part in The Tooth Fairy, his lines came off a little cheesy for me, but then again, I've seen him cut wrestling promos for almost ten years, so I can expect a little cheesiness. I found him to be entertaining, but it also helped that you had Billy Crystal and Julie Andrews in the movie. This was probably one of the first Ashley Judd movies to where she isn't so "in your face" and honestly, I kinda liked it. After watching Kiss the Girls, Double Jeporady, and A Time to Kill, she appeared to be more laid back in this one. As for the story line, it was smooth, easy to follow, and kids won't be lost in it.

For the type of audience that The Tooth Fairy is trying to reach, this is a plus. I really enjoyed the movie and I think you and your kids will like it too.

Up in the Air

I was a little leary of this movie, considering how the recent George Clooney choice of movies has been. I wasn't a fan of Leatherheads, I fell asleep during Ocean's 13, and I wanted to throw up during Intolerable Cruelity. For me, ever since he dressed up as Batman, I've had a hard time watching his movies with an open mind. Granted, all the of the Oscar buzz for Up in the Air helped, but then again, I never saw Syrianna or Good Night, Good Luck because of George Clooney. After watching Up in the Air, I am back on the George Clooney bandwagon.

The first thing this movie showed me was that it was rated R, and for me, that is a big deal. Making a movie rated R means that you don't pull back from subject matter, material, and language. This movie was about a real guy who lived on the road, using airplanes and hotels as a place of residence. His job was to go into these corporate buildings and give hard working employees their walking papers. Instead of getting a Disney, possibly edited for TBS type movie, I saw real emotion. I also have to commend Clooney on a job well done. He was convincing as Ryan, the hired gun for fire (so to speak). I liked Vera Farmiga as the woman who meets Clooney out on road, and uses him for the escape that she feels that she needs. Anna Kendrick's character was a little bit of a beating for me, but she won me over towards the end. I'm not sure if I just didn't like her character or if I didn't like her, but in the end, her character didn't ruin the movie for me.

Having never seen the best picture, The Hurt Locker, yet, I was pleasentley surprised on how much I enjoyed this movie. In my opinion, Jason Reitman is 2 for 2 in great movies, Juno and this one.

Lucas

Having an 80's flashback moment, my wife and I decided to watch an old 80's classic Lucas. With the passing of Corey Haim, Charlie Sheen's martial woes, and the biggest question of all, what ever happened to Kerri Green, we dove into Lucas. Let just say, times can surely change the outlook of a movie.

Considering the age of Corey Haim in the movie, I thought he did a remarkable job in the film, and, not to sound too weepy, I found myself tearing up a little as I watched him steal the scenes from everyone else in the movie. I thought Charlie Sheen was great as kind of a "big brother" to Lucas, even if I've gotten so used to his character in Two and a Half Men. Kerri Green was wonderful in her role as Maggie, the object of Lucas' affection.

The story felt a little dated, but that would be natural considering the changing of the times. The story had a very soft ending. I understand that the story was about a over achieving kid who was looking for acceptance and had a hard time getting it in a high school atmosphere. I find it hard to believe that all it took was for him to show up in a high school football game to get knocked out to get accepted.

Still, the movie is a classic and it helped put Corey Haim on the map. Too bad drugs knocked him out of this world.

Iron Man 2

It's Summer time and for movie fans that means BIG SUMMER MOVIES. Movie studios make it a point to release sequels during this time, knowing that fans will all flock to the theaters in droves to see them. That brings me to Iron Man 2.

Robert Downey Jr. is back as Tony Stark/Iron Man and is awesome in his performance. While in the beginning, the movie appeared to be too busy, but after the first 15 minutes, the movie calmed down and the story developed. While Jeff Bridges gave a rather thankless role as the villain in the first one, Mickey Rourke gives a masterful performance as Whiplash. My only issue with this movie was that there wasn't enough Mickey Rourke in the movie. I found the Justin Hammer character to be annoying and wished that they would kill him off. While I like Don Cheadle as an actor and loved him in Ocean's Eleven, I missed Terrence Howard in the role as Rhodey. I was looking forward to seeing him as War Machine after the scene in Iron Man when he looked at the silver Iron Man costume and said, "Next time!" But that didn't ruin the movie for me! I liked the Captain America tie in as they used his shield as a lift. The action sequences were great, but I felt they could of been longer.

All in all, while I liked the movie, it's definitely not The Dark Knight! But with the tie in to the eventual Avengers movie, and potential superhero movies that Marvel keeps putting out on a yearly basis, they're still far and above the standard bearer when it comes to superhero movies.