by Luke Goldstein

The movies I recently watched likely showed up in slightly newer film cans.

It’s been a little while since my last review and it would be a nearly Sisyphean task to remember each and every detail I picked up on at each of the following flicks, so in an effort to bring things back to the present, but not have to create time-travel in order to do it, here is a brief summary of movies I recently took in:

The Raven – John Cusack is a personal favorite of mine in the world of actors (and he should be one of yours too!), yet as perfect as he is for this role, the movie felt slow and totally weighed down by everyone mumbling to each other in hushed Victorian tones.  4/10

The Dictator – Sure, those jaw-dropping moments of shock comedy are gone from the world of Sacha Baron Cohen, but what we lose in real people caught on camera, we gain in actual characters thought out and moved through a coherent plot. Not sure whether the tradeoff is worth it, but there were moments of hilarity sprinkled throughout and is worth a look. 5/10

Moonrise Kingdom – Wes Anderson has always been hit-or-miss with me (The Royal Tenenbaums = hit, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou= miss), so I went into this with a healthy share of skepticism. Happily, I came out feeling this was one of the more adorable and charming pieces I have seen in a long time. Strange, without a doubt, and not for all audiences, but it captures a sense of youthful romance that only Anderson could’ve depicted. One down note was a particularly uncomfortable scene of the young couple on the beach. I think it could have been done differently without making people worried it was teasing the edge of exploitation. 8/10

Men in Black 3 – Falls in between the previous chapters of the franchise. Far above Men in Black 2, but lags way behind the original Men in Black. Highlight is undoubtedly Josh Brolin‘s impersonation of a young Tommy Lee Jones. It is frighteningly accurate. 6/10

Prometheus – This film has been so widely defended and trashed by the online community I almost hate to even add to the whirlwind, so I’ll keep this brief. It looked cool. 6/10

Rock of Ages – Most poignant version of Bon Jovi’s Wanted: Dead or Alive ever put to film. Cruise sells this and proves he still has the ability to disappear into a character (at least one that he can easily relate to). Some really fun moments, but serious missteps throw it into a parody instead of homage. 5/10

Brave – Widely panned by die-hard Pixar fans, I think it is being held to standards nearing unreachable. Yes, it is not anywhere near their greatest film, but it was simple, heartwarming and enjoyed plenty of the achingly cute moments that make Pixar what it is. Add to that it dared to create a female lead with no need for a male character to come save her, it will hold its own in movie history as a step forward in the annals of animation. 8/10

There you have it, all caught up for the time being. Any flicks you feel like sharing, just go for it in the comments below.

———————————————————————-

Like The End of the Page on Facebook, Follow The End of the Page on Twitter, Grab the RSS feed.