Killers

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: After marrying the perfect man (Ashton Kutcher), a woman (Katherine Heigl) finds out that he is actually an assassin working for the CIA.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher, Tom Selleck, Catherine O'Hara, Katheryn Winnick, Kevin Sussman, Lisa Ann Walters, Casey Wilson, Rob Riggle, Martin Mull, Alex Borstein, Usher Raymond

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. If you've seen the trailer, you've seen the film, but it's still really fun to stare at Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl under perfect lighting in picture perfect locations for an hour and a half.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: I have to say, Ashton Kutcher has a moment so awkward and subtle, I almost thought I was watching Michael Cera for a second. Then I realized I was a little turned on, so I knew it couldn't be Cera.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: It makes me sad that I'm so attracted to Ashton Kutcher despite the fact that I am repulsed by his personality on Punk'd, Twitter, and radio interviews. But I guess everybody needs a guilty pleasure.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Tom Selleck is in it, so it's a gimme for Best Mustache. Unfortunately, that category is like the Emmy Awards, the same people win every year.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Katherine Heigl's character has a wonderful kind of quirk I'd never quite seen before. It was obviously the writing, but I still think she gets credit for pulling off some of the more difficult moments... Like finding out your husband is an assassin and going right along with it when he tells you to shoot someone in the head, despite the fact that you've never held a gun before. And Catherine O'Hara is the new Jane Lynch.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Somehow this film's look reminded me of a colored version of a 1940s movie. Maybe it was Katherine Heigl's hair. Or maybe the lighting. Or maybe it's that Robert Luketic directed Legally Blonde, and therefore he can do no wrong in my eyes.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Despite the cute dialogue and the fun tone, there's something about the story that doesn't push it over the top into "this is a great movie" territory. Maybe because the love affair happens so easily. Or maybe because she doesn't find out he's a killer until half way through the film. Or maybe because there isn't even that much tension when she does. Sure, she freaks out for a second, but you never get to doubt that her love will overcome her anger and fear. Yes, that's it! At all junctures, what's missing is tension. Except for the part where everyone everywhere is trying to kill them, that's sort of stressful.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/killers/36838/trailers

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Iron Man 2

(Guest Review by Annette)

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Billionaire playboy/weapons specialist Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is back. The government wants him to hand over the Iron Man technology, the energy core is poisoning him, and there’s a bad Russian (Mickey Rourke) in town who is bent on revenge.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke, Samuel L. Jackson, Jon Favreau, Garry Shandling, Clark Gregg, John Slattery, Paul Bettany, Kate Mara, Leslie Bibb, Christiane Amanpour, Larry Ellison, DJ Am, Stan Lee, Olivia Munn, Jack White

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. It’s not as good as the original, but if you like high-octane action (read: lots of stuff blowing up) and don’t mind a predictable storyline, go see Iron Man Part Deux.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: RDJ delivers the trademark Tony Stark snark. Expect a few chuckles, but don’t worry about popping your stitches.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: If you thought Mickey Rourke was hot in 9 ½ Weeks, you’ll spend the entire movie getting choked up about the fact that he never became a silver-fox like George Clooney.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: The New Coke Award given out to all the sequels that just don’t live up to the original.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Robert Downey Jr. IS Tony Stark. Like every character he takes on, you just can’t imagine any other actor in that role. Mickey Rourke makes an awesome villain without even trying; he’d be the first person you’d cast in a movie about Genghis Khan or Janice Dickinson. Sam Rockwell makes a great sleazy weasel—the kind that makes you wish you had a whack-a-mole mallet. Jackson and Cheadle are under-utilized and it's sad to see their talent wasted in such underdeveloped roles. ScarJo is merely a set decoration to ramp up the comic fanboy drool factor. Don’t ask me about Gwyneth Paltrow. She irks.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: CGI heavy.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Weighed down with too many subplots. Lots of things blow up. Tony Stark has clever dialogue. That pretty much sums it up.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: I think Chelsea Handler is the only person who wouldn’t realize they swapped out Terrance Howard for Don Cheadle in the role of Lt. Col. Rhodey Rhodes. (see explanation of this joke here: http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/05/21/chelsea-handler-mixes-up-african-american-actors-video/)

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/iron-man-2/33909/trailers

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MacGruber

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Based on the Saturday Night Live sketch, MacGruber, which is based on spoofing the 1980s TV show, MacGyver, this is the story of a supposedly amazing ex-special operative who actually totally sucks. But don't tell him that.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Ryan Phillippe, Val Kilmer, Powers Boothe, Maya Rudolph

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. This is another one of those movies that is so dumb that it's funny. I learned from my review of Hot Tub Time Machine that some of you don't find humor in complete and total idiocy, so this yellow light is dedicated to you. The dumbditude of this movie makes Hot Tub Time Machine look like it's targeted at Mensa members.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: The people next to me giggled awkwardly and uncontrollably from the beginning to the end. I'm pretty sure they were high.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Personally, I had a tear of nostalgia, because in college, I, too, used to get high. With a couple of the writers of this movie, in fact. So the dialogue brought me right back to those good old days of the deep, important conversations, which if any of us had been sober, would have sounded completely nonsensical.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Best backstory in any movie, ever.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: It is some of the best acting I've seen out of both Will Forte and Ryan Phillippe... which I recognize, isn't saying much in either case.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Jorma Taccone shows a little too much gore for my taste, but aside from that, his style is perfectly matched to the broad tone of the script.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: High on potty humor and low on cleverness, but a good, dumb time, nonetheless.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: There is a homophobic joke that wants to be funny, but is only offensive. You know I'm not easily offended by humor, as I try to be an equal opportunity offender, myself. But if you're sensitive to homophobia, be warned. This joke misses the mark for anybody who understands that you can be a buff manly-man, and still want to have sex with dudes.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/macgruber/38929/trailers

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The Book of Eli

(Guest Review by Tempany)

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Eli (Denzel Washington) fights his way across a post apocalyptic world to safely deliver the supposed last St James Bible into safe hands.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis, Gary Oldman, Tom Waits, Jennifer Beals, Michael Gambon, Malcom McDowell

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Stop! Do not let ANYONE trick you into paying for this movie. They should be paying you. Not only is it a poor man’s version of The Road, the entire plot is implausible, weak, ridiculous and riddled with holes. It will only leave you frustrated, angry and confused as to how it ever got released.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Several of the hair and wardrobe choices will give you a giggle. Particularly Malcolm McDowell’s hair and Denzel’s Zen outfit in the final scenes. Not to mention Mila Kunis’s high fashion hipster outfit that looks brand new even though the world has been in disarray for thirty years….grrrr. Oh, and did I mention that everyone has shiny designer sunglasses? It’s hard to get water and food in a post apocalyptic world but Sunglass Hut has never been busier.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: No. Unless you paid for it and then you will be a bit weepy.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Razzies for everything. Although the fight scenes were pretty good… MTV’s best kung-fu kick award?

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Mila Kunis sure is cute and made a nice transition from TV to the big screen with Forgetting Sarah Marshall. But in The Book of Eli she is way out of her league - some of the worst acting I’ve seen in a long time. Tom Waits has a nice little cameo and Denzel is solid. Gary Oldman does his evil guy schtick, but what the movie really needed was the complexity of Ian McShane’s ‘Al Swearingen’ from Deadwood.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: They just got the whole thing wrong. Even though it’s set in the future, the Hughes brothers obviously need to stay in the world of sci-fi future and not gritty realism future. There are so many bad choices that this film never had a chance in hell of being good.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: I’m still trying to figure it out – and not because it was clever and tricky. If there was supposed to be a religious message, I never grasped it because I was so distracted by how nothing made sense.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: Fighting from the Matrix, warrior girl shots of Mila Kunis channeling Angelina Jolie's Lara Croft, Malcom McDowell stealing wig ideas from Christopher Lloyd, and almost identical cannibal warriors from The Road, makes The Book of Eli a million movies mashed into one very bad one.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-book-of-eli/30184/trailers

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RockNRolla

(Guest Review by Russ)

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A real-estate scam leads some underworld tough-guys to millions in cash, but not before a lot of double-crosses with a lot of colorful characters set in the colorful city of London.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Thandie Newton, Jeremy Piven, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, Mark Strong, Karl Roden, Jimi Mistry, Toby Kebbell, Tom Hardy, Idris Elba

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. RockNRolla signals a nice return to form for writer/director Guy Ritchie, so if you loved Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, you will eat this up. If thick British accents, dark humor and plot-twists for days aren’t your thing, then maybe skip it.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: When criminals, Russian mobsters, gay and straight tough-guys and sexy accountants are all this smart, this dumb, this lucky and this snake-bitten, it’s hard not to laugh. But fortunately, you’re supposed to.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: No. If you want to see a Guy Ritchie movie that’ll make you cry, go rent Swept Away. On second thought, don’t, I can't want to be responsible for your suicide.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Probably not, but there would be no shame in seeing Tom Wilkinson and newcomer (at least to America) Toby Kebbell (as rocker Johnny Quid) get acting nominations.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: It’s all so natural that it makes you forget how good everyone is, and it’s always nice to see some fresh faces that are lesser known on American shores. How does Tom Wilkinson find these roles year in and year out and become such completely different characters? He’s amazing. Gerard Butler is slyly funny, confident and freaked-out all at the same time. And one more mention to Toby Kebbell (I know: Who!?) as the RocknRoller (i.e. singer) who wants to be a RocknRolla (i.e. gangster) that everyone is trying to find. He starts out as a side-note, until you realize he’s the most pivotal character in the film, and probably the most interesting.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Guy Ritchie is never at a loss for directing with true style that doesn’t come off as showy, but rather informs his story and characters. RockNRolla is less hyper than his past films, but in this case, that’s a good thing.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: The thin plot is what makes RockNRolla a lesser film than either Snatch or Lock, Stock…, but it’s just engaging enough to keep you interested. And after an over-explained set-up that can be hard to follow, it doesn’t turn out to be that hard to follow. The final intersection of the two divergent stories could have been smoother, but that’s a minor quibble. Overall, it’s a satisfying framework in which to let these oddball characters loose, so they can rattle around and bump up against each other for two hours.

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