Opening Nationwide on Friday, June 11th:

Movie: The A-Team (PG-13)
Starring: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Biel, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson & Sharlto Copley
Genre: Action Adventure
Synopsis: An elite group of veterans from the Iraq War are out to clear their name after being accused of a crime they didn’t commit.
First Thoughts: The A-Team was one of my favorite shows when I was younger, so when I first heard about it getting the big screen treatment I was excited. That was excitement was tempered by the fact that most TV shows that have been turned into movies have pretty much sucked. Then, I saw the cast and thought that this one might be different; I mean the cast is pretty awesome. Once I saw the first trailer I was back onboard. Now, I just hope that it actually turns out to be good. Will definitely be seeing this one on Friday.

Movie: The Karate Kid (2010) (PG)
Starring: Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan & Taraji P. Henson
Genre: Coming-of-Age Family Sports Drama
Synopsis: A twelve-year-old boy on the verge of popularity in Detroit has to move with his mother to China when she gets a promotion. It isn’t all bad when he meets a beautiful young girl and fellow classmate at his new school. Yet, because of the cultural gap, them being friends is not possible. He gets on the radar of the school bully and young kung fu prodigy. The maintenance man at the school takes him under his wing and begins training him, as he is a secret kung fu master. Probably won’t be seeing this at the theater, but will definitely catch it at some point down the road.
First Thoughts: Well, he is actually a kid in this version of the movie, but my favorite question I’ve seen regarding the title and plot is, “why if he is the karate kid, is he learning kung fu?” I guess The Kung Fu Kid didn’t have as good a ring to it.

Movies in Limited Release:

• Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky - Drama about French couturiere Coco Chanel and the destitute Russian composer.
• Gangster’s Paradise: Jeruselama - Crime drama set in Johannesburg.
• Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work - Biographical documentary about the life of Joan Rivers.
• Kings of the Evening - Drama set during the Great Depression starring Tyson Beckford and Lynn Whitfield.
• Winter’s Bone - Modern noir family drama about a teenager that sets out to find what happened to her missing father.

For New Movie Friday there are two new movies to choose from this week. They are The A-Team and The Karate Kid. Do any of this week’s new movies look good to you?

Opening Nationwide on Thursday, May 27th:

Movie: Sex and the City 2 (R)
Starring: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis & Chris Noth
Genre: Comedy
Synopsis: The continuing story of Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha as they struggle to manage their love lives, friendships and careers in New York City.
First Thoughts: I have no desire to see this, yet I will probably end up watching it at some point.

Opening Nationwide on Friday, May 28th:

Movie: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (PG-13)
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley & Alfred Molina
Genre: Fantasy Action Adventure
Synopsis: A rogue prince and a mysterious princess join forces reluctantly in an attempt to safeguard an ancient dagger with the ability to release the Sands of Time from dark forces that want to use it to takeover the world.
First Thoughts: It’s a Jerry Bruckheimer production, which are always big and usually fun, but it is also based on a video game, which has not been a good thing in the past. Yet, the same people behind this created Pirates of the Caribbean from a ride at Disneyland, which was a whole lot less of a starting place than this.

Movies in Limited Release:

• Agora - Historical epic starring Rachel Weisz and Max Minghella about the astronomer Hypatia and her attempting to lead a group of followers in a fight to save the wisdom of the Ancient World.
• George A. Romero’s Survival of the Dead - Zombie movie about two rival families. One that wants to wipeout all zombies and another that wants to quarantine them in the hopes of finding a cure one day.
• Micmacs - French fantasy comedy about a group of underdogs that set out to get revenge on a weapons company whose weapons have played an unlucky part in one of their lives.

For New Movie Friday there are three new movies to choose from this week. They are George A. Romero’s Survival of the Dead, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and Sex and the City 2. Do any of this week’s new movies look good to you?

Opening Nationwide on Friday, May 21st:

Movie: MacGruber (R)
Starring: Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Ryan Phillippe, Val Kilmer, Powers Boothe & Maya Rudolph
Genre: Action Spoof Comedy
Synopsis: There is one American hero that has become a Green Beret, Navy SEAL, and Army Ranger and has 16 purple hearts, three Congressional Medals of Honor and seven presidential medals of bravery to show for it. And, he’s still sporting a mullet. It has been 10 years since the man lost his fiancée and decided to give up his life of fighting crime. Yet, when he finds out his sworn enemy has stolen a nuclear warhead, he believes he is the only one that can stop him. He puts together a team and sets out to bring his enemy to justice. He may not do things clean and pretty, but when you need the job done right, you give MacGruber a call.
First Thoughts: Since there is basically nothing to the MacGruber character on Saturday Night Live, they could create any kind of story they wanted. I want it to be good, but it looks dumb.

Movie: Shrek Forever After (PG)
Starring: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews & John Cleese
Genre: Fantasy Family Comedy
Synopsis: Shrek gets tricked into signing a deal that puts him in the middle of an alternate Far Far Away where ogres like him are hunted and he has never even met Fiona. Shrek must figure out how to get things back to the way they were before it’s too late, so he can reclaim his one true love.
First Thoughts: This movie seems to have multiple titles, but whatever it’s called, it doesn’t really interest me. I’ve never found any of the previous to be nearly as good as they are touted to be. The movie is also available in 3D and IMAX 3D.

Movies in Limited Release:

• 180° South - Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia in this adventure travel documentary.
• After the Cup: Sons of Sakhnin United - Sports biography about a soccer team from an Arab town in Israel that won the Israeli cup.
• Holy Rollers - Crime drama about a young Hasid from Brooklyn that is following the path his parents have laid out for him until he meets a charming neighbor that shows him a path to quick money.
• Kites - Bollywood romantic drama.
• Racing Dreams - Documentary about three youths pursuing the World Karting Association’s national championship.
• Solitary Man - Michael Douglas, Mary-Louise Parker, and Jenna Fischer star in this comedy drama about a 50-something man that has lost everything, but is making a comeback. But, the same things that brought him down before threaten to do it again if he makes the same wrong choices.

For New Movie Friday there are three new movies to choose from this week. They are 180° South , MacGruber, and Shrek Forever After. Do any of this week’s new movies look good to you?

Opening Nationwide on Friday, May 14th:

Movie: Just Wright (PG)
Starring: Common, Queen Latifah, Paula Patton, Phylicia Rashad & Pam Grier
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Synopsis: A physical therapist gets a great job working with an NBA All-Star, but when she starts to fall for him it makes things tough. Especially, since he seems to be into her best friend.
First Thoughts: Interesting place to put a romantic comedy. But, other than that, it sounds like every other romantic comedy that has come before it.

Movie: Letters to Juliet (PG)
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Vanessa Redgrave, Chris Egan, Gael & García Bernal
Genre: Romance
Synopsis: A young woman from America joins a group that replies to letters left to the famous Juliet of Romeo and Juliet. She answers one that she finds that was left in 1957 and it inspires the woman to head for Italy to find her long lost love, which begins a string of events that may just bring love into both their lives.
First Thoughts: Chick flick.

Movie: Robin Hood (PG-13)
Starring: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Max von Sydow & William Hurt
Genre: Adventure
Synopsis: Robin and his followers, in 13th century England, fight against local corruption and end up beginning an uprising that could change the balance of power in the world.
First Thoughts: This definitely looks different than any other Robin Hood movie that has come before. It does kind of look like Gladiator though.

Movies in Limited Release:

• Daddy Longlegs - Comedy drama about an irresponsible divorce dad that spends a couple weeks with his two young sons.
• Looking for Eric - Fantasy sports comedy drama about a depressed postal worker that gets some help from his favorite Manchester United player.
• Princess Kaiulani - Foreign drama about a Hawaiian princess in 1888 and the life she led after being separated from her family at 13 when they were ousted from power.

For New Movie Friday there are four new movies to choose from this week. They are Just Wright, Letter to Juliet, Princess Kaiulani, and Robin Hood. Do any of this week’s new movies look good to you?

Opening Nationwide on Friday, May 7th:

Movie: Babies (PG)
Starring: Four Babies
Genre: Documentary
Synopsis: The filmmaker follows four babies from different parts of the world from birth to them taking their first steps. They are in Mongolia, Namibia, San Francisco, and Tokyo.
First Thoughts: The babies all look cute, but I don’t think I’ll be seeing this anytime soon.

Movie: Iron Man 2 (PG-13)
Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke & Samuel L. Jackson
Genre: Sci-Fi Comic-Book Superhero Action
Synopsis: Everyone knows that the billionaire inventor Tony Stark is Iron Man. The government is pressuring him, along with the press and the public, to let the military in on his technology. Tony doesn’t want the information on his invention to get into the wrong hands, so he doesn’t want to do so. During this, he must make new alliances and fight off some powerful new foes.
First Thoughts: This is one of the movies I have most been looking forward to this year. Also, have been very interested to see how Don Cheadle taking over for Terrance Howard works. The movie is also playing in IMAX.

Movies in Limited Release:

• Badmaash Company - Workplace comedy set in 1990s India.
• Casino Jack and the United States of Money - Biographical political crime story that revolved around Indian casinos, the U.S. Congress and a group of con men out to fleece the government.
• Happiness Runs - Period drama about a young man that comes to the conclusion the the utopian ideals of the communion he grew up in aren’t all they are cracked up to be.
• Mother and Child - Ensemble drama starring Naomi Watts, Annette Bening, Kerry Washington, Jimmy Smits, Samuel L. Jackson, and others about three different women and how adoption has affected their lives.
• Multiple Sarcasms - Comedy drama starring Timothy Hutton, Mira Sorvino, Stockard Channing, Dana Delany, India Ennenga, and Mario Van Peebles about a man that decides to shed his life of convention by writing a play.

For New Movie Friday there are three new movies to choose from this week. They are Babies, Iron Man 2, and Multiple Sarcasms. Do any of this week’s new movies look good to you?

Opening Nationwide on Friday, April 30th:

Movie: Furry Vengeance (PG)
Starring: Brendan Frasier & Brooke Shields
Genre: Family Comedy
Synopsis: A real estate developer moves to Oregon to oversee a big new project that calls for the leveling of acres of forested areas. The animals living there don’t take kindly to the news and try to prevent it from happening.
First Thoughts: This looks dumb.

Movie: A Nightmare on Elm Street (R)
Starring: Jackie Earl Haley, Kyle Gallner & Katie Cassidy
Genre: Horror
Synopsis: A group of teenagers are being hunted in their dreams by the infamous Freddy Kruger. They have to stay awake to keep safe and try to protect each other.
First Thoughts: Another in a long line of movies, in the horror genre especially, that didn’t need an update.

Movies in Limited Release:

• The Good Heart - Drama about a guy that is drinking and smoking himself to deatht that comes across a homeless man that he deems the right person to take place and sets out to teach him about the male-centric laws of his alcoholic clubhouse.
• Harry Brown - Crime thriller about a man played by Michael Caine that comes to his breaking point when is companion is killed. Can you say an updated British Dirty Harry, as that’s what it sounds like to me.
• The Human Centipede - A sadistic horror movie about a German doctor attempting to surgically create a human centipede.
• Mercy - Fantasy movie about a romance author that is shocked at why a critic disliked his latest book and sets out to find the depth he seems to be lacking.
• Please Give - Black comedy about a couple that makes their living buying and selling things purchased cheaply at estate sales, but the woman doesn’t like what they are doing and makes a change that leads to some unexpected consequences.
• Phish 3D - See the band Phish in a 3D filmed concert.

For New Movie Friday there are three new movies to choose from this week. They are Furry Vengeance, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Phish 3D. None of which I will be seeing. Do any of this week’s new movies look good to you?

Opening Nationwide on Friday, April 23rd:

Movie: The Back-up Plan (PG-13)
Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Alex O’Loughlin, Eric Christian Olsen, Anthony Anderson & Linda Lavin
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Synopsis: A woman that can’t seem to find “the one” decides to jump ahead to the next step and get pregnant. It just so happens that on the same day she goes ahead with that plan, she meets a guy that has potential. She tries to see if there is really anything there, while also keeping the fact that she is newly pregnant from him. Can this out of order relationship survive?
First Thoughts: The premise sounds interesting, but also sounds like it can’t support an entire movie.

Movie: The Losers (PG-13)
Starring: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chris Evans, Jason Patric, Zoe Saldana & Idris Elba
Genre: Action Thriller
Synopsis: An elite group of commandos are betrayed while on a mission to Bolivia. They are presumed dead, but a mysterious operative finds them and offers them the opportunity to get the person responsible for the betrayal and get their lives back.
First Thoughts: I like a lot of the cast and it looks like a fun ride. It’s based on DC’s Vertigo comic of the same name.

Movies in Limited Release:

• Cheech & Chong’s Hey Watch This - Documentary film of their very successful reunion comedy tour.
• Best Worst Movie - The story of the Alabama dentist-turned-cult movie icon and the Italian filmmaker and the genuine, internationally revered cinematic failure they were apart of.
• The Good, the Bad, the Weird - A bounty hunter, a bandit leader and a train robber deal with a group of outlaws and the Japanese army while trying to find a treasure map in 1930s Manchuria.
• Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3D - Concert film that shows the country star on tour in Pittsburgh, Seattle and other places.
• Oceans - Disneynature series chronicling and the exploring the mysteries of the ocean.
• Paper Man - Psychological comedy drama starring Jeff Daniels, Ryan Reynolds about the unlikely friendship between an older failed novelist and a young woman suffering from a family tragedy.

For New Movie Friday there are four new movies to choose from this week. They are The Back-up Plan, Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3D, The Losers, and Oceans. What new movie looks good to you this week?

Rating: Wait for the Rental, if Not Longer

Synopsis: A high school boy obsessed with comic books wonders why nobody has ever tried to be one in real life. He is pretty much invisible to everyone at his school, but is two friends. He gets tired of being a nobody and attempts to become a superhero, even though he has no special abilities, powers or training. He calls himself Kick-Ass. Meanwhile, a father and daughter team is out for revenge, as the masked duo of Big Daddy and Hit-Girl, on a drug selling crime boss. Their stories converge as Kick-Ass starts to become famous for his exploits and the crime boss’ profits begin to take a hit.

Review: Kick-Ass falls somewhere between cool and demented. Unfortunately, the more I think about it, the more it seems to lie closer to the latter than the former. I’m really torn on this one, as I kind of liked it, but also feel like I shouldn’t because of a couple of things. I try not to be too spoilery, but if you haven’t scene it yet and don’t want to be spoiled, read on at your own risk.

First, while Chloe Grace Moretz (Diary of a Wimpy Kid), as Mindy Macready/Hit-Girl, definitely steals the movie, it felt really weird watching a pre-teen girl running around swearing and killing dozens of people, even if they were the bad guys. This is something that is completely left out of the trailer and promos for the movie and took me completely off-guard. We also see some of her training with her father, played by Nicolas Cage (National Treasure), which is particularly disturbing.

Second, while I know Lyndsy Fonseca (TV’s Desperate Housewives) is actually 23-years-old, she is playing a high school teenager here. It just seems not right to play up the sex angle the way the movie does. Yes, teenagers have sex. And, yes, this is an R-rated movie. But, should we really be showing a teen girl practically naked on screen, let alone the sex scene that appears a little later. This is a bizarre dichotomy that has always bugged me in the movies and on TV. We take 20-something young women and play them as sexy teenagers for the enjoyment of a mostly adult audience.

On the positive side of things, many of the fight scenes were, well, kick ass. There is a lot of blood, but the scenes come off really well, except for the first problem I mentioned above.

Cage is good as Big Daddy. His speech pattern when in his Batman like costume is hilarious.

While on the topic of humor, Clark Duke (Hot Tub Time Machine, TV’s Greek) is always good as the funny sidekick. And, there is a scene where the movie turns into a first person shooter video game, which is really well done.

There are a lot of good story elements. They really have fun playing off the Spider-Man mythology. The beginning of Kick-Ass’ hero’s journey is essentially good. And, you can’t really go wrong when the geeky guy gets the hot girl.

Overall, I just couldn’t wrap my head around Kick-Ass and fully enjoy it. I know it’s fake. I know it’s based on a comic book. I know it’s supposed to be escapist fun. But, what does it say about us that this is what so many seem to find fun and enjoyable to watch.

I haven’t read any full reviews of Kick-Ass yet, other than seeing a few tweets from movie bloggers/critics that I (@NewMovieFriday) follow on Twitter, but it seems I fall outside the prevailing wisdom that this movie is great.

I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on Kick-Ass. What do you think?

Opening Nationwide on Friday, April 16th:

Movie: Death at a Funeral (R)
Starring: Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Tracy Morgan, Danny Glover, Regina Hall & a host of others.
Genre: Comedy Farce
Synopsis: An American family sets out to lay their beloved husband and father to rest. As mourners begin to gather for the funeral, many shocking revelations, old resentments, threats, a little blackmail, and the wrong corpse unleash all kinds of mayhem.
First Thoughts: This looks disturbing, yet funny. But, mostly I wonder why a British movie from three years ago needs to be remade for an American audience, with Peter Dinklage apparently reprising his role from the first one. I probably won’t be seeing this one at the theater, but have added the British version to my Netflix queue.

Movie: Kick-Ass (R)
Starring: Aaron Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Chloë Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse & Mark Strong
Genre: Superhero Action
Synopsis: An average teenager that loves comic-books decides to turn his obsession into reality and attempts to become a real-life superhero. He decides that “Kick-Ass” will be the name by which he goes and puts together a suit and mask to wear when he goes out to fight crime. The problem is, he doesn’t actually have any superpowers. Things change for him forever when his outings inspire a group of copy cats that includes an 11-year-old sword-wielding dynamo that goes by the name Hit Girl and her father, Big Daddy and he becomes friends with another wannabe superhero that goes by Red Mist. A local mob boss doesn’t like this new alliance and sets out to put an end to it.
First Thoughts: I go back and forth between thinking this looks like it could be fun and that it looks like it could be stupid. I am hoping for the latter, as I will be going to see it this Friday.

Movies in Limited Release:

• The City of Your Final Destination - Anthony Hopkins and Laura Linney star in this family drama about a writer’s family that tries to make sense of their lives after the author commits suicide.
• Exit Through the Gift Shop - A comedy by graffiti artist Banksy.
• Handsome Harry - Road movie starring Jamey Sheridan and Steve Buscemi about an electrician that has kept his rugged good looks into his 50s, but has never let anyone get close to him.
• The Joneses - David Duchovny and Demi Moore star in this comedy drama about family that lives very well with all the latest gadgets and gizmos, but find out who they really are after a disaster hits them.
• No One Knows About Persian Cats - Comedy drama about a couple of Iranian musicians looking for some backup players before a gig in London.
• The Perfect Game - A docudrama about a group of boys in Mexico with a love for sandlot baseball that are coached by an aspiring Major League coach that is suffering from discrimination.
• The Secret in Their Eyes - Suspense thriller about a retired court employee that sets out to solve a case he didn’t think was solved correctly, while he writes a book about it.

For New Movie Friday there are two new movies to choose from this week. They are Death at a Funeral and Kick-Ass. What new movie looks good to you this week?

So, thought I’d get things restarted by listing my Top 10 movies of 2009. Below you’ll find my rankings of these movies with a little bit about why they were my favorite movies of the year.

Top 10 Movies of 2009 - That I Saw

1. Star Trek - Going into the year, this was probably my most anticipate movie and for it to live up to the hype made it all-the-better. It really did a good job of rebooting a series and giving it new life. Can’t wait for the next one.
2. Up - Oddly enough, this may actually be the best movie I saw this year, but it gets my second place. I had no real expectations for this one, as I don’t normally watch animated features, but if I recall, it was the only new option that week. The first part of the movie is absolutely brilliant, as it conveys so much with only picture and music, no dialogue. It was like a magnificent animated silent film.
3. Inglorious Basterds - I wasn’t sure what to make of this one going in, but it was just outstanding. It might just be Tarantino’s “masterpiece.” It was dramatic and sad, yet unbelievably funny in places.
4. Up in the Air - I don’t mind a movie that gets you thinking, as long as it is also entertaining. This movie does just that. Also, what would you do if you had 10 million miles?
5. Sherlock Holmes - The duo of Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law was great. They played off each other remarkably well. If you don’t mind a little action with your deductive sleuthing, then you will enjoy this as much as I did.
6. The Hangover - This was by far the funniest movie of the year. I went in skeptical, cause many comedies in the raunchy genre have brought plenty of raunchy, but very little comedy. This brings plenty of both, but I haven’t laughed that much at a movie in a while.
7. District 9 - Was very light on the details going into this one, but came out with an appreciation for the special effects. They were seamless. It was a really good movie to boot, even if not wholly original as many deemed it to be.
8. Defiance - This was just a great movie based on true events with a fantastic cast lead by Daniel Craig Casino Royale. Yes, technically it was released on the last day of 2008, but I didn’t see it until it was released nationwide on January 16th, 2009. So, I’ve included it on my list.
9. Taken - This movie just kicked ass. It gave you just enough setup and then bam! It barely took a break until he got his daughter back. It was the best pure action flick of the year.
10. Avatar - This is a great movie, but the 3D special effects overshadow what is really a basic plot that we’ve all see before. Also, I’m getting tired of sci-fi type movies that portray the humans in story as the assholes. This is a trend I hope comes to an end soon.

The next 10 would be: He’s Just Not the Into You, I Love You, Man, Fanboys, The Taking of Pelham 123, The Soloist, State of Play, Law Abiding Citizen, The Proposal, Fast and Furious, and A Christmas Carol.

And, the next 10 would be: Public Enemies, Surrogates, Gamer, Angels & Demons, Fired Up, Watchmen, Terminator Salvation, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Race to Witch Mountain, and Ninja Assassin.

The bottom 10 movies I saw in 2009 would be: The International, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra, 2012, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, 12 Rounds, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li, Push, and Dragonball Evolution.

Think something should’ve been higher on my list? Do I have something to high? What were your top 10 movies of 2009? Let me know in the comments.