Easy A

Emma Stone, Amanda Bynes, Penn Badgley, Dan Byrd

Directed by Will Gluck

Rating: C+

When Olive (Emma Stone) finds that she is invisible in her school, she decides to shake things up a bit by pretending she is someone quite opposite of her true nature. Marianne (Amanda Bynes) takes up Olive as someone she can help see the light and fix the errors. Instead, Olive is helping out the male population of her high school by spreading rumors that she slept with, kissed, dated them if they pay her by gift cards or cash. By ruining her reputation, Olive gets caught in a nasty rumor and the guy she wants probably thinks all the rumors she spreads are true. Poor Olive.

Easy A is a newer version of Mean Girls. The plot may be different but Emma Stone's character is very similar to Lindsay Lohan's character. They both change themselves for a cause and everyone at school either fears them or admires them. Easy A isn't a bad movie though. The reason I thought it deserved a C+ is because of it's similarity to Mean Girls and the fact that it's overall nothing special. Easy A has it's funny moments and it's a movie worth owning. It's nothing sophisticated, it's just another one of those teenage movies. It doesn't mean adults wouldn't enjoy it though. They probably would rather watch it then a kid movie. In the end, I would recommend this to those who enjoy movies like Mean Girls, 17 Again, etc.

Thor

Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston

Directed by Kenneth Branagh

Rating: B+

On the eve of Thor's Day, trouble brews and Thor and his friends go off to fight enemies who tried to steal a precious object. While Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is seen as arrogant and impulsive, his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) decided to teach him a lesson by casting him away from their realm of Asgard. Thor is sent to Earth, separated from his hammer (which gives him powers). Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and her friend are out studying the anomaly that has been occurring in the night skies to record in her scientific journal when she fins Thor. Not completely understanding Thor and thinking him a little mental, Jane ends up helping Thor to find his hammer but while doing so forms a friendship that evolves to a late romance. However, the plot does not stop there as Thor needs to return home and battle his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) who is not everything he seems.

Thor was a really good movie which brings comic book heroes into modern society. It had an interesting plot line that doesn't leave your mind drifting during the movie and Chris Hemsworth is nice to look at for two hours. What was good about Thor is it's entertaining for everyone. I think that even if action, comic book movies aren't your normal standards to watch, you might enjoy Thor. That depends on your taste of movies of course though. Personally, I could see myself buying this movie in the future. It looks like their will be a sequel (watch the end of the credits) but I don't think there will be a Thor 2. Thor is coming back in the 2012 movie, the Avengers which contains more comic book characters (like Iron Man and the Hulk). I definitely recommend Thor for those unsure whether they want to watch it or not.

The Time Traveler's Wife

Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams

Directed by Robert Schwentke

Rating: B+

Claire Abshire (Rachel McAdams) has known Henry DeTamble (Eric Bana) since she was six years old when she met him in a field behind her house. Henry has come in and out of Claire's life in different ages because he is a time-traveler. Somehow, his world seems to revolve around Claire by the fact that he mostly reappears around her. It isn't until she reaches her twenties that Henry re-appears again. This time their relationship changes to a more romantic one, now that Claire is old enough. Only, being a time-traveler, Henry gets a sneak peek into his future and it's not as pleasant as it should be.

The Times Traveler's Wife is a really good book. The movie did a good job and as you can probably tell from the title, it's a chick-flick. I believe most girls would enjoy this movie. It's got romance, drama, a bit of a teary-eyed ending; if you like any of those things in a movie you will enjoy The Time Travelers Wife. I thought it deserved a B+ because it's got good quality and like I mentioned before, I think most people will like it. I did read the book after I watched the movie and there was some things I wish had been included but I took the movie as it was. If you liked this movie, I would definitely recommend reading the book because you will enjoy it even more than you did the movie. In my opinion the book is rated young adult while the movie has a PG-13 rating, the movie is not too inappropriate (though there is cursing). Not to pick on the stereotype of girls, but if you need a girls night out, invite the girls over and watch this!

Water For Elephants

Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz

Directed by Francis Lawrence

Rating: 4 stars

Jacob Jankoski (Robert Pattinson) is in training to be a veterinarian when the death of his parents leaves his penniless and homeless. Unsure of where his future lies, he hops aboard a train and is accepted to work for a circus. August (Christoph Waltz) the ring leader gives Jacob a job cleaning up and feeding the animals. When Jacob's talent is noticed by August, he is appointed teacher of the new attraction, an elephant. Marlena (Reese Witherspoon) is to ride the elephant and be part of the show. While Jacob handles the elephant, he and Marlena form feelings for each other though they can't acknowledge it because Marlena is married to August.

Though the movie may be a disappointment to those who read the book, I really enjoyed Water For Elephants. The cast was simply brilliant and  this movie redeems Robert Pattinson's acting qualities. It was an entertaining movie though had some upsetting scenes. This isn't a movie to bring the family with (unless maybe they all read the book). What I'm trying to say is, don't bring your kids. August is a brutal character with some mental problems that he inflicts pain on the animals and is abusive. I think this movie deserved four stars because the acting was impressive, it's easy to get lost in the movie. I don't want to spoil the movie so I would definitely recommend this movie. However, if you get uneasy at scenes with animal abuse or fighting, you may want to approach this movie with caution.

The Green Hornet

Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, Christoph Waltz

Directed by Michael Gondry

Rating: 3 stars

When Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) is left his father's large company, he wants to do something cool with his life so he decides to fight crime after he witnesses Kato's (Jay Chou) awesome fighting skills. Not knowing anything about villains or how to become a crime boss, he gets information on what his next move should be from his receptionist Lenore (Cameron Diaz). However, he attracts the wrong attention and the crime lord Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz) is after him.

Personally, I didn't like this movie at all. It's definitely a "guy" movie but even then, thats a bit of an insult to the gender. First of all, the script for this movie was poorly written. Secondly, the bickering between Seth Rogen's character and Jay Chou's character was annoying. A five minute scene is wasted on them throwing each other across the room in a fight. Thirdly, Cameron Diaz's character should not have been in there. Her character bascially told the guys what to do, unknowingly, and to be the reason the two guys fight with each other. I was disappointed that this movie was so bad. It was two hours I will never get. I would only recommend this movie for those who enjoy pointless movies that don't require any thought.

Micmacs

Dany Boon

Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Rating: 4 stars

Bazil (Dany Boon) was a boy when his father was killed from a land mine built by competing French arms dealers. Years later he leaves a shop he works at for the night when a stray bullet hits him. He survives but due to being in the hospital, he is out of a job and has nowhere to live. A group of junkyard bandits collect him in their estranged family they've made up and agree to help Bazil take down the two arms dealing companies.

Micmacs is a quirky, enjoyable movie. Though it may not be a laugh-out-loud movie of the year, it's the little things in this movie that make it memorable. I thought this movie deserved four stars because I think many people would enjoy it if they were open to witty foreign movies. Yes, it is in another language and you have to read subtitles but it's worth it. It's not a long movie either. At a little over an hour and forty minutes, Micmacs leaves you feeling content and not sleepy (it's not boring). Also, it's similar to the French movie Amelie so if you enjoyed that, you will definitely enjoy Micmacs.

Eat Pray Love

Julia Roberts, Billy Crudup, Javier Bardem

Directed by Ryan Murphy

Rating: 4 stars

Liz Gilbert (Julia Roberts) realizes her marriage isn't as great as it once was. She has a successful career, a home, a stable, comfortable marriage. However, Liz is so caught up in her life that she realizes she's lost. She needs something new, an adventure. Packing her bags, she goes on a life-changing trip from Italy, to India, to Bali, making friends along the way and looking at life in a whole new perspective.

Eat Pray Love is based on the novel written by Liz Gilbert, a true story of her own self-discovering journey. The movie was enjoyable and inspiring. I can't imagine who wouldn't want to run away and go on a journey that would change your life. Not that that was what Liz was doing, running away. However, it was an interesting movie to say the least, especially since most of it is true. It shows us that anything is possible. One of the issues I found with this movie was the time length. Though necessary, it was a tad too long (two hours, 13 minutes). Since the movie had a slow pace to it, the the time length was noticeable. I would definitely recommend this movie to those who like Julia Roberts movies, for those who wish to/enjoy traveling, and for those who like learning about other cultures (not that you learn a lot but it's interesting to see a different life style). For those of us who feel like they are in a rut in their life, feeling like something is missing, Eat Pray Love is an inspirational movie and I wouldn't be surprised if others followed Liz Gilbert's example.