Hello there, loyal reader (this is not an implied loyalty. now that you are reading this, you are bound by the Third Spell of the Sixth Circle to visit my blog at least once a week. MUAHAHAHA…uh..*ahem*),

this is where i will be posting my movie reviews. as of right now, i am still doing video reviews on youtube @ youtube.com/foolmanchu1

The Runaways (2010): For a movie about a band, there was nothing that caught my attention about The Runaways. Yes, we get a glimpse of a “grown up” Dakota Fanning, and she does impress at certain points. And YES we get to see a darker Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett. But this flick is too long and too dull. For a movie showcasing sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll, i was left underwhelmed (despite the fact that i had high hopes). The only part that made me smile was (SPOILER…not really) at the end when we see Joan writing “I Love Rock and Roll”, and that got me thinking: That’s what this movie is about. How Joan Jett got to her solo career. Rent it if you have to, especially if you’re a nostalgic fan, but for those of you with no real knowledge of the Runaways, i can only tell you to run away. (5/10)

The Other Guys (2010): The new comedy from director Adam Mckay stars Mark Whalberg and destined-to-be comedy legend Will Ferrell. Trailers were promising in that everyone expected a perfect comedy: Mckay created such favorites as Anchorman and Step Brothers, so why would we expect anything less? Here is where we encounter a problem. The writing and dialog in Anchorman were outstandingly ridiculous, and consistently so - so much so to the point that that’s all the movie was. Ridiculous dialog with a splash of plot (and sex panther, by odion). Step Brothers had a solid plot, one that we could care about, but the characters were so absurd that nearly every joke ended up hitting the right way. In a nutshell: in either movie, the jokes tied in with the plot and actually mattered (ridiculous as that may seem, in hindsight).

The problem with The Other Guys is this: The parts that made me laugh had no purpose, and were far and few between. Non (rather, few) of the gags played in with the story, and in the end, only about 50% of the jokes actually made me laugh, and only 10% made me laugh HARD. 

The other major blunder with this film is that it actually tries to throw a real plot in with the stupid antics, which only serves to confuse (me) as a viewer, since eventually plot lines and stupidity blur together leaving one big mess of a film. They tried to make fun of the buddy-cop genre, and it’s a redundant feat. Buddy-cop movies are already comedies.

Mark-e-Mark has no business in comedy, Will Ferrell is obviously brilliant, but the film fails on most levels. I know you won’t, but i suggest you pass on this disaster film. (3/10) 

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010): I was blown away the first time i saw the trailer to Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright’s new summer flick. I immediately said that it would be the 2nd most entertaining movie of this summer (the first being the A-Team). Needless to say, i was excited enough to catch the first midnight showing of this ode-to-pop-culture adaptation of an american manga (is there such a thing? yes).

My first impression after the first ten minutes of the movie was “okay. this is cute and fun enough.”

But then we get into the meat of the movie.

The plot revolves around the skinny, bass-playing slacker, Scott Pilgrim (michael cera) and his recently lack-luster love life. When the movie starts, Scott is dating a 17 year old high school girl named Knives. Scott is 22.

Then Ramona Flowers shows up.

Long story short, Scott dumps Knives for Ramona and is quickly attacked by “The League of Evil Ex’s,” a group consisting of Ramona’s 7 ex boyfriends who insist on doing battle with Scott over the future of Ramona’s love life.

Then epicness ensues.

A can of stylistic and visual whoop-ass in blown open and leaves the audience laughing and cheering and clapping throughout the entire film.

Despite the fact that this film is, at it’s core, a bad romantic comedy, and despite the shameless product placement by Coke Zero (tm)…this movie brings perfect comedic timing, perfect direction, perfect performances (from the ENTIRE cast), and perfect style to create an amazing experience.

This is one that i can NOT wait to add to my Blu-Ray collection. (9.5/10)