X-Men: First Class

I was never a huge X-Men fan but I was curious to see how they were going to do a prequel.
The story takes place in 1962, Charles Xavier, played by James McAvoy from Wanted, starts up a school and later a team, for humans with superhuman abilities.
Here is a tip prior to seeing this movie, if you have not seen the previous versions then start with this movie and rent the older ones afterwards to catch –up. If you have already seen the older versions yet have not watched them in a while than rewatch them because you will be a little confused if you are not an avid fan.
The reason why I am elaborating on this is because there is too much dialogue and not enough action. While watching the movie most of the time you are trying to figure out what is going on and praying for a mindless action scene to start.
It is amazing that Stan Lee created all of these comic book heroes back in the 60’s and they are have been making Gazillions of dollars in the theaters for the last ten years.

Okay so let’s talk about the actors, I’ll start with the bad.

Academy Award Nominee Jennifer Lawrence plays Raven and shows why she lost The Oscar. She doesn’t bring anything extra. She comes off as if this is her first acting role. My nomination for worst actress ever is not to Jennifer Lawrence but to January Jones, from Mad Men, who stars as Emma Frost. She looks great but she is in desperate need of acting lessons.
Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy lead the cast and give great performances but not enough for me to recommend this movie.

Verdict:
For X-Men fans only.

Super 8

There is no doubt that Steven Spielberg is one of the great directors of our time. In addition the Director of Super 8, JJ Abrams, has shown signs of brilliance with his work in the reboot of Star Trek, Mission Impossible 3, and the television series Lost.
When I first heard about this movie I thought it was The Goonies meet Cloverfield since both Spielberg and Abrams were involved. I was dead wrong. Super 8 takes place in 1979 and a mysterious train crash takes place in front of a group of young friends. They begin noticing strange happenings going around in their small town, and begin to investigate into the creepy phenomenon.
When you go to an IMAX summer movie you expect to be dazzled by things on the screen you have never seen before. Almost everything in this movie you have seen in Steven Spielberg movies. Flashing lights, close ups of characters with wind blowing in their hair, they even have the E.T. bike in the movie. In E.T. The Government is the enemy as well as in Super 8. The ending tries to tug at your heart strings similar to E.T. but it's a poor attempt. The only thing that I felt Abrams brought to the movie was his signature soundtrack by the great Michael Giacchino.
I felt like I was watching Abrams love letter screenplay to Spielberg even though Spielberg produced the movie. If this movie came out in 1979 then I would feel like I got my money's worth. By the way if you hated The Goonies like I did then you will not like these group of kids either. Super 8 is entirely a tribute to Spielberg and for the audience it's a waste of time.

Verdict:
Ordinary 8.

Hangover 2

How do you top a hit movie or at least make it comparable to the first one?
Well you take the same actors, use the same premise, throw in a few surprises and you have Hangover 2.
I went to this movie wanting to get the same adventure I experienced the first time with The Wolfpack and I got it in spades.
The movie starts right after the bachelor party in Las Vegas, Phil, Stu, Alan, and Doug jet to Thailand for Stu's wedding. Stu's plan for a subdued pre-wedding brunch, however, goes seriously awry.
There are some very funny moments and some scenes will make you want to throw-up. Mr. Chow, Ken Jeong, is back and funnier than ever. Paul Giamatti plays in the role I assume was meant for Mel Gibson. There is also a very funny monkey.
There have been mixed reviews on this movie but if it ain't broken don't try and fix it, stick to the formula that made it a hit.

Verdict:
Not as great as the first but a solid follow-up. My prediction for H3 is Zach G. will be the next one to have to get married.

Bridesmaids

This movie is one of the few non-squeal movies that have premiered this summer and it's a bawdy, rollercoaster, laugh until you cry comedy hit movie. Don't be fooled into thinking that this is the female Hangover movie.
The movie's main character, SNL star Kristen Wiig, is picked as her best friend's maid of honor. However her life has hit bottom so she looks to bluff her way through the expensive and bizarre rituals with an oddball group of bridesmaids.
I have always been a HUGE fan of Kristen Wiig due to her amazing ability to emerse herself into various charaters on SNL. After watching Bridesmaids you can say that she is the Lucy Ball of our day. There are scenes where she uses her facial expressions and does not say a word and she makes the entire audience laugh.
Rose Byrne and Mya Rudolph do a good job rounding out the cast but it's newcomer Melissa McCarthy who steals scenes throughout the movie.
This is a breakthrough movie for Kristen Wiig and Bridesmaids 2 is already in the works.

Verdict:
I laughed until I cried, twice. This is a movie you don't want to miss, you also want to experience it with others.