The Thing (2011)

This movie is a prequel to the 1982 Kurt Russell classic. Director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. does an outstanding job of filming this movie so that if someone were to watch both of these films for the first time they would not realize that the Kurt Russell movie was made almost 30 years ago. The cinematograpy and the music is similar and the director does not overwhelm viewers with updated special effects.
The story takes place at an Antarctica research site, the discovery of an alien craft leads to a confrontation between graduate student Kate Lloyd, played by newcomer Mary Elizabeth Winstead and scientist Dr. Sander Halvorson played by Ulrich Thomsen.
This flick has a few suprises and flows into the 1982 version seemlessly.
I recommend that you watch this movie then go home and watch the Kurt Russell version on Netflicks if you still subscribe to them after the price increase.

Verdict:
Well done, you will not be disappointed.

The Ides of March

The timing of this movie is on point with the 2012 Presidential election on the horizon. The film stars Ryan Gosling who plays an idealistic staffer for a newbie presidential candidate, played by George Clooney. Gosling gets a crash course on dirty politics during his stint on the campaign trail. With everything that has gone on with John Edwards and other politicians this movie comes off a little stale. It is true that truth is stranger than fiction and this fiction is really not as interesting as today's television political coverage.
The interesting aspect of the script is what opportunities that are available to people who attach themselves to candidates who end up losing. Gosling's chracter is cocky and sure of himself but his naivity does not ring true.
If you do decied to see this movie see it for the star power. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Marisa Tomei do an excellent job in supporting cast roles. They continue to display their Oscar winning talents.

Verdict:
Stay home and watch Fox Political News coverage, it's more entertaining.

Real Steel

The time has come where we can now take old movies and have robots replay roles originally played by real people.
Real Steel is pretty much the Rocky movie (and a bunch of other parts from movies we have seen various times) with a robot playing Sylvester Stallone.
A robot boxing promoter, Hugh Jackman, feels he's found a champion in a discarded robot. He also discovers he has an 11-year-old son, played by Dakota Goyo, who wants to know his father.
Evangeline Lilly, who we have not seen since the TV Show "Lost" stars as Jackman's love interest however this is primarily a father and son story. In other words don't go to see this if you have the hot's for Ms. Lilly.
The director tries to get us to cry once the father and son bond but we have all seen this before. Dakota Goyo however is a young actor to watch.


Verdict:
As we all boxing movie's the best scenes are the ones where fighting is taking place howvever this movie is not worth going to a theater to see.

Abduction

How do you pitch an action movie? You take a teen idol with great abs, Taylor Lautner, and surround him with "A" List supporting actors. How does it turn out bad? The teen idol, can't act, his love interest, played by Lily Taylor, is not interesting, and the story is weak.
The movie is a thriller centered on a young man, Lautner, who sets out to uncover the truth about his life after finding his baby photo on a missing persons website.
Director John Singleton, from Boys in the Hood fame, could have at least given Lautner eye drops between takes so that it would not appear that he can't cry in the scenes he is suppose to.
ALfred Molina, Sigourney Weaver, & Maria Bello do the best they can with the story but the film still does not take off.

Verdict:
One of the worst action films of 2011.