Summer is almost upon us and it's the time of the year for the summer blockbusters to start bombarding us. My hopes are up as they are every year, and I'm sure I'll be disappointed but also hopefully pleasantly surprised.
There are a few movies I've enjoyed so far this year and one of my favorites is Barney's Version with Paul Giamatti and Dustin Hoffman. Two master craftsmen at the top of their game who left me mesmerized with their performances in this great film which takes you on a ride in the life and memories of Barney Panofsky, a hard-drinking, cigar-smoking, foulmouthed 65-year old hockey fanatic and television producer.
Jane Eyre is another film that does the book justice, Mia Wasikowska as the title character is an actress whom should be on your radar because she is on her way to becoming great. Michael Fassbender as Mr. Rochester is also someone on the fast track to the A-list with his commanding performance in this film.
The Adjustment Bureau was a film I enjoyed with Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, they had great chemistry together. Matt Damon is a great actor and makes every role he plays believable and the film has you wondering about ones own fate.
Source Code is such a mind puzzler for most but I thoroughly enjoyed it and think it could make the years top ten, Duncan Jones has made another great film and I'll be keeping my eye on him.
A few more I'll mention are Win Win a film by Thomas McCarthy who has now made three great films, Super with Rainn Wilson who becomes a super hero after his wife falls under the influence of a drug dealer and Hanna. Hanna is the movie that Sucker Punch wished it could be, because that's what happens when you have a story and not just special effects.
Sucker Punch was the one movie I was waiting to see and it was truly a disappointment, visually it's stunning but when your movie lacks a story or at least something that resembles a story, you're left with nothing which is what I felt after leaving the theatre. I get what Zack Snyder was trying to do but you can't start with the special effects and maybe he should leave the writing to someone else.
