These five were the easy ones for me. Sixteen may have been the only one I gave a second thought to before settling on its placement. Some of these were poplar, some lesser known, but all slashed at least two-hours off of my life.
Unlike the tease from last week, the mini-reviews will be longer for the next few posts, and then the final five will be full length. Remember, these are my favorites, not what I think were the best. With that said, not much would change if it was a "best of" list.
Without further ado:
20.
Prometheus
I'll pause to let the Aliens fans reading to pinch themselves. OK, you guys ready?
Prometheus received the most lukewarm reception among my movie watching inner circle. There were some that hated it, some that thought it was alright, and some that were like "ERMAHGERD, FACEHUGGERS!" Needless to say, we had some arguments over this movie.
As a fan of Alien and a lesser fan of the sequels, I was already not high on this movie, but Ridley Scott is a good enough director that I gave it a shot. And I fell into the 'alright' category. Not a waste of money, but something I could have waited to come out on Blu-Ray.
There was so much wrong with the story, and it made no sense in the Alien franchise. Apparently, it's the first of three, and they are building up — much like Star Wars. I immediately lost hope when they killed off a character 10 minutes after he became interesting. That's the inherent problem with prequels they need to be good outside of the series, or they will fail miserably.
Special effects were well done, but that was about it. Felt sorry for Noomi Rapace, who is a much better actress than this script allowed. Watch the original "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" trilogy and tell me I'm wrong. Sometimes expecting the worst makes a movie better, but this wasn't the case here.
Release date: June 8th
Reason for ranking: Poorly crafted story; hard to follow in spots. Underused acting talent.
Recommendation: With the mixed reviews, I'd say give it a shot. But don't get upset if you don't like it.
19.
Rock of Ages
There are some movies that can overcome a ridiculously generic plot and hit or miss acting by just being flat-out entertaining. Rock of Ages is such a movie. While Julianne Hough is nice to look at and listen to, she isn't winning an Academy Award anytime soon. But her performance, even as the lead, didn't matter because of the stellar cast around her, especially Tom Cruise.
Cruise has this insane ability to fluctuate from a really terrible performance in an awful movie ("Knight and Day") to inhabiting a character so well that you forget about the ridiculous nature of someone like Stacee Jaxx. Offering the role to Cruise was a brilliant job of casting as was the decision to include Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin, Paul Giamatti and Catherine Zeta-Jones. They combined to show that you can carry a movie even if you are not the lead, especially since Hough and Diego Boneta were lacking.
Don't go into this movie expecting anything more than enjoying some classic tunes, good laughs and depending on your age, some well-done nostalgia.
Release date: June 15th
Reason for ranking: Cliche plot, and plenty of eye-rolling moments stops this otherwise fun movie from coming in higher.
Recommendation: If your formative years occurred during the 80s or you are a fan of hair bands, rent it.
18.
Seeking a Friend For the End of the World
Keira Knightley in a non-period piece? You must be kidding. Nope, and she's does a pretty good job.
Seeking a Friend For the End of the World has elements of a modern day road movie with an apocalyptic theme. Neither element is overly formulaic here, but it isn't different enough to be interesting. Don't get me wrong, the idea of knowing that the world will end in three weeks is intriguing, but that can't be the only hook of the movie.
Knightley and Steve Carell try their best to make the love story appealing, but it felt more like they were telling me they were falling in love rather than showing it. Sure, the story had some great moments, but I never connected enough with either character to care whether they ended up together or not.
That's not to say it's a bad movie technically and tonally, but it didn't have that thing that draws me into a movie. Some people will love this movie, some will hate it, and neither would be wrong. That's usually the case with an average films.
Release date: June 22nd
Reason for ranking: The story didn't really stick with me despite the solid performances from Carell and Knightley. The writing was better than the two movies below it, but it was still mediocre.
Recommendation: Not a waste of time, but it is probably better suited for HBO or Basic Cable viewing.
17.
Ted
Ted was at the top of my list of want-to-see summer movies. The premise was a great idea (RIP Dick Cat), and the casting seemed phenomenal, but the execution was hit or miss. As a Seth MacFarlane fan, I knew what to expect going in but to my surprise, it was the comedy that was shaky. For a writer known for sophomoric humor, he did a great job with the dramatic elements, but a lot of the jokes were forgettable and not ones you'd repeat to friends in the dark while waiting to surprise someone for their birthday.
The movie's success had a lot to do with the acting of Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis. They found the right balance of comedic and dramatic performance, and made the audience care for the characters, even a foul-mouth teddy bear. I don't know what other pair of actor could have pulled this movie off as well as they did.
With that said, Ted suffers from a few issues as I write this list. First, I don't really remember many of the jokes like I do with the other comedies ahead of it. Second, I haven't seen it since July, and like with the Academy Awards, that hurts it. Finally, the love story was generic and forgettable even though it's acted really well.
Release date: July 13th
Reason for ranking: Kinda forgettable, but still funny. Hurt by the quality of comedies I saw this year. It is the first good movie on the list.
Recommendation: If you love Family Guy, this movie is right up your alley. And if you're lukewarm on the Griffins, still rent it because Wahlberg and Kunis deliver solid performances. Also, Thunder Buddies.
16.
Detention
Huh?
This is the first of a few quirky and/or obscure movies that populate this list. Detention is a horror movie (if you couldn't tell by the poster), and an original one at that. Sure, it has your typical mass murderer killing high school kids and following every stereotypical storyline that comes with that, but it also has time travel.
Time travel, you say? Yes, time travel. And what vehicle would they be doing said time travel? A giant, stuffed bear. You're shitting me, right? Nope, and it's the best idea I've seen this year. I would love to explain the story behind the bear, but you would understand it better when you watch the movie.
Detention is very stylistic film. It is in the vain of Scott Pilgrim, but with less of a video game influence and more of a pop-up video homage. Bright colors, text flashing on screen and a very cool retro vibe allow this movie to standout in the horror genre. The best way to describe it is that it's what would happen if the Scream guy invaded a John Hughes movie.
The film stars Josh Hutcherson of Hunger Games fame, newcomer Shanley Caswell and Resident Evil veteran, Spencer Locke. The trio have great on-screen chemistry and it magnifies why chemistry readings during casting are necessary. Detention's likability and entertainment value depends solely on the three leads, and they nail it.
Release date: April 13
Reason for ranking: Oddly, this is the one I struggled with the most, but I couldn't find enough of a reason to move it up the list. It's a good movie, but not better than any film in the top-15.
Recommendation: Definitely see it. But be warned if you hate the opening scene, you'll hate the entire movie.
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