The first backlog of 2012! I have a few flicks under me that I haven’t talked about so let’s get to it.

Horrible Bosses– A great dark comedy. Three friends each have horrible bosses (is that where the title comes from?) and when things get to the boiling point, a tri-murder plot is hatched. Being average guys of average intellegence and a nice nature, they’re not too sure what to do. Bumbling and awkward situations ahoy!

Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day are awesome together. Great casting really makes this movie work, I had a good time with it. Perfect length for a comedy, full of funny and memorable characters.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes– A mouthful of a title, but a hell of a movie! There was a lot of raised eyebrows on this one before it came out, but it surprised everyone (me included). Really well made, damn good cast, nothing that insults the audiences intelligence. Some of the best special effects bring these Apes to life, making them appear to be actual characters than just something made in a computer that can be easily dismissed. Excellent writing and pacing, the motion capture and animation makes for some really great story telling since the scenes with just the apes have no dialog. Powerful stuff a big congratulations to everyone who had a hand making it. Highly recommended.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides-The franchise was pretty much saved with this one. Not as good as the first, but a big step up from the third which was a mess of a movie (2 was good, but didn’t live up to the original). Johnny Depp does his thing here which is all anyone really looks for. A much more cohesive plot and action pieces with a satisfying ending. They really pulled things together for this one while keeping the crazy production values.

Conan the Barbarian– I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. It’s just really lopsided. Maybe the script was really good but it just didn’t all make it on screen as it should? The cast is good but the acting is all over the place. It looks good, the special effects are all done well for the most part. Some fun action scenes, but it’s all forgettable. I can’t really pick out why, it’s just an average at best film. You really aren’t missing anything if you don’t see it.

Kung Fu Panda 2– A solid sequel. If you liked the first one, jump right in. The best from Dreamworks Animation since How To Train Your Dragon. Po’s adventures continue with all of your favorte characters back with a great new villain. It looks fantastic too!

Fast Five– I can’t believe I didn’t write about this earlier, I watched it awhile ago. Probably my favorite action flick of 2011. I’m not a big fan of the FF franchise, but this one knocked it out of the park from beginning to end. Such a a great idea to get everyone back, really well written and some expert direction at work here. All the best characters are back and The Rock is a great addition as the law. He fits in perfectly and watching him and Vin Diesel butt heads is a ton of fun. The bank heist angle is a great twist for the franchise and the special effects are amazing (the should have gotten a Oscar nom).

Super 8– Another movie I liked a lot. The hype behind this JJ Abrams flick was massive and while it didn’t meet everyone’s expectations, I think it got the job done. A throw back to 80’s Spielberg, Super 8 is the adventure of a group of young kids who’s town is the epicenter of an alien escape. A fun movie with an awesome cast, check it out.

If you want to watch really good cinema these days, you can pretty much turn to documentaries to see the best stuff you could ever want to see. There’s a lot of stuff going on in the world and a lot of people brave and talented enough to cover it.

Enter Waiting For Superman. It’s about the failing US Public School system. The system has been on the decline for about 40 years now and the growing global economy is exacerbating the problem(s). Soon the United States won’t have the higher educated population to fill the high demand/paying jobs of the coming job market(s).

It’s a problem that has festered in a system that hasn’t changed to adapt to the changing world. There are people in power (two massive teachers unions in particular) that refuse to admit the problem and will not allow forward thinking people make the new steps we need. Time and a mind boggling amount of money is wasted every year. Waiting For Superman gives a very clear picture of today’s education system by following 5 students; showing what is really happening to real students all over the nation of every economic class.

A must watch.

They don’t make many fantasy comedy movies, especially since comic book and remakes have taken over Hollywood. I’m a fan of Danny McBride’s style of comedy (rude, crude and obnoxious) and that mixed into a fantasy setting really clicked with me. There aren’t too many movies like Your Highness out there. It sticks to the fantasy formula (damsel in distress, magic, sword fighting, mythical creatures) but has enough ideas of it’s own to keep things interesting. The creative cursing helps too.

Thadeous (Danny McBride) is a bum of a prince and reluctantly goes along on adventure with his brother Fabious (James Franco) to save his girlfriend from an evil wizard. McBride and Franco are an awesome team (as first seen in Pineapple Express) and the whole movie pretty much rides on them. They’re surrounded by some great people (Natalie Portman and Rasmus Hardiker in particular) which results in some really funny moments. The laughs come in a few bursts, but on the whole I thought it was pretty funny. The movie is helped greatly by some quality special effects work, they managed to get a legit budget for this goofy project and hooked up with some companies who really knew what they were doing.

McBride and director/friend David Gordan Green know and work really well with each other and it really shows in their projects. I look forward to all the stuff they do.

The Inside Job is one of the most important documentaries ever made. I’m late to the party on trumpeting it’s merits, but as the economy is still in the toilet and we are headed for the presidential election, it’s still timely. Inside Job is story of how the financial collapse of 2008 happened. If you know nothing, a little, or all about it you must watch this film and tell everyone you know about it. 99% of the world got screwed and nothing happened to the scum that did it. In fact, they made even more money when it all did collapse. Everyone needs to know the facts of what mind boggling greed does. Pay attention and let’s try to keep it from happening again by calling for extreme reform of Wall Street. A must watch.

Pro MMA fighter, Gina Carano makes her film debut in Haywire. I was in the mood for an action movie and Haywire fit the bill. The tale is simple, Malory is a black op for hire. You need someone taken out, someone extracted or the like and she can probably help you out. After a mission from her employer, she’s sent on another “quick and easy” assignment where she’s betrayed by her boss to seal up a shady deal. Quick to sense something is wrong, Malory goes on the run and out for blood to get her revenge.

Direct and to the point story with a stacked supporting cast. Gina is a real fighter and it shows on screen. The fight scenes are all her and all awesome. Just brutal and creative, each globe trotting action scene is a lot of fun to watch. She’s a promising actress too! Her voice was altered (I think to make it more rough, she sounds very feminine in intervews) but for her first time out I was totally impressed. I hope this is just the start of a long career, I dig her a lot.

Bridesmaids came out in May and stormed the box office making it one of the best box office and critical hits of the year. While easily marked as a “chick flick” it stands on its own as a comic movie that simply has a nearly all female cast. I don’t really see a need try to slight it or downplay it with a goofy sub-genre label.

Now I didn’t think it was nearly as funny as many made it out to be, it’s got plenty of laughs and is a solid movie from start to finish. Kristen Wiig continues her Hollywood streak to the top as Annie, who’s a bit down on her luck. Her start up bakery went out of business, she’s wallowing around in a crap relationship and then her best friend Lillian gets engaged which puts a huge strain on their long relationship. As the Maid of Honor, Annie is put up against some stressful planning, monetary commitments and a cat fight for Lillian’s Best Friend status. Annie basically hits her bottom with every relationship in her life and has to take control of her life again and realize everyone is fighting the same battles to be happy.

It’s not all about Wiig’s character though, the rest of Lillian’s bridal party (Melissa McCarthy in particular) really makes the movie. It becomes an ensemble movie as each milestone to the wedding day becomes a disaster. With a runtime of 2 hours being a bit much, the movie is well paced and moves along without hitting on any terrible cliches that would have bogged down the journey. Not the best comedy ever, but this will be looked on favorable for years to come.

It’s taken me far too long, but I’ve finally seen The Human Centipede. One of the most disturbing ideas for a horror movie, this one made some serious waves when it came out. A mad doctor surgically grafting 3 people anus to mouth for the sole purpose of making his dream lifeform become reality. See? That’s a hell of a sell right there for a horror movie.

Some smart decisions by writer/director Tom Six were made on this project. It must have been really tough to get financing to make this movie, the basic premise is enough to make people ask if you’re nuts. He got really lucky with casting the doctor, he completely makes the movie beliveable (the girls at the start are terrible). With that in mind, the movie isn’t graphic in the slightest. There’s nothing overtly gruesome, there are far more violent and gory films all over the place. Just the idea is enough to make people nervous and seeing the human centipede with bandages sells it completely to the audience. It’s an emotionally traumatic vibe being thrown out to you, it doesn’t need to show you everything. The surgery is done almost completely off screen and there is only one “feeding” scene that is much worse in your head than what’s on the screen. It reminds me a lot of the chainsaw in the bathroom scene of Scareface, where you don’t see the violence, just blood hitting the wall; the audio completely sells the horror to you. This makes the movie much easier to handle and greatly expands the audience who would be able to sit through it. The set up for the movie is a complete cliche, 2 girls get a flat tire in the middle of the woods and go looking for help and meet the wrong guy! But once they get to the house, you forget all about that piece you’ve seen a million times before and are totally on board for what happens.

I really didn’t like the end though. It just defied all sorts of logic for me as the sheer chance of revenge is right there but gets skirted for no reason than to set up a cliffhanger/bummer of a final shot. The brilliance was cut off right there in my view. I think any horror fan should see it, there aren’t that many pictures that successfully turn the genre on its ear like this.

I’ve kept my eye on this one since the first shots of Tom Cruise doing his “I love life!” thing on top of that giant building in Dubai came out. Plus it marks Brad Bird’s first live action directorial debut. He’s pretty awesome, so things were looking up for Mission Impossible 4. It turned out really well.

Ethan Hunt and his IMF team get set up for bombing the Kremlin and they’re cut loose from all their resources and are now number one of the terrorist list. With just a spare safehouse full of gear and money to help clear their names and save the world from nuclear attack, IMF pulls together on a run around the planet.

Ghost Protocol is the most fun action movie I’ve seen since Fast Five. Just a great cast, fun script and some interesting action set pieces with just a beautiful eye guiding the frame. The tech on display for the missions was some incredibly cool and inventive stuff, pulled off with awesome practical and CG effects. The chemistry and cooperation of the team really stands out and is pretty much what the whole movie relies on to work. It’s just a fun and (mostly) intelligent ride from start to finish. The movie is raking it in at the box office right now and for good reason. I highly recommend it.

Attack the Block is SO MUCH FUN I had to use caps to describe it. The folks across the pond have been ripping things up lately and Attack the Block is now one of my favorite movies of the year.

It’s an average night in south London when a group of teens are out running ammock in their neighborhood. From the sky an alien invasion begins, with the group of friends confronting and killing the first visitor. The rest of the night the kids defend the block, and the world, from these not so friendly monsters!

First, the cast of kids rule. Every single one of them is believable and funny. Most of them have little to no credits to their name, but it never shows. John Boyega plays the main character, Moses, and I hope this is just the start of a long career. I was really impressed with his work. Moses is a dick, but he’s fiercely loyal, brave as hell and can admit when he’s wrong. Strong characters are always the best to watch. I can’t recall ever thinking “Don’t do that you idiot!” It avoids a lot of bad horror traps while relishing in great set ups that lead into great moments of suspense. The pace is quick, the direction very sharp and clear. Excellent use of CG, audio cues and camera tricks. It moves a long with a great beginning, middle and end. The movie is just really well made, every dime of the estimated $13 million budget can be seen om screen. I love the creature design that harkens back to a few 80’s creature flicks with a cool modern technical spin. I’d say more but I think seeing them for the first time makes the greatest impact.

Some great set pieces, fantastic and smart uses of gore that I can only sing praise to. So many smart decisions in this movie. I really loved everything about Attack the Block, I wish I helped make it.

It’s always fun to see something new and with the way Hollywood has been working the passed few years, that’s getting harded to get these days. In Time presents us with a world where a life is the currency. Humans are genetically engineered to grow until age 25. At that birthday, your death clock (which is a bio-lumen clock on your left forearm) begins to tick down it’s final year. You can earn more time by working, gambling, taking loans and even stealing from others. It’s a very simple exchange, a slightly modified handshake motion and you can take and give from your own clock. In the case of banks, the time is held in a devise that looks a bit like a bar code reader. Hold it to your wrist and time is taken or given away. Now, once that timer hit zero, you drop dead (sickness and injuries are still a threat). It’s a constant fight for live for most, where “Many must die for a few to live forever,” is the motto of the rich.

In the current economical climate this premise seems all the more fitting. The “top 1%” that is constantly beratted in the headlines these days are well accounted for here. The main character, Will (played by Justin Timberlake) helps someone out who has a lot of time on his hands. He’s gifted more than a century of life, which immediately makes him a target. No one in the ghetto gets that much time with out stealing it, according to those who know “best.” The rest of the movie is an attempt at balancing the scales between the rich and the poor. There’s plenty of money to go around, the rich are just hoarding what they are ultimately stealing.

Timberlake does a fine job, it’s hard not to see him as anything but JT, but a lot of actors have that problem so I can’t really hold that against him. There’s a good cast around him too, I always like Cillian Murphy, Amanda Seyfried makes a great love interest and partner in crime. Very little is explained, no real geographic location is given, no year, how and why the life currency system began (it’s been in effect for around 100 years from what I could put together). That all works for me as the social ramifications are really what is on display here. The threat is always the clock so that made any chase scenes seem a little less daring. There are many times when Will could have and probably should have been shot and killed, but I guess the time he holds through the movie is worth more than a shot to the head.

I liked it for the most part. There’s some silly dialog here and there and the plight of the poor is always the most important. Some fleshing out of the world could have been a plus, but the movie works pretty well as is. I’d call it a good rental.

When I was really into comic books, Thor never looked interesting so I never picked up any of his stories. So going into the movie, I arrived with zero expectations. It’s a fun, if slightly dull movie.

It does everything well. The cast is good, along with the acting. A simple story that gets through the origin of Thor over with quickly. In fact, the movie is really well paced. Thor is a bit of a blow hard at the start and when he’s banished to Earth for his over zealous antics, he goes on a personal transformation. When Earth is threatened by Thor’s own brother, Loki, Thor steps up as Earth’s protector. What action scenes there are, are all done well. Nothing that exciting though, for some reason that feeling stuck with me through the whole movie. I can’t really pin down why, I guess because I don’t really care for Thor. The movie actually made me thing more of him, so in that respect it worked. He’s a part of The Avengers movie that comes out next year, so this is good warm up (rental) to get on board next summer’s tentpole release. Until Batman shows up to embarrass all other super hero movies at least.

I’ve never really put much thought behind Ryan Gosling, but Drive has changed that. He’s awesome. I think the only other movie I’ve seen him in is Lars and the Real Girl which he was also really good in, but gad zooks. Mr. Gosling plays the Driver, a mysterious and stoic man that evokes some classic Clint Eastwood vibes.

“Driver” as he’s labeled in the credits is a Hollywood stunt driver that moon lights as a getaway driver. He’s got very simple rules: I’m only the driver. I don’t have a weapon, you tell me where to be and where you want to go and I give you 5 minutes from when I show up to get your business done. A second passed that and I’m gone. You make it into the car I’m with you until our trip is done.

With that set in place he becomes involved in a job with the boyfriend of his neighbor. It turns out to be a trap and Driver has to fight his way out of a contract that’s been put on his head. Gosling is just so good in this movie he carries this crazy world on his shoulders. Driver is one of my favorite characters in years. He’s really quite, he doesn’t look like much, but the confidence this guy has is just unnerving. He lives his life on a very narrow, but clear line. Anything that happens on that line is handled with zero hesitation. Very Dirty Harry, but without the gun.

Film nuts have to see this movie, it’s so well made it’s like a lesson in mise en scene. Insane care and thought was put into every frame that you see. Director Nicolas Winding Refn is one of my favorites after discovering his first movie, Pusher, about 5 years ago. He’s got the cinematic eye that crops up every couple of years. I really think he’s on the path to becoming a name like Tarantino, Scorsese and Kubrik. It’s shot in a very slow and methodical way, the composition and lighting carefully considered in every scene. The soundtrack is of Tarnatino quality, it all fits together perfectly. The ads make the movie look like an action flick, but it’s more of a drama. There’s a handful of action scenes and they’re pretty quick, but everyone of them is striking. The movie opens with Driver doing his night job and there is almost no dialog. You don’t know any of the characters or what they’re stealing, just that this driver is going to get them all out of hot water. The images are so clear and concise (major props to the editing as well) that just watching it all unfold in front of you is more story than dialog could convey in the scene. Sitting there I felt the tension of sneaking around the cops, avoiding both cars and helicopter pursuit. You never leave the car with Driver and his passengers, careful actions cut together with the responses of the passengers expressions work so well together it really made a mark on me. So much and yet so little of Driver is conveyed after this opening that it made my head spin.

The movie plays out like a roller coaster where you cruise through the valleys leading to long scenes that ratchet up the plot and tension. That leaves the apex of the scene to erupt in a torrent of violence that sends you rocketing down the other side. The violence is really intense, but it’s not gory for the sake of being shocking. It’s the punctuation of a scene that is so packed that it has to pop to move the plot forward. Drive takes place in a harsh world with people who don’t take no for an answer; it’s survival. The pacing is what makes this film not for everyone. The slower parts can feel like a drag, but there is so much to take in visually that I was totally engrossed through all of it. Driver’s awesome shiny jacket with the gold scorpion on the back is destined to be a icon. One of my favorite movies in quite some time.