The Campaign is Will Ferrell and Jay Roach’s latest tag team effort. Calling an audible they take on another sport: politics. Ferrell plays Cam Brady who is a long sitting Congressman for the state of North Carolina. When the Motch brothers decide to swing influence in the favor of their mega corporation they tap the unwitting Marty Huggins (a beardless Zach Galifianakis), an innocent, doe eyed director at the local tourism center.

There’s some really funny parts here, but they’re spread apart pretty far. It’s a big hill and valley kind of ride with this movie. At times it felt a little too real despite all of the more outlandish moments. There’s a kernel of truth to each outlandish set up that kind of marred the experience to me. While fitting for the times we’re in with a good cast, I can’t shake the feeling that this is a better rental than a full ticket price movie.

I’m a huge Batman fan, so I have a obvious bias towards these movies. I love Christopher Nolan’s work and I’ve loved the first two Nolan Batman movies. I like the vision he and his team created and ran with.

I watched Batman Begins and The Dark Knight just before going to The Dark Knight Rises. So glad I did, it refreshed me on each story and the overall arc of the trilogy. A lot comes back into play in Rises and being immediately familiar helped me enjoy the movie even more.

This is a really epic movie, the scope is huge, and coming from TDK, that’s saying something. While the Joker was anarchy, Bane is a more militant and physical threat. Pulling off a huge overthrow of Gotham, Bane takes complete control of the city while leaving its already “disgraced” hero broken and shattered. The villains win for most of this movie, giving a real sense of a phoenix rising mentality to the end of this Baman tale.

It’s a dark and complex world that Bruce Wayne has found himself in. He relies a lot on friends in this one, especially Jim Gordon and most notably Selina Kyle (Catwoman). I’ve never been a fan of Anne Hathaway, but she completely won me over in her take on Selina. Hathway takes a refreshing spin on Michelle Pfeiffers ‘ Catwoman. She’s sexy and sneaky, but she doesn’t have the feral nature that Pfeiffer goes with. She works really well in scenes with Bruce Wayne and Batman. Tom Hardy also impressed me as Bane, a real unique and daring bit of work (which really describes Rises as a whole to me). Heath Ledger as Joker is the Everest of character acting and while Bane really isn’t as strong of a character, his presence and actions are unique and leave a lasting impression. Joseph Gordon-Levitt as police officer Blake is another wonderful addition, he’s one of the best actors working today.

The movie just looks amazing, there are so many amazing shots and set ups, it’s just too much to describe. The vision and scope is immense and matched perfectly by Hans Zimmer’s powerful score. Christopher Nolan does as much in camera as he can and uses CG to augment the special effects only when necessary. Stunt guys all over the place, very little obvious CG elements, the integration of the real and the fantasy is tightly knit together.

Christopher Nolan likes to keep brewing his story from start to finish and that often makes things more messy than it needs to be. At two hours and forty minutes, Rises is a wicker basket of a story. The set up of a cleaned up city that is still rotten, Bruce Wayne’s tortured soul from the events of the last film, Bane’s underground moves to take over, all the chess pieces of old and new characters being moved around. There’s a lot of foreshadowing and if you know the Batman stories, the big reveal isn’t a reveal. When everything is working, I’m completely sucked in to the world. In the first chase scene with Batman, he’s on the Bat Pod when he goes into a tunnel and hits an EMP device to disable the lights and vehicles around him. You see his shadow flitting around the cop cars and then his glorious reveal as he starts taking down the bad guys actually gave me a head rush. A super hero come to life right in front of me. A few minutes later the introduction of Batman’s new ride The Bat from the alley way? Forget it, just so cool it made me smile like a 6 year old. But when the movie missteps, it feels that much more odd, like a jolt to a train car. Sometimes it’s little things like dialog that could have been improved. Then there are the odd bits of comic book logic and/or strange editing (the opening action sequence would leave wreckage for about 20 miles, wouldn’t look like an accident, sudden skips of time that can be hard to keep track of, how did Bruce get from the prison to Gotham and find who he needed right out the gate at just the right time). The choice to make Gotham not look like Gotham from each movie is really odd though. TDK was Chicago and Rises is mostly NYC and Philly, the aesthetic that Begins started was dropped for reasons I can’t think of. Thankfully it’s nothing that ruined the experience for me. Most of the problems I have I think could be fixed with some different editing choices.

As the credits rolled I felt really satisfied. The Batman book that Nolan brought to us in seven years was complete using his own words and images. The end is a mixture of emotions with some awesome visuals (I just can’t keep saying that enough) that filled me with hope. Even in great darkness, good will always be there to fight evil. Now someone give Nolan the directors chair for the next James Bond movie.

After Sam Raimi and company piledrove the Spiderman films into the dirt with Spiderman 3 in 2007, Sony needed to kick start their franchise again (for legal and creative differences). The Amazing Spiderman reboot is the result and it’s pretty much a success.

I consider the first move to be overrated, 2 is a truley great movie and 3 is a complete mess. Here we are given a new cast, new director, new stunt team, slightly new story. Here’s the main problem with the movie: it’s a reboot. There’s really no reason to do an origin story again when it’s only a decade after it was first brought to the movies. This could have just been a direct sequel, ignoring anything that happened in 3. Everyone knows the start so it’s just redundant. That said, it’s done well. A different take on the Peter Parker and Uncle Ben catalyst for the superhero starts us off and thankfully they’ve done with a new villain with Dr. Curt Connors (The Lizard).

I really liked the new cast, Andrew Garfield is a perfect Peter Parker and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy is a perfect match. I didn’t miss Tobey Maguire at all. He’s more of the comic smart ass here and they have him using mechanical web shooters like the comic as well. It’s a nicely layered movie, it’s a smooth track to setting up the loveable teenager to heroic hero as the stakes are gradually ratcheted up. “With great power comes great responsibility” is well at work here.

The unique fight scenes are great, really pushing the difference between Spiderman and all other superheroes abilities. There’s a great weight to all the hits but the quickness of a super nimble person. It’s a lot of fun to watch him disable people with webbing and then swing around different ways in each scene. The 3D isn’t anything really worth mentioning. It’s used subtly in dialog scenes but there is next to no separation during the big action scenes. There’s some great work done with traveling as Spiderman in the first person perspective, but it looked surprisingly flat in 3D. There either very little visual depth or the background is in such a blur the whole image just turns into a streak. Not worth the money.

I think it’s worth watching, if only to get another one with this cast. Spiderman has some life in him, something I didn’t think was possible after watching 3.

I’ve watched a lot of stuff in the past few weeks from being off work and healing up the old eyeball. Gaming was too much of a strain so I stuck to TV and movies. So much so that it makes the most sense to make a quick hits post for it all.

Tower Heist A good movie until the last act where it turns too Hollywood. Ben Stiller leads the cast of this Robin Hood like heist movie. It’s a fun story, but when they throw plausibility out the window to get to the end, it really ruined it for me.

Safe House Excellent rental. Ryan Reynolds shows up in another movie, this time teamed up with/against Denzel Washington as the bad guy. A fun concept that’s pulled off well. Interesting action scenes, perfect run time, solid movie.

Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest Really liked this documentary on a Tribe Called Quest. Fantastic soundtrack to a terrific story. Taking the viewer back to the real honest and pure days of hip hop, Beats gives the fantastic journey of one of the most influential groups in the game. The nucleus of this is the rift that came between Q Tip and Phife Dawg…a power and respect struggle that stretched for years. Director Michael Rapaport tries to lay everything out as honestly as possible and I think he accomplished that. Keeping it all down to a reasonable runtime restricts the full story and I’m not too sure who was in the wrong. I can see both angles from their specific sides…I’m really left thinking that they’re both in the right. Just personality clashes that couldn’t be avoided. Growing up seems to have helped in the end. Highly recommended.

Jeff, Who Lives At Home An arrested development coming of age tale. I’m a fan of Jason Segel and really makes the Jeff character work. Ed Helms as his brother was great casting, they work well together.

Everything Must Go This one is in the same genre as Jeff, Who Lives At Home. Will Ferrell plays Nick, a middle management type at a car dealership who has an alcoholic relapse. It costs him his job and his wife, planting him squarely on his front lawn for some self-reflection and character building. I’m a Will Ferrell fan and I like when he takes the roles where he’s not an athlete of any kind. With a more grounded role he doesn’t do anything wacky here but he is a sad character. Sad is actually too strong of a word, he’s just in a low place in his life. While being sad and angry with his life, he doesn’t grate on you. Will brings a certain level of compassion and likeability to Nick and his growing relationships with his neighbors Kenny and Samantha is a good one. While this isn’t really an original tale (changing your life, moving on, father/son relationship) it is a solid one.

Warrior I’ve read a lot of good things about this one, but the entire time I watched it, I couldn’t stop thinking about how much better The Fighter is. It’s easy to compare the two with the story focused on two brothers and fighting (MMA and Boxing), but I thought the characters of The Fighter were just way better. While Warrior is well made with some good acting (I like Tom Hardy a lot), nothing about it made me think that The Fighter is not the better use of the medium.

The Woman in Black I watched this movie specifically for Daniel Radcliffe and it’s so boring that I wish I didn’t. Dark hallways and jump scares fill this movie and that’s about it. Don’t bother, just watch one of the Paranormal Activity movies if you are looking to scratch that ghost story itch.

Underworld: Awakening Kate Beckinsale back in skin tight lycra suit! Besides the obvious eye candy, Awakening continues this competent Werewolf Vs vampire franchise. Enter a new found daughter for Selene to protect and the stage is set for some more carnage. If you like the other Underworld movies, dive right in. If not, it really doesn’t mess with the formula so you won’t be missing anything.

Brave is a beautiful story from a beautiful company. Pixar has quite the track record in animated films and I’m happy to see Brave continue the tradition. Family values are the center piece of this one which is always a solid foundation to build on. Mix in some fairytale mythos and you’ve got a movie that will be remembered fondly for generations.

Princess Merida is a very strong willed and determined young woman. When thrust into the tradition of betrothal, Merida rebels and mistakenly unleashes a curse that threatens to ruin everything she knows and cares for. It’s a simple tale with a neat little twist filled with endearing characters that you can’t help but root for.

As with every release, Pixar updates their visual game with some of the best animation in the world. The landscapes are just stunning, the character designs are unique and charming and all the special effects make for a truly believable world. I was surprised at how much slap stick humor was in this one, but I didn’t think it distracted from anything. The voice cast goes a long way too, some great performances throughout (Kelly Macdonald in particular, I’m a big fan of hers).

The Pixar name sets a certain bar of expectation and I think Brave fits into the family very well. With the two Cars movies giving me the only sense of “ho-hum” from this studio I am happy to see this return to form. It’s a really well made story for kids and adults, with a real vibe of love and care pushing it forward. There’s a fun lead in, a dramatic turn and then a courageous mad dash at the end. Now while it’s not my favorite Pixar movie, Brave is better than most movies released today.

30 years after making his last science fiction movie, Ridley Scott returns to the genre with ! A prequel to Alien, the hype behind this movie was at an all time high just before it’s release. A tall hill to climb for any filmmaker, most seem pretty disappointed.

I liked it. It’s definably not as good as I (and everyone) hoped, but after watching and reading about online, it’s clear that a lot was cut out. The first 2/3 are very strong it’s the last act where a lot of the logic of the story swerves around and the guess work seems to take hold. With the heritage of the Alien franchise (the original and the first sequel are cinema classics) at it’s genesis in this movie, it didn’t answer a whole lot and that bugs a lot of people. The set up is great and easy to understand. In the not too distant future, archeologists find some evidence of a civilization that points them to explore the stars in search of answers. It might even be an invitation. Hop on board the Prometheus along with the crew, it’s going to be a promising trip! Cue the horror show! That’s all great. The buildup to the panic is great too. It’s interesting, engadging and you’re always wondering what is just around the corner.

The pacing of the movie seems a little off. You find yourself watching on uneasy footing but the set up and follow through don’t work well enough in the end so instead of an lasting adrenalin rush, you’re left feeling way more confused than you ever should be. There’s really weird character behavior too. The part that really bugged me was after an emergency procedure, Shaw doesn’t even try to tell anyone about what happened to her. The set up from a crew mate, and the seriousproblem that is developing at an alarming rate. All stuff you’d be screaming at to anyone you saw. She’s practically crawling down hallways, sweating like a maniac for the rest of the movie and no one bats an eye at her.

This all sounds really negative, but I did enjoy the movie. It just had surprising problems. On a technical level, Prometheus is a masterpiece. It’s one of the best looking movies ever made, the visuals of direction and production design coupled with the best special effects in the business is a site to behold. Quality acting too, even if some actors (Idris Elba) are underused (Michael Fastbender is absolute tops and I liked Noomi Rapace a lot).

Each movie in the Alien franchise is very different, Prometheus continues (or starts it, if you take the story timeline into account) that linage. I think this movie will ultimately be remembered fondly. I’m looking forward to seeing it again to see the stuff I missed, there’s a lot to take in and digest. The home release should be packed with extras.