Steele's Summer Movie(s) Review

It seems as though every other day this Summer I've found myself sitting in a dark theater with someone. I'm not bothered by this, seeing as how I rarely ventured out to a movie during the school year. So I'm catching up in a way. These aren't going to be comprehensive, blow-by-blow, reviews. I'm just going to go down this list in the order I've seen them and see how things go. 'Kay? Good, let's begin.

1. Angels & Demons

I wasn't expecting much from this one since I was generally underwhelmed by The Da Vinci Code. It might've been because I had read the book and held great expectations for the film. Angels & Demons is the Da Vinci Code's prequel, but holds the same basic premise. Symbologist Robert Langdon plays a holy game of Clue throughout the movie, with a hot European chick sidekickin' it (Audrey Tautou in the first movie, some Italian lady in A&D). I believe I drowsed off in the beginning, but as they started to put the pieces together towards the end it picked up significantly, although I'm not sure it was enough to save it... That piece of roadkill Tom Hanks wore on his head in the last movie also returned.

2. Star Trek

My father and my grandfather were both trekkies. My father watched the original with grandpa, and I watched "The Next Generation" with him. It's a great action movie for the Summer, and the casting was perfect. Personally, I think Simon Pegg (Shawn of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) should have had more of a part as Scotty, but that's just me. Leonard Nemoy (the O.G. Spock) even makes an appearance. 

3. Up

For a movie that's considered to be a light fare, most of it is actually pretty somber. *spoilers ahead* The old man's wife dies before fulfilling their lifelong wish of traveling the world. But before he gets sent off to the retirement home (because they're tearing down the house that they built together), he flies off on this adventure to accomplish what he should have done while she was still alive. Kind of serious for a kid's movie, no? And this is all within the first 30 minutes. Cute movie though.

4. The Hangover

I have three words to describe this one: What the fuck. "Seriously, what did we just watch?" is what I said to my friend as we were walking out of the theater. I loved this movie. I laughed the whole time, and it's not often that I do so at the movies. I couldn't help myself, the audience was cracking up almost every two minutes. Zach Galifianakis was GENIUS. He plays the groom's psychotic brother-in-law. He really stole the show in this one. Ugh, shamelessly funny. I couldn't stand it. Go see it, now.

5. Year One

I've never really enjoyed Michael Cera's shtick. His whole, meek but sarcastic thing annoys me. I do enjoy me some Jack Black, but he wasn't enough to save this. In fact, this movie had a great cast (save for Michael Cera), but I don't know, it fell flat. The Hangover was a tough act to follow. Not worth seeing in theaters, nor renting. Maybe when it shows up on tv in a few years.

More to come!