Kick-Ass

The title says it all

There have been many, many stupid movies over the years, too many to list in fact. From Borat to The Hangover and everything in between, but in terms of utter stupidity, nothing has come close to Kick-Ass. This is quite possibly the dumbest movie to come along in years and also quite possibly the funniest.

This movie features many stars in the making including Aaron Johnson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse as well as action and superhero film vertan Nicholas Cage. Johnson (known to fan for his portrayal of a teenage John Lennon in the biographical drama "Nowhere Boy") stars as Dave, a nerdy, misfit teenager with a love of comic books. He wonders why no one has ever tried to become a real life superhero and despite his doubting friends, he sets out to become one. Doning a wet suite and calling himself "Kick-Ass" he does a lot more taking punches than saving people until he suddenly becomes a Youtube sensation and New York City starts to view him as an actual hero. On one job however, he finds he's bitten off more than he can chew. Things look bad, but thankfully two new "superheros" come to his rescue; the father-daughter duo of "Big Daddy" and "Hit Girl."

Big Daddy is David McCreedy (Cage), a former cop sent to prison for a crime he did not commit. Angry over the loss of his job and the death of his wife, he sets out on a personal quest for vendetta against the man responsible; Frank D'Mico (Mark Strong) a crooked cop turned crime boss who framed him for dealing drugs years ago. Mintz-Plasse (known to fans as 'McLovin') costars as D'Mico's son Chris, a poor little rich boy with a love of comic books. When his father puts a price out on Kick-Ass's head, Chris creates his own superhero alter ego, in an attempt to bring Kick-Ass to justice. Thus "Red Mist" is born. It all adds up to one show-stopping finale you won't want to miss. This is the best spoof Hollywood as turned out since "Spaceballs." While there's no getting around how lame it looks and sounds, it really is a very enjoyable movie. Just give it a try. You'll be glad you did.

5 Stars

The Help

Important Oppression Drama Documents the Power of the Press

This was another movie I didn't expect to be impressed by. I went to the theater more unsure than anything else, but I have to admit, this is very engaging movie that focuses on some important, often overlooked points in U.S. history. It reminds us that the African American race's hard times didn't end with slavery..at all. Times were still very, very hard many years after its members were given their freedom.

The American film classic Gone With the Wind depicts the character of "Mammy" as a black but nonetheless very caring devoted maid who is very loyal to the family she works for. This movie features a cast of similar characters. Set in Jackson Mississippi, it tells of Eugenia (nicknamed Skeeter) a young woman from a well-to-do family who returns to her home in Jackson with a college degree and dreams of becoming a writer. She gets a low end job writing an advice cleaning advice piece for the local newspaper, but soon becomes interested in another topic - the treatment of black people in her home city. Having been raised by a black maid herself, Skeeter feels a certain attachment to the maids of the city that the rest of her family and many of her friends to do. Surrounded by cruelty and racism, Skeeter sets off on a quest to give the local blacks a voice by publishing a book of interviews given by black maids, testifying how bad they really have have it. It's a well written, well acted film that does the original book justice. Emma Stone leads a group of B-list actors all of whom give top notch performances. This film also documents how far the power of the press can go and proves better than anything to come along before it that the pen is in fact mightier than the sword. Anyone looking for a good movie should give this a go - it's an important film that everyone of age should see.

5 Stars

Just Go With It

Decent, but too much romance for the genre

Happy Madison productions got it's name from two early movies it's founder, Adam Sandler stared in; Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison. Those were both rude, raunchy comedies. Since then, the company has produced many movies, among them The Benchwarmers, Blades of Glory, and Grown Ups. When this movie first hit theaters I expected lots of laughs and crude humor. I was sorely disappointed. This isn't a bad movie but it just had too much romance for the Happy Madison genre. A good way to phrase it would be "Just Go With It is 80% romance and 20% raunch. Not cool Adam Sandler, not cool at all.

Sandler stars as Dr. Danny Mcabee, a successful, single plastic surgeon who uses a fake wedding ring to score with women. Things go great for him until the one girl he actually falls for discovers his secret. In order to cover up his story Danny enlists the help of his office aid Catherine (Jennifer Aniston) to pose as his soon to be ex-wife. That is supposed to be the end of it, but couldn't you guess it, through a series of unfortunate events, Danny is soon forced to drag her kids into his web of lies as well. One thing leads to another and before Danny knows what's happening, everyone (that's right, everyone) is headed to Hawaii for some fun in the sun and more chaos than anyone is prepared for. Don't go looking for Adam Sandler's usual potty humor but this actually isn't a bad date movie. It's got just enough romance to hold a woman's interest and just enough laughs to keep a man entertained.

4 Stars