House Bunny

PLOT: A Playboy bunny gets kicked out of the mansion and gets a job as a house mom for a dying sorority.
STARS: Anna Faris, Emma Stone, Colin Hanks
This is kind of a cute movie. Anna Faris is the "bunny" and she's sweet. Well, sweet in a stereotypical dumb blonde kind of way. All the girls of the sorority are social rejects who have to get more pledges or they lose their house. So little miss bunny sexes them up until everyone's pounding on the door to get in. They learn to balance who they really are with the stuff that they learn from bunny and all live happily ever after. The only thing I didn't really like was the guy that Emma Stone (the leader of the sorority) is in love with. He wants nothing to do with her when she's a complete nerd but once she looks great, he's all over her. And she makes sure to act dumb so she won't intimidate him. The whole point is to be who you really are. Not act like an idiot to score some stupid frat guy.

Appaloosa

PLOT: Two men are hired to bring peace to a western town after a man and his gang murder the sheriff.
STARS: Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, Renee Zellweger, Jeremy Irons
If you like modern westerns, you'll like this movie. I'm not a big fan of Renee Zellweger and her character drove me crazy. She falls in love with Ed Harris but then spends the rest of the movie falling into bed with any man who looks at her sideways. I love the unspoken communication between Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen. They really make you believe that they've been together for years. Jeremy Irons can always be counted on to bring the slime and he does it well as always. However, I was a little distracted by his accent. It's hard to do cowboy when you sound like he does. But overall, good movie.

Taken

PLOT: A teenage girl is kidnapped while in Europe and her ex-spy dad has to track her down.
STARS: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Jenssen
I actually saw this in the theater! The scene in which she's actually taken is so good. I was gripping my husband's hand the whole time. As with most movies nowadays, credibility is strained in several parts but it keeps you on the edge of your seat most of the time. The movie made me a little sad. The girl is sold into the sex trade and you see scenes of what happens to these girls (nothing terribly graphic). Part of me says there's no way anything that horrible could really happen but the truth is that what happens is so much worse. Despite minor plot issues, I enjoyed it.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

PLOT: Indy is recruited by Marion's son to save her and find the legendary crystal skull.
STARS: Harrison Ford, Shia LeBeouf, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen
Indiana meets Marion's son who, it turns out, is actually his son. It's a typical Indiana Jones movie. Bad guys want to take over the world, Indiana has to find a lost artifact in order to stop them. It's fun to watch Indiana realize that he has a son. Great casting in Shia LeBeouf, love him. Karen Allen picks up as if she never left the series. I wasn't sure about the whole alien thing but it works. There's always a bit of mythical or otherworldly-ness in these movies so in that sense, it fit. If you liked the other movies, you'll like this one, too.

Crank

PLOT: A hitman is shot up with some kind of chemical cocktail that will stop his heart--revenge for someone he took out. He has to keep his adreniline up until he can get his doctor friend to help him.
STARS: Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Dwight Yoakum(sp?), a bunch of Chinese bad guys
This is kind of a teenage boy movie. It's completely unbelievable; it's just a vehicle for car chases and stunts and shoot outs. But I thought it was fun. It has no redeeming qualities other than it's just fun to watch Jason Statham run around town hyped up on Red Bull, picking fights and getting hit with a defibrillator to keep his heart pumping. Honestly, I've decided that anything with Jason Statham is worth watching. He'll never be nominated for an acting award but he's just so...pretty! Sometimes that's enough for me (well, the accent helps, too.) It really strains credibility through most of it, and especially at the end, but it's a fun ride.

Gone Baby Gone

PLOT: The child of a druggie mom goes missing and the aunt hires a local private investigator to find her.
STARS: Casey Affleck, Amy Ryan, Ed Harris, Bridget Moynahan, Morgan Freeman
I've been dying to see this one since it came out. For several reasons, actually. First, it's Ben Affleck's directorial debut. Second, the whole movie rests on Casey Affleck, the baby faced younger brother and typical tag along to Ben's movie characters. And third, there was so much critical hype when it came out. For once, the hype was well deserved. The movie has so many twists and turns, sometimes it's hard to keep up but it's worth sticking with it. Casey Affleck is so good and his baby face actually plays into the plot of the movie. It asks very difficult questions about what's right and wrong in a very twisted world. Do you do the right thing when it seems so wrong? Would doing something that's wrong be okay if a child's life will forever benefit? Ed Harris co-stars and is great as always. Amy Ryan is the child's mother and she was nominated for and won all kinds of acting awards. It's no surprise to me. She did such a great job I wanted to reach through the TV and smack her upside the head. Watch it and let me know what you think about Casey's character's decision.

American Psycho

PLOT: A Wall Street stockbroker goes around killing people. End of Story.
STARS: Christian Bale
This movie came out quite a few years ago, but with Christian Bale being such a hot topic lately, I thought I had to see it. Don't bother. As the title suggests, he is Psycho, a serial killer actually. It's all very 80s/Gordon Gekko/Wall Street and he does that part well. But it's just too bizarre for me. He's a great actor but he falls into that category of Hollywood actor that would consider himself an Actor, very Method (see The Machinist). I've seen better serial killer movies (Mr. Brooks, for example) and better movies period. He waxes poetic about his CDs and murders people in very odd fashion (is there a normal way to murder people?) and I could just never get into the movie. And really, the whole point of any movie is just to be entertained. This one just didn't do it.