Almost 3 months into the year, and we haven't had any posts about new movies people have seen.
I don't remember if it was December or January, but I really enjoyed the new True Grit. Thankfully, they didn't try to remake the John Wayne classic. Instead, it was a new adaptation of the novel. Good work all around.
Last night, I went to see Red Riding Hood. First, this is not for kids. It is NOT the fairy tale most of us heard as children. It's an older legend that I believe predates the fairy tale. They did include a dream scene wherein Valerie (Red) asks Gradnma the usual questions: "What big teeth you have." It was kind of hokey, but I understand why it was done. Gary Oldman delivers his usual engaging performance. Julie Christie (anybody remember her?) is Grandma. It's not scary so much as it's mysterious. Who's the big bad werewolf? Even if you're tired of vampires and werewolves, this one's worth it if only for the scenery. I love the sets and the photography. There's a celebration scene that could have been shorter, but other than that, I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Thanks for the review Moviewriter-heheheh. I liked the scenery in the trailers. In only the best way, recalled cinematography+look of Harry Potter films, Narnia, Lord of the Rings and films that have that outside epic sprawl. On the to-see list. By the way- the Roger Ebert-Battle L.A. link in the other movie thread-you were right. I DID enjoy it and found it hilarious.

One of my friends who saw Red with me enjoyed it but thought it was like a combination of The Village and the Twilight series. Catherine Hardwicke directed the first Twilight movie. But since I haven't watched any of those, the similarities don't bother me.

Saw "The Adjustment Bureau" last week. Not sure if I liked it or not. It was strange, in a "Shutter Island"/"Inception" kind of way. I think I need to see it again.

Woody, Gary Oldman is such a chameleon, literally. He never looks like the same person in any of his movies. He's almost unrecognizable from movie to movie. They showed an interview clip he did and he said he's changed his haircolor so many times that he forgets what the natural color is. He can play anything (and he does.)

Oldman is such a good actor-deserves to be in the DeNiro, Hoffman, Eastwood, Nicholson, Streep et al-club. Played terrorist so convincingly in AF-1 that I hated him and cheered when he got his come uppance. Good even in the HPotter films.

Just rented The Next Three Days with Russel Crowe. I love thrillers anyway, but so often they just fail to get it right. Leaving you wondering just how they did this or why did that not to that kind of thing. The screenwriter on this one seems to have really thought it though.

Rented "Unstoppable" and "Book of Eli." The former was good, even though I saw it in the theater last fall. I couldn't get into the latter.
It took too long to get going, and when it did, I couldn't hear anything. I think my player has an audio muffler or something because I always have to raise the volume on the TV. Normally, I set it around 30-35. For Eli, it was above 40 and I still couldn't hear the dialogue. I gave up after about 40 minutes.
This summer's theatrical releases look awful. Maybe, just maybe the new Transformers movie has some potential if only because I liked the first two. There's some positive buzz about Super 8, but I'm not sure I want to see that.
Otherwise, it looks like junk, more junk and worse junk. Zookeeper? Hangover 2? (Was the first that good?) Bad Teacher?
This is sad.

I agree Woody. I liked "Unstoppable" a lot. It was a bit of a surprise for me. Had me on the edge of my seat for most of the movie. "Eli" was just okay, and that's painful to say since I like Denzel a lot and I've had a not so secret crush on him for many years now. But, I did enjoy the surprise in the end.

Also not impressed with the summer movie line-up, although I'm hearing good things about "Super 8." I think the combination of Steven Speilberg and J.J. Abrams may be worth a shot.

I'm not into super hero movies, so that eliminates the new Xmen and Green Lantern movies right off the bat.

There's also some buzz being generated about "Tree of Life," with Brad Pitt in the lead.

I haven't heard about Tree of Life.
I remember watching the Green Lantern animated series as a kid but unlike most superhero stories, I don't remember anything about it other than the suit. Last night's ESPN SportsCenter was sponsored exclusively by the movie. They showed the full-length trailer, interviews with the lead actor and some of the production team. It reminds me of when the new Cowboys stadium premiered the Avatar trailer.
Anyway, it doesn't make me jump and dance wanting to go, but it has possibilities. I'm a science fiction fan from back in the day, and historically, this would be right up my alley. I think my main apprehension about this is it's just one in a glut of comic book heroes getting to the big screen. Other than Christian Bale as Batman, and the first Iron Man (I haven't seen 2), I'm not impressed.
Thor looked cheesy and awful in the ads. And Captain America? Forget it.
So I'll say this, regarding Green Lantern the movie. If I find out that a friend wants to go, I'll join him or her. But I won't make a point of going by myself.