Warm Bodies (2013)

I think that I can safely say that this is the sweetest zombie movie that I've ever seen. It is certainly a different take on the whole zombie sub-genre of films. This may be the first film in the new sub-sub-genre, to be known henceforth as rom-zoms. There was action and suspense as is typical in zombie films, and yes even the eating of brains, but that's just about where the zombie part ends and the romance part begins. I know that zombies are often used as a metaphor in films, sometimes subtle, sometimes blatant, but in this film they're not even really necessary to the real story arc. It could have been citizens from two different sity-states or neighborhoods or countries or planets. This is really a story about a boy falling for a girl, losing the girl and then winning her back. You know, boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-wins-girl-back. The walking undead are really just a mechanism to show difference and to get butts in seats.
I tend to like stories that get a bit into world building, or let's be honest, a lot into world building. That doesn't really happen at all in this story. But it's okay, because this is a "light" movie which I enjoyed as it was. The two young stars - Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer - are the main reason for that. First off, they both pull off the American accent quite well. They also turn out to be good actors. I know that you are thinking to yourself how hard could it be to pplay a zombie, but Hoult isn't a typical zombie and does a very good job, in fact in the context of this film I don't know how it could have possibly been better. The supporting actors, inclusind some guy name John Malkovich, do a pretty good job, too. If I hadn't already known that Dave Franco was in this movie, I would have recognized the family resemblance the first time I saw that brow of his. Also, I think this is the first film, or maybe even any appearance, where Rob Corddry hasn't gotten on my nerves, with a nod to Hot Tub Time Machine where he did get on my nerves but was supposed to get on them.

Warm Bodies on IMDb

Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon (2011)

Okay, two things, Rosie Huntington Whitley was not a step up from Megan Fox in either the acting or looks department, and how awesome is it that Buzz Aldrin is played by Buzz freakin' Aldrin? So I guess that makes casting kind of hit and miss on this one. Well, actually more hit than miss. John Malkovich and Frances McDormand are great in everything they do, whether or not it itself is great. Alan Tudyk and Ken Jeong are two great comedic character actors who are not afraid too like total idiots to get the job done, and they both do some of that in this movie, especially Jeong. Plus, you've got all the returning characters, whom aside from LaBeouf have a smaller role this time out, but deliver none the less.
I want to not like this movie. I want to be pissed at Michael Bay for being such a prick and ruining my childhood memories of the Transformers. But, I keep finding that I do like this movie, and regardless of how I feel about Bay and his style of movie-making, that it is perfect for the Transformers. Let's face it, the first time out of the gate, I was into the movie for the story as much as the giant robots. Second time out, not so much. Third time out, as long as they have something I can follow, it's all good. And that's pretty much how I feel about the cartoons as well. They do all these ridiculous things in the movies that are nowhere near as outlandish as the cartoon. Thank god they haven't resorted to using energon cubes yet.
I was one of those kids who was a comic book nerd and read Transformers from that first four issue limited series up at least until the mid-60s. There were lots of great stories, and things were never as easy for the Autobots as they were in the cartoon. Characters died. Story arcs were working over the course of a half year or more. And then, just like with the cartoon, it seemed that each new episode was all about featuring whatever new toy was coming out that month and even I, with my encyclopedic knowledge of the Transformers and excellent memory for names and (comic book) faces could not keep up or keep it straight. But, in this movie that is not so much of an issue. There are only a couple of new Autobots, and really only a couple of new Decepticons that get named, but tons whom we never learn the name of, nor do we see transform.
I wonder what they are doing in the fourth movie? What are some of the things from comics/cartoon that we haven't seen yet? Well, we've got the whole dinobots thing. I hope that's not it. We have Unicron and a whole slew of new 'soldiers' on both side which replace the old characters. We've not yet seen the Headmasters or Powermasters and I hope it remains that way. We haave the Transformers vs. G. I. Joe. With Cybertron now destroyed, we're unlikely to see another wave of baddies (or goodies) coming from there to reinforce their earthbound comrades. I don't know if the whole Unicron thing happened in the comic or just in the cartoon. Maybe there is some awesome key story element that I am unable to remember, that will come into play? Maybe they will fight the GoBots - to the death!
Whatever happens next I'm onboard with. The only thing that I really hope for is that Sam gets a new girlfiend.
Oh god, I am such a huge dork.

T3: Dark of the Moon on IMDb

Jonah Hex (2010)

I soooooo wanted this movie to be good. I recently saw Josh Brolin in Men in Black 3 and thought he was wonderful and was discussing his performance in No Country for Old Men which in turn reminded me of W. and so I searched to see what else the library had that I might watch him in. I ended up with this. Now, I am not completely unfamiliar with Jonah Hex. I read the comic as a kid, but to be completely up front mostly remember the reboot as "Hex" where the Jonah Hex character was mysteriously and inexplicably sent into the future. I also remember hearing about this movie being made as well as not recalling a single review of it. That's never a good sign. I knew that Brolin was in the movie and that Megan Fox said no to Transformers 3 to do this, a move I bet she regrets financially at least.
This movie sucked, but to be honest I'm not sure why. I thought the acting was passable, though every time I saw Will Arnett on screen I expected him to be setting up for a joke or to be making sexual innuendos - I think he's hilarious, but not who I'd pick for this kind of role, especially after seeing him in it. Megan Fox was not a disappointment and I will say that she held her own in her scenes, but really that's not saying that much. I think it got off on the wrong foot. They did some live action for like three or four minutes and then did an animated "origin of Jonah Hex" that lasted two or three minutes and then went back to live action to tell a story that didn't give a crap about characters. Honestly, the only character I cared about was the dog, and at times the Lilah character, but only at times.
This movie should have been the origin story, and the sequel should have had Hex hunting down Turnbull. As it was, there was no character building. I read the comic book, and I still didn't have enough to go on for most of it. It was a lot of, "oh that name rings a bell" and before I could figure out why it did the character was gone.
I'm chalking this one up to a bad script and bad calls made by the director. Though I would like to give special kudos to whomever's job it was to keep Megan Fox's boobs from popping out of that dress and pushing this film into an R rating.
It just donned on me how to describe this film and what I found wrong with it - it had the look of True Grit remake, the feel of the Wild, Wild West remake and the story of a Quentin Tarentino movie.

Jonah Hex at IMDb