The Reel World

"People might just need a little old fashioned."

It goes back to the 1960's and 1970's, considered by many to be the Second Golden Age of Comics. That's when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby joined forces to make Marvel the dominating face in comic books. They did it by making their heroes people we could identify with. These superheroes were often flawed and in conflict with themselves and each other. But they still always got the bad guy and saved the day. I was one of those kids. Comics were a huge part of my life, and they delivered excitement and escapism long before there were video games and home theaters. It's been a long time since I've felt that kind of excitement. For two and a half hours, The Avengers made me feel like that all over again. This review isn't being written by the adult who usually writes in these pages. Today I'm a 15-year-old boy who isn't thinking about bad economies or cutthroat politics. Today I'm just smiling, and Joss Whedon and The Avengers is the reason.

“What cannot be disputed is your imagination is the inspiration of a horrendous crime.”

The Raven may not be a turkey, but it doesn’t really  soar either. Director James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) attempts to fashion a historical fiction around the mysterious final five days of Edgar Allen Poe’s life. A notorious drunk and opium addict, Poe (John Cusack) careens through 19^th century Baltimore dead broke, bitter from years of writers block, and harassed by the locals for being a blustering has-been. Due to a distinct lack of social sympathy, he can’t even borrow money for a single drink, which forces him into an involuntary sobriety. At the same time, a rash of murders inspired from the pages of his darkest fiction terrorize the city, and he is called in by Detective Fields (Luke Evans) to assist in the investigation.

More than any other genre — except maybe "M. Night Shyamalan movies" — romantic comedies really take a beating. We've all heard the complaints: "They're safe." "They're predictable." "The apartments are unrealistically amazing." "They all star Jennifer Aniston or Katherine Heigl." Of course, these complaints also double as the reasons why lots of people love them. (Ok, maybe not so much the part about Aniston and Heigl.) Either way, I think we can all agree that rom-coms as a whole could benefit from some sort of fresh twist or wrinkle. Think Like a Man, despite the efforts of a likable cast, is not here to provide that freshness.

In fact, the sweaty indoor gym where the male characters routinely meet to play basketball probably gives off a fresher smell than this movie. Unfortunately, this was obvious from the instant the movie started. (I wish there had been a place where I could bet the movie would kick off with James Brown's "It's a Man's Man's Man's World." I could've made some easy cash.)

"You've got to control your fear."

It appears that Greek mythology has become the fodder for a ton of movies of late. From young adult films to the hardcore action movies, audiences are getting their fill of the familiar gods and beasts from mythology lore. Some are calling it a trend or hot phase, like vampires and robots. Whatever it is, it isn't a phase, and it isn't merely passing through.

As someone who devoured The Hunger Games during a single marathon sitting a week before the movie's release, I was particularly curious and excited to see Suzanne Collins' best seller get the big-screen treatment. Judging by all the Team Peeta devotees and side-braid-sporting, would-be Katnisses — who had certainly been waiting for the movie a lot longer than I had — at my opening night screening, I was far from the only one. (The record-breaking box office was another clue.) Still, in a theater packed with rabid superfans, and with a beloved property making its much-anticipated jump onto the silver screen, the question of whether or not the movie is actually any good can often seem somewhat beside the point.

In case you've been living under a rock — or were buried in a District 12 mine explosion — The Hunger Games is set in the nation of Panem, what's left of North America after an unspecified apocalyptic event in the future. Panem consists of the wealthy, oppressive Capitol and its 12 surrounding districts. Every year, each district must send one boy and one girl — ages 12 to 18, and known as "tributes" — to compete in the Hunger Games, a televised battle to the death meant to re-establish the Capitol's dominance over the rest of the nation.

Dr. Seuss and his cast of strange and wonderful characters have been around since before I was born. The first book I ever read by myself was Green Eggs And Ham, and I can remember the experience quite vividly still. Each Christmas I run the 1960's Boris Karloff version of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. It's been a tradition at the Sassani household for decades. It started with television broadcast that led to videotaped copy which found its way to a laserdisc, followed by a DVD and now a beautiful Blu-ray from the folks at Warner. If these things don't qualify me as a bonafide fan of the good Doctor, I'm not sure what else will.

Mankind has lost touch with the Earth's environment and now lives in sterile cities where there is no longer any nature at all. Few can even remember what a tree looked like. The natural resources were completely consumed to make products so that now trees are inflatable fixtures in the neighborhood. In order to impress a girl who has fantasies about real trees, Ted (Efron) leaves the safety of the city to track down the Once-ler (Helms) who is rumored to know what happened to the trees. The Once-ler tells a cautionary tale of how he was responsible for the extinction of the trees in spite of the warnings of their protector, the Lorax (DeVito).

"In valor there is hope"

It would be easy to dismiss Act Of Valor as either a recruiting tool piece of propaganda or yet another in an endless line of war films attempting to capture some form of authenticity. It would be easy, if you haven't seen the film. I can promise you that no matter what your views on war or the military in general, the one thing you simply won't be able to do is dismiss Act Of Valor.