Cowboys & Aliens

Four Stars: ˜˜˜˜

What’s more Hollywood than cowboys or aliens? Cowboys AND aliens, duh! The impressive list of collaborators (Spielberg, Favreau, Howard) managed to seamlessly weld the two genres. All of the Western archetypes blend perfectly with extraterrestrial action in an incredibly entertaining adventure. An original plotline teems with multiple conflicts, allowing the stars to shine.

TRAILER

MEMORABLE QUOTES

“Demons took your gold. When you get to Hell, you can ask for it back.”

“Got a kid and a dog, why not a woman?”

“God doesn’t care who you were, son, only who you are.”

Swing Time

Four Stars: ˜˜˜˜

One of the best of all the Ginger Rogers/ Fred Astaire films, this 1936 musical is the definition of a classic. The stars sing and dance Jerome Kern’s music, much of which was destined to become standards, such as “The Way You Look Tonight” and “A Fine Romance.” The storyline is a simple boy-meets-girl; easily enjoyed, absent of the complicated stress that fills most modern movies. Fantastically choreographed production numbers and lots of laughs round out the flick.

TRAILER

MEMORABLE QUOTES

“Don't worry about me. I always talk to myself. You see, I'm my own grandmother and I have to keep the old girl interested.”

“You still got me. Course, I ain't a young and pretty girl. I ain't even a girl, but I'll stick.”

“I don't care what you happen to think he looks like. I know he stole my quarter.”

True Lies

Four Stars: ˜˜˜˜

In 1994, Arnold was the definition of a super spy. He had the moves, the gadgets, the secret identity… but while he was off saving the world, his wife was getting bored at home. When he discovers she might be having an affair, he launches a CIA operation to save his marriage—and ends up getting them all stuck in the middle of a terrorist plot. This is a great movie, but unfortunately you should probably watch the edited version and skip the scene in the hotel room.

TRAILER

MEMORABLE QUOTES

“You know what? I'm sick of being in the van. You guys are going to be in the van next time. I've been in the van for 15 years, Harry.”

“Have you ever killed anyone?” – “Yeah, but they were all bad.”

“I'm beginning to like this guy! But, we've still gotta kill him. That's a given.”

Captain America: The First Avenger

Five Stars: ˜˜˜˜˜

Steve was just a kid from Brooklyn who never ran away from a fight but always lost them. He couldn’t even get into the Army until an opportunity to become part of a special unit presents itself. When he finally gets his shot to join his friends in the war, nothing turns out the way it was supposed to. With the help of Howard Stark, a ragtag support team and a dorky helmet, he continues to do whatever it takes to fight the bullies of the world—starting with a deranged Nazi. The classic action and snarky dialogue were thoroughly entertaining and the Avengers movie looks quite promising now.

TRAILER

MEMORABLE QUOTES

“Don’t win the war till I get there!”

“Some people forget that the first country the Nazis invaded was their own.”

“Arrogance may not be a uniquely American trait, but you do do it better than anyone else.”

The Devil Wears Prada

Five Stars: ˜˜˜˜˜

I love this movie not just for the high fashion, or Emily Blunt’s accent, but for its decisive resolution. The 2006 film based on the bestselling book chronicles the many compromises of a young writer who moves to the big city to chase her dreams. However, when she realizes how much her job as personal assistant to the Dragon Lady has cost her, she knows she has a choice to make. It’s a story of more than a growing-up and self-actualization: it’s about what is really important in life.

TRAILER

MEMORABLE QUOTES

“I'm on this new diet. Well, I don't eat anything, and then when I feel like I'm about to faint, I eat a cube of cheese.”

“Is there some reason that my coffee isn't here? Has she died or something?”

“In case you were wondering, the person whose calls you always take: that's the relationship you're in. I hope you two are very happy together.”

Larry Crowne

Four Stars: ˜˜˜˜

Getting out of the Navy after 20 years, our hero was not expecting to start over—but then his wife left him and he lost his job. He finally goes to college, only to take a class with a professor who is going through her own divorce. Learning to reinvent himself also includes helping his classmate start a business and even joining a scooter gang. Anyone who has had to hit reset on life knows it’s not easy and this movie is obviously written from personal experience.

TRAILER

MEMORABLE QUOTES

“I told you how to avoid divorce lawyers: you get married and you stay married.”

“Steve can’t take calls right now. He’s learning to care. Goodbye.”

“They call them smart phones but only dummies use them in my class.”

Stone of Destiny

Four Stars: ˜˜˜˜

Based on the amazing, actual events surrounding the theft of the Stone of Scone, this 2008 movie is a UK film treasure. In 1951, a group of university students head to London over their Christmas holiday to reclaim the coronation stone for Scotland. Pulling off the heist in Westminster itself, they reignite national pride and start the country’s greatest uprising since Braveheart—with a few laughs along the way, of course.

TRAILER

MEMORABLE QUOTES

“It's good for a man to change his mind sometimes.”

“Scotland's dead. It died in its sleep. Nobody even gave it a funeral.”

“All great schemes are crazy. That's what makes 'em great.”

The Wind and the Lion

Four Stars: ˜˜˜˜

This incredibly unique film came at a perfect time for Connery and Bergen’s careers in 1975. Very appropriately, it is about change and conflict. Set in Morocco in 1904 (very loosely based on historical events) it affords a view of a world on the brink of war. Fatal incompatibility between brash new cultures and tenacious old ones, mixed with European imperialism, needed only a match to set off a fight. All that, embodied in Theodore Roosevelt and a Berber warlord: two opponents who never meet.

TRAILER

MEMORABLE QUOTES

“If I miss the Morning Prayer, I pray twice in the afternoon. Allah is very understanding!”

“I'd never shoot anyone accidentally. I need their votes.”

“I don't think the French and Germans are gonna like this. Too early in the morning for rattling sabers.”

Green Lantern

Three Stars: ˜˜˜

When a hotshot test pilot crashes and gets his wings clipped, he figures the day can’t get any worse—until a dying alien entrusts him with superpowers. He is suddenly inducted into a galactic corps of guardians, known as the Green Lanterns after their source of power. Needless to say, the latest in the rash of superhero movies was somewhat predictable and relied heavily on graphic effects. Nevertheless, the novelty of this obscure DC franchise is refreshing.

TRAILER

MEMORABLE QUOTES

“Did you just use your wingman as a decoy?”

“I think we both know I’m pretty good at walking away.”

“How wonderful that all it took for you to grow up was the end of the world.”

The Island

Four Stars: ˜˜˜˜

More science than fiction, even when it was made in 2005, the fantasies were not too far from realities; now it’s just scary. The writers understood this and played upon a very common fear: what if everything we’ve ever known is a lie? When the characters realize that their lives are nothing more than a science experiment, they must rediscover what it means to live. Their childlike innocence is the only weapon they have out in the big, bad world.

TRAILER

MEMORABLE QUOTES

“Just cause people wanna eat the burger doesn't mean they wanna meet the cow.”

“I can tell when you're lying. Your mouth smiles but your eyes don't.”

“All right, look. I know you're new to the whole human experiences and all... but there's one universal truth and that is you never give a woman your credit card.”