Limitless

Sci-fi Thriller

Starring Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro

I'm a fan of movies that pull the viewer in by making them feel what the character is feeling. Every time Bradley Cooper takes a hit of NZT, the screen gets brighter and more clear. As time flows by for BC's character, the camera shoots through the streets of NYC in a flash. Disclaimer: Beware, those parts made me a little nauseous. What is so addicting about this movie is that you want BC's character to keep taking the pill because that guy is so much for fun to watch. 

The only thing I didn't like was how the movie ended and that there wasn't exactly any closure. Maybe the writers of the film wanted it to feel limitless.

Reel Recommendation: Open your mind to Limitless. It is stimulating.

Captain America

Action

Starring Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving

I've never been into comic books, so all of these superhero movies - Spiderman, Batman, Superman, Iron Man - I had never heard of some of their stories until Marvel and DC Comics got movie contracts and made every comic book geek jump for joy. Being unfamiliar with the Captain America story, I was unsure how the movie was going to make a guy who runs around in a blue leotard with a patriotic shield a hero. I thought the same thing about Thor and his hammer.

The story line is okay but I think the real reason for the film was to get the public ready for The Avengers coming out next year. I think the makers of The Avengers made all the other movie(Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, etc) and then said, "oh crap, we forgot about Captain America! Quick! Put a hot actor with nice pecks in a skin tight costume!" 

This movie does make me excited for The Avengers film that has an ALL STAR cast including Samuel L Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Gwyneth Paltrow...must I continue? Okay I will...Jeremy Renner, Paul Bettany, Mark Ruffalo. Can't wait!

Reel Recommendation: Must see as it is a pre-requisite for The Avengers

Bridesmaids

 Comedy

Starring Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph

"BAH HA HA HA HA" That is what I sounded like while watching this. Before sitting down on a Sunday afternoon with my very own Matron of Honor to watch this, I was told it was the funniest movie. That is a pretty bold statement in the movie buff's world. When someone says, "funniest movie" I immediatley think of the comparisons.....Office Space, Tommy Boy, Super Troopers, The Whole Nine Yards (one of my personal faves), Dumb and Dumber, Old School, Liar Liar, Baby Mama and Dodge Ball.

After watching the uncomfortable and imfamous "pooping in the street" scene I heard everyone talking about, I was sold. Bridesmaids was not only hilarious, but it spoke to the truth about women. We are crazy, jealous, competitive bitches. If you are a woman, you can deny it...but I guarentee you saw a glimse of yourself somewhere in that movie.

I enjoyed the raw humor that Kristen Wiig brings to the screen. Her facial expressions allow the audience to see right into her soul funny bone.

 Reel Recommendation:

"Do you Tracey take this movie to be one of the funniest movies of all time?"

"I do"

Repo Men

Action/Thriller

Starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker

WARNING! WARNING! This movie is extremely gory. The amount of blood shown is more than Kill Bill and Kill Bill 2 combined. I spent half the movie picking at my hang nails because I could not get myself to watch all of the cutting open of people. 

There are so many things wrong with this movie. This I should have known by the 21% fresh rating on rottentomatoes.com. I gave Repo Men the benefit of the doubt because I figured that the chances of Oscar winner Forest Whitaker and hot british Jude Law would never choose to do a crappy film. 

Like the government would let a company kill people to repossess their artificial organs that they can't pay for and then leave the bodies lying there. You get a $200 ticket in Chicago if you don't pick up after your dog takes a poopy.

Reel Recommendation: A bloody waste of time (said with a british accent)

Lincoln Lawyer

Legal Thriller

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Ryan Phillippe, Marisa Tomei

Welcome back to real acting Matthew McConaughey! We haven't seen this part of you since A Time To Kill back in 1996. To be honest, I loved Fools Gold and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days as much as the last girl...but his over confident, tan, shirtless character with chiseled abs can only get him so far. 

This clever film approaches the bench with a kick-ass cast. McConaughey, Phillippe and Tomei are accompanied by great actors William H. Macy, John Leguizamo and Josh Lucas. Even country music star Trace Adkins makes an appearance. 

If I could, I would take this movie to trial because it is guilty of being a great movie. I will warn you though- don't watch any previews of it before you pop it in. The twists in the plot are better to learn during trial. 

Reel Recommendation: You have the right to remain silent, anything you do to not watch this movie can and will be held against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney - and it should be the Lincoln Lawyer. I rest my case.

Buried

Thriller

Starring Ryan Reynolds

90 minutes of Ryan Reynolds trapped in a wooden coffin in Iraq. Synopsis over. 

So for the critique, I will start with this: normally with movies where the character is in a trapped situation, the audience is privy to the actions going on around him or her. For example, in Iron Man we are shown what the terrorists are doing while poor Robert Downey Jr is locked up in the cave with some old guy. Okay that was the only example I could think of on the spot. Buried, however, kept that information from you the entire duration of the film. Not even flashbacks. This did a great job of frustrating me equivalent to the moment I thought I was stuck forever in my old apartment bathroom when I was home alone for the entire weekend. When the handle (probably built in 1912) fell off, I felt completely trapped. You all know that feeling of claustrophobic panic that rushes over you and triggers the uncomfortable hot flash. 

Another unique point about the movie was that it was shown in real time.  This kept me on the edge of my sofa - well as far as I could while still able to have two dogs on my lap. 

Here's the kicker, the date the movie takes place is October 23rd - the day Ryan Reynolds was born. How do I know this? Well my fiance just happened to be lucky enough to be born the exact day and year as Mr. Reynolds so that is his "thing." That is also the thing I had to hear before watching The Proposal, Van Wilder, Just Friends, and any other RR flick. So really I am the lucky one as I am married to his birthday twin!

Reel Recommendation: I feel like I was in a coffin for 90 minutes. I need some air but I'm still Buried in it.

Skyline

Sci-Fi Thriller

Starring: a bunch of no-namers

Not sure why I subjected myself to this movie. Maybe it's because in the preview I saw that Donald Faison was in it - you know, the black guy from Scrubs...how about Dee's boyfriend in Clueless who wears the braces? Okay now you know who I'm talking about. 

Well, that's two hours of my life I'll never get back. Serves me right for not checking rottentomatoes.com to see how rotten it really was. Only 19% of the audience liked it. After knowing that, I am left wondering what the heck kind of people that 19% is made up of. Um, the tagline of the film is, "Don't look up." When it should really be, "Don't watch this." 

It is about aliens who don't die that catch humans by pointing a blue laser at them and then pluck their brains from their heads and use them (not sure why). Incredibly weird and not even the slightest bit interesting. Oh, and they should fire the guy to was in charge of titling the film. Skyline. Really?

Reel Recommendation: Barf. With a capital B.

Unknown

Thriller

Starring Liam Neeson, January Jones and Diane Kruger

This movie was completely off my radar. I had never even heard of the film or seen one preview. I guess you could say it was completely unknown to me. Without hearing much about it, I didn't have any expectations when it arrived in my mailbox in that shiny red envelpey present Netflix wraps it in. 

A little about the cast..first and foremost, Liam Neeson is such a bad ass. This movie he played a more vulnerable, less creepy bad ass than he did in Taken, but with the same raw drive for the truth.  As for Diane Kruger, she's had me ever since she made her big debut in National Treasure. And January Jones, well all the guys think she's hot. 

This movie kept me on the edge of my couch. I found myself yelling, "run!" and "use your legs to kick him!" I'm surprised our neighbors didn't call the cops when they heard me scream, "Stab him with the piece of mirror!"

Reel Recommendation: Enter the "Unknown"

Transformers: The Dark of the Moon

Sci-Fi Action

Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Patrick Dempsey, Josh Duhhamel, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley 

Not horrible. Not great. Better than the second (which let's face it, wasn't hard). Not as good as the first. The story took FOREVER to get set up and the fight/action scenes were far TOO LONG. 

If you are still reading, here is what I thought of the acting...Patrick Dempsey was an interesting pick as a villain, but I will say, he did a decent job in that role. Shia played his character in his usual panicky way and there is one girly scream of his that got some major laughs. And the new girlfriend, played by Huntington-Whiteley, was a far better actress than Megan Fox. 

The one thing we liked about this movie was the presence that Chicago made in it. Since we had seen the filming throughout the last year, our reaction to many of the scenes was, "This is what we saw filming on Wacker Dr!" or "That's the old post office on the river!"

We paid $15 a ticket to see this in 3D. The movie wasn't worth that for sure, but the previews we saw made up for it - The Change Up, Captain America, Rise of the Planet of the Apes. All which we will see in theaters.

Reel Recommendation: If you live in Chicago, its worth renting. Otherwise, don't bother.

The Tourist

Action Romance

Starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp

The thing I liked most about this movie is that from the very start you weren't privy to the background information for each character. You don't know if Elize - played by Jolie - was good or bad. Normally, a movie sets up the characters in the very beginning with small clues to who they are and what side they're on. A typical crime drama opens by showing the man waking up in the morning and let's say, putting their gun and badge in their pocket, kissing their wife good-bye and heading out to their detective partner holding a donut. This movie kept you guessing to the very end on who was who and on what side.

I popped in the DVD with considerably low expectations after hearing from most people that it wasn't that good. Turns out, it was entertaining, but when is Johnny Depp not entertaining?

Reel Recommendation: Better than your average tourist trap