hustle & flow

remember that timeless fairy tale about the pimp who turns into a crunk rapper? well, here it is on the big screen. i confess, i really wanted to see hustle & flow. now that i've seen it? could've skipped it. while the movie was certainly gritty and well acted, it couldn't quite stop itself from devolving into typical clichéd madness and ends up groveling for the audience's laughs and appreciation. the real highlight of the film doesn't come from watching "d-jay" pursue his dreams, it comes from watching terrence howard finally get his.

fantastic four

known intergalactically as "earth's first family of super heroes," the fantastic four isn't marvel's most popular or well known team, but they have been around the longest. as an avid comic book fan, i've never had more than a passing interest in f4; they were more influential than exciting. and really, that's how this movie stacks up. f4 should be the baseline by which comic book movies are judged. it's not terrible, it's not great, but it's more than capable of saving the day.

the cringeworthy casting of jessica alba as sue storm turned out to be fine. i guess libido will win out over fanboy, every time.

wedding crashers

someday, vince vaughn might be successful playing a character other than himself. but until that day comes, he'll stick to being the quick talking funny man. which is fine by me since his wedding crashers team-up with owen wilson and christopher walken is the most purely entertaining movie of the summer. "a light-hearted hilarious romp" if you will.

and similar to how brittany murphy overtook alicia silverstone in both career and hotness post-clueless, rachel mcadams will triumph over lindsay lohan after co-starring as lohan's second fiddle in mean girls. if she hasn't done so already.

charlie & the chocolate factory

you remember the original chocolate factory movie don't you? craziness, psychedelia, oompas loompas? re-mixing johnny depp and tim burton with the original should only sweeten the concoction right? sadly, no. this version about our favorite chocolatier starts off promisingly enough, but an hour into it, you start to suspect that the movie -- like japanese gum -- has quickly lost its flavor. i liked the geisel-ian "i hate kids" willy wonka but all the backstory on him was tedious and wholly unnecessary. we know willy is weird, who cares why? show me the wizardry, enough about the wizard.

the island

you know what to expect from michael bay by now: summer trash. michael bay movies are consistently high in production value but not necessarily engaging. still, his big hits (bad boys, the rock, armageddon?) outnumber his big duds (pearl harbor). the island never strays far from bay's tried and true formula of explosions, chases, and never ending ammo. the premise for the island is actually kind of interesting, but the movie never moves beyond time killing entertainment.

on the other hand, scarlett johansson looks ravishing as usual. even though i can't really stand seeing her in "normal" roles, since i prefer her quieter, quirkier work. watching her scream "RUN!" over and over again just doesn't do it for me.