Fun Watching

Going by what I write about here, it probably seems like I only watch high-brow independent films, but I actually enjoy a pretty wide range of genres.  I thought it might be fun to share some of the rolicking good time movies I've seen lately.

1. Ghostbusters: Answer the Call.  I know this movie got a lot of flack when it came out, but as someone who is a fan of both the original Ghostbusters and its sequel, this is an absolutely brilliant reboot.  There were a TON of nods to the original film that were super fun and the revamped storyline was witty and enjoyable.  I thought it was great.  I smiled through the whole film.  Plus: Chris Hemsworth is hilarious as the dumb-as-doornails Kevin.

2.  Thor, Avengers, Thor: The Dark World: I rewatched this whole triology recently and I enjoyed them so much.  The first Thor movie is an epic Shakespearean tragedy and the other two movies just build on the story.  Tom Hiddleston is magnetic as Loki, and I really loved how much clever humor was placed into each movie.  I'm quite eager to see Thor: Ragnorok this winter.  I'm sure Cate Blanchett will be brilliant as the super villian and I'm curious to see what role Loki will take in this story (so far, he's been the anti-hero, the super villian, and something not quite either).

3. Avengers: Age of Ultron:  I confess, I didn't like this movie quite as well as the first three, in part because there was no Loki as a foil, but I thought James Spader's creepy Ultron was a great villian and made the movie for me.  I also really enjoyed Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch. 

4. The Huntsman: Winter's War: I missed this one when it first came out, in part because it looked like a sad sequel, but I ran across some interviews for it recently and decided to give it a try.  It.is.brilliant.  I dare say it is better than the original movie, which I did like but didn't love.  This is epic fairy telling at its best and the cast is just superb.  I especially loved the relationship between Chris Hemsworth and Jessica Chastain's characters.

5. Tower Heist:  I should state for the record that I am not a huge Ben Stiller fan (although I did enjoy Keeping the Faith, mostly for Edward Norton's performance).  I saw this movie when we were visiting my parents and actually enjoyed it a lot.  The plot was clever, the ensemble cast enjoyable, and Alan Alda was a delightful foil.

6. Iron Man: I am not planning to dig deep into the Marvel universe, but I did want to see Iron Man, in part because one of my boys is really into him (from reading Marvel storybooks) and I wanted to see what the story was.  I did enjoy it, but I'm not sure I'll watch the other two.  I might watch Dr. Strange, however, because: Tilda Swinton.

7. Center Stage (sequels): I haven't actually watched these yet, but I just found them on amazon when I was looking for something else.  I loved the original movie (I know, it is cheesy and the acting is just so-so but the dancing is amazing). The two sequels look like over-baked reworkings of the original storyline, but the dancing looks phenomenal.