Some quick hits on the summer hits- July

When you get casts with a bunch of stars the script sometimes has problems keeping up with all of them. Here the script plays to all the characters individual strengths and remains hilarious while doing so. Spacey is great in his role which is basically him riffing on his character from Swimming with Sharks. The revelations though are Farrell and Aniston who play against their type here and find some hilarious places to take the characters at every turn. Jamie Foxx is excellent in his small role and the three leads (Bateman, Sudekis, and Day) find the right mix for their parts to avoid them becoming caricatures and staying sympathetic throughout. There was some initial talk about this plot being directly from Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, and they do a great job of alluding to that in a discussion about halfway into the film. The one minor complaint is that the film could've gone for a darker tone but sort of backed off that to keep it broad. It's a really minor gripe though.

This is probably my favorite superhero film of the summer. Everything about the film just works including the setting and feel of the film. The movie takes place in the 1940's and it truly feels like a film that would have been made in that time. The CGI stuff early on with Chris Evans could have been really cheesy but he infuses those scenes with some pretty good pathos and develops the character so that when the ending comes you truly feel for him. I also enjoyed how the movie took a similar tact as Thor and started further along in the story and then went back and told you what happened. It breaks up the narrative structure and works as a framing device rather than just telling the origin story chronologically. Tommy Lee Jones is great in his role, but it's really a part he can play in his sleep. Overall a breezy two hour film that never overstays its welcome and never feels its length.

Sort of torn on this film. It wants to be different and at times succeeds. At other times it feels just as formulaic as the films it is riffing against. That leaves you with the two leads who do really play well off each other and do have a certain level of chemistry. In fact, their chemistry together is really what carries the film throughout its duration. The script doesn't always work and they introduce too many goofy side characters (like Kunis' mom) which sort of derail the proceedings. Logistically I understand why they include the stuff with Timberlake's dad in the film but it really feels out of place at times and an unnecessary diversion. Overall though I would say I enjoyed the film and there are quite a few funny lines sprinkled throughout. What hurts it though is the fact that you know how it is going to end even though it wants you to think it is different from that type of film.

This was one of the movies I was most looking forward to this summer and it ends up being a big disappointment to me. Cowboys & Aliens had all the earmarks for a goofy movie with a fun premise and it squanders all of that by playing it way too seriously. The first half of the film is really well done as we are introduced to the characters in the town before the aliens show up. But the two styles of film never really mesh together and there are a number of reasons as to why. Daniel Craig is not very good in his role and they give his character a backstory that tries way too hard. He should've just been a regular drifter into town or an outsider but instead they opt for a guy that has no recollection of who he is or why he has this device on his arm. Harrison Ford is okay in his role but I sort of wished by the end they had found someone else to play his part as he takes it way too earnestly. This should've been a B movie given the A list treatment and instead they take everything too seriously and suck all the fun out of the film.