I’ve recently watched a whole slew of movies and have some reviews for you all. There is a wide range of movies here so there should be something for everyone.

I’ll start and end with two of the summer’s biggest blockbusters and sandwiched in between will be two smaller films with wide reach.

Transformers 2
I went in expecting it to be terrible, because it has received heinous reviews. Just awful ones. What I got in return was an extremely entertaining and well-choreographed action movie. I’m used to Michael Bay. I know what he does. He makes kabooms, has beautiful women, big grand action, and usually some sort of racial stereotyping. T2 is no different. The story is almost secondary to the action for Bay. And this holds true here. The movie has a great opening and an extremely action-packed battle scene near the middle. That scene probably could have and should have served as the climactic battle scene because after that point the movie drags a bit and never reaches the pinnacle of that scene’s intensity and emotion. When discussing the possiblities for this sequel, I’m pretty sure the meeting went like this:

Movie Exec: What’s our idea?
Bay: Well I’d like to have more robots and make them bigger.
Movie Exec: What else?
Bay: More explosions and pretty girls.
Movie Exec: SOLD.

So if that interests you, check it out. I’m a sucker for fun action movies and this one is fun and if you have to forget the story, forget it. You should know this one isn’t going to win Academy Awards, but it will get you fired up and waiting to see how very big the explosions and robots can be in Transformers 3. 7/10

Adventureland
Shifting gears in every way, brings us to Adventureland. Disclaimer: I love good coming-of-age flicks. This is a good coming-of-age flick. It deals with a recent college grad who is forced to work at a local theme park in order to make money for his graduate school. This movie is funny and touching and doesn’t fall back on all of the conventions of previous movies. The lead character makes a change, stands up for himself, but at the same time isn’t always likable. There is a dynamite performance from Ryan Reynolds as a quintessential cool guy who has a surprising side. The soundtrack is first rate and has been stuck in my head since I watched it. It’s about two people coming together and one of them finding himself. What’s not to like? Check it out. HIGHLY Recommended. 8/10

The Hurt Locker
Again shifting gears in a big way takes us to The Hurt Locker. Disclaimer: I do not love war movies. This is a war movie. But it’s an excellent one. It’s an action flick and a character study all at once. The first 10 minutes of this movie shows one of the coolest action scenes I’ve ever seen filmed/edited. Incredible shots and brilliantly depicted. From there the film focuses on three soldiers who work on an Explosive Ordinance Disposal unit in Iraq. The film is largely apolitical and gives incredible insight into the day to day life or our boys overseas. Using one of the best scenes ever flimed in a grocery store, it makes painfully clear the idea it proffers in its opening frame “War is a drug.” War movies to me are difficult to get into, but I couldn’t stop watching this movie. You will be magnetized. 9/10

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
There are very few movies I get this excited about. Maybe that means I should read more books, because my excitement level was off-the-charts from the moment I thumbed those pages of the 6th Harry Potter novel. To me it had the best potential for a movie as the writing lent itself to a brilliant visualizations in my mind. One scene in particular really had me salivating. I was not let down. Through my movie-watching career I’ve become accustomed to the fact that movies which are based on books are by and large not going to include everything that goes on in their source material. This holds true for HP6, but I think that they focused on all the right things. And it surprised me in ways. One of which was that the movie was FUNNY. The first half was the funniest any of the movies has been, due in equal parts to the new relationships forming amonst our Hogwarters and the addition of Jim Broadbent as the kooky collector of prized students Horace Slughorn. The second half took us to the darkness that the book really amped up. And again I was not disappointed. The ending to me felt rushed and that is difficult to explain without giving any spoilers away, but I felt a bit more suspense would have played well. Of course I knew what was going to happen, so suspense is difficult to build. But this is not to say the movie itself is not first rate. It definitely is and is probably the best in the series. I can’t wait to watch it again soon. 8/10