GIO'S MOVIE ROUND-UP: JUNE '09

Only saw four movies this month, one a week though, better than a punch in the soul...

MONSTERS VS. ALIENS IN 3-D
Funny, definitely a cartoon for adults but nowhere near the high quality of a Pixar production. If Pixar is the top fraternity in School, Dreamworks is the one with the best parties. MONSTERS is a fun movie, with great character moments and a lot of laughs, it's just not as high "quality" as a Pixar flick in that I mean the overall Art Design, the animation and the modeling. I still like it but I never "look forward" to a Dreamworks Animated Picture, I do look forward to a Pixar Picture... unless it's CARS, yeesh, not even being a "Pixar" flick can save that train wreck. Anyway, MONSTERS VS. ALIENS is good fun.
GIO'S OPINION: THUMBS UP

DRAG ME TO HELL
Awesome... Alison Lohemann is the new Bruce Campbell, minus the chin and the snappy one-liners but other than that, it's a return to form for Sam Raimi and a hell of a good time. It's scary, it's funny, it's cheesy, it's gory, it's campy and it's all wrapped up in this over-the-top yet simple story that has you entertained from beginning to end. A creepy old gypsy lays a curse on a young woman and she has three days to lift it before she is literally "dragged to hell"... c'mon, it doesn't get better than this (okay maybe if it had zombies, or starred Bruce Campbell but still). This is Raimi at his best, forget Spider-men, big budgets and cutting edge effects, he can still deliver top grade entertainment for a fraction of the cost. Whomever said you can't go home again, was wrong.
GIO'S OPINION: THUMBS UP

GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST
Obviously this was Michelle's choice as she is a big Matthew McConoughey fan but I have to admit, I laughed throughout it. Now don't get me wrong, this movie is full of little issues and it's a blatant rip off of A CHRISTMAS CAROL but it's cute, it's clever and there is some actual chemistry between McConaughey and co-star Jennifer Garner which you don't often see in rom-coms. Michael Douglas steals the show though, great bit part!
GIO'S OPINION: THUMBS UP

TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN
Okay, Michael Bay has to stop. Each one of his films has less and less story and more and more mindless rigmarole and this latest TRANSFORMERS flick has gone too far, what a mess. Sure there is lots of cool action but no matter how cool it looks, the sheer amount of stupid jokes, stereotypical characters, useless humans, look-a-like robots, paper thin story, quick edits, and seizure level shakycam take away from all that cool action. All the things that were wrong with the first TRANSFORMERS film weren't corrected, they were just amplified here and that's a shame, it may hurt the franchise more than help it. Don't let the box office take fool you, this is an inferior film compared to the original.
GIO'S OPINION: THUMBS DOWN