Film

They say you can't judge a book by its cover, but we're all guilty of it. What they should probably also say is: You can't judge a movie by its poster, which is exactly what I did before I saw The American, starring George Clooney. On the poster, Clooney is running with a gun in his hand with a stern look of concentration on his face. I was expecting an action-packed, James Bond-esque film, except that Clooney is an assassin instead of a spy. I was mistaken.

It's been more than 20 years since a tale of enemies who become friends who become lovers became the gold standard for the contemporary romantic comedy. But Going the Distance helps us understand why every exploration of what works or doesn't work in the genre circles back to When Harry Met Sally.

The Last Exorcism is a pain in the ass. A lot of movies tick me off, but this one takes the cake. Movies with either “Exorcism” or “Haunting” in the title have a high rate of sucking, but with The Last Exorcism I thought I'd found something completely different. I was once again duped and mistaken because this flick had me entertained with its initial direction, but in the last ten minutes defeated its entire purpose with an utterly stupid ending. The super creepily shocking previews are beyond misleading. I mean, I counted five bone cracks in the previews and there was merely one in this flick (not that more would have redeemed it).

In the Swedish-language series' second film, Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist reprise their roles as Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist, upping the action quotient while discovering the literal and metaphorical repercussions that come of playing with fire.

Piranha 3D is not necessarily a good movie but it's one of the best movies I've seen all year. The fact that it doesn't skimp on the blood, gore, carnage or splattering and bouncing bikini-clad, buxom women unafraid to take off their tops and swim naked might just give it three stars right there. Throw in the demonic flesh ripping, meat-chewing little sea devils and you have a CGI masterpiece of underwater hideousness.

For the last few months, I have been torn as to whether or not I wanted to read Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love, before watching the movie adaptation. A few of my friends who've read the book dote on the incredible journey Liz takes to find herself. Others say it's filled with too much whining and that she's selfish. As it goes, I didn't read the book before watching the movie. Now I can't decide if I want to.

“I wanna know Ramona, am I the only one? Tell me. And she said, 'You're not the only one, but you're the best, Bradley.' And now I'm waiting for my ruca.” – Sublime
Whenever I think about Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, I can't help but sing the lyrics to Sublime's “Waiting for my Ruca” in my head. Most likely it's because Scott's love interest is named Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), but as I thought about it, the song had relevance to the film. Scott must defeat Ramona's seven evil exes in order to continue dating her, and she tells him he's the nicest, best guy she's ever dated. In this case though, instead of waiting, Scott must kick some ex-lover ass Nintendo-style to win the game of love.
Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) lives in Toronto, plays bass in a mediocre rock band called Sex Bob-omb, lives with and shares a bed with his gay roommate Wallace, and since his ex-girlfriend dumped him and moved to Montreal to become a famous rock star, he has taken to giving himself haircuts. The latter explains why Cera looks younger and younger, despite playing a 22-year-old, which is his actual age. Cera basically plays the same character he always plays, which is essentially what I imagine to be himself. It's clear, after a string of roles that includes Superbad, Youth in Revolt, and my personal favorite, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, that Cera has the market cornered on the geeky, lovelorn leading man.

If you're looking for some laughs, there's no reason not to see The Other Guys. Writer-director Adam McKay and his MVP Will Ferrell are funny guys, indeed – but maybe not quite as funny here as in some of their other movies.
This one begins big, with some other big-name guys. Samuel Jackson and Dwayne (formerly “The Rock”) Johnson are perfectly cast as a couple badass NYC cops – chewing the scenery in a hysterical display of male-hormone-induced hubris within the first fifteen minutes of the film. The now-open honorary slot of baddest-ass-cop-duo beckons not only the more obvious hot-shots on the force, but perhaps also the “Other Guys” – those familiar, unnamed cop-genre extras who populate the background of the kind of movies this one parodies, uniformly identified as stock-character nobodies by really bad ties.

Every summer there is an array of blockbusters vying for our attention, but only a few resonate with us and are still memorable years later. The Source editorial staff shares our favorite summer movies, which may be some of your favorites, too.
Stand by Me (1986)

Filmed in Oregon, this is one of the greatest coming-of-age films ever put on celluloid. Adapted from a Stephen King novella, Rob Reiner’s cinematic rendering captures the restless spirit of a tribe of young boys on the cusp of adolescence who embark on one last summer adventure – a quest to find the body of a dead schoolmate – before they outgrow such childish escapes. I’m not a fan of voiceovers, but Richard Dreyfuss' narrative is pitch perfect. – Eric Flowers

Through the last two Batman films, Michael Caine has stood in Batman's shadow as his faithful butler and confidant, Alfred. Now, in Harry Brown, Caine steps into the role of the vigilante set out to avenge his friend's death and to clean up his chaotic neighborhood. He may not be a masked avenger, set out to protect Gotham from a laundry list of super villains – but Harry Brown is a citizen who thinks things have gone too far and decides to take matters into his own hands, just as caped crusaders have been doing in film and literature forever.
In Harry Brown, Caine plays the title character who lives in a South London housing development that's been overrun with youth crime. The film opens with a disturbing cell phone video of a gang initiation in which a boy is joyriding on a motorbike and shoots and kills a single mother pushing her two-year-old in a stroller in the park. A young gang has taken over a public underpass and has also taken to bullying Harry's friend, Leonard, by shoving dog feces and burning newspaper through his mail slot. The crime rate is through the roof and it seems the police aren't doing anything to stop it. When Leonard goes to the underpass to defend himself with a military bayonet, he is beaten and killed by the gang.