I did not know what to expect when I watched America’s Sweethearts. I knew of the film and I knew it did well when it came out in 2001. It made 93 million domestically. That was really all I knew about the movie. I did not know what it was about or even who starred in it. I saw it in the library and decided why not?

America’s Sweethearts was a surprise for me. I was surprised that it was a pretty good movie. I was surprised by the humor in it, and I was surprised about the direction the movie went in. The film stars John Cusack, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Billy Crystal, and Julia Roberts. They are the primary characters. John Cusak and Catherine Zeta-Jones play two actors who were once married to each other and they were known as America’s Sweethearts costarring in dozens of movies together. They are no longer together and that is hurting their careers. They have to face each other to promote their last movie they filmed together and have to do press and build up an interest in the movie, so it doesn’t tank. John Cusak is Eddie Thomas and Catherine Zeta-Jones is Gwen Harrison. Billy Crystal plays Lee Phillips the publicist while Julia Roberts plays Kiki Harrison who is Gwen’s sister and also works for her and is at her beck and call. Eddie and Gwen both hate each other and are still bitter about their breakup. Eddie wants Gwen back who has a boyfriend played by Hank Azaria. Another thing that caught me off guard was as time went on throughout the film, there was a shift in who Eddie should be with romantically. I was expecting given the premise that a big chunk of the plot would be about Eddie trying to get Gwen back and them falling for each other again. This movie took a different approach with the topic.

The movie has a solid cast. The supporting players are equally strong which include Stanley Tucci as the studio head, Christopher Walken as an eccentric director, and Seth Green whose character is supposed to take over Billy Crystal’s character’s job. John Cusack does a really good job as Eddie and Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Gwen well. It is fitting that Julia Roberts is in the movie given the title since in real life she has always been deemed as America’s Sweetheart. When this movie came out, she had proven success in dozens of romantic comedies including Pretty Woman and Runaway Bride. Character wise, I will say that for me personally, I liked Kiki better than Gwen. I thought Gwen was a bit self-centered. I think Catherine Zeta-Jones played Gwen very well. A lot of the times I felt bad for Kiki and how Gwen treated her.

I was surprised that this movie had some twists in it. Usually, romantic comedies are not known for having twists they way other genres do. There were some good twists that had nothing to do with the romance aspect of the movie.

I thought America’s Sweethearts was a pretty good movie. It had a good plot and for me it was interesting having the setting be about two actors who have to do a press junket to promote a movie they starred in. A lot of the film had to deal with the behind scenes of doing press to promote the movie. I always enjoy that stuff. This was a solid movie and had a good cast with some twists that helped elevate the movie in its genre a little bit. I think the twists also helped keep the movie interesting.

I have seen both the Spy Who Shagged me and Goldmember. I finally got to see the first movie. Better late than never. For the record, Goldmember was the first movie I saw in theaters. I was twelve when it came out. This move came out when I was six. I was not necessarily allowed to see these movies until Goldmember came out. I just never got around to seeing the other two until a lot later.

I loved Goldmember when I saw it. I enjoyed the Spy Who Shagged Me. I enjoyed Austin Powers International Man of Mystery. I thought it was funny. It was fitting for the franchise. There have been several franchises where I have liked the sequels better than the originals. Charlie’s Angels, the movies with Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu for example is a franchise I enjoyed but I liked the sequel better than the original. I wanted to see the sequel when it was coming out, so I saw the first movie in preparation for seeing the sequel. At that time, I did not like the first movie. I have not seen it since, so I am not sure if my opinion would change. Matrix is another example. I saw the first one right before seeing Matrix Reloaded in theaters. Unlike a lot of other people who loved The Matrix, I did not like the first one. I liked Reloaded and Revolutions. It happens but I am happy to say I did like the first Austin Powers. Two things that surprised me were that Seth Green was in this one as Scott Evil, Dr. Evil’s son and that Verne Troyer was not in this as Mini Me. It has been years since I saw the Spy Who Shagged Me, but I thought Mini Me was in all the films. I also thought Scott Evil was introduced in the Spy Who Shagged Me.

The fact I saw this after seeing the other two did not really affect my opinion. If anything, I viewed it as a prequel of seeing how the characters first met and the established history. This is usually how I go into watching movies or television shows if I have seen later films in the franchise or in the case of a television show being aware of what had already happened in the show or joining the party late into an established show and then going back to watch the beginning episodes. The cast does a great job and Mike Myers is really the star of playing multiple roles. He is great as both Austin Powers and Dr. Evil. The supporting cast also stands out specifically Mindy Sterling, Seth Green, Robert Wagner, and Michael York. They have been in all three films, and they are funny to watch in their respective roles. It seems that the later films went a little heavier on celebrity cameos compared to this one which would make sense since this was the first movie. I do think the movie holds up well. I enjoyed it. I thought it was fun and I was laughing a fair amount of the time. I thought Elizabeth Hurly did a good job as Vanessa Kensington who is a coworker/love interest for Austin Powers. Since this franchise is predominantly a parody of the James Bond franchise, Elizabeth Hurly fit the bill for the “Bond Girl” type which carried over into the other sequels where each film had the “Powers Girl.” Heather Graham filled the role in the Spy Who Shagged Me while the Queen Bey herself, Beyonce made her acting debut in Goldmember filling the role.

Austin Powers International Man of Mystery is a fun movie. One thing that I am slightly confused about is how this movie got a sequel. I enjoyed the movie but from a financial standpoint this movie did not really set the world on fire. Its domestic gross was 53 million. Of course, the Spy Who Shagged Me and Goldmember both went on to make over 200 million each domestically. It seems the powers that be were willing to give the franchise a chance and they were right to do so. If only Hollywood had that mentality now a days. Ever since Goldmember there have been talks about doing a fourth movie. I hope they get around to it. I would love to see the franchise continue a little longer even if its just for one more movie. This franchise is a lot of fun and its very funny.

Crazy, Stupid, Love opened in July 2011 and earned about 84 million domestically and about 145 million worldwide. It stars Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Marisa Tomei, and Kevin Bacon. Steve Carell plays Cal who thinks he has the perfect marriage until his wife Emily played by Julianne Moore tells him she wants a divorce. Cal meets Jacob played by Ryan Gosling who is a ladies man and teaches Cal how to be more like him. Since this is a romantic comedy, of course chaos ensues especially when Jacob meets Hannah played by Emma Stone who catches his eye.

I enjoyed Crazy, Stupid, Love a lot. It is a refreshing romantic comedy drama. It may not be as refreshing now since it’s been almost twelve years since it came out but it still felt refreshing. The cast is superb. Steve Carell has proven himself in many different projects. When this movie came out his most iconic role was playing Michael Scott in the hit TV show The Office. He had memorable supporting roles in Bruce Almighty and Anchorman before headlining the sequel to Bruce Almighty, Evan Almighty. He also starred in Get Smart. In Crazy, Stupid, Love Steve Carell was much more serious. Even the humor in the film for his character was toned down a bit compared to his other roles in comedies. It was refreshing to see a different side to Steve Carell. I have not seen the movies or television projects where Steve Carell showed other sides. I have only really seen the projects where he plays similar characters to Jim Carey and Will Ferrell. Ryan Gosling is a great actor, and he really played the ladies man role well. Whereas sometimes that type of character is meant to come across as the jerk, Ryan Gosling was able to make Jacob likeable even while womanizing. There was some added depth to the character which was a nice surprise. Julianne Moore and Emma Stone both play their characters well. They have great chemistry with Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling respectively.

The movie has several plotlines which all come to a head toward the end. Whereas sometimes films introduce plotlines and then forget about them halfway through, this film sees everything through. This movie has some twists and turns, and I was truly surprised which added to my enjoyment of the movie. I always like when I don’t see a twist coming. These days its hard especially when you watch a lot of movies and television.

Crazy, Stupid, Love is a refreshing romantic comedy drama that I highly recommend to anyone who is looking watch something that is a bit different than the standard romance movies. It has a stellar cast and some great twists and turns. It is very enjoyable.

Couples Retreat opened in October 2009 and was a success earning about 109 million domestically. It stars Vince Vaugh, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Faizon Love, Malin Akerman, Kristen Bell, Kristin Davis, and Kali Hawk. The film is about four couples who go to a resort to support one couple trying to work on their marriage.

I thought Couples Retreat was a good movie. I was invested in the characters and seeing how everything panned out between each couple. Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell play Jason and Cynthia who contemplate getting a divorce and they go to the resort to work on their marriage. In order to afford the trip, they pick a group package that saves them a ton of money which leads to their friends coming along. While their friends are there to support them, they end up working on their own issues or in some cases realizing they have issues in their respective relationships. The success of the movie relies on the couples. Each pair work well together. Vince Vaughn and Malin Akerman play Dave and Ronnie. They have the “perfect marriage” but have been too busy with work and raising a family to enjoy alone time together. Jon Favreau and Kristin Davis play Joey and Lucy who both put up the front they are a happy couple in public but in private barely talk to each other and express interest in other people. Faizon Love and Kali Hawk play Shane and Trudy who have only been together for a few weeks. Trudy is substantially younger than Shane who is still trying to get over his ex-wife. Everyone plays their roles well. Each couple is distinct which contributes to the success of the film. It has been a while for me seeing Kristin Bell in something different. I have been used to her as Gossip Girl in the CW show as well as Eleanor Shellstrop in The Good Place. Seeing her in this kind of role was a treat. Even her character in You Again was a little different than her character in Couple’s Retreat.

The setting added to the movie. I am a fan of tropical settings. I like when Hallmark uses them in their movies. Several of the movies I have watched recently had tropical or beach type settings. The way the resort was in the movie made me wish I was there myself.

Couples Retreat is a good movie with a strong cast. It has a nice setting that makes the audience wish they could stay there. Who knows? Maybe a resort like this does exist somewhere and if so, sign me up.

I finally got around to watching Clueless. Over the years I have been told that I should watch this movie because it was right up my alley. In college, it was recommended to me. Better late than never. This movie also came out in 1995 which I was five at that time.

I enjoyed Clueless. I think the recommendation was right for the most part. I know Clueless is deemed a classic especially when it comes to teen comedies. I have seen Clueless on a lot of best of lists. This movie is a good length. Its not too long and it never really felt like it dragged on. By the time it was starting to feel like that, it ended. I also found the film funny. I didn’t think it was laugh out loud funny, but I did laugh a few times. Clueless has a really solid cast. Alicia Silverstone does a good job as the main character Cher. As I expected she was named after the superstar. I did notice some similarities between Cher and Elle Woods from Legally Blonde played by Reese Witherspoon. If they were to meet, I feel they would be friends. I know Legally Blonde came out years after Clueless, but it is a similarity I noticed. I wonder if any inspiration from Cher was used when creating the character of Elle Woods. One thing I will say is I did find the character Cher to be annoying at times. The way she talked and acted got on my nerves a bit. I did like some of the other characters a little better than her. This is hit or miss with me in general. A lot of my favorite characters of a movie or show end up being ones who are not the stars.

Paul Rudd is awesome as Josh. I like Paul Rudd a lot and I was aware he was in Clueless. He is also very lucky that he looks exactly the same now as he did back then. I guess he somehow found the Fountain of Youth. I thought Josh was a cool guy. I enjoyed seeing him on screen. Brittany Murphy did a great job as Tai who was the new girl. I did not know it was Brittany Murphy until the credits rolled. Stacy Dash was great as Dion. It was nice that she had a lot of screen time. I liked the dynamic with her and Cher. Interestingly enough I found Dion less annoying than Cher. I felt like Dion was a little more down to earth. I also enjoyed Breckin Meyer as Travis. I liked his character, and I liked seeing the changes all the characters made by the end of the film. I also thought Donald Faison did a good job as well as Murray, Dion’s boyfriend. I was a little surprised that he was not as involved in the movie as I initially thought. One thing that would have been cool, would have been to see some more scenes with Dion and Murray away from their group of friends. I also understand that they were not the stars, the main character is Cher.

Clueless is a fun movie that is funny and has a solid cast of characters. I can understand why it has become iconic. I am happy that this was recommended to me.

Book Club came out in May 2018 and was counter programming to Avengers: Infinity War which came out a few weeks prior. Book Club did surprisingly well earning 68 million domestically. There is a sequel coming out this May. It has an all star cast with Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen as the quartet of friends who are in a book club. The group of friends read the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy and it spices up their own lives.

I enjoyed Book Club. It was a fun movie with likeable characters. I know when the movie was getting ready to open there were a lot of people who felt the movie looked stupid. Everyone is entitled to have their opinion. Based off that, I was thinking the movie would bomb but it did not. I think what makes the movie is the cast, specifically the four leads. The stars of the movie are legends at this point. They all have had esteemed careers between film and television. The supporting cast does a good job as well but its really the four ladies who shine. It may be a silly plot especially using Fifty Shades of Grey as the main device for the film, but I think the actresses’ performances are what make the movie good. I routed for the characters and that is the testament to the actresses. Don Johnson, Andy Garcia, and Craig T. Nelson are also in the film as love interests or in the case of Craig T. Nelson, husband. All three actors also have been around for many years and been in both film and television. They do what the roles require but its really the women who carry the movie which also makes sense since the film is about them.

Book Club is a fun movie, and it is funny with likeable characters. It also does have a message about life which I think is universal regardless how old anyone is. I am looking forward to seeing where the characters are in the sequel.

All About Steve is a movie I never had any desire to see. Every film that I have written a review about up to this point have been things I wanted to see to some degree. Some more than others but there was always an interest to see them. While I was at the library picking up some movies to watch, I found All About Steve and decided “sure why not.” I am sure everybody does that from time to time. Sometimes you are pleasantly surprised.

All About Steve came out in 2009 and stars Sandra Bullock who was hot off of The Proposal which was a big hit and came out earlier that year. All About Steve bombed earning 33 million in the U.S. and making 40 million total worldwide. The film also stars Bradley Cooper who was in The Hangover which also came out earlier that year and was a huge hit. Thomas Haden Church and Ken Jeong are also in the movie. Ken Jeong was a breakout star in The Hangover. Thomas Haden Church was an Oscar Nominee, nominated for his role in the film Sideways that came a few years before this movie. This was also before The Blind Side came out, where Sandra Bullock would become an Oscar winner at the 2010 Academy Awards.

After watching All About Steve I could understand why the movie did not do well. Sandra Bullock is not new to comedies. A fair amount of her hit movies have been in that genre between Two Weeks Notice, Miss Congeniality, and The Proposal. Even more recently she had a hit movie with The Lost City that also starred Channing Tatum and came out in 2022. Bradley Cooper has found success since The Hangover, going on to be an Oscar Nominee several times including A Star is Born that came out in 2019. He is also known for being the voice of Rocket Raccoon in Marvel for the Guardians of the Galaxy films. On paper with the cast it has, this movie should have been successful. I think the movie was a turnoff for a lot of fans of Sandra Bullock or the genre in general.

I did not love All About Steve but I also did not hate it. I thought it was an okay film. I think what carried the movie was Bradley Cooper. I am a fan of Sandra Bullock but I found her character Mary Horowitz very off putting. I think that is a huge reason why the film did not do well. I think that was the intention with the character and I thought Sandra Bullock did a good job in the role. There were times where some of Mary’s actions were a bit cringe worthy. I could relate better to Bradley Cooper’s character Steve. I felt bad for him throughout the movie. As the film headed into the final act of the movie, I found Mary a little less irritating. I also did find the ending of the film refreshing for this type of movie. It did not go the typical route that a lot of films do. I also was a little surprised to learn that Sandra Bullock was a producer on this movie. I am not sure how involved she was from that aspect. I might have enjoyed the movie a little more if it focused on Steve more. I know the plot of the movie is about Mary who is obsessed with Steve after being set up on a blind date with him and she is the main focus of the film. I would have liked to have seen more of Steve and I wouldn’t have minded if more focus was on him.

All About Steve is an alright movie. I did not think it was as awful as some people make it out to be. Toward the end, I did get invested in how things would play out. I definitely give the movie props for having a refreshing ending. The cast does a good job as their characters, and I give props to Sandra Bullock for what she did with her character.

I have seen the original Resident Evil franchise with Mila Jovovich. I own all the films except the first one. Its because I did not like the first one. I was excited for this movie especially because of the cast. The movie stars Kaya Scodelario, Robbie Amell, Hannah John-Kamen, Avan Jogia, Donal Logue, and Neal McDonough along with Tom Hopper. I know all of them except Tom Hopper. I finally got to see this recently.

As a movie, I thought it was a solid movie. It was a little different than the prior films. First of all, this is a prequel set in 1998. It was stated that it was not a prequel to the main movies but a prequel to the games themselves. I never really played the games. I tried once and got frustrated so I moved on. I did enjoy the movies which I am aware they did not follow the games at all other than some minor things here and there. I know that’s why a lot of the fans of the games did not care for the franchise especially since the star of that franchise was an original character who never existed in the games. This movie seemed a bit slower which is fine. However, it did not waste much time before zombies started showing up. It was a bit more atmospheric. I believe the games are more that way in general as opposed to what the main franchise of films was which were zombie action movies for the most part. I think it has a solid cast. They all do a good job with what they have. I was very excited when it was announced Robbie Amell would be playing Chris Redfield mostly because Chris and Claire Redfield are main characters. It felt like Chris was not in the movie as much and there seemed to be a bit more focus on Claire. One thing that did bother me a little bit was they did not have much screen time together. A big chunk of the movie was spent with Claire away from Chris. They were both off with other characters. They only had a few scenes together. I would have liked to see more brother and sister together especially since in this movie they were estranged for many years. I was a little bummed especially because I was looking forward to seeing Robbie Amell have a large role in the movie. I have been fan of Robbie Amell since he was on True Jackson VP. Robbie Amell did a good job as Chris and Kaya Scodelario made a good Claire. It would have been nice if they had more screentime together. Donal Logue plays Chief Irons and the character seemed similar to when he played Bullock on Gotham. Neal McDonough always seems to play a villain. At this point in time, I have only seen him in one role where he was not a bad guy and that was his role as Dum Dum Dugan in the MCU. I am sure there are other projects where he isn’t a villain, but I have yet to see one where that is not the case. The trailer made it seem that he was up to no good anyway, so it was hardly a surprise when that was confirmed in the movie. Avan Jogia plays Leon and I thought he did a good job. I found the character a bit annoying at times, but he also was the rookie of the police force. I did find myself getting annoyed at how many times he would fall asleep when he was supposed to be doing something else. I would have liked to have seen Hannah John-Kamen as Jill Valentine a little more. I felt like she was a bit sidelined same as Chris Redfield.

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is a good Resident Evil movie. It is different than the other films, but it does seem to lean a bit more into the horror genre than those films did. It has a solid cast, and it did set up some things that could be continued in potential future films. The ending itself was a bit abrupt and left open ended. I think that was the point since this is also a prequel. It also has a midcredit scene that introduces another character from the game as well as reveals the fate of a character. I think it would be cool to see that explored more in another film. I also would like to see more of Chris and Claire together. I don’t know if there are plans for more films or if this was considered a one and done. Time will tell but the film itself did not do well so this may very well be a one and done. If that is the case, it is a solid movie. It also would be nice to see another movie where there could be more opportunity to explore the characters a bit more and at least give some of the others more substantial screentime.

I was aware of She’s All That for many years. It is a movie that has popped up in various articles especially when referring to best comedies of the 90s or any best of list really. I finally watched it recently.

The basic plot of the movie is about a guy, Zack Siler, whose friends place a bet that he can turn Laney Boggs, an unpopular girl into a prom queen. I know this is a modern version or 90s version of the classic story of Pygmalion. This is premise that has been done numerous times including having a scene after the transformation. Two years after this came out The Princess Diaries had some similar similarities. I am mostly referring to how Anne Hathaway is considered a nerd and unattractive and then she gets a makeover after finding out she is really a princess.

Something I realized while watching She’s All That is that it seems this was the main bases for the parody movie Not Another Teen Movie which came out two years later. Chris Evans seemed to be the Freddie Prince Jr of that movie as well as the bulk of the cast seemed to be parodies of the characters in, She’s All That. I saw Not Another Teen Movie years ago; at that time I had thought it was inspired by American Pie amongst other films.

After watching She’s All That, I thought it was interesting. I did not love the movie, but I did not dislike it either. It has a cool story, and I did like Freddie Prince Jr. as Zack. It was cool to see Matthew Lillard, Paul Walker, Gabrielle Union, and Anna Paquin in the film. I knew Usher was in the movie, but I did not know Lil Kim was in it as well. I know the name Rachel Leigh Cook but I am not that familiar with her work. I am sure I probably have seen something she was in, but it made no difference to me that she was the lead. Not that, it really matters anyway. I watch movies for various reasons. It does not matter if I know who the actors are. This came out when Freddie Prince Jr. was starring in a lot of movies. This was also after I Know What You Did Last Summer as well as the sequel which he was in. I am a big fan of Paul Walker, and I knew he was in other films beyond The Fast and the Furious. I did not know he was in this movie until watching it. It was nice to see him in a different project. I know that Paul Walker has done stuff beyond actions movies. The Fast and the Furious seems to be his most famous role especially by the end. I am a fan of Anna Paquin and know her mostly from X-Men where she played Rogue. I know she has been in other projects. I did not know she was in this, so it was cool to see her. This also came out a year before X-Men came out. I also didn’t know Gabrielle Union was in this either. It was nice to see her too. I know her from numerous projects including the movie Bring It On which was one of my favorite movies growing up. For me, I thought it was cool to see some of these actors before their later projects. I knew Usher was in the movie, but I did not know he was playing a character. I originally thought he was playing himself. He was the Campus DJ and was in the movie a little more than I thought. This was also at the start of his career before he blew up with songs like Yeah! and Confessions Part II. I think the movie has a solid cast and they all do a good job. Rachel Leigh Cook is good as Laney Boggs. I do see similarities between Laney Boggs and the character Joey Potter played by Katie Holmes in the TV series Dawson’s Creek which was on at the time. It would have been in Season 2 when this came out. I don’t know if it was deliberate or just coincidence. It is something I noticed. Their characters just seem to be similar. I am currently watching Dawson’s Creek which is what made me notice these similarities.

The movie is predictable and that is not a bad thing. I have seen dozens of movies over the years with similar plots. That does not bother me. Every project is different. I don’t need to be on the edge of my seat all the time or watching something I have never seen before to enjoy it. I think it has a good storyline. This has been done numerous times between movies and television shows to varying degrees of success. I found the movie a little boring at times. I did not find it that funny. This movie is a normal length clocking in at 95 minutes. I was happy it was only 95 minutes instead of being longer. What worked for me was the performances of the cast. I liked Freddie Prince Jr. as Zack Siler. I enjoyed watching him on screen and I thought Paul Walker did a good job as the jerk friend Dean Sampson. I was a little surprised with the direction they took Dean in by the end of the film.

Minor spoilers at this point.

I was not expecting them to go the route of Dean asking Laney to prom and then showing up at her house to take her to prom after earlier she declined his invitation. That was one thing that did catch me off guard in the mostly predictable plot. His motives were revealed to as expected since he was hoping to get laid. Even that choice surprised me only because Dean struck me as the guy who would sleep with any female who he found attractive. He was the one who picked out Laney in the bet with Zack. Once Laney became attractive that would make more sense for Dean to want to sleep with her. Not that it really matters, but I also was a little unclear if his motive for asking Laney to prom was solely to get her in bed or if it was to get back at Zack.

The movie had a decent soundtrack. For me it did nothing, including the iconic scene where the hit song Kiss Me by Sixpence None the Richer played. I knew this was the movie that helped catapult the song but even that scene did not really do anything for me. Sometimes a film’s soundtrack helps make it more enjoyable or has a nostalgia factor, especially when it comes to watching things from different time periods. When this movie came out, I was eight years old. When watching this movie, I did not feel any nostalgia for the soundtrack the way I have while watching other films that have come out in different time periods like the 90s, 2000s, etc. I like the song Kiss Me, but the scene did nothing for me to really feel anything. I am also slightly confused why this was such a big deal and why this was the thing that blew up the song. It could have been the exposure which is a huge part now a days especially between Netflix (example Stranger Things) and Tick Tock (half the hit songs now seem to come from this). I do wonder if I had seen this when it came out whether in theaters or waiting until the home release, if I would have had the same opinion or if I would have liked it then. I don’t know and I won’t know since time machines don’t exist and I can’t go back in time to see the movie as an eight-year-old. It has nothing to do with the high school setting. I am currently watching Dawson’s Creek which was on when this came out and I am enjoying it. I have rewatched One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, and The Vampire Diaries which all had high school settings at the beginning anyway and I still enjoy them now as I did when they originally aired. I also watched those shows when they were actually on.

I am sort of confused why She’s All That is considered a classic among many but to each their own. I think one factor would be the likeable cast. It also was a different time then. I have seen this premise done in other movies and shows and I have found those more enjoyable. This does have a good plot and the cast does a good job. It just was not super amazing to me, and I don’t consider this one of the best high school movies of all time. I think there are other films that are better, but it was nice to see that a lot of the cast went on to have successful careers.  

I finally got to see Alien vs. Predator after all these years. The film came out in 2004. If I had waited one more year, it would be hitting its 20^th anniversary. Alien vs. Predator came out a year after Freddy vs. Jason. The only real similarities between the two films are the fact it was taking two iconic franchises and pitting the characters against each other. In this case the Aliens and the Predators. I would think one challenge for this film would have been the fact the main characters are creatures that don’t talk. It was probably slightly easier doing Freddy vs. Jason since Freddy Krueger does talk even though Jason Voorhees does not. Of course, both films had all the human characters who get killed off. Alien vs. Predator was no different. Most of the cast did not survive and there was a bit of carnage for both the Aliens and the Predators as well.

I thought Alien vs. Predator was a good movie for the concept. I saw Freddy vs. Jason when it came out in 2003. It has been years since I saw the movie. One notable difference between these two films is that Alien vs. Predator is PG-13 as opposed to Freddy vs. Jason which was rated R. This was a surprise even when the film came out in 2004. I know there was some controversy regarding the rating mostly since both the Alien and Predator franchises were R rated to begin with. For me the rating did not make much of a difference. There was a fair amount of blood and slime. The movie was a little slow at the beginning. It took a little bit before the Predators and Aliens came onto the scene. I am familiar with both franchises, but I have not seen any of the Predator movies and I did see the first Alien movie as well as Prometheus. Prometheus came out after Alien vs. Predator. I am going to assume that this movie was meant as a standalone and not really linked to either franchises. They seemed to have changed the origin a little bit in order to explain how the Aliens and Predators are even on Earth to begin with. The stars of the movie are the creatures themselves. It does not really matter if the human characters survive or not. My understanding is that the sequel Alien vs. Predator: Requiem has an entirely new cast of characters, it really is not necessary to get invested with any of the human characters. Again, most of them died anyway. I think it was a good length. This was not too long. It clocks in at around one hundred minutes counting the credits. I think that is just enough time. How long can you really spend on Aliens and Predators duking it out? Plot wise, it had a decent plot given the main event is seeing two iconic creatures duke it out.

Spoilers Ahead

One thing I thought was cool was toward the end of the film one of the characters team up with the Predator to help take down the Aliens. I am not sure if this has been done before in any of the Predator movies that came prior to this, but I feel like they typically don’t do that. I thought it was something cool and different for these franchises. That did not happen in Freddy vs. Jason. The fight scenes were alright. For me, it may have been slightly more impactful if I had seen this when it came out in 2004. By this point I have seen even more movies and television shows, not to mention being spoiled with the Marvel Cinematic Universe that came a few years later. I also think this was probably more challenging to do this movie since its creatures fighting as opposed to humans. In the case of Freddy vs. Jason, there are actors who play those characters. I would think the Aliens would be trickier since the Predators are played by actors. Given those challenges, I think the scenes were handled well. Kudos to the puppeteers and it seems there were a fair amount of them given how many names were in the credits. It did have a typical ending the way most horror movies end, but I thought it was fitting, especially knowing there is a sequel and both franchises have had films since this one.

Alien vs. Predator is a good movie. It gets the job done for the concept it uses. The PG-13 rating did not bother me. I don’t really know why they made that decision. My only thinking would be to try to get a younger audience to be able to see the movie. If this was Rated R, I think the movie would have made the same amount of money it did. This wound up with 80 million in the US which is around the same range of Freddy vs. Jason the year before and that movie was rated R. Freddy vs. Jason was 82 million in the US. Since I watched this, I do plan on seeing the sequel. I am curious if the sequel will have any connectivity to this movie or if it will ignore this one and do something completely different.