DoctorRabbit

The main thing Act of Valor has going for it is the fact that the film stars real life U.S Navy SEALs. This also happens to be one of the films many flaws. I understand that these people are not actors, but i'm not going to let the film off the hook for such awful acting just because these people aren't actors. It's just a gimmick that was used to sell the film. The acting in the film really is terrible and some of the lines are delivered so poorly that you can't even understand what they are saying. The plot for the film is incredibly thin and is only there to set up the action scenes to show these SEALs doing what they do in the line of duty. These sequences are at first mildly amusing to watch, but they quickly just become generic shootout scenes that overuse the first person view point way too much and it becomes annoying very fast. It felt like I was just watching someone play Call of Duty. Speaking of Call of Duty, it almost seems that every action scene in this film was ripped off from a level of Call of Duty. Another problem with this film is that for a film that's selling point is trying to show us the lives of these men who are in active duty, yet the film never at any time attempts to develop these characters. They are as lifeless as they come and this becomes even more of a flaw in the moments where the movie tries to have emotional moments that come off more as forced and cliché that emotional. What really disappointed me was the fact that the film never touches on what war is like for these guys and there feelings about it, or why the feel the need to fight for their country. This film is also very boring since there is almost no plot and the action sequences are so run of the mill. At times, it felt like I was just watching a recruitment ad for the army. Save your money and time and just play Call of Duty.

At first glance, Magic Mike seems like a film that doesn't have much to offer besides men stripping and a generic romantic comedy plot. However, the film is a lot better than you'd think it be and it has a lot more to offer than just male stripping.

The trailer for the film is VERY misleading and makes it appear to be a romantic comedy when the film is much more of a comedy-drama centered the life of Channing Tatum's character and Alex Pettyfer. The film has a good mix of comedy and drama and also has a surprisingly dark 2nd half to it which I really enjoyed. This has really been a good year for Channing Tatum. I used to think he was a terrible actor but with this and 21 Jump Street, he has proved me otherwise. He is terrific here and even better than he was in 21 Jump Street since he is also dealing with drama here and not only comedy. The rest of cast did a good job and Matthew McConaughey stole every scene that he was in. The only person who didn't do a good job was the Tatum's love interest Cody Horn who gave a very stale performance. Despite a lot of man ass, the dance scenes in the film are a ton of fun to watch, even if you are a guy. Soderbergh did an excellent job directing and I really loved the cinematography and style that was used for the film. However, Magic Mike has some problems with it that keep it from being the great movie it could've been. My biggest problem with it is that the whole film felt very disjointed and that really bugged me. The film didn't feel like it had a good flow to it and scenes would just happen one after another in random order. I got used to this after a bit into the film, but it still bugged me quite a bit. The film could've also done without the romantic subplot which served no purpose to the film what so ever and really just dragged it out longer than it needed to be. I also didn't care for the way the film ended either. There's a scene that takes place 5 minutes before the final scene of the film that I actually felt would've fit the film much better and left more of an impact than the final scene of the film did.

Overall, Magic Mike isn't as good as it could've been, but it's also a lot better than you'd expect it to be. It's not a movie that is strictly for female's and is one that male's can also enjoy. Women might actually be disappointed that there isn't as much stripping in the film as you would expect and may not like some of the darker parts of it. Don't blow this movie off because of the subject matter. Give it a shot, and I can guarantee you that you'll be surprised by how much you will enjoy Magic Mike.

While there really isn't anything wrong with Ted, there isn't anything that great about it either. For his first film, Seth MacFarlane did a good job, but he's still got a lot to learn as a director. The film feels very much like his material and some scenes felt exactly like a live action episode of Family Guy. Mark Wahlberg did a good job in his role and MacFarlane and I really enjoyed the character of Ted. He really carries the movie and the scenes without him on screen really seemed to go by a bit slow. As for the comedy in the film, there are plenty of funny scenes, but most of them deliver on a level of chuckles instead of big laughs. That's not to say the film doesn't deliver some laughs at points, but not as many as it should. The one thing that did kinda bug me about this film was it's constant references to the 80's. Some of them such as the references to Flash Gordon were funny, but the film relied way too heavily on them and some of them felt forced. I also felt the film was a bit too long and could've easily been 15 minutes shorter. Overall, Ted isn't as good as it could've been, but there really isn't anything wrong with it that will keep you from enjoying it either. It's much better than the new episodes of Family Guy, but there's much funnier films that have come out this year such as 21 Jump Street.