American Ultra — A solid action flick that's easy to watch — 7*/10

• Scenario: An interesting mix. It starts as a stoner movie and ends as an assassin super spy revenge flick. The scenario is a tad predictable, and most characters are one dimensional, but there's a lots of action, some good jokes, solid dialogs, a touch of drama and a good ending. High entertainment value.
• Known actors: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Connie Britton, Topher Grace, John Leguizamo and Bill Pullman.
• Visual & sound: Pretty good.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3316948/
• Who is it for? Anyone looking for some good action who doesn't mind the stoner type.

Ted 2 — A worthy funny sequel in need of a bit more content — 6*/10

• Scenario: The sequel to the hilarious first chapter (see my review here) is still funny, but it doesn't have as much content. It feels like the writers after dumping all their good ideas in the first one ran short here. Nonetheless, the entertainment value is great and worth the watch. Especially because all our favorite and most hated characters are back.
• Dialogs: Clever, fast and funny.
• Characters: More of the same, but with a few weird additions.
• Actors: Good work on the part of everyone, even if they can easily act much more complex roles. Cast members include Mark Wahlberg, Seth MacFarlane, Amanda Seyfried, Giovanni Ribisi, Morgan Freeman who seemed a bit out of place, Sam J. Jones, Patrick Warburton, Michael Dorn, John Slattery, John Carroll Lynch, Ron Canada and Liam Neeson.
• Photography: Same.
• Sound: Same.
• Special effects: Same.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2637276/
• Who is it for? Wahlberg or MacFarlane fans, those in need of an easy comedy and don't mind the juvenile, as well as those who are curious to know what happens next.

The Big Lebowski — The story and the characters are priceless — 7*/10

• Story: Funny. The intrigue changes direction so often that it keeps you riveted.
• Characters: They are as much an attraction as the intrigue.
• Dialogs: Very funny.
• Scenario: Great timing with a nice mix of scenes.
• Actors: Jeff Bridges's performance is forever a classic for this stereotyped character. John Goodman is the hot spices to his mellow friend. I adore Julianne Moore, but this is a small role for her. Same goes for Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Turturro. It was before they were well known. It's also true of Tara Reid, although to a lesser extent.
• Photography: Acceptable.
• Special effects: Very few, and mostly crap.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118715/
• Who is it for? Stoners and mellow dudes looking for an idol, or those looking for a simple movie where the intrigue keeps on giving.

Sometimes, you hear so much about a picture, revered in some circles as a classic, that you have to see it. This is one of them. I'm glad I saw it.

I gave it a lower rating than I would have liked, because the production was a little shitty compared to the quality of the story, the characters, or the performances of Bridges and Goodman.

Ted — Feels like a television show that morphs into romantic comedy then action-thriller — 7*/10

• Story: Funny, all the way through. Keeps your attention on. The way the bear evolves and how the world treats him is perfect.
• Characters: Well built, if simple. The bear is, of course, a genius idea and extremely well implemented.
• Dialogs: Hilarious, if you like the Seth MacFarlane style. It's a lot of words, crass, simple and very direct.
• Scenario: Well paced, if a bit of a mash up between styles. Gives you a bit of everything, but mainly comedy. Mostly very juvenile humor. The romantic plot elements are straight out of the Hollywood standard mold, which makes it a bit disappointing.
• Actors: Not a stretch for Mark Wahlberg or Mila Kunis who can both play much more complex characters. Seth MacFarlane is equal to himself, very funny. Giovanni Ribisi brings out the big loony-bin guns for some very special moments. Kudos to Patrick Stewart, Norah Jones and Tom Skerritt.
• Photography: Nothing special.
• Special effects: The bear is very well animated. It might not age well, but I'm sure it won't look too much out of place in the future.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1637725/
• Who is it for? For those in need of some easy entertainment with a bit of everything, who don't mind crass humor, for stoner fans or MacFarlane fans.

Pineapple Express — Ludicrous, interesting, and somewhat funny for when you need to turn your brain off — 6*/10

Pineapple Express is your basic stoner comedy. Its real attraction comes from the fact that it is our introduction to new stars in the comedy circles.

For those who like pot movies.
6*/10

Neighbors - A tough mix to pull off, but very funny - 6*/10

Neighbors doesn't sink too far into the juvenile and the awkwardness of the beginning does go away at some point. It doesn't take itself too seriously, yet it brings some really funny spins even if they're not new to Seth Rogen's style. There are a few excellent moments in there.

If you want to turn you brain off and have a good laugh without compromising your soul.
6*/10

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas - What you would expect - 6*/10

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas is on par with the others of the series. Better than the second, not as good as the first, but with all the silliness and Christmas trimming we expect. Just don't think you're going to watch something mature and you might enjoy it.

For the fans of the series and those enjoying juvenile or drug humor.
6*/10

Clerks II — An other day behind the counter 10 years later — 8*/10

Clerks II is all that Clerks. aimed to be but couldn't achieve because of lack of funds or experience. This time around writer-director Kevin Smith had what he needed, and it unfolded the way he wanted it to. It has the same feel as it predecessor, but smoother.

The acting is better, in some case because they gained experience —Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith — and in others, because they're seasoned actors, like Rosario Dawson, who plays the wisest and nicest character of the bunch. The sets, camera shots, editing, and images quality are much better.

The diatribes are different, but have the same vibe. They're excellent, and the points well made, as usual. You'll laugh at the various antics, and appreciate the underlying romance much more, since it has a more prevalent share of the story.

The only thing negative I have to say is that the ending is a bit Hollywoodish. but it's inline with the story, and is kind of the logical conclusion, so it's difficult to hold it against Smith.

8*/10

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back — Stoners going to Hollywood on a silly mission — 5*/10

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is the silliest movie Kevin Smith has made to date. He took his secondary characters, wrapped up a number of loose ends, stirred it all together, stripped all the smart dialogs from the resulting mix, and made a script out of it. You can still find a number of social commentary aimed at Hollywood in it, but the just of the flick aims at turning off your brain.

The best joke of the bunch is making the fake film into a a sort of Star Wars parody and have Mark Hamill play the villain. I will also mention that Carrie Fisher has a small role in there somewhere, just to make the whole thing even more meta. Actually, Smith makes the whole thing so meta that he has to laugh at himself by making the actors look pointedly at the camera.

This production is star studded with the likes of Wes Craven, Shannen Doherty, Jason Biggs, James Van Der Beek, Gus Van Sant, and that's just naming a few.

If you like what Kevin Smith does, and know his universe, you will appreciate it.

5*/10

Dogma — A surprising comic adventure about angels and demons — 9*/10

Dogma is a comic adventure movie with an incredible alternative mythology of the catholic church. Kevin Smith finally came into his own as a writer-director with this piece.

The strength of this movie is based on the very detailed and extremely imaginative ideas developed for this new set of hell, heaven and earth. The dialogs and situations are very funny. The story is highly entertaining, captivating, and full of interesting plot developments.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon each delivered us great performances, especially when being wrathful or witty. That probably set into motion their future collaborations. Linda Fiorentino played her role as disillusioned christian given an unlikely task very well, even more so in her emotional explosion which was very powerful. Alan Rickman was hilarious as the complaining neat freak. This is the type of role I think he's best with, the funny sarcastic kind. Chris Rock is just as funny, doing his thing, blacking up christianity. Salma Hayek plays one of her funniest role with nice flair. Jason Lee is as his best in playing a mouthy plotting evil guy. Now, this star studded cast doesn't even end there. There's also Janeane Garofalo, George Carlin, and Alanis Morissette in a surprise supporting role of no little importance.

Now, the only thing negative I would have to say, is that the CG and some of the set are not up to part with the rest of the movie. They're more than acceptable, but the rest is so good, that you can see the difference.

For great entertainment, see it.

9*/10

Mallrats — Low budget comedy and romance for some good fun — 7*/10

Mallrats is an easy comedy with romance as its reason to live. Set almost entirely in a mall and populated by its denizens, we're rewarded by juvenile arguments, pranks and stunts.

Shannen Doherty is the big name of the production. She has a supporting role, playing, with a nice ring of truth, a girl who got sick and tired of her looser boyfriend, played by Jason Lee, and dumps him. Lee gives us the best performance of the cast, and with this verbose intensive role made his place on the big screen. Ben Affleck, at that time, was still relatively unknown, and even though this portrayal of an ass hole was right on target, the part was a very small one. The second main character was played by somebody that barely made the grade. His girlfriend was played by Claire Forlani who gave us a good solid performance.

The story is interesting, with nice details and interesting plot twists. Even though Kevin Smith got substantially more budget this time around, the film still has an obvious low budget shine to it. Smith is slowly polishing his skills, but has yet to reach full proficiency. The dialogs and original story are is best weapons, and this piece shows that well as each scene is delivered as a verbal dance. Excellent work.

Don't take it too seriously, and you'll have lots of fun.

7*/10

Clerks. — Low budget debut movie of a cerebral director — 6*/10

Clerks. is a difficult movie to rate, because it's an acquired taste. Once you understand's Kevin Smith's sense of story telling and style of humor, then you'll appreciate his debut flick.

This piece presents to us seemingly unrelated life events in a day of two clerks. Their dialogs present facts of life in a basic yet articulate way with a slight ring of nerdy pot smokers.

It's black and white, with shaky camera shots, awkward angles, amateur acting, and seedy sets that scream low budget. Yet, the ideas and philosophy on display will make you think.

Overall, it entertaining, but to fully appreciate it, you better have a good Smith education, so start by watching Dogma, or Chasing Amy for the romantics, or even Mallrats for silly comedy lovers. If you like them, then you're ready for this film, and you will most likely enjoy it.

6*/10