Quick Review: Thor

This is not a comic book I read, nor am I going to begin now. (For one thing, it's a Marvel character and you've probably figured out by now that I'm way more of a DC person.) But "Thor" was a lot more entertaining than I expected based on the trailer. The plot sort of made enough sense despite its sci-fi leanings. After nearly starting a war, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), god of thunder, is exiled from Asgard by his father (Anthony Hopkins) until he proves himself worthy again. The hammer that gives Thor his power is also sent to Earth, but separately, and with a spell that keeps it from being wielded by anyone unless they're worthy. (So of course Thor needs to redeem himself so he can lift that hammer.) Meanwhile, Thor's brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) learns something interesting about his heritage and, as you'd expect from the god of mischief, gets to plotting. Back on Earth, a budding romance develops between Thor and a scientist (Natalie Portman) but it isn't all that interesting, and it doesn't actually take up much of the movie's time. It's reasonably well-acted, and moves along at a decent pace. My grade: B.

Quick Review: No Strings Attached

There may be a new trend in movies: romantic couplings in which the guy gets all gushy and falls in love with the girl, but she just wants sex. There was "Love and Other Drugs" a couple of months ago with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway. Coming up later this year is "Friends With Benefits," starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis. Right now there's "No Strings Attached," with Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman as the two friends, Adam and Emma -- actually, it doesn't seem they're very close friends at first; the film starts with flashbacks which seem to be the only times they've met prior to arriving at the present -- who have sex and afterwards agree to keep having sex without dating or anything romantic. It's Emma's doing, although there's not as specific a reason as Anne Hathaway's character in "Love and Other Drugs" had. She's just a standard commitment-phobe. Sure enough, Adam starts falling for her and tries to win her heart. It was better than I expected, and Portman shows she can do comedy, although it has a sappy and predictable end. It's rated R and, besides some raunchy language, features a sighting of Kutcher's bare butt. Between that and how much skin Gyllenhaal showed in his movie, Justin Timberlake has to step up. Also, "No Strings Attached" was titled "Friends With Benefits" before production began, and Kunis and Portman went at it in "Black Swan," so it seems to me that, with so much already in common between the films, Kutcher and Timberlake should have a sex scene in a movie as well. My grade: B.

Quick Review: Black Swan

The following sentence may need a SPOILER ALERT!!!! -- although I think this plot point has gotten out there already. There's a lesbian sex scene in "Black Swan." And it scared me a little. I think it even made me a little more gay, if that's possible. Holy crap! This is, for the most part, a very intense film. A new production of "Swan Lake" requires a ballet dancer to play both the pure, composed White Swan and its opposite, the wild Black Swan. Nina (Natalie Portman) is perfect for the White Swan but the director (Vincent Cassel) doesn't think she can handle the Black Swan. After a confrontation, he gives her the part. But can she handle the stress of the role, not to mention her alternate, Lily (Mila Kunis), who may or may not be angling to replace her? And don't get me started on Nina's strange life at home with her controlling mother (Barbara Hershey). My only complaint with the movie is that it's pretty obvious what is actually happening to Nina. Well, that and the lesbian sex scene. I've been scarred for life, I tell you. My grade: A-minus.