Tag Archives: Mark Ruffalo

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Now You See Me – Review

now you see me poster

Watching Now You See Me, I couldn’t help but think I was watching Ocean’s 11 with magic. This isn’t a complaint, just an observation. And it’s not just because Now You See Me is a heist movie. It’s also the tone, the snappy dialogue and that the audience is worked through each magic heist after the fact.

Just going by the cast alone, I’m surprised I didn’t see Now You See Me when it was in the theater. Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Jesse Eisenberg…these are people who draw me to movies. Isla Fisher too, but for, um, different reasons.

now your see me henley tank

The highlight of Now You See Me for me was that Morgan Freeman’s character, Thaddeus Bradley, narrates a movie within the movie, which made me laugh because Morgan Freeman IS movie narration these days.

There was something about the ending that didn’t jibe right with me. I’ll go into it after this picture of Dave Franco doing his best Gambit, so that anyone who wants to avoid SPOILERS, can.

now your see me dave franco gambit

Okay, so Mark Ruffalo’s character, Dylan Rhodes , the lawman who is always one step behind The Four Horsemen, is revealed to be the mastermind. I’m fine with that. I personally thought it was going to be Melanie Laurent’s character, Alma Dray, for a few reasons. One, it looked like she was feigning being asleep when Ruffalo walked into her room in New Orleans and found her passed out reading that book on magic. It seemed like she wasn’t really asleep and was planting that there for his benefit. Two, it really did seem that she could have fudged her whole Interpol background when she showed up. But I was wrong. Rhodes is the mastermind. Fine.  And I thought they explained Dylan’s motivation well (though if Alma was the mastermind, his motivations would easily have carried over to her without any many changes). What I don’t get is, is The Eye real? And if it is, does Dylan actually have a connection to it, or was that all for the benefit of tricking The Four Horsemen into doing what he needed them to do.  I noticed on IMDB that Now You See Me 2 is in pre-production. Hopefully some of these questions get answered in the sequel.

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Win Win (On The Couch 2012 #8)

Win Win came on during our flight to Kauai as soon as The Lucky One ended. I had wanted to see Win Win in the theater, so I kept my headset on. But the combination of the beginning of Win Win being a little slow, the disappointment of The Lucky One and a bout of sleepiness had me wondering if I’d be better off taking a nap instead. I’m glad I opted out of the nap and watched Win Win. I really enjoyed it.

In Win Win, Mike, played by Paul Giamatti, is a down on his luck lawyer who does some underhanded things to keep his business afloat and groceries on his family’s table. Don’t get me wrong, he didn’t start working for the mob. What he did falls into that gray area of “This is definitely wrong, but if I were in his situation, would I do the same thing?”

I really like Paul Giamatti for the same reasons I like Stanley Tucci and Mark Ruffalo. The three of them always bring a sense of realness to the characters they play. Can we get the three of them in one movie, please?

My favorite part of Win Win is when Kyle asks Mike to give him a slap across the face before a wrestling match. When we got to Hawaii, I asked my wife to do the same when we went zip lining. Based on their reactions, I’m guessing the other people in our zip lining group didn’t see Win Win on their flight in.


“Give me a slap.”


In the battle of movies shown on planes during my trip to Hawaii Win-Win beats both The Lucky One by a three count pin and Men In Black III via DQ (I fell asleep before the opening credits of MIB3).

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The Avengers (At The Theater 2012 #6)

Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Thank you Josh Whedon! So many people predicted in the press that you couldn’t bring all these A-list Hollywood actors together, put their egos behind them and create a great ensemble film. Those people were so wrong. Could The Avengers have been more perfect? I was grinning during this movie from the opening scene through the second end credits scene. You did stay for the second end credits scene, right?

Actually, I was grinning from the Dark Knight Rises and Amazing Spider-Man trailer through the end of the movie. I thought last year was the year of the comic book fan at the movie theater. But clearly, it’s this year.

I liked Edward Norton in The Incredible Hulk, but Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk makes me want a Hulk movie.

SPOILERS AFTER THIS PICTURE OF THE HULK PRACTICING SHOT PUT!

Like anyone affected by the deaths of Wash and Shepherd in Serenity, I had a feeling that Joss Whedon was going to kill off a fan favorite in The Avengers. I didn’t know who it would be. Black Widow? Hawkeye? But Agent Coulson? Why?! No!! Damn you, Whedon!

RIP Agent Coulson
How awesome was it when Iron Man said “Cap’n”?

First end credits scene: Thanos! Thanos! Thanos! Are we getting The Infinity Gauntlet in Avengers 2? Please say yes. What about the Thanos Copter?

Not his best moment.

Second end credits scene: They went out for shawarma! Awesome! Wait, what is shawarma?
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On The Couch 2011 #12: The Kids Are All Right

With mere hours to go before the Academy Awards, I sat down on the couch to watch The Kids Are All Right. This movie is alright, with some really funny scenes that had me laughing loudly.

But at the same time, The Kids Are All Right is a strong early contender for next year’s Tuesdee for Most Overrated Movie. This film is why The Town didn’t score a nomination? Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t think this movie was Greenberg bad. I just didn’t think it was nearly as good a movie as the other Best Picture nominees.

I also feel that Annette Bening’s performance was extremely over hyped. She was good, but I don’t see what was so special about her performance that she was considered a possible spoiler for Natalie Portman taking home the Best Actress award on Oscar night.

Someone who did earn his nomination was Mark Ruffalo, who remains awesome. I would like to one day make a movie with Mark Ruffalo, J.K. Simmons and Stanley Tucci. Roof, J/K and The Tooch in one movie would be the trifecta of supporting actors.

The Ruf continues to be on fire!