Movie season, part II

All right, my follow-up:

Thor: Might not rush out to see it, but it's definitely a future rental.  Thor's always going to be a tough sell, he's not the most exciting thing out there, but it looks all right.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: Jesus, I love the first three films.  The mash-up of various mythologies combined with the intricate interplay of the characters (scheming, plotting, double-crossing, betrayal) make them really wonderful and much better than they ever should have been.  Early reviews indicate that this entry is more stripped-down and basic action-adventure (because people bitched about the first approach), so I might not like it as much... but what, I'm not going to see it?  Even a half-decent Pirates film is still better than most action-adventure work that's out there.

X-Men: First Class: Three months ago I wouldn't have pissed on it if it was on fire, but now I really want to see it.  That's a good trailer.

Super 8: There were people who didn't like Cloverfield?  I mean, okay, this one looks fine and all, probably quite good, but I'm still reeling here... Cloverfield is THE BEST monster film I have EVER seen.  It's a work of art.  What, you want Godzilla instead?

Green Lantern: Fuck, I can't even begin to care about this.  I like Green Lantern, but the Green Lantern Corps has always left me cold, it's just a bunch of whacky aliens in green costumes who have identical superpowers.  This one focuses on the Corps so damn much, I just can't get worked up at all over it.  And yeah, just too much CG.  And I've always thought Hal Jordan was the most boring of all the Green Lanterns.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2: What, after watching the first seven I'm not going to see the last one?  Am I insane?  Seriously, though, every Harry Potter film has been better than the last, encapsulating the very best parts of a fine but flawed kiddie book series.

Captain America: The First Avenger: Yeah, that does look a little cheesy, but I think I actually like the look of it better than Thor.  The problem is, by its very nature this is just an into movie.  It's just "hey, here's Captain America, here's who he is, this is his shield, go see him in Avengers."  Will anything that happens in this film have any consequence beyond that?  For most moviegoers, there doesn't need to be anything more, but for your average nerd on the street who's already familiar with the character, the introduction has already been made and the movie needs to go beyond that.

Cowboys & Aliens: This one I have to disagree with you a bit on.  It doesn't look stupid, far from it, but it does look maybe a little cliched.  Admitting completely that I could be wrong, it looks like a mash-up of two genres that revels in the genre conventions but makes no attempt to add anything beyond that.  I hope I'm wrong, because damn, I love me some Harrison Ford action.

Conan the Barbarian: You already know this will probably be bad before you watch it.

Apollo 18: I love conspiracy stories and creepy alternate takes on reality (not that I believe any of them are true, I just enjoy hearing them), so I admit that yeah, this thing looks interesting and eerie.  Who knows if it'll be good, but I like the concept.

Let's see, what else is out there... Kung Fu Panda 2, I hate talking animals and I hate Jack Black even more... The Hangover Part II, I get it, they were drunk, I get it... Cars 2, I think I just found something I hate more than talking animals, and Larry the Cable Guy could fall off the planet and I'd be fine... Transformers 3, you didn't mention that one!  I actually enjoy watching the action sequences in the trailers, but I wouldn't want to sit through a stupid movie to get to them... Winnie the Pooh, god bless the return of hand-drawn animation... The Smurfs can suck my ass... Rise of the Planet of the Apes I've talked about... but Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris also comes out in June sometime, and you know I'll be there for that.