Dreary Portland Weather = Many Movies Watched

Well, it may be Spring in other parts of the country, but Portland isn't quite ready to let go of Winter. After a few nice weeks in Jan/Feb, the weather has turned cold, dreary and even snowy here in mid-March. A perfect time to catch up on some movies!

First up was "Attack the Block" a British movie from 2011. I first heard buzz about this movie at Comic-Con last year, and have heard generally positive reviews from other geeks.

IMDB plot summary is pretty succinct: "A teen gang in South London defend their block from an alien invasion."

Certainly not the most ground-breaking movie, but it was a fun, entertaining, rainy day sort of feature. The accents are magnificently difficult to understand at times (reminded me of the first time I saw "Trainspotting" and loved that English could be a totally different language from what we Americans are used to). You might recognize actor Nick Frost from similar genre movies "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz." He's a secondary character, but I think one of my favorites.

The aliens are appropriately creepy, and it has some decent special effects (given that this isn't a Michael Bay movie or something).

Movie #2, streamed via Netflix, was "Tucker and Dale vs Evil." Wow, this movie was really fun and funny. Comedy/horror is tough to pull off well, but this one worked for me! You might recognize the two male leads: Tucker (Alan Tudyk from Firefly and now on Suburgatory) and Dale (Tyler Labine from Reaper). Or maybe the female lead Katrina Bowden (of 30 Rock).

The story is one of prejudice (toward hillbillies) combined with a complete misunderstanding that creates a ridiculous series of events. Not since Army of Darkness have I laughed so much at a "horror" movie.

Watch the trailer:

Finally, movie #3 required a trip to an actual theater. "21 Jump Street" with Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum was actually better than I expected. It's hardly a contender for an Oscar, but it was (again) ridiculous and funny, and pretty perfect for a hormonal, pregnant woman's fragile mood. Sometimes, all you want out of a movie is a good laugh. This movie definitely delivered a few of those! And, I like Jonah Hill. I heard a recent interview with him about his long involvement writing the script, etc.

Added bonus is list of guest stars including Rob Riggle (Daily Show), Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson!) and Ice Cube.

Side note: if high school is really like this now, it's too bad I am 20 years too late to be "cool."