3. Hobo With a Shotgun
In the wake of last year's Machete, a new grindhouse champion is crowned. Director Jason Eisener and old warhorse vet Rutger Hauer take exploitation to new levels of uneasy extremes. Buckets of fake blood is spilled and dozens of prosthetic limbs get severed in this wacky, gory revenge trifle.
2. Thor
Mighty gods, frost giants, fire breathing robots...and that's just the half of it. Thor may not be one of Marvel's 1st string heroes, but his first foray onto the big screen is a 1st class, action packed effort that rivals anything we've seen from Iron Man or Spider-Man.
1. Bridesmaids
We're not even halfway through the year and I feel pretty comfortable saying Bridesmaids will be the funniest movie you'll see all year. It's so good both men and women will love it and for the same reasons. It's hysterical, well acted, and there's a surprising depth that bubbles up thanks to the supremely talented Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy and all of the lovely comediennes involved.
DVD Pick of the Week: The Mechanic
1972's version of The Mechanic
featured Charles Bronson at his steely best as a hitman who begins teaching the tricks of the trade to a young protege. In Simon West's 2011 remake, Jason Statham fits comfortably into a role that he's pretty much been playing his entire career, that of the gritty, cold faced killer. It's only in the addition of Ben Foster as his slightly unstable young charge that that The Mechanic begins to set itself apart from the original. Foster brings a level of nuance to the role unseen in the original, as well as a chaotic energy that is a nice balance to Statham's cool demeanor.
