It’s time to start feeling old once again, as I’m back bringing back my monthly segment Throwback Session- Remember These Movies?. Unfamiliar? Every month is where I talk about what came out in theaters ten years ago and discuss my opinions about them, even more wondering why I thought some were passable.
April right now isn’t going to be talked about positively a decade from now, but I feel like we were all doing quite well back in 2010. April right now isn’t going to be talked about positively a decade from now, but I feel like we were all doing quite well back in 2010. Around this month, I was back at school getting through the rest of seventh grade. This was also the time where I was watching The Rotten Tomatoes Show on a channel called Current TV, hosted by Brett Erlich and Ellen Fox. That show was cool, and it’s sad there aren’t any clips or episodes online. It had everything has movie reviews and celebrities talking about their top five favorite movies. Good times.
Going to the movies was always an enjoyment, and from the ones I talked about, six of them I saw in theaters. It was the month before going to the summer movie season. Let’s look down memory lane below and remember the good or bad movies that we paid to see.
April 2: ‘Clash of the Titans’
Cast: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Jason Flemyng, Alexa Davalos, Mads Mikkelsen, and Nicholas Hoult
Director: Louis Leterrier
Synopsis: Perseus (Sam Worthington), the son of Zeus (Liam Neeson), is caught in a war between gods and is helpless to save his family from Hades (Ralph Fiennes), the god of the underworld. With nothing left to lose, Perseus leads a band of warriors on a dangerous quest to prevent Hades from overthrowing the king of the gods and laying waste to Earth.
Did I See It? Unfortunately. Clash of the Titans, the remake of the 1981 film, was the last movie I saw in theaters before the end of spring break. I saw surprisingly excited about this after the trailers (with The Used’s “The Bird and the Worm”) made it look epic in the style of 300 and Troy, and I was interested to see what Sam Worthington can do after Avatar. It took me a year and a half later to finally realize how bad this turned out to be. There was nothing cool about this fantasy when the action is never exciting nor fun, and the acting, particularly from Worthington, isn’t much better. The only thing worth remembering was when the wasted Liam Neeson as Zeus claimed, “Release the Kraken!”, before heading into the anti-climactic third act.
In terms of the 3D, this has got to be the worst post-converted 3D movie I ever wasted my time on. I hated it. Nothing was popping off the screen as it presented itself as cardboard. That’s because Warner Bros. jumped on the bandwagon and made it 3D very quickly. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think my mom paid for my ticket, and jokily apologized to her. When I was an English class in ninth grade, we had to watch this since we were learning about Greek mythology. Keep in mind this was the first class I had in the morning, and I wanted to go to sleep and not watch this crap. One of the worst remakes of the last decade that didn’t need to spawn a worthless sequel (Wrath of the Titans).
‘Why Did I Get Married Too?’
Cast: Janet Jackson, Tyler Perry, Tasha Smith, Jill Scott, Sharon Leal, Richard T. Jones, Malik Yoba, Lamman Rucker, and Michael Jai White
Director: Tyler Perry
Synopsis: In the Bahamas for their annual reunion, four couples are eager to share news about their lives over the past year. But when one’s ex-husband arrives to break up her marriage and win her back, the others realize they are not immune to the challenges of love and fidelity.
Did I See It? Not in the theater. My mom and sister saw it together while I was seeing Clash of the Titans. Tyler Perry might be a great guy when you meet him in person, but he’s just not a good as a writer or director for the times I’ve watched his movies (only watched five), and that’s coming from someone who’s black. With this sequel to his 2007 original, this is one of those occasions where comedy and drama don’t mix. Why Did I Get Married Too? is another one of those melodramatic stories where you don’t necessarily care about the characters that are dealing with marital problems.
April 9: ‘Date Night’
Cast: Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg, Common, Jimmi Simpson, Tajai P. Henson, William Fichtner, James Franco, and Mila Kunis
Director: Shawn Levy
Synopsis: Worried that the spark has gone from their marriage, Phil and Claire Foster plan a romantic night out at a hip Manhattan eatery. When they arrive, however, the restaurant is heaving, and, without a reservation, Phil impulsively claims they are absent diners the Tripplehorns. The ploy seems to have worked, until two heavies interrupt their meal demanding the return of a stolen flash drive.
Did I See It? Of course. Having an action-comedy with comedic heavyweights like Carell and Fey sounded funny. Honestly, I in the minority when I say I like Date Night. Kind of a shame nobody remembers this, because I find this a little underrated. The two leads share good chemistry as they are a part of this crazy night. Do I remember all the jokes I laughed from the repeat viewings? Not so much. Any time the movie cuts back to a shirtless Mark Wahlberg was hilarious as one of Fey’s clients, or the scene with James Franco and Mila Kunis.
I’ll admit the part with them outrunning the mobsters who think they have a flash drive in New York is goofy, mostly because of the script. Though it weren’t for Carell and Fey, this would have been a disaster. Out of the action-comedies from 2010, I had more fun watching this than something like Knight & Day or The Bounty Hunter. Never seen Date Night? Give it a rental.
April 16: ‘Kick-Ass’
Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloë Grace Moretz, Mark Strong, and Nicolas Cage
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Synopsis: Using his love for comics as inspiration, teenager Dave Lizewski (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) decides to reinvent himself as a superhero — despite a complete lack of special powers. Dave dons a costume, dubs himself “Kick-Ass,” and gets to work fighting crime. He joins forces with the father/daughter vigilante team of Big Daddy and Hit Girl, then befriends another fledgling crime-fighter called Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), but a scheming mobster soon puts their alliance to the test.
Did I See It? I saw Kick-Ass opening day when we didn’t have to go to school that Friday. I believe I was the first person in my grade to see it. If you’ve already read my Top 15 Favorite Comic Book Movies of the 2010s, I already talked about my love for this underrated action-comedy from co-writer/ director Matthew Vaughn. Kick-Ass was the start of seeing more R-rated superhero movies that used its rating to its full advantage. Based on the comic book series by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr., I love how we see a world where anybody can be a superhero with no special abilities and can get brutally hurt. Take into account the bloody action and seeing a superhero movie on a smaller scale, more people should’ve seen this, but it didn’t do too well at the box office. What I appreciate is that since I didn’t know about the comics, I didn’t know if it would be too silly, but it managed to be that in a hardcore way.
As much as I’m not the biggest fan of Aaron Taylor-Johnson, he did a great job as the titular hero. We were also given to chance to see a young Chloë Grace Moretz as the foul-mouthed Hit-Girl, shooting and slicing up by guys. Trust me, name another movie where “The Banana Splits” theme song played during an action scene. Plus, Nicolas Cage as Big Daddy was one of his best performances after a string of bad career choices. Kick-Ass was the best comic book movie of the year. So awesome. If only the sequel was good.
‘Death at a Funeral’
Cast: Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Loretta Devine, Zoe Saldana, James Marsden, Tracy Morgan, Danny Glover, Regina Hall, Luke Wilson, Columbus Short, and Peter Dinklage
Director: Neil LaBute
Synopsis: Preparing for a funeral is never pleasant, but for Aaron, it is shaping up to be the worst day of his life. Sibling rivalry, meddling family members, and a little stranger with a big secret threaten to blow the lid off the coffin when Aaron struggles to give his late father a proper memorial.
Did I See It? I saw it the same weekend as Kick-Ass with my dad, and I dislike what this comedy tried to be the more I thought about it. This is a remake of the Frank Oz British comedy from 2007, where the only return cast member to be in this was Peter Dinklage reprising the same role. With this being remade for a black audience in mind, you honestly feel like you’re at a funeral trying to get through this, and the same writer of the original wrote this.
Death at a Funeral just came out as a dry remake that had little laughs to get from. You already assume with a huge ensemble cast like this, shenanigans are going to occur on a day meant for mourning. Even when this has Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence, they couldn’t make this material work. They got the director who did the remake of The Wicker Man to do another U.S. remake that wouldn’t be liked by others. Why is that the only thing I remember is a naked James Marsden on the roof?
April 23: ‘The Losers’
Cast: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Idris Elba, Chris Evans, Zie Saldana, Columbus Short, Óscar Jaenada, and Jason Patric
Director: Sylvain White
Synopsis: On a mission deep in the Bolivian jungle, a team of elite commandos (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chris Evans, Idris Elba, Columbus Short, Óscar Jaenada) finds itself on the receiving end of a lethal betrayal. Now presumed dead, the men join forces with a mysterious operative named Aisha (Zoe Saldana) to hunt down their enemy and even the score.
Did I See It? I always thought of The Losers to be the pre-game before The A-Team came out. Seriously, both of them pretty much have the same plot. It was based on the Vertigo DC Comics, and I only re-watched it once more after it came out. From my perspective, it’s an above-average action movie. It’s over-the-top and stylish, but I kind of assumed that was the whole point. The two best performances from this came from Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Clay and Chris Evans as Jensen, the latter of whom steals every scene he’s in. Call this a cross between Swordfish and The Italian Job, and this is what you get.
In terms of story, there wasn’t a lot I can recall besides stopping Jason Patric and a twist I didn’t see coming, but I remembered thinking it was alright. For what it is was going for, Sylvain White threw together a fast-paced movie that’s mildly entertaining. The Losers fall more in line with being guilty pleasure fun, as long as you take nothing too seriously. Funny enough, I got the trailer for The Expendables, but not The A-Team? I was bummed about that.
‘The Back-Up Plan’
Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Alex O’Loughlin, Michaela Watkins, Eric Christian Olsen, and Melissa McCarthy
Director: Alan Poul
Synopsis: Tired of waiting for Mr. Right while her biological clock ticks away, Zoe (Jennifer Lopez) decides it’s time to make an appointment at the sperm bank. On the same day as her procedure, she meets Stan (Alex O’Loughlin), a man with the potential to be her ideal mate. When Stan learns that Zoe’s unpredictable behavior is the result of her pregnancy, he declares his commitment. As the due date approaches, both lovers realize that they really don’t know each other without a baby in the picture.
Did I See It? Nope. The Back-Up Plan came out around a time where seeing Jennifer Lopez in a romantic comedy was a bad sign. The times I saw the trailer in the theaters turned me off from ever seeing it. A decade later, this isn’t a comedy people talked about, wondering if Lopez and Hawaii Five-O‘s Alex O’Loughlin would have this baby together based on high predictability. Actually, one scene that was marketed a lot was the birthing pool scene.
April 30: ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’
Cast: Jackie Earle Haley, Kyle Gallner, Rooney Mara, Katie Cassidy, Thomas Dekker, Kellan Lutz, and Connie Britton
Director: Samuel Bayer
Synopsis: Death stalks the dreams of several young adults to claim its revenge on the killing of Freddy Kruger (Jackie Earle Haley). Chased and chastised by this finger-bladed demon, it is the awakening of old memories and the denials of a past of retribution that spurns this hellish vision of a dreamlike state and turns death into a nightmare reality.
Did I See It? I saw it a few weeks after it came out and caught on a Thursday afternoon before they took it off. My sister saw it with her friends opening weekend. The 1984 original is one of the most classic horror movies of all-time, thanks to Wes Craven’s vision and giving us an iconic role for Robert Englund to play. 2010’s A Nightmare on Elm Street marked another remake produced by Michael Bay after Friday the 13th‘s performance at the box office, and this is one remake that shouldn’t have been touched. People were afraid of going to sleep when the original came out. With this, you’ll have no problem getting to sleep. I hated this remake as I got older.
Nothing was remotely scary about this when the movie took itself seriously, especially when you have a music video director (Samuel Bayer, who directed a ton of Green Day’s music videos). There’s absolutely nobody that can touch Englund’s performance as Freddy, but I thought Jackie Earle Haley did his best in trying to be menacing. But aside from him, the rest of the acting was atrocious, and I was really hated how it took this seriously and how they changed Freddy’s backstory. Rooney Mara took over Heather Langenkamp’s role of Nancy Holbrook, and this was the role that she almost quit acting. At least Bay and his team stopped producing horror remakes after this.
‘Furry Vengeance’
Cast: Brendan Fraser, Brooke Shields, Ken Jeong, Matt Prokop, and Angela Kinsey
Director: Roger Kumble
Synopsis: When Dan Sanders (Brendan Fraser) takes a job overseeing the construction of a supposedly “green” housing development in the Oregon woods, he thinks his greatest challenge will be helping his urban-oriented family (Brooke Shields, Matt Prokop) adjust to country life while simultaneously trying to keep his demanding boss happy. But, when the local animals learn that Dan is in charge of their habitat’s destruction, the fur flies in an all-out battle between man and nature.
Did I See It? Oh, what went on in Brendan Fraser’s mind when he signed on to this? No, I’m glad to have never paid my money on this ridiculous comedy that should’ve come out in the ’90s or early 2000s. Nobody, not even children, wants to see Fraser being tortured by wooden creatures. We were at a point in time where studios making family movies surrounding animals was falling downhill.
My first thought when I watched the trailer for Furry Vengeance was, “Is this basically a live-action take on Over the Hedge, but really stupid?” Back when Pretty Much It, YouTube channel, originally posted a movie commentary of this, there’s a moment where Fraser holds up a Nintendo Wii and his son screamed in anger. Shameless product placement much? I’ve watched ridiculous comedies in my life, but there was no way I was sitting through CGI animals in a Fraser movie where he could’ve made better choices back then. My thoughts and prayers for the parents who took their children to see whatever this wanted to be.
Question: Did any of the movies I talked about today refreshed your memory and did you see them in the theater? Share your thoughts down below.
THROWBACK SESSION- REMEMBER THESE MOVIES?: JANUARY 2010
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