Normdog Entertainment

Marvel has successfully assembled Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and The Hulk together on the big screen. After years of teasing and tedious setup (ahem, “Iron Man 2”), “The Avengers” is the movie that fans have long deserved.

And, after two theatrical misfires, The Hulk finally gets a bold, fantastic showcase.

When banished demigod Loki (Tom Hiddleson) threatens Earth with hostile takeover, spy extraordinaire Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) works to bring together a ragtag team of extraordinary heroes – billionaire egomaniac Tony Stark (aka Iron Man aka Robert Downey Jr.), super-soldier/1940s transplant Captain America (Chris Evans), scientist-with-a-hulking-secret Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Loki’s noble brother/the God of Thunder, Thor (Chris Hemsworth). There’s also the acrobatic spy Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and arrow wielding Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) to round out the team.

“The Avengers” spends quite a bit of time bringing them all together, in part to give individual screen time to these complicated superheroes. The early character moments reward fans of the previous movies with new revelations while helping new viewers to understand the backstory just in time for “The Avengers” to throw down a breathtaking set of action sequences. Read more »

I want to tell you why you should run out and see “The Cabin in the Woods.” I just can’t without giving away its secrets. Don’t worry. What follows is vague, spoiler-free praise.

“The Cabin in the Woods” delightfully hacks and slashes through all the pathetic horror movie clichés that have ruined the genre in recent years. If anyone bothers to make a “traditional” horror movie again, good luck to them. “The Cabin in the Woods” will hopefully act as a restart button for the genre, challenging filmmakers to do better and audiences to expect more. Read more »

Podcasts were a big thing several years ago, so naturally we are just getting into the phenomenon.

Here is the very first edition of the Normdog Podcast. It’s shorter than the one’s you’ll hear in the future. Really, I was just testing the audio quality– it’s predictably terrible.

Each topic will cover a specific topic in the world of entertainment – a recent movie, an older one, maybe a television show, book or general trend we’ve noticed. I’ll be joined by a rotating guest each week, just to keep things somewhat fresh.

We could easily do a video podcast, which I hear is more in fashion these days. I don’t like shaving or wearing nice clothes, so we will keep it audio for now.

Here it is!

Normdog Podcast 1 – Click to Download!

There may not be a movie as depressing as “Melancholia,” a fitting title for a good movie you’re probably better off not seeing.

It takes an intimate look at the end of the world, focusing on the emotional state of two sisters rather than the destruction of national landmarks. There are no sensational news reports, few CGI effects, and not a single kid fretting over the nighttime use of Pull-Ups (I’m looking at you, John Cusack’s daughter in “2012”).

“Melancholia,” directed by the controversial filmmaker Lars von Trier (“Dogville,” “Antichrist”), is more about the state of melancholia rather than a giant gaseous planet on a collision course with Earth (also called Melancholia). It’s available now on home video and is streaming on Netflix Instant starting April 13.

The movie is separated into two parts, the first focusing on the lavish wedding of Justine (Kirsten Dunst). She’s trying her best to be happy, but the combination of feuding parents, unrelenting bosses and her own emotional instability results in a miserable evening that serves as the catalyst for Justine’s pending mental illness. Read more »

The fourth installment in the “American Pie” franchise (eight if you count four straight-to-DVD titles) is predictably one-fourth as funny as the original film.

“American Reunion” brings the horny cast together this time for their 13^th-high school reunion. That’s not a real thing, of course, but never mind. We’ve got numerous raunchy sex jokes and just under two hours to get through them all.

The appeal of the series (the theatrical releases anyway) boils down to a few engaging characters. Hapless Jim (Jason Biggs) still gets himself in embarrassing sex predicaments (sexdicaments?), almost none of them very funny, but you have to appreciate how Biggs will do literally anything to top his previous “achievements.” Read more »

Fans of Suzanne Collins’ book series came out in record numbers to see the trilogy’s first adaptation, “The Hunger Games,” hit the big screen last weekend. Box office domination, however, doesn’t always speak to the quality of the product. Just consider the painful experience of watching even five minutes from “The Twilight Saga.”

“The Hunger Games” is different. It’s the box office smash worth the price of admission, even for those unfamiliar with the series.

The story takes place in a fascinating post-apocalyptic world where a deadly competition separates the rich from the poor. Twenty-four kids go in, only one comes out. Survival requires pandering to a fickle television audience, and, oh yeah, killing fellow adolescents before they kill you.

This story has been done before, but it’s been a while since we’ve seen it done with such focus on character. Director Gary Ross (“Pleasantville”) does an exceptional job not only in visualizing Collins’ dense mythology but also introducing a captivating heroine in Katniss Everdeen, a bow-and-arrow-wielding warrior who could snap poor Bella Swan’s neck with her index finger. Read more »

We can have our good values and we can have our dignity, but sometimes we just need a paycheck.

This is most true in Hollywood, where even the most respected actors and filmmakers work on a project for the sole purpose of banking a few million bucks.

Some actors, however, seem perfectly content taking money for less-than-passable projects. Some are stuck trying to repeat iconic past performances, while others appear to be sleepwalking through every endeavor.

This list is particularly painful, because I love a lot of these performers. But these people are slumming it, and we all should expect more. Read more »

“The Artist” won Best Picture at the Academy Awards – only my eighth favorite movie out of the nine nominees. The ceremony went down pretty much as expected too, with the biggest surprise being “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” winning Best Editing. Exciting, right?

“The Artist” is a tolerable choice for Best Picture, and the Academy at least gave five trophies to Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” in technical categories. “Hugo” is new this week on Blu-ray and DVD and is most certainly worth your time, by the way.

Rather than griping about the nominees that didn’t win, let’s gripe about the terrific movies and performances that weren’t nominated for anything. A few, in fact, are newly available for your home viewing pleasure. Read more »

I’m a firm believer that good movies are relatively easy to find, and of the 108 movies I saw from 2011, I enjoyed quite a few of them.

I just didn’t love very many.

North Idaho has yet to receive late season standouts like “The Artist” or “A Separation.” Still, the calendar year hasn’t been marked by any significant benchmarks in cinema (although “The Tree of Life” could go down as this generation’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”).

Nevertheless, my top 20 films of 2011 definitely deserve your attention. A few you will love, some you’ll probably hate, but hopefully most are easy to enjoy.

Update: An updated article will be posted in the first part of February, which will (hopefully) include more late season titles.

1. Moneyball
On the surface, it’s a movie about baseball and statistics. It’s all the characters talk about, yet “Moneyball” tells a compelling and universal story about what it means to be the underdog.

Brad Pitt plays Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane as a man who learns that winning a little less than the big guys can be winning enough. It’s the most compelling performance of Pitt’s career, and you won’t find a snappier script this year than the one effortlessly crafted by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. Available Tuesday on home video.

2. Super 8
The smartest and most entertaining blockbuster of the year, made by J.J. Abrams as a tribute to the science-fiction work of Steven Spielberg, who serves as a producer on the project. Stacked with a talented cast of young actors and a more-than-meets-the-eye monster, “Super 8” pays homage to all the best parts of “E.T.,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Jaws” and “The Goonies” while also playing on its own terms. Available on home video.

3. The Descendants
George Clooney delivers another terrific performance as a man who must deal with a comatose wife, rebellious daughters and a land deal that will literally change the landscape of Hawaii. It’s another unique mix of comedy and drama from Alexander Payne, writer and director of “Sideways.” Read more »

It could have been much worse.

Of all the 2011-released movies I saw this year (a little more than a hundred), most fell into the “merely OK” category. Like many of you, I chose not see some of the year’s obvious clunkers, like Adam Sandler’s cross-dressing “Jack and Jill” or the new “Chipmunks” movie. And, after sitting through 120 excruciating minutes of the last “Twilight” movie, I decided not to bother with “Breaking Dawn.”

The following list, however, were cinematic experiences I hope will be forgotten by 2012.

In alphabetical order:

Arena
I typically don’t see straight-to-DVD movies because, well, they’re terrible. Samuel L. Jackson stars as a sleazy promoter of an online fighting league where the competitors brutally kill each other. I’ll watch Sam Jackson in anything. I just won’t be watching this ever again.

The Hangover Part II
It’s the same as the first movie minus humor and originality. How did this make so much money?

Larry Crowne
Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts play “ordinary” people in this insulting and insipid look at middle-aged, middle-class folks trying to make it in the new economy. Oh, and Hanks’ character joins a hipster motor-scooter club.

To make things worse, Hanks and Roberts spend the closing credits waving and smiling at the audience as if to say, “Look, we’re movie stars! We’re only pretending to be like you!”

Mars Needs Moms
A dull, grimy-looking motion-capture cartoon about Martians kidnapping and murdering human moms. Don’t worry. Your kids will be too bored to even notice the nightmarish storyline. Read more »