X-Men: First Class, Arthur, Prom

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS
Good use of music, nice foreshadowing with the chair. Using footage from the first movies is a good call. Also re-using the mansion, it looks like. Really nice, subtle scenes with the different powers; the woman with insect wings, Mystique, a SUPER young looking Hank McCoy. I missed this the first time around, but I think we get to see Hank's transformation from Big Dude to Big Blue Hairy Guy, which is an interesting side story for them to pursue. James McAvoy has the grace and gentleman-quality to pull of Charles. I did feel like I was supposed to recognize some of the faces, but when they didn't show my powers I couldn't take a guess.

The visuals are great - shiny as befits a science fiction film, but with the retro feel they need since, you know, it takes place in the 60's. There's some great military bits, which feel a little weird, since the first X-Men film treats the political side of the mutant issue as rather new (as I recall). They are flubbing the timeline a little, since Emma Frost gets a moment where she goes all glittery and she doesn't actually get that power until much later in the X-Men timeline, but that's already been cross-wired so many times you won't hear me complain.

Also missed the first time around - NIGHTCRAWLER'S DAD, HOLY SHIT. Are they doing THAT? We see Mystique, and Azazel BAMF-ing around...that would be a little weird, if this movie is supposed to inhabit the same world as the first three films (which has been my assumption, based on my thoughts below).

What I really like about this trailer is that they seem to be constructing it as an honest-to-God prequel, rather than this "reboot" shit people keep tossing around. Charles' mansion looks almost identical to the set in the Trilogy, likewise the chair design and Magneto's helmet (unpainted, which I love) use the same designs. What this also does is gives the story a chance to explore the dynamic between Charles and Eric as the notion was introduced in X3 - that once upon a time, these two great and powerful men were friends, the remnants of which remain in the earlier films.

That relationship between the Professor and Magneto has always deeply intrigued me, and it's part of what makes them both fascinating characters - they're not just good guy/bad guy, they're idealists in their own way and both of their philosophies retain parts of what was originally a communal idea. I'm excited for this film.

ARTHUR
I hate Russell Brand, but I love Helen Mirren. Arthur dresses like a douche. Helen Mirren is a badass. Horrendously predictable, I think. The only wild card is Jennifer Garner as the arranged marriage proposition that Brand desperately hates - I can't tell if he's supposed to meet someone else, or if romance is just not A Thing in this movie. My money is on the latter, since Brand is such a show-horse it's hard for him to share the spotlight. This kind of man-baby comedy drives me CRAZY, I think I will probably miss this one.

It does have one great line: "What was that?" "French kiss." "Really? Because the French always surrender. That was decidedly German."

I don't have a whole lot more to say...it has the potential to surprise, I guess, but honestly? Helen Mirren is the only touch of class in a film that will probably end up being awkward and vulgar.

PROM
The number of cliches in this actually, physically hurt me. You know I would NEVER speak ill of Disney, but...the Rebel and the Class President Who Defy Convention and Fall In Love, the Nerd Who Can't Talk to Girls, The Prom King and Queen (who probably have Secret Problems)...the list goes on. Rebel has to help put prom together or he won't graduate, which infuriates Class President until she realizes he's got a heart of gold. But she wants to go with Oblivious Hottie! Who asked Cheerleader! And then there will be a dress montage. Maybe more than one.

Seriously, it looks like High School Musical crossbred with Lizzie McGuire, which then stole all the boring parts from that Brittany Snow movie about the stalker teacher. I'll probably see it (I do, after all, consider the two Princess Diaries movies to be AWESOME, although the second one might now count because it has Chris Pine in it and I'll literally see anything he's in), but seriously? Can we get some new cliches up in here? Some new high school archetypes? Or, even better, make them people rather than cut-outs?