Limitless, 2011

Director:Neil Burger

Stars: Bradley Cooper, Robert DeNiro, Abbie Cornish

Eddie (Cooper), a writer suffering from writer's block, meets up with an old friend, who offers him a pill, which gives one the ability to use 100% of your brain. Eddie tries it, and his life turns upside down- he finishes his book, he understands business, picks up languages just by half-listening to them, etc, etc. He is superman.

When it wears off, Eddie is back to his normal loser self, so he goes to his friend for more, and finds that he has been murdered. Luckily, Eddie finds his friend's stash of pills, which sets him up for a while, but then the side-effects start to take hold. He literally loses track of time, and hits rock bottom when he becomes the suspect in a murder investigation-- and he has no idea if he even has an alibi.

It wasn't great, but not bad either. It had a happy ending, so I was happy enough, really.

The A-Team, 2010

Director: Joe Carnahan

Stars: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Sharlto Copley, Jessica Biel

If you're familiar with the tv show from the 80's of the same name, you know that these men were sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit, and that they promptly escaped from prison. Well, this movie is about how they meet, and then, skipping ahead, years later, we get to learn about that crime they didn't commit which drove them to prison, and then to the Los Angeles Underground! So basically this is the prequel to the classic tv show.

I LOVE THE A-TEAM!!!!

Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith (Neeson), Lieutenant Templeton "Face" Peck (Cooper), Sargent B.A. Baracus (Jackson), and Captain H.M. Murdock (Copley) are The A-Team! They're the best Alpha team out there. But then they're set up- framed!- and sent to separate prisons (well, three prisons and one Veteran's Hospital for Murdock - he's a little nuts). Six months later, they all break out, and their mission is to find the one who framed them and clear their own names.

(There is even a little bit of romance between Lieutenant Carissa Sosa (Biel) and Peck. So that keeps things interesting.)

I was surprised at how much I liked Murdock (played by South African Sharlto Copley- who is he? He came out of nowhere!), the crazy pilot of the group, and in true A-Team fashion, there are quite a few scenes where Murdock gets to show off his moves in flight! I'd have to say he was my favorite.

Brilliant!