The Sunday Drive: 5/15/11

3. Fast Five
Vin Diesel vs. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Do I really need to say anymore about the fastest and most furious film of the series yet?
2. Thor
Consider it the mightiest of Marvel movie rollercoasters, Thor is the biggest superhero movie of the summer and bold step on the path to The Avengers.

1. Bridesmaids
Chicks flicks don't have to be awful. That's the first lesson I learned from Bridesmaids. The other is that Kristen Wiig is a star. The SNL vet takes her first move into leading lady land in the most hilarious film since The Hangover. Featuring a number of pitch perfect femme fatales(most notably Melissa McCarthy), Bridesmaids packs enough raunch and gross out humor to give any guy pause, but never neglects the deep interpersonal relationships that are at the film's core.

DVD Pick of the Week: Blue Valentine  
Remember all that crap the MPAA gave Blue Valentine? At one point, Derek Cianfrance's raw, emotional romance was saddled with the deadly NC-17 rating due to one scene where Dean(Ryan Gosling) and Cindy(Michelle Williams) make passionate, unchecked love at the height of their tumultuous relationship.  If anything, that scene is less about the physical connection they're making, but the emotional, playing out as the polar opposite of the "date" they would go on years later as fading adults, desperate to save their marriage. It should go without saying that Gosling and Williams are superb, with Gosling especially having the difficult job of making the earnest loser Dean likable enough to pity. While tough to watch at times, Blue Valentine is the type of film that is about as honest about the burdens of love as you're ever going to find, and so it's a must watch for any couple.