"Kick-Ass" ... I Wish.

"At some point in our lives, we all wanted to be superheroes."

So began what I thought was going to be a new favorite Stupid Movie: Kick-Ass.

I walk around the streets of New York, twiddling my thumbs, staring up at the sky, stepping over cracks, mostly pretending that I'm a spy. Might as well be a "superhero." I've never grown out of that sense of "What would it be like, if ...?" It's how I get through the day, when not seated in a theater or whatnot.

Well, "Kick-Ass" promised to be a spy-lover's dreamer like me's raison d'etre. I envisioned "Wanted" (fraternity of assassins) with a sprinkle of Zombieland, Eagle Eye (awful), Superbad, whatever.

I thought it would be good.

Let the record state: I hated this movie.

With an opener like "...we all wanted to be superheroes," I put down my popcorn, curled up my legs and was ready to let the movie take me wherever it wanted to go.

But, instead of taking me somewhere awesome, I got super flat jokes, the most obnoxious voiceover the ENTIRE TIME -- and, I'm amenable to some V.O. when it's Cera or Eisenberg eking out their measly awkward lines for the sake of humor -- and just wounded stunts over and over.

This New Guy, Aaron Johnson, really felt like a poor man's Michael Cera. He's not as cute/endearing, and when he voiceovers, it's like you can see him sitting in a studio reading out his lines. Not good. When he dons his "Kick-Ass" suit -- because he feels like there are no Samaritans left in this world, as people are just desensitized to all the cruelty and violence on the NY streets, these days -- he mugs for the camera a few bazillion times and then hits the pavement to take on villains.

The movie was the pits.

Clark Duke (of "Hot Tub Time Machine") is fine in it; Nic Cage is ... skinny, reminiscent of his "Raising Arizona" days, but the man's career choices should still -- as always -- be put into question.

The foul-mouthed 12-year old, "Hit Girl," Chloe Moretz, (and Cage's "daughter") is cringe-worthy; I'm biased there because I'm a Texan, and anyone speaking like that deserves a big old slap in the face -- but, more importantly, the only other mentionable thing this child has done thus far is "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" -- and that I cannot get behind.

Two big, old thumbs DOWN.

"Youth in Revolt": 'Are You Cera'd Out Yet?'

Last week, when I was piddling away my time after work at PopSci, one of my many bossmen (let's call him PopSci BMOC) knew that I was really binging on post-work movies. I told BMOC that I was going to see Michael Cera's new "Youth in Revolt" movie.

"Are you Cera'd out, yet?"

"I might be, I'll tell you tomorrow."

I wasn't. The movie isn't amazing -- there are twinges of "Juno" (which I hated), and there was a moment I thought I was going to feel all "Igby Goes Down" (unfortunately, I never got there). But, watching Cera play himself, capitalizing on his 16-year-old self-ish stock character, while acting like a cigarette-smoking alter ego in the interim was quite nice.

I haven't read the book, but it really was the first time we've gotten to see Cera not be just his "Superbad" character.

I didn't love Portia Doubleday, who plays Cera's love interest. I found her quite cloying, and certainly an unbelievable teenager. I loved Dawson's Creek growing up -- so I can usually extend belief, but she looked my age. At least Cera's baby face allows you to forgive knowing he's in his twenties.

On the rubric for this week:

"Sherlock Holmes" (can't believe I haven't seen it yet, especially since RDJ stars in it.)

"Fish Tank"

And, just so we can all remember old "Igby":