Time to switch gears and go from utter rage to fanboy gushing. These are the movies I absolutely loved watching this year.
First some honorable mentions. The first would have to be Wreck-It Ralph. I don't know why I didn't go see it. It is something right up my alley. A movie all about celebrating video games. I grew up in the '80s and '90s. Games like Street Fighter, Super Mario Bros., and Sonic The Hedgehog were a big part of my childhood. I have no idea why I just never saw it.
Another movie I'm just kicking myself I didn't see in theaters was End of Watch. It's the kind of found footage movie that works well. It makes everything look just a little more gritty and puts you into the action along with two cops trying to survive the night. I've heard great things about it.
And here is my list of the best movies of 2012.
10) THE DARK KNIGHT RISES: While I wouldn't call it my favorite of even the new Batman movies, I'm such a fan of Christopher Nolan's work it deserves to be mentioned. I think this movie could've been helped with a little more creative editing and some creative re-writes, but still it was just about everything we came to expect from the Christopher Nolan Batman movies. Bane was an awesome bad guy and it wrapped up the trilogy in a satisfying way. It left us wanting more. That's the best thing I can say about a movie franchise.
9) AVENGERS: The more I look over my list of favorite movies, the more I expose myself as a total nerd. But this one does deserve some kind of honors. Like Batman, this was a much anticipated movie and it didn't disappoint. The writing was solid, the action was great, and all the characters acted per the way they were established in all the other movies that led up to it. It's not a movie that really stands out, but it's a movie that worked the basics and did so beautifully. A simplistic success. Believe me. That's rare in movies these days.
8) THE EXPENDABLES 2: I think what I liked most about this was the ability to learn from previous mistakes. The first Expendables movie was just too many characters competing for screen time, nothing was really established as far as character motivations, and it just wasn't a root for the good guy type of movie it should've been. Here they dial back on the number of action stars, they give some nice cameos to guys like Chuck Norris, and they managed to tell a simple story and get us to care what happens to the team. Plus, it was a lot of fun.
7) THE HOBBIT: This is a bit lower on the list than I normally would've thought really because it's the start of an epic adventure. There were a lot of slow parts and it really took it's time to flesh out some important characters. Those are all things a movie must do. It just took way too long to do it. The movie did it's job. We laid the ground work and it left us wanting to see what happens next. That's all we can really ask.
6) THE HUNGER GAMES: This is what I mean by an intelligent, creative, and fun action movie. It didn't go into enough detail to help me understand the sociopolitical atmosphere, but I feel like I understood enough for the context of the games. And much like The Hobbit it laid the groundwork for the next couple movies and left me wanting more.
5) ARGO: This movie was just wonderful. An absolute success in production design and storytelling. It did get cliche there towards the end to artificially build up the suspense, but it is such a great ride. The characters are witty and the danger they faced was very real. It treated the subject matter with the utmost respect. It will no doubtedly win some awards and they are well deserved.
4) LINCOLN: One of the most dramatic times in American history, one of the greatest presidents in American history, and directed by Stephen Spielberg. How can this possibly go wrong? What was really great about it was the new spin upon the character of Abraham Lincoln. In most movies, we see Lincoln as this solemn character with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He's always talking with this raspy voice and weary tone. This Lincoln is soft spoken and often tells stories and jokes. I've never seen that side of Lincoln in a movie before and it was very refreshing.
3) SKYFALL: What can I say? I'm a sucker for James Bond. This was the kind of Bond movie I've been wanting to see from Daniel Craig for some time. The earlier ones starring Daniel Craig felt more like a Bourne movie rather than a Bond movie. This one on the other hand was classic Bond. The one to really steal the show was Javier Bardem as our Bond villian. He was so menacing, intelligent, and straight up creepy. He was a great foil for the world's greatest super spy.
2) DJANGO UNCHAINED: I had all but had this one written to be an honorable mention. Then I went to see it in the theater and I'm so happy I did. Terantino is a brilliant filmmaker. I've yet to see anyone blend humor and savagry the way he does. The performances by Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, and Leo DiCaprio was just inspired. I laughed through the whole movie, I was also made to feel very uncomfortable, and then they break out the guns and we're back to having all kinds of fun. If you haven't seen it yet, it's definately a must see for any Quentin Terantino fan.
1) SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS: This is a movie that barely broke even at the box office. I'll admit I didn't think much of the story and I only went to see it because I'm such a huge fan of Christopher Walken. And boy did I find a diamond in the rough. It's not only a very funny movie, but it's one with a surprisingly high level of heart. There were times I legitamately wanted to cry. It was funny, it was beautiful. It was savage, and it was heart warming. And not many people went to see it. I have January 29th circled on my calendar for when this movie hits DVD.
And that about does it for this year. I thank all my readers and friends who help support this website and encourage me as I go forward.
Onward Moviegoers!
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Friday, December 28, 2012
Top Ten Worst Movies 2012 That I Saw
It's that time of year again for my yearly wrap-up. Honestly, I love doing these because it gives me an excuse to reflect on the movies I loved and the ones I love to hate. Again I didn't see every movie that came out this year and it would be unfair to call any movie "the worst" if I hadn't seen it. So, if there's one on here you saw and it was just god awful or the most amazing thing you've ever seen, chances are I just didn't see it.
But first, a few (dis)honorable mentions. These are movies I didn't see, but given all the buzz about them, I probably would've hated them. First, The Devil Inside. Oh my God what a nightmare of a movie. This is probably going to be the number one on a lot of lists for the worst ever. It's not on mine only because I didn't see it. The thing about this one is that it not only was a really bad movie, but wasn't finished. The ending literally cut to black and then told you to go to the internet website of the movie to see how it ended. Whoever made this movie should be mailing rebate checks to every moviegoer that saw it.
Nor did I see One For the Money. There's just something about the poster featuring Katherine Heigl with her back to me looking over her shoulder that is less cutsy and more like a Siren's call; leading me ever witlessly to smash on the rocks so her crappy movie could eat my soul. All I have to say about this is Jennifer Aniston did it better in The Bounty Hunter and that movie sucked too.
With that out of the way, let's take a look at the bad, the ugly, and the unholy abominations I sat through this year.
10) FLIGHT: For as good an actor as Denzel Washington is, this just wasn't the movie promised to us from the trailers. This movie had so little to do with flying and much more about this one guy's habitual drinking problem. And when your movie is over two and a half hours long and it only wants to talk about the evils of drinking, it gets old and fast. It doesn't help that for the entire movie we see just how much of a prick this guy Whip truely is and I couldn't wait for him to go to prison. He isn't a tragic figure. He's a mugging, manipulative jackass who really got lucky he got that plane down without killing everyone. The movie is too long and there's just nobody in the whole movie I liked.
9) GOON: Oh they aren't done ripping off Happy Gilmore just yet. What really pissed me off about this whole thing is that I'm a hockey fan and, shock of shocks, I like to watch hockey players play hockey. I'm not one of those guys that goes purely to see a fist fight on ice. But in this movie that's all you get. THEY DON'T PLAY HOCKEY! EVER! It's all about how quickly we can get this soft talking cave man on skates in the penalty box and off to see his nymphomanic girlfriend or his stereotypical Jewish parents. To hell with this movie.
8) LAWLESS: How hard is it to figure out who the protagonist of the story should be? This movie keeps insisting that it is Jack (LeBeouf) but in all reality it should be Forrest (Hardy). Instead of following along the charming, quirky, and sometimes downright brutal Forrest Bondurant, we're stuck hanging out with the whiny little worm Jack. Every twist in this movie is so horribly telegraphed if you don't know how the movie ends after the first 5 minutes, you just don't know anything about foreshadowing.
7) PROJECT X: THIS IS NOT A MOVIE! This is some moron with a hand held camera showing us his home movie from a wild party... FOR AN HOUR AND A HALF! The only way this movie could be any more boring and pointless was if we saw it as a slide show. Oh yeah, when the ending of your movie resembles the ending of a rambling Monty Python sketch, find another line of work.
6) PROMETHEUS: The worst part of the movie was the expectation of rejuvenating the Alien series. Instead we get a lot of lip service and ten feet tall albinos. No face huggers, no zenomorphic aliens until the stinger/sequel bait at the very end of the movie. How can this be an Alien prequel if there aren't any Aliens? I said it before, and I'll say it again, this movie had more in common with The X-Files than it does with Alien. Maybe it should've taken a few dollars away from making it look pretty and got a better story.
5) TOTAL RECALL: Sometimes I'm just blown away by how much someone can take an existing story and make it virtually unrecognizable. Let's take a look at what was taken out: Mars... gone. Mutants... gone. Ambiguity... gone. These are not minor details. They are the basis for the entire 1990 Schwarzenegger film! An evil company is surpressing the natural atmosphere on Mars to enslave the people and hold on to a manopoly of breathable air. Anyone who tries to leave the dome is either killed or horribly mutated. It's up to a lowly grunt to save the planet... or was it all in his head? In this "remake" it's more about one city not exploiting another. Whooptie do. The whole thing felt smaller and far more convoluted while giving the least amount of fan service possible. The only saving grace this movie has is that it wasn't a remake of Blade Runner. God help you if you do the same thing to Blade Runner.
4) SAFE: If I didn't bother to watch the first or third acts of this movie, it might be alright. But the fact that it can so screw up the most basic elements of storytelling means it has to be over the Total Recall abomination even though I enjoyed Safe far more than Total Recall. It's something I keep repeating but feel just a little more sad every time I do. If you kill off a supporting character without us ever seeing her or learning her name, I DON'T CARE IF SHE DIES! Also, in a popcorn flick like this that builds up to a one-on-one ninja fight and then deprive the audience of said fight, I question your ability to locate your buttocks with both hands and a road map.
3) GHOST RIDER - SPIRIT OF VENGANCE: The way this movie is shot makes it almost unwatchable. Add in a story that undermines the very premise of the story and you have a recipe for utter disaster. Why does God need a starship? He doesn't. Why does the Devil need a bounty hunter? He doesn't. They give some lip service answer about being less powerful while walking around in his meat suit on Earth, but I still call BS on that. Not even watching Nic Cage mugging for the camera saves this. This really has to rank up there with Howard the Duck as one of the worst Marvel Comics movie of all time.
2) A THOUSAND WORDS: Let me get this straight... you're going to get a comedian whose whole gimmick is that he's a fast talking loudmouth and then make him shut up for the whole movie? Why? So his character can learn something about humility? How does that work again? Then there's the hallmark card philosophy of Dr. Sinja who I think was as more surprised his tripe turned out to be true than Jack McCall ever was. Is it any surprise this movie was in cinematic limbo for four years? There really is no greater hell than sitting through an absolutely unfunny comedy with a crowd of people not even given a curtesy laugh.
And the absolutely worst movie I saw this year is...
1) BATTLESHIP: I got better story development playing the board game! Any kind of story is shoehorned in through blatent exposition info drops, the characters are all unlikeable and bland, there's product placement galore, and the motivations might make sense if I smash myself over the head repeatedly with a sledge hammer. I don't think I've ever seen the most basic laws of physics ever so brutally raped in a movie before. And then there's the design of the aliens! They look like the shaved cat aliens from Wing Commander with lizard eyes and porcupine quill beards. This was a movie that WANTED to be a Michael Bay style action flick with giant robots, too dumb to eat humans, and a long slow wet kiss on the mouth to the United States Military. Here's a simple question: How is this movie celebrating the United States Military when we are supposed to have this great emotional moment, when the protagonist of the movie learns humility, when in any rational world he would be court martialed for treason. HE GAVE COMMAND OF HIS SHIP TO A FOREIGN OFFICER? This movie is so bad the creators of this movie actually did interviews begging people to buy the DVD so they can waste more investor money... I mean make a sequel. This movie pissed me off so much that I believe I can comfortably boycott everyone who had anything to do with this. And I didn't even pay to see it!
But first, a few (dis)honorable mentions. These are movies I didn't see, but given all the buzz about them, I probably would've hated them. First, The Devil Inside. Oh my God what a nightmare of a movie. This is probably going to be the number one on a lot of lists for the worst ever. It's not on mine only because I didn't see it. The thing about this one is that it not only was a really bad movie, but wasn't finished. The ending literally cut to black and then told you to go to the internet website of the movie to see how it ended. Whoever made this movie should be mailing rebate checks to every moviegoer that saw it.
Nor did I see One For the Money. There's just something about the poster featuring Katherine Heigl with her back to me looking over her shoulder that is less cutsy and more like a Siren's call; leading me ever witlessly to smash on the rocks so her crappy movie could eat my soul. All I have to say about this is Jennifer Aniston did it better in The Bounty Hunter and that movie sucked too.
With that out of the way, let's take a look at the bad, the ugly, and the unholy abominations I sat through this year.
10) FLIGHT: For as good an actor as Denzel Washington is, this just wasn't the movie promised to us from the trailers. This movie had so little to do with flying and much more about this one guy's habitual drinking problem. And when your movie is over two and a half hours long and it only wants to talk about the evils of drinking, it gets old and fast. It doesn't help that for the entire movie we see just how much of a prick this guy Whip truely is and I couldn't wait for him to go to prison. He isn't a tragic figure. He's a mugging, manipulative jackass who really got lucky he got that plane down without killing everyone. The movie is too long and there's just nobody in the whole movie I liked.
9) GOON: Oh they aren't done ripping off Happy Gilmore just yet. What really pissed me off about this whole thing is that I'm a hockey fan and, shock of shocks, I like to watch hockey players play hockey. I'm not one of those guys that goes purely to see a fist fight on ice. But in this movie that's all you get. THEY DON'T PLAY HOCKEY! EVER! It's all about how quickly we can get this soft talking cave man on skates in the penalty box and off to see his nymphomanic girlfriend or his stereotypical Jewish parents. To hell with this movie.
8) LAWLESS: How hard is it to figure out who the protagonist of the story should be? This movie keeps insisting that it is Jack (LeBeouf) but in all reality it should be Forrest (Hardy). Instead of following along the charming, quirky, and sometimes downright brutal Forrest Bondurant, we're stuck hanging out with the whiny little worm Jack. Every twist in this movie is so horribly telegraphed if you don't know how the movie ends after the first 5 minutes, you just don't know anything about foreshadowing.
7) PROJECT X: THIS IS NOT A MOVIE! This is some moron with a hand held camera showing us his home movie from a wild party... FOR AN HOUR AND A HALF! The only way this movie could be any more boring and pointless was if we saw it as a slide show. Oh yeah, when the ending of your movie resembles the ending of a rambling Monty Python sketch, find another line of work.
6) PROMETHEUS: The worst part of the movie was the expectation of rejuvenating the Alien series. Instead we get a lot of lip service and ten feet tall albinos. No face huggers, no zenomorphic aliens until the stinger/sequel bait at the very end of the movie. How can this be an Alien prequel if there aren't any Aliens? I said it before, and I'll say it again, this movie had more in common with The X-Files than it does with Alien. Maybe it should've taken a few dollars away from making it look pretty and got a better story.
5) TOTAL RECALL: Sometimes I'm just blown away by how much someone can take an existing story and make it virtually unrecognizable. Let's take a look at what was taken out: Mars... gone. Mutants... gone. Ambiguity... gone. These are not minor details. They are the basis for the entire 1990 Schwarzenegger film! An evil company is surpressing the natural atmosphere on Mars to enslave the people and hold on to a manopoly of breathable air. Anyone who tries to leave the dome is either killed or horribly mutated. It's up to a lowly grunt to save the planet... or was it all in his head? In this "remake" it's more about one city not exploiting another. Whooptie do. The whole thing felt smaller and far more convoluted while giving the least amount of fan service possible. The only saving grace this movie has is that it wasn't a remake of Blade Runner. God help you if you do the same thing to Blade Runner.
4) SAFE: If I didn't bother to watch the first or third acts of this movie, it might be alright. But the fact that it can so screw up the most basic elements of storytelling means it has to be over the Total Recall abomination even though I enjoyed Safe far more than Total Recall. It's something I keep repeating but feel just a little more sad every time I do. If you kill off a supporting character without us ever seeing her or learning her name, I DON'T CARE IF SHE DIES! Also, in a popcorn flick like this that builds up to a one-on-one ninja fight and then deprive the audience of said fight, I question your ability to locate your buttocks with both hands and a road map.
3) GHOST RIDER - SPIRIT OF VENGANCE: The way this movie is shot makes it almost unwatchable. Add in a story that undermines the very premise of the story and you have a recipe for utter disaster. Why does God need a starship? He doesn't. Why does the Devil need a bounty hunter? He doesn't. They give some lip service answer about being less powerful while walking around in his meat suit on Earth, but I still call BS on that. Not even watching Nic Cage mugging for the camera saves this. This really has to rank up there with Howard the Duck as one of the worst Marvel Comics movie of all time.
2) A THOUSAND WORDS: Let me get this straight... you're going to get a comedian whose whole gimmick is that he's a fast talking loudmouth and then make him shut up for the whole movie? Why? So his character can learn something about humility? How does that work again? Then there's the hallmark card philosophy of Dr. Sinja who I think was as more surprised his tripe turned out to be true than Jack McCall ever was. Is it any surprise this movie was in cinematic limbo for four years? There really is no greater hell than sitting through an absolutely unfunny comedy with a crowd of people not even given a curtesy laugh.
And the absolutely worst movie I saw this year is...
1) BATTLESHIP: I got better story development playing the board game! Any kind of story is shoehorned in through blatent exposition info drops, the characters are all unlikeable and bland, there's product placement galore, and the motivations might make sense if I smash myself over the head repeatedly with a sledge hammer. I don't think I've ever seen the most basic laws of physics ever so brutally raped in a movie before. And then there's the design of the aliens! They look like the shaved cat aliens from Wing Commander with lizard eyes and porcupine quill beards. This was a movie that WANTED to be a Michael Bay style action flick with giant robots, too dumb to eat humans, and a long slow wet kiss on the mouth to the United States Military. Here's a simple question: How is this movie celebrating the United States Military when we are supposed to have this great emotional moment, when the protagonist of the movie learns humility, when in any rational world he would be court martialed for treason. HE GAVE COMMAND OF HIS SHIP TO A FOREIGN OFFICER? This movie is so bad the creators of this movie actually did interviews begging people to buy the DVD so they can waste more investor money... I mean make a sequel. This movie pissed me off so much that I believe I can comfortably boycott everyone who had anything to do with this. And I didn't even pay to see it!
Saturday, December 22, 2012
The Hobbit - The LONG Unexpected Journey review
For those that are my regular readers, you know I was excited as hell to see this movie. I couldn't go see it right away because of the coming holidays and that had to take priority. But today I did see it and right now I'm stalling a little because I really have no idea what to say about it.
Was it good? Yes.
Did it look good? Yes.
There was some talk about how this movie was shot. Something about 48 frames per second and some people not liking it. Yeah it looked a little cartoony at times. The trees were always a little too green, the pastel colors of Bilbo's house stood out a little. The lighting never looked natural. But that wasn't much of a problem for me because this isn't supposed to be real. It's MIDDLE Earth not Earth. Plus, this is a recollection story. This is a story being remembered by Bilbo Baggins and being told to us. If you look at it like that and keep in mind he's embellishing the story a little, then it's okay.
Was it faithful to the book? Mostly
There were a few things added. However I understand why they were added. If you ever read the book, they make constant references to things in narration that the characters themselves never bring up. The Necromancer for example. He's mentioned so many times in the book but always by the narrartor. It isn't Gandalf talking about him, or Bilbo, or any of the dwarves. So, as a screenwriter, there's a choice to be made: either cut out any refrences to the Necromancer since he never appears in the story and is only refrenced, or re-work the script so he can be mentioned and acknowledge that there are other things going on in the world other than this one journey. I think they made the right choice because later on when Gandalf leaves the party, we know where he's going.
There were a few choice cameos by Elijah Wood as Frodo in the beginning, we see Christopher Lee as Saruman again. Cate Blanchett again looking as beautiful as ever as Galadriel. Hugo Weaving with the weird crown on his head playing Elrond. They fit well into the scenes they added so it's not a big problem at all.
The movie added Radagast the Brown mage in order to establish the Necromancer. This guy acts like the old guy who introduced every episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. He isn't in the movie very much (thankfully) so I'm going to applaud the restraint used.
Did it feel like it fit with The Lord of the Rings Trilogy? Kind of
I'll just say it: This movie was way too long. It's very self indulgent. Most of the time when writing an adaptation, things get taken out and other things added to fill in some holes. Things were added as I've said, but there is absolutely nothing taken out. Some things were changed, but not removed. A good 30 minutes of the movie is the dwarves at the dinner table. If you're a fan of the book, you want to see that because it is a rather comedic scene. If you're average joe schmo movie goer, I can understand getting a little antsy and just wanting the movie to get on with it.
Compared to the other movies, this one is much more comedic. It's more witty and characters are a little more childish. There never is any real sense of dread until they reach the Goblin Cave. And even then the Goblin King is a smirking jackass. But by far the best scene in the entire movie is Andy Serkis as Gollum. Someone get that guy an Oscar... or an Emmy... hell someone create a Serkis award for best voice actor! GIVE THIS GUY AN ANDY!!!
What's your overall feeling? I liked it.
It's a setup movie. It's meant to be a great movie on it's own. And it is. But it's also supposed to be a lesser in grandeur to what is to come. This movie accomplished it's goal and then some. It's a great movie.
Was it good? Yes.
Did it look good? Yes.
There was some talk about how this movie was shot. Something about 48 frames per second and some people not liking it. Yeah it looked a little cartoony at times. The trees were always a little too green, the pastel colors of Bilbo's house stood out a little. The lighting never looked natural. But that wasn't much of a problem for me because this isn't supposed to be real. It's MIDDLE Earth not Earth. Plus, this is a recollection story. This is a story being remembered by Bilbo Baggins and being told to us. If you look at it like that and keep in mind he's embellishing the story a little, then it's okay.
Was it faithful to the book? Mostly
There were a few things added. However I understand why they were added. If you ever read the book, they make constant references to things in narration that the characters themselves never bring up. The Necromancer for example. He's mentioned so many times in the book but always by the narrartor. It isn't Gandalf talking about him, or Bilbo, or any of the dwarves. So, as a screenwriter, there's a choice to be made: either cut out any refrences to the Necromancer since he never appears in the story and is only refrenced, or re-work the script so he can be mentioned and acknowledge that there are other things going on in the world other than this one journey. I think they made the right choice because later on when Gandalf leaves the party, we know where he's going.
There were a few choice cameos by Elijah Wood as Frodo in the beginning, we see Christopher Lee as Saruman again. Cate Blanchett again looking as beautiful as ever as Galadriel. Hugo Weaving with the weird crown on his head playing Elrond. They fit well into the scenes they added so it's not a big problem at all.
The movie added Radagast the Brown mage in order to establish the Necromancer. This guy acts like the old guy who introduced every episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. He isn't in the movie very much (thankfully) so I'm going to applaud the restraint used.
Did it feel like it fit with The Lord of the Rings Trilogy? Kind of
I'll just say it: This movie was way too long. It's very self indulgent. Most of the time when writing an adaptation, things get taken out and other things added to fill in some holes. Things were added as I've said, but there is absolutely nothing taken out. Some things were changed, but not removed. A good 30 minutes of the movie is the dwarves at the dinner table. If you're a fan of the book, you want to see that because it is a rather comedic scene. If you're average joe schmo movie goer, I can understand getting a little antsy and just wanting the movie to get on with it.
Compared to the other movies, this one is much more comedic. It's more witty and characters are a little more childish. There never is any real sense of dread until they reach the Goblin Cave. And even then the Goblin King is a smirking jackass. But by far the best scene in the entire movie is Andy Serkis as Gollum. Someone get that guy an Oscar... or an Emmy... hell someone create a Serkis award for best voice actor! GIVE THIS GUY AN ANDY!!!
What's your overall feeling? I liked it.
It's a setup movie. It's meant to be a great movie on it's own. And it is. But it's also supposed to be a lesser in grandeur to what is to come. This movie accomplished it's goal and then some. It's a great movie.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Coming Soon: 12/21/12
With Christmas quickly approaching, it's been extremely hard to get to the theaters. I still want to see The Hobbit and part of me still wants to see Red Dawn. If for no other reason just to see how bad it really is. I've seen a couple movies on TV, one last night I saw called Zombie Honeymoon. That was a movie that has no business being as good as it was. But let's check out what we can expect in theaters this week.
1) MONSTERS, INC 3D: Monsters work in the scare factory until their worst nightmare comes true... MAN!!!!
The Good: I'm sure you've seen it before. This is a re-release of a wonderful movie.
The Bad: There's not much there in the way of surprises.
Final Thoughts: A very imaginative movie with some great characters. Kids of all ages will love it.
2) THIS IS 40: A woman with a husband and kids turns 40 and doesn't take it well.
The Good: We all have an experience like this at some point in our lives where we reflect on our lives and realize we aren't young anymore.
The Bad: It's a lowest common denominator type of comedy.
Final Thoughts: The director is Judd Apatow. His movies are so hit-or-miss. But when they work, they are really funny. Knocked Up is what made him famous as a director. And this is the sequel to Knocked Up. I see nothing immediately appealing about it but it's worth a shot.
3) JACK REACHER: An ex-military sniper is accused of killing five people. He must clear his name by finding the real killer using all his cunning.
The Good: It's Tom Cruise doing what he does best. Action.
The Bad: I've seen movies like this a million times. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Final Thoughts: Sorry, but how is this movie different than The Fugitive, Mission Impossible, The Jackyl, Assassins, The Professional, Sherlock Holmes, just about every Steven Segal movie, and a whole slew of others that even came out this year? Give me something original or don't make the movie. Not interested.
4) THE GUILT TRIP: An inventor goes on the road with his mom to sell his invention.
The Good: It has Barbara Streisand and Seth Rogan. When he wants to Seth Rogan can be a great actor.
The Bad: It's yet another road trip comedy with an odd couple getting into hilarious hyjinks. *yawn*
Final Thoughts: Would be good for a rental but I'm not wasting my evening watching this.
See you at the movies
1) MONSTERS, INC 3D: Monsters work in the scare factory until their worst nightmare comes true... MAN!!!!
The Good: I'm sure you've seen it before. This is a re-release of a wonderful movie.
The Bad: There's not much there in the way of surprises.
Final Thoughts: A very imaginative movie with some great characters. Kids of all ages will love it.
2) THIS IS 40: A woman with a husband and kids turns 40 and doesn't take it well.
The Good: We all have an experience like this at some point in our lives where we reflect on our lives and realize we aren't young anymore.
The Bad: It's a lowest common denominator type of comedy.
Final Thoughts: The director is Judd Apatow. His movies are so hit-or-miss. But when they work, they are really funny. Knocked Up is what made him famous as a director. And this is the sequel to Knocked Up. I see nothing immediately appealing about it but it's worth a shot.
3) JACK REACHER: An ex-military sniper is accused of killing five people. He must clear his name by finding the real killer using all his cunning.
The Good: It's Tom Cruise doing what he does best. Action.
The Bad: I've seen movies like this a million times. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Final Thoughts: Sorry, but how is this movie different than The Fugitive, Mission Impossible, The Jackyl, Assassins, The Professional, Sherlock Holmes, just about every Steven Segal movie, and a whole slew of others that even came out this year? Give me something original or don't make the movie. Not interested.
4) THE GUILT TRIP: An inventor goes on the road with his mom to sell his invention.
The Good: It has Barbara Streisand and Seth Rogan. When he wants to Seth Rogan can be a great actor.
The Bad: It's yet another road trip comedy with an odd couple getting into hilarious hyjinks. *yawn*
Final Thoughts: Would be good for a rental but I'm not wasting my evening watching this.
See you at the movies
Monday, December 10, 2012
Coming Soon: 12/14/12
Oh the big one is here! There are of course some other movies coming out that are not The Hobbit and I suppose I should take a look at them. Come on people! Are you really interested in anything other than The Hobbit this week? Okay, here we go.
1) THE HOBBIT: The strange encounter of a wizard and a hobbit that led to a grand adventure.
The Good: It's The Hobbit. It's Peter Jackson. Andy Serkis is back as Gollum. What's not to like?
The Bad: It's a 3 hour movie and covers roughly the first 100 pages of the book.
Final Thoughts: I'm REALLY excited to see this movie. But I totally understand when people say it is boring as hell. It's a really long movie and it's going to be lacking in action compared to the next two Hobbit movies.
2) ANY DAY NOW: The true story of how in the 1970s a gay couple try to adopt an orphaned child with down syndrome.
The Good: It's heartfelt, it has a message that pertains to today, and I'm sure incredibly well done.
The Bad: It's coming out the same day as The Hobbit.
Final Thoughts: It's an Oscar grabber. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but just the fact that it's coming out the same day as The Hobbit will hurt it's box office sales. But give this one a watch. It might surprise you.
3) SAVE THE DATE: A woman about to get married breaks up with her boyfriend and finds herself in a hot rebound romance. She must decide if it's better to be single or take a chance at love.
The Good: It's probably not going to be in most theaters.
The Bad: I hate what this movie represents.
Final Thoughts: This is a movie that wants to be a modern romance but doesn't understand what that means. It assumes women stay single because it's fun and "safe"; whatever that means. And you know how this ends. She "takes a chance at love." Whatever that means. So if being single is fun and safe, doesn't that mean marriage is boring and 'unsafe'? Ask anyone who is married if their life is boring and 'unsafe'. I plan to stay away from this one.
See you at the movies
1) THE HOBBIT: The strange encounter of a wizard and a hobbit that led to a grand adventure.
The Good: It's The Hobbit. It's Peter Jackson. Andy Serkis is back as Gollum. What's not to like?
The Bad: It's a 3 hour movie and covers roughly the first 100 pages of the book.
Final Thoughts: I'm REALLY excited to see this movie. But I totally understand when people say it is boring as hell. It's a really long movie and it's going to be lacking in action compared to the next two Hobbit movies.
2) ANY DAY NOW: The true story of how in the 1970s a gay couple try to adopt an orphaned child with down syndrome.
The Good: It's heartfelt, it has a message that pertains to today, and I'm sure incredibly well done.
The Bad: It's coming out the same day as The Hobbit.
Final Thoughts: It's an Oscar grabber. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but just the fact that it's coming out the same day as The Hobbit will hurt it's box office sales. But give this one a watch. It might surprise you.
3) SAVE THE DATE: A woman about to get married breaks up with her boyfriend and finds herself in a hot rebound romance. She must decide if it's better to be single or take a chance at love.
The Good: It's probably not going to be in most theaters.
The Bad: I hate what this movie represents.
Final Thoughts: This is a movie that wants to be a modern romance but doesn't understand what that means. It assumes women stay single because it's fun and "safe"; whatever that means. And you know how this ends. She "takes a chance at love." Whatever that means. So if being single is fun and safe, doesn't that mean marriage is boring and 'unsafe'? Ask anyone who is married if their life is boring and 'unsafe'. I plan to stay away from this one.
See you at the movies
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Coming Soon: 12/7/12
I struggled with if I should write this week's "coming soon" article or not. Mostly because there really isn't any movies coming out with any big media push to them. Plus the intial reviews are not all that positive. I was just thinking if I should waste your time giving my inital impressions of movies you probably aren't going to watch. Then when I actually sat down to write this article, something happened and it deleted about half of it. So, yeah I'm not too pleased. Here's what is coming out.
1) PLAYING FOR KEEPS: A down on his luck soccer player tries to rebuild his life by coaching his kid's youth soccer team.
The Good: There's a lot of talented actresses in this. Jessica Biel, Uma Thurman, and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
The Bad: How insulting is this movie to women? When they really have no fuction as people other than to throw themselves at the hot soccer stud?
Final Thoughts: It's a rom/com. And one I think takes itself way too seriously at times.
2) HYDE PARK ON HUDSON: The story of when the King and Queen of England went to America to ask Franklin Roosevelt for aid in the upcoming war with Germany.
The Good: Bill Murray is in it.
The Bad: Everything else.
Final Thoughts: How can you turn something like the beginning moments of World War II into a comedy? And then have a guy like Bill Murray playing FDR? Why?
3) DEADFALL: Two casino robbers crash their car on the way to Canada and go on the run.
The Good: Olivia Wilde is in it.
The Bad: What kind of crap are they just throwing against the wall now?
Final Thoughts: I love Olivia Wilde. She's an amazing actress. But there's no saving this movie.
4) LAY THE FAVORITE: A professional sports bettor finds a former stripper turned Las Vegas coctail waitress who he believes is his good luck charm. And then his wife gets jealous. And she goes to New York and gets in trouble.
The Good: ...............................................................
The Bad: WTF! Can we get a coherent story to go along with big name actors like Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta-Jones?
Final Thoughts: Wouldn't watch this on a bet.
See you at the movies.
1) PLAYING FOR KEEPS: A down on his luck soccer player tries to rebuild his life by coaching his kid's youth soccer team.
The Good: There's a lot of talented actresses in this. Jessica Biel, Uma Thurman, and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
The Bad: How insulting is this movie to women? When they really have no fuction as people other than to throw themselves at the hot soccer stud?
Final Thoughts: It's a rom/com. And one I think takes itself way too seriously at times.
2) HYDE PARK ON HUDSON: The story of when the King and Queen of England went to America to ask Franklin Roosevelt for aid in the upcoming war with Germany.
The Good: Bill Murray is in it.
The Bad: Everything else.
Final Thoughts: How can you turn something like the beginning moments of World War II into a comedy? And then have a guy like Bill Murray playing FDR? Why?
3) DEADFALL: Two casino robbers crash their car on the way to Canada and go on the run.
The Good: Olivia Wilde is in it.
The Bad: What kind of crap are they just throwing against the wall now?
Final Thoughts: I love Olivia Wilde. She's an amazing actress. But there's no saving this movie.
4) LAY THE FAVORITE: A professional sports bettor finds a former stripper turned Las Vegas coctail waitress who he believes is his good luck charm. And then his wife gets jealous. And she goes to New York and gets in trouble.
The Good: ...............................................................
The Bad: WTF! Can we get a coherent story to go along with big name actors like Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta-Jones?
Final Thoughts: Wouldn't watch this on a bet.
See you at the movies.
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