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22 Jump Street (2014)
A pleasant surprise
To be honest, I came into this movie with low expectations. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the first movie but found that they were making a mistake when I heard that they would make a sequel. I almost didn't decide to go see this movie until it began getting good reviews. I can not think of any comedy sequels that are as good as the original. They always seem like they're destined to fail. But after seeing this movie, I can honestly say that I think this movie is as good, if not better, than the original. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum make a hilarious duo. I always smile when I see them act together because they're so funny with each other. This movie had many twist and turns and when I thought I had predicted what was going to happen next, they found a way to twist it to make it happen differently than to what I thought was going to happen. This was an overall great crowd pleaser. I walked out of the theater feeling pleased.
Man of Steel (2013)
Man of Steel
Superman for me is always a hit or miss. He seems like the ultimate superhero with all the best powers. I grew up with watching two superheroes: Superman and Spiderman. I had a chance to go see this when it first came out but I decided not to because it did not peak my interest. But after a few kids at my school began raving about the movie, calling it the 'best superhero movie' I then decided to watch it. I did not know what to expect, so I had no expectations. I found that the movie was just okay. It seemed really dark, a little too dark for a superhero movie, even though it was made by DC. Henry Cavill did a decent job as Superman but I did not enjoy Michael Shannon as the villain. He is always a hit or miss for me and I just did not appreciate his performance in this movie. He just seemed out of place with the whole thing. Also, one thing that bothered me was that the last half hour of the movie, it felt like they were trying to show off their special effects. All it was were buildings collapsing and exploding. There was nothing to it. Then, in the last scene in the movie, it goes ahead a few months and it looks like nothing ever happened. All the buildings are intact and people act like nothing bad ever occurred.
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
An overall fun ride
I first saw this movie about two months after it was released into theaters. I was very skeptical as I heard from some people where they said it was the 'worst piece of crap' they've seen and some saying it was the 'best movie ever'. So I really did not know what to expect except that both sides could agree that there was a lot of sex and drugs. After seeing the movie, I found that it a very good movie overall. Leonardo DiCaprio is yet again very good and is 20 years overdue for an Oscar. He did a very good job portraying Jordan Belfort, the drug abusing stock broker. I did feel a little uncomfortable with he many sexually explicit sex scenes. I did also feel that the movie was very repetitive. For three hours, we watch Leonardo DiCaprio abuse drugs, have sex and look like a jackass. That is about it. But Scorsese finds a way to make it work and to make it entertaining. I was very entertained by this movie.
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell (2009)
A terrible attempt at comedy
A couple of friends of mine decided to show me "I Hope they Serve Beer in Hell". We all have never seen it and we were all optimistic about the movie. Although being a movie buff, I never heard of this movie and wanted to check it out. I found that it was a terrible attempt at trying to produce comedy. There was not once when I laughed out loud and I thought the story was atrocious. One of the last scenes includes a guy who has uncontrollable diarrhea, and while it was supposed to be funny, I just found myself cringing at their barely watchable piece of crap. The editing, the acting, the directing, the camera-work is all bad. There was not one good thing that I could find in this movie. I've learned my lesson when it comes to watching movies with my friends as I will never forgive them for showing me this movie. It was beyond awful.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
I'm in the minority
I went to see this movie last Saturday with a few friends because we are all really big superhero fans, especially Marvel superhero movies. I was extremely excited to see this because I noticed it had a 89 on rotten tomato and an 8.3 on IMDb. So, I got a little ahead of myself in raising my expectations real high. After watching the whole movie, I sat there trying to determine how I felt about the whole movie. Sure, I was entertained by some parts. I love captain America, I think he's a great superhero. But, I just found this movie really repetitive. The endless action sequences, which Marvel usually does really well, just seemed too repetitive. At first, they were exciting, but it was just the same thing over and over again. I actually got bored because it felt like I was watching the same thing for two hours. Chris Evans makes a great Captain America. I am probably in the minority in thinking that the first one was better. I enjoyed how they coordinated WWII into the first one. I just couldn't get into this movie as much as most people could.
Tomboy (2011)
A coming of age story
I first heard about this movie about four months ago on www.rottentomato.com I was interested in this movie because of how highly rated the movie was. I was excited to see this streamable on netflix, so I got the chance to watch it. I thought this was a well made French movie. It is full of heart. For a 1 hour and 22 minute movie, it felt a little slow. Not much happens through that time. Zoe Herán is quite convincing as the girl who dresses and pretends to be a boy. There were times where I forgot she was a girl! There was not really any bad acting in this movie. The writing was good as well. I did find that the ending was a disappointment. I thought it should have finished differently. In my head, I plotted a few different endings that should would have been better than the ending they went with.
All in all, a fun, decent movie.
Wanderlust (2012)
Wanderlust
So, I saw Wanderlust the day it opened. The trailers, as everyone knows, just looks stupid. But, the movie, being Judd Apatow and all, is not that stupid.
George and Linda move to Atlanta for a better opportunity, until they stumble upon a love commune. Note: Love communes are not nudists communes. Though, there is a nudist.
This movie has a good cast. I thought Justin Theroux was really good as a hippy-ish guy, trying to make Jennifer Aniston love him.
And lets face it, this will be the closest we will ever get to see Jennifer Aniston boobs, okay? So, stop complaining, it will NEVER happen.
Best comedy ever? Hell no. It is not a spectacular movie, but to me, it is just a refreshing movie that you can watch and laugh at after a hard day's work.
The Hurt Locker (2008)
The Hurt Locker
I found this movie extremely entertaining and well made. I was looking few some of the comments before I decided to review this movie, and I have something to say to those people who think that this is the most overrated movie of all time. It is not. And for those people who rated it one star that it is overrated: It is not the movies fault. There are many movies that I find incredibly overrated and yet I still like the movies-like Avatar or Inception for example. Very overrated. People talked about these movies for months after their initial releases. I grew sick and tired of all the talk, but that does not mean I hated the movie. It bothers me how people just find a movie that they think is overrated and then blame it on the movie. Grow up. I mean this movie only made 12 million dollars. Movies that people think is over overrated made three times that much.
But, as for the Hurt Locker, I actually find it a little underrated. People still do not know much about this movie, and they should. The cast, led by the talented Jeremy Renner, are great. The story is wonderful. The direction is terrific. I am not a soldier in Iraq, so i do not know how accurate this is to real like, but Mark Boal, the writer, went to Iraq for his research and literally went to where the action took place. So, well done to Mark Boal.
A terrific movie that Kathryn Bigelow made.
10 out of 10
Hotaru no haka (1988)
Grave of the Fireflies
I was first skeptical when I was going to see this. I really liked Spirited away and was afraid that this would not be as good as Spirited Away. I do not think this is as good as Spirited Away, yet it is equally as good.
Seita is an orphan who tries to provide for his four year old sister and himself. It takes place towards the end of world war II in Japan. Air raids are everywhere. The newly orphaned kids mother passes away from the air raids. Yet, they are not alone. Instead, they go stay with their aunt to tries to provide for both her own family and the two orphans.
This movie is made with Japanese Anime, and done beautifully so. This seemed like a subject that could have been hard to do in Japanese anime, but they pulled it off. There were some gore in it, but it is just for a couple of moments or two.
There were some very sad moments that could make a few people cry. One being when the little girl dies at the end. That was such a sad and emotional moment that was dealt delicately.
A terrific world war II movie that deserves to be called "a classic"
10 out of 10
L.A. Noire (2011)
Best game I've played
When I went to read some of peoples comments, I was astonished that many people disliked this game. I thought that this was one of my most favorite/fun game I have played in a long long long time. The acting was great, with over five different actors from Mad Men. The scenery and story was very cool and fun. There were only a couple of parts that were boring, but that was it for me. This game comes with three discs of the same game. I have enjoyed every second of it. I finished the game in six days five months ago, and now I have decided to replay the game. If you miss a clue or screw up an instigation, your result could be different each time. This game takes place during the 40s, post world war II. We follow Cole Phelps, a world war II vet who is now a cop and is moving from rank to rank on the police force.
SOme of the murders are harrowing, with naked women and some peoples faces are torn apart. But, you can have a selection to skip this if needed.
This game might need some getting used to, but when you do, you just can not stop. I love it.
Take Shelter (2011)
An entertaining two hours
Michael Shannon played Curtis, a construction worker who is having hallucinations. He also has dreams so bad that it makes him wet his bed. They are always the same. He hears thundering, crackling, going sideways and everything, and then someone tries to kill him. Michael Shannon is spotless in this small, but entertaining two hour movie. He plays the role so well, it is fun. It made the time go by pretty fast.
Michael Shannon, in the movie, is married to Jessica Chastain. Along with her many other movies this year, she is wonderful as well! I would be surprised and astonished if she does not get an Oscar nod for one of her movie this year.She played the role very well.. The casting as a whole was very well done.
A powerful, entertaining movie, which is recommended.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
Smart and fun
I saw this movie when it first was released, as I just could not get enough of it, so I went to see it again. You see, I don't usually see movies more than once. But, in this case, it felt like I just had to.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes is not necessarily a remake to the original one. This has a different vibe than before. James Franco's character tries to find a cure to Alzheimer. He does this mostly because his father is an aging alzheimer victim. So, he and his colleagues try to find the cure by testing it on apes. However, it backfires on them. The apes begin to get smarter, and smarter, and smarter.
Don't let the trailers mislead you. The trailers showed that a lot of the movie was action packed, filled with apes attacking San Francisco. However,t hat is not the case. It turns out that is only the last fifteen minutes. For the first hour and a half, we lead into how this all happened, while following the ape's leader, named Caesar.
I was in awe when I saw the effects. I can not believe how well these apes looked in this movie.In the beginning they looked more like a rough sketch of what was yet to come. It appeared as if the effects of how the apes looked got better as the movie went on. I think it was mainly through Caesar's childhood. Maybe it was because he was really small and stuff.
A very smart and fun movie, in which you can bring the whole family ages ten and older to the theater. I highly recommend this.
War Horse (2011)
An entertaining film, however
I was quite entertained when I saw this movie. It was quite slow at parts though. I do not know if I was antsy or if it was the movies because I drank a lot of diet coke.
War Horse is about a 'miraculous' horse, going from family to family in Britain, while they are at war. The first war that is, not the second. There were not many standouts in this movie, as it seemed like every five minutes, the horse would go to a different family. I do not remember a time when this movie did not have music playing in the background. I think the music played throughout he whole film. It was really good music too. Very well thought out and all.
I do wanna say that if you are a horse lover and wanna go see this movie, well, lets just say you might be screaming at the movie screen, or gasping or crying. This movie can be tough for some viewers. The movie has some good humor, including a scene towards the end with a British soldier and a German.
I was entertained by this movie, however, I did expect more from it.
Final Destination 5 (2011)
Final Destination 5
Come on now, five movies from the same series, all of which have the same exact storyline. This is what I call cheap storytelling. I do not understand what people see in these movies. I have seen all of them, and I am not one of those fans. The deaths are way over the top, in which I think is why people like it. Come on now, people being hit by needles and stuff that is very rare. I just can not understand why they would make more of this stuff. This series has to end. I would only think that I will enjoy it if they tell a well told back story of Bludworth or whatever his name is. If you wanna see this movie, go ahead, I ain't stopping you. But I warned you.
I Am Sam (2001)
An emotional roller coaster
The roller coaster is still going too! What a ride. An amazing movie. I Am Sam is about a middle aged man named Sam who is Mentally retarded, who has a daughter of his own. The woman who gave birth to her runs off. Eight years later, he has to fight custody with his own daughter.
I never get choked up, nor emotional when I watch a movie. This was something different, however. Sean Penn is astonishing as Sam. I can not think of anyone else who could have played the role better than him. I do not know how he could have pulled it off, but he did. Then comes Dakota Fanning. How old was she when she did this role? I do not know, but my oh my, she was *bleeping* fantastic. For such a young age, she was able to pull this off. I do not know how she did it, as well as Sean Penn, but they day. I want to compare her with Shirley Temple. For both of them, at such a young age, they are able to play some really difficult parts, and they play them real well! A spectacular cast for an exceptional movie. I have never thought of a movie this much different than critics.
Super (2010)
Needed work
I just have to say that this movie did need work. It was fun to watch and all, but I just did not like all the execution. As well, Ellen Page, who is one of my favorite actresses, really bugged me with her acting. I do not know if it was her character or not, but she just was not good and fell flat. I did like the story idea.
The movie is about a drug dealer (Kevin Bacon) who takes away Rain Wilson's wife, to do drugs and all. Rain Wilson is really upset that he begins to become a superhero and fight crime. Later, he gets help from a Ellen Page, who eventually becomes his sidekick at exactly one hour into the movie.
The ending, without spoiling it, I did like. It was something new that you usually do not see in movies. Rain Wilson was alright in this movie, might have been a slight miscast in this, but I am not sure.
The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
An Adventure worth watching
When I was watching this movie, I could not get over how terrific the CGI was in this movie. I have not seen CGI better than this. Though, I was also slightly disappointed with the character creations. Mainly because of the big noises. I know that this is considered a cartoon, and have big noses is usual for a cartoon, but I have yet to see a cartoon type thing, whether CGI or not, that looks totally realistic. The look of TinTin compared to the rest of the cast just did not seem to fit for me. That was my main issue.
There were some parts in which I felt the movie dragged a bit. I did think it was entertaining though. I was happy to see Andy Serkis in this. Known for a lot of CGI movies, which seems to be every movie he is in now, he actually has lines in this one. He plays the drunken Captain Haddock, a guy who can not take two steps without having a sip of ye Ole whiskey. Jamie Bell did a great job, fitting the character of the title character. The way his character looked fit with his voice.
You might enjoy it or you might not. The Adventures of TinTin is one hell of a ride, though.
Apollo 18 (2011)
Oh my goodness gracious
Oh my goodness gracious, what do we have here? I really do not know what to say. First off, I am really tired and sick of all of the hand-held camera type of filming. It is really cheap and stupid! Ever since Blair Witch Project, movie studios have been humping Hollywood with all these hand-held camera crap. I really am sick of that. Film directors seem to like to do the cheap way of filmmaking. Well, I gotta tell yeah, this is not how you are going to surpass making movies in Hollywood.
I usually never go to the bathroom in movies, but this was the first movie in a long time in which I did. I just had to stop watching and take a breather from such a bad movie. I swear that there were moments when people in the theater, including me, were laughing and rolling our eyes at all the 'scary moments' this movie had. If they wanna pretend that this is real, at least have some good effects, to make it seem real. I bet you a third grader could do better effects than they did here.
So, in case you did not guess from this review: TERRIBLE!
Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010)
Tucker and Dale Vs. Awesomeness
Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil is one of those movies in which it seems like you either like it or hate it. I do think they should have promoted this movie more, because it deserved it. This was a very engrossing, entertaining little movie. Yes, it could be forgettable for some, but in my mind, I will try not to forget.
This movie is about two hill billy friends named Tucker and Dale who have just rented a cabin for the summers. They try to have the best summer ever. But one day when they go fishing, they see these college students skinny dipping. One college girl slips off a rock and bangs her head. Dale swims to the rescue is saves her. They bring her back to the cabin, which I should mention is in the woods. The college kids however think they are kidnapping her, so they go out and try to kill the two dumb hill billies and save their friend.
This was a very fun and entertaining movie, as I said. The moral of the story is quite obvious. I loved the different types of coincidences there are in this movie. They make funny of most horror movies. This movie has intentional bad, over the top acting which you can not get over. A well executed, well established comedy movie. Most people won't give this a chance because they think it is dumb or that it looks like your usual, terrible, wannabe movie. Yet, it isn't. It is a fun, campy comedy. I find this movie well underrated.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Disappointing
*****MAY CONTAIN A SPOILER OR TWO******
I was watching this movie on a Christmas night. I had a long day and I wanted to relax and enjoy a movie with a large crowd. I do not know if I can say that I enjoyed this, per say. It was entertaining when they got to the mystery of the girl. But, I did not care much about the back story of the Girl with the Dragon tattoo. Don't get me wrong, Rooney Mara could not have been better, but I just did not like her character. I am one of those people who have not read the book, so I can not base it on how it was compared to the book. However, I can still judge the movie as it is, without comparing it to the book.
It was a lot longer than it needed to be. There was about an extra 20 minutes of footage after the mystery that was solved, as it felt like it was trying to be longer than it needed to be. Daniel Craig was good as the Swedish mystery solver. I did not care much for his accent, though. It seemed as if it was going between a British and Swedish accent. Or, as I call it, a Switish accent. Rooney Mara, as I said, was brutally good in this. But there was something else brutal in this movie, that I thought was really unnecessary-The sex scenes.
Rooney Mara is forced to have sexual relations in order to get money. One time she is tied down on a bed, while getting raped. Full nudity included. That scenes especially was so graph that I could not stand to watch it. It was so explicit that it basically seemed like porn. You see the man licking her behind, sticking his nose into her buttocks. I usually do read the parental guidance before going to see this movie, but I made the mistake of not. I did read, however, that the nudity was graphic, but I did not know that it was this graphic. This was NC-17 material. The scene felt like went on forever. Way longer than needed.
I do not think that this is David Fincher's best in my opinion. I thought both the Social Network and Zodiac were far more better and entertaining. I thought this movie had potential but fell a little flat. I do not know whether I would have felt this way if I read the book or not, but I did not. So this was my end result coming out of the movie.
J. Edgar (2011)
An Entertaining History Lesson
This movie was an entertaining history lesson. I did not know what to think going in, but I did come out satisfied. Unlike many others, I found my eyes glued to the screen, because this movie was quite interesting to me. Leonard DiCaprio gives an Oscar worthy performance as J. Edgar Hoover, the man who created the FBI. The makeup was not outstanding. I mean, it looked wonderful on Leonardo DiCaprio, yet when Armie Hammer first appeared on the screen with his full makeup on, I swear I broke out laughing. It was terrible! The only thing that I liked about his makeup was the jowel, thats it. I knew some very basic facts about J. Edgar Hoover, yet there were a lot of stuff that I did not know. (He was a closetted homosexual, for instance.) Armie Hammer plays Clyde Tolsen, his partner in crime, as you may say. They did everything together, even going to Horse races, and they never missed a lunch nor a dinner together. Armie Hammer, I thought was wonderful! Especially in his later years, when he is older. He consistently shaking, which I thought was cool.
This movie was really well made.
Tower Heist (2011)
Well Done
I got the opportunity to go see it at the premiere, and my oh my, this movie was something! I loved everything in this, especially the acting. The writing was superb as well.
One part that really stood out was when the four main characters had to go shoplift at least 50 dollars of souvenirs. This was a well processed, well made movie by Brett Rattner. I highly recommend it for anyone. Everyone in this movie was so believable. I do not know whether this would be a big Oscar contender, yet it should be. It had me on the edge of my seat. There are many twist and turns in this movie, and you may have to think a little bit. But there should be no problem with that.