As far as revenge movies go, this was pretty typical. However, I must say... Zoe Saldana kicked some serious ass!
I know I'm being biased since Zoe was one of the stars in my all time favorite movie, Avatar. But so what? :p
The movie is about a woman named Cataleya, who at the age of nine witnessed the brutal murders of her parents. She ends up living with her Uncle & Grandmother. Fifteen years later, Cataleya is now a cold blooded assassin (trained by her Uncle) who is hell bent on getting revenge on the druglord who is responsible.
The actions scenes, while predictable & absurd at points, were good. Kept me on the edge of my seat.
Aside from Zoe (who is always amazing), the acting was just average.
There were only two real issues I had, neither of them were what I'd call major though. First, they gave Cataleya a love interest which really wasn't necessary other than to give director an excuse to show Zoe practically naked & appeal to the men in the audience.
The other thing was the music. Don't get me wrong, I liked the songs, I just thought they weren't placed well at times.
Not sure how well this will do at the box office, but I liked it. I think you guys will too if you're into these kind of movies.
My Rating: 7.5/10
Friday, August 26, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
Fright Night (3D)
It's been awhile since I've seen a decent horror movie. Fright Night was actually pretty good :)
That being said, it's far from being perfect. The dialog was bad at times and the movie was very predictable. But it was fun. Infact it's a mix of both horror and comedy. Wether the funny moments were suppose to be intentional or unintentional I'm not sure.
Anyway, the plot is pretty simple. Charlie (Anton Yelchin) is a guy in his late teens living with his mother in a small neighborhood around Las Vegas. One day a new guy named Jerry (Colin Ferrel) moves in next door. People start disappearing and other strange things happen. Charlie quickly discovers that Jerry is (this really isn't a spoiler) a vampire. You can pretty much guess what happens after that.
Most of the acting is bad, except for Anton & Colin. Anton is a good actor. He's in two other movies I really enjoy- Terminator Salvation & Star Trek 2009. And I must say, Colin Ferrel is awesome as a vampire! As much as I like the Twilight movies (hey don't judge me :p ), it was nice to see vampires that don't sparkle and are more "traditional".
Do yourself a favor and see this in 2D. The 3D isn't that great and not worth the extra money.
My Rating: 7/10
That being said, it's far from being perfect. The dialog was bad at times and the movie was very predictable. But it was fun. Infact it's a mix of both horror and comedy. Wether the funny moments were suppose to be intentional or unintentional I'm not sure.
Anyway, the plot is pretty simple. Charlie (Anton Yelchin) is a guy in his late teens living with his mother in a small neighborhood around Las Vegas. One day a new guy named Jerry (Colin Ferrel) moves in next door. People start disappearing and other strange things happen. Charlie quickly discovers that Jerry is (this really isn't a spoiler) a vampire. You can pretty much guess what happens after that.
Most of the acting is bad, except for Anton & Colin. Anton is a good actor. He's in two other movies I really enjoy- Terminator Salvation & Star Trek 2009. And I must say, Colin Ferrel is awesome as a vampire! As much as I like the Twilight movies (hey don't judge me :p ), it was nice to see vampires that don't sparkle and are more "traditional".
Do yourself a favor and see this in 2D. The 3D isn't that great and not worth the extra money.
My Rating: 7/10
Sunday, August 14, 2011
The Help
I wasn't sure what to expect when I decided to go see this. It looked interesting from the trailers. But trailers can be deceiving. Not in this case however. I must say I really enjoyed The Help.
The movie takes place in Mississippi in the 60's. During this time many African American women worked as maids for wealthy white socialites/housewives & their families. From one of these families is a young woman named Skeeter, played by Emma Stone (who seems to be becoming a great actress with each movie she appears in). She's an aspiring writer who ends up taking a job for a newspaper, answering cleaning questions in an advice column. She enlists the help of one of the maids (Viola Davis) who works for the family of one of her "friends". Over time Skeeter gets to know her & sees how she's being treated. She decides she wants to write a book from the point of view of the maids.
The movie is far from perfect. The first half starts out really slow, but gets more interesting in the second half when you really get to know the characters.
I think this movie will most be remembered for it's acting. Not just Emma Stone, but Viola Davis gives an Oscar worthy performance. Intact, I wouldn't be surprised if several of the actresses receive nominations. The performance that really stood out for me was Jessica Chastain. She's an amazing actress who actually has another movie coming out in a few weeks called The Debt (a really good movie that I had a chance to see at a film festival last year). Anyway, in this she plays a socialite/housewife who has been shunned by almost everyone for reasons you find out later on. At first I thought she was going to be just another ditzy socialite, but once you get to know her character and what she's been through, you find out that's not the case. Yes she's ditzy, but she's also very sweet and not like the other housewives. I won't spoil anything, but her stitching had me tearing up a bit. Bryce Dallas Howard is also in this, playing the leader of these housewives. The character is a complete bitch but Bryce plays the part well.
I thought the movie realty with the issue of racism well. They didn't sugarbush anything which I'm glad. I can't stand when movies sugarbush things.
This movie overall was really good. It's a drama, but there's plenty of comedy added in when it's appropriate. Not sure how many guys will like it but I think everyone should give it a chance.
My Rating: 7/10
The movie takes place in Mississippi in the 60's. During this time many African American women worked as maids for wealthy white socialites/housewives & their families. From one of these families is a young woman named Skeeter, played by Emma Stone (who seems to be becoming a great actress with each movie she appears in). She's an aspiring writer who ends up taking a job for a newspaper, answering cleaning questions in an advice column. She enlists the help of one of the maids (Viola Davis) who works for the family of one of her "friends". Over time Skeeter gets to know her & sees how she's being treated. She decides she wants to write a book from the point of view of the maids.
The movie is far from perfect. The first half starts out really slow, but gets more interesting in the second half when you really get to know the characters.
I think this movie will most be remembered for it's acting. Not just Emma Stone, but Viola Davis gives an Oscar worthy performance. Intact, I wouldn't be surprised if several of the actresses receive nominations. The performance that really stood out for me was Jessica Chastain. She's an amazing actress who actually has another movie coming out in a few weeks called The Debt (a really good movie that I had a chance to see at a film festival last year). Anyway, in this she plays a socialite/housewife who has been shunned by almost everyone for reasons you find out later on. At first I thought she was going to be just another ditzy socialite, but once you get to know her character and what she's been through, you find out that's not the case. Yes she's ditzy, but she's also very sweet and not like the other housewives. I won't spoil anything, but her stitching had me tearing up a bit. Bryce Dallas Howard is also in this, playing the leader of these housewives. The character is a complete bitch but Bryce plays the part well.
I thought the movie realty with the issue of racism well. They didn't sugarbush anything which I'm glad. I can't stand when movies sugarbush things.
This movie overall was really good. It's a drama, but there's plenty of comedy added in when it's appropriate. Not sure how many guys will like it but I think everyone should give it a chance.
My Rating: 7/10
Friday, July 29, 2011
Cowboys & Aliens
What do you get when you mix western with sci fi? A pretty awesome summer movie :)
The movie stars Daniel Craig as Jake. He wakes up in the middle of the desert with a bad wound on his side, a strange gadget on his wrist, and no memory of who he is or what's happend. He makes his way into a small town called Absolution (I'm pretty sure that's its name). While there he comes across a mysterious woman named Ella (Olivia Wilde) and a guy who owns a cattle farm and is pretty much the richest man in town (Harrison Ford). Then that night a bunch of aliens attack and all hell breaks loose.
That's the plot of the movie. Ridiculous I know, but I really think you should give it a chance. I give it a lot of credit for being different than most of the movies out now.
The best part of the whole thing, for me anyway, was Daniel Craig. He is just totally bad ass know matter what he does. I've always been a fan of his. Intact, I can't wait to see him in the American version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Anyway, this is definitely his movie.
Harrison Ford was good too, but this wasn't his best role. Olivia Wilde surprised me. At first I thought all her role would be was to stand there, look pretty, and be Daniel's love interest. And while she is his love interest, she also ends up being an important part of the story later on. The rest of the actors I really wasn't all that impressed with.
But overall I would recommend this. There's something for everyone. Ladies, there's even some shirtless Daniel Craig time... although not nearly enough in my opinion ;) ;)
My Rating: 7.5/10
The movie stars Daniel Craig as Jake. He wakes up in the middle of the desert with a bad wound on his side, a strange gadget on his wrist, and no memory of who he is or what's happend. He makes his way into a small town called Absolution (I'm pretty sure that's its name). While there he comes across a mysterious woman named Ella (Olivia Wilde) and a guy who owns a cattle farm and is pretty much the richest man in town (Harrison Ford). Then that night a bunch of aliens attack and all hell breaks loose.
That's the plot of the movie. Ridiculous I know, but I really think you should give it a chance. I give it a lot of credit for being different than most of the movies out now.
The best part of the whole thing, for me anyway, was Daniel Craig. He is just totally bad ass know matter what he does. I've always been a fan of his. Intact, I can't wait to see him in the American version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Anyway, this is definitely his movie.
Harrison Ford was good too, but this wasn't his best role. Olivia Wilde surprised me. At first I thought all her role would be was to stand there, look pretty, and be Daniel's love interest. And while she is his love interest, she also ends up being an important part of the story later on. The rest of the actors I really wasn't all that impressed with.
But overall I would recommend this. There's something for everyone. Ladies, there's even some shirtless Daniel Craig time... although not nearly enough in my opinion ;) ;)
My Rating: 7.5/10
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Captain America: The First Avenger (3D)
Hell yeah! Another awesome superhero movie :) I really enjoyed this as you can tell.
I'll admit, when I first heard that Chris Evans was going to play Steve Rogers/Captain America, I wasn't crazy about it. Not that I don't think Chris is a good actor (I usually like his movies) I just didn't think he could pull it off. Boy was I wrong. He did a great job.
The movie takes place during World War two. Steve wants to join the army but keeps getting rejected because of his size. To pull this off, the director uses digital effects to make Chris appear smaller than he actually is. It looked a little weird to me at first but I got use to it. Anyway, one night a doctor (played by Stanley Tucci. The role isn't all that big but it's important) overhears Steve talking and decides that he's perfect candidate for a program that's trying to create an army of "super soldiers". To make a long story short, Steve finally gets to be in the army and they turn him into Captain America. He can run faster, beat the crap outta Nazis,etc.
What I liked about this movie was that it wasn't just action & explosions (although there's plenty of that too). The story was really interesting.
The movie is far from perfect however. I won't even talk about the cheesy dialog since that's usually what you find in a lot of superhero movies. My issue was with the chemistry between Chris Evans and the actress who plays his love interest. Unlike in Thor (where Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman had great chemistry, it just wasn't that believe. Also, and this isn't really a big deal, I thought the effects used to make the villain Red Skull looked ridiculous. I just couldn't take the actor seriously and started laughing (if you've seen it you know what I mean).
Be on the look out for another awesome Samuel L Jackson cameo. That guy is just totally bad ass no matter what he's in.
As far as the 3D goes, it was hit or miss with me. Some scenes looked really great while others I had to keep looking over my glasses to see if it was still a 3D movie I was watching.
PLEASE be sure to stay until after the credits. There's a really awesome teaser trailer for The Avengers movie. Made me really excited about it. I can't wait til May 2012! :)
My Rating: 7.5/10
I'll admit, when I first heard that Chris Evans was going to play Steve Rogers/Captain America, I wasn't crazy about it. Not that I don't think Chris is a good actor (I usually like his movies) I just didn't think he could pull it off. Boy was I wrong. He did a great job.
The movie takes place during World War two. Steve wants to join the army but keeps getting rejected because of his size. To pull this off, the director uses digital effects to make Chris appear smaller than he actually is. It looked a little weird to me at first but I got use to it. Anyway, one night a doctor (played by Stanley Tucci. The role isn't all that big but it's important) overhears Steve talking and decides that he's perfect candidate for a program that's trying to create an army of "super soldiers". To make a long story short, Steve finally gets to be in the army and they turn him into Captain America. He can run faster, beat the crap outta Nazis,etc.
What I liked about this movie was that it wasn't just action & explosions (although there's plenty of that too). The story was really interesting.
The movie is far from perfect however. I won't even talk about the cheesy dialog since that's usually what you find in a lot of superhero movies. My issue was with the chemistry between Chris Evans and the actress who plays his love interest. Unlike in Thor (where Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman had great chemistry, it just wasn't that believe. Also, and this isn't really a big deal, I thought the effects used to make the villain Red Skull looked ridiculous. I just couldn't take the actor seriously and started laughing (if you've seen it you know what I mean).
Be on the look out for another awesome Samuel L Jackson cameo. That guy is just totally bad ass no matter what he's in.
As far as the 3D goes, it was hit or miss with me. Some scenes looked really great while others I had to keep looking over my glasses to see if it was still a 3D movie I was watching.
PLEASE be sure to stay until after the credits. There's a really awesome teaser trailer for The Avengers movie. Made me really excited about it. I can't wait til May 2012! :)
My Rating: 7.5/10
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows part 2 (IMAX 3D)
I've been a huge Harry Potter fan for years and have been looking forward to this movie for months. I wasn't disappointed at all. Deathly Hallows part 2 was amazing.
My friends & I went to the midnight premiere in IMAX 3D. We all dressed up in costumes (I was Tonks). It was great. The theater was sold out of course, but for once I didn't mind. The excitement & energy amongst the crowd... I can't even begin to describe it. Everyone seemed really nice. Unlike the crowds at a certain other movie fanchise who's name I won't mention.
I won't go too much into the plot since I don't want the spoiler police after me. Anyway, part 2 starts right where part 1 left off. Voldermort (played brilliantly by Ralph Fiennes) has stolen the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's grave. Harry, Ron, & Hermione are looking for & destroying Voldermort's remaining Horcruxes.
This movie is pretty much action, action, and more action. The Battle of Hogwarts in particular was spectacular.
My favorite thing about the movie though was the acting. Daniel, Rupert, & Emma were all great of course, but Alan Rickman really shines as Snape. He gives, in my opinion, his best performance to date. I really think he deserves and Oscar nomination for this. The Snape scenes were my favorite parts of this movie (as well as the book). David Yates, the director, did a great job bringing them to life.
Visually, the movie is gorgeous and should definitely be seen in IMAX if you have an IMAX theater in your area.
The music was really good too. Alexandre Desplat returns after already doing the score for part 1. I'll admit, I wasn't sure how he would do scoring a mostly action movie (which I don't think he's done before) but he did a beautiful job. There's several new songs as well as songs from the previous movies.
Overall, they stay very close to the book. Obviously some changes were made but they didn't really bother me. But pretty much every scene that fans loved in the book was included. Walking out of the theater, I didn't hear anyone complaining.
As far as the 3D, while it wasn't necessary, I thought was pretty good. Especially the scene at Grinotts.
I definitely recommend this movie to all my fellow Harry Potter fans. It was amazing. But I can't help but feel sad. This was it. It feels like a part of my childhood has just died. But it was a fitting end to the series. I know these books & movies will be enjoyed for generations to come.
My Rating: 10/10
My friends & I went to the midnight premiere in IMAX 3D. We all dressed up in costumes (I was Tonks). It was great. The theater was sold out of course, but for once I didn't mind. The excitement & energy amongst the crowd... I can't even begin to describe it. Everyone seemed really nice. Unlike the crowds at a certain other movie fanchise who's name I won't mention.
I won't go too much into the plot since I don't want the spoiler police after me. Anyway, part 2 starts right where part 1 left off. Voldermort (played brilliantly by Ralph Fiennes) has stolen the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's grave. Harry, Ron, & Hermione are looking for & destroying Voldermort's remaining Horcruxes.
This movie is pretty much action, action, and more action. The Battle of Hogwarts in particular was spectacular.
My favorite thing about the movie though was the acting. Daniel, Rupert, & Emma were all great of course, but Alan Rickman really shines as Snape. He gives, in my opinion, his best performance to date. I really think he deserves and Oscar nomination for this. The Snape scenes were my favorite parts of this movie (as well as the book). David Yates, the director, did a great job bringing them to life.
Visually, the movie is gorgeous and should definitely be seen in IMAX if you have an IMAX theater in your area.
The music was really good too. Alexandre Desplat returns after already doing the score for part 1. I'll admit, I wasn't sure how he would do scoring a mostly action movie (which I don't think he's done before) but he did a beautiful job. There's several new songs as well as songs from the previous movies.
Overall, they stay very close to the book. Obviously some changes were made but they didn't really bother me. But pretty much every scene that fans loved in the book was included. Walking out of the theater, I didn't hear anyone complaining.
As far as the 3D, while it wasn't necessary, I thought was pretty good. Especially the scene at Grinotts.
I definitely recommend this movie to all my fellow Harry Potter fans. It was amazing. But I can't help but feel sad. This was it. It feels like a part of my childhood has just died. But it was a fitting end to the series. I know these books & movies will be enjoyed for generations to come.
My Rating: 10/10
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Horrible Bosses
I was debating wether or not to go see this movie. I saw the trailer a few weeks ago and it looked funny. I was afraid it would be one of those movies where the trailer showed all the funny parts. But I've seen pretty much every movie out there now that I would want to see so I thought I'd give this movie a chance. I'm so glad I did.
The story is about three friends (played by Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, and Jason Sudeikis) who's bosses basically make their life a living hell. One night, while having a few drinks at the bar they all agree that their lives would be much easier if their bosses were dead. They end up meeting a guy named "Mother Fucker" Jones whom they hire as their "murder consultant". Jamie Foxx plays this character brilliantly. The role is kinda small but definitely memorable. So then the guys set off to kill their bosses. Of course things don't go as planned.
I thought the movie was hilarious! While my favorite comedies this year are still Hangover Part 2 & Paul, this runs a close third. The thing I liked best was the performances (most of them anyway). There was Jamie Foxx as I mentioned, but I loved the three main characters. They had great chemistry. Kevin Spacey & Colin Farrell (who's almost unrecognizable in this) were good too. If I had anything negative to say it would be Jennifer Anniston who plays the third boss. Her character annoyed me to no end and over the years so has she.
Anyway I would really recommend this. Will it go down in history as the best comedy ever? Probably not. But it was fun and if you need a good laugh, this is the movie for you :)
My Rating: 7.5/10
The story is about three friends (played by Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, and Jason Sudeikis) who's bosses basically make their life a living hell. One night, while having a few drinks at the bar they all agree that their lives would be much easier if their bosses were dead. They end up meeting a guy named "Mother Fucker" Jones whom they hire as their "murder consultant". Jamie Foxx plays this character brilliantly. The role is kinda small but definitely memorable. So then the guys set off to kill their bosses. Of course things don't go as planned.
I thought the movie was hilarious! While my favorite comedies this year are still Hangover Part 2 & Paul, this runs a close third. The thing I liked best was the performances (most of them anyway). There was Jamie Foxx as I mentioned, but I loved the three main characters. They had great chemistry. Kevin Spacey & Colin Farrell (who's almost unrecognizable in this) were good too. If I had anything negative to say it would be Jennifer Anniston who plays the third boss. Her character annoyed me to no end and over the years so has she.
Anyway I would really recommend this. Will it go down in history as the best comedy ever? Probably not. But it was fun and if you need a good laugh, this is the movie for you :)
My Rating: 7.5/10
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