Sunday, March 30, 2014
Sabotage
Critics hated this movie but I got my money's worth and more.
The money's worth:
- I wanted to see a movie Directed by David Ayer (End of Watch, Training Days, Harsh Times) with gore, blood, guts, and no holding back to be politically correct. I got that in this movie in SPADES.
- The movie included a great cast of actors: Mireille Enos,Terrence Howard, Josh Holloway, Sam Worthington, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Breacher. Enos steals the movie with a display of talent that we have not seen in her prior performances. Her acting alone is worth the price of admission.
The More:
- This is Arnold's best performance since his comeback. He acts like a normal dude that still works out to keep in shape, goes too work wearing ill fitting off the rack suits, and has worked many years but is still behind the 8 ball.
Yes, the script was weak but I praise the movie for trying to portray Arnold in a different light and Ayer's bold direction.
Verdict:
Most surprising action movie so far this year.
The Single Mom's Club
The problem with this movie is that you can now see the same subject matter and a better story on cable.
When five struggling single moms put aside their differences to form a support group, they find inspiration and laughter in their new sisterhood, and help each other overcome the obstacles that stand in their way.
Tyler Perry ripped a page from First Wives Club and put a decent cast of actresses together. The issue is that everything falls into place as you will predict, which makes this movie ho hum.
Verdict:
Blink and it will be on VOD. For family drama check out Being Mary Jane on BET with Gabrielle Union, it is better than this and it's free if you already have cable.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Muppets Most Wanted
This 2nd Muppet movie of this generation is not as good as The Muppets 2011 movie. The songs are not as good and the story has some slow parts.
While on a grand world tour, The Muppets find themselves wrapped into an European jewel-heist caper headed by a Kermit the Frog look-alike and his dastardly sidekick.
Ricky Gervais is good but it's Tina Fey that steals the show.
Tons of cameo which includes Machete, Danny Trejo as a prisoner.
Verdict:
Kids will LOVE IT. Adults, not so much.
Need for Speed
Everyone who was a Breaking Bad fan couldn't wait to see Jessie, Aaron Paul, latest work.
Need for Speed is about Paul, a street racer coming straight from prison who was framed by a wealthy business associate. He joins a cross country race with revenge in mind. His ex-partner, learning of the plan, places a massive bounty on his head as the race begins. Blah, Blah, Blah.
Forget all that, the star of the movie is the cars and how the stunts were done without CGI effects.
I watched this movie in 3D and it did enhance the action scenes. Dominic Cooper who is the bad guy is a good actor but he pretty much acts the same way in every movie he is in.Hopefully we can see him stretch himself in the future.
Verdict:
Not on the same level as Fast and Furious so I don't anticipate a Need for Speed 2.
300: Rise of an Empire
I was looking forward to this sequel since 300 was such a great movie. The sorely missing element however was Gerard Butler.
The story is about the Greek general Themistokles, played bySullivan Stapleton , who leads the charge against invading Persian forces led by mortal-turned-god Xerxes and Artemisia, vengeful commander of the Persian navy.
Sullivan is no Gerard Butler and he does not fill the gap. It's great that they brought Xerxes back , played by Rodrigo Santoro, but his role is limited.
Verdict:
I watched the original 300 probably 20 times, you will not want to watch this again.
Non-Stop
Yes there will be a Taken 3 and Liam is rumoured to have received $30M for it. Taken 2 was not that great because the terror was some old dude who was not scary enough. You need a good bad guy and in No-Stop you are trying to figure out who the bad guy or girl is.
An air marshal, Liam Neesom, springs into action during a transatlantic flight after receiving a series of text messages that put his fellow passengers at risk unless the airline transfers $150 million into an off-shore account.
Liam plays the loner who is down on his luck and no one believes him. If you like these type of movies, then you will love Non-Stop.
It's interesting to see Michelle Dockery from Downton Abbey play a flight attendant. New Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong'o is also in a trow away role as a flight attendant.
The only reason to watch the film is for Liam.
Verdict:
Good but not a s good as Taken 1.
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Dallas Buyers Club
I think Matthew McConaughey is a great actor but I don't think he should have won an Oscar for this picture.
The story is set in 1985 Dallas, An electrician and hustler Ron Woodroof (played by McConaughey) works around the system to help AIDS patients get the medication they need after he is himself diagnosed with the disease.
This was a true story and McConaughey does a great job of not only losing weight but conveying this tragic story.
My problem with the performance was that it was not Woodroof that I believed was on the screen, it was a skinny McConaughey. He was using all of his acting skills from prior performances. His unmistaken swagger was all over the screen. It was hard not to think it was a skinny McConaughey instead of Woodroof. Whereas Jared Leto, missing for years from the screen, brings zero baggage to the role and steals the movie.
America likes a comeback so thats why McConaughey won. Leonardo Di Caprio was also nominated but gave a better performance in Wolfs of Wall Street. You believed Leo was Jordan Belfort, the man he played in Wolfs.
Verdict:
This was a Lifetime movie, you have seen it and it's been done before. McConaughey gives an award winning performance in HBO's True Detective. Skip this, watch that.
The Lego Movie
I didn't expect much when I went to see this movie. I didn't play with Lego's as a kid and I was surprised how many adults were in the theater without any kids.
The movie films actual Lego toys in action. The story is about an ordinary LEGO minifigure, mistakenly thought to be the extraordinary MasterBuilder, is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil LEGO tyrant from gluing the universe together.
I was surprised how much I enjoyed this movie. It was different and has lots of adult humour.
Verdict:
Best movie I have seen that has been targeted towards kids but also enjoyable for adults.
Anchorman 2 - Extended Cut
I didn't think Anchorman 1 was great, too me it was just ok.
Anchorman 2 is a way better film.
With the 70s behind him, San Diego's top rated newsman, Ron Burgundy played again by Will Ferrell, returns to take New York's first 24-hour news channel by storm.
Same cast returns and the movie has some very funny scenes.
Many people didn't like this movie but I never understood why there needed to be a squeal.
I am a HUGE Will Ferrell fan and if you are not then this movie is not for you.
Verdict:
Extended Cut was not much better than the original cut. Wait for it to be on cable.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
About Last Night & Ride Along
I have been really lazy lately and I have been watching movies but not posting reviews. Sorry!
If you don't already know, Kevin Hart is the new Chris Rock. Both of these movies would have failed if it was not for his crazy energy and just being Kevin Hart.
Ride Along was a buddy cop flick with a very weak premise. There were a few chuckles but whenever Hart was in a scene he nailed it.
Verdict:
Just okay.
About Last Night was a remake of the eighties movie that stared Rob Lowe and Demi Moore.
Situation was updated to present day and Kevin Hart played the BFF that knew all about how to deal with women.
Verdict:
Again, Just okay butif you are a Kevin Hart fan both are a Must See. He''s now "A List"
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
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