Sorry about the delay in this post, but I took the weekend off last weekend and had minimal time/ access. Stay tuned for more on Wednesday!
Good for what they were, but didn’t have the extra “oomph”
93- Great Gatsby-The book never connected with me and neither di this film. It was, however, well acted and well produced, but, again, I didn’t care. It throws around words like love, devotion, and passion, and I didn’t buy any of it. Near the end, when Carraway is alone at the funeral, he says that he was the only one who cared. But why did he care? The movie never showed us that he cared, only that he was enthralled with Gatsby’s life, but it was a very one-sided relationship. I will however probably pick this for the art direction Oscar if it is nominated.
92- Texas Chainsaw 3D- Oh, this movie was crap, but it made me jump a few times, Daddario was good, there were moments of dread, and I liked what they tried to do with it. It didn’t work fully, but it was better than Last Exorcism 2.
91- Baggage Claim- I like watching Paula Patton in films. She is likeable and energetic. The concept of this romantic comedy is generic, but the set up makes it so that this could have been something special and turn the generic rom-com resolution on its head. But, as it get closer to the end, it slowly starts to turn and the ending is extremely disappointing by going to the exact place that any other rom com could have gone. Great ideas, great lead actress, very poor writing of the conclusion.
90- Elysium- Good action, good acting and world building, but the too-on-the-nose social commentary beat me over the head too hard to get into the actual story. Still looking forward to Blomkamp’s next film, though.
89- Oblivion- Again, very well produced film with fabulous technical achievements, and a great performance by Andrea Riseborough (and even Tom Cruise), but, when all is said and done, the twist of the film is identical to a much better film made several years ago and so Oblivion was a little bland as the credits rolled.
88- Jack the Giant Slayer- The movie starts well, dies for about 45 minutes, and then comes back to life and has a rousing finale, but, it dies and stops momentum for a little too long. The effects are good, acting and story are fine, it just could have been trimmed substantially.
87- Hatchet 3- The conclusion to the Hatchet series which is really just an excuse to have over the top violence (by using actual physical effects, not CGI) and a lot of horror movie in-jokes. The first one was fantastic! The last two have been fun, but the returns have been diminishing quickly!
86- Insidious Chapter 2- One of the things that I loved about the original Insidious is that the character played by Rose Byrne was a mom who actively tried to resolve the strange situations plaguing her family. In this one, she becomes the crying, fearful mother who does almost nothing. The change in character hurt this film greatly for me even though the tension and dread were still very well done, but it became more like a common horror film.
85- Evil Dead- Again, it was great to see a horror film use more practical effects instead of CGI. Great acting and, again, tension and dread, take a backseat to inexplicable character choices and a nonsensical script.
84- The Call- Working in a call center, the first hour of this film absolutely nailed the environment, and the tension and helplessness that an operator can feel while attempting to help a caller. Unfortunately, the man kidnapping the girl is over-the-top evil, causes too much mayhem in broad daylight and doesn’t draw attention to himself, and the finale in which Halle Berry’s 911 operator goes after the kidnapper because she knows more than her cop boyfriend, just gets too silly and drops all of the goodwill from the first hour.
83- Despicable Me 2- Admit it, take an honest look at this film. Now, take the minions out of it. You are left with a bland and generic kids film with nothing really for adults or, for that matter, laughs. This film is made entertaining purely by the minions. While I laughed very hard at some of the random jokes (an Isaac from the Love Boat reference? Really?) I was left with an overwhelming feeling of meh with the film as a whole.
82- Croods- The animation is great, it is very funny, and the story is well-meaning, but I didn’t buy it. I felt nothing as the film’s climax came and one of the character’s had to make a sacrifice. While the end of the film was never in question (no big budget family movie is going to end on a down ending), I felt no emotional attachment to the film or charcaters.
81- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2- While far from a bust, this is nowhere as good as the original. It does have an imagination that goes crazy and is infectious, some hysterical gags, but, again, by the end, I felt nothing more for the characters. The first film was one of my favorite animated films of the last few years. This will not be joining it.
80- Percy Jackson- Sea of Monsters- There is nothing really wrong with this film, but there is nothing really right about it, either. There are great cameos (Stanley Tucci and Nathan Fillion are the best) and everyone does their job, but some characters are given the short shrift to make room for a new Cyclops brother, but, again, nothing really lands emotionally. The climax was great in Atmos, but was very meh otherwise.
79- Delivery Man- While I smiled a lot, I never really laughed and that is a problem for a comedy. The actors are fine, but I was never able to allow my suspension of disbelief to take effect as I watched this film. Chris Pratt and Colbiw Smulders make the biggest impacrt, but they are minor roles.
78- This is the End- Just like most Apatow comedies, there is a lot of genius along with a lot of stupidity. This time, the stupidity takes over. I would have marked this lower, but the script does take some amazing surprising and daring paths. And Emma Watson’s cameo is priceless! “Back the f*** up!”
77- Epic- The animation is gorgeous, the sound and score are amazing, and the voices are very well done, but the plot doesn’t really make sense and that kills it for me. In the forest, growth is good and decay is bad. Okay, so, if the queen of the forest keeps everything growing, then the plants will overrun each other and will deplete the food resources very quickly which will lead to death of the plants and decay. But, wait, it can’t because the bad guys of decay were vanquished so this forest will just be overrun with too much foliage that never dies. Yes, I realize that it’s a kids movie and I need to turn my suspension iof disbelief off, but it got too far in the way for me. I can go with talking slugs, but not allow the plot to just be? I know, I know…
76- Black nativity- Good acting and intriguing songs and versions of holiday classics negate the bad melodramatic plot. Not good, not bad, it just is.
75- Runner, Runner- The plot makes no sense and I didn’t care about anyone or anything but I liked watching Justin Timberlake, Ben Affleck, Gemma Arterto, John Heard and Anthony Mackie in gorgeous island settings and a low-level crime drama. It was nothing special at all, but easily watchable.
74- Dark Skies- The opening 20 minutes could have been trimmed waaaay down into one scene to get this alien abduction movie going much quicker, but once it gets going, watch out! There are some seriously creepy moments, disturbing images, and great ideas, but the film just doesn’t quite work as a whole.
73- Incredible Burt Wonderstone- I am probably giving this much more slack than I probably should, but I was one of the target audience members for this comedy that stars Steve Carrell as a Vegas magician who is nearing the end of his reign. I laughed a lot at him, Steve Buscemi, and Jim Carrey, I loved the acting turns by Olivia Wilde and Alan Arkin and I had a good time laughing at the mocking of magicians like Copperfield and Criis Angel and others, but, if this is not an area that you enjoy, stay away.
72- Spring Breakers- Many critics are calling this an amazing indictment of the current culture of pleasure and enjoyment over common sense. I found it a slightly interesting take on the same themes and the vapidness of today’s society (see also Bling Ring) but the most interesting characters leave after the first hour and the others who were left, even James Franco’s drug dealer) never really intrigued me and I ended up not caring what happened to the main charcaters left at the finale.
71- Bling Ring- I cannot decide where to put this film. The whole point of the film is that the characters are stupid, vapid, and vain. I disliked everyone in this film because they are all stupid, vapid, and vain and I didn’t care about any of them and wanted them to get caught. However, I am sure that the emptiness is the whole point, so the film did its job. But that doesn’t mean that I liked it. Or did I?
70- Closed Circuit- I was very intrigued by this look at the Britsh legal system starring Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall, but, after the initial setup, the script lets them down., Just one example- they are afraid to take a witness to the courthouse because they know that the bad guys are hunting the witness to kill him. So, how do they get him into the courthouse safely> They go about an hour early and walk in the front door. Huh?? A very disappointing film as a whole with fabulous parts! I would highly recommend this just for the good parts, if you turn your brain off for the ridiculous plotholes.
69- Kevin hart- Let Me Explain- The first half of this stand up comedy concert film goes over the same old ‘men and women are different’ jokes as every other comedian has told for the last 30 years, however, once Hart starts telling specific stories about his kid and his horse riding adventure, I laughed quite a bit- too bad that was only in the last 25 minutes or so.
68- Oz- Great & Powerful- Again, way too long, and way too many CGI effects, but I had a great time watching this Wizard of Oz prequel with James Franco as the soon-to-be Wizard. Franco is good. Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, and Mila Kunis are great as the witches of the land and there is a very interesting climax which uses no violence. A good family film, but still too long.
67- Snitch- More of a drama than the action film that Dwayne Johnson fans expected, this was still an enjoyable character drama with great acting by Johnson and Jon Bernthal as an ex-con who helps Johnson’s character. A couple of great stunts, but just a bit too plodding and overemphasis on the same character beats hold this back a bit.
66- Out of the Furnace- This film had amazing acting, incredible tension and a great forboding sense of depression, but the story held no surprises and the characters do exactly what they would do in Screenwriting 101. Disappointing.
65- Lone Ranger- This was probably the hardest movie to rank. The film is waaay too long, the script is a mess, the acting is all over the map, but, for the 3 or 4 action sequences in this film (especially the climax) it can almost all be forgiven because they are so well done. Sadly, there is about 90 minutes or more of blahhh filmmaking to get to the good stuff.
64- Secret Life of Walter Mitty- It is a gorgeous film, very well filmed and made, but while many of my customers at the theater and friends on Facebook are enthusiastic about how amazing the film was and how it is absolutely inspiring, and life changing, I just have to shrug my shoulders and agree that it was good, but nothing special in my eyes. Although the Karaoke bar in Iceland was very funny.
63- Wolf of Wall Street- Yes, it is over-the-top. Yes, it is crude from the very opening moments. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, and Margot Robbie are amazing to watch (along with Matthew Mccaughnahey in a 10 minute cameo), and there are some absolutely hysterical scenes of excess and the effects of drugs, but, after 3 hours, I had not learned anything about the characters or the situations other than what was there at face value. Too long with no heart or soul. But again, I think that was the point.
62- Anchorman 2- This is just as silly, dumb, and pointless as the original. And I laughed quite often. It is, again, too long, goes off on random tangents, and has stretches without laughs, but better than most comedy sequels. The Battle Royale finale is packed with cameos and is very funny.
61- Carrie- Chloe Grace Moretz is spectacular as Carrie, but her amazing screen presence is still hard to suppress at the beginning when she is supposed to be the ultimate wallflower. Julianne Moore is crazily good as her overly religious mother, Judy Greer adds a great dramatic turn as carrie’s school counselor, and the young actors playing the kids trying to help Carrie and bully Carrie do their jobs well, but the question remains- why remake this film? Sadly, I could not find much reason to watch this one over the original, if you’re only going to watch one.
60- Room 237- This is a documentary that follows several theories as to what Stanley Kubrick actually had in mind as subtext when he was making The Shining. This is fascinating on many levels, and just crazy and insane on others (In one of the theories, The Shining proves that Kubrick was the director who faked the footage of America landing on the moon. In another, The Shining is all about the destruction of American Indians.) Since it just has the audio interviews and minimal footage other than the film, it is boring visually as it shows the same scenes from The Shining over and over and over and over again, but still is fascinating on its own level.
59- Kick Ass 2- Chloe Grace Moretz is fabulous again and there are some great bits from Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jim Carrey, and others, but Aaron Johnson as the lead is still a little bland. I really enjoyed watching this but there was no new point to be made in making the sequel, as fun as it was.
58- Broken City- This is a modern film noir that does nothing new with the format as it shows that corruption in big city politics can go all the way to the top. Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Alona Tal do a great job and the tension is held well, but there are no real surprises.
57- Company You Keep- An all star cast (no joke! Robert Redford, Susan Sarandon, Shia LaBoeuf, Anna Kendrick, Chris Cooper, Nick Nolte, and many, many more) elevate the story of a newspaper reporter on the trail of a man who has been a fugitive and living under another name for 35 years and why he finally decides to make a run for it. This is acting class 101, but again, the story does really nothing new or interesting with its ideas.
