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Space Station 76 (2014)
Almost Convinced Out of Watching it...
This film was excellent in my opinion. I loved the jabs at the 70's, I didn't find them cliché at all. There was absolutely no slapstick comedy in the entire film. Unless were talking about the high end of slapstick, I really don't enjoy that style of comedy. I also like black comedy a bit, and I guess you could say this was close to a black comedy.
The plot involves around the drama of a new co-captain arriving, who is a woman, Liv Tyler. The story unfolds from there mixing in a futuristic, but yet so backwards in the 70's feel. As social problems haven't much changed since the 70's. We can find this humorous because we live in the year 2014.
Anyways take a look if your in a calm relaxing mood, for a light but highly intelligent 'thinkers' comedy, not much else can be said without spoiling the suspension and comedy of the film.
Jobs (2013)
Entertaining Film, albeit controversial and most likely fictional...
First of all, if your here reading this review, then don't. Watch the film! You will like it if you have the brain capacity to actually come search for reviews. Most of the reviews I've read have been giving one stars for the man, the real non-fictional Steve Jobs and what he is. Or even more superficial, just giving the film bad stars because they hate the apple craze. That being said, let me tell you what makes this film worth watching.
1. A truthful insight into why Jobs was successful, in my opinion utterly portraying him as a sell-out, and a very not nice person. (I would elaborate on that except for the censor) 2. A good story that takes you from beginning to end, showing you the ups and downs of business ownership. Although the end could have been better, it didn't actually tie into the future beginning, so there is some time-continuum problems with the story. (loss of a star for that) 3. Ashton Kutcher was pretty good, not exceptional, but got the job done. Also to be fair, he does actually look like the younger hipster jobs.
4. I learned a lot of stuff in this movie about Jobs that I never knew before! I won't spoil all that, but mostly what I learned what is in the first half of the movie.
That's it, check it out for a nice 7/10 flick, but I would pass on paying money to see it.
Cloud Atlas (2012)
Several Interesting Movies Rolled into One
If your like me, you've read some plot details and say to yourself "this is crap." I was like that for a long time, until my wife put on some previews and I saw there were some futuristic scenes! Very reminiscent of the 'air bikes' of the movie "The Island." So I gave it watch, oh man.. the first 10 minutes I was ready to turn it off. They just threw us into the water with several stories flowing at the same time. It was a mess to make sense of. After I got acquainted with the characters, I tried to understand it, to try and predict where the story was going. Needless to say, the movie kept me hooked from then on out.
The character stories were great, but most of the stories do allude to other works of art (novels and movies) like "One Flew over the Cookoo's Next", Soylent Green references, and then other plot devices where just generic ideas. Like the 'primitive future.' All in all I was hooked, but for me I felt that some pieces could have been developed more. Hey, I stuck it out for 2 hours, give me some closure! More closure could have upped to a 9. Also I had a real bad time understanding the futuristic pidgin English, some subtitles would have been nice.
Spring Breakers (2012)
Not What you think, very art-house!
Wow James Franco, your nuts man! I thought this film was going to be fun, no no no, it was dark, sad, real look at what it means to be generation X. Like 'Kids' films rarely give a real look at what it means to be young. Trust me, this is real life, this is like reality TV. We have 'girls gone wild', we have warring gangsters, an we have people like James Franco out there that can barely speak English.
The soundtrack, the mind eviscerating images and colors, and James Franco really did it for me. Selena Gomez was also a very believable in her role. Well the other chicks, straight up crazy! I think most people will dislike this movie, it doesn't cater to many people. It is an art-house film for the young generation. And just like in the movie, the young generation most likely doesn't care about art-house films!
42 (2013)
A solid 7, but somehow cliché, Baseball Movies should retire!
We have seen just so many baseball films come out, like Major League with Charlie Sheen, or Babe, and countless others. Although this covers new ground with the element of racism, the plot is altogether too familiar to get past a 7 for entertainment value.
I really enjoyed Harrison Ford's speeches, but in a nutshell the plot is just too simple. A black man joins the major leagues for the first time, plays good, some white people angry, and he sticks it through. Sure there were some side plots, especially near the beginning, but they have been unnecessary. What this film needed was some good old formulaic tension on the baseball field. Sure they gave us glimpses, but we need a whole game. Like in Major League where in the end they have to play a long final game. I thought this movie was going to go there, but no, they just cut to the credits and gave us some interesting history.
Anyways, quality film, but there are much more entertaining baseball films out there. This film could have been much darker, and I think by sugar coating the struggle of Jackie Robinson they eluded an 8 or a 9 rating.
Jack the Giant Slayer (2013)
Not Quite PG, but a good Family Fun Movie
I'm a full grown adult, and I watched this fun and action packed fantasy film enjoying every minute. We all the know the story, but you haven't seen it like this! Even the CGI Giants looked real, perhaps they were actors in a blue room like in Avatar? Not sure, but the fantasy world looked very real! (well not like real life, but real for a fantasy world).
I think all the actors really put on a good show for this fantasy film, the King was just as over the top as the King in "Meatballs," Jack was a stereotypical farmboy who had all the right moves. The princess just wanted to escape the pressure of royalty and run off and enjoy the poor people's lifestyle. Giants, well the giants just wanted to eat people of course! What I think is really good about this film, is that you really can't predict what will happen next, the director takes advantage of the fact that you know the story, and that you think you will know what will happen, and then turns everything around. Except for a few stabbings and slashing, and Giants eating people's heads off it was a PG film. Although with the youth today so desensitized to violence, perhaps this is what a real 2013 PG film looks like.
Check it out, even if your put off by the fantasy children's story plot device.
Olympus Has Fallen (2013)
The Serious Parallel Movie of White House Down
I didn't see this in the theaters, after all they marketed like Morgan Freeman was a main character, very reminiscent of Deep Impact. However, don't be fooled. Gerald Butler is the star of this show, and Gerald Butler's tired eyes 18 month after 'the incident' deserve whatever award for awarding actors with great performances that portray reality.
Like Deep Impact and Armageddon in 1998, this has a parallel plot movie "White House Down" with Channum Tating starring as the hero. I've seen both, and I enjoyed both. Although the plot, scenery, weapons, setup, and other details remain the same, Gerald Butler played it serious all the way through. Channum Tating and Jamie Foxx however lived it up, having a good ole time kicking ass. Gerald Butler is the new Bruce Willis from Die Hard, who is having a rough time with the wife and calls her during the crisis with a hard tone in the voice.
This movie and White House Down are both 7's, definitely both worth seeing, if you liked one you'll like the other. If you want to take the plot of taking over the white house seriously, perhaps this one is closer to reality. However if you want some action comedy go for White House Down. Better yet see both!
White House Down (2013)
Nice Action Comedy, Not in any way Action Reality
Had to come review this film, because it was actually really fun to watch! It's not my normal cup of tea, but I grew up on action comedies, the kind that are fun to watch once, but not to revisit. (because they are very superficial) I think all the roles were spot-on. Channum Tating seems like he would be just like that in real life. Now Jamie Fox as the president is a long shot, but the humorous parts really worked because it was Jamie! Nobody else could have reached for those tennis shoes and made us laugh like that.
Good rapport between the actors, good high budget action scenes, and some very clever comedy like doughnuts on the white house lawn were thrilling. Especially enjoyed the over the top action sequences, real life would have made this movie boring, but the outrageousness kept me engaged. A solid 7/10, generally above average for an action comedy.
The Wolverine (2013)
Some Good Action, Some Good Drama, Not Enough Details to Care
I feel like somewhere there exists a really good script for this movie. Perhaps in the comics? I'm not a comic fan, in fact I've never read any comics at all. But I still love films based on comics.
Only two parts of the movie were good in my opinion. First is Hugh "Caveman Hugh" , or Logan have a little marking territory squabble with a bear. Hiliarous! Come 30 minute later he is slashing it up with some bad guys on a 300 mph bullet train. Awesome concept, I think a first in cinema.
Everything else was either bland or unexplained. For example the last action scene was extremely bland. It was not thrilling or suspenseful at all, because hey "We've seen the previews" , we know the bad guys won't beat him because he has to fight the super metal soldier later.
The unexplained stuff, is the the red haired girls relationship with the villain girl. It seemed like the director showed her knowing more with her looks in the beginning. But in the end they just make her to be innocent. Also what the story between the Logan and Mariko, the story between Mariko and her ex-by archery guy, the really messed up family dynamic. The relationship between the father and the archery guy... everything seems like it is linked somehow, but nothing was really explained well. A lot of possible drama in there with an interesting story, however they just gave us glimpses of it.
21 & Over (2013)
How did this even make it into the theaters?
Where do I even start with describing the faults in this film. First, I'll give the film only 4 stars, it at least earned them because I finished watching the entire film (in two viewings) and because I smiled a few times.
That being said, I saw the preview for this movie, and all in all it seemed a lot more watchable. For starters it is produced by Virgin Media, so that seemed like a bottom-up approach to this crazy comedy genre. But no, let's just assume that Virgin Media won't be producing anything innovative to films. Also So the problems... I don't have faults with any of the Hangover movies, Superbad, End of the World, Project X, Harold & Kumar movies, etc. All of the humor in those films was funny, not out of line, and extremely innovative to create and perfect the 'one crazy night' comedy genre. However, 21 and over is not that. All of the crazy scenes just seem so bland. I mean throwing 'Jeff Chang' (the Asian) out of a window two times? Not funny at all. Having a bull stampede a few douchebags? Just not funny. Things that could have been funny are just not funny in this film.
More than that, the gun humor was just not humorous and actually felt out of line. Let me tell you this, If I have enough free brain power to consider that some comedic action is 'out of line' than you are not entertaining me! Basically in a nutshell: horrible, not funny amateur actors, stupid cliché stereotypes that were even ripped off from other films (stole a scene from Harold and Kumar with the Asian joke) and just a bad script. Even great comedians couldn't have saved this pile of doo doo. Well perhaps Jim Carrey, but that is the only guy who could have saved this script!
The Jungle (2013)
Slow starting but ultimately watchable low budget scary film...
This movie had a cast of four main characters, and only 4 extras I believe. The movie started off horribly slow, almost to the point of turning it off. But a previous reviewer praised the producer or director who did "The Reef." I enjoyed "The Reef" so I knew what to expect. However for some reason I remember "The Reef" as being a little bit more enjoyable to watch.
About 2/3 into the film it really picks up. I'm excited to see the arrogant westerner succumb to the evil forest spirit the native warned about. But instead we aren't rewarded with that, we are just rewarded with 4 quick deaths and a quick glimpse of... Well, I have no idea what that was. Basically it looked like one of those ape-men at the circus who have hair growing all over their faces and body.
Basically this film could have been much better with a little bit more time and money. First, condense the intro, or just let us figure it out as we go. No need to show the hometown, the wife, the stupid 'lost footage' filler. Next, develop the local scenery more before entering the jungle. Here you guys are in the beautiful jungles of Indo and you can't even show us a flower, a lizard, or any other signs of the ecoforest there? What a lost opportunity for low budget filler. Show us the natural "Avatar' scenery. Next, give the main westerner protagonist's reason some real grounding. Instead of a ghostly supernatural scary man, just make it a giant beast! A super sized leopard would be ultimately more believable than a 'werewolf.' For a little ending filler, have one of the guys survive to walk out with his life changed forever. A change, a new understanding of the world. This would leave room for a low budget sequel as well.
In summary how these guys did it, leaves a sour taste for a second viewing. A cheap thrill, an easy one night stand to be forgotten.
Now You See Me (2013)
Riveting, Intricate, Almost a 9 Star Movie
I just couldn't predict what was going to happen next, and the movie was told in linear time with a lot of detail. What a great movie! If it wasn't for the ending, I could have given it a 9. It just felt like I wanted something a little bit more spectacular for closure, hell aliens pulling the strings would have been better than ruining the character development of the cop. So many different endings could have been possible, and although this one did provide closure, and logically explained itself, it was more of an afterthought. Although we got closure on the 'mastermind,' it would have been nice to get closure on the 4 main characters that we loved throughout the whole film. Why build them up so much, just to make them disappear on a carousel? Woody's performance was brilliant and likable, Jesse Eisenberg also portrayed his role very well. The cop for the most part played his role well, so well that it just made the ending that much more nonsensical.
After Earth (2013)
Why oh Why did no one cancel this project in it's tracks?
Without featuring Jaden and Will Smith this film could have been a solid 5 or 6 perhaps. Certain basic concepts like 'an earth that has been abandoned and evolved into a dangerous place' have promise. Because it is true, the earth is a dangerous place without the presence of humans. But why, where is the background story? There was a brief intro that basically states, hey we are at war with aliens. But I just don't get it, and why didn't the director, Will Smith, or anybody producing this film stop and ask the difficult questions? Who in their right mind, said: "The audience won't care about the plot holes." Well guess what, sci-fi fans depend on details, we like the complexity of deep thoughts. This at best could have been a sci-fi, because their wasn't that much action, it was slow moving at a snail's pace. The whole movie basically was a 2 mile round trip hike.... ooooh, so exciting! If I was producing this show, I would have fixed the background story, cast an older teen with a more mature dyanmic with his father. What 10 year old kid becomes a future day marine? Even the movie stated the kid is not ready, so in real life as well as in the story's life, Jaden is nowhere near ready to take on the role. God, I really cringed at every dialogue he made. What kid is that stupid! AT that age the kid should have been hinging on every word his father said, not lying and ignoring his father at every opportunity. This film was an expression of Will Smith, but films need to be managed by a leader, the director! Hey Will Smith, stay out of the directors and producers way next time!