This Is The End 7.5/10 This movie is unlike just about anything else you will see. Actors playing themselves - or at least riffing on what they imagine their public personas to be - in a stereotypical coke-and-booze-fueled Hollywood house party, when oh yeah the end of the world just happens to happen. Which of course you knew already if you have seen any of the trailers. It's an extremely funny movie. Yes, very funny. I just never have quite understood what happens to genuinely funny people in Hollywood, in that they seem to begin to believe that anything and everything having to do with a penis is *SO AMAZINGLY SHOCKING AND FUNNY*. Especially if it's really big, and if we can get one that is absolutely giant, and maybe made of lava, that's even better. The only shocking thing would have been if they had skipped the gratuitous penis humor. But oh well. Also, lest anyone confuse this masterpiece with some sort of theological treatise, just be aware, it's not. As edgy as they try to appear to be, they all fall back into the 'safe' politically-correct nonsense which insists that 'if you're good, you will go to Heaven'.. which, as far as I know, no single religion in history has ever asserted. There is just more to it than that, but they can't bring themselves to face such a question in the movie, so points off for that. If you like gross vulgar humor, insane cameos, and questionable theology all mixed together, then you will enjoy this one.
The Purge - 6/10 Like most have said, very predictible. And if the son in the movie was mine, I would have pruged his ass.
bumping this thread: I watched the midnight premier of Superman. I thought it was a great watch, I was sweating my balls off (although that might have been because the theater was kind of hot), but the action was superb. There are some cheesy moments, but it has nice special effects. Definitely worth the money. There were some funny moments, but definitely few and far between and should not be confused with a comedy movie. I hope yall enjoy it! 8/10 Plus, The 300 part II is coming out soon
Broken City - 7 out of 10. I like a lot of Mark Walhberg films and this one seems to have been written for him. I won't talk about the plot since it has twists but enough violence, swearing and one really choice scene to merit the R-rating. Good cast, with Wahlberg, Russell crowe with a really bad haircut, and catherine Zeta Jones handing out the canvcer. The highlights of the film... Natalie Martinez (smoking hot, esp in the aforementioned choice scene) and Alona Tal looking all young and on the verge.
Wow. Maybe it got better but I had to turn it off 20 minutes into the movie. I love the actors but they weren't coming off wel, the plot seemed porous and the writing/dialogue was terrible. Cloud Atlas - finally got a chance to see it. Hard to rate really but I would give it an 8. I really enjoyed it but I get why some could hate it.
Is the rating 1-10 or 0-10? Either way, I'm watching Hansel and Gretel right now... quite possibly one of the worst movies I sat through in quite some time.
Charles Bradley: Soul of America One of the more improbable stories in recent music history. I first heard about him a few months prior to this past SXSW in Austin. I ended up getting to see him perform at a Rolling Stone private party and he stole the show. The documentary is pretty good. You can find it on the torrents. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cvnqcwZF270" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Safe Haven 6/10 Ok, I watched it with my girlfriend cuddled in my arms, so just chill. It was one of those typical 'chick-flick' movies, which I rarely watch. She wanted to watch it, because it reminded her of 'The Notebook', which I never saw, so I can't tell you anything about that. But this movie: Well, it was ok. To be honest, I thought it could have been a lot better - the story was actually a fairly good one - but a few things brought it down. Number one was Julianne Hough. Yes, she is adorable, pretty, all of that.. and during the whole movie, I felt like I was watching a young Ashley Judd. The problem is, the girl just doesn't have enough serious acting experience yet to be able to pull off the emotional range necessary to make her role work. Her character is essentially a terrorized and abused woman on the run and desperately wanting to disappear and never be found by her drunk abusive cop husband. There were several moments in the movie which literally cried out for her to show something, anything in her face which would reflect the seriousness or the devastation of something that just happened.. but.. nothing. Literally, just nothing. She wasn't HORRIBLE, but she just doesn't have the range. Not yet anyway. Maybe with some coaching.. I mean, she is cute, and she looked good in a bikini, so I am crossing my fingers. Josh Duhamel was fine as the love interest, and the psycho drunk cop abusive husband seemed like someone told whoever the actor playing him to 'just be Ray Liotta', and he said, ok. Whatever. So the story was ok. This on-the-run girl decides to settle into this middle-of-nowhere coastal bus-stop town, and slowly begins to fall for the local general-store owner. All very sweet. And slowly but surely the abusive husband she is hiding from is closing in on her. It could have been dramatic, even thrilling. But it wasn't. But that's ok, the chicks are not watching a chick flick for thrills and drama, they watch it to go ooh and ahh when they girl gets the guy, and she does. But here is the thing which really just made my jaw drop. Cobie Smulders is also in this movie. Spoiler warning: Imagine if someone in a planning meeting for making this movie said... or, wait, let me check that, this is from a novel right? Maybe the novel's author wrote it this way, so maybe it was the author who though this brilliant thing up.. but anyway, at some point, SOMEONE said something like 'Hey, wouldn't it be cool if someone made one of these chicks flicks, but it was directed by M Night Shamalanahan? There could be a cool twist at the end! Yeah. There's a Shamaramalam twist at the end. Cobie Smulders is the girl's neighbor. The on-the-run (calling herself 'Katie') girl has rented a house out in the woods, and one day comes home to find Smulders looking in her window. She introduces herself as the neighbor somewhere vague down the road somewhere. At first, Katie is put off by this, but eventually the two girls become fast friends. Hanging out at Katie's house, sharing girl time, probably painting each others' toes, all of that. Just a couple of cool potentially-bisexual chicks hanging out. Won't go into the boring details, but.. but then, at the end, I kid you not, Smulders turns out to have been a ghost. Yes. Just like in 6th Sense. Why? No reason. Just because someone at some point thought it would be cool. It came so out of left field, and was so completely out of place in this movie, I couldn't believe it. Turns out Smulders was the guy's former wife, who died of cancer some years ago, and who was apparently watching over him to make sure he found love again. Whatever. The movie didn't need it, it was just plain silly. Oh well. If you have a girlfriend who makes you watch the occasional chick flick, you will survive this one ok. (but you WILL want to punch the kid who plays the guy's son in the face. Repeatedly.) But keep your eyes peeled for Smulders and try to see if there is anything that foreshadows her ghostiness. (there WAS one moment, in a dream, but that was it, and it was right at the end anyway). So, there you go. I watched it, so you don't have to. But it was... ok.
Man of Steel: 8.75/10 Solid movie, great action, a little too long, some cheesy stuff, but c'mon it's a summer blockbuster... Guilt Trip: 6/10, wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, made me laugh at times Moonrise Kingdom: 9/10, great movie, smart, quirky and everyone is great in it
Moonrise Kingdom - 9/10 - Quirky and poignant, just how I like it. And the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous.
Man Of Steel: 7/10 I enjoyed the opening scenes on Krypton as well the childhood story. However, endless CGI explosions and fights made this boring. I kept looking at my watch towards the end. Since the Dark Knight Trilogy, I haven't seen any superhero with a 'serious tone' to it. This felt like a continuation of the Thor, Captain America, and others. I would've given this a 6/10 for the plot inconsistencies, but the solid special effects and its status as a summer blockbuster/superhero movie earns it one point more. Also, the IMAX 2D theater where I saw this had improperly calibrated speakers. Making every channel overly loud ruins the experience, especially a hot center which kept crackling and humming.
man of steel 7.5/10 First 30-40 minutes had a Nolan movie feeling. Last 20 minutes had a Michael Bay movie feeling..
The Purge 4/10 I thought the premise of the film was interesting, but that was it. 30 minutes in, you're in a bad mood because you hate every single character. The Place Beyond The Pines 7/10 I honestly didn't know much about the movie other than the actors involved (Bradley Cooper, Ryan Gosling). I was surprised by the direction the movie went. I did have that "Wait, what was this movie about?" feeling after, though. Man of Steel 7.5/10 The action scenes were cool. Movie seemed to wedge in a lot of history, but I suppose that's a good thing. World War Z 7.5/10 Some good tense moments. I enjoyed it.
I give it a 7/10 as well. Like you said, pretty solid. Some of the action scenes were annoying in that they were so shaky you had no idea what was going on. The Purge: 5/10. Loved the concept of the it, I just knew what was gonna happen 30 minutes into the movie. Most of the actors were annoying too.
