Since I haven't posted about my life lately, I thought I'd do a small update. :)
Other than work, Aquarium report (it lingers!), the pets, movies, and nail polish, life is pretty much the same. Reading and Harry Potter have sort of felt abandonment issues given my new found love in nail polish and movies/tv shows. Right now, it's mostly just nail polish and movies since TV shows have tapered off and I'm waiting for the summer shows to kick in.
I can actually say, of all the nail polishes I own -- I own quite a few and will never say on here how many I have -- that I have used EVERY single polish I own! It was a crazy few days of swatching (think of a paint "swatch" when you're trying to figure out what color to paint your house/room in as to what "nail swatching" is) and smelling fumes (admittedly, I don't smell/remember nail polish fumes much anymore), but I did it! I'm quite proud of myself because I never liked having so many untried polishes and now I can say I've tried them all! It's a matter of keeping up with them now, which isn't a big deal. I also found a great combo for chunky glitters to make them smooth. So, in the nail department, I'm a rather happy camper. :)
Work is going okay. We've had our employee drama and, for the most part, it's calmed down some. We have some minor issues here-and-there, but it's pretty good. One of our favorite employees left us for another job the other day so we're trying to get into the swing of our new employee (who happens to be a friend of the employee who left). Work is still showing me quite the personal look at consumerism. I still buy the odd-ball item that I just think is an amazing deal, but you definitely learn what is considered a "good deal" and what is actually "unique" while working here. I will say, for as much plasticware as companies create and the amount people donate, no one wants to buy it even if it's super, super cheap. Glassware (pyrex for example) and metalware (tin pans, etc) sell far better, which makes you wonder why plastic has been so popular!
I did, I can say, update my "books coming out" list last night and found out one of my favorite childhood authors (Robin Jones Gunn) had new books involving the Christy Miller world that I TOTALLY missed somehow! They were snuck in somehow without me knowing late last year...At any rate, read the last Katie book last night (read it in 3.5 hours...) and I loved it. It was a good ending and I'm hoping she'll continue Katie's adventures because I can see there being PLENTY more adventures there. Sierra's book I haven't read and she wrote another book that is, pretty much, standalone, but it has Todd's dad in it! Yes, oh yes, I do need to read those two. End of summer/fall is the best time of the year for books this year for me. It was last year too.
With that said...Pets are good. Having to re-potty train the rabbits because we were really bad with changing their box so they unpottytrained themselves. At least re-potty training isn't too bad, but their rug and old blanket both had to go since they pee'd all over it. We bought them a new blanket from Goodwill and have to figure out how to redo their pen situation since we want to utilize the cubes and take up less space with them, but the cubes can't support the pen on top and aren't strong upon to be on top of the pen either. Conundrums...
TV show this summer I'm looking forward to Suits! Yes! I'm hoping it can keep up its momentum because I really enjoyed it last summer and it's rewatchable worthy (i.e., DVD buying worthy). I will get season 1 eventually...I'm currently rewatching all of Numb3rs, which I haven't done in a little over a year (I tend to rewatch it every year or so). I also want to buy season 1 of Once Upon a Time. That season finale BLEW my mind away. Did NOT see that coming, but I also wasn't reading interviews either so I was totally in the dark. Excellent show and Mr. Gold/Rumpelstiltskin is by far my favorite character.
With that...On to movies! I've been watching a lot of "not on my radar" movies lately. These will help me make my goal...Because they're on my radar, they'll mostly be PG-13 action/suspense films.
Men in Black 3 (Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin) - It's a decent film. I can't say it's fantastic and it's not as good as the first one (a film sequel rarely is!), but I enjoyed it. Brolin made an interesting young Agent K. You still don't learn a whole lot about why K is the way he is, but you did have a small insight into Agent J's father. The bad guy was okay. You wish the movie was a little funnier, though. It falls a little flat like there should have been laughs where there just weren't any. I liked the film, but would probably recommend a movie rental for most people. Grade: B-/C+
Rampart (Woody Harrelson) - I got this just because Harrelson was in it and I was looking for something to watch. I sporadically watched it so this review is probably not reliable, but it is a drama and, mostly, chronicles the trouble that Harrelsons's character (a cop) gets into. He has sex with a lot of random women, is distant with his two daughters, uses police brutality to get people to confess and even, "the big problem," is caught on film beating a man. It's a rather downer of a film, but you do learn whether he did really "commit" a crime he is nicknamed for. It's good acting and it's nice to see Harrelson in a more "serious" role than the ones I've seen him in recently, but it's not the typical film I'd normally enjoy watching. Grade: C
Contraband (Mark Wahlberg) - Finding a film to watch, again, this one was kind of interesting in the fact Wahlberg's character is a top-notch smuggler. His wife's nephew or brother-in-law or something gets into trouble (lost several hundred thousand dollars worth of drugs) and he's threatened and Wahlberg's family is also threatened if they can't come up with the money to replace the drugs. Wahlberg who used to smuggle stuff in all the time (fake cash for instance) is out of the game to protect his family, but decides to take on a job to get the money to protect his family. The story unfolds in two parts: 1) Wahlberg trying to get the stuff to smuggle and is on a cargo ship to central America and 2) Wahlberg's family back home and the "thugs" and "best friend" interacting with them. Movie is sort of bland in the middle and kind of picks up towards the end when you figure out who is behind the threats to his family and how he got his "goods" (counterfeit money) into the country after his ship was searched. My normal type of "fluff action," albeit the topic isn't one I normally gravitate towards. Grade: C+
Gone (Amanda Seyfried) - Sort of a suspense thriller (or maybe it was supposed to be?). Basically Seyfried's character was kidnapped, but no one believes her. Her sister disappears and she's convinced it was the same man who kidnapped her and goes to the police and they don't believe her. So she heads out on the hunt to find the man who kidnapped her sister. It winds around and up and down and gets to the end. It's a somewhat interesting end, but nothing surprising. It was not that great. Grade: C-/D+
Man on a Ledge (Sam Worthington) - Having seen the trailer for it more times than I wanted to, I had to watch it just to see what happened. It's actually a little more interesting than I suspected. I thought it would be more man on the ledge trying to proclaim his innocence and then it'd flashback to what happened, but...it actually was more flashback, man on ledge proclaiming innocence, while, at the same time, a break in is occurring to prove his innocence. The cast was really kind of funny as I kept ticking off all the movies/TV shows I've seen them all in recently (a lot of B actors). It was more enjoyable than I thought it was going to be (did induce some palm sweating), but it still wasn't great. Grade: C
Up to 46 movies now! Snow White and the Huntsman comes out Friday, Brave June 22nd, and I've got 6 films coming out in June I want to see on DVD. So...54 movies by end of June? Maybe. :)
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
2 months is a little long to post...
I thought the last post was a huge movie backlog, but this one is just ridiculous! It's practically half the movies I've seen this year. I have more-or-less caught up on all my fall movies I wanted to see (most of this list). Now it's that awkward wait for the summer movies to come out. The Avengers certainly kicked off the summer movies and boy, oh boy, did it kick the summer off!
With that said...Movies! They're going to be short reviews, unless I have something to really say given there are so many of them...
Mirror, Mirror (Julia Roberts, Lily Collins) - Clever portrayal of the dwarves, but the movie is definitely more a comedy than an action/adventure film. So, basically, don't take it seriously. Roberts nails drove me nuts through it because it was some sort of silver chrome and then they changed it at the end. I was trying to see what it was each time! I enjoyed it, but it did leave a feeling of "weird" and "bizarre" when I finished watching it. Grade: B/B-
Hunger Games (Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson) - There were some minor things I didn't like that they changed (e.g., where she got the Mockingjay pin from and its importance), but I overall really enjoyed the film. I didn't cry in the beginning during the reaping, but I did in the other parts I thought I would. I enjoyed it and look forward to the next ones. Grade: A-
21 Jump Street (Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum) - Surprisingly very funny (a la Bridesmaids, but in a male dominated film) and it's nice that they a) didn't take themselves seriously and b) didn't make it a remake. I liked the surprise cameos also and who'd of thunk Tatum was so funny? Basically the two points I made above is what made it work. If it was a remake/reboot, it would have been a little awkward and because it was very slapstick-comedy, it was funny. Grade: B/B+
Happy Feet Two - Good sequel, but it's not quite the first one either. I liked it and it was about family, helping each other out, and perceptions of each other. The environmental theme for this one was about climate change and the melting of the ice, but it wasn't as strong of a theme as the first one. There was less singing in this one too. Or so it seemed. Grade: B/B-
Tower Heist (Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller, et al.) - Interesting cast for the film and they all worked well together. The movie was more the "mystery" of where the money went and the end. It was an okay film. There was something sort of "docile" about it. It doesn't have the glam appeal like Ocean's 11 and isn't an espionage, adventure, or straight comedy film either. Grade: B/B-
The Muppets (Jason Segal, Amy Adams) - I rather enjoyed the movie. It was a nice film and I liked the new muppet. I can't say the musical pieces always grabbed me, but I overall liked them. I liked all the little cameos from various people too. I think it was a nice film that sort of fit in the rebooting of The Muppets too. Grade: B+
Young Adult (Charlize Theron) - Definitely not what I expected it to be. It was more of a midlife crisis type of film and is titled Young Adult because Theron's character is a YA author who is trying to write her final book to her series. Her life is basically not going according to plan and she tries to get her old bf back and all this other stuff. Don't particularly recommend it. It's definitely not "light and fluffy" either. Grade: D
My Week with Marilyn (Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne) - An interesting film and though Williams can't ever really be Marilyn, I think she did a pretty decent job at it. Marilyn was certainly an interesting person and the movie shows the various sides to her. How true/accurate the film is I can't say, but I enjoyed it and thought the acting was good. Grade: B/B+
Three Musketeers (Matthew Macfadyen, Luke Evans, et al.) - Not what I expected...It's sort of "over done" by over-the-top production/costumes. I can't really describe it other than to say that I was a little confused by it and am so glad I didn't see it in theater. It's less adventure-y and more about redeeming themselves and everything. It also adds a 4th Musketeer and Orlando Bloom is the bad guy. So, yeah. I sort of rank this up there with Mirror, Mirror for "odd" and "bizarre" feeling after I watched it. Grade: C+
Adventures of TinTin - Okay, I admit it. The animation in this was AMAZING. No wonder it got such great reviews for the animation. It was amazing. It was still cartoon-y, but had that edge of realistic animation to it that simply wow'd you. The story wasn't fantastic and was lacking a little, but it is based off the kid's series and I think it kept well to being a kid's movie while trying to appeal to adults also. If there is no other reason to watch it, I'd just watch it again for the animation. Grade: B
Footloose (Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough) - Admittedly, I've never seen the original (don't throw things at me!), so I can't compare. I think they "updated" the film rather well, though. Basically a fatal car crash because of drinking (where dancing also took place) is what caused the town to have its no dancing rule. I liked Wormald and Hough, but the film was just "okay." Grade: B/B-
Carnage (Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, John C. Reilly) - What superb acting! This film is based off the play, which took me a while to figure out. The movie does, I think, a pretty good job trying to bring the play to the big screen, but I do think the play would be far more powerful to see in person rather than it being on the big screen. With that said, the acting was amazing and Foster and Winslet were definitely the two stars of it. Both characters, by the end, are completely drunk and Winslet has to do a throw-up scene and it's just hilarious, sad (at what they're arguing over), and fantastic to watch. It's pure acting with nothing else but them moving between 4 areas (the living room, the kitchen, bathroom, and hallway to the elevator). The grade is almost purely for the acting job. Grade: B+
A Dangerous Method (Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley) - Having learned about Jung in high school, I was curious to see the movie, especially since the cast intrigued me. I enjoyed it. It does deserve its rating and I think Knightley does a good acting job in the beginning when she's "deranged" (the jaw/muscle contortions is just...Wow...) and is trying to recover from her sexual issues. Mortensen is an interesting Freud and Fassbender and Mortensen play off each other fairly well. It's kind of sad to see their friendship devolve over differences in philosophy, though. The movie is kind of a biopic of their relationships (all 3 of them) more than anything, but there's just something slightly off about it. Perhaps it moves too quickly? Is too caught up in patient-doctor-mentor? I don't know...It had good acting, but the movie is definitely not lightweight or anything. Grade: B-
The Descendants (George Clooney) - I liked this film. There was something in it that really worked. I think Clooney did an excellent acting job and the story about families, our family history, moving on, the pain we cause each other, etc is interesting. I also liked seeing Clooney's character learn to build a bond with his oldest daughter and come to terms with his wife's cheating. There's something somewhat poignant and gentle about the film even though it deals with a fairly heavy topic. Grade: B+
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock) - Horn was really surprising at how good he was. Oh my goodness...He has these monologues that just astound you because he is rambling on a mile a minute and it's just amazing to see. Okay, maybe it's just astounding to me because I don't think I could ever do that so well! The depth of the emotion in the film is rather deep at times and I think he did that pretty well too. I really enjoyed the film. It has a really touching ending that both is healing and sad and you definitely go along the journey that Horn's character is trying to accomplish. It is somewhat rambley and there is probably a portion of the movie you don't necessarily have to see, but I liked it. I liked Bullock and Hanks too. Grade: B
War Horse (Jeremy Irvine) - Once again, it's no wonder the film was so well liked. I think Speilberg did an excellent job with the film. For as tough of a subject the film is, you can definitely feel its aim towards being a family movie rather than an adult film. The horses in it are amazing, but so are the people. It sort of reminds me of Black Beauty of how the movie follows the horse around and who the horse touches rather than the people. It does have some sad parts, but the ending is a happy one and, I think, more happy than Black Beauty. I did have my "Ginger moment" that is similar to Black Beauty in War Horse, but it was slightly (JUST slightly) better. The film is well done, though. It truly was handled really well. Grade: B+
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Gary Oldman, John Hurt, Colin Firth, et al.) - What has an amazing cast, I felt they were a little wasted. Supposedly the book reads far better than the movie and even watching the movie the movie felt flat. The acting is amazing (it is Oldman, Firth, Hurt, Cumberbatch, etc for goodness sake!), but there's just something that doesn't really jive well in the film. I wanted it to be better and it just never quite got there...This film is rather docile for being an espionage movie too. Course, it's more about finding the traitor or what went wrong during a mission so there's a lot of sleuthing of facts and accusations. So, in a lot of ways, the acting is rather guarded and underhanded. It's yelling at each other without really yelling, sort of. Grade: B-
Immortals (Henry Cavill, Mickey Rourke) - Well, it was what was to be expected? The mythology was a little odd to me at times, but the movie was interesting. The special effects were interesting and the end was interesting. It's not too surprising of a film and isn't my normal cup of tea, but it was okay. Grade: B-
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Tom Cruise, Paula Patton, Jeremy Renner) - Surprisingly, it was rather good. I have never seen a MI film all the way through, but everyone said that Ghost Protocol was pretty good. This movie was rather funny at times and I enjoyed it. It's your basic MI film (or so I would assume) so it's nothing too out of the ordinary, but it passed the time well and you didn't feel cheated out of your rental or anything. I'd watch it again. Though, my palms sweated through one scene. Goodness! I'm glad they have cool gadgets, but that one I would still be iffy about... Grade: B
Haywire (Gina Carano) - It's kind of a combination of Bourne and Salt. It's the type of film where it's a lot of action and trying to clear your name where you've been wrongly set-up. It was okay. It felt a little "been there, done that" to really grab you. I think if there was just a slight change, it could have been better. I can't pinpoint what could have been changed, but it certainly could have gone another angle and perhaps done better. Grade: C+
We Bought a Zoo (Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson) - I liked this film more than I thought I would. It's a somewhat gentle film, but I can't fully say it's a family film. It could be, but it really settles more on the adults and them trying to pull the Zoo together. It's definitely about loss and learning to move on and getting past your grief. I suppose the other theme is rooting for the underdog too. I liked it. I think older kids would be more appropriate to watch this than really young kids. Grade: B
The Avengers (Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, et al.) - So far, my favorite film of 2012! I've seen it twice in theater and I'd even be willing to see it a 3rd time. Yes, it's an action film (my favorite), but the acting and script are great! Not to mention the CG is fantastic! Hulk definitely has the funniest parts in the film, but there are just so many amazing small things throughout it that really make it enjoyable from start to finish. I still get excited when Iron Man shoots his lasers off Captain America's shield (it's in the video game!) and it's just fun. I'm a little mad at Whedon for killing off a certain someone (why does Whedon feel the need to kill people off in everything?!) even though the death served a purpose (I'm convinced they could have written it differently where said person didn't die!). It kind of felt like a geekfest, truth be told, having all those superheros in the film and all this action going on. I think everyone's strengths were well portrayed in the film too and it all just jived well. Definitely makes you excited for the next one and it's a well deserved movie for breaking records right and left. Grade: A+
One for the Money (Katherine Heigl, Jason O'Mara) - NY accent on Heigl? Hmm...This film is based off of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum (bounty hunter) mystery series. It's the first book in the series (the number in the title denotes the book number in the series - I sold quite a few of these books...). I've watched so many Heigl rom-coms that I couldn't pass this one up even though she's very much a hit-or-miss. This one I'm sort of calling a draw. I can't say it's her worst one, but I can't say it's her best either. I think the biggest thing in the film was her accent sort of bothered me. I'm not sure why it should bother me, but it did. Other than that, it's your pretty basic rom-com where Plum is trying to learn to be a bounty hunter (she knew nothing at the start of the film) and track down an old ex who is wanted and, at the same time, is trying to clear his own name from the crime he supposedly made. So...bounty hunter crime solver...? It's okay. Grade: B/B-
With that...I am up to 41 movies for the year! I've got 7.5 more months to surpass 80 films. At the rate I'm going, you'd think that would be easy (only 40 films), but the summer slows me down a lot since there are far fewer films I want to see from earlier this year. I'm sure the fall will pick up with summer movies, but then the fall hits and I typically miss out on those in the theater. So...we'll see. I've only seen 5 movies in the theater or 6 movies total so far. The summer has some good ones (MIB3, Dark Knight Rises, Brave, etc), but we'll see. By my quick calculation, I only have 25 films left I want to see (DVD or theater). Course, I'm sure I'll pick up some extras, but getting to 80 will be harder than it looks!
With that said...Movies! They're going to be short reviews, unless I have something to really say given there are so many of them...
Mirror, Mirror (Julia Roberts, Lily Collins) - Clever portrayal of the dwarves, but the movie is definitely more a comedy than an action/adventure film. So, basically, don't take it seriously. Roberts nails drove me nuts through it because it was some sort of silver chrome and then they changed it at the end. I was trying to see what it was each time! I enjoyed it, but it did leave a feeling of "weird" and "bizarre" when I finished watching it. Grade: B/B-
Hunger Games (Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson) - There were some minor things I didn't like that they changed (e.g., where she got the Mockingjay pin from and its importance), but I overall really enjoyed the film. I didn't cry in the beginning during the reaping, but I did in the other parts I thought I would. I enjoyed it and look forward to the next ones. Grade: A-
21 Jump Street (Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum) - Surprisingly very funny (a la Bridesmaids, but in a male dominated film) and it's nice that they a) didn't take themselves seriously and b) didn't make it a remake. I liked the surprise cameos also and who'd of thunk Tatum was so funny? Basically the two points I made above is what made it work. If it was a remake/reboot, it would have been a little awkward and because it was very slapstick-comedy, it was funny. Grade: B/B+
Happy Feet Two - Good sequel, but it's not quite the first one either. I liked it and it was about family, helping each other out, and perceptions of each other. The environmental theme for this one was about climate change and the melting of the ice, but it wasn't as strong of a theme as the first one. There was less singing in this one too. Or so it seemed. Grade: B/B-
Tower Heist (Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller, et al.) - Interesting cast for the film and they all worked well together. The movie was more the "mystery" of where the money went and the end. It was an okay film. There was something sort of "docile" about it. It doesn't have the glam appeal like Ocean's 11 and isn't an espionage, adventure, or straight comedy film either. Grade: B/B-
The Muppets (Jason Segal, Amy Adams) - I rather enjoyed the movie. It was a nice film and I liked the new muppet. I can't say the musical pieces always grabbed me, but I overall liked them. I liked all the little cameos from various people too. I think it was a nice film that sort of fit in the rebooting of The Muppets too. Grade: B+
Young Adult (Charlize Theron) - Definitely not what I expected it to be. It was more of a midlife crisis type of film and is titled Young Adult because Theron's character is a YA author who is trying to write her final book to her series. Her life is basically not going according to plan and she tries to get her old bf back and all this other stuff. Don't particularly recommend it. It's definitely not "light and fluffy" either. Grade: D
My Week with Marilyn (Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne) - An interesting film and though Williams can't ever really be Marilyn, I think she did a pretty decent job at it. Marilyn was certainly an interesting person and the movie shows the various sides to her. How true/accurate the film is I can't say, but I enjoyed it and thought the acting was good. Grade: B/B+
Three Musketeers (Matthew Macfadyen, Luke Evans, et al.) - Not what I expected...It's sort of "over done" by over-the-top production/costumes. I can't really describe it other than to say that I was a little confused by it and am so glad I didn't see it in theater. It's less adventure-y and more about redeeming themselves and everything. It also adds a 4th Musketeer and Orlando Bloom is the bad guy. So, yeah. I sort of rank this up there with Mirror, Mirror for "odd" and "bizarre" feeling after I watched it. Grade: C+
Adventures of TinTin - Okay, I admit it. The animation in this was AMAZING. No wonder it got such great reviews for the animation. It was amazing. It was still cartoon-y, but had that edge of realistic animation to it that simply wow'd you. The story wasn't fantastic and was lacking a little, but it is based off the kid's series and I think it kept well to being a kid's movie while trying to appeal to adults also. If there is no other reason to watch it, I'd just watch it again for the animation. Grade: B
Footloose (Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough) - Admittedly, I've never seen the original (don't throw things at me!), so I can't compare. I think they "updated" the film rather well, though. Basically a fatal car crash because of drinking (where dancing also took place) is what caused the town to have its no dancing rule. I liked Wormald and Hough, but the film was just "okay." Grade: B/B-
Carnage (Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, John C. Reilly) - What superb acting! This film is based off the play, which took me a while to figure out. The movie does, I think, a pretty good job trying to bring the play to the big screen, but I do think the play would be far more powerful to see in person rather than it being on the big screen. With that said, the acting was amazing and Foster and Winslet were definitely the two stars of it. Both characters, by the end, are completely drunk and Winslet has to do a throw-up scene and it's just hilarious, sad (at what they're arguing over), and fantastic to watch. It's pure acting with nothing else but them moving between 4 areas (the living room, the kitchen, bathroom, and hallway to the elevator). The grade is almost purely for the acting job. Grade: B+
A Dangerous Method (Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley) - Having learned about Jung in high school, I was curious to see the movie, especially since the cast intrigued me. I enjoyed it. It does deserve its rating and I think Knightley does a good acting job in the beginning when she's "deranged" (the jaw/muscle contortions is just...Wow...) and is trying to recover from her sexual issues. Mortensen is an interesting Freud and Fassbender and Mortensen play off each other fairly well. It's kind of sad to see their friendship devolve over differences in philosophy, though. The movie is kind of a biopic of their relationships (all 3 of them) more than anything, but there's just something slightly off about it. Perhaps it moves too quickly? Is too caught up in patient-doctor-mentor? I don't know...It had good acting, but the movie is definitely not lightweight or anything. Grade: B-
The Descendants (George Clooney) - I liked this film. There was something in it that really worked. I think Clooney did an excellent acting job and the story about families, our family history, moving on, the pain we cause each other, etc is interesting. I also liked seeing Clooney's character learn to build a bond with his oldest daughter and come to terms with his wife's cheating. There's something somewhat poignant and gentle about the film even though it deals with a fairly heavy topic. Grade: B+
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock) - Horn was really surprising at how good he was. Oh my goodness...He has these monologues that just astound you because he is rambling on a mile a minute and it's just amazing to see. Okay, maybe it's just astounding to me because I don't think I could ever do that so well! The depth of the emotion in the film is rather deep at times and I think he did that pretty well too. I really enjoyed the film. It has a really touching ending that both is healing and sad and you definitely go along the journey that Horn's character is trying to accomplish. It is somewhat rambley and there is probably a portion of the movie you don't necessarily have to see, but I liked it. I liked Bullock and Hanks too. Grade: B
War Horse (Jeremy Irvine) - Once again, it's no wonder the film was so well liked. I think Speilberg did an excellent job with the film. For as tough of a subject the film is, you can definitely feel its aim towards being a family movie rather than an adult film. The horses in it are amazing, but so are the people. It sort of reminds me of Black Beauty of how the movie follows the horse around and who the horse touches rather than the people. It does have some sad parts, but the ending is a happy one and, I think, more happy than Black Beauty. I did have my "Ginger moment" that is similar to Black Beauty in War Horse, but it was slightly (JUST slightly) better. The film is well done, though. It truly was handled really well. Grade: B+
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Gary Oldman, John Hurt, Colin Firth, et al.) - What has an amazing cast, I felt they were a little wasted. Supposedly the book reads far better than the movie and even watching the movie the movie felt flat. The acting is amazing (it is Oldman, Firth, Hurt, Cumberbatch, etc for goodness sake!), but there's just something that doesn't really jive well in the film. I wanted it to be better and it just never quite got there...This film is rather docile for being an espionage movie too. Course, it's more about finding the traitor or what went wrong during a mission so there's a lot of sleuthing of facts and accusations. So, in a lot of ways, the acting is rather guarded and underhanded. It's yelling at each other without really yelling, sort of. Grade: B-
Immortals (Henry Cavill, Mickey Rourke) - Well, it was what was to be expected? The mythology was a little odd to me at times, but the movie was interesting. The special effects were interesting and the end was interesting. It's not too surprising of a film and isn't my normal cup of tea, but it was okay. Grade: B-
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Tom Cruise, Paula Patton, Jeremy Renner) - Surprisingly, it was rather good. I have never seen a MI film all the way through, but everyone said that Ghost Protocol was pretty good. This movie was rather funny at times and I enjoyed it. It's your basic MI film (or so I would assume) so it's nothing too out of the ordinary, but it passed the time well and you didn't feel cheated out of your rental or anything. I'd watch it again. Though, my palms sweated through one scene. Goodness! I'm glad they have cool gadgets, but that one I would still be iffy about... Grade: B
Haywire (Gina Carano) - It's kind of a combination of Bourne and Salt. It's the type of film where it's a lot of action and trying to clear your name where you've been wrongly set-up. It was okay. It felt a little "been there, done that" to really grab you. I think if there was just a slight change, it could have been better. I can't pinpoint what could have been changed, but it certainly could have gone another angle and perhaps done better. Grade: C+
We Bought a Zoo (Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson) - I liked this film more than I thought I would. It's a somewhat gentle film, but I can't fully say it's a family film. It could be, but it really settles more on the adults and them trying to pull the Zoo together. It's definitely about loss and learning to move on and getting past your grief. I suppose the other theme is rooting for the underdog too. I liked it. I think older kids would be more appropriate to watch this than really young kids. Grade: B
The Avengers (Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, et al.) - So far, my favorite film of 2012! I've seen it twice in theater and I'd even be willing to see it a 3rd time. Yes, it's an action film (my favorite), but the acting and script are great! Not to mention the CG is fantastic! Hulk definitely has the funniest parts in the film, but there are just so many amazing small things throughout it that really make it enjoyable from start to finish. I still get excited when Iron Man shoots his lasers off Captain America's shield (it's in the video game!) and it's just fun. I'm a little mad at Whedon for killing off a certain someone (why does Whedon feel the need to kill people off in everything?!) even though the death served a purpose (I'm convinced they could have written it differently where said person didn't die!). It kind of felt like a geekfest, truth be told, having all those superheros in the film and all this action going on. I think everyone's strengths were well portrayed in the film too and it all just jived well. Definitely makes you excited for the next one and it's a well deserved movie for breaking records right and left. Grade: A+
One for the Money (Katherine Heigl, Jason O'Mara) - NY accent on Heigl? Hmm...This film is based off of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum (bounty hunter) mystery series. It's the first book in the series (the number in the title denotes the book number in the series - I sold quite a few of these books...). I've watched so many Heigl rom-coms that I couldn't pass this one up even though she's very much a hit-or-miss. This one I'm sort of calling a draw. I can't say it's her worst one, but I can't say it's her best either. I think the biggest thing in the film was her accent sort of bothered me. I'm not sure why it should bother me, but it did. Other than that, it's your pretty basic rom-com where Plum is trying to learn to be a bounty hunter (she knew nothing at the start of the film) and track down an old ex who is wanted and, at the same time, is trying to clear his own name from the crime he supposedly made. So...bounty hunter crime solver...? It's okay. Grade: B/B-
With that...I am up to 41 movies for the year! I've got 7.5 more months to surpass 80 films. At the rate I'm going, you'd think that would be easy (only 40 films), but the summer slows me down a lot since there are far fewer films I want to see from earlier this year. I'm sure the fall will pick up with summer movies, but then the fall hits and I typically miss out on those in the theater. So...we'll see. I've only seen 5 movies in the theater or 6 movies total so far. The summer has some good ones (MIB3, Dark Knight Rises, Brave, etc), but we'll see. By my quick calculation, I only have 25 films left I want to see (DVD or theater). Course, I'm sure I'll pick up some extras, but getting to 80 will be harder than it looks!
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