DVD Streaming Service 1 Open Season 7.5/10. 2. Pirates! A Band of Misfits A fun romp of Pirate's adventure. 8/10. 3 Inside Out A Pixar Film. An interesting look at the inside of a girl's mind as she tries to adjust to life in a new city. 9/10.
1. The Hateful Eight (2015) ⍟⍟⍟½ 2. Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015) ⍟⍟⍟½ 3. Anomalisa (2015) ⍟⍟⍟ 4. Dope (2015) ⍟⍟⍟⍟ 5. The Big Short (2015) ⍟⍟⍟ It's like a long episode of the Newsroom. I enjoyed it, but I can't imagine anybody ever wanting to watch it again or buy the DVD. I don't think it has any shot at winning the Oscar.
1) The Revenant (2015) - B+ 2) Room (2015) - A This movie was really well done. Brie Larson is brilliant but I was really impressed by Trembley. We got to see this film through his eyes and experience the world through him. I've heard this film be called depressing and it wasn't depressing in the least. Yeah the first half was dark but it really lifted that second half and the freedom he felt all the more. This is a movie about a love between a mother and son and there were scenes that made that stick out in a big way. Great and very emotional film.
A Brilliant Young Mind - On Demand - This is one of those gems of a movie that you take a flyer on and reward you with an amazing story, excellent acting and renews faith in why you enjoy movies. Asa Butterfield gives a riveting performance here, it makes me wish even more that he was the choice to play Spider-man. I can't recommend this movie enough!
3. Gnomeo & Juliet: B A solid animated tale about British garden gnomes and it's parody of Romeo & Juliet. Watching the extras it was as interesting to see how much input Elton John had in the film, musically and visually. I went into IMDB for some of the voice actors and found that a sequel is slated for 2018!
DVD Streaming Service Television Broadcast 1 Open Season 7.5/10. 2. Pirates! A Band of Misfits A fun romp of Pirate's adventure. 8/10. 3 Inside Out A Pixar Film. An interesting look at the inside of a girl's mind as she tries to adjust to life in a new city. 9/10. 4 Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) An adaptation of the novel by Jules Verne set in the present day. An interesting take on the core idea of the novel. 7.5/10
1) The Revenant (2015) - B+ 2) Room (2015) - A 3) Tomorrowland (2015) - C This was a movie where I went in expecting one thing and getting something different. I liked the optimism and the message of the movie, but I really struggled with out it got there. It felt like this story was not really coherent enough, and if you had a rewrite, it could have been a great scifi film the likes of ET or Super 8. I also think Cloony should not have been in this movie, and the only reason he is is because he's a star. Also, this movie is called Tomorrowland, and I kinda wanted to see more Tomorrowland. It looked like an awesome place, but we only spent maybe 20 minutes total there. Theater (2) TV/Netflix (1)
Spoiler: Movies Seen in January Stephen Fry: More Fool Me (2014) - Netflix Instant An Ideal Husband (1999) - Netflix Instant The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) - Netflix Instant The Hateful Eight - theater Man on Wire - Netflix Instant The Walk - DVD The Martian - DVD Drumline: A New Beat - Netflix Instant Stephen King's Thinner - Netflix Instant Swamp Thing - HuluPlus Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension - DVD Sleeping with Other People - DVD Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise - DVD Batman: Bad Blood - DVD Rented a couple of moves from Hasting's after work earlier today. Started off watchin' the latest Jesse Stone with my brother in law. It was about on par with the previous made for tv movies. Tom Selleck is really good, of course, but the books are still better stories. Folowed that with the lasted DC Animated film, which has the first use of Katherine Kane's Batwoman in a feature, and is a continue of the stories from Son of Batman & Batman vs Robin. Luke Fox's Batwing is in it, too, which is pretty cool.
1) Home – B+ 2) Next – C- 3) A Walk Among The Tombstones – A- 4) Big Game – D+ 5) Tomorrowland - C+ 6) The Imitation Game - B+ Up to this point, I had only seen Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan and Sherlock. Early on, I saw a lot of the latter in this role. But his moments later in the film, where Keira Knightley goes to see him after his trial, proved to me that he is a strong actor and I can't wait to see him in more. I like the jumping around through his life to develop his character, but given that so much was changed from reality to make it more "movie-friendly" takes away from what could be an even more interesting movie. It could have been better as a character study and used the Enigma machine as a part of that instead of the main crux of the movie.
Elysium - On Demand - I own District 9 on Blu Ray but have never watched it, I also have never seen Chappie. However I did see the short that it was based on, a long time ago. However I was interested in watching something Science Fiction today and this was available on demand. I've heard about this not being that good, there is certainly something thats lacking. While I can't say I actually enjoyed the movie, there were definitely some parts that were good. Overall a meh from me, kinda glad I've finally seen it but no interest in seeing it again. I'll have to check out District 9 at some point.
DVD Streaming Service Television Broadcast January: http://fardell24b.tumblr.com/post/138634841415/movie-reviews-2016-january 5 Age of the Dragons A film that is literally 'Moby Dick with Dragons'. The plot and characters (even the ship name) are there. But not much of what makes Moby Dick a great novel. 3.5/10. 6 Pacific Rim A film about fighting gigantic monsters that emerge from a rift on the bottom of the Pacific ocean (hence the name). A good look at the effect such a scenario would have on the people who would be fighting that kind of threat. 8/10.
Recently Seen: Batman: Bad Blood (8/10) Evangelion 3.0: You Can [Not] Redo (8/10) The Hateful Eight (9/10) Running Total: 3
January: http://fardell24b.tumblr.com/post/138634841415/movie-reviews-2016-january 5 Age of the Dragons A film that is literally 'Moby Dick with Dragons'. The plot and characters (even the ship name) are there. But not much of what makes Moby Dick a great novel. 3.5/10. 6 Pacific Rim A film about fighting gigantic monsters that emerge from a rift on the bottom of the Pacific ocean (hence the name). A good look at the effect such a scenario would have on the people who would be fighting that kind of threat. 8/10. 7 Inception Dreams. Layers of dreams. What is real? Dreams within dreams. How many stories, within stories? Inception, the creation of an idea. Also a movie about stealing from the subconscious mind of others. Quite confusing, but well presented. 8/10.
Batman: Bad Blood (8/10) Evangelion 3.0: You Can [Not] Redo (8/10) The Hateful Eight (9/10) Recently Seen: Tremors 5: Bloodlines (5/10) Running Total: 4
1) Home – B+ 2) Next – C- 3) A Walk Among The Tombstones – A- 4) Big Game – D+ 5) Tomorrowland - C+ 6) The Imitation Game - B+ 7) Star Trek: Into Darkness - D+ This was the second time I'd watched this movie and time did not make it any better. First the good. There was some good character moments. Pine's Kirk gained some maturity. Quinto's Spock had some of the rough edges softened. Cumberbatch's Khan made some of the tripe he spouts sound awesome. But there is just so much bad. The plot, like the first movie, is just action for the sake of action in a franchise whose long term fans watch it for big, smart ideas. Of course there's the obvious rip offs of Wrath of Khan, but stupid things like how it takes them thirty seconds to get from point A to point B within the ship and change clothes without breaking a sweat. The visuals, like in the first movie, are horrible to look at it and just makes this film hard to look at. Sets, why does this ship look like a factory inside! 8) Lila & Eve - C- Viola Davis and Jennifer Lopez make this movie palatable. When I've figured the big reveal of the climax out in the first fifteen minutes, you know it's not that well-written. Other than the fact that Lopez's character did not need to be an apparition, I find it hard to believe that a single mother goes on a rampage, while being distracted by the embodied voice in her head, and not only kills several drug dealers without getting a scratch on her, but manages to come up with a plan to blow the main guy up at the end. And if Detective Pushover has all the puzzle pieces, why doesn't he make an arrest? The whole ending of them vouching for Viola is forced to make it a happy ending. Why C-? Watch it for the acting, not the plot.
Batman: Bad Blood (8/10) Evangelion 3.0: You Can [Not] Redo (8/10) The Hateful Eight (9/10) Tremors 5: Bloodlines (5/10) Recently Seen: Deadpool (9/10) Running Total: 4
Spoiler: January 1. The Hateful Eight (2015) ⍟⍟⍟½ 2. Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015) ⍟⍟⍟½ 3. Anomalisa (2015) ⍟⍟⍟ 4. Dope (2015) ⍟⍟⍟⍟ 5. The Big Short (2015) ⍟⍟⍟ 6. Deadpool ⍟⍟⍟ 7. Hungry Hearts ⍟⍟½ 8. Inside Out ⍟⍟⍟ 9. The Forest ⍟
Spoiler: Movies Seen in January Stephen Fry: More Fool Me (2014) - Netflix Instant An Ideal Husband (1999) - Netflix Instant The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) - Netflix Instant The Hateful Eight - theater Man on Wire - Netflix Instant The Walk - DVD The Martian - DVD Drumline: A New Beat - Netflix Instant Stephen King's Thinner - Netflix Instant Swamp Thing - HuluPlus Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension - DVD Sleeping with Other People - DVD Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise - DVD Batman: Bad Blood - DVD Straight Outta Compton - DVD Sherlock: The Abominable Bride - DVD Deadpool - Alamo Drafthouse Crimson Peak - DVD Steve Jobs - DVD Black Mass - DVD A road trip to the Alamo Drafthouse in Richardson and a few rentals from Hasting's this past week. SOC was alright, though I thought it dragged a bit gettin' to the end. I remember when the parental advisory stickers startin' comin' out on DVD and the first Ice Cube movies were produced...never really listened to the music, though. My sister & I enjoyed the BBC special episode, though I'm still pissed there may not be another episode this year. Deadpool was pretty damn awesome, and my teenage nephews enjoyed it. I kept tellin' 'em we wouldn't road trip for it. Turns out the older one had a summer league basketball practice at a Dallas YMCA. So, we went into D/FW early to see the latest super anti-hero movie at the Alamo Drafthouse. We even got to order chimichangas! CP was kinda creepy & weird, and not very good. Kinda disappointed in it. Aaron Sorkin wrote a better Steve Jobs movie than the one with Ashton Kutcher a few years back. And the cast was incredible. Enjoyed the hell out of that one when I watched it yesterday. Watched the latest Johnny Depp gangster movie this mornin'. Good cast, interestin' true story, but still a bit borin' movie. A bit disappointed in that one, too.