After Earth

I wish I hadn’t looked at any reviews for this movie before I saw it, Adam Kempenaar from the podcast filmspotting says he never reads reviews before he sees a movie. It might be a good idea for me to do the same after the experience I had with After Earth. I read from multiple sources that this was a bad movie that the younger Smith ruined with his poor acting. I admit I had issues with his acting at different points during the movie but overall I thought he was effective and I definitely did not think that he ruined the movie. The first thing I think when I consider other peoples bad reviews for this movie is what were they expecting from this movie? The premise is Will Smith and his son get marooned on a future earth filled with dangerous animals that evolved to kill humans because we ruined the planet. I didn’t expect an Oscar contender from this movie. I expected a summer movie that was action packed and was a fun 90 to 120 minutes. That is exactly what I got from this movie. I think other reviews expected a little to much from this flick. This movie was very pleasant visually. The scenery was beautiful yet menacing and the animals were terrifying, just what you want in a movie like this. There really isn’t much else to say about this movie considering the story line was as thin as a feather. I enjoyed the movie and I wouldn’t bat an eye at watching it again on HBO or something. I would give this movie a 6 out of 10. Here is a link to the trailer and the rotten tomatoes reviews for this movie.

http://www.fandango.com/movie-trailer/afterearth-trailer/149561

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/after_earth/

The purge

I was not excited for this movie when I got to the movie theater last night to watch this movie. From the trailers for the movie it looked like a boring rehash of the same kind of thriller where there are a few unique death scenes and maybe some nudity and then 90 minutes or so later they wrap it up poorly. I thought about it during the movie more deeply and I came to the realization that the story had more teeth to it than that. The thought process for this movie was the logical conclusion to the Republican ideology. The people who make a lot of money should be protected and the people who don’t need to work harder and pick themselves up to be successful. The term for this kind of sending an argument to absurdity is called reduction ad absurdum. That is a Latin mouthful but it means to reduce an argument or hypothesis to absurdity, by pushing the arguments, premises or conclusions to their logical limits and showing how ridiculous the consequences would be, thus disproving or discrediting the argument. I think that is some fertile ground to get a movie into and can lead to hard questions being asked that could lead to some genuine thought provoking material but it fizzled at the hands of the people involved of making this movie. There was an offshoot story line that involved Ethan Hawkes’ characters daughter and her boyfriend that I felt was thrown in to make the political undertones less on the nose and to add some minutes to a very short running time. I think this movie could have been good with a more capable writer/director teaming behind the scenes. Overall I did enjoy this movie but it is one of those disappointing movies that you know could have been much more than it was. Ethan Hawke turned in a believable performance while some of the other actors were not that good. This movie could have benefited greatly from a few more stars attached to it because the story just wasn’t enough for some of the lesser known actors in this movie. I would give this movie 6 out of 10 because it was a fun watch and I look forward to seeing scenes in passing on movie channels in the future. Here are links to the trailer and different reviews on this movie.

http://www.fandango.com/movie-trailer/thepurge-trailer/161109
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_purge/

Hangover 3

I am going to give this review as much thought as the writers seemed to give to putting this together. I am not certain that this movie should even be called a comedy. The movie peppers in moments of awkward comedy that has been the staple of this franchise. I am tired of this series and I am very happy to see that it is over. The only good things (in my opinion) about this movie are Zach Galifinakis and Ken Jeong. The characters themselves aren’t the good thing about this movie it’s the actual actors. Ed Helms and Bradley Cooper are wonderful and I have enjoyed seeing them in other movies and will continue to enjoy them going forward. In this movie, Ed Helms and Bradley Cooper seemed disinterested with their parts and for good reason. The characters had nothing new to offer because there was no thought put into developing them further going into this movie. I confess to not seeing the second hangover movie for this very reason, I just can’t take an interest or invest emotionally in a character that has nothing new to offer. So this is going to be short because I honestly don’t remember a thing from this movie. I just remember not being disappointed because you have to have high expectations to feel disappointed. I am going to give this movie a 4 out 10 for no other reason than Zach and Ken. Here is a link to a trailer for this and a link to other reviews of the movie.

http://news.moviefone.com/2013/05/17/hangover-3-red-band-trailer/

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_hangover_part_iii/

Star trek: into darkness

I never got around to seeing any star trek shows or movies in the past so I came into this one with a truly blank slate. With that being said I enjoyed this movie from start to finish. This is an example of a 3D movie that looks wonderful in 2D as well. I prefer 2D because sometimes 3D feels like an after thought or a gimmick and I am unwilling to shell out extra money for a poorly handled add on. This movie was stunning visually; I had no issues with the way this movie looked. The actors in this movie were great as well, they added to the enjoyment for me. I can’t get enough Simon Pegg even if it is small roles like Scottie. The story was very topical and I felt drawn in by the elements from beginning to end. They want to go after an international terrorist but they debate whether it is morally right to end a human life even if it is a terrorist. This feels like the debate we had over the Boston bomber suspect to me. People I love and respect said they wish we had killed him instead of trying to capture him and give him his day in court. They trick the villain into thinking they had killed everything he loved so he decided to try an even larger act of terrorism. This is reminiscent of the real life struggle we have with terrorists who think their only way to victory is by perpetrating ever larger acts of terror. Now that I have gushed over the movie for this long it is time for me to air some grievances I have with the movie. When Kahn crashes his ship into the earth he knocks down countless buildings with countless innocent people in them and the movie doesn’t even address the mass loss of life we all just witnessed. During the climax of the film Spock comes down from the enterprise to try to capture or kill Kahn for all the acts of terror he has done and he eventually ends up capturing him, after he has him we don’t hear anything about what happened with him. Did they throw the book at him and leave him in jail for life or did they decide to hang him for his crimes, we just don’t know. Even with those plot holes (what movie doesn’t have a couple) I think this is a very good, re-watchable movie overall. I would give this movie 7 out of 10 for a ranking. A good movie that is worth your ten bucks and some of your time.

http://www.fandango.com/movie-trailer/startrekintodarkness-trailer/131560
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_trek_into_darkness/

The Iceman

This is a dark movie from start to finish. Know what you are getting into when you sit down to see this. This is a true story of Richard Kuklinski who killed over 100 people for the mob. If that sounds like your cup of tee then strap in because you get exactly what you are expecting. In the beginning Richard kills a man for saying some unsavory things about a woman that he just started seeing. He doesn't even flinch in killing a man that shouldn't have said those things but also didn't deserve to die. That sets the tone for the entire movie. He has no problem "fixing problems" for people if the money is right. It is clear that he loves his wife and children but they are the only people he cares about. There isn't much there for a movie however. How long can a montage of a dude killing other dudes be? It seems like there is set up for about fifteen minute, an hour and a half montage of him killing people and then a fifteen minute conclusion. All of that being said I think this is a good movie. When we see Ray Liotta, I would like his character to be more developed, we are convinced that he is not a man to be trifled with and everyone in the room knows it as well. Michael Shannon is as terrifying as usual, he has the best furrowed brow in the business, and he shows again why he can be the leading man in any movie. He was convincing as a mass murder and as a loving father at the same time. Overall this is a good movie and a fun night out at the movies for anyone who can handle brutal violence in their movies. I give this movie a 7 out of 10. Here are some links to the trailer and to other reviews of the movie.

http://www.fandango.com/movie-trailer/theiceman-trailer/159678
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_iceman_2013/

The great Gatsby

First impressions. I read the novel for this one and I didn't particularly care for it so I'm sure I will enjoy the movie more. The soundtrack is a plus for this movie, I've already heard some of the songs and I really enjoy them. I am just getting home from the movie and I have to say that I did enjoy the movie overall. I took more of the themes from the movie than I did from the novel but that is not to say that I enjoyed the movie more. I really fell for Carey Mulligan as Daisy and Tobey Maguire as Nick but the one I expected to blow my socks off, Leonardo DiCapprio, left me as underwhelmed as I could be. If anyone could pull off the tenacity and the hope required for such an iconic character as the great Gatsby surely it would be Leo. I was taken aback because something in his performance right away and throughout the whole movie rang false to me. I thought at first that of course he had to ring false because as you well know the great Gatsby wasn't great and wasn't even named Gatsby so the entire time he was putting up a front and that is why the performance was a little left from center. I believe in my heart of hearts that that is what Leo was going for but in order to pull the wool over so many peoples eyes he would have had to keep that he was a fraud much more of a secret than it seemed like he was playing it. That being said some of the most powerful scenes involved Leo and Joel Edgerton (Tom Buchanan) fighting over the love of Carey. Overall I would say the performances were a plus for the picture. I saw this picture in 2D and I think the director forgot about us 3D haters when he made this movie. I felt like almost everything was some sort of CGI that was meant to pop out at the people who payed the extra money for 3D. I happen to prefer movies in 2D so I felt left out along with all the other unfortunate 2D viewers. The music from the trailers was noticeably absent from the movie which was a huge let down because the music was my favorite part of the trailers for this movie. The music that was left in the movie felt like a cheap substitute for what we heard in the trailers. All in all I would give the great Gatsby a 6 out of ten. If it weren't for the strong performances that almost got swept up in the glitz and glamour of the party scenes this movie would have fared much worse in my ratings. In my estimation this is a good movie that a wide variety of people from many walks of life can enjoy. Here is the link to the trailers which I enjoy still for nothing other than the music and a link to more intelligent and reasoned reviews.

http://www.fandango.com/movie-trailer/thegreatgatsby2013-trailer/149090

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_great_gatsby_2012/  

Disconnect

First impressions. I don't know anything about this movie going in except that it is a thriller starring Jason Bateman who I find delightful. I've just left the theater about an hour ago (I had to drive home) and I have to say that is the best movie I've seen in a while. The disconnect was the from real life and the life on the internet. This was a movie that had 3 different stories that had bits that intermingled but mostly stood alone. All three story lines had me hooked from start to finish although the movie would have been much tidier if they had lost the third story line. I was interested at first with the third story line but I lost interest quiet quickly. That arc could have stood alone as its own movie but it just doesn't fit the tone of the other two stories we follow in the movie. In the first story we have a music lover who feels like he is on the outside looking in when a girl messages him and brings some happiness to him but is destined to be short lived as we know about  but he doesn't (tragic irony) the two friends who bring him up and slam him down. The second story is a family who has lost everything and is struggling to work through that together who get ripped off and their attempts to right that wrong. The third and least successful (in my opinion) story follows a lost kid who gets swept up in a criminals twisted way to make a quick buck and a reporter who is destined to tell his story while helping her career in the process. The movie is a captivating example of good story telling and wonderful acting. I am happy to say that I loved this movie and would suggest it to anyone who doesn't have a delicate sensibility. I will not be suggesting this one to mom and dad. All in all a joy to watch and one that although I am not there yet but I am confident would stand up to multiple views. At this point in this whole blogging thing I am not sure if I want to include ratings but I am leaning towards yes. I think a 5 point rating scale isn't right because there is a huge drop from 5 to 4 so I am going for a 10 point rating scale. I am unwilling almost always to give a 10 because things like Shindler's List and Sunset Blvd. get a 10 so don't feel bad for movies that rank a 8 or 9 because they are excellent (in my opinion). That being said I will rank this movie an 8 out of 10. I felt like I would enjoy it going in but not nearly this much. Great work Jason Bateman and the rest of the cast! Here are some links to other reviews and trailers. If you read this and I don't know why you would and you haven't seen this yet get off or on, whichever, your ass and watch this great movie.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/disconnect_2013/reviews/

http://www.fandango.com/movie-trailer/disconnect-trailer/161255/2340691528