THEATER
'Prisoners' (R) **1/2
When Keller Dover's (Hugh Jackman) daughter Anna and her friend Joy go missing, he takes matters into his own hands as Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) and the police pursue multiple leads and the pressure mounts. With Maria Bello as Keller's wife Grace, Terrence Howard and Viola Davis as Joy's parents, Paul Dano as a mentally unstable suspect Alex Jones, and Melissa Leo as Alex's caring aunt. I didn't initially have much interest in seeing this but after reading overwhelmingly positive things about the movie and being bored last Saturday I decided to go see it. So did it live up to the hype? No. Paul Dano and Melissa Leo both are great in their roles, and a few scenes are very tense and suspenseful, but overall I just didn't think the movie was very engaging. It's also about a half hour too long (it clocks in at around 2 hours, 23 minutes) and a few of the subplots could've been removed or altered slightly. But I do have to give it this - I couldn't really predict what was gonna happen next during the movie. Unless you're a huge Hugh Jackman fan or a huge Jake Gyllenhaal fan, then there's no real need to run out and see this. It's a solid rental.
'We're The Millers' (R) ***1/4
A drug dealer named David (Jason Sudeikis) hires his stripper neighbor 'Rose' (Jennifer Aniston), runaway Casey (Emma Roberts) and his other neighbor Kenny (Will Poulter) to create a fake family in order to smuggle marijuana into the U.S. from Mexico and receive $100,000 from his boss Brad (Ed Helms). While on their rendezvous they are forced to deal with an RV full of pot, Mexican cops, tarantulas, and the vacationing Fitzgerald family (Nick Offerman, Kathryn Hahn, Molly Quinn). I wasn't completely sure about seeing this when it first came out. I kept hearing a lot of mixed things about it. Some said it was okay, some said it was funny but too long, others said it wasn't very funny, stuff like that. Humor is subjective after all. I thought this movie was hilarious. Several parts of the movie had me laughing out loud, and had me shocked when it decided to go for shock value. The cast appears to be having a lot of fun in this and each of the them gives a great performance, particularly Jennifer Aniston, Emma Roberts, and Ed Helms.
REDBOX
'World War Z' (PG-13) **1/4
A zombie epidemic has struck across the world. Governments have been toppled, humanity is dying off, anarchy and chaos are everywhere. Gerry (Brad Pitt) is forced to leave his family and travel the world in order to possibly discover a cure. This was another one that I didn't see over the summer because of mixed reactions to it. I mean I heard that it was better than what the trailers made it look, but still didn't really interest me. Finally watched it because it came to Redbox. I haven't read the book on which it's based but I've heard that this strays far from the source material. As it is, it's a forgettable, mixed bag. Some of the zombie scenes are intense, but as the scene drags out it just becomes less and less intense. Brad Pitt does all right, even if he does look a little bored. The CGI in the movie is pretty bad whenever there is a huge group of zombies either running around or piling on top of each other to go over a wall. Some of the action scenes the edits are so quick cut that it's hard to tell what's happening. This does come from Marc Forster, who directed one of my least favorite Bond movies 'Quantum of Solace', which also had a huge problem with quick cut editing. Another problem I had with is the ending of the movie, which I will cover in an upcoming 'Movie Nitpicks' blog post.
NETFLIX
'To The Wonder' (R) **1/2
After falling in love in Paris, Marina (Olga Kurylenko) and Neil (Ben Affleck) come to Oklahoma, where problems arise. Their church's Spanish-born pastor Father Quintana (Javier Bardem) struggles with his faith, while Neil encounters a woman from his childhood (Rachel McAdams). This is the latest from Terrence Malick, who has also made 'The Tree of Life', 'The New World', 'The Thin Red Line', 'Badlands', and 'Days of Heaven'. Much like how 'Tree of Life' doesn't exactly have a main plot and more or less is a meditation on life itself (including a creation scene, dinosaurs, Brad Pitt raising a family, Sean Penn dealing with the loss of his brother, and an afterlife) 'To The Wonder' for the most part is a meditation on love and commitment. There is hardly any dialogue, and I only knew what the character's names were because I looked it up in the credits. Allegedly there was no script while filming, just Terrence Malick telling the actors the emotions and independent thoughts that the characters should be having in the scene. Lots of poetic voice overs in Spanish and French and the movie is gorgeous to look at. For half of the movie I thought that it was great. However, it started to drag on and on and on and on (even though it was under 2 hours) and was getting awfully repetitive. There was also a subplot involving Marina that I didn't really agree with at all, but that'll be in my eventual 'Movie Nitpicks' blog post. Great cinematography, but hardly a story with very little dialogue.
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Speaking of Ben Affleck, the internet has been furious ever since it was announced that he will be playing Bruce Wayne/Batman in the upcoming 'Man of Steel' sequel, rumored to be titled 'Batman Vs Superman'. Now what do I think about this casting? Well it was unexpected. Am I angry like the internet? No. I'm perfectly fine with Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman, although the 'Batman' part of the role I'll need a little bit more convincing but I can see him as Bruce Wayne. In the right role he is a good actor, but I will admit he's far better behind the camera than he is in front of it. I haven't seen his debut 'Gone Baby Gone', but I have seen his two other directorial efforts 'The Town' and 'Argo'. 'The Town' I didn't really care for but for the most part it was well made at least, and 'Argo' is a great movie. Who knows, maybe as part of this deal Affleck will be directing the next solo 'Batman' movie. That I would definitely go see.
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Okay, upcoming stuff. As the semester goes on I will be getting busier and busier so posts like these where I see multiple movies will probably be at end for now. From now on I will be trying to stick with one movie review a week, and if there's nothing at the theater that I want to see I'll go to Redbox and see what's available there. Down here at BSU Pruis Hall will offer free movies every Friday night, so if they are offering a movie that I havent seen yet I will usually go see it. Two weeks ago they showed 'The Purge', which I did not see when it came out in June but I missed it at Pruis Hall because I was going home that night. I'll catch up with it on Redbox. I think the next one that they will be offering that I havent seen yet is 'Despicable Me 2', but that won't be until November 8. My NFL picks will still be once a week (more on that next), usually around Wednesday night/Thursday morning. I'm also working on a few other blog posts that will eventually see the light of day:
- 'Movie Nitpicks' - Self explanatory, just nitpicking parts of movies that bugged me. Even if I liked the movie there could still be problems with it. Heck, no movie is perfect.
- CCLT 2013 - This was a series I started earlier in the summer concerning my summer job. I wrote one about Area Director's Week, but then I have slacked off ever since. Eventually I will be continuing this with entries concerning American Heritage Girls Week, Staff Week, Boy Scout Camp and Cub Scout Camp.
- Fall/Winter Preview - previewing the movies that I am planning on seeing for the rest of the year.
- And also other blog posts whose topics I will be keeping under wraps for now.
Okay, NFL time. 9-7 for Week 1, 10-6 for Week 2, and as I type away at this it's looking more and more that for Week 3 I will be 9-7. Not entirely crappy, but not all that great either. At least I'm staying consistent. My picks do tend to be on the safer side (hence why I picked the 49ers to beat the Colts.....look where that got me). As I said in the initial Pick 'Em post, I am not an expert by any means. Heck, I'm not really one to get in depth with football. I just a normal guy who likes watching football. Hopefully my picks fare a little better in the coming weeks, but we'll see how that goes.
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I have mentioned this time and time again in past blog posts and once again I feel the need to mention it again. If you are someone who regularly reads my blog or this is the first post you've read, I want your feedback. Tell me what you like, what you don't like. I'm trying to do the best I can with this and I can't make any improvements to it without feedback from you the reader. Please leave a comment on Facebook on this post, tweet me about it or send me a DM on Twitter. I also have it set up so that anyone can comment directly onto the blog. You don't even have to put your name, you could just put 'Anonymous', as people have done in the past. I'm very interested in what people have to say about my blog, and I thoroughly believe in Freedom of Speech. If you read it and you like it, that's awesome! I want to hear why you like it and anything you might have to say that I could improve at. Even if you don't like this blog or you want to criticize something about this blog do not hesitate to leave a comment about it. I'm all for constructive criticism, not insults just for the sake of insulting me.
Well I think that about does it for today. Time to get back to reading for class...
I didn't think that Millers was a long movie, sometimes it got a little dry though. I do agree with the hilarity of the movie. I tried to watch it in a library but had to stop because I was making so much noise. I really liked the way it was ended right before the credits rolled, that is all I will say for the people who have not seen it yet. Despicable Me 2 was a good movie, then again, my criteria on judging movies is pretty limited, but i think you will like it.
ReplyDeleteWWZ – Good review Jake. I do think we need to give this movie credit for the intro. It starts off in familiar zombie movie fashion – a nice hodge podge glimpse of pictures setting the mood for a zombie flick. From there on I sincerely agree that World War Z has issues. Perhaps I never really understood what Gerry’s background was (didn’t see the resume), but it must have been extensive and impressive for HIM to be sought out and rescued for the sole purpose of helping all of humanity. He ends up flying around the world looking for clues as if he is truly saying to himself “Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?". With that, I agree with you - he was way too calm and appeared bored at times. The undead in this flick appeared to be on speed, contrasting all other zombie movies I have viewed, with their swift changing and rapid ambulation seeking out victims. Their vocalization was newer too – they didn’t moan, but rather spoke in a barky chirp. The sound reminded me of noises from the raptors in Jurassic Park. You hit the nail on the head about the CGI - with all the technology we have - it should have been better. Other areas of the story just seemed to overlap with sloppiness – really do you think the luggage will hold back these creatures on the airplane? Or better yet - who forgot to check the plane for zombies? Perhaps this is just an adult version of “The Magic School Bus” - with Gerry staring as Miss Frizzle (he’s a dad, a zombie hunter, a friend, a bike rider, a diplomatic advisor, world traveler, an orthopedic surgeon, a nurse, a pilot, etc…) And the ending – ugh! Shall we all anticipate WWZ2? I certainly hope not.
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