Ten Disappointing Movies

Last December I wrote and talked ad nauseum about how disappointed I was with 'American Hustle'.  A few months ago I wrote about six sequels that were not only horrible continuations of their franchise, but were also disappointing.  So the idea came to me to talk about other movies that I had high expectations for but was sorely let down by.  Here are ten such movies that were rather disappointing:

'Anonymous' (PG-13)
Revolves around the conspiracy theory that William Shakespeare (Rafe Spall) did not write any of his plays or sonnets, but that is was the aristocratic Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford (Rhys Ifans) who wrote them.  There is also political turmoil surrounding Queen Elizabeth I (played by Joely Richardson in younger years and Vanessa Redgrave in her older years) and her advisor William Cecil (David Thewlis) as well as the Essex rebellion.  From Roland Emmerich, director of '2012', 'The Day After Tomorrow', 'The Patriot', and the 1998 'Godzilla'.

The trailers made it look very good and I was eagerly awaiting it to come to Muncie.  But due to the very limited release that it received, this movie never came to any of the theaters in Muncie.  It might have came to Indianapolis, but back in my junior year of college I wasn't really wanting to drive an hour to go see a movie.  My mindset about that has changed, but I'm getting off topic.  Eventually I just rented it from Redbox and...you know, it's an interesting conspiracy theory.  But overall it just wasn't all that interesting of a movie and it's main plot of Shakespeare being a fraud was bogged down by all the political subplots that go to some rather strange places.  I mean the overall look of the movie is great and the acting is fine, it just wasn't interesting or engaging.

 'Clash of the Titans' (PG-13)
Perseus (Sam Worthington), mortal son of Zeus (Liam Neeson), battles the minions of the underworld to stop them from conquering heaven and earth.  With Ralph Fiennes as Hades, Gemma Arterton as Io

The trailers made it look like it would be a lot of fun, but to make a long story short, it wasn't.  Admittedly the movie is awesome whenever Liam Neeson is onscreen, and the only real highlight of the movie is when he finally says 'Release The Kraken'.  But bad CGI, the acting being all of the place, and an overall rushed and clunky story plague this remake of the 1981 original.  Saw this in 2D having not heard any good things about the 3D conversion.  This was bad enough that I have yet to see the sequel 'Wrath of the Titans', which I've heard is even worse. 

 'Ghost Rider' (PG-13)
Stunt motorcyclist Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) gives up his soul to become a hellblazing vigilante, who must fight against power hungry Blackheart (Wes Bentley), the son of the devil himself (Peter Fonda).  With Eva Mendes as Blaze's love interest and Sam Elliott as a mysterious cemetery worker.

Admit it:  That shot in the trailer where the Ghost Rider riding down a skyscraper on his motorcycle and whirling around a flaming chain was AWESOME.  It's a shame the movie itself was a huge letdown with some spectacularly bad acting, forced awkward sounding dialogue that nobody would ever say, inconsistent CGI (some good, some awful), and most of the fight scenes just felt kinda rushed.  Once again here is a movie that was so bad that I have yet to see the sequel, this one being 2011's 'Ghost Rider:  Spirit of Vengeance'.  I've heard that it actually is better, but that's not saying much.  Heck, most movies in general are better than 'Ghost Rider'.  'Spider-man 3' is ever better than 'Ghost Rider' for goodness sake.

 'The Green Hornet' (PG-13)
Following the death of his father, Britt Reid (Seth Rogen, who also co-wrote and ), heir to his father's (Tom Wilkinson) large company, teams up with his late dad's assistant Kato (Jay Chou) to become a masked team that poses as criminals in order to stop them.  With Cameron Diaz as Reid's new assistant, Christoph Waltz as a villainous mobster who's going through a mid-life crisis, and James Franco in a brief cameo as a nightclub owner. 

I generally like Seth Rogen's movies, and this looked like it might be a fun action comedy.  But let's just say 2011 didn't exactly start off on the right foot when this finally released and I saw it.  Rogen's humor just didn't work for this movie.  It's just not very funny and Christoph Waltz, who can be a rather intimidating villain like in 'Inglourious Basterds', is hugely wasted.  And Cameron Diaz really didn't need to be in this.  This was also offered in 3D, but I opted for the 2D version.  It would have been disappointing regardless, but at least it saved me a couple bucks.

'Invictus' (PG-13)
Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman), in his first term as the South African President, initiates a unique venture to unite the apartheid-torn land: enlist the national rugby team, led by Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), on a mission to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup.  Directed by Clint Eastwood, and earned Academy Award nominations for both Freeman (Best Actor) and Damon (Best Supporting Actor).

Ever since I saw 'Gran Torino' and loved it, I instantly decided that I would watch anything that Clint Eastwood directs.  That's the only reason why I'm planning on seeing the 'Jersey Boys' movie this summer, but I'm getting off topic.  'Invictus' looked great.  Not only did it look like a rousing inspirational sports movie, it also looked like an inspirational biopic of Nelson Mandela.  And with Morgan Freeman of all people playing Mandela, what could go wrong?  Pacing, that's what.  It's long and drawn out, and because of that I got bored and I couldn't really get invested in any of it.  The one good scene was when the rugby team visits Mandela's jail cell, but I think I caught that in between dozing off.  And usually I'm wide awake during movies.  On the plus side...this is the best rugby movie I've seen.  It's also the only rugby movie I've seen, but I digress.

'J. Edgar' (R)
J. Edgar Hoover (Leonardo DiCaprio), powerful head of the F.B.I. for nearly 50 years, looks back on his professional and personal life.  With Armie Hammer as Hoover's right hand man Clyde Tolson, Naomi Watts as Hoover's secretary, Judi Dench as Hoover's mother, and Josh Lucas as Charles Lindbergh.

Another disappointing movie that just so happened to be directed by Clint Eastwood.  I could have included his movie 'Hereafter' in this list too, but this list is already long as is.  From the trailers, 'J. Edgar' looked really good.  And I was hoping that at least it would be better than 'Invictus' and 'Hereafter'.  And it is.........marginally.  Don't get me wrong:  DiCaprio turns in a great performance as J. Edgar Hoover.  But the movie itself is really, really, really dry, almost to the point of boredom.  And the old age makeup they used for DiCaprio, Hammer and Watts is so godawful and fake looking that it's just downright laughable.  Heck, Johnny Knoxville's old age make up in the 'Jackass' movies is far more realistic.  Subplots involving Hoover's private life (which have never been officially confirmed to be true) are forced and to be honest they didn't really need to be in the movie, but at times it's almost the main focus.  There are far more interesting subplots in this movie that the movie could have dwelled on, but nope.  Also didn't help that a group of twenty-somethings in the theater kept laughing at inappropriate times, getting angry glares from myself (sitting a few rows behind them) and a group of fifty-somethings sitting down the row from them.

 'Shutter Island' (R)
Another Leonardo DiCaprio movie on this list?  Oops.  Oh well.  In 1954, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) is investigating the disappearance of a murderess (Emily Mortimer) who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding nearby.  With Mark Ruffalo as his partner, Ben Kingsley the head of the hospital, and Max von Sydow as a doctor.  Directed by Martin Scorsese.i 

The trailers made it look like it would be a really good thriller.  But once again, here we have a movie that was so slowly paced not only was I not really all that invested in the movie but I was also dozing off.  And like I said, that rarely ever happens.  As soon as I heard that there was a twist I kinda jokingly told myself what it would be.  And sure enough....I was right.  And I was disappointed.  Instead of a thriller I got a snoozer.  Thankfully Scorsese's next few movies (the kid-friendly 'Hugo' and the keep-the-kids-far-far-far-far-away-from-this-movie 'The Wolf of Wall Street') more than made up for this.

 'Sucker Punch' (PG-13)
A young girl (Emily Browning) is institutionalized by her abusive stepfather. Retreating to an alternative reality as a coping strategy, she envisions a plan which will help her escape from the mental facility along with her fellow inmates (including Jena Malone, Abbie Cornish, Jamie Chung and Vanessa Hudgens).  With Oscar Isaacs as one of the men in charge of the institution, Carla Gugino as a doctor at the institution, and Jon Hamm as a lobotomist.  Directed by Zack Snyder, who also directed '300', 'Legend of the Guardians', 'Man of Steel', and the 'Dawn of the Dead' remake.

This trailers made this movie look AWESOME.  Well....there's only seven things that I liked in this movie:

1 thru 5.  Emily Browning, Jena Malone, Abbie Cornish, Jamie Chung, and Vanessa Hudgens.  Need I say more?
6.  Emily Browning's haunting, but extremely good cover of The Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" that plays over the opening scene.
7.  My hometown of Fort Wayne is listed on a bus towards the end of the movie.

Other than those, this movie is a mess.  Visually sure it's fantastic, but the visuals can't make up for a confusing storyline that's constantly changing realities.  One minute the institution turns into a brothel, then it goes into a fantasy world, then back into a brothel, and so on and so forth.  It's constant jumps in realities make it hard to really follow what's going on in this movie.  And with Scott Glenn popping up randomly as an old man giving out advice and their objectives in the various realities, 'Sucker Punch' plays out like a video game that your parents wouldn't let you play when you were a kid.  So you decide to go over to your friends house to play it...but your friend ends up playing it the entire time you're at his house.

 'The Town' (R)
As he plans his next job, a longtime thief (Ben Affleck, who directs and co-wrote) tries to balance his feelings for a bank manager (Rebecca Hall) connected to one of his earlier heists, as well as the FBI agent (Jon Hamm) looking to bring him and his crew (including Jeremy Renner in an Oscar nominated role for Best Supporting Actor) down.

This looked like it would be a really good thriller, but once again instead of a thriller I sat through a snoozer.  Once again, we have a movie that was so drawn out and almost boring that I couldn't get invested in any of it at all and I remember dozing off at least once or twice during this movie.  At least Ben Affleck's next movie 'Argo' more than made up for this. 

'The Wolfman' (R)
Remake of the 1941 classic that puts now acclaimed Shakespearean actor Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro) returning home to England after his brothers disappearance.  He makes amends with his father Sir John (Anthony Hopkins), meets his brothers fiancee (Emily Blunt) and eventually goes after whatever killed his brother.  He then gets bitten, and soon everyone starts coming after him, including an inspector from London (Hugo Weaving).

This had potential.  It has a great cast, keeps the time and setting from the original, production design wise looked great, and it looked like it could actually have been scary.  I liked the overall look of the film....the cinematography and transformation scenes were amazing, but overall I was left unsatisfied.  None of the actors appear to be trying at all and the story is okay but detracts from the original in a big way (due to a ridiculous and unneeded plot twist).  Apparently its release date was pushed back four times (from November 2008...it was finally released February 2010) and it went through several edits, re-shoots, and a change of directors before we got this.  And it shows.  It updates the violence and gore which wasn't present in the original, but I didn't mind that....and apparently neither did the 2-yr old that was also in the theater.  And for the most part it's really not that scary.  Some jump scares, sure, but it's only due to the volume suddenly being loud and not from anything scary actually happening.





I could go on and on and on with other movies that disappointed me, but I'll stop here for now.  What movies were you disappointed with?

REVIEW - 'Neighbors'

'Neighbors' (R) ***1/2
Mac and Kelly Radnor (Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne) are happily married with a newborn baby, but soon get some unexpected new next door neighbors:  a chapter of Delta Psi led by Teddy (Zac Efron) and Pete (Dave Franco), is quite known for their loud, obnoxious social gatherings and shenanigans.  And since it's their last year of college, Teddy and Pete want to throw a party so epic that it becomes immortalized on their frat's Wall of Fame.  At first things are cool between the Radnors and Delta Psi, but once the Radnors call the cops on a noise complaint during a party it soon becomes all out war between the new next door neighbors.  Co-starring Christopher Mintz-Plasse as another fraternity member and Lisa Kudrow as a college dean, with the members of The Lonely Island and the stars of the Comedy Central show "Workaholics" popping up in cameo appearances. 

Sure, most of the conflicts in this movie in real life could easily have been resolved in less than five minutes, but no one said that this movie is supposed to be realistic.  And honestly who cares about realism when a movie is this laugh out loud funny.  It's the most I've consistently laughed during a movie since 'Despicable Me 2'.  None of the jokes really fell flat and there were no moments that seemed to just drag on and on.  The performances are actually top notch, particularly from Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, and Zac Efron.  Each gets their time to shine and are all consistently funny and also profane, but still likable as characters.  It does have some more dramatic moments, such as when Pete goes to a job fair and is actively trying to prepare for life after college while Teddy doesn't have a clue about what's next in life.  Also Mac and Kelly eagerly remember their partying ways in college, but have accepted that they are now adults who with jobs and have a baby to take care of.  Dramatic moments, sure, but handled with a comedic touch thanks to improvisation between the stars and also director Nicholas Stoller ('Forgetting Sarah Marshall', 'Get Him To The Greek', 'The Five-Year Engagement').  Out of all the movies he's directed, this one was by far my favorite.  I liked it way more than Seth Rogen's previous movie 'This Is The End' (still a very good movie though).  If you like Seth Rogen movies, I recommend this.  It is a bit different in that Seth Rogen is actually taking responsibility in this and isn't just the usual man-child stoner that he usually plays in movies.  But humor and movies are subjective.  I tend to like Seth Rogen movies (except for 'Green Hornet') and during the entire running time of 'Neighbors' I laughed, and laughed, and laughed.  



TRAILERS

• 'Blended' - I did chuckle a few times watching this, but i don't know.  Adam Sandler movies for me are usually hit or miss.
  
• 'A Million Ways To Die In The West' - a different trailer than what I'm used to seeing in theaters, ending with a cameo that I won't spoil here but I wish hadn't been in the trailer.  Would have been a nice surprise to discover this cameo when I finally go see the movie, but oh well.  Still looks funny.
  
• '22 Jump Street' - You know, it kinda looks like a complete rehash of the first movie.  It still looks funny though. 
  
• 'Transformers:  Age of Extinction' - Well, at the very least it should be better than 'Transformers:  Revenge of the Fallen'....hopefully.
  
• 'The Purge:  Anarchy' - I liked the first one enough to be interested in seeing this sequel.
  
• 'Wish I Was Here' - Couldn't quite pick up on what this is about from watching this trailer.  All I know is that it's a comedic drama, the second movie directed by Zach Braff after 'Garden State', and that it was funded from a Kickstarter campaign.  Didn't look bad....I just don't know if it's something I'd go see.   
  
• 'The Expendables 3' - SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!!!

'Hotel', 'Heaven', and Horror

 Time to catch up on a few movies I saw last month.

'The Grand Budapest Hotel' (R) **1/2
The adventures of Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes), a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars, told from the perspective of Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori), the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend.  The pair deal with rather interesting hotel guests, other hotel concierges, a murder mystery, legal disputes, and a military occupation.  The huge ensemble cast includes F. Murray Abraham, Mathieu Amalric, Adrien Brody, Saiorse Ronan, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Bob Balaban, Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzmen, Jude Law, Tom Wilkinson, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Jeff Goldblum and Lea Seydoux.  The latest from Wes Anderson, the director of many other quirky movies like 'Moonrise Kingdom', 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' and 'Royal Tenenbaums'.

The only Wes Anderson movies I've seen were 'Moonrise Kingdom' and 'Fantastic Mr. Fox'.  Both aren't necessarily bad, but they're just.....different.  Colorful, odd, a bit slow, quirky, sarcastic, and a sense of humor that's pretty bone dry.  'Grand Budapest Hotel' is more of the same, but I at least laughed more times during this than in both 'Moonrise' and 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' combined.  But what really drives 'Grand Budapest Hotel' and separates it from the other Wes Anderson movies I've seen is a very strong performance by Ralph Fiennes as Gustave H.  This is a peculiar character that you WANT to follow around and watch his misadventures and hear his many one-liners.  But even with this good of a performance I still can't shake off that I felt that this was just an okay movie.  Perhaps Wes Anderson movie just aren't my thing. 

TRAILERS

• 'Belle' - the last time I saw a trailer for this was in front of '12 Years A Slave' last fall, and to be honest I more or less completely forgot about this until I saw it again in front of 'Grand Budapest Hotel'.  It looks like an okay, stuffy period piece that I could easily find on BBC or on Masterpiece Theater. 

• 'Dom Hemingway' - A dark British crime comedy with Jude Law in the title role.  I'll be perfectly honest:  I don't quite know what to think of this trailer. 

'Heaven Is For Real' (PG) ***
Small-town father and pastor Todd Burpo (Greg Kinnear) must find the courage and conviction to share his son Colton's (Connor Corum) extraordinary, life-changing experience with the world.  With Kelly Reilly as his wife, and Thomas Haden Church and Margo Martindale as members of Burpo's congregation who have their doubts about Colton's experiences.

The book is a quick read and while it initially stumbles by telling about events that really have no relevance to the main story, I still liked it.  The movie follows the book for the most part, but being an adaptation of course things have been taken out and creative liberties have been taken with certain events.  And while the plot may sound like it's very heavy-handed Christian propaganda, I can assure you it's not as heavy-handed as one might think it is.  The highlight of this movie is the acting.  Greg Kinnear is very charismatic as a pastor, and his moments where he is having a crisis of faith about his son's experiences are very well done and you can understand why he is having this crisis.  Kelly Reilly as his suffering wife who doesn't know what to think of her son's experiences and wants to focus on their present problems was also really good, and a far departure from the previous movie I saw that she was in (as Denzel Washington's heroin addict girlfriend in 'Flight').  Margo Martindale is also really good, having her own time to shine in a scene later in the movie in a cemetary with Greg Kinnear.  And for a first time child actor, Connor Corum actually is pretty good.  The movie does have the same problem as the book in that the first 30 or so minutes for the most part have no relevance to the main story.  The scenes in Heaven, admittedly, are really cheesy and feature some really poor CGI.  And some of the time as Greg Kinnear searches for a rational explanation to all of this the movie does seem like it's arguing against itself.  And yeah, you poke holes in Colton's story (he was never actually pronounced dead at any point during his surgery) but at the same time...there are some things that he knew about that there is quite possibly no way he would have know.  Overall it has issues, but I did like the movie.  If you're a non-believer, you're not going to like this movie at ALL simply because it's a religious movie.  If you do believe, I do recommend it.   
 
TRAILERS

• 'Earth To Echo' - looks like it could be okay. 

• 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' - the Internet seems to hate this movie already and it doesn't come out until August. 

• 'If I Stay' - Look.  This movie doesn't look bad in any way, shape or form.  A story about a near death experience and someone having to choose between living or dying sounds like it would be a sad movie.  Then it goes into overdrive by playing that "Say Something" song during this trailer, making me feel that instead of seeing this I should probably see something that's a bit more upbeat.

• 'When The Game Stands Tall' - Has the potential to either be a really good sports movie or something a little more heavy handed and bland. 

REDBOX
'Paranormal Activity:  The Marked Ones' (R) *1/2
In this so-called spin-off of the 'Paranormal Activity' series, Jesse (Andrew Jacobs) begins experiencing a number of disturbing and unexplainable things after the death of his neighbor.  He decides to film everything after getting a camera for his high school graduation.  I say so-called because this basically is a sequel.  Heck, it's more of a sequel than 'Paranormal Activity 4'.  Well, if the 'Paranormal Activity' movies decided to mash up with the found footage superhero movie 'Chronicle'.  The acting in this ranges from okay to bland, it's an okay story, it does have a few ridiculously awesome moments towards the end of the movie but.....it's just not scary.  A few creepy moments, sure, but largely devoid of anything that has made the overall 'Paranormal Activity' franchise so popular.  It is better than 'Paranormal Activity 4' in that this at least advances the overall mythology of the series but it's still not very good.  Later this year will bring 'Paranormal Activity 5'.......which I will only go see because I've seen the other movies in this overlong franchise that really should be put to pasture.  And undergo an exorcism or two. 

Football Movie Draft! Day 3 - 'Any Given Sunday' & 'Varsity Blues'

And the last day of the draft concludes with two edgier football movies. 

'Any Given Sunday' (R)
An aging football coach (Al Pacino) finds himself struggling with his personal and professional life while trying to hold his team together. A star quarterback (Dennis Quaid) has been knocked out of the game and a third string QB (Jamie Foxx) replaces him only to become exposed to the world of sports and become a danger to himself and to his players. Meanwhile, the coach finds himself constantly at battle with the team owner (Cameron Diaz) intent on moving the team out.  With LL Cool J as the star running back, Aaron Eckhart as the offensive coordinator, James Woods as the team doctor, Matthew Modine as his assistant, and various former NFL players popping up in cameos. 

The first time I tried watching this was at a friends house...and I fell asleep.  I just couldn't get invested into it at all and I guess I was a bit tired.  But I decided to finally watch all of it as part of this Football Movie Draft.  It's a darker look at football and fully earns it's R rating.  At 156 minutes this movie is way too long.  The football scenes are seemingly edited haphazardly.  And it's a bit of a stretch believing that Cameron Diaz could be a knowledgeable owner of a football team.  But the performances by Al Pacino and Jamie Foxx make this watchable.  Really that is all I have to say about this movie.

DRAFT PROJECTION:  Mid fourth round.




'Varsity Blues' (R)
In Texas, football is life.  In his 35th year as head coach, Bud Kilmer (Jon Voight) is trying to lead his West Canaan Coyotes to their 23rd division title. When star quarterback Lance Harbor (Paul Walker) suffers an injury, the Coyotes are forced to regroup under the questionable leadership of John Moxon (James Van Der Beek), a second-string quarterback with a slightly irreverent approach to the game.

I only knew of this movie by reputation.  I had heard that it wasn't very good and that the acting, particularly from 'Dawson's Creek' star James Van Der Beek, was rather poor.  Did I think that it was that bad?  No.  Sure it's an extremely unrealistic portrayal of high school football that goes above and beyond any BS meter (all the kids should have been arrested and kicked off the team, and the head coach shouldn't have been coaching, one of the teachers shouldn't have been working at a school) but it is watchable.  When it tries to be a comedy honestly it is pretty funny.  When it wants to be a drama it gets a little too heavy handed and melodramatic.  The football scenes are admittedly fun to watch.  And yeah, James Van Der Beek's accent is pretty bad.  But overall it's an okay movie.    

DRAFT PROJECTION:  Also mid fourth round.

Football Movie Draft! Day 2 - 'Remember The Titans', 'Invincible', 'Game Plan'

The draft continues with a batch of football movies from Disney. 

'Remember The Titans' (PG)
The true story of a newly appointed African-American coach (Denzel Washington) and his high school team on their first season as a racially integrated unit.  It's ensemble cast also features Will Patton, Donald Faison, Kate Bosworth, Ryan Gosling, and a very very young Hayden Panettiere.  Yeah, it gets corny at times.  But it's still a great movie that's well-acted, has thrilling football action and has a great message that it never gets heavy handed with.

DRAFT PROJECTION:  Number 1 overall pick.  Honestly this is my favorite football movie.





'Invincible' (PG)
Based on the story of Vince Papale (Mark Wahlberg), a 30-year-old bartender from South Philadelphia who overcame long odds to play for the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles in 1976.  With Greg Kinnear as Eagles Coach Dick Vermeil and Elizabeth Banks as Papale's new coworker at the bar.  The only time I've seen this was in theaters seven and a half years ago.  I remember liking it and thinking that it was a fairly inspirational sports drama.  Wish I could add a little bit more but like I said, it's been years since I've seen it.

DRAFT PROJECTION:  Mid third round pick.





'The Game Plan' (PG)
An NFL quarterback (Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson) living the bachelor lifestyle discovers that he has a 8-year-old daughter (Madison Pettis) from a previous relationship.  This is another one that gets corny and it's fairly predictable, but overall I did like it.  Although it has a bit of a slow start, it does get to be fairly funny and Pettis is actually really good in this.  If you haven't seen it you're not exactly missing out, although if there is nothing else on TV and this happens to be on the Disney Channel, it won't waste your time.  Heck, this movie is better than 96% of the content that is regularly on the Disney Channel. 

DRAFT PROJECTION:  Late third round/early fourth round pick.

Football Movie Draft! Day 1 - 'Draft Day', 'Friday Night Lights', 'Undefeated'

With the NFL Draft occurring over the next few days, I've decided to take a look at various football movies.  So welcome to the 2014 Football Movie Draft!  For the next few days I will be posting my thoughts on various football movies.  Along with a mini-review of each movie I will also post a 'draft projection' for each.  If I think it's a great movie I'd project it in the first round.  Second round will be for something that's above average.  Third round will be for movies that are simply good.  Fourth round would be for movies that are just okay.  Fifth thru seventh round would be for varying degrees of bad, and who knows maybe a movie will go undrafted.

So let's start things off with a movie I saw over a month ago and specifically didn't write about until today, a movie that came out ten years ago, and an Oscar-winning documentary.

 'Draft Day' (PG-13)
At the NFL Draft, general manager Sonny Weaver (Kevin Costner) has the opportunity to rebuild his team when he trades for the number one pick. He must decide what he's willing to sacrifice on a life-changing day for a few hundred young men with NFL dreams, specifically hot prospects Wisconsin QB Bo Callahan (Josh Pence), Ohio State OLB Vontae Mack (Chadwick Boseman), and Florida State RB Ray Jennings (Arian Foster).  With Jennifer Garner as Sonny's secret office girlfriend, Ellen Burstyn as Sonny's mom, Denis Leary as the coach of the Cleveland Browns, Frank Langella as the owner of the Browns, and various ESPN analysts and NFL officials as themselves.  Too many subplots, a few dry patches, and some rather ridiculous trades, but overall I liked it.  It's occasionally funny, has some solid performances, and it's actually quite suspenseful during the actual draft.  It is a bit distracting knowing that Arian Foster is an actual NFL RB but I digress.  It's more the NFL's answer to 'Trouble With The Curve' than it is 'Moneyball', but at least it's better than the former.   

TRAILERS

• 'Million Dollar Arm' - Only a few more weeks until this comes out and I won't have to watch the trailer for it ever again!
• 'Blended' - This might be a rental.
• 'Get On Up' - The James Brown biopic.  If reviews are good I might see it at some point.
• 'The Expendables 3' - SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!
• 'When The Game Stands Tall' - Looks like it could be really good, or be really heavy-handed and bad.

DRAFT PROJECTION:  It's a mid-to-late third round pick.  There are better football movies out there, but there are also worse.  






'Friday Night Lights' (PG-13)
Based on H.G. Bissinger's 1990 nonfiction book of the same name, which profiled the economically depressed town of Odessa, Texas and their heroic high school football team, The Permian High Panthers during the 1988 season.  With Lucas Black, Garret Hedlund, Derek Luke, Jay Hernandez and Lee Thompson Young as various members of the team, Billy Bob Thornton as Coach Gary Gaines, Tim McGraw as an alcoholic father and the acting debut of Amber Heard.

I was 13 when I went to see this with a few friends in the theater.  I thought it was great back then and it still holds up today.  It both succeeds as a very good drama and a rousing sports movie, capturing perfectly the atmosphere and egos often associated with high school football and how a town rallies behind the team.  Great performances particularly from Thornton, McGraw, and Hedlund. 

DRAFT PROJECTION:  Late first round/early second round





'Undefeated' (PG-13)
Oscar winning documentary on an underdog high school football team who look to reverse their fortunes with coach Bill Courtney.  Their goals:  to win their district and secure a playoff spot and win a playoff game, something the school has never done.

Sure 'Friday Night Lights' was based on a real team in the late 80's, but it's an adaptation of a book.  Changes are made to better translate to the screen.  'Undefeated' unfolds right before your eyes and it's real with no Hollywood BS.  In addition to some thrilling football game footage, it also showcases the private lives of two of the coaches and a few of the players and all of the hardships they are facing.  It's inspirational, it's moving, and not only is it one of the better documentaries I've seen but also one of the better sports movies I've seen. 

DRAFT PROJECTION:  Mid first round. 

REVIEW - 'The Amazing Spider-man 2'

'The Amazing Spider-man 2' (PG-13) **
Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) has a lot going on in his life.  He has graduated high school and is now is now working for The Daily Bugle taking pictures of Spider-man.  He is tormented by visions of Captain George Stacy (Denis Leary), who just before he died in the previous movie had made Peter promise to keep Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) safe by leaving her alone.  Gwen and Peter's relationship is on and off as a result of this promise.  All the while, Peter has three new villains to face:

1. Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx), a loner who works at Oscorp who becomes obsessed with Spider-man after he is saved by him.  An accident involving cables and genetically altered electric eels turns Max Dillon into Electro, who glows blue, can shoot lightning and suck all the energy out of anything electric, and can seemingly evaporate and appear out of nowhere and travel through circuits.
2. Harry Osbourne (Dane DeHaan), Peter's long lost best friend who is back in town to take charge of Oscorp while his father Norman (Chris Cooper) is on his deathbed.  He soon becomes the Green Goblin.
3. Aleksei Sytsevich (Paul Giamatti), a Russian terrorist who is given a suit of armor by Oscorp and calls himself The Rhino. 

In addition to all of that Peter Parker is still searching for the reason why his parents left him with Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field) and were mysteriously killed.  A LOT of things going on in this movie.

First off, you can count me among the multitude of people who have felt (and still feel) that 'Spider-man' shouldn't have been rebooted.  Sure 'Spider-man 3' was a colossal disappointment but it wasn't so bad that a reboot was needed.  Heck 'Spider-man 4' almost happened but plans fell through and to keep the film rights from going back to Marvel Sony decided to just reboot and start all over again. I'll talk more about what I thought of the previous 'Amazing Spider-man' later on but this is just kinda trying to explain my mindset about this iteration of the 'Spider-man' film franchise.  But, I still was interested in this movie and I went into it with an open mind. 

There are plenty of things to like about this movie.  For the most part the special effects are really good.  The acting for the most part is really good, with Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, and even Sally Field all improving from the previous movie.  I was able to become invested in Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy's love story, even with all of it's complications you're still rooting for them.  Sure I still prefer Rosemary Harris' Aunt May from the original trilogy, but in this movie I could actually buy Sally Field as Aunt May.  Stan Lee's cameo is fun as always, and the movie is fun whenever Spider-man is swinging around New York and cracking jokes while in the middle of a chase or in the middle of a fight.  And the original 'Spider-man' theme pops up twice in the movie and it's kinda funny.   

But with all those pluses there were many things I didn't like, well, specifically three things:  the villains.  There are way too many of them, each felt rushed, two of them felt shoe horned in and worst of all is that they really aren't that interesting.  The Rhino is barely in the movie and that CGI Rhino suit looks horrible, looking painfully obvious that Paul Giamatti is surrounded by CGI and not in an actual suit.  And with Giamatti's extremely exaggerated Russian accent I could barely understand a single word he said.  The Rhino (who bookends the movie) felt tacked on only to help set up the inevitable 'Sinister Six' movie with several Spider-man villains teaming up.

Now I didn't mind Dane DeHaan as Harry Osbourne, but once he becomes the Green Goblin it all just looks really stupid and I kept thinking that it was done better in the very first 'Spider-man' movie.  Heck, Harry Osbourne as the Goblin was done much better in 'Spider-man 3'.  Dane DeHaan is a good actor and actually was menacing in the underrated found footage superhero movie 'Chronicle'.  His character in that movie actually has an arc his transformation into a villain in the movie is believable.  His transformation into being a villain in this movie is all very rushed and it seems that he's only a villain because the screenplay says so.  At least James Franco's Goblin in 'Spider-man 3' was developed over the two previous movies to set up his hatred for 'Spider-man'.  There was potential for an interesting villain here, but it's spoiled and rushed just to tack on another villain to set up 'Sinister Six'.

And now we finally get to the "main" villain, Electro.  Sure once he turns into Electro and starts to glow blue like Dr. Manhattan in 'Watchmen', those effects are really cool.  But it's just another case where I just felt that Max Dillon's transformation into a villain was very rushed.  According to this movie he's supposed to be a sympathetic villain:  As Max Dillon he's a loner, obsessed with Spider-man and he just wants people to notice him and need him.  When he becomes Electro all that anger I guess is suppose to be coming out.  Sure that's all fine and dandy but the movie rushes it all and quite frankly Electro just becomes uninteresting really fast.  I don't blame Jamie Foxx for this.  He's simply doing what he can.

The movie is also a little too long and probably should have ended 15 minutes before it actually did finally end.  Norman Osbourne is in the movie maybe 5 minutes total and you don't learn a whole lot about him other than that he's dying.  Maybe the movie's script just needed a quick polishing.  Still taking the multiple villain route, I'd have written out the Rhino entirely, added a bit more about Electro and Green Goblin, and possibly could have had a much better movie.  Or just sticking with the one villain approach that most superhero movies have, pick either Electro or Green Goblin and then go from there.  That would make a solid, two hour movie that wouldn't be so crowded and wouldn't have needed to rush things to cram it all within it's 143-minute running time.  But then again, what do I know?  I've never written a screenplay.  Although on a side note I will admit:  'The Amazing Spider-man 2' does handle multiple villains better than 'Spider-man 3', which crammed Venom, Green Goblin, and Sandman all together. 

While I know I've skimmed through a few 'Spider-man' comics and watched episodes of the 1990's 'Spider-man' TV show I can't quite remember enough to make a comparison of either to this movie.  But I have seen all of the other 'Spider-man' movies.  The original 'Spider-man' was really good and a lot of fun.  'Spider-man 2' is one of the better superhero movies out there.  'Spider-man 3' had the potential to be even better but it drastically ruined that trilogy.  'The Amazing Spider-man' I just thought was okay.  I still didn't like that it was being rebooted, and since it is a retelling of the origin story of Spider-man I just felt that I had already seen this movie.  So how does 'The Amazing Spider-man 2' stack up?  Well....it is better than 'Spider-man 3', but then again most movies are.  In many ways it's better than it's immediate predecessor but at the same time there are ways in which it's not.  At least Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard in that movie was the ONLY villain and his transformation to being a villain wasn't all that rushed. 

'The Amazing Spider-man 2' is a mixed bag.  At times it's a lot of fun with good performances and great special effects, but the rather rushed and uninteresting villains ruin the movie's good will. 



TRAILERS

• 'X-Men:  Days of Future Past' - I know the Internet is going ga-ga over this movie mainly because Bryan Singer (the director of the first two 'X-Men' movies) is back in the director's chair.  I wasn't all that thrilled over those 'X-Men' movies and the time traveling plot also makes me really skeptical, but who knows:  Maybe it'll be the best X-Men movie since 'X-Men:  First Class'.  Or it'll be the worst since 'X-Men Origins:  Wolverine'. 
   
• 'Maleficent' - Only a few more weeks until I can finally go see this movie and I won't have to watch the trailer again!
  
• 'Edge of Tomorrow' - A different trailer for this movie for once.  Still looks like 'Oblivion' combined with 'Groundhog Day'.  Might be a rental. 
  
• 'When The Game Stands Tall' - The longest winning streak in the history of sports is broken when a high school football team loses for the first time in 12 years.  The players and the town come to terms with this loss and what really matters in life.  This looks like it could have potential.