The Return of Blogging (But Not The Jolly Fat Elf)

 Well hello there....it's been awhile.

You could say I've been fairly busy these past several years.  New jobs, getting married, having kids, moving, new cars...you know, all those minor life changes.

For 2021 I have decided to restart this blog.  I will again be using this as a creative outlet.  Here I will be discussing whatever topics come to my head, from movie reviews to sports picks to anything in between.  Again, whatever comes to my head.

I will try to post at least once every few weeks, although my goal is once a week.

Stay tuned.

Time Keeps on Slippin', Slippin', Slippin'

Today I celebrate the second anniversary of starting this blog.  Two years ago after seeing the Jackie Robinson biopic '42' I sat down at my desk in my dorm room at Ball State and started this up.  What's changed in the two years since I've started this?

Well...not a lot really.

TWO YEARS AGO:  I was a broken hearted, single college student who saw way too many movies.  I worked at a dining hall, I had a car, I spent way too much money on things I didn't really need, I procrastinated every now and then, had occasional writer's block when it came to certain movies, ate too much, drank too much soda, insert other college student stereotypes here.  After seeing a movie I'd come back to my dorm room, sit at my desk, fire up my laptop and start churning out a review.

TWO YEARS LATER (CURRENT):  Still single but I am a college graduate, complete with all the student loan debt that that entails.  I work at a high school, I have a different car, I try to control my money spending, I don't procrastinate as much as I used to, I have writer's block more often than I'd care to admit to, still eat a little too much, still drink a little bit too much soda...and I'm living with my parents.  After seeing a movie lately I've let my thoughts gather in my head for awhile...and a little while longer...then eventually I lay on my bed, fire up my laptop, and start typing away at a review.  Sometimes I let the viewing numbers for certain posts get to me, other times I don't.

Okay so a fair amount has changed in this two year time period.  Who knows what will change a year from now?  Two years?  Five?  Ten?  Who knows.  Will I still be doing this that long?  I don't know.  I will keep doing this as long as I'm having fun and as long as people still keep on reading my thoughts on movies or whatever else I decide to write about. 

If you've been a loyal reader, thanks.  So far it's been a fun ride and I hope to still ride a little bit longer.  Year 3 will be interesting indeed.

REVIEWS - 'Selma', 'Inherent Vice', 'SpongeBob'

I saw these several months ago...better late than never I suppose.  Had I written these shortly after watching them as originally intended I would have had more to say about them.  Just trying to remember my thoughts about them at this point in time...several months later...

'Selma' (PG-13) ***
Nominated for 2 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Original Song (winning the latter of the two), 'Selma' follows Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) as he peacefully fights for equal voting rights for African Americans by embarking on a march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama.  Overall this is a pretty good movie bolstered by a great performance by David Oyelowo as MLK. 


'Inherent Vice' (R) ***
Nominated for 2 Academy Awards including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Costume Design, 'Inherent Vice' has such a meandering plot it's almost impossible to put it all here.  But I'm gonna try.  The basic story follows hippie private investigator Larry 'Doc' Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix), as he is recruited by his ex girlfriend Shasta (Katherine Waterston) to investigate the disappearance of her current boyfriend (Eric Roberts) who may have been committed to an insane asylum by his wife (Serena Scott Thomas) and her lover.  This is interweaved with subplots concerning a police detective (Josh Brolin) who hates hippies, a clean cut district attorney (Reese Witherspoon) who Doc is currently seeing, a missing musician (Owen Wilson) and his wife (Jena Malone) and a drug crazed dentist (Martin Short).  There's a lot going on in this movie that's based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Pynchon.  The latest from Paul Thomas Anderson, the director of 'The Master', 'There Will Be Blood', 'Punch-Drunk Love', 'Magnolia', 'Boogie Nights' and 'Hard Eight'. 

Yes it is two and a half hours long and it certainly feels two and a half hours long with it's meandering plot.  But the quirky characters, the occasional one liners, the period detail and the great soundtrack all made it watchable.  I don't think I'll be seeing it again, but while watching it I did overall enjoy it.




'The SpongeBob Movie:  Sponge Out of Water' (PG) ***1/4
The second theatrical 'SpongeBob' movie and the first in eleven years, 'Sponge Out of Water' follows SpongeBob and his friends as they are forced to team up with Plankton after a pirate (Antonio Banderas) steals the Krabby Patty secret formula. 

I've liked 'SpongeBob' ever since I was a kid when it first debuted on Nickelodeon in 1999.  Today as an adult it is one of the few current children's shows that I can actually tolerate.  If you never got on the 'SpongeBob' bandwagon then you definitely will not like this movie.  It's bright and colorful and had me laughing pretty consistently throughout.  I liked it way better than the previous 'SpongeBob' movie from 2004.  

REVIEW - 'Furious 7'

'Furious 7' (PG-13) ***1/2

The seventh installment in this seemingly never ending franchise has Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) seeking revenge against Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and company (Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson) for the death of his brother Owen (Luke Evans) in the events of the previous movie.  In addition to the main revenge plot Kurt Russell shows up as a mysterious government agent known only as Mr. Nobody, who recruits Dom & co.  to rescue a kidnapped hacker named Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel).  Ramsey has developed a program called "God's Eye" which can hack into any electronic device on the planet.  Others in the cast include Lucas Black briefly reprising his character from 'Tokyo Drift', Ronda Rousey as a security guard in Abu Dhabi, Djimon Hounsou as another shady character who wants the "God's Eye" program and Asian action star Tony Jaa making his American film debut as a henchman.

But who really cares about the intricacies of plot, logic, and the laws of physics when we have cars parachuting onto mountains, expensive sports cars crashing through skyscrapers, Paul Walker jumping off of a vehicle that's falling off of a cliff and being able to perfectly grab ahold of the spoiler on a speeding car, and many other completely ludicrous action scenes that are just so much fun to watch.

And indeed this movie as a whole is AWESOME and I had a blast watching it at an IMAX theater.  Ever since 'Fast Five' this series has strayed from street racing drama and shifted more towards over-the-top action, a change that has greatly benefited this series.  Not just in terms of entertainment value in my opinion, but also critically and commercially.  They've found the right formula and they've stuck with it.  Now having said that this entry does feature more street racing than in the last few 'Fast & Furious' movies combined with plenty of callbacks to the 2001 original movie.  As I've said, the action scenes are a lot of fun.  A few are a bit more choppily edited than I would have liked but it never got to the point where I couldn't tell what was going on (cough cough 'Quantum of Solace').  And Jason Statham as Deckard Shaw is by far the best villain out of this entire series.  A rogue agent who knows how to disappear and always appears out of the blue and leaves a trail of destruction behind him.  His opening scene alone pretty much sums up everything about this character...and it's awesome. 


Usually for franchises I'll list out the previous entries and my thoughts on them and then finally compare the entry I just saw to those.  But I'll just say this right now:  Out of the sequels, 'Furious 7' is the best one.  Each movie surprisingly ups the ante and still keeps things fresh and interesting  Sure we don't really need SEVEN of these movies but who cares when it's just so much fun?

James Wan takes over the directorial reins from Justin Lin, who had helmed the previous four 'Fast & Furious' movies.  This is a step outside the box for Wan who made his name on horror movies like 'The Conjuring', the first two 'Insidious' movies, the first 'Saw' movie, and 'Dead Silence'.  Sure some of the fight scenes are a little choppily edited but for the most part he doesn't miss a beat from where Lin left off.  It'll be interesting to see who they inevitably hire to make the inevitable 'Fast & Furious 8'.

Now for Paul Walker's scenes that he hadn't filmed yet his brothers Caleb and Cody were used as stand-ins with his face being superimposed digitally on theirs.  Is it noticeable when it's clearly a double or when it's clearly a CGI face?  Yes it is, but those moments are brief and they don't take anything away from the movie.  

Overall 'Furious 7' is a fun time at the movies with a great villain and plenty of awesome over the top action sequences, along with an ending that has a perfect send-off for Paul Walker.   




TRAILERS

• 'Straight Outta Compton' - the N.W.A. biopic.  I'm not really the biggest fan of rap but this actually looks decent.   

• 'Spectre' - SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!!!!!!!  Then again the last time I really looked forward to a Bond movie we ended up with 'Quantum of Solace'...

• 'Mission:  Impossible - Rogue Nation' - I somehow never really got into the 'Mission:  Impossible' series.  Sometimes I liked the action scenes but for the most part I didn't really care about anything happening.  I'll watch this at some point since I've seen the others, but I won't be going in with high hopes.

• 'Jurassic World' - Why do I have to wait until June 12 for the park to be open??

• 'Avengers:  Age of Ultron' - I've been eagerly awaiting this ever since the ending of the previous 'Avengers' movie.

• 'Terminator:  Genisys' - ...this just looks like a rehash of almost everyone of the previous movies.  And none of it makes any sense.

I Finally Watched...Fifty Shades of Grey

Well...here goes nothing...

Based on E.L. James' international best-selling 'Twilight' fan fiction of the same name, 'Fifty Shades of Grey' follows college student Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) as her life changes following an interview with the handsome, tormented, eccentric, perverted billionaire Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan).

Now that I have your attention, it has indeed been awhile since I last posted anything on here.  What gives?  Truth be told I haven't had a lot of motivation to write much, which has become my rather frequent excuse for whenever there has been a rather lengthy period of time between posts.  But it's time to quit making excuses and to just get back into the swing of things...for real this time.  I have lots of movies to talk about and I don't want to continue getting further and further behind.  Reviews will start back up with 'Furious 7' this Friday.  And from there, I will be writing brief reviews for movies I've seen since my last review back in January.  And I'm talking EVERY movie, even if it didn't come out this year and more belongs in an actual 'I Finally Watched...' post.  So stay tuned.   

And don't worry....I haven't actually seen 'Fifty Shades of Grey' #AprilFools

Oscars Wrap-Up

Well last night was the Oscars.  I watched about 20 minutes of it before I had to go to work but every now and then I checked Twitter to find out who won.  From what I saw of the show I thought Neil Patrick Harris did well as host.  The opening musical number he did with Anna Kendrick and Jack Black I thought was fun, and his occasional zingers I thought were pretty funny.  Looking through the Internet you'll find the opposite opinion but then again no matter who is hosting the lovely wonderful people of the Internet will not like them.

I correctly picked 18 of the 24 categories, which is one better than I did last year.  Surprisingly every movie that was nominated for Best Picture ended up winning at least one Oscar, with three in particular picking up even more than that.  Let's go over who won what.

'BIRDMAN OR (THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE) (R)

OSCARS WON:  Best Picture, Best Director  - Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Best Original Screenplay - Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu & Nicolas Giacobone & Alexander Dinelaris Jr. & Armando Bo, Best Cinematography

'Birdman' came in to the ceremony tied with 'Grand Budapest Hotel' for the most nominations (9) and left the ceremony tied also with 'Grand Budapest Hotel' for the most wins (4).  In my personal opinion there were PLENTY of other movies that were better than 'Birdman', but the awards season momentum had swung in it's favor.  Kinda like how back in 2011 'The Social Network' was the early favorite but 'The King's Speech' ended up getting the late awards season momentum and won Best Picture.  Not gonna lie...it does bother me that 'Birdman' won, but I'll get over it.

ALSO NOMINATED FOR:  Best Actor - Michael Keaton, Best Supporting Actor - Edward Norton, Best Supporting Actress - Emma Stone, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing

'THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL' (R)

OSCARS WON:  Best Original Score, Best Production Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Costume Design

Wes Anderson's latest quirky, colorful movie swept a fair amount of the technical awards which I'll admit it truly does deserve.  Yep...that's about all I got for this movie.

ALSO NOMINATED FOR:  Best Picture, Best Director - Wes Anderson, Best Original Screenplay - Wes Anderson, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing

'WHIPLASH' (R)

OSCARS WON:  Best Supporting Actor - J.K. Simmons, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing

Well...it's always good to see your favorite movie of the year get awarded.  J.K. Simmons' win for Best Supporting Actor has pretty much been a lock for quite some time, but a win for Sound Mixing as well as an upset win for Editing?  Sweet!  Looks like this movie was the Academy's tempo after all.

ALSO NOMINATED FOR:  Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay - Damien Chazelle

'AMERICAN SNIPER' (R)

OSCAR WON:  Best Sound Editing

War movies and musicals tend to win the Oscar for Best Sound Editing.  Going by that logic, I ended up correctly picking this right.  This still is a pretty good movie...it's a shame that the baby doll didn't get properly awarded.

ALSO NOMINATED FOR:  Best Picture, Best Actor - Bradley Cooper, Best Adapted Screenplay - Jason Hall, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing

'BOYHOOD' (R)

OSCAR WON:  Best Supporting Actress - Patricia Arquette

...without going into a huge rant let's just say I strongly believe that 'Boyhood' should NOT have ended the night with only one Oscar win...

ALSO NOMINATED FOR:  Best Picture, Best Director - Richard Linklater, Best Original Screenplay - Richard Linklater, Best Supporting Actor - Ethan Hawke, Best Film Editing

'THE IMITATION GAME' (PG-13)

OSCAR WON:  Best Adapted Screenplay - Graham Moore

The only thing I really have to say is that I heard Moore gave one of the best acceptance speeches of the night.

ALSO NOMINATED FOR:  Best Picture, Best Director - Morten Tyldum, Best Actor - Benedict Cumberbatch, Best Supporting Actress - Keira Knightley, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Production Design

'SELMA' (PG-13)

OSCAR WON:  Best Original Song - "Glory"

After having finally seen 'Selma', did I feel like it had been snubbed in a lot of categories?  No.  Honestly for several of the categories (particularly Best Actor) it was just a year packed with great performances that MANY other actors were "snubbed" as well that many had thought would have been shoe-ins.

I actually liked 'Selma', and my review of it should be posted sometime this week.  My main problem, though, is with this song.  To me a gospel/rap song that contains a reference to Ferguson, Missouri has absolutely NO REASON to belong in a movie about MLK. 

ALSO NOMINATED FOR:  Best Picture

'THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING' (PG-13)

OSCAR WON:  Best Actor - Eddie Redmayne

Undergo a physical transformation and you too will win an Oscar!  Ugh....I really didn't like this movie.  I'm more mad at this movie winning an Oscar than I am about 'Birdman' winning Best Picture.

ALSO NOMINATED FOR:  Best Picture, Best Actress - Felicity Jones, Best Adapted Screenplay - Anthony McCarten, Best Original Score

'STILL ALICE' (PG-13)

OSCAR WON:  Best Actress - Julianne Moore

I haven't seen this movie...nor apparently has most of the country.  Apparently it's about a college professor played by Moore who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease.  Which brings me to my next point:  Play a person with a physical or mental disease and you too can win an Oscar!

'IDA' (PG-13)

OSCAR WON:  Best Foreign Language Film

Apparently this is the first movie from Poland to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.  'Ida' follows a young woman who is on the verge of taking her vows to be a Catholic nun when she embarks on a journey and discovers a dark family secret.

ALSO NOMINATED FOR:  Best Cinematography

'CITIZENFOUR' (R)

OSCAR WON:  Best Documentary Feature

I haven't seen this, but I suppose whether you'd like this documentary or not will all depend on how you view Edward Snowden:  As a whistleblowing hero, or as a traitor.

'BIG HERO 6' (PG)

OSCAR WON:  Best Animated Feature

...didn't expect this movie to win.  But I am glad that it beat the likes of 'How To Train Your Dragon 2'.  But had 'The LEGO Movie' been rightfully nominated and NOT snubbed it would've been no competition.

'INTERSTELLAR' (PG-13)

OSCAR WON:  Best Visual Effects

Glad to see this movie win something.  And indeed the visual effects for this movie were great.

ALSO NOMINATED FOR:  Best Original Score, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Production Design



OTHER WINNERS:
BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT:  'Crisis Hotline:  Veterans Press 1'
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM:  'The Phone Call'
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM:  'Feast'

Updates and Oscar Picks

I have plenty of catching up to do as far as reviews go and with how many movies I've watched recently I'm digging myself into a deeper and deeper hole.  By the end of the week I hope to be fully caught up with reviews, other updates, and whatever else I decide to post up.  But first...let's talk about tonight's Oscar telecast.

Yep it's that time of year again for the Oscars.  I'll be busy tonight so I won't be able to watch it so I won't really be able to comment on the show itself when I do my Oscars wrap-up post tomorrow.  No point in recording it either since I'll already know who the winners are when I get home later tonight.  Anyway, here are my Oscar picks for tonight along with some comments for a few of the picks.

BEST PICTURE:  *Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
BEST DIRECTOR:  **Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
BEST ACTOR:  ***Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
BEST ACTRESS:  ****Julianne Moore, Still Alice
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:  J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:  *****Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:  Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:  The Imitation Game
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:  ******How To Train Your Dragon 2
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:  Leviathan  
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:  Citizenfour
BEST DOCUMENTARY - SHORT SUBJECT:  White Earth
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM:  Boogaloo and Graham
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM:  Feast
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:  The Theory of Everything
BEST ORIGINAL SONG:  *******"Glory", Selma
BEST SOUND EDITING:  American Sniper
BEST SOUND MIXING:  Whiplash
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:  The Grand Budapest Hotel
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:  Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING:  The Grand Budapest Hotel
BEST COSTUME DESIGN:  The Grand Budapest Hotel
BEST FILM EDITING:  Boyhood
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:  Interstellar

*'Boyhood' deserves to win, but the awards lately have been swinging in favor of 'Birdman'.  Kinda like back in 2011 with 'The Social Network' initially winning awards and being the frontrunner until momentum swung in favor of 'The King's Speech'.  Heck, if I end up getting this pick wrong and 'Boyhood' ends up winning I'd be thrilled.
**(see above), plus Inarritu won the DGA award this year and only six times has the winner of the DGA award NOT went on to win Best Director. 
***The fact that Eddie Redmayne is winning awards for this boring movie makes me angry.  I would much much much rather see ANY of the other nominees win.  Heck, I didn't even like 'Birdman' or 'Foxcatcher' all that much but I'd still prefer Keaton or Carell to win over Eddie Redmayne.  Similar to how I felt last year seeing Matthew McConaughey win all kinds of awards for 'Dallas Buyers Club'.
****Haven't seen this movie, but Julianne Moore has been the frontrunner for quite some time now.  Rosamund Pike deserves it for 'Gone Girl', but that kind of an upset isn't gonna happen. 
*****I liked 'Boyhood', but I didn't really care for Patricia Arquette's performance in that movie all that much.  Out of the three performances in this category I've seen the only one I actually liked was Keira Knightley in 'The Imitation Game'.
******Still mad that 'The LEGO Movie' wasn't nominated.  And I thought 'How To Train Your Dragon 2' was boring...but it won the Golden Globe so it'll be my pick for Best Animated Feature
*******...in my humble, honest opinion....'Glory' isn't a good song....yet it's been winning awards left and right.  I'd love to see "Everything Is Awesome" win, but let's face it:  That's not gonna happen.