Let's Go to the Movies

Watch it if You're Bored

We went to see this movie last night with some friends. That is what made it fun and worth watching. This Pirates, what is it the fourth one, had nothing new to offer. If you like Jack Sparrow, there should be a Captain in  there somewhere, then you will probably watch this movie. This story line was different from the others I guess since they were searching for the fountain of youth, but that was the only real difference. It had nothing  new to offer. As I was watching it, I got a strange feeling that I had seen this movie, like three times already. I liked the mermaid/preacher story line. But I don't recommend spending money or valuable time on this movie.

I would say it is a good family movie, kids are the ones that will really like the comedy, but there is some graphic violence that I don't recommend for young kids. Not a whole lot to say about this movie. It is the fourth one after all so everyone pretty much knows everything there is to know about Pirates. I will say you will get exactly what you expect from this movie.

Matinée 
If you are a fan of the Fast and Furious movies, you will like this one. It was full of unbelievable action, crime, scantily clad women, and of course fast cars. (For a full list of the cars in the film click here) It had a bit of an Oceans 11 feel to it. But at least that meant it had a plot. But with this kind of action, it is just better on a big screen, but don't pay full price.

So honestly, as a movie lover, I have to say this movie, as a movie, was pretty terrible. I mean what was rotten tomatoes thinking? 79%?  Really? The critics must all be big Fast and Furious fans. Like I said if you are a fan you will like this movie. But as a film, it was terrible. What more can you expect from a movie that the best leading actor is Vin Diesel. The supporting cast carried the bulk of the acting talent. Ludacris, Matt Schulze and Sung Kang all did a great job. Tyrese of course did not. A lot of the bad writing came out through his mouth. His shining moment happened when he was driving the police car in the final chase. It was the first time he convincingly delivered his cheesy lines. Dwayne Johnson also had a few cheesy lines. He did what he could but his acting skills are not refined enough to cover up that much poor writing. Paul Walker had one moment where he wasn't terrible. When he found out that he may not have won the race against Dom fair and square his shock and disbelief were actually convincing. Much better than his reaction to finding out his girlfriend was pregnant, when he felt forced and underwhelming. He found out right after they were jumping from roof to roof, dodging bullets, and he didn't even freak out that her life, and the baby's, had just been in so much danger.

My favorite characters were Leo and Santos. They brought a delightful element of comedy. They formed the classic sidekick duo. Their inseparable bond was forged by the constant mocking of the other.  They made some great laughs. Dwayne Johnson got completely ripped for this movie. He was huge and finally got to show a little of his tribal tattoos. And this movie had the scene we were all waiting for:  Vin Diesel vs. The Rock. It was a great fight. It didn't last too long, though they managed to almost destroy a part of the building.

The opening bus crash was completely unbelievably. Their plan for escape was to flip a bus? And miraculously no one was hurt? That is just impossible and stupid. Then the whole driving off a cliff, falling hundreds of feet and coming out unscathed? It was a bit much, even for a Fast and Furious movie. It was kind of funny to hear all the gasps from the people around me as they drove off the cliff. It was in every preview I saw so it was interesting to hear so many people still surprised by it. You couldn't have possibly seen anything about the movie without knowing that part.

Obviously the best part of the movie was the cars, and in this one a sweet Ducati Street Racer.  The flash to all the nice extravagant cars at the end of the film was beautiful. Han's Lexus LFA made me drool.  And speaking of the end of the movie, looks like they are planning a sixth. It could be set in Berlin. As it just so happens Han and Gisele were in Berlin at the end of this film so they may be in the line up for the next one. Tokyo Drift was my favorite Fast and Furious so a little more Han is fine with me. Also looks like Dwayne Johnson may be contributing to that one as well. I will not be sad if Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster are done. I personally will not miss them. But  as long as they keep making Fast and Furious movies, people will keep paying to see them. And I will be one of them, though I will never line up for it on opening night.

Theater Worthy

Ok I have to admit, I was a skeptic. I didn't see the original movie, though I think that remakes have been getting better. I haven't had much exposure to Russell Brand. I was really worried that the comedy of this film would rely on being crude. It didn't. Russell Brand was hilarious.

The cast was great. The funny Russell Brand was joined by Helen Mirren, who I adore. Jennifer Garner also joined the cast. I guess she played her part well because I hated her character. Her comedy was in being despised. Greta Gerwig was unknown to me, but she was charming. She was a completely average girl. Her first couple of costumes were questionable. I got that she was eccentric, but she was dressing like a child from the 90's. And while she did grow up in the "Sister Sister" generation, she shouldn't still be getting fashion advice from her favorite childhood TV show.  Of course Russell Brand isn't known for his looks so a charmingly average girl was the right choice to play across him.

I was also worried that Brand would be another rambling Brit that just didn't know when to shut up. Again pleasantly surprised, he may have danced on the line but he never crossed it. I never wanted to yell at him to just get on with it. This movie was a great comedy with a little sentiment added in, proving that Brand can actually act, not just throw out witty retorts. Though he is best at that.

If you like slap-stick you will really enjoy this movie. Something to watch for, when Brand is in his garage looking through his phone, Katy Perry is in his contacts list. And pay attention, because this movie has some great quotable moments. I need to watch it again just to remember all the funny things he says. Great comedy. Highly recommend it.

Rent It

I love this story. I read the book a few years back and fell in love with the sweet, unconventional love story. But a great book doesn't always translate into a great movie.

Jane Eyre (Mia Wasikowska) is orphaned by her parents as a child. She is then sent away to a school for girls by her spiteful aunt. Her education was harsh but thorough and she gets a job as a governess. She falls in love with the master of the house, Edward Rochester (Michael Fassbender).

Part of what makes this story so charming is that Jane and Rochester are two plain people that find a deeper connection. Jane had been despised her whole life, and finally someone found beauty in her. Wasikowska certainly looked plain. The design was very period and well done. It just wasn't a very flattering time period for women.

Did the movie live up to the book? Of course not. Jane Eyre is a long book. And so much happens, it would be impossible to fit it all in the movie. They did a good job of trimming it down. Unfortunately, when you cut things out, you inevitably cut out someone's favorite part. I kept waiting for the purple faced, crazed wife to come into Jane's room in the middle of the night. That was such a scary part of the book. I waited with anticipation. To my disappointment it never happened.  But it was a well made film, with a great cast. I thought the love story was a little rushed. They did, however, manage to get in some great romantic lines from Rochester. And I love that they kept Jane hearing Rochester call to her across the great distance between them. It was a charming film. But I still prefer the book.

Rent It


Obviously this movie is no longer in theaters so I had to rate it accordingly. But I think this movie is very good. I was up late, laying in bed, wishing I could sleep, so I decided to see what was up on Netflix. I actually watched this movie when it first came out. I don't normally watch movies twice, that just tells you how much I like this movie.

The Young Victoria is a an amazing love story. Emily Blunt is fantastic in the film. She is so good at playing a young girl with great responsibility. She skips down the stairs, pushing the limits of her mothers rules.  She runs in the hall when she gets excited. She giggles with joy, then quickly regains her composure. An interesting element the film used to add to this image of youth was to have her sit far enough back on any chair or bed that her feet hovered over the floor. This gave the impression that she was still small. Blunt had perfect posture for this time period, and every costume looked amazing on her. Rupert Friend was a great Prince Albert. They were completely convincing as a romantic couple. They portrayed one of the sweetest love stories I have ever seen.

Another interesting thing that stood out to me was the way Victoria and her mother spoke to each other in their shared room. They sat on opposite ends of the room at their respective vanities. They spoke more towards their own reflections than at each other. It was a great way to define the distance between them. It reminded me of modern day messaging. I had two friends my freshman year of college that used to sit at their desks, with there back to each other literally two feet away from each other, instant messaging each other instead of just talking.

If you haven't seen this movie, I highly recommend it. It is a great period piece. It is extremely well done. It will make a great addition to any home collection to be seen over and over again.

Theater Worthy


I have been anticipating this movie for months. And I am happy to report it did not disappoint. Go see this movie. I have to admit, going to a movie on opening night is just not as nice as watching it in the day when you are practically alone. I just forgot how loud opening night can be. So thank you boisterous guys in the row behind me, apparently I needed reminding.

Sucker Punch is about a young girl called Baby Doll (Emily Browning). After her mother's death, her step-father has her institutionalized. She retreats to an alternate reality as a means to cope with her life. In this alternate reality, she attempts to find freedom with the help of four other girls in the facility.  Her alternate reality has two layers, a brothel and a battlefield. The battlefield is more of a layer inside a layer. This layering effect reminded me of Inception. However, Sucker Punch did not explain the layers as Inception did, but rather used costume and setting to distinguish between the realities. Almost every scene in the brothel has a mirror. I find this detail fascinating. One shot in particular was extremely meaningful and well done. The girls were sitting in front of their dressing room mirrors talking. The camera pans behind the girls focusing on their reflections, then seamlessly crosses the plane of the mirror and the reflection becomes the reality. This sets the theme for the entire film. Everything becomes a reflection of reality. The battlefield is a reflection of the brothel. The brothel is a reflection of reality. Absolutely genius, Zach Snyder, absolutely genius.

This film was cinematically breath taking. The first five minutes of this movie were so visually striking no dialog was needed. It was amazing to see the entire setup of the film done without a word being spoken. I was completely enthralled. The action sequences were also stunning. There are a number of slow motion shots which I enjoyed, well up until the train scene at least. My favorite battle scene was definitely the trenches. Zack Snyder did an amazing job of creating fantastic fight scenes with five girls that wouldn't normally be cast in action roles. And as the guys in the row behind me can attest, they looked hot. I was particularly impressed with a fight sequence involving Vanessa Hudgens, who plays Blondie. I was watching carefully and her almost completely real time fight scene included no stunt double. I did not think she had it in her, but not only did she pull it off, she did it well. As did the rest of the cast. The computer graphics had an animated feel. This added to the feeling of a false reality.

The styling and makeup were up to standard with the rest of the film. There were, of course, some stunning beauty shots of all the girls. I especially loved Jena Malone's (Rocket) hair in the battle scenes. It was so perfectly placed it felt animated, which was enhanced by the setting created by the graphics. The sound effects were flawless. Every song, every sound was perfectly placed. This soundtrack has already been added to my play list. The acting was on par with the other elements. Even down to the minor roles. Jon Hamm was amazing as the doctor.  His appearance was so brief but his impact was great. What made it so great was that he didn't know how much of an impact he would have by mentioning something so seemingly small.

In short, go watch this movie. The story line wasn't what I thought. The ending was a bit of a sucker punch itself, but after knowing the whole story, no other ending would have been acceptable. The movie leaves a lot to think about, fueled by some unanswered questions. I want to go a little deeper into those questions and things that will ruin it if you have not seen it so read the rest after you watch the movie.

Caution: The continuation of reading this blog post before watching this movie will result in pain and affliction of knowing you have just ruined the awesomeness of your movie watching experience.


Ok so I wish there had been one scene of Baby Doll interacting with the other girls in the institution. She saw the other girls interacting, well fighting, when she arrived, but I never knew what her relationship with the other girls was. We can assume that everything that happened in the alternate worlds was a reflection of reality. In this case, she did interact with the girls. Perhaps she did save Rocket from the cook, and we know she definitely stabbed Blue. But then the question arises, did everyone else really die? Well Baby Doll was sacrificing herself to what seemed a certain death in the end of the alternate reality. The reflection in reality, being lobotomized. So were the other girls also lobotomized? Or were they harmed at all? When everything shifts back to reality, the fire is mentioned, the stabbing is mentioned, the escape is mentioned, but no deaths are spoken of. Another question, were Rocket and Sweet Pea really sisters? If so, they also ran away from home, and perhaps Sweet Pea wasn't crazy but went to the facility in order to protect her sister. Or perhaps a mental patient is now on the loose. But since this story is about freedom and Sweet Pea got the freedom we expected from the story, I will choose to believe she was going home to her mother. And when she gets there she is going to tell her Rocket loves her, because that is just how the story ends.

I found it really interesting that this alternate reality worked as a therapy for Baby Doll. In the beginning when she was attacked by her stepfather, I wasn't then, nor am I now, certain whether he was going to physically or sexually abuse her. The way the camera focused on her fallen button made me think sexual,. Perhaps it was both. The layers of her alternate reality addressed both issues, one being sexual and the other violent. The film also inferred that Blue was sexually abusing the girls, which was confirmed in the end. When Baby Doll was admitted to the mental institution, I saw Blue and wondered, "What is a young man doing around these girls and why isn't anyone concerned about it?" My suspicions were confirmed when he had Baby Doll put in what looked like a gutted men's bathroom at the end. It also worked as a therapy as she went on her quest for freedom. I originally assumed she wanted to escape the facility. When she realized that this wasn't about her getting free from a building, but from herself, she accepted, and even desired, the way to that freedom. In the brothel she desired death, and in reality she wanted the lobotomy. Jon Hamm's character saw that longing in her eyes. After killing her little sister, what else could she long for. Escape from a building would never provide her freedom. I loved that her sacrifice actually did bring down Blue. She really did give all the other girls in the facility freedom, as she found her own, by being the means to rid them of Blue.

After the lobotomy, everyone keep saying, "Look at her eyes" yet the camera never allowed a view. I waited with morbid anticipation for the look in Baby Doll's eyes. I expected a deadness, an empty numbness. The film so perfectly denied the audience any view of her face. She was led as a puppet, not responding to anything. When I finally saw her face, I was pleasantly shocked. She really was in paradise. She did find that freedom. It is not the freedom any of us would think to want, yet after her life, I doubt there was any other freedom for her. So the movie did end happily, if not the happiness I originally envisioned. She would never again be burdened by pain. Brilliantly done. Bravo Zack Snyder. Bravo.

Rent It