Guardians of the Galaxy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Guardians of the Galaxy might be the best film of the year so far.  I had to watch it twice to make sure I liked it as well as I thought I did.

And while I’m not sure it’s as good as say the first Iron Man, it’s at least as good as any of the Marvel sequels.

It has been somewhat of a down summer for movies, and a little light on kid’s movies so this thing is blowing up!  95 mil on the first weekend?  Nicely done.

And it does serve as a kid’s movie as well.  Although it is PG-13 and the language is not what most of y’all would want your child repeating, it’s mostly appropriate for the older kids, I’d say 10 and up should be good.  But lots of folks are bringing their little ones.

That’s how ya make 95 mil in a weekend in August.  A kid friendly, fairly original Marvel/Disney film that’s actually pretty damn good.

My only complaint is really the necro dudes.  Marvel/Disney has come up with a faceless enemy, and yeah, I know this is not a new device – hello stormtroopers – but in my opinion it’s a cop out.  You can massacre these faceless, necro soldiers indiscriminately and keep their PG-13 rating and ya really don’t feel bad for them.  They are faceless and already dead anyway, right?

Cop out.

Other than that, this is a solid film.  Gamora’s dialog was a bit weak, comparatively and her motives weren’t really laid out in a way that made me buy it – just one little line of dialog to explain herself and everyone is all, okay.  Eh, whatever.  This will be fun series moving forward.  Chris Pratt is along the lines of Chris Evans, and he’s even ripped in this one.  He comes across like a good guy everyone can relate too.

Anytime you can have a character that evokes the most emotion out of the audience with just three words (four really) the entire film…you’re doing something right.  I am Groot.

Yes, sir.  Indeed you are.

Catch this one in the big theaters if ya get a chance.

Also a shout out to Dave Bautista for his first big movie role.  He freaking nails it!  I look forward to seeing this cast in future Guardians movies.  They really have opened up the Marvel universe with this film and I see nothing but exciting, fun, entertaining films down the road.  Oh and money.  Lots and lots of money.

 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – it’s better than Godzilla.

The turtles are great!  They look great, their dialog is sharp and witty.  If only the rest of the story and characters where as sharp!

Megan Fox…well, um, I believe she’s had some work done and it was a bit distracting from time to time, but it’s not really her fault her lines where so bad most of the time.  Very Saturday morning cartoon type of stuff.  Which is cool I guess, since this is kinda a Saturday morning cartoon type of film…

Will Arnett had a couple decent lines but for the most part, the live action acting was bad, flat, uninspired and poorly written.  I mean, in a real life situation Whoopi Goldberg would have fired that ditz long time ago.  She had no story idea at all!  And wasn’t good at trying to explain what she was doing to her work mates.  But that’s not Megan’s fault, that’ll be your script writers fault I suppose…

But – the action was amazing, the turtles again were fantastic.  Their relationships to each other was the main thrust of  the film and set up future films.  You have to trust each other turtles.  That’s a big theme and the action sequences really drive that point home.  They have to help each other out in order to be successful and that’s a really good point to make.  Actually surprises me a bit coming from Michael Bay.  Nicely done.

Shredder is a bad ass as well.

The action is a lot of times very video game-y and I can see where the video game tie ins will be successful.

They took good advantage of the 3D aspects.  It’s about the best 3D action I’ve seen.  Probably still not worth the up-charge if you’re taking a couple kids but if it’s just you and your girl, or guy, go on and toss down the three bucks.  Unless the 3D gives you a head ache.

The action at the end devolved into completely outrageous, no way in hell, oh wait, this is a Saturday morning cartoon, so far over the top I’m laughing.

But it’s whatevs.  The dialog between the turtles and watching their relationships develop on screen is totally worth all the ridiculousness.

As an old school TMNT fan, I give this franchise my stamp of approval.

This one is more appropriate for younger kids.  They will enjoy the very “brotherly” type of antics the turtles are always pulling.

It’s a fun movie.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Frozen, American Hustle, Anchorman 2

Merry Christmas y’all!

Christmas Day and the day after are the two biggest days at the movies in the country!  There will be more people going through the doors of your local cinema today and tomorrow than the entire month of February!

There are like 8 new releases today a couple big movies that have just been out for a couple of weeks.  I’m here to tell you want you need to go see and what you can wait a couple weeks to see.  Everything is going to be packed so arrive early and be prepared to stand in line.  If you can’t handle that, do us all a favor and stay the hell home!  Don’t bring your attitude to the movies today and don’t take it out on the little teen age kids just trying to keep up!

I had the good fortune to see The Secret Life of Walter Mitty the other night in a private screening in our biggest and baddest theater!  And I have to say this is my favorite Ben Stiller movie to date.  Most of the time I’m ready to choke him out by the end of the movie.  But this one grabbed me early and didn’t let go until the credit started to roll.  My intention was to go in and watch for an hour or so then go home, it was about 2 am after all. 

I barely noticed the minutes slipping by and when I realized how long I had stayed, I wasn’t about to leave!

This is a classic holiday feel good movie and I believe it may be the big one this Christmas season.  It’s rated PG and in my opinion is appropriate for all audiences.  I can’t think of any instances of profanity save maybe one and the timing of it was okay.  Most of use would have said what he said when he said it! 

You’ve probably seen the commercials so you know what it’s about.  Goofy little daydreamer Walter Mitty just kinda zones out and escapes into his fantasy world, all the while the world around him just keeps on moving.  Circumstances arise and he abandons his make believe world and jumps head first into the adventure of a lifetime!  And it’s fun to watch.  I was left with a hopeful feeling inside and a smile on my face.

There’s been talk that this is Ben Stiller’s big push for an Oscar nomination and he might get it.  As an actor and director as well.  Yep, Ben Stiller directed this film and does a great job.

Kristin Wiig seems to get better by the movie. (Anchorman 2 doesn’t count.)  She’s charming, likeable and seems to be a good fit for Walter Mitty.

Adam Scott is hilarious.  He is the ultimate bro in this film and his scenes are pretty dang funny.  He plays the perfect antithisis to Walter Mitty.

The supporting cast should be given a group Oscar nomination.  From Patten Oswalt to Sean Penn, the supporting cast is great.  They do just that, support.  They support the story, keep it interesting and ultimately make us cheer for Walter!

Go see this on the biggest screen you can!  It is going to be crowded and that crowd I think will last for a couple weeks.  It should be a word of mouth kind of movie that everyone kinda likes and you can take the kids.

Frozen.  Is awesome. 

I like to rail against the machine whenever I have the opportunity and Disney is a big, giant machine but daggone it!  They make a heck of an animated film.

Frozen is based on the Hans Christian Andersen story, “The Ice Queen” and as it turns out, several of Disney’s bighits have been based on HCA stories.  The Little Mermaid, Fantasia 2000, The Ugly Duckling, Little Red Riding Hood and Chicken Little to name a few. 

And this movie is awesome!  It’s a classic Disney musical princess movie with a funny magical snowman sidekick, a frolicking reindeer that you can ride and acts like a dog and a pretty bad ass ice queen.  It’s fun, plain and simple.  Disney is good at what they do.

This is the movie to see for your small children.  They will love it!  There’s almost too much song and dance for me, but it’s not terribly overbearing and the songs are actually quite good.  When the Ice Queen sings, “the cold never bothered me anyway” and turns to walk off I almost pumped my fist in the air.  That’s right girl, you tell them!  Go see this one too.

Probably not worth the 3D upcharge but they are really pushing the 3D so it’s gonna be tougher to find a 2D time…greedy buggers.

American Hustle.

Boobies, boobies, boobies!  I wonder if they actually auditioned Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams or just had them send pictures of their boobs.  Their boobs deserve Oscar nominations if nothing else.  These women are fantastic!

And they are pretty good dang actors as well.

I love how this movie starts.  “Some of this really happened” are the first words we see on the screen as the movie starts.  That got a chuckle out of the crowd right off the bat.  Always a good sign.

This film is rated R and is not for children.  Profanity througout, adult situations, drugs, booze, smoking.  All that naughty stuff is in there.  It’s funny that the women have their boobs basically hanging out the whole time but the sex scenes are handled in a very conservative way.  We don’t see any actual nudity.  But the ladies wardrobe leaves very little to the imagination!

It’s the story of a con artist couple getting snared by the man.  In this case Bradley Cooper as FBI agent Richie DiMaso.  Richie is an over zealous guy looking to make a name for himself at any cost.  Richie uses his con artist couple, Christian Bale and Amy Adams to rope in other small time criminals then expands his circle to include the mob and eventually members of congress!  The Abscam scandal of the late 70’s and early 80’s is what this film is based upon.  I think they really kinda made everything up, but this scandal did happen and it did take down some congressmen.

It is an all star cast that really lives up to the billing of an all star cast.  Jeremy Renner has been one of my favorite Hollywood actors since The Hurt Locker and he is awesome here.  Bradley Cooper kills it.  Amy Adams is, well, I kinda have a huge crush on Amy Adams so there ya go.  Jennifer Lawrence proves that she is for real!  She’s had some really great roles but holy cow, she’s got the acting chops to pull off just about anything I think now.  Her character is something we’ve not seen from her yet and I was kind of blown away.

Christian Bale might go down as one of the best ever.  He puts himself into a role unlike anyone I’ve seen during his career.  He gained over 40 pounds and gave himself a “rather elaborate” combover for the part and he nails it.  He just nails it.

This is a must see as well, but you really don’t need to rush out.  This will be an enjoyable watch whenever you get the chance.  If you don’t have kids, this might be the one you want to see.  Hit up the matinee though because the night time shows are going to be crowded!

Anchorman 2.

Dumbest.  Movie.  Ever.

And I love Will Ferrell.  This thing is just really kinda of dumb.  No one could act like that in real life and be taken seriously.  Which is part of it, yeah.  I get it.  I’m just offened you think I’m so stupid.

Oh wait, we are that stupid.  And people will laugh and laugh and tell you how funny it is and how they laughed their heads off and it’s the best funny movie they’ve seen in a long time.

Two later they will not remember anything.  They won’t remember if it was in Anchoman or Anchorman 2.  It’s simply rediculous.  Which works for some, I guess.

I’d skip this one and wait for the video or cable.

Sorry Will.  I love you man, you just need some fresh ideas.  Maybe go back to SNL for a season or something.

The Wolf of Wall Street.

Not seen this one yet but it’s worth mentioning we received an email from our corporate office insisting we strongly enforce the R rated policy of no one under 17 watching this film without a parent or guardian.  They have suggested we schedule an usher to post at the theater entry.  Which is unheard of these days.  They are always like cut payroll, cut payroll, cut payroll.  So if they are telling us to schedule a person specifically to keep out underage viewers, this movie is dirty.

According to some observers only Martin Scorsese could have gotten an R rating over an NC-17.  I’ll let ya know what I think when I get a chance to watch it.  But be warned, this has some strong drug, sex, language, all the things that make movies rated R.  This has lots of all of it.

Happy Holidays and don’t forget, take your damn trash out of the theater with you ya filthy animals!  And be polite to the kids working there!  It’s Christmas!  Act like it.

the place beyond the pines.

starring Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper this film should be up for beefcake flick of the year.  and there’s some Eva Mendez in there too.  it’s a sexy film.

pretty intense drama as well.  terrible title for a movie.

it’s an interesting tail that spins through two families and the impact of decisions that are made and how everything down the line is affected.

it’s a pretty decent film all in all.  it’s 140 minutes which is a bit too long for the average American attention span and will turn the majority of ppl off, but if you can make it half way though, you’ll never notice that last 45 minutes.

most of you aren’t going to make it half way though.  drags a bit from time to time and is overall kind of a slowly paced film much like another recent movie, The Company You Keep.  however the critics and audiences alike seem to much prefer this film over that one.  me?  eh?

rottentomatoes and imdb both have this film rated highly.  right around 80.  if this film had been about 45 minutes shorter.  put a damn intermission in films over 120 minutes hollywood.  have you seen the size of the soda’s they push on ppl?

also just think of the increased concession sales at the intermissions!

back to the film, i’m gonna give it a solid 7.8.  it is really, really good if you like straight drama.  if you’re looking for some fast paced action, there’s a little bit.  Ryan Gosling’s character is a stunt motorcycle driver who robs banks and escapes on his dirt bike, so there’s some pretty exciting chase scenes.  but not enough to keep the interest of most movie goers for 140 minutes.

not your typical popcorn muncher but check it out if you wanna see some pretty good actors at the top of their game.  both the lead actors are on hot streaks and this film really shows there meddle.

this film gets my early nod for Oscar nominee.

the a-team.

this movie is actually pretty bad ass.  i was preparing myself for it to suck but that last couple of trailers had me thinking it might be pretty good.  and i’m happy to say, it was pretty good.

lots of action, lots of witty dialog, likable characters and lots of action.  this is the first true summer blockbuster action movie.  at least that’s what it’s designed as.  and it delivers.

i have to say though that Liam Neeson was the worst actor in the movie.  i can’t believe i just wrote that, i love Liam Neeson.  i’m just not sure he was right for this part.  maybe he was trying to hard to be George Peppard.  but who knows, others might not even notice anything awry.  i’m a critic after all.

but i thought everyone else was spot on.  Bradley Cooper was perfect as faceman, Sharlto Copley was great as murdock, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson may have found his new calling.  that is if he tires of beating other guys to a pulp in the octagon.  the bad guy was really awesome too, Patrick Wilson.  if you’re like me you’ll be scratching your head the whole time trying to figure out where you’ve seen him before.  let me save you the trouble.  i looked him up on imdb.com.

he was night owl in watchmen.  he’s really good in this film.  as he was in that one too.  we might see this cat around some more.  and that’s a good thing.

oh, i almost forgot to mention Jessica Biel.  she’s pretty…and fits very well in this ensemble cast.

one guy i recognized but again didn’t know who he was is Gerald McRaney.  and when i saw his name he was even more familiar.  well, i imdb’ed him too.  he litters my favorite tv shows from the 80’s!  he is rick simon in simon and simon for crying out loud!  he was also seen in magnum pi, the incredible hulk, and even further back in shows i watched on re-runs like barnaby jones, chips, hawaii five-o and gunsmoke.  so it is very fitting that he is in this show that does an excellent job pay homage to 80’s action shows.

and it does pay homage to 80’s action tv shows.  there’s even a part where they show a clip from the old a-team television show.  they do the voice over and play the old theme song.  it’s truly an old school nerd’s delight.  because i’m an old school nerd and i was delighted.

there is almost too much action.  they do so much cool stuff leading up to the big finale that the tried to do too much at the end.  it’s like, wow, there’s a bunch of stuff blowing up but i can’t seem to follow anything…but wow, they are blowing a lot of stuff up!  and it’s like who cares?

it is set up for multiple sequels but somehow i don’t think there will be any.  i would be very interested in seeing a resurgence of the tv show, the a-team.

this film is rated pg-13 for violence and some language.  i don’t think they ever fully drop the ef bomb but it’s alluded to several times.  like someone is in the middle of saying it then something explodes.  kind of a tricky way to get away with using it more than once and still getting the pg-13 rating.  what concerns me more than that is an issue of morals they bring up.  i wasn’t thrilled with they way they treated it but that’s for you to decide.

over all this movie gets two big thumbs up from me.  a really good popcorn summer action flick.  the box office will decide if it’s a blockbuster or not.  it’s really fun.  go see it with the guys although the ladies may like it too.  Bradley Cooper does take his shirt off.