tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51761556039579645662024-03-19T05:27:49.963-07:00The Movie ManAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-84113012187075602902018-05-14T21:04:00.002-07:002018-05-14T21:04:38.003-07:00BREAKING IN REVIEWAt one point in the movie Breaking In, a clip is shown of an old Woody Woodpecker cartoon. It is the gag in which the guy is trying to saw down the tree that Woody is in, but Woody bends his saw around and he ends up sawing off his own ladder. It is ironic that this was the clip the filmmakers chose to show. <br />
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Breaking In stars Gabrielle Union as Shaun Russell, a mother of two who is returning to her childhood home to deal with her estranged fathers estate upon his death. It becomes clear very quickly that her father was involved in some shady business. It shouldn't come as too big of a shock then when a group of men show up to steal some money that is hidden inside the house. <br />
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The movie appears to want to be taken seriously as an intense home invasion thriller. However, the group of villains it features are so zany that it may as well have been Harry and Marv from Home Alone. It is amazing how much has to go wrong to make this plot even begin to feel plausible. The bad guys are quickly reduced to a generic group of bumbling idiots that wouldn't be capable of successfully robbing a liquor store. At a key point in the film something so ridiculous happens that the movie's title should have been changed from Breaking In to Walking In. I would like to say more about that, but in the interest of staying spoiler-free I won't. <br />
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Gabrielle Union's performance is pretty good. That may have been as close to a high spot as this movie has. The problem is that the dialogue is so bad that it really doesn't matter. Billy Burke plays the main villain, the only one that appears as though he may possibly be at least somewhat competent. His one note performance becomes annoying really fast and the dialogue didn't do him any favors either. At certain points he seems to be narrating the movie more than starring in it with all the pointless exposition he was having to deliver. <br />
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The film is beyond the pale when it comes to believability, or lack there of. I get that it is a movie and some suspension of disbelief is perfectly acceptable. That being said, this film goes way beyond that point. Apparently if you are a mom you can just instantly become John McClain. I wasn't aware of that phenomenon. The movie could have at least tried to explain how Shaun was able to do some of these incredible things under such duress, but it doesn't even try to do that. <br />
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At one point, the main characters make a decision that is actually pretty smart and the movie almost becomes something like a cheap knockoff of Panic Room, which would have been a vast improvement. However, they went through that part too fast, instead of trying to build any real tension, racing to an ending that was, much like the rest of the film, totally ridiculous. <br />
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We all know what this movie is. It is a blatant political statement. I normally wouldn't even bother to address this type of thing but I feel like I have to here. The whole point of the film was to show how worthless men are and how inversely awesome women are. Now, nobody has more respect for women than me, but by making this thing so over the top and silly, the movie defeats it's own purpose. Or, shall we say, it cuts off it's own ladder. Bottom line; Breaking In is trash. It is the worst kind of trash in my opinion and the fact that it exists puts a blight on the entire film industry. <b>THE MOVIE MAN GIVES IT 0 OUT OF 5 STARS.</b> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-82013883061488462832018-05-11T06:48:00.001-07:002018-05-11T06:48:22.979-07:00BLOCKERS REVIEWAmerican Pie with girls. That's pretty much what Blockers is. Except this time we are bringing the parents along for the ride too as they attempt to stop their teenage daughters from doing what they are planning to do and, as we all know, that never ends well. This film is definitely not breaking any new ground, but that's ok as long as it is executed well and gives us a few good laughs. <br />
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I have to commend the cast of this film. I mean the entire cast. The acting was so good from top to bottom that I didn't even notice it while I was watching the movie. It didn't feel like I was watching actors. Everybody had such great chemistry with each other that they made the characters feel like real life people. That is impressive, especially in a film like this that puts the characters in so many ridiculous scenarios. John Cena was the worst actor in this movie. That's not to say he was bad. In fact, I thought the role of the overprotective dad was perfect for him and he was quiet adequate to say the least. Leslie Mann is a national treasure as far as I'm concerned. She never gets a lot of credit; never is considered the star of the film. She is just an actress who is consistently good at her job no matter what she is asked to do. This performance is no different. The standout here is Ike Barinholtz (Suicide Squad, The Mindy Project). All of his jokes hit and his character was the only one in the movie that actually had any kind of an arc. The three young actresses, Kathryn Newton (Lady Bird), Gideon Adlon, and Geraldine Viswanathan (EMO the Musical), all did a really good job in the film. I wasn't familiar with any of them but I think they could all have a pretty bright future. <br />
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The problem I had with the movie is that there are several scenes that seemed really out of place. There are some ridiculous jokes that don't seem to fit with the tone they were going for. If they wanted to go all out ridiculous goofy comedy they should have gone that direction and had less of the real-life, grounded drama. They needed to commit one way or the other. Pick a lane. As it was, I was confused a lot of the time about what type of movie I was watching. All the scenes and jokes that felt out of place kept me from getting as invested in the characters as I should have been. <br />
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If you're looking for pure laughs, this movie is going to work for you I believe. It seemed that the first act was a little slow with some of the jokes not really working all that well. However, when the second act begins the movie really picks up and there is some very funny and genuine humor from there on out. As I said before, some of the jokes were too ridiculous for my taste but, even so, were well executed and it was hard not to laugh. <br />
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Blockers is not the next ground breaking comedy of our time or anything, but it is far from a terrible movie. I certainly had an enjoyable experience watching this film and the more I think about it, the more I think I liked it. It has a few problems but the acting was all really good and most of the jokes were funny. That's about the best I could have asked for out of this. <b>THE MOVIE MAN GIVES IT 2.5 OUT OF 5 STARS.</b><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-39402104561662047912018-05-07T21:12:00.000-07:002018-05-07T21:12:08.536-07:00TRUTH OR DARE REVIEWThere are some movies that you go into and you just kind of know what you are going to get from it. I don't like to have a lot of expectations going into a film, good or bad, but experience and human nature sometimes leaves me no choice. Such was the case with Truth or Dare. I didn't expect a lot, obviously, but what I hoped I would get from this was a decent and fun guilty pleasure type of film.<br />
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Truth or dare is pretty much your typical college student horror movie fare. A group of friends get drunk. They play truth or dare. The game turns out to be cursed. You know the drill. <br />
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This movie turned out to be pretty entertaining, but for all the wrong reasons. It is the finest example of unintentional hilarity that I have seen in quite some time. The jump scares come early and often. You know they are going to be part of a movie like this going into it. They get them out of the way for the most part, then you are free to laugh hysterically at the rest of the movie, which I did. <br />
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The first thing I have to address is the face, You know what face I'm talking about if you have seen any trailers for this movie. I don't know who thought that was going to be scary but they missed on that one. I would call the curse in this film the Joker curse because it makes the characters make that Joker face. All through the movie I anticipated the next person to get hit by the Joker curse because IT WAS SO FUNNY. The curse never let me down. It seemed to get funnier and more bizarre as the movie went on. <br />
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One thing that was annoying (but also funny) in this film was the way the rules of the curse kept changing. It was honestly like the writers realized what they were doing wasn't going to work for some reason or another so they just decided to abruptly change it. It was very unapologetic too, like the characters would actually just come out and say something like, "Oh yeah, the rules are such-and-such now. It was absurd. <br />
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One thing I hate about these type of movies, and this one was probably the worst I have seen, is the very lazy way they have of using Google to get all the exposition across to the audience. I can't think of a more boring way to divulge important plot elements than to watch it come up on somebody's computer screen. Also, they always come across the exact right thing so easy. The characters will just type in two or three words and the very first story will be the one that pertains to their situation. Google has never been that easy for me. <br />
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None of this movie made a lot of sense, but the ending was on another level. It was such a convoluted mess that I had no idea what was going on and I don't think the filmmakers or actors did either. Then, just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, they straight up ripped off the ending of The Ring. <br />
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Truth or Dare is the perfect example of what I mean when I say that just because a movie is entertaining doesn't necessarily mean it was good. I had a lot of fun watching this and I half way would recommend it, but none of that is for any of the reasons the filmmakers intended. Truth or Dare is a bad movie. It's a fun bad movie, but a bad movie all the same. <b>THE MOVIE MAN GIVES IT 1.5 OUT OF 5 STARS.</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-7710482754320055192018-04-30T12:50:00.000-07:002018-04-30T12:50:16.372-07:00AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR REVIEWHere's a helpful tip. If you are the least bit interested in the movie Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom that comes out in June, do not watch the trailer. I saw it in front of the Avengers movie and I now feel like I have seen the whole film. I don't know why studios continue to release these spoiler laden trailers but as long as they do I will keep giving a heads up every time I see one.<br />
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The Avengers: Infinity War is the third official Avengers film and the latest in the ever expanding Marvel cinematic universe. This film boasts the largest cast of comic book heroes ever brought to the big screen. It also has quiet possibly the highest stakes of any Marvel movie to date as the mighty Thanos threatens to alter the course of reality as we know it. To do this, he needs to recover the six lost infinity stones, two of which are under the protection of the Avengers. <br />
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Right off the bat, here is my number one problem with this film. I don't understand what they have done to my personal favorite Marvel character Captain America. He looked so different from the traditional version of Cap that I forgot who he was throughout the movie. He wore an all black suit with no mask, I'm assuming so Chris Evens can show off his new beard, and he didn't have his trademark shield. Apparently I missed what happened to the shield somewhere along the line but please bring it back. <br />
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Having this many heroes in one movie was a daunting task and directors The Russo Brothers as well as screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely should be commended for how smoothly they were able to service all the larger than life characters in the film. The different characters stories are intertwined very well. The transitions between all the different scenes playing out at the same time are seamless and perfectly timed. This movie was not nearly as confusing as it should have been. Also surprising, every hero got adequate screen time as far as I'm concerned. <br />
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I thought the villain Thanos in this movie was terrific. I would call him easily the best MCU villain to date. He had a presence on screen and a desperate motivation that made him feel dangerous in a way that many comic book villains do not. Josh Brolin did a great job in the role. His work made Thanos feel real and all the more menacing. Congratulations Marvel, you finally got the villain right. <br />
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This movie has an ending that a lot of people are going to hate. That being said, the emotional impact was real and the ending really did work for me. I personally thought that it was the only way the movie could have ended to make the whole thing seem worthwhile. <br />
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This is a very good comic book movie with very few problems in my opinion. It's probably not in the top tier of comic book movies all time, but I think it was close to that. I missed a few characters who weren't there like Hawkeye, Ant-Man, and the more traditional Captain America. Aside from that, however, the film is focused, not nearly as convoluted as it should be, and the stakes feel high enough that the plot has weight to it. <b>THE MOVIE MAN GIVES IT 4 OUT OF 5 STARS.</b><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-61932601293801285412018-04-18T19:04:00.000-07:002018-04-18T19:04:10.266-07:00RAMPAGE REVIEWNormally I would start out one of these reviews with a hopefully clever joke, observation about society, or some type of abstract idea that the film made me think of. This time is different. This time I have a video game movie to review . If I'm being honest, this time I just want to jump into it and get it over with. So without further ado, let's review the stupid video game movie. <br />
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Rampage, starring Dwayne Johnson (San Andreas) and Naomi Harris (Moonlight, Skyfall), is an adaptation of an old 1980's arcade game in which you play as a monster and smash up cities and kill massive amounts of people with no consequences. Yes, you read that right. That is pretty much it. <br />
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This was not the worst movie I've ever seen or anything like that. In fact, a good bit of it is perfectly fine for what it is. The problem here is that there was too much movie in this video game. The people who go to see this are wanting to see cool monsters smashing things. That's it. The movie has some of that but it tries to weave in a bunch of poorly executed movie drama and it takes away from where the focus of the movie should have been; massive amounts of CGI destruction. The kind of thing I usually hate but I will give it a pass this time considering the source material. <br />
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I always enjoy watching The Rock, or Dwayne I guess now, doing whatever he is doing. The guy is just extremely likable and entertaining. That being said, I thought he was out of place in this film. The human characters were not going to be the stars here and trying to make Johnson one of the stars is something that hurt this movie. Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Walking Dead) plays an FBI agent in this movie and he is really annoying. He basically played a cartoon version of Negan and it does not come off well. His dialogue was the worst in a film full of bad dialogue. Every line he spoke had to include some kind of sarcastic joke. It got real old real fast. <br />
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The worst thing about this movie to me was the way over the top generic antagonist and her beta-male sidekick. They were watching everything happen on monitors from an office building and it was some of the worst cheese I have seen in quite some time. It was basically Rita Repulsa from the Power Rangers show back in the 90's. <br />
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Overall, this movie wasn't absolutely terrible and I think the target audience will enjoy parts of it. However, it falls short of what it should have been doing and has no real redeeming qualities that would allow me to call it anything close to a good film. <b>THE MOVIE MAN GIVES IT 2 OUT OF 5 STARS.</b> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-60150701646539438982018-04-11T17:23:00.001-07:002018-04-11T17:50:09.027-07:00A QUIET PLACE REVIEWIt is rare that an actor can overcome the dreaded typecasting of a beloved TV character. That is a problem that has plagued many great talents throughout history. I can honestly say; however, that John Krasinski has put Jim from The Office firmly in his rear view with his stellar performance in A Quiet Place. <br />
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The film is set at a time in the near future when the world has been overrun by an alien race that is completely blind and uses their ultra-heightened hearing ability to hunt. The rules are simple; make a sound, you die. The movie focuses on one particular family as they try to survive a world that requires constant silence. <br />
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For starters, I have to make it clear that this film is not for everybody. A good portion of casual moviegoers are going to hate this film and think that it is totally boring. This is a VERY quiet film. I felt almost like I was watching a silent movie. It was even uncomfortable at times to sit and watch because every little sound in the theater was so noticeable; every cough, every rustle of clothing or paper. There are even parts of the film that are completely silent with no sound at all. With that being said, the tension that this movie builds is real. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I just feel like the lack of sound is going to bother a lot of people.<br />
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The movie starts with a tremendous opening sequence that does a great job of establishing the rules right off the bat. It sets the pace very well and shows you what you are in for. The movie had me right from the very first scene and didn't let up until it ended. <br />
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The star of this film is undoubtedly John Krasinski. He did a wonderful job directing here and shows that he has considerable talent in that area. The acting is all great. As a character story masquerading as a monster movie, the film required top notch performances from everybody and that is exactly what was delivered here. Not only Krasinski himself, but Emily Blount (Edge of Tomorrow) and two unusually good child performances from Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe (Wonder) anchor this character driven narrative. The lack of dialogue makes the performances that much more impressive. <br />
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If I'm really nitpicking this film, and I have to if I want to talk about any flaws, I would say that there are certain plot elements that relate to the ending that nobody is going to catch on the first viewing. I disliked the ending at first, but after I went home and did a little research, I actually liked it quite a bit. There are key elements to the film that are going to absolutely require second or third viewing to pick up on. I wouldn't normally consider this a flaw, but since it totally changed my perspective of the ending, I think I have to. <br />
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This is a film that had me thinking about it long after it had ended. That is a big plus for me. I like movies that do that. The more I think about it, the more I like it. Great tension, an impressive directorial job by John Kasinski, and all around great acting make this a movie that I am really excited to see again. The Movie Man gives A Quiet Place 4 out of 5 stars. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-13381456705421411352015-09-09T17:00:00.000-07:002015-09-09T17:00:04.627-07:00NOW YOU SEE ME MOVIE REVIEW<span style="font-size: large;">Do you believe in magic? Are you a skeptic? When you see a great illusionist perform their feats of mysticism, do you accept it for what it is, or are you always looking for the trick up their sleeve? Watch closely, but not too closely. For the closer you look, the less you see.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br /> At its core, Now You See Me is a heist movie; a heist movie with magic. What could possibly go<span class="text_exposed_hide">...</span></span><span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-size: large;"> wrong, right? It all begins with four very talented street magicians, all with their own special talents. They each receive a mysterious message to come to this bombed out apartment building, where they meet each other for the first time. The next thing we see, they are on the big stage in Las Vegas performing as The Four Horsemen. Their big finale is something never before seen in the world of magic. They rob a bank. But did they really, or was it just typical slight of hand? <br /><br /> It's funny that this movie is about illusions, because, to me, it was kind of an illusion of a good movie. It was entertaining and fun, but just too silly to actually be good. <br /><br /> I liked the Four Horsemen themselves. Jesse Eisenberg is J. Daniel Atlas and plays pretty much the same character he played in The Social Network. Woody Harrelson stole the show as Merritt McKinney, the mentalist. Isla Fisher and Dave Franco are....adequate. The four of them together are captivating to watch, and make the first half of the movie really enjoyable, if a bit far fetched. </span></span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br /> It's in the second half that the movie really falls apart. The FBI involvement was interesting at first because they had the issue of, if they really robbed a bank while they were onstage, it had to be magic. That was an interesting concept. Once it was decided that they really had robbed a bank, then it just became your average heist movie chase with the FBI looking really inept and the agent (Mark Ruffalo) looking like an incompetent fool. Somehow, this group goes from a quartet of cocky magicians to a collection of goofy Batman villains.<br /><br /> I was pleasantly surprised to see that Michael Cain was in the movie. He was great as always, just wasn't there enough for my taste. Speaking of great actors, Morgan Freeman played Thaddeus Bradley, who was probably my favorite character in the movie. He was a former magician who now makes a series of videos debunking magicians. The FBI enlists him to help figure out how the Horsemen pulled off these robberies, that may or may not have been robberies in the first place. Freeman was great and I actually liked the character. Along with Harrelson, he was one of the best things in the movie. I would have liked to see them do more with him, but.......</span></span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br /> The ending was really, REALLY stupid. It looks like it's headed toward a certain ending, which would have been bad and predictable, but the actual ending they used was even worse. It had a twist, but it made no sense and just felt really cheap. <br /><br /> Now You See Me is pretty entertaining throughout. The acting is very good. There are funny parts and suspenseful parts. In the end however, it's just too nonsensical to amount to much. The lemon of an ending left me feeling taken advantage of. I won't say this is a bad movie exactly, but it is certainly not a good movie either. The Movie Man gives it 3 out of 5 stars. </span></span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show">Please click the link and give my Facebook page a like. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman/timeline">https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman/timeline</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-14198029405571838582015-09-06T14:40:00.002-07:002015-09-06T14:40:27.902-07:00STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON MOVIE REVIEW
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">This film was similar to Walk the Line from 2005 and
Notorious from 2009.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The movies were
similar because the stories are similar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They are all three about artists who, not only broke ground in music, but
also changed things socially.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a
story that I personally find fascinating. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you liked these two previous movies, there
is a good chance you will like this one as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
movie is about the NWA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A very influential
rap group from the 1980’s and 90’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
story focuses on the three founding members of the group; Ice Cube (O’Shea
Jackson Jr.), Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins), and Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The movie begins with the formation of the
group and goes all the way through Eazy-E’s death in 1995.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
first thing that sticks out about this movie is the cast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simply put, it is perfect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All three of the main actors do a terrific
job in this film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They all look
strikingly like the character they are playing, especially Jackson Jr. who
plays his father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the supporting
actors who are only in the movie for a short time were good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This could be the most well cast movie I have
seen this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Two of the
main characters portrayed in this film were producers on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You might think this would help with the
accuracy of the movie, but in this case I think it hurt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story is told in a very one-sided way
which detracts from the emotional impact of the film in my opinion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This movie fails to show both sides of the
moral issues it presents which minimizes it’s effect to some degree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I understand that Ice Cube and Dr. Dre didn’t
want to make themselves look bad, but there were several real life events that
were conveniently left out of the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
thoroughly enjoyed the music in the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The live performances sound very good and the movie provides a wide
sampling of NWA’s catalogue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lyrics
are very rough though, so if you are the type that is offended by this, you
probably will not enjoy this movie very much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
movie is generally well made by director F. Gary Gray (Friday, The Italian
Job).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are written introductions on
screen for all the main characters early in the film which I found slightly
annoying and unnecessary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The movie is
paced very well and manages to stay fairly interesting all the way through a
run time that was probably a little too long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The movie is sort of in two halves with the first half easily being the
best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second half loses a lot of the
passion and energy of the first half and becomes too much about business deals
and petty bickering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The movie drags
just a little toward the end but it was never boring or hard to watch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This is
a movie I am glad I watched.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has it’s
problems but I enjoyed it quite a bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you can get past a little glossing over of events and hang with it
for a relatively long run time, the film certainly has a lot going for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Movie Man gives it 3.5 out of 5
stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Please click the link and give my Facebook page a like. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel">https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel</a></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-86309639395890293562015-09-01T10:20:00.002-07:002015-09-01T10:20:31.134-07:00NO ESCAPE MOVIE REVIEW
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ordinary people in extraordinary situations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a simple premise, but one that has been
used successfully many times in films over the years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alfred Hitchcock used this simple formula
expertly throughout his career.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No
Escape is very much that type of story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEbbTENKvCRa3NkWSGhaDRaj0uNCwWKDbbJRESEM-srxvQEay5sG-XEBo2jEWtj-83OKIkOGVacm2l5D3A8lzn9v1lQ5-tTzOUAsiKveMP8NdbQw9q_va5gpZOjAmcKIYgWU3hQvixwHXB/s1600/no_escape_ver3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEbbTENKvCRa3NkWSGhaDRaj0uNCwWKDbbJRESEM-srxvQEay5sG-XEBo2jEWtj-83OKIkOGVacm2l5D3A8lzn9v1lQ5-tTzOUAsiKveMP8NdbQw9q_va5gpZOjAmcKIYgWU3hQvixwHXB/s640/no_escape_ver3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
movie is about Jack Dwyer (Owen Wilson) who moves his family to an unnamed
Asian country because of his work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While
they are getting settled in, a revolution breaks out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jack must figure out a way to evade the
massive rebel force and get his family out of the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Writer/director
John Erick Dowdle (Quarantine, Devil) did a good job with exposition in this
movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the opening scenes, we learn
just enough about the situation to understand and care about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The trick is to explain the situation without
getting wordy and boring with it and that is accomplished here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, the more we know about the situation,
the easier it is to nitpick little problems with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this story, the whys of the situation are
not that important.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a simple story
and Dowdle was smart to tell it as simply as possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As for the characters, Jack is established
very well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish a little more had been
done to establish his wife (Lake Bell) as a character however.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
best thing I can say for this movie is that it does provide real suspense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are several very intense moments in the
film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are even scenes where I was
not exactly sure that everybody was going to get out unscathed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The best and most intense scene in the movie is
the one from the trailer in which they are trying to get from one building to
another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trust me, the trailer does not
show enough to spoil it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The scene is
done very well and it totally works in every way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
acting in the movie is pretty good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Owen
Wilson does a good job in an unusual role.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Lake Bell is good as well and the two have believable chemistry
together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kids are ok, not quite as
annoying as they could have been.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
show stealing performance is provided by Pierce Brosnan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is not in the movie all that much but when
he is there, he is the best thing going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His character is quite mysterious, but if you are familiar with Roger
Ebert’s theory of the economy of characters you will know what purpose he
serves immediately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Way too
much shaky cam was used in this movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
understand that a lot of it is meant to be confusing and disorienting, but when
it is making me dizzy, it is too much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There was also quite a bit of overproduction in some of the action
sequences, like music and slow motion, that took me out of it a little
bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the action in the movie is
not filmed as well as I would have liked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Enough said about that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
film at times falls into the trap that a lot of movies of this type fall
into.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are too many conveniences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are a couple of scenes that are
obviously contrived as a device to put the family in a more suspenseful situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also the ending goes about one step too
far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a very uncomfortable scene
at the end that is totally unnecessary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
wouldn’t normally say this but one big positive this movie has is a very
relevant political message.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like with
the earlier exposition, they talked just enough about it without revealing too
much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not at all preachy but does
get the point across and allows you to make a little more sense of what is
going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
was a pretty decent film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It provided
more real and believable suspense than I have seen in a movie in a while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With a few tweeks (less shaky cam antics for
instance) it could have been a great movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even so, I enjoyed it quite a bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s a high intensity film with very little downtime that mostly
works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Movie Man gives it 3 out of 5
stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Please click the link and give my Facebook page a like. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel">https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-3348865514769244892015-08-30T09:22:00.002-07:002015-08-30T09:22:25.756-07:00AMERICAN ULTRA MOVIE REVIEW<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">American Ultra had one factor going for it that made me
really excited about this film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
factor was Max Landis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Landis, a
relatively new screenwriter, wrote the 2012 film Chronicle, a movie I really
liked, and made one of my favorite YouTube videos of all time entitled
Wrestling Isn’t Wrestling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Landis seems
to be very creative and does well with material that is unorthodox or
unique.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s why I had a pretty good
bit of anticipation for this movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
movie is about a stoner named Mike Howell (Jesse Eisenberg).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He sees himself as a total failure and worries
that he is holding back his girlfriend Phoebe (Kristen Stewart).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the looks of things, it is hard to argue
with Mike’s concerns and critical opinions of himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then one night he encounters a couple of guys
doing something to his car, and all that is changed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Jesse
Eisenberg is fantastic in this movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This was a great role for him and he fit into it very well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a challenging role because he had to
sell a lot of reactions to crazy things that are happening to him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His reactions is what really makes the film
work as well as it does.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He makes it
possible to buy the absurdity of the situations he finds himself in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My biggest concern going into this film was
Kristen Stewart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This seemed like quite
an odd role for her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She plays a very
likeable and sympathetic character here, which is something I have never seen
her pull off before in her career.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After
seeing the movie, I have to give her a lot of credit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She did a very good job in a role that was as
challenging, if not more so, than the lead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Topher Grace is very good in a supporting role.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is over the top, but the film calls for
that in my opinion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are also some
very good supporting performances by Connie Britton, John Leguizamo, and Walton
Goggins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The acting is a high point for
this film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
film establishes itself early as being totally absurd and audacious, almost to
the point of films like Kick Ass or Kill Bill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A lot of what happens in the movie is clearly impossible and ridiculous,
but it kind of works because of how the movie is presented.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is more of a fun action/comedy than a
nail biting thriller.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I actually really
enjoyed the tone of this film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
biggest problem I had with the movie was that there is too much government
drama, especially early in the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
actually think they revealed too much too quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We didn’t need all the government stuff in
the first act of the film, and I got a little bogged down in it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I wasn’t
too impressed with director Nima Nourizadeh (Project X) here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the film is directed adequately enough,
but the action sequences are horrible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The movie moves pretty fast in general, which is fine, but when the
action sequences are cut and edited in this type of choppy fashion in which you
can’t tell what is going on, that is a problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>For the
most part, I really liked the climax of this movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without giving anything away, it reminded me
a lot of the climax of the movie The Equalizer, except it actually worked in
this film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think they missed just a
little bit on the way the scene played out but overall it was a very fitting
climax.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I had a
lot of fun with American Ultra.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is an
absurd film in the very best ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
loved the way the movie ended and this is one film that I really want to see a
sequel to because of the way everything played out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think that could really work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>American Ultra is one of the most purely fun
films I have seen this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Movie Man
gives it 3.5 out of 5 stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Please click the link and give my Facebook page a like. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel">https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-33009983394466007112015-08-27T12:21:00.003-07:002015-08-27T12:21:26.965-07:00X-MEN MOVIE REVIEW
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I have heard it said that X-Men was the beginning of the
comic book movie genre that we have today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t know if that’s true, but it was definitely an important film in
it’s own right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It had a much more
serious tone than previous films of its type.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I think that’s the reason this movie is looked at as being the genesis of
where the genre is at 15 years later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
movie takes place in the “not too distant future”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this world, some humans have evolved into
mutants, which sparks a debate about what to do with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meanwhile, former colleagues Eric Lensherr
(Ian McKellen) and Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) form groups of mutants for
completely different and conflicting purposes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I found
the debate about the mutants to be very interesting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If this were to happen in real life I can see
this issue coming up in exactly this way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One side argues that the mutants are people and deserve the same
treatment as everyone else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other
side claims that mutants are too dangerous to be given equal rights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are good points to be made from both
perspectives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This issue was probably my
favorite thing about the movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact,
I wish they had done just a little more with that as a central plot point,
instead of basically using it as a jumping off point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The acting
in the movie is very good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hugh Jackman
seems born to play Wolverine, which this movie succeeded in turning into a
totally cinematic character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I loved the
protective relationship he has with Rogue (Anna Paquin).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those two were my favorite characters in the
movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also really liked the interactions
between Ian McKellen’s Magneto and Patrick Stewart’s Professor Xavier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The chemistry between the characters and
actors was a big plus for this film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>One
problem I had with the film was that it seemed like there were too many
mutants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Either that or maybe they just
didn’t explain what everybody’s powers were well enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I kept getting a little confused about who
could do what.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were several
characters that were key in the end that I didn’t feel like I knew all that
well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is a small issue, but it made
me think too much about the wrong things rather than focusing on the plot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
first and third acts of the movie are terrific.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The first act is where the mutant debate takes center stage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The third act is full of the good kind of
tension and builds to a very entertaining and well-conceived climax.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second act, on the other hand, drags a
little bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It almost seems like the
goal was to maintain the status quo rather than actually trying to advance the
plot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think the movie may have needed
another conflict or two somewhere in the middle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Aside
from a couple of problems I had with this movie, I thought it was actually a
very good comic book film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bryan Singer
(The Usual Suspects, Valkyrie) did a very good job of bringing this wildly
popular comic franchise to the big screen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A well-conceived plot and very good acting makes this movie what it
is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Movie Man gives it 3.5 out of 5
stars.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span> </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-53422212414146647432015-08-23T17:00:00.000-07:002015-08-23T17:00:17.237-07:00WORLD WAR Z MOVIE REVIEW<span style="font-size: large;">"Another zombie movie?" That was my first reaction upon seeing previews for World War Z. Over the past decade, I think we've all seen about enough of zombies and vampires. The challenge for this movie was clear. Somehow, it had to find a way to avoid being "just another zombie movie". </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br /> Marc Forster clearly made an effort to avoid beating a dead horse with his first venture in<span class="text_exposed_hide">...</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="text_exposed_show">to the zombie genre. Weather or not this movie succeeded in that regard is up for debate. I would have to say that it did. It looked more like a thriller than a horror or sci-fi flick, and that is a good thing. It was a lot more than a bunch of people running from flesh eating zombies. There was a legit plot line at work here.<br /><br /> The movie starts just as the initial zombie outbreak occurs. These are viral zombies, like in 28 Days Later, which I find a lot more believable than the classic undead zombies. Let's face it, if we ever have a zombie apocalypse, it will be caused by a rapid, wide spread viral outbreak, which is the case in this movie. <br /><br /> Brad Pitt plays Gerry Lane, A retired United Nations employee who is now a devoted father and husband. When the zombie-pocalypse begins, Gerry gets in touch with some former associates inside the government in an attempt to find safety for him and his family. After some pretty nice action/suspense sequences, they all end up on a ship out in the middle of the ocean, where Gerry learns that his family will be able to stay only if he helps find the source of the outbreak.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /><br /> The acting is very good in this movie. First of all, there is Brad Pitt of course, who is always great. I don't know if anybody else could have played this character and made him feel human. He was what all us men aspire to be; brave, compassionate, aggressive, and desperately trying to take care of his family. Pitt sells every bit of Gerry Lane and turns in a very sympathetic performance. <br /><br /> Someone who is going to be overlooked in this film is Mireille Enos, who plays Gerry's wife Karen. I had no idea who she was but she was pretty terrific. <br /><br /> While I like what they did with this story for the most part, there is one thing that happens pretty early on that didn't seem to make any sense to me. If you watch the movie you'll definitly notice it and probably scratch your head. Some of the plot got a little fuzzy at times with some confusing dialogue here and there. I almost got a little lost a couple times. Overall it was a pretty well written story for a movie like this, more so than I would have expected. Without spoiling anything, I really liked how they decided to try and resolve the situation. Brad Pitt has this idea all at once, kind of like an epiphany, and he thinks back to all the things that have happened that have supported this idea. In a way, the idea he had made some logical sense. That was refreshing to see. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /><br /> The zombie effects were also a high point for me. They were actually pretty scary and threatening. At no point in the movie did the audience ever laugh at <br /> something the zombies did, which is rare in this type of film. There were a few really breathtaking CGI scenes, like the one from the trailer where all the zombies are climbing on each other to get over that wall. There were good action sequences and some very suspensful quiet scenes in which somebody was trying to sneak around the zombies. It made the creatures seem more threatening that they didn't just charge head on and take them out like we have seen in a lot of these type of movies. The whole thing had a very realistic feel to it. <br /><br /> I disliked the ending a lot. I had an ending in my head that I wanted and they went a completely different way. It almost seemed to me like they ran out of time and just had to go ahead and rap it up. It didn't make any sense. The whole movie was paced really well and then the ending was rushed. I was very disappointed in that. <br /><br /> To sum up, it was a solid movie. It was probably the best Marc Forster movie I have seen. It was suspensful and scary and everything you want a thriller to be. Even if your not typically a fan of the zombie horror genre, I think you may like this movie. The Movie Man gives it 3.5 out of 5 stars. </span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-83132917937268999742015-08-22T12:23:00.002-07:002015-08-22T12:23:43.687-07:00SINISTER 2 MOVIE REVIEW
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is important to note that Sinister 2 begins right where
the first movie left off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you haven’t
seen the first one you will be pretty lost for a good portion of this
film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have seen the original multiple
times and I was a little lost myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That is an entirely different issue, however.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
movie centers around a single mother (Shannyn Sossamon) and her twin boys
(played by real life twins Dartanian and Robert Daniel Sloan) who move into an
old farmhouse where a gruesome murder took place years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ex-Deputy So & So (James Ransone)
stumbles upon the family as he is investigating the strange occurrences
surrounding the death of the writer Ellison Oswalt and his family.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
thing that made the first movie work so well was that the family drama that set
the backdrop for all the scary stuff really worked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You cared about the family and what happened
to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This movie tries to do the same
thing except this time it doesn’t work nearly as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I personally didn’t care about the characters
at all which took the tension out of the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The whole thing feels quite contrived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It feels like just what it is; a device by which to inject the scares
into the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, with the mystery of
Bughuul no longer intact, the film is far less interesting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They tried to take a different approach to
the story which I respect, but it just didn’t work for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
acting in the film leaves a lot to be desired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Shannyn Sossamon is ok, but I’ve always thought she was overrated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>James Ransone was good in a supporting role
in Sinister but he is not leading man material.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All of the supporting actors were bad except for Lea Coco, who played
the villainous husband, pulling strings to get back custody of his sons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although Coco did a pretty good job, his
character was flat and unrealistic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
star of the first movie was, without a doubt, the 8mm footage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These scenes provided some of the most
disturbing imagery I have ever seen in a movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That is one thing that this sequel got right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is true that these scenes are more
elaborate and contrived than in the first movie but I think they had to be that
way in order to live up to what was expected here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They certainly exceeded my expectations in
this area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I would agree that
these segments don’t have the same unexpected emotional punch that they did in
the first movie (which is not entirely the fault of the movie), I would say
that these are more disturbing overall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Ciaran
Foy (Citadel) did not impress me as the director of this film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was too much shaky cam stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One scene in the climax of the movie is
really hard to watch because of the camera work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was also a lot of stupid things
happening that would never happen in real life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It felt like this movie took a lot of shortcuts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ending of the movie is overly convoluted
with way too much going on, most of which makes no sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
movie is nowhere near as good as the first Sinister.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not laughably bad, but it is not good
either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If this is your genre, as it is
mine, it might be worth seeing when it comes out in Redbox.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wouldn’t advise paying theater prices to
see it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hoped for more from this, but
ultimately got about what I expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Movie Man gives it 2.5 out of 5 stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Please click the link and give my Facebook page a like. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel">https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-51380969154532513882015-08-20T08:32:00.002-07:002015-08-20T08:32:35.328-07:00THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. MOVIE REVIEW
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">There was one thing about The Man from U.N.C.L.E. that
absolutely made it stand apart from other movies of it's kind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just one
aspect of the film made it ascend from potential mediocrity into true
epicness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This film actually gave us,
wait for it………….THE LONE RANGER vs. SUPERMAN!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And as if that wasn’t enough, it then gave us The Lone Ranger and
Superman teaming up!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Get it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because it’s Armie Hammer and Henry
Cavill?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They played The Lone Ranger and
Sup……..nevermind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
plot of this movie is very simple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Nazis have a nuclear bomb and the US and Russia must team up in order to stop
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not saying that’s a bad thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It allowed the film to focus on execution and
avoid being convoluted, which is a problem that generally haunts this
genre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The simple plot made the movie
easy to watch and put more pressure on the filmmakers and actors to actually
come through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Guy
Ritchie (Snatch, Sherlock Holmes) did a very good job with this film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is stylistic in a way that did not
interfere with the film, which I liked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The movie is not bloated with action scenes, which is usually what
happens with a simple plot like this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The editing is sensational.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
jump cuts, flashbacks, and split screens all really worked for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The score of the film is fantastic as
well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot of the music reminded me of
stuff from the legendary Ennio Morricone in The Man with No Name trilogy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That fun, “the showdown is about to happen”
type of music really added a lot to the movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
standout performance of this movie comes from Henry Cavill (Man of Steel).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He played a stereotypical suave American
spy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His character was pretty much
American James Bond.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cavill brought a
good bit of genuine humor to the film and overacted in all the best ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) and Armie Hammer
(The Lone Ranger) are also very good in the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have never been a fan of Hammer but this is
the best performance I have ever seen from him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This character fit him like a glove.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Hugh Grant is also in the movie and was good in the limited time he was
actually given in the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
chemistry between the three main actors is very good, which is a key to the
success of the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The majority of the
movie is based on the relationship between these three characters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was the most intriguing aspect of the
film to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was constant simultaneous
friction and bonding between the characters that kept the film fun and
interesting all the way through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There
were a few stupid scenes in the movie, which fit with the light tone to some
degree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, there were a few scenes
that I just couldn’t buy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would have liked
for Hammer’s character to have been explained a little more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cavill’s character had good exposition and
backstory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His counterpart needed the
same treatment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a twist or two
in the movie that you will see coming a mile away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing will surprise you here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The execution is still very good and I didn’t
mind the predictability at all, but if you are the type that wants to be
stumped, this is not going to work for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In what
has been dubbed the year of the spy movie, I would say that The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
is probably the best one so far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
light and fun, which is refreshing to me in an era when all these kind of
movies seem to think they have to be darker and more convoluted than the one
before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a very good time with this
film and might go as far as to say it is Guy Ritchie’s best movie to date.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Movie Man gives it 4 out of 5 stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Please click the link and give my Facebook page a like. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel">https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel</a></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-40953981641210232702015-08-18T08:28:00.003-07:002015-08-18T08:31:14.412-07:00FANTASTIC FOUR MOVIE REVIEW<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">In 2005 a movie came out called Batman Begins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a very good film, but by the title and
trailers it was easy to see that this was not going to be another typical
Batman movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was obviously going to
be an in-depth film about the origin of Batman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The first problem with Fantastic Four is that it is predominately that
same type of film although it was marketed as being a straight comic book
movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This movie is about how the
Fantastic Four became the Fantastic Four.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you are expecting to see the typical super heroes fighting the bad
guys film, you’re not going to get very much of that at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Like I
said before, this is an origin story, almost exclusively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is about the genius Reed Richards and
how he develops the teleportation machine that leads to the members of the
Fantastic Four acquiring their powers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Reed along with Sue and Johnny Storm, Ben Grimm, and Victor Von Doom
build the machine that transports them into another dimension.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When they come back however, there are
complications.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
movie actually had some potential.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aside
from an incredibly stupid opening sequence, the first act is not that bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The characters are actually established well
and I was getting a little bit invested in the outcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not until the second act that things
start to go awry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when it starts to
come apart, it really comes apart fast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>One
thing this film had going for it from the very beginning was a very good
cast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Miles Teller (Whiplash) and Kate
Mara (127 Hours) had good performances in the film despite serious problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Michael B. Jordan (Chronicle) has been very
good in the past but, with the hideous dialogue he was given in this film, he
never had a chance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The director of this
film is Josh Trank (Chronicle).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has
done good work before but it is hard to say how much of this mess is his
fault.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He sent out a Tweet recently
basically washing his hands of the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That is never a good sign.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
Trank’s defense, it appears to me to be a classic case of studio meddling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe the studio had one idea for the
film and Trank had another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What we
ended up getting was a jumbled combination of both.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>One
thing you don’t expect to have in a big budget film today is bad effects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, that is exactly what this movie gave
us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The CGI effects look like something
out of Son of the Mask.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doctor Doom’s
appearance would be laughable if it wasn’t appalling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
looks plastic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the green screen
effects, which is pretty old technology, looks absolutely horrible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of the scenes that are done in the
alternate dimension just take you completely out of the film because the green
screen is so obvious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is
absolutely no excuse for this in a film that had this much money behind it in
2015.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is nothing but laziness out of
the filmmakers and an obvious lack of concern for their paying customers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To say
that this movie fell apart in the third act is an understatement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This could honestly be the worst third act I
have ever seen in a movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s fast,
cheap, and makes no attempt at accomplishing anything substantial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The final fight scene is a joke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The distinct lack of effort was very apparent
here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As bad
as this film is, and it is VERY bad, these filmmakers actually had the audacity
to set up a sequel and, dare I say, a franchise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They actually think we want to see more of
this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopefully this movie will perform
poorly enough to keep that from happening. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I’m saying is, this movie is truly
terrible and does not deserve your money nor one more word from me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Movie Man gives it 1 out of 5 stars.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Please click the link and give my Facebook page a like. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel">https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel</a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-11042696119613494492015-08-12T09:41:00.002-07:002015-08-12T09:41:36.017-07:00MR. HOLMES MOVIE REVIEW
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">“When legend becomes fact, print the legend.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is my favorite line from the movie The Man
Who Shot Liberty Valance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is also, in
a way, the main premise of Mr. Holmes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This movie shows the “real” Holmes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not the one we have all read stories about; stories that Holmes says
were very much embellished by Dr. Watson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is refreshing to see the classic story approached from this original
angle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
movie employs a technique that I have seen used several times this year; parallel
storytelling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are three different
stories being told at once that encompass three different periods in Holmes’
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The somewhat unreliable narrator
taking us on this journey is a 92 year old Sherlock Holmes who is suffering
from senility….and probably Alzheimer’s by the looks of things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is trying to remember events from his life
so that he can write them the way that they really happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The one thing he is sure of is that they didn’t
occur the way people think they did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
plot of this film is very intriguing and much more involved than I thought it
would be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Screenwriter Jeffrey Hatcher
and director Bill Condon (Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Dreamgirls) did a very good
job with this film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The parallel storytelling
is well organized and to the point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
plot moves slowly but steadily and there is no wasted time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The movie can feel a bit long at times but I
wouldn’t say that it drags or anything like that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This film is an investment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will take time and thought to get anything
out of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The characters are very good,
which is what truly gets you invested in the film on an emotional level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I said before, this is a very intriguing story;
impressively so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkebXKH_Mjz769oJoyhKRnT7hUMQHy9qTzieXo52CHthYCeakPH41Qb4jOzwIXKV73Fqn6mm9ek2IPOndIktjjZpBddnJPU-p7XlBMpfOfcqabRTcfsGjJEUy6xodc2tLvB8H7Lk-PtFOV/s1600/mr-homes---movie-review-145463.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkebXKH_Mjz769oJoyhKRnT7hUMQHy9qTzieXo52CHthYCeakPH41Qb4jOzwIXKV73Fqn6mm9ek2IPOndIktjjZpBddnJPU-p7XlBMpfOfcqabRTcfsGjJEUy6xodc2tLvB8H7Lk-PtFOV/s640/mr-homes---movie-review-145463.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Ian
McKellen is a legend and there is never any doubt that he is going to have a
good performance in whatever movie he is in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That being said, it is no surprise that this is one of my favorite
performances of the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He plays
Holmes at two different ages that are thirty years apart and is very convincing
at both.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>McKellen has some truly great
dialogue and, while he plays a different Holmes than we are familiar with, he is
exactly as one might expect a great detective to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>McKellen’s performance is most impressive
when he is struggling to remember something that happened in the past, showing
us an emotional combination of frustration and helplessness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
ending of the movie is highly intense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something happens at the end that seemed
completely unnecessary to me at the time, but the way it played out showed me
how wrong I was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just when it seemed
like the movie should be wrapping up, it takes an unexpected turn that really
pays off in the last five or ten minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This ending is highly metaphorical, filled with symbolism, and is
exactly what this film needed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Mr.
Holmes is a very good film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not a
casual, date night type of movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is
a film that is very emotional and thought provoking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has a lot of story to it but avoids
getting convoluted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Great performances
by the cast, including a legendary outing from Ian McKellen, is what puts this
film in a different league.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Movie
Man gives it 4.5 out of 5 stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Please click the link and give my Facebook page a like. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel">https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-88151151158724358042015-08-09T12:29:00.001-07:002015-08-09T12:29:57.293-07:00THE GIFT MOVIE REVIEW
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I’m going to start off this review with the most important
thing I can tell you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you haven’t
already, DO NOT watch a trailer for this film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you watched it on my Facebook page, I apologize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also would avoid all reviews for this film,
except this one of course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The trailers
and reviews are all giving away one very important aspect of the film that
should be a big surprise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m obviously
not going to spoil that here, but for some reason everybody else is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
movie is about an ambitious businessman named Simon (Jason Bateman) and his
wife Robyn (Rebecca Hall) who move back to the area where Simon grew up after
several years away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon after the move,
they encounter Gordon, a man from Simon’s past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When Gordo starts to come on a little too strong, Simon decides it is
time to set some boundaries. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s all
I’m going to say because that is all you need to know about this movie right
now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
story of this film is Joel Edgerton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not
only does he deliver a terrific performance as Gordo, one of the best of his
career in fact, this is also his writer/director debut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You wouldn’t know it. This is a very well-directed
film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I honestly can’t think of a more
technically sound directing debut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Although methodical, this is a very well-paced film that took a lot of
discipline to handle correctly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
totally psychological and the subtle interactions between the characters are
expertly captured by Edgerton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He does a
fantastic job of showing characters reactions to dialogue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of focusing on the character
delivering the dialogue, he focuses instead on the faces of the characters reacting
to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That technique is very effective
in a psychological thriller like this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
was very impressed by this directorial debut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The screenplay is also very good and focused.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It stays within itself and never tries to do
too much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizBHKz8d5zTTIaPJmqoNCLa9J1lQLodXVmFSSOPjmE3puQlM0XDa4-VFn4D2huUIgtpOKOanbOyVbVuAsLT5WSG4zQxTY9UId97vOQzhhGV3Pesl3jEKTSJ0SfNLJnijKpopKdBY12a7Qn/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizBHKz8d5zTTIaPJmqoNCLa9J1lQLodXVmFSSOPjmE3puQlM0XDa4-VFn4D2huUIgtpOKOanbOyVbVuAsLT5WSG4zQxTY9UId97vOQzhhGV3Pesl3jEKTSJ0SfNLJnijKpopKdBY12a7Qn/s640/3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
tension in the film relies on the interactions between the three main characters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
tension is there because the relationships between the characters absolutely
work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They seem like real people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While part of the credit has to go to the
screenplay for creating these characters, the most important aspect of this in
my opinion, is some very fine acting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Jason Bateman is great in this film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I usually do not like him, but this is by far the best performance of
his career.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rebecca Hall is wonderful as
the only somewhat grounded character in the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Great acting and characters are so important
in a film like this and The Gift has both in spades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If I’m
really nitpicking this movie, and I have to if I’m gonna find very many flaws
to talk about, I could have shaved a few minutes off of the runtime in unnecessary
scenes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things like showing characters
brushing their teeth or exercising didn’t seem to serve much purpose in moving
the plot along.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, the creepy, “is
somebody in the dark hallway”, type scenes got a little repetitive at a certain
point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are small issues in a very
good film, but they are issues none the less.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRdbKM1xXo9f497ApXYvyBiMmbu_LpEU2qb6YL1p8tKlVvISTLHPDT40kU8ObIjYeMU0YM1DFjhRzEZjOym_CWZHeypkIQ2LgELrsDCbE9IEcs-QuPEp9POg3kLTvY7Z0qgx6Gja77Q1Cd/s1600/img_1595.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRdbKM1xXo9f497ApXYvyBiMmbu_LpEU2qb6YL1p8tKlVvISTLHPDT40kU8ObIjYeMU0YM1DFjhRzEZjOym_CWZHeypkIQ2LgELrsDCbE9IEcs-QuPEp9POg3kLTvY7Z0qgx6Gja77Q1Cd/s640/img_1595.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
ending of the movie was almost great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The problem that held it back was that it was too deliberate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The whole film had been very ambiguous and
then a deliberate ending took me out of the movie a little bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t get me wrong, the ending was very
effective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just didn’t totally buy it
completely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
Gift is everything I hoped it would be and more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a very impressive writer/director debut
for Joel Edgerton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a film that had
a lot of effort and care put into it and that is something that I value a great
deal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you like psychological thrillers,
this is the one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Along with Ex Machina,
this is one of the most thought provoking films of the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Movie Man gives it 4 out of 5 stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Please click the link and give my Facebook page a like. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel">https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-26363964951426120042015-08-05T14:26:00.001-07:002015-08-05T14:26:43.589-07:00SOUTHPAW MOVIE REVIEW
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">With the title of the movie being “Southpaw”, you would
expect the main character to be a left handed fighter. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surprisingly, he is not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, I didn’t notice a left handed
fighter in the movie at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The title
making no sense is a problem, and a bigger one than you might think. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The movie does something toward the very end
that felt like it was only there to try to make some sense out of the title but
that doesn’t work at all and is barely even noticeable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32LoA7jHPuHmbxOOjIIhIkupmWWDyPh9-iP_PX4_yMWlVVe4NzwhW56cdpx4EjORfZTJRRBFR5dpUFgiePwUCefeIiycdV54WO54TFRquEqlEYMy5Z4HttX8C6kvJY6Ez85o5NqHZ9wSx/s1600/CFcw2jxWoAAHRtL.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32LoA7jHPuHmbxOOjIIhIkupmWWDyPh9-iP_PX4_yMWlVVe4NzwhW56cdpx4EjORfZTJRRBFR5dpUFgiePwUCefeIiycdV54WO54TFRquEqlEYMy5Z4HttX8C6kvJY6Ez85o5NqHZ9wSx/s640/CFcw2jxWoAAHRtL.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In some
ways, this movie is a totally clichéd boxing film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In more important ways though, it is not clichéd
at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For instance, rather than the
typical trick of the movie trying to fool us into thinking that everything is
fine and nothing bad could ever happen to these people, this movie sets the
dark, foreboding tone early.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first
act of the movie feels like the proverbial powder keg waiting to explode all
over the successful lives of our main characters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the bad thing does happen, it is even more
impactful for having being built up the way that it was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
is, of course, the typical “chance for redemption” aspect of the story, but it
makes perfect sense in the way this film unfolds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Jake
Gyllenhaal has the ability to immerse himself into a character like nobody else
working today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sometimes find it hard
to remember the characters that Jake played simply because I always see the
characters themselves instead of the actor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That is the ultimate compliment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This movie is no different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
Gyllenhaal is on the screen, I see Billy Hope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His slightly punchy performance in this film is phenomenal and Oscar worthy
in my opinion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzvB5iP_SOyMKjhm2nCLaSRBPhySganT2Hq1Mx0xNOojXihc0RuP-6nE7VGM0tQtTlN1vdVuuPmtsTWgIAT9aVlwsze-jlzphyphenhyphentEmvFVdK4qhNzL4qZkrr-9ot2MIIBg8mu2bA7rcOzFlY/s1600/Jake-Gyllenhaal-in-Southpaw-1024x425.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzvB5iP_SOyMKjhm2nCLaSRBPhySganT2Hq1Mx0xNOojXihc0RuP-6nE7VGM0tQtTlN1vdVuuPmtsTWgIAT9aVlwsze-jlzphyphenhyphentEmvFVdK4qhNzL4qZkrr-9ot2MIIBg8mu2bA7rcOzFlY/s640/Jake-Gyllenhaal-in-Southpaw-1024x425.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If you’re
looking for a fun movie experience, this film is not it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To say that it is depressing is an
understatement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A really bad thing
happens to the main character, followed by more bad things and more bad
things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just when you think it will get
a little better, it doesn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The movie
never lets up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The depressing tone mixed
with the slow-burn nature of the story caused me to get a little bogged down
about halfway through the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not
boring exactly, just hard to stay into.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
characters are very important to this film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Billy Hope character is very good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He is a good person and you want to see him succeed but he is so full of
rage that it makes him totally self-destructive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
second most important character in the film, Tick Wills (Forest Whitaker), an
aging boxing trainer who tries to help Billy straighten up his life, falls far
short of what I needed the character to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Whitaker’s performance is very good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In fact, the performance is far better than the character itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was one of the problems that really hurt
the film. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Antoine
Fuqua (Training Day, Shooter) did a very good job directing this film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The boxing scenes in particular are very well
shot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nice wide shots show the action well
and the sound editing is terrific.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
is some of the best movie boxing I have ever seen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ending is built up very well and is legitimately
exciting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There
is a lot to like about this film, but I mostly saw it as a missed opportunity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the components were here for what could
have been a great film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The screenplay,
the first written by Kurt Sutter, is what really let it down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seemed confused, not sure where the real
story of the film was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The real story is
Billy Hope’s rage and his struggle to control it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problem is, the screenplay gets too
distracted with other, less important things, like beating us over the head
with how depressing the story is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
is not a bad film at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The acting is
great and it could be Antione Fuqua’s best effort since Training Day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just couldn’t help thinking about how much
better it could have been.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Movie Man
gives it 3.5 out of 5 stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p>Please click the link and give my Facebook page a like. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel">https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel</a></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="color: black; mso-effects-shadow-align: topleft; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 40.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 2700000; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 1.5pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 3.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 100.0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 100.0%; mso-effects-shadow-themecolor: dark1; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: 0pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: none; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-68460679323337699822015-08-01T20:19:00.002-07:002015-08-01T20:19:17.123-07:00MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: ROGUE NATION MOVIE REVIEW
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I truly believe that Tom Cruise was born to pay Ethan Hunt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know if I’ve ever seen an actor who
is as perfect for a role as Cruise is for his Mission Impossible
character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His physical acting and
intensity lends itself so well to the tone of this franchise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None of these movies would be what they are
without Cruise in the lead role.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through
this series of films, he is fast becoming one of my favorite actors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
this, the fifth film in the Mission Impossible series, the IMF once again faces
extinction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hunt and his crew are the
only ones capable of stopping the Syndicate, a rogue criminal organization that
operates secretly, much like the IMF.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being
the only ones who know of the Syndicates existence, the remnants of the IMF
must find a way to take them down without any outside help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Amazing
stunts have become a trademark of this franchise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This film does not disappoint in that regard
at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At 53 years old, Cruise is still
every bit the stuntman he has always been.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In what is quite possibly the greatest opening scene I have ever
witnessed, we see him literally hanging off the side of a jet as it takes
off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a particularly incredible motorcycle
chase scene which perfectly illustrates the advantage of practical stunts over
CGI.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But probably the most amazing of
all the films stunts is an anxiety inducing underwater scene in which Cruise
had to hold his breath for an incredible six minutes during filming!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I appreciated the great stunt work in this
film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is sadly becoming a lost art
in this day and age and all the CGI they use now just doesn’t cut it for
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
screenplay, written by Christopher McQuarrie, is good but not perfect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It does a very good job with explanation and
exposition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is well structured and
well organized, which keeps the sophisticated plot from being convoluted. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are a few clichés at work, which is not
entirely in opposition to the overall tone of the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The dialogue is good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are a couple lines that are really
incredible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I’ve
already mentioned about how awesome Tom Cruise is in the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is to be expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What really stood out to me were the
performances of Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Pegg is believably funny and is the perfect complement to the intense
performance of Cruise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He manages to
weave his comedy into the film without having it feel unnatural.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rhames brings an on-screen presence to the film
that is just incredible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His performance
here is his best since Pulp Fiction. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqgU38Rbu_84IGAq_mU_9zR9Z_u860jyeIV86Dvt40YYEmAljAOcbBV84sqoMWzxnDiZk_7UBQQi20iqCsUtELuQkIcrmc4vJuZzOuBJBv3ufrjKqWXlqYYPfC9bptBVnrK6W2sEJI6VLL/s1600/mission-impossible-5-rogue-nation-picture-47-640x451.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqgU38Rbu_84IGAq_mU_9zR9Z_u860jyeIV86Dvt40YYEmAljAOcbBV84sqoMWzxnDiZk_7UBQQi20iqCsUtELuQkIcrmc4vJuZzOuBJBv3ufrjKqWXlqYYPfC9bptBVnrK6W2sEJI6VLL/s640/mission-impossible-5-rogue-nation-picture-47-640x451.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I have
thrown a lot of praise at this film, and rightfully so, but as good as it is,
it is not perfect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problems come in
around the third act when the logic falls apart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One twist too many causes a big pot hole to
emerge in the narrative that I just couldn’t get past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No spoilers, but there was something that happened
here that made everything else the characters did from that point on not make
any sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was my only big problem
with the film, but it was a significant problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Less significantly, the main female character
in the film does something toward the end that I saw as a direct contradiction
to what her character was supposed to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Even with
a significant logic issue in the home stretch of the film, there is still
enough good here to make this a very fun movie experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not as good as the last MI movie in my
opinion, but the acting is great and the stunts alone are worth the price of
admission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Movie Man gives it 3.5
out of 5 stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Please click the link and give my Facebook page a like. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel">https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel</a></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-72106896275144613012015-08-01T17:00:00.000-07:002015-08-01T20:12:20.591-07:00THIS IS THE END MOVIE REVIEW<span style="font-size: large;">Where do you want to be when the end comes? Maybe some place where you could defend yourself like a gun shop or a bunker of some sort? Maybe in a church or some other spiritual place like that? In your home or the place where you grew up? How about locked up in James Franco's house with five of the funniest human beings alive, arguing about who gets the last Milky Way? Now <span class="text_exposed_hide">...</span></span><span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-size: large;">we're talking!</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK4WRVF5kfvFftOF_4JAvCvzApJObdzc2SHSkWjahtro2Mi8ni-_21nw-2_2bEcpf_C_PtbZ_l3Ttyekrf0oVIEGnUz2pPu5VBn83_oWZOKEi3z340rg2hxB1Soo56LvdvBD-gEqut-s7b/s1600/THIS-IS-THE-END-movie-poster-review.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK4WRVF5kfvFftOF_4JAvCvzApJObdzc2SHSkWjahtro2Mi8ni-_21nw-2_2bEcpf_C_PtbZ_l3Ttyekrf0oVIEGnUz2pPu5VBn83_oWZOKEi3z340rg2hxB1Soo56LvdvBD-gEqut-s7b/s640/THIS-IS-THE-END-movie-poster-review.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br /> This is the End is a concept piece in which the concept is that all the actors play themselves. Or rather they play their stereotypes; what we think they're like. Seth Rogan loves to laugh and party and ponders weather or not he has become a sellout. Jay Baruchel and James Franco compete for Seth's attention. Jonah Hill is an earing wearing sissy boy, and Michael Cera does a whole lot of cocaine. I don't know if this is what any of these guys are really like, but it don't really matter. This is the way we want to see them. Rogen, along with writing and directing partner Evan Goldberg, went for something outside the box here and the results are brilliant! <br /><br /> As this story goes, a bunch of celebrities meet at James Franco's new house for a party. There is no shortage of big names here. Emma Watson is there along with Paul Rudd, Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari, McLovin, even Rhianna makes an appearance. James Franco's house warming party is certainly not lacking in star power.<br /><br /> Everything is going really well until this little apocalypse thing happens. The party breaks up pretty quickly after that. Most everybody leaves, or dies a horrible yet hillarious death, except for Rogen, Franco, Baruchel, Hill, and Craig Robinson. They decide to barricade themselves up in the house. Using Franco's artwork and duct tape, they are able to construct an impenetrable fortress. This sets the perfect stage for last days laughs and post apocolyptic fun!</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO5jeNYxdtq4wgEWe9jHcjL3Tb8MAZfErS1qlTI1Zj8wSShz49_vo60odak85gjbZ28ogCcBkAgOgJdRvBDxQiDQesgJDqtQbiMn98lsLTS6bDG-lXoGtRo-8YXzOeTJa2y4EwX08JmbRv/s1600/This-Is-The-End-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO5jeNYxdtq4wgEWe9jHcjL3Tb8MAZfErS1qlTI1Zj8wSShz49_vo60odak85gjbZ28ogCcBkAgOgJdRvBDxQiDQesgJDqtQbiMn98lsLTS6bDG-lXoGtRo-8YXzOeTJa2y4EwX08JmbRv/s640/This-Is-The-End-14.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br /> I was very happy with this movie. I always enjoy seeing actors play themselves but I was worried that this would come off as being self indulgent. Instead it looked like the actors were poking fun at themselves, which is the complete opposite of self indulgent. That's good to see. It's fun to watch a bunch of rich, successful movie stars NOT taking themselves too seriously. <br /><br /> Being a fan of movies in general, I enjoyed the many movie references in this film. There were Green Goblin references, 127 Hours references, Freaks and Geeks references. There was one scene in which Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse were talking that looked just like a Superbad reunion. They referenced Your Highness at one point. There was even a hint at a possible Pineapple Express sequel.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFG3V_A3USRX0LaPx5kKJsvJf-2cjZ63fneQtIuaoixrTG-HDpXFgJDGOMVK6XNNZJtFXUnsNpewuwGgibWUvv__npOV5xfWiSN5EOh44IbV7T3Dn62LAR8GLyxW80Ahtnz46j26wCRyOP/s1600/Lucifer_%2528Th_is_Is_The_End%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFG3V_A3USRX0LaPx5kKJsvJf-2cjZ63fneQtIuaoixrTG-HDpXFgJDGOMVK6XNNZJtFXUnsNpewuwGgibWUvv__npOV5xfWiSN5EOh44IbV7T3Dn62LAR8GLyxW80Ahtnz46j26wCRyOP/s640/Lucifer_%2528Th_is_Is_The_End%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br /> This movie was a little like a comedy all-star team and everybody was in top form. If your familiar with these guys movies, then you know to leave your kids at home for this one. The comedy is pretty rough. But if you liked any of the movies this group has made in the past you will probably love this one. If you typically don't like their movies, you probably won't like this one either. <br /><br /> This Is the End is not a cinema classic by any means but it is very good at what it does. It's very funny, features good performances, and is surprisingly well written. I didn't want this one to end, yet I was interested to see how it ended. When it did end, it wasn't what I expected. Overall, it was the most fun I've had at the movies so far this year. How cliche was that? The Movie Man gives it 4 out of 5 stars. </span></span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-66322218326851113532015-07-28T14:36:00.001-07:002015-07-28T14:36:20.997-07:00ANT-MAN MOVIE REVIEW
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">My level of skepticism increases with each one of these
comic book movies that come out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
films have been so successful recently that this has become it’s own
genre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As good as the Marvel movies in
particular have been, I feel like this is something that can’t last.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know one of these films will fall flat
eventually and, as I watched the previews for Ant-Man, I couldn’t help
believing that this would probably be the one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Dr.
Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) was a scientist who spent his life developing an
armored suit that was capable of shrinking the wearer down to the size of an
ant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pym intended the technology for
military use, but it was stolen by a group that had other, more sinister plans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pym decides to recruit convicted cat burglar
Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) to become the new Ant-Man and get the original suit back
before it is too late.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What I
really liked about this movie was it’s tone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Contrary to what most comic book movies try to do these days, this film
is pretty light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is refreshing to see
a movie like this that stays in it’s lane and just tries to be fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The movie has a great deal of humor that
works very well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the jokes are
provided by Michael Pena, who is just terrific.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This movie was a joy to watch, mainly because it didn’t try to be more
than it should have been.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Obviously
with the whole Ant-Man shrinking thing, visuals are a very big part of this
film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These effects are handled very
well by director Peyton Reed and his crew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When Ant-Man shrinks, it looks terrifically realistic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot is done with these segments that add to
the enjoyment of the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regular
things like a bathtub drain and toy trains are made to look menacing and
provide some of my favorite and most enjoyable sequences of the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
original screenplay for this film was written by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the
Dead, Hot Fuzz) and it shows because the foundation of the movie is very well
written.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was also clear to me that
other people have worked on this script since Wright left the project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Overall this screenplay is not bad at
all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story is as good as it could
possibly be with this type of premise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The side characters in the film are amazing, which is a typical characteristic
of a great screenplay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wouldn’t
actually consider this to be a great screenplay, but rather a very good one. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are a few bothersome clichés used.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My biggest problem with the movie is the
character of Hope Van Dyne.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
character could have been great and very instrumental to the film but was unfortunately
pretty much just used as PC bait.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>All the
acting in the movie is good but the one that really stands out is Paul Rudd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m glad that he got this role and did such a
good job with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The light tone I
mentioned earlier lent itself very well to Rudd’s talents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has been one of my favorite comedic actors
for years and I’m glad that he has been introduced to the Marvel universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL62DO35LhcaACrnf9AlOwdTAhyphenhyphenFVIFyCVQ-ZtCAJonAzUmVYIktDwBZNVOK4bACqPjZlVfzWgFHfpA5d7ooHisZqxo4hpQHMFgdk4mugprMletTVTr0X_gQoqRHCnQKm_wSrP9r3V7GAp/s1600/antman-trailer-train.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL62DO35LhcaACrnf9AlOwdTAhyphenhyphenFVIFyCVQ-ZtCAJonAzUmVYIktDwBZNVOK4bACqPjZlVfzWgFHfpA5d7ooHisZqxo4hpQHMFgdk4mugprMletTVTr0X_gQoqRHCnQKm_wSrP9r3V7GAp/s640/antman-trailer-train.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
movie turned out to be a lot better than I was expecting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a great deal of fun with it and would
certainly recommend it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Hope
character got on my nerves but I enjoyed pretty much everything else about the
film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ant-Man is a success because it is
not afraid to be what it is and doesn’t try to be something it’s not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Movie Man gives it 3.5 out of 5
stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-40320311550843930002015-07-15T17:00:00.000-07:002015-07-28T14:37:03.018-07:00AFTER EARTH MOVIE REVIEW<div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed">
<span style="font-size: large;">The first of the summer movies that I was really looking forward to this year was After Earth. Being a huge fan of M. Night Shyamalan I may be expected to be a little biased. However, I really wasn't expecting too much by the time I actually saw this movie. So, was it good, bad, exciting, boring? Did Will Smith's kid really get top billing? For a full guided tour of After Earth, follow me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br /> The mo<span class="text_exposed_hide">...</span></span><span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-size: large;">vie is set one thousand years in the future. Humans have left Earth because of a certain race of aliens who can literally smell fear, and now inhabit a planet called Nova Prime (Wasn't that a Transformer or something).<br /><br /> Will Smith plays a character named Chypher Raige. I personally hate the name, but the character itself is well drawn by Shyamalan and brilliantly acted by Smith. Chypher is a great and legendary soldier who has mastered the art of "ghosting", which means to be completely without fear and thus becoming invisible to the aliens. I know, it's a tad cheesy, but I still think it was an interesting concept. <br /><br /> While Chypher Raige is apparently the best soldier....ever, I guess, he is arguably a terrible father to his son Kitai, played by Smith's real life son Jaden. You get the feeling that Kitai has some security issues caused by his father being too hard on him and possibly a little something that happened in his past.</span></span></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br /> So Chypher and his son go off into space and, as luck would have it, run into a meteor shower and crash land on a strange planet. A planet called EARTH! (key dramatic music). Chypher and Kitai are the only survivors of the crash. However, daddy's leg is injured, leaving it up to young Kitai to travel the hostel planet to find flares in the tail of the ship. <br /><br /> Although the movie had it's problems, I thought it was very good. It looked great. Shyamalan created a broad, realistic, and sometimes terrifying future Earth, and reminds us that he knows how to let his characters tell a story.<br /><br /> Will Smith turns in, what I would call, the greatest performance of his career. At least his best since I Am Legend. He left his comfort zone to play a low key, reserved character and really did a great job. He had such an outward presence as a leader and really related well the inner turmoil of Chypher Raige.<br /><br /> On the negative side of things, the movie starts off bad, which is a problem. The opening narration is just painful, and then there are the accents. I understand what Shyamalan was trying to do with the accents. If Earth was evacuated and everybody was mixed up on another planet somewhere for a thousand years, they would certainly have a different accent. Still, this is very hard to deal with for, about the first thirty minutes or so. After a certain point in the movie I stopped noticing it.</span></span></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br /> Jaden Smith shows promise to me, although I thought this role was WAY too big for him at this stage in his career. I'm not ready to anoint or condemn him just yet, but there were some glaring weaknesses that definitely showed up here. <br /><br /> The very end of the film is a bit corny, but that's ok to me because the point comes across well, and it is a strong one. I felt good leaving the theater and that's a big compliment to a movie like this.<br /><br /> All in all, I thought After Earth was a solid effort. It had a simple plot, yet well told and strongly acted. If this is an indication of how the summer movie season is going to go then I am ready! The Movie Man gives it 3.5 out of 5 stars.</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-82383734107185421002015-07-15T15:30:00.001-07:002015-07-15T15:30:53.332-07:00MINIONS MOVIE REVIEW
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">While I was watching Minions a massive storm blew through my
town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It knocked down trees and power
lines, overturned vehicles, and killed the power in the theater, which was a
first for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The screen went blank
about twenty minutes from the end of the movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was off ten or fifteen minutes, then they got everything going again
and they started the movie back where it was when it went off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks to a conscientious Malco staff, I didn’t
miss anything so it shouldn’t affect my ability to review it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was an interesting experience though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5EGso7jf7_9KniAnynoSqCoIG7f4nmNrd_BGylK2af3x8p4biH8B1u51mf_98WVeMNbpaMshLn0CuVwcm-QR0n8b2QsE8fZrbTGYCEDa1JxyCfdHv4T0b7CBhsVNfH54QA1RrYiPuZY3o/s1600/Minions%252BFilm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5EGso7jf7_9KniAnynoSqCoIG7f4nmNrd_BGylK2af3x8p4biH8B1u51mf_98WVeMNbpaMshLn0CuVwcm-QR0n8b2QsE8fZrbTGYCEDa1JxyCfdHv4T0b7CBhsVNfH54QA1RrYiPuZY3o/s640/Minions%252BFilm.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Minions,
if you don’t already know, is basically an origin story about the little yellow
guys from the Despicable Me franchise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It turns out minions have actually been on earth longer than humans and
have always been looking for the most evil (or despicable) master to
serve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At some point in the 1960’s the
minions, frustrated after years of not being able to find a master, chose three
(Kevin, Stuart, and Bob) to go out and find an evil leader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
biggest problem with this film is the same thing that makes it good; the
minions themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, they are
funny. Sure, they are cute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But an hour
and a half of them is a little much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is not a human character introduced in
the whole first act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The minion language
was really starting to wear on me by that time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When we finally get human characters, they all turn out to be flat and don’t
really add anything to the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
story is generic and lacks focus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
hard to get invested in anything that is going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDWW2DIHCqXobUrgKVkFnWK8QkcsRCm8s95v5BCS8Mw74Ec7JTWQLV0cn26U80e8tyUUHtCHYrTdWoqys3yS7LUvdFi0R_xD2KEZCOfglJAw3M2kLKjICgMwiXryLigMT2VM1GP231fBOI/s1600/Minions-movie-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDWW2DIHCqXobUrgKVkFnWK8QkcsRCm8s95v5BCS8Mw74Ec7JTWQLV0cn26U80e8tyUUHtCHYrTdWoqys3yS7LUvdFi0R_xD2KEZCOfglJAw3M2kLKjICgMwiXryLigMT2VM1GP231fBOI/s640/Minions-movie-3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
really enjoyed the 60’s pop culture references in the movie. The soundtrack was
really good and fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These things were
the best parts of the movie to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
was one scene in particular involving The Beatles that I really enjoyed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
major saving grace for this movie is that it is indeed funny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the jokes work and the minions
themselves are still loveable, it’s just that their particular brand of humor
gets a little repetitive after a while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
was nothing in the movie that was just laugh-out-loud hysterical but I don’t
remember any jokes that fell absolutely flat either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were a couple of jokes that were
arguably inappropriate for a movie clearly aimed at young kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgahp1q-phPQG2VKYY1Z-f3At3W8AlBiQRBON6-oXy-4BZLb5PuDCUVSfenbXnB6SuKSbgqou7SpjnC_6nGtU8noxtpbvQMhPd_oSZKFMIM7kBg6KOXhgbE264I_Temrc0o98JnDXmWkxgz/s1600/minions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgahp1q-phPQG2VKYY1Z-f3At3W8AlBiQRBON6-oXy-4BZLb5PuDCUVSfenbXnB6SuKSbgqou7SpjnC_6nGtU8noxtpbvQMhPd_oSZKFMIM7kBg6KOXhgbE264I_Temrc0o98JnDXmWkxgz/s640/minions.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This is
not a very long review because there is not a lot I can say about this
film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is what it is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It succeeds at what it sets out to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kids are going to absolutely love it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will make tons of money for that reason
alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adults may enjoy it for a while
but ultimately it will get repetitive and silly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t hate the movie by any stretch of the
imagination but it wasn’t anywhere near as good as I had hoped it would
be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Watch Inside Out instead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Movie Man gives it 3 out of 5 stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Please click the link and give my Facebook page a like. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel">https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel</a></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-2920458570377468982015-07-12T21:05:00.002-07:002015-07-12T21:05:49.051-07:00THE GALLOWS MOVIE REVIEW
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">One movie trope that always gets on my nerves is the way
that phones in movies ring as long as they need to, which is usually a totally
unrealistic amount of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I always
find myself thinking about the person on the other end of the line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why would they possibly be letting the phone
ring so long?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Especially in a situation
where a character is in some kind of trouble and they are trying to get to an
incredibly long ringing phone and the person that is calling has no idea they
are in trouble, that makes no sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
reason I brought that up is because I honestly believe this movie has the
longest ringing phone in movie history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
Gallows opens up by showing a school play from 1993 that went horribly
wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a hanging scene, a prop
malfunction caused a kid to actually be hanged on stage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, all these years later, the school has
decided to do the play again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A couple
of jocks who do not want the play to be carried out decide to sneak into the
school one night and destroy the set.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
is when the terror begins. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, and a
ghost shows up too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In a
way, I think found footage films get a bad rap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I complain about them as much as anyone, but the truth is I have seen
more good ones than bad ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
understand that studios use them as a cheap and lazy way to make a lot of
money, but some have used the found footage gimmick very well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Gallows is not one of those.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At one point, the main character actually
says the line, “Why would you even want to film this?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is ironic because that’s exactly how I
felt throughout a good portion of the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Anytime the guy is not consciously filming for whatever reason the
camera just coincidentally happens to be in just the right place to get
everything exactly in frame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, at
one point they introduce cell phone cameras into the mix, which by the very
concept of found footage makes no sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This, along with the strange way they screwed the timeline up led to
quite a bit of confusion in the second act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
first act of the movie relies heavily on humor to make it work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, it is one of the worst
attempts at humor I have ever seen in a movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The guy holding the camera, and thus making most of the jokes, is the
most annoying character I can possibly imagine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Also in the first act, we are introduced to just about every clichéd high
school character there is, from geeky drama kids to meat head jocks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The movie did not get off to a good
start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
second act is all about the jump scares. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I always felt like I was either watching a jump
scare or anticipating the next one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
you hate cheap jump scares like I do, this movie is NOT for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of
the jump scares in particular is so badly executed that you can’t even tell
what happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is just a really
loud noise and a bunch of frantic screaming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s not scary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is
annoying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is one good scene in the
movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just one, and it is in the
trailer…..and on the poster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The characters
in this movie are non-existent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are
just random people running around screaming with a camera and nothing that even
closely resembles a personality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
acting is bad, especially Reese Mishler, who plays the main character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everybody in the movie over-acts all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
ending of the movie is stupid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>REALLY
stupid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a twist at the end that
is even more stupid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ending makes
the whole movie make even less sense than it made in the first place, which is
not much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
Gallows insulted my intelligence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was
not in a good mood after sitting through this ridiculous mess of a found
footage film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please don’t go see this. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please do not give these people any more money
for making garbage like this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Movie
Man gives it 1 out of 5 stars.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Please click the link and give my Facebook page a like. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel">https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176155603957964566.post-28397483949531953162015-07-07T14:55:00.001-07:002015-07-07T14:55:27.766-07:00TED 2 MOVIE REVIEW
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">One thing I noticed about Ted 2 that I have never noticed
with a Seth MacFarlane film before was the similarities, in terms of production
style, to Family Guy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were at
least a couple of the trademark non-sequitur cut away scenes and the long
exterior establishing shots of buildings were very prevalent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were also a few jokes taken right out
of previous Family Guy episodes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t
consider this a positive or negative for the film, I just thought it was
interesting and worth mentioning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
movie opens with Ted getting married to Tami-Lynn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everybody is happy. Predictably, the
happiness does not last too long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
the odd couple starts to have problems in their marriage, they decide the
answer is to adopt a child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Ted cannot
father a child the natural way for obvious reasons.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In order to do this, they must first go to
court and prove that Ted is, in fact, a person.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I found
the argument about whether or not Ted is a person to be quite interesting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The movie does a good job of bringing up good
points for both sides and putting legitimate opposition in the way of the main
characters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What really does define a
person?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is a question that is worth
debating and this movie does that in an intelligent and interesting way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidfpAHCJGtU9mukxPYUatn0l06qx6na4WuKLCCayvYX0nN1_sQJv7RGf54XmTsJBH7vs3tFbLcxHSQSJA6XYNU5V95sIV-Bt2S8pbgimQOgx3GT__40UHOFbSY1cnAjzcePZiSc5TQ-8No/s1600/Ted-2-movie-reviews-starring-Mark-Wahlberg-Seth-MacFarlane-and-Amanda-Seyfried.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidfpAHCJGtU9mukxPYUatn0l06qx6na4WuKLCCayvYX0nN1_sQJv7RGf54XmTsJBH7vs3tFbLcxHSQSJA6XYNU5V95sIV-Bt2S8pbgimQOgx3GT__40UHOFbSY1cnAjzcePZiSc5TQ-8No/s640/Ted-2-movie-reviews-starring-Mark-Wahlberg-Seth-MacFarlane-and-Amanda-Seyfried.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>MacFarlane’s
screenplay is well-structured but far from perfect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a major subplot that emerges that
should have been the main plot of the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All the marital drama between Ted and Tami-Lynn was ridiculous and
should have been left out completely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The movie also goes about five or ten minutes
too long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a point at the end
where Ted appears to learn something and the movie actually makes a decent
point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the stuff that happens after
that however makes it completely irrelevant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is also a very stupid joke at the end that I could have done
without.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There
is no denying the fact that this movie is very funny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would call it the funniest movie of the year,
in fact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The vast majority of the jokes
really hit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are a ton of pop
culture references and cameos that are all on point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A particularly clever cameo by Liam Neeson was
one of my favorite scenes in the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
climax of the movie takes place at Comic Con.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This was a brilliant idea because it allowed MacFarlane to just go wild
with the pop culture references and all of them are funny and work very
well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJGxM1QL5_QQAEtPJkri6LM_Jfuh0hZ0Fx1PGG6ZiL_bgnptJjxmSXXVv_G-zswEF5jJfrWa7ZB0j26PvOZZvpzebW3YC0p7Ssn4bSggmIYdQmQNrNLXc8cY34TrHlm3E38tLtG2sH6U7k/s1600/ted-tuxedo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJGxM1QL5_QQAEtPJkri6LM_Jfuh0hZ0Fx1PGG6ZiL_bgnptJjxmSXXVv_G-zswEF5jJfrWa7ZB0j26PvOZZvpzebW3YC0p7Ssn4bSggmIYdQmQNrNLXc8cY34TrHlm3E38tLtG2sH6U7k/s640/ted-tuxedo.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Dear
Hollywood, please put Amanda Seyfried in more stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was phenomenal in this movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was actually better than the movie
required for the role she played.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of
the acting is good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The chemistry
between Mark Wahlberg and Seth MacFarlane is tremendous once again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wouldn’t say Seyfried stole the show
exactly, because Ted is undoubtedly the star, but she definitely gave the best
overall performance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As was
to be expected, this movie is not as good as the first Ted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That being said, it is a perfectly adequate
sequel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I enjoyed watching it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I actually watched it twice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the funniest movie I’ve seen this year
and if you are a fan of pop culture humor this is your thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However problems with the plot hold this
movie back from being as good as it actually could have been.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Movie Man gives it 3 out of 5 stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p>Please click the link and give my Facebook page a like. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel">https://www.facebook.com/reviewsmovieman?ref=aymt_homepage_panel</a></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326341109722617517noreply@blogger.com0