I feel like this movie was made from some Sam Raimi Spiderman trilogy fan watching the Broadway musical "Wicked" while drunk. The untold story of the titular Wizard of Oz is one full of lucky coincidence, destroying systems of government because of misdirected/misinterpretted love, and establishing nearly nothing for the 1940s film. The effects were a good part though. Just like the original, Oz's time in the real world was gray and sepia while his time in the fairytale land is as colorful and visually stunning as Dorothy opening the door to technicolor. Sorry Disney, but my headcanon of the time BD (Before Dorothy) still belongs to the Broadway musical about dysfunctional roomies with the Wizard as a glorious "evil" mastermind.
Unconditional
A Christian film, but still powerful. Overall, it's like a less preachy and deus-ex-machina'd version of "It's a Wonderful Life," with someone at the bottom of their rope finding that they really did make a difference in someone's life, and in turn, that someone helps those he can and becomes such a positive influence in the neighborhood, that she finds that her anger and pain is small cookies in comparison to the plights of others. Through seeing all the good he's doing, and the forgiveness he exhibits despite the struggles of his life, she in turn finds peace with the trauma that haunts her and forgiveness for the supposed source of it.
Monsters University
I was totally prepared to not enjoy
"Monsters University" because I figured it was made with all the
leftover feelings from when Andy left for college in "Toy Story 3."
I was wrong.
Despite what people say about Pixar losing their touch, they
still know how to make a film with a lot of heart and passion, be they original
movies, sequels, or in this case, prequels.
That being said, this is still an excellent prequel to
"Monsters Inc." since it explains a lot about Mike One-eyeski's
obsession with getting his friend to be #1 scarer in the company. As well as
several other quirks found in the characters we saw nearly 10 years ago. To that end, the friendship that
develops between Mike and James Sullivan is definitely the focal point of the
film. At first it starts off like
a typical "school" film with the determined student diligently
studying despite the many distractions of campus life, but at the halfway
point, it becomes more like the Quidditch matches or the Triwizard Tournament
from the Harry Potter films.
Overall, a fun look at our beloved monster duo before they
were friends, but really irks me that they couldn't even get a letter of
recommendation to Monsters Inc..
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| The hilariousness of watching a bunch of monsters running through a field of these and swelling up to horrifically comedic size is a bit of a mood whiplash. |
Turbo
Not a Power Rangers movie, but one that features Ryan
Reynolds as a snail touched by the Speed Force. "Turbo" combines
simple tropes with the trademark funny of the Dreamworks Animation.
The movie starts out slow (pun completely intended)...but
stick around and you'll see "Rataouille" (A human befriends a
spectacularly gifted animal and together they blow expectations out of the
water) with elements borrowed from "Finding Nemo," "Cars,"
and "A Bug's Life."
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| Still a more legitimate way of acquiring superspeed than Golden Age Flash (Hard Water fumes? Really?) |
Despicable Me 2
Let us consider sequels that, by all accounts, should not
have been made. The American Pie series, Happy Feet 2, Shrek the Third, almost
ALL the Land Before Time sequels, and many many more. By all accounts, "Despicable Me 2" SHOULD be under
this category as well. However, the geniuses behind the first movie made the
2nd as enjoyable as the 1st.
Trouble is afoot again and unlike the last movie where it
was implied there was no government or peoples who stood up to villains, this
time we learn about the AVL, the Anti-Villain League. They recruit Gru, our
lovable curmudgeon who was softened by his newly adopted daughters last time,
to infiltrate a mall and find the villain responsible for the havoc that might
be done with a super mutagen.
Along the way, he is partnered with a kooky female secret agent that
develops a romantic interest for our Russian-esque anti-hero. Not only that but
a boy is making a move on his oldest daughter! Drama?
Nope. All comedy.
Because despite the storyline posted above, most of the film
is sidelined frequently with the shenanigans of the little yellow minions that
inhabit Gru's lab. 5 for 5, each scene featuring them is hilarious. The main
characters still retain their quirks and foibles, along with some new
characters and they're equally as funny.
Overall, a gut-busting film of great many laughs.
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| Despite the ipad game coming out at least a month or so before the movie, I thought they would introduce this girl in some way or form...never happened. *shrugs* |
Planes
So the "Cars" films were so popular, they warranted a spinoff "Planes."
I approve only for the fact that the American Airlines cameo plane was the nicest in the whole of JFK airport. #brandloyalty
But talk about not straying from what you know...it is essentially a retreading of the "Cars" movies, with the underdog racing aspect, along with the wise old mentor who had some trauma in the past, from the first one, and the world-building and racial stereotypes of the 2nd movie. If you really enjoy exploring the world that the "Cars" movies had established, this is for you. Otherwise, skip this nosediving garbage.
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| So one artist's rendition of what a traditional "goat sucker" monster looks like...remind me again why they thought naming such a witty, and fun(ish) character after this beast was a good idea? |
Every so often, Tom Cruise needs to remind the public that he can do action movies.
Enter "Oblivion" which has Tom Cruise and another gal functioning as clean up crew for a bad future where aliens ravaged the planet and everyone's chilling on the Axiom, I mean, Jupiter. They use robot probes that look like GLADOS personality cores to help fight the aliens still squatting on our planet. To further hammer in the WALL-E parallels further, Tom Cruise finds solace in the long-forgotten simple things of Earth.
But all is not well in his humdrum life since he starts having weirdo flashbacks and misgivings about his purpose. These are only compounded when an EVE unit, erm, a life pod bearing a woman claiming to be his wife crashes dangerously close to a trigger-happy probe-bot.
Thus begins the dark twisting and turning of an alien conspiracy so deep and "well-thought-out" Agent Mulder and Scully would have totally been all over that.
While by no means original (I made about 3 "WALL-E" references above for crying out loud), the film does deliver on action scenes and high-flying action that Tom Cruise is famous for, builds a strange, yet familiar world of the oh-so-popular urban wasteland made popular through many zombie movies, modern world war movies, and the wake-of-the-disaster movies. The story is also fascinating with the abrupt paradigm shifts that keep happening to our main character, and near the end, you realize almost every line earlier in the film had deeper meaning (basically that aliens are ridiculous parrots).
Overall, good movie and good to know that Tom Cruise ain't getting too old to do action.
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| Just look at these things and don't think that you could hear it yell out "SPAAAAAAAAAACE!" |
Thor: the Dark World
So what's Thor doing after the events of "the Avengers?" More of what he's done before.
Woohoo...
Thor, the (alien) god of Thunder, is mopey because he's beating up dudes in the other realms but he's getting no pleasure out of it and his lady friend is back on earth. That changes when aforementioned lady friend finds the lava-lamp goo McGuffin of the film, which in turn awakens the ancient(ish) evil that Odin sealed away a long time ago...THE DARK ELVES!...which are actually kind of pale...and not too elvish-looking, neither Tolkein-style or house-elves.
Despite their ridiculous non-elfness, they launch a laughably easy attack on Asgard itself, leading to a very broken down kingdom. Because of plot convenience, the elves disappear and Thor must hunt them down because...honor or something. How to travel interdimensionally without Odin's blessing though?
Treacherous pawn of doom from "the Avengers" and many a fangirl's dream, Loki Laufeyson!
The scenes between Loki and Thor are truly full of chemistry and humor. Greatness.
To sum up the climax, I'll simply say "Now you're thinking with portals."
Overall, MUCH better than the first "Thor" but since it is Thor and his world of grand yet bland, it's not really up there on my scale of "SUPER COOL MARVEL MOVIES."
And further buildup for the Avengers movie which will probably be the Infinity Gauntlet story? What's that?
We'll let "Guardians of the Galaxy" explain when that rolls around.
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| Essentially what the Macguffin of the movie that possesses Natalie Portman. Woooo~ |
World War Z
ZOMBIES!
ZOMBIES!
ZOMBIES!
...
That's about it.
And Brad Pitt survives because he's Brad Pitt...and really lucky...and smart enough to exploit a glaring flaw in this kind of zombie's operating system.
Watch if you really really like
ZOMBIES!
ZOMBIES!
ZOMBIES!
Gravity
Not so much a great movie, so much as a GRAND. CINEMATIC. EXPERIENCE.
With the premise seen in the trailers, this seemed like it would be one of those movies that capitalized on great many flashbacks to help us empathize with Sandra Bullock as she's drifting through space, with hope of getting rescued.
BUT NOPE!
Moments after the disaster strikes, we're barely able to breathe heavily with Sandra Bullock as she's drifting through space when she's rescued by George Clooney, who was also part of the crew and the only other face to attach to this film. And then the race is on to survive in an environment God never intended for humans to be in, without air, without land, without "Gravity."
The story is exceedingly farfetched; a minefield where the mines are called "plot convenience." Despite that, the beauty of the film is in the grandness of the environment, which is orbiting around the Earth. If seen in IMAX 3D (not my idea but truly well worth it), the sheer size of the pictures moving in front of you can suck you into the realm of our desperately struggling heroine.
Apologies if you did not have a chance to see this in theaters, because if you watch from your home, or heaven help you, from your phone, you will miss out and think this movie sucks.
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| Very VERY appropriate tagline for this movie...but sadly already taken. |
The Hunger Games
The "Hunger Games" can only be described as a twisted glimpse of what society looks like when they glorify celebrities, even if what those same celebrities are famous for is killing their peers in a mix of Bear Grylls survival training and gladiatorial combat.
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| Surprisingly useful skill, but then you wonder how they still have the resources to decorate cakes when their whole sector is dirt-poor... |
Rurouni Kenshin
VERY pleased with the "Rurouni Kenshin" live-action movie. Characters are all faithful to their manga versions and the movie chooses good actors to represent them. The fight choreography is stunning and the story is a good mish-mash of probably the first 4-5 volumes with some early-bird cameos.
The story follows a legendary swordsman, who has a change of heart, and takes a vow of no-killing. But like Batman, that doesn't mean he can't beat ne'er do wells within an inch of their life. After finding himself the nakama of several folks in need of justice, Kenshin finds himself taking on a rich fool who believes money is the only power, and his #1 thug who can paralyze with a glare.
Overall, a must see for those who love themselves energetic and awesome sword fights as well as a brilliant actor who can switch effortlessly between goofball and cold-as-steel killer.
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| The actors are well known for being Kamen Riders in a previous life. |
The Hobbit part 2: The Desolation of Smaug
The "Desolation of Smaug" was draggin' on too long!
...
Yes I am fully aware of what I did there.
Picking up where we left off last time, the party of dwarf, hobbit, and wizard have to make their way across a treacherous forest, a corrupt town of men on a lake, and in the mountain full of treasure and Benedict Cumberbatch-voiced dragon. Interspersed this time to reinforce its "prequelness" is Gandalf finding out the shady goings-on of a man (spirit? shadow?) who would become the biggest bad of the "Lord of the Rings." Also further padding goes to a noncanon appearance of Legolas (in all his cool cat badass glory) and an Original Character (OC) elf played by that chick from "Lost." Coincidentally, the OC elf is in a love triangle dealio with the youngest looking dwarf in the party and Legolas! Drama! (?whyjustwhy?)
Overall, the only good scenes are the escape from Elf Prison in barrels on a rushing river and Bilbo meeting Sherlock Holmes Dragon in his keep...and only that, everything else is so much stuffing that Thanksgiving called and said that's enough!
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| And with the rumors that Mr. Cumberbatch is set to play a Marvel superhero, I'm pretty sure he's ingratiated himself to nearly ALL aspects of fans. |
Frozen
"Frozen had wonderful memorable characters...story was a bit tangled in their attempt to BE "Tangled" but overall still solid...like ice.
An incredibly loose adaptation of the classic Hans Christian Andersen folk tale of a villainous snow queen, Disney goes and makes it a musical revolving around the tumultuous relationship between two royal ladies, one quirky, kooky and fun, the other a brooding mutant who has a freedom complex.
Did I mention it's a musical?
It's so musical. (Nearly 10 songs! Crikey even "Prince of Egypt" topped out at 7) The best song has to be Idina Menzel's crooning about being free from her past...you've probably heard it by now...something about the letting go of it...
While not the best film, it is still good solid Disney fun. A comedic sidekick that can be off-putting at first, but becomes funnier with repeated viewings. Songs full of Disney-esque charm. Ridiculously good animation involving ice-magic and landscapes.
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| Well maybe she can wear those at the next Mickey Mouse Club meeting or something. |
