Kristi’s Take-

Magic is in the the air and I’m not referring to Christmas. It has been a while since I’ve seen a great movie in the theater, but tonight I watched a truly magnificent movie. I have literally been at a loss for words and unable to write a single review until tonight.

Hugo is about the magic of film and one of the greatest film makers ever, George Melies. The story follows a young orphan’s journey to find his purpose in life and he does this through the fixing of a broken automaton and figuring out the mystery behind its creation.

Martin Scorsese creates a magical world within a train station during the 30s in Paris. His use of vintage film footage in this movie illuminates the history of film in a way that brings tears to your eyes and a warmth to your heart. I am rarely moved by films, but even I had tears welling up inside of me when seeing the vintage footage that was included in this film. It is so hard to describe the beginning of film to people outside of the industry and finally there is a fun and family friendly movie that does exactly what I find so difficult.

There was absolutely nothing about this film I disliked and I can only imagine how dazzling it would be in 3D. I suggest that you see this movie posthaste and enjoy the experience and beauty of true cinema.

Grade: A+

 

 John’s Take…

Hugo is going to win a lot of awards at the Oscars this year – probably even Best Picture.  And that’s because it is a love story to Cinephiles.  My theory is that Scorsese woke up one morning and said, “I’m going to make another mobster movie!”  His wife then said, “You’ve made enough of those!”  He then said, “I’m going to make a movie to show why I love movies!  No mobsters, dear.”  By that standard, he made one of the greatest non-mobster movies ever.  If you love movies, this is a much see.  Period.  By not watching Hugo, you lose half your street cred.

If you think movies are just a good way to kill a few hours; or if you think Michael Bay is a great director; or Shia LaBeouf is a great actor, you’ll love Hugo, too, but only because you recognized Borat in it.

If my theory holds true, every critic will say (or already has said) that this is the greatest movie of the year.  When you ask your friends (I’m talking about your normal friends, not wierdos like Kristi and I), they’ll probably give you a “Meh, it was alright.”  The story is good and there’s a cool mystery to be solved, but I’m not sure how well people will enjoy all of the movie history.  If you see this, I’m genuinely curious to hear how you like it.

I saw this in 3D and it looked like Scorsese gave that extra dimension to his cinematographer instead of handling it himself.  The movie is set in Paris and every time there’s a shot of the city, the 3D is used perfectly.  Slower, dialog shots are kept flat and then stretched out as the emotion ramps up.  It’s 3D done right and it’s awesome to see.

If you have even a passing interest in movie history, then go see Hugo.  The re-enacted Behind the Scenes shots (of famous scenes like the spaceship in the eye of the moon) are worth it on their own.

Grade: A+

Moneyball Review:

I thought my criminal days were behind me, but when I see movies with my mom we end up seeing two or three for the price of one. This week we paid for Moneyball, finished it, then walked into the theater showing Abduction. All I can say about this illegal activity is that my mom made me do it and for that I say thank you.

Moneyball is the story of the Oakland A’s general manage/ ex-ball player, Billy Beane, who decides to play ‘moneyball’ instead of the traditional draft picks that cost millions of dollars, which the Oakland A’s did not have.

(For those of you who don’t know much about this empirical system of gauging a players performance versus the typical draft criteria, then look it up because it’s somewhat interesting.)

This was a decently paced movie and not overwhelmingly heartwarming like most sports movies. Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill do an amazing job delivering believable performances and Phillip Seymour Hoffman plays a great jack ass, as usual.

The downside to this film is that as a person who does not follow sports, especially baseball, I wasn’t super excited about the material of the film, i.e., the baseball. The upside to this is that they explain things very well in this film and even the non-sports enthusiast could enjoy the movie.

I think this is a movie worth seeing. In the theaters? Yes and No. If you’ve seen everything else or nothing really appeals to your extensive movie palate, then this makes a great date or loner movie.

Grade: B++

Abduction Review:

I combined these two reviews because I really didn’t have much to say about Abduction, but I felt that it was necessary to let the masses know that I stooped oh-so-low in my movie viewing.

This “action” flick was just an all around flop. My moviefone rating told me to skip it and so did rotten tomatoes, but I was lured in by naughty thoughts about Taylor Lautner’s cute face and awesome abs. (Yeah, I realize he is like 8 years younger than me, but he is a cutie pie. Also, I don’t care what any woman says, they see them and they like ‘em. Abs– that is.)

Aside from getting to see his abs a few times and some okay stunt work the movie was predictable and the dialogue (what dialogue?) was atrocious. Why do they allow John Singleton to make movies, seriously? It’s like he was trying to make a Jason Bourne movie for teenagers. Big fail!

Do not waste your time or money unless you are a 14 year old girl. I’m pretty sure they would like it….

Grade: D ( although it was still better than Drive)

I had a conversation recently about really great movies most people haven’t seen, but should.  That sounded like a great idea for a post so Kristi and I gathered a list of our ten favorites.  We could easily triple this list, but it’s a good start.

Check ‘em out:

John’s List…

1.) Memento:  This movie is also first on my Top Ten Movies That Make Your Head Hurt.  And if that doesn’t sell you on this, well, I’ll make a new list for special people later.

 

 

2.) Once:  The best musical that’s not a musical.  It’s been over three years since I saw this and I still listen to the soundtrack regularly.  Oh, and the story is great, too.

 

 

 

3.) Moon:  I’ll say nothing about this other than you should watch it.  Immediately.

 

 

 

4.) Primer:  A time travel story made with almost no money. The story alone carries this.  After watching, check out the Wiki article on all the timelines.

 

 

5.) Confessions of a Superhero: A very well-made documentary about the guys in costume in front of the Chinese Theater in Hollywood.  An interesting look into the lives of some odd, but fascinating people.

 

6.) Man on Wire: Another documentary about a French trapeze artist who illegally walks  between the Twin Towers.  And films it.  I realize the only trapeze artist you care about rides around with Batman, but give this guy a chance.

 

 

7.) Die Fälscher (The Counterfeiter): A very serious character study about a Jew  who ends up working for the Nazis.  It’s a look at the values we compromise to survive. I’m a sucker for great character studies and this one stands as one of my favorites.

 

 

8.) [Rec]: I hate horror movies.  I startle far too easily and while that’s hilarious for my friends, not so much for me.  I watched [Rec] on an overseas flight.  I jumped so many times, the dude next to me gave several concerned looks.  That said, it’s one of the best zombie flicks made.

 

 

9.) Shaun of the Dead: I’ve recommended this so many times I should be getting kickbacks.  Consider this required viewing for the inevitable Zombie Apocalypse.

 

 

10.) The Usual Suspects:  Not exactly a small movie, but not a lot of people saw it back in the day.  If you still haven’t, there’s really no reason to keep putting it off.  This would go great with Memento for a double feature.

 

 

10.5) Oldboy – OK, I’m cheating a bit, but I have to add this to my list.  Oldboy is the best revenge flick made.  It’s more disturbing than Black Swan, which means it’s not meant to be seen by normal people. But it’s also brilliant, and you should see it.

 

 

Kristi’s List-

In no specific order:

1.) Suspiria (1947): A young woman attends a ballet school and starts to realize that things are not what they seem. Excellent horror movie and remember that horror films are natural aphrodisiacs because they pump up your adrenaline, which means the person you are with will want to be closer to you. Oh-la-la*

 

2.) Bring Up Baby (1938): Another oldie, but a goodie. Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant are a riot in this Romantic Comedy. It’s about a girl who will stop at nothing to get the guy she wants, even if it involves tricking him with a leopard named Baby.

By the way–This is probably one of my top five favorite films of all time and an excellent choice for a romantic night in or even for some alone        time. I highly recommend it for everyone.

 

3.) Brick (2005): This is a modern Noir film with Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock from the Sun and Inception) as the main character. In the film he plays a young high school student who takes a look at the underbelly of high school crime in order to find out what happened to the girl he loved.

 

4.) For a Few Dollars More (1965): Many may know of this film, but most people haven’t seen it, but have watched The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. Clint Eastwood, the man with no name, teams up with another bounty hunter (Lee Van Cleef) in order to catch the ultimate scumbag, El Indio.

 

5.) Raise the Red Lantern (1991): A film by Zhang Yimou, ( Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Curse of the Golden Flower) follows a young woman, 19 years old, whom is forced to marry after her father dies. She becomes one of many wives and is introduced to the plotting and backstabbing of the culture within the family compound. A truly beautiful film.

(This is one of the few foreign films I will suggest and I realize most people don’t like reading subtitles or they find the films to be far slower than the films they are used to, so I just want to say that if you watch these foreign films that I’m recommending you won’t regret it and you may feel enlightened culturally and mentally afterward.)

 

6.) Blue (1993): A beautiful foreign film that deals with the death of a husband and child. The music in the film is hauntingly beautiful, the fascinating colors evoke emotions you never knew you had and it’s all about allowing life back in after dealing with great tragedy.

 

 

7.) Hard Candy (2005): A tense thriller about a pedophile and the young girl who attempts to expose him to the world. This is movie will have you on the edge of your seat and anticipating just how the film will end.

 

 

8.)The Lady Eve (1941): A con-artist, a gullible rich guy, romance and comedy make this a movie to cherish forever.

 

9.)Four Rooms (1995): This movie was directed by four different directors  (Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez are two of the four) and follows the bellhop’s journey through four rooms on New Year’s Eve at a hotel. Be prepared for hilarity, bizarre stories and an all around good time.

 

10.) Singin’ in the Rain (1952): Yes, I realize most people have heard of this movie and know the title song by heart, but how many have actually seen it? Not that many, so I encouraged all of you to watch this fun and fantastic musical. It takes place during the transition from the silent to the talkie film and shows how difficult that transition proved to be for a lot of the actors. Oh, and there is a lot of dancing and singing, which is fun!

 

Watch them and enjoy!

 

 

 

Crazy, Stupid, Awesome is more like it! When I saw the previews for this movie I thought, ehhhhh, probably not. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 76% and the majority of the reviews were favorable as well, but I still wasn’t sure about another divorce romantic comedy (what a funny type of movie- divorce and romantic- irony anyone?). I’m glad my friend changed my mind and hey, who am I to pass up a free movie ticket?

Crazy, Stupid, Love. Is a movie about a family going through a divorce, but more specifically it follows the husband of the family, Steve Carell and his journey. His wife (Juliana Moore) cheats on him saying she is having a mid-life crisis and that they stopped being ‘in love’ a long time ago, yadda yadda yadda. From there it is about his journey to finding out who he is and the person he left behind at some point during their 25 years together. And of course he is helped along by the playboy of the movie Ryan Gosling (so delicious if I may say so).

Carell of course is the appropriate amount of hilarious and serious in this movie. He does an excellent job of creating a character that is lovable, laughable and easily pitied. Ryan Gosling is absolutely gorgeous and does an excellent job of playing the rich playboy and can I just–DAMN! his abs are awesome! This is Emma Stone’s second movie of the summer (The Help) and I have to say that I preferred her in this role. Of course that could have something to do with how much I related to her character.The show stealing role goes to Jonah Bobo who plays Carell and Moore’s son in the film. His character is honest, outspoken, hilarious and worth every penny if only just to see him.

The movie starts out shaky, but picks up speed and lets the good times roll up until the end. This is definitely a movie to buy once it’s out on DVD/Bluray and is definitely worth the money to see in the theater. Go forth and enjoy my fellow movie lovers.

Grade: A+

Woe is me! I read the book before I saw the movie and of course it ruined everything. One would think that I would have learned my lesson from previous follies, but I obviously have not.

The Help, another novel turned into a movie, was written by author Kathryn Stockett and flew under the radar until the movie’s preview came out this past spring. It is now on the New York Times bestseller list and has been on there for over 100 weeks. I think Ms. Stockett needs to thank the Silver Screen for her recent push into..ahem…money.

This movie is about a young white woman and two black women who secretly take matters into their own hands and tell the world what it’s like to be “The Help” in Jackson, Mississippi during the early 60s.

What I like about this movie is that Tate Taylor, the director and writer, tries to make a movie that speaks to various generations. We all know racism in one form or another and this movie attempts to show us some of the earlier sides of segregation and racism. Do I think they accomplish this? Not quite, but having read the book I may be biased, just slightly. I will admit that while some of the acting left a lot to be desired I believe the issue was with the script and not the actors.

What you really want to know is–is this movie worth paying money for and seeing in the theater? I will say that if you need a movie with heartwarming moments, but a serious plot, then yes this is worth the money and time. I also think this is a movie you can wait to watch on DVD or Bluray, if you aren’t in the mood for heartwarming and serious. Here is my one warning: if you expect a fast paced movie then you will be disappointed, because this movie is a long 137 minutes. Worth it? Maybe if you haven’t read the book first (insert picture of me repeatedly hitting myself in the head with the book).

Grade: B

P.S. Read the book after seeing the movie. It’s a pretty good read and excellent material to share with others.

LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! I sing this particular song before and after every romantic comedy I see and now I have your attention. What a handy song.

Alright, here’s the deal- I pride myself on my romance & romcom movie knowledge and personal love of these sometimes overly outrageous films. Seriously, I own some of the first romantic comedies (& romances) that ever graced the big screen and this was a particular interest of study for me in college, so I’m kind of the supreme know-it-all of romance (/comedy) in movies. My romantic comedy viewing knows no bounds, even if it does get filed away in my mind somewhere. Like in that place we all have that’s labeled, “Why would you do this to yourself, seriously?”

Friends with Benefits (FWB) is my most recent venture into the romcom world and it was a lot/if not exactly like it’s predecessor (from this year may I add) No Strings Attached. The jokes are similar, the story line is the same and of course it ends happily.

Here is the break down (beware of the run on sentence):

Boy meets girl, they are blunt, sarcastic, and witty with one another, form a fast friendship, decide to have meaningless sex, sex scenes ensue, they stop having sex and try to be just friends, something “profound” happens to one of them, they “make love” then one person freaks out and runs away, people get angry, family says, “you are stupid and are meant for each other” and then a big romantic gesture happens, the end.

This all pretty standard for a modern romcom and after writing all of the above I will still tell you to go and see the movie if you need some comic relief. Unlike No Strings Attached the chemistry between Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake is palpable and very fun. This movie also has flash mobs and that alone makes it worth watching.

If you need a good dose of sarcasm, wit and romance then go see this movie. If you want the profane and less fun version then rent No Strings Attached.

Grade: A+ as a romantic comedy.

Oh, and this movie does have a lot of sexual stuff in it, so if that bothers you then this film is not for you.

Silencio! Let us have a moment of silence for the end of a magical era of Harry Potter.

It was 14 years ago that the first Harry Potter book came out in June of 1997 (I was only 12!) and in November of 2001 the world was introduced to the actors that would make the characters come to life on the big screen. This was a disaster of epic proportions. I’m pretty sure someone pointed a wand at me and said, “Stupefy” because by the end of the first film I was speechless.

These young actors were new to the scene and apparently so was director Chris Columbus (also directed- Mrs. Doubtfire & Home Alone) because he obviously mangled the first two Potter films. Of course this was only the beginning and as time wore on the actors got a little better and the directors (yes, that’s plural) changed their approach to the films (AMEN!).

Part II of the final installment tried to remain true to the book, but like most books-made-into-movies this is incredibly difficult due to details that are hard to portray on the big screen. In the case of Part I & II, David Yates, director of the final four films, did a pretty good job of mixing the action and story development to bring this epic journey to a close.

Do I suggest that you see this movie in the theaters? Yes. Did I absolutely love the film? No. I was entertained, but the acting left a lot to be desired and Daniel Radcliffe’s pasty skin stood out like a lighthouse beacon on a clear night. LUMOS! I guess that made it easier for them to show how dirty he had to remain throughout the entire film???

Alright all you Muggles go and see this movie and celebrate the fact that Daniel Radcliffe has decided to stick with his theater career instead staying on the big screen (although I have to say kudos to the semi-rocking bod we get to see for like 3.5 seconds).

My final spell- Avada Kadevra!

Grade: A

 John’s Take…

This weekend, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II broke the opening weekend box office record.  It raked in nearly $170M including almost $45M in the midnight shows late Thursday.  That’s not really surprising, but I bet there are people who made this movie their first venture into Harry Potter.  There’s gotta be, right?  I mean there were folks who saw Return of the King without knowing anything about The Lord of the Rings.  I have to have coffee with some of these people.  For science.  Their existence makes my head hurt.

Ten years ago(!!), my introduction to the Harry Potter universe came with the first movie.  I’d gone to check it out just to see what all the hub-bub was about.  Harry Potter was a cultural icon in an era that seems like ancient history today.  If you remember, the anti-Potter books at Christian bookstores were more numerous than Bibles.  When the Church demonizes something, you know it’s a big deal.  Just like Footloose.

Kristi mentioned how terrible the first movies were.  She’s wrong, of course, because they were only terrible to those who had read the books.  The Prisoner of Azkaban was the one that hooked me.  When re-watching them prior to this last release, Azkaban was, indeed, the worst of the bunch so I’m not sure what appealed to me.  It was probably Gary Oldman.  That dude is awesome.

Like I mentioned, I decided not to read the books.  I wanted to see if the films could do the story justice despite removing large chunks of it.  My book-reading friends would routinely ask how I could possibly know what was going on.  In the later movies, it definitely got more challenging.  Of course, 18 months between viewings didn’t help.  Things were more clear watching them all back to back.

It’s amazing in this internet age, that I went into Harry Potter 7.2 without having the ending spoiled for me.  A story that had lasted ten years of my life was coming to a close and I didn’t know what to expect.  Those that knew the ending (like my cohort) seemed disappointed in the movie, but for me, it was fantastic – almost perfect.  Things moved quickly, but everything reached a conclusion that satisfied ten years of wait.  What more could I have wanted?

I take a romantic view of this movie.  Even if it could exist on its own (it doesn’t), it would bear ten years of emotion and life on its shoulders.  In my theater, someone was sobbing for the last third of the movie.  One friend used it as a decade of reflection blog post.  Most everyone has happy Harry Potter memories.  It’s a good story with good themes and there’s just not enough of those.

I’ll probably have to read the books eventually.  But for now, I’m happy to close this decade of life and await the next big thing.

Grade: A+