Heart Warming

The internet has been teeming with Frozen references for some time now, references that I did not understand at all. I was finally able to correct this deficiency by seeing Frozen, and I am quite happy that I did. This movie is just as entertaining as you expect a Disney movie to be, but it also has some endearing qualities that may not be obvious on first blush.

The story follows the lives of two sisters who find themselves alone and needing to figure out how to get through life together. If that sentenced sounded a bit coded it is because it was to try and avoid spoilers. The characters that Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee managed to develop in the movie were memorable, and Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, and Jonathan Groff did their parts, but it was the way the story unfolded that was truly worth your time. One thing about Idina Menzel. If you haven't see John Travolta butcher her name do yourself a favor and watch it here. Good, now continue reading.

The prototypical Disney story has a damsel in some sort of distress being rescued by some prince charming. Seriously, that is like every movie except maybe The Lion King and Peter Pan. Some people find Disney sexist. If you want to explore that viewpoint even further here is a Youtube video with 100k+ views. What the creators of Frozen did is make the first Disney movie, I am aware of, where the female characters are almost exclusively responsible for saving the day. This is no small feat on their part and a bit of a cultural watershed moment. Does this portend a new future for Disney? Probably not entirely, but it is certainly progress.

There are multiple reasons to see Frozen; the music, the characters (especially Josh Gad's performance as Olaf the Snowman), and the groundbreaking story. I give it 8/10, would watch again fo sho.

Smaug Delivers

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is yet another excellent addition in the film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkein's Middle Earth mythology. Every time I see Peter Jackson's renditions in this genre I always think of Meet the Feebles. It's amazing that it is the same director. You would think his early work doomed him from every heading up an A-list franchise.

I think that The Desolation of Smaug is possibly in the group of sequels that are actually better than the movies that precede them. I would throw The Godfather: Part II, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, The Dark Knight, and Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back. Yes I know these are not controversial positions to take. Oh my gosh, how could I forget Terminator 2: Judgment Day? Anyways, this is not to say that TDOS (that's "The Desolation of Smaug" in case you were wondering) is as good as the sequels already listed, but I think TDOS is better than The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. TDOS has more action than AUJ (that's "An Unexpected Journey") and the characters start to come into their own beyond the introduction period of AUJ.

Listen, this is pretty simple. If you like the Lord of the Rings movies, or fantasy movies (there aren't really a ton of these) then you will like The Desolation of Smaug. 7/10, good solid entertaining movie.

Oh that? That was a gift from Van Gogh

Sometimes you watch a movie which you assume is going to be absolutely terrible, but are completely caught off guard. "The Man from Earth" is that type of movie. Put your preconceptions on hold for this one, and enjoy the ride.

The movie is anchored by David Lee Smith's protrayal as a man who doesn't age. Smith's character, John Oldman, is a retiring professor who has a going away party with some of his university friends. The discussion eventually turns hypothetical about what a caveman would be like if they were alive today. Unbeknownst to his friends, John Oldman is in fact a caveman, and he is not that different from them.

This premise may seem absurd at first, but the actors manage to pull it off. You will recognize many of the B-movie actors that populate this film. People like Tony Todd, John Billingsley, and Ellen Crawford. The relationships between the actors seem genuine, and their surprise at the prospect that their friend is thousands of years old is believable and not hokey.

If you are able to put disbelief aside you will enjoy this movie. There is almost a Forrest Gump type story-line in this movie, because Oldman managed to be involved in some of history's most significant events. This movie really is great, and it tells a compelling story of humanity.

This is a solid 8/10, possibly a 9/10.

You Kill it We Clean it!

The users of IMDb have got it wrong when it comes to Sunshine Cleaners. This movie is not a 6.9, it is easily an 8. The pairing of Amy Adams and Emily Blunt as sisters, with Alan Arkin as their father, may not make much sense from a "they need to look alike" standpoint, but it is convincingly natural in practice. Christine Jeffs, in addition to directing this highly underrated movie, also directed a movie about Sylvia Plath aptly named "Sylvia." That movie starred Gwyneth Paltrow. I did not see that movie. Moving along.

This movie has an almost buddy cop feel to it. The story follows two sisters down on their luck who find success cleaning up crime scenes. Talk about an industry you don't think of. The dynamic between Blunt and Adams is very organic, and believable. Amy Adams character's son played by Jason Spevack put in an exceptional performance. Comedian Steve Zahn put forward a convincing dramatic turn as the philandering police officer.

The movie reminded me of Little Miss Sunshine. There are some dark undertones to the movie that I don't want to spoil, but they definitely add to the believability of the family interactions. Strife and sorrow can be very adhesive bonds. This is not a sad movie though. This is a very happy movie, but it is not your typical sugar coated Hollywood.

As I said, this is an 8/10, easily.

Not as Hungry as I'd Like

These four notes are etched into my memory for all time. Not necessarily because of how great this movie is (it isn't all that great), but because this movie was crazy hyped. I felt like there was constant advertising of it. And, I'll admit, I was very excited. That changed when I left the theater.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first Hunger Games movie. Catching Fire simply did not live up to the first one. I did enjoy Catching Fire, but I thought it would be more enjoyable. I feel like the story just wasn't as engaging, and the characters seemed a little flat. Not all of the characters were flat though. I thought Elizabeth Banks actually did a fantastic job in this movie as Effie. Josh Hutcherson was also pretty solid just like in the first movie.

I will say that the movie is believably set up for the 3rd installment (I know the third movie is being broken up into two but whatever), so I don't feel like the series is unnecessarily carrying on. I think i've been too harsh on the movie. It definitely has it's moments. Lenny Kravitz? Exactly. Also, the introduction of Philip Seymour Hoffman was a welcome addition. Overall, this was pretty good. Not as good as the first, but close enough.

7/10. Entertaining. I'll watch again if I binge watch the quadrilogy at some point.

White House Fun

White House Down is no Air Force One. It's better. Although the two movies have the same rating on IMDb, WHD (yes I have acrnoymized White House Down to WHD, sue me) doesn't take itself seriously, and knows how to party. If you don't enjoy Roland Emmerich's work then we probably can't watch movie's together.

First and foremost. I like Channing Tatum. If this is what he is like in other movies then I'd be willing to see that one where his fiance forgets him or something. He plays opposite Jamie Foxx perfectly. This movie is like everyone showed up and said "Let's have some fun." Except Maggie Gyllenhaal. Her performance added some unneeded gravitas to the whole affair. But have no fear! Reliable supporting actor Richard Jenkins shows up with snark at maximum level as a congressman.

If this movie shows up on cable tv and you haven't already seen it 10 times, watch it again. This is classic style action movie absurdity. The story is not believable, but the the movie is entertaining. Not much else needs to be said about this one.

8/10, will have to watch again, great action movie

Gatsby! Gatsby! Not Gatsby.

Baz Luhrmann made The Great Gatsby exactly the way everyone should have expected him to make it. Did you see Romeo and Juliet? Moulin Rouge!? What was everyone expecting from this movie? If you were expecting something on the same level as the actual book then I completely understand your disappointment. If you went into this thinking "Hey, this is a Baz Luhrmann movie, I bet it will be visually over the top," then you probably enjoyed it, like I did.

The acting in this is not great. It isn't bad either. Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Carey Mulligan all mailed it in. Although, Ms. Mulligan may not have realized she was mailing it in. Leo and Tobey surely knew that was not their best performance. I really enjoyed two of the performances in this movie: Joel Edgerton as Tom Buchanan, and Amitabh Bachchan as Meyer Wolfsheim. Edgerton and Bachchan both were believable with just the right dose of over-the-top for their respective characters.

One more thing. I enjoyed the soundtrack. I think a lot of people didn't think it was a good fit for the story, but I thought it kept the tempo rather well, and was a nice background.

Overall, I'm happy I saw this movie. It's not great, but it is worth seeing. 7/10, which coincidentally is close to it's rating on IMDb.