Closure: February 2014

 

 

Often times, I have people come up to me and ask me about the quality of certain films or if I have seen a film. Sometimes, I actually have an answer for them, and that answer may not be accessible through one of my reviews (because I can't write about EVERY movie that I watch). So, this month, for the first time, I have decided to share with you every single film that I have watched over the past month. Hopefully, this type of write up will become a monthly thing, but, for now, it is in beta-mode. My plan for this segment is to give people a look at some of the films that I have watched and, potentially, peak their interest in some films that may only be found on Netflix or at the Redbox or wherever. I try to write a review of most every film that I watch in the theater, but, sometimes, even those don't get their own write-up. This new segment, which I have deemed "Closure," will give you a list of every film that I have watched over the previous month, how I watched each film, and whether I would suggest it for the average moviegoer. Hopefully, I will have people come up to me and say, "Hey! I saw where you watched x! How was it? What was it really about?" Anyway, let me know what you think about the segment and how I could change it to better please my readers! Enjoy...

February has been a fairly busy month, with school kicking into high gear, so I haven't had time to watch too many films. However, I managed to avoid any duds, which means you should check out each of the films below:

Movie	Year	Format	Did I Enjoy?	Would I Watch Again?
Super 8	2011	Blu-Ray > Own	Yes	Yes
The LEGO Movie	2014	Theater > Matinee	Yes	Yes
All is Lost	2013	Blu-Ray > Redbox	Yes	No
Ain't Them Bodies Saints	2013	DVD > Redbox	Yes	Yes
Despicable Me 2	2013	Blu-Ray > Borrowed	Yes	Yes
Dazed and Confused	1993	TV > Starz	Yes	Yes

 

Movie of the Month

 

The LEGO Movie

Project X

Expectations:
Let's just get down to it....... My expectations for Project X were simple....... Best comedy of 2012! You might ask, "Why, Tanner?" Well, let me tell you why. It's as simple as looking at the picture right above this post. There is hardly anything funnier than people who wander around and do foolish and morally unacceptable acts. Am I right, or am I right? The trailer was hilarious and, with Todd Phillips producing, I got really really excited about Project X. So, as is with all movies I look forward to this much, it was obvious that I was either going to be extremely disappointed (see Green Lantern) or extremely pleased (see Super 8). Let's see what the results were...

Plot:
Well, there was this big party........... AND that was about it. The main character, Thomas (played by Thomas Mann), was sort of caught up in a plan to have himself a huge 17th birthday party. Thomas's biggest problem was the fact that the party was actually the masterful work of his friend Costa, played by Oliver Cooper. The party commenced, as did the foolish and morally unacceptable acts. As you might expect, there were many dirty jokes and many naked girls. The problem was that the dirty jokes were not THAT funny, and the party itself (as shown by the naked girls) was extremely extreme. The truth is that none of this could ever happen at a high school party. What made The Hangover funny was the fact that these real people were in these real, hilarious circumstances. With Project X, the lack of reality greatly took away from the film's potential, which upset me.

Best Scene: When everything starts catching on fire!

Characters:
While the plot wasn't very good, the characters were fantastic. Thomas was sort of shy and unpopular, which made the extreme party even more unrealistic. JB, played by Jonathan Daniel Brown, was a hilarious addition, as this super-awkward chubby kid, who was even worse off than Thomas. Costa was this rebellious, rough kid who, for some odd reason, hung out with these other two losers. The three friends (Thomas, Costa, and JB) were all great in their own way. The problem was that there was no true connection as to why they were together, which made the plot even more unrealistic. They had so much potential, but they just never fully got to that point where you said, "WOW! They're funny!".

Best Character: Everett and Tyler, played by Brady Hender and Nick Nervies, were the easy choices for best character(s). They were the security team for the huge party. However, they were like 7th graders, and they took their job so seriously. They were absolutely hilarious!

Worst Character: Kirby, played by Kirby Bliss Blanton, was the easy choice for worst character. She was the awkward love interest of Thomas, and her presence just sort of disgusted me. I couldn't take their relationship-thing seriously.

Conclusion:
Unfortunately, Project X finds itself on the disappointing side of the spectrum. I will say, however, that it is nowhere close to as bad as Green Lantern! It really isn't that bad at all, if you are looking for an absolutely random, dirty comedy, which I'm sure many of you are. I just think it could have been so much more, and, as I have said before, I hate when a great idea is not executed properly (see Bad Teacher). Maybe I just built the movie up too much heading in, but who knows. I certainly wouldn't discourage you from watching, but don't expect to be blown away. I give Project X 2.79 out of 5 stars...

Summer Recap

In my opinion, last Friday was the final big release date of summer 2011 with The Smurfs and Comboys & Aliens tying atop the box office. I am not a big fan of the Planet of the Apes series and The Change-Up just looked dumb, so I chose to write this rather than wasting my time at the movies this weekend, but don't worry, next week I will have a review of 30 Minutes or Less.

The past three summers have brought some of my favorite movies of all time. There was The Dark Knight and Iron Man in 2008. There was Star Trek, District 9, and The Hangover in 2009. And everybody loved Inception and Toy Story 3 in 2010. With those films in mind, the summer of 2011 seems very very weak. Maybe it's not fair to compare these, but the truth is that this was just a bad summer for movies. Many people whined about the abundance of super hero movies, but I don't think this was the problem. Sure, Green Lantern really sucked, and Thor was just ok, but X-Men and Captain America were each high points in a low summer. Many people whined about the abundance of sequels. Once again there were lows such as Pirates 4, but there were many sequels loved by many. I personally loved The Hangover Part II, Transformers 3, and once again X-Men. Harry Potter, Fast Five, Kung Fu Panda 2, and Cars 2 are other sequels that many people loved. So what do we blame the aweful summer of 2011 on?

The problem with the summer of 2011 is the lack of big, original movies. Every movie that I mentioned from previous summers, except Toy Story 3, was a movie that really made itself or its series famous. The two biggest money making movies of 2011 will undoubtedly be Transformers 3 and the final Harry Potter film, but both of these were sold by the success of their previous films. A lot of critics don't care for summer movies because they aren't very Oscar worthy, but, in my opinion, the problem is the lack of original storytelling ability in the film industry these days. My favorite movie of the summer was Super 8, a movie that did a great job of being itself. The biggest surprise of the summer was definitely Horrible Bosses. It may not have been as good as The Hangover, but the storyline really made for many many laughs. Each of these films were certainly original stories, furthering my point.

If you are one that hated the super hero movies or the sequels, you will also be hating the summer of 2012. The biggest films of 2012 will be The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, and The Amazing Spiderman, all of which fall into those two categories. But, there is still hope for next summer to be a good summer for movies. The best thing it has going for it? It will be compared to the summer of 2011.

This has been a great couple of months of blogging for me, and I have really enjoyed letting people know how I feel about each film. If there is ever anything that you think would better the blog, just let me know. I am very open to suggestions. I want to thank each of you for listening to what I say, and I ask you to please continue reading.

Super 8

Expectations:
When I first saw the small trailer for Super 8 last summer, I was absolutely intrigued. I waited for a full trailer, and, when I saw it, I was not disappointed. The thing that most excited me about this movie was the fact that J.J. Abrams kept the details a secret. I don't know about you, but I hate the fact that most trailers tell the entire story in a minute. Nothing frustrates me more. I just want to be surprised! Because of my desire for surprise, I was more excited about Super 8 than any other movie this year and thought it would be the best movie of 2011.

Plot:
Due to the secretive nature of the movie, I won't be able to go too deep into how things go about happening in Super 8. So go watch it! As you can tell from the trailer, something escapes from a wrecked train. The movie does have a sci fi feel at times, but J.J. Abrams does a great job of making the storyline more important than the sci fi themes. The story is very very real and makes it easy to connect to the characters. The best scene from the movie, in my opinion, is one where two of the boys are fighting about how they both like the same girl. It was just perfect and really showed how these friends meant more to each other than anything. At that age it is very true for most boys. In case you girls don't understand, guys don't fight with their friends like yall often do.

Characters:
The use of the kids in the movie really helped me connect to the story and the characters. I can easily relate to a group of boys in their early teens. The experiences they had, aside from the mysterious stuff, was real. The best part was that Abrams didn't try to over do it with the kids. I even read that he allowed the kids to write many of their own lines, allowing them to act their own age. It is difficult to say who was the best character. All six of the kids were brilliant. One was obsessed with explosives, one was a cry baby, one was bossy, one was a girl, and the main character, Joe Lamb, was just a normal kid who had been through some tough family experiences. Joel Courtney did a phenomenal job playing Lamb. He went to Hollywood to try out for commercial spots, but he ended up with the lead role in Super 8. Not bad, huh?

Conclusion:
Super 8 kicked other mysterious creature movies in the butt for one simple reason: IT HAD A REAL STORYLINE! I don't now if this is the perfect movie for everyone, but I loved it. J.J. Abrams remains one of my heroes (may LOST live on forever!). Last year the movie I was most excited about was Inception, which we all know as the best movie of 2010. Unfortunately, I don't believe my prediction is correct this year. Super 8 was good but not Inception-good. I give Super 8 4.09 out of 5 stars.