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I too, was disappointed with Invictus. I really love sports movies of the inspirational type, but actually found Invictus to be really just "ok" overall. I didn't know anything about Nelson Mandela's story, nor what was going on in South Africa when this movie was set, but after watching the movie, I didn't really know much more about the story than before I sat down to watch it.
I know that the movie's job is not to educate me, but I thought there would be a little bit more story behind the story than: Nelson Mandela is the President. Nelson Mandela wants Black People and White People to get along. Nelson Mandela is going to choose one White guy to help make his rugby team filled with White guys and one Black guy good. They need to win the World Cup so that Black people and White people will have a common entity to get behind.
The story is literally that simple. The sports action is subpar and not all that inspiring because the story is difficult to really get into.
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This was one of my favorite movies I've seen this year, possibly my favorite. George Clooney and Anna Kendrick really put on pretty spectacular performances throughout. I went into this movie with a lot of hype, but still loved it, despite the fact that it seemed to split the theater in love/hate.
As an emotionally detached robot myself, I really identified with the George Clooney character (and I look like him! Kidding...), so I'll freely admit that it made it more of a personal-like than a general like-like. I found Anna Kendrick's character to be as likable, if not more likable than Juno, without all the unrealistic dialogue that makes me think I'm living in a Dawson's Creek episode.
Generally, I have a problem with movies where "not a lot happens," and somehow, this still managed to entertain me from start to finish because I liked the characters and was so interested in the unique story.
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With one of the most memorable teen movie parties on film, Can't Hardly Wait remains one of my favorite movies in the teen genre. Sure, it's formulaic and you know exactly what will end up happening (more or less), but the movie is fun, the characters are likable, and Jennifer Love Hewitt plays one of the dreamiest "hottest girl in school" roles that I can remember. For the girls, there's a lovable Ethan Embry. For the guys, there's a way too hot JLH. It wasn't ever going to win any awards and it's not a Breakfast Club, but for many of us after the Breakfast Club generation, it's one of the movies to remind us of the joys of high school.
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WTWTA was a much darker and different movie than I expected. I was told by many that it was not going to be the family-friendly movie that I would think it was and I should have believed the many voices in my head that told me so.
While I found much of the movie to be disturbing and a bit too serious for a younger audience, I thought it was a fascinating lesson on management training and the difficulties of working with people with completely different personalities (really!). I hear that the monsters represent different aspects of "The King's" personality, which makes a whole lot more sense than my whole "management training" angle.
Something I really enjoyed was the look of the monsters, who were CGI in the face, but were otherwise really intricate mascot suits that made the characters feel more "real" because I feel like we've been CGI-ed out a bit lately. Each of the monsters has a very unique personality that presents its own challenges to coexist with the group as they try and discover happiness despite all their different wants and desires.
I honestly think that older audiences will take a lot more out of this movie than its younger (we'd assume) target demographic. I saw this movie with a group of people all over 25 and we spent dinner discussing all the different themes and holes in the plot that made the movie much deeper than I think it should have been.
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While some have criticized that the movie is "unfinished" (I don't think anyone knew MJ was going to die and that they'd piece together a pseudo-doc on him), I still thought this was a great two hours of entertainment featuring one of the greatest music talents of our generation.
Most of "This Is It" is watching two separate rehearsals for what was to be Michael's final shows in London. It really is a ton of music, with very little in terms of interviews and filler, so if you're not a Michael Jackson fan, you might not enjoy sitting through a couple hours of his biggest hits. However, if you are a fan of live music and especially a fan of Michael Jackson, you'll love seeing him and his mind work through what he envisioned to be the greatest music experience anyone had ever seen. While Michael isn't performing at 100% the whole time because he's saving his voice and energy, it's obvious that he still has "it" when he's on stage and in his element.
I really loved the interviews with the dancers and other musicians and wish that there was more of that in the film. Again, it's not like the footage was built for a movie, but seeing how much MJ inspired the talents of so many others added a lot to the emotion and "wow factor" of the film. While some more interviews would have been nice to act as breaks in the music (it's almost like watching a concert), I still found it really fascinating to watch someone with MJ's talent and vision rehearse for his final show. His performance of "Man in the Mirror" is something to witness.
If you're at all a fan of Michael Jackson, you won't regret seeing "This Is It." It's heavier on the music side than I expected, but for some, that might be a good thing.
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Not as funny as I would have thought, but I actually learned a lot about Black women's hair during the two hours I sat inside the theater as the only Asian in attendance.
Most of the movie centers around around a hair competition in the South that is pretty fascinating, but the most interesting parts of the movie are where Rock talks to celebrities or just regular people in barber shops about Black people's hair. You learn a lot about the chemicals used to straighten or "relax" hair and about different types of weaves and where they come from.
I fully enjoyed Good Hair, but more in a lighthearted educational sense than a laugh out loud fun kind of way.
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Other than the first Toy Story, which just boggled my mind at the time, Up is my favorite Pixar movie and is up there with The Lion King for my favorite animated movie of all time.
It makes me throw up a little to say this, but the movie has so much "heart" and the story, while outrageous, has just enough crazy to keep you entertained in the same way that James and The Giant Peach did back in the day.
I also love the strong Asian male lead.
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Really, really great movie with some of the best character development that I've seen in a long time. I was motion sick for the whole 2 hours+ of the movie because of the handheld camera, but still liked the movie enough to take the nonstop nausea, and I think that says a lot.
I'm not a big "war movie" guy, so I really enjoyed that this movie was much more about the characters than about shooting, explosions, screaming, and guts. Jeremy Renner was amazing in the film and turned out one of my favorite performances in recent memory. I didn't feel like any of the scenes were terribly suspenseful (I blame the motion sickness), but I was engaged throughout and found all the "big scenes" to be incredibly memorable. Without spelling it out for you, The Hurt Locker does a great job of letting you get to know the characters without any of the generic tactics that we've all become so accustomed to seeing.
If you couldn't take Blair Witch or Cloverfield, The Hurt Locker is of the same brand of shakiness, but I think the story and characters make it worth a barf bag.
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BROCK LESNARRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
Passing of the torch, worth seeing.
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While the title makes you think this is an ethnic movie about the celebration of Jesus' bday, this is a remake of a horror movie from the 1970's, a time when the world lived in black and white other than when people were walking around with enormous bongs (so I hear).
Once there was enough marijuana content in the sky from the 1960's and 1970's, the world turned to technicolor and with the recent popularity of medical marijuana, we are now living in full 1080P HD. Thank you, 1960's and 1970's.
Black Christmas is yet another movie that depends on gross imagery and visual shock factor instead of actual "scary," which is one of my biggest peeves in modern horror movies (looking at you, Rob Zombie and Eli Roth). The killer likes to use black Hefty bags (GET IT?!?! BLACK CHRISTMAS!!! kidding, I don't really know why it's called Black Christmas) to kill people, which is kind of terrifying because all of us have seen those "choking hazard" warnings on bags before, but we never think it can happen to us. IT CAN! And it will, on Christmas.
Black Christmas.
One of the redeeming parts of this movie is Katie Cassidy, who is probably the hottest girl in a horror movie in a rong rong time. While she is not the "I'm going to get naked so I can die" girl, she is definitely much more worthy of being a Hollywood crush than she gets credit for.
If you're looking for a new crush, give Black Christmas a whirl in the good ole' Betamax. If you're set with your herem of Hollywood wimmenz, good to mosey along past Black Christmas, which will not be one of your family's holiday favorites unless your family likes playing weird tricks on each other.
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