Friday, August 8, 2014

Noah - Bible Story Turned over to Hollywood

Before watching this movie, the only thing that I knew was that Noah was based on a story from the Bible about Noah's ark that I'm not too familiar with.

Loved the intensity, that's for sure.

Noah tells the story of Noah, played by Russell Crowe, a man believing the idea of a great flood to wipe the face of humanity from earth by none other than a mystical being called The Creator. He brings his family along the journey to save themselves from this purported idea that crept into his sleep one night.

What an amazing cast first off. Well sort of yes. Sort of no. After watching this entire movie, I felt like we needed more of the actors like Russell Crowe and Emma Watson and Anthony Hopkins. However, I wasn't too sure why Logan Lerman was there; I mean, anyone could have played the role that Logan Lerman was trying for.

As I said before, the intensity was definitely felt. There were some moments were I could not believe the state of mind that these characters needed to be in to successfully pull off. We hated and questions characters for their morals and beliefs and rooted for people that we felt needed to be rooted for. The success of this movie was conveying the need for the main plot that drove the whole story.

That's pretty much it. All of the other subplots and things were pretty much bull. Surely, I did like the whole visualization that the movie had, but really. Ham's, played by Logan Lerman, thing that he tried to construe as betrayal was just something out of thin air. The logic behind a lot of these characters was just pushed beyond belief.

The other element, that I'll try not to get into too much, is the whole Biblical message of this movie. I felt like the intensity of this movie really drained out all of the morals that the original story told of. But once again, this movie was basically thought of to be a huge blockbuster with action and adventure instead of a completely accurate portrayal of the ideologies that this story is supposed to bring out.

Did I enjoy this flick? Yes. I definitely enjoyed it. However, I was not entirely satisfied by the end of this movie.

I give this movie a 4/5.

Blended - a Totally Obvious Romantic Comedy That Is Painful to Watch

Before watching this film, I already knew that this era of Adam Sandler would be the worst era ever. I mean, we've literally seen this sort of set-up of a romantic comedy in previous movies with Adam Sandler. I mean, did nobody see Just Go With It?

I have no clue where Adam Sandler's future is going. Stop acting. Please.

Blended tells the story Jim Friedman and Lauren Reynolds, played by Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore respectively, parents from broken homes who try to date each other. Miraculously, their families end up going to South Africa for a "romantic getaway", children and all.

They could not have played this more beautifully. I mean, the way that both of them get together is just too obvious. They could not have made the situation any more perfect for the both of them to take advantage of the romantic getaway, but no. They had to tease a possible rejection and things like that.

This movie is a disappointment to younger Sandler. It is a disappointment to romantic comedies everywhere. This is definitely a cliched romantic comedy in so many ways. We have the flawed teenager Hilary Friedman, played by Bella Thorne, falling for other flawed teenagers with their broken home lives.

I understand what the broken home looks like, but I can guarantee that Adam Sandler made a fool of the whole broken home and made it into this cliche that frankly insults the idea of the broken home.

I admit there were some points where I laughed a bit, but the boundaries were just stretched to a point where some things were plainly not funny after a bit of wasting the same joke over and over.

May humanity never see a random flick with Adam Sandler that is from this decade ever again.

I give this movie a 2/5.

22 Jump Street - the Hilarity of the First One but Better!

Before watching this movie, I watched 21 Jump Street so many times. It was a genuinely funny movie. I love the chemistry between Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. It's hilarious. I couldn't get enough of it.

And I can't believe I waited so long before seeing this one.

22 Jump Street tells the story of Morton Schmidt and Greg Jenko, played by Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum respectively, tackling on the new assignment given to them by Captain Dickson, played by Ice Cube, of going to college and cracking down on the new synthetic drug called WHY PHY that students are getting exposed to.

The one thing that this movie does a very good job of is the recurring jokes. The first of many of these jokes is the whole idea that the same plot from the first movie will be the same plot of this movie, which is what I imagine many people anticipated off of a Jump Street sequel. I mean, they pushed this joke so far up until the very end of this one (I'll stop talking about this now because of potential spoilers).

Anyway, as I said before, there is some really good chemistry between the two stars of the film, especially considering their positions in 21 Jump Street. Not saying that it is a must to see 21 Jump Street to watch this film, but I'm pretty sure a vast majority of viewers did see the first then see this one, of course.

Yes. Familiar faces, new faces, same situations. This all plays a role in the comedic element of this movie. This was definitely a bit more explosive than the previous film in terms of location and action elements, but I believe that that explosive nature further escalated the respect that I have for this film in particular.

I would love to relive this experience over and over and think back to the first movie a bit as well. Even the minor details that I started to doubt about this movie were addressed.

I give this movie a 4/5.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

The Other Woman - I Only Liked The Other Woman...No, The Other Other Woman....

Before watching this movie, all I knew was that Nicki Minaj was going to be in this movie. Pretty much.

To be honest, Nicki Minaj did better than some of the other actresses in this movie.

The Other Woman tells the story of Carly Whitten, played by Cameron Diaz, a lawyer who falls in love with Mark King, played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. However, Carly finds out that Mark is married to Kate King, played by Leslie Mann. Then, the two women go on an adventure to get back at Mark.

The comedy in this movie was a huge plus. I guess that's the only real plus in this movie. From the drunken scenes to the comments about age affecting women, a lot of the comedy in this movie got me laughing at loud. The team of Cameron Diaz and Leslie Mann really did work together.

Now: for the criticism.

Kate Upton is only there in the movie for the boobs pretty much. A lot of us guys loved seeing Kate Upton when she came out, primarily because she is Kate Upton. Not for any real acting role that she may or may not have had in this movie.

Similarly, Nicki Minaj was kind of annoying at times, but I felt like she played her role, probably better than Kate Upton did as an actress.

The whole plot was both interesting and hollow. I could see why the mistress and the wife would team up. It seemed interesting to me how that would work out. However, I do notice the hollowness in these characters. For example, Kate's brother having a thing for Carly is definitely not appealing, given that she slept with Mark. Also, it seems too simple how this whole team of people gather up with their main agenda to target Mark.

The Other Woman is definitely a good laugh but nothing past that.

I give this movie a 3/5.

Guardians of the Galaxy - Best Phase 2 Movie

Before watching this movie, I was so pumped about watching this movie. I knew that it would hit theaters with a bang, and I wanted to make sure that I was there to witness it all.

And thanks goodness that I did.

The Guardians of the Galaxy tells the story of Star-Lord/Peter Quill, played by Chris Pratt, a young fellow who ventures off the face of Earth into the far galaxy beyond as a thief, trading in artifacts for money. Through an array of other subplots, the other members battle each other until all of them are transported to a maximum security prison and decide to work together.

The one thing that was great about this movie, right off the bat, was the humor. From the metaphors that we all know and love taken literally by other-worldly creatures and the references to pop culture that Star-Lord drops on the team, every comedic element worked in the movie. Rocket Raccoon definitely steals the show with his humor that seems to reciprocate Star-Lord's.

I seriously loved the entire soundtrack to the movie (AKA. Awesome Mix Vol. 1). It was interesting to see music from the 70s adding to a very spacial setting that Guardians of the Galaxy is.

The action is really fast-paced as well. There was not one moment that bored me when it came to the intense action scenes that Guardians of the Galaxy showed.

Now for the criticism part...

Drax the Destroyer was okay, but I feel like I didn't really feel sorry for his back-story, per say. His humor is spot on through how nonchalant and vicious he is, but I feel that there lacks this certain amount of emotion there. Similarly, the villain plays second potato to Thanos. I did feel that he was evil in the beginning, but he turned out to be more of a cookie cutter villain than anything else.

Other than this, I can safely say that this movie is something that I would treasure and love for a very long time.

I give this movie a 5/5.