Skyfall: Movie Review

I'm not a professional movie blogger and I certainly don't go to a lot of movies these days.   This review is my own and I'm sure a bunch of people will disagree with it but here it goes.  I was entertained, but not impressed.

I've never been a huge fan of James Bond movies, they always seem a little corny for me.  I know they're supposed to have a little bit of a *wink* factor, but the writing sometimes makes me roll my eyes or laugh out loud, even in serious scenes.  I thought this movie, while not high on the corny scale, was a bit too slow and at the same time too unrealistic for me.  I miss the Casino Royale James Bond, my favorite Bond film, ever.

The movie opens with a chase, as always.  It was entertaining, but at points it was too obvious that there was a green screen and that ruined the rest of the chase for me.  The end of the chase ended with another agent trying to shoot the bad guy that Bond was wrestling with atop a moving train.  (By this point half the train was missing and it was still going - what are the conductors doing!?)  She took a hard shot, missed and hit Bond.  Instead of taking a 2nd shot, without anyone in her way, she just looked at Bond falling into the water.  That's when I had to tell myself to suspend reality for a bit because it was about to get silly.

There were quite a few other times in the movie when the most unrealistic choice was made and it really bothered me.  I totally understand that Bond films aren't real, no movie is, but come on.  It was also hard for me to look at Ralph Fiennes and not think of Harry Potter.  But I'm sure I'm the only one who had that problem.

While some of the plot didn't sit well with me, the cinematography was outstanding, locations were gorgeous and Daniel Craig never disappoints in a tux.  That's where the entertaining part of the movie comes in.  I was okay sitting there for more than 2 hours because it was a beautiful film, even if I was upset with the plot and storyline.  Did anyone else think the holding cell looked a lot like the one in Avengers?  One of the friends I was with brought that up and I totally agree.  Let's be a little original, Bond.

Javier Bardem was awesome as this movie's villain.  His blonde hair and eyebrows were uber-creepy and his accent was like nothing he's done before.  He's so talented it hurts.

I also noticed that there wasn't much romance in this film and where there was a woman, her romantic connection to Bond was short lived.  It didn't feel like a James Bond movie without a super hot female lead.  Yes, there are women, hot women, in the movie, but none as significant as Vesper Lynd played by Eva Green in Casino Royale.  Maybe James is still getting over the loss...

Ultimately, I give the movie 2.5 out of 5 stars.  Will I see it again?   Nope.  Will I recommend it to friends, only if they are big James Bond fans and they're probably already going to see it.  I have a feeling this is one of those movies who will have a big opening weekend (and it did) but will quickly fall down the charts.  I don't think it will hold the top of the Box Office for long, especially with the big Thanksgiving films coming out soon.  Daniel Craig and the visual aspects of the film from falling down to 2 stars.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1 - Movie Review

(That's one long blog post title!)  Spoilers ahead if you're one of the few people out there who haven't seen this movie yet and would be upset with knowing the ending.

When Stephen and I started dating we both had Netflix which was silly because we were basically living in the same house.  When I did move in we decided that we only need one full subscription to Netflix so I kept the 2 disc delivery plan and Stephen got the streaming plan.  When I was living along I had streaming and discs.  Late last week I sent back a movie that was mailed to me in December.  Obviously I'm not watching movies as frequently as I used to.  There are rarely nights when both of us or even one of us can just sit and watch a movie.

Last night I was in a grumpy mood and needed some alone time.  I had two movies on the table from Netflix and chose The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1.  Yes, I read all four books and I was upset when they split the last one into two separate movies.  (Let me state it in writing, I'm 100% happy that Book 7 of the Harry Potter series was split into two movies, the book was packed with information and one movie never could have coved it.)  I didn't think that the Twilight books had enough content to make movies as long as they did in the first place.  But this isn't a review of the books, it's a review of the movie.

This film starts off days before Bella and Edward's wedding.  I still can't get over how much teenage girls love this movie about a girl their age who is willing to give up her LIFE for a man.  She doesn't want to go to college.  She doesn't want kids.  She doesn't really care that she can't see her parents again in case they see the change in her after she turns.  Anyway.  The wedding is beautiful and I'm obsessed with the shoes she wore only to walk down the aisle.  The leave for their honeymoon immediately after the reception so they are traveling at night and Edward can be among humans.  They head to Brazil and then boat off to a private island where they can be alone.  They didn't tell her parents where they were going - did that strike anyone else as weird?  If I were getting married at 18, my dad sure as Hell would have wanted to know where I was jetting off to with my new husband, so is assumed to also be only 18.

There is a lot of sex on the honeymoon after Edward gets over himself and listens to his new wife.  Of course, she ends up pregnant but nobody knows what kind of baby it will be.  The newly weds head back to the Cullen house because the "baby" is obviously growing fast.  Bella is showing and she's only been pregnant less than 2 weeks.

The "baby" continues to grow fast and drains Bella of nutrients and apparently all muscle.  She is a bag of bones by the time it's time to deliver.  Of course Jacob is angry that she's dying for this "baby" of Edwards who he blames for killing her.  It takes two to tango, Jacob.

When it's time to deliver, the baby begins breaking Bella's bones as it tries to break out of the sac.  The movie walked the line between being gross and explaining the situation pretty well in my opinion.  KStew isn't the best actress and I think not focusing on her 100% during this scene was for the best.  When the baby is delivered, it's a little girl and she gets to see her for the first time, right before dying.  The plan has always been for Edward to turn her at the last possible moment so that she then gets her wish to be a vampire like the rest of the family.

In a weird turn, Jacob "imprints" on the new baby, who looks to be 4 months old, and that prevents the pack of werewolves from attacking and killing it.  Kinda weird that he's forever in love with an infant when he's in high school, but the director did a good job trying to make us forget how young she is right now with a dream sequence to the future when the baby is grown.  Why did they use a computer generated young woman?????  I'm sure they could have found an actual person.  Random.

The movie ends with Bella waking up from her 3 days turning into a vampire.  Part 2 will be the last part of the story to protect their baby from the vampires of Italy who rule over all vampires.  That's the part of the story that will make a really lame movie.  There is a huge build up to a massive fight scene after the Cullen's bring in all the vampires they know to show them the baby to prove that it's not a monster and then nothing happens.  There is never a battle, more of a stand off.  Lame.

All in all, the movie wasn't too bad.  It followed the book from what I remember so the bad plot line and plot holes can't be blamed on the movie itself.  Any scene with a wolf was pretty horribly done, especially when they talk to one another.  Was like watching a Saturday morning cartoon with a high production budget.  The acting was bad, but that's what you get with this cast.  I know RPattz can act, I've seen him in other movies, but there is a reason that there isn't a top tier actor anywhere in the cast.

Will I see the final movie?  Probably, but only because I spent time reading the book and I want to see how it's brought to life.  Two hours isn't that bad, especially since that two hours would most likely otherwise be spent watching dumb reality TV or reading a magazine. And I'm sure I'll have a grumpy day in the next year when I need some alone time with a cheesy movie.  Will I be going to see the movie in the theater - not a chance in Hell.  I'll probably even wait a few months to move it up on my Netflix queue.

I give the move 3 stars.  It stuck to the plot it was given and it was beautifully filmed.  The reduction in 2 stars comes from the bad acting and cheesy effects with the wolves.

The Avengers: Movie Review

We don't go to movies too often so when we do we want to make sure they're awesome.  (Let's be honest, I'd love to go to the movies far more often than we do, but I'll take what I can get!)  Saturday evening we had a few hours to kill and we were right across the street from a movie theater so we decided to check out what was playing.  I'd heard really great things about The Avengers so we decided to give it a shot.  To date, the movie continues to dominate the box office, not even giving new movie Battleship a chance at #1, probably because that movie is lame.... but I digress.

I'm not a superhero movie or comic book fan.  I enjoy the movies when they're done well (Ironman) but I'm not waiting in line to see the next one to come out... Spiderman.  Guys at the office have been talking about The Avengers for a few days so I thought it would be a good one to check out.

We went to the 3D showing of the movie, in my opinion the best way to see this movie.  I think you'll miss something if you see it as a regular movie and I think if you saw it in IMAX it would be too big and fast.  We even donated $1 to charity and we got our own Avengers 3D glasses.  We both chose Captain America.

Let's talk about the movie.  Wow, it was fantastic.  Each character had a great storyline and I loved how they all mixed together.  By far my favorite characters were Ironman and Hulk.  Hulk stole every single scene he was in as "the other guy".  I literally laughed out loud, uncontrollably at one of his scenes.  The script was also very clever.  Stephen and I caught at least 4 other movie references.  The best line in the entire movie, "Better clench up, Legolas!" was said by Tony Stark/Ironman.  I'm not sure if I was the only one in our theater who got that reference, but I couldn't stop laughing.  There were so many references that even Captain American at one time comments on understanding a reference.  Click here to Rotten Tomatoes for a list of the best quotes from the movie.  There were so many.

There aren't many movies that I want to rent or buy after watching in the theater, Harry Potter movies are really the only ones.  I will absolutely be watching this movie again.  No doubt about it.  This movie is worth the $15 dollars to see it in 3D, worth $30 to see it twice.

When you go see the movie, stay during the credits, you get a glimpse at what's to come for The Avengers.

The Hunger Games: Movie Review

I've been a fan of The Hunger Games for almost a year now.  I was reading the trilogy when I was in DC last March.  I was hooked instantly and I've been waiting for the movie for a while.

When they announced the cast for the movie I was a bit disappointed, but now that I've seen the movie I've had a change of heart... with some of the cast.  Jennifer Lawrence was spot in.  She was the perfect Katniss.  I loved how she could look like a normal girl and then glamorous.  It's easy to see why the Capitol fell in love with her, as well as Peeta and Gale.  Those two guys are still hard for me.  Liam Hemsworth as Gale is okay, I guess.  He wasn't really in the movie too much, but I pictured him darker in my head while reading.  Josh Hutcherson as Peeta is where I get caught up.  I can't decide if I like him as Peeta.  When they talk about how strong Peeta is, I don't really see that from Josh.  Sure, they show that in the film, but it feels like they're also justifying their casting selection.  Some people want the actors to be switched, and maybe that would have done it for me.  Josh with his natural dark hair seems more of a Gale to me than Liam.  Regardless, the acting by the entire cast was fabulous.  I loved Woody Harrelson as Haymitch - so great!  Lenny Kravitz was such a great addition to the cast.  He was soft and caring as Cinna and his scenes with Jennifer Lawrence were some of my favorite.

The movie stayed pretty true to the book.  Having read it a year ago, and only once, I had to look up websites that called out differences between the movie and the book.  However, I did notice the end was a little different.  In the book, Katniss and Peeta are separated before they go on stage for their interview and Katniss is extremely upset by this.  I wish that had been shown in the movie.  I picked up on Katniss' hesitation to pretend to love Peeta, and that it was an act to get them out alive.  I'm not sure it was pushed hard enough in the movie, or her distrust of him from the start.

The first half of the movie is setting up the Hunger Games and they don't actually get into the arena until the second half of the film.  Once the tributes are fighting for their lives, the movie takes on an entirely new feeling.  You start to hate President Snow and see what he's capable of, you pity the young, small tributes and understand why Katniss volunteered for Prim who never would have stood a chance.  There is a lot of death in the book and the movie did a good job of capturing it without going to an R rating.

My one complaint with the movie is the cinematography.  The Blair Witch shaky camera is just annoying.  There were so many scenes that would have been better if we could have actually focused on what was actually going on.  I know this is the new, cool thing to do to show you're great with a camera - but enough.

I loved the movie and left the theater 100% satisfied with the adaptation.  Would I recommend the movie to someone who hasn't read the book - absolutely.  I think you still get a feeling for the world that the characters live in and for the games.  Sure there are some details that are left out, but far less than they would leave out in the Harry Potter films.

The Descendants: Movie Review

I try to watch a least half of the Oscar nominated best picture movies before the Oscars are awarded, but I really failed in 2011.  This past weekend I finally got around to watching The Descendants, 2 days before the award ceremony.  It was nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor for George Clooney, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.  It only left Sunday night with one award for the Adapted Screenplay - and I agree with the award.

The movie was quite unique.  In my opinion, it was a story about family love and how utterly complicated it can be, especially in the face of tragedy.  There was the love between father and daughters, husband and wife, distant family members and in-laws.  Mix all of that in with a wife who was unfaithful in her final months when she falls into a coma after a boating accident and you have one stressed out family.

Basic plot:  Big shot lawyer is a busy father and husband.  One daughter is away at boarding school because of discipline issues at home and the younger daughter is following the same path.  Wife loves extreme sports and is in a coma after a boating accident while out with another man.  When he husband it told that his wife will never wake up it's time to gather the family to say good bye.  This is when he learns from the older daughter that she was having an affair and wanted a divorce.  Meanwhile, his large family owns a giant piece of untouched Hawaiian land that will soon be sold and he's in charge of picking who will be the lucky buyer.  The two stories get mixed up while the family's life changes dramatically.

The acting was fantastic, but I expect nothing less from Mr Clooney, who is playing father, Matt King.  He can play the happy, jokester characters perfectly well because we know that's so much of who he is in real life yet he can move us in very dramatic roles as well.  I'm not sure he's ever made me cry, but the final scene with him and his wife was water works for me.

The two daughters in the move were played by young actresses I've never seen before but I was absolutely impressed by their skill and emotions.  They were dealing with some pretty serious stuff and played it very well.  Amara Miller who played the youngest daughter, Scottie, was fabulous.  It takes a lot for me to be convinced of young actors tears, she did a great job.

The story played out how I would expect to actually happen in real life.  There was some stuff that I agreed with and some that I didn't, but that's life.  I laughed, I cried and I was at peace.

I was moved to tears quite a few times during the show, and I wasn't the only one in the theater crying.

I definitely recommend the movie to anyone looking for a nice slice of life film.  There won't be any singing and dancing, there won't be any car chases or big explosions, but good look at love and family.

Kick-Ass: Movie Review

Before I get into the movie review I want to share one thing I learned last night while cooking.  I was making a home-made mac n cheese with chicken and peas.  The recipe called for shredded American cheese, but while I was at the grocery store, I didn't see any blocked American cheese in the dairy section.  I was distracted, hungry and ready to get home after a long day so I grabbed some shredded cheddar instead.  DON'T DO THAT!  They don't melt the same.  While trying to mix the cheddar into the hot macaroni noodles it didn't distribute through the pasta and made one giant clump.  It still tasted great, but would have been better with more cheese.  I guess I went with a lighter version of the recipe...

Source: Wikipedia

Back on track: onto the movie review.  I'm not really a comic book movie type of person.  (I just realized that haven't written my review of Captain America yet.)  I had this movie in my Netflix queue for a while and it finally made it to the top.  I'm not sure why it was even in the queue in the first place, but that's neither here nor there.

Like most of the other comic book movies I've seen I figured there would be some fighting, an unrealistic love connection, bad guys and some impossible moves during the fight scenes.  Check, check, check and check.  What I didn't expect was to see Nicolas Cage (I didn't really do much research on the movie before I rented it) or the gruesome nature of the fighting.  The movie was much darker than I ever imagined and pretty violent.

The story begins with a regular teenager, Dave.  He has close friends but is invisible to ladies.  He gets a crazy idea that he needs to become a superhero to help fight crime in NYC.  He has no crime fighting skills, no super powers, no angry rage to fuel his aggression.  He's lucky and helps save a guy getting attacked by 3 men and becomes a hero overnight.  While fighting crime he meets other "superheroes" and these new local heroes anger the city's largest drug dealing family.  The drug kingpin is out to get Kick-Ass and the rest of the masked team.

There were quite a few plot twists that I didn't expect from what I remembered of the movie trailer.  Halfway through the movie I said to Stephen that I didn't like it at all, but the final fight scene was pretty crazy and that saved it for me.  Don't get me wrong, it wasn't that I liked it, but it was definitely not something I expected and it was pretty ridiculous.

Overall, I give the movie 3 out of 5 stars.  It wasn't a horrible movie, the story was interesting and original(ish) and it wasn't predictable.  Now would I watch it again or recommend it to my sister, nope. But it was a good 90 min or so.

Crazy, Stupid, Love. Movie Review

I'll watch any movie with Ryan Gosling.  Period.  If someone rented that movie where he had a blow up doll girlfriend, I'd give him 2 hours of my time to watch.  I loved him in The Notebook, Blue Valentine, Murder By Numbers - any movie he's been a part of.  Please note I said I loved HIM in those movies, not necessarily the movie.

Crazy, Stupid, Love falls into that category.  The acting was great, by all actors, but the movie left me feeling depressed and uneasy.  I know not all movies are exactly like their previews, but I expected this movie to be a lot funnier than it was.  There were definitely some funny moments and lines, but I wouldn't classify it as a comedy in any way.

The movie focuses on Steve Carell's character, Cal Weaver, whose wife just told him she wants a divorce and she had an affair with a man at work.  He moves out of the beautiful family home he shares with his wife and two kids into a crappy apartment and starts frequenting a bar for something to do.  There he sees Ryan Gosling's character, Jacob Palmer, the lady's man.  Jacob decides to help Cal find his inner hot man and trains him in his womanizing ways.

There is also the side stories of Cal's kids and their babysitter and soon to be lawyer, Hannah, who is dating the absolute wrong guy for her.

All of the story lines show viewers how crazy love it and how it can really mess you up or on the flip side, fix you if you find the right person.

Being a child of divorced parents and having gone through a divorce myself at a very young age, I may be too sensitive to movies that are based on a divorce, but nothing about the movie, even the semi-happy ending made me feel like everything would be okay.  I looked to Stephen mid-way through the movie and told him that nothing happening in the movie would ever happen to us.

Crazy, Stupid, Love is a fantastic movie, but be warned, it's not a comedy.

On a side note - it was the first movie we watched on our brand new, super awesome 42" flat screen TV! It hadn't been mounted to the wall yet so we had it set up in the bedroom.  It was awesome to have such a great TV in the bedroom, but it won't last.  I'm a big believer in not having a TV in the bedroom.  That's your room for sleeping, spending time with your significant other and relaxing.  Maybe when I have kids I'll change my mind, but for now, now TV in the bedroom.

Horrible Bosses - Movie Review

Last night I watched Horrible Bosses, the 2011 movie with Charlie Day, Jason Bateman and Jason Sudeikis.  Not only those guys, but also Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell and Kevin Spacey - with a few other surprises that I won't ruin. It was such a great cast to start with, I knew it would be great.  I can't remember why I didn't go see this movie when it was released in theaters.  Charlie Day and Jason Bateman are two of my favorite actors right now.  I love their comedic styles.  I can't get enough of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and I just started watching Arrested Development.

The movie focuses on three best friends played by Day, Bateman and Sudeikis.  Each of the friends has, as you would imagine, a horrible boss.  And these bosses aren't just the type who ask you to work late on a Friday, but their absolutely horrible.  When the three are pushed to their individual limits they come up with a plan to off each other's boss.  That's when the hilarity begins.

Several times during the movie both Stephen and I were laughing uncontrollably and we even went to bed quoting some of the lines.  I'm sure a lot of it was the way the actors delivered the lines, but they were perfect.  Colin Farrell continues to surprise me with his American accent and his ability to play a different character in most of his movies.  Jennifer Aniston was shocking, in a good way.  Her character was such a departure from the Rom-Com character she normally plays and 180 degrees different than Rachel from Friends.

It was a great Thursday night, lazy in bed, after a big dinner, movie.  It would have been just as great with a bunch of friends or in the theater.  Go out and get it on Netflix.  Do it.

3:10 to Yuma: Movie Review

My dad likes Westerns.  A lot of guys like Westerns.  Some of them are pretty good, I'm sure of it, I've been told they are.  The genre wouldn't have lasted this long if people didn't like them.  I've learned I'm not one of those people.  They are too slow for me.  I keep imagining how smelly and dirty people must have been back then.  I don't like when the horses fall down or get hurt, even worse killed.  I much prefer a nice RomCom or Drama.  But I wanted to give 3:10 to Yuma (released in 2007) a chance, a new thing everyday - right?

The movie follows outlaw, Ben Wade, played by Russell Crowe, and rancher Dan Evans, played by Christian Bale.  Ben has finally be captured after committing over 20 robberies of caravans carrying the railroads paycheck money.  Dan Evans helps in his capture and for money to pay off some debts he agrees to help take Ben to the 3:10 to Yuma train to take him to go to trial and to hang.  While in custody, Ben's outlaw gang is following the team as they transport Ben trying to free him before they reach the train.  Of course nothing goes smoothly for the good guys.

The movie moved very slowly, especially in the beginning.  It was also hard for me to watch Christian Bale in such a down-and-out role.  I wanted him to be strong and confident like his other movies that I like.  He was not Batman... And if you've seen the movie - what did you think about Luke Wilson??!!  I cracked up when he came on screen.  Not who I expected to see there.

I give the movie 2 out of 5 stars.  The acting was great, the locations were beautiful and the story one that probably took place many, many times as the railroad extended West which is interesting.  However, no more Westerns for me.

Movie Review: Crazy Heart

Again, I seem to be about a year behind on last year's big winners at the Oscars.  But it makes managing a Netflix queue easier when you spread out all the really good movies.

Crazy Heart is the story of old, washed up country singer Bad Blake.  He's in his late 50s and he's driving his beat up truck all around New Mexico, Texas and Arizona playing sets in bowling alleys and run down bars.  He's an alcoholic and slowly, his life seems to be killing him.  He meets a young beauty played by Maggie Gyllenhaal and she changes his life.

The movie is fantastically acted - when has Jeff or Maggie ever disappointed? - the singing by Jeff is unreal and the story, while familiar, is fresh.  It's painful to watch what Bad Blake does to himself everyday and my heart ached for him several times during the film.  Part of me wanted to jump through the screen and slap him and tell him to shape up!

It's a movie about real life and how the paths of two people can intertwine and change their futures.  Definitely worth watching.  4 out of 5 starts from Katie.

On to other news:

Today is September 1.  In one month, just 30 days, I'll be officially moved into Stephen's house.  I've already moved close to 7 or 8 boxes and unpacked most of them.  I like that I'm slowly moving in so it doesn't feel like I'm taking over the house like it would if I moved all of my stuff in in just one day.  With things already unpacked and up on the walls in some rooms it's already beginning to feel like my place as well.

We have a jam packed weekend ahead of us, our favorite kind of weekend, but no plans for Monday yet. I want to start moving in some clothes, even if just my winter clothes.  Moving clothes is always such a pain in the butt.  It feels so good to be moving in.  How's that for something I've never done!

It's Kind of a Funny Story: Movie Review

What a fantastic, sweet movie this is!  It's actually one I wouldn't mind watching again and again.  The story focuses on a clinically depressed teenager, Craig, and his journey to make his life better.  He has dreams and thoughts of suicide and instead of riding his bike to a bridge to jump off, he heads right to the hospital and checks himself in.  In the ward he meets a wide variety of people, each with his or her own problems.  Everyone on the floor was nice and got along, that's the only part of the movie that I think stretched the truth too far.  Let's just hope that there isn't a teenager out there who is depressed and sees Craig's journey and thinks it can be that easy.  But if you can take the lessons he's learned for what they are, part of a movie, it's an unbelievably charming story. 

I found it impossible not to fall in love with Craig and the friends he makes in just 7 short days on the psych floor.  If this movie doesn't bring a smile to your face multiple times while you're watching, I'm disappointed in you.  Go, check out the movie, it's absolutely worth it.  I'm not one for spoilers, so that's all you're going to get out of me.

Side note:  This morning I had Greek yogurt, honey and blueberries for breakfast.  Quite the departure from my normal cereal.  LOVE IT.  It should always be blueberry season. 

Another Earth

Go see this movie.  I promise you won't be disappointed.  Honestly, go see it.  I'll be seeing it for a second time this weekend after seeing it at the Atlanta Film Festival a few months ago.


Another Earth