Winter 2014-15 through May 2015

Here are all of the movies I've seen lately and a few words on the impression that they left on me:

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Oct. 17
(Not actually winter, but I didn't see it until it was on wide release. Literally a week after I saw it, it was on DVD. Loved the one-shot film style and the casting.)

The Imitation Game

Nov. 27
(Loved this movie so much! Such good performances by Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley.)

American Sniper

Dec. 25
(Intense. Kind of overrated, but pretty good.)

Paddington
Jan. 16
(Adorable and a ton of fun.)

Jupiter Ascending

Feb. 6
(After the release was delayed at least once, it should have been so amazing, but it was (sadly) no bueno.)

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Feb. 13
(Fun, inventive, exciting.)

Fifty Shades of Grey

Feb. 13
(Everyone has their own opinion on this, so: No comment.)

The DUFF

Feb. 20

(Cute and funny. Not amazing, but entertaining.)

Focus  

Feb. 27
(Awesome! Seriously, way better than I was expecting. Proof that Will Smith still has what it takes to make a good movie.)

Chappie 

March 6
(Super cool idea: Consciousness of machines and the consequences. Weird futuristic world=cool beans.)

It Follows

Mar. 13

(Interesting, but not amazing. Kind of like Occulus or Cabin in the Woods.)

The Divergent Series: Insurgent
Mar. 20 

Otherwise known as, "What's a word that rhymes with Divergent? Detergent! Nah...Oh! Insurgent! Sweet, I have a book title now!"
(Good, but not as good as the first one. Better than Catching Fire in terms of strong female dystopian trilogies.)

Home

Mar. 27
(So freaking awesome. Like, if you want a feel good movie, watch this! Plus, Jim Parsons and Rhianna are really good voice actors.)

Furious 7

April 3
(So impressive! Loved the showmanship of it all.)

Ex Machina
April 10
(Liked it, could have been better. Goes along with The Imitation Game and Chappy in terms of the theme of computer/artificial intelligence.)

Avengers: Age of Ultron  

May 1
(Wasn't looking forward to it because I wasn't a huge fan of Captain America: Winter Soldier, but I was extremely pleasantly surprised! Awesome movie!)

Hot Pursuit  

May 8
(Meh. Fun, but The Heat, with Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy was better.)

Pitch Perfect 2

May 15
(Awesome! Similar to the first one, so awesome!)

Mad Max: Fury Road 

May 15
(A cluster eff of everything brutal, dark, awesome, and intense. Edge-of-your-seat fun!)

Tomorrowland  

May 22
(Exciting, cool story, but a lot of the movie was just set-up plot for a 20 minute story that ended up being extremely "preach-y".)

 

Thanks for reading!

Movies I Saw Recently...but...

So, since I've been on somewhat of a blogging intermission, here are a list of movies that I've watched over the past few months that I won't be reviewing.

For all but the exception of Blackhat, it's just been too long since I've viewed these films to give an honest and thorough review.

That doesn't mean that there aren't great reviews of the below films that exist, so (at the bottom of this post) I've listed links to a couple of my favorite YouTube channels with the best movie reviews. 

Gone Girl

Oct. 3

Dracula Untold

Oct. 10
 

Nightcrawler  

Oct. 31

Interstellar

Nov. 5

Big Hero 6

Nov. 7

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

Nov. 21

Exodus: Gods and Kings

Dec. 12

Into the Woods

Dec. 25 

Blackhat

Jan. 16
(I won't be reviewing this release because it was so poorly made and had such a bad plot that I don't think it would be worth while to dwell on any longer.)

A couple of my favorite YouTube movie reviewers:
Jeremy Jahns
schmoesknow

More Movies I Saw During Summer 2014

In chronological order, here is a list of the movies I made time to see during mid-to-late summer 2014:  

The Fault in Our Stars 

Grade: B+

How to Train Your Dragon 2 

Grade: A

22 Jump Street

Grade: B+ 

Transformers: Age Of Extinction 

Grade: C-

Lucy

Grade: A

Guardians of the Galaxy

Grade: A

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles  

Grade: D

 

Let's Be Cops

Grade: B

The Giver  

Grade: B+

 

Thanks for reading! 

Movies of May & early June

In chronological order, here are reviews of the blockbusters of May and early June 2014.

Happy reading!

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Image property of Columbia Pictures

Andrew Garfield and Jamie Foxx take the lead in the newest release of Columbia Pictures's Spider-Man reboot.

From comedy to action and romance to suspence, this film packed a punch in the box office.
 
Grade: B





Neighbors

Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne and Zac Efron's performances in this May 9 release were outstanding to say the least.

The lovable cast made for a hilarious film about an unlikely neighborhood kerfuffle.

Absolutely one of the funniest movies in theater since 21 Jump Street.      

Grade: A

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Image property of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

 

As a companion piece to 2011's X-Men First Class, this film proved to make a decent addition to the X-Men series.  

Hugh Jackman serves as our guide to the story as he must make a journey through time to save the day.  

Overall, a fun and exciting movie (even if you haven't seen all of the previous X-Men films).

Grade: B- 

 

 

 

 

 

A Million Ways to Die in the West

 

 Seth MacFarlane sets foot in new territory as an onscreen actor with this May 30 release.  The comedy, which takes place in the "Old West" also features a fabulous cast, including:
Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried, Giovanni Ribisi, Neil Patrick Harris and Sarah Silverman.  

While the plot lags at times, the Family Guy-esque comedy kills! (If that is what you are into.)

 Grade: B- 

 

 

 

 

 

Edge of Tomorrow

Image property of Warner Bros. Pictures 

 

Hollywood powerhouse Tom Cruise teams up with the talented Emily Blunt to tell a story that can be described as Groundhog Day meets sci-fi.  

The duo take on an alien race invading earth and they have time on their side.

(Also, for those of you who have seen the film and have experienced one of Bill Murray's finest, here is a link that may make your day: Edge of Groundhog.)

Grade: B 

 

 

 

 

Up next:

Reviews of mid-late June releases, including:

The Fault in Our Stars, How to Train Your Dragon 2, 22 Jump Street and Transformers: Age Of Extinction. 

 

Thank you for reading! 

 

Brief Reviews of Late Winter and Spring Films

It's great to be back! To get a jump start, here is a brief rundown of some of March and April's biggest films (from newest to oldest).

The Other Woman 
This chick flick brings together three unlikely friends when they find that they are all being cheated on by the same man.  Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann and Kate Upton bring down their shared love interest (played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) quite hilariously.  It was fun, but it won't be winning any real awards.   
Grade C+

Transcendence
In a slightly futuristic world, Dr. Will Caster (played by Johnny Depp) is assisted by his wife in preserving his intelligence and personality in a supercomputer.  When an anti-technology activist group sets out to overthrow Caster's computer, it appears that the technology will never be stopped.

While it is set in the future, there is something 80s-retro about the film's style, which made for a great a-typical movie.   
Grade A- 

Oculus
Karen Gillan and Brenton Thwaites star as siblings Kaylie and Tim Russell, respectively, in this contemporary horror film.  The two set out on a suspenseful mission to prove that their parents were possessed and killed by a supernatural phenomenon.

This film managed to be something a little different from other recent horror movies, thus it should be applauded, but it could have benefited from a bigger budget.
Grade B-

Captain America: The Winter Soldier
A fascinating sequel to the first Captain America film follows the hero, Steve Rogers, as he becomes acclimated in modern society and faces ghosts from his past.

It was a solid, entertaining Marvel movie.   
Grade B

Noah 
In this interpretation of the "Noah's Ark" Old Testament story, Russell Crowe stars as both a protagonist and antagonist in the role of Noah.  Other cast members include Jennifer Connelly (Noah's wife), Anthony Hopkins (Noah's grandfather), Douglas Booth (Noah's son), Logan Lerman (Noah's son) and Emma Watson (Noah's adopted daughter). 

What made this film worth watching was its cinematic style, which included aerial views and stop motion features.
Grade A

Divergent
In the film adaptation of the book that has been compaired to The Hunger Games, Shailene Woodley takes center stage as the strong female character, Tris.  In her world, people are divided by "faction" and have jobs based on their personal values.  The film begins with her faction placement test and follows her struggle as she sees her society becoming corrupt.

The film has a great story and decent acting. 
Grade A- 

Muppets Most Wanted
The worst Muppet movie ever? Could be.  In the follow-up to the super successful 2011 film, the Muppets go on a world tour and are fooled by a Kermit the Frog look-alike.  While it featured actors such as Tina Fey, Ricky Gervais and Ty Burrell, it lacked the friendly, sing-along nature of its predecessor. 
Grade C-

Mr. Peabody & Sherman
In this animated film, Mr. Peabody, the world's smartest time-traveling dog (yep, you read that correctly) is the adoptive father of a boy named Sherman.  The duo makes for an entertaining dynamic, one adventure at a time.  What really makes the film worth watching, in addition to its family-friendly narrative, is the voice cast, which includes Ty Burrell, Ariel Winter and Stephen Colbert.
Grade B

300: Rise of an Empire
The wonderfully gory complement piece to 2006's 300 answers all of the questions that arose eight years ago.  The mood, tempo and style of the film all coincided to create a world of battle that has to be seen to be believed.     
Grade B+

Non-Stop
Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore and Michelle Dockery star in this mid-air thriller, in which an air marshal takes action when his flight is compromised.  The film keeps the audience guessing until the last moment and manages to have a decent storyline. 
Grade B

Thank you for reading! Look for my review of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 next!

Temporary Hiatus

Hello readers,

Movie reviews will be back next month!

My sincerest apologies for the hiatus. It's been a rough semester, as I've been working on my senior thesis.

Looking forward to writing again!

Best,
The Girl with the Movie Blog

That Awkward Moment

That Awkward Moment

Image property of Virgin Produced

Zac Efron, Miles Teller and Michael B. Jordan star in this Jan. 31 release.  The rom-com follows the love lives of three twenty-something guys struggling to find the line between happiness and independence.

The film opens with Efron's character, Jason, explaining "that awkward moment" when the the partners in a new relationship have to answer the dreaded question: So, where is this going?

That Awkward Moment proves to be better as comedy than as a dramatic piece of cinema.  This comedy element is really brought to the forefront of the film when the three male leads are on screen together.  From their outrageous "only-a-best-friend-could-say-that" moments to the way they are able to console each other in the rough patches, Efron, Teller and Jordan make a convincing bff trio. 

Where the story gets a bit iffy is when Efron's character, Jason, meets Ellie (played by the primarily B-movie actress, Imogen Poots).  While the two are cute together initially, Ellie proves to be a bit too quirky to be a believable love interest for the creative and studly Jason.  In addition to this drawback of the film, its story pushed a bit too hard for a response in the parts that would be considered dramatic, but it still manages to teach good lessons without being overly preachy. 

All of that being said, the movie featured an original story and compelling character development.  While it may not have been worth the price of a movie ticket, it's worth renting once it comes to Redbox.


Thank you for reading!