Movie Reviews

Oliver and Company (1988)

Oliver and Company

Oliver and Company (1988)

Director:

George Scribner

Starring:

Joey Lawrence

Billy Joel

Cheech Marin

Plot:

A lost and alone kitten joins a gang of dogs engaged in petty larceny in New York.

Review:

I remember seeing this movie in theaters, which is actually kind of crazy since I was only two. Because of that early viewing I had some nostalgia attached to it. I remembered loving the songs and thinking it was a cute, happy movie. When my daughter picked it out to watch, I figured, why not.

Wow, what a shock. The fun happy film that I remembered was not what we watched. I still like the songs, but they are such a smaller part of the movie than I had remembered. When the animation was good it was like 101 Dalmatians and Aristacats in that it was gritty, but I don’t have a problem with that. New York City in the 80s was gritty. However, often times the quality would dip and it would look like something from a TV cartoon, definitely not on par with other Disney animation.

I was saddened and disappointed and almost wish I hadn’t watched it. My daughter liked it, but I’ll probably do my best not to add it to a regular rotation.

3/5

Minions (2015)

Minions

Minions (2015)

Director:

Kyle Balda & Pierre Coffin

Starring:

Sandra Bullock

Jon Hamm

Michael Keaton

Plot:

Minions Stuart, Kevin and Bob are recruited by Scarlet Overkill, a super-villain who, alongside her inventor husband Herb, hatches a plot to take over the world.

Review:

Best part of this movie was the music.

So, for the life of me, I tried to watch this movie but it just didn’t hold my attention. Thankfully, my daughter at least enjoyed it and she watched the entire thing, which is crazy.

I really like the Despicable Me movies, but I’ve never been Minion obsessed. Though, I do have a Minion pencil box, but that’s beside the point. There was really no need for a full length movie about them. I mean, they don’t even speak in an understandable language. It’s like French and gibberish and they’re such a continuous stream of stupid.

Oh well, this will not be added to my library and hopefully I’ll never have to try and watch it again.

2.5/5

Bridge of Spies (2015)

Bridge of Spies (2015)

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Starring:

Tom Hanks

Mark Rylance

Alan Alda

Plot:

During the Cold War, an American lawyer is recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy in court, and then help the CIA facilitate an exchange of the spy for the Soviet captured American U2 spy plane pilot, Francis Gary Powers.

Review:

Love me some Tom Hanks, he’s so phenomenal, probably my favorite actor of all time.

Didn’t expect to get so angry while watching this, I ended up getting so frustrated and eventually depressed that nothing ever seems to change.

Still, I liked the movie a lot. It was about a time period I’m interested in and talked about something I wasn’t familiar with. There were a few parts where I feel that Spielberg went over the top, the end with the boys climbing over the fence was too much and didn’t need to be there.

Looking at the Oscars this movie has been nominated for I’m kind of surprised. There was so much silence in the movie I’m not sure why it’s being considered for Best Original Score or Sound Mixing. Honestly the only Oscar nomination I agree with is the Best Supporting Actor, but I’d have to see who he’s up against. Of course, I don’t watch the Oscars, they never seem to nominate anything I like or go to the “right” winner, it seems like a lot of politics involved.

Anyway, really liked it, loved Hanks, world please learn from our history.

4.5/5

Vacation (2015)

Vacation

Vacation (2015)

Director:

John Francis Daley & Jonathan M. Goldstein

Starring:

Ed Helms

Christina Applegate

Skyler Gisondo

Plot:

Rusty Griswold takes his own family on a road trip to “Walley World” in order to spice things up with his wife and reconnect with his sons.

Review:

I watched the original National Lampoons Vacation years ago in high school and really just remember not liking it. Too many awkward situations I think, but not totally sure why I didn’t like it.

This movie certainly stood on its own and I liked it a lot better. There were of course awkward moments but they were so funny it didn’t bother me.

I liked the dynamic between Helms and Applegate and thought their characters were much more relatable than the original version of the movie. The kids were good, though I thought the youngest was channeling the kids from Talladega Knights a bit too strongly. James Griswold, Skyler Gisondo, was ridiculously cute and I thought his character was adorable.

Overall, I liked the movie. It was funny and off the wall but not outright stupid. Would watch another in the series.

4/5

When Harry Met Sally (1989)

When Harry Met Sally

When Harry Met Sally (1989)

Director:

Rob Reiner

Starring:

Billy Crystal

Meg Ryan

Carrie Fisher

Plot:

Harry and Sally have known each other for years, and are very good friends, but they fear sex would ruin the friendship.

Review:

They just do not make romantic comedies like this anymore. Love this movie and enjoy it every time I watch it.

Harry and Sally meet each other, don’t really like each other, then meet again years later. Second time around they tolerate each other, still go their separate ways. It’s not until like eleven years after the initial meet that they become friends. Their friendship is so genuine and sweet that you could almost end the movie there, but it continues and they fall in love and they deal with the issues that arise.

Love it.

5/5