Movie Reviews

Mr. Peabody and Sherman (2014)

MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN

Mr. Peabody and Sherman (2014)

Director:

Rob Minkoff

Starring:

Ty Burrell

Max Charles

Stephen Colbert

Ariel Winter

Plot:

The time-travelling adventures of an advanced canine and his adopted son, as they endeavor to fix a time rift they created.

Review:

The movie started off very cute. Wasn’t too fond of the middle because Penny, Ariel Winter, was a real bitch. The ending was another negative. It’s like they couldn’t figure out what to do and they said, “Fuck it, it’s a kids movie, nothing matters.”

I felt cheated. The beginning was good and really cute, but then Penny was just too bratty, and then the ending was just too stupid.

Sad.

2/5

Frankie & Alice (2010)

Frankie and Alice

Frankie & Alice (2010)

Director:

Geoffrey Sax

Starring:

Halle Berry

Stellan Skarsgård

Plot:

A drama centered on a go-go dancer with multiple personality disorder who struggles to remain her true self and begins working with a psychotherapist to uncover the mystery of the inner ghosts that haunt her.

Review:

I like a good dissociative identity disorder movie. When you’ve got a good actor/actress they can really do a lot with the roll.

Halle Berry was fine, but I thought they focused too heavily on camera shots to tell the difference between the personalities. Whenever she was about to be Alice they would zoom in on her eyebrow because it would get all regal. She did a good southern accent when she was Alice and for the most part it was always clear, they didn’t need to focus on the eyebrow. The voice she had when she was Genius was a bit creepy, but very distinctive, so they really didn’t need to make the camera all fuzzy because she was nearsighted.

Frankie & Alice was an interesting movie, she was nowhere near as fucked up as Sybil, but she was a bit more wild than Eve/Jane. I don’t know if I could go further than calling it interesting, though.

3/5

Maleficent (2014)

Maleficent

Maleficent (2014)

Director:

Robert Stromberg

Starring:

Angelina Jolie

Elle Fanning

Sharlto Copley

Plot:

A vengeful fairy is driven to curse an infant princess, only to discover that the child may be the one person who can restore peace to their troubled land.

Review:

I’ll be honest I was torn about this movie. It looked cool but I’m getting tired of making the bad guy understood. Sometimes bad guys are just bad, there’s no explanation.

There was some not so good CG and I thought the ending was a bit weak after a pretty cool fire fight, but, as much as I didn’t want to, I kind of like the movie.

I liked the look, I thought the message was a bit preachy. Man is evil and destroys nature. I really enjoyed the fairy tale feel, though, and because of that it’s getting a higher score than I would normally give it.

It has its problems but it’s not horrible. I probably won’t ever own it, but I’d watch it again.

3.25/5

The Equalizer (2014)

The Equalizer

The Equalizer (2014)

Director:

Antoine Fuqua

Starring:

Denzel Washington

Marton Csokas

Chloë Grace Moretz

Plot:

A man believes he has put his mysterious past behind him and has dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. But when he meets a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by – he has to help her.

Review:

Really slow start. I get that we’re supposed to know he gave up “that life” but John Wick did too and he’d killed a bunch of dudes by the time Denzel gets around to it.

When the action finally did start it was poorly shot. You couldn’t see clearly what was happening and the images you could see were purely for shock value. The image of the corkscrew in that dude’s mouth was just stupid and sad.

This movie was so slow and boring, way too many non-action parts. It really had so much potential, and it just fucked it all away.

The shots where he “flashes” on important details before going into action were annoying and did not make me think the character was more of a bad ass. He also goes around killing all these people and doesn’t seem to care at all about finger prints and it seems like the kind of world that cares about those things.

I had the hardest time in finishing this movie and really wished I hadn’t wasted my time. The only reason I’m not giving it a one star is because I like Denzel Washington and I didn’t completely hate it, I just really hated it.

1.75/5

 

This is Where I Leave You (2014)

This is Where I Leave You

This is Where I Leave You (2014)

Director:

Shawn Levy

Starring:

Jason Bateman

Tina Fey

Jane Fonda

Adam Driver

Rose Byrne

Corey Stoll

Kathryn Hahn

Plot:

When their father passes away, four grown siblings are forced to return to their childhood home and live under the same roof together for a week, along with their over-sharing mother and an assortment of spouses, exes and might-have-beens.

Review:

I was a little afraid that I was going to hate this movie, but the trailer was funny enough that I decided to give it a try. The problem I have with dark comedies is when they become hopeless lets all commit suicide comedies. Thankfully this movie was not that way.

There were plenty of thoughtful moments, and each of the actors had their chance to be sad and unfunny, but it was an ensemble cast of comedians and, thank god, they were also funny.

I laughed out loud a few times, I cried, and I got a vague, kind of happy, who knows, ending. This is what I look for, and enjoy, with dark comedies. None of that August: Osage County bullshit.

The family was messed up, none of them were perfect, they fought, they didn’t necessarily enjoy being around one another, but they loved each other. They weren’t fucked up individuals with no redeeming qualities (August: Osage County really screwed me up apparently).

3.75/5