Movie Reviews

The Family (2013)

The-Family-Movie-2013

Director:

Luc Besson

Starring:

Robert De Niro

Michelle Pfeiffer

Tommy Lee Jones

Plot:

The Manzoni family, a notorious mafia clan, is relocated to Normandy, France under the witness protection program, where fitting in soon becomes challenging as their old habits die hard.

Review:

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. Possibly because I went into it not expecting much. De Niro showed how many different ways you can say the word fuck, and the many meanings it can have. Tommy Lee Jones wasn’t in it very much which is really a shame because he’s a great actor and I love him in pretty much everything. The makeup people did a very good job of making Pfeiffer look older and rougher around the edges, which is kind of sad because she’s a beautiful woman.

Normally I would give this movie a solid 3 stars but I bumped it up to 3.5 because of the surprise enjoyment factor.

3.5/5

Man of Steel (2013)

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Directed By:

Zack Snyder

Starring:

Henry Cavill

Amy Adams

Russell Crowe

Kevin Costner

Plot:

A young itinerant worker is forced to confront his secret extrastellar origin when Earth is invaded by members of his own race.

***Disclaimer***

The minute I saw the first trailer for this movie I was apprehensive. With all the grey I knew they were going to make Superman gritty and realistic, as realistic as possible anyway. That works fine with Batman, he has no superpowers, but I didn’t think they’d be able to do it with Superman. I still planned on seeing it in theaters, until Entertainment Weekly spoiled the ending for me. It infuriated me that they had Superman kill. Superman does not kill any more than Batman uses a gun.

I am not a Superman expert. All I know about him is what I’ve seen in the movies and what I read in a year of buying comics (I had to quit because it became an incredibly expensive addiction). I do have certain ideas that I think Superman should live up to though. This movie did not live up to those ideas.

Review:

My first reaction to the movie was Superman had some very obvious manscaping going on. Things just went downhill from there. The constant flash backs were annoying. The grey filter was overused. The fight scenes looked like video game cut scenes. Lois Lane kept popping up, sometimes with no reason. How the hell did she wind up with him there at the end? Superman, at least the Superman I know, is not vindictive. Also, gaping plot holes.

The movie wanted you to believe that he was just learning how to control his powers. That he was raised on a farm and then traveled the world doing odd jobs. Yet he was somehow able to defeat General Zod? Someone who had literally been bred to be a warrior. Even with his slight advantage of being more familiar with his powers Zod should have still been able to wipe the floor with him. They were over ambitious using Zod in the first movie and because of it he went out like a bitch. You’re telling me that a man bred to fight can’t get out of a choke hold? He has the same powers as Superman but with decades more fighting experience.

Maybe it’s not fair of me to review this movie since I went into it with such hatred. Whether it is or not I’ve done it.

1/5

Last Vegas (2013)

Last-Vegas

Directed By:

Jon Turteltaub

Starring:

Michael Douglas

Morgan Freeman

Robert De Niro

Kevin Kline

Mary Steenburgen

Plot:

Three sixty-something friends take a break from their day-to-day lives to throw a bachelor party in Las Vegas for their last remaining single pal.

Review:

All the feels!! I laughed, I cried, I was moved. In all fairness I did give birth a few months ago so my emotions are still a little loopy and anything about family and friends and love is going to make me cry.

It was a cute comedy, not really coming of age but kind of in a way. Instead of becoming adults the guys were realizing their age. For some of them this was discovering that while they’re older it doesn’t mean they’re dead, for others it was I’m old I can’t waste what time I’ve got left.

The weakest part of the movie was Lonnie, played by Romany Malco. His acting was fine but his character didn’t really need to be in the movie. I get the feeling that he might have had a larger part and it was cut for time. Maybe.

I don’t think I’d buy it, but I’d definitely watch it again. It’s possible it will grow on me with time, some movies do that.

3/5 stars

The Wolverine (2013)

The Wolverine

Directed By:

James Mangold

Starring:

Hugh Jackman

Tao Okamoto

Rila Fukushima

Starring:

When Wolverine is summoned to Japan by an old acquaintance, he is embroiled in a conflict that forces him to confront his own demons.

Review:

I really liked X-Men and X2 but X-Men: The Last Stand was like a giant dump on the franchise. X-Men Origins: Wolverine wasn’t much better, in my opinion. They had a golden opportunity with Deadpool and Gambit, two of my favorite X-Men, and they wasted it. X-Men: First Class was again just ok.

All that was so that you could understand my feelings behind the X-Men franchise. They use to be day one in theater but I’ve been burned too many times and they’re now rented from Red Box.

Anyway, The Wolverine was probably the best one since X2, though I still didn’t think it was on the same level. The best part was probably the end credit scene and from what I’ve seen on the internet about the upcoming movie I’m actually excited about it.

There were several decent fight scenes, the scene on the train was ridiculous but fun. The movies have always made Wolverine more angsty than I ever thought he was, though I could just be misremembering. The scenes with Jean were stupid, and for someone grieving over his loss he jumped into bed with a new woman awful fast.

3/5 stars

Drew: The Man Behind the Poster (2013)

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Director:

Erik Sharkey

Starring:

Drew Struzan

Synopsis:

A documentary on legendary movie-poster artist Drew Struzan.

Review:

I am a huge fan of the Star Wars posters, we’re actually going to do our guest bedroom up in Star Wars with the original trilogy posters going up on the walls. I also happened to work at a movie theater when Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull came out so I was able to get that poster. No matter what you think of the movie I think we can all agree the poster was great. Those are just a couple of the amazing posters that Drew Struzan created.

It really makes you wonder what is wrong with Hollywood that they’ve stopped using such amazing posters. If I could I would have this man do a family portrait so I can’t understand why movie studios wouldn’t want their movies represented by his art work. Wouldn’t that be the coolest thing in the world? A family portrait drawn by Drew Struzan.

4/5 stars