Pineapple Express

2008 - _/5

This review is at the bottom of my list. Please check back frequently.

you should google “pineapple express art”. Some of the fan art for this movie is awesome!

Review pending.

Safe Haven

2013 - 2/5

I would be lying if I said I didn't want to see this movie. Don't jump to any conclusions though; I want to see this movie for Cobie Smulders. Of Nicholas Sparks book-to-movie adaptations I've seen The Notebook, Dear John, and The Lucky One. Frankly, the only one I've really liked was The Notebook. So again, Smulders is the only reason I'm watching this. It's worth watching this movie to support her. Go Canucks!

I am getting tired of Sparks books being made into movies. They're all 98% alike: the details (setting, plot, script, ect) are pretty much the same across the board. Having said that, I will say that you would think it would be easy to compare this movie to any other movie based on a Nicholas Sparks book.

Let’s just get to what you want to know:

Did I like it? Yes. Yes I did.

Was it good? Yes. Yes it was.

How was the acting? It was good. For someone (Julianne Hough) who wasn’t/isn’t an actress, she was good. By the way, did anyone else think Hough was Elisha Cuthbert? Seriously! Josh Duhamel was easy on the eyes. Cobie Smulders wasn’t in the movie as often as I would have liked, but she was great!
Let’s face it, you don’t need to be an incredible actor to be in a movie based on a Nicholas Sparks book. Great acting in movies like these are a huge bonus.

So you would recommend it? Ya, I guess I would. I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone, but for people who don’t mind seeing a chick-flick, it’s worth seeing. It was worth my time and money.

So why did you give it a 2/5 if it was good? Well, it is good, but again, it’s a movie based off a Nicholas Sparks book.

I know I haven't really dug deep with writing this review, but I feel as if I might let something slip that might be a spoiler.

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MOM'S REVIEW: 
-It was really good.

***SPOILER ALERT***

Throughout the entire movie I had a feeling that Jo was somehow connected to Alex. When Jo said (to Katie) "Only regret the pictures you didn't take" I knew I was right (because it was obvious Alex liked to take a lot of pictures), but I couldn't figure out how. I also noticed that the only person that talked to Jo was Katie and that whenever they did talk, it would always be just to 2 of them. At the end when Alex gave the 'For her' letter to Katie, I knew it was Jo's voice, and that's when I finally figured it out. I liked this twist in this movie. It made it so this movie had a better ending.

The Paperboy

2012 - 0/5

This movie was a train wreck from beginning to end.

I’m not going to write a review for this because I don’t want to remember anything about it. Except the parts in which Zac Efron had his shirt and pants off. No shame. The man is fine.

Word of advice: Just avoid it. Just don't. Don’t watch this movie. Trust me, I don't want to have to say "I told you so". All I can do is shake my head.

The Lost Valentine

2011 – 1.1/5

I usually never watch made-for-TV-movies, but I made an exception for this one because Sean Faris is in it. Surprisingly enough, he’s not the best actor in this; not to say he’s a bad actor, just saying there are better ones in this movie – case in point, Betty White and Jennifer Love Hewitt are in it too, and I do like them both.

The movie wasn’t as cheesy as I expected it to be. Total chick-flick though. I wouldn’t ever watch it again.

Silver Linings Playbook

2012 – 2.5/5

I want to say that the acting made this movie, and secondly, the script. I did like the acting, but I have a few gripes that I feel the need to mention:

First things first though, I had no issues with Bradley Cooper as Pat. If anything, his acting was flawless. I enjoyed watching him on screen. He played the role very well and he was very convincing.

I will say that I think Jennifer Lawrence did a good job with her role, however, with that being said, I can’t help but feel another actress would have done a better job as Tiffany. I think the character was great, but Lawrence didn’t really fit the part perfectly. It’s as if she fit 3 out of 4 sides of a puzzle piece.

I have always considered myself a DeNiro fan. And I still do. I think it’s fair to say that within the last few years, this movie was his best. That’s not to say that his talent was used to max, but he was fine as Pat Sr. The only reason I bring up this gripe is because I know he could have been great. I guess what I’m trying to say is that his talent wasn’t used to the fullest in this movie

Chris Tucker was great. He fit into the movie really well in small doses. I know I wouldn’t have liked him in it much if he had a bigger role.

As for the movie itself, it was very predictable at every point. Nothing caught me off guard. I was a little disappointed about that, but then again, it was a rom-com. I didn’t really like any of the characters (except maybe Tucker). Even the message it was trying to get across (to find the silver lining – a happy balance in life) wasn’t that well executed. It was a ‘so what’ movie in my books.

On one hand, I understand why this movie is getting all this hype. But on the other hand, I can see why people disliked this movie (because there are several little things that allow you to pick the movie apart). I will say that it was good for a one time viewing, but I don’t care to watch this movie again.

In some ways this movie reminds of Little Miss Sunshine. Not because of the plot, but the subject matter: dysfunctional people or families. I can’t help but draw the connection to one another, but they’re such different movies. Like LMS, I feel as if SLP could have been recommended by an Abnormal Psychology professor.

The Impossible

2013 - 3/5

I’m not entirely sure why this movie had a limited release considering it’s based on true events about a Spanish family who went to Thailand in 2004 and a tsunami struck the area they had been in.

When it comes to based-on-a-true-story movies, I always think about which parts were embellished for the sake of an emotional response from the viewer, as well as which aspects were true and which were added in to make it more entertaining. I always find myself giving the movie a lower rating if I think it’s been exaggerated too much or if it strayed too far away from reality.

As for this movie, I think my rating of 3/5 is fitting, and it doesn’t include any of the previous bias I had just mentioned. Regardless of the details that may have been changed when it comes to the Alvárez-Belón family, it was a horrific event that affected thousands of people, not only in Thailand, but other’s around the world. Hundreds of thousands of people lost their homes, businesses, families and lives – something like this cannot be exaggerated or made to be overly dramatic. The tsunami happened. People died. This is a movie about one families survival.

Everything may not have happened the way the movie showed it, but I think it would be accurate to say that this movie makes you feel like what I would expect the Alvárez-Belón felt during the whole ordeal.

I don’t really know what to say about this movie other than ‘I liked it’. After having said that, my mind becomes blank and I have nothing further to say.

I really liked the acting by everyone, including the kids. Child actors are usually on the ‘miss’ side of the hit-and-miss spectrum, but the 3 kids in this movie played their roles so well.

It’s an incredible story and it’s very heart wrenching. And I don’t mean just for the Alvárez-Belón family, but everyone that went through it and their loved ones.

If you are interested in the Alvárez-Belón families account of the event, click here.

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MOM'S REVIEW: 
-It was very good, and I love movies based on true events.

Identity Thief

2013 - 2/5

Going into this movie, I was hoping it would be a fun movie to watch. I wasn’t expecting it to be hilarious, but I just thought it would be fun to go along for the ride with Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman’s characters. Insert a sigh. The trailer shows a short and funny version of the movie.

Don’t get me wrong, McCarthy and Bateman were great. I love McCarthy, and that was the biggest reason as to why I decided to pay to see this movie, and Bateman is a good [type-casted] actor. I had no problem with their acting and I think the 2 best actors for the parts were picked. McCarthy and Bateman are the only reasons why I'm not giving this movie a 1/5.

I’m not entirely sure where to start this review with regards to the ‘where it went wrong’ aspect. Really though, this movies biggest fault was the script. The dialogue should have been something that propelled this movie forward and made it better than what the plot was. The dialogue was very average, so this movie wasn’t laugh-out-loud funny; I got a few of chuckles. I don’t mean to harp so much on the script, but for a movie like this, it’s the script that’s the glue that keeps everything together.

This movie could have been good, even for a road-trip movie, but it seemed as if some shortcuts were taken just for the sake of putting a movie together. The movie overall was a bit clunky. If you do want to see this movie, I’d say wait for it to come out on Netflix. But if you can’t wait that long, then see it on the cheap day.

***SPOILER ALERT***
You already have the road trip storyline, so I found it a bit too much to add the bounty hunter and gangsters(?) trying to get to Diane too. My issue isn’t so much adding that to the plot, but the fact that it wasn’t incorporated smoothly. They just came and went and it didn’t really make much of a difference. Neither of them really posed a threat. Even when they were caught, it just seemed like an easy way to remove them from the story.

The story surrounding Diane and her past didn’t strike an emotional cord or anything; and I don’t mean whether or not I related to it, I just mean that that part was a bit rushed. So you wanted to feel for Diane and her past, but the movie just blew right through it.

Near the end, I figured out that when Diane left Sandy’s home, I knew she went to turn herself in. What I was unsure of was how that would play out. As for how it did turn out, insert the I-don’t-know pose. That’s all I can really say.

The Departed

2006 - _/5

This review is at the bottom of my list. Please check back frequently.

Review pending.

The moment Leo D comes on screen, you see his face, but he IS that character. AMAZING!!!

All the other characters suited their characters

Fantastic choice of music. It sucks you into the scene so fast.

Loved the script. something that stands out.

I’ll always have a job. I’ll arrest innocent people.

How’s your mother?
On her way out.
We all are. Act accordingly