Best & Worst : 2014

Click HERE to see the list of all the movies I saw with a 2014 release date.

Favourite movies

The Book of Life

Worst movie

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Gone Girl

Pleasantly surprised with

Captain America: The Winter Solider

Tammy
Nightcrawler

Expected more from

That Awkward Moment

The Skeleton Twins

Honorable mentions

Big Hero 6
Camp X-Ray
St. Vincent

Dumb & Dumber To
22 Jump Street

Dishonorable mentions

Non-Stop

Movies I still want to see

-Wild
-Hector and the Search for Happiness
-Brick Mansions

-Foxcatcher

-Obvious Child

-Step Up All In
-Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For

Movies I wanted to avoid

-The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

-The Maze Runner

-Divergent

I’m Just Not That Interested

-RoboCop
-Fury
-Guardians of the Galaxy

Best & Worst : 2013

A Year In Review : 2014

Just to recap, here's a list of movies with a 2014 release date I saw: 

(in the order I saw them)

That Awkward Moment

Non-Stop

The Other Woman

Rio 2

The Lego Movie

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Captain America: The Winter Solider

The Monuments Men

Tammy

The Fault In Our Stars

Neighbors

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

A Long Way Down

Need for Speed

Ride Along

Gone Girl

Let's Be Cops

Big Hero 6

Nightcrawler

Dumb & Dumber To

The Book of Life

The Skeleton Twins

St. Vincent

Camp X-Ray

22 Jump Street

The Judge

...

The Judge

2014 - 1.8/5

I didn’t know much about this movie before seeing it, and I didn’t remember anything from the trailer. I just knew it would be a courtroom drama about Hank (Robert Downey Jr.) a hot-shot lawyer defending his dad (Robert Duvall) a well respected judge in a small town, in court on a murder charge. The only reason I was on the fence about seeing it was because of how long it was.

It could have done without Hank’s ex-girlfriend. That character and her daughter could have been left out entirely and there would have been no love lost there. In fact, if you took that out, it would have probably been about 20 minutes shorter. The movie just didn’t need it.

It was a good movie, and there was one really gripping part between the father/judge and son/lawyer, but that aside, the rest of the dialogue wasn’t on the same level. It’s not a movie you’d quote in the future and it’s not a movie that lingers with you days after and makes you think; it just didn’t have that clasp on the viewer.

The more I think about it, the more holes I can poke in it, so with that being said, I’ll leave it at that.

22 Jump Street

2014 - 2/5

I wasn’t really in the mood to watch a comedy, but I was also being very undeceive when it came to actually picking a movie. I’ve been meaning to see this movie since I heard it was coming out, and I liked 21 Jump Street. I knew it would be a fun movie with a good soundtrack.

Like the first, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are so fun to watch. Their bantering back and forth works so well. They have great chemistry and play off one another so well.

This is a movie that knows exactly what it is. A copy of the first one. A throwback to, well, EVERYTHING! And it worked! Everything about this movie fell into its place smoothly.

I liked how it actually addressed that the 2nd of anything will probably not be as good as the first. I’m not going to say it was, but again, it worked and it was an enjoyable movie to watch.

Camp X-Ray

2014 - 2.4/5

I would be lying if I said this movie didn’t have pacing issues. I’m not saying that it was a huge issue, but there were a few parts that it did drag. I liked that it had a simple plot; it wasn’t pumped full of side-line stories that didn’t belong.

As a whole, it does shine a light on the fact that situations like this aren’t exactly, as Cole put it, “black and white”, and it’s only meant to seem that way on the surface. In reality, you never know the truth.

In a movie in which you don’t know anything about Cole or Ali before what you see on screen you might think that there’s no way for them to connect and movie won’t be able to cover the bond between them. And like I said earlier it did take a bit before this movie really started to get going, but by the end, I did feel as if there was a genuine bond between Cole and Ali.

When it comes to the acting of Kristen Stewart and Peyman Moaadi, I think they did a good enough job with the characters. Stewart’s pretty stoic to begin with, so in my opinion, it was a good casting choice.

Overall, I like that the story wasn’t politics heavy and it focused on the characters. Is it worth seeing? Well, if you were debating whether or not to see this movie after having seen the trailer, go for it! You’re not missing anything if you don’t watch it.

St. Vincent

2014 - 2.5/5

I was in the mood to laugh, and I figured this would be a good feel-good-movie to watch. I figured most of the comedy would come from Bill Murray, who I’m not a huge fan of, but for some reason, he’s the selling point in this movie. I kind of feel that Melissa McCarthy is going to be on the more serious side for this roll, but I’m sure she’ll sprinkle in her comedy every now and then.

Aside from saying that Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy, the kid that plays Oliver and Naomi Watts all did very well as their characters, and that it was a feel-good movie I liked, I can’t seem to think of anything to add.

After having watched it, it reminded me of Bad Santa. By no means is this movie original, however, I had a good time watching it.

The Skeleton Twins

2014 - 1/5

I hoped it was going to be a comedy with a dark undertone to it, but I can’t categorize it as either. I guess I was hoping this would be the 2014’s Little Miss Sunshine. Perhaps I had too high expectations.

You only need to see the trailer to see that Bill Hader and Kristin Wiig would be a perfect pair (which is why this got a 1 star from me) and they were. They looked the part of twin brother and sister, but the dialogue and some of the content didn’t add to the characters; I say this because although the viewer gets to see some flashbacks of Maggie and Milo when they were young, but it just ended up being something you saw on screen that had no substance.

Luke Wilson as Lance did a good job too. He was a very humbling and likeable character.

For an indie movie, it was drab and generic. I could tell what they were trying to go for, it just didn’t come off as genuine.

The Book of Life

2014 - 4.2/5

So I intended to see this before halloween and before the Mexican Day of the Dead... well, that didn't happen, but I still wanted to see it. Fyi: I didn’t see this in 3D.

I’ve waiting 11 months, but finally, I have a favourite movie of 2014. It was only 5 minutes in and I loved it and already knew I was going to buy it.

Where else would I start but the obvious: the animation. By just watching the trailer, you can tell that this movie will be visually fantastic. Now that I’ve seen all 95 minutes of it, I will say that it was amazing! I loved the animation and I loved that they were wooden people; that was done SO well. All the little details added, all the great colours… this was a beautiful movie to watch.

As for the plot, you’d think its one that’s been done a million times over, but for whatever reason, it seemed different than others. It didn’t come off as a movie about 2 guys after the same girl. It was just different in a way that I can’t seem to put my finger on, but I really liked it.

The music was so fun. The “remix’ish” versions of Mumford & Sons, “I Will Wait”, Radiohead’s “Creep”, Freddie Scott's “You Got What I Need” and Rod Stewart's “Do Ya Think I'm Sexy” were so well done. They changed the songs just enough to make it fit into the movies vibe and its Mexican style.

The only name I recognized on the movie poster was Channing Tatum’s and he did a good job with the voice over. I liked how he fully embodied the character Joaquin, but Tatum himself was present in the character (him saying “come at me bro”).

The moment the Candle Maker opened his mouth, I knew it was Ice Cube. After having seen him Ride Along this year, I felt as if his voice was a perfect fit for this character. I’d say that Ice Cube has a better movie presence with his voice than he does with his own self. While I’m on this character, I also want to mention that I really liked the idea of the Candle Maker and what it stood for. It was a neat way to present it.

As for the main character Manolo, I can’t say that I’ve ever heard of Diego Luna or heard his voice. Not a clue who this guy is, but wow, he had a great singing voice (if it was actually him). He had a very smooth voice and it suited the character.

All the other characters had good voice over’s as well, the grandma was funny, Mary Beth looked spectacular and about half way through the movie, it finally hit me that Xibalba looked like Jafar from Aladdin!

Overall, this was a great movie, and even though it’s an animated movie, it doesn’t mean an adult won’t enjoy it. I am so happy I got to see this. 20th Century Fox is defiantly giving Disney a run for its money!

Dumb & Dumber To

2014 - 3/5

I was pretty excited to see this and from what I saw in the trailer, this has got to be good! And to call it Dumb & Dumber TO, was a good touch as well.

My friend and I were actually planning on seeing St. Vincent (2014), but because of traffic, we were a bit later than we wanted to be, so we ended up watching this. We did miss about the first 5 minutes of it, but it was just what we had already seen in the trailer with Harry visiting Lloyd and the whole catatonic prank.

The way I see it, there is no elephant in the room – you know exactly what you’re getting yourself into. You can’t go into this movie not expecting it to have a shaky plot, which it did. It had a decent enough storyline to allow the viewer follow Harry and Lloyd on their second road trip.

When you see the trailer, neither Jim Carey or Jeff Daniels have aged a bit; they look exactly like they did in the first one. I love that 20 years later, they're both still wearing pretty much the same thing. I also love that it has been 20 years since the first one came out, and its also been 20 years in the movie. The movie did have some well placed throwbacks to the original, for example, the blind kid with the bird being the same kid!

There were a few parts that could have been left out completely and you could tell they were all added in order to get just-one-more-laugh. They didn’t fit into the storyline 100%, but the director, for whatever reason, really wanted that line/joke in there. That’s not to say that there weren’t any good jokes. There were, but considering I saw this movie only a few hours ago, I can’t say I remember specifics. Unlike the first one, there wasn’t anything that was truly memorable.

In the first, both Harry and Lloyd were just naively stupid, like they so innocent they were dumb. But in this one, I found that they were more purposely immature. They weren’t as naïve, so at times they came off as mean.

Because this movie had so much to prove in the sense that it had big shoes to fill, a lot of it was overly done (which I was expecting). For me, this was a nostalgically fun movie to watch.

Nightcrawler

2014 - 3/5

Jake Gyllenhaal was gaunt. That is all. Nah, just kidding, I'll write a slightly better review! :P

This movie was Jake Gylynhall. His performance as Lou Bloom made this movie. You can’t take your eyes off him because you don’t want to miss anything. You’re probably going to blink as many times as Lou did in the entire movie (which I’m pretty sure was a handful).

I cannot tell you how creepy Lou was and how amazingly Gylynhall portrayed it. To some extent, you like Lou because he’s the main character and you feel like you should like him, but at the same time, you see how much of an ass he really is. His quick-witted speech and his delivery sends a shiver down your spine.

It takes a bit for the pace to pick up, but the overall vibe and Lou’s motivation to move forward using any means necessary keeps the viewer interested.

The one thing that didn’t sit well with me was how stupid the news people were. I can say with 100% certainty that I’ve never seen news reporters narrate a video that is being showed in such a stupid way; as if they were narrating a parade! It seemed like they belonged in an infomercial or something. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes with regards to how pathetic that instance was (I’m specifically talking about the mansion video).

Big Hero 6

2014 - 3.5/5

It's a Disney movie, which means its a must see. Fyi, I did not see this in 3D.

As always with Disney (and Disney Pixar) movies, let me just take a moment to talk about the short Feast. This short was as cute as the dog (Winston) in it. I LOVED the animation used to create it. It didn’t have distinct harsh lines.

I’m not sure I’ve ever described a movie with this word, but it was adorable! And it was all because of Baymax! This robot was so lovable and you just want to see more of him. He was programmed to do what he does (health-related) but his character does develop as the movie goes on (fa-la-la-la; LOVED that).

The brothers, Hiro and Tadashi were the next best characters, and to be honest, I didn’t really care for any of the other characters.

I can’t say this movie had the best plot ever, but it had a good enough plot to carry the audience through 1.5 hours.

Let me also mention how great the setting was: San Fransokyo. Although I’ve never been to San Francisco or Tokyo, this movie created the perfect hybrid of the 2.

There were 2 times in which I thought the soundtrack was perfect; all the other music/score fit well too.

Overall, it’s not as good as Wreck-It-Ralph, but it’s waaay better than Frozen. Disney’s still got it.

Let's Be Cops

2014 - 1.5/5

After having seen the trailer I actually wanted to see this. Usually, I wouldn’t care if I saw it or not, but what really got me, was that this wasn’t a buddy-cop movie because the 2 guys weren’t actually cops! But at the same time, the idea of 2 guys pretending to be cops is a bit different, so I was enticed.

It starts off as a fun movie; 2 guys having fun impersonating cops, then it actually gets serious. And I was very surprised that it wasn’t cheesy-serious.

Overall, it wasn’t half bad. It wasn’t terrible, I got a few good chuckles, but was it really a comedy? I’m glad I didn’t pay to see this.

Fruitvale Station

2013

So I've been wanting to watch this movie for a while now, and I finally decided that I'd watch it.

I had *no* idea that it would have a video of the actual event at the beginning.

My jaw dropped and my eyes went wide. I had to stop watching it.

Wow is all I can say.

Gone Girl

2014 - 0/5

Gone Girl, aka Garbage!

And the exclamation would have been apart of the title because it explains the movie very well: you’re supposed to get something exciting, but in actuality, its just trash. I’m not sure what movie other people have seen, but this movie was just awful. I guess I never got the memo that notified the masses that trash like this is considered to be acceptable entertainment.

Here I was thinking this could actually be good. The book has been getting rave reviews, and the movie is directed by David Fincher who also directed Fight Club (1999), Se7en (1995), Panic Room (2002) , Zodiac (2007) and The Social Network (2010); he also directed The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011), but we’re all trying to forget about that one. The odds were in my favour! I was supposed to like this movie!!!

For a movie that was 149 minutes long, I felt every single minute of it go by.

***SPOILER ALERT*** 

So how’s about I start with the somewhat only redeeming quality about this movie: Ben Affleck (Nick Dunne), who seems to have put on a couple of pounds. No great acting could save this movie.

You could tell that the whole cast was trying to work with what they had, but it fell flat. The characters came off as one dimensional. The only character I actually didn’t mind was Margo Dunne (Nick’s twin sister). She was the only likeable character and that sucks because you don’t care about any of the characters so you don’t feel any sort of connection to them.

I keep hearing people say how believable the characters were, and I am beside myself. Every character was just so over the top, that it took out any sense of realism.
How cliché was it to have a lead female detective (who always had a coffee in her hand) with a puppy-dog partner who followed her around like a tail and had nothing to add.
The newscaster Ellen Abbott who took everything to the extreme; I’m glad Nick called her out on it when she went to his house; but even that amounted to nothing.
As for Tyler Perry, it seems as if he was added into the movie (I mean the character and the actor picked) to be an on-screen-laugh-track. What I mean by this is that he could be the visual queue for people to know when to laugh. He was just there to guide the audience to laugh like “Ya guys, c’mon and laugh with me. It’s funny. Really!”. It did not work.

Speaking of comedy… I love it when a director can sprinkle in a bit of comedy in a movie that has a heavy/sensitive plot. It’s nice when there’s a bit of comedy to lighten the mood, but this movie did not do that. There were some parts in which several people in the theatre laughed and it wasn’t because the scene was intended to be funny. It was one of those awkward moments when you had no other option but to laugh. And when it comes to the tense parts, Fincher thought it would be a good idea to add the score that he did. It was terrible. It was supposed to add to the tension on screen, but it came off as comical.

It was just too convenient to for Amy to live next to 2 hill-billy’s who eventually rob her (which I was happy about) in order for Amy to have to contact Desi Collings (Neil Patrick Harris); and I’ll admit, that aside from seeing his ass, he added nothing to the movie.

Its baffling to think that the FBI would take Amy’s word for it with regards to the events that she claims to have unfolded. Would the FBI really be that stupid when they search for evidence that would corroborate with her account of what happened? Even as a viewer, are we supposed to believe that Amy was actually capable of doing what she did (even if she was a psycho)? Just because she read a few books, watched a few documentaries and TV shows, that now all of a sudden, she knows exactly what to do, and how to get away with it!? How dumb did the author and director think their readers/viewers are? How insulting!

***SPOILERS DONE***          ***SPOILERS DONE*** 

If someone tells you that you should watch this movie you should punch them in the face. If a friend recommends this movie to you, they are not your friend. You don’t need people like that in your life.

If this was supposed to be a psychological thriller, it failed.
If this was supposed to be a comedy, it failed.
If this was supposed to be good, it crashed and burned and destroyed everything it came into contact with.
If you’re looking for a psychological thriller, I’d recommend you watch Don’t Say A Word (2001) and Double Jeopardy (1999).

This movie was sloppy. It didn’t know what it wanted to be. I haven’t read the book, but I have to make the assumption that it was written by an amateur if this is the storyline that she came up with.

This is the worst movie I've seen this year; and yes, I've seen Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mom’s review:
It was pointless.
The movie as a whole amounted to nothing.

Ride Along

2014 - 0/5

First thing I thought of when I saw this movie: Rush Hour.

If you’re looking to waste 1hr40mins of your life, I suggest you find a better way to do so. The first 20 minutes seemed like an eternity, and it never got better.

In all honesty, I regretted that I started watching this movie as soon as it started.

I know that Kevin Hart was supposed to be funny, but all the so called comedy was so bland.

All in all, there is no saving grace in this movie.

Movies you should watch if you’re looking for a buddy-cop plot:
-Beverly Hills Cop
-Rush Hour
-Blue Streak

The Way Way Back

2013 - 4/5

I’ve been needing to watch a good movie, and without knowing much about this movie, I picked it, hoping it wouldn’t be one-tone. I actually really liked this movie. The cast was amazing and the story, although done many times before, had a uniqueness to it.

The thing is, I want to compare this movie to The Fault In Our Stars, but I feel as if that does this movie a huge injustice. I did not like anything about the teens in TFIOS, however, I couldn’t help but think that this is what TFIOS should have been. Although I don’t think these movies are on the same level, the easiest way to say it is that TFIOS’s target audience for this one is young people. That’s not to say older people shouldn’t watch it or like it, but I’m just saying that its geared towards the young. The Way Way Back on the other hand, is more geared towards anyone. It’s a drama with a teen as the main lead, unlike TFIOS which is a teen drama. Big difference.

Steve Carell and Toni Collette’s names are on the poster, and they were fantastic, however, Liam James was phenomenal as Duncan, a 14 year old shy guy that hasn’t found a voice of his own. He portrayed the mannerisms and the emotions so well. His facial expressions and body language were so authentic and natural.

As for Carell and Collette, it was nice seeing them in another movie together (the first being Little Miss Sunshine; in which they were brother and sister). I thought they had great chemistry in that movie, and I thought it would be awkward seeing them as a couple in this movie, but from their first scene together moving forward, they were a couple. They work off one another so well.

I’d be lying if I said that Sam Rockwell as Owen wasn’t my favourite character in this movie. He was a fast talker, but I hung on every word. You don’t know what’s going to come out of his mouth next, and I was just mesmerized by much talent he had. He was such a genuine character and he was fun to listen to. Rockwell is for sure an underrated actor and he made me smile every time he was on screen.

One of my favourite lines (from Owen to Duncan who is sitting at a bench in the water park):
Yeah. You're going to have to take off. We're getting complaints. You're having way too much fun. It's making everyone uncomfortable.

Everyone else did a good job too. I don’t think there was a weakest link. I liked that I got whatever vibe I was supposed to get from each character. They all did well.

This movie had really good pace. I think part of the story progressed as it needed to and there was good flow between scenes and introducing characters. The storyline could have very easily been exaggerated in some parts, but the directors kept it simple; which in turn, at least in my books, kept it more realistic.

Overall, its a great feel-good movie thats down to Earth and has relatable characters and situations.

Need for Speed

2014 - 0/5

I really felt like watching a movie, and I even more so felt like watching a movie that I could write the review as I watched the movie. I picked this one. The only, and I truly mean only reason I picked this one is because I like Aaron Paul. If this movie had any other male lead, I probably wouldn’t have watched it at all.

As I mentioned earlier, I’m going to write this review as I watch it. Mainly because I don’t want this movie to take up any more time than the time I’m watching it. So here goes it…

For a movie that has the word ‘speed’ in it, it started off pretty slow.

You can see that there’s a sense of comradely and friendship, but you don’t feel it.

Its like a sappy version Fast & the Furious with all the slow-mo’s.

It’s like Aaron Paul all of a sudden couldn’t act on the big screen.

It just seems like a cookie cutter movie with the typical have-to-have moments.

It was as if this movie was created by young guys wanting to show off some cool driving, so they came up with a shitty storyline to make an excuse to show off.

I’m only half way through and there were so many things that could have been cut out.

Ugh, it’s so cheesy with one implausible situation after another. Beyond belief!

That narrator kind of guy was annoying so did not need to be in the movie at all.

UPDATE:
I just realized that this is the 2nd movie I've seen w/ Paul and Poots! A Long Way Down being the first I've seen these 2 together, and that was released this year as well!

VIFF 2014

Although I've loved movies for a while now, I've never really put any effort into seeing a VIFF movie during VIFF. It did start 2 days ago, and I'm sure I've already missed some good ones.

This morning I saw that a movie called Wild, and it was playing at 3pm in Vancouver. I was hoping to get there early (at 11am) and get one ticket. When I went, the guy couldn't say it was sold out, but he pretty much implied it was. I went back at 1:30 and the same guy assured me that all the seats have been pre-sold. Unfortunately I didn't get to see Wild, however, I've decided to take a look through the movies, and make a list (which I'll share below) of which movies I'd want to see!

Wild (theatrical release is December 5 [I think], so I can still watch it)

Welcome to Me

Fish & Cat

Foxcatcher

Black Fly

Meet the Parents

2000 - 4/5

I loved this movie when it first came out, and 14 years later, I’m still laughing!

I think all the characters were great picks and they meshed well with one another and they passed off as their characters with ease. I loved DeNiro in this, and although he’s usually not in comedies, its one of his best rolls! DeNiro and Stiller played off one another so well; dialogue and body language was so fluid between them.

The storyline moves forward with great pace. There’s one funny situation after another, and Murphy’s Law kicks in for Greg Focker (Stiller) and everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. You really feel sorry for Greg because you see that he’s actually a really good guy.

There are a lot of good/funny quotes, so I’ll just add a link to IMDB, but one of my favs has to be:
Greg Focker [on the phone]: Yeah, you gave me the wrong suitcase. Uh-huh. Yes, it's a black Samsonite. Uh-huh. Ok, well don't you think that the Samsonite people, in some crazy scheme in order to make a profit, MADE MORE THAN ONE BLACK SUITCASE?

Great cast, good characters and funny dialogue wrapped up to make a great plot.

Eight Below

2006 - 2.5/5

What more could a girl ask for? Paul Walker and beautiful huskies!

This movie could have been really crappy very easily. Seriously, this movie could have been horrible, but I don't think it was. It is based on a true story and although its hard to say exactly what the dogs went through, I think the movie did a good job making it more about the connection between Jerry (P Walker) and the huskies.

The film does start off slow, but it does pick the pace up. It's a good movie for people of all ages.

Beautiful scenery, gorgeous Paul Walker (RIP), and beautiful huskies. This movie makes for a great screensaver if you don't want to listen to the dialogue.

A Long Way Down

2014 - 1.5/5

A movie about 4 suicidal people that happen to meet on a rooftop, all wanting to jump off, but end up making a pact, sounded like it would be an interesting movie. Was it? Not so much in execution (no pun intended). There was a great premise to work with, but I don’t think it lived up to what it could have been.

The 4 main characters meeting one another was a bit rushed. The casting was great: Brosnan, Paul, Collette and Poots. Everyone played their parts well (but Poots did overdo it at times). I liked how the story progressed and each character got to narrate what was going on.

There really wasn’t a concept of time between the new year and valentines day.

There were some parts I like, and some parts I didn’t. This wasn’t a movie of epic proportions. It was never cheesy, which is a good thing because it could have easily taken that route; but at the same time, it wasn’t amazing because I wasn’t really moved by their stories.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

2014 - 0/5

I loved TMNT when I was younger, and I’m watching this movie purely on a nostalgic basis considering the trailer didn’t look good.

Do you need to see this movie in 3D? No.
Do you need to see this movie at all? No.

I’m at a loss with what to say about the look of the turtles. They don’t look fun, they look hideous. They were so jacked as if they were on steroids! The turtles looked way better in the early 1990s movies. Splinter didn’t look good either. They all looked terrible and I’m sure this had a big budget, so I’m surprised how crappy the CGI was.

This was very much Michael Bay influenced. On paper, he was a producer, but the action scenes and Shredder were very Transformer-esque. He must have dipped his hand in the cookie jar on this one and guided the director in which direction to follow. For example, all the action sequences and Shredder’s costume. He tries to make it look cool and impressive, but it never amounts to anything. An IMDB reviewer summed it up perfectly: “Michael Bay proves to have no creativity and no imagination as this movie looks and feels like his just as crappy Transformers movies.”

Ugh, Megan Fox. I guess I should say something about that. So from what I read in the Trivia section of IMDB, there were 3 other actresses that wanted the roll of April O’Neil. Why they didn’t get it, I don’t know; but just judging by looks, any of them would have been better than Fox. She was not at all believable as a reporter... or an actress for that matter!

I had no idea Whoopi Goldberg was in this movie. She wasn’t in it much, and I was fine with that. I think she overacted her part and it didn’t seem natural. I can’t say I like Will Arnett, and I think he did a decent job with his character, but the character itself was stupid. William Fichtner is not a good actor. That is all.

This movie was made for kids, with no consideration of the older audience that would watch this movie because they were fans as kids (such as myself). There were no attempts to entertain adults watching this. You never saw Leo be the leader, Raph putting out the tough guy façade was shoehorned in, Donnie was overly geeky, and Mikey was supposed to be black? These small details ruined what I remember as a kid to be true.

The script and plot were god awful. Anything and everything, even if it wasn’t explained, was added to move the story forward, so it turned out to be so clunky. This review is longer than it needs to be, so I’m not even going to get into it.

Overall, there were no redeeming qualities. As a viewer, you don’t care about the plot, script, acting, or CGI. Because I was a fan of TMNT as a kid, I felt a huge disconnect with this movie. All of which leads me to say that this was a complete waste of my time and money.


***SPOILER ALERT***
It’s so stupid that Shredder has so many knives and the turtles have their own weapons (nunchucks, katana, sia,), yet there is no blood. It’s obvious that they wanted to keep it at a PG13 level in order to make more money from it. But why would you add SO many deadly/sharp weapons so excessively, and not have any gruesome deaths. In my opinion Michael Bay is a cop out: he went for money and sacrificed quality to do it.

I didn’t get why Eric Sacks’ house was covered in snow. He couldn’t have lived that far away from Manhattan, NY. Obviously that was added as a means to allow the turtles slide down the hill with their shells.

I just wanted to ask if anyone else noticed this (from IMDB); because I did:
“Originally, Michelangelo had a gold chain around his neck, but was ultimately changed after receiving criticism of being a stereotype towards black people. It was then digitally replaced with a seashell necklace to better represent Michelangelo's outgoing surfer & skateboarding personality.”

Lets just casually mention that Raphael wants to leave his brothers, but he becomes super sappy about near the end. That was laughable.

Neighbors

2014 - 2.5/5

First off, I’ll say that I am a huge fan of Seth Rogen and his style of comedy. This movie follows suit to the ones before it. I can’t say it was one of the best ones (Knocked Up, Superbad, Pineapple Express, I Love You Man), but I got a bunch of little laughs; nothing really memorable though. I don’t mind that a lot of parts were exaggerated; if I got a laugh out of it, I’m willing to suspend the ‘reality-aspect’.

Hits:
-I’ll mention the most obvious: Zac Efron
-Efron without a shirt; several times might I add
-I like how the face-time was incorporated
-It had a great soundtrack
-The black-light party was cool
-The fight and dance-off between between Mac (Rogen) and Teddy (Efron) was entertaining

Overall:
Was it a fun movie? Yes.
Did I enjoy watching Efron? Rhetorical question right?
Was it funny? Ya, it had its moments.
Was it Rogen’s best movie? Not by a long shot.

Runner Runner

2013 - 0/5

-JT seemed like he was good for the role, but at times, he seemed a bit too old
-things just progressed too fast
-it was made to seem more suspenseful than it really was
-Affleck was steller
-Anthony Mackie was over-doing it with the FBI Agent role
-the Richie Furst voiceovers, and the music make it seem as if its going to be a smart, dramatic thriller, but nadda.

It just seems as if someone is trying to make Justin Timberlake the next witty-action star. I just don't see it happening. I don't think he's hit his stride as an actor... or maybe he just hasn't had that solidifying role yet; I don't know. Either way, you're going to be fine living your life without having seen this movie.

The plot of this movie had high potential to be something really good, but it was too rushed. Honestly, half way through and I wanted it to end. This movie was a bore and it brought absolutely nothing new to the table. Skip it and watch Rounders (1998) or Poolhall Junkies (2002) instead.

Possible SPOILERS:
This was the Justin Timberlake show. Obviously Ben Affleck has nothing to prove nowadays. So here's how the movie played out in my eyes:
-First he has to prove that he's smart: forcing a meeting with Ivan Block
-Then he has to prove that he's willing to do what it takes: getting the guy from London to sign the contract on Block's terms
-Then he has to prove that he's loyal: telling Ivan that he go kidnapped by the FBI
-Then he has to prove (more so to the audience) that he's all in, even though his friend is encouraging him to leave
-Then he has to prove that he's smarter than Block
-Then he gets to be the big shot by tying up all the loose ends (getting Block arrested, giving Agent Shaver the evidence, flying off in a private plan with Blocks girlfriend)

The Fault In Our Stars

2014 - 1/5

I've been following the VlogBrothers on YouTube for about 4 years now and when I heard that John Green had a book coming out, I bought it to support him. Now that the movie is out, I for sure wanted to see it, again to support him*.

I did read the book and I can’t say I was a huge fan of that. I didn’t really care to see the movie, but I had the feeling my mom would like it.

As much as I don’t want to specifically categorize this, but this movie is really a teen movie. As an older audience it was just too cheesy. I read a review on IMDB that said this movie was probably aiming to be a “Dromantic Quirkedy” (dramatic romantic quirky comedy).

I wasn’t a fan of the casting which means that I didn’t like the majority of the actors/acting:
-Shailen Woodly was the only actress I liked. I thought she looked the part and I liked her voiceover.
-Gus seemed smug rather than sly and witty.
-I hated Isaac and every time he was on screen.
-I didn’t like Hazel’s mom at all; the actress was overdoing it.
-I really didn’t like Hazel’s dad at all. His acting was terrible and he just didn’t look right in the role.

I didn’t like how Hazel and Gus would go back and forth between how teens typical speak and profound (adult?) speaking. It just seemed out of place.

I give this a 1/5 for John Green and Shailen Woodly. That is all.

***SPOILERS:
I really disliked the cigarette metaphor. I thought that it was still promoting cigarettes (considering the main target audience was teen girls). Although Gus said he never actually lit one, he was still spending money, ergo he was supporting cigarette companies. That just didn’t sit well with me.

Not sure why Gus became depressed after he got back from Amsterdam, considering he knew his cancer was back before he had left.

Hazel walking up all the stairs in Anne Franks house was made to make the audience feel worried about her health, but I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. What made it even worse is the other tourists in the attic applauding Hazel and Gus after they kiss.


My Mom's reviews:
She said that she liked Gus and his character. She liked the movie as a whole. 

*He did say that he was paid out for the rights to the story (via the book), and that he is not making any sort of commission from the movie ticket sales.

Tammy

2014 - 2.5/5

So I did something I've never done before today. I watched a movie... alone... in the theatre. I have never seen a movie alone in a theatre, so I just wanted to mention that just in case because my movie watching experience has any sort of influence on the movie.

Like everyone else, I'm watching this movie because I like Melissa McCarthy. She is highlarious! You pretty much know where this movie is going because McCarthy has pretty much become her own genre. Honestly though, she's so funny that I don't mind. Even if she was in a movie that wasn't that great, she has always been the best part (case in point: Identity Thief). All the funny parts in the movie were very moment based, and thats what makes it original. Its still McCarthy humour, but in that situation.

I also like Susan Sarandon and I thought that the 2 would make a good pair. They just look like they'd have good chemistry together; I believe they did. I think Sarandon and McCarthy did a good job portraying a grandmother-granddaughter relationship that was on the rocks and wasn't perfect.

The movie put a smile on my face from the get-go. I got a lot of good chuckles, and it made me root for Tammy from the very beginning.

SPOILER ALERT:
The one aspect I didn't like was that Pearl (Sarandon) was a hound-dog. Kicking her own granddaughter out of the motel room so she can sleep with a guy from the bar... really? I don't think that was necessary.

Other McCarthy movies I've reviewed:
The Heat (2013)
This Is 40 (2012)
Bridesmaids (2011)

The Monuments Men

2014 - ?/5

After being on one plane for 2 hours, then waiting in an airport for 5 hours, then being on another plane for 10 hours, then waiting in another airport for 3 hours, then finally being on my last plane home for 5 hours, and having to pick a 2nd movie to watch (I had watched Captain America 2), I picked this movie (of the options I had, which weren't much).

I only picked this because there really wasn't anything else and I liked the cast. I don't like movies set during any sort of war, but I was hoping that because the main plot of this movie seemed to be men trying to steal art that I'd actually have enough brain cells to pay attention. I'm not going to lie, but I only watched 46 minutes of this movie and I had to stop. I did like the acting and I did like where it was going, but I just couldn't bring myself to keep watching. My mind was in a state of mush (which is probably why I have given really low scores to the movies I watched on a plane). I can't say that I'll finish watching this movie, but I watched enough to know that it wasn't actually bad and it had an interesting story.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

2014 - 2/5

I think the only reason I watched the first one (click here for review) was because I like Chris Evans. I actually ended up enjoying that one. Thats not to say that the first reason I choose to watch this one wasn't because of Chris Evans again, but I figured that the first one was good enough to merit me watching this one.

Yes I did find this movie entertaining, but does it deserve more than a 2/5 rating? Not really. I was entertained, but does it meet my requirements of being a great movie? No.

It had a good enough story for me to actually watch and pay attention to it. It had me captivated from the start and it was easy to follow.

Chris Evans is hot. Good acting by everyone. I actually liked ScarJo (because I usually don't). Sam L Jackson wasn't as annoying as he's usually been. I liked Cobie Smulders in this too (I wish she had a bit more screen time though). Anthony Mackie (as Sam Wilson/Falcon) was good too.

The Anchorman 2

2013 - 1/5

When I saw that this was available on the plane, I had to watch it. I was planning on watching it anyways after having enjoyed the first one (click here for that review). I don't think the characters were as funny as the first and I also didn't really care for the plot. The end fight was weird and a bit out of place. I give it a 1 for the actors, and thats about it.

Tinker Tailor Solider Spy

2011 - 0/5

I feel as if I'm being too hard on this movie (and pretty much any other movie I saw while on a plane in the month of June). I remember my friend saying she really liked this movie, so I decided to watch it. It was boring, and I don't think I was actually paying any attention while watching it. It was very heavy on dialogue, so I found the movie overall to be a bit on the dry side.

The Grand Budapest Hotel

2014 - 0.2/5

I had just watched another movie on the plane and I still had time to waste. Not sure why I picked this one (something about the name I liked I guess: I think its fun).

I can honestly say that although I was watching it, I was pretty much blankly staring at the screen. I say this because the only parts I really remember are ones that I've seen in the trailer.

The Lego Movie

2014 - 1.9/5

I was going to be on a plane for 5 hours, so I decided to watch a movie. Of the options, this seemed like my best bet. I will say that this was a good choice for the environment I was in. Don't get me wrong, I did have this on my to-see list before I knew it was an option on the plane, however, it was more or less a "I'll get to it when I get to it"; so again, good pick while stuck on a plane.

The movie did have its clever parts (the knife of exact zero), but the plot was a bit of a bore. The only reason I can't say that I found my eyes wondering elsewhere is because I was on a plane and I didn't have much else to look at.

I did like:
-the animation: it did look like Lego

I did not like:
-the "everything is awesome" song
-the plot
-most of the characters

I can see that this could be a love it or hate it movie for people, but personally, I can't say I hated it; it's just that I wasn't really entertained.

SPOILER ALERT:
The ending kind of threw me off: that it was a kid playing with his dads collection of Legos. I didn't see that coming and I thought that was a neat idea, but I didn't like what it turned into (the fight between the kid and the dad).

Blue Jasmin

2013 - 0/5

I'm not too sure why I decided to watch this, and to be honest, I can't say that I really liked it. The acting was fine, but the characters were boring. The fact that I don't remember anything about it since I've seen it says a lot. Skip this one.

Rio 2

2014 - 2/5

Almost Home (short)
Dreamworks can't seem to get anything right.

I LOVED the first Rio movie, and when I heard there was a follow up, I knew I had to see it. I don't think it was as good as the first, but it still had a good script and fun characters.

I liked the 2D paper animation.

Great animation.

I loved Blu's fanny pack; aka the "human pocket".

I liked the script again. There wasn't anything that was truly memorable, but it had some good one-liners.

When the first musical aspect came on, that threw me off. I'm pretty sure the first had a slight musical side to it, but I felt as if the musical portion was shoehorned into this one and didn't flow as well as the first.

That's What I Am

2011 - 1.5/5
Watch it here.

My mom asked me to put something on that we can watch and I saw that there was a movie on the channel she typically likes. I read the description and I knew she’d like it. I stuck around too because it was based on a true story and it had Ed Harris in it.

It was a typical made-for-tv-movie, however, it was one of the good ones. Nothings amazing about it, but I didn't think it was a waste of time or anything.

Human Dignity + Compassion = PEACE

Life is about timing, opportunities and choices.

The Other Woman

2014 - 2.4/5

I got to see a pre-screening of this (Thanks LG!); it actually comes out on April 25th. I was told that this is not the final cut of the movie. Because it was a screening of the movie, we had to check in our cell phones. I only mention this for the following reason: the movie felt long. So what does that have to do with me not having my phone you ask; well, I wasn’t able to tell what time it was (it was too dark in the theatre to see my watch). Like I said earlier, this isn’t the final cut so hopefully it won’t be this long when it actually gets released.

The synopsis of this movie would lead you to believe that it’s a movie about Carly (Cameron Diaz) finding out that her perfect boyfriend is already married to Kate (Leslie Mann). The two become friends and soon find out the guy is cheating on them both with Amber (Kate Upton). The trio bands together and sets out to seek revenge.

My suggestion to cut this movie down to a reasonable time would be to cut out the revenge part. The fact that its being pushed as a revenge story really takes away from the much better, unlikely friendships that come forth between Carly, Kate and Amber. The parts with Carly and Kate (and eventually Amber) were way better than anything the 3 of them did to exact revenge.

I don’t like Nicki Minaj. I thought she’d do a terrible job. Much to my surprise, she was actually good! She delivered her lines well. I was so ready to roll my eyes after every time she spoke, but I found myself chuckling. It was weird looking at her while she was talking because it didn’t seem like her mouth was moving. As my friend put it, she looked “bizarre”.

This movie had a lot of funny one-liners that were perfectly added. Whatever was said was very well placed into the dialogue and it worked very well with the characters. The comedy was very situationally based and I didn’t feel that it was shoehorned in.

Overall, I found myself enjoying it more than I thought I would. It did feel long (more so at the beginning), but I’m sure the final cut will be shorter. The movie lacked focus and there were things added that didn’t truly have a point. It kind of jumped around with regards to what it wanted to be, but it got me laughing.

There isn’t anything new or outstanding that this movie brings to the table, but if you’re in the need of a night out with the girls, I’d say watch it… on the cheap day.

Side note I want to point out:
I’m just curious as to whether or not people see Leslie Mann as a character. The equivalent to saying that Liam Neeson is his own genre (it’s a LN movie). Leslie Mann is her own character. Looking back, she’s always been the same character. Anyone else agree with this? Perhaps I should be asking if anyone understands the point I’m trying to make here?


***SPOILER ALERT***
I thought I’d add some of the funny parts/quotes I did remember:

When Kate confronts Carly at her office and asks her to crack the window open.

The ‘straight-jacket’ and pillow fort to constrain Carly.

Kate: Can we take her home?
Carly: We already have one dog.

Kate: You smell amazing. What is that?
Amber: I think its just sweat.

Carly: What is up with your hot brother?
Kate: No! You can’t have my husband and my brother. That’s being very greedy.

Carly: He’s got a wife.
(Nicki Minaj): And you don’t think you can take her?

Kate:
That was just a burp.
This is me crying… on the inside.
She brings the group average up.

Nicki Minaj:
I don’t know why you work so hard. The best part about being pretty is that you don’t have to. I come here because its like having a hobby that pays well.
Selfish people live longer.

With regards to the dog:
Funny: Carly being hit in the face when the dog was getting into the car (in the trailer) and saying “I think that was his balls”.
Not funny: the dog taking a dump in Carly’s house. Pointless.

Winter's Bone

2010 - 1/5

So here’s a movie trying to piggy-back on J Law’s current success; even though it came out a couple years before The Hunger Games.

This wasn’t exactly on my “to-see” list. I just needed to watch a movie that I’d be able to stare at blankly for 1.5-2 hours. For whatever reason, I got the feeling that this movie would fit the bill. Because of the mood I was in, that’s pretty much what I got from it.

Its obviously an independent movie because it was made to look gritty, yet artsy at the same time. I think the movie tried to have a dark undertone to it, but there wasn’t a whole lot of substance to it. It was one-note; there weren’t any ups and downs. I think the director played it safe and kept the plot level which meant that nothing exciting actually happened.

I have no problems with the acting. If anything, the acting was the movies strongest suit. There were times in which I thought that the director showed up in some small town in America and started filming the people.

Some things I read on IMDB and thought I’d share:
-It was a total bore with no climax.
-The film just kind of drags on for 100 minutes and then ends. It's not a poorly made film by any means, it just begs the question why anyone would bother to create it in the first place.

Bonus review:
The Poker House : 2008 – 0.4/5

Right from the start, a serious and tense tone had been set through the narration and the musical score. And that’s pretty much where it ended. As the movie went on, the narration became a bit of a bore, and there was something about the music that I didn’t like. It was too sleazy (it sounded like something you’d hear in a porno).

The acting from the younger people was better than the older people. Thankfully, the younger actors (mainly Agnes) had more screen time. I knew Agnes’s mom looked familiar, but I would have never guessed it was Selma Blair! She did an okay job, but again, Jennifer Lawrence and Chloe Grace Moretz were the better actors in this movie.

I felt as if this movie was shorter than it should have been and it felt a bit rushed. I also think that there were a lot of parts that were irrelevant to the plot. From what I get, it was a day-in-the-life kind of movie, but the director added a bunch of characters that were unnecessary.

I knew this movie was trying to pull some sort of sad, angry, worried, sick, ect. emotion out of me, but I didn’t feel a thing; there was just something that didn’t click. It’s not a movie I’d watch again, and I don’t mean because of it’s subject matter.