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.

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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.