Before We Go

2014 - 1/5

I didn’t think there was any chemistry between the two. Their interactions seemed forced.

The sound was off, but that could have been because I watched it on YouTube.

This movie was long; and I hate to say that at the half hour mark, it started to drag. When you start looking at the time a half hour in, you know it’s a bad sign.

The whole telephone-time travel thing was supposed to be meet-cute, but it just came off as super cheesy.

It is SO typical. I really wanted to like something about this movie… Chris Evans aside and I can’t say I did.

I want to say it was a good attempt at a romantic comedy, but honestly, all I can say that it was an attempt.

Nothing about this movie stood out: the plot is not original, nothing about the script was different, new or fresh and the acting was just meh. Overall, this movie was just bare bones without any meat to really sink your teeth into.

Safety Not Guaranteed

2012 - 2/5

I’m finding it hard to use my own words to explain what I think of this movie, so what I’m going to do is copy and paste bits and pieces of other reviews from IMDB.

…the point of the screenplay isn't finding temporal paradoxes nor playing with historical chronology, but gradually discovering the nature and interaction between interesting characters, each one of them focused into their own "adventure".

At first glance, this film seems to focus on hidden past of people, but I felt a strong message about how to live and deal with regrets in the present time.

[It] manages to tell a story that is more sincere than one would expect and feels more real than a dramady that is trying to be the most realistic of human stories.

Actors Duplass and Plaza are so great radiating weirdness off of each other. The two form an unusual friendship that rings true in every detail.

…it’s a script-driven indie romcom and it does what it’s supposed to do very well.

…the big de-virginizing is a yawn as seen in every teen comedy featuring a male who must be rescued from his virginity by a more experienced male.

The casting was superb.

Unique and quirky plot line.

However, not sharing spoilers here, the film sort of ended on a high note - but no real closure.

This is the story of two damaged souls who form an unlikely bond and make each other whole, and that in itself was utterly touching.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire

2001 - 0/5

The ruins(?) of Atlantis seemed to be a mix between Asia and the Mayans; it was neat to see the 2 combined.

It had okay animation. Disney has done better.

I think this is the first animated Disney movie that had partial subtitles.

I felt as if nothing was fully explained; as a viewer, you were just expected to believe how everything came to be.

You could tell that whoever wrote the script didn’t spend a whole lot of time doing so.

I found this movie to be a little more violent and mature than other Disney movies: people getting cut, shot and the old lady smoking!

Not sure why the movie never told the view what Mole’s story was.

Some of the characters were very stereotyped.

It reminded me of Avatar – which is not a point in favour for this movie.

Overall, it wasn’t that interesting to watch. The dialogue couldn’t keep my attention and the plot was incredibly predictable. I liked the idea of this movie more than the actual execution of it.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

1993 - 3.8/5

23 years after its release I am finally getting around to watching this movie. To be fair, I’ve always meant to; I just never actually got around to it. For someone that has only now watched this movie for the first time, I can say with ease, that it truly does stand the test of time.

I’ve always thought the animation looked beautiful through the pictures I’ve seen - the movie looks much better if possible!

This is very much a Tim Burton film, and you can always count on Disney to be so creative as well. This movie has a really interesting storyline and you can’t help but feel Jake’s woes.

The song at the beginning was really fun and really set the tone for the rest of the movie. The singing parts were very well incorporated and really did move the story forward. I loved the forest with the trees that had the different holiday occasions; it was very enchanting.

I’m not a big fan of Halloween or Christmas, but I will say that both are portrayed whimsically. I really did enjoy watching this. I now have the appreciation for this movie that many people have had for such a long time.

Elephant Song

2014 - 0.5/5

It reminded me of Don’t Say A Word, and considering I loved that movie, I was hoping it would be just as engaging.

This is a perfect example of why Canada can’t have nice things. You have this wonderful idea for a movie… and then we get this.

You know, I get it; we’re not American, we don’t want our movies to be so Hollywood, we want our movies to be bare bones good, not sparkles and unicorns… but when you have a movie build up the suspense and build up even more suspense and have it amount to absolutely NOTHING, you wreck that movie.

On a positive note, the acting was really good (only reason this movie got a 0.5). The psychologist Dr. Toby Green (Bruce Greenwood) and the patient/suspect Michael Aleen (Xavier Dolan) both did a great job with their roles. And they were pretty much the only characters in the movie (Dr. Green’s wife and the nurse aside).

This could have been such a great cat and mouse psychological thriller, but it broke and ended just as suddenly as glass would break if dropped on a hard floor.

Man Up

2015 - 2.2/5

Never heard of this movie before, but when I saw Simon Pegg on the cover, I was intrigued. Considering I hadn’t heard of it, I’m sure you probably haven’t either, so to fill you in…

A girl and a guy were supposed to meet for a date in a train station. Our main actress ends up standing in that exact spot and on a whim, she decides to go on a date with this guy that thinks she’s someone else. Interesting right? 

I don’t care to write an in-depth review, but I will say that overall, it was a good movie. Nothing that hasn’t been done before (in terms of highs and lows), but a new premise.

Hot Pursuit

2015 - 0.2/5

It’s not like this movie was screaming for me to watch it – it just happened to be one of the very few movies Air Canada had available on my flight that I wouldn’t mind seeing. And it worked to my advantage considering it was the third movie I had watched on the plane and it was about time I needed to turn my brain off.

I do think that Reese Witherspoon was not a good choice for this role; they should have picked a nobody.

Sofia Vergara seems like she was the exact same character she is in Modern Family; loud and obnoxious.

If you’re looking to watch a good movie, this isn’t it. if you’re on a 7 hour (or longer) flight and your eyes need to watch something while your brain is turned off, this isn’t terrible.

Pitch Perfect 2

2015 - 1/5

So usually the 2nd movie in a franchise isn’t as good as the first. Was that the case for this movie? Yes. Yes it was.

The first movie had effortless laughs, whereas this movie, yes, it did have a lot of good chuckles throughout the movie (mainly to do with Rebel Wilson; obviously), but it seemed a bit more forced and it just seemed more noticeable that they were trying to live up to the first movie.

It was good to watch once, especially if you liked the first, but I wouldn’t watch it again.

Aloha

2015 - 0/5

For whatever reason, 5 minutes into this movie I knew I wasn’t going to like it. Yes, I did watch it on a plane, but no, I wasn’t tired. It was the first movie I picked on my 7 hour flight.

I don’t even know how I made it through 30 (or was it 40) minutes of this movie. I guess I was just holding out that it’ll get better and it just didn’t. This movie was supposed to be good: Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone and Rachel McAdams! ...and lets not forget, HAWAII!!!

No. Just no.

True Story

2015 - 1/5

Any time I see a movie with Jonah Hill and James Franco, I want to watch it. This being a dramatic movie that’s based on true events, it went to the top of my list.

After seeing Jonah Hill in Moneyball, I knew he’d nail serious roles; this guys got variety in him. And for whatever reason, I think James Franco was a really good pick for this role. He just seemed to embody his character so well.

It was a really interesting premise, but I have to say that I don’t think it was done as well as it could have. The whole movie stayed pretty level in the sense that there wasn’t much build up to add any suspense.

Overall, the acting was good, but there wasn’t anything about the characters or plot that made this movie stand out.