White House Down 3/10 Came on TV and before I knew it I was sucked in and felt obliged to finish it. Had some fleeting moments here and there where it embraced its hokeyness and over-the-top ridiculousness. But they were too few. Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx can be funny; let them be funny. The movie should have been more fun / light-hearted instead of forcing lame, usual story lines like father-daughter bond. To all those making films out there, I implore you: embrace who you are. Don't try to be something you're not.
I should also mention: The Act of Killing - 8.5/10 - This is the strangest movie I have ever seen, and I have watched a lot of Miike films, including Visitor Q... Check out this documentary. It is absolutely crazy. It's about the extermination of "communists" in Indonesia in 1965-66 and the main characters in the documentary are the killers themselves. The documentary consists of the filmmaker working with them to make a different "Hollywood" type film about the killings, which the killers themselves act in. Let's just say it gets quite bizarre. It's executive produced by Herzog (many great films and docs) and Errol Morris (Fog of War). Here's an interesting article about the movie (with spoilers): http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/...onesia_s_mass_killings_could_have_slowed.html
Turbo Kid - 9/10 I really had no idea what this movie was about going into it other than several people I know telling me it was a must-watch. If you're a fan of cheesy b-movies like the old Troma films/Toxic Avenger, you'll really dig this. It's currently on Netflix.
Pandas the Journey Home 3D: There is only one highlight in this worth seeing, and that is when the men dress themselves up as Pandas to do covert movements amongst the real pandas in the jungle. It is laugh out loud funny to see. The rest of the movie is boring, but informative. I'd give it a 5/10
Fury Road- 3/10. I know people loved it but it was a humongous meh for me. Too cartoony and the bad guys looked stupid. Charlie Theron and Hardy were good though. John Wick- 9/10. Wow, this was awesome. Stylish and funny. Can't wait for the follow-up.
Glen Campbell I'll Be Me - 8/10. Documentary about his life with Alzheimer's disease and going on tour.
Deadpool 9/10 Great to see a superhero movie that doesn't take itself too seriously, yet doesn't stray away from its roots! Rated R superhero movies should be a new thing. Meet The Patels - 8.5/10 It was a good documentary about Indian heritage specifically about marriage. Very interesting, and I found a lot of it to be relatable from an arab perspective.
The Big Short: 7.5/10 I work in the financial services industry and actually worked for a Goldman Sachs subsidiary in 2008, so this movie was particularly interesting to me. I thought Steve Carell was fantastic... my favorite performance in a movie full of really good performances. Spotlight: 9.5/10 A modern day version of All the President's Men. I love a good journalism movie, and this was excellent... deliberately paced with excellent, understated performances (i.e. no bad, schlocky Boston accents). Loved Ruffalo in this. I'm cramming for the Oscars. I've seen Mad Max (LOVED!) and The Martian (liked.). Tonight through Sunday I have the following planned: Steve Jobs, Creed, Trumbo, and The Revenant. I'm crestfallen that I haven't seen the Hateful Eight and missed the "roadshow" cut.
8/10 is about right, maybe 7.5/10. The first half is so gut/heart wrenching and then it gets to the emotional/psychological effects of the situation, which is needed but strains the movie as it kind of drags on for me. Still recommend and its crazy to think but actual stuff like this happens every day.
You have terrible taste in movies. The Imposter - very good 2012 documentary about a really weird story
This was recommended to me. Shut it off after 10 minutes. I don't want re-enactments in my documentaries. That's amateur hour, IMO.
Creed: 8/10 Great performance from Stallone and the lead. Stallone should win something for carrying this movie along. Loved it. Carried me all the way to the end, but seemed like some of the story connectors should have been rewritten. I liked Stallone dealing with his own mortality, because he was powerful in those moments, but didn't really care to see him in the hospital with IV's and training Creed there. Real. but took away from the character. Didn't really think that Creed would have hit that performer over his name even carrying the weight of it. And the ending was a little too familiar, but given there are only two possible endings, what you gonna do anyway. Walking up the steps was a great way to close to it, but really wanted Rocky to raise his hands in the air to seal it. The fight scenes were modern and although I think the original Rockys did a much more effective job, I thought they delivered a new experience. I think they should have given a little more character arc to the #1 boxer too. Not sure I fed into the bikers riding along with Creed, but it was different. So a few critiques, but I did love the movie overall. They brought the movie along emotionally, and the characters were believable, honest, and was able to root for them all.
Star Wars: 4/10 Yikes. They just repeated the same exact story with the original characters' offspring? Why? And packed too much stuff into it to make sure they have enough spin-offs. Fell flat. I liked Finn and Rey though, so at least it's set up well for the future.
