Hercules (2014) Review

Hercules is ripe with flaws, has a weak cast and an even worse director. There isn't much story at all, but two movie elements make up for, and even outweigh everything that went wrong with Hercules. Those two would be: The Action and the Characters. Let's start with the characters. Notice how I didn't say the action, the characters, and the performances? Yeah, Dwayne Johnson hasn't really gripped what acting is yet, but he can play a kick-a*s hero. John Hurt doesn't succeed at being likeable at first, and isn't evil enough in the end. That actor is pretty good, but he didn't bring any of his talents when filming Hercules. Everyone else, though, did a pretty good job. Especially Ian McShane as the funny guy in an action movie. Funny, not hilarious. The characters were pretty good. The villain were downright awful, Rhesus wasn't evil, intimidating, or skilled in any way. Eurystheus was too short and too cowardly. Cotys was just an annoying b*tch who couldn't do anything right. The protagonists, were much better. It was an action movie with a sense of humor, which I like, and most marvel films are doing that these days, so each character spat out some joke that was decently funny every once in a while. (Except for Hercules).This right away made me like the characters. The characters were mostly well-spoken, especially Ian McShane's, and Atalanta works perfectly as an action heroine. Unlike the villains, the heroes were skilled in battle. Every hero worked together to make awesome action battles, and fantastic killings. Unfortunately, there's no story and meaning to it, but Hercules was extremely fun at the moment. The ending was far from perfect, but it worked. And you know what I'd like to see that would help get criticism away from Hercules: a prequel starring just Dwayne Johnson being in all the myths that were talked about but never (or briefly) shown. And ramp up the action, add in an actual story, get a better cast, replace the director, and make scarier villains. We'll call it Hercules: The Twelve Labors with a release date of July 21, 2017. I'm excited for it.
Movie Rating: B+

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) Review

While Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have great chemistry, and that great chemistry makes the movie extremely entertaining, the movie is too stupid and comedic to be anything close to a hit. The movie is cool, and hot, and is certainly a unique film, but the action isn't pleasing, awesome, or epic. Vince Vaughn is a great co-star, but he really wastes his time with this movie, because the movie switches back and forth between action and comedy, unsuccessfully, and never really chooses one. Vince Vaughn is king of comedy, but he doesn't fit in this way. And the movie has no meaning. It doesn't make you think. It's completely unmemorable. It may be fun while watching it, but there won't be much rewatching or discussions of this film, unlike Liman's other blockbuster action greats: The Bourne Identity and Edge of Tomorrow.
Movie Rating: B-

Inception (2010) Review

Inception is perhaps the smartest action movie ever made. But it's not quite an action movies- is it? Inception can't really decide on what genre it is, so it decides to be many. It works on many levels- as a science-fiction masterpiece, a fantastic mystery that unravels itself as it goes along, a fun, exciting action-thriller, and at some points in the film the acting is so great that it could even be mistaken as drama. I mean, a man trying to forget his wife's death and a son trying to cope with father's death sounds like a drama. The acting is perfect from everyone in the ensemble cast. It's full of Oscar nominees, and hopefully, future Oscar nominees, and it's all made possible by the brilliant Christopher Nolan. The score is brilliant, one of Han Zimmer's best. The ending tops this perfect film off greatly, and after I finally understand this complex film, the only thing I'm left wondering is: Why didn't this win best picture?
Movie Rating: A+

The Fantastic Four Trailer

Honestly, the trailer wasn't too impressive. It was absolutely overloaded with unnecessary narration, and we didn't hear any dialogue. There was no cool action and visuals, but I guess a teaser trailer isn't supposed to reveal much. And while this trailer didn't do much it really changed my mind about the casting of the leads.
Predictions:
IMDB: 7.7
RT: 78
EW: B
Trailer Rating: C+

The Hurt Locker (2009) Review

The Hurt Locker is the stunning War-Drama we came to love in the 21st century. Except war is really a mislabel, it's doesn't have the shootouts, it doesn't have the sadness, and there are never really a lot of people on the screen. But the hurt locker is equally good, perhaps better than those films. The characters are fantastic and interesting, backed by strong performances. The movie is extremely interesting, unlike many other dramas. That's all you need to know about the hurt locker: it's insanely interesting, oh and, the ending is absolutely perfect, like the film itself.
Movie Rating: A+

Titanic (1997) Review

Who hasn't seen James Cameron's Oscar-winning Titanic? Very few of us. So of course, this was another rewatch for me. The quality of the film decreased, but I still enjoyed it. It's interesting at first, but the opening scene drags on for too long. But, it wasn't a huge bother. The first 90 minutes of the film couldn't be more perfect, but there's that next 104 minutes to ruin it for us all. The first 90 minutes had our eyes glued to the screen, loving the good characters and hating the bad, and we're convinced for once that romantic movies aren't terrible. The first problem with the next 104 minutes is that it is 104 minutes. The pace of the movie was perfect, but now for some reason we need to see the sinking of the ship and the ending in 104 mins when it could easily have been 50 minutes. And of course, since the sinking takes that long, we are forced to see repeats of everything and plenty of unnecessary add-ons to make the film longer. It's not completely ruined yet, but it certainly dropped plenty of the magic that the first half had. But, just when I think it can't get much worse, the film ruins itself the way season 6 of Lost did. I can't rewatch Lost, one of my favorite shows, because season 6 ruined everything leading up to it with unnecessary character deaths and none of the fantastic mystery the first 5 seasons had. It's not as tragic as Lost went down, but the Titanic does the same thing: an very unnecessary character death. I also wasn't a big fan of the ending after that.
Movie Rating: B+

Tower Heist (2011) Review

It was that time of year again, well, first time this year to rewatch Tower Heist. It's one of my favorite movies, around 30 in my all-time list, and for no particular reason, I rewatch it much more than any other film in that list. It was just as enjoyable this 8th or 9th rewatch. This was the first time I noticed how dull the first 30 minutes are. Surprisingly, it was the only part of the movie that wasn't filled with sheer ridiculousness, but it was by far the worst part of the film. I didn't laugh once, it wasn't really that entertaining, and I just was waiting for it to be over. Now for most of your who underrate and dislike this film, that was the whole movie experience for you. But not me. After those horrendous 30 minutes the story picks up- with everything in the movie being concerned with the heist. We really start to laugh, meet the characters, and have fun. The heist, although completely ridiculous, is fun and entertaining. Ben Stiller works perfectly as the most serious guy, and the rest of the ensemble cast does their part right, too. The heist stays fun and watchable, and while the ending wasn't what we hoped for, I was just glad we the awesome heist to back the movie up. The bad ending and uneventful start prevent this from being in my top 10 and bring my rating slightly down, but it's still a great film. It's completely rewatchable, and I was sad that it was over. And with a cast this great, and a heist that fun, why haven't we seen a sequel yet? Maybe because a huge percent of sequels are complete failures. Maybe because not many people enjoyed this film at all. Well, I enjoyed the movie thoroughly, and I can still hope for that unlikely sequel. But, if not, there's those rewatches I have to look forward to.
Movie Rating: A

A Walk Among the Tombstones (2014) Review

I had previously seen the Green Hornet. While there were plenty of moments where it was so bad you could laugh at it, I liked the cast, I liked the superhero gadgets, I liked the dialogue, and I had fun. Overall, The green hornet was a good movie. But what am I talking about? This is not a green hornet review. So I'm talking about the only connection between The Green Hornet and A Walk Among the Tombstones (maybe there is two, there are both crime films (kind of)), the actor. I never thought I would see Dan Scanlon return to the big screen in a movie I would watch. The actor's name is David Harbour. Scanlon was so a strange, annoying creep in the Green Hornet, and that's what made him recognizable in this film. I had recently watched the Equalizer, he was in it, I missed him. But that was not his true role, this was. If you thought Dan Scanlon was the biggest creep Harbour would ever play, think again. Harbour brings an all new definition to the word creep with his portrayal of the bad guy in this film. So I'll officially start of this review with my first statement: the villains do a pretty good job. They're cast perfectly, the two of them, and they fit perfectly. The only reason this crime drama was tense, or showing off scary crime was these two characters. Harbour did his role, but it's his partner who is the true killer. He keeps all sorts of nasty devices to kill, cut, or seriously injury his victims. And the basement scene, was very scary for me. Liam Neeson doesn't kick a whole lot of ass in this movie like he usually does, because it's not an action movie. Liam Neeson gets away from his clichéd action garbage for once (some of it is good, though) and takes a more mature turn. The movie isn't totally dark, TJ brought the humor to the film. It also doesn't work too well as mystery, it's more of a crime-drama. The characters are well developed and have plenty of backstory to them. There's enough character deaths, twists, and gory crimes to keep the viewer entertained. The ending wasn't pitch perfect, but at least it was just one of the few flaws the movie seemed to have. A Walk Among the Tombstones topped the other crime movie of the month, The Equalizer (There is The Drop, though, I haven't seen it yet) by great measures, and again, that's because A Walk Among the Tombstones had the guts to go for crime-drama and not crime-mindless action.
Movie Rating: B+

Boyhood (2014) Review

Boyhood was to me as 12 Years a Slave was to me. Both movies that were poised to be good (best picture and all), but ending up being disappointing on a crushing note. The difference, was though, Boyhood was a much bigger disappointment. Unlike 12 Years a Slave, I had not signed on to see Boyhood until I learned of its fabulous ratings. And that was it for me. That was the only reason I had any interest in Boyhood. Maybe they're both adult movies and I need to grow up to like them. I won't know for a few decades. Boyhood started out good, I liked little Mason and the story seemed interesting. Ethan Hawke was spectacular and his character was also likeable. For about 60-90 more minutes into the film, I remained interested. But the last 40 minutes were unbearable. By then, I was bored out of my mind and Mason had turned into an awful, despicable, strange, teen. The story drags on and on, he finally goes to college, and I was just glad it was over. I guess I'm not a drama guy. I wasn't a fan of Schindler's List either. Was it good? Yes, I liked certain parts of it. Was it overrated? Definitely. Was it the best movie of the year? God, no.
Movie Rating: B-

Hotel Rwanda (2004) Review

Hotel Rwanda is moving and violent, but it didn't really hold my attention. The acting is terrific, and the cast is huge, but Hotel Rwanda tries to be the saddest movie ever and fails. It's far too overdramatic, and it's PG-13 rating doesn't make me cry. It's a very solid effort, but it doesn't match blood diamond on any level. (Sorry for the shortened review, I watched this several days ago and I do my reviews better the sooner after I watch it.)
Movie Rating: B

Sophie Okenodo is either a really terrible actress, or she's just ugly.

Minority Report (2002) Review

Tom Cruise seems to be an actor who can do a lot. He still has a few items to add to his resume: play a villain, voice an animated character, and bring his acting to the small screen. He's explored virtually every genre: romance, sci-fi, drama, mystery, thriller, and of course, action. He hasn't met much success in sci-fi. That was until Minority Report. Edge of Tomorrow was successful as well, but his third sci-fi flick, War of the Worlds, fell flat. Edge of Tomorrow has so much action that it's hard to categorize it as only sci-fi, but Minority Report is clearly more of a sci-fi film than action. Sure, it features great action sequences, but it's mystery sci-fi, not action sci-fi. Minority Report starts with an interesting premise, Pre-Crime, and the movie gets a thousand times better when John Anderton is accused of planned murder, and it becomes a fugitive movie. Anderton's new ideas and movies keep us excited, filled with pleasure from great action, and thinking about the mystery of the story. Minority keeps at, never getting slightly boring and always inventing new ideas, and when the mystery gets unraveled at the end, it's the highlight of the movie. Tom Cruise and bald didn't mix well, but Tom Cruise and mystery did.
Movie Rating: A

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014) Review

Jack Ryan had been played by 3 actors in the past. Most would disagree, but I would have to say I liked Chris Pine's portrayal the best. I would also say this movie is a great step in the Jack Ryan Franchise. It wasn't a hit, or even close to that, but it ditched the old formula and improved upon each previous Jack Ryan film. I watched all four Jack Ryan films last summer, and they all greeted me the same way. All four Jack Ryan films bored me out of my mind. (I fell asleep during the Hunt for Red October). Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit starts to do the same, but fortunately it starts to go into the action genre. I was ready to fall asleep up until Jack arrives in Moscow, the first signal that this movie would not be like its prequels.(?) The rest of the movie was filled with an heist, a car chase, and a bomb chase. It was great action, but I'd rather have been in the fun right away.
Movie Rating: B

Punisher: War Zone (2008) Review

Punisher: War Zone is a violent explosion, but it still manages to balance out with other categories the way The Punisher (2004) did. But, it tries far too hard to be a great action and rarely improves upon the original. First, the character really lost a lot. Thomas Jane not only gave a stronger performance, but the new punisher kills everything. Thomas Jane's punisher was more principled and less violent. The other characters dropped in quality, too. The new punisher's friends are much less funny and interesting than Thomas Jane's. And don't even get me started on the villain. John Travolta's Howard Saint wasn't an effective villain because he was likeable and not intimidating, but Dominic West's jigsaw is an absolute joke. You can't understand a word the guy says, and like John Travolta, he's not scary. But he is actually quite funny. The story is much worse, too. We don't get to see Punisher's origin, and he didn't have much of reason for killing anyone in this movie. That made it a little hard to root for him, at least not as much as 2004's punisher. Punisher: War Zone does decent, but you wouldn't expect them to change the winning formula that made The Punisher.
Movie Rating: B

The Punisher (2004) Review

Rarely does a film with awful ratings amaze me. That only seems to be the case with the really bad ones. Just decent ratings I have plenty of likeness towards. Transformers: Age of Extinction and Battleship were the only two terribly rated films I loved. Now I can add The Punisher to that list. It was as poorly reviewed as the other two, but it gained mostly negative acclaim. However, I would disagree with every one who disliked it. The punisher is mislabeled as a marvel superhero movie, it is, but it shouldn't be. The Punisher is nothing alike any of Marvel's greats and that's what makes it so special. It's not your average, clichéd, fun, PG-13 movie. The Punisher gets virtually everything right, and improves upon many R-rated vigilante thrillers. The Punisher, our main character goes on a revenge-fueled attack against the killers of his family. The Punisher is a little smarter than the other violent R films, because he kills for revenge, while in the other vigilante movies they kill for not much reason at all, which creates less mindless stupid action in The Punisher. The action instead, is great. The awesome shootouts, fights, and battles are epic and exciting. The Punisher is a great anti-hero and he makes some awesome kills. On the other end, John Travolta doesn't play his role right. That is, if was supposed to be playing an intimidating, scary, ruthless, evil killer villain. He more comes off as a coward who can only kill when it gets personal and has others do his work for him. I was fine with that though, I found his character likeable. The Punisher also distinguishes itself from other R-action films in other ways. It's not all action. Sometimes, we like all action. The Punisher gets the perfect balance. There's plenty of badass moments where The Punisher is tricking his villain instead of killing them. There's also plenty of comedy between the neighbors, and drama for the family deaths. There is one flaw though, it is a little ridiculous. It's the classic action cliché, The hero survives an impossible amount of damage to his body. He is shot many times, in life-threatening areas, he is burnt, he is beaten, but he is not dead. After a while, I didn't care. The awesome action sequences were enough for me.
Movie Rating: A-

12 Film Adaptations That Really Need To happen

This week, while playing games on my phone, made me think to myself: "This would make a really good movie!". After that, I thought about more apps, books, and true stories that could be great movies. Hence, this list was born.

Apps/Games

Jetpack Joyride

Surely, you've heard of this app by now. I had played it before, but I really became obsessed with it this week. The goal of the game is to get as far as you with a jetpack while dodging various obstacles along the way. There's not enough story to it, so I'd a lot.

The Story: A brilliant but evil inventor builds a type of robot. It becomes very successful, and a group of workers lose their job and are replaced by the robots. Without any jobs available, they decide there isn't much to do. Many other people have been losing their jobs, and some have chosen to end their lives. Our main character, however, takes a different approach. He plans out a very elaborate and genius heist to steal everything from the evil inventor. He finds the right people, and the heist seems to be great. Suddenly, a twist happens. The inventor's company knew about the heist, and every man but the heist planner is killed. Of course, the heist planner is the one in the picture. The heist planner is locked up in a room. He manages to escape and he finds another room full of weapons and inventions.  Here's where the game comes in. After looking around for a while, he finds a jetpack, and starts flying through a system of tunnels that the inventor built for transportation. The security system is tough and it is hard for him to evade. This chase/escape goes on for a while, with plenty of action against the security system. Eventually he is hit by one the lasers, and falls. He seems defeated, but he finds a room full of the powerups. He takes the Little Stomper (Flying Mechanical Suit) and gets further. The exit is completely blocked off: but there is one thing that could smash through it: The Strong Arm Machine (He knows all about it because that's what he worked on). He finds it and starts to head out, when the inventor shows up with a much bigger Strong Arm Machine. He also brings a group of people with powerups. A huge battle ensues, of course, the heist planner winning. He escapes but, in the end, it seems the heist planner will be arrested for destroying property and planning a heist. Fortunately, it turns out the inventor was the one running the whole thing. He had brainwashed some of his workers, and the ones it didn't work on he either fired or ruled them in fear. Everyone is freed and everyone gets their job back. The heist planner is offered he old job back but he declines: taking a new job as a jetpack and other equipment tester: a hero to defend the world.

Rated R, 118 Mins
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Renamed Jetpack, not Jetpack Joyride

Angry Birds Go

If you're an angry birds fan, surely you've heard of this app. Since they're already making a Angry Birds movie, this could be a spinoff. Angry Birds Action turns into Angry Birds racing. Kind of like Turbo.

The Story: Racing tournaments, practice, and a final championship between the birds.

Rated PG, 102 Mins
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Sport

Monopoly

Monopoly, one of the most classic board games ever. But it still hasn't turned into a movie yet.

The Story: 4 rich, smart men compete to be the wealthiest and start to buy business after business. In the end, the least likeable character loses it all and goes to jail and the most likeable character wins it all.

Rated PG-13, 120 Mins
Genre: Comedy, Drama

Nitrome Games

If you haven't heard of this website, you should check it out. It's home to thousands of very unique online web games.

The Story: So many to choose from.

Genre: Varied (Some animated, some not)

Temple Run

 Temple Run movie could be something like Jetpack, except in a much more forested and ancient world. It, of course, would feature epic chases on ancient temples in various places.

PG-13, 134 Mins
Genre: Action, Adventure

Books

Percy Jackson Franchise

The percy Jackson books are awesome, filled with awesome action, relationships, characters, and mythology. They could be the best adaptations ever. Yes, it's already been made. It was terrible and captured none of the greatness the books had to offer. Part of the reason was that it was PG. I could imagine it being R, but Percy Jackson should be PG-13. They would also need to cast a 12-year-old, not an 18-year-old.

PG-13, 141 Mins (Average)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Heroes of Olympus Franchise

The follow up series to Percy Jackson is even better than the original, loaded with tons of action.

PG-13, 167 Mins (Average)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy

The Odyssey Trilogy

The Odyssey isn't really a book, but I didn't want to make a separate section just for poems. I would have the first film be most of the Trojan war. The second film would start with the Trojan war and end with the Cyclops scene. The third film would feature everything else. Of course, it would have to be done perfectly, like Lord of the Rings.

PG-13 (Maybe R), 150 Mins (Average)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Diary of A Wimpy Kid
A comedy franchise upgraded to PG-13 and actually being funny. Maybe famous comedians could play as the teachers. The 2010 attempts failed.

PG-13, 95 Mins
Genre: Comedy

Big Nate

The big Nate franchise is huge, and it's full of funny jokes and character. It would be similar to Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but I personally like it better.

PG-13, 93 Mins
Genre: Comedy

History

American Revolution

There are so many great movies you could make out of this. There are some fascinating stories to tell. And while World War I and II have their movies, and the Civil War made a few, there seems to be nothing about American Revolution.

R (war), 160 Mins
Genre: War, Drama, History

 Natural Disaster

How many disasters have there been? A lot. How many have been made into movies? Not many. A great disaster brings great drama, and great movies. I'm thinking Hurricane or Earthquake.

PG-13, 140 Mins
Genre: Drama, History, Thriller

Caddyshack (1980) Review

Comedy classics seem great, and as soon I heard of caddyshack I added it to my watchlist. How could I refuse Bill Murray and Chevy Chase in a greatly reviewed comedy about golf, which was successful for Happy Gilmore? But now after watching the film, I must say I prefer modern comedies. Caddyshack is one of the weirdest and silliest movies I've seen in a while. Sometimes, that's okay. It has worked before. But, clearly not in Caddyshack. The strange characters and strange behaviors of the characters don't make you laugh, it's more likely to make you question the film. And perhaps, dislike it. Bill Murray has proved himself to be a comedy genius, but he really wastes his time with the movie. He plays the dumbest character out of the bunch, which went away from his smart funny guy formula, he's annoying, and I really which he starred as a gold pro along Chevy Chase. Chevy Chase gives a brilliant performance. For once, he's not stupid as s**t; he's actually smart, and thinks before he acts. The cast of characters is a plethora, and again, it works sometimes. LOTR, MCU, Star Wars, but it's not the right move for most comedies. The huge cast only confuses you. "Is that him? Or is that the other guy? Are they introducing a new character?" I found myself asking these question about characters Lacey and Danny, because they seemed to have interactions with every character in the movie. For a complete screwball comedy, Caddyshack didn't make me laugh much. It seemed like the kind of movie that would keep you laughing weeks after you watched it, but it doesn't.

While Caddyshack is absolutely full of bland, terrible moments, it actually has a few redeeming ones. The scene where Al shows is where most of my laughs came up. Judge succeeds at being a super-mega jerk. And any scene with Chevy Chase is great. Also, the final golf tournament-showdown is the highlight of the movie. We're all eager to see Chevy Chase crush Judge, and we're excited to finally finish off the movie. Caddyshack tries, and has its moments, but Happy Gilmore defeats all the boys at Bushwood by a landslide.

Movie Rating: C+

This was not the right role for Murray.

The Untouchables (1987) Review

The Untouchables is so different from your traditional gangster film. It's not dark, there's no brutal violence, and it's doesn't have the great dialogue of the other gangster films. It feels like the PG version of one the godfather films, but with the cops telling the story. It's like the Captain America: The First Avenger of Marvel Cinematic universe. Old-fashioned and silly. But it worked for Marvel, so it worked greatly in the gangster genre as well. The Untouchables may not have great dialogue, but the characters are just as good as most gangster films. Elliot Ness, Malone, Stone, and Oscar Wallace made a great team. Gangster movies are usually drama-thrillers, but The Untouchables puts the action in gangster. Other movies may features a few shootouts, but the Untouchables tops them all, with perfect, intense, thrilling action sequences. It's not all action, though, it still has the sad drama a gangster film needs. The major deaths are sad and emotional for both the police and the audience. The ending is fairly good, and the only detail they could have done better is Capone. Don't get me wrong, Robert DeNiro is a very talented actor, but the PG style of the movie didn't pay off in this case. Capone comes off as an easy, non-violent, weak villain when he should have been portrayed as the guy you don't want to meet in an alley. When someone says the word gangster, The Untouchables wouldn't be the first pick that would come to your mind. But it would one of the best.
Movie Rating: B+

Forrest Gump (1994) Review

1994 certainly brought us some great movies. We got The Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, and Forrest Gump. While I did like Forrest Gump the least out of the three, it was still a very decent movie. It featured great acting, a great central character, and a great story. But, eventually Forrest Gump loses its steam and basically the whole plot becomes "the amazing things forrest can do". Also, we get tired of Jenny being an annoying jerk and screwing everything up. She didn't deserve that much screen time. 
Movie Rating: B+

January Movie Preview

I know this is a little late into the month to post a preview now, but since I really only post movie and trailer reviews, I wanted to add more features to this blog. So for my first movie month preview, I will list every movie I want to see that is released that month, and give my own prediction, give it a RT prediction, an Imdb prediction, and an EW prediction.

So without further ado, my January Movies

January 9

Taken 3 (PG-13, 109 Minutes)

Taken was the surprisingly action film that was fun, dark, intriguing, and it proved Liam Neeson should still make movies. Taken 2, while I have not seen it, was hated by critics and audience alike. Fortunately, Liam Neeson agreed to be in the third installment "if no one gets taken". That would lose the similarity to second and first, and hopefully end the trilogy on a high notes. The trailers were so different from the previous films that it didn't seem like a sequel, and more of a stand-alone action flick. It seemed ready for success, especially with the addition of Forrest Whitaker in the cast. Unfortunately, Taken 3 got negative critical reviews, and the audience didn't seem to like it much either.
My Prediction (for what i'll rate it when I see it): B

January 16

Blackhat (R, 135 Mins)

Blackhat was originally to be named Cyber, but the name was changed. Before the trailers, it seemed like a good idea. Likeable Australian actor Chris Hemsworth is playing an action hero. It will probably be good. But, Michael Mann is well past his prime, and the trailers were disappointing, awful, and weird.
IMDB: 7.1
RT: 54
EW: B-
My Prediction: C+

 

January 23

Black Sea (R, 115 Mins)

Like Blackhat, all hopes for the movie were ruined by awful trailers. But with Black Sea, the movie seemed better in the first place, and the trailers weren't so bad. When I first heard about this, it seemed great. A fun, action, adventure picture starring Jude Law in submarines. Sign me up! But no, it was more like a dark drama filled with betrayal, and stars an annoying heavily-accented Jude Law with his co-stars of complete losers.

IMDB: 7.2
RT: 68
EW: B
My Prediction: B

 

Mortdecai (R, 106 Mins)

The Mortdecai wa funny, cool, stylish, and it seemed to be great. But, the movie settled on an R-rating which some fans may love, but it takes a lot out of it for me. Now, I predict the movie will some of the following: Nudity, Graphic Violence or A load of F-words. And for many of Rogen's or Franco's or McBride's films that works perfectly, but Johnny Depp's successful brand of humor and character awesomeness lies in the PG-13 genre, as he demonstrated in Pirates of the Caribbean. Sure, it still looks to be a good film, but the R rating will certainly take away from it.

IMDB: 7.3
RT: 79
EW: B+
My Prediction: B+

*Please Note that while I have great interest in Selma, Inherent Vice, and American Sniper, I consider them to be 2014 releases. Also, movies like The Wedding Ringer didn't make the cut because I didn't think they looked good, but there's a chance I will still watch it, depending on the ratings. The same goes for any other January 2015 release that wasn't on this list.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994) Review

While the performances are Oscar-worthy, it's the amazing story and well-developed and fascinating characters that make this movie what it is. From getting his cellmates cold, refreshing beer, to doing all the guard's tax returns to reinventing the library, and playing music for cellmates, everything Andy Dufrense does is absolutely exciting to watch. The story is so brilliant that your fascinated by the intelligence of people, the cruelty of prison life, the great bonds of friendship, and one awesome prison escape. The villain defeat and ending is so satisfying. There's not a single flaw, The Shawshank Redemption gets everything right from start to finish.
Movie Rating: A+

Rain Man (1988) Review

Rain Man is a car trip about two characters.  But that alone wouldn't make the film special. The plot motivator is that they are brothers who have never met and one brother is autistic. And they are played by two well-known and talented actors. So with great casting comes great performances. Rain Man is not short of it with both actors acting just as well as each other. Raymond keeps up watching with his genius skills and his fits. Charlie keeps us watching with his reactions to those. And in certain situations, its movie magic. But it isn't always. The rest of the movie characters are annoying and bring us away from the chemistry between cruise and Hoffman. The only thing the film has going for it is the great chemistry between the leads,  and while its good, it can't make an amazing film. The ending was completely full of disapointment and slightly ruins the car trip. Rain Man is fun and pleasant, but it's not memorable.
Movie Rating: B

 

 

Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) Review

There are at least 100 rated-r comedies per year. Of course, a good 70 percent of them are dismissed for a complete lack of cast and that leaves about 30 movies that you've actually heard. Out of those 30 movies, I'd watch about 8-10 of them. Of those 8-10 movies, I end up liking only 3-4 of them. Hot Tub Time Machine is one the few R-comedies that works. While it's certainly not intelligent, it's not a comedy, it successfully bring sci-fi into he movie, and that bring the unique premise into the movie, making it original and distinguishes itself from extremely stupid comedies with no point to them. With all good comedies, you need good, unique, funny characters. While I liked John Cusack's and Craig Robinson's characters, they seemed like just another comedy character. It's Rob Corrdy's character to the strange funny wacko who drives this comedy. He spits out outrageous lines, and he certainly made us all laugh. The story is extremely interesting, and we're sad to see it all end. And for once, the ending was absolutely perfect. It even sets up a spin-off just for Lou's adventure between the 80's and modern day. I'm hyped for the sequel.
Movie Rating: A-

Ant Man Trailer

The Teaser was absolute sh*t, but it seems 2015 summer action blockbusters make a 15-second teaser for a trailer that comes out a few days after. A trailer for a trailer. Jurassic World did it, and Terminator: Genisys did it. While I was opposed to the idea at first, it seems good now. As for the actual trailer, I liked it. I think Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas will kill it as the action leads. There was too much narration in the trailer, and not enough action or effects. But, I guess I shouldn't take points off that, considering this is only the first trailer. And it looked epic, and I'm almost as excited for Ant-Man as I was for Avengers 2.
Trailer Rating: B+

Air Force One (1997) Review

Air Force One seems to screw every little thing up and becomes leaps and bounds from any other great hijacking movie. Well, it seems so at times. Once Air Force One has your attention, and you're loving the ride it switches to more boring, less fun movie moments, and then your opinion of the film goes down. But, just when you're ready to give up on it, it shows you something great and you like the film again. At least that's what happened for me. For once in my life, I was not satisfied by the casting of Harrison Ford as the action lead. He was too weak, soft, and his performance wasn't very strong either. I feel like Jason Statham or Denzel Washington could have done better in the role. On the antagonist side, it's the only thing the movie gets right. Gary Oldman delivers one of his greatest performances ever, and his villain is terrifyingly great. You could not have asked for a greater action villain. The rest of the cast is well, mediocre. There are too many helpless female characters, which doesn't go well in an action movie, and while I liked the appearance of William H. Macy, it feels like every character but Gary Oldman's needs great improvement. The plot is decent, it's thrilling and fun, but it could have used some more action and a longer story with higher stakes. Also, the theme is too lame and heroic, and the effects are awful. Wolfgang Peterson really doesn't get anything right as a movie director, but he was far from completely striking out with Air Force One. It certainly wasn't a masterpiece, but I enjoyed it.
Movie Rating: B

The Social Network (2010) Review

It's not the great direction or the interesting true story that make this movie great, it's the performances. The person who casted Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, and Armie Hammer to be in a serious true story drama that you wanted to contend in the Oscars surely was making a risky move that must have been criticized at the time. These guys are all far too inexperienced or just plain bad. It seemed like a cast for a mediocre comedy. But it turned out, you don't want those acting legends, you need the young guys for this. And the casting direction ended up making the right choice. The Social Network is one of the very few movies where the lead three performances are great and they completely define their character. Justin Timberlake, known for bad music and even worse acting, actually acts decent for once, in fact, he gave a great performance in making his character an extremely unlikeable jerk. It's hard to rate which of the two lead performances is better, but Andrew Garfield's is certainly more of a breakout. While this could be considered Eisenberg's breakout performance as well, he did have a few decent works before the Social Network. Andrew Garfield was however, a nobody. I could see why people could instantly dismiss the movie because of unknown actors at the time, such as Andrew Garfield, but now they must think, I want to see the Andrew Garfield movie, he acted great in The Social Network. And fortunately, he was able to get another great role, Spider-Man, where the films may have dropped in quality, but the lead actor was much, much better than Sam Raimi's original trilogy. The only real crime about the Social Network is that Andrew Garfield didn't get the Best Supporting Actor Oscar Nomination he so profoundly deserved. And I was thinking the other night, The Dark Knight is the only perfect film that gets every little detail right, but The Social Network may very well fit that criteria.
Movie Rating: A

The Maze Runner (2014) Review

The Maze Runner seems to be the new movie to attempt a franchise out of several books. The Hunger Games started in 2012, The Hobbit started later that year, and Divergent started last year in March of 2014. There are ones that didn't work at all, like Narnia, but some come out greatly, like Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. So far, I think, The Hunger Games franchise is decent, Divergent franchise is awful, Hobbit franchise is very good but has it's flaws, and the Maze Runner seems to be only one to get the first movie completely right. Now I haven't read the book, so I don't know which one was better, but The Maze Runner impressed me. Unlike the others, The Maze Runner has an extremely weak cast, with me knowing zero actors in this movie. But, they all acted pretty well and this franchise could be their breakout. The movie is like a great mystery: you have no idea what's going on, more and more clues are added, and eventually a vast Maze Runner universe of characters, monsters, and stories starts to unfold. While it could use more action, it's thrilling enough to please and the end prepared me perfectly to want to watch the sequel.
Movie Rating: B+

The Last Samurai (2003) Review

The Last Samurai seems like a remake of the 1990 western Dances with Wolves. A Japanese remake, I would add. They are similar films, except Dances with Wolves is solely about culture and relationships, but the Last Samurai goes a step ahead and dares to put it action, battles, and sadness. The Last Samurai is well acted, well directed, and certainly shows its audience to respect samurai culture. The Last Samurai can be boring at parts, but it makes up for it with good acting, impressive action sequences, and heartfelt moments between Algren and the Samurai. It would have been a successful remake.
Movie Rating: B+

The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies (2014) Review

The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies is great at times, but is ultimately not the conclusion we hoped for. The actual battle is breathtaking, exciting, long, and certainly deserves a place in the greatest battles of the Tolkien saga, but it's all the hobbit conclusion has to offer. As suggested by the trailer the movie was much darker than it's prequels, which wiped out an humor from the film. The movie is also too short, and lacks the adventure of the other hobbit films, which really defined those ones. Without adventure and humor, Hobbit 3 isn't a fun, feel-good blockbuster that it should have been, and while it is a good movie, it misses too much and is certainly the worst middle-earth has to offer. Middle-Earth films can't settle for good when audience expects greatness out of them.
Movie Rating: B+

Also, some characters lost great amounts of screen time.