Dances with Wolves (1990) Review

Dances with Wolves is epic in many ways, but certainly didn't not deserve top honors of 1990 over goodfellas. While the relationships in this movie is everything, there really needed to be more action and excitement. The plot and characters were good, and surprisingly, I was fine with the 181 minute runtime, but it is too slow at certain and would benefit greatly from action between Indians and Indians, or Indians and Soldiers. Goodfellas should have taken home the Oscars, not Dances with Wolves.
Movie Rating: B+

This film is very similar to The Last Samurai.

The Equalizer (2014) Review

The Equalizer is like the bad sequel to Man of Fire. They both star Denzel Washington as a badass vigilante who kills literally everyone to save a girl. The difference is the location and the villains. And the quality. The Equalizer seems good at first with it's thrilling plot and great action, but eventually you realize that it's just another mindless action picture. It's unoriginal. It's borrows so many action clichés, and takes original ideas from other action movies. Denzel Washington's great performance and his great character distinguish this from the garbage Stallone and Statham are making nowadays, but it doesn't quite reach the greatness of Taken, Man on Fire, or The Bourne Ultimatum. It's not as bad as some critics say, but it's a movie that really didn't need to be released.
Movie Rating: B-

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) Review

In many ways How to Train Your Dragon 2 improves and expands upon the original. The great cast returns, and even is strengthened by Cate Blanchett, Djimon Honsou, and Kit Harrington. The characters have become even greater. A villain is introduced, something the first movie didn't really have, and he's a great one at that. The action and adventure is much greater, and it's so good it could be the best action animated film. Like all sequels should, How to Train Your Dragon 2 tries to be original from it's prequel, and it is. But, it's totally different and strays too far from the original movie, and doing so, it loses what made How to Train Your Dragon so great, it's heart and emotion. How to Train Your Dragon 2 is too concerned with it's action, adventure, and originality that it forgets to add heart and emotion into the film, which separates it from animated greats. How to Train Your Dragon 2 comes close to perfect, but unfortunately, it forgets the main ingredient.
Movie Rating: B

Hiccup's Character improves so much in the sequel

How to Train Your Dragon (2010) Review

Disney seems to have all the animated greats, but occasionally DreamWorks Animation creates something just as good, or even better. How to Train Your Dragon is a great example of a modern DreamWorks great. The cast is great, the animation is perfect, the characters are fun, it's full of action and adventure, it's emotional, and of course, it's family-friendly. It's also unique and original, and DreamWorks doesn't produce something like this everyday.
Movie Rating: B+

Open Range (2003) Review

Open Range is a perfect example of a great modern Western. It doesn't outdo 3:10 to Yuma, but it's certainly a quality movie. I never realized how great of an actor Kevin Costner is. I don't see many of his movies, and he seems to be one of those actors who used to be good, but everything new falls flat. Not quite to the extent of Nicolas Cage, who makes terrible movies these days, but Kevin Costner doesn't seem to have the magic he did earlier on. Sure, Robert Duvall is great in the movie as well, but his performance is overshadowed by Costner's performance. Everyone's performance comes together perfectly and makes great characters, especially Costner as the badass action hero. The plot is perfect, tension and tension builds between the two sides for along time, and it all leads up to the one of the most epic shootouts in movie history. Costner not only acted well, he proves he's a actor-director bargain, and movie was a great set-up for a movie I've been wanting to see for a long time, Costner's true Western masterpiece, Dances with Wolves.
Movie Rating: A-

The Proposition (2006) Review

The Proposition is missing every element that a great western has. It falls flat on every level. But instead of just being mediocre, it has to put in all the things that make a movie terrible. On Imdb the description is "A lawman apprehends a notorious outlaw and gives him nine days to kill his older brother, or else they'll execute his younger brother." Now that sounds like a good movie. But, it isn't like that. First of all, the characters are terrible. Guy Pearce isn't the badass hero he should be. I don't care at all what happens to his whining, annoying younger brother. His other brother isn't the badass villain I expected. And his sidekick is extremely annoying. The movie takes time to focus on John Hurt, which usually is a good thing, but not when he's playing Jellon Lamb, who can't stop shouting terrible dialogue and ruining modern westerns. Ray Winstone gets it right though, he plays the misunderstood police captain, and I'd side with him. Out of all the lousy, half-assed performances by too many unknown actors and miscast actors, Ray Winstone is the only one who was any good. His wife is also annoying, and I'd rather see her die than listen to her complain for the rest of the movie.

Second of all, there is no action. In other westerns, we are treated to epic gunfights, brawls, and even a simple shot in the head. A few bullets move, but most of the movie is spent on the awful characters that we can't bear to see. This makes the movie boring. Lastly, there really is no plot. Or a really simple plot. Or a very unexciting plot. On the way to kill his older brother, Guy Pearce encounters nothing to move the plot forward. Sure, it moves forward at the end, but we're bored out of our minds by then. It's unoriginal, terribly acted, miscast, no fun, and a really awful movie.
Movie Rating: D

My Top 10 Films of 2014

My Top 10 of 2014

Honorable Mentions- Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Hercules, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Transformers: Age of Extinction

10. Non-Stop

Non-Stop was a fast-paced, enjoyable, thrilling mystery that successfully brought Liam Neeson back into the Action Genre.

9. Million Dollar Arm

Million Dollar Arm was a surprise. A great Disney sports movie? Yes, it is. It’s very entertaining to watch, filled with talented actors, and you couldn’t be happier with the ending. Also, McFarland, USA looks to be even better.

8. Chef

While I disliked another May 9^th release, Neighbors, for its inappropriate and disgustingly boring comedy, Chef was a much more mature film. While it is certainly funny at time, Chef is much more than just another comedy, it’s an entertaining ride with human emotions.

7. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has a brilliant cast, but it’s Andy Serkis as Caesar the Ape who steals the show. It’s full of great human drama, entertaining, and a great action-packed finale.

6. Edge of Tomorrow

No one saw this one coming. Tom Cruise, who has failed to make a decent film since Mission: Impossible- Ghost Protocol, is trying out another sci-film despite having a huge flop in the sci-fi genre. And it looked terrible, too. But, it’s smart, funny, and offers fantastic action with great effects. It’s an awesome ride, and it tops Groundhog Day in every possible way.

5. X-Men: Days of Future Past

To me, X-Men: Days of Future Past was a disappointment. I expected the best of the best of the best, but honestly, I still like X-Men: First Class and many other marvel films better. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great movie. The characters are entertaining to watch as usual, and the action-packed scenes are awesome.

4. Snowpiercer

If you’re reading this list, you thinking “What? That doesn’t belong here!” But the reason Snowpiercer isn’t a beloved film is not because it’s bad, but because no one has seen it. Actually, it’s the opposite of bad, it’s fantastic. Snowpiercer offers great action and great effects, much better than many films of 2014. The characters are awesome, and it is irresistibly entertaining. The end could have been better, but the film is a masterpiece that unfortunately many haven’t seen.

3. Guardians of the Galaxy

Like Edge of Tomorrow, no one saw this film coming. It’s amazing. The performances are great which makes even greater characters. It works as an action movie, and adventure movie, and a comedy.

2. 22 Jump Street

22 Jump Street was the hilarious film of the year that gets better and better, funnier and funnier, and tops the already-great 21 Jump Street.

1.       Horrible Bosses 2

Like 22 Jump Street, Horrible Bosses 2 doesn’t start out strong, but quickly manages to become great. Also like 22 jump street, it manages to be completely unique and standalone while being extremely similar to the prequel.

(I have not seen How to Train Your Dragon 2, Boyhood, The Drop, The Maze Runner, A Walk Among the Tombstones, The Equalizer, Gone Girl, Alexander(…), Kill the Messenger, The Judge, Whiplash, Fury, Birdman, John Wick, Nightcrawler, Interstellar, Foxcatcher, The Imitation Game, Exodus: Gods and Kings, The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies, Top Five, Big Eyes, American Sniper, The Cobbler, Selma, Inherent Vice, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Unbroken, or The Interview)

(I will remake this after seeing those films)