Movie Review: American Beauty (1999)

I think Kevin Spacey may literally be one of the most successful people on the planet. Between The Usual Suspects and Housr of Cards, Spacey has established himself as a great actor over several decades. American Beauty is a 1999 movie that reeks of symbolism, but also has a great story. One visual motif that occurs frequently is the the illusion of falling roses. There are theories about what it means, and that's the reason why I like this movie. It's not a straightforward movie, it makes you think. The plot revolves around this guy played by Spacey. He falls out of love with his wife, and he becomes attracted to his daughters high school friend. This has to be one of my favorite movies of all time. The story is so edgy, it's like a more modern version of The Graduate. Just more edgier than Graduate. This movie definitely is a strange look on society and relationships. The whole theme of the movie is love, but whenever love is shown, it's usually in a dark light. The movie sort of contradicts itself in that way. Every performance in this movie is excellent. Whenever Spacey is struggling in any aspect of his life, we root for him. He's not the best dude ever, but he has you rooting for him in the end. Overall, American Beauty is a great movie that excels at making themes like love, come alive with symbolism on the big screen. Three stars.

Movie Review: The Matrix (1999)

Happy Oscars! The Oscars have to be one of my favorite annual television events. OK, so in light of the night where great new movies get recognized. I want to review a movie that's great, but slightly older. Now that's not saying that 1999 is a long time ago, because folks, it really wasn't. The Matrix is one of those science fiction movies that comes around only once in a while. It has really logical ideas that make sense, or should we call them theories? However, it also makes the viewer feel really inspired to think about things a different way. The movie stars Keanu Reeves as this guy Neo. He's this computer hacker dude who is swept away by this girl named Trinity. Trinity then brings Neo to this guy named Morpheus who's played by Lawrence Fishbourne. He says "take the blue pill, or take the red pill", that might not be an accurate quote btw. Morpheus then tells Neo that the world that we are living in, our world, is a lie. Yeah, deep stuff. Now we have our movie. So the way that Neo comes to believe this, is for this guy to free his mind. Free his mind, so he can see the real world. When Neo's mind is eventually freed from the lie, he realizes that the true world is one of destruction. These machines are taking over and controlling the entire planet earth. The theory behind the false world is called The Matrix, it's the idea that our world is just a computer program used to shield us from the horrors of the real world. It's complicated material. That's why I think some people don't always appreciate how excellent of a flick this is. When you watch a movie, you are doing it to usually decompress and have down time, not to watch something that will test your ability to understand an intricately created storyline. The Matrix has to be one of those movies. It's really thought provoking. I love movies that do that to the audience. They want to make the viewer appreciate what's on screen, and so they use an original story to do so. The visuals in this movie are extremely impressive. The whole technique with the actual Matrix program is so impressive. Overall, The Matrix impresses in all the right areas, and also gives the watcher of this movie an interesting theory to contemplate way longer than the movie itself is. Three stars.

Movie Review: The Thing (1982)

I just saw this movie recently on TV. The Thing is one of those eighties horror movies that relies on suspenseful music, and groundbreaking special effects. Groundbreaking for the time of course. The Thing focuses on a group of dudes who are hanging out in the Artic. All of a sudden, one of the guys finds a strange organism while roaming outdoors. Therefore, setting off an alien that goes inside each of the members and takes over their personas. Yes, this movie is very close to the movie Alien. Now don't get me wrong, I loved Alien, and I love this movie. However, the plot is almost so similiar, you wonder how this was even made with the Alien franchise at the height of it's fame. This has to be one of my favorite horror movies, it has everything that a good horror film should have. It has really good scenes. The husky's face splitting open, that was awesome for the time, and I really enjoyed seeing it in 2015. The beginning of the movie is really interesting because it doesn't really make sense until we get into the movie's storyline. The first scene is great because it has a missing piece that we don't fully understand until later. I like when movies do that. Kind of like in Sorcerer's Stone, we don't know that Professor Quirell is Voldemort the whole time, at least not until the end of the movie. The Thing is also really interesting because of the way it tries to scare the viewer. Before the dog goes goodbye, it doesn't bark or behave like a dog. For a while, the dog just walks around silently and doesn't react to anything, it really freaked me out. Then you start getting the idea. Also, I know I just gave away some of the movie here, but a movie made in the 80s isn't going to be a big deal if it's spilled. Overall, The Thing excels in it's genre by using special groundbreaking effects, good scares, and an overall sense of suspense and mystery. A three star horror flick.

Movie Review: The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

Going into Cabin in the Woods, I didn't know for the longest time, that this movie is a comedy. I mean yeah, it has horror elements in it, but it combines black comedy within the mass of creepy stuff. I saw on Rotten Tomatoes this movie got a 91% for a rating. I see where that comes from, the movie is really interesting, and has a twist ending. However, this movie has some parts that just seem so cliche for horror cinema. There is a scene where these kids find this diary type thing, it documents a young girl who has been tortured. Then, you guessed it, ghosts start coming into the house and messing with things. OK, so the movie revolves around these five friends who all go on this trip to a cabin in the woods. This movie title is literal, everything in this film is straightforward, until the end. I'm not really going to reveal how this movie ends, but I will say that it's worth watching a second time. This movie has some real scares in it, but it isn't always consistent throughout the story. There would be one really scary scene, and then it would switch over to an action sequence. Then so on and so forth, exc. The movie is basically just kids getting murdered one-by-one at this cabin. There is a whole other level of this movie, it leads to the spoiler, but this isn't your standard slasher film. Yeah, there is comedy in this movie, it's very dark. Humorous, kind of like the last two Evil Dead movies, there is horror mixed with some funny parts. This movie was really fun to watch because the scares were fun to be surprised by. They were scary, but sometimes it was fun to see what the next creature to emerge would be. I really liked that part, the acting in this movie is standard horror movie work. Nothing wrong with that, just people running around and panicking. Liam Hemsworth is in this movie, his role could have been way bigger in my mind, we are speaking of Thor here. He has a good rap. Overall, twists and turns make up this intricate horror movie, that is filled with mystery and suspense. Three stars.

Movie Review: Shutter Island (2010)

I just realized something. Every few movies that come nowadays, involve mental asylums, mental issues, and people losing it. Mentality is an important piece of film, great stories have emerged from that subject. Shutter Island is one of those movies, it's chilling, but it offers an interesting POV into the lives of mental patients. It's about a marine played by Leonardo Dicaprio, he has to go to this asylum on the Boston harbor islands, to investigate the escape of a convicted murderer. That's the description of this movie online, but that's really only the first hour of this two and a half hour fest. This movie then takes a huge twist, and it becomes completely unpredictable and predictable at the same time. Predictable, because once you hear the first twist, you can kind of see where this movie is going to go. On the other hand, the ending of this movie is so shocking, that I wouldn't have seen it coming for a while. This movie is really fun because of the twists and turns. Half the fun is sitting there and guessing what the next scene will bring to the movie. This movie in parts feels like your watching an episode of Twilight Zone. I used to watch that show all the time, which made me enjoy this fillm that much more. Overall, Shutter Island is a disturbing, yet well acted and very entertaining film. Three stars.

Movie Review: The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

Wes Anderson is a genius. Yeah, that's how I'm going to begin this very review. I love Wes, because he is so artistic and symbolic, but he also doesn't let that take away from a really good story. Abstract isn't always a  good thing. Grand Budapest Hotel definitely is an abstract film, it also has a really good story at it's center. The film centers around an author who comes to speak with an employee at this exotic hotel. The hotel is very isolated, located at the top of a mountain, away from what seems like most of society. The employee then retells the story of his early days at the hotel. He is played by Ralph Fiennes, the acting from him in this movie is so unbelieveable, that you wonder why he doesn't just always win best actor. He is such a genius, he can delve into the mind of a fictional character. The story then runs that Fiennes has to team up with this bellboy, and ends up being involved with a prison break. This movie works for really two main reasons. 1) The narration. When a narrator speaks in a film, he always offers a POV from a different time. This movie excels at doing that, the narrator speaks his mind from the present, and goes back to the past. 2) The set designs. Everything that this movie uses as a background works really well with the story. The hotel has a really good look to itself. The cinematography is also really excellent in this movie, it doesn't really use it for symbolism, but being attractive is not a bad thing for a movie. Overall, The Grand Budapest Hotel is a great film that offers a great story, told with a fancied up style. Three stars.

Movie Review: High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008)

High School Musical 3: Senior Year, is the last installment in the High School Musical movie series. The only difference, is that this time, High School Musical gets a theatrical release. The first two High School Musical movies aired on the Disney Channel, so they had the cliches that a TV movie have. The first problem was the writing, the dialogue could've been improved on. The other issue with the first two was pace, there really isn't a lot of moving around in the first two HSM movies. Most of the scenes take place within the same location, not a bad thing, but the story doesn't have variety in settings. The good news is this: HSM 3 doesn't do any of those things, because it is a feature film. Now, when I first heard about this movie coming out years ago on television, I didn't know if it would work. HSM was a television franchise/success, so giving it a feature movie on the big screen might not work out. The actors and actresses are trained for the tube, not to be in movies that people have to leave their houses and go see. Anyway, HSM 3: Senior Year explores the lives of the main cast as they prepare (and graduate) from high school.  Troy (Zach Efron), doesn't want to leave Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens). Sharpay (Ashley Tishdale), finds conflict with another new student. What works really well about this movie is the music. It's obvious that people often watched the first films to listen to the talented music, those were alright, but this is the best music in the whole series. Every number I liked in different ways, it really offered us an insight into the lives of these kids. Stress alert people. The actress who really applied all their effort to this role was Ashley Tishdale. I liked her role as Sharpay because she plays the typical "Popular Blonde" at the High School. Is there a weak point? Not really, the good singing, good acting, and most of all the heart, is what makes this film really enjoyable. This movie delves way deeper into emotions than the first films did. Not dissing the first installments, but this one is what the franchise is all about. Great movie. Three Stars.

Indiana Jones 5! Without Harrison Ford?

Everyone's been so caught up with Disney taking Star Wars, that people are forgetting the fact that Walt Disney Pictures also gained Indiana Jones as part of the deal that was made between them and LucasFilms. So, I conducted a web search of Indiana Jones 5. What I saw blew me away. Harrison Ford may be replaced by Chris Pratt in the new Disney owned Jones films. Now this does make logical sense, Harrison Ford is getting a little older, and he probably isn't up to doing stunts like he did in the four original films. I was even surprised he returned for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It also makes logical sense that Chris Pratt would be taking this big of a role. He is the star of the new Jurassic World movie that comes out this spring, he is going to be a really famous guy once that comes out, whether it's well received or not. Is this a good possible way to go? I think we should give him a chance, I mean he doesn't reek of bad acting, he was the lead of Guardians of the Galaxy. I mean yes, no one can do what Harrison did with is movie franchise, but Chris Pratt can revive them. Batman certainly wasn't played by the same actor, and most of those films were alright. Overall, If Chris Pratt replacing Ford as Jones is what's going to happen to these movies, then I say go ahead and let's do it.

What I'm hoping to see, in Spongebob: Sponge out of Water

Ok, so this weekend is the opening of the Spongebob: Sponge out of Water. Now when I first heard about   this movie, I heard that it was supposed to be a direct sequel to the first movie, which was released in 2004. However, when I saw the trailers, I started thinking otherwise. I mean yes, it can be considered a sequel to the first Spongebob film because there haven't been any other theatrical releases in between. On the other hand, the previews didn't seem to show any ties to the original films story. Now don't get me wrong, I am super pumped for this film. The whole storyline with the pirate is alright, but the thing I really want to see is the SpongeBob cast going all Avengers. There is a segment where the main duo all turn into superheroes, it literally seems like a copy of The Avengers. Maybe there could be a third film with the whole group as their superhero identities. That would rock, I'd pay to see stuff like that. The only question is this, why did they decide to use cgi with this movie? They would have been capable of it in 2004, and now there is the interest, I mean, the first film could have encompassed both of these elements a make an awesome film. Is there anything I want to see in this movie? Just one thing, I would love it if Larry the  Lobster went with the trio and became a cgi superdude. He's one of my favorite characters, and having him join the main cast on the show would be a great idea. I'm really pumped for this one. Definitely will land on my list of reviews to come soon.

Movie Review: Annabelle (2014)

Let's make another Chucky movie. Although, instead of using the doll from Child's Play, we will use the doll that was only a small portion of the movie The Conjuring. That is essentially what Annabelle is, it's a horror movie that is really cliche. It basically follows this couple, the husband buys his wife this doll because it's supposed to be a gift for her (because she is having a baby). The doll is this really creepy one named Annabelle. Although, they actually don't refer to the doll as having a name throughout the entire film, so that is just our prior knowledge. Anyway, things start happening and the movie starts becoming really unrealistic really quickly. There literally is a scene where the wife is cornered by the girl who was murdered, that possessed the doll. Then the wife needs assistance because she gets injured. That's OK for a horror movie, but everyone else (including her husband) acts like the whole thing is no big deal. There like: It's OK, it's just the pregnancy doing it's thing. This movie suffers from a lot of things, but I'm going to mention only a few things. The first thing that this movie really has problems with is engaging the audience into the movie. This movie runs at a really slow pace and the story is very predictable from the first one or two scenes. You can literally tell what's going to happen next, and then that very thing occurs in the film. The other thing that this movie kind of missed is actually providing solid scares. There are one or two, maybe three scenes that are a bit scary, but nothing even comes close to that of The Conjuring. I liked The Conjuring because it provided solid scares from the beginning to the end. With Conjuring you never felt safe watching it. You never knew what was going to pop up. However, Annabelle copies this, and only some of the scenes are scary. It tries too hard to be suspensful. The acting from the husband and wife is acceptable, the person who plays the bookstore owner is really good in this movie. In fact, she is talented. A good thing is making the doll creepy. Yes, that's essential to the film. In order to make a successful horror flick, you have to make the creature scary. Annabelle is pretty dark. Overall, it's not a horrible flick, but it does have a scene at the end where the wife states that she hopes whoever gets the doll next won't experience the hauntings that they did. Setting it up for The Conjuring later on, I like that part of this movie. Two stars.

Movie Review: Casablanca (1942)

This may be, and probably will be one of the oldest movies I will ever review. I picked this movie because it is literally one of the best films ever made. It has everything, good acting, good storyline, and great quotes. After you see this movie the last line will stick with you forever, it literally is one of the most memorable quotes in any movie ever. Casablanca tells the story of Rick. He's played by Humprhey Bogart who was famous in the forties. He runs this club in Casablanca which is in Morocco. He has everything there, by everything I mean the place is like culture shock. Every culture is partying in there and just having fun. Then Ricks former girlfriend who broke his heart walks into the club with her new partner named Victor. Ilsa and Victor are secretly trying to escape to America and need someone to help them. Then Rick has to decide whether or not to help them given his relations with Ilsa. The acting in this movie is some of the best, it isn't even classified as acting anymore, it's just being another person. The soundtrack is performed by the people on screen, that also rocks. Honestly, there's really nothing bad about this movie. To quote Bogart:" I think this is going to be the beginning of a great friendship." Three stars.