Here are a 1,001 things I liked about this film in natural succession.
1,001: Just kidding, although if you gave me enough time I could name at least a couple of hundred things I liked about The Hunger Games. The first thing I've got to say is that it was intense. I don't sit on the edge of my seat for most movies and when I do it's usually because I have to go to the bathroom. But my goodness this movie just pulls you in and keeps you going throughout. All of the acting was exquisite. This is the part where I usually talk about each actor I liked, but if I did that you'd die of starvation before you finished reading. I'm only going to mention the lead actress and that's only because I liked her character more in the movie than I have from the parts that I've read in book. (I've only actually read up to the part where Katniss trains for the games.)
Second thing I can mention is the directing. I have to mention the directing here because it was some of the finest directing I've seen in a movie. Granted, the movie had odd directing at one or two moments, but when it was good it was great and it was 98% good directing. *SPOILER* The scene where Rue dies, it made me question life and death, it was all sorts of powerful and moving. *END SPOILER*
The final thing I feel I should bring up in this review is the weird controversy surrounding the casting of this film. Apparently people got really racist over the casting of the characters Rue and Cinna as black people, because they didn't view the characters to be dark skinned. I think this is some weird marketing strategy and the whole thing is set up. One of the things you'll hear is that they're pretty much described as African American in the book. Rue has "satiny brown skin," that's a direct quote, google search that for second and laugh at the stupidity of people who apparently don't know what satiny brown looks like. Either way, both actors did extremely well, freaken Lenny Kravitz played Cinna. Yes, THE Lenny "I'll make you wet with my words when I sing to you" Kravitz.
Anyways, that's all I've really got say. I give this movie an A++, see it, even if you haven't read the book. Or at least read up to Chapter 5 to get the gist of what you need to know about weird things like what the hell a Mockingjay is. In fact, I'm afraid to read the sequels because I don't want them to spoil the movies! It may just be my opinion, but I think the movie may just be better than the book, I'll let you know when I finish reading it. Thank you for reading this, enjoy your day, and may the odds be ever in your favor.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
Movie Review: 21 Jump Street
Who would have thought that Channing Tatum could be funny? Not to sound like I'm typcasting him, hollywood's doing a good job of that. He typically gets cast as the boyfriend role in a romance. It is for this reason that 21 Jump Street will blow your mind, and your wallet, 'cause you're gonna wanna see it over and over again.
For those of us who were not alive in the 80's, 21 Jump Street is about some young looking cops who go undercover at high schools to do things like drug busts and whatnot. The original 21 Jump was taken seriously as a drama. But in the same nature as Starsky and Hutch and The Dukes of Hazzard, serious shit from back in the day gets made into a comedy film. So lets talk about what makes this funny, we'll start with the acting of course.
I mentioned Channing Tatum already, but I didn't mention that he's the funniest one in the movie. Which isn't an insult to Jonah but a compliment to Channing, he was hilarious, I laughed the most during his scenes. That being said, Jonah Hill isn't that bad either, he just plays the character like typical Jonah Hill. Ice Cube did the same thing, he played Ice Cube. But the two are known for comedy and some people like them, the rest should see 21 Jump for Tatum. You shoul also see it for Ellie Kemper, who you may know as Erin from the Office, she also did a few things for the guys at Derrick Comedy... she was also born in Kansas City, I think I'm in love. One last thing, James Franco's younger brother is in this film and now that I know they're related, I can totally see the family resemblance, see if you can spot which role he plays when/if you see it.
I don't want to mention the two directors specifically, 'cause they're jack of all trades who have done a bunch of stuff across hollywood. So I'll just say that the directing and writing was great, there was comedy, action, and comedy-action.
Looks like this review was mostly about the acting, so I'll just leave you with a few positive comments. This movie is funny in many different kinds of ways and is all around good movie to see. I can't guarantee you'll enjoy it, but I can assume you probably will. That being said I give this movie an A+, best comedy of 2012 thus far, if you see it, take me with you, I'd like to see it again.
For those of us who were not alive in the 80's, 21 Jump Street is about some young looking cops who go undercover at high schools to do things like drug busts and whatnot. The original 21 Jump was taken seriously as a drama. But in the same nature as Starsky and Hutch and The Dukes of Hazzard, serious shit from back in the day gets made into a comedy film. So lets talk about what makes this funny, we'll start with the acting of course.
I mentioned Channing Tatum already, but I didn't mention that he's the funniest one in the movie. Which isn't an insult to Jonah but a compliment to Channing, he was hilarious, I laughed the most during his scenes. That being said, Jonah Hill isn't that bad either, he just plays the character like typical Jonah Hill. Ice Cube did the same thing, he played Ice Cube. But the two are known for comedy and some people like them, the rest should see 21 Jump for Tatum. You shoul also see it for Ellie Kemper, who you may know as Erin from the Office, she also did a few things for the guys at Derrick Comedy... she was also born in Kansas City, I think I'm in love. One last thing, James Franco's younger brother is in this film and now that I know they're related, I can totally see the family resemblance, see if you can spot which role he plays when/if you see it.
I don't want to mention the two directors specifically, 'cause they're jack of all trades who have done a bunch of stuff across hollywood. So I'll just say that the directing and writing was great, there was comedy, action, and comedy-action.
Looks like this review was mostly about the acting, so I'll just leave you with a few positive comments. This movie is funny in many different kinds of ways and is all around good movie to see. I can't guarantee you'll enjoy it, but I can assume you probably will. That being said I give this movie an A+, best comedy of 2012 thus far, if you see it, take me with you, I'd like to see it again.
Movie Review: John Carter
So there once was a story written by Edgar Rice Burroughs about a guy who ran around in a loincloth, it was called Tarzan. He also wrote a sci-fi about a guy who ran around in a loincloth and called it A Princess of Mars. It spawned an entire book series and was eventually made into the movie John Carter. The more you know!
John Carter is about a guy from the 1800's getting transported to Mars, finding out he has superstrength and can jump real high (who says white men can't jump?). He also gets caught in the middle of a war and falls in love with a princess... of mars, hence the title of the book.
The acting in this film was top notch. Bryan Cranston has a bit part, you may know him from such things as Malcom in the Middle and Breaking Bad. Willem Dafoe voices one of the CGI green martians and I didn't even know it was him. Lynn Collins runs around in hot-almost-revealing dresses and Taylor Kitsch's loincloth turns into a tent. Nothing too special to say about the acting, it's a Disney film, everything Disney does is gold including acting. Disney could take a crap, film it, and make billions at the box office. Anyways, lets take a look at the directing.
Andrew Stanton is the name of someone you've never heard of, unless you're a Disney fan. This guy's done a ton of stuff for them. Things like: Toy Story 1,2, and 3, Up, and pretty much every Disney film. So I can't really say anything bad about the guy, he obviously knows what he's doing.
On a completely unrelated note, but something I feel like I should menton, I fell asleep for the first 10-15 minutes of the film. Granted I was super tired at the time, but the first good chunk of the film is kind of boring. However, it's where a good deal of important set-ups happen for later plot points, so if you attend I'd suggest paying attention.
All-in-all it was a pretty good film. It defintetly doesn't hold a candle to Pirates, but at least it was better than Prince of Persion (which I didn't find all that bad.) That being said I give this film a B-, see it if you get the chance, but if you can't afford it now no worries on renting it or buying it on DVD. It's a nice little film, I had a problem with a certain plot point near the end, but I'll save that for anyone who's sees the film and wants to ask me about it. Anyways, thanks for reading!
John Carter is about a guy from the 1800's getting transported to Mars, finding out he has superstrength and can jump real high (who says white men can't jump?). He also gets caught in the middle of a war and falls in love with a princess... of mars, hence the title of the book.
The acting in this film was top notch. Bryan Cranston has a bit part, you may know him from such things as Malcom in the Middle and Breaking Bad. Willem Dafoe voices one of the CGI green martians and I didn't even know it was him. Lynn Collins runs around in hot-almost-revealing dresses and Taylor Kitsch's loincloth turns into a tent. Nothing too special to say about the acting, it's a Disney film, everything Disney does is gold including acting. Disney could take a crap, film it, and make billions at the box office. Anyways, lets take a look at the directing.
Andrew Stanton is the name of someone you've never heard of, unless you're a Disney fan. This guy's done a ton of stuff for them. Things like: Toy Story 1,2, and 3, Up, and pretty much every Disney film. So I can't really say anything bad about the guy, he obviously knows what he's doing.
On a completely unrelated note, but something I feel like I should menton, I fell asleep for the first 10-15 minutes of the film. Granted I was super tired at the time, but the first good chunk of the film is kind of boring. However, it's where a good deal of important set-ups happen for later plot points, so if you attend I'd suggest paying attention.
All-in-all it was a pretty good film. It defintetly doesn't hold a candle to Pirates, but at least it was better than Prince of Persion (which I didn't find all that bad.) That being said I give this film a B-, see it if you get the chance, but if you can't afford it now no worries on renting it or buying it on DVD. It's a nice little film, I had a problem with a certain plot point near the end, but I'll save that for anyone who's sees the film and wants to ask me about it. Anyways, thanks for reading!
Movie Review: Safe House
You ever see that one movie where Denzel Washington acts like Denzel Washington for 2hrs and everything looks grainy and dark. So you have seen Safe House, great, that's going to make my review a lot easier.
Safe House is about Denzel Washington being a traitor to the... well, to everybody. He gets held at a safe house for interrogation ran by Ryan Reynolds. It turns out this safe house is a cover for a male prostitution ring, so Denzel and Ryan have to infultrate it by taking their shirts off... and I'm totally bullshitting you, go dry off ladies. I won't reveal more about the actual plot of the film, but I will say that you've probably already seen it before. That being said, lets take a look at the acting.
I don't know if you caught this earlier, but just in case you didn't, Denzel Washington acts like Denzel Washingon for 2hrs. I'm not saying that's a bad things, Denzel is Denzel, I'm just saying no acting was required on his part. Ryan Reynolds on the other hand seemed to take his part seriously and actually did a convincing job in a dramatic action role. Mad-Eye Moody is also in this film, Brendan Gleeson for those who give a shit, he plays a CIA agent and his American accent is only somewhat believable. Now onto the director.
Remember how I said all of Denzel Washington's films look grainy and dark, well it turns out the director of Safe House... didn't direct any Denzel films before this. Looks like we know who was really pulling the strings during filming. Anyways, the guy directed your typical gritty action film and did a decent job I suppose.
In closing I will say that this movie was half way decent. Apart from an audience member whispering the plot of the film to someone who I assume was blind, I had an alright time. That being said, this is your typical Denzel Washington action movie, if you like that kind of stuff then go see it, if not then congrats you passed my gay test (this is Denzel and Reynolds in the same movie.) I'll give this film a C-, rent it on DVD or Blu-Ray, but only if you're having a Denzelathon. Thanks for reading!
Safe House is about Denzel Washington being a traitor to the... well, to everybody. He gets held at a safe house for interrogation ran by Ryan Reynolds. It turns out this safe house is a cover for a male prostitution ring, so Denzel and Ryan have to infultrate it by taking their shirts off... and I'm totally bullshitting you, go dry off ladies. I won't reveal more about the actual plot of the film, but I will say that you've probably already seen it before. That being said, lets take a look at the acting.
I don't know if you caught this earlier, but just in case you didn't, Denzel Washington acts like Denzel Washingon for 2hrs. I'm not saying that's a bad things, Denzel is Denzel, I'm just saying no acting was required on his part. Ryan Reynolds on the other hand seemed to take his part seriously and actually did a convincing job in a dramatic action role. Mad-Eye Moody is also in this film, Brendan Gleeson for those who give a shit, he plays a CIA agent and his American accent is only somewhat believable. Now onto the director.
Remember how I said all of Denzel Washington's films look grainy and dark, well it turns out the director of Safe House... didn't direct any Denzel films before this. Looks like we know who was really pulling the strings during filming. Anyways, the guy directed your typical gritty action film and did a decent job I suppose.
In closing I will say that this movie was half way decent. Apart from an audience member whispering the plot of the film to someone who I assume was blind, I had an alright time. That being said, this is your typical Denzel Washington action movie, if you like that kind of stuff then go see it, if not then congrats you passed my gay test (this is Denzel and Reynolds in the same movie.) I'll give this film a C-, rent it on DVD or Blu-Ray, but only if you're having a Denzelathon. Thanks for reading!
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