REVIEW: I, Frankenstein 3D

MOVIE
I, Frankenstein

CAST
Aaron Eckhart, Bill Nighy

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
January 24, 2014

DIRECTOR
Stuart Beattie

STUDIO
Lionsgate

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 32 minutes





STARS
***








REVIEW:

In the month of January, one should not expect many quality movies to come out, considering that this is the time of year where studios throw out anything in order to try to make some quick money.  From first glance, the new fantasy-adventure flick "I, Frankenstein" would seem to be exactly that.  Hell, even critics would seem to despise this film, according to Rotten Tomatoes at least.  Having actually seen this movie, I can honestly say that I don't fully understand why people are giving this particular film so much hate.  It may be stupid, and it may be incredibly pointless, but aren't most January movies like this?  This is nothing up to the standards of "Her" or "The Wolf of Wall Street," but I'd argue that it's a fun, mindless, and entertaining popcorn flick that's perfect for this time of year.

Victor Frankenstein is frightened by his creation, so as a way to save himself and his wife, he attempts to kill the beast.  The monster survives, however, and manages to kill off the Frankenstein clan.  Unfortunately, it is when he buries Victor Frankenstein that demons show up and try to kill the monster, to which they are unsuccessful.  After being saved by Gargoyles, the monster, now known to the Gargoyles as "Adam," discovers that there has been a long war between demons and gargoyles in progress for many centuries.  Wanting to stay out of it and do his own thing, Adam leaves the gargoyles and goes to hunt demons down himself.  Over 200 years past, and the war is still at large, with the demons looking for a way to reanimate corpses so the fallen demons can repossess their bodies and take over the world.  It's up to Adam to find a way to stop them and prevent them from getting their hands on the one thing that could teach them how to bring bodies back to life: Frankenstein's journal.

Aaron Eckhart is one of those actors where he's incredibly talented, and has proven it in the past, but hasn't recently been choosing the best projects to be a part of.  Him being in this film might not have been the best choice his agent made, but then again, it seems that he's indeed passionate about the project.  Not only does he get physically into shape in order to play this badass creature, but he also channels a performance that's almost method in the case that he's really in to his character.  I can see why he's getting so much hate in the film, but I honestly found him, along with all of the other performances, to be fine.  Bill Nighy plays a fun villain, Yvonne Strahovski is decent as the female lead, and even Jai Courtney is solid in the film as wellIt really did seem like the actors were trying to give it their all in their performances, and for the most part, I feel they succeeded.

The thing about this movie is that it is indeed a stupid, dull, and pointless movie.  If this had been released in say April or May, I probably would have been more critical on it.  But since it's January, aka "the bad movie month," I could forgive its stupidity and just embrace it overall.  The 3D is a waste, so there's a criticism for you.  The film does drag on a little bit and sometimes get a bit too ridiculous for my liking.  Other than that, I had a lot of fun with this film.  The story wasn't atrocious, the acting was decent, and even the special effects were pretty good if I say so myself.  This is, to me, what films like "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters" and "Battle of the Year" were last year, meaning that they might be ridiculous and flawed in many places, but I was able to have a fun time with them.  In fact, I could honestly see this film gaining a cult following in the coming years.  I saw this with a good friend of mine, and we were having a ball making fun of it the whole way through.  There are plenty of stupid and bad movies that come out this time of year, but I feel that if you can embrace the stupidity and pure popcorn fun that "I, Frankenstein" delivers in the presence of several good friends ready to rip this movie a good one, then you may be in for a fun night.



PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:

Sabotage

Veronica Mars

Non-Stop

The Expendables 3

The Quiet Ones

Pompeii

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

REVIEW: Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

MOVIE
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

CAST
Chris Pine, Kevin Costner

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
January 17, 2013

DIRECTOR
Kenneth Branagh

STUDIO
Paramount Pictures

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 46 minutes





STARS
***1/4










REVIEW:

I've always liked Chris Pine as a leading action man.  Ever since "Star Trek," he reminded me of a combination of a young Tom Cruise and Robert Downey Jr.'s "Tony Stark" persona, which is a good thing.  It makes me happy personally to see that Pine is getting more leading man roles, and frankly, the character of Jack Ryan fits him like a glove.  While Pine is perfect as the title character, "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" is far from a perfect movie.  It gets cheesy and drags a bit at points, but overall it's an incredibly entertaining popcorn flick that should bring in those looking for a fun movie to see now.  "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" plays out like any typical action flick, but thanks to the solid performances, great direction from Kenneth Branagh, and some incredible action sequences, it makes out to be an overall entertaining movie that's the perfect film to see in the month of January.

After being critically wounded from an accident in Afghanistan and going through extensive physical therapy to be able to walk again, Jack Ryan is secretly recruited into the CIA as a covert analyst.  Ten years later, Ryan has a beautiful fiancé, a great apartment in New York City, and a solid job on Wall Street.  However, it is when Ryan discovers a plot by the Russians to destroy the US economy that grabs his and the CIA's attention, and thus he is flown to Moscow to prevent this economic war from happening.  It is this very trip that not only puts Ryan's life into jeopardy and the US at a great risk, but is also brings Ryan's fiancé along for the ride when she shouldn't even be there in the first place.  This film basically is a remake/modern origin story of the popular Tom Clancy character.

The acting all around the board is overall solid.  As I mentioned earlier, Chris Pine is a great leading man who has the same type of charm that Tom Cruise and Robert Downey Jr. have.  It's great to see him branching out of the "Star Trek" franchise to try to become more than just James T. Kirk and rather a big Hollywood movie star.  Kevin Costner, who seems to be making a comeback in the film world, looks like he's having a fun time playing this secretive CIA member who originally recruits Ryan into the business.  Keira Knightley and director Kenneth Branagh sport believable accents (Knightley dons an American accent while Branagh has a Russian accent) and both also seem to be enjoying their time in the film.  There's nothing spectacular in the acting department, but all of the leads do solid jobs as their characters.

Branagh definitely has a talent behind the camera, as the scope of this movie is large and feels big.  It makes sense as he is the man responsible for bringing "Thor" to the big screen.  The action scenes are well shot, and even a lot of fun to watch.  The story might be predictable, but I liked how they incorporated 9/11 and Afghanistan into the beginning of the film, and I like the overall adventure that Ryan goes on.  The movie as a whole is nothing but pure popcorn fun.  It gets a tad slow at times, plus the script isn't entirely clever or fascinating, but thanks to the cast, its faithful director, and some well done action scenes, "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" is a fun thriller that is the perfect film to kick off 2014.  Let me rephrase that: it's the perfect GOOD movie to kick off the new year.  And let's face it, there are rarely any good films released in January.




PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:

Sabotage

300: Rise of an Empire

Non-Stop

Robocop

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

3 Days to Kill

Noah

REVIEW: The Nut Job 3D

MOVIE
The Nut Job

CAST
Will Arnett, Liam Nesson

RATING
PG

RELEASE
January 17, 2014

DIRECTOR
Peter Lepeniotis

STUDIO
Open Road Films

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 26 minutes







STARS
*1/2








REVIEW:

There are films that come out every year that make me feel that Hollywood believes that kids are so stupid that they will be entertained with anything.  Last year's examples range from "The Smurfs 2" to "Epic," both of which I surprisingly tolerated and enjoyed to an extent.  In the case of "The Nut Job," aka 2014's first kids movie, there is very little redeeming about it whatsoever.  This is the type of animated film that looks, acts, and feels like a generic kids flick that should have come out back in the late 90s to the early 2000s.  And yet, parents are going to take their kids to see this mediocrity so they'll shut up for 90+ minutes.  Just a warning to you: "The Nut Job" simply sucks.

Surly is a reckless squirrel whose mistakes have now caused the big tree in the middle of the forrest, aka the home to many who hate Surly for his mistakes, to burn down to the ground.  Not only does this destroy many of the critter's homes, but it also destroyed their food supply for the winter.  This leads to the animals banishing Surly to the dangerous city outside of their beloved home.  However, what could have been looked at as a punishment ends up becoming a potential salvation for the animals, as Surly discovers a mass supply of nuts located in a nut shop in the city.  Little do the critters know, though, the men who own the nut shop are using it as a decoy so they can rob a bank across the street.

I'll give the film credit where credit is due by saying that the voice acting wasn't that bad.  While there were bad performances given, others you could tell were trying to do their best with the material they were given.  Even though it's fairly obvious that Will Arnett and Liam Nesson were in this film simply for the paycheck at the end of the day, they did try to make the most out of this mediocre script, and for that they did a solid job.  Brendan Fraser and Maya Rudolph went a step further and actually was having fun with his role, which is something I give props to them for.  Even Katherine Heigl was fine in the movie, even though she chooses the absolute worst movies to be in.  If it wasn't for how awful the script was, then maybe these performances would be touched upon more.

The true shame about the men responsible for the horrid dialogue and generic as hell story is the fact that they’re relatively talented men.  Lorne Cameron, one of the screenwriters for the film, is best known for writing the screenplays for Disney’s “Brother Bear” and DreamWorks’ “Over the Hedge,” which happen to be two films I enjoy very much.  Director/screenwriter Peter Lepeniotis is probably best known for working in the animation department for films such as “Toy Story 2” and the 1995 “Casper” movie, and frankly I think that’s where he should stay if he wants to be involved with making kids films.  It’s one thing to make a stupid kids movie, but to make it a rehash of every clichéd 90s kids film imaginable, as well as have some of the stupidest and most uninteresting animated characters in recent memory, that’s where I get mad.  Studios like Disney and DreamWorks are further proving everyday how fun and smart family films can be, while here this seems to be an easy excuse to have parents shut their kids up for 90 minutes.  If you’re a smart parent, I’d highly suggest not even thinking about taking your kids to see this.  And as for the filmmakers, you might want to think of something original fast before you just fade away from Hollywood once and for all.

I honestly find it sad that there are still movies like this being made while other original and ambitious ideas are left in the corner.  Money is nice to look at and is very nice to have, but when your product is only made so parents can shell out $40 for their family and doesn't leave much that's redeemable, that is when money isn't being used properly.  The voice actors might be trying their best with what they're given, but that doesn't make up for the generic story, awful script, and an overall waste of time in a movie theater.  Not to mention, this movie feels like adding a group of villainous human mobster characters into the bag, as well as glorifying the 2012 song "Gangam Style" to the point where they have an animated version of the artist Psy dancing to that song in the end credits.  If that doesn't make you think that Hollywood is stuck in the past and has run out of clever ideas, then I have no other words to say.

My Favorite and Least Favorite Movies of 2013

Another year has gone, and thus another successful year of movies has passed as well.  I've managed to set my own personal record by seeing 124 films that were released in 2013, which made me pretty proud personally.  Obviously I couldn't see every movie, so that means I missed out on films like "Dallas Buyers Club," "All Is Lost," and many others.  I do regret missing those, but unfortunately scheduling gets in the way of me seeing everything I want to see.  There can only be 10 films that can be declared the best and 10 that can be called the worst, so here we are now.  Just a little disclaimer, in case you didn't know this, these are all MY opinions, not yours, so please don't say something stupid like "you are stupid" or "your opinion is wrong" because those are just sad things to say.  If you want to know my reasoning for each film being where they are, here's my short answer: there are films that I liked more than others and films I disliked more than others. These are simply the films I enjoyed the most and enjoyed the least in 2013.  If you want a more detailed understanding as to why I loved or disliked a certain film on this list, feel free to click on any of the names, for they will direct you to my original reviews of each film. With that being said, here are my top 10 favorite and least favorite movies from 2013:



Dishonorable Mentions:

• Scary Movie 5
• Paradise
• Getaway
• Texas Chainsaw
• The Company You Keep
• Movie 43
• All The Boys Love Mandy Lane
• Pain & Gain
• Jobs
• The Wolverine

10. The Call

9. G.I. Joe: Retaliation

























8. Broken City

7. Only God Forgives

























6. The Starving Games

























5. Identity Thief
























4. Rapture-Palooza
























3. Bullet To The Head


























2. Tyler Perry's Temptation: 
    Confessions of a Marriage Counselor


























1. The Counselor





















Honorable Mentions:

• The Conjuring
• The East
• The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
• The Way Way Back
• Gravity
• The Wolf of Wall Street
• The Place Beyond The Pines
• Prisoners
• The World's End
• Trance

10. Before Midnight



























9. Lone Survivor




























8. The Kings of Summer



























7. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
























6. Inside Llewyn Davis


























5. Disconnect



















  









4. 12 Years A Slave



























3. Short Term 12




























2. Her

























1. Nebraska



























Well there you have it.  Are you surprised that "Nebraska" is #1?  Do you think "The Counselor" was actually a good movie?  Let me know in the comments below, and thank you for your endless support over the years.  Thank you so much everyone, and keep blogging.

REVIEW: Her

MOVIE
Her

CAST
Joaquin Phoenix,
Scarlett Johansson

RATING
R

RELEASE(S)
December 18, 2013 (NY/LA)
January 10, 2014 (WIDE)

DIRECTOR
Spike Jonze

STUDIO
Warner Bros. Pictures

RUNNING TIME
2 hours 6 minutes







STARS
****







REVIEW:

It's kind of funny how nobody in this generation thought of making a film about a man falling in love with the tiny computer in his breast pocket until Spike Jonze made "Her."  The premise initially sounds intriguing, but one can only wonder how somebody can effectively pull off telling a love story with a human and a piece of electrical artificial intelligence.  And yet, Jonze pulls it off flawlessly, so much so that you forget that the character of Samantha, voiced by Scarlett Johansson, is even a computer to begin with.  After hearing so much praise from friends and colleagues who were worshipping this film like it was the next coming of Christ, I am very happy to report that all of the positive praise towards "Her" is well deserved.  "Her" is a funny, poignant, relatable, and touching romance that takes your heart strings and plays with them like your heart's a harp.

Set in the near future, I'm personally guessing between 15 and 30 years into the future, this film tells the story of Theodore Twombly.  Theodore is a man who is separated from his wife, works at a letter writing company, and can't seem to get out of this gloomy funk he's in.  That is, until he meets Samantha.  Being the creation of millions of different computer programmers, Samantha is one of the world's first artificially intelligent computer system who was designed specifically for Theodore's personality.  Together these two help each other grow and expand in personality and in life.  And throughout it all, these two become the world's strangest couple as the man and the computer fall in love with each other.

If it wasn't for the undeniably beautiful chemistry between Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson, this film I feel would not have been as special and as incredible to watch.  Phoenix not only gives a heartbreaking and hilarious performance as Twombly, but he also makes the character so relatable and so likable that you can't help but just see yourself in his position, despite his love interest being merely a voice.  Speaking of said voice, Scarlett Johansson brings out such a lively and beautiful performance without even showing her face on screen.  Even though people do just that in animated films, at least you can see the character's faces.  In the case of the character of Samantha, she only has her voice to act with, and she gives such a superb performance, and may arguably be the best performance ever given by Scarlett Johansson.  Same goes for Phoenix as well.  Together, these two actors have created one of the most memorable romantic relationships of the decade thus far.   Amy Adams and Rooney Mara help make up the rest of the incredible cast in this film, but Phoenix and Johansson give the show-stealing performances here.

Despite all of the praise being given to the actors, the real star of this movie is Spike Jonze.  Having been responsible for such films as "Adaptation," "Being John Malkovich," and the highly overlooked "Where The Wild Things Are," Jonze gives moviegoers his most personal and his most intimate story to date.  Not only is he able to direct these talented actors into award-worthy performances, but he's also able to take the people of the world on this incredible journey into the not-so-distant future and make it feel as if this love between man and machine could actually happen.  I love how Jonze lets us connect and relate to this odd romance while at the same time is providing social commentary on how people literally and figuratively in love with their phones and computers.  All of the dialogue is fantastic, being both hilarious and emotionally heart-wrenching at the same time.  I applaud Mr. Jonze for being able to make this ambitious and wonderful movie, and I applaud Warner Bros. for letting Jonze share this story to the hopeless romantics and movie-lovers all over the world.

"Her," like "Short Term 12" and "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," is a special movie.  It will make you laugh, and it will make you cry.  But most of all, it will make you fall in love with romance movies once again.  Being the hopeless romantic I am, I couldn't help but root for this relationship to prevail, despite many conflicts coming in their way in the second half.  Every performance in this movie is superb, particularly Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson.  Spike Jonze's script and direction feel raw, intimate, and incredibly real, so much so that everything in this movie could happen in some way, shape, or form in the near future.  Just like the many people around me who saw the film before myself, I have absolutely fallen under the spell of "Her," and I hope everyone else who sees it will be able to as well.



PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:

Bad Words

Labor Day

Endless Love

The Monuments Men

Edge of Tomorrow

The Other Woman

Winter's Tale