Synopsis:
A young woman named Adaline, born on the turn of the 20th century, has
become ageless after a car accident. After many years, she has met a man
who complicates the immortal life that she is living.
Review:
This is a very
good film overall.
The story is quite unique and very
interesting. It is a romantic film with a neat fantasy twist. We have
this young woman who is struck by lightning and survives but is put
under a condition where she stops aging, and goes through different
identities each decade. She also meets a nice guy and they fall in love.
Little does the guy know that she is different.
It is well acted and it
features good performances from Blake Lively, Harrison Ford and Ellen
Burstyn.
The characters are quite likable. You care for Adaline as she
goes through her ageless immortal life. The romance between Adaline and
Ellis has some good chemistry. My favorite character is William Jones.
Lee Toland Krieger did a very good job directing. It is beautifully shot
and it has some very emotional moments. It is also quite clever and
funny at times. For instance, there is this one scene where Ellis tells
Adaline a bad joke and she laughs at how bad it is. There is also a
scene where William talks about the stars, which instantly made me think
of Star Wars.
I'm not going to spoil anything, but based upon my
expectations, that ending got me.
There is not a single thing about this film that I did not like.
Overall, I really enjoyed
The Age of Adaline and would recommend it to anyone who is into romance
and/or drama with a fantasy twist.
Synopsis:
Aliens in the form of old school
video games attack Earth and it is up to a team of hardcore gamers to save
the world.
Review:
Before I get to the point, let me start out by saying that I actually had hopes for this film.
I am a gamer from childhood as well as a big moviegoer (but of course
you already know that). I went into this film skeptical because of Adam
Sandler (he hasn't really come out with anything good since 1999), but
excited because I really liked the idea and it has Pac-Man. Upon my
first time playing Pac-Man, I found it strangely addicting and
immediately fell in love with it. Ever since then, I have waited to see
Pac-Man on the big screen, and when I heard about the new film "Pixels"
coming out, and that it was going to feature Pac-Man, I could not help
but unleash my inner nerd.
From the trailers, it looked quite promising and had a great setup. We
have these classic arcade games attacking Earth and it's up to a team of
hardcore gamers to save the world. It also gives you a bit of a
Ghostbusters vibe.
You may not have known this but this movie is inspired by an independent
short film from 2010. The short was unique and had an impressive art
style.
I was hoping that this would be a surprise hit like "The Lego Movie" and
"Guardians of the Galaxy" and that it would turn Sandler's career back
around. Unfortunately, this film was a big letdown.
Now before I go into the bad parts, I am going to name some good parts.
The Good:
As mentioned earlier, it has a great setup and a unique idea. We have
these aliens who misinterpret video feeds as a declaration of war, so
they attack Earth in the form of classic 80's arcade video games. The
film is visually impressive and has some great world building and some
really cool scenes. I liked the Pac-Man scene, and the Centipede scene. The film started out pretty good, and the
beginning, when our four main characters were teenagers, had me thinking
it was going to be good. Sadly, that is all of the "good" there is.
The Bad:
It has a bad story line and the plot is rushed and there is no chemistry
within the characters. A lot of the time, the film can not seem to make
up it's mind as to whether it wanted to be a blockbuster or a straight
up comedy. The humor is lowbrow, and every so often, the plot is
interrupted by these long drawn out lowbrow offbeat comedy scenes. At
those times, I was like "Stop making a fool out of yourself and get back
to the story, please!" Also, the romance aspect of the film is forced. Also, there is so much wrong in the Donkey Kong scene.
***SPOILERS AHEAD***
They completely wasted the "Lady Lisa" character. She did not even have
any dialogue. I am positive that it was just a blatant cameo of Ashley
Benson as an attempt to lure "Pretty Little Liars" fans.
Sean Bean's performance was also pointless. They could have used him as a
joke relating to him dying in so many movies, but they wasted it on
making him a blatant cameo.
Here is the story (because the trailer won't tell you):
The story begins with our protagonists Sam Brenner (Adam Sandler), Will
Cooper (Kevin James), Ludlow Lamonsoff (Josh Gad), and Eddie Plant
(Peter Dinklage) as kids at the arcade in 1982. Ludlow is in love with
Lady Lisa, the heroine of his favorite game "Dojo Quest". Sam and Eddie
face each other in a Donkey Kong playing contest, which is to be
recorded and sent in a time capsule into space as a message of peace.
Eddie beats Sam. After that, Sam and will have this conversation about
polular celebrities (such as Madonna) that they would like to marry.
Then it quickly cuts to a scene when they are now adults having the same
conversation (expect this time with younger celebrities sucha Scarlett
Johanson). And then from there, it cuts straight to the invasion. Sam
now works for a company that installs software. Will is now the
president of the United States. The military is finding a signal of an
attack from Galaga enemies. As Sam is doing his job, he meets a woman
named Violoet (Michelle Monaghan) and her son Matty. Sam then gets a
call from President Cooper. Sam then goes to the White House and they
discuss the attack. Then, as Sam is driving home, he finds Ludlow in his
van. Ludlow has a theory that an alien life form found the video feeds
and sent real life verisons of what it saw. Then, Sam and Ludlow attempt
to train the soldiers to fight back, but the admiral is not amused. So
they try the English soldiers in London, England. Then Centiped attacks
London, and Sam and Ludlow fight back and succeed. Then they find out
that Pac-Man is attacking New York, so they bail Eddie out of prison.
Sam, Ludlow, and Eddie, joined by Prof. Iwatani (Denis Akiyama) fight
Pac-Man and succeed. Then there is a celebration Dinner party where
Ludlow sings "Everybody Wants to Rule the World". There, we find out
that Eddie has always been cheating. Then, a giant space ship in the
shape of a boss Galage approaches and releases more real life video
games (such as Space Invaders and Frogger) that wreak havoc all over
Washington DC. Sam, Will, and Violet go into the ship (which has Matty
held captive) and confront Donkey Kong, while Ludlow and Eddie fight off
all of the other games. Ludlow encounters Lady Lisa (Ashley Benson),
who at first resists, but suddenly joins the fight. Upon learning that
Eddie is a cheater, Sam then realizes that he is the "true" Donkey Kong
champion and defeats Donkey Kong and saves Matty, thus destroying all of
the other games including Lady Lisa. That is the whole movie right
there.
The film also breaks it's own rules at times. For instances, Sam Brenner defeats Donkey Kong by throwing a hammer at him. Wouldn't that also be cheating? I know it's "a movie", but anyone who has played the original Donkey Kong arcade classic should know that that's not how you beat Donkey Kong.
There are things in this movie that I liked, but there were more things
that I did not like than things that I liked. A few cool scenes were
just not enough. What this movie needs is a good script, character
development and a well assembled cast. Pixels had none of those.
It's a shame, because on paper, Pixels really had potential.
Overall, I was very disappointed with this film, for I was looking forward to it when I saw the trailers. I would not recommend it.
You are better off seeking out "Wreck-It Ralph"-or heck, "Scott Pilgrim vs The World"-instead.
Synopsis:
A young programmer is selected to take part in a new experiment in artificial intelligence by evaluating the human qualities of a female A.I.
Review:
I must say that I am very impressed with this film.
The story, while it bares a familiar concept concerning "artificial
intelligence", is unique, creative, original and intriguing. We have
this programmer named Caleb, who is invited by Nathan, the CEO of the
company, which Caleb works for. Then there is this robot called "Ava". I
cannot really say anything about the plot without spoiling it but the
majority of the film is set inside a compound.
While it has a small number of characters, the characters are quite well
developed. I as good chemistry between Caleb and Ava. There is not much
to say about Nathan without spoiling it, but let's just say that he is
not a terribly nice guy.
The film is quite well acted. Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac portrayed
their roles very well and Alicia Vikander stole the show as Ava the
robot.
Alex Garland did a very good job directing. It is beautifully shot and
it has neat scenery. For a small budget of $15 million, the special
effects are quite impressive. They did a nice job blending CGI with
practical effects and making the robot believable. It also has some
intense moments and the final act is awesome.
The music score is great and it added some depth into the film. Ben
Salisbury and Geoff Barrow both did a very good job composing the music.
Basically, this is one of those films that you have to actually watch and see for yourself to know what it's about.
Overall, Ex Machina is an excellent science fiction thriller, and I
would highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of science fiction.
Synopsis:
After a young girl named Riley is uprooted from her midwest life and has moved to San Francisco, her emotions-Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust and Fear-conflict on the best way to navigate through a new house, city and school.
Review:
This is a great family film overall. It is smart, inventive, fun, emotional, and quite clever.
The story line is very creative and original. It takes the viewer inside a
person's mind and features emotions in the shape of characters. It also
explores a whole world inside the mind featuring memories, dreams, and
imagination. This is quite possibly Pixar's most original idea since Toy
Story.
The characters are likable and entertaining. We have the four emotions,
Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust and Fear who operate the feelings of a
young girl named Riley as she and her mom and dad have moved to a new
home. You care for Riley as things go wrong in the world inside her
mind. You also care for the emotions as Joy and Sadness set out on a
quest to set things right while Anger, Disgust and Fear are left on
their own, and you want the emotions to succeed. My favorite character
is Anger.
Pete Docter did a great job directing. It has gorgeous and colorful animation and unique and stylish designs.
It is also very funny at times. This is one of those where the humor
actually works and I laughed more than I usually do at he theater. I am
not going to spoil anything but you may want to stick around during the
credits.
Overall, Inside Out is another very impressive animated family feature
from Pixar and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of
animation.
Synopsis:
A teen girl instigates a social pecking order revolution after learning that she was labled a "DUFF" (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) by her two more attractive counterparts.
Review:
There is nothing to say about this film besides that it's an uninspired
pile of drivel. It desperately tries to be the next "Mean Girls" and it
fails miserably on every level.
The story line is utterly ridiculous. We have the two attractive girls
who are buddies and have an unattractive friend dubbed "The DUFF"
(Designated ugly fat friend) to use to make them look better. Who does
that?
It is also loaded with cliches. Like we have this loser trying to fit in
with the popular students and gets recognition from a viral video.
***SPOILER AHEAD***
Also, we find out that her "lover" is actually not in love with her at
all and dubs her "DUFF" like everyone else at her school. How original.
The characters are very unlikable and nothing but blatant stereotypes. Our protagonist Bianca gives us very
little to no reason to root for her. Both the guy that she is in love
with and the guy who she seeks help from are both pretty much jerks.
Also, in most of these type of films, the "mean" character, while
purposely unlikable, at least has some sort of likable personality and
is entertaining and you would love to hate him/her. But here, you don't
exactly love to hate Madison Morgan.
The humor is bland, uninspired, and painfully unfunny. I did not laugh once.
On a positive note, Mae Whitman was actually pretty good in it. She portrayed her role quite respectively.
Maybe there is a good movie hidden there, but overall, I was not impressed with it whatsoever, and I would not recommend it.
In the end, The DUFF is one of the more mediocre attempts at teen satire.
If you are looking for a good teen comedy satire with a female lead,
where the protagonist gets widespread attention from everyone else at
her school, watch Mean Girls or Easy A.
Synopsis:
A spy organization recruits a local street kid who is undefined, but with potential, into the agency's competitive training program, while a global threat emerges from a sinister tech genius.
Review:
This is a great film overall. It's fun, action packed, and often funny
at times. There is not a single moment where I was bored with it.
The characters are likable. The story is interesting and compelling.
The characters are likeable. I liked the protagonist Eggsy. He is
believable and you actually care for him. Harry and Chester King are
quite entertaining and likable supporting characters. Valentine is
quite an entertaining villain as well as his amputee Gazelle.
It's well acted. Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Strong and Michael
Caine portrayed their roles very respectively and made their roles
entertaining and believable. Samuel L. Jackson did an awesome job as
Valentine as well as Sofie Boutella as Gazelle.
Matthew Vaughn did a great job directing. It's beautifully shot. The
action scenes are well done and downright intense. While it is mostly
action packed, it leaves room for the story line and the action scenes
are actually part of the story and have every reason to occur.
There is not a single thing about this film that I did not like.
Overall, I found Kingsman to be a pretty awesome film and I highly recommend it to action fans.
In the end, "Kingsman: The Secret Service" is a fun and compelling action masterpiece.
