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Christian Mingle (2014)
Watch this film if you don't enjoy watching humanity.
I decided to watch this movie as a joke. Sometimes going into a movie knowing it's bad will sometimes help brace for the train wreck. But no foreknowledge of this film could prepare you for how bad it is. On the nose dialogue. No empathy for any characters. Forced changed. Forced plot. Even the camera work is amateur.
The best types of films are supposed to make you forget you're watching a film. Sadly, for Christian Mingle, you're constantly reminded you're watching a movie. A bad one.
The Giver (2014)
A 14-year old's review of the Giver
The Giver is a movie that I have seen and incredibly encourage people to watch. I have read the book and may I say the movie made the book look like it was lollipop land. The movie had intense moments that the book didn't the book didn't even come close to describing. For example, while Jonas the main character was taking away the baby in the book he just whisked it away no problem, nobody came between him and the baby, lame(very melodramatic). When the movie started to start the scene where Jonas takes the baby away he first escapes his dwelling. Then comes face to face with his best friend Asher. Here comes the problem for Jonas, he starts having the internal conflict that he doesn't know what to do. He decides that Asher doesn't know any better and that he believes in rules that are not for their own good. While Asher tries to stop Jonah, Jonah punches him in the face. This goes against all the morals that Jonah grew up with. Not only that scene but while in the hospital Jonah grabs the baby while his friend Fiona distracts the guards. This was an epic scene that was intense and kept you the edge on your seat. One more detail that I enjoyed in the movie was that they embraced Jonas's feelings towards Fiona. In the book Jonas's starts having these feelings towards Fiona or as they describe as stirrings. They quickly pushed it away by Jonas taking pills that took them away. Nothing happened between them while in the movie they did. The movie Jonas shows Fiona feelings by telling her to stop taking her injections that take them away. Fiona begins to understand that the elders took these feelings away and replaced them with a bland world that has no meaning. I enjoyed how the movie played out and incredibly enjoyed the fast paced ending when Jonas was racing against the clock to save Fiona. I recommend this movie to everyone. Although people may say that it is like every other sci-fi move ITS NOT!! Its unique, fast paced, exuberating, and lastly it was action packed. This lived up to my expectations and even more. I LOVE THIS MOVIE AND YOU SHOULD TOO!!!!!!!
Short Term 12 (2013)
A refreshing film in a bloated Hollywood landscape
Go see this movie. It has a beautiful story with real characters that you forget for a moment that you're watching a movie and hold your breath during every moment. I give a lot of credit to the filmmakers behind this masterpiece simply because they kept a perfect pace throughout the film and consistently left me, a frequent film-goer, surprised. It had a beautiful score but it was never used to convey the mood in scenes. The filmmakers just showed what happened but left it up the audience to interpret moments which is great for any film to do that because it's not telling us how to think, but letting us think for ourselves. Every character was flawed and real, even the minor characters were given a chance to shine. The only gripe I had with the film was the poor cinematography with blown out whites (especially in the indoor to outdoor shots), grainy footage, and odd out of focus shots. Yet, the poor cinematography worked towards the film's advantage because of the topic of dealing with troubled youth. Overall, it had great acting, great direction, and a great story. I could not recommend seeing this movie more.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Winter Soldier: A film with unlimited potential to be the next great superhero film but falls short
Captain America: Winter Soldier sputters in the first half of the film that comes to life in then second half but by then it's too late. Chris Evans returns to his role as Captain America trying to fit into the role of a super human being that is the ultimate display of the best that mankind has to offer. He gives the role too much goodwill and it's hard to buy into his character because he's too perfect. Maybe it's just me, but I prefer to have my protagonists flawed.
The film has incredible potential to stand above many of the mediocre superhero films of the last six years with a series of interesting subplots, but fails to explore or follow through with any of them. The most interesting subplot was the relationship between Steve Roger and his late wife who is now an old woman at her death bed. I would've love to see the filmmakers explore this aspect of Captain America's life but it's only given one scene. Black Widow also teases about an complex backstory but it is given little attention. The relationship between the Winter Soldier and Captain has incredible amounts of potential for a great story, but it is only introduced near the end of the film and not given enough time to make it work.
Even if you have an all-star cast does not mean your dialogue will work. You could sense the discomfort on the actors faces especially Robert Redford as they struggled through plot-driven dialogue that sounded like it was written by a ten-year-old. The acting ability from the whole cast was never utilized no thanks to the poor directing of the Russo brothers. They pushed the CGI too much in various sequences which showed their lack of respect for the audience. We know it's all done in computers, but we want to believe that it's real life, don't make it look so fake where we know how you did it. Even the theme of the film was pushed too hard and came off as forced like a schoolboy grudgingly doing a homework assignment.
The tipping point came from the laziness of the Director of Photography, Trent Opalach, who shot with an ordinary style about an extraordinary man. Many shots were done on a steadicam with little thought to composition or color. Recent comedies in the past few years look far better than this film.
However, Winter Soldier surprised me on a few occasions. There were a number of impressive action sequences that even had me on the edge of my seat. Scarlett Johansson never fails as Black Widow and had more screen time than other of her previous appearances in the Marvel universe.
I end with a word to the producers and the corporate heads of Marvel Studios: Invest more money in screenwriters and cinematographers than CGI and explosions. Audiences will be more appreciative and more loyal long after the credits roll.
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
X-Men: Days of Future Past is perfection of the comic book genre; a must see film.
For a movie that has it all (time travel, superheroes, action, all-star cast), Bryan Singer pulls off an impressive woven story that combines the old and younger X-Men together. I'm usually not a fan of Singer, but I walked away thoroughly impressed what he pulled off in this film.
Using the trick from the time travel play book of Star Trek, Singer has set up the franchise in a way to bring back all the characters killed off from X-Men: The Last Stand. Yet, this time travel device was unique from anything I've ever seen on film because instead of physically sending someone back in time, their conscious was transported back which restricted who could travel back in time and how long ago they could go.
A much younger Whiplash was also a nice dose of action and humor to the film with a action sequence that is up there with the Matrix. With one of the biggest all-star casts ever assembled next to the Avengers, Michael Fassbender shines as Magento once again with true performance that gives life to an otherwise far-fetched plot. James McAvoy returns as the younger Charles Xavier giving an excellent performance as well.
However, the reason I gave this movie an 8/10 is because I wasn't wholly satisfied after the credits rolled. The film didn't utilize the powerhouse duo of Patrick Stewart or Ian McKellen. It also didn't establish the present dystopia world in order to rush to the time travel part. The CGI was very mediocre for the Sentinels in the present time and I didn't buy the action. I wish they had attempted more real-life sequences and spent more time setting up the film and giving more thought to the CGI effects.
Overall, Bryan Singer hits a home run with this film by giving audiences exactly what they want: a comic book movie that plays like a comic book with stellar performances by Fassbender and McAvoy. A must see film for any comic book fans.
Pain & Gain (2013)
A fun action flick that doesn't require much thought.
Michael Bay takes a break from the Transformer franchise to direct "Pain & Gain." It's fast-paced, hilarious, and requires little thought to the plot. Bay uses his typical style of consistent moving the camera and quick-cutting to tell the true story of Daniel Lugo and his criminal adventures. Mark Walberg gives a mediocre performance as Daniel Lugo, body builder turned criminal. The Rock joins him as a religious convert who turns to snorting cocaine and screwing strippers. Ed Norris also joins the group as the private detective determined to hunt down these criminals.
This film is so unrealistic that even Bay realized it. There's a scene where the Rock is grilling murdered victims hands on a grill and it freezes along with the title: "This is still a true story." I'm still unsure of what Bay was trying to communicate with his film since he choose it as a personal project to take a break from directing Transformers. The dialogue is loud and clear without any room for interpretation. Most of the performances are adequate enough for this film, but easily dismissible.
Overall, I enjoyed the film, but it is quickly forgettable after the credits roll. I would suggest viewing other films with more substance.