Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Game Night

Game Night.....where to begin....

I loved it. Game Night is about a murder mystery game night that ends up being more than just a game. Max (Jason Bateman) and Brooks (Kyle Chandler) have had a longtime sibling rivalry about everything imaginable. Brooks has always been better: he's better looking, more successful, and seemingly more loved by all. When Brooks comes back to town and announces the weekly game night will be at his house instead of letting it be at Max's, Max and all his friends have no idea what's in store.

From the very start of the movie, I was loving it. I am a huge fan of Jason Bateman in general, but I have not been impressed with some of his more recent films (*cough* The Gift *cough*). This was definitely an improvement for him. The jokes were not cheesy at all, and not once did I feel like they were forced. All of the actors did a great job at making it seem realistic. As if they were all great friends that loved to joke around and looked forward to their weekly game nights.

I was worried that Game Night would be predictable. A lot of times with comedies, the previews give you all the funny parts and you can guess the ending without even seeing it. That was not the case this time. The best jokes were left for movie purposes only and I was guessing whodunit time and again, without success (and I'm pretty good with mysteries).

I will recommend Game Night to everyone for as long as it's in theaters, and then again when it comes out on DVD. I might just need to add it to my collection of DVDs as well.

P.S. Don't miss the cut scene at the very end of the credits!

Sunday, February 25, 2018

Annihilation

Spoilers follow!

Out of all the reviews I've done so far, this one has been the hardest. I left the theater in a bit of a daze, trying to determine whether I enjoyed the movie, or if the questions I was left with were too much and too many.

Annihilation is about a biologist (Natalie Portman) that is brought in (not by choice) to a secret expedition located at Area X. All that is known about Area X is that some miraculous event occurred at a lighthouse creating what they refer to now as the Shimmer. The Shimmer is like a force field that is slowly growing larger, and is threatening to reach civilization. Every expedition that has been sent into the Shimmer ends up with no survivors and no answers. Until Natalie Portman's husband escapes the Shimmer in need of serious medical help. The answers to his survival, however, are inside the Shimmer, and only a biologist/ex-army soldier can find the answers.

Lena (Natalie Portman) enters the Shimmer with four other women by her side: a geologist, a physicist, a paramedic, and a psychologist who also happens to be the woman that has chosen all the past soldiers and scientists to enter the Shimmer. We come to learn that each of the women has gone into the Shimmer with their own "baggage." The physicist wears long sleeves because she has cut herself in the past, and she cut herself in the hopes of feeling more alive. The paramedic used to use drugs and fears losing her sanity and herself. It is not until the end of the movie that I realized how the Shimmer fed off of the baggage these women came with. The title "Annihilation," comes from the Shimmer's ability to annihilate everything that enters into it simply by making them come up against their fears and their hopes. The paramedic goes crazy, and the physicist finally feels alive and at peace which allows the Shimmer to take her completely.

There is a lot of science in this movie. You will see cells breaking apart and mutating under a microscope, and you will hear terms such as human HOX genes and refraction. Now, I have a background in science, so I was able to follow along with a lot of the explanations about the Shimmer. If you do not understand science, you could find this movie harder to follow. The physicist figures out that the Shimmer is a prism, meaning it refracts everything that is inside of it. Because of this, no cell is safe, and as we all should know, humans and all organisms are made up of cells. In other words, DNA begins to rewrite itself inside this prism and mutations in people and all the flora and fauna are common. (If I've lost you already, I think it is safe to say Annihilation is not the movie for you. If you're still with me, let's continue.)

Overall, I think I did enjoy Annihilation. While I was left with a lot of questions, I am continuing to piece the answers together today, and I saw the movie over 24 hours ago. Annihilation has kept me thinking and it has kept me wishing for more answers. Does it bother me that I still have questions? Yes, it does, but isn't that also a good sign for the movie? Alex Garland (the director of Annihilation) and all the crew that was involved have created a masterpiece that was not only beautiful to watch, but has left me wanting more. I may have to go see this one a second time, and who knows, maybe all my answers will be answered the second time around.


 

Friday, February 23, 2018

The 15:17 to Paris

The 15:17 to Paris is Clint Eastwood's newest production that follows three childhood best friends on their backpacking trip around Europe that ultimately lands them in the middle of a terrorist attack. The actors are played by the real heroes of this story; they are not actors in every day life.

I have to say, I had high hopes for this movie. I do not remember seeing this story in the news, so I was interested to see what happened from the men that lived through it. Now, after seeing it, I was greatly letdown. While I didn't expect the war heroes to be great actors, I did expect the other actors to be decent. I was not impressed by any one of them. The child actors seemed extremely cheesy, talking about brotherhood when they're just kids in middle school. I highly doubt kids that age talk about brotherhood in the military. The mothers were also disappointing. Judy Greer and Jenna Fischer are well-known actresses from movies like "13 Going on 30" or the TV show "The Office." It honestly seemed like they'd never acted before in their lives.

If you are going to see this movie, and are expecting an action packed thriller....try another movie. The first hour and fifteen minutes is about how the three men came to be on that train. We follow them from middle school, to college, to basic training, and then to their backpacking trip. The entire train scene lasted about 15 minutes in total, and it was the best part by far. The soldiers did a great job of portraying what happened on that train, but waiting for over an hour to get there was not what I had signed up for.

Please do not get me wrong. Those men are heroes and they deserve to be recognized as such, but I did not want to watch them go out partying at the bars and jumping from hostel to hostel for an hour. I'm not sure this movie did them the justice they deserved, even if they did do a wonderful job of showing us what happened on that train.

Sorry Clint Eastwood....maybe next time...

Sunday, February 18, 2018

Peter Rabbit

Some of you may remember The Tale of Peter Rabbit books written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter. This movie is based upon those books. Peter Rabbit is the leader of his little family that includes Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and cousin Benjamin. Bea (played by Rose Byrne) has looked after the rabbits ever since their parents died. She is an artist that has no luck with her art, except for the paintings she does of the rabbits.

This movie is a story about love, family, and acceptance, and it actually made me teary. Believe me, I did not expect to get teary from a half animated movie, but I did. When a new neighbor moves into the house next door and begins getting close to Bea, Peter Rabbit decides that he is going to do everything possible to make the new neighbor leave. Bea is basically Peter's mother, and when this new man comes into the picture, Peter soon feels left behind.

I absolutely loved the way the producers chose to make this movie. There were scenes that were taken directly out of the books, that they animated to tell the story. Almost like we were there in the book and it would flip from that 2D page to the 3D people. There was also a narrator, so at times it was almost like someone was there reading us this story. Everything from the music choices to the characters to the hidden jokes that went over all the kid's heads, was brilliant. This is a beautiful movie, and whether you have a child to take or not (I do not), I highly recommend this movie if you're looking for something to simply make you smile. You will laugh and smile, you may be scared for Peter at times, and you may get teary like I did, but you will leave that theater feeling happy that family conquers all.

Friday, February 16, 2018

Black Panther

Marvel's newest super hero movie: Black Panther. I had never heard about Black Panther prior to his arrival in the Avengers movies, so it was nice to learn his story. He comes from the nation of Wakanda where they have an abundance of this material called Vibranium. The black panthers are able to use this vibranium (not only in the creation of their weapons and armor) but it is also how they become the black panther. The vibranium is found in a Heart-shaped Herb that grows around regions of Wakanda. The black panther ingests this flower to become the leader of his nation.

Overall, the Black Panther was very well done. The actors were phenomenal. Chadwick Boseman is THE Black Panther and Lupita Nyong'o can do no wrong in my book. The main complaints I have about the movie have to do with CGI and the music choices. There were a couple moments where I thought the CGI left something to be desired, specifically when Klaue (Andy Serkis) was involved. Klaue only has one (real) arm, and the CGI used to cover Andy Serkis's second arm was really bad. It was obvious that there was a real arm there and it was blurred out. Come on Marvel, you can do better...

The music director seemed to choose certain people to have certain music themes. Almost like a character theme entrance if that makes sense. But, he chose music that included everything from authentic African music, to a full symphonic orchestra, to hip hop/rap music. The music was so weird and so often changing from one theme to another that I found it to be very distracting. Music is used to emphasize big moments, but here it simply seemed thrown in for no reason. The worst was when two characters with different themed music came together, and then there was a mash-up of classical music with hip hop. If done right, that could possibly work....it didn't work here.

If you are a Marvel fan, this was not my favorite, but it is a good film in its own right. Other people may love the music choices and not care about the CGI, but I notice those things. You don't spend 8 years in band and then not notice when classical music is playing in the background.

P.s. There are 2 cut scenes at the end of the movie. Don't miss them!

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Winchester

****Spoilers follow. Read at your own risk.****

Winchester is based on the Winchester Mystery House that is located in San Jose, California. It is, up to this day, listed as one of the most haunted mansions in the USA. The movie follows a psychiatrist (played by Jason Clarke) as he tries to determine whether Sarah Winchester (Helen Mirren) is mentally stable enough to run the family business.

Now, I'm not sure how much of this story is based in facts (I suspect not a lot of it), but I did enjoy the movie. It was at times scary and at other times confusing, much like the Winchester mansion. The Winchester mansion underwent over 20 years of round the clock construction to make it what it is today: a building with over 40 rooms, hallways that end nowhere, staircases that make no sense.

The most confusing part to me was Sarah Winchester's explanation of why the mansion was constructed in that way. She said that the souls of those that were killed by a Winchester rifle came to her to have her construct the room that they passed in. She would then build the room to make them stronger so that she could help them move on. If the spirit is too strong and does not want to move on, she seals them into their rooms by nailing them closed with 13 nails.

In the movie, Sarah invites this new spirit into the house, which happens to want her dead. This spirit, near the end of the movie, releases all the other spirits from those rooms that have been sealed, and Sarah along with Dr. Eric Price must defeat this new spirit. The reason I find it confusing is because Sarah is able to simply tell the other spirits to go back to their rooms so she can seal the doors once again. Why would a spirit willingly be sealed into a room? Maybe I misunderstood the meaning of the rooms and Sarah's explanation, but I find that to be very strange.

Winchester did succeed in creeping me out and making me jump. Even when I thought I saw it coming, I still jumped, and that to me is a scary movie done right. Just be aware that you will need to use some thinking skills to understand what is happening in the Winchester Mansion.

I, for one, have no intention of ever visiting one of the most haunted mansions in the USA in real life...I think I'll survive without it.

Sunday, February 11, 2018

12 Strong

12 Strong is about the first Special Forces team that was chosen to go into Afghanistan after 9/11. Their mission: to meet up with the local warlord, earn his trust, and take down the Taliban between Bescham and Mazar-i-Sharif.

The movie begins with the leader of the Special Forces team (played by Chris Hemsworth) at home with his family. We come to learn that he was about to submit his paperwork for a desk job. He has never seen real battles, and has only trained his men in the field. After some convincing, he is allowed to lead his men into this war. For the rest of the movie, you watch Chris Hemsworth as he discovers what a real war is like, and you see the changes it makes in a man.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this movie, but there are a few things that were unbelievable. I understand that it is a movie, but it's based on a true story, and key points need to be kept. For example, the biggest problem I had was that the 12 men never wore a helmet. Why??? Since when do we allow any soldier to enter into enemy territory without a helmet? That's asking for a death wish. I know Chris Hemsworth is nice to look at and we hate seeing his beautiful hair covered up....wait that's Thor... but come on. Give the man a helmet.

I did, however, enjoy seeing how a man that had no experience with war, learned (from a warlord, no less) how to become a true soldier. He went from never having killed a single man, to taking on an army of Taliban on horseback. With all the odds set against him, tanks vs. horses, thousands vs. a few hundred, and with everyone saying he wouldn't come home to his family again, Captain Mitch Nelson proved them all wrong. He completed his mission in three weeks even though everyone told him it wasn't possible. That this portion of the war would take years to complete and that he would only be the first to die. He and his 11 men, proved the world wrong. He is an inspiration, and he deserves to be recognized as such. It makes me very happy that these men are now recognized with a statue at the World Trade Center, and it makes me even happier that the world now knows their story.


Monday, February 5, 2018

About Me

Hi everyone and welcome to my new blog!

As you can see above, my name is Hayley and I'm 26 years old. I live and work in Tulsa, OK, but my job has nothing to do with movies or theater in general. While I may not work in that field, I have bought a lot of movie tickets and DVDs, and I have done my time as a Stage Manager in high school and college. I can't tell you how many movies I've seen in theaters, but I can say that I personally own over 300 DVDs, which I might as well mention, are not easy to store.

My friends have always loved my movie reviews because I will give my honest opinions of the movie, and I don't care what the film critics say. Actually, the film critics and I rarely ever agree, and that bothers me. If you read the critics' reviews, and then don't go see a movie because of what they said....you're doing this all wrong. Trust me. They're crazy or confused and they wouldn't know a good movie if it slapped them in the face.

A few months ago, I had the pleasure of learning about and acquiring a MoviePass. If you haven't heard about this, you need to get on my bandwagon! MoviePass is $10 a month for unlimited movies, one movie per day. It's super easy to use. You download the app, sign up and they send you a "credit card." Then, go to the theater, check in on the app, and swipe your card. Checking in pretty much loads the credit card with the money required for the movie ticket. For more info, go here: https://www.moviepass.com/?affiliate=igw&referralCode=6cDmZfpH4OqE4Z5Z2Nyk1YPgGQhGw3FS4xQbEKd1Cto%253D&medium=email&referralSource=.

Anyway, this MoviePass has allowed me to go to the movies at least once a week (time permitted, I still have a real job). Some friends think I'm crazy for seeing so many movies, but I love every second spent watching them, and I feel like it's time to share my reviews. Whenever I see a movie, I will post my thoughts on it soon after.

Have a movie you're considering seeing, but aren't sure you'll enjoy? Let me know what it is. I'll go see it as soon as I can and I'll let you know what I thought.

So for now, thank you for reading this first entry, and I hope you come back. :)

Hayley