Don Jon

Don Jon IMDb

Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut was funny, cheesy, and overall okay.   He stars as Don Jon, a smooth single guy who sleeps with lots of women, has a nice pad and car, works out, and watches lots of porn.  That's living the life right there.  He meets Scarlett Johansson's character, Barbara, and he does every thing for her.  He goes to school for her, he meets her friends, he obeys everything except for the porn stuff.  She freaks out and leaves him for that.  Meanwhile, Jon meets Julianne Moore's character in school and the two become buddies with benefits.  Jon learns more about life.  The movie has lots of funny moments.  Everything was okay except for the ending.  The ending felt like it needed more.  This is a movie that compares how men and women view relationships and sex.  Porn is no different than a Hollywood romantic comedy.  It's not an anti-porn movie but it's more about how to not be selfish in the bedroom with your lover.  Relationships as well as sex are a two way street. 

Overall, it was okay to see, but I felt incomplete and not satisfied at the end.  The movie poster says "Everyone loves a happy ending."  Well, apparently, I don't in this case. 

In A World

In A World... IMDb

Very cool smart indie comedy about people who do trailer voiceovers in Hollywood.   It has some laugh out moments and a decent story.  It is about a girl who does voices. She is played by Lake Bell. She's trying to make a career out of it. Her dad happens to be a legend among the Hollywood trailer world but that doesn't help her compete in a field dominated by men.  She gets a break when another famous voiceover guy gets sick and she happens to be there at the right moment to replace him.  Boom! She is a hit. Hollywood is coming up with a big quadrilogy epic movie called The Amazon Games. They're looking for the right person to be the voice for the trailers. Our main lead is one of the top candidates as well as her dad. The competition begins. Love the supporting characters in this.  This is a clever straight up movie that has the "girl power" theme to it.  In a way, it makes fun of the system and how Hollywood voiceovers are done.  It was cool to see a cameo by Eva Longoria who makes fun of herself in this.   

I would recommend this movie if you're looking for a nice comedy.  Maybe even worth buying.

12 Years A Slave

12 Years A Slave IMDb

Man, I want to see Django Unchained again after seeing this one.  Might make an interesting double feature.  This movie delivered as expected: a big Oscar movie about slavery.  You seen one and you've seen them all.  So, this ain't going to make points for originality.  This should make points for a few good performances and a good flow.  This one is about a free man who gets fooled by these so called circus performers and he ends up taken by slave traders.  Right from there begins the torment.  He gets sold to one slave owner to the next.  He ends up at the hands of Edwin Epps (played by Michael Fassbender).  Epps is a ruthless hardcore slave owner.  Here our main guy (Solomon) meets Patsey, a young female slave who is awesome at picking cotton.  She goes through a lot stuff with Epps.  There's this strong powerful scene where she gets whipped and she gets whipped bad.  They actually show her skin coming off.  Anyways, Solomon tries to survive all of this and tries to figure out a way to get out of here.  The ending was emotional.  With that, I say this one is a pretty damn good drama.  My guess is that this is going to win the Oscar for best movie.  I prefer The Wolf of Wall Street a whole lot more, but, my vote doesn't count.

I recommend this one if you're in the mood for an intense drama. 

(It's hard to give movies a rating.  I learned that I just can't give them a number.  There's different shades to that.  Different levels that go up and down everyday.  The way I feel about a movie today might not be the same way I feel about it tomorrow.  So from here on out, I won't be giving out ratings.  I'll just comment on how I initially feel about a movie.

Robot Friday: Blade Runner (The Final Cut Version)

Blade Runner IMDb

Robot Friday begins with this Scifi classic.  I've seen most of the director's cut version of this back in the day but honestly, I don't remember much about it.  This Final Cut version is supposed to be the official approved director's cut. A lot of people talk about this movie.  It has a big cult following.  I enjoyed the story.  I enjoyed the world it created.  I'm not going to lie, I don't think this lives up to all the hype people talk about.  Maybe during its time, I would of been blown away.  Having said that, I did like the movie a lot.  Blade Runner is about Deckard, an ex cop who gets rehired to do what he does best: chase and capture replicants (robots disguised as humans).  He meets this nice looking serious girl who happens to be a replicant.  He falls in love with her while he's trying to track the four replicants on his list.  The main replicant is an evil son of a bitch who kills his creator.  The main female replicant is played by Daryl Hanah.  One by one, these replicants get killed.  Straight up story, except for one thing, Deckard might be a replicant himself.  The movie doesn't answer that but they give out little hints left for interpretation.  I don't think he is because if he is, then why didn't Tyrell (the creator of replicants) said anything to him?  Unless he was created by someone else.  Thought the final scene with Deckard and the main replicant was bland. 

Straight up decent Scifi flick.  I was expecting a little more but for a movie made in the cheesy 80's this was good.

Her

Her IMDb

Decided to do a date night with my girlfriend and watch this romantic sci-fi.  This movie was cute, sad, and different. Lots of emotions.  This is a movie about how to deal with emotions.  Some of them hit home for me.  I like the concept of this movie.  It takes place in the future but everything is simple.  Everyone has their own portable internet device that they can command using their voice.  Our main character, Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix), is a lonely writer who is going through a divorce.  He buys this OS (Operating System) to assist him with his personal needs. The voice of the OS is named Samantha.  He connects and falls in love with her little by little.  They go through what normal couples go through in relationships.  There are ups and downs.  Emotions everywhere.  Things thicken when his OS starts evolving and connects with other people and other OS's.  While I did like the story and the performances, I thought the mood was a little bit of a downer and bland.  Kudos for certain moments that made me giggle and certain moments that made me cry a bit.  Divorce is never easy, especially if you're divorcing someone you grew up with.  The scene where Theodore meets his soon to be ex wife for lunch to sign the divorce papers was emotional. 

The story was good and different but overall, this didn't feel special or something I would see again.  I guess I'm not a Spike Jonze fan.  This is the fourth film I've seen from him and the fourth to say that it was just okay. He directed: Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Where The Wild Things Are.

Captain Phillips

Captain Phillips IMDb

"Hey, look at me.  I'm the captain now."  Famous dialogue to this tense suspense drama with Forrest Gump himself.  Based on a true story.  This is the story of a cargo ship captain who gets hijacked by Somalian pirates and then taken captive.  I like that the story kind of shows you both sides.  I can't help but feel sorry for the Somalian pirates, especially our main pirate guy.  These are poor people being kind of forced to do these heists to provide for their families.  They are being forced by even bigger guys.  They don't focus on these bigger guys that deserve to be in hell.  They always send the poor and weak to do the dirty work.  These poor fools mess with the wrong ship: an American ship.  This movie shows you how powerful the American military are.  The last 45 minutes is all about military strategy and how much they do just to save one American.  Love the first half when the pirates aboard the ship.  Good intense scenes.

Decent adventure thriller worth watching at least once.  Entertaining.  Not super thrilled about the climax but hey, this is based on a true story, so it is what it is. 

A.C.O.D.

A.C.O.D IMDb
This is an alright "dramedy."  There, no need for other comments on this.  Worth the Redbox rental.  I guess I can comment on the subject: Adult Children of Divorce.  My parents separated when I was 10 years old.  Nothing extreme as the parents in this story (of course this story story is an exaggerated comedy).  My parents fought for a while but after a few years, they made their peace.  This movie is about an adult guy whose divorced parents still hate each other even after 9 years.  This adult guy is Carter (played by Adam Scott).  Carter's little brother is getting married so no Carter has the difficult task in getting his parents to attend without fighting.  I'm a big fan of Richard Jenkins (who plays the dad).  The chaos begins when both parents refuse to attend the wedding if the other is present. So Carter seeks help by his former "therapist."  Carter starts finding things out and then the plot thickens when he catches his parents having sex.  A great make up sex, that is.  In a way, this can be view as a coming of age comedy.  Carter has to go through his childhood emotions and overcome to make things right.  There weren't any laugh out loud scenes just a few chuckles here and there.  The trailer to this shows all the funny parts but the movie is a mix of drama and comedy. As an Adult Child of Divorce, I can connect with some of this but not most of it.  My son also has to deal with two households.  Luckily, his mom and I are both supportive of each other when it comes to his upbringing and we're getting along really well (it was a rough start but with a happy ending).

Overall, this was okay as a dramedy.  I had no expectations whatsoever.

It didn't suck.

Agora

Agora IMDb

My girlfriend is a fan of director Alejandro Amenabar.  We have all five of his movies including this one.  So I decided to check this one out today while killing time at work.  It is a long brutal epic movie about a religious war.  A war between Christians and Pagans.  Jews are also involved.  It is the story about science as well.  Rachel Weisz plays Hypatia, a strong woman who studies astronomy and teaches others about the mysteries of Earth and the Sun and all that stuff.  There's a big war that breaks out.  Some very graphic scenes.  Pagans vs. Christians vs. Jews.  The Christians outnumber all of them and take over the land.  Hypatia's slave, Davus, is part of those Christians.  He's in love with Hypatia but at the same time, he believes in what he believes.  Basically, the Christians get together and the head preacher or pastor reads them the bible and says that no woman shall be in a leadership role.  That they must not teach or do anything as powerful as men.  So, they accuse Hypatia of being a witch cause she's all about science.  It's a movie that gets me mad and another reason why I hate religion.  But, this isn't the place for me to discuss my religious opinions.  This movie was okay.  It was tense at times and others times dragged on.  We get to learn about these characters throughout but I was confused with Davus.  I thought they were going to focus a lot more on him.  He plays a very important role but he disappears for a while and comes back every other big scene just for a bit.  So I felt that he needed more screen time.  He was a confusing character.  Rachel Weisz gives a good performance.  Good shots and good sound mixing as well.

Okay movie to see, especially if you're into Roman period pieces.

French Cinema Night: Band of Outsiders (Bande a Part)

Band of Outsiders IMDb

We start our first French Cinema Night with this Jeun-Luc Godard classic.  I've never seen any of his films but he's supposed to be a big deal among film school classes and film snobs.  I will probably be watching a few of his films this year.  I start with this one because it is considered Quentin Tarantino's favorite Godard film and Tarantino is my favorite director.  This movie was quirky and cool at times and other times were boring and didn't make sense to me.   I love the concept, though.  It is about two thieves who team up with this girl to steal money.  Both thieves like the girl but the girl favors one of them.  Instead of focusing on the action and the robbery, we focus on these characters and how they interact with one another and what they do in the meantime.  There's like a 5 minute dancing scene here that has nothing to do with the plot but just hanging out with the characters.  That scene is so famous.  I think it's my favorite scene.  I love that we're just hanging out with these characters but didn't connect too much with them or the story.  So there was times I felt uninterested.  I like the absurdity of the film but at the same time, I felt nothing special.

I guess I was wanting a lot more out of this because of its fame in the film history world but I just felt that this was just simply okay.  Okay for the quirkiness that I like in movies.

My girlfriend, who has been to France and knows a little bit of French, has decided to make a French dish for every French Cinema Night this year.  That's a lot of French in one sentence.

Anyways, she's going to try to make a recipe each time from her Julia Child's cookbook.

French Dish served this night was: 

Shrimp Quiche (Quiche Aux Fruits De Mer)

We Are What We Are

We Are What We Are IMDb

Not bad for a remake.  Not bad at all.  I saw the original Mexican version a few years ago at Fantastic Fest 2010. I loved it.  Three years later, this U.S version was shown at Fantastic Fest.  I was kind of worried about it.  While it still covers the same theme and same kind of feeling as the original, the story here was a lot different.  This time around it is the mother who dies in the beginning and this cannibal family must adapt and carry on with their traditions.  There's a mean son of a gun father, two teenage daughters, and a small boy.  It is tradition in this family that the woman must do the killing for an ancient family ritual.  So, the son of a gun father appoints the oldest daughter to do the dirty work.  It is very predictable what's going to happen to some of the characters.  The plot thickens when the two daughters decide they no longer want to participate in this ritual.  In other words, they're tired of eating human chili.  Or are they?  Maybe they're tired of the killing but some family values are treasured more than others.  We have a doctor played by Michael Parks here who finds out something fishy is happening with this family.  A few okay killing scenes.  A few stupid horror moments like a lady who is about to get killed didn't call 911 when she had enough time.  The ending was surprising, though.  Cheesy but cannibal movie lovers would love it.

Overall, it was okay.  Still like the original better but this one was okay for a remake.  One thing for sure, I ain't eating chili for a while.

The Spectacular Now

The Spectacular Now IMDb

Lots of great coming of age movies came out last year.  Two of them made it in my top list of favorite movies.  The Spectacular Now is another decent coming of age movie from last year.  Not as great as other ones I've seen but still has its moments.  Our main character is a high school senior named Sutter.  He gets dumped by his girlfriend and decides to have a little fun as usual.  He is an alcoholic.  He befriends a shy girl named Aimee.  They get closer and closer.  He brings her down to his level.  After meeting his alcoholic father for the first time since he was a kid, he starts realizing things out.  Sutter is a guy who lives in the moment.  Has no defined future or goals.  Like most coming of age movies, he matures a bit and sees the light so to speak.  For a couple of teenage kids, they sure drink a lot in this movie.  There are two scenes where we see Sutter drinking at a bar.  That's not realistic.  I didn't mind as much though.  The only thing I didn't like was the pedestrian accident which I won't spoil for you.  The only thing to say about that is that in reality, things would be drastically different.  Other than that, I liked the story.  Cute moments.  

Overall, it was okay.  Glad to have seen it. 

Good to see once if you're into coming of age movies.

I highly recommend: The Way Way Back and The Kings of Summer.

Toxic Crusaders

Toxic Crusaders IMDb

My four year old pointed out to my Tox Box set on the shelf and asked to see it.  I showed him the box set and I realized that there was this Animated movie included that I've never seen before.  The Tox Box has the first three Toxic Avenger movies as well. I asked my son if he wanted to see the animated movie, and he said "yes."  So here we are.  There was a time long ago where I was into Troma movies.  I haven't seen one in a while.  I'm considering a Troma monthly movie night in a few years.  Before you call Child Services on me, the Toxic Crusaders cartoon is kid friendly.  It's got the same cheesy feeling like most Troma movies but the content is kid friendly.  This starts out the same way the first Toxic Avenger movie began.  A nerd at the gym gets dumped into Toxic waste that just happens to be there at the right moment.  He turns into a Toxic hero.  He teams up with other mutants to battle the evil Dr. Killemoff (the bad guy with a cliche evil voice).  Dr. Killemoff fails and gets help from these aliens from this other planet.  That's when it went downhill for me.  Just like the movie, Toxie saves this nice looking girl and becomes his girlfriend.  I like the cheesy one liners here.  Classic.  It got more stupid after a while but I knew that going in.  I was surprised my son was paying attention in the first half.

It had some okay moments, but overall, it wasn't enough to entertain me.

The Grandmaster

The Grandmaster IMDb

Wong Kar Wai, the art house director who did Chungking Express, Ashes of Time, and lots of other poetic Hong Kong movies, delivers the Ip Man story Wong Kar Wai style.  In other words, this movie is mostly about poetic feelings from some of the characters rather than the actual Ip Man character.   We see Ip Man kicking ass in the beginning.  They talk about his life for a bit then the focus turns to a character named Master Gong and his daughter.  Master Gong gets killed by one of his followers, and his daughter (Wong Er) goes out for vengeance.   Like most of Wong Kar Wai films, this is beautifully shot. The fight sequences were amazing. Majority of the time, the feeling of the movie was moody and dramatic. After almost a whole hour about Wong Er, they finally go back to Ip Man. By that point, I felt disconnected from the character.   So, my friends,  I didn't like the story.  I saw the Hong Kong version to this film which I heard it's the better version.

This should of been called Wong Er or something else.  Overall, I liked the few fight sequences and some of the great shot but not a movie for me.

Western Wednesday: The Searchers

The Searchers IMDb

Kicking off Western Wednesday with a John Wayne classic.  I believe this is my second John Wayne movie to ever see. My first John Ford movie too.  I didn't grow up with Westerns. I avoided them as a kid. My parents would watch soap operas or action Mexican movies.   Later in life, I saw a few and I became particularly interested in spaghetti westerns (thanks to Quentin Tarantino). I saw over 40 spaghetti westerns.  Now it's time to catch up with some American westerns.   Right away this starts out very differently than the typical Italian ones.  Instead of a big shootout or a bad guy scene, this starts with John Wayne visiting his family and they have dinner.  John Wayne plays a not likeable character.  He treats his family and friends like crap. He is also a big racist. Hates Indians to death.  So much that if his family becomes an Indian, he would be eager to shoot them.  This is a story about The Searchers (John Wayne and his mixed Indian nephew) searching for two girls that were abducted by an Indian tribe.  I didn't really care for John Wayne's character.  I also don't like how they portray the Indians here.  Usually in spaghetti westerns, Indians always keep to themselves and are not considered savages.

Overall, this had some okay scenes. It entertained with its drama. I know many love it but I didn't like the story.  The best part was the last shot (John Wayne walks out and the door closes behind him going to black).

Zatoichi Night: The Tale of Zatoichi Continues

The Tale of Zatoichi Continues IMDb
Impressive! Zatoichi strikes again. This movie has a lot more battles than the first one.  Here we discover Zatoichi has a brother who only has one arm thanks to Zatoichi.   They both had a feud over the same woman back in the day. Now they reunite to finish what they started.  Meanwhile, the government and gangs are after them.  They still misjudge Zatoichi here for being just a blind man.  I love it cause they never learn.  Didn't like that they ended this movie abruptly. But, still love the hell out of it. It makes me want more and more. I shouldn't have started this night.  I want to watch all of them this week but gotta wait next month for my next Zatoichi fix.

This kicked ass and I would recommend this to any samurai fan.

Bought the Criterion collection set on sale during the holidays.

Star Trek: First Contact

Star Trek: First Contact IMDb

This next Star Trek movie was slightly better than the previous one.   Still not enough to make me a fan or a trekkie. I guess I should of saw this growing up, maybe that would of made me love it.  I grew up with Star Wars.  First Contact was pretty cool in certain moments.  It had some decent Sci Fi Action.   Our crew goes back in time on Earth. A time where a scientist first makes contact with life form from outer space. They must guide him before the bad guys (The Borg) interfere and ruin history.   The scientist is played by James Cromwell.  He's a rock and roller.

I wanted to like this movie.   Maybe if I make myself watch it numerous times, I would get into it more. I don't know.

Star Trek: Generations

Star Trek: Generations IMDb

Last year my friend and reporter in the field, Casey Claiborne, gave me his Star Trek DVD collection so I can catch up.  I saw the first 6 movies and the JJ Abrams movies.  Today I continue with this one.   Captain Kirk passes the torch to Patrick Stewart.   I liked the first half.  Thought it was interesting.  We got this new Star Trek crew trying to get the evil Soran played by Malcolm McDowell.  Soran is interested in some weird world called Nexus in the middle of it he plans to destroy several planets.  William Shatner's Kirk comes out in the beginning before he gets "killed."  How about an appearance by Whoopi Goldberg?  She's right here.  I like "Data" the robot crew member who discovers feelings with his new emotions chip.  I'm not familiar at all with the show so I'm going blind in meeting these characters.  I didn't feel the second half.  Thought it was stretched and a bit slow.  Kind of ruined the overall experience for me. 

I liked some parts but this movie wasn't for me.

Sightseers

Sightseers IMDb

I didn't know what to expect with this dark comedy/romance story from England.  It had lots of crazy moments but they get old after a while.  It's about a weird funny couple that go on a road trip. The main guy (Chris) kills someone by "accident" and their road trip starts getting more crazy. The main girl (Tina) finds out that Chris killed someone else during the trip and she goes along for the ride. Soon, she starts killing people as well.  It's like an indie Natural Born Killers type of a movie.  The landscapes where they go look awesome. I would love to take a road trip there as well.  Do everything they do except the killings.  It ends very quickly.

I did like most of the story but overall I was wanting just a bit more. Okay to see once.

Rabies

Rabies IMDb

It's only right to begin the year by watching the first film by the same filmmakers who did my favorite film from last year. Rabies had me going pretty good. Lots of unexpected moments and pretty good humor.  Everything was going so well except for that ending. The ending kind of ruined it for me. Rabies was shown at Fantastic Fest two years ago.  I give the movie some props for being different and clever.   It's a movie about a serial killer in the woods. Different characters happen to come across these woods.  The plot thickens when one of our characters shoots the serial killer with a tranquilizer and the serial killer falls asleep for almost the entire movie. What now? Well, these characters start killing each other either by accident, by jealosy, self defense, and by anger.  Clever,  huh? There's this scene where this perverted cop is dying and he gets a phone call from his father on his last few seconds of life.  His father yells at him on the phone for something he did earlier.  He dies.  Lots of good kills. The ending ruined it though.  I wanted more out of it.  The message of the movie is clear: we are all capable of murder. 

If it wasn't for that ending, I would of love the hell out of this.  Not as much as Big Bad Wolves, though.Overall, it was okay.

****2014 Movie Specials****

Here are the monthly movie specials for this year:

The 1st Monday of every month will be Zatoichi Night.
Last year for Samurai Monday I fell in love with a little movie called The Tale of Zatoichi. They also released the complete Zatoichi movie collection on Criterion this last year, which I bought on sale. 
So now that I have the box sitting there, I'm going to make myself watch one of the Zatoichi movies each month.

The 2nd Wednesday of every month will be Western Wednesday.
I didn't grow up watching westerns.  I became interested in them later in life. I've seen mostly spaghetti westerns. Now, I have the chance to see one Western each month and catch up on some classics.

The 3rd Thursday of every month will be French Cinema Night.
It sounds boring, I know.  Two years ago, I explored South American Cinema.
This year I want to explore a specific country.  There are lots of French films I haven't seen like films by Jean-Luc Godard. Plus, my girlfriend knows some French and is planning on taking more French classes this year. So, that's that.

The 4th Friday of every month will be Robot Friday.
I wanted to do this night last year but I couldn't fit it in.  This is my rule for Robot Friday:
Either the protagonist is a robot or part machine or the plot has a lot to do with
robots. I will be watching 12 of these suckers. 

There will be no mandatory New Release Tuesday this year.
I'll still be seeing new releases almost every Tuesday but this time with no obligation or pressure.