22 Jump Street (2014)

22 Jump Street IMDb

I enjoyed the first one when I saw it two years back and I enjoyed this one the same way.  Yeah, it's a little stupid at times.  But, I was already expecting that.  A movie with no brains.  Some funny moments.  It was good just relaxing after a busy weekend of rock and rolling and ending with a movie that just balls out fun.  The only scene that was pretty ridiculous was the helicopter scene towards the end.  Other than that, decent fun movie.  Love the credits!

Even though I enjoyed it, I wouldn't buy it.  It was a good one time deal for me.

Robot Friday: The Iron Giant

The Iron Giant IMDb

"I am Groot!"  Wrong movie but similar character and hell, the same actor does the voice.  The Iron Giant was a sweet movie.  Enjoyed it.  It was about time for me to see it.  This movie was one of the reasons I wanted to do Robot Friday.  Kudos!  A nice story about a boy and a big robot.  This had the anti gun message all over but it didn't feel too political. 

Loved it.  I would buy it for the collection. 

Moebius

Moebius IMDb

Hardcore Korean drama!  What can you expect from a movie about a mother who goes crazy and ends up chopping her son's private parts off?  Oh, and the father, who was the one who made his wife go crazy, makes it his responsibility to learn and teach his son how to sexually pleasure himself without using his penis.  Yup, that's Moebius.  To top it off, this movie had no spoken dialogue.  All natural sounds.  Insane!  It was shown at Fantastic Fest last year.  If you're in the mood for a Korean dysfunctional family drama, this one is at your own risk.  Not a film I would recommend.  I'm a sucker for Korean films, so I had to see this to get it out of the way.

I wouldn't buy it.  Good to only see once and that's it. Again, at your own risk.

Had me some noodles to go with this movie.

Chef (2014)

Chef IMDb

Wow!  This was amazing.  Emotional, funny, entertaining, and got me craving lots of food.  I'm a foodie (at least I pretend to be).  So I knew I was going to love the hell out of this movie.  This also hits home because of the father and son relationship.  I would love for my son to be open and exposed to a lot of great food and exploring the world.  I love the traveling scenes in this movie.  Love that his son preferred going to New Orleans instead of Disney World.  Kudos for the Austin, TX scenes.  Still gotta make it to Franklins BBQ one day.  Jon Favreau starred and directed this feel good movie.  

Highly recommend this.  I need to add this to my collection someday.

I made a grilled cheese served with a side of plantain chips to go with this movie.

After a quick research, I decided to make the grilled cheese similar to the one made in the movie.  I used Gruyere Cheese and Sharp Cheddar and lots and lots of butter.  Very delicious.

Here's the link to see:

The Grilled Cheese Scene from Chef

Trailer:

The Boxtrolls (2014)

The Boxtrolls IMDb

This was a cute Animation.  I enjoyed it with my son.  He's a big fan of Paranorman, so I knew he was going to enjoy this one made from the same group.  I had no idea what the story was about.  Thought it was just about these trolls that wear boxes.  There is more to it than that.  It's a charming story about a boy who was raised by these "boxtrolls" and about the town who despises them.  I had no idea that both Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, etc.) were a part of this.  Oh, and there are a lot of cheese eating scenes here.  So this would be a good movie to pair with a variety of cheeses.  It was a short and simple movie for those young at heart to enjoy.

This makes yet another great Animation movie this year. I have not seen any that sucked.  For the record, I have yet to see Rio 2 (which I've heard wasn't good).  Definitely recommend this one.

Here's a pic of my little troll before the movie.  Chocolate milk, optional.

Firecracker

Firecracker IMDb

Well, well, well!! What do we got here?  A surreal mystery that wasn't that good.  Tonight, a few friends of mine and myself, decided to pull a triple feature.  The theme: The Three Tits Triple Feature.  We started out with the original Total Recall, then Paul, and ended the night with this one.  Each movie has either a character with three boobs or references it.  I love Total Recall and Paul.  I've seen those numerous of times.  As for my first and most likely only time seeing Firecracker, I was wanting something more.  The first 20 minutes were trippy as hell.  It had potential for cult classic greatness but it died down for me.  I love the carnival stuff.  You can't go wrong with midgets.  Also, Mike Patton (Mr. Bungle and Faith No More) plays two different crazy characters here.  I just didn't like the story, though.  The acting bothered me too.  As for the three boobed lady circus performer, she was only shown in two quick scenes.  No big deal.  So, it was disappointing.

Not recommended.  Not even if you and your buddies ever want to do a Three Boob triple feature. Just don't.  At least this brought a few sci-fi nerds together for 7 hours.  The experience was priceless.

This triple feature was paired with different dishes.  I made corn flakes crusted chicken tenders for Total Recall (there are a few corn flakes moments there).  My friend Mike brought Reese's Pieces for Paul (Paul just like E.T loves them).  Shelled Peanuts were served for Firecracker (we were thinking some kind of circus type snack).  And the icing on the cake, Rey and Asi, contributed a pumpkin Tres Leches cake for the event (Tres Leches, get it?).

French Cinema Night: Monsieur Hire

Monsieur Hire IMDb

I enjoyed this movie.  It was strange but pretty awesome.  It was also sad.  Talking about the plot will spoil it.  Love the way they did this.  It's the peeping Tom story with style.  Everytime our main character spies on his attractive neighbor from across the builiding, he plays the same classical music on his record player.  Good shots too.  

I wouldn't mind buying this one day but not a priority.  Definitely worth watching. 

Filth

Filth IMDb

Let's blow our minds!  This English movie was okay.  It had lots of good parts, especially the soundtrack (which are mostly awesome covers).  It is trippy, that's for sure.  Trippy and Filthy!  A movie about a crooked cop and his psychotic adventures.  I love, love the ending.  There is just something about the movie as a whole that was missing.  Can't figure what that is.  Maybe the flow was off.  Maybe it was trying to be too weird that things were a bit messy.  Maybe because I didn't have subtitles on and it's hard to understand the Scottish accents.  But, for what I experienced, I thought it was okay.

Gotta download some of these cover songs.  

Big Hero 6 (2014)

Big Hero 6 IMDb

Another sweet and awesome Animation this year.  This one is almost up there with The Lego Movie.  It's from the same creators who did Wreck-It Ralph (which was in my top 10 in 2012).  I have a confession:  I cheated again.  See, this is a Robot movie and I'm not supposed to see any robot movies this year unless it's Robot Friday.  In my defense, I totally didn't know or if I did know, I didn't realize until I was halfway through this movie.  So, it doesn't count.  This was just a freebie.  I'm trying to persuade my mind that it's okay and that everything is going to be alright.  I'll get over it.  Anyways, this movie is a robot movie, superhero movie, and a semi-revenge movie.  Badass!  Oh, and there are two emotional moments that hit me a bit.  Good story and cute little moments.  Okay, so it's not Wreck-It Ralph awesome but this does its job.  

 Must see, especially with the family.  Lots of cool Animation this year: The Lego Movie, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, How To Train Your Dragon 2.

 

Saw this in Midland with my son Nates the Shakes, my niece Angelina, and my brothers.

 

Western Wednesday: A Million Ways To Die in the West (2014)

A Millions Ways to Die in the West IMDb

Well, shit!!  This sucked.  I went in with low expectations because of what I heard and it still didn't do it for me.  I love "Ted" and I like a lot of Family Guy episodes, but this wasn't funny.  There were two or three moments where I was laughing but that's it.  What kept me going was Charlize Theron.  She was beautiful and acted cute here.  Everyone else was so and so.  

Not the worst movie I've seen this year but pretty close.  Stay away!  

A Most Wanted Man (2014)

A Most Wanted Man IMDb

Pretty good spy movie we got here.  A little intense.  We never know what was going to happen in the next scene or not.  I admit, the first half was a bit boring for me but it picked up right away.  I felt like a film snob complaining about this shit but I then slapped myself a few times and I was back to my old self again.  Philip Seymour Hoffman was badass as usual.  Rest in peace!  This probably needed lots of violence and lots of chase sequences to be awesome in my book but that's just my personal taste.  For what it was, it was pretty good.  Good solid drama.

Worth checking out at the Redbox but nothing special.  

Boyhood (2014)

Boyhood IMDb

Boy, oh boy!  This was one awesome, sweet movie.  I remember covering the red carpet for it at SXSW earlier this year for work.  This is a movie by Richard Linklater.  It took 12 years to make.  Why so long?  Because it was an experimentation.  Every so often during those 12 years, Linklater would shoot scenes with the main boy, the girl that plays his sister, Patricia Arquette, and Ethan Hawke.  The result: an awesome drama showing the life of a boy growing up from elementary to his arrival at college.  It is almost three hours long.  It didn't drag at all. These characters became a family to me for three hours.  A lot of what they went through, hits home for me.  It's a movie about life and about love.  So it should hit home to almost everyone.  It's the story of Mason.  He lives with his mother and sister.  He sees his dad every so often.  During his childhood, his mother married and divorced three men.  He moves to different parts of Texas.  He meets different friends and girlfriends and has different experiences.  It shows the struggle and the changes of this boy and the other characters.  It shows how this boy evolves to a young man.  Fucking beautiful movie.  Richard Linklater has made some very awesome films.  I think I need to add him to my director shelf.  Kudos for the Austin scenes.  Can't go wrong with the best city in Texas.  

A must see and a must buy for sure.  Special movie.

Glad I finally saw this movie.  Saw it at the new discount theatre they opened in Northwest Austin and it was only a buck (1 dollar Sundays).

Interstellar (2014)

Interstellar IMDb

Wow!  That Christopher Nolan guy never disappoints.  I am speechless.  Okay, maybe I have a few words:  intense, emotional, visually satisfying.  I fucking loved it.  Whenever a Christopher Nolan movie comes out, I tend to stay away from social media, reviews, rotten tomatoes, etc, until I see it firsthand.  And I saw this the way the director wanted people to see it: in 70mm.  As a bonus, I saw it in IMAX too.  My first 70mm Imax experience.  So that alone, enhances the awesomeness of this movie.  I felt my seat tremble quite a few times.  Easily one of the best space movies I've seen.  I remember loving the space experience when I saw Gravity last year.  Well, I personally think this one is a lot more awesome. I caught myself shedding some tears in a couple of moments.  Love the twists and turns.  Nolan style.  It's almost 3 hours long.  At times I do feel it but there was some sequences that were intense that I felt no concept of time.  I ain't spoiling anything about the story here.  This you have to see and judge for yourself.

Must see in the theatres and as big as possible.  Don't watch it at home for your first time.  It won't be the same.  This is a very possible candidate for my top 10 favorites of the year.  Possibly my top 5.

Ink

 Ink IMDb

A co-worker kept telling me to watch this movie and I finally did this morning.  This is a very low budget sci-fi/supernatural tale.  I think it was made for 250,000 dollars.  Considering that budget, this was pretty good.  The story was okay.  I wasn't into it as much.  But, the fucking visuals were great for a low budget movie.  Freaky scenes.  I like some of the characters especially the not so funny guy with no eyes.

Overall, it was okay to see.  Not one to buy.

Wolf

Wolf IMDb 

Man, I love me a decent gangster film.  This one is from the Netherlands.  It was shown at Fantastic Fest last year and I just happen to see it at Vulcan Video the other day so I had to see it.  There are some scenes that remind me of "The Town" and a little hint of "Pulp Fiction."  Wolf is about this young thug that's always looking for trouble along with his buddie.  He gets trained to box, but at the same time, he starts doing jobs for a Turkish mob.  Things get heated in the second half.  Good stuff.

While everything is not original, this is cool to see.  Maybe not a priority to buy but definitely worth your valuable time.

Zatoichi Night: Zatoichi and the Chess Expert

Zatoichi and the Chess Expert IMDb 

Zatoichi is back and he's better than ever.  Wait, he's always back better than ever.

This movie was actually a little too repetitive.  Nothing fresh happens here except a chess game.  That's it.  Good fight scenes like usual.  Everyone always want to take advantage of the blind samurai.  He's always two steps ahead, though.  In this movie he meets and becomes friends with a chess expert all while he's out killing yakuzas and trying to save a sick little girl.  Short and simple. Probably my least favorite of the Zatoichi movies.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IMDb

Took my son Nathan to see this movie today at the discount theatre.  Went in with low expectations.  Verdict:  It was okay and I'm glad I got it out of the way.  I can see why a lot of people hated it.  These were my childhood heroes.  Heroes in a half shell!  The story kind of sucked.  It was predictable and nothing exciting happened.  Some unnecessary explosions towards the end.  Big surprise!!  Anyways, this movie is all about April and her adventures with these vigilante creatures.  Oh, and The Shredder is in it looking like a Transformer half of the time.  I don't want to bash this movie anymore. I, at least, opened up to some okay scenes and a few comedic moments.   

Not a movie I would recommend but I just wanted to get it out of my system because Ninja Turtles were a big part of my life in the late 80's and early 90's. That's it.