Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015)

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015) 

This was fucking entertaining.  A lot of great action sequences and good pacing.  I don't know why, but, it made a difference for me by watching all the Mission Impossible movies this week before this one.  Just simply loved it.  Tom Cruise doing his own stunts.  The fucking airplane scene, the underwater scene, the car chase scene, the opera scene, all great.  Loved the characters.  Didn't like the villains all that much.  The Syndicate could've been a lot more cooler.  Good clever story.  Simon Pegg is more involved now.  Worth seeing and especially if you're a fan of the franchise.  This won't disappoint.  This might be in my top 5 of the year, so far.  Wait.  Let me think.  Yeah, this is my fifth favorite film now, so far.   

8 out of 10.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Holy shit, Batman! This was one badass motherfucking movie.  Let me back up.  This week, the new Mission Impossible movie comes out.  My friend Casey is a big fan of the franchise and since it's his birthday week, I'm going to watch the new one with him.  I've seen the first three movies but it was a long time ago. Casey let me borrow the movies, and I've re-watch the first three movies and man, they're awesome.  Now, this fourth one is my favorite.  A lot of cool action sequences.  Lots of cool moves.  Shit, for a movie that was a little over two hours long, it felt kind of short. Good set-up for the next movie.  Good casting.  Kudos on the Russian Assassin played by that one girl from Inglourious Basterds.  Awesome climbing building scene  The whole thing was awesome.  Recommended.  

This is my favorite one, so far.  Followed by part one, then three and part two.

Can't wait to see the new one tomorrow.

Adult World

Adult World IMDb

A co-worker of mine recommended this movie to me.  Here I am, being a good friendly person and giving it a try.  Well, I didn't like it.  There.  End of story.  I'll deal with my co-worker later.  I don't know why I didn't like it.  Emma Robert's character was pissing me off.  She was annoying and there was a part where she was yelling for like 5 minutes, I couldn't stand it.  Anyways, it's an indie film about finding your way in life.  Almost like a coming of age film.  That's all I got.  Not a movie I would recommend. 

Note to self: stop being nice to people whenever they keep insisting for me to watch a certain movie.

Trust your gut, but never drunk.

Zatoichi's Conspiracy

 Zatoichi's Conspiracy IMDb

A milestone has been reached.  After 20 months of owning the Zatoichi Criterion Box Set, I've finally seen all 25 movies.  This last one was a bit of a downer except for that fucking badass battle scene with all the rice.  Slow paced movie.  No battles until the final scene.  And it ended with the traditional Zatoichi ending:  Zatoichi walking away from the village and into the land.  So yeah.  I was expecting a lot more for the final film in the classic series.  After this, they made a Zatoichi TV Series and then one more Zatoichi film decade or two later. 

I think out of that box set, I really enjoyed about half of them.  The other half were so and so.

For this last one, I've decided to make rice balls (Zatoichi's go to food).  Served with Salmon and veggies and a bottle of Sake.

Zatoichi box set now sits proudly in my Japanese section.

Zatoichi in Desperation

Zatoichi in Desperation IMDb

Zatoichi is back with this slow driven but ruthless movie.  Fuck, I can't believe they injured Zatoichi's hands here.  Bloody shit.  The story isn't too original.  I've seen 23 Zatoichi classic movies before this. In this one, Zatoichi tries to raise money in order to free this geisha but the struggle is real, especially when dealing with yakuzas.  This one felt a bit weird.  This is directed by the same actor who plays Zatoichi.  I believe this is his only directed Zatoichi film.  Didn't really stand out for me.

Just one more Zatoichi film to go and I finish my criterion box set.

Focus (2015)

Focus IMDb

I love every single time that the song, "Sympathy for the Devil" by the Rolling Stones, plays in movies.  And this movie right here is no exception.  As a matter of fact, that scene is my favorite scene.  Intense gambling scene with that Chinese guy from Jurassic Park against our main character, fucking Will Smith.  I am no fan of Will Smith but I must admit this was pretty good.  I had low expectations, of course.  I love that this was unpredictable. Stupid twists and turns but unpredictable.  At least for me, it was.  I would have wanted a revenge angle.  Oops, I hope that wasn't a spoiler.  Anyways, some good scenes.  It had me interested and never lost me.  One of my favorite characters was Farhad (played by Adrian Martinez).  I redbox this and I say, it's fucking worth that.  Not special or anything.  But, if you're looking for an entertaining heist movie, this was pretty good there.

7 out of 10.

Unfinished Business (2015)

Unfinished Business IMDb

Don't judge me for watching this movie.  Okay, judge me all you want.  I was in the mood for a stupid raunchy comedy.  And that's what I got but it still didn't satisfy me.  That's okay. I knew that from the start.  The trailer had a lot of potential.  I like some of the stuff and to be honest, there is one awesome part that I did laugh my ass off.  Just one part though.  I like that Nick Frost is in it.  It was a rushed Hollywood ending.  That's good I redbox this or else I would have been more disappointed.  Not recommended.

3 out of 10.

Trainwreck (2015)

Trainwreck IMDb

This movie was pretty hilarious.  Funny raunchy comedy by Judd Apatow.  If you like his other stuff, you'll like this one.  A lot of great laugh out loud moments.  The story plays like a typical rom com.  How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days comes to mind.  What separates this from the usual rom com is the dialogue and of course, the cameos.  I'm a big Lebron James hater but somehow I liked him here.  I guess he did this to redeem himself for all the bullshit he's done.  There's only so much Lebron James I can handle.  Amy Schumer and Bill Hader were awesome together.  I haven't seen some very good comedy lately so this one is up there for making me laugh here and there.  It wasn't as great as Bridesmaids for me (what's wrong with me?)  Not as special as other comedies such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Knocked Up.  Still, this was one entertaining movie.  Count the cameos.

7 out of 10.

Ant-Man (2015)

Ant-Man IMDb

Freaking Ant-Man!  This was everything you'd expect from an entertaining Summer movie.  It didn't exactly exceed my expectations but it was a good ride.  A lot of comedy on here.  Which is what made this movie because the main character is playing a superhero that communicates with ants.  That's a heavy load.  There wasn't that many action scenes.  All the action stuff happens towards the end.  Well, except for a cool little battle that happens halfway through.  Our main villain, Yellowjacket (not likeable), doesn't really come into full effect until the end.  But, fuck, the comedy was pretty awesome.  Love the trio of thugs that help Ant-Man.  Love the fast cut shots during those scenes.  Kudos for using music from Coffy and Jackie Brown during some of those fast cut story re-enactments.  Love Basket Robbins.  Love the daughter and father silly connection.  Michael Douglas aka the first Ant-Man aka the good old doctor was okay.  Maybe this should have been more silly and less serious but I had a great time with it.  Awesome Avengers connections.  I love this as much as I love the new Avengers movie.  So there you go.  If you really enjoyed Avengers: Age of Ultron, you will enjoy this one as well.  Awesome special effects.  Fuck, I wish that overall the story and feeling was more like my favorite movie from last year, Guardians of the Galaxy.  There.  These are my comments to Ant-Man and that's it.

7 out of 10.

The Alamo Drafthouse had tiny menus for this movie.  Awesome treat.

Hitchcock Thursday: The Man Who Knew Too Much

The Man Who Knew Too Much IMDb

Started this month's Hitchcock Thursday a little earlier today with this semi paranoia thriller.  Love the set up and the first half today.  That's a no brainer with me being a fan of paranoia movies.  The second half was okay.  This is Hitchcock's remake of his original movie he made back in the day.  James Stewart is as sharp as ever.  This starts off in Morocco where a family is having a vacation.  They meet a mysterious man and the paranoia starts by the wife suspecting a lot of things from him.  Anyways, the mysterious man gets stabbed and tells a secret to James Stewart's character (the head of the family) right before he dies.  Then all of a sudden, some people kidnapped their son and hold him as a collateral to keep the secret from spilling out.  They travel to England and that's where the paranoia wears off a little bit for me.  Love the cinematography here.  Love the scene where the mother sings "Que sera, sera" in front of a lot people and the son hears his mom from afar. 

Overall, okay Hitchcock movie.  Not a dull moment from the master of suspense.

Mommy

Mommy IMDb 

By mistake I saw this pretty awesome Canadian drama.  I don't know if it was the high dose of caffeine I had earlier or the tumor on my head making me feel pretty crazy with this dysfuntional family story.  The performances were great.  The way they told this story was fucking clever.  And I fucking love music in movies and this had a lot of great moments with that.  Weird dance sequences, tension mother and son moments, and changes in screen format throughout the film made this special.  Glad I saw it by mistake.  You see, I went to Vulcan Video and saw the cover to this and thought that this was the movie they showed at Fantastic Fest last year as one of their secret screenings.  It wasn't until halfway through the movie when I went online to research and noticed it was the movie, "Goodbye Mommy" that was the secret screening.  Big mistake.  Anyways, this won the Jury Prize at Cannes last year.  I can see why!    

Good movie I would recommend if you're in the mood for a crazy drama in French.

Just Another Love Story

Just Another Love Story IMDb 

Decided to watch this Danish movie from Fantastic Fest 2007.  Saw it this morning on Netflix.  Pretty crazy stuff.  Predictable story with deadly consequences.  I like the style and the mood to this.  In a nutshell, this is about a guy who falls for a mysterious woman after they crash in a big vehicle accident.  The guy leaves his marriage and kids to be with this woman.  This woman has a dark past and it comes back to haunt her.  That's pretty much it.  Simple and predictable.  The only badass part I did like was the scene when the mysterious woman gets released from the hospital.  Her sister is listening to some kind of classical music while the family are walking down the hallway.  That's it. Sometimes a little thing like that goes a long way for me.  Other than that, the rest was okay. 

Not a movie I would recommend right away.  I made it my goal a long time ago to see all the films that played at Fantastic Fest at some point.  Well, this is one of them.  Just another love story.

Minions (2015)

 Minions IMDb

Finally, those cute yellow creatures have their own freaking movie.  It's a prequel to Despicable Me.  As a prequel, it was alright.  They made the minions such a big deal around the world here that it takes away their mysterious magic from Despicable Me.  Oh well.  As a stand alone movie, it was as fun as other big summer animated movies.  Nothing above and beyond but good entertainment.  This gets points for taking place in the 60's.  My favorite era.  Awesome music.  Good 60's references.  Short and sweet and good times for the kids.

7 out of 10.

My little minion getting ready to see the movie with of course, a banana.  

Bonus goodies: banana chips and banana icee.

Maggie (2015)

Maggie IMDb

Decent drama zombie flick with Arnold Schwarznegger.  I went in with low expectations and thinking of it as a straight up drama.  Thank goodness for that.  I enjoyed it.  Yeah, it was very slow.  But, it was also a little original.  Imagine during the zombie apocalypse, your teenage daughter gets bitten.  In this zombie world, it takes weeks for you to turn into a full zombie.  So, you're there watching your daughter die slowly.  What the fuck are you going to do?  Arnold can't do drama or otherwise, I would have felt the emotions more here as he plays Maggie's father.  I just put myself in the character's shoes and see what I would do.  Three options are presented here by the doctor.  One, send her to quarantine with other zombies for her last days.  Two, take a quarantine injection that's more painful than anything in the world but she would spend her last dying days at home.  Third option, a quick death.  Damn!  Maggie is played by Abigail Breslin from Zombieland.  Kudos!  So, this movie was okay to see for its originality.  Could have been a lot better though.  At least it was about 90 minutes long. 

6 out of 10.

Killers

Killers IMDb 

This had an awesome premise but I didn't end up liking it.  I didn't like the characters and a few things started pissing me off towards the end.  Such a shame because it looked like it had a lot of potential.  Fuck it, you can't win them all.  It was long too.  I'll keep this short to make that up. 

That's it.  I'm done.

Time Travel Tuesday: Project Almanac (2015)

 Project Almanac IMDb
What the hell is wrong with me?  I knew this Michael Bay production time travel flick was going to be bad.  I thought, if I go in with low expectations, it won't so bad.  Well, fuck no.  The acting sucked.  It would have been alright otherwise.  The story was okay.  The good stuff happens one hour into the film.  I was beginning to like it a little at that point.  Then about 15 minutes later, it went downhill for me again.  They should've made these kids do even more stupider mistakes and end up dying one by one.  And the cherry on top: it's a found footage kind of film.  Forget it.  Stay away from this shit.  I need to go back in time and rethink this clever idea.  

2 out of 10.

Wet Hot American Summer

Wet Hot American Summer IMDb

After watching Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, I decided to go grab some nachos from 7-eleven and see this campy movie on Netflix.  Even though this movie is supposed to stupid and making fun of the 80's campy movies, I still didn't enjoy it.  It sucked, actually.  I was looking forward to it because of some of the cast: Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Elizabeth Banks, and etc.  Not cool, man.  Not cool at all.  Maybe I should've had beers with this but I wasn't craving beer.  All I wanted was some messed up 7-eleven nachos and a big gulp to bring back Summer memories from my childhood.  Just a summer movie with a bunch of stupid horny teenagers saying a lot of stupid shit.  

 

Not recommended!  Go see Revenge of the Nerds and Animal House instead.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl IMDb

 Went to the little cute Violet Crown theatre in downtown Austin to see this little sweet and a little sad movie.  It was pretty good.  Charming!  A little flat towards the end but sweet.  I love the characters though.  The main kid, Greg and his "co-worker" Earl are two big cinephiles.  They make their own spoof from awesome movies.  So, obviously, the best parts are all the movie references.  Hell, the soundtrack has two famous spaghetti westerns songs.  Love the Blue Velvet scene as well.  Needed some freaking Tarantino in there though.  Okay, back to the story.  It's predictable of course but the little moments make it worth to watch. Not a priority but okay to see.  I put it up there with The Wolfpack and Inside Out.

7 out of 10.

King of Beggars

King of Beggars IMDb 

Stephen Chow rules.  This month, I've decided to buy the rest of the movies he directed for his section.

In honor of that, I've decided to watch this film he starred in.  It was funny, sweet, and magical.  This is a tale of rags to riches (well, from rich to rags and then back to riches in a way).  Cheesy Chinese humor.  The kung fu is ridiculously fun.  My favorite parts were in the first 30 minutes.  Awesome set up.  It's not really original but dammit you can't wrong with Stephen Chow's comedic performance.  Saw this on Netflix.

Note to self: worth buying for the kung fu section.