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.