Top 5 Tuesday: Favorite Childhood Movies

Hey everyone, today marks the start up of college once again. I’ve sort of been falling behind in preparation for classes, but I will not fall behind on Top 5 Tuesdays. So here is the list of my favorite movies from when I was a child, note that these are not necessarily child friendly movies.

5. Batman Forever

I’ve always loved superhero movies, and while Batman Forever still holds a special spot in my heart, it’s not a good movie. It’s great compared to Batman & Robin, but still no where near the Keaton Batman. I personally like that Batman more than Forever, but this is me trying to think in my childhood mindset. I loved the zany Riddler and the more comedic Two-face, but they didn’t age too well.

4. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

Easily one of the best Jim Carrey performances. He’s funny, quotable and did I say funny? This isn’t one of my favorites anymore, but I still love it more than most modern comedy films. The sequel doesn’t hold a candle, but Ace Ventura is definitely a must see film for comedy lovers. Laces Out!

3. The Matrix

It’s hard to believe that I quite young when this movie came out. It was a revolutionary film that blew my small mind as a child. I pretty much watched it once a week on VHS when I was a child. It was probably the best movie from my childhood, but oddly it wasn’t my favorite.

2. Mystery Men

I loved superhero films growing up (I still do, but who doesn’t). Mystery Men is sort of a superhero film, but it is crazy and hilarious. Ben Stiller, Paul Ruebens and William H. Macy made my younger self laugh like a never before. I watched the movie pretty much every day and could quote the movie like an expert. It had flashy effects for the time, flashier than what I had seen at least. It had everything my little brain could ever want.

1. The Mask

Jim Carrey, man, he gets me every time. I loved this movie just a slight bit more than Mystery Men and I literally watched this movie daily as a kid. Now looking back, there were a lot of jokes that went straight over my head, but that just makes rewatching it now even more fun. Who would have thought my favorite childhood movie had condom jokes.

The Equalizer Film Review (2014)

When this movie came out, it looked quite promising. Denzel Washington and action seem to go hand in hand, which is strange since Washington is nothing like the run of the mill action star. The man has been nominated for six Academy Awards with a wide range of performances and he is convincing in each and every one. Now, I knew getting into this that it wouldn’t be an Oscar worthy film, but it sounded promising. So to sum things up, I was quite excited when this came in the mail the other day.

The film starts slowly, showing Washington and his relationships with his co-worker and a young girl prostitute. These part set Washington apart from the average action star as he’s able to convince the viewer that he truly cares for the people around him, which makes his jump to action seem reasonable. Once the movie’s violence starts, it never really stops. The action sequences are well done, the shots are beautifully done and the tone is definitely strong in this.

The most surprising thing is that a movie dealing with prostitution and many other sex crimes has no nudity. It helps that the main characters friend is an underage girl (Chloë Grace Moretz) and all the other prostitutes are very limited in screen time. It just feels like every R-rated action movie nowadays has gratuitous nudity, so it was welcome that this one did not when they could have found 100 opportunities to do so.

At a glance, this is a near perfect action movie. It has creative deaths, a strong tone and Denzel Washington in front of the camera. It’s biggest issue is that when the action picks up, the substance of the characters drops in quality. Washington is still great, but not as great. The bad guys start feeling like caricatures and while the beginning did a great job establishing the lead, the supporting cast didn’t get enough time to establish themselves. The question of if and when they’ll be put in danger doesn’t matter so much because they’re not that important to the viewer.

Despite that issue, the film is still incredibly fun and action packed. It’s hard to deny that Denzel Washington is an incredibly talented actor and is able to submerge in a wide range of roles. This is definitely one of the best action movies in recent memory and worth a watch if action is your forte.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014 Film Review)

This film has been reviewed by the best of them, so I’ll try to keep mine short. The film has a pretty generic story, involving the turtles coming past their issues with one another, working alongside April O’Neil and company to fight a common foe that changed all their lives. It’s a tale of revenge, but mostly of tale of sub par CGI. The story is pretty generic, but Summer blockbusters are known for light storylines and heavy action.

While the film does have a heaping helping of action, it often times is just a blur of CGI. Compared to the older Ninja Turtles movies, the fighting is arguably better. It’s not a great sight, but better than dudes fighting in turtles costumes. The acting isn’t fantastic either, it’s not terrible, but it felt like people just acting for a pay check. The turtle voices and personalities weren’t terrible, but Johnny Knoxville seems a little old to be voicing a teenage turtle. I love Knoxville, but they probably could have done some better casting.

Like I said, I’ll keep this review short. It wasn’t as bad as some people have said, but it has nothing amazing to set it apart from all the other CGI filled movies.

Nymphomaniac Volume I (Director’s Cut Review)

Wow. What a movie. I’ve never seen a Lars von Trier film before and I’m not sure if this was the best or worst movie to start with. Nymphomaniac has pretty much a story in a story, where a woman tells a man who found her beaten and bloody in the streets about her life story, mostly involving sex. The stories range from innocent self exploration all the way too her engaging in sexual acts with different men in a short period of time. She has other tales to tell, involving her loving father and shrewish mother, but the majority of the film follows sex.

The cast in the film is pretty phenomenal, with Charlotte Gainsbourg, Shia LaBeouf, Stacy Martin and Stellan Skarsgard having the strongest roles. The biggest surprise, performance wise was Christian Slater’s role as the lead character’s father. I’ve only ever been impressed by Slater in True Romance, but he offered up an amazing role that was complex. Gainsbourg and Martin play the same character, Joe, and spend most of the film in differing stages of undress. Their performances were both great, but Martin probably shined a little brighter since most of the stories involved Joe at Martin’s age. Shia LaBeouf was good, he was played a character with quite a bit of depth, but was mostly a jerk the whole way through. Skarsgard was also phenomenal and his defense of Gainsborg’s actions through the course of the film is at times comical. Despite his age, he seems to act with a boyish wonder to his eyes, it’s truly captivating.

The subject matter should probably be discussed, yes, there is a lot of nudity in this film, especially the uncut version. There are graphic shots of genitals, breasts, most sex acts and a whole lot of moaning. The film is not a porno, it’s nudity is closely tied with the story and it’s not shown as some sort of gratification. The subject matter is far too intense, despite its occasionally casual and comedic tone. It deals with death, pain and an absence of love. This being the director’s cut, it is filled with potentially more sex scenes, more nudity and more story. I’m not quite sure since I haven’t seen the theatrical cut yet. It’s quite a long watch, but at the end of the film I felt like it was worth it.

Overall, I can’t recommend this to everyone, but it was a great enough watch in my opinion.

Camp Takota (Film Review)

I should probably preface this by saying that had this not been on Netflix streaming, I probably would not have watched this. I have nothing against Grace Helbig, I find her hilarious but her plugs for the film seemed like I wouldn’t like it. After watching the first minute or two, I felt like my first impression was a correct one. Anyways, here the review.

So within the first minute or two of the film, I feared this would be one that I would turn off before the midway point. Grace Helbig is very stiff in her performance, especially in the beginning and the guy playing her fiance was just as stiff. When they were on-screen together, it felt very much like a student film. Once the Hart ladies get on-screen, it all gets a bit better. They seem to elevate one another when they’re together. There are still scenes between them that feel very amateur, but it’s leaps and bounds better than the beginning. The movie’s performance never fully escapes the student film feel, but it more often has glimpses of a good independent film. The three leads, while staples on Youtube, could all have a future in film with just a little improvement.

The story is pretty interesting. The film follows Helbig’s character, Elise. Elise has a great life, she’s engaged and working a great job until her life takes a turn for the worse. She resorts to going to her childhood camp, Camp Takota to get away. The script has good jokes and an interesting enough plot. It’s not a slice of perfection, but it’s solid enough. It’s also great to see a movie with female protagonists written by women. Not only is Mamrie Hart the best performer in the movie, she is one of the reasons why the script and the dialogue was so strong. Sure, boiled down this is a story about relationships, but it’s also about moving on and being happy being yourself, which is an important message not always preached. Sure, there’s wrenches in the mix, but that’s a common trait in any film. One could argue that it wraps itself into a little bow a little too cleanly, but I’ll admit, I was a sucker for that ending.

Some of the biggest issues were with the visuals and the sound. Some shots had audio not lined up, mostly which reaction shots, which isn’t a bad thing normally but the angle of the shots they do made it very apparent. Other times the audio quality was sub par, ruining any sort of pretty visuals. There’s an over use of dissolves, which are often unneeded in between shots, also there are some scenes that end with a fade to black and no audio whatsoever. The loss of visuals is fine, but having some sort of music or natural sounds or room tones prevents the oddness from coming through. Without it, it feels like a really strange mistake.

It should be known that this film is more adult-oriented, which can be confusing by the title and the basic plot description. Dialogue doesn’t pull punches and the main subject matter is more for late teens to young adults. I’d say it’s more for young women, but men can also enjoy it since most of the humor isn’t gender-specific. It’s a fun watch, has good laughs and glimpses of some really good performances.

22 Jump Street (Quick Review)

Sorry for the quick review, but it took me a while to write a review for this. I still know the score, but I can’t go as in depth as I’d like to.

Pros

Great chemistry between Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. They play off one another so well, it makes every scene they are in such a treat. The jokes made about it being the same thing were spot on and hilarious. The relationship between Hill and Cube’s characters are amazing in this installment, a definite step up from the previous movie. Also, the post credits sequence is a must watch. Despite how you feel about the movie as a whole, the post-credits will make you cry like a baby.

Cons

Since it is too much of the same, it might drive some people crazy. At first watch, I thought the movie was perfect, but as time went on I don’t know if I can watch it again and laugh at all the same points. I’ve seen 21 Jump Street 3 times and cried from laughing too damn hard.

Overall

A great movie, I’m not sure if it will live as long as 21 Jump Street, but it was a great movie and an amazing sequel nonetheless.

InAPPropriate Comedy Review

This review contains strong language.

Why did this movie win? Why did I have to watch it? I don’t know, but it was fucking torture. Because it’s so painful to write about it, this review will be very short and not so sweet. The acting was terrible. Having already seen The Amazing Racist on YouTube, what was arguably the most funny part of the movie was spoiled for me. While it’s not hilarious, this part of the movie is the most laugh worthy. Flirty Harry was decent, but like everything else in the movie, it needed better writing for it to be more than sub par. Pretty much all the skits felt like they were written prior to 2007. Blackass? Seriously a Jackass joke is the dumbest thing to have in a recent movie. Fuck, this was terrible. If I have to give this a score, it’s a .5 out of 5. So bad, avoid at all costs.

Taxi Driver Review

Having received the most votes for Your Choice Friday, I was ecstatic to know that I would be watching and reviewing what is considered one of the greatest movies of all time. Taxi Driver follows Robert De Niro as a taxi driver quickly going crazy. Working long hours and little to no social life contribute to his downward spiral as his insanity rises. With this insanity, he becomes volatile and purchases more handguns than reasonable.

De Niro is clearly the standout of this movie as it is still one of his most talked about performances. The believe-ability of his performance is utterly haunting. While De Niro is not the best actor today, this performance trumps most given by actors in this era. While the movie is mainly a solo act by De Niro, the supporting roles filled by Peter Boyle and Jodie Foster are especially strong, as well as Harvey Keitel. The late, great Peter Boyle never really got the proper recognition when he lived, but his skill was always evident and this film is no different. Foster does well as the 12-year-old prostitute and same can be said for Keitel, who plays her pimp. Both roles are very believable and there isn’t anyone else who could have played those roles as well.

The movie isn’t for everyone, with quite a few “boring” scenes and the subject matter, not everyone will love it. The movie, however, tells a complex story that I fell in love with. I’m so glad to have seen it and regret not watching it a lot sooner.

Hugo (Re-Review)

For being one of my favorite movies, my earlier Hugo review is among one of my least popular posts on this site. Re-reading the old review, I can see why. For being one of my favorite movies, it sure could use a better review.

Visually, the film is just mind-blowingly gorgeous, with certain colors, typically shades of blue, popping in any given scene. This creates a beautiful contrast. The use of lighting is worth applauding and  the costumes range from colorful to drab, which allows for easy layers in character status. Most importantly, the special effects are wonderful. Visually, this could be one of the best movies of the last decade.

Now, the most beautiful visual experience could me nothing if the acting is horrible. Luckily, each lead gives amazing and dramatic performances. Asa Butterfield plays Hugo, a boy who has experienced so much pain in his short life. Each line he delivers is done with such effortless perfection that you forget that you are watching a movie. Ben Kingsley is perfectly cast and there is very little to complain about his performance. Chloe Grace Moretz plays Hugo’s one and only friend and does a flawless job at that. I must say, though, this is the first time I’ve seen the actress in a role where she isn’t killing people or calling people less than desirable names. I must say it was nice to see her act in a non-violent movie. The biggest surprise, however, was Sacha Baron Cohen as Inspector Gustave. He was funny, dramatic and you couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. Three things I’ve never said about him…

The movie progresses very well, with Hugo sort of growing up and realizing things throughout the film. There wasn’t really a boring scene in this film, well unless you were expecting an action-filled experience. The major problem I had was that the trailers portrayed it as something it wasn’t. Based on the trailers, it was an epic film involving kids and robots, not a child’s imagination and perseverance through one of the toughest times in his life.

The film is a beautiful love letter to classic cinema and Martin Scorsese directs this flawlessly. He’s one of the great directors of the era and this film is no different from his earlier films. Well it is different in that it’s not hyper-violent or filled with swearing, but you get my point. All his films are wonderful and I love them all.

If you have not watched this movie, change that. Watch it. You may not like it as much as I do, but you may end up liking it more.

The Intouchables Review

SNL’s Season Concludes: What’s next for the long-running franchise?

This was meant to have been posted on Tuesday, but was delayed because I’m an idiot – Austin

After 38 seasons of making people laugh, some seasons more than others, this season ended on a high note. With Ben Affleck hosting, and many great guests contributing, there was at least one enjoyable skit for everyone. The season has introduced us to many great comedians, some who have been in seasons past, but were finally given a chance to step up. Others were newly featured and took little time to break through the TV screen and join us in our homes for some raunchy comedy. But with the season ending, we can’t help but wonder what is in store for us in the future.

Season finale

Ben Affleck is a pretty funny guy, and that was clear in his monologue. Talking about, and to, his wife and joking about his relationship with Matt Damon, Affleck was able to perform one of the best monologues of the season. Second only to Justin Timberlake, in my opinion. Affleck’s characters in the finale were pretty enjoyable, but he wasn’t able to deliver the charasmatic drive that other hosts, like Timberlake, Alec Baldwin or even Jon Hamm. Despite that, Affleck never falls behind and never becomes a nuisance.

Departures

Last Tuesday, the 14th, was a sad day when I first heard that Bill Hader would be leaving Saturday Night Live. Bill Hader joined SNL in 2005 and spent the 8 years there making people laugh. He earned recent fame with his hit character, Stefon. While I love Stefon, and will surely miss him, I do believe Hader’s career was more than a gay dude who knew all of New York’s hottest clubs. That being said, the Stefon send off was amazing, and needs to be watched. Other great Hader characters’/impressions are his game show host, the Merryville brother, his Al Pacino and his James Carville. All will be missed and Bill Hader, like Kristen Wiig and other past departures, will be damn near impossible to replace.

After watching the final skit, it’s safe to say that Fred Armisen will definitely be leaving SNL. After singing a farewell song in his British Punk Rock attire, and being joined by great friends, Armisen and Hader tearfully waved goodbye. The credits were then filled with almost everyone crying and hugging one another, especially Armisen and Hader. Both these send offs were wonderful and funny, and well deserved.

It’s still unknown, at time of writing this, if Jason Sudeikis will be leaving as well. If so, he wasn’t given a grand send off, but he sure did leave his mark on SNL. Providing a top-notch Mitt Romney this season, and other great character throughout his run, Sudeikis might have the best chance at having a great movie career as he already starred in two hits, Horrible Bosses and The Campaign, as well as other movies.

This also marked the last full season for Seth Meyers, who will be heading to the Late Night desk after Fallon moves to the big chair. Meyers departure, while bittersweet, isn’t terrifyingly depressing as he’ll be doing the same, for the most part, 5 days a week. His interaction with fellow cast members will be missed though.

What next?

After a few weeks of asking, “who will host Late Night?”, we now have to ask, “who will take over for Weekend Update?”. Seth Meyers goes down in the history books as one of the best hosts of Weekend Update as he made funny, and critical comments on politics and the modern world all by himself. Solo comedy is always the hardest because he you rarely have anyone to play off of. As not to burden any one man, or woman, SNL should probably return to the co-host format and try to build the next Fey and Fallon. The question remains as to who should replace Meyers. I honestly have no idea.

The departure also leaves a huge gap in the cast. The amazing veterans are out and there only seems to be one or two men who can compare to them. Taran Killam is really the only male cast member, as of now, who can create laughs with each and every skit he’s in. Bobby Moynihan stepped it up this year, but not enough to make me confident in resting the show on his shoulders. One more year might be enough time to make me realize that Moynihan is the real deal, though.

This season was probably the best for the women of SNL. Vanessa Bayer and Nasim Pedrad both provided laughs all year-long. With Bayer’s best being one half of the former porn star duo that sell crappy stuff on the television. Pedrad’s best has got to be the fake movie trailer with Justin Timberlake. Also, with the addition of Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong, SNL finds itself with possibly the strongest core group of women, and that is considering that a decade ago there was the other strong group. You know, the one with the likes of Tina Fey and Maya Rudolph.

SNL’s biggest task should be getting one or two men to join Jay Pharoah (who is pretty good, but underused), Bobby Moynihan and Taran Killam. They also should consider dumping Tim Robinson, who often appears nervous. He never really improved, unlike the other featured players. I do think they should keep Aidy Bryant, she wasn’t top-notch in her first year, but she did improve as the year progressed.

Whatever happens, I’m excited for next season as there is hope for the series to improve despite a ratings slump and a small faithful audience.

Iron Man 3 Review

In the first five minutes of Shane Black’s “Iron Man 3”, it becomes clear that this is not just some rehashing of the first two movies. After the title faded, and exploding metal suits filled the screen, gone were the thoughts that this would be just another light-hearted, silly ‘popcorn flick’.

As the first post-Avengers movie, “Iron Man 3” had big shoes to fill if it wanted people to forget the $1 billion grossing film. Prior to release, Marvel and Disney said that “Iron Man 3” would different as Jon Favreau, director of “Iron Man” and its first sequel.

In Favreau’s chair was 51-year-old Shane Black, known for his directorial debut “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”, a film that also starred Robert Downey, Jr. Despite underperforming at the box-office, “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” became a cult success and helped Downey rebuild his career after his drug arrests in the late ‘90s.

Black and Downey’s reunion film is bold to say the least. The film follows Downey as Tony Stark, who must battle The Mandarin, a villain of unknown origin who wants to bring the United States to its knees.

Stark also suffers from anxiety attacks due to the events of 2012’s “The Avengers”. That, coupled with a lack of help from Shield, or the Avengers, leaves Stark to battle The Mandarin and his minions alone.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle also return as Pepper Potts and Capt. James Rhodes, respectively. They earn their screen time due to great chemistry with other supporting pieces and Downey.

Guy Pearce also co-stars as Aldrich Killian, a villainous opponent from Stark’s past. Pearce performs with intensity, similar to his roles in “Memento” and “Lawless”. As far as villains are concerned, Pearce has become the go-to guy for all things evil.

Ben Kingsly plays The Mandarin in a way not depicted in any of the comics. The character starts out dark and mysterious and Black goes to great lengths to make the unraveling as enjoyable as possible. Kingsly’s 41 years of acting experience do well as he brings in several dynamics to Tony Stark’s arch-nemesis.

Black’s directing is very much the same as in his other film, “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”. Black’s use of light, and darkness, provided gloominess not yet utilized in a Marvel film. His directing differs greatly from the other well-known Marvel directors, like Favreau, Kenneth Branagh and Joss Whedon.

The script, co-written by Drew Pearce and Shane Black, mixes Iron Man lore and an original tale that works exceedingly well. While there are liberties taken in regards to the series that film is based on, this does allow for an unpredictable film.

The film’s dialogue is similar to Black’s previous movies, with many one liners reminiscent of “Lethal Weapon”. Some of the film’s darker scenes are still filled with witty dialogue, which is always nice.

While it might alienate die-hard fans of Iron Man, this film is worth the price of admission.

To the Wonder Review…what did I just watch?

63 of 200 new films watched in 2013

Premiering at the 2012 Venice Film Festival, Terrence Malick’s “To the Wonder” experienced a limited release in the United States, making it a bit difficult to find. The film follows an American man named Neil as he moves back to America with his French girlfriend, Marina, and her young daughter. The two lovers are soon separated by distance as Marina moves back to France with her daughter.

Malick’s use of camera technique is worth applauding. His wide shots show just how small these characters are and his up-close shots frame the stone buildings of the European countryside.

Along Came a Spider (Film Review) [60 of 200]

You remember that film Alex Cross? Well this is a similar movie based on the James Patterson book series. It stars Morgan Freeman as Alex Cross, an African-American cop, who, while high in years, still finds a way to kick ass. This movie follows Cross as he tries to find a man who kidnapped a Senator’s daughter. While this is based on the first book in the Cross series, it is actually the second in the film series.

Tremors Review: Mmm, Bacon

I first saw Tremors in 1998, I was about four when I saw my dad and brother watching Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward battle underground creatures. I don’t remember if I watched the whole thing, but I do remember several repeat viewing the next couple of years. To the few that have never seen the cult classic, it stars Bacon and Ward as two average guys who find themselves battling freakish monsters that rise up from the ground to eat their prey.

Bacon and Ward make a great team, with their banter being among one of my favorite things. The other actors are fine, none give Oscar worthy performances, but a silly movie only requires silly performances. The set was great, it’s a middle of nowhere town and it couldn’t have looked any more “middle of nowhere-y”.

The movie is pretty violent for a PG-13 film, with most of the blood coming from the gross creatures. While I was four when I first saw it, I can’t recommend that parents let their kids see this. Unless you know that they are not easily frightened and you don’t mind them hearing the f-word said by Kevin Bacon. If you have a kid that loves scary movies, which is probably rare, then you probably should let them watch this, but be sure to be with them when they do.

I don’t have much else to say. This movie did shape my childhood and I’m pretty sure that it was the first Kevin Bacon movie that I saw. Anyways, here’s the score!

Fun Fact: The set took 2 months to build, reportedly.

Favorite Line: Hey – check this out! I found the ass end! – Valentine (Bacon)

Favorite Scene: When they are all standing up on the roof tops.

♝