Tag: 3 star

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Posted December 20, 2014

I went into this film with an open mind. No, that’s a lie. I did go into it wanting to be proved wrong; hoping Peter Jackson would impress me with how he pulled it all off. Didn’t work out so well. The story ends before the title card! I’m sorry that’s kind of a spoiler, but really if it happens BEFORE THE TITLE CARD OF THE FILM can it really be considered a spoiler? If so, then I apologize. I was admittedly rolling my eyes a few times rather liberally after that start. Because my trust in this film was […]

Interstellar

Interstellar

Posted November 9, 2014

Christopher Nolan… I don’t even know where to begin. Which is, I guess, a good thing. His movies are not simple. They’re never straight forward and easy to analyze. I like that about them. But it also means there is no clear cut – this was a good movie or I didn’t like that movie. They are certainly never an easy thing to review. There’s always all these layers in Nolan films of the things that worked and didn’t work and sometimes both liking something and not liking it at the same time. It’s all very complicated. In some places […]

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Posted April 4, 2014

There were a lot of things in Captain America: The Winter Soldier that were a lot of fun. Not the least of which is Captain America himself. Even so, it wasn’t quite what I expected. It was much more real world than prior Marvel movies, I think even more so than the Iron Man films. Because Tony Stark as a billionaire playboy doesn’t resemble much of real life even when he’s not in the suit. It almost didn’t even quite feel like a super hero movie. Which I liked. It took this very fantastic universe and grounded it in a […]

Divergent

Divergent

Posted March 26, 2014

My star rating would make Divergent seem like a nice, average, run of the mill kind of movie. But if you keep reading you’ll see it’s actually a slightly impressive adaption. Because apparently YA books are hard to adapt. But what Hollywood is finally figuring out (how many adaptations later?) is that the thing you need to do is let the movie deviate from the book; let it breathe and stretch and be a movie instead of a visual enactment of the book. Kel and I have been saying this for ages – you have to just make a good […]

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Posted December 18, 2013

So, my review for Catching Fire will be littered with recommendations of other (better) books.Because you can’t really talk about Catching Fire without talking about the book and I was really impressed that they managed to make a better movie than it was a book. I was a bit wary going into this movie. I just finished reading The Dream Thieves and Catching Fire can’t come close to those characters. And the intrigue. And the way the story sinks into you. I’m not sure it would make a great movie but it’s an amazing story. How many times have I […]

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Posted December 14, 2013

Be forewarned: my review of the second Hobbit film is kind of vague and philosophical more than my usual analysis. Because there’s not much to say. This has the feel of a story pulled apart and so half formed. There’s new characters but no depth in their relationships or interactions. Tauriel’s relationship with Legolas and his relationship with his father and all the possible intricacies and tension and… we’re given nothing. Even though I think the elves (and the credit song) are the best part of the whole thing. There’s action and great production values, but there was no doubt […]

Pacific Rim

Pacific Rim

Posted July 13, 2013

Pacific Rim is soooo cool! That was my initial impression when they showed footage at Comic Con last year, and also the strongest reaction I had leaving the theater today. (I’m glad I saw it opening weekend. Because unique ideas are becoming so rare in summer blockbusters and this is a good one. a little scary every now and then because those kaiju aren’t joking around.) But I was also impressed that in the midst of a giant monsters vs. giant robots movie there’s a human element to it. The concept is giant monsters (kaiju) vs. giant robots (jaeger) but […]

Fast & Furious 6

Fast & Furious 6

Posted June 8, 2013

I really liked Fast 5. And because of that I kind of have a soft spot for the Fast & Furious movies. kind of. I mean, I haven’t seen the first movie in years and would love to rewatch it. I saw the second movie and thought it was ridiculous. Have never seen the third movie. I tried to but couldn’t get past the first fifteen minutes. The fourth one is on tv all the time so I’ve seen that quite a bit and it’s fun enough on a Saturday afternoon with nothing going on. But I really expected to […]

Star Trek Into Darkness

Star Trek Into Darkness

Posted May 25, 2013

This review is not going to be fair. I just want to be clear about that upfront. And it’s not because Into Darkness wasn’t good; it just wasn’t what I wanted it to be.

I wanted it to be surprising and inventive. I wanted it to be smarter than I am and the dialog to be more clever than I am.

Django Unchained

Django Unchained

Posted January 12, 2013

I don’t think anyone would deny that Quentin Tarantino is a talented filmmaker. He also has a style so when you go to one of his movies you pretty much know what you’re getting yourself into. So, I can’t say that Django Unchained surprised me, especially after seeing the panel at Comic Con this past year. It’s bloody and violent and even though I was expecting it, it still kind of surprised me in the beginning and a few other times. There’s course dialog but also a lot of wit and unexpected, smart lines. I do like dry humor so […]