Lost River - Review

Lost River. 

Lost River is a 2015 drama/fantasy film written and directed by actor Ryan Gosling (Drive, The Notebook). This is Gosling's first attempt at directing and it sees him telling a story of family, love and dark secrets. Lost River stars Christina Hendricks (Mad Men), Iain De Caestecker (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and Matt Smith (Doctor Who) and tells the story of a mother trying to save her family  while her son attempts to discover a whole new world in the town of Lost River. 

First off, the acting in the film is really good, I liked how they casted actors known more for their TV work instead of film and all 3 main actors played characters way different than their famous TV roles. It's nice to see Christina Hendricks getting movie roles because she was great on Mad Men and I definitely wanna see more of her. Matt Smith really impressed me, I don't watch Doctor Who but I've seen clips of him from it and in Lost River he plays a maniacal character so well that I hope he takes more villainous roles in the future. 

Gosling's directorial style is complicated. Being his first film, Lost River is kind of all over the place. While it definitely has a unique visual style it obviously borrows elements from guys like David Lynch and Nicolas Winding Refn with a dash of older-Tim Burton in there for good measure. 

Lost River is weird, no other way to put it but, it's also ambitious. Gosling is in an interesting position as his star power is big enough to have people interested in a film he directs solely because of his name, hell that a why I checked Lost River out in the first place. What he can try to do is use his name to draw in an audience and at the same time create these artsy, indie-type movies that see crossover success. Gosling definitely has a directorial eye and there are many flashes of promise throughout this film that show that he has a bright future ahead of him behind the camera but those flashes alone aren't enough to hold Lost River up on its own. It's a solid film, not great, nor is it bad, it's just kind of there. I wouldn't recommend it to the average moviegoer but any movie buff or fan of indie and more artsy films will definitely find some enjoyment in this. 

Rewatchability: 2/5, if a friend really wanted to watch it I'd watch it with them but outside of that I don't see myself rewatching it. 

Rating: 3/5, as stated earlier, it's a decent film with flashes of promise, a weak plot but good acting. The film as a whole is okay but it gives you enough to interest you and intrigue you on what Ryan Gosling will direct next and hopefully begin to mold his own unique style of filmmaking.  

Furious 7 - Review

Furious 7.

Not entirely sure why they keep messing with the names of the movies but whatever.

NOTE: Since this is a Fast & Furious film and also considered a blockbuster, this review won't be reviewed the same way as an Oscar contender would. 

Furious 7 is the 7th installment of The Fast and Furious series whose humble beginnings started back in 2001. As an overall fan of the series (there are a few I don't like, namely Tokyo Drift and Fast 6) I was reasonably excited for this new one. 

Furious 7 sees horror heavyweight director James Wan of The Conjuring and Insidious films taking over duties from Justin Lin who had directed the past 4 films. The usual cast is back with the only real additions being Kurt Russell and Jason Statham, both of which are badass. Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, The Rock, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster all reprise their roles. 

So the first half hour-ish of this movie is just bad, I was so uninterested in it that I was praying it picked up. Luckily, it did. Once the action picks up in this movie it barely gives you time to breathe which is awesome and exactly what you want from a movie like this. 

Where the hell was The Rock in this movie? I swear he had 20 minutes of screen time in this 147 film, he's by far been the best part of the last 2 movies and you could argue a main reason these movies are still going. That was a big mistake on the films part. The film also relies on Vin Diesel quite a lot, I assume these scenes were originally supposed to have Paul Walker in them but I'll get to that later, and Diesel's acting really isn't enough to carry the more dialogue driven aspects of the movie. 

As I said earlier, once the movie picks up, it's awesome. Movies like these, you really need to turn your brain and try not to think "there's no way that could happen" which I only said to myself one time in this movie which isn't bad since I said it the entire 6th movie. The cast has unbelievably good chemistry which they should since they've had umpteen movies working together now and I think Ludacris and Tyrese Gibsons characters are my new favorites because their banter back and forth is hysterical. 

Now, to the Paul Walker situation. Walker died about halfway through filming and they used what he finished in the film and had a combination of stand ins and CGI used to finish his scenes which I respect as their decision. Some of the scenes are incredibly easy to tell that it's his stand in doing the scene which I can't really fault the film for because they did the best they could and if I didn't know that Walker had died midway through, I might not be able to tell. They also reference not wanting to go to anymore funerals in the beginning of the movie which is rather haunting to watch and hear. I thought the send off they gave Paul Walker and his character were the best they could've done and was done with great respect. 

Overall: It's a fun movie, it's one of the better ones in the series for me. The action was done well and the cast as always has great chemistry. The problems I have with the movie are pretty minor, minus the awful first 30 minutes of it. They've said already that they're making an 8th movie and I really hope it's the last because this one really wrapped up beautifully and I wish it was the last one. 

Rewatchability: 3/5, I'll probably watch it again but it's definitely not a go to, other movies in the franchise would beat out this one if I wanted to watch one of them. 

Rating: 3.5/5

Insurgent - Movie

DISCLAIMER: I didn't read the Divergent books so this review is based purely off of the film itself. 

Insurgent.

Insurgent is the sequel to 2014's Divergent being adapted from the Divergent Series written by Veronica Roth. As with every series it seems these days the third book is being split into two movies but we're not at those yet. Insurgent takes place directly following the events of Divergent and continues Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four's (Theo James) quest for revolution. 

I actually liked Divergent a lot more than I had expected going into it and thought the series would have some potential. That being said, Insurgent let me down a bit. 

But first, the good things of the movie. Shailene Woodley kills it in this role as Tris and really is the shining star in this series. Miles Teller is great in it too but gets too little of screen time but I'll fault that on the source material instead of the movie especially since he was cast before he became pretty famous. Theo James stars opposite Woodley and while he was a good casting choice for his role, I kinda don't like him. 

There are these scenes in the third act of the film in which Tris has to undergo tests in which she has to in an almost alternate world get through some sort of obstacle whether mental, physical, emotional or all three. These tests are the highlight of the film and the point where I was fully invested in the story. 

Now the bad. Insurgent suffers from an overly convoluted plot that is actually kinda hard to follow. There are many  points where you're not sure what's real and what's fake or who's who. For me, the first hour of the film was kind of all over the place, hard to follow and frankly, a bit boring. I'm not heartless, I understand the second installment in any trilogy is used a lot for character development and setting up for the final installments which can make for boring films but, this is when you rely on the strength of your characters and that's where Insurgent falls short. Tris is by far the strongest character in terms of development while mostly everyone else is a cardboard cut out of a character. This brings the movie down quite a bit but it is still pretty enjoyable to watch. 

This Part is a Bit of a Rant: Being that this is a rant, most of it is my opinion and doesn't really deal with the movie in a fair way, that being said, ranting time. Tris's boyfriend and really second in command for the revolution is a guy named Four. I know they explained it barely in the first film and maybe the book explained it more but the film explanation isn't good enough. There's a point where his mom calls him by his birth name: Tobias and he slams a table and yells "My name is Four!" This takes me out of the movie because I can't take it seriously how everyone seriously calls this dude Four. There were points in the movie where I would be laughing to myself because of how ridiculous it sounds when Woodley is crying out for her boyfriend and she's saying "Four", she almost sounded like a distressed golfer. All of this kind of pointless bitching aside, I enjoyed the movie. 

Replay Value: 2/5, I'd watch it again in preparation for Allegiant Part 1 or if one of my friends really wanted to watch it. I don't really think I'd watch it again for my own personal enjoyment. 

Rating: 2.5/5, rather disappointing considering how much I enjoyed Divergent but, Insurgent just didn't really do it for me. Enjoyable overall and a must see if you're a fan of the series, obviously, but if you're looking for just a sci-fi ish movie to escape in, this may not be for you. 

Birdman - Review

A man becomes a critic when he cannot be an artist. - Gustav Flaubert - Spoken by Edward Norton's character Mike

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance. 

Since the title is so long I will refer to the film solely as Birdman for the review. Birdman is a 2014 film that is up for many Oscars and is my prediction to take home the statue for Best Picture. 

Birdman is the story of Riggan played by Michael Keaton (Robocop, Batman) who is an aging actor who's played a major superhero in the past and is now trying his hand in a Broadway play. The cast is rounded out by Edward Norton (American History X), Emma Stone (The Amazing Spider-Man 2), Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover) and Naomi Watts (King Kong). Birdman is directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel). 

Let me start off by saying that this movie really is for film lovers, from the way it's shot to the plot, this was made to be watched by people who really love movies. The film is directed in a series of long takes or long shots which were helped made famous by Martin Scorcese. According to IMDB there are only 16 visible cuts in the entire film with the majority of the film being following shots. What the film really has going for it is the acting, these actors seemed to have all brought their A+ game and they all, for me, deserved their Oscar nominations. I'd go out and say that this is Emma Stone's best performance of her still young career and Edward Norton was unbelievably good as well. Birdman was actually unexpectedly funny, mostly due to Norton's character, Mike, who had some great one liners. The performances that Iñárritu was able to get out of this cast were fantastic; it was great to see Galifianakis in a role that's against his type and his character was more on the serious side and he was great in this role, albeit a much smaller role.

This is a film where there really isn't much bad to say about it because there's really nothing wrong with it. I can see the casual movie fan not really enjoying the style of the film because of the frequent long takes and the unique way the film looks; not only this but the movie itself is a commentary of the film industry and those within it so it may not resonate too well with casual viewers. The directing in the film is amazing, the acting is second to none, the story is alright, it's really the performances in front of and behind the camera that makes this movie special. If it weren't for Boyhood I think Iñárritu would've taken home the Oscar for Best Director, technically he still can since the ceremony hasn't happened, that being said I still stick by my predictions of Birdman winning Best Picture and Michael Keaton winning Best Actor.

I really enjoyed this movie, it's not my favorite of 2014, it possibly wouldn't have cracked my top 10 since 2014 was a great year for movies. I did appreciate the look into the behind the scenes of actors and how they are, more and less, outside of Hollywood. This is a movie that I think all big movie fans really should see, especially for someone who wants to get into filmmaking in any way. It's almost Tarantino-like where the movie has things in it that only big movie fans will pick up and it's really for the better.

Replay Value: 3/5, it's a movie I'd definitely watch again, I wanna see it at least one more time and I wouldn't be opposed if a friend wanted to watch because I think it would be a pretty good movie to watch with some friends. All of that being said, I don't know that I'd buy this on blu-ray, it's not a movie you just throw on just because, it's a movie to sit down and watch.

Rating: 4/5

2015 Oscar Predictions

The Oscars also known as the one night a year that pisses film fans off more than The Phantom Menace. This year's award ceremony will be the 87th ceremony and will celebrate the film year of 2014. There were plenty of snubs and surprises but that's not what this post is about; this post is my predictions for who will win each category, not who I WANT to win because that would be a completely different list. The layout is going to be the category, then the nominations and I will put in bold my prediction to take home the statue.

Let's Get Started.

Best Picture:

American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

Best Actor:

Steve Carell in Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper in American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything

Best Supporting Actor:

Robert Duvall in The Judge
Ethan Hawke in Boyhood
Edward Norton in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Mark Ruffalo in Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons in Whiplash

Best Actress:

Marion Cotillard in Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones in The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore in Still Alice
Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon in Wild

Best Supporting Actress:

Patricia Arquette in Boyhood
Laura Dern in Wild
Keira Knightley in The Imitation Game
Emma Stone in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Meryl Streep in Into the Woods

Animated Feature:

Big Hero 6 (I really want this to win but I don't think it will.)
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Adapted Screenplay:

American Sniper
The Imitation Game
Inherent Vice
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

Original Screenplay:

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Boyhood
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Nightcrawler

Cinematography:

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ida
Mr. Turner
Unbroken

Costume Design:

The Grand Budapest Hotel
Inherent Vice
Into the Woods
Maleficent
Mr. Turner

Best Director:

Alejandro G. Iñárritu for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Richard Linklater for Boyhood
Bennett Miller for Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson for The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum for The Imitation Game

Documentary Feature:

CitizenFour
Finding Vivian Maier
Last Days in Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga

Documentary Short:

Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper (La Parka)
White Earth

Film Editing:

American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Whiplash

Foreign Language Film:

Ida from Poland
Leviathan from Russia
Tangerines from Estonia
Timbuktu from Mauritania
Wild Tales from Argentina

Makeup and Hairstyling:

Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy

Original Score:

The Grand Budapest Hotel by Alexandre Desplat
The Imitation Game by Alexandre Desplat
Interstellar by Hans Zimmer
Mr. Turner by Gary Yershon
The Theory of Everything by Jóhann Jóhannsson

Original Song:

“Everything Is Awesome” from The Lego Movie - Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson
“Glory” from Selma - Music and Lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn
“Grateful” from Beyond the Lights - Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me - Music and Lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
“Lost Stars” from Begin Again - Music and Lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois

Production Design:

The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Into the Woods
Mr. Turner

Animated Short Film:

The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keeper
Feast
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life

Live Action Short Film:

Aya
Boogaloo and Graham
Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak)
Parvaneh
The Phone Call

Sound Editing:

American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
Unbroken

Sound Mixing:

American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Interstellar
Unbroken
Whiplash

Visual Effects:

Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
Interstellar
X-Men: Days of Future Past

The Top 10 Movie Sequels of All Time

Let's face it, movie sequels are a huge risk in terms of keeping the integrity of the original film alive. Sequels need to capture the magic of the first film while making improvements on it at the same time, a tall order. A lot of sequels suck, just look at most comedy and horror sequels, yet some are able to go above and beyond their predecessor. I'm limiting my list to be the exact second movie in the series which means you won't see Toy Story 3 or Return of the Jedi on this list. This was on of the hardest lists I've had to make, not so much as narrowing it down to 10 films but the actual ordering of the list was incredibly difficult.

HONORABLE MENTIONS As always there a few films that miss the cut even though they are great movies but looking at this list, it'd be hard to take one off to put one of these on so here's a few honorable mentions: Aliens, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, 22 Jump Street and American Pie 2

10. X2: X-Men United - X-Men 2 was probably the first superhero movie that had some dark themes to it throughout the film. It expanded on the 2000 original and was able to make a good superhero drama with characters you really care about. We're in an era now where every superhero movie is intense, dark and overall pretty serious in tone (with a few exceptions); this film is their grandfather.

9. Rocky II - Rocky is the epitome of American, from his seemingly always underdog status to his will to never give up. This series is honestly one of the best out there and to my shame I never watched until last year and Rocky II is quite possibly the best one. It builds off of the original and were able to not only advance the story in a logical way but were able to advance these characters in a way that most movies can't do. The ending of Rocky II also has a fantastic pay off built up over the course of the movie and the movie before it and is wholly satisfying.

8. Saw II - The only horror film on this list but it truly deserves it. Some say that had the Saw series ended after the third film that it would be one of the best horror trilogies ever but, Hollywood is greedy. Regardless, Saw II takes all of the greatness of the first and exploded it, going from two people playing his game to eight. It takes the psychological aspect of the game and makes it so these people almost destroy themselves before the game is even over. This is one of my favorite horror movies ever and clearly one of the best sequels.

7. Spider-Man 2 - Annnndddd back to superheroes. Spider-Man 2 for a long time was my go to film when someone asked for an example of a sequel that's better than the original. This movie has a fantastic villain in Dr. Octopus, a great inner struggle within Peter Parker and some awesome fight scenes. You'd be hard pressed to find a movie that makes such good improvements over its predecessor. This is one of the best superhero films ever made, period.

6. Terminator 2: Judgement Day - When I first saw The Terminator a few years back, I was expecting a little bit more or at least a little different than what I got. When I first saw T2 a couple days afterward I had realized this was the movie I had been expecting. This is as damn near perfect of a sci-fi movie as you can get not to mention it may be the most badass movie of all time, it's the definition of cool. The CGI is incredibly stepped up from the original which is expected as there was 7 years between the films and it holds up decently well here in 2015. The villain is absolutely ruthless and is only outmatched in badassness by Arnold himself.

5. Toy Story 2 - Toy Story is in the running for my favorite trilogy of all time and in my opinion, the 2nd installment is reasonably overlooked compared to Toy Story and Toy Story 3. Toy Story 2 brings in new characters who are a welcome addition to the crew while still keeping the original characters much involved and still loved. This is Pixar at its best which is surprising because for me, their sequels is where they falter a little bit. This movie captures the magic of the original all over again and makes for a fantastic film.

4. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - One of the best trilogies of all time gets an installment that does everything right, from the drama, the action sequences and don't even get me started on the Battle of Helm's Deep which is one of my favorite battle scenes from the entire trilogy. The film is not just a bridge from Fellowship of the Ring to Return of the King, it's an essential piece to the story and Peter Jackson was able to make a film that perfectly advanced the story and the characters and is even a good standalone film.

3. The Godfather, Part II - Some may say it's blasphemy for this not to be everyone's favorite sequel of all time but, for me, there are two better. That being said, there's no denying the greatness of a three hour plus masterpiece. The loss of Marlon Brando did nothing to hurt the film instead opting for the prequel route and the casting of Robert De Niro in the role of Vito Corleone. While this was near the beginning of a young De Niro's career it's easy to tell that he was a big reason why this movie is as good as it is. This is not to take anything away from Al Pacino or Robert DuVall's performances but instead help praise them because their performances were so good. It's hard to describe this movie as it's almost so good it's hard to say why, it's a film that everyone should see and I don't say that lightly.

2. The Dark Knight - Man, superhero movies are killing this list right now but seriously this is movie is outrageously good. It's less of a superhero film and more of a great drama/action film that happens to have Batman in it. This is the movie that we will look back on in years to come as the film that changed superhero movies forever and made audiences and critics alike take them seriously. Christopher Nolan, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger and company really transformed this film into something bigger than just a movie. What I love about this trilogy is that each film is a great standalone film, all 3 have a beginning, middle and end, none of which take 5 minutes out to set up the next film. Nolan was able to crate a unique universe and a unique experience where Batman isn't a superhero in the traditional sense, he's a realistic figure in a realistic world. This is one of my favorite movies ever and it will forever be the truest Batman movie to me.

1. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back - Yes, it's the fifth in the series BUT, it was the second film made and everything I've been able to find from when the film was first released has no sign of calling it episode 5 back in 1980, so for me and 98% of the world, this is the true sequel in the Star Wars franchise. I know I've said it a few times in this list already but this is seriously one of the best movies ever, between the great reveal toward the end and everything before it are the definition of excellence. I don't see how you can like film and not like this movie, alright I guess I can see it if you hate sci-fi but you see my point. This movie stepped up the game so much that it deserves its own class in film schools. I can't explain the greatness of this film because it's inexplicable, you just have to watch it for yourself.

Boyhood - Review

Boyhood. 

Boyhood is a 2014 film directed by Richard Linklater (Before Midnight, School of Rock) simply about a boy, Mason, growing up. It's a coming of age tale that was filmed over the course of 12 years with sections of each year of Mason's life being shown in the film. 

We watch Mason, played by Ellar Coltrane, grow from the age of 5 to 18 in the span of 2 hours and 45 minutes. The plot is simple, almost so simple that it sounds boring but this film isn't about the plot, it's about the characters. Ethan Hawke (The Purge, Sinister) and Patricia Arquette (Boardwalk Empire) play Mason's parents with Linklater's own daughter Lorelei playing his sister. 

Boyhood is truly a cinematic experience as we get to watch the entire cast grow older and once the film is ending you start to feel like these characters are a part of your family too. It sounds cheesy but being able to watch him and his sister interact when they're and when they're 16 gives you the feeling that you watched these kids grow up. Even Arquette and Hawke grow 12 years older and what makes this special is the true ageing of the characters. 

I truly hope Richard Linklater wins the Best Director Oscar for this film because of the immense dedication this took to make. He even had a plan for how to finish the movie if he were to die over this 12 year production (Ethan Hawke would've taken over directorial duties). 

The best part of this movie is its relatability, watching Mason grow up is like watching home videos of yourself growing as he goes through the same trials and tribulations that most of us have. What's surprising about this movie is how much I wanted to watch it again, I thought this would be more like Unbroken where I loved the movie but couldn't see myself watching it much more. This isn't the case with Boyhood, I watched the movie last night and threw it on again today, with how heavy and emotionally investing this movie gets, the fact that I wanted to watch it again so quickly is something special.

Replay Value: 4/5, like I said I'm watching the film a second time in a little under 24 hours, this may because I'm on somewhat of a high from how much I enjoyed the film the first time but I can see myself watching it again, quite a few times. 

Rating: 4.5/5, a fantastic film that had I seen it before I made my Top 10 Movies of 2014 list, definitely would've made the list and possibly pretty high.