Aaron Dicer

Your Movie Friend has moved to it's own site!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 03 May 2014 22:29:00 +0000

Thanks so much for keeping up with Your Movie Friend through aarondicer.com! It now has it's own location at YourMovieFriend.com.

This site will soon be formatted to more indicate the personal details and thoughts of Aaron Dicer.

Thanks!

I, Frankenstein (Movie Review)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 16:45:00 +0000

The best thing, worst thing, and main thing about the new movie "I, Frankstein", spoiler free, and in about the time it takes to watch the trailer. Don't forget to take a shot at the Best Ever Challenge in the comments!

REVIEW TEXT

You know sometimes in January the best you can hope for is not as bad as I thought it was going to be.
-------

“I Frankenstein” is the latest monster movie to try and pick up an old baddie and take him for a new spin. Based on a graphic novel, the movie follows Frankenstein's monster as he intercedes in a battle between Gargoyles and demons that centers around his unique mode of creation. Aaron Eckhart steps in to play the stitched up reanimated corpse, who apparently has traded a block head and neck bolts for a chiseled jaw and a stylish haircut, making him look like he would be more at home on the cover of GQ than in a dingy basement lab. Now, to be fair I really wasn't expecting much at all from this movie, and for the most part it delivered on those low expectations.
-------
Not to say there wasn't anything worth lauding here. I thought the effects were good and made for some pretty impressive demon disintegrations amongst some well done fight choreography.
And it's hard to dismiss yet another wonderful performance by Bill Nighy, who beautifully underplays the kind of scenery chewing villain that might overwhelm less talented actors. Yet, my favorite thing? I actually enjoyed the gimmick of this universe. Conceptually, this world of a Gargoyle army protecting humanity from demons kinda worked for me. I loved the way you could sense the length and depth of this war and the rules that went along with it. In fact, the only thing I didn't like about the story was the inclusion of one Frankenstein's monster.
--------
And that's a pretty big deal when it's the name of your movie. Even if everything else around him could have worked, he didn't. Everything about him just seemed wrong to me. The agility and fighting skills, the updated looks (really, we need a heart throb Frankenstein?), and especially the intelligence. Frankenstein cannot be smart! This is not ok, I mean, have you not seen Phil Hartman play him on SNL? Seriously though, it undercuts the whole meaning of a monster whose entire persona is based on brute clumsy strength when you write him with smarts and cunning. I found myself in this weird place where I was wishing the movie could have just existed without it's title character. At least then it could have been one of those movies like Blade that you enjoy for what it is, instead of a wannabe blockbuster franchise launcher. Not to mention a decision made towards the end by one of the main players feels so completely out of character and without proper motivation that it steals any power the finish of the film might have had anyway.
--------
All in all, I Frankenstein has a few pieces stitched around it that might have worked ok if it wasn't centered around a piece that doesn't work at all. I, Your Movie Friend give it a C-
--------
Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more? You can click here to see Reviews for Ride Along, The Nut Job, or Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. This time I want you to name “the best movie with the name of a monster in it’s title ever”. Mine is a remake that came 72 years after the original and featured the biggest size difference in a love interest ever. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and don’t forget to subscribe!

Favorites of 2013: Top 41 Movies

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 00:03:00 +0000

2013 was an incredible year for Your Movie Friend! Thanks for being along for the ride!

It's crazy for me to think that this little pop blog I started over a decade ago to just get my thoughts on culture into print has somehow now become an official source of film criticism. Seriously, mind blowing. But a midst the TV appearances, the acceptance to the BFCA, winning a YouTube reviewing contest, and fully producing video reviews every week, I haven't forgotten why I started doing this in the first place. I love the way art can be used to tell stories that entertain and provoke thought. Which is why I love January.

I get to rank stuff.

That's right, full on judgement. So each Monday this month I will be listing my favorites of the past 12 months, and I cannot wait to hear how much of an idiot I am for my choices. :)

Enjoy!

A few notes before we get into it:

- There will be no honorable mentions. If it doesn't make the cut, to mention it would hold no honor.

- I kept up with 53 TV shows and watched 179 new movies this year, meaning roughly about the top 38% of the TV I watched and the top 23% of the movies I saw are included. Math, yay!

- This is for newly viewed items in the calendar year 2013. This means the final half of last season, and first half of this season for many TV shows, and also means there might be movies that came out last year that I am just getting around to seeing. But for me these things were new this year.

- This is a "favorites" list, not a "best of" list. I embrace the subjectivity of art. This is my list and it is influenced by many factors that might be unique to my perspective. Having said that, I'm pretty sure its also completely infallible.

Here's the plan for the month:

Favorite 20 TV shows of 2012 (Jan. 6th)

Favorite 41 TV shows of All Time (Jan. 13th)

Favorite 41 Movies of 2012 (Jan. 20th)

Favorite 41 Movies of All Time (Jan. 27th)

Here's my favorite Movies of the year:

(CLICK THE PICS TO SEE THE REVIEW)

Gatsby

All is Lost

Don Jon

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

Ginger and Rosa

Despicable Me 2

Trance

The Conjuring

Olympus Has Fallen

About Time

The Croods

In a World...

Fast & Furious 6

Side Effects

The Heat

Thor: The Dark World

One Direction: This is Us

Oblivion

Dallas Buyers Club

Man of Steel

The Place Beyond the Pines

Rush

The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug

Ender's Game

Tim's Vermeer

The Way Way Back

Saving Mr. Banks

Inside Llewyn Davis

Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Captain Phillips

Pacific Rim

12 Years a Slave

Fruitvale Station

The World's End

Star Trek Into Darkness

Monster's University

Philomena

Frozen

Her

Gravity

Agree? Disagree? Bring it on in the comments!

Lone Survivor (Movie Review)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 16:43:00 +0000

The best thing, worst thing, and main thing about the true life military action flick "Lone Survivor" in about the time it takes to watch the trailer. Hit the comments with your "Best Ever" thoughts and guesses!

REVIEW TEXT:

I don’t pretend to have any knowledge of morality in war, but I know honor when I see it.
-------
“Lone Survivor” stars Mark Wahlberg and Taylor Kitsch as a part of a four man unit sent into Afghanistan on a risky mission and what happens when it all starts to go awry. The film is based on the true story of these four Navy Seals and sheds an extremely graphic light of what modern combat can sometimes entail. And as difficult as it is to see, it’s incredibly powerful.
-------
A lot of this has to do with how much we care about these men. The movie does an amazing job at building up the characters at the start of the movie without taking up too much time in doing it. By the time they head on mission we feel as if we are one of them, even though I couldn’t do a pull up to save my life. I mean, you just feel like you’re in it with these guys and you know they are in it with each other. There’s just something about the camaraderie of the military that is stunning in its dedication and sacrifice. I loved it. I also loved the beauty of the Afghan environment and the way it was filmed, almost becoming its own character. Both beautiful and dangerous, it was hard not to be in awe of the setting. I think it’s also important to give props to these acting performances, especially Wahlberg and Kitsch. I was skeptical when I heard Wahlberg’s name being thrown around for awards consideration, but after seeing the movie, I get it. There’s a nuance to this role that is difficult to pull off, but he really does find the sweet spot between hardened military man and complex human being. But the best thing for me was the power of choice. There is a crucial moment early on where these men are faced with a choice and to watch them decide what to do is humbling and replete with moral drama. And they aren’t the only ones, there are choices made by some local Afghanee residents that are pretty stunning as well, and the honor shown on both sides is truly praiseworthy amidst some very real consequences.
--------
And the movie doesn’t shy away from those consequences. This is a no holds barred war movie. In order to give the full effect of these choices the creators made the decision to not shy away from the gruesome violence involved. This is not a movie for the squeamish. I’ll go ahead and call it my worst thing, but honestly I’m not sure it was really a bad choice, because it powerfully brings home the reality of what these men went through. Still its very hard to watch.
--------
At the end of the day, Lone Survivor is an eye opening tale that makes it difficult to keep your eyes open. It’s an incredible true story told with precision and honor and even if the horrors of war are a bit hard to take it’s still worthy of an A-.
--------
Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more? You can click over here to see my take on the new Paranormal Activity movie. It’s also time to start posting my favorites of 2013 posts, starting this week with my Favorite 15 TV Shows of the years. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. What is the “the best war movie ever”. Yeah, mine’s obvious, even though there are some really great ones out there, it’s hard for me to pick anything other than the one that involves a talented Oscar winning screenwriter being rescued by a talented Oscar winning Actor.. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and don’t forget to subscribe!

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (Movie Review)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 16:25:00 +0000

The best thing, worst thing, and main thing about the latest found footage horror movie "Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones" in about the time it takes to watch the trailer. Hit the comments with your "Best Ever" thoughts and guesses!

REVIEW TEXT:

Really, another paranormal activity movie? Is it January already?
-------
“Paranormal Activity The Marked Ones” is the fifth instalment in the Paranormal Activity universe, that started 6 years ago and fully ushered in the “found footage” horror movie genre. This time we follow a latino family as they find new and completely manufactured ways of filming their own mysterious encounters. Now, of course the easy thing to do here, and it would save us all a lot of time, would be to ask a simple question. Did you enjoy the other Paranormal Activity movies? Yes? then welcome! No? Then run away. Run far, far away. But since you’re here, just for the sake of kicks lets break it down a bit.
-------
Let’s start with the good. The actings actually not that bad, which is surprising considering “found footage” acting isn’t exactly easy. There is a different way people act when they are aware of a camera that sometimes is hard to capture in a performance, but they do pretty well here. One thing that’s nice about that is it really helps the humor to land. I found myself smiling a lot more than usual, especially early on. I also enjoyed that this takes place in a Latino culture and away from the normal environment we usually see. Let’s even call it the best thing. It’s just nice to know that even in the Barrio demons possess people with the uncanny knack to always be pointing a camera at important supernatural events. And one more kinda good thing. I thought that the movie had a couple clever takes on the genre, one involving the old electronic game Simon, even if the end was a little too clever for its own good.
--------
Of course all of that does little to offset the fact that this genre of movie is just played out. You can just feel the entire audience rolling their eyes every time the scene goes silent to set us up for the big jump scare. And here’s the thing, when you know when and how these scares are coming, waiting for them isn’t called tension anymore, its called boredom. Of course the worst thing is the tedium of having to justify every single moment as to why somebody just happens to be filming the scene. It works ok for the first half when the movie is lighter, but once stuff starts going down, there is no way these people are hanging on to these cameras. Not to mention that they certainly wouldn’t be framing the pictures so well at the same time as screaming for their lives. You know what would work? Google Glass. Takes care of both problems. You’re wearing the camera so you wouldn’t think to drop it or turn it off, and your framing would always be what you see. My apologies if I just inadvertently created Paranormal Activity 6, I promise that was not my intent.
--------
At the end of the day, Paranormal Activity The Marked Ones is another Paranormal Activities movie, even the better than usual acting, and an interesting new environment can’t offset the ridiculousness of the now stale found footage gimmick. I’m going with a C-
--------
Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more? You can click here to see a review for the military action flick “Lone Survivor” and this week also kicks off my Favorites of 2013 posts. This week I’m posting my Top 15 TV Shows of 2013. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. What is the “the best found footage movie ever”. Just for purity's sake the entire movie must be found footage. Mine involved a very memorable and humongous decapitation. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and don’t forget to subscribe!

Favorites of 2013: Top 20 TV Shows

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 10:00:00 +0000

2013 was an incredible year for Your Movie Friend! Thanks for being along for the ride!

I get to rank stuff.

That's right, full on judgement. So each Monday this month I will be listing my favorites of the past 12 months, and I cannot wait to hear how much of an idiot I am for my choices. :)

Enjoy!

A few notes before we get into it:

- There will be no honorable mentions. If it doesn't make the cut, to mention it would hold no honor.

- I kept up with 53 TV shows and watched 179 new movies this year, meaning roughly about the top 38% of the TV I watched and the top 23% of the movies I saw are included. Math, yay!

Here's the plan for the month:

Favorite 20 TV shows of 2012 (Jan. 6th)

Favorite 41 TV shows of All Time (Jan. 13th)

Favorite 41 Movies of 2012 (Jan. 20th)

Favorite 41 Movies of All Time (Jan. 27th)

Here's my favorite TV of the year:

Elementary

So You Think You Can Dance

The Blacklist

American Ninja Warrior

The Simpsons

Downton Abbey

Phineas & Ferb

Almost Human

The Sing Off

The Americans

The Legend of Korra

Parks and Recreation

Newsroom

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Survivor

Modern Family

Arrested Development

New Girl

Doctor Who

Breaking Bad

Agree? Disagree? Bring it on in the comments!

Justin Bieber: Believe (Movie Review)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 23:03:00 +0000

The best thing, worst thing, and main thing about the new Bieber Doc "Justin Bieber: Believe" in about the time it takes to watch the trailer. Don't forget to take a shot at the "Best Ever" challenge in the comments!

REVIEW TEXT:

So does this mean we can expect a new Bieber movie every year? I sounded way to excited about that, didn’t I?
-------
“Justin Bieber’s Believe” is the 2nd documentary about the pop star and he’s meteoric rise to fame. This one follows up Never Say Never by taking us inside the preparation and execution of the new album and tour. I found the first one insightful, entertaining, and even touching. This one? Well, not so much.
-------
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m still rooting for the kid. Music aside, I think it’s unfair the way our culture picks out punching bags often times just because they are popular or successful. I find Justin Bieber jokes to be as annoying and cheap as the Britney Spears jokes were before him and the Michael Jackson jokes were before that. I know that’s not necessarily part of what might make the movie good or bad, but I wanted to mention it because I think the easy thing to do in talking about a movie like this is to rip into it just because Bieber and his saggy pants make such a fun punching bag. So let’s talk about the actual movie, you know what I liked about this one? and let’s call it the best thing, they actually address those issues in here. Not nearly enough I think, but there is a pretty great scene towards the end of the film where Justin is directly asked what will keep him from going off the deep end when there is nobody around him to tell him no. I didn’t necessarily find his answer compelling, but still it’s nice to hear someone ask. And in case you’re curious, The Beebs also gives an answer as to why he wears his pants so low, turns out it’s because he’s trying to “wear the pants” and not let “the pants wear him”. Kids a true philosopher I tell ya’. Point being it was a good conversation and reminded me why I liked the first documentary so much.
--------
But it was only one scene, and for the rest of the movie, it just plays like one big commercial for the album and tour. And I guess we should know that going in, but they did such a great job telling his story in the first one I guess I expected a little more of that in this one as well. Plus there have been a slew of great music docs in the past couple years that I thought they would have the formula down. Plus, and this might just be a personal thing, but I’m calling it my worst thing anyway, I found the actual concert footage to be so over the top and ridiculous that it bordered on parody.
--------
All in All, Believe is a disappointing follow up film to the far superior Never Say Never. Though there are a few scattered moments of apparently honesty and introspection, the vast majority of it feels forced and silly. I give it a C-
--------
Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more reviews? You can click here to see reviews for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, 47 Ronin, Wolf of Wall Street or Grudge Match. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. What is the “the best modern music documentary”. Let’s say the last 10 years. Mine’s an easy call for me, and involves a band who released a movie earlier this year that I wasn’t quite as fond of. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and don’t forget to subscribe!

Grudge Match (Movie Review)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 01:18:00 +0000

The best thing, worst thing, and main thing about the Stallone/De Niro boxing flick "Grudge Match" in about the time it takes to watch the trailer. Don't forget to take a shot at the "Best Ever" challenge in the comments!

REVIEW TEXT:

I’m sure somewhere in the 80s movie nerds like me were discussing who would win if Stallone’s Rocky fought De Niro’s Raging Bull. Of course I don’t think they were probably thinking they would be in their late 60s when it happened.
-------
“Grudge Match” is the story of 2 former boxing rivals and what happens when they are convinced to fight in a rematch decades after their careers have ended. Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro play the fighters as we follow the impact it has on their family and those closest to them. You know, this is one of those movies that you go into never expecting it to work, and well, it doesn’t, but it’s closer than I thought.
-------
There are a couple things that I genuinely liked about “Grudge Match” and one of them is named Kevin Hart who plays the promoter of the match. Now, If you aren’t sure who he is he’s this guy. and there’s a reason he’s popping up in so many movies these days. He’s a really funny dude. Honestly I think he’s the best thing about the movie. He gives an energy and life to the movie that it desperately needs, and is especially great when jabbing with the wonderful Alan Arkin. I also thought the storyline was actually pretty decent. The plot weaves in and out of the different stories nicely and there are some beautiful themes here about maturity, family, and forgiveness. The problem is for a “comedy”, other than Mr. Hart, it’s just not that funny.
--------
and that’s a real problem in a movie like this. It weighs the movie down and makes it a bit of a slog to get to that final bout that fulfills the promise of the premise. It makes the whole thing seem dead and uninteresting for much of the time and you rarely feel like the pay offs are worth the investment. Plus De Niro and Stallone don’t really seem to have much chemistry on screen and considering their rivalry is supposed to be the centerpiece, you can see how this might be a problem. It’s not as if these two aren’t decent actors, in fact some of their stuff when they are apart hits it’s mark fairly well, but when they get on screen together it just doesn’t seem to work.
--------
Overall “Grudge Match” is the latest example of a good pitch gone wrong. Despite some fun stuff from Kevin Hart and Alan Alda, it wastes a somewhat decent story by not being able to land it’s punchlines. My final scorecard reads C+
--------
Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more reviews? You can click here to see reviews for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, 47 Ronin, Wolf of Wall Street or the new Justin Bieber documentary. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. What is the “the best Boxing movie ever that doesn’t involve Sylvester Stallone or Robert De Niro”. Mine may not be an obvious choice but involves a con man and a series of 10 fights. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and don’t forget to subscribe!

47 Ronin (Movie Review)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 01 Jan 2014 19:26:00 +0000

The best thing, worst thing, and main thing about the Keanu Reeves film "47 Ronin" in about the time it takes to watch the trailer. Don't forget to take a shot at the "Best Ever" challenge in the comments!

REVIEW TEXT:

If only there was already a movie where Keanu Reeves did slow mo Kung Fu, oh well.
-------
“47 Ronin” is the faithful adaptation of one of the most beloved stories of Japanese lore. Keanu Reeves plays “Kai”. An outcast who teams up with 46 other former samurai to try and take revenge on those who have done injustice to them and those they love. The movie has vivid elements of fantasy and martial arts that should result in a story that is exciting, eye catching and deeply moving. Notice I said should. Because at the end of the day 47 is a boring, predictable, mess.
-------
But it shouldn’t be! This is an incredible story and one that has many layers of betrayal, honor, and self sacrifice. But even more than that, the best thing for me about the movie is that when it goes into an action scene it’s stunningly beautiful. The visuals, the fight choreography, the special effects, they all combine for some really incredible stuff on screen. But then it’s gone… for a long time. It’s like being at a Mexican Restaurant and ordering queso and it’s amazing. You finish the first bowl and ask for some more, and then for whatever reason your waiter forgets and you suffer through some bad burritos before he brings you another bowl right before you leave, but by then it’s too late. After an incredible first few moments, I kept finding myself yelling at the screen, “Where’s my queso?” “I want more queso!” But it never came, just moment after depressing moment of story exposition and conversation.
--------
And like I said the plot isn’t horrible, it’s a beloved story for a reason. but they overdraw it by so much that you find yourself completely distracted from what is going on. And of course Keanu’s acting style doesn’t help the situation much with him showing about as much emotion as the new garbage bag does when I reline the can. You get the sense it wants to open up but you just can’t find the entry point. But the worst thing is that it’s just predictable. Every turn seemed to be telegraphed to make sure the audience could stay with it. The problem is that it doesn’t matter, Just like that basic burrito you know what’s coming and even the bites you like just don’t seem worth the journey because what you really want is more queso. I think I’ve stretched that metaphor about as far as it will go, so let’s summarize.
--------
At the end of the day, 47 Ronin is a wasted opportunity to tell a great story to a culture that likely hasn’t heard it. If the film could have found a way to bring more of the visual feast that made the beginning so great, it might have raised it above a D+
--------
Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more reviews? You can click here to see reviews for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Grudge Match, Wolf of Wall Street or the new Justin Bieber documentary. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. What is the “the best movie ever that starts with a number in the title”. Mine starts with the square root of a gross and ends with simian. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and don’t forget to subscribe!

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Movie Review)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 31 Dec 2013 14:58:00 +0000

The best thing, worst thing, and main thing about the Ben Stiller flick "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" in about the time it takes to watch the trailer. Don't forget to take a shot at the "Best Ever" challenge in the comments!

REVIEW TEXT:

If this was already a short story AND a movie I really don’t think Walter’s doing a very good job at keeping it a secret.
-------
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” stars Ben Stiller as Walter Mitty, a low level employ at Life magazine whose day dreaming fantasies threatened to be the only real adventure in his life. Kristen Wiig steps in as a seemingly unattainable love interest and Sean Penn as a daring photographer who Walter has always admired. Based on the James Thurber short story from the 30s and previously done as a Danny Kaye movie in 1947 we get another look into the world’s most vivid daydreamer. By the way,d o yourself a favor, search for Danny Kaye’s “Symphony for the Unstrung Tongue” on YouTube. It’s from the original “Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and it has more life in it in 7 minutes then this entire movie does in over two hours. Seriously, How can a movie with this much visual flair seem so flat and uninteresting?
-------
It’s certainly not my eyes that were bored. In fact, I’d say the way Mitty’s daydreams were filmed and presented is probably the best thing about the movie. These visualizations jump off the screen in really fun and creative ways. And it’s not my ears that were bored, I loved the way music was used in this to both tell the story and evoke emotion. There are some really beautiful musical moments in it. No, I think at the end of the day, the movie just didn’t quite work for me because my heart was bored. And I don’t think that’s Ben Stiller the actors fault, I think it’s Ben Stiller the director.
--------
I mean it’s not like any of the actors are horrible, but they all seem to be operating with this very muted tone, and if that’s supposed to be some sort of counterpoint to the fantasy and adventure in the film I just don’t quite think it works and it leaves me without a way to connect to these characters. Instead of finding myself feeling for Ben Stiller’s character and experience any growth with him I just find myself confused about his motivations or lack of personality. And that’s the worst thing in a movie that needs you to go on an adventure with it’s protagonist. Plus, I did feel like some of the daydreams slipped into overt parody making those scenes feel more like an SNL skit than a serious dramatic film. And one more thing that bothered me. The ending. For a movie that seemed to want to emphasize creativity and the pursuit of adventure, the final resolution felt strangely pedestrian and predictable. Now if the rest of the movie had been more compelling and emotionally engaging I probably could have forgiven it easier, but as it was it just put a blah finish on an already surprisingly blah film.
--------
All in All, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is like that guy that wears the flashiest clothes and somehow has the personality of a doorknob. It looks interesting enough, but at the end of the day there isn’t much to it. I give it a not so secret C.
--------
Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more reviews? You can click here to see reviews for Grudge Match, 47 Ronin, Wolf of Wall Street or the new Justin Bieber documentary.. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. Oh and I’ll try to remember to throw a link somewhere over here to that Danny Kaye clip. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. What is the “the best Ben Stiller movie ever”. It doesn’t have to be one he directed and acted in, but it just so happens that mine is and also features an amazing scene set at Medieval Times. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and don’t forget to subscribe!

The Wolf of Wall Street (Movie Review)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 14:37:00 +0000

The best thing, worst thing, and main thing about Martin Scorsese's latest "The Wolf of Wall Street" in about the time it takes to watch the trailer. Don't forget to take a shot at the "Best Ever" challenge in the comments!

REVIEW TEXT:

Can someone check the couch cushions at the Scorsese house, cause I’m pretty sure Martin Scorsese has lost his mind.
-------
“The Wolf of Wall Street” is a satirical, zany, and kinetic look into the drug addled, sex craved, and money hungry world of the 80s stock market as seen through the eyes of Jordan Belfort, a stock broker who will do anything to stay on top. Leonardo Dicaprio takes the role and right off the bat let me say, Leo is on fire. He’s absolutely incredible in this.
-------
Scorsese asks a lot of his actors, especially in an over the top spectacle like this, but Dicaprio seems to be able to live in this character in a wholly committed way. Chewing up the scenery and at the same time allowing the subtleties of slime leak from his demeanor. The performances around him are pretty amazing too, with Matthew McConaughey being of special note with his brilliant scene stealing performance as Jordan’s mentor early in the film. I also liked that the movie’s overall message seemed to be that money is as much of a substance abuse problem as alcohol, sex, and drugs, and the consequences can be just as dire, and yet Scorsese paints this message in a way that seems to revel in every act of debauchery, and celebrate the energy and seeming vitality of that way of life. And yes, I get that that’s part of the satire, but after 3 hours of adrenaline shots to the baser parts of human nature that message can get a little confused, not to mention exhausting. And based on the way the movie ends, it might actually be more about how life is really all about being a good salesman and that morality is secondary to moxie and charm.
--------
Seriously, this movie is so insane from beginning to end that it almost acts itself as a drug, muddying your mind enough that you're not quite sure if what you saw was real or fantasy. What I am sure of is Scorsese is playing without boundaries at this point. He has created a movie here that is gleefully depraved. And it’s hard to swallow. About halfway through the screening I was in, an entire row of people walked out, and I wasn’t even surprised. I mean it’s Scorsese so in some ways you know he likes to play on the edges but he really seems to be attempting here to push just about every button you could think of. Seriously we may need to stage an intervention. But the worst thing for me? It’s just that all that gleeful depravity has stolen any kind of real substance that movie might have had turning a valid warning about greed into a hollow exercise in pure adulterated entertainment
--------
In the end, “The Wolf of Wall Street” is a visceral well acted satire that is intrinsically compelling in its exploration of greed and excess, it’s only that in celebrating that excess it falls prey to it’s own hollowness and can go no higher than a C+
--------
Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more reviews? You can click here to see reviews for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, 47 Ronin, Grudge Match or the new Justin Bieber documentary. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. This time name “the best stock broker movie ever”. I actually have a couple of these I really like, but mine is the one that stars one of the main guys from the Fast and Furious films. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and don’t forget to subscribe

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Grudge Match, The Wolf of Wall Street, and American Hustle (KY3 News Movie Reviews)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 28 Dec 2013 23:24:00 +0000

Aaron joins Sara chat about new releases "Grudge Match" and "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty".

Aaron and Sara talk about Oscar contenders "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "American Hustle"

Tim's Vermeer (Movie Review)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 27 Dec 2013 14:54:00 +0000

The best thing, worst thing, and main thing about the documentary "Tim's Vermeer" in about the time it takes to watch the trailer. Also don't forget to take a shot at the best ever challenge in the comments!

REVIEW TEXT:

Sometimes viewing documentaries can be like watching paint dry, and sometimes that’s not a bad thing.
-------
“Tim’s Vermeer” is a documentary film about inventor Tim Jenison’s efforts to figure out how 17th century painter Johannes Vermeer made such photo realistic paintings, and then duplicate the process himself. Magician’s Penn & Teller document the process with an intricate detail that mirrors the paintings themselves and results in an incredibly compelling film. Put simply, this is just a fascinating story.
-------
At it’s heart this is a story about obsession and invention and how the two can combine to create understanding and art. To see a man who has never painted with oils before create an era appropriate machine that allows him to attempt to duplicate one of the most beautiful paintings of all time is absolutely astonishing. And we are carried along the journey expertly by Penn Jillette and his partner Teller (who also directs) so that we are allowed to watch Jennison’s own life and obsession evolve alongside his painting. The pair seem to understand that the story speaks for itself and rarely get in the way by overcomplicating the storytelling process. But the best thing about this movie for me had to be the way it focuses in on the false dilemma between technology and art. Does beauty come from inspiration, perspiration, or desperation? Does the avenue of creation impact the value of the product? If Vermeer used a device of lenses and mirrors to create his masterpieces is he less of an artist or just a different kind? To me it was a beautiful reminder that technology and art are intertwined and to abandon either side of that equation is to miss the true depth of the human experience. In the same way you can’t boil art totally down to an equation, you also can’t boil it totally down to a mystery, and this movie allows us to marvel at how closely the two work hand in hand. Pretty heady stuff for a movie about a guy essentially doing a giant intricate paint by numbers, isnt it? But it’s all there and it had me pondering my own obsessions and creative outlets in a new light for days after.
--------
So what didn’t I like? Well for one, I think the film has a few moments and stories that could have been trimmed out. Though Tim’s personal anecdotes were interesting enough, they at times seemed so insignificantly tied to the overall project that I could have done without them. Of course that could also be that the painting itself was so compelling that I was over eager to return to it. I also wondered, and lets call this the worst thing, if the film could have done a better job at placing this effort in context in the art community by getting interviews with more art historians both before and after the process. If suggesting Vermeer might have painted this way was as controversial as we are led to believe, it would have been nice to have heard the other side, and to have seen their response to the stories conclusion. It seems like that might have added that last bit of oomph in an already astonishing story.
--------
All in All “TIm’s Vermeer” is an artistic endeavor you must see to understand. It’s a testament to the beauty of art and the beauty of science and the beauty of how the two play together. Even if it could have used a tad more editing polish for context I still give it an A-.
--------
Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more reviews? You can click here to see reviews of the American Hustle, Walking with Dinosaurs, or Anchorman 2. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. This time you must name “The best movie ever with a man’s name in the title”. Lot’s of good ones in this category, but for mine I’m going with the movie that has Ed Harris in a control room that isn’t run by NASA. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and don’t forget to subscribe!

Walking with Dinosaurs (Movie Review)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 15:23:00 +0000

The best thing, worst thing, and main thing about the CG Dino flick "Walking with Dinosaurs" in about the time it takes to watch the trailer. Also don't forget to take a shot at the best ever challenge in the comments!

REVIEW TEXT:

Look someone made a scientifically accurate remake of Land Before Time. Well as scientifically accurate as sarcastic talking dinosaurs can get I suppose.
-------
“Walking with Dinosaurs” is a computer generated dinosaur movie about the life of Patchi, the ultimate underdog (underdino maybe?), and how he triumphed as a hero in his pack. The movie is animated as if to be photo realistic but features the voice work of John Leguizamo and Justin Long to let us know what these animals are thinking or saying, or something. I’m not really sure. It’s kinda like they are talking, but they are also growling. Maybe it’s like a dino to human translation, I have no idea, anyhow, there are voices.
-------
Let’s talk good stuff first, the movie does look beautiful. The best thing has to be the stunning animation and design of these creatures. As many dinosaur movies as we’ve seen by this point, I’m still amazed that these creatures once walked around this earth and to see them shot in such detail is at times breathtaking. And that’s about it… Seriously I’m racking my brain for something else good to highlight. The score maybe? I guess the music fit well. And it seemed like maybe the kids in the theater enjoyed a couple of the poop jokes. And maybe this is just one of those movies that your kids want to see and you have to suffer through, and boy is there some suffering.
--------
The movie plays like a half hearted nature documentary, stopping down from the plot occasionally to teach us about a particular dinosaur, if by teach us, you mean it gives us the scientific name and tells us what it means. And so much of the “story” is contrived to try and explain how dinosaurs might have lived, which makes the whole endeavor feels forced and disconnective. Plus the movie starts and ends with these completely unnecessary and nonsensical scenes with a check cashing Karl Urban. But the worst thing? That’s easily the dialogue. These lines are some of the most inane and unfunny I’ve been forced to sit through. It made me wonder if the movie would have been better off without any script. Just show me the beautiful dinosaurs doing their thing and leave me to figure out their feelings and motivations for myself. In fact, I’m pretty sure I could sit two of my boys in front of the screen and have them make up the lines and I would have enjoyed it much more.
--------
Overall “Walking with Dinosaurs” is a waste of time if you are over the age of 9. The horrible writing, and confused presentation completely ruin the incredibly beautiful visuals. I give it a generous C-.
--------
Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more reviews? You can click here to see reviews of Anchorman 2, American Hustle, and the documentary Tim’s Vermeer. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. This time you must name “the best dinosaur movie ever without the words Jurassic Park in the title”. Mine is so good it’s spawned 12 sequels already, 12 incredibly awful sequels. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and don’t forget to subscribe!

American Hustle (Movie Review)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 24 Dec 2013 17:13:00 +0000

The best thing, worst thing, and main thing about David O. Russell's latest Oscar contender "American Hustle" in about the time it takes to watch the trailer. Also don't forget to take a shot at the best ever challenge in the comments!

REVIEW TEXT:

I’ve decided this David O. Russell guy may actually know what he’s doing.
-------
“American Hustle” is this year’s Oscar contender from David O. Russell the guy who gave us last year’s “Silver Linings Playbook” and before that “The Fighter”. He uses many familiar faces to tell the partly true story of a 1970s con man, his girlfriend, and how their love story plays as a huge scandal breaks around them. The movie stars Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Jeremy Renner acting their guts out if for no other reason than to take the attention back from their eye catching 70s attire.
-------
Seriously though, the acting in this movie is so good. These are great actors at the top of their game. Watching them is the best thing about the experience. Christian Bale once again completely disappears into his role as if to say, “Hey remember last year when everybody was saying Daniel Day Lewis was head and shoulders the best actor around, well I’m standing right here!” The one two punch of seeing him in Out of the Furnace, and then in this, has convinced me he belongs in that discussion. Cooper, Adams, and Lawrence are also incredible drawing us into these characters with both passion and humor. I also love the way Russell tells stories. He knows exactly when we need plot information and he knows exactly how to tell it to us. This (and the wonderful writing) makes for a movie that never once loses your interest. Plus the music is just perfect, capturing the era as well as the emotion of each moment. I also have to give a special shout out to Louis CK whose small role almost steals the show. The running gag of him telling the ice fishing story is one of the most fun and clever things in the film. I loved it.
--------
So let’s talk worst thing. As good as this movie is, I did have an issue with it. And It’s an issue I’ve had with David O Russell movies before, the tone at times feels a bit too silly. Now don’t get me wrong, I actually think the humor in this works quite well, it’s more that the staging and dramatic beats feel like they would be more at home in a farce than a serious drama at times. Still, it doesn’t steal enough of the dramatic tension to hinder the overall impact but nonetheless it is something that distracted me occasionally as I watched.
--------
All in All “American Hustle” is another amazing film from director David O. Russell. Using what could be the most talented cast of the year to tell a well woven story of corruption and cons in 1970s America. Even if the tone of the movie is occasionally too silly for its own good I still say it’s an A-.
--------
Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more reviews? You can click here to see reviews of the Walking with Dinosaurs, Anchorman 2, or the documentary Tim’s Vermeer. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. This time you must name “the best movie set in the 70s ever”. The catch? It can’t have been made in the 70s. Mine was directed by a different David and stars Iron Man AND The Hulk. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and don’t forget to subscribe!

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (Movie Review)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 23 Dec 2013 16:43:00 +0000

The best thing, worst thing, and main thing about Ron Burgandy's return in "Anchorman 2:The Legend Continues" in about the time it takes to watch the trailer. Also don't forget to take a shot at the best ever challenge in the comments!

REVIEW TEXT:

When a movie includes an exclamation mentioning “the Bedpan of Gene Rayburn” you can probably assume Ron Burgundy is back.
-------
“Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” is the sequel to Will Ferrell’s comedy hit Anchorman, and brings back our favorite news team from the 70s, this time to to do news on a brand new 24 hour news channel. The movie follows what happens when Ron and the gang invent a whole new style of news to generate ratings. Crazy as it sounds it’s been almost 10 years since the first Anchorman, so can Will and the boys put together a movie as quotable, surreal, and funny as the first after all this time? Yeah pretty much.
-------
Look, if you loved Anchorman, I have a feeling you will love this one too. The tone is almost identical, the jokes are just as strange, and the whole thing is full of the nonsense that Will Farrell has built a career on. People love this stuff, and for good reason. First of all these guys work really well together. Farrell is once again joined by Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, and David Koechner and you can tell these guys are having a blast together. Their chemistry feels effortless and allows the zaniness to land with the punch it deserves. These movies have such a well defined and distinctive sense of humor that everyone knows what they are getting into. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a story here. There actually is. In fact, there is a really interesting, though certainly not subtle, satire her about the state of modern 24 hour news. I feel like, even more so than the first, this anchorman actually has something to say. But the best thing for me was the star studded, cameo laden, beyond surreal finale. I refuse to give anything away, but it was just moment after moment of “I can’t believe that such and such is in this”, followed by 10 minutes of absolute insanity, somehow even more insane than the 110 minutes that preceded it.
--------
I do think its important to note though that the movie does have stretches where it stops down the silly to further the story. When this happens the movie can stall quite a bit, especially if you’re mainly there to see the goofball savants do their thing. We can go ahead and tag it the worst thing. I mean, for a story nerd like me I can appreciate it, but the truth is, there aren’t likely many people in the theater, who are overly concerned about plot progression and character development. Plus, some of the moralizing about modern news gets a little strong at times. I think it works well when it’s over the top satire, but when it’s delivered as more serious plot it just feels a bit off. One more note for concerned parents, this movie makes ample use of the stretchy PG-13 rating, pushing the limit of innuendo and subject matter right to the edge. Again, not that that should be a surprise if you’ve seen the first.
--------
and at the end of the day that’s true about most of “Anchorman 2”, it doesn’t stray far at all from the DNA that made the first such a hit. The laughs and quotes are just as surreal and come just as often. It’s only because of a few slow spots and some over moralizing that I’d bring it down to a B.
--------
Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more reviews? You can click here to see reviews of the documentary “Tim’s Vermeer”, the Oscar contender “American Hustle” or the CG Dino flick “ Walking with Dinosaurs. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. Let’s just do it name “the best Will Ferrell movie ever”. Mine is a movie whose title comes from a famous quote in “Don Juan”. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and don’t forget to subscribe!

Saving Mr. Banks and Anchorman 2 Review (KY3 News Review)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 21 Dec 2013 16:39:00 +0000

Sara and I chat new releases and whether Saving Mr. Banks and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues are worth seeing. Also some conversation on the Critic's Choice Movie Awards.

Nebraska (Movie Review)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 19 Dec 2013 15:20:00 +0000

The best thing, worst thing, and main thing about Alexander Payne's latest "Nebraska" in about the time it takes to watch the trailer. Don't forget to take a shot at the "best ever" question in the comments!

REVIEW TEXT:

Last year after watching “The Descendants” I thought, “Sweet, Alexander Payne is making movies I like now” Turns out it may have just been a one time deal.
-------
“Nebraska” is the latest from director Alexander Payne, once again taking middle america and finding veins of dark humor to mine deeply. This story follows a family as they deal with a elderly father who decides he will not be stopped from taking a trip to Nebraska to claim a million dollar prize they all know isn’t real. Oh Alexander Payne, I really wish I got your movies, I mean other people do, they find them deep and insightful and full of love and life, and I just seem to find them slow and without purpose. OK, that’s probably being a bit too harsh, I actually did like a few things about this movie.
-------
First of all, Bruce Dern is amazing. He plays the old man at the center of it all, and does so with a real honesty. He treats the character with a real sense of age, not just some geezer caricature that you might usually see. It was really the only performance that worked for me, but it was enough that I could invest in the story at least a little. The best thing about Nebraska, however, was the way it just kept growing on me. For the first 40 minutes I thought I might be watching one of the most overrated movies of all time, I was bored, lost, and completely aloof from any concern for this family. And then bit by bit I started to care, started to smile at this family and the way they co existed. It’s kinda like Shakespeare a bit, in that you have to find the rhythm to it before you can start to enjoy it. Once I was able to lock in I found some fun, but it just took so long to get there that I’m not sure it was worth it.
--------
It’s as if the movie wants to be a straightforward no frills story, but also wants to be a quirky comedy. The problem is it was never straight enough to nail the heart and never quirky enough to nail the humor. That lack of consistency always left me distracted and off balance and even worse terribly bored. The worst thing though has to be the choice to present the movie in Black and White. What am I missing here? Why strip the movie of color when it can be such a great storytelling tool? I get it if you are making an artistic or thematic point a la Schindlers list, Psycho, or goodness sakes even Frankenweenie made sense, but what’s the point here? It just seems like such an arbitrary and unnecessary choice and stole energy from a movie that was already short on it to begin with. Then again, like I said, maybe I just don’t get Alexander Payne.
--------
Overall “Nebraska” is a great performance by Bruce Dern that gets lost in a colorless and often boring tale. Despite finding some things to like about it by the end, I can’t give it more than a C+.
--------
Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more reviews? You can click here to see reviews of the Tyler Perry’s A Medea Christmas, Saving Mr. Banks, or the 2nd Hobbit movie The Desolation of Smaug. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. This time you must name “the best movie made in black and white after 1970”. Mine features tattoos as a major plot device. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and don’t forget to subscribe!

Tyler Perry's A Medea Christmas (Movie Review)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 15:04:00 +0000

The best thing, worst thing, and main thing about the latest Tyler Perry movie "A Medea Christmas" in about the time it takes to watch the trailer. Don't forget to take a shot at the "best ever" question in the comments!

REVIEW TEXT:

This time of year it’s just Oscar contender after Oscar contender after Oscar contender. Finally, a break from good movies.
-------
“Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas” is the latest in the line of Madea movies from media mogul Tyler Perry. This time she finds herself solving racial issues while having Christmas with a family in Alabama. All right, look, there are some movies that you know what you are getting into beforehand. By the time Ernest went to jail nobody was expecting a heartfelt drama with a poignant backstory from the guy in the blue vest, you know what I mean Vern? And the same is true for the modern Ernest, Mable “Madea” Simmons. Of course that doesn’t excuse me from doing the review so lets get into it.
-------
I actually can start with a good thing, I like the message. There is a central theme that deals with racism and reverse racism that is actually refreshing to see. Amidst the groans and yuks the movie actually said something interesting about what it’s like to deal with modern race relations between blacks and whites. Don’t get me wrong the movie won’t be winning any Nobel peace prizes or anything, I’m just saying that it managed to say something valuable. In fact, we will go ahead and call that the best thing about the movie, primarily because its the only good thing I could think of. OK, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, I liked Kathy Najimy in this and it’s good to see Lisa Whelchel (from facts of life) working again, and yes there were a few moments the movie managed to get a smile from me, as Tyler Perry can be a pretty funny improvisor when Medea isn’t stuck on sex and race jokes. But that’s the problem, usually she is.
--------
This is the same Medea you know from the other films, crass, loud, and making jokes that half the time just aren’t that funny. Unless you really love jokes about the kkk? Anyone? Add to that the litany of other typical issues and you’ve got a pretty awful trip to the theater. Acting that looks like it could be done at an elementary school play? check. Scene transitions with gaudy floating 3D Christmas tchotchkes? check. Characters that go from evil to good in one heartfelt moment of redemption? check. Forced and beyond corny cameos from YouTube stars Antoine “Hide your kids” Dodson and “ain’t nobody got time for dat” Sweet Brown? check and what the check. The point is, if you were expecting great movie making from a Madea movie by this point, you haven’t been paying close enough attention.
--------
At the end of the day “A Madea Christmas” is exactly what you expect it to be. If you’ve laughed yourself silly at the others you will probably like it, if you find yourself rolling your eyes and applying your palm to your face, well, then we have a lot in common. Even with the decent message I can’t go above a D.
--------
Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more reviews? You can click here to see reviews of Saving Mr. Banks, Nebraska, or the 2nd Hobbit movie The Desolation of Smaug. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. This time you must name “the best movie that stars a man in drag ever”. Mine has a former James Bond in it. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and don’t forget to subscribe!

Saving Mr. Banks (Movie Review)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 15:08:00 +0000

The best thing, worst thing, and main thing about the Disney behind the scenes movie "Saving Mr. Banks" in about the time it takes to watch the trailer. Don't forget to take a shot at the "best ever" question in the comments!

REVIEW TEXT:

You may never watch Mary Poppins the same way again.
-------
“Saving Mr. Banks” is a look into the behind the scenes finagling that led to Walt Disney being able to make the movie Mary Poppins. Emma Thompson plays PL Travers, that’s Mrs. Travers to you, thank you very much, who after writing and creating the Poppins story, a story loosely based on her own life, struggles with the changes Disney wants to make. Tom Hanks plays Walt himself using every ounce of charm he can muster to get her to sign over the rights. Straight off, this is a fun and captivating movie.
-------
First off, it’s really an incredible thing to see 60s era Disney recreated in all it’s glory. It’s one of those places and times that would rise to the top of my time machine wish list. To sit in those rooms as those creative minds crafted music and scripts would have been absolute euphoria. But to see it recreated here is a decent consolation prize. The performances are also great as you would probably expect from pros like Hanks and Thompson. But it’s Emma Thompson’s Travers that is most notable here, capturing the pain of letting someone access your creative process, especially when it's tied so intimately to your past. And actually that back story is probably the best thing about this movie. To see the pain and struggle that led to the beautiful story that we know from the Julie Andrews classic is an absolute revelation and the movie does a great job at shifting from storyline to storyline at exactly the most potent moments. It gives the movie a momentum, fluidity, and power that keep you invested all the way through.
--------
It feels perfect, in fact, maybe a little too perfect. If I’m picking out negatives the main one that jumps to mind, so let’s call it the worst thing, is it all just ties up a little too neatly. I just can’t imagine with two such disparate views of the desired outcome that everything worked out so well for both parties. Of course the fact that the movie is made by Disney probably plays into that sneaking suspicion, seeing that they have a vested interest in everything coming up roses... and dancing penguins. The irony could be that just as Travers was concerned they would Disnify her Mary Poppins story, they might have also now Disnified her own personal story. But truthfully, the film doesn’t force a spoon full of sugar through some very difficult moments of her backstory so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.
--------
All in All “Saving Mr. Banks” is a terrific and compelling look into the history of a beloved film. Superb performances and a genuinely powerful and moving story are plenty enough to offset any of my world weary Disney cynicism. I’m going with an A-.
--------
Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more reviews? You can click here to see reviews of the Tyler Perry’s A Medea Christmas, Nebraska, or the 2nd Hobbit movie The Desolation of Smaug. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. This time you must name “the best movie about a movie ever”. Fictional or not. Mine features a movie about a movie that is within a movie that may be actually be the movie you're watching. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and don’t forget to subscribe!

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Movie Review)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 23:48:00 +0000

The best thing, worst thing, and main thing about the second Hobbit movie The Desolation of Smaug in about the time it takes to watch the trailer. Don't forget to take a shot at the "best ever" question in the comments!

REVIEW TEXT:

I want my Oreo packaging to be made of the same material as Elven quivers. Cause then I would never run out of Oreos. Seriously how many arrows do they have in those things?
-------
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” is the middle child of the Hobbit films. The second of three eventual films based on Tolkien's classic tale. Everybody’s back as the Dwarves and Bilbo finally make their way into meet Smaug, the dragon that has taken up residence in the dwarves native mountain. Now it’s no secret that the Lord of the Rings films are my favorite movies of all time, and that I loved the first Hobbit movie despite some flaws, so can entry number two continue the awesomeness? Well… mostly? Let’s get into some details.
-------
First, this movie is a ton of fun. Martin Freeman is so perfect as Bilbo Baggins and picks up right where he left off in movie one. And when this movie gets moving it’s some of the most mind blowingly cool action scenes I’ve ever seen on screen. Much of this is due to the return of everyone's favorite archery magician Legolas and his new female doppelganger Tauriel. I mean, seriously, the way these elves move and fight is absolute poetry to watch on screen. I was also extremely impressed with Smaug, beautifully voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch, but even more beautifully animated by the gang at Weta. In fact the entire film looks absolutely stunning. Of course much of that could be seeing the film in HFR3D (the HFR is High Frame Rate) so the colors and actions just pop off the screen. I think I may be in the minority on this because seeing an HFR movie does take some getting used to, but I would love to see all movies done in this format. There are some scenes in this that are just heart stoppingly beautiful because of how crisp and clean everything looks. Going back to a regular 24 frames per second film after watching this just makes everything feel blurry and slow. And if every movie were shot and projected this way, the “Soap opera” effect that people complain about would be forgotten as the brain would adjust to the new normal. Anyhow I’m a huge fan of the process and it made middle earth once again come alive in vivid detail.. But the best thing was my favorite 20 minutes of the film, which will henceforth be known in cinema lore as “the barrel scene” Pure adrenaline, pure giddiness, pure fun. I could watch that scene on repeat for a full 3 hours and see something new every time. Incredible stuff.
--------
Speaking of a full three hours, let talk worst thing. This movie is just too long. I really think Peter Jackson made a huge mistake in dividing this book into 3 movies. You can just feel the movie strain under its own misguided need to fill in as much backstory and character development as possible. It results in a movie that takes too long getting started and never feels like a complete tale. And I’m the guy that loves the Extended editions of Lord of the Rings! But that was three giant books made into three giant movies. This was one small book stretched into three giant movies. Don’t get me wrong, I cherish every moment I get to spend in middle earth, but even a geeked out fan like me can tell there is too much bread and not enough butter here. I also didn’t like one, maybe two, of the jokey Lord of the Rings callbacks, but that’s a very minor thing overall.
--------
All in All “the Desolation of Smaug” is another captivating and epic chapter in the Tolkien/Jackson universe. Stunningly gorgeous and aggressively fun it has some of the most exciting moments you will ever see on a big screen. It’s only too much of a good thing that brings it down to a mildly disappointing B+.
--------
Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more reviews? You can click here to see reviews of the Tyler Perry’s A Medea Christmas, Nebraska, or Saving Mr. Banks. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. This time you must name “the best dragon movie ever”. Yeah this is a gimme, you could probably name mine without a hint, so I’ll just say I can’t wait for the sequel. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and don’t forget to subscribe!

The Hobbit Review (KY3 News Movie Review)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 14 Dec 2013 16:52:00 +0000

I stopped in to chat the new Hobbit movie and HFR (high frame rate) with Sara.

Her (Movie Review)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 13 Dec 2013 16:03:00 +0000

The best thing, worst thing, and main thing about the Spike Jonze flick "Her" in about the time it takes to watch the trailer. Don't forget to take a shot at the "best ever" challenge in the comments!

REVIEW TEXT:

Wow, If there was ever a writer director who understood my brain it’s Spike Jonze. Wait is that really something I want to admit?
-------
“Her” is the latest film from Mr. Spike Jonze, the genius behind movies like Adaptation and Being John Malkovich. He once again takes us on a mind bending journey, this time into a future where our relationship with technology is taken to a whole new level. Joaquin Phoenix takes center stage as a man dealing with the end of his marriage and what happens when he installs a new operating system voiced by Scarlett Johansson whose intuitive programming has an impact on almost every area of his life. Now, to say that Spike Jonze has a unique view on the world is a bit of an understatement, and yet somehow he always seem to evoke real emotion from me and this movie is no different.
-------
Her is breathtakingly compelling. Lets start with Spike’s incredible look at the future of technology. It isn’t just that he has some cool ideas about how we will interact with our technology someday, it’s that every bit of it seems fully realized and thought through. Not only that, but it all just seems so stinkin’ plausible. Which I think has to do with how much of his future still looks like today, because honestly things never quite change as much as we think they do (I’m looking at you Back to the Future). The technology is progressive while at the same time being very human. Jonze is a genius at dosing his abstraction with honesty and intimacy and he absolutely hits this one out of the park, creating an even more accessible tale than Adaptation or Malkovich and still bringing back some of the cleverness and quirk that seemed to be missing in Where the Wild Things Are. Yup, he’s my best thing. And that’s not to take anything away the performances either. Joaquin Phoenix is stunning as the hesitant everyman, bringing a sheepishness to the leading man role that shouldn’t work but somehow does. And Scarlett Johansson absolutely deserves acting awards for her role as the voice in his head even if you never see her once on screen. Her performance is incredibly moving even though she is stripped of all the visual cues that actors usually rely on to make it work.
--------
As far as negatives go there aren’t many, I mean I felt there were some subtle missteps in the way video games of the future are portrayed, and I found a couple of the surrounding performances to be a bit distracting. and I’ll go ahead and tag the worst thing as the general feeling of malaise that pervades the movie. Even though I get that the fatigue is an important part of the themes and message it brought a sense of hopelessness at times that didn’t quite match up for me. I have to say though, all of those things are extremely slight and barely register as much of a complaint by the time the credits role.
--------
All in All I love “Her”. Spike Jonze has once again written and directed an incredibly meaningful and powerful story in the midst of his beautifully twisted brain. I give Her an A.
--------
Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more reviews? You can click here to see reviews of the Christian Bale flick "Out of the Furnace", or the foreign language films “The Wind Rises” or “Wadjda”. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. This time you must name “the best movie with a short one word title”. Let’s say four letters or less. There are actually a lot of great ones, but mine is pretty obvious and features what may be the greatest first 10 minutes of a movie ever. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and don’t forget to subscribe!

The Wind Rises (Movie Review)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 15:51:00 +0000

The best thing, worst thing, and main thing about Miyazaki's last film "The Wind Rises" in about the time it takes to watch the trailer. Don't forget to take a shot at the "best ever" challenge in the comments!

REVIEW TEXT:

The other day my 10 year old son walks in and says, “So Dad do you ever watch American movies anymore?” Apparently not son, apparently not.
-------
“The Wind Rises” is apparently the final movie from famed Japanese animator and director Hayao Miyazaki the man behind movies like Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, Ponyo, and many other movies that look amazing on the screen and then fly completely over my head. This one is about a young man who falls in love with designing airplanes and how that affects his ultimate choices in life. So, Can “The Wind Rises” connect with me when so many of the others didn’t? Well, we shall see. Let’s start with the good stuff.
-------
“The Wind Rises” is absolutely gorgeous. This animation is incredible, beautiful, and wonderfully fluid. It’s the kind of stuff you need available if anyone thinks hand drawn animation is a thing of the past. There are moments that are as visually captivating and creative as anything I saw this year. Just gorgeous gorgeous stuff. I also loved that in a story about a young boy wanting to be a plane designer that so many of the sound effects sounded like they were done vocally, as if children playing with toys, though I can see how some might find this distracting, I found it to be a beautiful reminder of the spirit of the movie. Plus, the engineering stuff seemed genuinely intriguing, and I almost felt like I learned something from the intricately drawn blueprints. I mean, not like, I’ll be building a metal bomber in my back yard or anything… but I kinda feel like I could if I wanted to. Honestly though, Miyazaki’s stuff, as beautiful as it, is is often lost on me even though I appreciate him as an artist. But I have to say, The Wind Rises managed to feel a bit more grounded than his other films, and also … a bit more boring.
--------
Yeah, unfortunately I still didn’t quite connect with this story. I mean I get it, but I just couldn’t get into it. The story is very loose and as much as that gives a particular emotion it also creates distance between me and the movies major contact points. These films play in many ways like a lullaby, beautiful and soothing even as darkness lurks underneath. It’s just that lullabies also often result in making me sleepy, and that’s unfortunately too often the case here. I understand and respect why many find this kind of filmmaking to be beautiful but it’s just too ponderous and abstract for me. But hey, it’s Miyazaki. you kinda know what you're in for.
--------
Overall “The Wind Rises” is a fitting swan song for Miyazaki. It’s a stunning feat of animation that tells a broad, and sometimes sleepy, story. If you’re a fan of his work you will likely find it a fitting curtain call, for me it is with utmost respect that l go with a B.
--------
Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more reviews? You can click here to see my take on the saudi arabian film "Wadjda", the Christian Bale flick “Out of the Furnace”, or the upcoming Joaquin Phoenix movie “Her”. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. This time you must name “the best Non Disney/Pixar animated movie ever”. Mine features the voice of the new judge on the next season of American Idol. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and don’t forget to subscribe!

Wadjda (Movie Review)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 15:18:00 +0000

The best thing, worst thing, and main thing about the Saudi Arabian film "Wadjda" in about the time it takes to watch the trailer. Don't forget to guess the "best ever" question and leave your own! Thanks!

REVIEW TEXT:

Every year there is at least one movie most critics fawn over that I just don’t get. Welcome to 2013s main contender.
-------
“Wadjda” is a saudi arabian film that follows that story of a young arab girl and her struggle to understand religion, tradition, and how it relates to the truth she sees around her as a young female in the arabic culture. Certainly some weighty issues that could be lurking in there ready to be explored, right? So why does the whole thing feel so light and fluffy? And is that necessarily a bad thing?
-------
Now let me say right up front, there is a lot to like here. Most prominently, and the best thing, has to be this honest and heartfelt look into a culture that most of us remain unaware and uninitiated to. It was refreshing to see an inside look from a young girl’s perspective on a culture that is often in the news for its treatment of women. The movie does a great job at allowing us into this place to see the inconsistencies and flaws while at the same time refusing to just launch grenades. It really is a touching look into this very real society and culture and how tradition and truth can be at odds. It bears mentioning that this movie is also the first shot entirely in Saudi Arabia and not only that but by a Saudi Arabian woman. And maybe this is part of why critics are praising it so deeply, but let’s step beyond what surrounds the movie and look at the execution of the movie itself.
--------
It’s only so-so. Now don’t get me wrong, the girl who plays the lead is sweet and charming and carries a real sense of joy, but she and the other actors around her just aren’t all that good. In fact, there are a couple of times the scenes feel like actors reading lines rather than a look into a real world. But the worst thing is that the story is so basic and simple. It’s hard to care about these stakes when there really don’t seem to be any. That may seem silly to say when you are dealing with a movie about the saudi arabian female experience directed by a woman, but again remember, we are just talking about the movie itself, not what surrounds it, and the movie itself is a rather simplistic story with not much going on, and maybe there doesn’t have to be. Maybe, for many, the story in the movie is secondary to the story behind the movie, and I guess I can understand that as well.
--------
As I see it “Wadjda” is an important movie with an incredibly honest look into a culture often hidden from view. I just wish the power of the subject matter was matched in the quality of the film. I think it levels off somewhere around a B-.
--------
Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more reviews? You can click here to see another foreign film called “The Wind Rises”, Christian Bale’s “Out of the Furnace” or the Joaquin Pheonix’s upcoming flick “Her”. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. This time you must name “the best movie ever directed by a woman”. Mine was an adaptation of an 1800s Jane Austin Novel, with a few extra “whatevers” and “likes” thrown in for good measure.. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Also don’t forget to subscribe!