Despicable Review

Minions minions everywhere! No, I'm speaking of the cute creatures in the new film DESPICABLE ME, I'm talking about the plethora of people who were at last nights screening of the film! It was packed and people were behaving like savages! Until the film started of course, because after that, it was a room full of laughter. The film was absolutely adorable and fun for both adults as well as children.

Steve Carrell was awesome as Gru, the evil villain who is trying to steal the moon, no not for his sweetheart, just to become infamous. His evil plot is quickly dampened by a new, younger villain in town, Vector. Now, my only problem with this movie, other than the shenanigans of all the people in line at the screening, was the fact that Vector was oddly familiar to me, oh that's right, he reminded me of a young, very creepy, Woody Allen....



Along his path of destruction, Gru adopts three very precious little girls, Margo, Edith, and little Agnus. The girls inevitably connect with a soft spot in Gru, and are the catalyst for his change. Gru's workers, known as minions are the comic geniuses in this film. Young and old were amused and tickled by these guys. Some of the best scenes in the film were brought to you by Gru's minions. One such scene is when one minion grabs another, cracks his back and shakes him, like a glow stick. My favorite scene though, is one in which the minions high jack a copy machine.



This film is definitely one to take the whole family to see, it was a great experience and I even won some stuff through The Peak 98.7 while waiting for the film to start!



I adored this film, all the characters, and Steve Carrell was brilliant as Gru, at times its even hard to recognize his voice!

Make sure you guys check out the official website at Despicable Me there are some really cute games and such, and visit the official FaceBook page at Despicable FaceBook . And for those of you in the twitter verse, Despicable Twitter You too can become one of Gru's minions!

Alice In Wonderland

I screened Alice In Wonderland on Tuesday this week, and let me tell you, the all day wait, was well worth it! I arrived at the theater at noon, even though the screening didn't start until 7. I am so glad I arrived super early because when we arrived, there was already a line, some people having been there since 5 AM. I have anxiously been awaiting this film for almost 7 years, my hopes for it were needless to say, extremely high. When the exhausting wait was finally over and the movie began, I was not disappointed. The only major problem I had, were the obsessed geeks that surrounded me in the theater. But as far as the film went, it was what I expected as far as a Burton remake is concerned. The one thing that surprised me, was Helena Bonham Carter. I am a fan of hers, but as we all know, Johnny Depp has been the talk of the town as the Mad Hatter. I adore him just as much as the next middle aged housewife, but for me, Carter was the stand out performance. Not to say that Depp didn't pull through, I loved him as Hatter, but everyone expected HIM to be the performance that took the reins. Carter was funny, absolutely cracked me up, and it wasn't just because of her "bulbous" head, which looked awesome and was visually brilliant. Plus her court of servants were hysterical! I won't say too much but I will say they all had "large"...personalities!



Carter completely devoured the role of the queen. Very quirky but not over the top, I could almost believe that she was a real person, regardless of her head size. She was my pleasant surprise of the film.

Anne Hathaway as the white queen was something I wasn't sure of when I first heard she was cast in the role. I love Annie but I didn't know about meshing her with Burton. Well, she was great as the white queen. She wasn't quite as extreme and quirky as the other characters, but she did have one quirk that I thought was just great, she kept her hands and arms in a certain position throughout the entire film, it really was the essence of her character. Loved it.



Johnny Depp...is there really anything to say about him? He is brilliant, he is in a league all on his own. Him and Burton have worked together for many moons now, so he just "gets" what Burton is aiming for and pulls it off in a way that nobody else could. From his strange accent, to the carrot top he sports, he IS the Mad Hatter and I enjoyed every second of it. I don't know how that man can play roles so incredibly strange yet still pull it off, anybody else would come off as a deranged lunatic!



The cast of supporting characters, which included the Chesire Cat, a bold but loveable door mouse, a drunken March hare, the blue caterpillar, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, the Knave of Hearts (Good ol' creepy thin man Crispin Glover), and of course the white rabbit, were all great to watch, some of them CG characters and others not.

I won't get too into the plot of the story and whatnot, we all know the story of Alice in Wonderland. I will say that there are classic Alice moments in the film which we all know and love, such as croquet with a flamingo and a hedgehog, and a court of angry playing cards, roses being painted red, a raven and a writing desk, things that make you grow and shrink at alarming rates, and of course...."Off with his head!". Without those elements I don't think folks would be accepting of the film. It's a wonderful remake, better than a lot of remakes. Visually the movie was wonderful. The environments and scapes were fantastic. I will say this though, AVATAR set such an impossible bar to reach as far as visual effects are concerned, so I wasn't expecting it to be the best film visually, even still Tim Burton's world comes to life yet again and I enjoyed being on the ride. Definitely see this movie in IMAX 3D if possible. It's the new wave, 3D is here to stay and pretty soon there's gonna be no other way to watch a film! Bravo to Burton and his wonderful wife and cast, this remake of Wonderland was "head and tails" above the rest!

COP-OUT "Rock out with your Glock out"

I was lucky enough to attend an advanced screening of Cop-Out this week. I am predisposed to Kevin Smiths usual trash filled films and I totally love every ounce of garbage that comes out of his characters mouths! Cop-Out however, was NOT written by K Smith, and guess what? I still enjoyed the hell out of it. Alot like Shutter Island, this film has a lot of buzz going on about it, but not for the same reasons as Shutter Island. The verbal holocaust lies in who else? Kevin Smith! Poor Robb and Mark Cullen who actually DID write the screenplay...or maybe not, maybe K Smith's heat will turn out to be for the best. If you think about it, if the film does well, the Cullen's (Sorry Twi-hards, wrong Cullen's) can quite possibly thank the slack administered to Smith's ego for getting movie goers into see the film. On the other hand, if the film tanks, they can blame the verbal diarrhea floating around Smith. I won't get into all the rumors and specs surround the so called "timing" involved with the premier of the film, google it, it's there!

I was thoroughly entertained throughout the movie. First off, the film looked like it was just a blast to film, which always gets me pumped and excited.

EXHIBIT A


The film opens with a flippin' hysterical "homage" to crime based cinematography. It was brilliant, Willis and Morgan had the theater in stitches. The film has hysterical one liners and pokes fun at Willis as well as has some classic Smith references. Some of the Smith references made me wonder how many people in the packed theater would actually "get" them...let me tell you, A LOT! Was the film "authentic" and/or believable? Hell to the no! I mean come on, can you take this seriously??



The reviews for the film that I have looked at, not so good...

EXHIBIT B

"Cop Out" is a clumsy postmodern buddy cop flick that stuffs as many genre references as it can into the ceaseless patter between Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis. SOURCE-Yahoo Movies

EXHIBIT C

"Cop Out is pretty funny...for the first 20 minutes. After that, it totally disintegrates into a generic buddy movie that could have had any two actors in the lead and gotten the same results."

EXHIBIT D

Cop Out fizzles out once the action scenes kick in. In fact, it might have been a better film had the action scenes been booted in favor of more time spent concentrating on the human elements. It also might have worked better had the two leads, Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, had even the tiniest bit of chemistry. They don't, and the film suffers for it. SOURCE-Rebecca's Hollywood Movies Blog

EXHIBIT E

An homage to the '80s buddy-cop comedy, right down to the Harold Faltermeyer synth score, the extensively ad-libbed "Cop Out" doesn't cop out on talking the talk, but it falls down on the job whenever it comes to walking the walk. SOURCE-Hollywood Reporter

AND EXHIBIT F U

He didn’t write it as he does with the rest of his movies, however, and that appears to be part of the problem. (Referring to K Smith) SOURCE-Personal Money Store

Man, the Cullen's can't seem to get a break, I mean, first the movie gets bashed, Smith gets a bunch of hell, then they bash the Cullen's writing...which by the way, I thought it was well written and really funny! Definitely a movie to go to with a group of friends. The one thing that has gotten all around positive feedback was the NY premier, of course star studded....




It looks like the two stars had chemistry to me...I totally object to Rebecca's Hollywood Movies Blog in that aspect.

Listen, I think people forget what this type of movie is a platform for...it's not chopping for an Oscar, it's not a thought provoking tale with a plot twist or a surprise ending...lets can the BS and remember that this is a film which is meant for FUN, Smith doesn't take the crap thrown at him too seriously, and that's the point of a film like this. It's a raunchy type comedy...If you want a few hours of funny, entertaining BS go see this film. Willis and Morgan are hysterical together, Michelle Trachtenberg was also very funny and don't be offended by the fact that her humor lies in a language barrier, and Sean William Scott was ridiculously funny!
And hey, Nanny Cams are always funny right?

Shutter Island

Shutter I did, and not in a good way. I was prepared for a Scorsese master piece, but instead was left with pieces of a master. Parts of this film were absolutely fantastic, other parts, left me very disappointed. The marketing strategy for this film was needless to say, brilliant. The images floating around the web and the teaser trailers we have all been clinging to for over a year now, definitely did their job in bringing people to see this film. Maybe that's what makes it so disappointing. The most interesting thing about the film, to me, are the mixed reviews its gotten from movie goers. It appears that this is one flick that you either love, or hate. And what better breeding ground for the average movie goers review? Twitter of course. Some of the mixed reviews I keep seeing in the ol' tweeters den:

All THOSE IN FAVOR OF SHUTTER ISLAND:
"Bravo Martin Scorsese for pullin off that genious movie #shutterisland, it was fucking amazing how every single thing played out so perfect!"

"Shutter Island is a slow, methodical, and claustrophobic thriller... and I loved every minute of it! #shutterIsland"

"#shutterisland you must go. It will mind eff you.. And end up on your top ten fav list. Trust."

"Shutter Island was pretty good. real weird at some points. crazy twist. go see it."

AND THOSE OPPOSED:
"#ShutterIsland ??? DUMB!!!!!! I don't get how people loved it so much? It was so lame...definitley a let down. I want my $6 back!"

"Okay sooo #ShutterIsland NO GO!!"

"Dude. Scorsese's worst that I know of. And one of the worst I've seen in a while. Jesus. #shutterisland"

I definitely fall under the category of those opposed. Everyone's heard tale of a crazy plot twist and ending to the flick, let me just start by saying, I knew what was going on from about 10 minutes into the film and for the next 2 hours and 20 minutes kept hoping I was wrong. I can't say too much here because I don't want to give anything away for those who haven't seen it, but I keep seeing comments on Twitter and Facebook that are insinuating confusion and shock:

"#shutterisland Geeeez!! Speechless.. Too confusing and too shocking.."

(This one came from Tanedra Howard, my girl from SAW VI and Scream Queens, love her, but must disagree) "Tattoo hated Shutter Island & said it was "too much mind" dawg. wht did U think?<-- I agree fully. I had a damn migrane!"

I didn't find a single moment of the film shocking, or confusing. Not one little bit. So when I saw the following comment, it really made me laugh:

"Funny how movies like #ShutterIsland clearly distinguish the intelligent from the clueless on Twitter."

And incidentally, I completely disagree with the following comment:

"The majority of negative reviews for Shutter Island come from people who are too dumb to follow the plot GO SEE IT!!"

I for one was not "too dumb" to follow the plot, I was rather, bored by the plot because to me, it was something that has been done before, nothing shocking, nothing confusing, and I was quite surprised to hear that some people had a hard time following the story. So a comment like the next one, is definitely on the same page as my review:

"SHUTTER ISLAND: Not the best Scorsese.Nothing new.No surprises.Simple.Boring even."

And with all the reviews and what not floating around, I gave my 2 cents to my best friend, and he had pretty much figured out the "big plot twist" based on a single poster for the film:



I may sound like I'm being pretty harsh on the film and its director, but let me redeem myself a little bit here by saying, there were many aspects to the film that I did in fact enjoy a lot. The camera work, absolutely brilliantly shot, I mean come on, it's Scorsese. Mark Ruffalo and Leonardo DiCaprio, I think they both acted amazingly and there were many side characters that supported the atmosphere of the film to a T. There were some definite "creepy" moments in the film, which is always a fun aspect to a thriller. Visually, this film has some amazing imagery. And the writing, neglecting the BIG SURPRISE, was actually quite great. Whether or not I figured out what was going on has no relevance to the dialogue spoken, and it was very well written, much like the book by Dennis Lehane (which is reported to be a huge seller in the Kindle marketplace right now).

All in all, I would have to say that people should definitely see this movie, if for no other reason than to get involved in the debate on whether or not it was confusing, surprising, shocking, wonderful, or whatever other adjectives are buzzing around this film. For me, not a winner. I don't think people nowadays can be caught too much by surprise, I think movies like THE SIXTH SENSE and THE OTHERS kind of smartened audiences a little too much, so now it's hard to pull off a sick plot twist in the end, but God bless Hollywood for continuing to try to outsmart the paying audience!

The Blind Side

As the credits rolled, the audience was still and quiet, we stayed that way for a few minutes before the theater broke out into applause. This film has if nothing more, and no puns intended, alot of heart. Let me start with my girl Sandy Bullock...she did an outstanding job as the southern woman who takes the "big black boy" into her home. Her character is one of those damned if she does, damned if she don't souls. Her characters motives are all too often taken into question. Sandy was touching and most importantly, believable, a quality you can't teach. Tim McGraw as the husband was actually quite the perfect little casting decision. He was not outshined or overshadowed by Sandy, which was a concern of mine, after all Sandy is one of the most charismatic actresses out there. But good ol Timmy held his own and proved to me that he can act. Jae Head, the youngest child of the family, was quite the little scene stealer! He was adorable in Hancock, but he really excelled in this film. Lily Collins, the teenage girl, I felt got a little ripped off in this film. Kathy Bates, when is she NOT good??? Cracks me up! That brings me to Quinton Aaron, the heart and soul of the film, he literally broke my little heart with just the simplest "yes ma'am" or the most subtle look. He was flawless.

Definitely a feel good movie with heart wrenching moments. The relationship between Michael and SJ (Quinton and Jae) was absolutely adorable. The dynamic between Leigh Anne and Sean (Sandy and Timmy), totally awesome power duo. Quinton had a chemistry with each and every character, a true rarity in Hollyweird.

A perfect Thanksgiving film for the family. The direction was superb, the writing was really full of substance. I had high expectations for this movie and for once, I wasn't disappointed! I am not saying I am a fan of McGraws music now, but I am a fan of Tim's. Not saying I'm a traitor and a fan of the Baltimore Ravens now, but I am most definitely a fan of Michael Oher!

GO SEE THIS MOVIE! Tissues may be needed, but I was thoroughly impressed!

Fame--My Review

Alright guys, my blog is still UNDER CONSTRUCTION but I still gotta put my 2 cents in! Fame was an absolute disappointment! I was shocked at the lack of storyline, the horrible lack of whoever was in charge to put those kids talents to use! The film OOZED talent, all those kids were brilliant! But there was no story, not a lot of music, and did I mention the TITLE track didn't find its way into the film??? ANYone who remembers the old version of Fame would have to agree with me in thinking that the title track sparked so much emotion as the kids danced in the streets of NYC. I will say this however, the music in the picture was done well, strategically placed so as not to make the movie a downright showtoony musical, which although I love my showtunes, I think it will branch out to folks who do not so much as care for them. Asher Book might have been the new Zac Efron as his pipes are HEAVENLY, if only they had been showcased in the proper manner! Naturi Naughton as Denise was AMAZING. That girl has a monster vocal range, and Collins Pennie who plays Malik was brilliant, he acted his face off. Walter Perez was also absolutely great and adorable to boot! It was a nice throwback to old Broadway to have Bebe Neuwirth playing the ballet teacher, although, could somebody please feed that woman a hamburger! Kelsey Grammar had a much more, how to say, PRUDE character which he pulled off flawlessly, and lets not forget the vocal stylings of Megan Mullally.


All in all, a HUGE let down, and what is most frustrating about it, is that the talent was more than there, the "message" of hope and not letting go of your dreams was there but poorly executed, the direction was good, although the film is a bit choppy and slow at times, but the lack of storytelling was the be all end all of this flick (in the end the characters are at a certain point in their lives and the audience is left with few clues as to how they got to that point. As an avid musical fan, not impressed, which is a rarity. The soundtrack, however, will still be playing in my car for the next few weeks!


PS Guys, my BLOG will be finished here shortly! Stay Tuned!