Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

For the record, I saw this movie the second day of its release.  The reason it took me so long to write a review on it was because I didn't trust my own reaction.  Sometimes, your mood and expectations can alter your perspective.  I was expecting so much and the hype of the last installment weighed so heavily on me, that I didn't see the film clearly for what it was.  Therefore, I waited a little while to watch it a second time.  And I wasn't disappointed.

Looking back on all the Harry Potter films, the fans have to be proud of the effort put in to them and their execution.  I know I am.  I have only once been truly and rightfully disappointed in a Harry Potter film, and that was the sixth one.  But that's for another time.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 did a wonderful job of keeping true to the book and keeping true to the characters and their gradual development throughout the series.  I was so happy with Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint for fully giving this film everything they have physically, mentally and emotionally.  It was the perfect end to a well-put-together series and I applaud them for giving it the proper farewell.

Now, I'm not going to give a synopsis for the film, because everyone pretty much already knows what it's about.  Let's just get to it, shall we?

The reason I felt conflicted the first time I watched the film was because of the speed in which it was moving.  I felt that the whole film was rushing through in order to get to the final battle.  But, the second time I watched it, my point of view slightly changed.  I still say that it felt a little rushed, but I now feel that there was a reason, which perhaps I misconstrued at first.  They were trying to create a different tone for the final film.  It was a tone of "getting down to business" and "jumping right in".  I find this appropriate because this is how the book plays out.  Harry has accepted his destiny and is ready to face it.  Extremely appropriate.  The fear is gone, therefore, the hesitation from the previous films has disappeared.  So my original issue was amended.

Only now there is another issue.  Because Part 1's tone and Part 2's tone are so different, the place in which they meet should coincide.  In other words, where Dobby meets his end and sadness makes its way throughout the theatres, to where Harry is suddenly an overly determined, ballsy, forceful and energetic man?  I guess I didn't quite feel that appropriate transition.  I was still caught up with feeling Harry's fear and sadness that I didn't quite understand his swift change of attitude.  That has less to do with the film as a whole, as it has more to do with how I watch them.

And now for the technical stuff.  The acting was well done.  It was consistent, at times even phenomenal (Alan Rickman/Ralph Fiennes).  The younger actors really stepped it up.  I found that all the loose ends were tied up and everything was explained with sufficient detail.  The graphics were especially great.  The visual of the entire film was extremely well done.  It was everything I imagined it would be, which says a lot.    

I give this film 9/10 for doing everything in their power to make these films the right way and making all the Harry Potter fans proud as a result.  Thanks for a decade of HP!!!

Crazy Stupid Love

The title is very fitting...

Crazy Stupid Love surrounds a family that deals with the complications of love throughout their daily lives.  Bottom line, you can only take love as it comes, because you can't control it, you can't tame it and you certainly can't understand it.  Just accept it anywhere you can find it, because that is what makes life worth while.

At least, that's what I took from this film.

To break the film down a little more, let's move on to the actors and their characters - because really, that's what made the film what it is.  Let me just say that Ryan Gosling is wonderful.  I have never seen him play a part that he didn't do well.  His character may have come off unrealistic at first, but upon second glance, turns out to be a character with some heart.  Steve Carrel is also wonderful because he always brings the awkward and uncomfortable out of everyday life, and finds a way to depict it flawlessly on screen.  That's what I like about Steve Carrel.  He doesn't pick characters that go through exaggerated events and coincidences, with extreme personalities that pop out at you.  He always picks a dorky character with real qualities and relatable embarrassments that make us reflect on our own lives, only to realize that perhaps they aren't as dull as we thought.  We just don't seem to appreciate our experiences when we're having them.  Sometimes you need an actor like Steve Carrel to remind us that life can be light and comedic if we approach it differently, even when it seems to be full of let downs and disappointment.

Emma Stone played her character as well as always.  She does seem to play a similar personality in most of her films, however, she always puts 100% of herself in her characters, making them so authentic, you can't help but enjoy her.

As for Julianne Moore, she is always amazing - I think that's a given.  And for the boy and the 17 year old girl in the film, you guys get a thumbs up!!!  A for effort.

Ultimately, I give this film 7.8/10 for using some of my favourite actors to, for once, give us a realistic approach to love.   

By the way, I love this picture I chose (above).  Best part of the film.  Look at Ryan Gosling's face and imagine him saying: "What are you grabbing?"  lmao, best line.  You'll see.  Go see it!!!!

Friends with Benefits

 

Another romantic comedy.  Normally, I wouldn't complain, but somehow, I'm starting to get a little tired of them.  

Friends with Benefits is about a headhunter named Jamie (played by Mila Kunis) who is trying to sell her client Dylan (played by Justin Timberlake) on a job offer in New York.  She spends an entire day, introducing him to the city as she knows it, and welcoming him in as a friend.  Eventually, to her surprise, he decides to take the job offer and moves to New York.  They become good friends instantly and discover that they both have issues with relationships.  Trying out an experiment, they begin sleeping with each other casually without any attachments or commitments.  I think we ALL know how this is going to end.  

As a whole, the film was okay.  It was funny at times, it was relatable.. I guess.  The acting was decent and the story wasn't completely predictable.  So I guess I just wanted more.  I wasn't blown away by anything.  There wasn't much emotion for me to feed off of.  Mila Kunis did a great job trying to bring that in, but Justin Timberlake was lacking.  He wasn't bad, but like I said, I wasn't really impressed.  To me, he didn't seem to have a hard job to pull off from the beginning, so to criticize him is difficult because it seemed like he played a very common character.  A light-hearted, take nothing seriously character.  I'd like to see more from him.  

So I give this film 5.6/10.  I wouldn't see it again just because it didn't stand out to me enough.  It was cute.. that's all.        

Horrible Bosses

Need a laugh?  Need something ridiculous and borderline insane, so that you can feel your lips slowly curving upwards?   How about a group of men who want to hire a hit man to kill their bosses?  Borderline insane you say?

This film may appear silly from the outside, and trust me it is, but if you need a meaningless, superficial laugh to help you get through the week, this will do the job.

The acting was well executed.  Seriously, Jennifer Aniston was hilarious.  Kevin Spacey delivered as always.  And Colin Farrell really hit his mark in the comedy genre.  As for the three stooges, Jason Sudeikis , Jason Bateman and Charlie Day, they had good chemistry on screen.  All characters belonged together; no one felt or seemed left out. 

Moving on, the plot was seriously lacking, as in they took an ordinary problem in a lot of people’s lives and just completely went too far with it, making it unbelievable.  But that’s assuming you’re going in to this film with expectations.  BIG MISTAKE!  Go in without any expectations and just enjoy it for what it is. I promise this film can be just what you need to chill out. 

*Can I just comment on the titles of these films lately.  Getting lazy much?  Bad teacher, Horrible Bosses?   I can tell a lot of thought went into those... How about “The Dangerous Doctor” or “The Tired Accountant”?  Please, feel free to borrow those anytime, I’ve got plenty more.

So I give this film 7.5/10 for rubbing every possible toiletry up Jason Sudeikis’ butt.  Which, ironically, bites him in the ass later on.       

Bad Teacher

 

Pretty good, not sure I’d see it again though.

In Bad Teacher, the plot surrounds a woman who wants to marry for money so that she’s “taken care of” and can do whatever she wants without any consequences.  Unfortunately, this plan falls flat when her fiancé dumps her because of her recklessness and spending habits.  Therefore, she has to go back to her menial job as a school teacher.  She eventually sets her eyes on a new victim, and does everything in her power to win him over.    

This review is going to be like ripping off a band-aid.  Here we go. 

The acting in this film was good.  Everyone held their part, especially Cameron Diaz, who I’ve learned not to expect much from throughout the years.  However, she did a top notch job.   Justin Timberlake did a good job with his character, in the sense that I found him incredibly creepy.  Near the end, the funny level was low, because it lost its spark for some reason.  The plot was half-assed, but because the characters were so interesting to watch, it held most of the film.  Perhaps that’s why the humour didn’t seem to be enough in the end.  There wasn’t enough backbone in the plot to keep it interesting.

One thing I particularly liked about this film is that, perhaps without intending to, it comments on how many people think becoming a teacher is a backup plan for when your dreams fall in to the crapper.   Not to mention, it comments on how easy it is to become a teacher no matter how wrong you are for the job.  Just sayin...  

I give this film 5.5/10 for trying and remaining funny... most of the time.  

Super 8

Okay, normally I'm not an alien kinda girl.  Not a fan of aliens in movies.  What can I say, it just does nothing for me. It's probably because the story is always the same.  The alien wants to go home and the selfish people on Earth won't let that happen.  It's the same story in E.T., Paul, District 9 and now Super 8.

*For all the, now offended, District 9 fans out there, let me clarify:  I loved that movie because they made the situation realistic, the actual aliens looked realistic, and they even tried to show us what it would be like if we turned in to the much hated aliens ourselves.  However, that base story line remains the same; the aliens want to go home.  But they did something many film producers, writers and directors can't do.  They managed to make an old story completely new, completely fresh and original.  The makers of District 9 created art with that film.  For Super 8, that was not the case. *

Super 8 follows the lives of 6 kids as they are trying to shoot a zombie movie, but witness an accident at the train station instead.  Next thing we know, people go missing, animals run for their lives and the government military takes control.  Something is the cause for all of this and the 6 kids make it their job to find out what. The actors involved in this film are Joel Courtney, Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee, Gabriel Basso and Zach  Mills.    

 Now, looking at the film as a whole, it's a good film.  Good, not amazing.  The reason I say this is because, even though it was well done, it also felt like it brought movies back at least a decade, especially with the ending they gave it.  I would say about 3/4 of the film was really good and then the last quarter made it lose its sparkle.

So, how do I explain this properly - my major issue?  I guess I would put the blame on Spielberg.  He wanted so badly to create the epicness that was E.T. in its time.  He wanted it so bad that I think he forgot that films have moved on from what they used to be, and have evolved into something with more substance and realism to them.  I feel like shouting at him a little bit because its like he's never left his little box of how to make films.  He sticks to what he knows and refuses to open his mind to new and exciting things.  He wants to create something shocking and awing, but he doesn't want know how to make it real.  And that's why this film isn't strong enough to make an impact.  It's nothing new and it's not relatable.  The films that make impacts are films with raw emotion and he just didn't deliver that in this film.  At least not emotion that hits you to the core.  Like I said, it was the last 1/4 where the lines became cheesy and predictable, as well as the events in the conclusion.
 
More specifically, the acting was well done, the kids were impressive.  The graphics were well done too.  The comedic relief was placed well in the film.  Honestly, I don't find that there is much to comment on because it was all fairly solid.       

What I will give this film is that it comes off nostalgic.  Because Spielberg's work has almost a signature to it, it reminds you so much of E.T. and how far that film went.  You smile to yourself and think, Oh that Spielberg.  And then you move forward to never look back.

I give this film 8.3/10.  It's a good film, but like I said, not amazing.

X Men: First Class

(Warning: there may be some spoilers below; they’re minor, but if you’re a stickler for these sort of things, you might want to tread lightly)

X Men: First Class is about the beloved characters (Professor Xavier, Mystique, Magneto, Cyclops' older generation, and Jean's mother) before they became the X Men.  They work together to stop a major threat, mutant Sebastian Shaw, who believes that in order to feel accepted in the world, they have to dominate it. Some actors involved in the film are Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence and Kevin Bacon.  

People have been asking, does this film revamp what was the dwindling X-Men trilogy? 

My answer: Yes, I believe it does.

To be fair, this film is not a continuation of the last, rather, an introduction to how it all began.  They managed to no only make concrete connections between the films, but also they maintained the ability to surprise you so that it’s not so predictable.  I recommend brushing up on your X-Men characters to fully enjoy this film, only because if you haven’t seen any of the previous ones for a while, you might forget some details that make it worth watching.  I loved the few special character appearances, no matter how short-lived they were, such as Hugh Jackman as Wolverine or Rabecca Romijn as Mystique. For me it was extremely entertaining.     

All the acting was well done; playful at times, ironic, and stimulating.  I have to give props for using one of George Bush’s famous lines – “If your not with us, by definition, that means your against us”.  Really, truly funny, I have to say.  In addition to historical quotes, the history involved in the film was fairly accurate, which pleased me.  I always find it impressive when you see the effort put in to making a film historically correct.   

The graphics were also well done as well as the sounds effects. 

The only critique I think I would give would be to make some of the transitions from scene to scene more interesting.  The reason I say this is because for, I would say a good third of the film, your following one of the main characters as he moves around the world, while another main character pretty much stays put. All they did was put text at the bottom of the screen to let you know where each character was when they switched from one to the other.  This made it seem kind of boring, to be completely honest. All I’m saying is to make more interesting cuts, so it feels less like – he’s here one minute and then were back, and then he’s here the next minute and then were back.  Oh now he’s here, oh and look, we’re back. We get it!  It was sort of tedious I guess and that’s why it stood out to me.   

Other than that, I recommend the movie for a solid performance, some comedic relief and a nostalgic 2 hours with some of Marvel’s memorable characters.

I give this film 8.2/10 for making a solid effort at keeping what was great from X-Men and not letting it get lost in chaos of film making.