Epic (2013)

Some of you will remember that I had posted this up a week or two ago.  The first movie to won out in that first night was Epic so here we are with it as the first review. I’ve been on a huge animation thing and been watching a few of them here and there and totally loving it.  I’ve heard some pretty decent reviews on Epic so I remained hopeful even though I didn’t really know anything about it.

Epic (2013)

Director: Chris Wedge

Voice Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Josh Hutcherson, Colin Farrell, Beyonce, Pitbull, Chris O’Dowd, Aziz Ansari

EPIC tells the story of an ongoing battle between the forces of good, who keep the natural world alive, and the forces of evil, who wish to destroy it. When a teenage girl finds herself magically transported into this secret universe, she teams up with an elite band of warriors and a crew of comical, larger-than-life figures, to save their world…and ours. — (C) Fox (Rotten Tomatoes)

 I love animations.  How animated films have developed nowadays is amazing.  There is so much that’s improved and changed for the better and everything makes it even better.  Just watch a Bluray version of a older animated movie (like a Disney classic) and think about the quality of what it was before.  everything stands out more. Epic is kind of similar to Arthur’s and the Minimoys meets Avatar in animated world in many ways, or at least it reminds me a little of that.  What truly captures the eye is the vibrant colors they use the brighten up the screen.  I read that this was 3D when it was released.  My guess it that in 3D the fun would have been even more effective.  Still, Epic is a rather fun adventure.  a little predictable at times but the dynamic characters make up for it. I’m a sucker for animations like this because I always love how movies utitlize the environment around them to their potential and add that little bit extra imagination and creativity to it.

The voice cast here is pretty good.  Amanda Seyfried plays MK, our main heroine that enters into a new world that she had doubted and is asked to take on a task that determines the life and death of the light.  In this world, she meets some characters like the serious and dutiful warrior Ronin voiced by Colin Farrell or the comedic/silly slug duo, Grub and Mub, voiced respectively by Chris O’Dowd and Aziz Ansari.  I haven’t known anything about Aziz Ansari before this because I went to search up some of this comedy shows and what not afterwards and its pretty good.  That means I had a good laugh.  Most of the time, I just stare at these stand-up comedians and ponder what is so funny.   Then you have the wise catepillar, Nim Galuu, who really is a little lost but so personable and is voiced by Steven Tyler.  These characters carry out a lot of really fun moments and give this movie some flair.

The main lead here is MK.  I’m not exactly sure about her character but she’s on this adventure and I can imagine that it would be pretty awesome.  To see everything from another angle is something that would be so impressive and for the most part, the character is done well.  Right next to her is the dude here, Nod voiced by Josh Hutcherson, who is a little bit of rebel in his world but still has a good heart.  He does things not totally by the rules and is a little reckless.  He’s a good guy character here who has all sorts of moments with MK.

Animations are generally pretty straight forward. There’s a simple story, a hero or heroine and they are on task to complete some mission against so evil villain.  What makes an animation effective is having a worthy villain.  The villain in Epic is called Mandrake (voiced by Christoph Waltz) and his little minions and tattletale toad (?) Bufo, voiced by Pitbull.  I watched this animation a week or two ago and I struggle to remember much about this villain.  Maybe thats why its not quite so memorable to me.  The character design is great. Just look at him.  I even remember Pitbull more than him…so yeah.

Overall, Epic is a visually colorful animation that captures the eye with its creative use of the environment in this new world they’ve created.  The story is simple (just as it should be) and funny with the help of the chemistry and personality of their characters.  The villain is not quite as memorable.  However, the shock of all this was the cast with names from the music world like Beyonce, Pitbull and Steven Tyler.  Epic is definitely worth a shot for some decent entertainment.

TV Binge: Veronica Mars (Season 1)

Its taken me a while to get this together.  I’ve been mostly reviewing more recent TV series. I think the furthest I went was the first season of Downton Abbey and thats a few years back, I believe.  Anyways, Veronica Mars is even further back if I’m correct, seeing as the style and all that seems to be a little more my high school days…

In my last Pinterest Therapy, I already mentioned how I’m developing a massive girl crush for Veronica Mars but the Season 1 of Veronica Mars was all sorts of roller coaster rides.  It definitely was one hell of a ride, if you ask me.  I’m not exactly a Kristen Bell fan although her roles are slowly growing on me but Veronica Mars is pretty fantastic. Its sort of what I love in TV all mixed into one.  The snarky/witty/intelligent main character, investigations and cases, plus high school scenario and drama filled with some pretty charismatic characters.  That’s Season 1 of Veronica Mars in a nutshell.

So what makes me like this?

1) Veronica Mars is all sorts of awesome as a character!

What’s not to love about Veronica Mars? She’s smart and snarky.  She has a really awesome attitude and she stands up for herself.  Plus, she’s an excellent private investigator and can pretty much convince anyone to do something for her.  What makes her believable  is that she isn’t almighty.  She asks for help and has her limits.  Her life is destroyed, her best friend was murdered and her new best friend helps her out and her mom skips town and everyone at school doesn’t particularly like her very much.

2) Jason Dohring as Logan Echolls! 🙂

I may not have seen Veronica Mars until lately but I am a huge fan of the extremely short-lived show called Moonlight. It only lasted a season even if it should’ve stayed on for much longer.  I may have loved Alex O’Loughlin in Moonlight but I had an equally huge crush on Jason Dohring.  This guy is all sorts of cute.  The character of Logan Echolls is really fun with a ton of character development and the chemistry he has with Veronica Mars from the start till the end of Season 1 is awesome.  I love him! I just do! 🙂

3) Cameos from a ton of mildly to very popular stars now!

Amanda Seyfried gets the role as Lily, who was Veronica Mars’s dead best friend which is where the investigation is focused on: finding the right killer, giving this role a pretty great significance. Also, Max Greenfield (New Girl) gets a few episodes as well and I really enjoyed that character.  On a more cameo level, there was Jessica Chastain, Jane Lynch, Leighton Meester, Adam Scott, just to name a few.  I’m probably forgetting someone (oh right, Paris Hilton…).

I don’t know exactly where to mention this but Enrico Colantoni plays Veronica’s dad, Keith Mars and I love this guy, especially from Flashpoint.  The father-daughter relaitonship here is really good!

4) The Multiple Investigations

I love investigation series.  Whether its The Mentalist, Criminal Minds, Lie to Me, Elementary and the list goes on.  Veronica Mars has a ton of great characters which is fantastic but what captures me even more is some really cool investigations.  Every episode has a case or two from the private investigation firm but it also never overshadows the fact that Veronica Mars is focusing on one, tracking her mom and two, finding out who is Lily’s actual killer.  With the help of some friends, she usually encounters a few snags which adds to the tension but also helps emphasize a little more on who Veronica Mars is, especially when it gets more personal.

Overall…Veronica Mars is probably one of the best series I’ve seen but as usual, a lot of great series don’t make it in the world of TV because survival is hard and its a chance the studio has to take, even if whatever comes along might be a million times worse.  I’ve only seen up to middle of Season 2 when this post goes up so I still have to see if it keeps up the awesomeness.  Season 1 was all kinds of awesome and I was hooked right from the pilot! 🙂

Have you seen Veronica Mars (the TV series)? Did you like it? 

Valentine’s Marathon: Dear John (2010)

If I had to choose my top novels of Nicholas Sparks that I enjoyed, I’d have to say that Dear John is one of them.  The story is really good and there’s so much awesomeness in just love, war, family, long distance relationship and all that stuff.  It was nothing like a tearjerker like A Walk to Remember but it was one that I really enjoyed.  That novel came to my attention because it was adapted into a movie and I read it and then waited to watch the movie.  This is my second viewing of it.

Director: Lasse Hallstrom

Cast: Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried, Richard Jenkins, Henry Thomas

John (Channing Tatum) is  home on leave from the military and after one of his surfs and walking on the pier, he notices a girl that accidentally drops her purse into the water. Without hesitation, he jumps in to retrieve it for her.  This girl, Savannah (Amanda Seyfriend), is there for the summer with her parents.  Savannah turns out to be a conservative good girl who seems to have no flaws and they start dating.  When his leave ends, it is also time for Savannah to go back to school but they decide to keep their relationship for the following year as John will be home for good then.  They decide to keep in contact through mail to sustain their relationship. When a year comes up and John decides to re-sign for longer due to the 9/11 attacks back home, can their love endure it?

Back when this movie first came out, the only reason I wanted to see it was because I like Amanda Seyfried.  I still do, not so much of a girl crush anymore than before but why not Channing Tatum? Well, he was always pegged for roles like this.  Not a lot of emotions and reserved in his feelings and always some form of military or whatnot.  I think watching this changed my mind a little because at least it was better than GI Joe and I didn’t fall asleep.  Plus, I already told you that I loved the story.  That was my thing back then, liking the intensity of long distance relationship.  As I write this, I really am thinking of rereading this one.  I forgot how awesome it was and the ending is just so…bittersweet in a way.  The choices, the timing, the waiting and the giving up…but then there’s so much more because the girl in Nicholas Sparks novels always helps enlighten the guy in some way and with this one is one bringing back the life to John’s relationship with his dad.

That scene up there is my favorite part of the novel that they somewhat toned down a little for the movie.  Still, I love it quite a bit.  Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried has some pretty good chemistry and there are some pretty sweet moments. Of course it uses the same formula as always but the story is one I like and honestly, I felt like Channing Tatum fell perfectly into this role and he gave this movie life.  It may not be his character John’s relationship with Savannah that made this movie memorable but rather, I was truly moved by his relationship with his father, portrayed by Richard Jenkins.  The father and son story here shines through so much. After so many of these, I’m starting to think that maybe Nicholas Sparks should change his romance career and just go for family drama.  Could work, no? 😉 Back on track, Richard Jenkins is amazing.  I haven’t seen him do a lot of main leads but he is a kickass supporting role all the time and he just always acts out everything so well.

Dear John has its flaws and it follows the same little bits of Nicholas Sparks novels but its all in whether you buy the premise.  For me, my love for the novel actually made me like this a bit more than the majority of people.  Plus, this was the role that made me feel like Channing Tatum was doing great for the first time,but that was until I saw Magic Mike which broke him out of his same roles and he started having a variety of them.   Its a bittersweet ending and I love reading about being put in situations to make choices because thats what life is about, right? You make choices and you have to take on the challenges and consequences that come with them. I’ll end it here before I get all philosophical. If you don’t see the movie, read the book. I’ll work on rereading that this year 🙂 Still, I don’t really think it was all that bad, just depends if you like this sort of premise.

These reviews are turning more into write-ups about a ramble of thoughts combined together…don’t you think?

Have you seen Dear John? What are your thoughts on Channing Tatum and/or Amanda Seyfried?

By the way, I’m really trying to finish up Nicholas Sparks by Valentine’s Day so I’ve been on overtime watching these, hopefully with maybe one day of double reviews, I’ll manage to sneak them all in 🙂

Chloe (2009)

I had to somehow get the movie watching back into gear.  Once Upon a Time surprisingly ended on me as Season 2 was the last one available on Netflix, so I felt like watching some “steamy romance” which lead to their top choice for me being this one, Chloe.  I’ve brushed past it before on store shelves but never wanted to get it.  I don’t know what  pushed me to do it but I did.  Let’s check it out!

Director: Atom Egoyan

Cast: Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, Amanda Seyfried, Max Thieriot, Nina Dobrev

Catherine Stewart (Julianne Moore) feels that her husband David (Liam Neeson) is growing distant. She suspects that he is seeing other women or even worse, having an affair.  At the same time, she also feels that she is unable to communicate with her son (Max Thieriot) By chance, she meets an attractive young escort Chloe (Amanda Seyfried).  In desperation, she decides to hire Chloe to try to seduce David to see if he was open to seeing other woman and whether he would fall into her trap.

I really don’t know how to describe this movie.  There is a twist to it but it flashes in your face pretty early in the movie where its going to go.  Chloe is not a bad movie though.  Its nowhere near some of the thrillers I’ve seen this year with a downright smack you in the face out of nowhere but it does try. My main issue is that its supposed to be in this erotic thriller level and its not that erotic.  Maybe if you appreciate seeing Julianne Moore’s breasts?  I personally enjoy “erotic”/sexual thrillers for their atmosphere.  This one didn’t really have that much of it.  However, those feelings usually are quite subjective.

Chloe is however a good movie mostly because of its characters and the cast portraying them.  First of all, we have Julianne Moore who plays the suspecting wife.  I personally love Julianne Moore.  She’s an amazing actress and she fits quite well in the role.  The suspecting wife dealing with not really knowing how to be affectionate with her husband or talking to her son, knowing her limits; just dealing with life slipping out of her hands as she gets older.  Right alongside her is Liam Neeson as her husband.  I feel like I haven’t seen him in any non-action roles, and then I think about Love Actually and remember that I really loved that movie also.  He’s a pretty good actor and in Chloe, although everything happens because of something he did, we need to see how the story unwinds even without him fully on screen all the time.  It makes for an interesting premise.

Judging from the name of the movie, Chloe is our main character and she’s portrayed by Amanda Seyfried.  I have this love/hate relationship with her as an actress.  She’s been in a lot of movies I like but then she’s also not the reason that I like those also.  I’m not exactly sure how to say it.  However, I think she does a pretty intriguing take on her role as Chloe.  I’m not sure that I should go into too many details since it might hit spoiler territory.

I really appreciated that they had Max Thieriot as the son since I’ve recently been totally loving him.  It could be just Bates Motel doing it for me.  They even had a few scenes with Nina Dobrev as his girlfriend and I love her from Vampire Diaries.  Still, a whole cast of familiar faces is a rare situation for me so it worked for me.

However, I think the story fell short on its whole plot and how it was executed.  I’m not one to complain too much about stories but this is a thriller and that is one of the main points: how they show it.  As much as there is a great cast, it needs to have a more well-thought out take.  It had a few good moments but it was never gripping or intense.  It was just set so that it was so predictable from the start.

These sort of movies like Chloe makes it hard for me to think if I’ll recommend it.  If you like anyone in this cast, maybe its worth your time.  Its nothing fabulous but there’s tons that are worse.  I actually do like it but mostly because I never expected anything from this in the first place.

Mamma Mia! (2008)

There is a magic with musicals that I love.  A lot of times, they are cheesy and stupid, even done in a very incomplete way where it either turns into a concert or the story doesn’t flow well or whatnot.  From the first time I’ve seen Mamma Mia!, I just love it.  Does it mean that its a great movie objectively? I’m not that sure…

Director: Phyllida Lloyd

Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard, Julie Walters, Christina Baranski, Dominic Cooper

On a beautiful Greek island, we enter into the story of Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) who sends 3 invitations out to 3 unknown men who could possibly be her father to come to her wedding with Sky (Dominic Cooper) as an invite from her mother Donna (Meryl Streep).  Her mother has never mentioned about her father but she firmly believes that knowing her father will help her find herself.  She also thought that she’s be able to determine them at first glance.  When all three possible fathers, Bill Anderson (Stellan Skarsgard), Sam Carmichael (Pierce Brosnan) and Harry Bright (Colin Firth) show up, she realizes its harder than she thought to know and while hiding them as a “surprise” for her mother, she seeks the help of her best friends.  In the meantime, Donna finds out and tries to get them off the island with the help of her two best friends, Rosie (Julie Walters) and Tanya (Christina Baranski).  All the plot is set to the tune of ABBA hits!

Let me just get one thing straight.  If you are sitting down to ANY musical, you should be in this because you enjoy this sort of thing, especially the cheesy, silly renditions.  Mamma Mia is an adaptation of the stage musical.  Its meant to be fun and mildly enjoyable and entertaining.  You really have to be ready to embrace that in order to enjoy it.  The over exaggerated expressions, the constant emerging into music and this case very good original music and to just close your mind off and enjoy the familiar actors and actresses prancing and dancing on the screen.

I buy these things fully and thoroughly and thats why I like most musicals.  Mamma Mia is one that I go to when I’m feeling sick or down.  Why? Because how can you not tap your feet to any of the ABBA tunes.  Even if its not ABBA doing them and this cast isn’t exactly the best in singing.  Most of the songs is energetic and entertaining to watch.  If you hate everything else, how can you resist moving to Dancing Queen? I know I can’t!

What I am starting to realize is that in any movie that Meryl Streep is in, even if it doesn’t do great overall, you can expect it to be enjoyable miles more than it is just because of Meryl Streep.  This one is no exception.  However, there is one highlight of this one.  Thats Pierce Brosnan not being James Bond ;).  He’s singing desperate love songs, getting nostalgic and shimmying away with silly dance moves.  Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond did not ever do that in my recollection.  Plus, his singing isn’t all that great but there was something charming as always about watching Brosnan get in the groove.  Along with Stellan Skarsgard and Colin Firth, the 3 men had some pretty funny moments.  Everyone was in threes and so was Donna and the Dynamos.  On that note,  Tanya and Rosie was hilarious characters.

Mamma Mia! is one of my absolutely favorite musicals to watch.  It makes me feel good and in the whole dancing and singing mood.  Happy times! Its not a masterpiece of course and the singing isn’t absolutely great but the cast do a great job doing what they do best to give us a nice mix of heartwarming, soul seeking, funny and silly moments throughout to make this an entertaining flick!

Do you like musicals? What is your favorite(s)?

In Time (2011)

On the weekend, my boyfriend’s coworker lent him this flick In Time.  I’m personally not a huge fan of Justin Timberlake.  I’ve had that discussion back when I reviewed Bad Teacher .  Not impressed by him much.  However, I’m okay with Amanda Seyfried.  Plus, I’ve been intrigued by the concept of this movie.

Director: Andrew Niccol

Cast: Justin Timberlake, Amanada Seyfried, Cillian Murphy, Olivia Wilde, Matt Bomer, Alex Pettyfer

In the future, the population has been imprinted with a digital timer on their arms which activates the moment they turn 25.  They are destined to have eternal youth but when this clock starts, it is set to only countdown for 1 more year.  Everything will be paid and earned by the minutes and hours and rarely years in their life.  Your wealth is equivalent to the amount of time you own remaining in your life.  Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) is a normal guy who works in a low job and lives literally by the day with his mom who is in the same situation. When he saves a fed up rich guy called Henry Hamilton (Matt Bomer) with over a century on his clock who comes into this local bar, Will spots trouble.  He saves Henry from the bad guys in the area led by Fortis (Alex Pettyfer) who spends his life taking time from other people.  When he wakes up, he realizes that not only did Henry give him all his time but that Henry had timed out himself which causes Will to be tracked down by the Timekeeper Raymond Leon (Cillian Murphy) who accuses him of murder.  In the course of events, he meets a rich man who owns the time lending in all the area Weisz and his beautiful daughter Sylvia and eventually takes her as hostage as they run away.

I hold true that the concept of this movie was pretty cool.  Using time as the center of replacing wealth because most of us know the saying time equals money, right? To apply that as the tool for how people survive seems to make sense and to use it in a world that is divided into time zones and in the most richest time zone called New Greenwich, we know that the standards of living are higher as crossing into that zone would be many times higher than the previous one. I bought the premise of the setting that this story was set in.

However, this movie was quite average.  It was enjoyable in the beginning when trying to understand what was going on and in the last bit leading to the ending. The middle gets a bit slow for my taste.  How do I know? Because when a movie doesn’t captivate me, I start walking around the kitchen and opening the cupboards and fridge trying to find something to eat.  Its just a habit I have.  Eventually, it just felt like the movie wasn’t going to end.  I think what happened  is that it became (too) predictable. BUT…let me just add I really enjoyed how it ended.

Our main actor Justin Timberlake really didn’t do too much for me. He definitely was better than in Bad Teacher. At least in this one he has a respectable character. One that wants to change the world he is in so that no one is immortal but to achieve some sort of equality and take down the walls separating everyone from the differences of time in the time zones.  Amanda Seyfried was a bit more interesting because she learned and changed as the situation progresses.  But something didn`t make me connect too much with her. Don’t get me wrong…she has been in many movies that I enjoy and she was alright in this one.  Was it my favorite role from her…probably not though.

As much as the main characters didn’t really connect with the movie itself much, I found that the supporting cast was quite good.  For one, I really liked Olivia Wilde.  She was very beautiful and pretty cool for the time that she had in the movie.  Another actor I’d like to mention is Cillian Murphy.  This guy is a pretty kick ass actor in my book.  He’s done some pretty awesome movies like 28 Days Later and Nolan`s Batman.  In this one, I actually thought he made this movie a lot better.  His character was interesting in its own (and frustrating at times) but then he really brought more action and spark to the flick.  He was probably the favorite part of this for me.

Overall, this is an average movie.  I would actually recommend it based on the interesting premise that it chooses.  Its a pretty good flick to just sit back and watch when there isn’t anything else on or whatnot.  It has some good performances and between some slower parts in the middle, it does also have some fun parts here and there.

Have you seen this? What do you think of the premise of this movie using Time is Money as the concept? How about the actors and actresses here? Anyone of them have any particular roles you enjoy?

Valentine’s Marathon: Letters to Juliet (2010)

This 4th movie in my marathon was in last year’s favorite romantic comedies.  That list changes quite a bit over the year as it goes on. Lets see if I still have the same love for it this year.

Director: Gary Winick

Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Christopher Egan, Vanessa Redgrave

Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is a fact checker in New York City but she dreams of being a writer, however, the opportunity had not shown up.  However, she is engaged and soon to be married with a future restaurant owner and perfectionist cook, Victor.  They are scheduled to have a pre-honeymoon to Verona, Italy.  The second objective is for Victor to meet his suppliers also.  When they arrive, Victor gets carried away and Sophie ends up going sightseeing by herself.  One day, she visits the House of Juliet where Romeo and Juliet had met.  Its also here that women from all over the world go to write the letters to Juliet about their problems: family, illness and love.  As Sophie sits in the area facing the wall and starts writing, she sees a woman come by at the end of the day to take down the letters and put them into a basket with care.  She is curious as to what she is going to do with them and follows it.  She then meets a few Italian women who call themselves the “secretaries of Juliet”.  They take their own time to write back to each and every letter that is left there.  Sophie decides to help them out and in the process, finds a letter stuck behind a brick in the wall of the house of Juliet that has been nestled there for 50 years.  

She decides to write back.  A while later, a guy comes by to find them who is the grandson, Charlie (Christopher Egan) of the woman who wrote the letter, who has accompanied his grandmother, Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) there but doesn’t think its a good thing that Sophie has written back so long after to give his grandmother false hopes. Together, they embark to look for Claire’s true love, her Lorenzo.  When the first stop proves to be wrong, Claire decides to have Sophie tag along to try to seek out Lorenzo in the Tuscany area over the next few days.  As they search for Lorenzo, Charlie and Sophie become closer and understand his other a bit better.

This is a cute romantic comedy.  What makes this movie special is the message it wants to send out through the concept of true love never being too late, even if it was 50 years later.  At the same time, a young romance is developing.  The story is quite generic so it won’t catch a lot of people’s immediate attention. However, I do remember that when I had first seen this one.  I had bought it because I had just finished a really awesome novel called Juliet.  Nothing connected to it but it just made me want to look at different takes of this story even if this is more just a tangent.

Vanessa Redgrave was pretty good at doing her role and she was the experienced actress here.  Amanda Seyfried does what she does best and I appreciate her roles usually.  Her vibe that she gave off with Christopher Egan.  The little bickering and the growing spark that happened was at times entertaining.

Plus, there is some amazing Italian scenery. During the driving scenes and the vineyards and other locations, its all very nicely set. You know I have to mention this.  They used pretty upbeat feel good music.  I mean the theme song was wonderful music by Colbie Caillat and Taylor Swift.  The movie started with a nice little feel good song that always makes me smile called You Got Me by Colbie Caillat and ends with Love Story from Taylor Swift.

In between of all that, we also had another one of Colbie Caillat`s songs called What if.

Awesome music, nice set, and a cute little romantic comedy is what I got out of Letters to Juliet. It was a feel good flick. 🙂

Whats your feel good movie?