Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Captain America: Civil War is just around the corner, having its theatrical release on May 6. In the whole Marvel universe, Captain America’s movies has got me intrigued the most.  Its not saying I don’t enjoy the others also but you know, less so. I’m on the record since its one of my earlier reviews to have really liked The Avengers as many people are, but the one thing I didn’t agree on was Loki was a good villain. Even though I still had a lot of fun, somehow it is not enough that I’ve had the desire to see it again, oddly, now that I think about it.  Agree to disagree, right? You can read the review HERE, if you’d like.  Regardless, in preparation for Civil War, I decided to catch up with both the Marvel movies, I missed last year.  I’m guessing it’ll open up or set the stage of this movie and I think in the trailer I spot Antman, so I’m going to give that one a go soon also.

Let’s check this out! 🙂

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Director: Joss Whedon

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, James Spader, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elisabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Samuel L. Jackson, Don Cheadle

When Tony Stark and Bruce Banner try to jump-start a dormant peacekeeping program called Ultron, things go horribly wrong and it’s up to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to stop the villainous Ultron from enacting his terrible plans.-IMDB

The market is completely saturated with superhero movies nowadays.  Its why I didn’t care enough to go see Avengers: Age of Ultron in theatres.  And why I didn’t see all those other ones including TV series.   Thinking about it, I took a nice one year break (most of 2015) from it.  Maybe there was like one or two older ones but I skipped most of the new stuff and its helped to maybe feel more into the mood of seeing it.  Plus, The Avengers did so well that I wasn’t sure how Age of Ultron would do. It turns out Avengers: Age of Ultron is better in some ways than The Avengers. Thinking back and reading the review I wrote for it, its missing a lot of components that I felt was lacking in the first one the more I thought about the movie and Age of Ultron remedied it quite a bit. I won’t go into talking about the story components quite so much because to me, superhero movies are pretty formulaic and simple.  They are entertainingly predictable and that’s okay because we want our superheroes to come out on top.  We’re there to watch them struggle in taking down those pesky villains who just keep on coming around and causing destruction, but no matter what, they usually manage to take it down even if it comes with a few consequences.

 

One of the first issues I had with The Avengers was that they were a six person team, except Black Widow and Hawkeye always got cast in the background a lot seeing as they never got their own movies like the other four.  Of course, Black Widow also did get a little more attention and she was then in Captain America: Winter Soldier so it made up for her lack of importance, in a way.  But Hawkeye almost always was neglected and to me, I liked his character the best. Its nice to see that in Age of Ultron his lack of importance is remarked on and remedied.  In Age of Ultron, he turns into something of a glue to the team and he knows that.  It elevates the loyalty and trust he has to this team that he literally fights life and death on any mission. We got to see the two sides of him: Hawkeye and Clint Barton.

What Marvel does do best is to create a superhero that is not only an action film with spectacular CGI effects and all those crazy larger than life action scenes focusing on Avengers as a team and fighting those villains and getting out of trouble.  The team dynamic is still there even under all their bantering and different views.  Age of Ultron also managed to give a better balance in the importance of the character and really show their weakness and the fears they have turning them maybe more human but also giving them their own stories.  Much to my expectation, the difference between what Tony Stark and Captain America start diverging and with Thor, who floats in and out of scenes links us to what the next Avengers will probably about and what all this means in that mid-credits cut scene.  However, despite the heavy bits of the movie when the plot of flowing and danger is surrounding them and all those action scenes, there are still lots of moments tucked in between to give the audience a little laugh.  That is the heart of Marvel: knowing when to let the audience just remember that this is a superhero movie and a fun one with a little humor.

Since we’re talking about the cast, its hard to not lead into the involvement of the new Avengers in the twin siblings that are known as Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.  I personally like Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen quite a bit.  I think they both have the acting needed to do this and their careers will do well.  But then, I kind of like Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Kick-Ass and its hard to be like, “oh, but he’s also Quicksilver? Now you’re confusing me.” But, I like them and these two characters a lot and well…let’s keep this spoiler-free even if the majority of you have seen it. On that note, I can’t wait to see Scarlet Witch in Civil War.

The last bit I want to touch on is the villain.  I’ve always had an issue with villains in superhero movies, except The Dark Knight trilogy. Like that dude in Thor: The Dark World comes to mind.  I can’t even remember his name because he was so non-existent.  I didn’t think Loki was a good villain even if some of you might think he was in The Avengers.  Now, we come to Ultron.  I mean, he’s AI, a robot and can pretty much infect the grid by implanting himself, at least thats what I understood.  I want to say Ultron was successful and I don’t know, villainous.  He is villainous but was he ever a villain that made you fear for the superheroes life even if you knew they would come out on top, even just slightly? He didn’t.  Ultron is entertaining and even a little goofy and c’mon, not even the character design was scary after he found that robot to fit himself into.  I mean, the first broken version in the trailers was a little bit more effective but this one, not one little bit. He reminded me of the villain in Robots, a fantastic animated film that you should see if you haven’t. But then, he wasn’t scary but I guess the excitement is in the vibranium making the planet fly and then the superheroes swooping in to save yet another nearly impossible day, right?

Before I enter into more spoiler territory, I’m going to end this write-up.  Overall, Avengers: Age of Ultron was fun and entertaining. That’s what I’d expect. The action and humor was good.  The story was cool.  The characters, old and new Avengers and the sequence of events were nicely developed.  Its nothing groundbreaking but I think I liked this one more just for Hawkeye having a bigger part and the addition of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. We spend a little more time learning about the characters that didn’t get their own movies pretty much and that is great. I liked it quite a bit. 🙂

Have you seen Avengers: Age of Ultron? What did you think of it?

Recap: Oscars 2016!

Following tradition of the last two years, here’s a little recap! I wasn’t sure if I’d end up catching Oscars but we changed up our plans and ended up joining my mom for sit down and dinner together to enjoy the ceremony. My conclusion is that I make better guesses when I haven’t seen any of the movies than when I do.  I guess bias comes into play at that point and it affects my judgement.

I am glad that Mad Max: Fury Road did so well because it was well deserved.  I gave a personal standing ovation in my mom’s dining room to Ex Machina for winning Visual Effects.  There was a bit of cringing when I felt like Sam Smith was about to go off-tune and he looked nervous as heck to be up there but his speech was inspiring and he looked genuinely enthused to win it even if probably Lady Gaga’s song would have been the win that was deserved but I don’t care much for the “Original Song” category.  The only one I was genuinely a little angry at was Mad Max winning Costume Design because Cinderella may not have been a great movie but it was all about costumes while I mean how many costumes were there for Mad Max.  On a happier note, I am happy that Mark Rylance won for supporting actor.  Even if I didn’t see The Revenant, I was fairly certain Innaritu would win for Best Director and Leo for Best Actor because just from the trailers, it looked like the sort of movie that had the calibre and achievement to rightfully earn it. However, I did end up catching Spotlight over the weekend right before Oscars and even posted my review for it and I’m telling you that to me, it was a justified Best Picture winner.  I don’t think I’ve agreed much to these winners in the last few years but then I haven’t caught up with the majority of them either but Spotlight really connected with me in presenting their story and the content.  Out of all those movies, as wonderful and fantastic as they were, Brooklyn didn’t stand a chance in my book and even The Revenant probably wouldn’t have the depth of telling a story that reflected an issue that is maybe probably unfortunately still present today. For none of the other movies I saw in the Best Picture did have as much of a discussion at my home than Spotlight either and we finished that movie at 2am on Saturday night or something (just to give you an idea).

This year I decided to do my Oscars recap of the winners in advance and now, let’s check out the Top 5 Best Dresses.

Cate Blanchett

Charlize Theron

Alicia Vikander

Saoirse Ronan

Priyanka Chopra

Elegant, beauty, grace: These ladies all had it.  Not to mention, Cate Blanchett picked the perfect dress for the category she was presenting for: Costume Design. Just look at the intricate flowers on her dress! Its amazing! And kudos for Charlize Theron pulling off that style because normally, I’m not a fan of that cut of the deep V plunge (or whatever you call it) but she accessorized well and made it look very nice.

And then for some great moments that I liked quite a bit.

Jacob Tremblay & Star Wars

Mark Ruffalo Winking for his Nomination

Michael Keaton Fist Pump for Spotlight Win

I was equally as happy as Michael Keaton was when I heard that Spotlight won.  This reaction is just priceless!

Brie Larson in Awe

And her speech thanking everyone including the movie-goers! It warms my heart even if I didn’t see it in theatres and bought it on the Play store 😉

Leonardio diCaprio Winning Speech

Leonardo diCaprio winning was *almost* set in stone.  I was pretty sure he made a solid performance even if I only saw trailers.  However, he didn’t just win an Oscar.  He also delivered a meaningful speech and the best part was his final line about not taking the planet for granted, he wouldn’t take his Oscar win for granted.

I think to wrap it up this year, Lady Gaga’s song deserved more recognition.  I haven’t found the time to watch The Hunting Ground but it does intrigue me. While I can’t find the video for the Oscars performance she made and I only saw a snippet as I left my mom’s at that point and only had snippets online.  The song holds true meaning that deserves to be heard.

That’s it for Oscars 2016! It was a great year with some outstanding movies this year! 🙂
Did you watch the Oscars 2016? What were your fave moments? Did any winners surprise you? Any disappointments?

Spotlight (2015)

One more movie before we get to the Academy Awards tonight.  I usually don’t do reviews on the weekends but I couldn’t turn away the opportunity to watch Spotlight and it finally was available for rental.  Oscars’ choices seems to be some dreary topics, right? The Martian is comedic and Mad Max: Fury Road was action-filled and entertaining but for the most part, it seems like some serious stuff going on (as usual, not even sure why I’m surprised).

Enough of my rambles, let’s check it out! 🙂

Spotlight (2015)

Director and co-writer: Tom McCarthy

Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Brian D’Arcy Jame, Stanley Tucci

The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core. – IMDB

 This year’s look at Oscars movies has possibly been one of the most successful and possibly one that has brought on a lot of movie discussions in my home with my husband.  While there is no doubt that the other movies were powerful, Spotlight brought out a very dark side of religion and faith.  It looks into a story that highlights the ethics and the damage and the age-old system that has its flaws.  Spotlight makes it about the system and revealing the facts of the story and the struggles of finding the information than about the people that are looking for the information.  We don’t really know anything about these reporters but rather we know about the victims and the issue that is being covered up.  Its for that Spotlight highlights the issue really well and tells this investigative story effectively.  Making it possibly, the movie so far that has impacted my thoughts the most.  It also highlights the fact that sometimes we get masked by our society and challenging the authorities that sometimes an outsider can see much clearer.

Spotlight carries a lot of subtlety.  It has a quiet yet beautiful score in the background which is only noticeable in transitions of scenes but most importantly, its full of a quiet cast that works towards uncovering this investigation in their respective characters.  Spotlight is a talky movie.  Its a lot of looking at details and slowly uncovering what is hidden underneath.  The opening scene does a good job at setting the stage of the issue while the ending keeps the issue at its core and keeps you pondering a little on what you just watched. Honestly, this whole thing about looking at the issue of molesting children in a religious rank truly made me starting being disgusted about the whole situation but also at how it was covered by so many people who really just wanted to protect themselves but most of all, it always angers me when its about taking advantage of children who really don’t even know how to defend themselves.

Although its hard to tell who stands out more in Spotlight out of the cast, Mark Ruffalo definitely makes an impressive performance.  Along with Michael Keaton and Rachel McAdams, the three have a good bit of screen time.  Spotlight is the group and therefore they should be the centre of the news, even if it was all started by Baron played by Liev Schreiber.  I’m always a fan of Stanley Tucci.  He only had a supporting role as usual but he was a key character in this story and he carried his part very well.  The ensemble did a great job in making sure that the story was the forefront here.

Overall, Spotlight is a great movie, carrying a story that highlights on religion, ethics and the wrongful and corrupt handling of a situation and how authority plays a big part in communities.  The story is the focus point and it makes sure to highlight the impact and damage this has caused and the cover-up and keeping many things as subtle.  Its hard to write up about this, in my opinion.  With some solid performances and a solid script, Spotlight is an outstanding film.

Have you seen Spotlight? What do you think about it?

Now You See Me (2013)

The post for yesterday didn’t really happen but I did manage to squeeze in a movie on my down time and I felt like I needed a little magic in my life so I put in a movie I’ve been wanting to see since it hit the big screen but missed because lets just say, I was the only one that was enthusiastic about it.  Despite the pretty much average reviews, I still have rather high hopes for this one. Lets do it! Back on track with catching up on 2013 flicks 🙂

Director: Louis Leterrier

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Mark Ruffalo, Melanie Laurent, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine

Four solo magicians (Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Wood Harrelson, Dave Franco) come together to form the Four Horsemen. In their first act in Las Vegas, they attempt to rob a bank and give back to the audience.  This alerts the FBI and the case is handed to  Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) who is forced to team up with Interpol agent, Alma Dary (Melanie Laurent) to try and catch them.  Meanwhile, they seem to always be a step ahead.

Now You See Me is a crime/mystery thriller.  Let me first talk about why this movie drew me in.  First of all, its about magic.  I like that stuff.  I’m one of those really easily tricked people and I can never replicate or figure out how any trick is done so I’m the optimal target audience for this because I’ll just lick it right up and not really think but enjoy the show.  Second, notice the cast up there.  Its full of actors and actresses I like (if not, love).  I’ll elaborate on that point a bit later. Last, its essentially a heist flick, a thriller and a mystery, all of the above is one of my favorite genres.

Now You See Me is very much like watching a magic show.  Everything is flashy and there’s plenty of action.  The first two acts were fun and impeccable to watch on screen.  The effects were not so 2013 but more 2003 but thats okay, I’m not very nitpicky about that sort of thing. Its really just something I noticed.  The action was great and for the most part, I was pretty drawn into the movie.  The only deal was that there was something missing to pull me in completely because right near the finale, I pressed pause and was about to shower and then I noticed I had 15 minutes so I sat back down and continued on.  Usually, I don’t want to leave my chair at the end.  So I acknowledge something wasn’t there, I just can’t pinpoint what. Maybe its the connection to any of the characters…I need to think that one through again.

With that point we head into the characters.  Other than Dave Franco being a new face (which I’ve only seen before in 21 Jump Street) in The Four Horsemen, I really like the other three.  Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson worked fantastic in Zombieland so I was hopeful about their performance here and it didn’t disappoint.  I love Isla Fisher because she is quite good in a lot of the roles. Dave Franco was pretty good too and well, he has charm and style.  The Four Horsemen meshed well together and that carried a good part of the movie to a good level for me.  And then we come to our opposite party, Melanie Laurent and Mark Ruffalo.  I’ve only seen these two previously separately in one other movie before this one, I was alright with them in this.  I can’t help but feel like it could have been better, but I’m no expert at this so its just a feeling I’m getting. Finally, we have two of my favorite actors: Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman.  They may have very small roles but I pretty much have admitted that Michael Caine doesn’t have to do much and he can be totally awesome, the same goes for Morgan Freeman 🙂 Great actors can portray what they want to convey in their facial expressions and these two do it so well.

Now You See Me is really a movie that resembles watching a magic show. You either buy it or you don’t.  For me, my fascination for magic probably made me like this movie a lot more than the majority of viewers.  The cast and their chemistry with each other brings the movie to a more enjoyable level as well.  There are some part of the plot that seems to fall flat, especially nearing the end when it becomes a bit more predictable in some parts where I did guess it but it could have gone both ways.  After these are magicians, so you never know if what happens is what they planned or not.

There is no doubt in my mind that I believe this is a good movie.  I would gladly watch it again, maybe not in abundance but its one that I bought their acts and I had fun and was entertained.  Thats what matters in the end, right?

Have you seen Now You See Me? What do you think about it?

Part 2: Thrillers

Now that we’ve warmed up with the nice family oriented Halloween flicks, we’re getting ready to hit the hardcore stuff.  Of course, before we go all out and jump into a week of sleepless nights, I’ll hit us off with some thrillers (all kinds except horror).  Just a bit scary at times, dark at time, messed up at times…you know what I mean, right? I love thrillers so it was really a toss-up on what I could put in here.  Why do I like it more than others? Because of the suspense in most of them, there’s always something to try and figure out.  Whats around the corner? Will there be a twist? A good thriller will let you buy into it, let it lead you on and bring you some occasional scare.  I did manage to get my hands on two new movies that this Thriller Marathon will include.

Here’s 8 THRILLERS to bring up the intensity till next week when we hit the intense horror segment.

1) DISTURBIA (2007)

Director: D.J. Caruso

Cast: Shia Leboeuf, Sarah Roemer, Carrie-Anne Moss, David Morse

Plot summary: Kale Brecht (Shia Leboeuf) gets home arrest for punching his Spanish teacher in class for the summer.  Kale’s mother (Carrie-Anne Moss) cuts off all his internet and TV leaving him with nothing to do.  As a result, he starts spying on the neighbors.  When the news starts talking about missing women, who were later found dead, he starts suspecting one of his neighbors, Robert Turner (David Morse).  With his best friend Ronnie (Aaron Yoo) and his new neighbor, Ashley (Sarah Roemer), they start spying and following Turner.

I was surprised actually that this movie was good.  I got it because it was a thriller (and it was on special).  Honestly, I’m not a big fan of Shia Leboeuf.  The only movie I enjoyed him in was Transformers, but thats just because I enjoyed that movie a lot.  I checked the director’s background.  D.J. Caruso did Taking Lives before Disturbia. I was alright with that movie.  Taking Lives was also a surprisingly good thriller. One I had debated to put on this list actually.  Just for information sake, D.J. Caruso did Eagle Eye and I am Number Four afterwards.  Eagle Eye was alright, but man, I am Number Four…I’m speechless.  That movie was crap.  Maybe I’ll review it one day after I read the source material.  Anyways, all I can say, this was a fine piece of work by D.J. Caruso after I saw what his later movies were.  This movie is a mix of humor, a bit of teen romance, and suspense.  The deal with thrillers is that you are willing to buy into it every time you rewatch it.  I bought into it every time I saw this. This movie is pretty fun thriller and its a great way to start off my thrillers portion.

2) THE OTHERS (2001)

Directed by: Alejandro Amenabar

Cast: Nicole Kidman, Fionnula Flanagan, Christopher Eccleston

Plot: This movie starts in 1945 Channel Islands in a big family house.  Grace (Nicole Kidman) is a mother of two photosensitive children, Anne and Nicholas.  She is confined to the house under strict rules to protect her children.  Her husband (Christopher Eccleston) has gone off to war a few years back and is not determined whether he is alive or not.  We also get joined by 3 servants that come to help her take care of the house: Mrs. Mills (Fionnula Flanagan), Mr. Tuttle (Erik Skyes) and Lydia.  Suddenly, mysterious things start happening in the house.  Her daughter claims that she’s been seeing others in the house.  The house seems to be invaded by others.

This is a really suspenseful movie.  Its full of startling moments and your mind will keep thinking of what would happen next.  Nicole Kidman is superb as always and does great a playing a distressed and panicked yet protective mother.  Fionnula Flanagan is just amazing.  Her acting was captivating to watch and so very believable.  This is a mystery thriller that carries you deep into the plot and wondering whats around the next corner.  Keeps us wondering what is going on in the house and whether it is haunted.

3) SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)

Director: Jonathan Demme

Cast: Jodie Foster, Sir Anthony Hopkins

Plot: A young FBI agent in training Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is sent to interrogate an imprisoned psychopath/psychiatrist, Hannibal”the Cannibal” Lecter, in hopes of helping solve the serial killings by a man nicknamed Buffalo Bill.  Dr. Lecter decides to help Starling in exchange for her sharing her own story at the same time.

This movie is the first thriller I ever saw.  It was deep and disturbing in so many ways.  I finally bought this one the other day and added it into this marathon.  It may not pack in a lot of startling sudden scares but the chilling role of Dr. Lecter and the serial killings itself is enough to make it impact the audience mentally.  There really is nothing more I can express than the fact that its the first thriller I ever saw, its also one of my favorites.  After seeing this, I now I have the desire to watch Red Dragon and Hannibal, both equally great thrillers.  No one can portray a cannibal and psychopath as well as Anthony Hopkins ever will.

4) SHUTTER ISLAND (2010)

Director: Martin Scorsese

Cast: Leonardo diCaprio, Emily Mortimer, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley

Plot: U.S. Marshal Edward (aka Teddy) Daniels (Leonardo diCaprio) get assigned with a new partner, Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) to investigate after a woman, both prisoner and mental patient, disappears mysteriously from her room with no trace on Shutter Island.  This is an island where it is a maximum security prison ward for highly dangerous mentally unstable felons.  We soon learn that Teddy himself has wanted to go there to investigate something else for his own personal reasons.  It is here that the story unfolds.

This is a new one that I picked up the other day at HMV because it was on special and well, I’m a big Leonardo diCaprio.  This is an awesome thriller.  I haven’t seen one this good in a really long time.  I’m a huge fan of all the actors and I think Leonardo diCaprio is at the top of his game here.  Of course, it helps that he’s partnered with Martin Scorsese, a really wonderful actor.  This one made my boyfriend and I  ask a lot of  “What’s next?” around every corner and after everything that happened.  We were guessing and thinking about every next moment that could happen.  It was some thrill ride, I tell you.  One you definitely shouldn’t miss!

5) ORPHAN (2009)

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra

Cast: Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman

Plot: A couple, Kate (Vera Farmiga) and John (Peter Sarsgaard) loses an unborn child and decides to adopt a 9 year old girl, Esther.  Esther is originally from Russia and her last family had died in a fire where she barely made it out alive.  Kate and John both think that Esther is smart, kind and well-mannered at first sight and she gets along with their two children, Max and Daniel.  Slowly, there seems to be “something wrong with Esther”.  Unusual things start happening around her.

This movie is really chilling thriller.  I’m serious, I haven’t been scared and startled and disturbed in a while.  I had to spend an hour after the movie to watch some comedy to relax my mind.  Its just really awesome.  It packs in a lot of “Oh, shit” moment.  I haven’t seen anything else by this director but man, he does really well.  This story is believable and the girl who plays Esther is amazing.  The little girl that plays Max, who is deaf, is also the little girl in Resident Evil: Retribution playing Becky.  If you haven’t seen this one, out of my whole list, I think you definitely should check this one out.  It’ll pack in some startling experience.

6) PAPRIKA (2006)

Director: Satoshi Kon

Plot: “This is your brain on anime”.  Thats generally what it is I guess.  Paprika is a girl who can enter into your dreams through a device created called DC Mini.  This device can record and let you rewatch the dreams you’ve had.  When the device is stolen from the Institute of Psychiatric Research, the three scientists that invented it try to search for it with the help of Paprika.  The thief is causing a lot of chaos by entering into people’s minds and thoughts while they are awake and distract them with dreams of their own or others.

Last week was for animation but this anime is deep and definitely NOT for children.  For one, its rated R.  Well, why it fits here its because its categorized as an animated thriller.  It was some thrill alright.  I was confused and deep in thought while watching this one.  The essence in this may be partially in the animation but I think what captivates us is the story itself and the mystery behind it.  I guess its a bit like Inception actually.  Its pretty well laid out as a story and you will be wondering about how things will unfold.  I’m definitely going to give this one a second run to better understand what was going on in entirety.  The whole concept between light and darkness, the merge between reality and dreams.

7) BURIED (2010)

Director: Rodrigo Cortes

Cast: Ryan Reynolds

Plot: A trucker in Iraq wakes up to find himself buried underground with only a lighter and a cell phone.  He then fights to learn what has got him in that position and figure out a way to get out before its too late.

That is as simple as I can go with this movie without ruining it for anyone that hasn’t seen it yet.  I personally got this movie because I saw the trailer and thought it was awesome, before that I hadn’t even known its existence.  So yes, Ryan Reynolds is amazing in this one man show.  The other person he interacts with is on the phone.  It reflected really well the urgency and gripping turns in the story.  I really loved this movie (most of the time). It was quite the enjoyable movie experience.  I always appreciated movies where its just one man show movies (first one I saw was probably Phone booth).

8) SIXTH SENSE (1999)

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Cast: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette

Plot: A child psychologist, Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) takes on the task of helping a young boy, Cole Sear, who claims that he can see dead people. These dead people are those who don’t know that they have died and continues to haunt him.  Cole’s mom (Toni Collette) desperately wants to help rid his son of his problems.

I’m ending this with a bang.  After all, according to that poster its the #1 Thriller of All Time.  This thriller was crazy awesome. I think it was the best movie which we everyone knows has the best twist ending ever.  I never saw it coming ever.  I was also younger when I first saw this movie.  Deal with movies with twist, is its rewatchability has to be that the actual movie plot has something you can take from it or else, you can’t watch it again.  This movie packs in some good acting and fantastic plot. It was the movie that put Night Shyamalan on the map (lets not discuss what happened afterwards), but this movie was great. It gave us deep emotions and some nice scares. I’m pretty the majority of you have seen this, but if you haven’t, you have to!

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT!

After watching this whole line-up, I’m sure that you all notice that its actually not really too scary.  I really didn’t have time to watch more and/or make another list.  I don’t think it needs much more though.  I forgot to grab Se7en off my boyfriend’s collection at his place, if not, I’d definitely add that in.  I also wanted to put in Butterfly Effect, but I had lent it out.  Those were the original last 2 that was to complete the list.  Overall, the current list already have pretty good films.  Some do pack in some scary moments and others balance with a bit more thinking, a bit more profound ideas to ponder a bit on maybe.

For all of you that want to pack in some fright, I got my boyfriend to help me out with the next one.  So, it should definitely be intense.   I’ll explain to you all why I need this extra help next week.  In the meantime, we will work out a way to choose the best horror movies in our collective movie collections. Next list will be top 10 Intense Horror.  Hopefully you’ll come back to check it out!

As for this list, any that you disagree with? Didn’t enjoy as much as I did? Would you put anything extra? I love watching thrillers and would love to get some suggestions for ones that I haven’t seen.

The Avengers (2012)

Last Saturday I went to go see The Avengers with a group of friends.  I don’t know much about superheroes other than by names.  I have no idea what their individual stories were and I even planned to watch a few superhero movies such as Ironman 1&2 and Thor (since I own it but hadn’t found time to watch it yet).  As usual, I ended up not having the time to do so but still I went, a bit of worry that I’d be lost.  Fortunately that did not happen and I found it amazing.

There has already been many reviews on The Avengers and many people probably already have a general idea of the plot.  I think that is part of the appeal of superhero productions.  The plot is always very simple but with some twists here and there.  There is a villain (or a group of them), some scheme goes down and the superhero(s) come in and save the day.  Straight forward!  There is a lot of fighting, a lot of explosions and a enjoyable adventure to watch.

With all the rapid developments in technology, the films that use a great amount of computer graphics are the steal a lot of our attention and this is especially applicable to superhero movies. The last few days, I’ve been watching Ironman 1&2 as a complement to The Avengers hype going on and just looking at the development of Ironman gear.  Not only in the gear, the costumes, the weapons, but especially Loki’s army was just so…WOW! (as lack of a better word).  I found the movie compelling at parts where we felt like we were in it and we wanted to do something, we felt like we were part of it.  I think that feature was worth a whole lot of applause (which the audience in my theatre gave at certain parts: cheering and clapping at certain parts).

Aside from that, they used really good actors.  The actors each had already been seen before in their current roles (except for one, The Hulk) and had already gained general acceptance of their portrayal. Ironman (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) all brought their A-game to this production.  In the aftermath, I watched both the Ironman and Thor to gain better perspective on what led up to this and why some characters did or said certain things.  My issue at the end of the movie was not with the Avengers themselves but rather with the villain, Loki (Tom Hiddleston).  I felt that he was not convincing as a villain and that some of his actions wasn’t justified, maybe it was also because to me, he did not feel “evil” enough.  I have changed perspective on that though.  I watched Thor shortly after and realized that his character was built to act the way he did and many of his actions did make sense afterwards.  The cast was booming as usual, with the Avengers led by the character, Nick Fury (Samual L Jackson).  I can never expect a bad movie from Samuel L. Jackson (even Snakes on a Plane didn’t suck because of him).

So to wrap this blog up (since its taken me a few days already), cast was fantastic, technology (computer graphics, etc) was innovative.  The movie itself was compelling.  It definitely was an amazing adventure to go take part in: I laughed at parts, I was startled, I cheered and clapped.

It was a great way to start off the summer blockbusters! Lets hope that the rest of the summer will be as awesome!