Ghost in the Shell (2017)

My goal this year was that if I could go see all 10 movies in my 2017 anticipated list, I’d be pretty happy. Now, of course, this year is a mammoth of a year with a ton of great looking movies, however, I do have to say this movie remake is one that I’ve never been more on the fence about but we do love the anime quite a bit and the trailer looks pretty decent so we decided to head out. Hopefully, it will be decent. Ghost in the Shell was great and honestly, last year was the first time I finally saw it.

Let’s check it out!

Ghost in the Shell (2017)

Director: Rupert Sanders

Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Pilou Asbaek, Takeshi Kitano, Juliette Binoche, Michael Pitt, Chin Han

In the near future, Major is the first of her kind: A human saved from a terrible crash, who is cyber-enhanced to be a perfect soldier devoted to stopping the world’s most dangerous criminals. –IMDB

If you would like to hear a quick discussion review over at That Moment In, you can find it below:

Now for my own full review below:

When Ghost in the Shell opens, its hard to not be drawn in by its appealing visuals. One of the biggest strengths also lie in this wonderment of the neo-Hong Kong that has been created visually. Some of the most appealing scenes are replicated almost as beautiful in their own way as the animated feature showed. It is colorful and a little dark and extremely technologically advanced. There is no doubt that the visuals steal the entire show. There is also a very pretty score that accompanies it to elevate the emotions and the story and even the suspense. Those two factors are absolutely my favorite part of Ghost in the Shell. Going back to creating the futuristic Hong Kong, I think the best compliment from myself who has been to Hong Kong many times, is that there were many moments and locations and settings that reminded me of the city be it residential or architecture.

However, Ghost in the Shell does fall short a little in various places. For myself, I felt that the way that Scarlett Johansson portrayed Major, who is the first of her kind “ghost” who is composed of a mechanical body but powered by a human brain, emphasizes heavily on overacting as simple as her walking motions seem more robotic. There’s something that seems so abrupt and blunt in her character. Perhaps the best word is that the story is now deducted to a more simple basis and is more straight forward with less between the lines moments that will make you think too much. Most answers will be revealed by the finale and that is something that is very different. It might not be just the character of Major that lacks depth or character development in some ways. There are still moments and bonds in the story that are apparent and that work well. Characters such as Batou played by Pilou Asbaek, Aramaki played by Takeshi Kitano and Dr. Ouelet played by Juliette Binoche definitely were memorable characters which decent arcs.

As someone who isn’t very familiar with the original manga or the animated feature released in the 90s, I looked at this one from a more standalone point of view. Obviously, there were scenes that were so memorable from the animated movie that I remembered and was done well here. I’ll go more in depth for a comparison soon in the new segment I’m working on after I take a look at the manga but as a standalone, there is something about making a story that is more linear and straight forward like this one which makes it easier to digest for a new audience and for those like myself who aren’t incredibly in love with the source material or the original movie. The visuals and score are beautiful and suitable for what they are trying to tell. Everything on the surface works really well even if it wasn’t quite the in depth experience that perhaps the source material had wanted to put together. The story could have more between the lines aspects however as an action popcorn flick, the action sequences are done well and flow smooth.

Overall, Ghost in the Shell is a relatively good action popcorn flick. It brings in beautiful visuals and a moving score accompanied with a linear story and a decent cast who pulls off a good homage to the animated movie. There are some odd story choices here that justify why we have the whole “whitewash” aspect especially casting Scarlett Johansson and the answer might be acceptable to some (like my husband) or odd to others (like myself). However, the action scenes are done well and the story, while could use some depth, was pretty good although a little slow in the beginning. Between me and you, I fell asleep for 15 minutes somewhere in the first half, so blame it on a late showing or that it was slow because I haven’t figured out which it is yet but it did happen. As a standalone, it works well enough and a good movie experience.

Have you seen Ghost in the Shell? What did you think of it?
Are you a fan of the manga and/or animated movie?

Podcast: The Random Chat Show Reviews Ghost in the Shell!

This week’s The Random Chat Show features a widely discussed movie that is getting a reboot. Ghost in the Shell is our featured film.  We talk about the 1995 sci-fi animated film and dive a little into the topic of Scarlett Johansson being in this when there are some choices we would have preferred. Join us and see how you do in this week’s sci-fi animated film trivia!

Hope you enjoy! 🙂

 

 

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?

Captain America: Winter Soldier (2014)

I just seemed to realize that ever since The Avengers, I haven’t missed one Marvel movie in theatres.  I’m pretty impressed with myself.  On Saturday night, on a pretty spontaneous conversation, after a chat about the hotness of Captain America and Thor, one of my girl friends and I decided to go see the late showing of Captain America: The Winter Soldier 🙂 Of course, I have no objections because I was meaning to see it and seeing as we’ve been so busy with the house, my boyfriend would have been too tired to go with me anyways.  Plus, my friend was awesome enough to share her coupon with me so I got to see it for free.  I really have to make it up to her some time. But you are all here to hear about Captain America 2 so lets check that out 🙂

Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Cast: Chris Evans, Anthony Mackie, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Redford, Sebastian Stan

Captain America Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is adapting to the modern day living while saving the world here and there.  On a mission to rescue hostages lead by the big bad Batroc (George St-Pierre), Captain America catches Natasha aka Black Widow (Scatlett Johansson) doing a secret mission for Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). He learns that there are secrets and secrets that may not have such pure intentions.  When Nick Fury is attacked and Senator Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford) seems to be hatching another plan, he has to figure not only who to trust but how to save the world, especially when the new villain is the long time Soviet agent: The Winter Soldier.

When I finally caught up with the first round of movies leading up to The Avengers after I had seen The Avengers, I had them in a certain order.  Captain America always was the hero I was a bit skeptical about, but I also admire patriotic characters.  I’m not American and still, I appreciate seeing anywhere.  That makes Captain American an admirable character. Before I went to this movie, I watched one trailer and it was that elevator fight scene and thats all.  So, I didn’t know the story, I have no knowledge of the comics, so it was a clean slate.  My sole purpose was to enjoy a Marvel movie with no comparison of its source material.  Keep that in mind as you read my write-up on it 🙂

I’m just going straight out to say that I like Captain America: The Winter Solider a lot! I don’t know what people expect from Marvel movies but I’d say that they are hitting the target every time.  Sure, there are few snags here and there but nothing enough for me to even remember right now.  Chris Evans is just perfect as Captain America.  He has that classic look that just works because he is a man from the past.  His ways and his honor are pretty spot on.  The story hits a few levels of politics as it should and his interaction with everyone is just awesome! I’m starting to really like Captain America. Plus, this movie is packed with great performances by everyone.  I personally love Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow.  There’s so many secrets about her and I always wanted Marvel to give her a movie but then, in this one, we start touching a bit more of her life here and there.  Plus, Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson have great chemistry together.

 

Now, we all know about the epicness of Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury and he keeps that up.  No one will ever replace him at doing a better job at it 🙂 And as for Alexander Pierce played by Robert Redford, I really don’t have much to say.  I was never a huge fan of Redford to begin with.  He did a decent job and it all worked well for me.  As for the main person I want to talk about is our new good guy, Anthony Mackie as The Falcon.  I like Anthony Mackie. I may not have been as big of a fan for Pain & Gain as some of you are but I did love Anthony Mackie in that. I haven’t seen him in much else other than that but although he isn’t really hot, he has this charm that just makes him so likeable.  As The Falcon, he has this energy that totally makes me root for him and connect  with his character.

We can never go through a Marvel movie or any action/comic book sort of movie without looking at its villain.  In this case, we kind of have a double villain.  I’m sure I wasn’t the only one to figure out who The Winter Soldier was before his face was revealed.  The Winter Soldier may be the bad guy but he’s kind of in the gray area.  His killing machine instincts and fast reflexes made him a worthy opponent to Captain America.  Plus, it brings out a bit of his past to surface just a little.  We’re all learning a little bit more about The Avengers as they all get their second movie and I really like where its all going.  Honestly, I liked the villain in this one.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier had not only a great cast with some outstanding performances but it was matched with a very impressive action thriller storyline that packed in a lot of fun and energy. It was nice to look at, the effects were great, the fight sequence was awesome.  A funny part was that Batroc up there, played by George St-Pierre (UFC Champion from Quebec), started talking in French and the theatre literally started laughing.  I just felt like I had to insert it somewhere.  Actually, the movie itself had some funny dialogue here and there to loosen up the mood a tad and it worked effectively. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the real deal and worthy of a visit to the theatre to get in all the visuals and action in full force 🙂 I think I might have enjoyed this one even more than the original.

Oh right, and if you haven’t seen this yet, do you need me to tell you to stay through all the credits? I wanted to punch the people who almost all got up to leave at the end of the movie.  I don’t get it.  I mean, its already late and they probably weren’t going to catch a bus or anything, whats another 5 minutes, right? Either way, it was still past midnight.  Plus, its a Marvel movie.  I got fooled once for The Avengers and I never do it again.  I gather all my patience, keep my butt glued to the seat and if I don’t want to read the credits, I turn around and talk to my friend until the scene happens 🙂

 

Have you seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier? What did you think? Will you be seeing it in the theatres?

 

Christmas Marathon: Home Alone 3 (1997)

Director: Raja Gosnell

Cast: Alex D. Linz, Olek Krupa, Rya Kihlstedt, Lenny von Dohlen, David Thornton, Haviland Morris, Kevin Kilner, Marian Seldes, Seth Smith, Scarlett Johansson

Four international spies are attempting to ship a computer chip stolen from the US air force that can activate a missile to the terrorist organization.  However, at the airport, they hide it in a remote-controlled car that ends up in Chicago due to a mix-up in baggage at security clearance with a grumpy Mrs. Hess (Marian Seldes).  Mrs. She in turn gives it to her neighbor and the little boy across street, Alex (Alex D. Linz).  The spies follow the trail to Chicago and end up on the Alex’s street and decide to search all the houses until they find it.  But, Alex takes matter into his own hands to protect his own house and his neighbors.

Seeing as my expectations were pretty low and I had no idea what this was in advance, it wasn’t as bad as say the 3.9 IMDB score or the 20+% RT score.  I’ve seen much worse movies and this one did grow on me as it progresses to the final act when Alex beats the bad guys up with his booby traps.  There was a few laughs.  Sure, there was a lot of predictable moments and some pretty stupid lines and the acting was pretty meh, so no, its not better than the first two (unlike what the poster says).

I knew no one in this one except for two.  The father was played by Kevin Kilner which is super familiar and I’m sure I’ve seen him somewhere else but where? I didn’t check that out.  AND, well, you see it up there listed in the cast but in case you missed it, Scarlett Johansson plays Alex’s older sister.  Yeah, seriously! When she was way  younger than now.  She had a little role and a few scenes.

I really can’t help but to give a hard time to whoever chose these guys.  I wanted them to get hurt so bad.  I mean, its sad to think that two burglars, Marv and Harry in the first one and made in 1990 was eons better than these four combined together.  For one, if I lost my luggage, as in there was a mix-up, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to figure out that its the first plane that is boarding.  I get the logic behind it but hmm, maybe I’m just dumb.  Still, that probably doesn’t go with the villains but a lot of what they did and said was just dumb so yeah, they weren’t really convincing.

In any Home Alone movie, there has to be the main little kid.  Alex D. Linz who plays Alex, the little boy in this one is actually pretty adorable also.  Its when you follow something as epic as the original Home Alone and Macauley Culkin’s Kevin, its hard to not be compared.  However, he does a decent job.  Plus, they gave him some nice tricks.  But, this movie is definitely just a winter movie and not a Christmas one.

Overall, Home Alone 3 is really just an average movie.  There’s some parts of the plot that doesn’t make sense and the cast aren’t really all that fantastic but the main kid does a decent enough job.  Regardless, there are still some fun moments but pretty much underwhelming.  Plus, you can see Scarlett Johansson when she was young.  Maybe that interests you?

I just wonder why they would continue this? Was there even a point to it? Either way, have you seen Home Alone 3? What did you think of it?

We Bought A Zoo (2011)

When I first saw the trailer of We Bought a Zoo, I found that it was an original and heartwarming idea.  Any movie that features tigers and other animals is usually a winner for me especially since it starred the charming Scarlett Johansson.  Seeing as I hadn’t seen a movie of Matt Damon in years, I decided it was time to give this one a shot.

Director: Cameron Crowe

Cast: Matt Damon, Scarlett  Johansson, Thomas Haden Church, Colin Ford, Maggie Elizabeth Jones, John Michael Higgins

This movie is based on the true story of a family who bought a struggling zoo which is called Dartmoor Zoo in real life.  After some research I found that it is located in UK.  At least thats what it seems like from their official website.  However, this flick is set in Southern California.  Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) has just suffered the loss of his wife six months ago. Suddenly, he needed to take care of his two children and give up on his adventurous journalist career.  To get over the pains of constant reminder the present city he lived in brought him, he decided to take all his money and buy a new place to settle his son, Dylan (Colin Ford) and daughter, Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones).  In some twist of events, they ended up falling in love with a beautiful house that had a side obligation of taking care of the Rosemoor Wildlife Park.  Against his brother Duncan’s (Thomas Haden Church) advice, he decided to take up this new adventure despite the reluctance of Dylan.  There he meets, the head zookeeper Kelly Foster (Scarlett Johansson) and the other 5 members of the workers there.  Together, they need to meet the zoo’s requirements and examination/inspection from Walter Ferris (John Michael Higgins) by a certain time and hope that this rebuilding this zoo will bring Benjamin, his children and his passionate staff more than they had imagined.

I didn’t originally know that this was based on a true story.  We Bought a Zoo is a heartwarming story about a family and their adventure.  In one way, it was about Benjamin Mee rebuilding a struggling zoo and taking up a new challenge, but at the same time its about rebuilding his family also.  We could see the parallels between the two with certain events that happen and Benjamin Mee’s character showed how his emotions sometimes would mix up the two.

On that note, Matt Damon who played Benjamin Mee was very convincing.  There were some parts that I didn’t like as much, maybe it was the dialogue maybe it was a forced situation.  I can’t really pinpoint it, but overall, Matt Damon surprised me with this role.  I haven’t seen Matt Damon in a movie since The Talented Mr. Ripley or Ocean’s Thirteen or something like that, However, those roles never really stuck with me and honestly, I don’t remember much of it.  This one was really great.  He played a great father role who was trying to deal with an ignorant son and just simply trying to be a good father for his children. At the same time, learning how to lead the zoo to a better place despite knowing nothing about how to run a zoo.

Scarlett Johansson plays a very different role from what she usually does.  She usually plays a flustered girl in romantic comedies who always makes bad decisions.  At times, they even seem like she plays confused roles, with the exception of possibly her supporting role as Black Widow in The Avengers.  I like Johansson a lot as an actress.  Something about her makes me feel like she’s genuine and true and captures her roles very well.  No doubt, she is charming and pretty but in this one, she played a tough head zookeeper who knew what and when was the right thing to do in the best interests.  She played the role where she wasn’t the damsel in distress but she supported Benjamin Mee in making the right move and leading and teaching him how to be a leader for everyone.  She was the foundation that helped keep everything together.

The kids in this movie were also quite good.  Rosie was cute and adorable. Everything she did and said made us believe that this movie was about a new beginning.  It was about believing in the impossible.  She was a gem through the whole thing.  Dylan on the other hand did a pretty decent job as well. He was older so he portrayed the reluctance of change and of giving up what he already had in his city life.  It was part of coming of age and a journey of growing up for him and learning new values and life lessons.

The combination of all these factors: the outstanding cast, the heartwarming story, and the passion for adventure made me fall in love with this movie.  Its not going to be a huge hit or will it ever be.  There are no doubt flaws in rhetorical dialogue.  However, there is also no questions as how this movie can carry you into a beautiful world and a father’s hope to give a better life for his family.  There’s a lot that the audience can get from this movie in life lessons and values.  We learn a little bit from every character and their differences.

I love this movie and I think its a great watch. It carries a good message and for once, puts the love story in the back seat but brings forth the value of family and the passion of not being afraid of adventure and building a dream, no matter how impossible it may seem, no matter how many obstacles you have to overcome.

Whats your favorite family adventure movie?

Valentine’s Marathon: He’s Just Not That Into You (2009)

It seems that these multiple story movies are becoming a thing.  They usually don’t get a lot of praise except for Love Actually, which was possibly the first of its kind.  This one doesn’t seem to have a lot of good ratings on it either on IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes but when it first came out, I had no expectations from it at first and it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Now I’m going back to see it again for this marathon, lets see how that went…

Director: Ken Kwapis

Cast: Ginnifer Goodwin, Kevin Connolly, Scarlett Johansson, Bradley Cooper, Ben Affleck, Justin Long, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly, Drew Barrymore

Based on the self-help book by the author of Sex and the City, He’s Just Not That Into You looks at different types of relationships amongst a group of people that are linked together through friends, coworkers, acquaintances or simply coincidence and how a lot of people will misread and misunderstand the signals that other people send off.  We start with Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin) who is on the search for a relationship.  She always wonders and waits to see if a guy will call her back after a first date or after a first meeting at the bar.  That is until she meets the friend of one of the dates that she decides to try and “accidentally” see.  Alex (Justin Long) is the manager of the City Supper Club and he is the exact opposite of Gigi because he can read the signals of others very well and because of this, he starts helping Gigi in her future pursuits.  At the same time, the guy who Gigi saw at the beginning of the movie, Conor (Kevin Connolly) who is obsessed with Anna (Scarlett Johansson) who had slept with him before but now only finds him in times of need for comfort and affection.  Anna is trying to build a career as a singer and at the supermarket one night, she meets Ben (Bradley Cooper) who is a married man and is in a business that can help her with her career.  They are attracted with each other and despite Ben trying to resist, he eventually has an affair with her while his wife Janine (Jennifer Connelly) is putting all her focus into their new house’s renovations.  At work, Janine’s coworker Beth (Jennifer Aniston) has been in a relationship with Neil (Ben Affleck) for 7 years and she wants to get married however, Neil does not want to.  A string of stories that looks into a guy’s signals and the rules and exceptions of whether a guy is into you or not.

“If a guy’s into you, he will make it happen no matter what”

Let me just say that I originally didn’t really think I would like this movie at all.  The first time I saw this and realized that it was based on the Sex and the City author.  I don’t really have too much love for those series. Never really caught on to it maybe or its just not my type of series. Either way, this flick was definitely good.  It definitely sticks to its boundaries of being a romantic comedy and especially with a relatively strong cast.  It was witty and fun.  They put in interviews of other people to make it a bit more original with certain issues they were dealing with for example, “if a man doesn’t want to marry you…” then it flips over to people talking about it and some of them are funny.

If you can brush off the whole trying to be a self-help and teaching us the signs of when things aren’t working out which from the things I’ve read are usually based on stereotypes because we all know that every relationship is different.  If you just solely focus on the stories and think about it in one basic way: Each girl is the exception to the rule when in the eyes of the guy that loves us for who we are.  Its as simple as that.  So take that and just go for the ride and you might enjoy this movie.  One warning though, even if you fellow men out there are okay with rom-coms, I really don’t recommend this one to any guys.  You might want to either fall asleep or yell at the stereotypes (unless you like any of the actresses for their good looks).  I mean, even I wanted to yell at the stereotypes, especially those that Gigi had where she just sits by the phone and waits for the guy to call.  Are all girls supposed to be portrayed as being that desperate?  That part really bothered me because I guess its an extreme to bring Gigi to portray the desperate need to find a guy and how she doesn’t know how to read the signals that the guy is sending out each time so she just hopes all the time. Its the concept of never losing hope that is the theme of her story, so I guess you can’t really blame her.

As much as all the side stories were cool, the main story is of Gigi’s search for romance and how she learns that its better to have tried to fall in love than to just block out the feeling of being able to love someone.  This is miles and miles away from as being as epic as Love Actually (which I reviewed HERE!), but it does have some witty and fun moments and as always in these flicks, some sweet and touching moments as well.  No tears will be shed but there is enough smiles and laughs to be had.  I state once more that guys should avoid this…it can’t be more targeted towards girls than teaching girls how to know when guys aren’t into them.  This may not be an epic movie but as generic as it may seem, it is really helped a lot by the chemistry that the talented cast brings.

Oh right, one more thing, if you do end up seeing this, you should definitely wait for the ending credits because they still have a few scenes there and those are actually pretty good and wraps up the movie in a pretty good way.

Have you seen this? Did you like it? Do you enjoy these multi-story setup for movies or are they confusing and hard to perfect?

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!