Beauty and the Beast (2017)

The final part of the Toronto ComiCon weekend meet-up with Drew is our Friday’s night movie going adventure to see the live action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. Drew and I both have Disney segments on our respective blogs and it really highlights how much we love it in general. Plus, we just finished our 90’s Blogathon so hey, it all fits perfectly together. As objective as we would like to be, it is hard to not compare it to the original animation. I am just going to be honest here before we start.

Lets check it out!

Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Director: Bill Condon

(Voice) Cast: Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Kevin Kline, Luke Evans, Josh Gad, Ian McKellan, Stanley Tucci, Ewan McGregor, Emma Thompson

The beauty of animation is how magical they can be because they are imaginative and creative. To bring something like that to life creates a lot of challenge. There has be matching music and atmosphere and most importantly, the magical chemistry that we can feel with these characters which is usually easier to believe when its animation than in real life. I would be lying if I didn’t go into Beauty and the Beast optimistically skeptical. Why? I haven’t watched anything from Emma Watson since Harry Potter series ended and I only know Dan Stevens as the creepy dude in The Guest and an extremely small part of Season one of Downton Abbey. Not a lot to compare to and I didn’t really look too much at the voice actors either. The question now, after a few days of the initial excitement and thinking about it: does it live up to its original? The answer is no. I have to reluctantly say that because of a few aspects. However, I also never expected it to live up to the original so I still had a lot of fun with it.

Beauty and the Beast’s best part is creating its atmosphere and the world. It is absolutely gorgeous. The effects and CGI put us right into the setting of the town and especially the castle and forest areas. There was a darker tone however, it does manage to capture a great part of the magic that made the first one great. Of course, the original animated film offered up some of the most beautiful animation with its rich colors and catchy musical tunes. That comes to the second part that gives this movie something more. While retaining a lot of the music from the original, they manage to put a few new songs in. The nostalgia and magic of the old music still is the fun parts of the movie plus it shows a true determination of creating a animated film with this one that stays true to a musical with actually not a lot of dialogue.

Belle is one of my favorite heroines/Disney princesses. To be honest, Emma Watson did a decent performance. I can’t say that she was particularly memorable though. She fit in well because she had a good enough singing voice and the movie’s overall magical appeal swept me away. That isn’t to say that I didn’t like her. I just can’t really pinpoint a part of hers that stuck out to her. On that note, her chemistry with the Beast worked well enough that the story made it easy to fall in love with the story again even knowing what would happen and in that final scene where there’s that twist, I had tears in my eyes, which was definitely unexpected. Turning over to Dan Stevens as the Beast, his face was pretty much CGI and yet perhaps it is because of that, it was easier to keep it imaginative. When he was angry at the beginning, there were moments of fear and later as he softened, his features also made it so much more gentle. There was so much more to love in how Dan Stevens portrayed the Beast than Belle which seems to be the opposite of how I remembered the Disney animation.

The stars and the most dynamic characters of the original was almost always these supporting animated enchanted characters. Who knew that clocks and candelabras and teapots could make us fall in love with them, right? That is something that really stands out also in this live action. The voice cast is a fantastic ensemble with Cogsworth being voices Ian McKellan, Lumiere by Ewan McGregor, Mrs. Potts by Emma Thompson and of course, the man who tends to sneak into every movie in some supporting part and almost makes it shine, the grand piano (Maestro) by Stanley Tucci. I loved them the most in this live action adaptation (or is it a remake?). There are so many similarities to the original but somehow their enchantedness makes it easier to imagine them in this way.

Finally, we can’t not talk about the most self-absorbed villain, Gaston. I honestly like Gaston quite a bit and his sequences especially the Gaston songs and bits are quite humorous in the animation and I’m pretty happy about how they approached this character and Luke Evans take on it. There were a lot of funny moments and it helps a lot. The ending battle with the Beast was a little underwhelming but it was never meant to be overly long even in the original. Gaston isn’t really a true threat ever. I’m not sure any believes that he’ll amount to anything too much especially not when his right hand man is Lefou who is just there for comedic relief. Josh Gad didn’t quite stand out as much either.

Overall, Beauty and the Beast is a decent live action take of the original. In comparison, it is hard to meet the original’s masterful animation however there is still a lot to love especially because this one takes good care in creating a beautiful environment and magical atmosphere. The winter and snowy landscape with the dark but beautiful castle captures lots of mystic, especially watching the take on the castle falling apart as the magic wears away from each rose petal falling. While some characters are a little underwhelming in their portrayal, the majority did a pretty great job however the magic of the story itself did carry itself and shadowed the shortcomings in the moment.

Have you seen Beauty and the Beast?

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?

Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)

I’m not one of those opening day movie goers.  Not because I don’t want to, I just don’t really like the crowds but a few of my friends have been wanting to see this as much as I’ve wanted to so one of them used his coupons and booked us some seats at the VIP cinema.  Its a pretty luxurious cinema experience limited to adults only and you can eat with a little table, more comfy seats for a more expensive price.  Either way, we all got some food, our drinks and sat back to what we shortly before the movie started learned an almost 3 hour movie.  All I hoped in my mind when it started was the the dinobots would kick some ass.

I don’t usually post revews on the weekend but I just wanted to enjoy being the first few to catch a movie on opening weekend. Lets check it out! 😉

Director: Michael Bay

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Nicola Peltz, Kelsey Grammar, Jack Reynor, Sophia Myles, Bingbing Li

Picking up after the last epic battle in Chicago, the world is stricken with fear with the robots in general and the government has decided to not be in line with any robots regardless of which side they stand.  As they pick up their pieces, in Texas, Cade Yaeger (Mark Wahlberg) and his teenage daughter, Tessa (Nicola Peltz) try to live their lives struggling to pay their bills and keep afloat financially. Thats when he finds a broken truck which turns out to be a damaged Optimus Prime.  He decides to try to fix him while the black ops (I think) tracks them and wants to neutralize Optimus.  With Tess’s secret boyfriend Shane (Jack Reynor), they struggle to escape while helping the Autobots reunite and find out who is trying to destroy them.

Referring back to my opening paragraph, it seems that I had very low expectations.  The fact is after the garbage presented in Transformers 2 & 3, I wasn’t too confident about how this one would turn out. However, I had hopes because one, Shia LaBeouf wasn’t part of this anymore and it was replaced with the much more competent Mark Wahlberg and there was dinobots.  Plus, with Michael Bay, there is a certain level of dumb, over the top, CGI-y, explosions and action going on.  Pretty much defines an action movie that is simply enjoyable without having to think much.

As I’m writing this out, I just got out of the movie less than 4 hours ago.  Transformers was everything that I expected it to be and maybe it even gave me hopes of it keeping that quality for following movies.  Sure, there was some cheesy and rather laughable moments that kind of gave me a few shake my head and face-palm moments, like for example, the slow motion low angle shooting the agents coming in with their jackets flapping in the wind or deliberately making Tessa and her short shorts walking slow pace.  Not to mention, the movie was ridiculously long and at about 90 minutes in, I almost felt like it was losing steam.  However, it did come back with some more action as usual.

Lets just say that Michael Bay keeps his signature Michael Bay stuff and this movie is more in line with the enjoyment level I had for the first one and might even have surpassed it.  One of those reasons goes to Mark Wahlberg.  I like Wahlberg a lot.  Seriously, the man is very many.  Like he has a very likable appearance and his acting is pretty good.  I’ve enjoyed a lot of the movies that he has been in and no, I haven’t seen The Happening so I can’t comment. I felt like he brought a lot more than anything that Shia Lebeouf could offer in the previous instalments.  Plus, Wahlberg is diversified as an actor.  He can bring a bit of humor and do good in action and that really is needed in this role.

I’m going to go straight out and say that the cast really impressed me.  I love Stanley Tucci and the man is kick ass funny and just great.  I haven’t dived much into his character but he does have a pretty key role as he ends up stuck with Cade and group as they escape from their many dangers.  Along with that, we have Kelsey Grammar as the second line bad guy.  I kind of found his character annoying but that makes sense seeing as that was the role he was given.  I spent the whole movie trying to figure out where I saw Nicola Peltz and realized as the IMDB page was loading that she was in Bates Motel.  I’m not exactly sure that I like her as an actress or I just didn’t really like it always giving the girls a stupid roles and lines, although I do like her more than Megan Fox. Plus, there’s a smaller role for Sophia Myles who is the main girl in the series Moonlight (that I love although it only had one season).

On the other side of things, in the trailers you see it anyways, which was also a highlight for me is bringing in the whole Hong Kong scene.  For one, there was a few cameos from known actors in the Hong Kong and China entertainment. Then, my friend and I had a bet before of who can identify which buildings were real and which were CGI. While we are talking about this, Bingbing Li has a little role in this one.  I had to add a picture of her just because I believe Mikey@Screenkicker told me he has a thing for Asian girls so here’s a picture for him. She is better than Ziyi Zhang 😉 Plus, she’s an actress that I’m slowly liking more and more.

If you haven’t liked the previous Transformers, I’m going to say that you probably won’t like this one either and I’d say to just back away from it.  You get exactly what you’d expect from a Michael Bay movie and thats an over the top summer blockbuster which is a tad dumb, and over the top with action and explosion. The only difference that gives it a little edge is that it doesn’t take itself seriously and for that, I can sit down and watch this and have a great laugh.  Plus, I really dig this cast and the Chinese actor cameos. Mark Wahlberg brings something fresh to the whole equation and the dinobots kicked serious butt even if they weren’t there for too long.  The Transformers themselves made the movie great as well.

I had a lot of fun with this one.  Its not a masterpiece and I hope that you don’t walk in expecting it to be.  How I feel for this one pretty much measures up to why and how I love silly movies like Resident Evil Retribution and The Expendables.  There’s going to be lots of criticisms about this one.  I’m pretty sure about that but hey, what counts in the end to have fun and I definitely did 🙂

Have you seen Transformers 4? Do you intend to? What are your thoughts on Mark Wahlberg?

Julie & Julia (2009)

Next up in recommendations is from a lovely blogger, Livonne.  She is a fabulous photographer and writes amazing posts.  I totally love hanging out at her blog and if you haven’t been there, well, lets just say you are missing out and you should!! I’ll give you a some time to head over there to follow her and check out what she does.

Ready? Well, she suggested to me to watch Julie & Julia.  Funny enough, I’ve read the book but never actually finished watching the movie entirely.  I mean, whats wrong with me, right? Its literally a movie about EVERYTHING I love and honestly, it (the book) has a bit to do with why I even considered blogging in the first place.  Cooking, blogging, eating, Amy Adams and Meryl Streep and add in a bit of Stanley Tucci and a dash of Jane Lynch: count me in on that one!

Wait wait, I’m getting ahead of myself! A little synopsis, shall we?

Director: Nora Ephron

Cast: Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina, Jane Lynch, Linda Emond

Julie Powell (Amy Adams) is a government worker who moves to Queen’s because of her husband ‘s (Chris Messina) job and aspires to be a writer and with her passion for cooking, she decides to take 365 days to cook through the 524 recipes in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  Back in the day, Julia Child’s (Meryl Streep) life unravels somewhat similarly when she moves to France because her husband (Stanley Tucci) is sent there to work at the American embassy.  She decides to learn French cooking and eventually after meeting certain people decide to publish a book geared towards teaching servantless American woman to cook. 

Julie & Julia, the book, was a unique reading experience.  It was fun and light-hearted and so inspiring because you know what it is.  We all hit a bit of road bumps and sometimes the little turns and bends down the unexpected and spontaneous roads become experiences that turn out to be more rewarding than we imagine, not just in the sense of career but a self-satisfaction and a personal journey to learn more about ourselves.  At least thats why I love blogging, I just can’t help but wonder if sometimes I become self-absorbed although I try my very best to balance my life as much as I can..

Back now to the movie, Meryl Streep gives a charistmatic performance.  She’s fun to watch as the clever and witty Julia Child.  There’s something so lovable about her character.  She’s cooking and watching those little snippets of her teaching cooking and I wanted to go pick up her book and cook it also, but then, I don’t think my rather lactose-intolerant/sensitive stomach could take so much butter and cream and fat.  Its just so inspiring.  Thats whats great about this adaptation because it manages to re-enact the light-heartedness with a hint of comedy.

Comedy is not so much in Meryl Streep, except for her witty dialogue but rather in Amy Adams’s Julie Powell portrayal. She’s the modern person and for me, I felt like I could relate to her.  Other than that inner journey that I talked about in terms of blogging, it had to do with that whole learning new cooking skills, especially the lobster part.  Amy Adams is just a lovable and adorable actress and she can handle a range of emotions from bubbly to full-on crazy meltdown.

Julie & Julia is a fun and entertaining trip especially for foodies.  Its funny and entertaining and also inspiring.  Being a blogger, we understand the world of being a blogger and the whole journey of being dedicated to it and finding a balance between this life and our own life not in front of the computer.  The whole doing something not related to work or that we’re passionate about and sharing it with the part of the online community that has similar interests.  I liked this movie a lot and it really made me feel really good afterwards. It injected me with a dose of well-needed energy and motivation. I guess thats why I’m typing up this well past my bedtime. So I’ll stop now and say, do watch this.  Its a really good one 🙂

Thanks to Livonne for bringing this one up.  It gave me the push to watch the full movie and fully appreciate it for its awesomeness! 🙂 Remember to check out her blog!

Have you seen Julie & Julia? What are your favorite roles of Amy Adams and/or Meryl Streep? Are there other movies related to cooking that you’d recommend?

Prelude to a Kiss (1992)

Next up in recommendations is from Paul S at Pfeiffer Pfilms and Meg Movies. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who has openly admitted to loving Michelle Pfeiffer and Meg Ryan at the same time, other than myself.  Paul is one of those people and he does it in the form of that amazing blog that I linked up there.  I had wanted to review this one for the Valentine’s marathon but didn’t get a chance.  Last year, I had wanted to do a Meg Ryan marathon but apparently compiling ALL of Meg Ryan movies was costly and close to impossible so before I knew it, I gave up and decided I’d find a reason to review the ones I had during this year… Long story short, this leads up to this review of Prelude to a Kiss.  I gave Paul a choice between this and Sleepless in Seattle and he chose this one 🙂

Director: Norman Rene

Cast: Alec Baldwin, Meg Ryan, Stanley Tucci, Sydney Walker, Kathy Bates

Peter (Alec Baldwin) meets Rita (Meg Ryan) at a party.  They are the opposite in personality; one who is optimistic and the other completely afraid of the world.  After a few weeks, their relationship develops into more and they decide to get married.  On the day of their marriage, an old man (Sydney Walker) appears and asks to kiss the bride. The kiss ends up changing Rita and when they head off to the honeymoon, Peter starts seeing Rita’s personality change into someone else.  At first, he thinks that it’s just getting married but when they get back home, he starts noticing that maybe something else a bit more unusual has happened.

Prelude to a Kiss is a likable romantic comedy.  I found the characters started a bit strange to begin with, even before the unusual happened with Rita.  I don’t really think it was the story itself that was very original because it was pretty obvious what had happened, however the cast did a great job in making a predictable story a cute and even touching watch.

Out of all the characters I’ve seen Meg Ryan act out, this is one of the cutest ones.  There’s something strange and awkward about how she interacts with the world from the beginning and a lot of it made me laugh.  Plus, halfway through this awkward character had to make a personality change and she was playing another character again.  The way Meg Ryan portrayed Rita had to be the highlight of this flick.

I’m not such a huge fan of Alec Baldwin.  Apparently in the 90s, he was a pretty good looking man.  Well, now I know.  Alec plays Peter who falls in love with this woman who is afraid of world but still, he loves her for who she is.  His character brought alive a lot of the touching moments of desperately trying to find back the woman that he knew and married and no who she has become and especially why she has changed. Helpless and loss; thats what Peter had to deal with or was up against and Alec Baldwin did a fantastic job in showing all that.  There is no doubt that Alec Baldwin is a good actor and I may not have a seen a whole lot of movies with him in it but this is his best role 🙂

 I’m not sure how much is too much in revealing this story so I’m just going to say less.  If you’ve seen this one, you know what happens but if you haven’t, at least you still have a bit of guessing to do in what actually happens. The Old Man carries the wisdom in this one about true love and about facing sudden changes.  Prelude to a Kiss is overloaded with talent.  There’s a young Stanley Tucci who has the chance to smile a few and crack a few jokes and we have the wildly talented Kathy Bates who plays the Old Man’s daughter and tries to work out how to live with him as he ages.

Prelude of a Kiss may not be my favorite love story because it actually feels a bit predictable.  I don’t really mind it so much, especially when the cast impressed me a lot.  They took each of their roles and touched me in a different way.  The characters themselves are much more memorable than the story.  It carries a deeper meaning of what true love actually is. How can you not appreciate a story like that?

Have you seen Prelude of a Kiss? What do you think of the performances? Do you like Alec Baldwin and what movie of his is your favorite?

Easy A (2010)

I have no idea how I haven’t watched this movie again in the whole 2013.  I guess I just didn’t as I was busy discovering new genres.  Attached with the fact that the past weekend in THIS post, I claimed it to be my feel good movie, you already know what to expect in the review but still, lets get on with it 🙂

Director: Will Gluck

Cast: Emma Stone, Amanda Bynes, Penn Badgley, Dan Byrd, Thomas Haden Church, Cam Gigandet, Lisa Kudrow

Olive (Emma Stone) is a normal not very popular student at school.  One day, when her extremely religious classmate, Marianne (Amanda Bynes) overhears her claiming to her best friend, Rhiannon (Aly Michalka) that she had lost her virginity with a college guy, the rumor spreads quickly.  With this, she sees that these rumors gives her a new social attention in the school that she enjoys and she ends up using these rumors to bring more attention on herself even though it came with a rather tarnished reputation.

This was the first movie I became fully aware of who Emma Stone was. Sure, I remembered her from House Bunny and realized she was in Ghost of Girlfriends Past, but this one placed her on the map in my book.  She’s funny and sarcastic and this movie is just so my type of humor.  I had a great time with it. Since then, Emma Stone has been one of my top 10 favorite actresses.  I really think she can do no wrong.  I even revisit some of her roles and I realize how she might be the shining part in a not so good movies (like for Ghost of Girlfriends Past).  Of course, the movie itself has a great tone.  It was smart, witty humor and payed tribute to great teen comedies, you know, John Hughes era.

Honestly, I love the whole cast in Easy A. After my long girl crush talk on Emma Stone, lets look at the rest of the cast.  We have in a rather smaller supporting role, Thomas Haden Church and Lisa Kudrow.  Both are very good at creating funny moments even when they are really trying to be serious.  We have the before crazy mode Amanda Bynes.  The one I do love quite a bit.  She plays a fully devoted religious girl and she was quite funny, especially her whole talks and attacks with with Emma’s character Olive.

We have some awesome young actors that I like, Gossip Girl’s Penn Badgley.  That guy slowly grew on me as I watched Gossip Girl more.  I really should finish up the last 1.5 seasons.  Penn Badgley is not a bad looking guy but what he has is a charm to him and I like the vibe he gives off in his roles.  In this one, he didn’t have a huge role since Easy A was more of a teen comedy than a romantic one so the focus wasn’t on the guys.

I really think that the cast and the characters are the life of any kind of comedy so I’m going to focus on that.

Moving along, Olive’s family is fabulous as well. I love Stanley Tucci so much, who plays Olive’s father.  The man is a genius. He breathes life into any role he is given.  Seriously, pick any role he’s done and if I’ve seen it, I’ll remember it because he’s just so awesome.  Him and Patricia Clarkson, who played his wife was such fun to watch.

So yes, did you get that this movie was fun and funny? I’m pretty sure you did. These late nights of finishing up the TESL course has ironically zapped most of my vocabulary out of my mind.  Easy A is an awesome teen comedy and one that I totally recommend.  If you haven’t seen it, check it out! I promise you’ll have fun, well, the majority of you.  Emma Stone is amazing and the movie itself just so fantastic 🙂

What do you think of Easy A? Are you a fan of Emma Stone?

Burlesque (2010)

I’m sorry for the back to back reviews.  I watched this on the weekend before Fast 6 (but I wanted to get that one out first).  This one has been sitting on my shelf for a while.  I bought it because its a musical but I also was reluctant to see it because I have zero confidence in Christina Aguilera’s acting.  Somehow, watching Mamma Mia made me want to continue on with musicals and I figured I might as well continue working on the unseen movies in my shelf before it grows anymore 😉

Director: Steve Antin

Cast: Cher, Christina Aguilera, Cam Gigandet, Peter Gallagher, Stanley Tucci, Kristen Bell, Eric Dane, Dianna Agron

Iowa girl Ali (Christina Aguilera) wants to do more with her talents and heads out to Los Angeles.  There she spontaneously walks into Burlesque Lounge owned by Tess (Cher).  Through the recommendation of bartender Jack (Cam Gigandet) and her own perseverance, she gets a job as a waitress there.  However, her dream is to be on stage dancing.  In the meantime, the club is under the danger of being foreclosed due to not being able to pay their mortgage.  Tess needs to figure out a way to make up the money by the end of the month, if not, she will have to possibly consider selling it to persistant millionaire Marcus (Eric Dane).  At this time, when one of the dancers Georgia (Julianne Hough) gets pregnant, Ali gets the chance to replace her at the dismay of another dancer, Nikki (Kristen Bell).  It is this chance that Ali shows that she not only can dance but she can sing also.  Can she save the club from closing?

Let’s just start by saying that I didn’t hate the movie.  It wasn’t something I wanted to kill myself to get through.  For one, as a musical, it felt like I was watching a Burlesque style Christina Aguilera concert for a good part of it.  I think she has a great voice so I’m cool with that.  Plus, the grandiose of the Burlesque dancing numbers were fun to watch.  Cher had a few singing opportunities as well and I’m cool with her as well.  Singing and dancing plus a group of attractive girls really helps this movie.

Plus, Christina Aguilera is surprisingly a decent actress.  It was refreshing to see her on stage.  I would choose her over Justin Timberlake, even if she only has this one in her filmography.  It wasn’t an incredibly hard movie to act I would suppose though.  She was working with Cher, who I’ve never seen on screen either.  However, they are helped with a few actors and actresses that I like.  Eric Dane playing Marcus was great.  I always like a little bit of McSteamy in the mix 😉 Stanley Tucci always does fantastic at the role of a background makeup/clothing stylist.  He did a similar role in Devil Wears Prada. Peter Gallagher is great as Tess’s ex-husband who freaks out over the finances.  I’ve always enjoyed him on screen.

How can something like this be without some form of a love story, right? Jack played by Cam Gigandet is the guy here. I first saw Cam in the OC and I fell in love with him and his character, maybe its the bad boy things he had going on.  After that, he appeared in Easy A and I absolutely adore that movie, mostly for Emma Stone but you’ll see soon that my next movie made my  Sunday into a Cam Gigandet double feature. He’s decent and he had some funny moments.  Plus, his chemistry with Christina Aguilera was pretty fun.

This was an average movie.  Although it is predictable (and boring at times), it offers some beautiful singing with the talent of Christina Aguilera and some fun dancing from a group of pretty girls like Kristen Bell and Julianne Hough.  It has a decent supporting cast and could be enjoyable if you are attracted to the Burlesque atmosphere that it brings. 🙂

Captain America:The First Avenger (2011)

A lot of you probably were not following when I posted up the Avengers review (like HERE), I went to that movie with practically no knowledge of anyone or anything except for the movie posters.  I didn’t even watch any trailers of the 5 movies that built up to it, but the effort was there when I bought Ironman 1 & 2 and Thor.  But, it was my busy phase (when am I not?) so I never actually watched them.  The Avengers was awesome enough that I spent the next 2 days watching these movies to catch up.  Unfortunately Captain America was still in the super expensive (in my budget) zone so for Boxing Day I finally snatched it up and after 2 months finally managed to watch it.

Director: Joe Johnston

Cast: Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Dominic Cooper, Stanley Tucci, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, Tommy Lee Jones

Back in the war days, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is a small weak man who is patriotic and wants to join the army to protect his country.  However, because of his long list of diseases and small size, he was rejected over and over again. His friend, Bucky (Sebastian Stan) had gotten into the 107th brigade and was about to go off to war.  In the midst of partying before Bucky leaves, he sees another recruitment sign and he tries again with another fake name and city.  This time he gets recruited by Dr. Erskine (Stanley Tucci) who had other intentions for him and he in turn volunteers to be part of his experimental program.  At training in the camp, he meets Colonel Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), who one doubts Erskine’s choice and the other remains hopeful for using him as the subject  to turn him into a superhuman (super soldier?).  After Rogers turns into the superhuman successfully, he becomes Captain America.  At first, he loses his initial goals but eventually, with a little help he turns into the patriotic selfless superhero who with the help of Bucky, Peggy and a crew of good men go off to stop Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving), also called Red Skull, who leads the Hydra organization.

I’ve said it once with Avengers and again with Amazing Spiderman review (HERE), that I’m really not very familiar with any of the comic book superheroes, be it Marvel or DC.  Nothing, nada! You give me Tintin (HERE), I’ll know a bit more because thats just how my childhood was.  So I won’t go and comment on the similarities but rather as a movie itself, the entertainment I got out of it.  Captain America was really gripping at some moments but also embedded some funny and/or lighter  moments from Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan and a few other supporting actors. It was just so fun to watch with the action and the whole setup and scenes.

The concept of making the straight out good guy and turning him into a superhuman to fulfill his goals in life and protecting his country is not new but for Captain America, I was convinced by Chris Evans that he genuinely wanted the world to be at peace and for good to happen for everyone.  The best example would be when he was recruited, Stanley Tucci’s character, Dr. Erskine asked him a question if he wanted to kill Nazis and his answer shows his simple and kind heart when he says “I don’t want to kill anyone. I don’t like bullies.  I don’t care where they’re from.” I think thats one of the most important parts of a super hero movie is to be convinced that this guy defending everyone is really out there some way or another to help and has that good heart exposed or hidden, whichever works for him (or her). Chris Evans is an awesome Captain America. Another quote that was said by Erskine about his choice says it all: “That is why you were chosen.  Because a strong man, who has known power all his life, may lose respect for that power.  But a weak man, knows the value of strength and knows compassion.”

So to match a great good guy, we need to have an evil villain, and who can beat Hugo Weaving at it. Okay, maybe you will have a few on your mind but lets just follow my flow here.  Hugo Weaving pretty much can be declared an expert in being a bad guy.  As Red Skull, he is just so horribly mean and has no compassion at all.  He’s like a robot that just wants to kill and take over the world with his minions.  This guy just sends off all the bad vibes a villain could possibly have.  I was convinced and he actually made me feel a sense of danger with the action sequences and the schemes. Although his face wasn’t that menacing but lets say it wasn’t very pretty either so it worked enough to convince me that he was indeed evil villain.

 

They have a great cast here. I love Dominic Cooper who is an inventor or scientist called Stark who aids Erskine with his experimental program.  Tommy Lee Jones was awesome and I’m not very familiar with Sebastian Stan (I think I saw him in another movie) and he was pretty awesome as well.  In general, I really enjoyed the supporting cast. The group of men they chose to be Captain America’s team to invade Red Skull’s plants was so fun, comedic and brave.

All in all, Captain America is one of the better of the 5 movies to Avengers.  I think Ironman still rates a bit higher than this one.  However, now that I know who Captain America is.  He is one hell of a superhero.  I can’t wait to see some more of him and Chris Evans! 🙂

What is your favorite of the 5 movies that lead up to The Avengers?

The Hunger Games (2012)

Surprisingly, being the bookworm I am, I didn’t get to see The Hunger Games in theatres.  My boyfriend did however and thats why its taken us so long to actually watch it after I bought it in November, since he got addicted to the novels and wanted to finish it before we watched it.  The Hunger Games is possibly one of the most interesting reading experiences I’ve had.  It was very addictive, especially since it was in first person narration.  I’ll have to re-read those books though.   Sitting through this movie, I started getting glimpse of the novel but was missing details here and there.

Director: Gary Ross

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Stanley Tucci, Wes Bentley, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Donald Sutherland, Isabelle Fuhrman

In the now ruined North America, Panem is now what the nation is called, because of its past revolution, it is now separated into 12 Districts, each with their own specialty to contribute to the Capitol.  Every year, children are chosen randomly: a boy and a girl to join the Hunger Games from each of the districts, resulting into 24 tributes.  They are put into a designated area where they need to battle each other until there is one tribute remaining.  That tribute will win the games and be rewarded a lot of wealth and comfort for their future.  Some children will have their names in more times than others because in the poorer districts, like the one in District 12, where The Hunger Games start, children use this to trade in for more ration to help feed their families.  District 12, we see the morning of the tribute selection, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Gale (Liam Hemsworth) meet to hunt outside of their boundaries (which is illegal) just before they need to prepare for the selections.

This year, Katniss sister, Primrose is also in the run to be selected.  At the selection, Primrose “luckily” gets selected and to protect her sister, Katniss volunteers to take her sister’s place.  Going with her is another boy who had saved her before, Peeta Mellark  (Josh Hutcherson).  As they get whisked away onto the train heading to the Capitol where the games are held, they meet their mentor, previous winner of District 12 and a man who drinks away his sorrows, Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) and their guardian of sorts, Effie (Elizabeth Banks).  In the Capitol, they need to be prepared to show off and prepare for the games.  In the parade, they end up meeting Cinna (Lenny Kravitz), who is their costume stylist and also from afar, President Snow (Donald Sutherland) who starts off the games.  After a while for preparation with all the other tributes on skills and impressing their possible sponsors, we are lead to where the games begin and as they say, “may the odds be ever in your favor”.

Hunger Games is possibly one of the most gripping movies I’ve seen in a very long time.  Because the Bluray I had seemed to be so quiet and the conversations were so quiet, I ended up moving closer to the TV in order to focus into the movie and not miss out.  That usually is a sign that its something that peaked my interest.  I can’t remember the last time that I did this.  The action, the quiet, the buildup was all very similar because I already had read the novel beforehand.  The fact that it could still capture my full attention and make me feel the tension that the story is definitely a sign that it was made extremely well.  I would have to say that it is one of the better novel adaptations that I’ve watched.

One of the major contributions to the success of this movie has to go to its cast.  I have never seen Jennifer Lawrence before this flick. However, her interpretation of Katniss Everdeen was as perfect as it could be.  She portrayed the emotions right on and it made it even more real.  Her chemistry with her fellow co-actors whether it be Josh Hutcherson when expressing mixed emotions towards her companion and opponent in the games or Woody Harrelson as her mentor.  Her emotions carried us through the movie perfectly.  The outstanding cast can’t be forgotten in this as well.  The rest of the cast really pushed it up to a higher level as the cast itself with Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland just to name a few, are veterans in the business.  Even the younger actors, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth (the little part he was in) did their roles very good.  Aside from that, the supporting role that impressed me the most was Lenny Kravitz who played Cinna.  He gave me the exact impression of the personality of the character that I read.

The actors may be important but the director did a great job at shooting this film.  He managed to capture the environment and tension very well and matched it with the emotions that were all over the place.  The drama and the violence that came from the games itself and the whole process was shown perfectly.  What really helped was the interpretation of the Capitol itself because with the book, it was first person narration and now, they help us by seeing not only through the eyes of Katniss but elaborating what was originally in the novels.

For me to judge this movie as a standalone work is hard, I’ve already read the book and was really drawn into it.  I think this movie is a great adaptation and I look forward to the next movie, Catching Fire coming out this year.

Have you read the Hunger Games novels? Did you think it was a good adaptation or not?