Review TBA
Oscar Movies Pt. 2
American Sniper
I had heard quite a bit about the whole American jingoism thing that is supposed to be going on in this movie and indeed it is there but I did not think it was as heavy handed as it was made out to be. I thought this movie was alright. Cast was fine, story was alright and was interesting enough. There are a few silly things like an enemy sniper subplot but the biggest thing I took issue with the most was everyone's motivations, which ranged from noble to terrible. Chris Kyle seems to join the war with somewhat good intentions but ends up staying for pretty bad ones. I guess the movie is supposed to be about how war affects people and you see that but it defiantly draped in an American Flag.
Overall it’s a bit of hard movie to talk about without getting too political. I see the entertainment value of the movie, I see the value in Chris Kyle Achievements and I see what its trying to get at with what returning soldiers have to deal with but as much as Clint Eastwood claims the movie is anti-war it seems like its glorifying a pretty terrible war.
6/10
Imitation Game
I thought this movie was pretty good, The story of Alan Turing, the enigma machine and that whole operation at Bletchley place Is very interesting and defiantly deserving of being told with in a feature film with a good cast and decent budget. While enjoyed the film I feel I would have liked it more if I had not known about the Bletchley place/enigma machine/code breaking thing that went on during WWII from documentary's. The documentaries I have seen did not really touch much on the individuals but the mechanics of the enigma machine , the big "a ha" moment and the aftermath I already knew so those moments did not have as much impact.
Benedict Cumberbatch did a great job as Alan Turing walking the tight rope between crazy and brilliant. Supporting cast was pretty good, Charles Dance was menacing as always, the other code breakers were pretty good and Kiera knightly was good as well even if she looks nothing like the person she was portraying. Its not perfect there are a few too many contrived scenes and there are 1 or 2 subplots that are a bit silly. Overall it’s a solid movie, definitely worth your time.
8/10
Ray's Top Movie's of 2014
1. Guardians of the Galaxy
2. Gone Girl
3. SnowPiercer
4. Edge of Tomorrow (Live Die Repeat)
5. Grand Budapest Hotel
6. Captain America The Winter Soldier
7. 22 Jump Street
8. Lego Movie
9. Interstellar
10. Hobbit Battle of the Five Armies
Special Mentions: Boyhood, Selma, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Xmen Days of Future Past
Hunger Games Mocking Jay Part 1 Review
Hunger Games Mocking Jay Part 1
♫This Girl is on Fire♫
I enjoyed this movie for the most part, character wise I think everyone did a good job(save for the President snow.) were interesting, Katniss was not as mopey and actually did some cool shit. Story wise it felt like thing were being dragged out there are some cool action scenes and some good story scenes especially at the end but a lot of it is just people talking in an underground bunker. A few highlights were the propaganda creation scenes since I work in Advertising I found these pretty interesting about the message they were trying to send. The final scene(s) as well were pretty good and yeah that PTSD eh I guess that why it’s a disability. Overall good movie but it looks like the movie probably did not need to be split into 2 parts.
8/10
Quick Fire Oscar Movie Reviews
Boyhood
Really liked this movie, really interesting to see everyone age and I think that ads to the character growth you see in the movie. There is some kind of dark stuff in the movie especially in the middle, it's also quite long. If you looking for a good coming of age movie than this fits that bill.
8/10
Birdman
Quite interested to see this, did not really know what to expect and it was a lot different than I thought it would be. Its shot to look like one big take and between the music, the camera movements and everything everyone is doing it feels a bit trippy. About 1/2 way through the movie I was on board but yeah it did take a awhile. Decent movie, very different probably not everyone's cup of tea.
7/10
Selma
This was a pretty good movie, David Oyelowo as MLK is really spot on. Everyone else is pretty good, Oprah is in it because I guess that’s what she does(to be fair she isn't bad). There are some scenes that are a bit unsettling but I guess that’s what it was like and people definitely had and some still do have these terrible views. It was good seeing a side of MLK that you don’t really see when you hear his speeches.
9/10
Big Hero 6
Pretty decent movie, the design of Baymax is amazing and the themes were handled well in what is ostensibly a kid's film. San Fran Tokyo is a really weird setting though, kind of cool a bit silly but I guess it was interesting at least. Quite a few questions brought up such as how on earth it came to be a thing. Anyway decent movie not as good a Disney's Animations last movie Frozen and not as good as the Lego movie but solid nonetheless
7/10
Grand Budapest Hotel Review
Grand Budapest Hotel Review
Quite liked this movie, had a really nice charming story. The visuals were amazing and the characters were good. There is a bit of darkness to movie especially background of some of the events and I think that added to it. For being primarily set in one place it had a great sense of adventure to it and bit of an old school feel especially with the 4:3 aspect ratio used for most of the movie. I watched this on an iPad not really knowing what to expect and it turned out that was a great decision due to the iPads aspect ratio which fit the movie perfectly. Overall very enjoyable, charming and gorgeous movie. Not the usual type of movie people go to see but it you get the chance go watch it you are in for a treat.
9/10
Snowpiercer Review
Snowpiercer
Who vows to fight like a man for what’s right night and day
I saw this on plane on a pretty terrible screen but none of that stopped this from being probably one of the best movies I have seen in 2014. Snowpeircer is a I guess technically a Korean film though its in English about the denizens of a train that speeds through a post apocalyptic earth. There is a class system on the train and it follows the passengers from the back(lowest class) and their attempts to get to the front. Its not your typical movie being based on a French graphic novel "Le Transperceneige" , directed by a Korean and primarily in English.
This movie was amazing , quite the surprise, I had heard good things about it but did not expect it too be as good as it was. Characters were really good, very interesting and the actors behind theme did a terrific job, especially Tilda Swinton and Chris Evans. Action was pretty good as well, there is not too much of it but what is there is was very well done. Story was really good, find out about the train and its take on issues in the real world be in global warming or the wealth gap. The journey through the train is very interesting and seeing all the different carts and the people in them gives the movie a good progression and there is a lot of creativity on display.
I wholly recommend seeing this movie, not sure how easy it is to see at the moment but if you get a chance or know where to get things on the internet than it’s a really good watch and you won't regret it.
Overall really good movie one of the best of 2014(even if it's actually from 2013)
9/10
Go See this Movie
Hobbit Battle of the Five Armies Review
Hobbit Battle of the Five Armies Review
One Shot, One Kill
Saw this movie twice for some reason ill start with the movie itself then talk about the HFR.
On the movie I thought it was pretty decent for what it was. Action was good story was I guess interesting enough although there are a few too many favorable coincidences. The characters were fine Bilbo was good, bard was cool, the elf king was fabulous , and Thorin Oakenshield becoming a bit of a villain was pretty good. Some of the shoehorned cameos during the LOTR avengers scene were a bit out of place but it was still cool. The movie is not perfect though and there is quite a bit to pick a part. The CG was very heavy handed, it looked nice and all but between the colour palate, and heavy use the battles looked straight out of a game and really have any soul to them. Still cool but were not really as grounded as LOTR and had a sort of mythological look, retelling of a great battle look to them, like retelling a glorious battle.
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Some of the things the characters did were also a bit off, Legolas has a silly moment and the portrayal of the lake town army militia was a bit strange in once scene they are grabbing gear from old armories then during the battle they look like peasant militia.
One of the most off things about the movie was the ending, possible spoilers but it is really abrupt. LOTR had closure for everyone but in the hobbit the battle is won then Bilbo heads home. We don’t see anything rebuilt we don’t see what happens to humans, dwarves and elves and there is a weird scene trying to tie the hobbit to Lord of the Rings in an extremely heavy handed way.
The movie plays around with the theme of obsession but does not really capitalize on it super well most of the various characters, armies etc. are fixated on something but there isn't really any attempt to show how similar they actually are.
One last thing the damn adviser there are so many opportunities to kill the guy and he does not die during the movie other characters die not him which kind of sucks
On HFR3D
So I was this movie twice once in regular HFR3D and a second time on IMAX HRF 3D. Now I'm generally fine with HFR I think its overall better especially for certain scenes and I think it does add to the hobbit. But it does have its issues certain CG heavy scenes look like they are out of game and sets/costumes can look fake especially at the beginning. IMAX HFR 3D was considerably better than regular HFR 3D the issues were still there but it was not as bad and I felt like everything came together better. If you have the option I recommend IMAX HRF3D
Overall decent movie, it probably did not need to be 3 movies I'm sure a 2hr cut will be better or maybe re-cutting the hobbit as a miniseries would be good idea. Good movie not perfect sad to see middle earth go.
8/10
Fury Review
Fury
This was an ok movie, there was nothing really wrong with it but nothing super great. Cast was fine, action was fine, story was fine, I did have a few gripes though. Everything basically happens in one day the rookie character. He has like 50(I exaggerate) life changing, milestone events happen to him in about the space of a day. I get war can have that effect on people but 1 day seems a bit fast. The "lasers" in the trailer turn out to be tracer rounds and they are not as prevalent in the movie.
Overall the movie was pretty average and you could probably easily watch something a lot better.