Jurassic World

THE PITCH

WORTH

$$$$$

THE VIEWING

"These people never learn."

      Jurassic World was dumb… at least the idea was, but it was oh soooooooo much fun. I am detecting a pattern that way.  Movies that are “safe” are getting the green light over anything risky.  Not to be too dramatic but soooo long to all the would-be Shawshank Redemptions and movies like The Siege and Slumdog Millionaire. Anything not a sequel, prequel or of “shared Universe”. Jurassic World is also getting some very heavy numbers at the box office.  Numbers that the suits occupying conference rooms in the studios of Universal, Paramount, ect. are taking note.  It is a shame that I liked the movie so much, I am only adding to the problem.

    It is a rarity when trailers captures the movie it’s promoting perfectly and without deceit. I was so hyped up for this movie that I went all out and bought D-Box seats with the 3-D.  My decision to splurge was not met with regret but rewarded with smiles the whole way through. Popcorn missing my mouth and then finding it later that night putting the clothes in the hamper.

   Nice casting too, I loved the child actors and what more can be said about Chris Pratt? He is the new Harrison Ford in my book. Charisma, witty, funny, “it” factor, he seems to have the whole package.  Unlike the ‘chosen’ superhero of 2009  Sam Worthington that ended up playing every hero in seemingly every action movie... Chris wasn’t forced on us like that. Oh, and ol’ girl whats-her-face (Bryce Dallas Howard (daughter of film maker Ron Howard)), was just as memorable in this picture as Téa Leoni was in Bad Boys.  It was extremely hard to like her character but with no fault of her own.  Her likableness or lack there of was the direct result of a shallow script.

     No need to go through the minutiae of the plot.  It is the same as it has always been with the ENTIRE JP franchise. Maybe an adjustment here and a reorder there but technically…. the same.  While I liked The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III, I am still wondering why Jurassic World was sooooooo much more successful than the previous two?  Great trailer, huge time gap between this one and (supposedly) the last one, or maybe just perfect timing on the release date… I dunno.  

     The only gripe I will mention is in an attempt to make the CGI more real, some of the dinosaurs ended up looking more unreal.  Almost like they regressed with the post production or maybe used a new company but I was shocked. It was not a glaring problem, but just with a few shots of the Raptors and the Brontosauruses.

    Worth Watching and owning!  I don’t think the 3D was so good that I would do it again for this movie.  So if faced with the option, save the extra $2. No easter eggs or bonus footage after the credits either folks.

    letter grade: A

Mad Max: Fury Road

THE PITCH

WORTH

$$$$

THE VIEWING

"Oh, what a day... what a lovely day!"

   As I mentioned in the previous post I fell asleep in this acid and kerosene melody. Again, me falling asleep is no indication that the movie was boring.  Boring is one thing this film was not! I just tried to do too much that day and... ANYWAYS, I won't give a grade but if I could I would give it an A-.  Why an A-?  Because of the way this action movie was done.  It was different.  Unlike any other action movie I've seen.  Forgive me for sounding too lofty but the only way I can think to describe it is like a ballet of action. 
    I loved everything I was seeing.  I would pay to see the one part I drifted off on but with the Terminator movie and Mission Impossible movie around the next bend, I am not sure if I will get a chance.

   Worth watching!  Worth the money spent at the concession stands too.

 

San Andreas

THE PITCH

WORTH

$$$

THE VIEWING

"What do we do now?"

      I dare any movie buff to lie and say the trailer for San Andreas did not remind them of the the movie “2012”. Surely it did that for me which was an instant turn off…. for me.  I didn’t need to see another movie like that, so the urgency to see it jettisoned to the middle of my movie-must-see list, maybe near the bottom even.

     Well I went out with my lady, of whom I’ve been with for almost a year (July 30th will be the Anni) and we had our first “strong” disagreement about a movie.  We have very similar tastes and are both movie buffs. I was actually stunned that the movie was as good as it was but then again, I went in with very low expectations.  I am not sure where her expectation level was but she certainly was not feeling it or at least like I was: “Too over-the-top”, “corny lines”, “predictable” and the always frustrating smart alecky, wisecracks while in pursuit to/from probable death. I won’t refute that this flick had ALL of those things but still… it worked for me.

      As charismatic as Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) is, I can’t say it was all him that made the movie flow like it did. I thought, besides the obvious plot, the story had a decent path.  Picking up interesting characters along the way and the sub plots were pretty good as well.  As over- the- top as some of the action was, it became easily forgivable once the next scene started.

    I wanted to wait until the end of the credits to warn you guys for possible easter eggs or bonus material but SOMEBODY was in a hurry to get out of there. lol  

  So!! If anyone stayed and waited would you be so kind as to confirm or deny any material at the very end in the comment section for this movie review?? Thank you in advance.

   Worth watching!!!  I can ONLY imagine how the CGI would look in 3D.  I enjoyed it on the regular format so there is no wrong choice there.  This is also a good flick to scarf down Popcorn and Pop, regardless of how many times you may miss your mouth throwing it in!

letter Grade: B-

Transformers: Age of Extinction

THE PITCH

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Watch the latest movie trailers on Tribute.ca

WORTH

$$$$1/2

THE VIEWING

"How many more of my kind must be sacrificed, to atone for YOUR mistakes?"

      The 4th installment of Michael Bay’s Transformers movies named Age of Extinction was good but long.  I have to put the praise and critique in that order because I’ve heard more people complain about the length than about anything else. Admittingly I can not fathom why the editing room was left unused when the last movie, which was understandably long due to the assumption that it was the last in a trilogy, force fed us some of the longest and most action packed finale battle scenes [a half of hour worth] ever! Again, which wasn’t a bad thing because it was the supposed glorious end. I just don’t see why we then are exposed to another almost 3 hour flick when now, we don’t know if there will be 5 of these or Mike Bay puts the cap on this one.  One thing is for sure, if there is a 5th one there is no way that movie should be over 2 hours… none.

      Anybody that lazily looks over all the other great things in this movie and says the movie sucks should be playfully slapped.  Unless your a hardcaore fan and you didn’t like the way one of your favorite characters were portrayed, the movie was nice.  As a honest cinema flick, the movie itself was engaging, interesting, full of action, comedy despite Shia Lebeouf not being there (will discuss this more later), and a parody of governmental/corporate intelligence, or lack thereof…. who doesn’t like sticking it to the big guys?  I know we are spoiled as a consumer base when it comes to CGI and post-production but seeing robots and real life motion-action on screen together seamlessly is still awesome to me.

     Mark was Mark, I have nothing bad to say about Mark Wahlberg taking the lead in this one.  I feel like it may take time the same way it took a couple of movies for me to warm up to Garfield over Tobey Maguire as Spiderman… or even Daniel Craig over Clive Owen(the guy I originally wanted to start the new Bond films).  Shia is either underrated or overbearing.  His comedic properties are usually always over looked from my view point.  I don’t know if I’ll ever get use to him not being the lead but Wahlberg brings some comedy but another more burly, fatherly element that seemed to work with this story.

     Well done. This movie was definitely worth every penny!

 letter grade: A-



There is no bonus scene among the the credits.  This makes the first time in the  Micheal Bay's Transformers movie's franchise

Dwayne Johnson was offered the role of Cade Yeager, but he declined due to scheduling conflicts with his movie Hercules (2014) -imdb.com

Edge of Tomorrow

THE PITCH

WORTH

$$$1/2

THE VIEWING



"Hey Mate! I think there's something wrong with your suit,
 There's a dead guy in it"

  Surprisingly deeper and more plausible [in the realm of sci-fi] than I expected.  Usually when Hollywood goes through THIS much money promoting a movie the way they did for this one, they either are trying to sell something hot/trending and overall shallow or…. they know that they have something pretty special. Going to the theater and paying good money blindly for either one of these presumptions is risky.  That is why I am so glad to be a help.  This movie is worth the buck, yes even in 3D.

   I really liked it but didn’t love it; which is so much farther ahead of the curve than I thought I would have been. The tagline: “ Live, die, repeat .” made me automatically think reincarnation. With the disappointing after taste of Cloud Atlas still lingering in my mind I thought it was too soon to revisit that topic on a grand level.  EOT was different and nothing that I expected, in a good way.

    The movie puts you directly in the delima.  No explanations, no foreword [that I can remember], and character build up is done quietly and happens in sequence with the story.  Even though the movie may have been a bit long it wasn’t bad enough for me to literally look at my watch.  I was a tad disappointed with the ending but at least this film had one, even if it may be a bit controversial…. Who doesn’t like controversy?  It gives everyone something to talk about on the ride home.

   Tom Cruise was Tom Cruise [a good thing]. Emily Blunt held her own and in some cases may have outshined Tom.  The rest of the cast did a good job as well.  

    Again, worth watching.  I don’t know if I would need this one in my library but it would make a great rental night.

          letter grade: B