I, Frankenstein

I, Frankenstein

Rating 7 out of 10

When I saw the trailer for this movie I thought it looked interesting.  I generally am drawn to movies like this.  Then I saw the absolutely horrible reviews across the board.  I also realized the star was Aaron Eckhart.  Whenever I see him in a movie I usually wonder how many A-list actors said no before it finally got to him.  He is not a bad actor just generally doesn't have the stones to carry a film.    So going into the theater on this freezing Saturday afternoon with my movie buddy Ted who is up for ANY movie expectations were set very low.

I'm glad to say I was pleasantly surprised.  I like most of the Underworld movies.  I would say if you liked any of the Underworld movies you will feel you got your moneys worth with this one.  I, Frankenstein was made by the same people that made the Underworld movies.

In I, Frankenstein we start 200 years in the past when Dr. Frankenstein was making history creating a man out of body parts of five different bodies and figuring out how to bring it to life.  When some demons try to capture him he is saved by a couple angelic gargoyles where he is then taken to their castle and told the story.  Seems the devil put 666 demons on earth to cause havoc and lucky for us humans heaven sent down the very cool flying gargoyles to kill these demons and protect them.  The demons want Frankenstein as he is the key to bringing a soul-less body to life thus a carrying case for all the evil souls of the demons the gargoyles had killed already.  If this happens the evil demons can take over the world and end all for humankind.   Yes it's based on a true story.  : >

The action and effects are pretty good.  The movie moved on at a good pace and I was entertained.  If you watch the trailer and find it appealing I think you will enjoy it to.  It's not for everyone.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Rating 8 out of 10

Jack Ryan, you may or may not know is a long running character in the books written by Tom Clancy.  Over the years Ryan has been played by a who's who of actors in movies made from other Clancy films.  Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck and now Chris Pine shows us how it all began.

Clancy made his hay writing books that showed the Russians were our number one enemy and lost some steam when the cold war ended.  Here the Ruskies are back and determine to bring the US to our knees.  This time through the financial services.

The movie starts with 9/11 and then Ryan's rough tour of duty in Afghanistan.  He is drafted into the CIA where his analyst intellect come in handy.  When Ryan uncovers a Russian plot to undermine the US economy.

The action is good.  Action is good.  Kevin Costner is good as the old CIA mentor.  Keira Knightly plays the love interest.

Usually January is a dumping ground for really bad movies.  I enjoyed this movie.

Ride Along

Ride Along

Rating 5 out of 10

Kevin Hart is a funny guy.  He is now what Eddie Murphy was as a young man.  Very funny and full of energy.  The world is his oyster.  The problem is he is picking his movies now like the older less wiser Murphy.  Hart was very funny in the underrated movie Think Like a Man.  He is also funny at times in Ride Along.  Sadly he has to work way too hard to get most of those laughs.

Hart plays a Atlanta high school security guard with aspirations of someday becoming a police detective.  He wants to marry his way too hot for him girlfriend Angela (Tika Sumpter) but needs the approval of her tough as nails actual police detective (Ice Cube).  The brother has no respect for him and asks him to go on the "ride along" in the rough streets of ATL so he can ridicule him and persuade him from marrying his sister.

There is a side story of a years long investigation of an unseen evil arms dealer that is coming to an head on the one night of the ride along.  There are some funny parts and it is fun seeing the many parts of downtown Atlanta used in filming this movie.

I was mildly entertained.  Just keep your expectations low walking into the theater.

My Top Ten Movies of 2013

Top Ten

1-        Gravity

I’m not sure this was the absolute best movie, but visually I was completely amazed for 91 minutes I believed I was in space.  Sandra Bullock was top notch.   Loved this movie.

2-        Captain Phillips

Tom Hanks showing us how it’s done.  A very well made movie about a ship hijacking on the seas.  Glad to see the Navy Seals to the rescue again.  True story and good movie.

3-        Prisoners

I thought I had this movie figured out long before entering the theater.  I was wrong.  It was far better than I expected.  Hugh Jackman does a good job showing how a father can react when the life of his children are at risk.

4-        The Conjuring

I’m not really into scary movies anymore.  They seem to all be the same.  Oh the spooky music is starting so someone is about to jump out?  This movie was very different and had me on the edge of my seat most of the film. 

5-        World War Z

Another incredibly visual movie.  Very creepy but not in a gory slice your head off type of way.  Pretty boy Brad Pitt is good as the scientist in charge of figuring out what is causing the dead to become zombies and how to stop it. 

6-        Enough Said

I really hope more people give this movie a chance on rentals.  It deserved far better in the theaters.  Just a very well written piece of work.  James Gandolfini is not your normal leading man love interest but is perfect here.  Rent this one folks.  If you don’t like it you can send me ugly email.

7-        Olympus Has Fallen

Just a big bag of fun to watch.  The Koreans take over the White House and decimate the secret service and only one exiled agent can save the world.  Gerard Butler hasn’t been this good since 300.

8-        The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

A action packed sequel that improved on the first one.  Looking forward to part three. 

9-        Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa

I am not a Jackass or Johnny Knoxville fan.  Had reservations about going to this movie.  I laughed so hard I had my teenage son trying to hush me.  For me this was by far the funniest movie I have seen in a while.

10       Fast and Furious 6

Like taking a big bad go testosterone, shaking it up and pouring it into a fancy fast car.  Yes, many of the action scenes make no sense.  It’s just fun to watch. 

Honorable Mention

1-        Homefront

A surprisingly good action movie with Jason Statham that has a good plot.

2-        Delivery Man

Not a goofball comedy you’d expect out of Vince Vaughn.  Really touches you.

3-        About Time

Another movie most have never heard of that deserved better in the box office.  Good rental.

4-        Rush

Not a racecar movie.  Just a good friendship movie where the guys drive fast cars.

5-        We’re the Millers

I laughed much more at this movie than I expected.  Another good rental.

My Worst Ten Movies of 2013

Worst Ten

1-        Wolf on Wall Street

An hour into this movie I wanted to hurt someone and there was still two hours of misery to go.  This is just a terrible movie with no redeeming values at all.

2-        The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

Good premise, good cast, good location.  Really bad movie.  It was painfully bad to watch. 

3-        Snitch

Watching a father make one bad decision after another in what we are supposed to think is helping his druggie son even if he throws away his current family to do it.  The Rock doesn’t always pick good movies.

4-        White House Down

A similar movie to Olympus has Fallen that fell far short of being entertaining.  They couldn’t decide whether to be serious or funny and gave us neither.

5-        The Last Stand

Schwarzenegger gives up politics to go back into movies for this?  Really bad.

6-        Bullet to the Head

Another bad movie from the geezer squad.  Stalone has to have better thing to do than this mess.

7-        Oz the Great and Powerful

James Franco was the wrong person for Oz.  He just looked stoned and out of it.  Hardly deserving for a sequel to a beloved classic.

8-        Enders Game

I didn’t read the book and after seeing the movie I have no desire to.

9-        R.I.P.D

Story idea was actually pretty good.  It just didn’t come together.  This movie not only lost more money than any other in 2013 it made the all time list of money losers.

10-     Elysium

Total class hate nonsense.  Poorly acted and cheesly filmed.  I couldn’t wait for this movie to end.

Should have been better

1-        Superman: Man of Steel

I gave this movie a positive review after viewing then realized I had no desire to see it again.  Don’t understand why they can’t make a good modern day Superman movie.

2-        A Good Day to Die Hard

John McClane should have stayed at Nakatomi plaza and not taken us to Russia.  Very bad and I set the bar low going in.

3-        A Madea Christmas

Madea is funny at times.  The rest of the movie is poorly written, poorly acted and full of not funny stereotypes.  Not for me.

4-        Kick Ass 2

Turns out there was no need for a Kick Ass 2.  One was plenty.

5-        47 Ronin

Proof that not all stories about Japanese history are interesting or entertaining. 

American Hustle

American Hustle

Rating 6 out of 10

When I first saw the previews for this movie I got the feeling it wasn't for me.  I had no plans to see it.  As time went by I had several friends tell me how great it was which had me leaning toward seeing it.  What made me nervous was that it's getting such rave reviews (93% on www.rottentomatoes.com) and as anyone that has ever read this blog knows I am not normal nor do I usually agree with the reviewers.  When a movie has that high an approval rating I rarely agree.

Unfortunately for me my first impression was correct.  This movie just wasn't for me.  It seemed like more of a parody of the 70s than a movie based in the 70s.  The hairstyles and clothes were very over the top of every goofy 70s trend.  I was a teenager in the 70s and I definitely would have remembered Amy Adams very open boob showing outfits.

In case you don't know the movie is about a married con-man (Christian Bale) who hooks up with a pretty redhead at a party (Amy Adams) and finds out she may be as good a con-person as he is.  They begin a con of taking a $5000 payment promising a $50,000 payoff that will never come.  Somehow no one ever complains and the money keeps piling in.  Life is good even with his crazy wife (Jennifer Lawrence) until a low level FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) that seems to be working out of a Motel 6 catches them in their con.  He forces them to work a sting operation on local New Jersey politicians.

I can see how some might like this movie.  It just wasn't for me.  It was just over 2 hours in length but to me seemed much longer.  I know Jennifer Lawrence is already winning awards for her goofy way over the top performance as the crazy wife.  I didn't like her in Silver Linings Playbook and here she steps up crazy another notch.  Or maybe I'm still mad at her for cutting off all her hair?

I didn't dislike this movie.  Just didn't like it either.  Maybe I went in with expectations too high.  Either way I'd say rent it.

Lone Survivor

Lone Survivor

Rating 8 out of 10

I read the book Lone Survivor by Marcus Latrell last year.  Loved it.  Was very happy hear they were making a movie and hoped they didn't screw it up.  Glad to say they didn't.  It's a bang bang movie from start to finish that I greatly enjoyed.

This story is the "based on a true story" movie telling us of four Navy Seals who are sent into the mountainous country of Afghanistan to locate and possibly take out a Taliban bad guy.  He is supposed to be in a mountain top village with few guards.  This is not considered to be a high risk operation for Marcus (Mark Wahlberg), Matt (Ben Foster), Mike (Taylor Kitsch) and Danny (Emile Hirsch).  When they get close to the village they find it to have many more bad guys than they expected.  To make things worse they are stumbled upon buy three goat herders.  The tough decision is what to do with these herders.  They should kill them and proceed with their mission, but under the fighting rules set down for them they would be thrown in prison for life.  They decide to let them go and get out of Dodge.  Within an hour they have 80 Taliban soldiers on top of them with a fight for their lives.  Unfortunately they must have T-Moblie cell service like my buddy Ted and are unable to call for help.

The fighting is incredible and non-stop.  Director Peter Berg likes his shaky cam a little more than I do but the story and good acting overcome.  They mostly did a good job following the book (except the ending is changed- not a biggie).  I don't want to be one of those book snobs that harps on how much better the book is than the movie.  Yet the book is very good too and I recommend it.

Good movie.  It has some blood and gore as one would expect but if my wife can watch and enjoy it anyone can.  Go see it.  

47 Ronin

47 Ronin

Rating 5 out of 10

When I saw the trailer for this movie I thought it looked very good.  A kind of mix between The Last Samurai and the 300.   Looked like 47 good guys highly outnumbered going against thousands of bad guys with honor and no telling what else at stake.  That was partially correct.

Early on we find out a Ronin is a samurai in Japan that has disgraced his master and then is demoted from the samurai status and exiled.  We also find out the rules of Japanese law and honor were tough back then.  If you step in for a sick samurai to fight this giant bad samurai without permission they take off your armor and beat you severely with big sticks.  Also if you strike a distinguished guest in your castle, even if you are under a spell from an evil witch, the penalty is death.

Oshi (Keanu Reeves) is a "half breed" who was raised by a strange looking group of bad men until he escaped and was taken in by the samurai master who was later put to death.  He joins a group of  47 Ronin's to avenge the masters death and regain their honor.

The movie seems like it would be packed with action when it mostly is talking about honor and deception. The first half is rather dull and the second half barely picks up with an ending that left me scratching my head on how this honor can make sense.

I would wait to rent this one.