Tina Fey is in this movie with Jason Bateman. That’s enough right there for me to race to a theater. Then I was lucky enough to get advanced screening passes to see this movie on Wednesday night. Those two things made me really excited for this movie and also nervous because when my excitement levels get really high for movies, it’s easier for me to be disappointed.
So what’s going on to bring Tina Fey and Jason Bateman together? This Is Where You Click For More
Apparently when you’re wrapped up in a fog of World Cup and listening to Sam Smith’s album on repeat, 3+ months can go by in a flash without any blog posts to show for it. But just because I wasn’t posting doesn’t mean I wasn’t watching movies and keeping notes for future updates. So, let’s get right to it.
Maleficent (2014)
Angelina Jolie is gorgeous as Maleficent, so beautiful to look at. I could not take my eyes off of her. Given that Maleficent still terrified me more than she should before I went to see this movie, it’s saying a lot that I found her to be stunning. The make-up artist did a fantastic job on her. Those cheekbones!
The little kid backstory was so adorable! Great casting for the young Maleficent. But what I found off-putting is that Aurora’s caretakers are very negligent. Given that they’re supposed to be raising her far from the reach of Maleficent, they give her a lot of free reign to go wherever she wants whenever she wants despite the constant threat of evil and the curse! Did they forget why they were living isolated in the woods?
There was a great blend of the animated movie that many of us know and love from our childhood viewings of Sleeping Beauty with new elements to nicely flesh out the fairy tale and Maleficent’s story. And I’m liking the way that Disney is handling true love in their movies these days. This movie was an at times sad, moving portrait of Maleficent. Once Upon A Dream playing over the closing credits was a great touch! Given how well this movie turned out, do you think we’ll soon be seeing Ursula’s backstory come to life? Or maybe Jafar’s?
A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014)
Surprisingly, I found A Million Ways to be quite slow. I’m not really into movies that take place in the Wild West but thought this nice modern twist on it could be entertaining. There were a couple of good lines, which, of course, I forgot as soon as the ending credits rolled. But overall, not really my jam. However, Neil Patrick Harris was impeccable, as always. I love Sarah Silverman but would rather just watch her again in Take This Waltz than sit through A Million Ways again. I guess it’s just not my brand of humor because I wasn’t particularly looking forward to this movie beforehand and I didn’t think about it much afterwards. Though I laughed 2 or 3 times, I pretty much forgot why immediately after my laughter subsided. But I’m guessing huge fans of Family Guy have a different take on it. So, to each their own.
Neighbors (2014)
This movie was funny, like actual laugh out loud multiple times funny. Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne play a young, married couple who are new parents. Then a fraternity, headed by Zac Efron and Dave Franco, moves in next door and they grapple with being the young, cool people they once were and managing their more adult responsibliities. Madness and an escalating prank war ensue. There were some great cameos (Hannibal Burress, Workaholics, Lonely Island, Jason Mantzoukas) and surprise roles, like Lisa Kudrow. What’s not to love about this so far, right? But then, unfortunately, there was a completely unnecessary N-bomb dropped and that was a turning point for me. Ike Barinholtz’s character does an Obama impression and for some reason, they must’ve thought it would be hilarious to have him go the N-word route. Not only was it offensive, but it was also not funny and such a lazy way to try to get a laugh. The redeeming point throughout this movie was Rose Byrne. She showed her ability to portray wit and hilarity in Bridesmaids and continues to show it in all of her comedic work, this woman’s got chops and can go toe-to-toe with the celebrated funny people she’s cast with time and time again.
Step Up All In (2014)
I feel the same way about the Step Up franchise as I do about the Fast & Furious movies… They’re so awesomely terrible and terribly awesome that I just can’t get enough. I have an unapologetic love for these movies that defies logic. I spend just as much time laughing at the ridiculousness as I do just appreciating the dance moves. And that’s totally okay by me. In fact, I relish in it. But this iteration of Step Up seemed a little bit more self-aware than the rest. For instance, one of my favourite lines was from crowd favourite, Moose, “Everything doesn’t have to end in a dance battle.” But wouldn’t things be so much more fun if everything did?
Synopsis: Ryan Guzman’s dance crew, The Mob, abandons him so he forms a new one, LMNTRIX, to compete in some Vegas competition. Of course, not only does his rival crew show up but so does The Mob. The tension between The Mob and LMNTRIX makes no sense whatsoever. But they committed to that storyline and tried to sell it like it made all the sense in the world. And that’s why I love these movies. It doesn’t matter if things don’t make sense or if the storylines are absurd. All that matters is that everyone onscreen delivers every line with conviction… and of course the dance sequences are amazing.
They Came Together (2014)
Amy Poehler is pretty much my patronus. (No, Harry Potter references will never get old for me, kind of like Paul Rudd.) Then you sprinkle in Ellie Kemper and Bill Hader and it has all the makings of getting a spot on my watch and rewatch list… So, maybe it was too much of a good thing for me? Because I really, really wanted to love this movie. In fact, I just assumed that I would. And then I didn’t.
The premise is that Poehler and Rudd are a couple with a classic rom-com story with a meet cute, dating montage, and all those other well-worn tropes but the twist is that the movie is intentionally imitating and exaggerating the things we’ve come to know and love in this genre. There was so much potential there but they made too much of a point of driving jokes home. The parts that I laughed the hardest at were the parts that I least expected. For instance, there’s the classic too nervous when asking someone out so you keep stumbling over your words and saying things in the wrong order… To which Paul Rudd’s character replies, “What the f*ck are you saying?” And I almost did a spit take during one of the restaurant scenes when Paul Rudd is talking about his ex-girlfriend, Tiffany and Poehler retorts, “I don’t really know Tiffany but she seems like a stupid bitch.” Amazing. It wasn’t an unpleasant movie watching experience, per se, but my biggest issue was that, tonally, it felt like the first and second halves of the movie were written by different people with completely different takes on what movie was being made… I guess you could say that, they did not come together 😉
Happy Christmas (2014)
This was another movie on my Sundance wish list. It was a pretty informal feeling movie in that it was mostly improvised so the pacing and reactions of each character seemed more true to life. As such, there was a lot of akwardness but it played out really well. Anna Kendrick and Melanie Lynskey are gems. Anna Kendrick is the trainwreck of a younger sister to Lynskey’s husband. She moves in with Lynskey, her husband, and child. But the two, as different as they are, form a lovely bond. It felt realistic and not overly ambitious which was perfect for this kind of story. There was a romance novel subplot which was entertaining. Lynskey’s a writer suffering from writer’s block so Kendrick convinces her to write her own version of 50 Shades. There’s a delightful extended/deleted scene that played out during the closing credits of them riffing, along with Lena Dunham, about the romance novel storylines. So, so enjoyable!
Here’s the second half of the movies I’ve watched during the summer months. Hopefully, I will be returning to my regular blogging ways with more reviews coming at you at least somewhat steadily from here on out. What movies should I be sure to see this fall?
Colombiana (2011)
Colombiana had been on my list since before it was in theaters back in 2011 so even though it didn’t come out in 2014, this summer is when I watched it. I have had a soft spot for Zoe Saldana since Center Stage because how can you not love a dance movie anchored by a haunting Mandy Moore ballad (I Wanna Be With You). Zoe Saldana plays a woman who witnessed her parents murdered before her eyes. Since that day, she has dedicated herself to training for revenge. She becomes a highly skilled assassin so as you can probably guess, this movie is all about the ass kicking. As with pretty much all action movies, plot was secondary and I did not mind that at all. Though I found it amusing when they really tried to hammer the plot home. The bad guys in most action movies tend to be comically villainous and Colombiana did not disappoint. There was a CIA guy who was not just sketchy but oozing smarm. Of course, there was the not quite needed romantic subplot but I did like seeing the role reversal of a female kicking butt while the male love interested waited around for her to return. Colombiana was fun, fast-paced, and just a little bit ridiculous so really, it was just what I look for in an action movie.
About Alex (2014)
While watching this movie, I verified for myself that I love reunion movies. (I’m aware this makes it all the more ridiculous that I have still never seen The Big Chill.) This was a great cast of familiar, but not too familiar faces, including Aubrey Plaza, Max Greenfield (Schmidt from New Girl), Maggie Grace (Lost and Taken), Max Minghella (10 Years, another reunion movie that I enjoyed), Jane Levy (Suburgatory) and Jason Ritter (Parenthood). A close knit group of 6 friends from college are brought together in the wake of one’s suicide attempt. This movie looks at the intricacies of relationships and the betrayals, loyalties, and interactions that we form within them, both romantically and platonically. Of course, it also involves some blurring of the lines between romantic and platonic. This subject matter is endlessly fascinating to me so I ate it right up. Although, when I considered that this group of friends are actually quite mature and really have their sh*t together for a group of 27 year olds, it made me consider the nature of my own relationships. But I also thought it was such an oddly specific age for the group to be, especially since most of the actors are 30+. Overall, I enjoyed it and appreciated the effort to emphasize the current obsession with capturing moments in time in our modern social media world, instead of just being in the moment and enjoying things while they are happening, not just in retrospect.
The Fault in Our Stars (2014)
Based on the YA novel by John Green, The Fault in Our Stars tells the story of two teenagers, Hazel (Shailene Woodley) and Gus (Ansel Engort) who fall in love after meeting at a cancer support group. The movie follows their meeting, courtship, and beautiful love story. Oh, and Hazel has terminal cancer and Gus is in remission… I have not read the book and after seeing the movie, I’m not sure I would even be able to see the words on the page through my tears. I have no cried this hard in quite a while. We’re talking full-on sobbing. Like, chest heaving, runny nose, sore throat, tears streaming down my face, loud crying. And it was oddly cathartic. There is something about Shailene Woodley that I find incredibly watchable. (Her “it” factor even compelled me to it through probably a dozen episodes of Secret Life of the American Teenager, even though I hated every minute of it and felt like it was a return to the days of forcing myself to sit through 7th Heaven for no good reason.)
I completely bought into Hazel and Gus’s love story because of the beautiful chemistry between Woodley and Engort. It made my heart ache. I appreciated how wonderfully supportive Hazel’s parents were of her and her ability to manage her emotions and decision-making. It was beautiful to see. Also, I was just happy to see Laura Dern and would like to see her more often.
Sidebar: There was an author’s assistant during a few scenes who looked like a red-headed Minka Kelly (FNL forever!). And I didn’t know beforehand that Mike Birbiglia was in it and immediately exclaimed aloud, “Birbigs!” when he popped up onscreen. This surprised me because not only was I unaware of my Mike Birbiglia fandom but I also didn’t know that I would jump right to such an overly familiar nickname for him.
I love that this movie was so successful at the box office but am crossing my fingers that this doesn’t prompt the need for a completely unnecessary sequel since it’s such a rarity to let something successful be a one-off these days. This is the kind of movie that provides a wonderful emotional cleanse, even if you didn’t know you needed one.
That Awkward Moment (2014)
I wanted to watch this movie when it came out earlier this year and just never got around to it. But watching it from the comfort of my couch on a day when I needed a laugh, this movie was exactly what I wanted it to be. It was a rom-com from the dude perspective. And it filled my bro quotient for the summer. It was funny. The three leads had good friend chemistry. Quick plot breakdown: Michael B. Jordan’s wife cheats on him and as an act of solidarity, his two friends Miles Teller and Zac Efron vow to remain single with him. Of course, this instantly leads to everyone getting in to romantic relationshps but going above and beyond what’s normal to hide it from each other. I love, love, love watching anything Michael B. Jordan acts in and am consistently growing in my appreciation for Miles Teller. I struggled with finding any likeability for Zac Efron’s character as I found him to be a soulless douchebag and several times thought to myself, “What. A. Dick.” I did not buy his sad reflections monologue, especially because his offending behaviour was 100% the result of his own idiocy. But I did get to see a fantastic slow motion group strut out of a disastrous Thanksgiving dinner event so I was happy. And there was a final outtake scene shown during the credits that was both surprising and hilarious. I played it back twice and found it just as funny each time. Also, as a result of this movie, I am now hoping and wishing for a buddy cop comedy or road trip comedy starring Michael B. Jordan and Miles Teller. I know they’re in the Fantastic Four reboot but that won’t really be a chance to see them letting loose. But Michael B. Jordan and Miles Teller starring in an updated remake of Lethal Weapon? I would see that at midnight on opening night.
Think Like A Man Too (2014)
I enjoyed the first Think Like A Man much more than I would have anticipated. I enjoyed it so much that I watched it twice. So when trailers for the sequel were released and everyone was returning, I was excited. I mean, Gabrielle Union and Turtle from Entourage. That’s almost enough for me right there. But between the release of the first movie and the filming of this sequel, Kevin Hart’s profile skyrocketed and he became a huge star. Fantastic for him but not so great for this movie. The sequel clearly attempted to capitalize on Hart’s fame and focused more on his character than was necessary for this ensemble film. His character’s narration and many of his scenes were too over the top and there wasn’t enough focus on the ensemble players, which is too bad because that’s what I loved about the first film. Also, more Michael Ealy is always a good idea. Think Like A Man Too was predictable but not in an annoying way, except for Jenifer Lewis’s role as an overbearing, overly involved mother. She was waaaay too crazy to be funny. The ensemble cast from the first movie included 8 or so people which is more than enough to fill the screen time but this being a sequel, they decided to throw in even more people. Because I loved The OC, I will always root for Adam Brody but there was no need for him to join the ensemble in this film. Not because he wasn’t good in his role but because there were just too many people to focus on. However, I did find the movie to be fun enough to watch. Especially the group fight scene which made me laugh quite hard. Throw in a great shout out to Steve Harvey and a DeVoe cameo (as in Ronnie DeVoe from Bell Biv DeVoe) and I was satisfied.
Can you ever get back together with an X? Well, when the X in question is X-Men, the answer is a resounding, absolutely! After a long absence (X-Men: The Last Stand came out in 2006), it was time to get back together with the ’06 cast and see if they’ve still got it.
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Summer movie season is barrelling towards us like the asteroid that only Ben Affleck could save us from in Armageddon. The one thing I know for sure is that I don’t wanna miss a thing so, before the blink and we’ll miss them days of summer have already come and gone, I figured it’s time to take stock of what’s coming to the big screen over the next few months. Although, I must admit, I’m not as excited about this year’s entries as I was for last summer’s hits. Maybe it’s because World Cup will be pulling most of my focus. (Sergio Ramos siempre!) But when I’m done mainlining all the futbol my brain can possibly handle, I’ll be right back in the theaters. Here’s this year’s edition of my can’t wait to watch summer movies (minus any movies that I’ve already discussed on my Sequels list)!
~A²
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Neighbors
I desperately want Neighbors to be this summer’s This Is The End but given how hard I laughed at that movie and the random cameos that had me pretty much choking on my own laughs, those are some pretty big shoes to fill. However, I do think Neighbors will be entertaining and it has Dave Franco in it which I’ve decided will be a requirement for at least one movie on my list each year. (He was in Now You See Me from last year’s Summer Movie List). Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne as new parents who end up living next door to a fraternity which makes them think they’re still cool and don’t have to accept that they’re aging out of their previous lifestyle? Sold. You had me at Rose Byrne.
Release Date: May 9
Trailer:
Chef
After listening to Jon Favreau (writer, director, producer, and star of Chef ) on The Nerdist Podcast, I was very impressed. He comes across as articulate, grateful, thoughtful, intelligent, funny, and damn good at what he does. (You may recognize him as the mastermind behind Swingers as well as the director of Iron Man and Iron Man 2. Or as Monica’s aspriring ultimate fighter boyfriend, Pete, on Friends.) And so now I want to see his movie. Simple as that. But if you need more incentive, the cast and cameos are pretty impressive (Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr., Dustin Hoffman, Russell Peters) and the food shots are a foodie’s dream.
Release Date: May 9
Trailer:
Godzilla
Generally, I’m not really into the whole giant monster terrorizing the world kind of thing. But if B-Cran (Bryan Cranston) is in it then I’m all about it. Pair that with my growing fascination with Elizabeth Olsen’s career and some well-cut trailers that have managed to hold my interest, and it seems even more worth my while. I guess this will be my karmic retribution for never bothering to see Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Kick Ass 2 last summer. Bring on the monster!
Release Date: May 16
Trailer:
Maleficent
I’m still terrified of Maleficent from my repeated childhood viewings of Sleeping Beauty. The posters for this movie featuring Angelina Jolie in all of Maleficent’s glory aren’t helping my fear but they are definitely intriguing me. Fear + Intrigue = Summer Movie Magic? I guess I’ll find out because seeing the scariest of Disney villains come to life is something that I cannot miss! Childhood me would never forgive current me, or at least I assume that’s how she’d feel after she’s done cowering under her blanket from watching Maleficent’s reign of terror for the thousandth time.
Release Date: May 30
Trailer:
Snowpiercer
Not only does Snowpiercer look cool and badass but it has Tilda Swinton who personifies those very traits. And Chris Evans (aka the guy from Cellular… and that little known film franchise, Captain America). It’s set in the not so distant future in which a new ice age has arrived, killing off most of the people on Earth. Those who have survived are inhabitants of a huge train, Snowpiercer. The haves live at the front and the have nots live at the back until they rebel and sh*t gets real. Snowpiercer is a South Korean-American sci-fi action movie based on a French graphic novel. What more do you need to know?
Release Date: June 27
Trailer:
Guardians of the Galaxy
I must confess, I’m starting to suffer from superhero movie fatigue. Luckily, Guardians of the Galaxy seems more like a motley crew coming together to save the galaxy (and yes, I’m now realizing that I might just love any movie that sounds like a re-imagining of the aforementioned Armageddon) in a way that will produce some excitement and a lot of laughs. Plus, Djimon Hounsou is in it. Anyone else regularly find themselves asking where he’s been (but too lazy to just check on IMDb)? Just me?
Release Date: August 1
Trailer:
Let’s Be Cops
Two friends dress up as cops for a costume party but then decide one night isn’t enough so they carry on the charade only to find themselves embroiled in a sea of danger and corruption as a result. I know, that premise sounds absurd. But Coach and Nick from New Girl together on the big screen? Hells yeah!
Release Date: August 13
Trailer:
Things I've Scene 