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!
Things I've Scene 