Age of Adaline - Movie Review

 

 

So by now you must know that my girl crush is Blake Lively. I just adore her style, grace, and pretty much all she does. I recently got to see Age of Adaline. I have been wanting to see it for a while now. I thought I had an idea as to what the movie was about - but I was about 50% wrong.

The Age of Adaline is about a woman who has stopped aging. She was in a car accident and electrocuted- which stopped the aging process. Adaline then has to face life as those she loves, her daughter included, begin to age and grow older. She changes her identity every 10 years and relocates to start a new life. She never, ever falls in love.

 

Until.....she meets a certain man. Later, we find out a strange connection she has with this man and the truth comes out.

 

Will she find true love? Check out the movie and find out! :)

 

 

Now You See Me 2 - Movie Review

I love a good robin hood story, don't you? And I love it EVEN more when magicians show you how they did their tricks or illusions. You get both of those in this movie. I loved the first one that came out a few years ago, so I was so excited to see that they made a sequel.

The movie starts off about 18 months after the first one ends. The Horsemen are still in hiding while the FBI is looking for them. However, they stage an epic comeback to take down a tech magnate and show the FBI the real masterminds behind it all. Now You see Me 2 did a great job to extend the story from the first movie and expand on it without being boring. This movie had me just as captivated as the first installment. Lizzy Caplan did a great job replacing Isla Fisher- even though Isla is set to appear in the third installment.

It is still weird for me to see Daniel Radcliffe as anything but Harry Potter, even though I know he has tried desperately to break that stereotype.

You learn more about Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) and his connection to all of this, with a surprising twist in the end. There were a few predictable moments, but the ending, OHHH the ending. I was shocked. I typically spend a movie trying to figure out what is really going on and predicting what will happen. This movie was all about misdirection, as a movie about magicians should be. I loved the ending and how they pulled it off.

This is one of the best sequels I have seen in a looonng time. If you want to enjoy yourself while catching up with your old pals from Now You See Me, check out Now You See Me 2!

Can't wait to see the third one!

The Gambler - Movie Review

I have been a fan of Mark Wahlberg since he was Marky Mark. The movies I have seen of his, do not seem to dissapoint (however, I have not seen a few of his 'comedy' movies lately such as Ted or Daddy's Home). I prefer action movies to just about anything these days. I find myself getting bored with Dramas, too scared for Thrillers and that most Comedys nowadays are just an excuse to say bad words and show naked girls.  My favorite Mark Wahlberg movie is The Italian Job with Renaissance Man in a close second.

Recently, I watched The Gambler thinking there would be some similarities between it and the Italian Job. Boy was I wrong! This movie is way more intellectual that I want in a movie. I want to be entertained, not having  to think about the inner stuggles of every single character in the movie. In the movie, Jim Bennet (Mark Wahlberg's character) is an English Professor by day and a Gambler by night. He comes from a well-to-do family, but turns away from his silver spoon to decide who he really is. You feel for the guy in this movie. He owes a debt, plays blackjack to win back 80% of the money owed, they makes one final bet and losses it all. This happens over and over again.

This movie seemed very dark to me. He was so down on his luck and addicted to gambling that he knew death was a real possible outcome at any moment. He was willing to give up everything. It showed that life is about decisions. How one decision can change the course of your life. At one point, Bennet's mother gave him the money he needed to pay off his debts. His choice with what to do with that money, pay off his debts or gamble it away, was a key decision in his life. It also showed, how desperate he was to gamble. His life was on the line  yet he still chose to make bets instead of paying off those trying to kill him. In the end, does he make the right decision? Check out the movie and see for yourself.

Batman v. Superman - Movie Review

Wow. I don't even know where to begin with this one. Let's start with some history....I have never read a comic book. There I said it. However, I have seen all of the Batman movies going back to Michael Keaton as Batman. I also love watching Gotham, which is currently about to start its third season. As far as Superman goes, I am far less versed. I never saw a movie with Christopher Reeves as Superman, but I was an avid viewer of Smallville and the more recent Superman movies with Henry Cavill and Brandon Routh.  I realize this doesn't qualify me as any kind of expert, but I do come into this movie with some background knowledge.

I wanted Batman v. Superman to be great. But we don't always get what we want, do we. This movie started out soooooo slow, which is exactly how I have felt about the more recent Superman movies, too. And it was very confusing as to what was going on. All you see is the city being destroyed by Superman and his fight with Zod, while the city gets destoyed and people die. Most of the citizens carry deep hatred towards Superman. I didn't like this idea that this person who does nothing but attempt to do good and save others, was disliked so much. However, it does resemble the idea of how quickly public opinion can change based on a spin of a story, or how others want us to view the story.

In my opinion, Ben Affleck looked too old in the movie. They made a mention that he had been fighting crime for 20 years - which makes no sense that it took this long for Batman and Superman to meet up...really? Oh! And the idea that you can basically try to fight someone to the death,  spend time to develop weapons that you know will make him a mere mortal to kill him and he mentions his mother's name, which happens to the be same as your mom's name, and all of the sudden you want to help and insist you will save his mother's life? Boy, that one threw me. That seemed a little too much like a a show from TGIF where there is some kind of conflict (DJ Tanner doesn't fit in on her first day of Jr. High), and then all is resolved before the 30-minute show is over.

I did enjoy watching Jesse Eisenberg and Gal Gadot portray their respective characters - Lex Luthor and Wonder Woman. And Henry Cavill and Amy Adams were great too. Jeremy Irons as Alfred didn't sit well with me, though.

I know I am not the only one who wasn't jazzed with this movie or Afflect as Batman. I read somewhere that 'they' want Afflect to portray Batman in about 5 more movies- through several Justice League movies and 3 more Batman movies. Do we really want a Batman that can join AARP? Five movies seems excessive to me, but maybe forcing it down our throats will change our minds. It's all about the spin, right?

Bad Moms - Movie Review

 

 

I had some girl time this past weekend with my bff (whaaat, first time in probably four years!) And we took advantage and went to see Bad Moms. I wasn't too sure what to expect because most comedies these days are just plain dirty. And you never know if they show all of the funny parts in the previews and the rest of the movie is just plain boring.

 

Bad Moms did not disappoint. You are introduced to 3 very different moms; a stay at home mom of 4, a single mom and Amy (the main character) who has too much on her plate. The combination of these 3 ladies is amazing. There were parts that we as moms could relate to very easily, lines spoken that maybe we wish we could say, and actions taken that maybe just maybe we dream about. This movie had me laughing more than anything I have seen in a VERY long time. Granted, sometimes I was blushing And laughing, but laughing nonetheless.

 

The was full frontal female nudity in the beginning of the movie that just didn't need to be there and a little more cussing than I am used to, but this movie is funny. And not funny in the way of "I hate my life as a mom and this movie shows that I can have a break from that and my life would be great" funny. But funny in how the women talked and the jokes about female anatomy, it brought me back to days as a high school cheerleader and the jokes and relationships you have then.

 

It all went back to family. It's her kids that keep Amy going and standing up for what is right. It's great to see the message that we moms are all doing what we think is best. And we shouldn't judge each other we should be each other up because being a mom is HARD. I also love a movie with such an ensamble cast. This movie is a good time.

 

 

London Has Fallen - Movie Review

I love a good action movie, don’t you? I have wanted to watch this movie for some time now and finally got the chance to see this past weekend. London Has Fallen is the thrilling sequel to Olympus Has Fallen which came out in 2013. You know when a movie has Gerard Butler in it, it is going to have good action (hello, 300).

The story is set several years after its predecessor with the same main characters. This time, Mike Banning (Butler's character) and his wife are expecting a baby any day when disaster strikes. The British Prime Minister suddenly dies and the world and its leaders gather in London to attend the funeral. Within seconds of the President’s arrival, several planned attacks take place. The rest of the movie is spent trying to evade the attackers and ultimately rescue President Asher after he is kidnapped. I didn’t find anything spectacular about this film it was just a good all-around action movie. There were somethings that were predictable, others not. I did however feel that the audience was introduced to too many characters by way of text identifying their name and title, only to hardly ever see the character again. Also, the use of the F-word was a bit ridiculous in a few instances.

Other then that, the movie was a fun, intense and a bit over the top. But isn't that how an action movie is supposed to be? We know the hero will prevail, but its the journey, albeit masterfully, creative and unlikely, that we want to watch.

10 Cloverfield Lane- Movie Review

Aaron has been wanting to see 10 Cloverfield Lane for quite sometime now and we finally got the chance to rent it. We both really liked Cloverfield and are fans of J.J.Abrams, so that made us very excited to see a 'sequel'.  I love me some IMDB and I tried really hard to not check this movie out before watching it. I just couldn't figure out what it was about.

10 Cloverfield Lane started off normal enough. Girl gets in crash and wakes up in a foreign place. But something happened while she was unconscious, the whole world went to H-E-Double Hockey Sticks. When Michelle wakes up, it appears she has been taken care of from her accident through bandages and and an IV. Creepy, but nice I guess. Then, the movie just got eerier (is that a word?) from there. John Goodman's character, Howard, is quite complicated and you never quite get the full scope. Essentially, Howard realized long ago that aliens would be invading and contaminating the air, so he built an underground bunker.   Throughout the movie, 3 people live in the bunker: Howard, Michelle and Emmett, who is a friend of Howard's.

As time goes by, Michelle seems to find peace with her situation. That is, until little things don't add up. She finds traces that another female was once in the bunker, and that Howard has been telling her lies. Is he the reason she crashed in the first place? Michelle and Emmett come up with a plan to escape the bunker. Not everything goes according to plan, of course, but Michelle makes her way to the outside world.

Here is where the movie went south for me. I was interested all the way until when the aliens appear. Maybe it's really hard to dazzle me with the image of an alien, I am not sure, but the aliens are what tanked the movie. It was suspenseful yes, but an alien that sprays a poisonous gas and a huge mother ship that just happens to be right outside from the underground bunker.....not interested.

Aaron happened to really like the movie, although his pros are more of the story aspect of John Goodman's character, Howard, than they are of the aliens. We discuss whether he is a good guy or bad guy- which I guess is up for interpretation... see below :)

What do you think? Is Howard a good guy, or slightly messed up in the head?

The Captive- Movie Review

 

After a busy weekend (more on that tomorrow!), Aaron and I sat down to watch The Captive. From the trailer it looked really good, and I generally enjoy Ryan Reynolds movies (except for Green Lantern, but I don't think I am alone in that, right?).

The movie is about a family of three whose lives are torn apart when their daughter is abducted from her father's truck while he steps inside a pie shop for a few minutes. Seems like a simple plot, all they had to do was get her back. However, I found this movie to be very hard to follow. It jumped between the past, including several different time periods, and the present, without warning or indication- not even a change in appearance by any character over 6 years.

In one moment a detective is missing and the next she is talking to the victim's mom- obviously taking place in the past. That happened a lot and with no dates or a timeline, it made it hard to follow and probably lead me to not be as interested. I had to try much harder to keep up with this movie. I left the room one time to check on the kids, and some new character was arrested, in prison, talking the abductor only to never be seen or heard from again.

My biggest complaint is the lack of character development. After watching the movie, I still don't know anything about the abductor or why the daughter, in particular, was chosen. They were cameras watching her mom, why? What purpose did that serve? There were lines spoken that indicated much more to be going on, but never followed up on or shown later in the movie.

Six years after her abduction, there is a happy ending, but I feel it lacked the amount of emotion this story should have had. Yes, there were tears, but there was still so much missing. I could't identify with any of the characters because I hardly knew them. As an audience, we weren'tshown much about the conditions the daughter lived in, nor how she fit in to the picture, her purpose.  I wanted so much more from this movie, but found it very lacking.

This movie can seen on Amazon Prime Instant Video, if you are Prime member.

The Shallows - Movie Review

Two movies in one weekend, somebody pinch me! On Saturday, Aaron and I got a rare 'date day', while Nana watched the kiddos. We had kept seeing advertisements for The Shallows and Aaron saw that it got good reviews, so we went to go see it. For reference, this is the 2nd movie we have seen in the theater since Chloe has been born, almost 2 years ago. We Love our movie nights (see The Finest Hours), but getting to the theater is a real treat. 

I am a huge Blake Lively fan (closet Gossip Girl fan) , and was excited to see a movie that seemed a bit 'out there' for her. I love seeing actors break out from what you are used to seeing them in and they shine! And that she did. The story follows her experience visiting a new beach to surf when she ventures into the feeding ground a great white shark. The rest of the movie shows her pain, sadness and strength as she does all she can to stay alive. I enjoyed this movie and thought Blake Lively did a great job, especially since she was basically the Only person in the whole movie. 

Disclaimer...the previews for this movie were crazy scary! I was seriously concerned, and Aaron was too he later told me, that we decided to see a movie that was going to turn into a horror flick. It was not :)

As always, the views expressed are my own.

The Finest Hours - Movie Review

The Finest Hours

Who doesn't love a movie night at home? Getting comfy on the couch, popping some popcorn.  This is one of my favorite 'Date Nights'. Yesterday, Aaron and I watched The Finest Hours. I absolutely LOVE movies about true stories, especially when I IMDB it afterwards to see the trivia and it shows the movie was basically right on point.

This movie documents the efforts the Coast Guard made to rescue sailors on an oil tanker that had been catastrophically battered in the raging seas off the coast of Massachusetts.  Against all odds, Bernie Webber and his crew of 3 set off to rescue an unknown number of men off of an oil tanker in one of the worst storms of the season. The movie showed the stories of both the Coast Guard and the men on the oil tanker, who battle among themselves to determine the best course of action while on their sinking vessel. It truly was life and death for both groups of men and it shows how a community can come together to support their own. The Finest Hours has action, romance, and drama all while telling a true story of one of the most daring rescues in Coast Guard history.

As always, all opinions expressed are my own. I was not compensated for this review.