The Way Way Back

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45th of 365.

Sam Rockwell is all that is right with the world. He is just such a charismatic character that has yet to find the perfect role to blow him up into superstardom. If you haven't watched Moon, directed by David Bowie's son, do so immediately. It is a fantastic movie.

Nat Faxon and Jim Rash wrote and directed this coming of age tale that takes place in a summer ocean town full of summer homes. Duncan is a 14-year old kid struggling with confidence and his mother's asshole boyfriend played by Steve Carrell. 

Steve Carrell pretends to be a father-figure with Duncan, but he doesn't quite try to meet the halfway. Duncan is at a difficult time and his method to motivate is just to chastise until the kid does something about it. 

Support this movie, it really is the type of movie more people need to see.

Judgement: See it in the Theater

 

Pacific Rim

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44th of 365. 

Guillermo Del Toro is an effects genius. 

Look, this movie is everything that is cliche about a summer blockbuster. However, since Guillermo, we're on a first name basis, is the Anti-Michael Bay. He can take a movie that is based on big fights and create something more than what is on the screen.

Charlie Day was a pleasant surprise as the scientist researching the Kaiju monsters providing laughs with a reasoning on why certain strategies cannot work. It also features my favorite movie trope, the best XYZ has to return because nobody does it better!

Judgement: Watch in Theaters! 

The Lone Ranger

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42nd of 365.

Much has been made of how bad this movie is. It isn't.  

However, the movie doesn't quite know what it wants to be. It tries to have some call backs to the old tv show, while at the same time having it's own story to tell. The origin story is pretty similar to how I understand the TV and Radio shows tell it.  

Armie Hammer is a likable enough character that just seems too dumb to become the Lone Ranger of lore. They seem like they were trying to make it like the Bond origin story where he struggles with enemies, but it was more of making him look like an imbecile. 

They did accomplish one feat, I think 8-12 year olds will love this movie. It is funny and has great action scenes and will be the fun for everyone. 

Judgement: Watch on Cable

Pain & Gain

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40th of 365.

Michael Bay ruins movies.

Look this story was amazing. It is a true story that deserves better than it got. It had to constantly remind you that it was a true story. It decided to tell instead of show. It decided that movie making is just about making stuff explode and be gross. 

Every actor in this movie gave a good performance. Unfortunately it was surrounded with directing that didn't live up to those performances. This movie is a perfect example of something that needs to be remade. Great premise, just not executed correctly. 

I will give Michael Bay credit for trying. This isn't just a mindless movie like the transformers franchise, but he just is not a great director. I think he is the perfect producer, but he just doesn't have a vision. He can create great effect, but he just doesn't have the ability to tell a story.

Lootera

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39th of 365.

This is what happens when O. Henry short stories are adopted to 3 hour movies. 

I read afterwards this was based on The Last Leaf. The main plot line is based on the short story by the famed American author, but there is a whole sub plot about the Raj empire falling and the new democratic Indian government taking land and money from Zamindars all over the country.

The issue is that I don't feel bad for the rich guy losing things, the daughter of said rich guy, the guys stealing from the rich people, or anyone with lines in the movie. 

In addition to the boring movie it was difficult to watch because a father was taking care of their 3-6 month old child right in front of me trying to quiet the baby down. I missed about 40% of the subtitles and got a bit frustrated. 

 

Judgement: Skip! 

Ghanchakkar

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38th of 365.

BOLLYWOOD! This movie was fine. But it wasn't the joy of the previous realm into Indian film, but it was still watchable.

A criminal pulls off a big caper and hides the money. The three robbers split up for a while and will get the money at a later date. Unfortunately, the guy who hid the money lost his memory in an unfunny accident. 

There was not much charisma and not many laughs.

Judgement: Skip

 

Django Unchained

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37th of 365.

DJANGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

AMC is doing a Summer series where they are showing late spring offerings at 10 PM for about $3. I need movies to watch, so I will see them all. 

Django Unchained has a fantastic soundtrack. Even if you don't agree with the choice of modern music during montages and shootouts, it still fits and is a bold choice. For some reason Jim Croce seems to fit the movie just fine for me, but then I hear Rick Ross and 2Pac I get pulled out of the scene.  

Judgement: Love Tarantino, See it in the theaters, but now send away for it. 

Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain

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35th of 365.

Kevin Hart produced and distributed this movie himself. He is going to make a lot of money off of this production.  I have been told that this should not count towards my movie. Well, I'm running out of things to watch. This makes it no problem.

Kevin Hart is a very good comedian that is not often talked about among my social circles. Everyone enjoys his small roles in movies, most famously as the belligerent customer in 40 Year Old Virgin, but most probably don't know he is a stand up comedian.  

This is was very funny, even if not aimed at my demo, and I would watch it again. 

Judgement: Watch on Instant

 

Despicable Me 2

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34 out of 365.

I did not see the original Despicable Me. I do not know if that detracted from this sequel, but this animated picture didn't really do it for me. 

The minions are cute and the best part of the movie. Unfortunately, the main characters don't quite have the place in my heart that others may have. Gru seems like a good father, but I don't care if he finds himself a wife or not. The Villain doesn't show up until the final third and isn't that enjoyable. These films rely on a good antagonist and it just falls short.

Judgement: Watch on Netflix

White House Down

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33rd of 365.

The White House is under attack! Our only hope is the guy who can DANCE! Whenever I enter a movie with low expectations that meets those expectations, I try to imagine that the main characters are really former performances from those actors in a sequel. 

In this case, Channing Tatum is Tyler from the Step Up series. He danced into your hearts and now he is going to stop terrorists with some dope moves!  Jamie Foxx was a toss up from MotherFucker Jones from Horrible bosses or the Lawyer from Law Abiding Citizen. I figured that the president would more likely be a lawyer than a career criminal, so the lawyer won. 

Honestly, the movie is fine on it's own. Channing Tatum shows that he is better at comedy than he is an action star. The charismatic characters outshine the boring plot points and explosions.  

Judgement: Watch on Netflix Instant. 

 

 

The Heat

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32nd of 365.

The highlight of the movie for me was Bill Burr. 

This was a very fun movie. It wasn't great for uproarious laughter, but there were many jokes that were cute. Everything hit, but it was never the home run they were aiming at. 

Paul Fieg makes his normal appearance in his own movie. This may be my biggest pet peeve. I blame Hitchcock. I mean he really set it up so everyone could put their mug into the movie. At least most of the time he is a bit part. Now we have directors coming in and doing terrible Australian accents, looking at you Quentin, and trying to sell jokes. 

Directors are very talented people, however, they are not talented in every facet of movie making. Just stay behind the camera guys.

Judgement: Watch on Instant.

Redemption (Hummingbird)

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31st of 365.

Jason Statham ACTS! He didn't put in a performance that will make you rethink his entire career but it is a very solid performance. Statham plays a disgraced British war veteran who is homeless with possibly the worst hair that has ever been on the big screen.

Local thugs come around and start messing with the homeless populated alley. Statham's boxmate lady friend gets threatened with some level of sexual assault and STATHAM KICKS INTO GEAR. Well, not really he is a drunk so he does just enough for his cardboard companion to run away.  

An injured Statham goes on the run away from the thugs and sneaks his way into an apartment. The empty London flat become the refuge for Crazy Joe and a place where he can remake his life. He has from June to October to remake his life and set everything straight. 

Judgement: Send Away for it

Monsters University

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30th of 365.

Monsters University is not as good as Monsters, Inc. That is unfortunate because the Monsters University is still a fun family movie. There is enough for a parent to be entertained, but still perfect for younger audiences.

Mike and Sully return and as expected they don't get along. I think this is where the movie didn't really work for me. I understand that you don't want them to be best friends right away. However, the big enemies turning into great friends is a little too Disney and not enough Pixar.

Judgement: Watch on Instant. 

The Kings of Summer

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29th of 365.

This is a coming of age tale about a stuck up kid, who has a struggling single parent trying his best. However, he is too angry about his position in life to be a good father figure to his son. 

The strategy? Build a house in a clearing in the forest. This is in order to "become" men.  

The best character in the movie was Biaggio. The actor does a fabulous job playing the "weird" kid and he is easily the funniest thing in the movie.  

If you want a coming of age tale see mud. 

Judgement: Send Away for it.

The Bling Ring

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28th of 365.

What do you get when terrible people do terrible things to other terrible people. A movie that isn't very interesting.

There are a few high schoolers that go to the reject school after being expelled from a regular high school. The obsession with pseudo-celebs like Paris Hilton, Audrina Patridge, and the cast of the Hills cause them to rob these people blind because they don't understand how to lock their doors and windows or set an alarm. Even if they didn't do those things, maybe just get a house sitter.  

I never got the fame thing for fame's sake. They also looked up to these people because of fashion, I don't get that either. 

Judgement: Watch it on HBO, but should expect more from Sophia Coppola.

The East

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27th out of 365.

There was an academy award nominated movie called "If a Tree Falls: The Story of the Earth Liberation Front", that didn't really cause me to empathize with the eco-terrorism. However, the fictional story of the The East did give some angles that made me think harder about the acts of eco-terrorism.

An ex-FBI Christian agent joins a private investigative firm that wants to infiltrate The East terrorist group to attain contracts for the world's largest corporations. She has a boyfriend who is a bit of a dingus, he remains a dingus the entire movie, that believes she is going to Dubai, when really she travels about 2 hours to a house in a forest. 

Ellen Page and Alexander Skarsgaard lead this team of hippies and perform "jams". These jams all have a personal connections to the members of The East. The personal vendettas make it difficult to know if they have the purest intentions behind their acts, in the end that doesn't matter. The hippies get hippier and do some crazy things and then everything is gray.

 

Judgement: Send Away for It. 

World War Z

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26th of 365.

 

This movie doesn't live up to the book. It isn't the book. There are a few similarities, but not very many. This partial story is rumored to be the first of a trilogy and that's about how much information ​you are given in this story.

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Don't get me wrong, it is still an enjoyable movie, it has a beginning, middle, and end. However, the end is the beginning is the end.1 The best part about this movie is that Brad Pitt is always one step ahead. He makes the smartest decision at every turn and you are always surprised at what decisions he makes.

The conceit of the movie, besides that there is a disease that creates Zombies, is that Brad Pitt is the guy that needs to go investigate the origin of the virus because a single UN guy believes in his investigative skills. The US means that Brad Pitt and his family are important enough to be saved with a helicopter, then sent with an elite team to the most dangerous parts of the Earth.

Judgement: Send Away for It.​

​ 1. Thanks Billy Corgan!↩

Much Ado About Nothing

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25th of 365.

The Joss Whedon adaptation of this Shakespeare comedy takes the words of the bard and places them in the regulars of Whedon. The movie is in black and white, the words are in the olde english tongue, but the setting is a villa somewhere in California.

The modern adaptation manages to be very funny because of the great acting and blocking set up by the director. Nathan Fillion steals the show even though he only has about 10 minutes of screen time. 

Judgement: Watch on Instant.