YAY THE WORLD'S END!

Obviously, The World's End is a very good movie, DUH.

The Way, Way Back

I adored this.  Sam Rockwell is awesome-sauce.  The kid who plays the awkward teen was either a really good actor, or actually super awkward (I suspect the latter). Either way, it works.  Steve Carrell is awesome because I hated his total douche-lord of a character. 

I also appreciated that the end wasn't totally predictable/a happy ending.  Thumbs up, movie!

Star Trek: Into Darkness

YAY STAR TREK!

I am pleased to report that the second new Star Trek film is very good.  I was a little worried it would be a plot repeat in the beginning, but it worked out.  I also now understand the fascination with Benedict Cumberbatch's voice--he shall make an excellent Smaug, for sure.

My only minor complaint is that I'm worried they're starting to get a little *too* silly with McCoy, which is a shame because I love Karl Urban's portrayal--dial it back, J.J.

I loved a lot of the effects in the film (especially the warp "trail') and I actually (gasp) enjoyed and noticed the 3D in this movie.  This is new for me...I'm  not sure how to feel about it.

Lincoln

Only a little behind schedule, right?  Anyway, I love historical movies, so of course I loved this one.  Totally get why DDL won the Best Actor Oscar--amazing!  A lot of the cast was pretty great; I was pleasantly surprised to see James Spader, and of course Tommy Lee Jones can do no wrong.  I can't see David Strathairn and not think of League of Their Own, though.

My 14 year old cousin seemed bored out of his mind, but being the history nerd that I am, I was satisfied.

Silver Linings Playbook

I actually saw this pre-Oscars, but was a total slacker about reviewing it.

Which is weird, cause I really liked it!  The story has sad moments, bittersweet moments, funny moments--all the best stuff tied together really nicely.  The entire cast is fantastic (obviously), and I have a new appreciation for Bradley Cooper, who I didn't care about one way or the other before.  Good job, team!

Life of Pi

This is yet another book turned movie I have not read, and therefore I can't judge that aspect of it.  If I'm being honest, though, that's fine by me because I prefer to judge movies as movies and not necessarily in comparison to their source material.

This film is very well done, and the vast majority of it is impressively carried by Suraj Sharma (who plays Pi as a young man) and a CGI tiger, which is a feat for any actor, but sort of stunning for an actor's first film.  The scenery is beautiful, the story plays out well, and its thought provoking to say the least (not to spoil anything [unless you've read the book and therefore already know], but the ending made me ponder for hours).  Good job, movie!

Also, the CGI tiger made me giggle more than it probably should have (it kept doing things that reminded me of my much smaller, less deadly kitties).  I'm a sucker for animals.

Argo

Argo is great! I highly recommend it. It's exciting, well-written, well-paced, tightly edited. Alan Arkin and John Goodman are especially entertaining, although I could have done without four of the six "Argo fuck yourself" jokes. Less is more, Ben Affleck. I also could've done without the father-son scene at the end with the exaggerated slow pan across the shelf. WE GET IT BEN AFFLECK, WE SAW IT IN THE WIDE SHOT. But aside from those nitpicks, this was really a good movie.

AN ADDITIONAL VERY PARTICULAR SET OF SKILLS

You guys. Let's talk about Taken. That movie is completely amazing. So yes, we were all very excited about Taken 2, and got tickets to see it in the Cinerama Dome at 10 AM so we'd be sure to get good seats. It was not very good, but it did not disappoint! There is something to be said for a movie meeting your precise expectations.

The bad guys in Taken 2 are the most incompetent bad guys ever in a movie. They instantly fall asleep on watch, get distracted by sports on the teevee, and collapse in a senseless heap when 90-year-old Liam Neeson karate chops them on the arm. It's great.

The one thing I really wanted to see but didn't (maybe in Taken 3???) is Liam getting together with all his old Hawaiian shirt-wearing, steak-barbecuing retired spy buddies and going on an adventure. The scenes with those guys are seriously the best.

Taken 2: why not?

Brave (DVD review)

I was a total slacker pants and didn't see Brave in the theater (even though I really, really wanted to), so I had to wait until it came out on DVD.

People--what was I thinking?  This was HILARIOUS.  God, I love Pixar.  Seriously--they have a way of writing not only a good story, but rounding it out with scary, funny, and poignant moments.  PAY ATTENTION FILMMAKERS.

Anyway, I rented this to watch it, and now I have to go buy it.  The characters are great, and our cocky heroine grows throughout the story through her mistakes.  There's also not a sappy prince/princess love story to deal with (though one could argue there's still a love story of a different sort).  Ah, I adored it.  Pixar continues to please me. 

Wreck It Ralph

It will come as a surprise to NO ONE that I liked this, seeing as its a Disney cartoon about video games. 

Wreck It Ralph is both cute and funny.  Yes, the character voiced by Jane Lynch is essentially her character from Glee, but it works as part of the video game world.  The movie makes fun of itself and video games without coming off as cheesy or hokey.  Excellent voice acting by John C. Reilly (who I love anyway), and Sarah Silverman, and I was pleasantly surprised by Jack McBrayer (Kenneth from 30 Rock) and Alan Tudyk.  Good work, team!

LOOPER BLOOPERS

You guys, Looper is really good. Normally I leave futuristic time travel movies at least a little bit angry at plot holes and inconsistencies, but I bought everything about this movie. It's really well done, with good pacing. JGL's Bruce Willis makeup wasn't even as distracting as I thought it was going to be, and the face he made the whole movie was VERY entertaining.

Don't bother sticking around after the credits to see the Looper bloopers. There aren't any. Which hasn't prevented me from yelling LOOPER BLOOPERS every 10 minutes ever since I saw this movie three days ago.

Searching for Sugarman

Oh boy is this a good movie. Maybe I'll only watch documentaries from now on. So it's about this guy Rodriguez, a folk singer from Detroit who made two amazing albums in the early 70s but disappeared because no one bought them. No one bought them in AMERICA ("The Place That Matters!") but apparently everyone in South Africa did, and he got huge there but never knew it. Hijinx ensue, courtesy of some awesome and very sweet South African music nerds, and the rest of the story is more compelling and wonderful than the last 18 CGI mess blockbusters I've seen all put together.

Searching for Sugarman!

Magic Mike!

There are some pretty awful things in this movie (the lead actress, the stupid club drug subplot, and anything that takes place outside of the strip club). But the great things (Matthew McConaughey, hot dudes doing stupid dances, Matthew McConaughey) are REALLY GREAT. Plus Soderbergh does show-offy director stuff like long shots with no cuts--check out the continuous-shot "stripper practice" scene (P.S. THERE'S A "STRIPPER PRACTICE" SCENE. HEY GUYS, SEE YOU AT "STRIPPER PRACTICE" TOMORROW!)--so that's pretty rad.

You guys, Matthew McConaughey is just the best thing. He's like a puppy riding a goddamn goat, that's how happy he makes me. That guy needs to win the Best Human award. Someday when I win the lottery I'm going to start a production company that only makes movies starring Matthew McConaughey and Nicolas Cage.

MAGIC MIKE!

The Avengers

Holy shit, this was the best thing ever.

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS!!!!

You guys, don't read anything about The Cabin in the Woods, just go see it right now. It's incredible. I mean it.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

This is a really excellent documentary with a whole lot of my two favorite things: FOOD and SLOW MOTION. It poses an interesting question about the meaning of your life's work--should you, like Jiro, focus on one thing until you're the best person in the world at it? Or should you, like me, learn a tiny bit about everything, do a "gritty reboot" of your career every 10 years, and accrue many thousands of dollars in student loan debt? I wish I were as passionate about one thing as Jiro and his eldest son are about making sushi, but on the other hand, I OH LOOK A BUTTERFLY!

The Artist

Within the first five minutes, I was sitting there with a giant grin on my face thinking, "THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER."

My only complaint is that I got a little tired of the main fella being depressed by the end of the film, but they redeemed themselves with a tap dance number. Good job, movie!

John Carter

When I first saw the previews for this, I was like, "Meh." But then I got to talking to my Dad about it (who is to blame for my Sci-Fi love) and he started explaining the story to me and I got really interested--so we went to see it.

I actually quite liked it! The story was pretty solid; it had funny moments, the romantic parts weren't too gooey, it had a half naked hot guy doing cool things, and the most important part: THEY DIDN'T OVER DO THE SPECIAL EFFECTS OR FIGHT SCENES.

So often these days, filmmakers go way overboard with this 3D stuff and computer generated crap. It goes on for forever for absolutely no reason (I'm looking at you, pod race in Star Wars Episode 1, and also at you Davy Jones fight sequence over a swirling vortex of oceany death in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End). This movie didn't do that. The action/war bits weren't boring and drawn out, and they even cut to the fucking chase at one point by having the hero kill someone within seconds (when you thought you'd get stuck watching a fight scene). Well played, movie! Obviously there were special effects, and most of them were super great (especially the aliens). There were a couple of action moments where I could tell it was green-screen, but overall the special effects weren't crazy and ridiculous, which I appreciated.

The only bit I wasn't sure about was Taylor Kitsch's voice-over--it was pretty monotone. His actual on-screen performance wasn't as bad (though it may have been helped by the aforementioned half-nakedness.)

The Fartist

The Artist is very good, but I wish it had more dancing like it has at the end. I wish it had dancing all the way through. Oh, okay, I wish it were just an actual old-timey movie. It's fine, though.

But I did just see The Guard again, and holy fuck is that a good movie. Everything about it is perfect. Go see it.

Hey girl, I made you a movie

I finally saw this movie last night after weeks (months?) of everyone I know saying OH you have GOT to see DRIVE. I was waiting for it to come to the New Beverly, which as you know, is the best place on earth. At this particular showing, there were a lot more people than usual who weren't New Beverly regulars, and one guy decided to try to make a loud jokey comment. He tried three times, and each time was instantly and loudly SHHHH'd by a vigilant regular, and it was simply delightful. WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, NEW GUY.

Anyway, Drive is really good. It looks cool, sounds good, and is very well shot and edited so it has a distinctive rhythm. Okay, it's basically a 90-minute music video, but for some reason it works. I thought I might hate this movie, but I didn't.