The Ides Of March was a enjoyable political drama. I mean how could you really go wrong, look at all the great actors in it. The over all story was good and the acting as you would guess was top top notch. It did drag a few times but over all it kept up a pretty good pace.
The entire movie revolves around the Democratic Primary in Ohio between two candidates. The main focus is on the campaign of Governor Mike Morris, played by George Clooney, and his staff as they try work to get him the Democratic nomination for president.
There are a lot of shady things that happen behind the scenes of the campaign and you can't help but think that it is a pretty accurate depiction of modern day politics. You have people leaking things to the press, people getting paid off, blackmail and political favours to get votes. It did a good job of keeping you guessing on how every thing was going to fall into place in the end. The cynical side of me can't help but think that things ended in the movie exactly the way the do in real politics. With people making sacrifices for what they think is greater good. Is the greater good really worth all the collateral damage? That is a question I can't answer for you.
What I can answer for you is the question of should I watch this movie, and that is a resounding yes. It is worth adding to your Netflix cue just for the acting alone.
I give this movie 3 out of 4 Stars.
Showing posts with label Movie Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movie Review. Show all posts
Monday, February 6, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Movie Review of Crazy, Stpuid, Love
This was a great movie about all the different types of love in the world and the people who fall into them. You have first time love, unrequited love, new love and old love. What is great about this movie is how it brings them all together seamlessly and keeps the whole movie moving while doing it.
The movie starts out and mostly revolves around Steve Carell's Cal Weaver and his Wife Emily, played by Julianne Moore, ending their marriage after 25 years. Cal loses everything his wife, his house and even his best friends(His wife says they as a couple have chosen to support Emily not Cal). Cal tries to move on and meets up with the shallow womanizer Jacob, played to perfection by Ryan Gosling, at a bar. Jacob take it upon him self to help Cal. He does this by changing the way he dresses and looks and showing Cal how pick up women at the bar. Eventually Cal picks up his first woman for a one night stand, Marisa Tomei, and starts turning into a womanizer like Jacob. He eventfully realizes at parent teach conferences with his ex-wife Emily, that she is the one he really loves. I don't want to ruin any surprises so I am just going to say that things end up not going well.
That was the old love story but then they tie in a fun little new love story as well. As Cal is at parent teacher conferences having his heart broken and stomped on we see Jacob run in to a girl he hit on at the beginning of the movie again named Hannah and played perfectly by Emma Stone. All she wants is for Jacob to take her home if you know what I mean. They end up back at Jacob's place and end up spending the entire night talking falling asleep next to each other. Once again I don't want to ruin anything for you so I am not going to go on any further about this story line. I will say that Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling make a cute couple.
Lastly the person who stole the show for me was Cal's son Robbie. He is 13 and in love with his babysitter who is 17 and a senior in high school. Needless to say she is not interested in him, she is actually interested in Cal witch leads to a whole different hilarious mess for Cal. Her unrequited love does not stop Robbie from endlessly pursing her through the entire movie. I have not seen Jonah Bobo in anything before but he did a very good job of playing a young teen in love and stuck in the middle of his parents divorce at the same time.
In the end this movie shows us that love can make us crazy and stupid and that not all love is not meant to be. But everyone does have a soul mate we just have to wait for them then make sure we work to keep them when we do find them.
I give this move 3 out of 4 Stars
The movie starts out and mostly revolves around Steve Carell's Cal Weaver and his Wife Emily, played by Julianne Moore, ending their marriage after 25 years. Cal loses everything his wife, his house and even his best friends(His wife says they as a couple have chosen to support Emily not Cal). Cal tries to move on and meets up with the shallow womanizer Jacob, played to perfection by Ryan Gosling, at a bar. Jacob take it upon him self to help Cal. He does this by changing the way he dresses and looks and showing Cal how pick up women at the bar. Eventually Cal picks up his first woman for a one night stand, Marisa Tomei, and starts turning into a womanizer like Jacob. He eventfully realizes at parent teach conferences with his ex-wife Emily, that she is the one he really loves. I don't want to ruin any surprises so I am just going to say that things end up not going well.
That was the old love story but then they tie in a fun little new love story as well. As Cal is at parent teacher conferences having his heart broken and stomped on we see Jacob run in to a girl he hit on at the beginning of the movie again named Hannah and played perfectly by Emma Stone. All she wants is for Jacob to take her home if you know what I mean. They end up back at Jacob's place and end up spending the entire night talking falling asleep next to each other. Once again I don't want to ruin anything for you so I am not going to go on any further about this story line. I will say that Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling make a cute couple.
Lastly the person who stole the show for me was Cal's son Robbie. He is 13 and in love with his babysitter who is 17 and a senior in high school. Needless to say she is not interested in him, she is actually interested in Cal witch leads to a whole different hilarious mess for Cal. Her unrequited love does not stop Robbie from endlessly pursing her through the entire movie. I have not seen Jonah Bobo in anything before but he did a very good job of playing a young teen in love and stuck in the middle of his parents divorce at the same time.
In the end this movie shows us that love can make us crazy and stupid and that not all love is not meant to be. But everyone does have a soul mate we just have to wait for them then make sure we work to keep them when we do find them.
I give this move 3 out of 4 Stars
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Review of Friends With Benefits
This movie was a cute, fun, predictable Rom-Com. What made it good was the chemistry on screen between Justin Timerlake and Mila Kunis. That is really where is Romantic Comedy is made or broke. The movie No Strings Attached earlier this year was basically the same story line but Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman never clicked for me and I didn't really care about what happened to them and that brought the whole movie down. In this movie Justin and Mila made me stop thinking of them as Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis and start caring about Jamie and Dylan.
The other thing that really brought this movie up a level were the small cameo/supporting characters in the movie. Opening up with Emma Stone and Andy Samberg as the two main characters boyfriend and girlfriend breaking up with them was great. Then you have Jason Segal and Rashida Jones(Of The Office and Parks and Rec Fame) play the main characters in a terrible Romantic movie the main charters watch and refer to through to the movie. Richard Jenkins as Dylan's Dad with Alzheimer's really added another level to Dylan that made you feel for him and care for him. Lastly Woody Harrelson really stole the scene when ever he was on screen as the gay sports editor for GQ. He also had the best line of the entire movie that really summed life and love, "It's not who spend Friday night with, it's who you want to spend all day Saturday with." I thought how appropriate that was as I laid on the couch with my wife on a Saturday night watching this movie.
All in all this movie isn't going to win any awards but it is a solid little movie with some good acting and great on screen chemistry. If you like Romantic Comedies like me this should go up near the top of your Netflix cue.
I give it 3 out of 4 stars!
The other thing that really brought this movie up a level were the small cameo/supporting characters in the movie. Opening up with Emma Stone and Andy Samberg as the two main characters boyfriend and girlfriend breaking up with them was great. Then you have Jason Segal and Rashida Jones(Of The Office and Parks and Rec Fame) play the main characters in a terrible Romantic movie the main charters watch and refer to through to the movie. Richard Jenkins as Dylan's Dad with Alzheimer's really added another level to Dylan that made you feel for him and care for him. Lastly Woody Harrelson really stole the scene when ever he was on screen as the gay sports editor for GQ. He also had the best line of the entire movie that really summed life and love, "It's not who spend Friday night with, it's who you want to spend all day Saturday with." I thought how appropriate that was as I laid on the couch with my wife on a Saturday night watching this movie.
All in all this movie isn't going to win any awards but it is a solid little movie with some good acting and great on screen chemistry. If you like Romantic Comedies like me this should go up near the top of your Netflix cue.
I give it 3 out of 4 stars!
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Movei Review for Larry Crowne
Larry Crowne was a cute movie with some heart that had a special place in my heart. Having lost my job in the last year, decided to go back to school part time and selling my house I could some what connect with Larry.
As you can guess Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts were great in their respective rolls. Tom hanks made Larry believable as a guy who was down on his luck but I liked the eternal optimism and hope he made Larry have even when he was at the bottom. I could really identify with that because I felt like that at time in the last year. Julia Roberts played a great women in a unhappy marriage who finally decides to leave and move on. Neither of these parts were ground breaking oscar winning roles but they each played the character to perfection as you would expect from two great actors.
The person who stole the movie for me was George Takei as Larry's Econ professor Dr. Ed Matsutani. His maniacal laugh and pompous over top attitude made me laugh almost every time he was on screen.
Over all this was a movie about how a person can turn their life around no matter what. It also showed just because you are down on your luck doesn't mean you can't have a good out look on life and that good things can happen to you.
I recommend adding this to your Netflix cue and if you have a had a rough go at life recently maybe push it up towards the top.
I gave this two and a half stars out of 4.
As you can guess Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts were great in their respective rolls. Tom hanks made Larry believable as a guy who was down on his luck but I liked the eternal optimism and hope he made Larry have even when he was at the bottom. I could really identify with that because I felt like that at time in the last year. Julia Roberts played a great women in a unhappy marriage who finally decides to leave and move on. Neither of these parts were ground breaking oscar winning roles but they each played the character to perfection as you would expect from two great actors.
The person who stole the movie for me was George Takei as Larry's Econ professor Dr. Ed Matsutani. His maniacal laugh and pompous over top attitude made me laugh almost every time he was on screen.
Over all this was a movie about how a person can turn their life around no matter what. It also showed just because you are down on your luck doesn't mean you can't have a good out look on life and that good things can happen to you.
I recommend adding this to your Netflix cue and if you have a had a rough go at life recently maybe push it up towards the top.
I gave this two and a half stars out of 4.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Movie Review For Super 8
This was a solid Sci Fi Fantasy Movie. I had heard some one say that it had a Goonies meets E.T. feel to it and it was created by JJ Abrams so I though how could I go wrong. It lacks the Heart at the core of E.T. and lacks the overall adventure and action of Goonies but I would say they are pretty good comparisons for this movie. It is not nearly as good as either of those movies but it is in the same vein as them and worth watching.
I was pleasantly surprised by the acting in this movie. I knew that Kyle Chandler was a good actor from watch Friday Night Lights TV show. I also assumed that Elle Fanning would be pretty good based on what her sister has done. But the rest of the kids in the cast did a great job of playing their parts and keeping me interested in the film and the characters that it effected.
Over all I would say this is a solid movie that is a throw back to the mid 80's child adventure movies that is worth adding to your Netflix cue.
Over All I give this Movie 3 out of 4 stars.
I was pleasantly surprised by the acting in this movie. I knew that Kyle Chandler was a good actor from watch Friday Night Lights TV show. I also assumed that Elle Fanning would be pretty good based on what her sister has done. But the rest of the kids in the cast did a great job of playing their parts and keeping me interested in the film and the characters that it effected.
Over all I would say this is a solid movie that is a throw back to the mid 80's child adventure movies that is worth adding to your Netflix cue.
Over All I give this Movie 3 out of 4 stars.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Review Of Captain America: The First Avenger
Last night we watched Captain America: The First Avenger.
Marvel got back on track with their movies with Captain America: The First Avenger. It did a very good job of bridging the World War 2 origin of Captain america to the modern day so we as an audience are ready for The Avengers this summer(2012).
Over all the story was good and the action kept the movie going at a nice pace. The beginning may have been a little slow but they do a good job of setting Steve Rodgers up as an underdog you want to root for. Sure it was a little predictable but they had enough fun and action to make me not worry about that. The little love story they threw in there was nice and didn't take anything away from the movie, in fact it may haven even added a little something for the romantics out there.
The real amazing part of this is the CGI. They did a great job making the brawny Chris Evans look like a short scrawny guy from Brooklynn. Also the CGi to make x look like the Red Skull was great. He was just creepy enough not to give kids terrible nightmares.
In the end the point of this movie was to set up The Avengers and make you want to go see it. It did it;s job very well. I already wanted to see The Avengers but this got just a little more excited for it come out.
I give this movie 3 out of 4 stars.
Marvel got back on track with their movies with Captain America: The First Avenger. It did a very good job of bridging the World War 2 origin of Captain america to the modern day so we as an audience are ready for The Avengers this summer(2012).
Over all the story was good and the action kept the movie going at a nice pace. The beginning may have been a little slow but they do a good job of setting Steve Rodgers up as an underdog you want to root for. Sure it was a little predictable but they had enough fun and action to make me not worry about that. The little love story they threw in there was nice and didn't take anything away from the movie, in fact it may haven even added a little something for the romantics out there.
The real amazing part of this is the CGI. They did a great job making the brawny Chris Evans look like a short scrawny guy from Brooklynn. Also the CGi to make x look like the Red Skull was great. He was just creepy enough not to give kids terrible nightmares.
In the end the point of this movie was to set up The Avengers and make you want to go see it. It did it;s job very well. I already wanted to see The Avengers but this got just a little more excited for it come out.
I give this movie 3 out of 4 stars.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)