With that said, lets jump right into it, shall we?
Honorable mentions: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, The Fifth Estate (I have a love/hate relationship with it), Oz: The Great and Powerful
If you haven't seen any of these movies, I apologize. There be spoilers ahead.
- 1. The Wolverine.
- Overall, I did not care for it. The movie was long and it
felt long. The things I absolutely loved about it were the sense of
continuation. It doesn't skip the previous films and makes
allusions to its predecessors. While it could be a standalone film,
it's not because of the long history Logan has. Another amazing
detail that made me happy was knowing they pretty much stuck to the
comic book plot. There were elements that seemed to come straight
from the pages but some of it was brand new. The newer content
actually did not detract from the overall feel but for me, the lack
of action and the length were a big drawback.
- Despicable Me 2
- Who doesn't like those minions? It also showed that
different families (in this case, single parent with adopted
children) can be happy and thrive. It also has great comedy that
parents and children both can enjoy. Again, its the minions. The
scene where they were all partying and having ice cream was
adorable, then the one minion with the lights and kept saying
“bee-do! Bee-do!” was memorable. My nieces and nephews love it
which makes it even better in my eyes because lately, it seems like
there is nothing family friendly in the theaters. And they movies
that are come few and far between. Plus, Fry took me to see this on
my mother's birthday, a day that I just couldn't be alone. I know
Mom would have loved it too and I still miss her so much.
- Mud
- Honestly, I wish this one had been more successful. While it
wasn't the most exciting thing out there nor did it have some epic
story, it was realistic. It showed a young boy learning the
hardships of life while trying to do the right thing. He sees how
love is both wonderful and painful at the same time. He meets Mud,
played beautifully by Matthew McConaughey, the man who teaches him
valuable lessons that his parents forget to tell him. It's about
friendship, trust, first loves, lost loves and letting go of things
even though you don't want to.
- Frozen
- This one was cute with tons of songs that will get stuck in
your head. The characters were great, even if they didn't really
experience any change whatsoever. It was a delightful tale about
one sister willing to do everything for her sister when things go
wrong. For once, our heroine, in this case, Anna, didn't need a man
to save her. She saved the day by choosing family of the man. To
me, this is a positive message for younger girls, one I have seen
since Brave. I would like to see more strong female leads
like Anna and Merida in animated films.
- Star Trek Into Darkness
- I'll admit, I had a little trouble accepting this one at
first. The whole parallel universe thing got to me. Seeing
Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan didn't sit well. I ended up seeing it
a second time when I realized, “This is pretty good.” Then I
saw it a third time, because it came out close to my dad's birthday.
You know, since we no longer have MovieMomma with us, let's call my
dad DigitalDad. That sounds good. Anyway, Star Trek is his fandom,
so after he explained some things to me, I understood the movie even
more. My favorite parts had to be the action sequence between Khan
and Spock, the “final” interaction between Kirk and Spock and
basically anything involving Dr. McCoy. Seriously, Bones has some
sass.
- Doctor Who: Day of the Doctor
- I know, I know, technically this wasn't a movie but a special
presentation on the BBC, but I saw it in a movie theater, therefore
it counts as a movie. Everyone knows I am a Whovian so to me, this
was perfection. It tied together some loose ends, it explained some
of the older jokes and come on! Matt Smith, David Tennant and John
Hurt had amazing chemistry. They just worked so well on screen,
bickering like brothers. Though technically, they're the same
man...never apply logic to Who. Anyone who saw this knows how epic
the end of it was. The scene were they flashed little snippets of
previous Doctors, from Hartnell to present was beautiful. And I
loved it when the counselor said “No sir, all thirteen” and we
got that brief shot of the next Doctor, Peter Capaldi's eyes. That
final shot with all the incarnations standing together? Yeah, safe
to say I was in tears because it was so damn perfect.
- This Is The End
- I can't remember the last time I laughed this hard during a
movie. It's a funny post Apocalyptic comedy which hasn't been done
very often. Yes, a lot of the humor is extremely crass and a lot of
people will be offended by it. There are a lot of references to
drugs, alcohol, sex, masturbation and demons. Then there's the
devil...if you've seen it, you know what that was a bit shocking.
But some of the best moments were the ones you'd never expect to
see. The final scene was great, having some of the comedians who'd
been raptured dancing to the Backstreet Boys...with the actual
Backstreet Boys. Also, if you've seen it, you know what saying
“Channing Tatum” is worth cracking up over.
- Thor: The Dark World
- First off, no I don't like this purely because of Loki. I do
not see movies just because “Like, OMG, he's totally hot!” For
me, I needed questions answered. I still would like to know how the
bridge was repaired but I digress. While the movie does feel too
long, there is a lot of humor mixed with the overall urgent feel.
Tom Hiddleston once again dazzles (yes, I said dazzles, get over it)
as the god of mischief. Loki brings the humor but he also has
moments where he's utterly pathetic. I don't mean that in a
negative way. Look at him when he takes down his illusions for Thor
after learning the Frigga is dead. He's devastated! He even saves
Jane for Thor. While everyone else seems to remain a static
character, Loki, along with Eric Selvig and Darcy, seem to be the
only dynamic ones. Once again, I still can't stand Jane Foster, but
Loki makes up for that.
- The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
- I hated the run time of nearly three hours. I loved one
thing about this film that I applauded from the last one: the
faithfulness to the book. It's still one of the best adaptations I
have ever seen. Jennifer Lawrence captures every emotion
wonderfully, even if Katniss does seem wooden most of the time.
Then there's Jena Malone as Johanna Mason, who steals every scene
she's in. Seriously, if she had been more prominent in the film,
she would have stoeln that too. Sam Claflin is perfect as Finnick
Odair, the cocky, swaggering Tribute from Distrct Four. My heart
broke when Mags, the female Tribute from the same District, chose to
sacrifice herself for the others. The other characters, Wiress,
Beetee, Enobaria...all captured perfectly. The arena came to life
just as I had pictured it. The ending was a little weak for me.
That close up on her face as she goes through the emotions...not the
best. I would have loved to have seen Peeta looking scared while in
the hands of the corrupt Capitol members, namely President Snow, who
is absolutely villainous despite being in the background for the
most part. I'm not thrilled that the final movie, Mockingjay, will
be split into two parts, I still look forward to it because we will
finally get to see District Thirteen. Having read the book and
knowing what will happen, I can say this. If you get emotionally
involved in movies like I do (I'm the girl who cried when Rue died),
be sure to pack some tissues. You're going to need them.
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
- Come on, you all knew this one would be on there. This movie
suffers from the same problem every Peter Jackson film has. Nothing
happens, there's a lot of walking then everything happens at the end
of a near 3 hour film. To be fair, there's far more interesting
things in this one than in the first installment. We get to meet
Beorn, the man who can turn into a bear, we go to Mirkwood to meet
Thranduil, the king and father of Legolas. We also get to meet
Tauriel, who seemed unnecessary to me. I get that Jackson wants to
add in more female characters since the book has none. Maybe it has
some really minor ones...I haven't read it in years. It's also in
the high frame rate, which gives me a slight headache. Dol Goldur
and the Necromancer are incredible and hello, there's Smaug!
Benedict Cumberbatch did the motion capture for the dragon, along
with the voice. If you know what his voice sounds like, you too
will find this dragon to be sexy. There's something about the way
he slinks around and speaks slowly, as if he's teasing Bilbo the
whole time. Orlando Bloom, Lee Pace (who is younger than Orlando
but still plays his father) and Evangeline Lilly are refreshing
characters that bring another layer of depth to the film. I
recommend this one to anybody who has a love of J.R.R. Tolkien.
It's worth the time and money and the ending is an amazing
cliffhanger. I know I, along with Fry, are waiting impatiently to
see the conclusion of the series next year when There and Back
Again hits theaters.
So there you go guys, ten movies you need to see or rent or catch on Netflix. If you watch it in some illegal manner, that's none of my business. I'm looking forward to being a better critic in 2014 and making sure I stay on top of things so that I don’t slack off like I did this year. I am going to school once again, so I will be busy. Perhaps I'll do a list of films I'm dying to see in the new year. Maybe I won't. I don't know yet.
I'm TheCinemaChick and Fry and I will be seeing Saving Mr. Banks tonight.
Happy New Year everyone. Be safe, be happy and be yourself.
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