Hey everyone, I’m the girl you know
and love, the one, the only (as far as I know) TheCinemaChick! And before you say anything, yes, I’ve been
sick again. I don’t know what’s going on
with 2015 but I have spent most of this year incredibly sick. So far, I’ve had pneumonia, bronchitis and
the flu. Each illness has lasted longer
than I have ever been ill before, so I’m starting to think I might have another
health issue. So, while I’m not feeling
like death, let’s look at some movies I’ve seen this year.
The sad thing is, I haven’t seen
anything that’s gotten me excited.
Everything has been mediocre at best.
I am disappointed because there are some huge titles that have been
released this year. Nothing has lived up
to its hype. What do I mean? Well, let’s have some mini reviews so you can
understand what I’m ranting about this time.
First off, let’s start with
Blackhat. It was supposed to be this cyber-crime
thriller starring Chris Hemsworth of Thor fame.
However, it fell short of its intentions. It wasn’t terribly exciting nor was it really
about cyber-crime. Sure, the criminal
activities were mentioned and they were a huge focus but the film just kept
going off track. It would start going
into the pasts of the hacker and the detective and how they were best friends
at one point. The detective even admits
he’s partially responsible for this virus and no one penalizes him. Then his sister gets involved and her and not
Thor have a fling. Why is there always
time for a sex scene in action movies?
Seriously, it’s even true in James Bond movies. He’s in the middle of a top secret mission
but still has time to nail the hot chick.
To be fair, he gets killed later on, so I guess he does get punished for
his actions. But even then, I couldn’t
be sympathetic because they add in so many characters I forgot who he was. It’s so hard to keep track of everything
going on but they never give you time to acclimate to one part of the
story. It starts off slow, then gains
more and more speed that just rushes it to a highly unsatisfactory happy
ending.
Then there’s Jupiter
Ascending. I know, this one was supposed
to be huge. It was meant for release
last year but the date was pushed back so there could be some post production
3D conversion. I will admit there are
some highly positive things about this movie.
The visuals are absolutely gorgeous.
You can tell the Wachowski clan put a lot of time, thought and effort
into how they wanted this movie to look.
I was blown away by the beauty of it.
The costumes, while a bit odd, are also beautiful. If I had to base this movie solely on
visuals, it would be amazing. However, I
do think the story suffered. I mean, we’ve
seen intergalactic politics in other films and honestly, the other movies
handled it much better than this did. I
get it, Jupiter (Mila Kunis) is the reincarnation of the mother of the Abraxos
family but let’s not forget, she inherited the galaxy. For the most part, she is useless and relies
on Cain (Channing Tatum) to save her from the ridiculous situations she puts
herself into. By the end, I was just
confused and unimpressed. Other than
being pretty to look at, Jupiter Ascending did not wow me. I was left with too many questions. Also, Eddie Redmayne, you just won an
Oscar. You are better than a role that
reduces you to a weirdly dressed man who either whispers or screams.
Now, let’s move on to The
DUFF. This is basically another cheesy
teen sex comedy. I know it’s supposed to
be about accepting who you are and being proud of yourself and all but it goes
about it in all the wrong ways. It was
very awkward and clunky, so the flow wasn’t so great. Plus, it tried to include this side message
of cyberbullying being wrong but that never really panned out for me. Honestly, it never really had
resolution. It went exactly how I
thought it would happen so there wasn’t anything special about it. What I really hate is when they do stories
like this, the nerdy, awkward “ugly” girl always ends up getting this amazing
makeover so she becomes attractive. I’m
sorry, but isn’t this supposed to be about accepting yourself and your unique
quirks? Why does it always have to
happen like this? Why does the girl have
to change herself to make a man or rival female happy? This has always bothered me to no end. If you want to make a movie that’s inspiring
or even more realistic, show me a film where the lead female doesn’t have to
undergo a makeover and change her personality in order to find love.
Here’s my lesson to all teenage
girls. Embrace your oddities. Don’t let anyone change you to make you into something
you’re not. Be you, be beautiful and be
happy.
Now let’s look at the Kingsman:
Secret Service. I actually really
enjoyed this movie. It was fun and fast
paced and somewhat ridiculous. It was sort
of like a spoof on James Bond but in a more serious manner. Plus, Colin Firth is kicking some major ass
in a suit and looking good doing it. The
story is solid, albeit a little far fetched.
Samuel L. Jackson is really good as the villain. What made me love this character is that he
is so sensitive to violence. What bad
guy gets physically ill at the sight of blood?
Even when he does finally kill one person, he has such a negative
reaction that you feel sorry for him. I
was angry that he had murdered a very important character but his immediate show
of remorse and disgust made me like him.
It’s not every often we find a sympathetic evil guy…unless you count
Loki but that’s another blog for another day.
My only problem with the movie was the amount of cursing and the
ending. I understand, spies normally don’t
have to watch their language but the amount of F bombs I heard in the run time
was almost appalling. Not to mention,
people brought their young children to this movie! Fry and I were at a late showing, so it was
well past midnight when we left. Why are
you bringing your kid to a movie this late?
They were getting cranky and kept asking questions. Not to mention, they basically show the
beginning of two people having inappropriate relations. The ending could have been so much better,
but they went with the smutty route.
Overall, not bad. I wish they
didn’t curse so much but in general, I enjoyed it.
And finally, let’s talk about
Cinderella. Maybe it’s me and I’m jaded
but I can’t stand fairy tales. This is
another one of those things were lying proves to be beneficial. I admit, I did like a lot of things about
this film but overall, it did nothing for me.
They chose to focus on the darker side of the story so much that it
brought a fairly depressing tone to it.
I love Cate Blanchett, don’t get me wrong. I want to be best friends with her but this
wasn’t her best role. She’s supposed to
be the wicked stepmother but at most, she was just annoying. In the animated version Lady Tremaine had
this air of evil about her so you automatically didn’t trust her. In this one, however, she just came off as a
gold digger with two daughters dumber than my lovely dog Hammy. And believe me, Hammy’s an idiot. I wanted to like it because it is meant to be
a masterpiece. And here’s where I will
praise it. The visuals and setting are absolutely
gorgeous. I mean, that gown Cinderella
wears at the ball is to die for.
Seriously, this should be considered during awards season for the
costuming. Everything was done
perfectly, down to the smallest details.
One thing I loved is how Anastasia and Drusilla are always dressed
similar but not the same, just like in the animated film. And if you’ve seen the movie, you know just
how breathtaking that pumpkin carriage was.
Oh! Can we talk about Helena
Bonham Carter as the Fairy Godmother?
How awesome was she? I love that
she’s slightly absent minded and makes mistakes with her spells. I make no secret of my love of Helena Bonham
Carter, I would love to be friends with her as well. To me, she is the best part of the film.
So yes, there are multiple
redeeming qualities and overall, it is a good movie It’s not too long, it’s sweet, it’s great for
little girls but for me, I just don’t care for the “happily ever after” feel
good flicks like this. Cinderella was
never my favorite fairy tale anyway. I
admit, I am stoked to see the upcoming live action Beauty and the Beast remake
with Emma Watson and Luke Evans. I was
liked a good fantasy with magic and monsters and strong(ish) female
characters. I give Belle more credit
because she fell in love with the prince because of who he was, not because he
was hot. Sure, we could get into the
whole Stockholm Syndrome thing but I’d rather not. If you don’t know what that is, google it.
I do have one more movie to look
at, but I have purposely waited for the hype on this one to die down. Yes, I did see Fifty Shades of Grey but I did
not want to immediately jump on the bandwagon.
So many people were excited to see it that I didn’t want to ruin it for
them. Apparently, my opinion can hold
some sway over people. I’ve had people
tell me that they chose not to see a movie just because I did an unfavorable review.
Folks, I can’t decide what you do
and don’t see. Everything I say here is just what I think. Hell, I’m not even a professional. I am simply a blogger who loves movies. I appreciate knowing that you actually take
the time to read my blogs and think about what I’ve said. However, I would never discourage anyone from
seeing a movie they want to see…unless it’s that
bad. I know I’ve seen several movies
where I have flat out said “Stay away!”
Well, that’s all for this time
guys. Much love and thanks for sticking
with me all these years and through multiple hiatuses. I’ll try not to get sick again and soon, I
should have some horror movies to look at and you know what? Just for the fun of it, let’s make a list of
movies I’m geeking out about this summer.
That’s right, summer movie season is coming and that’s when a lot of big
movies are released. We’ve got the
second Avengers to look forward to, Pitch Perfect 2, Fast 7, just to name a
few.
What are you excited to see? What summer movie blockbuster has you amped
up? Let me know! Talk to me, send me some feedback! Is there a movie out now that you think I
need to see? IS there something on
Netflix that you think is worth a look?
I’m always open to new suggestions.
I’m TheCinemaChick and I may or may
not be a Cyberman.
Upgrade in progress…delete, delete,
delete…
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