Category Archives: Movies/TV

Review: The Heat

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The buddy cop comedy genre has been around forever and comes back in different forms. The Heat takes a shot in this genre of marrying the serious career of crime fighting with two upholders of the law that find little to agree upon.

Let’s state the obvious: Melissa McCarthy steals the show. To her credit, if you loved Sandra Bullock as Lenina Huxley in Demolition Man, you’ll find her awkward-yet-capable character in The Heat also charming, but it’s McCarthy who portrays Boston local cop,  Shannon Mullins, that gets credit for the many of laughs that ensue.

The good; you do know that this movie is more about comedy than drama, right? Good!

Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy really work together. You get the feeling they became friends working together if they weren’t already and I can’t help but wonder why the makers didn’t give us a gag reel during the credits as icing on the cake.

Watching Bullock in this movie just makes you want to hug her, especially if you know someone just like her and chances are you do.

Bonus: You’ll appreciate some of the cameos even more if you’ve watched Bridesmaids.

The bad; The film runs 117 minutes but unfortunately some of the jokes don’t work. A bit editing could have kept this comedy leaner and more potent.

Overall, if you’re craving comedy and looking for a reason to cool off in theaters check out The Heat. One question remains, would a third Paul Feig + Melissa McCarthy movie be a charm?

Review: White House Down – all the waaaaaaaaay down

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So White House Down, another movie in which Roland Emmerich gets to inflict destruction on to our capital city.  Channing Tatum is the under dog security agent who wants to apply for the secret service and has a strained relationship with his daughter.  And the President is Jamie Foxx.  Stuff blows up, what else do we need to know?

The good; stuff blows up, and it blows up well.  You might be asking yourself… “didn’t we already see this movie?”  Yes, yes you might have, earlier this year we got Olympus Has Fallen

So how is this one different?  Well for one its better, but that’s not saying much.  White House Down is exactly what you expect.  But the best part is that it doesn’t take itself too serious, which was sorely lacking in Olympus.

*SPOILER*(but not really) Channing Tatum does not get shirtless in this movie. *END SPOILER*

The bad; we basically already had this movie?  Some of the special effects are horrible, oh and the reference Independence Day… thanks, I had forgotten that Emmerich likes to blow up the United States.

Overall, don’t waste your time in the theatre with this one, but given a choice between two movies with the same premise, go with White House Down. You’ll marvel at the destruction, you’ll cringe and laugh at the dialog, and you’ll shake you’re head.  But mostly you’ll shake your head while eating popcorn.

PS. old people, please stop seeing movies when I see them, you ruined both Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down, if I can hear you whisper… then it’s not a whisper.

Review: The Purge – not the throwing up kind

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The Purge… what a interesting movie.  It’s about an annual Purge that happens in the near future of these United States of America.   There’s a twelve hour period once a year where citizens and can vent out their negative feelings, in which there are no emergency services available, and because all crime is legal… including murder.  Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey try to survive another purge night with their family, whacky-ness then ensues.

The good; very interesting premise, although it does borrow from a Star Trek episode entitled The Return of the Archons.  Regardless, the premise is intriguing enough for me to purchase a ticket.  Not much else here, I just enjoyed the world that they built in this near future.

The bad; the execution (pun intended) of the premise.  Why is everything shot in close ups?  The family lives in this big house, I want to see the house, I wanna see the neighborhood, why won’t  you let me see those things?  The only thing we’re exposed to are close ups of the actors’ faces.  It’s just strange that everything was done this way.  It does create a sense of uncomfortable intimacy, but it’s too much, we need room to breathe.

Overall, great premise, needs work on the execution.

Review: This Is The End – let’s hope not…

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I saw This is the End, if you haven’t seen the trailers, it’s about comedic actors in LA, they’re at a house party when the beginning of the apocalypse happens.  In the vein of Neil Patrick Harris in Harold and Kumar all the actors in the movie play themselves, and whacky-ness ensues.
The good; the actors work well together, you can tell that everyone was in the spirit of this comedy, there was too much service paid to one person more than the other.  Everyone executes their jokes beautifully among this who’s who of comedy actors.

The gags are wild and outrageous but not drawn out.  The timing really works well in this almost parody of the end of the world movies.

The bad; things go a little too crazy in the third act.  I mean there’s some stuff that happens that you see coming and the set up is part of the joke.  But some of it could’ve been “hidden/disguised” better.

Overall – I can’t complain to much, I went in knowing what this movie would be about and it delivered.  Much like Hot Tub Time Machine, I just had fun going along for the ride.

Review: Monsters University – Graduates with Honors

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I saw Monsters University this weekend, and apparently so did everyone else.  It’s a prequel to Monster Inc., letting us know the back story of how Mike and Sully became such good friends.  And from the title, you guessed it, it’s when they’re in college.

The good; the animation is top notch, as always.  There’s moments where the film goes in to the human world, and it looks amazing.  The lighting is superb.

What really shines out in this movie, as opposed to other prequels, are the characters.  Mike and Sully are really really well thought out.  Not only are the leads solid, fleshed out, characters, but so is the supporting cast.  This is where the movie really shines.

The bad; other than it being a prequel, I can’t think of anything.  This film is thoroughly enjoyable.
The complaint I do have is that it IS a kids’ movie, and therefore… kids are in the theatre.  They really can’t enjoy this movie, and what makes their parents think that they can???

Overall, do yourself a favor and see this in the theatre, try not to see it with kids that are too young though.  The feature is also preceded by the short film The Blue Umbrella.  Another great coupling of films.

Apple TV Update Adds HBO Go, ESPN, Sky News, Crunchyroll and Qello

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We’re big fans of the Roku boxes but it’s not the only hockey puck internet connected device feeding dumb TV’s. Apple just updated the Apple TV with a few channels to please folks jealous of Roku’s wider content provider selection (except for the glaring lack of YouTube).

After updating your player’s firmware (Settings), you’ll be able to stream content from:
HBO Go
ESPN (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN Buzzer Beater/Goal Line)
Sky News
Crunchyroll
Qello

Apple recently enabled AirPlay to their iOS HBO Go app but now subscribers (or sneaky folks who are able to get login credentials from their buddy), can watch shows like Girls and Game of Thrones natively on the Apple TV.

Source: BusinessWire via The Verge

Is ESPN’s Ending Support for 3D a Nail in the Coffin for 3D? (UPDATED)

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3D is controversial. It either makes everything 2D look flat or causes frustration when buying tickets a theater and the promise of bringing greater immersion into the living room is seeing slow adoption for several reasons.

People already invested in HDTV’s they aren’t willing to replace until they no longer work. If the FCC required all programming to be broadcast in 3D, we’d have a different story. This is what happened in 2009 when most stations stopped transmitting NTSC (analog SDTV) and began/resumed broadcasting ATSC (digital HDTV).

3D doesn’t work for everyone. Some people get headaches wearing 3D glasses and unfortunately watching 3D is an all-or-nothing experience (unless you have 3D to 2D glasses). Others wear glasses that just don’t fit will with another layer on top.

3D doesn’t add to the watching experience of all genres. Remember how much more we saw when our eyes first glimpsed HDTV? We saw more players on the screen, the disheveled Floridian misfits on Cops a little clearer, pores and dimples of Danny Trejo, flakey butter infused toppings of Paula Deen’s pastry creations, and of course Planet Earth blew us all away. We realized the benefits immediately and can never go back. Is anyone clamoring for NBC’s Community to be in 3D? How about being able to see Jeopardy contestants pound the buzzer a little closer?

One of 3D’s biggest advocates was ESPN, who caters to sports fans all over. After all, watching games in high definition was a key draw for people to upgrade their sets. It gave people a chance to get closer to the game without having to pay the exorbitant prices of a ticket. The depth of another dimension was supposed to give fans another reason to invest in a new TV. It turns out there is little demand for fans to see the dripping sweat of Chris Paul or a spiraling football thrown by Peyton Manning.

It seems the next step of ESPN’s evolution should be moving towards 4K coverage. With the Microsoft Xbox One and Sony Playstation 4 invading homes later this year, content providers have some assurance their streams have player support but whether these consoles will be hooked up to 4K displays and how soon remains unknown.

Source: TVNewsCheck via The Verge

UPDATE (7/5/2013): Following ESPN’s direction, BBC has just announced it will end broadcasting in 3D “indefinitely”

Source: BBC

Review: Man of Steel – in which Superman Returns… to the silver screen

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Just saw Man of Steel, it’s Warner Brothers/DC Comics trying to revive the Superman film franchise again.  This time we have Zack Snyder directing with Christopher Nolan at the helm/producer, Henry Cavill as the titular character, Amy Adams as Lois Lane and so on.  It’s a Superman movie, Superman does super things against evil and injustice, this case, the already alien looking Michael Shannon as General Zod.

The good; unlike comic book movies, a lot of the movie the hero is spent in civilian clothing as his alter ego/normal self.  Henry Cavill spends a good ninety percent of the movie in the Superman uniform.  That’s what we’ve been missing in these latest superhero movies, not enough of the hero in costume (Iron Man 3, The Dark Knight Rises…).

After Superman Returns, we finally get Superman returning to the big screen.  Superman punches, flies and punches while flying, action and explosions galore, why did it take so long to get here?!

Henry Cavill as Superman – this guy gets it.

Hans Zimmer’s scores are great.

The story, without spoilers, is great, it matches to visuals and it just as strong, they compliment each other beautifully.

The bad; I have to put something here… let’s see… let’s see.  Superman’s costume is too dark, I really do miss the red trunks, Lois isn’t dark haired…

But in all seriousness the action scenes are rather lack luster, it’s nothing new, which is maybe what they’re going for?  But I wanted better coverage and choreography in the fight scenes.  Too many close ups and shakey cam, it’s something modern cinema suffers too much from.

Hans Zimmer’s scores, I know I put this above, but I’m of the school that superheroes should have a catchy theme.  We all can hum the John Williams Superman theme, and the Danny Elfman Batman theme, and let’s not forget the Spider-Man cartoon theme or the nana-nana-nana- Batmannnnn theme.  So what’s Christian Bale’s Batman theme?  “wrrrrrrrooooooooooooommm.”  Listen to the themes of today, can you hum them?

Overall – go see this movie in the theatre, I really really enjoyed this, and this is coming from me, a die hard Superman fan.  When I saw the first trailer I was doubtful, but then that third trailer came out, and I was sold.  From the get-go I wanted to be wrong, and I’m glad that I was… Man of Steel delivers in every way possible.

Review: Star Trek Into Darkness – In which dumbed down story and mindless action prevails

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I saw Star Trek Into Darkness, it’s the direct sequel to the rebooted Star Trek universe. The short of it is the crew on board the Enterprise goes on spacey missions and does spacey stuff, we all know what Star Trek is.

The good; everyone’s back, I liked what the young cast brought to the table and I’m glad they’re all back.

The uniforms, it’s taking a more Starship Troopers approach, lots of greys.

The first half of the movie.

Peter Weller in Star Trek again.

Benedict Cumberbatch carried the most presence with what he had to work with.

The shirts, the shirts are just well pressed!

The bad; how can I put all that feel here? I won’t try, but I’ll hit on some important things.

This movie is not Star Trek, I blame the “writers” Orci, Kurtzman, and that ever wonderful Lindelof. Collectively this team butchered Transformers, Cowboys and Aliens, the Alien franchise, and now Star Trek…
The first half of the film was great, it was attempting to correct the things that were sorely wrong with the first movie. Scotty is telling Kirk that they’re explorers and not a military vessel, so he resigns… thinking back on this, that was all Simon Pegg, cause he knows, where those other guys clearly don’t know Trek.

*SPOILERS* Star Trek is about hope and bettering humanity, I get it, 9/11 happened, but does Star Trek need to remind us of that? Also, if you’re going to create a new world for Star Trek, and close the old one off, why are we rehashing the “old world’s” stories? They tried it within world with Nemesis, and that ended all the Next Generation films, “hello McFly” are we not learning from history?

Why Khan? I get it, that’s the best movie from the franchise, and you’re a fan, that doesn’t mean you should make Wrath of Khan over again now does it?

Why is Carol Marcus in this film? Just cause she was in Wrath of Khan? Then we reverse the whole Spock death by putting Kirk in radiation? There were more than a few scoffs in our audience when that scene came up. This new Trek hasn’t earned that moment.

And at one point Spock goes and talks to Spock Prime… that’s lazy story telling, cause Spock can just ask Spock how it all happened in the “old” universe, really?

Overall I fail to see how a Star Trek fan can like this movie, it’s all flash and no substance, literally, flashes of lens flare galore. The future in Star Trek is bright, but not literally bright. Into Darkness lost me as soon as Khan’s name was revealed, from that moment on I was beamed away. See what I did there?

Save your time and watch some real Star Trek. *END SPOILERS*

 

Review: Iron Man 3 – In which the trilogy ends

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Finally got to see Iron Man 3, it’s the third installment in to the Iron Man franchise, this film being directed and written by Shane Black. I’m a Shane Black fan, he’s done; the Lethal Weapon movies, Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang, The Last Boyscout…
In short, the third movie is about Tony Stark battling a new villain as well as personal demons.

The good; Robert Downey Jr, he carries this movie completely and thoroughly. His comedy timing and delivery is great, there’s some scenes in particular with a kid, but I won’t get in to it.

The scene where Iron Man has to rescue passengers suddenly ejected from a plane is great. There’s a real sense of geography and urgency amidst this chaotic situation and it’s pulled off very well.

The bad; it wasn’t the movie I had hoped for, not typical of Shane Black’s previous work. The twists and turns aren’t hard to spot, and much like The Dark Knight Rises, there isn’t much of Iron Man in this film. It seemed that there was too much to service in the story, you have the Extremis stuff as well as the Mandarin.

Overall, enjoyed it better than the second movie, but the first movie is still the best one out of the trilogy.
Again… wait till the end of the credits (as you should) for a tag at the end.

Netflix Removes Expiration Dates From API

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You may have noticed that our public Netflix calendar hasn’t been updated in awhile. That’s because Netflix removed upcoming title listings from their API.

Yesterday, Netflix took a step further in removing more useful information by removing expiration dates from the API.

The reasoning behind this change is because “the expiration date can be inaccurate as a result of frequent, often last minute, changes in content flow.”

The information can still be found while browsing the Netflix website. Unfortunately, rather than having all this information conveniently listed on sites like Instantwatcher, you’ll have to view title pages individually or in your queue list.

I wish Netflix would just be as transparent as possible with a disclaimer that they reserve the right to change details. It’s not like we’re expecting Netflix to blatantly lie to us about titles outside the scope of their agreements with studios. We just want to know what we can look forward to or need to watch before it’s no longer available.

Source: Netflix

Review: Oblivion – obliterates the competition

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I went to see Oblivion last night.  Didn’t get to see it over the weekend, apparently everyone else did…
It’s about Tom Cruise as the last man on earth, sort of, the planet is ravaged and he his mission is to repair the drones that repel the alien presence.

The good; I love the premise, it reminds me of all those post-apocalyptic movies before the eighties, the ones that immediately come to mind are; Planet of the Apes, Omega Man, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Silent Running and Damnation Alley.  Then more recently Moon.

The production design in creating the world is great.  Everything is a variation of white, the equipment, living quarters, clothing… all white.  But Tom Cruise plays tech Jack Harper who goes out in to the wasteland so his white uniform is grayish from all the dirt and grime.

Oblivion is directed by Joseph Kosinski, who previously did Tron: Legacy. It’s nice that he got a second chance to direct a movie with a stronger story.  This film really feels like a lover-letter to all those previously mentioned movie in the seventies.

The bad; the film does drag in spots, but there’s something about Cruise, he can carry a movie, much like Mc Queen in Bullitt.  So I was able to forgive the pacing in areas.

The story is nothing new, there’s a lot of aspects of other movies and stories that we’ve seen here.  I know I mentioned this above as something I liked, but it felt more like here’s this movie and then now here’s that movie, the melding needed work.

*SEMI-SPOILER* There’s a twist/reveal at the end.  Basically if you’re an uninformed movie goer (a Michael Bay fan *ahem) then you’d be gasping when this plot point reveals itself.  I could see this twist coming a mile away, and again, it’s nothing new that we haven’t seen, so I guess I was just predisposed to expect it.
When the revelation hits Harper I find that he buys in to it way too easily.  Some might say that was already fighting mentally with what he was doing, so when the truth hit him, it was always something he knew but could never see or hear.
At this point in the movie taking more time to explain the “truth” of what’s going on wouldn’t have been so bad, cause they did take their sweet time getting there.  Just felt weird, why take your leisure and then when something important like this comes up we speed right through it?  It’s basically told in exposition, which felt very lazy.
*END SEMI-SPOILER*

Overall I enjoyed this movie more than I thought it would be.  The visuals are great and Tom Cruise, luv him or hate him, he can certainly carry a movie.  Viewing this movie made me want to watch all the other movies that I thought of, so I know that the filmmakers’ hearts are in the right place, cause they like some of the same movies I like.