Oculus

Oculus directed by Mike Flanagan, starring Karen Gillian, Katie Sackoff, Brenton Thwaites, Rory Cochrane, Annalise Basso, and Garrett Ryan.

This is a horror movie so ultimately there are rules that will be followed.  Those are to be expected here and I've only seen a few horror movies that didn't follow those rules, this is not one of those films.  Other than that the movie is slickly produced with a good villain in the mirror, whose presence dominates the movie.  As a prop the mirror does a great job of being menacing while all it does is just hang there.  The person who crafted it for the movie did a great job. 

Also this movie doesn't have the normal lovers in peril but relies on a family dynamic of a brother and sister, which is handled with great skill by the two leads.  There is a lot of duality going on within the film, which is to be expected because the mirror is the horror object of the movie: reality vs. the past, physical vs. psychological just to name a couple.  This duality adds a lot of things to the movie's storyline as the carnage and blood start to pile up to final conclusion. 

Overall I found this movie an interesting addition of the horror genre but not one that expands on anything previously offered.  If you're in the mood for something entertaining and not to taxing on the mind, you can't really go wrong with this.

The Golem and the Jinni

The Golem and the Jinni written by Helene Wecker.

It's hard to believe this is a first novel.  The writing is assured third person.  The characters and story are interesting.  Everything holds together and was intriguing enough that I kept reading through all 600 pages of the novel wanting to know what was going to happen to the two main characters.  I can even say I didn't know where the story was heading as I kept reading.  I don't come across to many stories like that.  This is a cross genre novel: fantastical, romantic, and historical.

Wecker creates two interesting characters in the Golem and Jinni.  She breathes them into life and gives them plenty of room to grow.  They become two wholly fleshed out characters as their story unfolds page after page.  I like how she set them in the America when immigration was happening on a regular and legal basis.  This historical setting adds so much weight and authenticity to the story as it becomes another character within the story.  Wecker also injects some cultural ism into the story as Golem has a Jewish background and the Jinni a Syrian background, giving these characters each a world all to their own as they relate to each other and the world around them. 

A truly remarkable first novel.

Wanted

Wanted directed by Tim Bekmambetov, starring Jame McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, and a small appearance by Chris Pratt (I only mention this now because well this is Chris Pratt and now it's worth mentioning).

I didn't buy into this movie at all.  There just wasn't enough explanation as to the secrete society and all of that, that everything just felt tacked on instead of actual world or mythology building.  The whole concept seemed lifted from all kinds of other nerd related things and it never felt wholly original and has a photo copied feel to it.  See the first Matrix for a movie that lifts a lot of things from other other movies, books, comics, and media related things but yet has an original feel to it.  
And that feeling dominates the whole movie.  Characters never seem real but more card board cliched from all kinds of other movies.  Angelia Jolie seems to be playing some variation of herself from previous films.  McAvoy characters really felt like Ed Norton's character from Fight Club only not anywhere near as interesting.

The one thing I did like from this movie was seeing Chris Pratt.  He actually had an interesting part (a small part but amusing none-the-less).  The song Pina Colada even crops up in the film, giving the whole Christ Pratt and the song a kind of Guardians of the Galaxy prologue kind of feel.  I know this is unintentional but it brought a smile to my face as I noticed it. 

How to Train Your Dragon 2

How to Train Your Dragon 2 directed by Dean DeBlois, starring the voices of Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kirsten Wiig, Djimon Hounsou, and Kit Harrington.

This movie was amazing and exactly how a sequel should be done as it expands on everything from the first movie and doesn't retread anything.  Easily up there with the Toy Story movies on how to world build and how to do sequels right.   It's just not often I see a sequel that expands on the previous story without rehashing themes, ideas, or plot devices from the original movie that I'm in shock when someone pulls it off.  They pulled it off in wonderful ways that I sat in awe as I watched this movie marveling in everything on display.

The animation was top notch equally breathtaking - the flight scenes a lone are majestic and beautiful - the various islands explored all have a unique design and color scheme all their own.  I was glad to see the story expand on the characters from the first film without having them fall back into their old behaviors as so many movies tend to do.  The choices that were made in the first film and changes within the characters remained in their lives in the second film.  We also get to see the consequences of those choices - good and bad - in this film.  I just hope there is another sequel after this movie as it adds a lot of things to the over all story that I'm interested in what happens next. 

A good kids films with plenty of things for adults and movie lovers along the way. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) directed by Jonathan Liebesman, starring Megan Fox, Will Arnett, and William Fichtner.

I didn't really like this movie.  I had low expectations going into seeing it, and then those low expectations went even lower as the movie went on.  But even after saying all of that I will admit that this is one of better kids movies to come in a long time.  Low on language and sex - which seems to be a rarity with a film produced by Michael Bay, who's Transfromer's movies seemed to thrive on stupid potty humor and sexuality that only slightly veered into the over-the-top realm. 

This movie still suffers from the same thing afflicting the Transformers movies: namely the Turtles become secondary characters in their own movie much like the Transformers did in their movies.  Their characters never become actual characters but feel more like cartoons that only are only different from their weapons, names, and color of ninja eye ear.  They never became actual characters, which is a shame because here there was so much more to work with to make them interesting.

The screenplay seems to want to over explain everything and make all sorts of connections to everything instead of just letting the story and characters thrive on their own.  Do I really care about April O'Niel's life as a journalist?  Not really.  Just make her a journalist then let the world and story around her breath with it's own life.  Is that too hard to do?  It must be.  There is so much time wasted on explaining and over explaining everything when it could be devoted into making the Turtles' characters into actual characters. 

Locke

Locke directed by Steven Knight, starring Tom Hardy, with the voices of Olivia Colman, Ruth Wilson, Andrew Scott, and Ben Daniels.

Make no mistake this is a gimmick movie: there is only one - set the car, one actor - Tom Hardy,  and all the drama happens over the phone.  This will not be a movie for everyone.  It needs to have a good story and create drama from nothing more than phone conversations.  In my opinion this movie succeeds in leaps and bounds.  The run time was 84 minutes and the time did fly by as I became fully engrossed in Locke's life as the decisions he made completely affect everything in his life for the 1 hour drive he is on. 

His life becomes completely changed as the drive goes on.  We get very intimate incites into his life, character, and person throughout the drive.  I will admit I became fully engrossed in his life and conversations as the movie and drive progressed.  I wanted to know what was going to happen and how his choices were going to affect the people, his job, and himself.  I had no idea where the screenplay was going and the conversation he had with the many people in the movie had a real quality to them as it contained the pauses, repeated words, phrases, or sentences that seem to be in real life.  They all gave it a very intimate, invading this characters life kind of feel. 

This movie from the direction standpoint had an Alfred Hitchcock kind of tone, though I felt the movie would have been better if the camera had never left the car thus forces the viewer into world even more.  When it leaves the car it kind of gives the viewer a little relief.  I think it needed to keep us inside the car the whole time by doing this I think it would have even helped the viewer to empathize even more with Locke.

Tom Hardy does some of the best acting of his career as he creates a person with ticks and mannerisms that help to flesh out his character as the movie and drive go on.  The way he plays with his sleeves or rubs his beard all help to make Locke a fully fleshed out character.    

Ancillary Justice

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie.

It's been a long time since I've read a really good sci-fi novel.  Ancillary Justice qualifies as one of the better ones I've read in that span of time and it's Ann Leckie's first novel, which is just amazing.  She also does something a lot of sci-fi writers have a hard time of doing - she focuses on character over technology or alien culture.  She never looses sight of her character.

The idea of this book is what initially intrigued me - being of a hive mindset and then having that hive mindset stripped away and living in a singular person/body.  Leckie explores that mentality in glorious ways.  I don't normally like novels written in first person narration but this book's first person narration only adds to the character as she describes everything about having that hive mentality stripped away from her and living in a singular person.  It's this exploration of having that world stripped away that brings the main character to life.  I really got to understand her and the world she lived in.  Leckie did create an interesting world one I wouldn't mind seeing more of.

This book had shades of Ursala K. LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness, that is by no means a bad comparison with full compliments to Leckie for channeling LeGuin in such a way that most people have not been able to.  Her voice is a unique voice that I don't see in a lot sci-fi and I can say I'm looking forward to her next novel.

Kick-Ass 2

Kick-Ass 2 directed by Jeff Wadlow, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Jim Carrey.

I didn't like the first movie but I will admit this movie is better than the first movie.  I still have absolutely no pity or empathy for the main character as I think he is in way over his head.  I still take joy when he gets beat up and actually root for the villain to beat him up.  That being said however - Chloe Grace Moretz is the star of this movie and her character's arc and development alone made this movie worth watching.  She stole the entire movie.  Well Christopher Mintz-Plasse also did a great job of over acting in a role that required him to do so.  His character was the second best thing to see in this movie.  The movie seriously drags when either he or Chloe aren't on screen.  

Sabotage

Sabotage written and directed by David Ayer, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sam Worthington, Joe Manganiello, Josh Holloway, Terrance Howard, Max Martini, Mireille Enos, Olivia Williams, and Harold Perrineau.

This is just a straight up action movie that is way better than most of the movies that get pushed on viewers and passed as "action" movies.  I really liked the first 45 minutes or so of this movie but the last half of the movie I felt betrayed a lot of the things that had set up the movie.  I kind of wish the movie had explored more of the bond between Schwarzenegger and his crew because that was the heart of the movie.  Once it got away from that I felt the movie wasn't near as good as it started out being.  Not a bad way to spend a near two hours and it has a good old fashioned action movie feel.

High School Musical

High School Musical directed by Kenny Ortega, starring Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, and Lucas Grabeel.

Finally got around to seeing this movie because my kids discovered it and decided to watch it constantly for about a week.  Despite all of the hype and hubbub about this movie I've got to admit:   it wasn't that bad of a movie.

There's a little bit of Grease in this movie as in the two main characters come from different sides of the tracks - but that is where the Grease connection ends.  This isn't a romance movie or love story of which I thought it was going to be.  Instead this movie is about being true to yourself and doing what you want to do not want someone else is dictating you do to.  The movie stays very close to this theme never letting the romance hinder the plot or theme - for that I respect this movie.

The musical scenes were directed and choreographed with some serious passion and energy much better than most of the musicals that churn out of Hollywood.

I can see why this movie took off with the teenage crowd and it was interesting to see how this little movie came out nowhere and settled into the pop culture as violent as it did, when it did.   

Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time

Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time directed by Mike Newell, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kinsley, Emma Arterton, Alfred Molina, and Richard Coyle.

My expectations going into this movie were really low but I've got to admit this movie was much better than I expected and just a fun movie to watch.  When it was over I didn't feel like I'd wasted time seeing it.  I initially thought Jake Gyllenhaal was miscast in this role but he put in a performance that really gelled with everything happening in this movie.

I mean there's not much to say about this movie other than it's just a good adventure movie with some good action scenes and a decent story.  I would also say it's one of the best video games adaptations to movie ever made.  That is weird because when I hear of video games adapted into movie I don't hear this movie mentioned and it deserves to be mentioned.

I know they were trying to capture the Pirates movie but I'm glad this one turned out better than those movies as the feel and tone of this movie seemed more genuine than the Pirates movie.  I never once bought into the female character in that movie but here I did and somewhat "love" story in this movie doesn't feel as forced. 

3:10 to Yuma

3:10 to Yuma directed by James Mangold, starring Christian Bale, Russell Crowe, Ben Foster, Gretchen Mol, Logan Lerman, Peter Fonda, Alan Tudyk, Dallas Roberts, and Vinessa Shaw.

The acting alone in this movie makes it worth watching and that's from the two main leads to every secondary character that fills the rest of the movie.  Everyone does a great job of bringing this story alive and making the world in the movie complete and genuine.  Crowe and Bale shine as the two main leads.  Crowe's bad boy charisma saturates every scene he's in but the screenplay never forgets he's the villain.  Bale's character and dedication crates the foundation for the whole movie and we get to see how his character slowly penetrates Crowe's villain in an honest way that doesn't feel cheapened or fake.

I know the movie is a remake but I really wonder if the original can live up to this one because they did a good job of making it.  From the production, the direction, costumes, the acting, everything is top notch here as the world created feels real.  In my opinion it's a worthy addition to the Western genre of films.