It's been a while

Its almost a week since I last blogged. Nothing really has happened in my life this week worth blogging. Just another boring week of work.

The last few days have sucked bad for me though. I unfortunately got sick, like a lot of other people I know. Yea its bullshit being sick. Left work early on Friday and slept like the whole day. Spent Saturday in bed because I could not move until about 4:30pm.

The one thing I did have time to do this weekend and end of week was watch a lot of movies. I decided to watch all movies I have never seen before. I ended up watching 6 movies, now its time to talk about my feelings toward these movies.

Here's the list:

A History of Violence

Serenity

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix

Akira

Hard Candy


Just to prove I don't hate on movies, this list encompasses quite a lot of different genre's of movies.

So lets start with

A History of Violence

I would consider this a Mafia based Drama movie. It's about a man, Tom, who runs a diner in a small town somewhere in the Midwest. One day two men come in and try to hold the place up, and Tom accidentally kills the two men trying to save the people in the diner. Well the fame that this brings also brings enemies. A week or two after, a man comes in the diner, and accuses Tom of having a past with a mob boss in Phily.

Well I'm not gonna tell you how it ends, so watch it.

I have to say, I liked the movie a bit. I don't know if I didn't love it because this movie was so hyped up to me, or if it really wasnt that good.

The acting led by Viggo Mortgensen was moderate, nothing outstanding but nothing devasting.
The reason I didn't like it so much is the way it was paced. There is absolutely no foreshadowing of what is going to happen next, not that that is bad. The movie had three significant dramatic, climactic sequences, and build up to each. But they were all completely separate. So once the climactic sequence ended, technically the movie could have ended there and no one would wonder what would happen next.

Overall, I would give the movie a B.
It was definetely entertaining, but lacked cohesion that would keep the viewer wanting more.

And Next

Serenity

Serenity is Sci-Fi, Fantasy movie about a Space crew trying to save a girl from an evil alliance. For all you Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel fans, this movie was written by Joss Whedon and follows the story of the shortlived TV Series, Firefly, which I have never seen. The basic plot here surrounds the same case as the show Firefly, and takes places I think I read like 2 months after the series ends.

I found this movie extremely entertaining. The cast was funny, and relatively good at acting. There were plenty of action scenes to keep you going and the plot worked well. For a person who never watched Firefly, there were a few things that took a while to understand and the story kind of jumps you in under the assumption that you should already know the cast of the series. But once you get past that, this movie has plenty of entertainment value. Of course it is a Sci-Fi Fantasy movie and I would only recommend to people who like these type of movies. Also recommend to fans of Buffy or Angel, and of course Firefly.

I would give this movie a B+
Not everyday a Sci-Fi action movie can be basic enough to pull in viewers of non Sci Fi movies.

Note: It actually took me many weeks to watch this movie. It was on tv one day a few weeks ago and I watch like a half hour before falling asleep, because it always seems to on only late at night. Ended up slowly watchin more and more and falling asleep, so it probably took me about 6 sittings to finish, and the last sitting I actually borrowed the DVD from my roomate, so that I could finish it.

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire

Teh 4th installment of the Harry Potter series follows Harry as he seems to be growing up faster and faster, dude like 20 now, playing a 14 yr old. Someone enters him into a wizard tournament and he is forced to participate.

I'm not a huge Harry Potter fan and have not read any of the book, but I generally find the movies entertaining. This movie follows as well. I found this movie had enough story as well as fun elements to keep the viewer very entertained. It's more of a bright fun movie for the majority and in the end it changes the atmosphere to a very dark story, and it works. The acting is as usual, cant really expect much more from it. I enjoyed this more than the 2nd but and maybe more than the 3rd, but I still liked the 1st the most.

I grade this A-
Typically Happy Potter, fun for the whole family.

Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix
This Harry Potter follow Harry through darker days of his life. It takes place shortly after the previous enstallment and focuses on Harry Potter and his inner demons.

I was not too thrilled with this movie. There were way to many annoying politcal and media elements that were not the easiest to understand, especially if you are not very familiar with the Harry Potter Series. This movie was much darker than the previous ones, and I don't think it works that well with the characters. The movie struggles with attempting to finding some family elements and balancing it with the dark elements. It doesn't work quite well, in my opinion. The family elements are too few and far between and they end up just being a nuisance. I also believe that it is becoming harder for a lot of the actors to pull off these more powerful roles than in the previous films. This movie also lacked a main plot arch. The battle with Harry and himself was not as prominent as it could have been, and it seems like the rest of the plot was filled with just about nothingness. Maybe I have to be a Harry Potter fan to enjoy this film more.

I give it a B-.
I have trouble giving it lower than that, since it didn't bore me.


Akira

The first time I have seen one of the most famous Japanese Anime movies of all time. I believe this movie was released in the late 80s. Its about a post apocalyptic Tokyo, and a biker gang that gets themselves involved in something much bigger than them. And of course Telekinesis.

I am not really a fan of Japanese Anime movies, or shows. They are generally way too complicated, and you hard to understand. Well this film wasn't that much different. It's typical, in my opinion, for Animes to focus strongly on character development and supernatural elements rather than a main plot. The actually main plot could probably take like 2 minutes to explain because thats how simple it is, but when they add all the filler in with these side stories and things that i just dont understand. Too much Japanese politics and supernatural BS going on. If you asked me if I liked it, I may not be able to answer, so I'll reason my way through it. I was entertained. I was confused. I probably would watch it again. I guess I would have to give it a positive grade, because I thought it was a kinda cool story.

I'll give it a B
If you like Jap Anime's you'll love this movie. Too bad I'm not a big fan.

And last but definetely not least
Hard Candy

This movie is so good that I really don't wanna spoil it too much. Ellen Page, the girl from Juno, plays a 14yr old girl, that is about to meet a 32yr old man that she met on the internet. Thats all you need to know, cause you need to see this.

The acting is Superb in this. If you thought the acting in Juno was good, you really need to see Ellen Page in this, she should have won awards for this. The directing and camera management really added to the atmosphere of the movie. The plot was simple enough and engaging enough to keep the audiences intrigued. This is definetely a movie aimed for adults. The movie really gives you exactly what you wouldn't expect in the situation its in. If you havent seen this movie, please do.

I give this movie an A
See this movie.

And thats all. I need to work on my critics skills, so Ill probably start reading more RottenTomatoes and work on those skills.