Category Archives: Movie Reviews

Movie Review: The Great Gatsby

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If you follow me on Twitter (@shlee83), you’ve probably noticed that I saw The Great Gatsby in theaters on Friday night. Ever since we saw the previews for this remake of a great literary classic, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire, we were dying to see it on the big screen! The movie promised a stellar performance by DiCaprio, stunning visuals, and an epic soundtrack. We’ve heard mixed reviews of the movie from others that saw it opening weekend – one of my friends proclaimed that F. Scott Fitzgerald was the most racist person in the 1920s, another person stated that although the movie was visually amazing, the story-line faultered and didn’t keep her engaged.

source

A little back-story on the story for you…

The story takes place in the summer of 1922 when a young WW1 vet, Nick Carraway, rents a small house in Long Island in fictional West Egg. His cousin, the beautiful and rich Daisy Buchanan lives across the bay in East Egg neighborhood and Nick spends time associating with her and her adulterous husband, Tom. Rumors of the mysterious, youth and filthy rich Jay Gatsby (Nick’s neighbor) start swirling and talks of Jay’s legendary parties creep into the ear of Nick. Eventually, Nick receives an invite to one of Jay’s parties, where he eventually meets the infamous Gatsby, who is sub-sequentially obsessed in his love for Nick’s cousin, Daisy. Still following me?

The story continues to follow Daisy and Jay through their love affair, with the question always lingering in the air – who is Jay Gatsby? I won’t ruin the tale for you, if you haven’t read the book.  Admittingly, it was one of my favorite reads of “mandatory” high school readings. It’s an epic love story that will have your head swirling and your heart breaking for Jay and Daisy throughout the novel. Continue reading →

Movie Review: Beautiful Creatures

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A few weeks ago I posted a book review for Beautiful Creatures, which like many teenage cult classics like Twilight and the Hunger Games has big promise to be the “next big thing.” If you remember, I thought the book was ok and thought the previews looked a lot better than the book and would blow it away. I was wrong.

The movie was difficult to follow along if you haven’t read the book. JP came and watched it with me and I felt bad and wanted to explain a lot of things to her that weren’t really talked about in the movie. They also changed some things like combine Amma and Marian into one character which makes sense for the film but was kind of strange. I’m not sure if the actors that played the leading characters (especially the guy who played Ethan) were the best actors selected for the role. It’s supposed to be this epic love story between a Caster and a human and if you can’t really find yourself rooting for them to be together, it kind of ruins that magic.

I kind of felt like I did after seeing the first Twilight film though, a little cheesy, a little disappointed, but wanting to see more. There were some high points in the film like Emmy Rossum who sizzled as Lena’s dark cousin Ridley. Emma Thompson as Mrs. Lincoln/Sarafine was epic. Her playfulness, evilness, and just overall craziness in the film was great. There were also some pretty amazing effects throughout the movie which were pretty neat. But overall, the casting kinda stunk (other than the aforementioned high notes), the writing was pretty cheesy, and it was hard to really grasp all of the points of the novel that made it special. But I think that also happens when you have a 500+ page novel and you try to turn it into a 1.5 hour long movie. I’d say wait for this one on DVD and opt out of the movie viewing. And don’t hold your breath that it will be the same as the book – there are lots of changes compared to the novel!

Some cool previews to look forward to: Oz the Great and Powerful starring James Franco and The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio look really neat. Can’t wait to see those in theater!

Movie Review: Silver Linings Playbook

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Ever since I first saw the previews of Silver Linings Playbook and that it starred Katniss Everdeen Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, I knew I wanted to see it. Then I heard that it was up for a ton of movie awards, and knewwwww it had to be good. We were finally able to carve out some time this past Saturday night to have date night which included JP’s first time at a hibachi restaurant (she loved it) and a movie.

I honestly wasn’t sure what SLP was supposed to be about, but was pleasantly surprised that it dealt with a very serious topic (bi-polar, depression) wrapped in some warm comedy from Robert DeNiro, Lawrence and Cooper.  Cooper’s character is Pat Solatano who is a substitute history teacher who spends 8 months in a psych ward after a fall-out from finding his wife (also a teacher) in the shower with the history teacher. Pat literally beats the crud out of the history teacher and begins his downward spiral, where he discovers that he’s been suffering from bi-polar disorder for some time.

Pat’s mom comes to retrieve him from the psych ward and bring him home where he continues his obsession with his estranged wife Nikki. Everything he does revolves around wanting to talk to her, to show her he’s changed (clearly he hasn’t), and in turn he stumbles upon Lawrence’s character Tiffany who, after her husband dies tragically, is just as messed up as him.  The rest of the movie really focuses on Pat’s attempt to find “silver linings” in any situation, which he adds to his “playbook” to be a more positive person. Part of that includes working out and taking better care of himself and I serrrrriously could not get over him running around with the garbage bag over him. Reminded me of Rocky Balboa.

source: The Weinstein Company, Mirage Enterprises

This movie was amazing. It was funny when it needed to be and not over-the-top funny, but subtle and quirky and I loved it. Lawrence and Cooper were an amazing pairing and I loved watching their journey through the movie together and hoping and praying that they both find some sanity in their lives – preferably together. A great movie for date night – the guys will love DeNiro and Pat’s family and stuggle. The gals will love Cooper and watching what transpires between Lawrence and Cooper’s characters.  Go see this flick!

 

Redbox Reviews

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I’m going to switch it up today with some reviews on movies I picked up at Redbox over the weekend. It was a gloomy and cold weekend which was a perfect time to curl up on the couch and take in some quality TV time. I’m a sucker for comedies, especially those with Will Ferrell or Vince Vaughn so I scooped up The Campaign starring Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis. I also just weened myself off of The Office on Netflix (ok, I totes made it through all 8 seasons on Netflix) so anything with Steve Carrell was also on my to-watch list, so I picked up Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. And lastly I was looking for a good Christmasy movie and thought Arthur Christmas might be a good choice since James McAvoy does the voice over for the lead character and I heart James McAvoy (have you seen Becoming Jane?!).

The Campaign (2012) – This movie follows the ridiculousness behind a senator race in Hammond, NC where Will Ferrell’s character Cam Brady is the epitome of snooty political folly. Cam has run unopposed in his role as state senator for the past few races and merely has to “show up” to win his race, however he finds himself in an adulterous scandal that threatens to ruin his run in the senate race – not that he cares…he likes to gloat about his romps with his mistress. In comes Cam’s rival Marty Huggins – the eccentric son of a local politician and current Director of Tourism in Hammond, Marty over goes an image re-vamp courtesy of Dylan McDermott, his campaign manager in a fight to take on Cam’s power over the state and a potential of erecting a Chinese sweatshop in NC to cut down on jobs and create a cheap labor market for product made by the Motch Brothers (Dan Akroyd and John Lithgow).

Overall the movie was ok. Even by Ferrell standards it was very raunchy and kind of dragged on in parts. McDermott shined as the creepy campaign manager of Huggins and Galifianakis is hilarious with a semi-similarity of the character he played in Due Date – a heterosexual male with definite oozing feminine characteristics. Quite hilarious! It’s a decent movie to rent but wasn’t over the top hilarious like I was hoping. Great movie to zone out to!

Arthur Christmas (2011) – Arthur Christmas is a cartoon movie that follows the “Claus” family and their journey 1 Christmas night.  Arthur is the son of Santa and Santa is a family business. At some point in time a new Santa rises up from the ranks of the family brood as the old Santa retires and enjoys idle days in a recliner watching the excitement of Christmas night unfoil. Steve (voiced by Hugh Laurie), Arthur’s older brother, oversees the operations of Christmas night – which is a highly technical operation with the elves finding unique ways to deploy in a city and deliver presents in a timely manner. Santa makes a guest appearance at 1 or two houses per city but overall the elves do most of the work.  Arthur, voiced by James McAvoy, LOVES Christmas and Santa Claus. He’s in charge of the Letters Department and answers all of the letters that come to the North Pole from little children’s Christmas wishes. He’s also awkward and clumsy and wouldn’t make the best choice for the next Santa in the eyes of the family because – he’s just Arthur. However, when the Santa Operation misses 1 child on Christmas night – who will come to save the day and not crush the holiday hopes of this child?

This was a great film and an even better one for the family. Humorous with lovable characters and a great storyline it provides an updated glimpse into the magic of the North Pole. Definitely rent-worthy!

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012) – Steve Carrell and Keira Knightly star in this film about the end of the world as Earth has 3 weeks until a major asteroid hits and demolishes the planet. Dodge is a middle aged man, who after his wife leaves him upon hearing news of the end of the world, sets out to figure out what to do with his last 3 weeks of his life. He continues to still go to work (an insurance company), even tho the streets are filled with crazed people, and then sets out to find a lost love of his past. On the way he stumbles upon is neighbor, a 20 something Brit named Penny who is having relationship issues of her own and just wants to get home to spend the last few days with her family in England. The problem is that all planes are grounded and there’s no way to get her home.

Throughout this adventure, they come across some interesting people (especially those sex-crazed waiters at a local restaurant Friendsys!) and end up spending their last few days as each other’s companion. But can Dodge really find love in the midst of all this choas?

This movie was good overall. My biggest problem was just the age gap between Carrell and Knightly. He ends up being a love interest and I’m not really sure that’s believable – but hey its the end of the world, who am I to judge. I think my biggest problem with the flick was just the content. End of the world stuff creeps me out and the ending of this film certainly did just that. It’ll make you sad and want to visit with the people in your life because life is short – so maybe you should watch this with some company so you don’t feel so alone.

source: Mandate Pictures/Indian Paintbrush

Well, I hope these help the next time you’re looking for a good movie to bring home!