The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

When Peter Jackson announced that this would be split into three movies, I got soooo bugged. I liked the Lord of the Rings, and I was glad to hear that Peter Jackson would helm the prequel (turned prequels), but come on, three movies? No, no, no. (See what I did there? Said no three times. Because one time is obviously just not enough. enough. enough.)

Supposedly he is taking material from Tolkein's other novels, but I still don't think this whole three novel thing was needed. But I'm not a die hard LOTR fan so, maybe this whole Hobbit trilogy is like a dream come true.

I mean, I didn't HATE the Hobbit movie movie movie. I regret not seeing it in the HFR 3D. Did anyone see it in the 'controversial', new 3D? I'd be curious to see if it is cool in that 3D.

Things I liked about the movie:

Bilbo- He was funny. Have any of you guys watched the BBC series Sherlock? He plays Watson. I recommend it.
Gollum- He was funny.
The Orcs- I have always loved the orc battles.

Things I didn't love:
Talking, talking talking- so much talking.
Singing, singing, singing- weird dwarf songs are just weird. I don't get it.
Walking, walking, walking- yeah, we get it, there's a lot of walking.

The only point to making this in to three movies is for the money. More power to you Peter.

Happy New Year. Year. Year.

Les Miserables

I'm honestly speechless. This was the best movie I have seen this year hands down. There will be those who disagree with me, obviously, but I will tell you why I loved it so much.

First off, this was one of the saddest movies I have ever seen. The title translates into 'The Miserable' or 'The Wretched' and that is what we see on screen. We see story, after story of sadness and death, and we can't help but feel for each and every character.

The live singing is the ONLY way to go from now on for Broadway to film adaptations. It worked. I have read a lot of negative reviews before seeing this movie and I was worried that I would be turned off by all of the 'talky talk' singing. Heck to the no. Hugh Jackman conveyed and sang every emotion perfectly as Jean Valjean. Marius was phenomenal. Eponine was great. We all hate Cosette, but that bug-eyed Amanda Seyfried did just fine. Helena Bonham Carter and Sascha Bara Cohen were great comic reliefs as the inn keepers. However, this movie was EPIC because of Anne Hathaway's portrayal of Fantine.

The theater sat in silence as she sang 'I Dreamed a Dream.' You could hear sniffles around the theater. This girl was not acting, she was living the part. This was pure Fantine on screen. I have never seen acting like this in my life.

I was amazed at how much each of the actors embraced all of their roles. You could just tell they were all giving their 110%. Guh....except for that Russell Crowe...I think he was giving like 200% and he was still falling short. He still did fine though. He didn't ruin the movie for me or anything. It was almost comical sometimes watching him try so hard. He gave an emotional performance of 'Stars' though.

I know that many people will want to compare the singing to the Broadway production. Some may say, "Well, it IS a musical after all come ON!" Yeah, well I have seen Les Mis and heard Les Mis sung 100 times. I just want to say that for the first time, I felt the emotion of each song. The director, Tom Hooper, made sure to zoom in and pretty much just keep an up close shot of each singer as they sang live into the camera. It worked. I felt their emotion and felt the emotion as each character sang his/her part.

Prostitution is evil right? And yet, Fantine, she would do ANYTHING for her daughter. So she became a prostitute. Does this make her evil? Nope. I think there is a special place in heaven reserved for Fantine. That is a mother's love. I felt it. I felt for Fantine.

Javert, a man of God and a man of justice. Is he really the villain?

Jean Valjean. A thief. A savior to Cosette, Fantine and to Marius. Aren't we all sinners? Where does mercy come into play?

Les Miserables is the perfect story that asks and sings all the right questions. I loved every minute of that movie.

This is what a perfect movie looks like.

Les Miserables Clips- You're Welcome

Dec 25

Let the countdown begin

Waiting for Hitchcock

I don't even know why either. I haven't even seen Psycho yet, but I am really excited to see the movie Hitchcock. I am so frustrated that it was 'released' two weeks ago but has yet to really been really released. I did some research and found out it was released in like seven theaters. I don't even think this should count as a release. That means I could make a video on my camera phone, promote it, and release it in some homes and call it a release.

Mostly I am just bugged because it's the end of the semester and I have to study for finals and no good movies have come out.

I am not even really looking forward to the Hobbit. I know. Blasphemy.

Luckily I am still following Parks and Rec like a boss.

Oh. And last night I had the opportunity to watch Liz and Dick. That's what I should do. Write a review about Lindsay Lohan's big comeback. However, I'd rather put forks in my eyes. It was awesomelly awful.

Did you hear she was arrested again this week? Oh Lilo. We heart you.

Red Dawn

Two movies. Two days. Life is good. 

The Red Dawn remake currently stands at an 11% on RottenTomatoes. Rough.

Let's start by saying this...I read a review that said, "Let's be honest...North Korea couldn't invade its own country, let alone the United States of America." Probably an accurate assessment. Let's ignore this subtle (not so subtle) point and just say that the movie was pretty good and entertaining. 

I enjoyed it just fine. I thought I was going to hate this movie but was pleasantly surprised. It was action-packed, funny, and I'm going to say semi-realistic. I put myself into the movie which made it really cool. I mean, imagine laying in your bed, and looking outside your window as paratroopers come floating down and begin shooting and capturing people on the street. It's a pretty freaky thing to think about.

Another freaky thing to think about? Josh Peck with a gun. Yes, we are talking Drake and Josh, Josh with a gun. Stupid. Just leave it Thor to do the heavy lifting. And Peeta. 

I went to this movie with my dad and bro, and they both liked it too. My dad is a HUGE fan of the original, and I still think he liked the original better. He did think Thor made a better leader than that Dirty Dancing dude. 

So is this movie worth your time? Yeah, it's probably a two out of four star kind of movie. I mean, it's nothing great, but it's pretty good for sure. I'm just glad I haven't had to go see Rise of the Guardians or Life of Pi. Laaaaaame. 

 

Lincoln

I'm on vacation. Cut me some slack here if I don't want to write a ton tonight. 

So I was sitting on the couch with my dad and we were deciding on what movie to see and we were going back and forth between Lincoln and Red Dawn. We both really wanted to see Red Dawn (not too be confused with the oh-so-wonderful-gag-me-now-Breaking-Dawn) but the reviews are saying it's lamesauce. 

So we started talking about seeing Lincoln, but then we talked about reading a dictionary instead, because that sounded just as interesting to me. We decided to go see Lincoln and guess what...it was GREAT!

Here's why it was great. They went and dug up Lincoln's grave and got him to act in this movie. I know it says Daniel Day-Lewis played Lincoln but don't be confused. It wasn't him...it was Abraham himself. I have never seen acting like this before in my entire life. I was engaged the entire movie. (oh, and it's a reallly long movie).

I knew nothing going into the movie, other than the fact it was based on a book about Abe Lincoln. I had no idea it was about the politics of getting the 13th Amendment passed. This movie poses many questions that are relevant to today's politics. As I was sitting there I couldn't help but think, man, Abe Lincoln passed this bill kind of like our Obama passed Obamacare...(backroom deals, shady deals, etc.) However, I do believe Abe Lincoln had the country's best interest at heart. But this begs the questions; doesn't Obama?

I am a VERY political person, and so I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I thought it was extremely relevant to politics today and it made think.

I have so much respect for President Abraham Lincoln. I hung onto every word he said. I felt like I needed a journal in that movie. I know....nerd alert. 

Ok, you get the picture. Go see the movie peeps if you want to be educationally uplifted. 

Happy Thanksgiving break!

Wreck It Ralph 

Yeahhhhh. I don't know how adults review kids movies. I can't do it. I just can't. I liked it, but I did not love it at all. I just didn't. 

Here's what I did love about it. I loved spending time with Sean and Jaimie Tanner. They are freaking awesome. I love them and just want to be awesome like them one day. I am so lucky that they let me third wheel with them all of the time to movies. 

So back to this Ralph business...I just don't think it deserved its high rating on Rotten Tomatoes that it received. It's not that great. I will say this though...kids will like it. 

Im no kid though. Are you still reading this? Go see Skyfall. no more of this kiddie business.

I have jumped on the Bond bandwagon.

Did you guys know that I have only seen one Bond movie in my entire life? True story. I saw Casino Royale a few years ago for the first time and it was pretty darn good. Well, this weekend I saw Skyfall. I skipped Quantum of Solace.

Anyways, let's talk business. Skyfall. Wow. Not only was this just a freaking amazing Bond movie, this was just a freaking amazing movie altogether. How can people not love movies?! I went to this movie with pretty high expectations because it's been making bank overseas and it has received stellar reviews. This movie STILL exceeded my expectations.

The opening sequence was phenomenal. So amazing. I seriously couldn't stop smiling. Then that Adele song came on and I kept on smiling. Adele really does smooth the soul.

This movie was just so legit. I have seen a lot of movies in my life but I just have never gotten around to the Bonds, James Bonds. I don't know how anyone could do a better Bond than Daniel Craig though. He owned this show. Javier Bardem was such an awesome villain too. He was sooooo freaky, so that made the movie pretty awesome. Judi Dench plays an awesome M too. This movie was stellar.

I just couldn't believe how good it really was. I had my doubts going in, but this movie is one heckava ride. Go. Nowwwww.

Go yesterday.

Taken 2

I LOVED Taken 1.

Oh how much can change in just one movie.

Taken 2.

Here's my advice. Go see it. For real. Go. Just go. I saw it. If you liked Taken, go see it. Was the screenplay crap? Yeah. Was the studio looking for some  quick cash with this movie? Yeah. Was the action cool? Mehh. Kinda.

I just don't feel like the director or the writers put their heart into this movie at all because they knew suckers like me would go see it anyway. I felt betrayed. I couldn't sleep all night. How could they do this to me? A dedicated fan? (I slept just fine).

I feel kinda bad for saying that I didn't like it cuz I know so many people were looking forward to this. I was too people! I have been SO excited for this! That's why I think you should really ignore my opinion and go see it anyway. Taken was cool and this was just not.

Go see it and tell me what you thought though. Fur real.

Pitch Perfect-Perfect

Man. I'm still laughing. Notice how this says that the poster says this movie isn't even out yet? Well, it's out in limited release and I went and saw it. I wasn't excited for the singing as much as I was about seeing Fat Amy (please see far left of poster).

I wouldn't recommend this movie for innocent eyes and ears. What I'm trying to say is that I loved it and I feel slightly guilty that I loved it. It was so funny, but definitely had some raunchy humor.

Fat Amy stole the show. She's gonna be in every movie now. If you want a funny comedy this weekend, I highly recommend this.

Why I liked House At the End of the Street

Here's why I liked hashtag HATES.

I got to the end of the movie and I was like, "W T Crap just happened."

Honestly, the getting there was a lil slow and nothing about this movie was scary. I LIVE for scary movies. I think I have scary-movie-blood running through my veins. I don't even think that makes sense, but if it did, I would have scary-movie-blood running through my veins.

You know, I always get nervous posting these reviews because people are going to go see these movies after they read my reviews and be like, "Well JUSTIN said it was good!"

PLEASE. I just go to the movies cuz I'm obsessed and I have some WEIRD tastes people. Get used to it. I got a whole blog you can scroll through and see what I like and what I don't like.

Pretty much, I just like everything.

House at the End of the Street (which by the way is getting really annoying to type the whole title out) was pretty much a trippy, long version of Law and Order minus the cops and courtroom. So honestly, I have no idea how it relates to Law and Order, but it just felt to me like a long episode of that.

For me this movie was just pretty creative. It had lots of those twists, like whoaaaa, that made it worth it for me. So I was pleased.

I still don't get scared in movies though. Seriously, nothing scares me....(except for a haunted house...that's like living a scary movie and there's no way I would ever walk through one of those).

I pretty much just wanted to write this to present a counter viewpoint to the stupid people who said "This was the dumbest movie everrrrrrrrrrr." I seriously wanna talk to those people in the and say "Dude, you go write a movie like that!" (Seems like I did just that by writing it in this post).

Be happy. Go see a movie.

Happy Weekending.

Movies are MY LIFE!

Man

I had the chance to go see Premium Rush today.

Let me tell you. I just love movies. I do. I just love them. I just want to sit in a theater all day. Some people may think I am lame, but I call them lame. I just think I am passionate. I love movies. So much. Premium Rush wasn't amazing. But it was good. And entertaining. And fun.

So if you have nothing to do this weekend and have seen everything in theaters and love movies, then sure, go see Premium Rush!

And I love movies.

Let me be real for a second. REAL.

I got sick of 'blogging.'

It takes a lot of time. And for some weird lame reason I feel all this pressure to be funny and crap. Luckily, for you, the 'real' me is still funny, but the 'real' me gets tired of posting all these long reviews. I don't mind posting about movies I see, but I think I just want to post my thoughts about the movie industry and movies I've seen and feelings I have and stuff on this blog.

So if you have nothing to do this weekend and have seen everything in theaters and love movies, then sure, go see Premium Rush!

I don't know. It's a work in progress.

Just come back and visit.

Word. g man.

-JT (Don't call me JT. It's Justin. Or you can call me JT)

I still see movies.....

I still see movies. I am just so busy with school. And I'm sure no one really reads this blog anymore. I'm mr. inconsistent. I just love movies so much. I want to drop out of schools and go to Hollywood and be an actor. Not really. Actually, really. I love movies. I love life. I just want to be famous. Yes, famous. I love movies. And I'm studying for finals right now and am so bored.

January Woes

January is the worst when it comes to movies. The WORST. Luckily there are some TV shows that started up that are awesome. These are the shows I am currently watching: Once Upon A Time, Alcatraz, Modern Family, Revenge, Parks and Recreation, and Fringe. I recommend them all. The River starts up soon and I'm super pumped about that. Get on it people. Get a life and watch more TV!

2012

It's 2012! A new year means new movies. Don't worry about the fact that I haven't updated my blog since the movie "In Time".  I'm really excited about 2012. The two movies I am most excited for are The Hunger Games and The Dark Knight Rises. Let's go 2012!