Superbad (2007)

Rating: 75%
This is a movie that I've been wanting to see just so that I have like practically everyone else. I know one of the scenes already because s few people in my acting class last fall acted it out, but that was all I knew about it up till now.

Plot: Evan and Seth are best friends who are only a couple of weeks away from graduating form high school. There's a party later that night at Seth's crush Jules' house, so Seth tells her that he is going to bring alcohol there. Evan also promises to bring certain alcohol to his crush Becca. So they plan to get alcohol with the help of their friend Fogell who has a fake ID. But when the alcohol store gets robbed right as Fogell is getting the alcohol, the police come leading Evan and Seth to think he's getting arrested, so they try to get it from the party that a guy that just recently hit Seth with his car is going to. Meanwhile the cops appear to actually be fooled by Fogell's ID and offer him a lift to the party.


Now I'm not a big fan of the sexual humor and stuff (hence why I REALLY hate movies like Borat and Hangover part II) But there were a couple of jokes that I did think were kind of cute. Not laugh out loud, but they were at least a little amusing. Honestly what made this interesting was just the story. Because it was nice, it made me interested to know how it was going to end, and for the most part it was a little fun and entertaining...well that and that the movie had Emma Stone.

Acting/Characters:
Jonah Hill/Seth: Well this is the second movie I've seen of Jonah Hill (the first being Moneyball). Now I didn't care too much for his character since he was one of those characters that basically was all about the potty mouth and trying to screw the girl or whatever, but since he's not the most irritating among those kinds of characters, he was enjoyable at the end of the day.
Michael Cera/Evan: I liked Evan, he was a more reasonable character who was often the one panicking whenever stuff was happening which comparing to most of the characters, I liked.
Christopher Mintz-Plasse/Fogell: Now this is the first film I've seen with this guy that's not Kick-Ass. And I thought he was a nice character. I think what most people would like him because how how her gets drunk and smokes with cops and shooting a gun. I may agree to a little bit of that, but I personally like him because I admit being able to shoot a gun at that moment would be pretty awesome.
Emma Stone/Jules: I didn't have the slightest idea that she was going to be in this movie. But when I saw her earlier in the film I practically went "alright, now it's a movie." And once again she gave us an awesome performance. *SPOILER ALERT* Personally, I loved that she didn't want to do anything with Seth while he's drunk. I mean sure I'd prefer that she doesn't actually want to do anything sexually with him, considering the world we live in, I'll take the fact that she would want then not drunk is a little nice. Plus, I agree that the black-eye is pretty bad-a. *END OF SPOILER*  


Music: I didn't pay attention very much to the music, but I think it was alright...if you like hearing mostly party music.

Editing: I thought it was alright. nothing spectacular.

And that's my review for Superbad. I may not be into most of the comedy, but I still enjoyed it as a story and for some of the actors and characters that they gave us.          

Ray (2004)

Rating: 90%
Yeah, finally watching this movie is a little overdue. I've seen a couple of clips here and there but it was just 15 ish minutes ago where I finally finished watching it. Now bear in mind, this was from watching the extended version of the film.  I don't know if it matter or not, though I get the feeling that it might, but be aware of that if it is necessary all the same.

Plot: This is the story of Ray Charles Robinson, a blind piano player who starts to move up into the world and become a famous singer getting worldwide fame while going through a lot of bad stuff in his life such as having affairs and especially doing drugs.

This was a very well put together movie. It may be a little long, but they used it very well with showing us this person and just about every single thing he goes through as his career slowly but surly get bigger and bigger, along with the things in his personal life whether it has to do with his family or with his past. Sure some stuff might not be accurate, I mean I would guess how they say he came up with "Hit The Road Jack" was not how he did it. I'm sure I could be wrong but that's my guess. But whether or not there was anything inaccurate to it, they still give us a very interesting story. Now the ending *WARNING SPOILER* I personally liked. Because frankly, from what I guessed from what little I saw from this movie until now, and with the fact that I didn't know much about Ray Charles up till now, I thought this was going to be one of those movies where the main character has it all, but he keeps making the wrong choices that screw him over beyond repair whether it's relationships like Kane's two wives in Citizen Kane, or with both relationships and the person's whole career like Roy Hobbs in The Natural (the book mind you, not the movie). But how it turned out for Ray in the end was a little satisfying because of how things worked out. I will admit that the ending is not too original, and I thought it was a little fast, that it was still nice to know what happened. *END OF SPOILERS*


Actors/Characters:
Jamie Foxx/Ray Charles: Foxx did a spectacular job. He gave us a good idea with what Charles did and what he went through with the things that happened throughout his life. Now part of how I know he did a good job was the fact that I had just recently saw him in Horrible Bosses. Comparing his character in that movie to his character in Ray shows how he gave a totally different character that he did work really hard on.

Music: what's to say, with this film we hear a lot of music that we all know and love. "Mess Around", "Hit the Road Jack," I can just go on.

Editing: I liked the editing. It was interesting how they especially kept showing those bottles that were on that tree from his childhood home.

And that's my review for Ray. It's an amusing film with a entertaining story about Ray Charles. The ending may be fast and cheesy, but it still works out anyway. 

   

Friends with Benefits (2011)

Rating: 70%
Now I know this is roughly the same thing as No Strings Attached, but I was interested in this one because...well it's the one that got better reviews. Plus, up till now, voicing as Meg in Family guy and being Lily in Black Swan. No Strings Attached...sure it has Natalie Portman...but I'm going to stick with this.

Plot: Jamie is an executive recruiter for a job agency in New York. Dylan is an art director for an internet company Los Angeles who Jamie is trying to recruit him to GQ magazine. Jamie spends the night showing him around New York which eventually convinces him to take the job. As he starts to get use to his job and New York, they develop a friendship. But after watching a romantic comedy together, they talk about sex and relationships. This eventually gives them the idea to have sex on the condition to not have any emotional attachments.

This movie is one of those few romantic comedies where it's structured like the rest, but they get away with it because they keep it entertaining. The way that they meet and how they start hanging out is different which is a pretty good deal. It makes the relationship between the two interesting with how they try to stay friends. The second half is where it especially is like any other romantic comedy with the conflict and the 'break-up' and the big moment where they get back together. But it's still very fun and entertaining to watch. If there was anything I didn't entirely like, it's how we don't get a lot of Emma Stone. 

Acting/Characters:
Justin Timberlake/Dylan: He was a nice character. He was not entirely original, but he had his fun side. And I pity him because people keep teasing him because everyone else thinks Harry Potter is gay.
Mila Kunis/Jamie: She was a fun character too. She did have the more realistic or cautious side to what the two characters were doing. I just recently found out that she's a witch in this upcoming prequel called Oz: The Great and Powerful. I'm curious to see what Kunis has for us with that.


Music: I enjoyed a lot of the music...even if it's irritating how Semisonic's "Closing Time" really gets stuck on your head. I mean yesterday, that was practically the highlight of my day; every now and then I start going *singing* I know who I want to take me home, I know who i want to take me home.


Editing: I liked the editing except for one thing earlier in the film where they have Jamie dropping her coffee. That didn't make sense that they shoot that inside the building she's next to so I could hardly see her do anything. I don't know if the editor had no choice but to show that show what happened with that particular shot, but if there was a better shot.

And that's my review for Friends with Benefits. It's a nice romantic comedy that may not have a second half that's structured different from most romantic comedies, but is entertaining nonetheless.

The Avengers (2012)

Rating: 95%
OH MY GOSH THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES I'VE SEEN IN MY LIFE!!!!! IT WAS SPECTACULAR!!!! IT WAS AMAZING!!!! WONDERFUL ACTION!!!!! EXCELLENT SET OF COMEDY!!!!!! ACTING WAS INCREDIBLE!!!! JUST BEAUTIFULLY PUT TOGETHER!!!! I LOVE IT!!!! I LOVE IT!!!! I LOVE IT!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!! I LOVE IT!!!! I LOVE IT!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!! I LOVE IT!!!! I LOVE IT!!! I  LO- (we interrupt the intro because the shouting goes on for quite a while. so let's move on to the next section of the review.


Plot: Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., tries to harness the energy of the Tesseract. They manage to open a portal with it and Loki exits through it. He takes the cube and controls some of the people in the lav including Hawkeye and Dr.Selvig and leaves. So Fury decides to round up Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow and Dr. Bruce Banner a.k.a. The Hulk to try to find the Tesseract and stop Loki from using it to bring an army of Chitauri.

Oh my gosh I freaking LOVE this movie. Now to be fair, the plot is not entirely original, but what they gave us was excellent enough. I love the character development no matter how big or small they did with anyone from The Avengers or from S.H.I.E.L.D. I also enjoyed how it had a lot of drama, but also a fair big of sad scenes and little bits of romance and LOTS of comedy that was just hilarious. My only really big problems are *WARNING SPOILERS* Is how Thor came out of nowhere in the movie without explaining how he got from Asgard to there. Plus I thought it was a little predictable over the whole deal of temporarily capturing Loki. *END OF SPOILERS* The action however was exactly what it should be. I mean practically every single exciting thing that happened was exactly the way it was suppose to be with any of the heroes and it became bigger and bigger right up to the last hour...really they made it exactly as The Avengers should be. I mean they give us a general idea with all five movies that lead up to this, but this movie worked beautifully with the action just as much as everything else to bring the world of The Avengers - heck - the world of Marvel to life.

Actors/Characters:
Chris Evans/Captain America: Evans did a perfect job with being the cap. I mean this film really worked for him in terms of showing how Captain America can be a leader and very focused on the mission. Yet show how he is still not yet up to speed with the modern world. I loved every moment with Evans as Captain America.
Robert Downey Jr/Iron Man: He may not been partying or anything like that Tony Stark style, but he was still crazy as heck Tony Stark style. But along with that we mostly had his serious side which was very enjoyable and I really loved what little they showed us with his relationship with Pepper.
Mark Ruffalo/Hulk: Now like everyone else, I was skeptical at first with this guy becoming Bruce Banner a.k.a. The Hulk. Because we seemed to be just fine with Hulk with Edward Norton. Now how did Ruffalo do? He did alright. Nothing spectacular, but he just did what he was suppose to do, which is fair on him part because being Hulk can be pretty straight forward.
Chris Hemsworth/Thor: Not much to say. He was Thor, just the way we know him from the actual movie Thor
Scarlett Johansson/Black Widow: Same deal as she was in Iron Man 2. Just a total bad-a and stuff like that. But along with it, we get a touch of her personal life which wasn't much but who knows.
Jeremy Renner/Hawkeye: The one down that I have with the character development is how they didn't really touch on Hawkeye too much. Part of it is understandable, but altogether, I would like to get to know him more.
Clark Gregg/Agent Phil Coulson: He was just the way he was in the films that was building up to this film, just funnier.
Cobie Smulders/Maria Hill: *voicing as older ted from How I Met Your Mother* Kids, it was the summer of 2012 when your Aunt Robin decided to join the Avengers. Yeah let the record show that, that is not my own joke, but I felt that it had to be used for this review. But anyway, I found it weird at first with the idea of Smulders being Maria Hill. Because Hill is the kind of determined, focused on the job kind of character. But luckily, while they didn't really do too much with her, she did pretty good.
Samuel L. Jackson/Nick Fury: What I did like was how the touched on how Nick Fury doesn't always make the right decisions. I mean what happens wasn't a huge part of the plot per say, but it's nice that they touched on that.

Music: I liked the main theme song. I didn't like though how the score when Loki was in Germany, sounded like the music in Attack of the Clones when Obi-Wan just made it to Kamino. But I did like the song "Live to Rise" that played during the credits.

Editing: I enjoyed the editing a lot. But when Thor and Loki were punching each other, I didn't like how it was just close-ups on them, and they weren't really showing much while they're punching each other and we are getting cut after cut of hardly seeing them entirely.

And that's my review for The Avengers. It's an awesome film filled with action, drama, and LOTS of comedy. There's plenty of reason that would normally make the rating go at least a little lower, but at the end of the day, it's just an awesome film that's one of the best films of this year and one of the best superhero movies I've ever seen.
  

Also, here's the links to both part of my video review of these films.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mpw-T--r4bQ

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtAxIOAEuic&list=PL29674ED22E57C355&index=2&feature=plpp_video

Small Soldiers (1998)

Rating: 45%
I remember seeing this movie as a kid. I never owned it, but we did rent it one time, I was probably in the second, maybe third grade. I"m not quite sure what I thought of it then. Maybe I liked it, maybe I didn't, I don't know. But here's what I think of it now, now that I"m grown up so much since then.

Plot: A multinational conglomerate called GloboTech Industries buys a toy company and the CEO decides to make new toys that are capable to talk, learn, and all around be able to "play back" so to speak. The toys are the Commando Elites lead by the evil Chip Hazard, and these creatures called the Gorgonites lead by the sentient Archer. Teenager Alan Abernathy signs a shipment for these certain toys for his dad's toy store without his father knowing. But the Commando Elite toys awaken and attempt to destroy the Gorgonites, leaving Alan to be Archer's ally in attempt to defeat the Commando Elite.

Original? Not in the slightest. In fact, if you think about it, it's almost exactly like the first Transformers film. I mean *WARNING SPOILERS* 1)The girl that the main male character is interested in has a guy. And he totally ends up with her in the end. 2) the main bad guy leader is the stronger and smarter one while the main good guy leader is a total sentient being. 3) good guy leader can't defeat the main bad guy so the main human character kills him instead thereby winning the battle single-handed. 4) They even have the main human characters dad be played by Kevin Dunn. *groans* what a delight. *END OF SPOILERS* But even then, I don't think it's structured to well in terms of character development for the Gorgonites. I mean they do plenty with Archer, but they don't really introduce the rest of them very much. I mean I'm not saying I found any of them particularly interesting, but if they were, then they failed to show them enough times to make them interesting. But I will say that the film wasn't too bad when it came to the all around battle. I mean it's no Transformers or The Avengers, but considering what the concept of this movie is, it wasn't entirely that bad. There action was okay, it's set for just kids and family, but you may enjoy it anyway. I mean it may be humans against toys, but it still has more entertaining action than Last Airbender. If there's anything else to add, it's that it's not cool that they spoofed a couple of movie references such as Patton and All Quiet in the Western Front. Just that they weren't very funny.

Acting/Characters:
Gregory Smith/Alan Abernathy: Now in terms of how he was saying his lines and stuff like that, he was good. But it was his facial expression that just plain sucked. He barley had any emotion. I mean we're talking Twilight kind of no emotion. That kid has a terrible case of *over dramatically takes of glasses* the TWILIGHT FACE!!! *dramatic music* But even then he gave us an okay character. Not the most original in any way, but at least he was a little enjoyable.
Kristen Dunst/Christy: Two Kristen Dunst movies reviewed in less than a week. How about that. Anyway, she did an alright job. One down to her was that she started off being Mary Jane Watson like with how she was talking to Alan and with how she was reacting to what happens throughout the film. But later she was all adventurous and ready to fight which made her a little more fun to watch.
Phil Hartman/Phil: When I was reviewing Kiki's Delivery Service, I noticed that Phil Hartman died a couple of months before either of these films came out. So when I noticed that this was his last film, watching how he did before he died became the second reason I watched this movie again aside from the fact that I saw it before. And while this was not the best character to play during his last film, he did alright. His character was a really stubborn, like-having-nice-things guy and he did a nice job doing that. So if there was any itty bitty reason to see this film, one of them might be to see the last role of this man who died at the age of only 49.


Music: Okay it was nice to hear the actual version of that song "War" since I've only heard it from Everybody Loves Raymond episode and a couple of guys singing it one time. There may be more times, but that comes off the top of my head. I also liked "Another one bites the Dust" and while it was completely random and pointless, "Wannabe"

Editing: it was okay but I don't think the part where Christy falls while she's getting taken down by her dolls was necessary in terms of her fall going slowly. I think just an ordinary fall would've worked better for the suspense...if there was any.

And that's my review for Small Soldiers. It's not original and it's not cool that they spoof some particular movie references, but it's a little fun with a decent soundtrack and respectable enough just because it's one of Phil Hartman's last films.       

Talladega Nights: The ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)

Rating: 75%
So here's one where I've seen almost all of when it just happened to have been on TV. And may I say that it's nice to see it again at a time where I know the actors a lot more.

Plot: Ricky Bobby is a man who was always born to go fast. He eventually becomes a racer car driver with his best friend Cal, living up to something his absent father said a long time ago; "If you ain't first, you're last." He becomes the best race car driver ever, but then he meets his rival, a gay french race car driver named Jean Girard, who beats him in a race where Ricky crashes his car and starts going a little crazy. Eventually as a result, he loses his wife who plans to marry Cal, and ends up living with his mom with his two sons. But then his father appears and tries to help him face his fear and try to drive again.

This was a nice, funny movie. I mean I didn't laugh so hard that it hurt, but there was a lot of lines that was pretty funny. What those funny lines where I won't say for those of you who have not watched the film. The story itself is okay, it's not the most original but then again, it wasn't meant to be. The characters where fun and again, I liked how this time I was familiar with way more of the actors then just Will Ferrel. I mean you have John C. Reilly (who I hope is good in the upcoming theatrical animated Disney film, Wreck-it Ralph) You have Sacha Baron Cohen (who I still hate a little for Borat and even before I saw that movie am skeptical about him being Thénardier in Les Miserables), Jane Lynch (who I only know as Sue Sylvester from Glee), Jack McBrayer (also known as, who else? Kenneth from 30 Rock) and Amy Adams (who I'm surprised was Ricky's assistant Susan.

Actors/Characters:
Will Ferrel/Ricky Bobby: Well it was not his best piece, but I'll admit this was one of the good movies with Will Ferrel. I say that because as stubborn and stupid as it is, I personally hate to accept the idea of him doing actually enjoyable performances outside of Stranger Than Fiction. But I guess I'll just have to grow up and accept that it's no longer possible. Ferrel was funny and his acting in general was not bad. He may not be one of my favorites, but yeah, it's time i start to respect this guy a little more.
Sacha Baron Cohen/Jean Girard: Yeah I'll admit he did a good job too. It was pretty funny when he said " Hakuna Matata, b(&^$#@" Just because that sounds like a really fun thing to say after you've beaten someone.
Amy Adams/Susan: Now I remember her character from when I saw this the first time all those years ago. As a result, it's a little surprising that the character was played by Amy Adams considering how this character got a little crazy at that Bar with Ricky, which is different considering some of the other films I've seen her in. Although I will say they didn't really develop her character as well as I thought they did in this movie. I mean I guess it doesn't take much for you to get the idea that she has a crush on Ricky and all that, but watching it again, I think they should've used her just a tiny bit more because I feel like they really didn't put much effort into her character.

Music: Fun music that for all I know is just awesome for a NASCAR movie. I wouldn't know because all the NASCAR geek-ness goes to my grandmother in my family.

Editing: I thought the editing was all right.

And that's my review for Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. It's a nice, funny film with plenty of familiar faces to see and some lines that are fairly darn funny.

Date Night (2010)

Rating:60%
I've been wanting to see this one for a while. Not an incredible lot, but still.

Plot: Phil and Claire Foster are a married couple who go through the same boring routine with their two kids. After their two friends announce that they are splitting up because of their own family routine, Phil and Claire decide to goon a date in the city. The restaurant that they choose is packed to Phil takes another person's reservation which leads these two men to think that they are these people that stole a flash drive that's important to them, which leads things to get out of control.

In short...yeah this is just an okay movie. At the end of the day though, it was just the fact that it had Steve Carell and Tina Fey that kept it in anyway interesting. I will admit that a couple of jokes made me chuckles at least a tiny bit, and they had something that was a little different when they had the car chase that wasn't exactly realistic, but it was sort of cool, but different and I like that. But at the end of the day, while some might like it because they may relate to it, the plot in general is nothing spectacular. You probably have seen it all before, or at least have a good enough idea after seeing the trailer. So it's really just a couple of chuckles, a different thing for the car chase, and the fact that it has Carell and Fey that makes it an okay movie.

Acting/Characters:
Steve Carell/Phil Foster: Now this is another one of those times where Carell at first, is being roughly just Michael Scott, but is at least a little different as the movie goes on. Unfortunately, while we do have that slight change, it wasn't as big of a change as it was for him during Crazy, Stupid, Love. But hey, at least we don't have him being just the Michael Scott as we know from all those painful moments from The Office like Phillis wedding *shudders*
Tina Fey/Claire Foster: I admit that she wasn't quite as talkative or as energetic as Carell, but she still had her funny side too with trying to talk like pole dancer or some assistant of Will.I.am. or whatever. At the end of the day, I was fine with her because she was mostly being just the woman I know who plays Liz Lemon from good ol' 30 Rock.

Music: I liked that they had the songs Blitzkreig Bop and (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher. The actual score I didn't pay much attention to.

Editing: Most of it was alright, but when Phil and Claire entered Holbrooke's place a second time, I wasn't too sure about adding the scene with him closing the door. I don't know, I just though maybe they didn't really need that.

And that's my review for Date Night. It's just an okay movie that you may enjoy because of a couple of laughs, an interesting chase scene, and the fact that it just plain old has Steve Carell and Tina Fey.