For Me: An Oscar Hopeful Dud, A Chuck Norris Classic, and My Favorite Comedy of the Year So Far

This week I’m going to give a couple of thoughts for a few of the movies I saw… not all of them though. Also, I’m not going to get into the ones I strongly suggest seeing (#3-#1)... instead, I'll show you the trailer (doesn't work on the mobile app) and let you decide. But I will say this SEE THEM!!! If you do see them, or have seen any of these, let me know what you thought. So here we go...

 

 

11. Arena (2011) DO NOT WATCH. DO NOT WASTE YOUR LIFE ON THIS MOVIE!!! F-

10. Silver Bullet (1985) D

9. The Man WithThe Iron Fists (2012) D

8. The Place Beyond The Pines (2013) 

I really really really wanted to like/love this movie going into it. I really really really didn’t get to that point. Before getting released, the buzz around this is it is the first Oscar contender of the year… it might get there, but I’ll be betting zero dollars on it. One of the biggest things for this was it was way too long (kind of like this week’s entry here). I enjoy long movies, I get upset sometimes when some movies are too short, but I wouldn’t have been upset if it ended an hour sooner than it did. At 2hr 20min, it felt closer to 3.5 hours. This movie basically consists of 3 different movies, 2 of them are just “ok” and one sucked. Bradley Cooper was just ok, nothing special. Ryan Gosling was the same. But for some reason people love him in roles like this (read: Drive). I don’t understand that. My favorite type of Gosling is  Crazy Stupid Love, not his 6 lines in Drive.  This was directed/written by the same guy who did Blue Valentine, which I wanted to see… but now? How long is Blue Valentine? I will say it had one extremely cool shot that I would have to give props to the cinematographer. Man, this was disappointing overall. C (I wanted this to be at least a B+).

7. The Impostors(1998) 

     So this was a quick pick I made on Netflix. Luckily for me, it wasn’t a repeat of Arena (thank God). Basically two starving actors accidentally stowaway on a cruise boat and have to use their (limited) acting skills prevent some mishaps. Oliver Platt and Stanley Tucci are two guys that I basically like everything they do, but I never seem to actively seek out their movies. So it’s always a pleasant surprise when I watch either of them because I’m never expecting much but wrap up a movie enjoying myself. This was just a fun and, dare I say without sounding girlie, a cute movie. It was simply enjoyable. This is a movie I doubt many (if any) of my friends would watch or like, but it would definitely something my Grandpa and Grandma would have liked. Maybe that’s why I enjoyed it. B

 

6. Trance (2013)

5. Lone WolfMcQuade (1983 - Starring Pearl beer, with Chuck Norris)

I think I’ve seen this whole movie before, just not all the way through in one sitting. Not sure why I didn’t… It’s 10 times better watching it start to finish. For your simple 1980’s dumb down action movies, this is THE BEST!!! Watch Chuck Norris as J.J. McQuade (basically a slightly younger Walker Texas Ranger) drink some Pearl beer, round house kick some heads, and feed his pet wolf.  For those who don’t know, Pearl beer is a Texas original and, in this movie, has revitalizing properties when poured on top of your head. At times it felt like they wanted this to be like a Bruce Lee movie with the “oriental” (is that P.C.?) feel… but instead with Chuck Norris in El Paso, TX. This is one of those movies that can be so bad that they are good. I might be getting to old for drinking games (who am I kidding), but you could develop a drunkfest with a game for this movie. I’m thinking every Chuck Norris kick… drink some Pearl. As a movie  fanboy… B

4. The Master(2012)

       I wish I watched this last year… not sure why I didn’t. It was a bit different from what I was expecting (but not too much). The Academy Awards upped the best picture category nominees  from 5 to 10 a few years ago, but they don’t have to fill nominee #6-#10. This last year, they only had 9 nominees. I don’t think this movie had a chance of winning or deserved to win, but I definitely it should have gotten the 10^th spot. It was a very good movie, well done on many different aspects. Phoenix and Hoffman were great; Amy Adams… just ok, she didn’t deserve a nomination. She’s a good actress, but I think she just entered my group of overrated actors (oh, that might be a good topic down the road). It’s a good movie and worth the watch, but if you get bored easily watch Lone Wolf McQuade instead. B

3. Quartet (2013)

  

2. Oblivion

1. Starbuck (2013 US Release)

     So those are my 3 suggestions of the week. Quartet was an entertaining movie that made you simply feel good. Oblivion is probably my favorite sci-fi movie since District 9 (or Star Trek... whichever one came out last). Starbuck is my surprise movie of 2013 so far. If you can't do subtitles, then take a pass. But if you can, this is a must see. They are going to be remaking this into an English version with Vince Vaughn (the movie is in the post-production stages and will probably come out later this year... Delivery Man). I'll be interested in seeing what they change/keep the same from this original.

Again, thanks for reading all 4 of you.