Edge of Tomorrow

Edge of Tomorrow

If you are not comfortable with guns, war action, death, violence and repetitiveness, please forget about this movie.   This film is full of action and death, over and over again.  It is the nature of the plot.  Tom Cruise's character is infected with alien blood that allows him to replay the previous day when he is killed.  You see him die a lot.  I cannot emphasize this enough.  IF YOU DON'T LIKE SEEING A GUY HAVE A GUN POINTED AT HIS HEAD, DON'T WATCH THIS MOVIE!!

With that said, one can assume that I did not watch this film with my kids.  That assumption would be correct.  This is an intense movie that is a thrill-ride through one day that seems to never end.

I am not a Tom Cruise fan, but I find that I am enjoying the films that he has put out as of late. There should be no doubt that Tom Cruise is one of the few bonafide movie stars of our time.  Just take a look at his IMDB page.  You will not see any short-lived TV shows or Lifetime movies on his resume.  He is the real deal and he is fully aware of his status.  Just watch the latest interview he had with Jimmy Fallon.  Mr. Cruise is in the business of entertaining the masses and he no longer mentions his personal life.  This is the Tom Cruise that I enjoy.

Aside from the all power Cruise, this film also stars Emily Blunt and she is no slouch in the shadow of her co-star.  Blunt kicks butt with a huge, Final Fantasy-inspired sword and she gives movie-goers what we want: an attractive, strong woman with a British accent.  I couldn't complain.

While the film itself is not a game-changer like Avatar, or The Terminator; it showed me that Tom Cruise can still carry a fun action film and Emily Blunt is a force to be reckoned with.  I look forward to more of her work in the future.

I categorize this film as:

Ridiculous (because it involves time-travel and aliens) and Enjoyable

4/5 Stanley Cups - A fun movie that I wouldn't mind watching over and over again, ironically.

Format: Netflix

Viewing Period: 80% of the movie in one sitting, the other 20% on my phone while I couldn't sleep at night.

Inspired me to: Find more Emily Blunt movies.  I looked.  There's not a lot I would watch.

The Rocketeer

The Rocketeer

Art Deco.

Fedoras.

The "Golden Age" of Hollywood.

All of these terms remind me of a time in the world when things were simple.  It was a time when we knew who the bad guys were, we ate our Wheaties and Ovaltine, and we didn't get distracted by reality shows because they didn't exist.

The 1930s and 1940s are a romantic time in my mind.  Show me a TV series or movie that is based in that era and I will most likely love it.  The Rocketeer is no exception to that rule.

I have seen this film a number of times, but it is still a thrill for me each time I watch it.  This last particular viewing I decided to watch it while I was watching my boys at home.  The biggest challenge in viewing this film was getting past the Walt Disney Productions castle which can sometimes upset my oldest son.  As luck would have it, The Rocketeer, though a Disney production, did not start with the traditional castle and shooting star.

I have not seen The Rocketeer in a number of years, but I was thrilled to watch it.  The Rocketeer character reminded me somewhat of Captain America (the 1940s setting helped that).  The German scientist was a near facsimile of Major Toht from Raiders of the Lost Ark.  The portrayal of Howard Hughes reminded me of Howard Stark of the Marvel universe.   These are all movies that I love to watch.  The Rocketeer reminds me of the reasons why I love them.

So, what are those reason?  Let me tell you:

1. This is a hero story, it's all about the good versus evil.  It seems like nowadays the enemy is invisible and can sometimes come from our own ranks.  While these films have an element of this deception, the bad guy is generally the universal evil:  Nazis.  No one argues in favor of the Nazis.

2. A classic beauty as the subplot.  There are few men who would give up their superhero status for the love of a young Jennifer Connelly. (or an older Jennifer Connelly for that matter!)  The hero has the classic weakness of compassion for his girl and this is something that I can relate to.  I love it!

3. A classic look.  High-waisted dress pants on the men, curvy cars on the street, and curvy haircuts on the women.  I love the classy look.  It is timeless!

My favorite part of my viewing experience was when the Rocketeer stared flying around.  Both of my sons stopped playing with their cars and were thrilled to watch the movie.  Making movie memories is what being a father is all about for me.  I remember when my parents would take us to the local video rental store and we would rent 6 VHS tapes for 6 days and it cost $6.  Those were good days that still resonate in my memory.

So now the big question comes:  Is the movie really any good?  I think it is.  It is fun and visually appealing.  Did it win any Oscars?  No, but I love it, regardless.

I categorize this film as:

Classic and Fun.

4/5 Stanley Cups - I know others will grade it lower.  Frankly, my dear, I don't... give a "you know what".

Format: DVD

Viewing Period: One shot with children playing around me.

Inspired me to: Watch similar movies.  Examples: The Aviator, Captain America: The First Avenger, Agent Carter miniseries, the first 3 of the Indiana Jones films, Dick Tracy.

Minions

 

Minions

Who can hate the Minions?  The stole the show in Despicable Me and  Despicable Me 2  and they continue with their antics in their own movie that chronicles how they came to be involved with the evil villain named Gru.

This was a difficult one to watch.  No, I don't mean it was horrible.  I mean that it was the first regularly screened movie that my wife and I attended with our two boys.   I say "regularly screened" because we have seen the movie Home with the boys, but it was at a special screening for kids with autism.  This meant that there were no previews, the lights were only slightly dimmed, and the sound was turned down to an acceptable level.  This is why Minions was difficult to watch.  We ended up leaving after the first 30 minutes.  It was too much for our boys.  Unfortunately the majority of the first 30 minutes was featured in trailers and previews that I have already seen be for stepping into the theater.

So how can I review this film?  Don't worry.  

I really don't like seeing half of a movie.  If I only see half of a movie, this means that I have no desire to see the rest and that the plot resolution and story are too insignificant to waste my time on.  For the reason you will never see a review of Mean Girls from me. After the first 30 minute preview that I had, I wanted to see where the Minion movie was going, but I was not very pleased to spend another $30 to watch it. 

As luck would have it, my wife and I found ourselves available to go out and watch a movie without our kids.  We opted to watch the movie that we started and headed back to see Minions.  This is where my review really starts.  It took a while, but my back-story was necessary.

I won't be able to sugar-coat this one, I didn't like this movie.  My reasoning is much more psychological than you might think; but before I tear this one down, let me focus on the positive.

The Minions themselves are adorable and during the film you want them to succeed.  The smallest and most childlike of the Minions is Bob.  Bob is lovable because he is sweet, innocent and carries around a little teddy bear.  He is the one Minion that I was cheering for during the film.  I found the other Minions to be little more than comic relief.  Bob helped me through this movie.

What also helped me through this movie was the soundtrack and setting.  The year is 1968, and the place is England.   For those who know me, may know that I have an huge fan of rock and roll music from the 1960's.  My favourite bands of that era include The Beatle, The Who, and The Kinks.  All three of these bands have songs on the soundtrack to the movie.   I really, really liked the setting of Minions, but that was the only saving grace.

Minions was not what I thought it would be.  I thought the film would show the progression of the minions as they went from bad guy to bad guy throughout the decades.  This happened in the first 20 minutes of the film, but then the minions turned into the good guys.   THEY AREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE THE GOOD GUYS!!  We were introduced to the minions as Gru's workers in Despicable Me.  They were not good guys at that point.  The change in direction for the minions came when (SPOILER ALERT) Gru adopts the three girls and becomes their father instead of an evil genius.   So I feel that this movie was marketed and created as a prequel to Despicable Me, but ended up being a re-hashed version of the same movie.  I was not amused.

Now, I know that this is a children's film.  I know that, but I have come to expect more from animated films than re-telling of the predeceasing film.

Not impressed.

I categorize this film as:

Frustrating and ridiculous in a bad way.

2/5 Stanley Cups - Mostly for the music and setting.

Format:Local Cineplex theater.

Viewing Period: Over a week in two viewings.

Inspired me to: Gouge my eyes out.


SPOILER!!!!

I wanted to point out one last thing that annoyed me.  The film was advertised as occurring 42 BG (before Gru).  This would mean that the minions met Gru in 2010.   This film depicts the minions meeting Gru in 1968, so the film doesn't even follow it's own rules.  I am so disappointed.  Give me a Pixar movie any day.

Jurassic World

Jurassic World

What do you get when you combine the heat and humidity of summer, a group of friends, and cheap movie night?  You get an awesome night out in Strathmore!  

So Tuesday night found us with a baby-sitter and a chance to hang out some friends.  The weather was hot and muggy, so it was perfect for sitting in a barely-ventilated small-town movie theater.  

Seriously, it was perfect.

Jurassic World takes place on a tropical island off of the coast of Costa Rica.  Every time I saw the characters sweating in the heat I felt the same heat.  It made me feel enveloped in the movie.  Add on top of that a full theater with half of the occupants being pre-teens and small children, and I was immersed.

I'll be honest, with the atmospheric factors giving me a bias towards the positive, there was no way that I could not like this movie.  I came out of the theater as happy as I would have been had I seen the original Jurassic Park as a 9-year-old when it first came out.

Speaking of the original, Jurassic World pays homage to its predecessor in a number of fun ways that makes the adults in the viewing audience smile and wax sentimental.  As a lover of nostalgia, these tributes buried the hook deeper in my cheek and reeled me in hook, line, and sinker.

I categorize this film as:

Nostalgic -for the homages to the first Jurassic trilogy.

Ridiculous - for being a perfect summer popcorn movie that didn't take itself seriously at all.

4.5/5 Stanley Cups  - I downgrade it 0.5 due to the casting of Judy Greer.

Format:Local theater (www.joylandtheatre.com)

Viewing Period: One shot, all the way through

Inspired me to:Watch Jurassic Park and watch more Chris Pratt

Casablanca

Casablanca

Have no fear, I am jumping to classics right away.  For years Casablanca had been on the top of my list of classic films that I need to watch.  My parents had a special edition VHS copy when I was a kid and I had always wondered what the movie was about.  Whether it was my lack of interest in black and white films, or my desire to watch Teenage Muntant Ninja Turtles: The Movie one more time, I never watched this classic film until this past year.  It was a really great experience.

I'll admit that I was expecting a lot from this film.  I had heard about it from podcasts, classmates in university, and various "Top 100 Films Of All Time" list that Casablanca is the movie that you must watch if you truly love movies.  With all the hype that accompanied my first viewing of the film, I had become afraid that this 70 year old film would leave me disappointed and deflated.  I thought that I would be bored and then realize that I could never be a true film fan if I did not shout out accolades for this Bogart-Bergman masterpiece.

Well, let me start shouting my accolades:

Casablanca is everything I wanted it to be.  I was swept off of my feet by the experience I had watching it.

My wife and I had located the DVD of Casablanca in a discount bin for $8.  When I found it I was thrilled to finally locate a physical copy of such an assumed classic.  It stayed in our collection for at least 6 months while I waited for the right situation to view it all in one sitting.

That situation never happened, so I watched it in 3 or 4 parts.  That is the life of a dad.

Casablanca is one of the best paced movies I have ever seen.  I grew up on classic movies such as, The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur, and Fiddler On The Roof.    These are great movies, but they are very, very long.  The VHS versions came on 2 separate tapes.

Casablanca is a one-cassette movie and it still covers a lot of ground. The credit for this goes to the pacing.  I will refer to pacing quite a lot in my reviews for a couple reasons.  The first being that I have a limited window to watch movies and if a movie doesn't catch my interest and move quickly, it is not worth my time.  Secondly, pacing shows a respect to the audience that says, "hey, you are smart and quick enough to catch what is going on despite an rapid passing of elements in this film".

There are elements in Casablanca that I did not understand during my viewing, but it inspired me to do some research and learn more about it.  I know that I have experienced a good film when I search for more information about it and Casablanca is a good film.

To be short, I really liked this movie.  It is a definite classic.  I was surprised by the revelations made throughout the film concerning the back stories of the main characters, but those revelations made sense.  I was intrigued at the start and satisfied with the ending.  I enjoyed every minute of it!

I recommend this Classic!  5/5 Stanley cups.  A dynasty!

Format: DVD

Viewing Period: A couple 5 minute false starts followed by an hour in the evening and the rest the                               next morning.

Inspired me to: Find out more about Ingrid Bergman.  I developed a crush on her while I watch the                              film.  She has a simply beautiful face.

Romeo + Juliet

Romeo + Juliet

I have seen many movies and I could begin this blog strictly with some classic such as Chinatown, Star Wars, or Casablanca; but I wanted to start with the first movie that happened to be next in line on my Netflix list.  It is a random movie.  Random is how I view movies as a dad.

First of all, let me tell you about the circumstances of my viewing.  Since I have a difficult time finding any time to watch films of my preference, I watched William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet in 3 pieces.  Most of my viewing was in the early morning hours and although I do not rate this film as a "classic", it does bring to my mind memories of my late pre-teen days when I was overcome with jealousy when my older sister's class took a field trip to watch Baz Luhrman's adaptation during the school day.

Romeo +Juliet pushed Leonardo Dicaprio into the forefront of the dreams of every teenage girl on the planet.  Before his Shakespearean portrayal, Dicaprio was the kid from What's Eating Gilbert Grape? that everyone thought was mentally handicapped due to his great performance.  After he resurrected the sonnet, he was a heartthrob that struggled to be taken seriously as an actor.

What Mr. Dicaprio has become 19 years later helps propel this film into my nostalgic category.  While I was watching this movie I thought about his performance and I felt that his acting got better as the movie continued on.  It was entertaining for me to see an Academy Award nominated actor at the genesis of what he was to become.  I might be watching The Aviator or Catch Me If You Can in the next couple months to remind me of his talent.

Aside from Dicaprio, this film is filled with really fascinating performances that were overshadowed by the media buzz around the two stars.  The Nurse, played by Miriam Margolyes is my favorite character in the film.  Her Hispanic accent helps to overcome the oddity that accompanies speaking in iambic pentameter.  She is passionate; her emotions are easily read and understood.  This helps to keeps the stakes raised as her ward, Juliet, faces a life and death dilemma of love over family.

Other performances that should be noted are John Leguizamo as Tybalt and Harold Perrineau  as Mercutio.  They are so committed to their characters that I would expect them to speak in couplets in all of their subsequent productions and in interviews.

William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet is a ride into a strange world of crime, eloquent language and custom cars.  This movie is an exercise in visual entertainment and cinematic experimentation.  

For the nostalgic and "out of this world" voyage is takes me on I give it 3.5/5 Stanley cups.

Format: NETFLIX
Viewing Period: two early mornings and one evening
Inspired me to: Look up the official soundtrack.  I found it.  I only like 2 songs and I bought                             those 2 songs.

Rating System

The Rating System

Every review has a standard.  IMDB.com uses a numerical rating out of 10, Leonard Maltin uses a 4 star rating, and Rottentomatoes.com uses a percentage.  My system will be out of 5 Stanley Cups. (I am a hockey fan, and my favorite team, the Edmonton Oilers have won 5 Stanley Cups)  I will also add an addition rating that is a little more arbitrary due to my emotional connection to a number of films.  This is the list of arbitrary ratings:

Classic

Nostalgic

Enjoyable

Ridiculous
Well Made

This list will change and evolve over time because some films defy all categorization.