Masterminds : a movie review

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Masterminds, movies, postaday2016

I love seeing movies where it’s obvious that the actors are having tons of fun. I had no idea that this mad comedy was based on a true story, you see the real persons at the end of the movie, they had paid their debt to society after being caught. I can’t imagine their story was as crazy as the movie was, but it made for the basis of a lot of goofiness.

It wasn’t a great movie, but I did laugh quite a bit. Zach Galivanakis can push the envelop to extreme lengths, he definitely commits to his comedy. I couldn’t be so courageous, I admire his passion for his art.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children: a movie review

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movies, postaday2016, Tim Burton

My husband and I had forgotten how peculiar Tim Burton’s films can be, it’s not as if we haven’t seen most of them, but I think it’s been several years since our last one, Sweeney Todd. We missed Frankenweenie and Big Eyes though, we’ll get up to speed with redbox. 

Tim Burton’s peculiar movie was based on 2012 New York Times bestseller written by Ransom Riggs, noted for its intriguing use of photography as the narrative, peculiar if you will in its own way, pair the peculiarity of the original story with a director such as Tim Burton, well hold on to your seats.

We enjoyed the movie, we’re both tremendous fans of Eva Greene, Samuel L. Jackson, Asa Butterfield and Rupert Everett. The imagination present in the story, the set design, the costumes and special effects were amazing. Tim Burton’s vision is still as unique as ever.

Florence Foster Jenkins : a movie review

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Florence Foster Jenkins, movies, postaday2016

What a touching, funny and wonderful movie. Meryl Streep, surprise surprise, gave an Oscar worthy performance, she made Florence so much more, as people are so much more than just the sum of their parts. Her portrayal as Florence made Hugh Grant’s portrayal of her second husband make so much more sense. I, like Hugh Grant’s character, wanted Florence to succeed and thus be buoyed by her adoration of music. Simon Helberg as her accompanying pianist gave an equally touching performance, full of hesitancy but also of loyalty, there were no phone-in performances here, not by anyone.

This movie captured my attention and my heart with its compassionate storytelling, vivid scenery and period costumes. I felt transported back to the 1940’s, a bygone era. I’m so glad Florence Foster Jenkins wasn’t a fictional character, I know she lived a life of pain and adversity, being wealthy didn’t shield her from either, money doesn’t buy everything, but she still found love, friendship and passion in the form of her beloved music. She found joy in her life and we could take comfort in that.

Thank goodness for movies

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movies, postaday2016, Star Trek

My husband and I went to see Star Trek Beyond again, we needed an escape and there isn’t much better escapism than Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek universe. I have been freaking out a little, tomorrow we have an appointment with my new thoracic oncologist, so I needed two hours to lose myself into space, with a crew who demonstrates courage and determination beyond the odds.

I actually enjoyed it better the second time around, I had so much less stress for everyone, I could sit back and enjoy all the details that I had missed the first time. The dialogue didn’t lose its edge or its humor, I still laughed at the back and forth between Bones and Spock. Justin Lin the director did an amazing job, I’m sure J.J Abrahms gave him a high five at the end.

Lieutenant O’hura, in my opinion, is so well written as a female character.  She is in love, but doesn’t lose her identity, she is widely respected for her intelligence, her skills at linguistics and her combat training. She holds her own amongst the men and they show how high in their esteem she rests. I love watching great ensembles at play, I’m definitely going to miss Anton who played Checkov so well. We sat through until the end of the credits just to see the dedications to Leonard Nimoy and to Anton, both actors will be deeply missed in the Star Trek family.

The Legend of Tarzan: a movie review

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movies, postaday2016, The Legend of Tarzan

My husband and I have looked forward to seeing The Legend of Tarzan for the past few weeks, we weren’t disappointed, we had our weekend escapism, it feels so nice to sit in a darkened movie theater, captivated by someone else’s vision and story. The Legend of Tarzan isn’t a new story of course, but the way the director and screenplay writer shape the story can breathe new life into an old legend and that’s what this version did for the both of us.

My take on the overarching theme was that man, in many respects, in seeking “honor” often acts dishonorably and those actions are against nature, the animal kingdom and mankind itself. We assign hierarchy in all manner of things, we are at the top of the food chain, we are at the top of the evolutionary ladder, essentially man is at the top of the world, we like being on top and to stay on top, we do horrific things.

My husband and I have liked Alexander Skarsgaard since we first saw him as the vampire Eric Northman in the HBO series True Blood. We believed him as a 1000 year old Scandanavian vampire and we believed him as Tarzan, the Lord Greystoke and King of the Jungle. We felt his struggles and his pain as a man caught between two worlds.

My first question, from the first few scenes showing the African continent, was where did they find their locations, because the geography of the world is very different in 2016 than the world of 1884. Africa was as much of a star in the movie then Alexander Skarsgaard, Margot Robbie or Christopher Waltz. I wondered how much of what I was seeing a result of CGI and how much was still a part of present day Africa. Speaking of the CGI, the effects were tremendous, just the scenes involving Tarzan and the great apes, I believed those apes were real, their mannerisms, their ferocity and their gentleness were brilliantly portrayed on screen. The marriage between technology and the real world was seamless and complimentary, it kept me in suspended disbelief which is why I go to the movies.

I loved the movie and so did my husband, as always I have to remind you that we are the worst movie critics, we love everything, lol.

Avengers:Civil War : a movie review

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movies, postaday2016

My husband and I went to see Avengers:Civil War on our son’s recommendations and we weren’t disappointed. Though I have to confess to nodding off in the beginning of the movie, I’m still exhausted from my ordeal of the past few month, so I’m always tired, but it is extraordinarily rare that I fall sleep during a movie, the opening must have been a tad dull, lulling me to sleep with a slow pace, maybe that explains it. My husband woke me up when it started to get action packed, thank goodness, though in my defense I don’t think I would have slept longer, the action most certainly would have woken me up, I think, lol.

Once I was awake, the action came fast and furious. There were a few surprises, quite a few laughs and issues of moral principles which were intriguing and well presented. There were no clear cut heroes and no clear cut villains, there were questions of moral judgement and responsibility which made for a much more interesting movie experience. Story is the most important part of any movie and this movie had a great movie plot.

Definitely recommend seeing this movie if you like action movies.

The Huntsman: Winter’s War : a movie review

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movies, postaday2016, review

I am a fan of the fairytale, so I really liked the movie, my husband not so much, this movie was a great love story wrapped in a fairy tale so I was hooked. I was a little surprised a third of the way in the movie because the story wasn’t moving along the lines I had thought after seeing the previews, but I told myself it’s a movie, let it go and enjoy the story as it unfolds. It worked and I enjoyed the movie very much, the chemistry between Chris Helmsworth and Jessica Chastain was off the charts which made the love story so real.

I would watch this movie a second time, but I’ll have to do it alone, the husband won’t sit through it again, which is fine by me, I don’t mind watching movies by myself.

The Fifth Wave: a movie review?

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movies, postaday2016, sleep

    
My husband and I went to see the only science fiction movie playing, The 5th Wave, he liked it, he thought the story was fairly compelling, the acting good and the suspense, right where it should be, Chloe Grace Moretz is a young actress that we have liked for years and she basically carried the entire movie and did it beautifully.

I, on the other hand, can’t say the same, I fell asleep during the movie, the first time ever; now you know why I put a question mark after the phrase movie review, I can’t really give one, I fell asleep on the job. LOL

From what I saw, the movie was pretty good, as I said, I love Chloe Grace Moretz, she is an adorable young actress and I believe her in any role she plays, the other young actors were fine, the story itself was interesting, aliens taking over the world, a solid classic plotline, so the only thing I can blame the sleep on are my medications, they are making me a poor movie critic. Lol 

Movie therapy : American Ultra

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movies, postaday2016

  
When in doubt, watch movies. My husband and I rented a bunch of movies from RedBox and American Ultra is one of them, not bad of a movie, but we are happy we didn’t spend 12.00 each at the movie theater, because it isn’t that good, though Kristen Stewart is showing a lot more emotion in this movie than I have ever seen from her before. The roster of actors is a good one, there is Topher Grace, Connie Britton, Jesse Eisenberg, John Luigezama and of course Kristen Stewart, plus a bunch of wonderful character actors.

I think that the story is a little short on believability, good for laughs however, we are suspending our belief for the next few hours and enjoying our little trip into fantasy land. 

Ted 2 is up next. LOL 

Ride Along 2: a movie review

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movies, postaday2016, Ride Along 2

   
   
I picked the movie today, my husband traditionally prefers watching these types of movies at home, after they are out on HBO, but since next week will be the start of my chemo/radiation treatments, I wanted a laugh out loud comedy and my husband was right on board, he loves hearing my laugh out loud, deep from the belly laughter and he wasn’t disappointed.

Ice Cube and Kevin Hart are the next best comedy duo since Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, I laughed a lot at all of their movies too.

Ride Along 2 had everything I needed, it was funny, exciting, had a good storyline and made sense.

Keven Hart is at the top of his comedy game and his verbalization of the name James is amazing, his various intonations gave “James” so many different meanings, playful, indignant, disappointed, panicked and so on.

Ice Cube is as good of a straight man as they come, which is what makes their pairing so brilliant.

If you need a laugh, go see it, you won’t regret it.