The trailer for Unknown looked incredibly promising. Taken was one of my favorite fast paced action movies since the Bourne movies. This was advertised in the exact same manner so I was expecting a similar movie. I did enjoy the movie, but it was definitely not Taken with a new story line. The movie was the same general premise, take a B-List action movie and add Liam Neeson and hope it becomes gold.
None of the acting was spectacular, Liam played the same role he played in Taken but add in the confusion of his amnesia and maybe even his insanity. The action scenes were few and far between sadly. I thought this movie's selling point was going to be the action, but it seemed they decided to try to focus more on the twist(s). I don't want to ruin it for you in case you plan on seeing it, but in the end it does become kind of far-fetched and ridiculous. Still entertaining though. It reminded me of Salt (which I thoroughly enjoyed), but it didn't have nearly as much action.
There is little to none character development. No one should go into this movie expecting any, but it is always nice to have a few scenes to get to know the character and become more attached with them and enthralled in the movie. All in all I did enjoy this movie, it is always nice sitting it out and seeing the twists. It was just advertised wrongly for how the movie actually went. Throw away your expectations and go into this movie and you should be pretty entertained.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Academy Awards
So congratulations to all the deserving cast members and crew that won Oscars this evening. Some disappointments and also a couple of huge surprises (Melissa Leo for best Actress in a Supporting Role comes to mind). It seemed to be a giant surprise to her as well. She seemed more stunned than anyone else on camera when her name was announced. Good thing they have that few second delay for the quick edits on language right? I was also incredibly confused as of to why Daft Punk did not win anything Sound related for Tron, but then again I am a Daft Punk fanboy so I was pulling for that since the first time I saw it. As good as The King's Speech was I was not expecting it to win Best Picture. Being up against so many other great movies. It was a hard decision though because in my mind there was not just one substantial film that stood out amongst the rest. The Kids Are All Right and Winter Bones were the only two I hadn't seen. Legitimately don't even think they played anywhere relatively convenient to where I am in Oklahoma.
I was very happy for Natalie Portman to win Best Actress for her performance in Black Swan though. I saw that one three times in theaters and every time I think I walked out liking it more. Her performance was just incredible I thought. James Franco and Anne Hathaway did a pretty good job hosting it I'll say. Some of their little skits were entertaining and others not so much. Was left slightly confused by plethora of hits on Hugh Jackman, was it just because he was sitting so close? Sitting next to Halle Berry? Don't know. Good year for the Brits though, Colin Firth getting his Best Actor and his film getting Best Picture.
I always feel a little upset about some of the decisions they make. On Best Animated Short I thought Day & Night was a hands down winner. It was the best short before a Pixar film I had seen in an awfully long time. Best Score for the doodad during the Social Network intro was deserving. That score managed to have the right tone to be equally as thought provoking as the movie. The Score from Inception though was just epic beyond epic. It is coming close to replacing The Final Countdown in my head when I find myself in an epic type moment. And I know this post was pretty scatterbrained but I pretty much just said what was on my mind when it popped up. Didn't put thought into organizing it in any specific way.
Hope you enjoyed watching the Oscars as I did, and this officially marks the beginning of new considerations for all the categories for next year in my mind. Transformers 3 is going to be another explosion filled orgy from the depths of Michael Bay's basement. Thor looks incredibly promising, Sucker Punch is going to be great no matter what, Hannah looks incredible (Chemical Brothers soundtrack will be awesome), The Adjustment Bureau will finally come out considering they've been advertising it for ages now, The second in a line of X-Men prequels should be pretty entertaining, The Hangover Part 2 (YES!), and many others come to mind as good movies this year. Really want to see more good original screenplay movies though, not so many prequels/sequels/adaptations/rewrites/conversions from books. It's like when you are reading an incredibly long spree of books (The Wheel of Time) and want to find something new and interesting that you can get into but has the same feel (The Name of the Wind).
I was very happy for Natalie Portman to win Best Actress for her performance in Black Swan though. I saw that one three times in theaters and every time I think I walked out liking it more. Her performance was just incredible I thought. James Franco and Anne Hathaway did a pretty good job hosting it I'll say. Some of their little skits were entertaining and others not so much. Was left slightly confused by plethora of hits on Hugh Jackman, was it just because he was sitting so close? Sitting next to Halle Berry? Don't know. Good year for the Brits though, Colin Firth getting his Best Actor and his film getting Best Picture.
I always feel a little upset about some of the decisions they make. On Best Animated Short I thought Day & Night was a hands down winner. It was the best short before a Pixar film I had seen in an awfully long time. Best Score for the doodad during the Social Network intro was deserving. That score managed to have the right tone to be equally as thought provoking as the movie. The Score from Inception though was just epic beyond epic. It is coming close to replacing The Final Countdown in my head when I find myself in an epic type moment. And I know this post was pretty scatterbrained but I pretty much just said what was on my mind when it popped up. Didn't put thought into organizing it in any specific way.
Hope you enjoyed watching the Oscars as I did, and this officially marks the beginning of new considerations for all the categories for next year in my mind. Transformers 3 is going to be another explosion filled orgy from the depths of Michael Bay's basement. Thor looks incredibly promising, Sucker Punch is going to be great no matter what, Hannah looks incredible (Chemical Brothers soundtrack will be awesome), The Adjustment Bureau will finally come out considering they've been advertising it for ages now, The second in a line of X-Men prequels should be pretty entertaining, The Hangover Part 2 (YES!), and many others come to mind as good movies this year. Really want to see more good original screenplay movies though, not so many prequels/sequels/adaptations/rewrites/conversions from books. It's like when you are reading an incredibly long spree of books (The Wheel of Time) and want to find something new and interesting that you can get into but has the same feel (The Name of the Wind).
Thursday, February 24, 2011
First Post
This is my first post, information about me in the profile I guess. I couldn't help but feel like I was making a MySpace while choosing a background and such. Was a weird feeling. Anyways. I'm Mason and I really love movies. I spend way more on going to the movies than I should with my incredibly meager cash flow. I love Netflix and feel that I have watched every movie worth watching on it, and have now moved on to the television shows on it. Hell, I may even review some television shows on this blog. So on to my first review. The most recent movie I've seen is The Fighter. And I'll probably go back few the past months and review some of the ones I've seen as well.
The Fighter, when I first saw the trailer for The Fighter on Apple Trailers (my roommate basically has it as his homepage and we watch most of the new trailers that come out) I saw it as another "be anything you can be" sports movie. And that is really it is. But despite all that terrible beat to death theme for a movie, I really enjoyed it. Mark Wahlberg (Micky Ward) and Christian Bale (Dicky Eklund) are two of my favorite actors. Wahlberg is type casted as <insert someone from the Northeast States here>. That's the only character we have seen him pull off well. Despite this he did an amazing job with this movie. He did a great job presenting the struggles that his character had. In his decision making of abandoning his mother has his manager, and his brother as his trainer. The new love interest of Charlene Fleming played by Amy Adams adds to this chaos of a family life he has. To those who haven't seen the film this movie is about a family that revolves around boxing (a family that revolves around fighting, literally, and metaphorically).
Micky and Dicky have 9 crazy sisters, an over-controlling mother, and what seems to be an alcoholic father (they did not play on his alcoholism but his constant "red-face" is a telltale sign of a life of alcohol abuse).They come from the very meager town of Lowell, Massachusetts. The only claim to fame they have is that Micky's older half-brother Dicky "knocked out" Sugar Ray in a fight years ago. An interview crew is following around Dicky and his family on what Dicky says is an interview of a former boxing great. In reality the camera crew and interviewer are making a documentary on crack addiction in America.
Dicky lives in a crack house. He has a girlfriend who is a crack addict, and his friends are crack addicts. Crack, that's what this guy excels at. He always shows up to train Micky late, and generally just cares about his next hit. His ways finally send him to prison. In prison he is regarded as prominent member of the community by his fellow inmates. When the interview takes a turn to his more personal reflections and inner-workings he realizes that he is now an open book for all to read, and storms out of the viewing in the prison. When he gets out of prison he turns his life around, he says goodbye to his former life and really fights to be a part of his family and Micky's life again. He becomes one of his trainers once again after showing he REALLY does care and fights for his family.
After years of Micky trying to make it as a boxer, he tries to leave behind his family which he sees as holding him back. Dicky is sent to prison and Micky has to vow to abandon him as one of his trainers and his mother as his manager for Mickey O'Keefe to continue to train him. O'Keefe was the real Micky Ward's trainer and portrays himself in the movie. He played a real minor character in the scheme of things about does a tremendous job as being the voice of reason along with Charlene.
Charlene and Micky hold a tender relationship. Charlene is viewed by sisters and mother as an "MTV girl" because she went to college for a few years and now works as a bartender. Charlene does a fantastic job of really not caring what Micky's family thinks of her. Amy Adams plays this role perfectly as the don't give a damn girlfriend who chimes in common sense when it is most needed. Micky eventually starts to listen to this voice and really starts to become something.
Does anyone else love the ending of a movie that makes your chest swell with pride (not just because I was seeing it with my girlfriend and you know, swelling chest = badass, right)? And maybe even fighting back some tears? That was how this movie ended. The unity of the friends and family of Micky Ward at the end of the movie truly wrap it up perfectly. I wanted to go home and give my mother a hug. The feeling of accomplishment, greatness, and glory were palpable at the end of this movie. A family torn apart for various reasons yet seems to be keeping it together, really does prove they keep it together.
The Fighter, when I first saw the trailer for The Fighter on Apple Trailers (my roommate basically has it as his homepage and we watch most of the new trailers that come out) I saw it as another "be anything you can be" sports movie. And that is really it is. But despite all that terrible beat to death theme for a movie, I really enjoyed it. Mark Wahlberg (Micky Ward) and Christian Bale (Dicky Eklund) are two of my favorite actors. Wahlberg is type casted as <insert someone from the Northeast States here>. That's the only character we have seen him pull off well. Despite this he did an amazing job with this movie. He did a great job presenting the struggles that his character had. In his decision making of abandoning his mother has his manager, and his brother as his trainer. The new love interest of Charlene Fleming played by Amy Adams adds to this chaos of a family life he has. To those who haven't seen the film this movie is about a family that revolves around boxing (a family that revolves around fighting, literally, and metaphorically).
Micky and Dicky have 9 crazy sisters, an over-controlling mother, and what seems to be an alcoholic father (they did not play on his alcoholism but his constant "red-face" is a telltale sign of a life of alcohol abuse).They come from the very meager town of Lowell, Massachusetts. The only claim to fame they have is that Micky's older half-brother Dicky "knocked out" Sugar Ray in a fight years ago. An interview crew is following around Dicky and his family on what Dicky says is an interview of a former boxing great. In reality the camera crew and interviewer are making a documentary on crack addiction in America.
Dicky lives in a crack house. He has a girlfriend who is a crack addict, and his friends are crack addicts. Crack, that's what this guy excels at. He always shows up to train Micky late, and generally just cares about his next hit. His ways finally send him to prison. In prison he is regarded as prominent member of the community by his fellow inmates. When the interview takes a turn to his more personal reflections and inner-workings he realizes that he is now an open book for all to read, and storms out of the viewing in the prison. When he gets out of prison he turns his life around, he says goodbye to his former life and really fights to be a part of his family and Micky's life again. He becomes one of his trainers once again after showing he REALLY does care and fights for his family.
After years of Micky trying to make it as a boxer, he tries to leave behind his family which he sees as holding him back. Dicky is sent to prison and Micky has to vow to abandon him as one of his trainers and his mother as his manager for Mickey O'Keefe to continue to train him. O'Keefe was the real Micky Ward's trainer and portrays himself in the movie. He played a real minor character in the scheme of things about does a tremendous job as being the voice of reason along with Charlene.
Charlene and Micky hold a tender relationship. Charlene is viewed by sisters and mother as an "MTV girl" because she went to college for a few years and now works as a bartender. Charlene does a fantastic job of really not caring what Micky's family thinks of her. Amy Adams plays this role perfectly as the don't give a damn girlfriend who chimes in common sense when it is most needed. Micky eventually starts to listen to this voice and really starts to become something.
Does anyone else love the ending of a movie that makes your chest swell with pride (not just because I was seeing it with my girlfriend and you know, swelling chest = badass, right)? And maybe even fighting back some tears? That was how this movie ended. The unity of the friends and family of Micky Ward at the end of the movie truly wrap it up perfectly. I wanted to go home and give my mother a hug. The feeling of accomplishment, greatness, and glory were palpable at the end of this movie. A family torn apart for various reasons yet seems to be keeping it together, really does prove they keep it together.
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