The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Rating: PG

Time: 114 minutes

Genre: Adventure/Comedy

Year: 2013

My Rating: 5

I obviously haven't seen any new movies recently. But I have seen a few in the past couple of weeks so hooray for more posting!

My husband was very excited to see this movie. I was not so thrilled about it. Hence, we waited until we could borrow it from my parents and not have to spend money to see it. Ya, we're cheap. Well, this movie met my expectations of being entertaining, yet not really that great of a movie.

Walter Mitty is a photo analyst for the LIFE magazine. And the magazine is getting ready to go completely online so a lot of people are going to lose their jobs. Mitty has a wild imagination and often zones out to some strange and adventurous daydream. When a picture goes missing, (or does it?), that was supposed to be used for the last magazine, Mitty goes on an adventure very much like those he dreams of. He is on the search for an adventurer/photographer who supposedly sent Mitty the lost picture.

So then we are here with Ben Stiller, who plays Mitty, who is a comedic actor. Yet, this movie isn't really much of a comedy at all. It has its moments, but really, Stiller is just a bland actor when he isn't doing pure comedic acting. 

Needless to say, the picture is eventually found, though not where it was expected. The final cover of the LIFE magazine in the film is heartwarming. And that was the end of the movie. The movie just seemed to keep going without any real idea of a plot. It was as though the writers were like: "Let's make an awesome movie with cool special effects that are all in someone's imagination and don't have anything to do with the plot!" And then they did. 

I give this movie a 5 out of 10. See it if you are interested, but don't go expecting to be impressed.

Saving Mr. Banks

Saving Mr. Banks

Rating: PG-13

Time: 215 Minutes

Genre: Biography/Drama

Year: 2013

My Rating: 8

In all honesty, this movie was not my type of movie. I like films with action and that are fast paced. This film had absolutely no action and was paced incredibly slowly. Nonetheless, as far as movies go, it was spectacular. 

The acting in this movie was spectacular. Tom Hanks was awesome as always. Emma Thompson also did a fantastic job. The movie was about the author P. L. Travers who met with Walt Disney. Walt wanted to make a movie of Mary Poppins, a book written by Travers. There were a lot of disputes between the two as Walt tried to get the movie made and Travers stopped him whenever she could. It flashes back to Travers' childhood throughout the film to give a background to her rough exterior. These flashbacks were put in at excellent points in the movie and really helped the story. 

It was beautifully done, and a fun film, but not one that I particularly care to see again because it just seemed really long. This is, however, a movie I think everyone should see at least once. I give this movie an 8 our of ten because it really was a great movie.

Thor: The Dark World

Thor: The Dark World

Rating: PG-13

Time: 112 Minutes

Genre: Action/Fantasy

Year: 2013

My Rating: 7

This movie was so much better than the first one. That one, although a fun one to watch, wasn't really that great of a movie. Thor: The Dark World had a lot more character development and a much better villain.

Christopher Eccleston did a fantastic job as the dark elf Malekith. I didn't even recognize him, he did such a great job. (I recognized his face, but his voice was so different, as well as the way he carried himself.) Chris Hemsworth was a fantastic Thor as always. I think he was pretty much born to play Thor. He was awesome. Tom Hiddleston continues to do a phenomenal job as Loki, the God of Mischief. The acting all around was quite spectacular. 

The fantasy factor in this film was great. This is definitely a fantasy film. I do enjoy me a good fantasy. It was also very action packed. The plot was very strong and made for some great development of the characters and the story. There were some new characters added that helped bring some new flair to the film that there wasn't in the first one. 

This was a fun movie and I could see myself owning it, but that wouldn't be particularly necessary. I give the movie a 7 out of 10. 

Ender's Game

Ender's Game

Rating: PG-13

Time: 114 Minutes

Genre: Action/Adventure

Year: 2013

My Rating: 8.5

Orson Scott Card wrote the book Ender's Game, and it came out in 1985. I first read the book three years ago. It is one of those books that is pretty hard to put down. Card wrote so well that it was easy to have a picture of what was happening, even though he didn't  go into ridiculous amounts of detail. Even though I am a huge fan of science fiction in movies and tv, this was the first science fiction book I had ever read. And it was incredible.

The book was so fantastic and had so much information that happened, I was scared about how the movie would turn out. With the Harry Potter films, they left out characters and important things that happened to make the movies short enough. This book is amazing, and I really wanted the movie to be amazing, too. I was very impressed and pleased at how well the movie turned out.

There are a lot of things not in the movie. For example, in the books it goes through so many different games that Ender and his team played in the room without gravity. They only showed two of these battle games in the movie. But it was enough to show the information that the story needed to continue. In the book, Ender starts out as 5 years old. The book spans many years. It would be impossible to have filmed the movie over so many years, so in the movie, Ender is close to the same age at the beginning and at the end of the film. And that is ok, I understand why they had to do that.

Asa Butterfield played Ender. I had only seen this kid in 'The Boy in Striped Pajamas' and 'Hugo.' He did a good job in both, but children tend not to be the best of actors simply because they are still learning. I was really impressed with his performance as Ender. He did a spectacular job and I loved it. I was also pleased with Harrison Ford in the film. I feel like he is really only good at playing one type of character, and he did really well with this one even though it was a little different than his norm. 

I want to own this movie! It was so greatly done and so fun to watch. I give it an 8.5 out of 10. I hope you enjoy this movie as much as I did!

Divergent

Divergent

Rating: PG-13

Time: 139 Minutes

Genre: Action/Adventure

Year: 2014

My Rating: 7.5

I had a lot of fun seeing this movie. My sister and I went to an 11:00 PM 'pre-show' because there were no midnight showings in the valley. I was really excited to see it because I really love the book. But as with most movies made from books, I was pretty scared that they would ruin the story. 

This movie was really great! I was happy with how well it followed the book. There were a few additions that I was like, "What? That wasn't in the book!" However, when I really thought about it, they helped make it a better movie and will also help with explanations of things that happen in the second and third book. 

As far as acting goes, I was very happy with Shailene Woodley. I had watched the tv show Secret Life of the American Teenager, where she is the main character, and wasn't sure how she would do as the main character of this story. She did amazing! I was really impressed with her acting ability in this movie. And Theo James, who I had never heard of, did a fantastic job as well. The acting was very successful all around. My one complaint as far as acting is concerned is that Miles Teller, who played Peter, wasn't angry enough. He's such an angry, grumpy, and violent guy in the book, and didn't meet that criteria in the movie. 

The filming was really great for the most part, but there were parts where the camera was shaky or just moved really fast around people and it gave me a headache. 

I really had fun seeing this movie. The action parts were done really well. I give this movie a 7.5 out of 10. I am thinking that it is one I would like to own, but I won't be majorly upset if I don't. 

RED 2

RED 2

Rating: PG-13

Time: 116 Minutes

Genre: Action/Comedy

Year: 2013

My Rating: 4.5

This movie was such a letdown. I LOVED the first one, as you can see in the previous post, but this was just lacing. As far as action films go, it did have a lot of action. This just wasn't as funny of a movie as the last one. The action scenes were way over the top.
One large complaint is the characters. The personalities of characters changed a lot from how they were in the first film. The character Martin, for example, was ridiculous and weird and hilarious in the first movie. In this one he was pretty serious and dull. He did some weird things, but it seemed like the movie makers were just like, "Oh, I guess we need to add some weirdness to make him seem like he was in the last movie." But they didn't make him like the last movie, in which he was fantastic.
I am also bothered by the fact that there were at least four different bad guys. By the end of the movie, all of them had switched sides. Some started good and ended bad, some started bad but ended good. It was just repetitive. I don't like repetition in movies.
This movie was one that felt like a waste of my time. I'm happy I just checked it out from the library instead of paying to see it. I am rating it at a 4.5 out of 10.

RED

RED

Rating: PG-13

Time: 111 Minutes

Genre: Action/Comedy

Year: 2010

My Rating: 9

I loved this movie! I first saw parts of it when I was donating plasma. I missed the beginning, so I ignored it so I could watch it later with my husband, but I was thinking that it looked like a fantastic movie. And it was! 

RED stands for 'Retired Extremely Dangerous.' It's about some retired CIA agents, and some others from around the world, who get put on a hit list and nobody knows why. So these older folks go about trying to solve the mystery, kicking butt along the way. It is, after all, a Bruce Willis movie.

The actors are wonderful in this movie. We have Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, and Karl Urban to name a few. Each actor brings his or her own flair to the movie and really makes it unique and fun to watch.

This movie is also a comedy, because basically older people are hilarious. Even when they are being hunted down, they are hilarious. That really made this my kind of movie. I love humor and I love action. This movie had a ton of action and fighting scenes, and no two were much alike. It was fresh and original and I loved it!

This is a movie that I really need to own, and I rate it at a 9 out of 10. So go see it! And the sequel is out now so I'll post about that one after I see it. 

Jack Reacher

Jack Reacher

Rating: PG-13

Time: 130 Minutes

Genre: Action/Crime

Year: 2012

My Rating: 6.5

My husband and I found this movie on Netflix; Netflix is fantastic. I had a lot of fun watching it. It was about a sniper shooting of 5 supposedly random people. The man accused was obviously guilty. But was he? That's where Jack Reacher came in. He paid attention to the details and figured out who was guilty and who wasn't. But he saw himself, not as above the law, but simply as giving justice to those who deserved it regardless of the law. 

Tom Cruise did a fantastic job as this character, as he tends to do with rough and tough dudes. The acting was really good through the whole film. The story did get confusing at points, which may have had to do with the fact that everyone talked so darn quietly through the whole thing. My husband and I kept missing things, but we didn't want to turn up the volume too much and risk waking our child when there were action scenes, which were loud. 

It was a good mystery to solve and was done very well, but Jack Reacher is a very violent man. In his attempts to justice, he is pretty vicious with some of those bad guys. And the bad guys are pretty vicious with some of the good guys, too. 

I did like that there weren't any sex scenes. These macho men tend to have a sex scene and it was nice not to have one. Huzzah. I give this movie a 6.5 overall. It was a fun one to see, but I don't really care to see it again. I won't complain if someone wants me to watch it with them though. I just won't pick it out.

Cellular

Cellular

Rating: PG-13

Time: 95 minutes

Genre: Action/Drama

Year:2004

My Rating: 6.5

A mother is kidnapped by none other than Jason Statham. She is told that her husband has a secret and they want to know it, but she has no clue. She is able to get a phone call from a very broken phone out to only one phone number. She reaches Ryan, played by Chris Evans, and this young man has to help save her and her family.

I remember seeing trailers for this movie when it was in theaters. It was one that I wanted to see, but never got around to it, then forgot about. I saw it at the library and remembered thinking it looked good. And then I watched it.

It wasn't as good as I thought it would be, but it was a fun movie to watch. My husband and I started watching it pretty late, and we were only going to watch half of it then go to bed, but it was very good at holding out attention. So we stayed up late and finished it. 

This is one of Chris Evans' earlier films, and it is obvious. He hasn't gotten very good at acting yet. He's good, but not great. Also, William H. Macy was in this movie, as a pretty serious character. Which was hard for me, because I've really only seen him in Mystery Men and The Maiden Heist, both of which are comedies. He did a great job with this character. 

This movie had a lot of intense moments and there was some swearing, one use of the F word that I noticed. Overall it was a good movie to see and I may watch it again in the future, but I wouldn't buy it. I therefore give this movie a 6.5 out of 10.

Princess Mononoke

Princess Mononoke

Rating: PG-13

Time: 134 Minutes

Genre: Animation/Fantasy

Year: 1997

My Rating: 8

This movie was a really fun one for me. I have always been fascinated with the artistic style of anime, but I've never watched much. Go figure. This movie was very different, but I know that that is pretty much just how anime films are. This movie is set at a time and place where there are spirits, gods, and demons among men. Some very large aspects of the plot revolved around how the world of men was trying to expand and would need to kill demons to get the land they wanted. 

The main character, Ashitaka, is a prince from a small village that nobody else knows exists. But when he is touched by a demon, he is cursed and kicked out of the city and isn't allowed to return. Poor guy. The movie follows his travels as he strives to find the great spirit of the forest to ask for it to heal him. Along the way he meets a crazy variety of people. He is lucky that the curse he has gives him super human strength, but it will eventually kill him. 

I found it interesting that the character Princess Mononoke is actually named San. San was raised by wolf gods and thinks she is a wolf. The other humans call her Princess Mononoke. San is a very powerful fighter with her little knife, and is almost always seen with one of her adoptive wolf god siblings. 

I was really surprised at how violent the movie was. It wasn't the most violent movie I've seen, but Ashitaka, with his super strength, could shoot an arrow that would hack off a man's arms, legs, or head. And he did so often. I guess I was just not expecting an animated film to have limbs flying all over the place, but it is rated PG-13 due to violence and gore, so I should have been expecting it. There are a good number of scary fantastical scenes, such as when gods are being turned into demons. This movie, though animated, is PG-13 for a reason and little kids should not watch it.

I really enjoyed this movie. I thought it was a great movie to introduce me into the anime movie zone. The artwork was beautiful and the characters were so well thought out. This is a movie that I would love to add to my own collection and watch at least once a year. For that, I rate it at an 8 out of 10. I also used the original Japanese movie poster up top. Go me!

Secretariat

Secretariat

Rating: PG

Time: 123 Minutes

Genre: Drama/History

Year: 2010

My Rating: 5

Firstly, I thought it was pretty funny that I watched two historical horse racing movies recently. I guess I was in a horsey mood or something. This movie was really cute. A family movie. It was based on a true story, which was cool. It was about a stay-at-home mom who inherited her father's horse farm and decided to get one of the colts to be an amazing racer. I pretty much just summed up the entire movie for you so I guess I'm done. 

Just kidding.

The acting in this movie was good, but not really fantastic. I think that the lack of great actors really hurt the film. There were a few fun camera views, but really I found the movie to be dull in that aspect.

It was a nice little feel good movie, but not one I ever care to see again. I know I don't have much to say about the movie, but really, there isn't much to say. It was amazing that the horse had such great racing success when nobody thought it would. Good job Secretariat. I give the movie a 5 out of 10.

Blackfish

Blackfish

Rating: PG-13

Time: 83 minutes

Genre: Documentary

Year: 2013

My Rating: 8

I rarely watch documentaries, because I find them to often be quite dull. However, this one was about something I had a genuine interest in: the dangers of keeping orca whales in captivity. I was really impressed with how well this was put together. 

The movie showed the whale, Tilikum, being captured as a baby and taken from his family. It went through his life and showed how he is responsible for three human deaths while in captivity. There were other whales as well that were violent, dragging trainers under the water and thrashing them around. This movie was about why the whales acted out so violently.

This movie did a great job explaining the complexities of orca whale pods (families) in the wild, the lack of pod unity in captivity, and reasons why whales in captivity can be violent. Former trainers that worked at Sea World were used in this film, speaking on experiences they had with the animals and that they saw others have with the animals.

For someone who really doesn't like documentaries, this one did a great job of holding my attention. The used actual footage of whales attacking their trainers, and that is why is was PG-13. It was kind of scary at parts, seeing people dragged around by these huge aquatic mammals. I gave this movie an 8 out of 10 because it was done so well and got my attention. The 8 is compared to other documentaries, not to all other movies that I have seen.

Seabiscuit

Seabiscuit

Rating: PG-13

Time: 140 Minutes
Genre: Drama/Historical

Year: 2003

My Rating: 8

This movie was very well done. It had some very fantastic actors and actresses. And it was a movie about the underdog accomplishing something great. I really enjoy movies like that. And even better, it is also based on a true story. I haven't seen Jeff Bridges in very many movies, but I have always loved his acting ability. He is very talented and it was great to see  him in this movie.  

Something that was good about this movie was that even though it was long, it kept moving. No super slow moments. This was nice because it kept my attention well. However, there were some moments where I would have liked to have more done. For example, when the characters Charles Howard and Marcela were falling in love. It really just had one or two moments then BAM they were married. Maybe that was how it happened in real life, and it was ok because this wasn't the main part of the movie. I just wanted a little bit more about their relationship.

The challenges that Seabiscuit and his jockey, Red, had were so well portrayed. It made the movie very emotional and had me feeling close to the characters. This is just an all around good movie!

I know that in the final race between the horses Seabiscuit and War Admiral was filmed so that it looked like some of the actual pictures taken from the race in 1938. It was so great to see the movie following the actual event so well.

This movie is one I would love to own and I have rated it at at 8 out of 10.

Alien

ALIEN

Rating: R

Time: 116 Minutes
Genre: Horror/Sci-Fi

Year: 1979

My Rating: 6

This movie is one that I had wanted to see for a long time. It was the classic alien movie that was supposedly a science fiction marvel of its time. And I'm sure that it was. Today, with the technology we have to make incredibly realistic effects, this movie would have been a joke, However, I tried to watch it with an open mind and kept thinking about how incredible it was that they were able to do so well with the movie even though the technology was lacking in 1979.

This movie started out really slow. There was ominous music playing while looking around the ship that the characters were on. It slowly started to pick up, but the movie didn't really get going until about an hour in. And even then, it was a bit of excitement, then a lot of slowness again before the next exciting moment. The movie seemed just really dragged out.

It was very fun to see the actors in this movie as so young. Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, and Ian Holm did a fantastic job. As did the other actors, but I didn't recognize them from anything. It was the acting in this movie that really made it good. The characters were very good at taking the slow moments of the movie and making them mean something for the plot. 

The alien itself was pretty creepy looking. They did a good job making it extremely un-earthly and thus scary. Things that are different from anything humans have seen before, are generally quite scary. And, as most scary movies go, we didn't even see the alien for very long periods of time and never saw its whole body until the very end of the movie. It kept me watching because I wanted to see it. Clever movie maker folk.

The reason this movie is rated R is mostly because it says the 'F' word 5 times. There is also a scene where there is a wall covered in pornography. It is in the background and is blurry, but you can tell what it is. This is not a movie for children for those reasons, and it would be scary for the little ones. 

This was a fun movie to see, but not one that I care to own. I am giving it a 6 out of 10.

The Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger

Rating: PG-13

Time: 149 minutes
Genre: Action/Adventure
Year: 2013

My Rating: 4

Although this wasn't the worst movie I have ever seen, it was not that fantastic, either. It starts out after the characters are old, and the Native American, Tonto, tells the tale of the Lone Ranger. First, I must say that Johnny Depp is NOT a Native American. He is a fantastic actor, but I just kept having a hard time seeing him as Tonto. He did do very well though.

I did not expect this movie to have much humor in it, but it surely did. It was fun and refreshing to have a laugh here and there through the movie. Those were the best parts. The movie was quite violent for a PG-13 movie. I was surprised that Disney was ok being so violent. There was a strange mix of characters in the film, many of which could probably have been left out. It was though the producers were like, "The main characters sure don't do much, we had better add a ton of random other characters to make the movie long enough." 

There were some fantastic musical moments in the movie. I was thinking, "Man, this is a really cool movie score" when they went into the William Tell Overture. And I laughed, because that song makes me laugh when it is played to people riding horses, as it is always used. Then there was some more great new music. And then we had William Tell all over again. And it just kept coming back up. I was so sick of the song by the end of the movie. There is more music than just that one song to play while men are racing around on horses.

The movie did have some pretty great cinematography, so I feel that I can't score it too extremely low. And the actor who was the Lone Ranger, Armie Hammer, did do a fantastic job. It was a fun movie to see, but I will never see it again and I am totally ok with that. I have scored it at a 4 out of 10.

Frozen

Frozen

Rating: PG

Time: 102 Minutes
Genre: Animation/Adventure
Year: 2013

My Rating: 6.5

I had heard so much hype about this movie, I figured that it must be amazing. But it wasn't. It was a cute movie with a couple fun songs. Something that was really good about it was that the Disney princess, Anna, was a very realistic princess. For example, she LOVES chocolate. Even just the smell. As does her sister, the queen. Anna was clumsy and talks to pictures on her walls. She had a very strong personality. But, aside from her flaws, she was very comfortable with who she was and loved herself for her differences.
There are a couple fun supporting characters in the film as well. The snowman, Olaf, is quite hilarious. He is one of the characters you think you will not like, but then love him by the end. And the male characters were just as strong as the female characters, so that they weren't overpowered by the large personalities of the women.
The singing in this movie is overdone. No other way to say it. There were two songs that I liked out of the nine songs in the movie. Lots of songs. Yeah. It really seemed to me like the makers of this film were trying way too hard to make a movie with music everyone would love. No success in that area.
Another complaint I have is about Elsa, the older sister and queen. At the beginning they mention her 'coming of age.' So I'm thinking she's either 18 or 21. It wasn't ever actually said how old she was. She was voice by Idina Menzel, who is 42. And when she sang, you could totally tell. The voice was way older than the character. Yes, Idina Menzel has an incredible singing voice, but I think they should have chosen someone else to be Elsa because Idina's voice is just too old for the character.
It was a cute movie, but not one that I felt was worth paying for to see. So I have to give it  6.5 out of ten.

The Wolverine

The Wolverine

Rating: PG-13

Time: 126 minutes
Genre: Action/Fantasy
Year: 2013

My Rating: 7.5

Anyone that knows me is aware that I am a HUGE fan of superhero movies. I have always enjoyed the X-Men movies. It took me a while to see The Wolverine as I wasn't too impressed with X-Men Origins: Wolverine. But I was surprised at how well this movie turned out.

I thought that this movie would happen in the time period between where X-Men Origins left of and X-Men began. I wasn't sure how much they would fit in there, or how a conflict would be portrayed. I was happy when it happened AFTER X-Men: The Last Stand. It brought some interesting aspects to the character, Logan, and how he was handling life after having killed the woman he loved. 

Hugh Jackman was incredible as always, doing a fantastic job as Wolverine. I enjoyed the new mix of characters, some mutants and some human, that were added to the film. It helped to keep things fresh, while still followed the pattern of mutant/human relationships found in the earlier movies. The villains in this film were also great, although I would have liked more background on the character of the Viper. It was also nice to be in a new setting, Japan. All five of the other films take place in the United States, it made me wonder about mutants elsewhere in the world. It was nice to have that change of scenery.

Something to know about this movie is that it IS a violent one. Not the most violent one that I've seen, but someone with a week stomach for violence would not to well watching this. There were parts where I was grabbing my husband flinching because of the pain being inflicted on characters. Ouch. 

I was not bothered by the amount of language and cursing in this movie, except that Wolverine just had to go and drop the 'F' bomb. I guess if any X-Men character were to say that word, it would be Logan, but still, I don't think it belongs in a PG-13 movie. 

On a scale of 1 (Terrible) to 10 (Amazing) I give this movie a 7.5. It was one that I enjoyed and would like to watch again, but it is not necessarily a movie that needs to be on my DVD shelf.