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.