Monthly Archives: November 2013

Movie Review: Gangster Squad

I’ve watched quite a couple of gangster movies and most of them were really depressing and/or disappointing. However, this one was not.

Gangster Squad highlights the life of John O’Mara, one of the few clean cops left in Los Angeles who is still willing to fight for justice in a city practically owned by gangster Mickey Cohen. A cop with special ops training who served in World War II, O’Mara doesn’t take crap and let’s the audience know that right off the bat, whooping up some bad guys like he’s the man. Stuff gets serious when the chief asks O’Mara to wage guerrilla warfare against Cohen, with his only aid coming from a team that he’s allowed to choose.

O’Mara’s wife is pregnant and so he must battle between being a father and husband and being a cop. He must decide between his duties as a family man and his duties to the public and country. His integrity and determination is something to be admired and it shows. His supporting cast is solid, especially with Sean Penn as Mickey Cohen and Ryan Gosling as Jerry Wooters. The intensity and conflict are suspenseful and heartfelt. The action scenes are fun to watch and as I said, the supporting cast gets a big thumbs-up from me.

Once again, if you’re new to my blog,  I’ve always ranked movies on a scale of 0-100 (I don’t know why, I just always have). Here’s the grading scale.

 90-100  It’s a great movie and definitely one worth buying. (Iron Man 3World War Z42Just Go With ItReal Steel)

80-89   It was a pretty good movie and definitely one worth seeing, but it doesn’t quite scratch my top ten percentile. (White House DownJobsThe Truman ShowThe Hunger GamesThe Hunger Games: Catching Fire)

70-79   It’s okay but I’ve seen better. It has its moments, but it has its flaws, too. (The Usual Suspects21 Jump StreetEscape PlanCaptain America: The First AvengerDawn of the Dead)

60-69   It’s got plenty wrong with it but I still got enjoyment out of this one. (Pacific RimThe Long Kiss GoodnightDisaster Movie)

50-59   This movie isn’t intolerable but it’s not blowing my mind either. I’m trying really hard to get some sort of enjoyment out of this. (Along Came PollyAliensAlien ResurrectionFull Metal Jacket, Thor)

40-49   This movie is just mediocre. It’s not doing anything other than the bare minimal, so morbidly boring that sometimes I’m actually angry I watched this. (Patriot GamesThe Great GatsbyPitch BlackAlien)

30-39   Definitely worse than mediocre, the 30’s ironically define the 1930’s, full of depression, lack of accomplishments, poverty and just so dumb. (The ContractPride and Prejudice)

20-29   What did I just watch? Cliches, stupidity, nothingness, did I mention stupidity? Just…wow. (The Sum of All FearsThor: The Dark World)

0-19      Watching this movie resulted in one or more of the following: seizure, loss of brain cells, falling asleep/unconsciousness, feel you wasted your time/day, accomplished nothing for you, left the movie knowing less about it then you did going into it, constantly asking yourself why you came to see this movie, or near-death experience. In short, staring at a wall was just as entertaining as watching this movie. This movie deserved a sticker or a label that said, “WARNING: EXTREME AMOUNT OF SUCKAGE.” (Midnight CowboyDark FuryAlien 3)

My score for Gangster Squad: 86.

It’s the best gangster movie I can think of that I have seen. It portrays the times and life of gangster life accurately in my opinion and it continues to entertain throughout.

*SPOILER ALERT* IF YOU DON’T WANT THE MOVIE SPOILED, STOP READING!!!

*SPOILER’S EDITION*

Nothing to spoil. Sorry guys.

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Movie Review: Thor

After seeing the great atrocity that was Thor: The Dark World, I decided to view the first one, one that I believe I may have seen before but it’s been a very long time since I did so.

All the cast is the same, something I wasn’t looking that forward to aside from seeing Tom Hiddleston on-screen again. That guy really knows how to do the one-liners and I could see him taking on a couple of comedy roles in the future. Anyway, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is an arrogant, proud, war-addicted soldier, who decides to attack the Frost Giants on their home turf to impress his father and while he does kill a lot of them, he starts a war instead of impressing Odin. Odin (Anthony Hopkins) banishes Thor to Earth after stripping away his powers in the hopes that Thor will learn the virtues of humility, wisdom, or should I say WisTIM? Sorry, I just had to throw that in there. Anyway, he falls to Earth and is immediately hit by a car, driven by Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and the rest of her gang.

The dialogue comes across as cheesy and the action scenes had lots of room to improve. Every time anyone is looking for Thor, he’s probably behind a car, because it seems like he’s hit by a car every half hour. Also, Jane Foster doesn’t know how to drive.

I care about Thor, but not really anyone else. Everyone else comes across as insincere or stupid, neither of which I have an affinity or liking for. Thor’s character-change seems to be brought up too fast and he just doesn’t pull it off well enough for it to be convincing, not that the script gave him much room to do so in the first place.

Once again, if you’re new to my blog,  I’ve always ranked movies on a scale of 0-100 (I don’t know why, I just always have). Here’s the grading scale.

 90-100  It’s a great movie and definitely one worth buying. (Iron Man 3World War Z42Just Go With ItReal Steel)

80-89   It was a pretty good movie and definitely one worth seeing, but it doesn’t quite scratch my top ten percentile. (White House DownJobsThe Truman ShowThe Hunger GamesThe Hunger Games: Catching Fire)

70-79   It’s okay but I’ve seen better. It has its moments, but it has its flaws, too. (The Usual Suspects21 Jump StreetEscape PlanCaptain America: The First AvengerDawn of the Dead)

60-69   It’s got plenty wrong with it but I still got enjoyment out of this one. (Pacific RimThe Long Kiss GoodnightDisaster Movie)

50-59   This movie isn’t intolerable but it’s not blowing my mind either. I’m trying really hard to get some sort of enjoyment out of this. (Dodgeball: A True Underdog StoryAlong Came PollyAliensAlien Resurrection, Full Metal Jacket)

40-49   This movie is just mediocre. It’s not doing anything other than the bare minimal, so morbidly boring that sometimes I’m actually angry I watched this. (Patriot GamesThe Great GatsbyPitch BlackAlien)

30-39   Definitely worse than mediocre, the 30’s ironically define the 1930’s, full of depression, lack of accomplishments, poverty and just so dumb. (The ContractPride and Prejudice)

20-29   What did I just watch? Cliches, stupidity, nothingness, did I mention stupidity? Just…wow. (The Sum of All FearsThor: The Dark World)

0-19      Watching this movie resulted in one or more of the following: seizure, loss of brain cells, falling asleep/unconsciousness, feel you wasted your time/day, accomplished nothing for you, left the movie knowing less about it then you did going into it, constantly asking yourself why you came to see this movie, or near-death experience. In short, staring at a wall was just as entertaining as watching this movie. This movie deserved a sticker or a label that said, “WARNING: EXTREME AMOUNT OF SUCKAGE.” (Midnight CowboyDark FuryAlien 3)

My score for Thor: 59.

This movie’s plot is of little interest to me as are most of its characters. Jane Foster is still annoying and the romance doesn’t feel real for me. This movie was made so that everyone knew who Thor was when The Avengers came out and that is the only reason.

*SPOILER ALERT* IF YOU DON’T WANT THE MOVIE SPOILED, STOP READING!!!

*SPOILER’S EDITION*

This movie has a few plot holes, but ones that I don’t care to waste my time talking about. However, there’s one in particular that is a must.

At the end of the movie, Thor breaks the rainbow bridge to stop the Frost Giants’ world from being destroyed and Odin awakes from his coma and is able to transport himself to the end of the bridge to catch Thor right as he and Loki are falling off. I’m sorry, perhaps I missed something, but how did Odin a) wake up at the precise moment that Thor and Loki fell off the rainbow bridge and b) manage to get all the way to the end of the bridge to catch Thor? He needed a horse to go through the portal to get to the Frost Giants’ planet, giving the illusion that he went across the rainbow bridge on horseback, meaning he cannot teleport or fly, or so it seems. Does he have that power and if he doesn’t then HOW THE HECK DID HE GET OVER THERE?!!!

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Movie Review: Full Metal Jacket

Image result for full metal jacket movie poster free useIf you’ve never seen this before, it’s not the end of the world, although I would be surprised if you haven’t seen clips from it. My brother and I have seen the sergeant rants before on YouTube, so I didn’t come into this movie having not seen any of it, just not most of it.

The movie centers around the experience of Private “Joker” Davis and his comrades-in-arms. It introduces us to the beginning of military training and brings in tons of humor by showing us one of the most hopeless individuals fail at nearly every task put in front of him. The reprimanding of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman is hilarious, although I had seen most of it so many times that it lost most of its comedic jab for me. That didn’t downgrade the score at all, I’m just saying that it does eventually lose most of its comedic effect if you view it enough times. It’s not one of those movies where you can watch it hundreds of times and still laugh at it.

The problem I had with this is a simple one, one that the filmmakers should have recognized as a major flaw. After a significant plot twist, the film takes us to Vietnam with Private Joker but without any of the other characters that we have just gotten to know and/or grow fond of. The movie presents some above-average military comedy but then decides to drop all of the characters and start from scratch all over again, leaving Private Joker as the only known element. It decides to turn into an action movie instead of a comedy half way through and the action isn’t all that engaging or suspenseful. It’s like two movies thrown together instead of one complete product. If they would have given us something that involved all of the characters we started with, maybe it wouldn’t have been such a screw-up. However, that’s not the case, making it just that.

Once again, if you’re new to my blog,  I’ve always ranked movies on a scale of 0-100 (I don’t know why, I just always have). Here’s the grading scale.

 90-100  It’s a great movie and definitely one worth buying. (Iron Man 3World War Z42Just Go With ItReal Steel)

80-89   It was a pretty good movie and definitely one worth seeing, but it doesn’t quite scratch my top ten percentile. (White House DownJobsThe Truman ShowThe Hunger GamesThe Hunger Games: Catching Fire)

70-79   It’s okay but I’ve seen better. It has its moments, but it has its flaws, too. (The Usual Suspects21 Jump StreetEscape PlanCaptain America: The First AvengerDawn of the Dead)

60-69   It’s got plenty wrong with it but I still got enjoyment out of this one. (Pacific RimThe Long Kiss GoodnightDisaster Movie)

50-59   This movie isn’t intolerable but it’s not blowing my mind either. I’m trying really hard to get some sort of enjoyment out of this. (Total RecallDodgeball: A True Underdog StoryAlong Came PollyAliensAlien Resurrection)

40-49   This movie is just mediocre. It’s not doing anything other than the bare minimal, so morbidly boring that sometimes I’m actually angry I watched this. (Patriot GamesThe Great GatsbyPitch BlackAlien)

30-39   Definitely worse than mediocre, the 30’s ironically define the 1930’s, full of depression, lack of accomplishments, poverty and just so dumb. (The ContractPride and Prejudice)

20-29   What did I just watch? Cliches, stupidity, nothingness, did I mention stupidity? Just…wow. (The Sum of All Fears, Thor: The Dark World)

0-19      Watching this movie resulted in one or more of the following: seizure, loss of brain cells, falling asleep/unconsciousness, feel you wasted your time/day, accomplished nothing for you, left the movie knowing less about it then you did going into it, constantly asking yourself why you came to see this movie, or near-death experience. In short, staring at a wall was just as entertaining as watching this movie. This movie deserved a sticker or a label that said, “WARNING: EXTREME AMOUNT OF SUCKAGE.” (Midnight CowboyDark FuryAlien 3)

My score for Full Metal Jacket: 53.

I didn’t need to watch this. I’d already seen the parts of the movie that were worth watching and taking them into account, is the only thing that made this movie even slightly interesting.

*SPOILER ALERT* IF YOU DON’T WANT THE MOVIE SPOILED, STOP READING!!!

*SPOILER’S EDITION*

There’s really nothing to spoil aside from the fact that Pyle kills Hartman in a psychotic rage and then kills himself on the toilet. Aside from that, that’s about it. Really nothing of any importance to discuss.

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Tim Sports Report for 2013 NFL Week 12

Top 5

1. Patriots have biggest comeback in franchise history, overcoming 24-point halftime deficit to the Denver Broncos to win 34-31 in OT.

2. QB Philip Rivers 27/39 for 392 yards, 3 TDs, 127.3 QBR vs. KC

3. WR Josh Gordon 14 receptions for 237 yards, TD vs. PIT

4. RB Knowshon Moreno 37 carries for 224 yards, TD vs. NE

5. WR Julian Edelman 9 receptions for 110 yards, 2 TDs vs. DEN

Worst of the Worst

1. Broncos blow 24-point halftime lead in loss to Patriots

2. QB Geno Smith 9/22 for 127 yards, 2 INTs, Fmble, 22.3 QBR vs. BAL

3. Vikings-Packers game ends in tie. I don’t know why the NFL hasn’t made a rule change to eliminate ties yet. No major sport aside from soccer allows ties. The NFL needs to change that rule for reals because ties are stupid.

4. QB Peyton Manning 19/36 for 150 yards, 2 TDs, INT, 70.4 QBR vs. NE

*Sidenote: I don’t understand why Peyton can’t beat Brady. Last year I picked Brady and he won…again. This year Peyton had every tool he needed to get a win and he still couldn’t do it. The overall series between the two is 10-4 in favor of Brady. Brady has not lost to Peyton since 2009.

5. QB Andrew Luck 20/39 for 163, TD, INT, 60.1 QBR vs. ARI

Steelers Recap

Despite being 4/14 on third down, the Steelers got the win in Cleveland 27-11. They forced four turnovers, got a defensive TD and had five sacks. However, they allowed Josh Gordon to get 14 catches for 237 yards and a touchdown, something they cannot allow to happen again. Facing the Baltimore Ravens this week on Thanksgiving Day in Baltimore makes me inclined to pick the Ravens, but they have struggled as of late and the Steelers have not, including that big upset of the Detroit Lions. Don’t fail me now Pittsburgh, because I’m trying to get caught up in our pick’em tournament.

Game of the Week: Saints @ Seahawks

It’s offense versus defense. The Seahawks are at home though, which spells L-O-S-S for the Saints.

 

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Movie Review: Thor: The Dark World

The sequel to Thor hit theaters this month and while I’m not a fan of Thor, I thought I’d go see it for the heck of it and to let you guys know what I thought of it.

First, they give us some mandatory background information about the Aether,  a weapon that the dark elf Malekith intended to use to make the whole universe fall into darkness. However, Odin’s father, Bor, succeeded in capturing the Aether and storing it in a secret place where no one could find it. Unless you’re Natalie Portman of course, then you can happen to fall in every pitfall and dung heap on the planet, finding every not-of-this-earth thing, and nearly ending the world’s existence as well as billions of human lives, all for the sake of science.

In case you haven’t gotten the hint yet, I don’t like Jane Foster. She’s the most hopeless person yet Thor still cares for her and I’ll never know why, especially when he’s got Sif the warrior princess on his side, who has more smarts, virtues, and looks then Foster.

Foster manages to find the Aether after being sucked through a doorway by who knows what and this is after they find a floating tractor trailer in an abandoned warehouse and a portal that makes things disappear and reappear right above the portal only to disappear again and the cycle continues, except that sometimes it doesn’t work but no one knows why or will find out.

So starts a movie with some of the worst screenwriting in the history of cinema. If you want to talk about convenient circumstances in film, here’s a movie for you. You need more conflict? Here’s yet another useless subplot. There are so many conflicts that could have been avoided if our heroes would have just used their brains. You think it can’t get worse but it does.

The movie tries to give us some entertainment through Loki’s one-liners, but Tom Hiddleston can only do so much. Chris Hemsworth as well as Hiddleston are worthy of much better material then this and I have a hard time believing that they were happy with the final product. The supporting cast aside from Hiddleston is mediocre at best if not worse, although it’s not the actors. It’s the guys giving them their scripts.

I had no interest in finishing this movie it was so terrible. The action scenes aren’t even worth the wait. The third act is hard to follow and I’ll explain why in the spoiler’s edition. The filmmakers try to intertwine the story with earth’s fate except that it’s far too confusing to accomplish. The scientists try to explain the situation through complicated scientific jargon that no one who isn’t in that area of expertise can follow, which means that we miles be listening to babies trying to shout off the theory of relativity because that happening has the same chance of success as the audience understanding what the heck is going on.

Once again, if you’re new to my blog,  I’ve always ranked movies on a scale of 0-100 (I don’t know why, I just always have). Here’s the grading scale.

 90-100  It’s a great movie and definitely one worth buying. (Iron Man 3World War Z42Just Go With ItReal Steel)

80-89   It was a pretty good movie and definitely one worth seeing, but it doesn’t quite scratch my top ten percentile. (White House DownJobsThe Truman ShowThe Hunger Games, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire)

70-79   It’s okay but I’ve seen better. It has its moments, but it has its flaws, too. (The Usual Suspects21 Jump StreetEscape PlanCaptain America: The First AvengerDawn of the Dead)

60-69   It’s got plenty wrong with it but I still got enjoyment out of this one. (Pacific RimThe Long Kiss GoodnightDisaster Movie)

50-59   This movie isn’t intolerable but it’s not blowing my mind either. I’m trying really hard to get some sort of enjoyment out of this. (Total RecallDodgeball: A True Underdog StoryAlong Came PollyAliensAlien Resurrection)

40-49   This movie is just mediocre. It’s not doing anything other than the bare minimal, so morbidly boring that sometimes I’m actually angry I watched this. (Patriot GamesThe Great GatsbyPitch BlackAlien)

30-39   Definitely worse than mediocre, the 30’s ironically define the 1930’s, full of depression, lack of accomplishments, poverty and just so dumb. (The ContractPride and Prejudice)

20-29   What did I just watch? Cliches, stupidity, nothingness, did I mention stupidity? Just…wow. (The Sum of All Fears)

0-19      Watching this movie resulted in one or more of the following: seizure, loss of brain cells, falling asleep/unconsciousness, feel you wasted your time/day, accomplished nothing for you, left the movie knowing less about it then you did going into it, constantly asking yourself why you came to see this movie, or near-death experience. In short, staring at a wall was just as entertaining as watching this movie. This movie deserved a sticker or a label that said, “WARNING: EXTREME AMOUNT OF SUCKAGE.” (Midnight CowboyDark FuryAlien 3)

My score for Thor: The Dark World: 29.

There’s no character connection to speak of and it is subplot and plot hole galore up in here. Natalie Portman makes me want to throw up she’s so bad. I haven’t done that many facepalms during one movie in a long time.

*SPOILER ALERT* IF YOU DON’T WANT THE MOVIE SPOILED, STOP READING!!!

*SPOILER’S EDITION*

First, how the heck does Foster find that floating tractor trailer? How has no one besides those kids found that thing yet? What pulled her through that doorway and better still, how was it that the portal she happened to go through happened to put her right next to the Aether, the same place that Odin’s father, Bor, said no one would find it? Did a portal just happen to materialize right next to the thing and if so, how did that happen? Does the Aether have the power to create portals? How does she get transported back but have no recollection of what just happened? Did anyone else find that a little convenient?

The gatekeeper said that he could see 10 million souls and the instant that Foster is fused with the Aether, he says he can’t see her. This suggests that he has the eyes of a hawk, correct? Remember that, because I’m going to come back to that. I’m trying to do everything in chronological order. Thor picks her up and takes her back to Asgard and the nurses look her over and then Odin comes in, except that the nurses turn off the monitors that show there’s some red specimen in her right before he comes in. Don’t you think your king might want to take a look? Then someone touches her and gets shocked back. Why is it that Thor can touch her and nothing happens to him? Then Odin’s like, “What’s this?” You mean no one was told a bedtime story about this battle that happened hundreds of years ago that involved one of the most powerful forces known to man? No one wrote anything down? Malekith wakes up as soon as the Aether is moved. Does he have a physical connection to it? We have to assume that’s the case because he seems to know where it is at all times.

One of Malekith’s loyal companions volunteers to turn himself into a Kursed, an enhanced warrior, and joins the prisoners from the assault earlier in the movie without anyone noticing him so that he can cause havoc inside Asgard and destroy the shields which I’ll discuss soon. There’s like 20 prisoners maximum. You mean the Asgardian troops can’t remember the faces of 20 people and see that guy wasn’t one of them?

Malekith comes in an armada that has camouflage shields on and the guy with the eyes of a hawk doesn’t see them until they’re right in front of his face. I thought you could see 10 million souls, dude? You telling me if they have shields you can’t see diddly-squat? Then the artillery guys are already at their posts even though they weren’t warned about the army coming. Do those guys man their artillery guns every time there’s a prison break? Speaking of prison breaks, the loyal companion dude turns himself into a Kursed and breaks the prison shield in like three punches. How can their shields be that bad? If the cells are that easy to break out of, then why hasn’t Loki attempted an escape yet? Odin sends a couple guards to guard the shield generator even though Odin is the one with the power stick. Seconds after the shields are turned on, the Kursed knocks them out. If the shields are that important, why isn’t Odin there with the guards to protect it? What’s he doing during this whole invasion anyway? Better yet, why aren’t the shields on all the time?

After Thor’s attempt to destroy the Aether fails (by the way, was anyone surprised that it didn’t work? And Loki dying? Really? That’s never going to happen.), Thor and Foster happen to find the portal that goes back to the warehouse with the floating tractor trailer. Are you kidding me? That doesn’t happen!!! There’s a bunch of scenes with Kat Dennings, and while I love her, why is she in this movie? Better yet, why is any of Foster’s entourage in this? They’re not necessary to the story and it’s just distracting the audience from what we actually care about: Thor! Denning’s character is about to be killed by some of the dark elves, but the intern finds a floating car and slams it down on them. What?! He’s not Superman, what the heck? That’s so stupid! The whole fight scene between Thor and Malekith, they keep getting thrown into invisible portals and sent all over the universe. Thor keeps asking for his hammer, but the hammer keeps leaving earth to try to find Thor in an alternate dimension, then Thor’s back on earth so the hammer has to turn around and fly back and then Thor’s transported again and the cycle continues. The hammer doesn’t even know what the heck is going on! Why are there so many portals to alternate dimensions all over the place? I’m pretty sure this would never happen. Also, Thor manages to defeat Malekith, who has the power of the Aether, with MAN-MADE TECHNOLOGY!!! Are you kidding me?! One of the most powerful forces in the universe controlled by an Elf king and all you need is some scientific hardware to defeat him?! THAT’S SO STEWPID!!!!!!!!! Once they finally get the Aether, Thor’s friends are told to get it to a collector because “it’s dangerous to have two power stones together.” You just spent the whole movie getting this thing and now that you finally have it you’re going to give it to some collector guy instead of just putting it in a different place in your city or better yet, hiding it in a different place where random portals don’t appear out of thin air?! Then to end the movie, Loki actually didn’t die, although I think everyone knew this or should have known this. Loki shape shifted into the same soldier that he transformed into when he was joking with Thor on their way to encounter the elvin king that he shape shifts into when he goes to kill Odin. This movie is so stupid! These screenwriters should never be allowed to write again. And just for the sake of it, there were 34 question marks in the spoiler’s edition because this movie makes no sense.

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Movie Review: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Image result for hunger games movie poster free useThe second installment of the Hunger Games saga has arrived. Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark go on a victor’s tour after their recent victory only to have President Snow give them a surprise present: participation in the Hunger Games…again.

Once again, I felt the action scenes were nothing special but they were still entertaining.

At the end of the day, I feel like this whole story is about the characters so moving on to them. I feel like I get more into who Katniss is but it’s like peeling an onion, you have to do it one layer at a time. She’s a hard nut to crack and I find myself unsatisfied with the character development I’ve gotten. It’s improved, yes, but not to the heights and bounds that a main character’s development in a film series should be. Frodo’s character development was phenomenal in Lord of the Rings as was Harry Potter’s and I feel like Katniss’ is a far and very distant third. I was expecting more than I was given. I’m not saying it was bad. I’m saying for as great a series as this is said to be, I’m not impressed with the development. I feel like I know more about Peeta’s character then I do about Katniss’. Why is Gale in this again? I commented in my review of the first one that I wanted to see more into his character so that I could understand why Katniss’ heart strings are being toyed with between the two of them. They didn’t give me anything in this sequel. Not a thing. Just more scenes of her by his side, that’s all. Thanks screenwriters for educating those who haven’t had the pleasure/opportunity to read the books. Man, I’m really happy I read the book so that I know why the character interactions are the way they are. Oh, wait, I DIDN’T!!! I never read the Lord of the Rings trilogy, yet I understood what was going on with those movies. What’s up with this?

There are also times when I question Katniss. Peeta seems the obvious choice based off of what I’ve seen and know. Of course, I haven’t been given any evidence as to why Gale should be the guy because I’ve been presented with heavily biased material. There’s one scene where Peeta says, “That was very good acting. I wish it was real.” That’s exactly what it feels like sometimes for me. Sometimes it’s hard for me to distinguish between her feelings and acting, nor does she seem capable of making up her mind. Now, by no means am I saying this is a decision that Katniss should be able to make at the blink of an eye. She’s busy fighting for her life and all that stuff. She’s got a lot on her plate. However, at times it feels like she’s being indecisive. One second she’s in love with Peeta, the next she’s in love with Gale. I’ve never watched Twilight nor do I plan to because I don’t want to have to watch a movie that A) has Kristen Stewart in it B) is a vampire/werewolf romance movie or C) makes women look like the stupidest people on the planet. Sometimes it feels like I’m watching a polished version of Twilight and sometimes I feel like Katniss is a slut who can’t make up her mind who she wants to be with.

As you can see, there’s a lot of “sometimes” in there and it’s partially because the movie doesn’t make me definitely feel anything. It’s like being a marionette and the puppet master keeps having you lean to the right and to the left, to the right, to the left, and continues to do so until you don’t know which way is which anymore.

What this movie could really use is some kind of direction, some sort of compass, anything at all. The supporting cast does a good job of keeping the audience entertained and holding our interest but the final product feels lacking at times. Whether it’s the abilities of the actors or the depths of the characters, I don’t know, but I feel like it’s missing the mark in becoming something greater. I follow Dan the Man’s movie reviews and he started his review with “Peeta and Katniss: This generation’s Jack and Rose.” I’m sorry Dan, but we’ll have to agree to disagree, because Rose was more of a definite character, one who knew who she wanted and the audience knew who she was. I can’t say the same for Katniss. Peeta has held up his part of the bargain, but Katniss has not.

Once again, if you’re new to my blog,  I’ve always ranked movies on a scale of 0-100 (I don’t know why, I just always have). Here’s the grading scale.

 90-100  It’s a great movie and definitely one worth buying. (Iron Man 3World War Z42Just Go With It, Real Steel)

80-89   It was a pretty good movie and definitely one worth seeing, but it doesn’t quite scratch my top ten percentile. (Monster-In-LawWhite House DownJobsThe Truman ShowThe Hunger Games)

70-79   It’s okay but I’ve seen better. It has its moments, but it has its flaws, too. (The Usual Suspects21 Jump StreetEscape PlanCaptain America: The First AvengerDawn of the Dead)

60-69   It’s got plenty wrong with it but I still got enjoyment out of this one. (Pacific RimThe Long Kiss GoodnightDisaster Movie)

50-59   This movie isn’t intolerable but it’s not blowing my mind either. I’m trying really hard to get some sort of enjoyment out of this. (Total RecallDodgeball: A True Underdog StoryAlong Came PollyAliensAlien Resurrection)

40-49   This movie is just mediocre. It’s not doing anything other than the bare minimal, so morbidly boring that sometimes I’m actually angry I watched this. (Patriot GamesThe Great GatsbyPitch BlackAlien)

30-39   Definitely worse than mediocre, the 30’s ironically define the 1930’s, full of depression, lack of accomplishments, poverty and just so dumb. (The ContractPride and Prejudice)

20-29   What did I just watch? Cliches, stupidity, nothingness, did I mention stupidity? Just…wow. (The Sum of All Fears)

0-19      Watching this movie resulted in one or more of the following: seizure, loss of brain cells, falling asleep/unconsciousness, feel you wasted your time/day, accomplished nothing for you, left the movie knowing less about it then you did going into it, constantly asking yourself why you came to see this movie, or near-death experience. In short, staring at a wall was just as entertaining as watching this movie. This movie deserved a sticker or a label that said, “WARNING: EXTREME AMOUNT OF SUCKAGE.” (Midnight CowboyDark FuryAlien 3)

My score for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: 85.

The plot to this story is good as are the characters, but Katniss has her flaws as a main character. The ending to the movie is horrible, something I’ll discuss in the spoiler edition.

*SPOILER ALERT* IF YOU DON’T WANT THE MOVIE SPOILED, STOP READING!!!

*SPOILER’S EDITION*

As I said before, the ending leaves much to be desired. Katniss ties some electrical wire to an arrow and shoots it into the dome overhead right before the lightning strikes the tree, effectively destroying the dome, but nearly killing Katniss in the process. Then the ship that has been picking up the dead comes and collects her. She wakes up on the ship next to Beetee, enters an inter compartment of the ship to find Finnick, Haymitch, and the gamemaker, Plutarch Heavensbee. I’m not going to lie when I say the gamemaker turning on President Snow wasn’t surprising for me. The thought had occurred to me earlier during their last meeting. I thought to myself, “you know, the president is leaving all of his genius plan’s execution in the hands of one man. Wouldn’t it be a shame if that one man turned on him?” Anyway, Katniss is told that she was saved and that she is looking at the leaders of the new revolution and then is sedated when she freaks out after being told that Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. Three days later she wakes up. What kind of sedation meds were they using? Did they put her in a coma or what? Didn’t they think it might be wise to keep her awake in case something went wrong, like the ship getting attacked? She wakes up next to Gale and Gale tells her that District 12 is no more, that it was destroyed by the Capitol and that everyone died, but he was able to escape along with Katniss’ mother and sister. Wohh, slow down there cowboy. If no one saw this coming, how were you able to run over to Katniss’ place and grab her mother and sister and then run to a shelter all without running into a single soldier? Does anyone else have a little trouble believing that?  The whole ending just has a bunch of question marks. What happened to Peeta anyway? He was right next to Finnick. Did he just put on his invisibility cloak or something? This ending isn’t even a cliffhanger. It’s more like a what-the-hell-just-happened ending.

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Movie Review: Real Steel

Image result for real steel movie poster free useAs I said in my last review, I’m going to start writing reviews of movies that I have seen before. This was on TV yesterday and I decided to throw it in the DVD player and watch it.

Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) is a former boxer, but boxing is no longer a thing in the future. Instead, there’s WRB, World Robot Boxing. Charlie’s life is boxing and he’s trying to make the transition into robot boxing but is struggling. He’s got close to no money and he’s in debt to a lot of people. Then he’s told his former girlfriend and mother of his only son has passed away and suddenly his world is turned topsy-turvy.

Right off the bat, you don’t like Charlie’s character because of the stupid and selfish decisions he makes. As the movie progresses, you grow more fond of him though. You realize that just as every person has their flaws, so does Charlie, but he also has some good in him. His character is made complete through Jackman’s portrayal. While I haven’t seen Jackman in as many movies as I would like, from what I have seen him in, such as some of the X-Men movies, The Wolverine, and this, he’s done a good job. The Wolverine and X-Men movies are not good, but it is not Jackman’s fault.

Charlie isn’t the smartest guy, and it’s noticeable. Most times I can’t stand stupid people in movies although I wouldn’t go so far as to say Charlie is stupid. Despite Charlie’s poor decision-making skills, I still like the guy, something I credit to Jackman’s acting ability.

The supporting cast of Bailey Tallet (Evangeline Lily) and Max Kenton (Dakota Goyo) give solid performances to help the character development of Charlie.

This movie doesn’t have character connection for me although I’m sure there’s some there for others. While in most movies this will usually negatively impact the movie for me that was not the case with this. The reason for this is that even though I can’t relate, I still care about the characters. Also, the concept of the movie is brilliant. Robot boxing?! I’d watch that! The ratings and profits that sport would make would be through the roof. It doesn’t feel like too far of a stretch either. I could easily see this becoming a reality in my lifetime. Finally, the story of David versus Goliath is one of the greatest stories ever told. This movie centers its plot on this story, one that I think everyone can relate to.

The action scenes are sick! They do a good job of making each robot unique instead of copies of each other.

Once again, if you’re new to my blog,  I’ve always ranked movies on a scale of 0-100 (I don’t know why, I just always have). Here’s the grading scale.

 90-100  It’s a great movie and definitely one worth buying. (Iron Man 3World War Z42Just Go With It)

80-89   It was a pretty good movie and definitely one worth seeing, but it doesn’t quite scratch my top ten percentile. (Monster-In-LawWhite House DownJobsThe Truman Show, The Hunger Games)

70-79   It’s okay but I’ve seen better. It has its moments, but it has its flaws, too. (The Usual Suspects21 Jump StreetEscape PlanCaptain America: The First AvengerDawn of the Dead)

60-69   It’s got plenty wrong with it but I still got enjoyment out of this one. (Pacific RimThe Long Kiss GoodnightDisaster Movie)

50-59   This movie isn’t intolerable but it’s not blowing my mind either. I’m trying really hard to get some sort of enjoyment out of this. (Total RecallDodgeball: A True Underdog StoryAlong Came PollyAliensAlien Resurrection)

40-49   This movie is just mediocre. It’s not doing anything other than the bare minimal, so morbidly boring that sometimes I’m actually angry I watched this. (Patriot GamesThe Great GatsbyPitch BlackAlien)

30-39   Definitely worse than mediocre, the 30’s ironically define the 1930’s, full of depression, lack of accomplishments, poverty and just so dumb. (The ContractPride and Prejudice)

20-29   What did I just watch? Cliches, stupidity, nothingness, did I mention stupidity? Just…wow. (The Sum of All Fears)

0-19      Watching this movie resulted in one or more of the following: seizure, loss of brain cells, falling asleep/unconsciousness, feel you wasted your time/day, accomplished nothing for you, left the movie knowing less about it then you did going into it, constantly asking yourself why you came to see this movie, or near-death experience. In short, staring at a wall was just as entertaining as watching this movie. This movie deserved a sticker or a label that said, “WARNING: EXTREME AMOUNT OF SUCKAGE.” (Midnight CowboyDark FuryAlien 3)

My score for Real Steel: 92.

This movie’s story line is concrete and the characters solid. While I’ve seen better characters, it doesn’t hurt the overall product. The intensity gets you pumped. Furthermore, I love it when a movie gets my spine to tingle, to give me that sense of euphoria, that sense of hitting the nail right on the head and driving it home perfectly. This movie gave me that feeling and really touched me, which is probably why I appreciate it so much.

*SPOILER ALERT* IF YOU DON’T WANT THE MOVIE SPOILED, STOP READING!!!

*SPOILER’S EDITION*

This movie is an adaptation of the Rocky movies. It’s the same basic story with a few minor changes. I’ll admit that aside from Rocky IV, I’m not sure I would rate any of the other ones higher than this. However, it has been quite a while since I’ve seen all the Rocky movies so please don’t go hating in the comments.

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Tim Sports Report for 2013 NFL Week 11

Top 5

1. RB Bobby Rainey 30 carries for 163 yards, 2 TDs, rec TD vs. ATL

2. QB Cam Newton 19/28 for 209 yards, 3 TDs, 7 carries for 62 yards, 125.4 QBR vs. NE

3. QB Ben Roethlisberger 29/45 for 367 yards, 4 TDs, 119.4 QBR vs. DET

4. RB Ray Rice 25 carries for 131, TD vs. CHI

5. QB Matt McGloin 18/32 for 197 yards, 3 TDs, 105.9 QBR vs. HOU

Worst of the Worst

1. QB Geno Smith 8/23 for 103 yards, 3 INTs, Fmble, 10.1 QBR vs. BUF

2. Saints CB Corey White picks off Kaepernick, fumbles ball trying to switch hands for celebration, ball goes out of end zone for a touchback vs. SF

3. Controversial calls in SF vs. NO and NE vs. CAR games

4. Browns allow 31 points in 2nd quarter to lose early lead vs. CIN

5. DET coach Jim Schwartz goes for it on 4th and 3 on opening drive on PIT 30, doesn’t get it, leads to 2 PIT TDs and PIT win

Steelers Recap

The Steelers had a big upset win over the Detroit Lions this past Sunday. They held a top-10 quarterback in Matt Stafford to 19/46 and 2/5 in the redzone.They also succeeded in limiting Stafford to 3/16 in the second half and held Calvin to no catches. Ben had a top 5 worthy performance, throwing for 367 yards and 4 TDs. The O-line gave up one sack against one of the best defensive lines in the league. They forced 3 turnovers, but the Steelers had only 40 yards rushing and were 1/4 in the redzone. They still have plenty of room to improve, but they’ve shown they still have talent enough to win a few big games. They will face the Browns in Cleveland but the Browns have been struggling as of late.

Game of the Week; Broncos@Patriots

Once again, it’s Peyton vs. Brady. Brady is usually the winner in these match-ups, but with the limited receiving core the Patriots have, I’m taking the Broncos this time.

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Movie Review: The Hunger Games

I have made the decision to begin reviewing movies regardless of whether I have seen them or not, so more movie reviews will be coming! I will be going home this weekend for Thanksgiving break and intend to see at least Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Thor: The Dark World. As a precursor to viewing those two films, I thought I would watch the originals. So here’s a toast to more WordsofWisTIM movie reviews!!! Let’s get this show on the road shall we.

Image result for hunger games movie poster free useI never read the books (gosh, I feel like I’ve said this for every movie!) but the Hunger Games trailer presented me with an interesting tale that intrigued me and so I gave it a shot.

For those who haven’t seen it, the Hunger Games takes place in a post-apocalyptic future where every year a boy and girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district must compete in a fight to the death free-for-all. Jennifer Lawrence stars as Katniss Everdeen, who volunteers herself for the competition when her 12-year old sister Primrose is randomly selected for the tournament. Accompanying Katniss is Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), a baker’s son. Oh, and by the way, Katniss is a boss with a bow.

The introduction to the plot is brief but not so brief that I don’t know what is going on. While I would have liked to have known the basics of how everything became the way it is, it’s not stuff that I have to know to follow the story. The supporting cast does a good job with what they’re given although it’s nothing exceptional. Hutcherson does a great job with Peeta’s character and his character is integral to the plot as he helps bring out character development from Katniss. Until Peeta gets her talking, I really don’t know who Katniss is and aside from being able to connect with defending your younger sibling, I’ve got nothing to relate to.

The tournament itself doesn’t begin until at least a half hour in, maybe more, but that didn’t bother me because I preferred the backstory. While it didn’t give me a lot about Katniss, it gave me knowledge about the setting, what’s going on, and about some of the supporting cast.

Once the action starts going, suspense and intensity are present throughout most of it, although a few times you scratch your head like really? However, few they are, so it’s not the end of the world. I was expecting a little more action then I got but it was a fun watch and better than the norm.

Once again, if you’re new to my blog,  I’ve always ranked movies on a scale of 0-100 (I don’t know why, I just always have). Here’s the grading scale.

 90-100  It’s a great movie and definitely one worth buying. (Iron Man 3World War Z42Just Go With It)

80-89   It was a pretty good movie and definitely one worth seeing, but it doesn’t quite scratch my top ten percentile. (Man of SteelMonster-In-LawWhite House DownJobsThe Truman Show)

70-79   It’s okay but I’ve seen better. It has its moments, but it has its flaws, too. (The Usual Suspects21 Jump StreetEscape PlanCaptain America: The First AvengerDawn of the Dead)

60-69   It’s got plenty wrong with it but I still got enjoyment out of this one. (Pacific RimThe Long Kiss Goodnight, Disaster Movie)

50-59   This movie isn’t intolerable but it’s not blowing my mind either. I’m trying really hard to get some sort of enjoyment out of this. (Total RecallDodgeball: A True Underdog StoryAlong Came PollyAliensAlien Resurrection)

40-49   This movie is just mediocre. It’s not doing anything other than the bare minimal, so morbidly boring that sometimes I’m actually angry I watched this. (Patriot GamesThe Great GatsbyPitch BlackAlien)

30-39   Definitely worse than mediocre, the 30’s ironically define the 1930’s, full of depression, lack of accomplishments, poverty and just so dumb. (The ContractPride and Prejudice)

20-29   What did I just watch? Cliches, stupidity, nothingness, did I mention stupidity? Just…wow. (The Sum of All Fears)

0-19      Watching this movie resulted in one or more of the following: seizure, loss of brain cells, falling asleep/unconsciousness, feel you wasted your time/day, accomplished nothing for you, left the movie knowing less about it then you did going into it, constantly asking yourself why you came to see this movie, or near-death experience. In short, staring at a wall was just as entertaining as watching this movie. This movie deserved a sticker or a label that said, “WARNING: EXTREME AMOUNT OF SUCKAGE.” (Midnight CowboyDark FuryAlien 3)

My score for The Hunger Games: 83.

This is a good start for a movie series. It wasn’t a must-buy, but if the sequels prove to be improvements, it could become one.

*SPOILER ALERT* IF YOU DON’T WANT THE MOVIE SPOILED, STOP READING!!!

*SPOILER’S EDITION*

The romance story between Peeta and Katniss seems sincere and I genuinely care about the two of them. It will be interesting to see how Gale comes into the fold in the sequel.

One thing I didn’t like about this movie was when she gets stung by those bees and she’s totally out of it and she collapses, she’s saved by Rue. When Katniss finally wakes up, Rue says she’s been unconscious for three days. What? You mean she was out for three days next to what appeared to be a commonly traveled path and no one saw her? Rue didn’t have to fight with anyone the whole time? Didn’t even have to hide herself and Katniss from a nearby passerby? That seemed highly unlikely to me. The map didn’t look that big and unless Cato and his minions are incredibly stupid and walk in circles, I have no idea how they wouldn’t have run into them. I just thought that was a little sketchy.

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Movie Review: Disaster Movie

Image result for disaster movie movie poster free useIt was closing on midnight the other day and I didn’t feel like doing anything productive. Alex and another one of my friends, Dylan, wanted to watch a movie and decided on Disaster Movie. Disaster Movie is in the bottom ten in regards to IMDb rating, scoring an astronomical 1.8 out of ten.

This movie’s plot is incredibly stupid. Will wakes up from a weird dream in time to have a fight with his girlfriend and attend his super-duper sweet 16 party even though he’s like 21. He meets a couple of people and then stuff just starts going nuts. That’s all I’m going to give you.

The whole movie is composed of a bunch of spoofs of other movies, such as Juno, Enchanted, and High School Musical. Even if you haven’t watched the movies they are spoofing, they still explain the jokes enough that you’re able to get all of them.

The cast does a good job of laying down the jokes and making them work. They’re a bunch of actors that no one’s heard of, but they do a good job. Carmen Electra and Kim Kardashian are the most notable actors/actresses in this and they don’t do that much. They’re just there for people to look at in an attempt to cause us to forget how bad this movie is.

However, despite how bad the plot is, because it makes zero sense, I found this movie hilarious. Similar to Sharknado, this movie’s plot is horrible, and the cast is full of a bunch of unknown actors, except in this they actually don’t do a bad job acting where in Sharknado it was laughably awful. It’s incredibly stupid, but the entertainment factor is there. I couldn’t stop laughing and while there’s a chance I probably lost some brain cells that night, if I had to do it again, I would have watched it.

Once again, if you’re new to my blog,  I’ve always ranked movies on a scale of 0-100 (I don’t know why, I just always have). Here’s the grading scale.

 90-100  It’s a great movie and definitely one worth buying. (Iron Man 3World War Z42Just Go With It)

80-89   It was a pretty good movie and definitely one worth seeing, but it doesn’t quite scratch my top ten percentile. (Man of SteelMonster-In-LawWhite House DownJobsThe Truman Show)

70-79   It’s okay but I’ve seen better. It has its moments, but it has its flaws, too. (The Usual Suspects21 Jump StreetEscape PlanCaptain America: The First AvengerDawn of the Dead)

60-69   It’s got plenty wrong with it but I still got enjoyment out of this one. (Pacific RimThe Long Kiss Goodnight)

50-59   This movie isn’t intolerable but it’s not blowing my mind either. I’m trying really hard to get some sort of enjoyment out of this. (Total RecallDodgeball: A True Underdog StoryAlong Came PollyAliens, Alien Resurrection)

40-49   This movie is just mediocre. It’s not doing anything other than the bare minimal, so morbidly boring that sometimes I’m actually angry I watched this. (Patriot GamesThe Great GatsbyPitch BlackAlien)

30-39   Definitely worse than mediocre, the 30’s ironically define the 1930’s, full of depression, lack of accomplishments, poverty and just so dumb. (The ContractPride and Prejudice)

20-29   What did I just watch? Cliches, stupidity, nothingness, did I mention stupidity? Just…wow. (The Sum of All Fears)

0-19      Watching this movie resulted in one or more of the following: seizure, loss of brain cells, falling asleep/unconsciousness, feel you wasted your time/day, accomplished nothing for you, left the movie knowing less about it then you did going into it, constantly asking yourself why you came to see this movie, or near-death experience. In short, staring at a wall was just as entertaining as watching this movie. This movie deserved a sticker or a label that said, “WARNING: EXTREME AMOUNT OF SUCKAGE.” (Midnight CowboyDark FuryAlien 3)

My score for Disaster Movie: 67.

This movie’s plot is what makes the score fall so much as well as the fact that there’s no character development nor do I care about any of the characters. It’s all about punchlines and while it works, a movie is expected to do more than that and this simply doesn’t. If you want to watch something that can entertain you without making you think, this is probably the movie for you.

*SPOILER ALERT* IF YOU DON’T WANT THE MOVIE SPOILED, STOP READING!!!

*SPOILER’S EDITION*

You got to appreciate the little things in this movie as well as the punchlines. For example, Juno makes the same hand motions no matter what she’s saying and what connotation she’s saying it in. Also, if you hate Kim Kardashian, she dies so, yeah. If you take an IQ test after this movie and your score went down, it was probably because of this movie I.E don’t watch this movie before an important event in your life or before taking the SAT’s or ACT’s.

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