MONSTER'S UNIVERSITY - In which Pixar is staring to show it's age... (Review)

Monsters University

Pixar, 2013

1 hour 44 minutes

Written by Daniel Gerson, Robert L. Baird, and Dan Scanlon

Directed by Dan Scanlon

Rated G

Starring

Billy Crystal

John Goodman

Helen Mirren

Charlie Day

Joel Murray

Peter Sohn

Nathan Fillon

Aubrey Plaza

I've been saying that Pixar should stop with the sequels for a while, but at least Monsters University is good. That being said, it ranks pretty low on the scale of Pixar movies. But don't worry, it's better than the Cars movies.
Monsters U is a prequel to Monsters Inc. in which Mike and Sully both meet each other at the esteemed university. There's typical college shenanigans, some of which are pretty good. Then there's this scaring competition that they need to complete and they join up with a kind of dorky fraternity that nobody likes, and lots of it feels very typical. One of the movie's strongest points is the voice cast. There are lots of names that you'd never expect to be in this. One of my personal favorites is Charlie Day, who plays a stoner-like philosophy major in the fraternity. What's even better is that his character is basically Charlie from It's Always Sunny. 
But I have to say that my favorite part of the movie was the final act, which actually takes a bit of an interesting turn. I was pleasantly surprised at how heartfelt it was, and it makes you love Mike and Sully even more.
So Monsters U is good, but not great. Definitely lower on the Pixar totem pole, but that's OK. We just need to get some original content up in here. Make it happen, Pixar.

8/10

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING - In which Joss Whedon chills with some friends and does some Shakespeare (Review)

Much Ado About Nothing

Comedy, 2013
1 hour, 48 minutes
Adapted for the Screen and Directed by Joss Whedon
Rated PG-13 for some sexuality and brief drug use.

Starring
Amy Acker
Alexis Denisof
Fran Kranz
Reed Diamond
Nathan Fillon
Clark Gregg
Sean Maher
Jillian Morgese
Ashley Johnson


Joss Whedon is one cool dude. He can do pretty much anything. Not only did he write and direct Marvel's massive franchise conglomerate, but he also found the time to get a bunch of his friends together to make a movie at his own house. That movie he made with his friends also happened to be Shakespeare.
Much Ado surprisingly holds up for being a few hundred years old. Whedon's adaptation is fantastic. While it's occasionally slow, it's wonderfully witty and clever. I've tried Shakespeare before, but this one feels just so right. I hardly felt that lost in the thick Shakespearean dialogue.
The performances are great. Whedon basically looked through his lineup of regulars and made some great selections. And because of that, it has a very Joss Whedon feel to it, which is something that's always welcome.
It seems like Much Ado is going to be very under the radar, which is a shame. I'm not big on Shakespeare, but I really enjoyed this movie. For something that could've been another half-baked modern Shakespeare adaptation, it does a lot with it's small budget, and it's really impressive for something that was only filmed in a few days. Definitely worth checking out.

9/10

THIS IS THE END - Review

This Is The End

Comedy, 2013
1 hour 46 minutes
Written and Directed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen
Rated R

Starring
Seth Rogen
Jay Baruchel
James Franco
Jonah Hill
Craig Robinson
Danny McBride
Emma Watson
Michael Cera

"James Franco didn't suck any dick last night? Now I KNOW ya'll are trippin."

I remember watching the trailer to This is the End and I really expected it to not be that funny. Holy fuck was I wrong. This movie is fantastic, and I really don't have a ton to say about it just because it's so funny.
Basically, Jay Baruchel and Seth Rogen go to a party at James Franco's house. Soon, the end of the world happens. People get sucked up into the sky, sinkholes open up in the ground, and everything goes to shit. So Rogen, Baruchel, Jonah Hill, and Craig Robinson all hide out in James Franco's place. Even Danny McBride shows up to basically act like a prick, just like he does in all of his movies.
Probably the best part about this movie is that the actors play highly exaggerated versions of themselves, particularly Danny McBride, who is just constantly a piece of shit towards everyone in the house...exactly like he is in most of the movies that I've seen him in.
The only negative thing that I have to say about this movie is that the finale is a mixed bag. On one hand, it makes sense in context, but on the other, it seems kind of like a cop-out. Maybe I'm just being a little harsh, but really, I don't quite know if I like it or not.
This is the End isn't just the funniest movie of the year thus far, but it's one of the best movies of the year as of right now.

9.5/10

MAN OF STEEL - The Almost Triumphant Return of the Big Blue Boyscout (Review)

Man of Steel

Superhero/Sci-Fi, 2013
2 hours 23 minutes
Written by David S. Goyer
Directed by Zack Snyder

Starring
Henry Cavill
Amy Adams
Michael Shannon
Russell Crowe
Kevin Costner
Diane Lane
Adtje Traue
Laurence Fishburne


"You think your son is safe? I will find him."


As Tracey Jordan once said, "Nah-uh. Superman does good. You doing well. You need to study your grammar, son."
This basically sums up my feelings about Man of Steel. Superman finally has made his big rebooted return to the big screen, but... it's just good. Great? Almost. It was actually close to being amazing, but it just needed a few structural changes and it would have been honestly amazing.
Let's get the bad out of the way. It really comes down to structure. The movie begins on a strong note with the destruction of Krypton, just like every Superman origin story. Then we go onto his Smallville days and then stuff happens in Metropolis and etc etc. During this time we learn about General Zod and what his beef with Earth is and the Phantom Zone is there and holy shit, so much stuff happens that it gets kind of jumbled, except not really. Everything just happens so fast! It isn't hard to keep up, but because of this set up for a MASSIVE action scene (like 3 different ones that all happen at pretty much all at once) at the end of the movie, you lose what's important: the identity crisis. And isn't that what Superman is all about? Or at least a lot of what he's about. It's not that the emotional center isn't there, because it is, but it just doesn't hit the high that it should or could have. It's also very serious. Way more than I expected. I figured that they might throw in some funny bits,
Also there are so many explosions that it would make Michael Bay jealous.

So it sounds like a major problem, and it kind of is. But let's get to the good stuff.
This is the definition of a summer blockbuster. Several huge set-piece battles are choreographed like it was right out of a fucking comic book. The production design is TOP NOTCH. Costumes, sets, visual effects, and that fucking cape (which is all CGI, by the way) are beautiful. Kryptonian tech is cool and impressive as hell and the planet itself is beautiful. And who can ignore the amazing score by Hans Zimmer?
The supporting cast is very strong. Michael Shannon is excellent as General Zod, and Russell Crowe is great as Jor-El. Kevin Coster was good, but I wanted to see more of his character. Amy Adams was spot-on as Lois Lane. But how was Big Blue himself? Good. He was good. He didn't do a ton other than fight, but when he was really acting, it was good. Not great or impressive, but good.

As a whole, I was entertained. Sure, it lacked what I was really looking for, but I was entertained for a lot of it. And in the end I think that's what matters. It also lays an EXCELLENT groundwork for sequels, for which I would drop Snyder as director but keep Goyer on writing duties. Just my opinion. I'm not a big Snyder fan, and I hoped that he would do better in this situation, but alas we'll just have to wait for something better.

It's not the Superman movie we deserve, but it's the one we need right now.
Why? Because the sequels will take on that responsibility. As for JLA or a teamup with Batman... we'll see for now.

7.5/10

THE ICEMAN - Review

The Iceman

Thriller, 2013
1 hour, 46 minutes
Written by Ariel Vromen and Morgan Land
Directed by Ariel Vromen

Starring
Michael Shannon
Winona Ryder
Chris Evans
Ray Liotta
James Franco
David Schwimmer
Stephen Dorff


Can we please give Michael Shannon the respect that he deserves? I've never seen him give a bad performance, or even a mediocre one. He consistently gives it his all, and The Iceman is no exception.
The film is based on a true story about a man named Richard Kuklinski. Kuklinski kills people for money for the mob. Pretty simple stuff as far as plot goes. It's basically a straightforward biographical film about a guy who supposedly killed over a hundred people for the mob.
Truthfully, there isn't anything terribly special about The Iceman. It's fairly simple. The writing isn't that bad and the performances are very solid, including a welcome turn for Winona Ryder who is just never in anything anymore. She's alright in this. James Franco is in it and does nothing for like 5 minutes. Ray Liotta plays a gangster who does a lot of sitting in cars (just like Killing Them Softly, and The Place Beyond the Pines. Seriously, he just plays a bad guy who sits in cars all the time.) One thing I was really impressed with was Chris Evans, who is unrecognizable as an associate of Kuklinski's. Sure, he's good looking and he plays Captain America, but damn he can really pull off dark drama.
Overall, the only thing that this movie does really well is it's acting. It's good, not anything amazing, but I think it's worth checking out, especially if you're a fan of Michael Shannon. It's at least entertaining, and in the end, isn't that what movies are all about?

7/10

BEFORE MIDNIGHT - Review

Before Midnight

Romantic Comedy/Drama, 2013
1 hour 40 minutes
Written by Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, and Julie Delpy
Directed by Richard Linklater

"I don't ogle girls, I make a-love to them with my eyes."

I'm not big on romantic movies. They all seem to usually follow one of several preset formulas that have been recycled for years and years. In my mind, only a few romance movies change up the game. That's why I liked Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, the first two movies in this trilogy. For those who don't know, Sunrise is set somewhere in Europe (that I'm too lazy to look up) in which Jesse (Hawke) and Celine (Delpy) meet on a train. They hop off the train and shit happens between them and they talk a bunch then they part ways. Sunset takes place 9 years later somewhere else in Europe (Italy, I think? Or France...) and the two of them meet again. Much like the first, they talk a lot about their matured lives and etc etc okay now onto the new one.
So Before Midnight takes place another 9 years after Sunset and 18 years after Sunrise. Jesse and Celine have two children together and live in Europe. Jesse's 14 year old son from his previous marriage has just spent the summer with them in Greece, and we see him depart for home in the opening scene. Jesse is close as he can try to be with his son, but still longs to be with him more than just a couple of times a year.
At this point in the relationship between Jesse and Celine, we get the understanding that things have been going pretty well for them. Not a lot of issues between them...until tonight. The two spend the first act of the movie with some friends in Greece in which they sit around a table and talk with people about relationship stuff, how they met, sex, kids, etc etc. The second act is more like a short bridge between just Jesse and Celine, and then the third act comes around in which the two of them duke it out. It's so well written and so genuine that I wouldn't be surprised if it wins an Oscar for Original Screenplay. It's just that good. And this is like, the last 30 minutes of the movie, it's all straight talking. The performances are solid and, again, holy shit the writing is amazing. It's brutal and honest, and its so refreshing to see these characters doing something other than just being romantic with one another. Believe me, this movie doesn't have as much romance as you might think it does. And yeah, it runs a little long at times, but thats only in that bridging middle between the first and second acts.
Overall, Before Midnight is best seen after the first two films, otherwise, it means nothing. It's also the best of the three by a HUGE margin. It's definitely one of the best movies of the year.

9.7/10