QUICKIES! 6 movies, 1 post!

Hi everyone!

As you may have noticed, I’ve been AWOL lately…  Life has been busy, and other distractions have gotten in the way of my reviews.  But that hasn’t stopped me from going on some cinematic adventures!  And with the holiday season right around the corner (which means plenty of awesome movies around the bend), and life not getting any less busy, I want to quickly recap some movies I’ve seen since my last post.  I hope to continue to write my regular-sized posts in the future, but if I don’t write these mini-reviews now, I feel like I never will and will just fall behind, so please excuse the irregular format this time around!

1) Bad Grandpa – 5/10

In another case of the trailer spoiling the best parts of the movie, all the funniest scenes in the film were given away in the trailer.  The rest was just Johnny Knoxville being Johnny Knoxville: outrageous, gross, and rude, which is what you come to see when you go to any of his movies.  This is certainly not as funny as any of the Jackass films, which I feel are bolstered by Knoxville’s crazy friends.  The child actor in this film is hilarious, and Knoxville does have a handful of humorous moments that aren’t in the trailer, but overall you won’t be missing anything if you skip this film.

2) Ender’s Game – 6/10

As with just about every single one of my other reviews, I have not read the book that this film is based on, but even I feel like it’s probably way better than the film.  In what is essentially a space version of Harry Potter (a chosen, gifted boy is asked to save the world using his skills) or a live-action version of StarCraft (strategically place your units in the right places to defeat the aliens), the film can be a bit boring and slightly confusing at times.  The twist at the end of the film is interesting, but not enough to save the rest of the film.  The acting either falls flat is overly bombastic many times, which is a shame considering the star-filled cast (Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, and Abigail Breslin).  The special effects are decent, but certainly not the best that we’ve seen in recent films.  Once again, you’re not missing out if you decide to skip this film entirely.

3) Dallas Buyers Club – 9/10 

2013 seemed to be the year of McConaughey, as he starred in yet another incredible film.  Unlike his role in Mud, this time around McConaughey plays a man you love to hate and hate to love.  While he is an ignorant homophobe who makes his feelings and opinions very well known throughout the film, it’s this same stubbornness and brashness that makes him so appealing.  Jared Leto does a phenomenal job in his role as the transgender woman Rayon, who is so compelling and charming.  Both actors went through drastic physical transformations to embody their roles.  Jennifer Garner does a satisfactory job in her role.  The story is hilarious and heartwarming, difficult yet delightful.  Not too many movies have really dealt with the issue of AIDS (especially in the early days of it), and this movie definitely does a great job of showing the struggle that people with AIDS faced, particularly the ignorance people had about the disease and its contagiousness.  This one is sure to garner some Oscar buzz, and is certainly worth seeing!

4) 12 Years a Slave – 10/10

An immensely powerful film, it is no surprise that it has already received so many award nominations.  This is absolutely Chiwetel Ejiofor’s breakout role, and he does a fantastic job in a very difficult role.  Showing the extremes that this man would go through just to survive is heart-wrenching, as well as how “normal” this whole insane world was for everyone involved.  For example, in one scene, Ejiofor’s character is practically hung on a tree, with his only means of survival being desperately trying to stand on his tip-toes.  Throughout his entire struggle, other slaves walk around him, children play in the fields behind him, and the white people simply check in on him every now and then as if he is a nuisance.  Other powerful roles are offered by Paul Giamatti, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Michael Fassbender, and of course Brad Pitt.  Believe the hype, this is definitely a great movie that, as hard as it can be to watch sometimes, needs to be seen, and displays one of the most difficultly realistic views of slavery in media of any form.

5) Frozen – 10/10

One of the BEST Disney films (and animated films in general) of recent history, and a true display of the talent that Disney Animation has without the aid of Pixar, this is a movie that both kids and adults will love.  Like every great Disney film, it has a great balance of humor (Josh Gad as a magical snowman?  Yes please!) and sweetness (the relationship between the sisters, Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel is uplifting).  Also, as a musical enthusiast, this movie has one of the best soundtracks of any Disney film out there, with a nice variety of sounds and styles that fit wonderfully into the film; I guarantee you’ll be humming at least one of the songs you hear in the movie for weeks to come.  In another awesome twist, the true love displayed in the movie doesn’t rely on romantic love, but rather the love between family.  The 3D looked great as well and was truly immersive.  The Frozen will rekindle your faith in the power of animated films and remind you about what you loved about them as kids, and I absolutely recommend it!

6) The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – 9/10

Finally, in the blockbuster sequel to the blockbuster original, this film has all the action and excitement that you would expect, and a revolutionary story that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the end.  Again, I’ve never read the source material, but people that I know who have read the books say its a pretty faithful interpretation.  Jennifer Lawrence is as incredible as ever, and the rest of the supporting cast return in excellent form, with a few notable new faces as well (Philip Seymour Hoffman in particular).  While it is over 2 hours long (146 minutes to be precise), it flies by quickly, and ends rather abruptly (which, like any great cliffhanger, simply leaves you excited for the conclusion).  The effects are great and the cinematography is excellent, and its a great follow-up to what I feel will be the biggest trilogy of recent times.  If you liked the first one (or just like action films in general), you definitely should see this one!

That’s it for now, more reviews and other posts coming soon!  Thank you all for continuing to read these posts!  In case I don’t get to chat with you all again in the next few days, I hope you all have a Happy Holidays and New Year! 🙂

-Dr. A

Rise – Skillet

Skillet’s 8th studio album, Rise

NOTE: In case you don’t already know, Skillet is what I call a “Christian Hard Rock” band, and this album definitely focuses a lot on Christianity, so just be aware of that.  In addition, for those who have never heard Skillet, one of their trademarks is lead singer John Cooper’s gritty, raspy voice.  If you’ve never heard it before, it might catch you off-guard.  It’s an acquired taste, but once you get used to it, you’ll grow to love it.

I’ve been a fan of Skillet since their last album in 2009, Awake, and in particular their single “Awake and Alive” from that album.  After Evanescence combined  aggressive rock music with melodious and haunting classical instruments like the piano and strings (I’m sure other bands may have done it first, but Evanescence was my first experience with it), I became obsessed with similar bands, including Skillet and Red.  In addition to the hard-hitting music, I was mesmerized by the voices of John Cooper and Jen Ledger intertwining in such a beautiful, powerful way (if you’re new to Skillet, this is a great track to start with!).  Anyway, after hearing that single and album, I went back and downloaded the rest of their music.

This latest album is a concept album, telling the story of a young teenager growing up in a painful, difficult world, trying to make sense of it all and trying to fight back against the problems of society, and eventually finding out that for him, the answer lies in his religion.  The album contains the heavy guitar work you would expect from a Skillet album (new guitarist Seth Morrison fits in just fine in this regard), and of course the Christian-based lyrics.  Overall, I think the story works fine and is a good look at what kinds of problems plague our world today.  The titular track “Rise” gets the album off to a great start  and sets the theme for the album: fight back and let your voice be heard!  I think it’s true that the best music you write is personal and relevant to you, so with that being said, “Salvation” is easily, in my opinion, the best track of the album: it has meaningful lyrics, the vocal interplay I love between John and Jen, and a steady build-up in intensity; what starts off as a seemingly quiet ballad explodes into a powerful song  that includes the beautiful combo between hard rock guitars and classical strings that I look forward to from Skillet.  Another track I like is “My Religion,” which reminded me of a video I saw:

and a similar song by Jon Foreman (from another Christian band Switchfoot):

All of these explain how you don’t need to go to church to be a good Christian.  I’m a Catholic and I actually do enjoy going to my mass, but I don’t always agree with what the church has to say.  I try to live a good life based on what I was thought by my parents and what I’ve learned from my interpretations of what I heard at mass.  I don’t try to force my religion on anyone, and I try not to judge others based on their religion either.

Anyway, as I said, overall I think the album is fine, with a good set of hard songs balanced by some nice ballads.  I would have liked to hear more from Jen (the songs that she contributes to are great; I hate to say it, but if Skillet ever breaks up, I hope she goes solo, I would love to hear that album!), and I wasn’t a big fan of them trying to subtly integrate some techno-like sounds in some of their songs (if that’s what you want to try, then commit to it, otherwise it sounds out of place).  Lastly, since this is a concept album that tells a story, I think the order of the songs could have been better arranged to tell a more fluid story.  However, I do like the editing on this album; the transitions between some of the songs are smooth and interesting (I particularly like the transition between tracks 3/4 and 5/6).

FINAL DIAGNOSIS: 8/10

A solid album from Skillet that tells a story we can all relate to in both a beautiful and angry/frustrated way, balancing power ballads with hard-rock anthems.  It picks up right where there previous album left off, and takes a few risk that overall pay off.