Inherent Vice2014.DVDSCR.x264.AC3
During the psychedelic 60s and 70s Larry "Doc" Sportello is surprised by his former girlfriend and her plot for her billionaire boyfriend, his wife, and her boyfriend. A plan for kidnapping gets shaken up by the oddball characters entangled in this groovy kidnapping romp based upon the novel by Thomas Pynchon
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Larry "Doc" Sportello gazes out his window while smoking a joint when his ex- girlfriend Shasta suddenly shows up in his house. She tells him about a plan to team up with her current lover's wife to take his money and get him stuck in a mental hospital before disappearing back into the night. This strange event marks the beginning of a series of crazy interlocking mysteries all set in a pot-smoke filled LA.
This film, like most of Paul Thomas Anderson's work, will polarize its audiences. It takes bits and pieces of almost every genre and mashes them together into a beautiful, confusing, hilarious journey that really shows what cinema can do. Sometimes it feels like a "Hangover"-esque comedy, sometimes it feels like a 70s noir like "Chinatown," other times it feels like a stoner flick like "The Big Lebowski," but throughout all of this, it never stops feeling like a masterpiece unfolding. What it comes down to is this--if you're the kind of person that cares more about characters and individual scenes than plot, this movie is for you. The plot definitely takes the back seat for this one and the power of individual scenes is what carries the whole movie and for me--that totally works. The movie is masterfully directed and acted and the scenes stir up a confusing batch of emotions in your heart, but your brain might not fully grasp what the heck is going on. You're not really watching a story unfold, you're watching a character unfold, and if you can accept that, you might just think it's one of the best films of 2014.
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BY: MY FUN CORNERZ
The Gambler 2014.DVDSCR.XviD.AC3
Jim Bennett is a risk taker. Both an English professor and a high-stakes gambler, Bennett bets it all when he borrows from a gangster and offers his own life as collateral. Always one step ahead, Bennett pits his creditor against the operator of a gambling ring and leaves his dysfunctional relationship with his wealthy mother in his wake. He plays both sides, immersing himself in an illicit, underground world while garnering the attention of Frank, a loan shark with a paternal interest in Bennett's future. As his relationship with a student deepens, Bennett must take the ultimate risk for a second chance..
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A really terrible script, poor direction and awful soundtrack. Good performances by Wahlberg, Lange and Goodman ALMOST make up for this - the worst movie of 2014; particularly Lange and Goodman. They were better than the script. When the lights went up after the movie the whole audience was questioning why they made this movie.
I was really, really surprised how bad the script was for this POS. Overly wordy - at times non-sensical. It seemed like a film someone made in College - except it had some major stars in it. Someone must have bankrolled this.
My only guess is that (like his character) M. Wahlberg owed someone in Hollywood a lot of money and this was his way of paying it back.
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Morning Star 2014 720p BluRay x264
In time of war, a man must survive to make a journey to fulfill a promise made and discover the truth. After a terrible battle, he sees his great friend perish, leaving him one request - that he visit the king, father of the deceased, to give him the news of his death. Stuck to the promise, the warrior part to the meeting with the king, who lost his only heir.
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I have watched a lot of bad movies in my time, this one is right at the worst of them. This movie makes no sense at all. There are times i think I could see what they were trying to do here, but it falls so short that I can"t quite be sure. The acting was bad enough that you think it almost had to be on purpose, the only person who was believable was Ivy Corbin in her role as the witch. Solid job there Ivy! The action scenes were rough to watch, as I felt like my ten year old could have bested them with his toy sword. Save yourself some time and skip this one. I did think that the main character seeing a modern city at the end was cool, but they just skimmed right over this. A real shame, because that could have added a neat element to the premise!!
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BY: MY FUN CORNERZ
Big Eyes 2014.DVDSCR.XviD.AC3
A drama about the awakening of the painter Margaret Keane, her phenomenal success in the 1950s, and the subsequent legal difficulties she had with her husband, who claimed credit for her works in the 1960s.
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Last year, Amy Adams gave a tour-de-force performance in "American Hustle". She created one of the most intriguing characters of the year, a layered, scarred woman always in control, while moving everyone around like chess pieces to secure a better life for herself. It's a performance that probably would have won Adams an Oscar had she not been in competition with the seismic turn by Cate Blanchett in "Blue Jasmine". Knowing she would fail to win the Academy Award, I placed a good amount of faith in Adams, hoping she would once again hit a homerun with "Big Eyes".
Now, a year later, "Big Eyes" is not quite the triumph "American Hustle" was for Adams, but she still gives terrific performance. Adams orchestrates her portrayal of the real-life painter in a softer key, but her work is never-the-less a marvel.Tim Burton has been sleepwalking his way through most of his recent cinematic outings, sticking mainly to empty and uninspired Gothic pieces. But no matter how eccentric, and even questionable, his work got, Burton has had his group of supporters rallying him through the likes of "Alice in Wonderland" and "Dark Shadows," which is similar to the subject of "Big Eyes" itself. Margaret Keane's paintings are outlandish in a way; her portraits of the big-eyed children may not be appreciated by everyone.
That connection between the two artists is felt and communicated through Burton's stylish work in telling Keane's story. The sets and costumes are brushed with big strokes of color and allure, but in a fresh way for a Burton film. There's a happiness in knowing Burton is still capable of telling a story about real people, not just quirky, extremist, fictional characters. Even though stepping out of the tedious puddle in which most his films have been stuck is a commendable change, Burton's direction is not flawless. (Besides a few writing choices, the directing racks up the most flaws in "Big Eyes".) The film floats in and out of moods and temperaments, there's an inconsistently present narrator throughout, and some unpleasantly executed scenes towards the film's conclusion.
Yet, there's a lot to admire in "Big Eyes." Margaret Keane's story is the awakening of female empowerment. "Big Eyes" captures a moment in history, a pivotal one for women: she had the talent, an entire empire was built from her work, and "Big Eyes" is Margaret realizing she could have the credit too. The early scenes will rattle the feminists watching, the middle scenes will make them react with an infuriating sadness, and the ending's victory will be a cause for celebration of Keane's unsung heroism.
The two principal actors are the heart and soul of the film, their chemistry and winsome performances make "Big Eyes" a trip worth taking. Christoph Waltz has an over-the-top character, and yet I never felt him, as an actor, going overboard. He encapsulates Walter's charisma and delusion, and presents a case for one of the film's prominent themes: talent verses salesmanship. Adams will break your heart as Walter keeps her caged up, forcing her to work and work but receive noting in return. You cannot help but have a zealous affinity to Margaret because of how fluently Adams portrays her struggle and pain. Her acting style is heavily reliant on the how well she can depict the emotions in her eyes, so it's interesting to see how Adams connects with Keane and portrays her. Burton frames most of Adams's scenes by generously giving her the mise-en-scene to slay us with what's behind her eyes.
Adams carries the affable feminist tale in "Big Eyes" to success with strong sense of suffering and evolving submission.
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BY: MY FUN CORNERZ
Unbroken 2014.DVDSCR.XviD.AC3
The life of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic athlete who joined the armed forces during the second world war. Only to be captured by the Japanese navy after an almost fatal plane crash in the Pacific. After the Japanese have him, they send him to a refugee camp, only to face daring challenges head on.
Louis Zamperini's story of survival was robbed of all feeling and emotion in this screen portrayal. Jolie has cast a very flat, laconic, and unconvincing crew of young Abercrombie models who lack the depth of seasoned actors who would have otherwise convinced us that there was actual pain and suffering throughout this. After a month afloat on a raft the three men's hair was well-groomed and one even had a goatee (are there razors in the survival kit?). I felt like I was watching Casper Van Dien in Starship Troopers; if you have seen this movie you will know exactly what I am taking about. Read the book - it will give you the emotion and satisfaction you are entitled to from this survival story.
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BY: MY FUN CORNERZ
Top Five 2014.CAM.AC3.x264
A comedian tries to make it as a serious actor when his reality-TV star fiancée talks him into broadcasting their wedding on her TV show.
There's a scene in this film, Chris Rock's latest as auteur and star, where he performs in a comedy club. It's the first time in years his character, Andre Allen, has performed and from a story point of view it seems rushed and contrived. How he gets to this point isn't exactly organic to what's been going on just before, and only makes sense in the sense that the script dictates it's here that he gets, for lack of a better phrase, his 'groove' back on stage. Nevermind that the character hasn't performed in so long - albeit some of the material, to be fair, ties back in with some troubles he's having with his fiancé, so that's fine - he kills and everyone loves it. Why do they love it really? Well, this is where it gets tricky, and why I recommend Top Five: it's funny. And Chris Rock's funny. He's a great stand up. He doesn't transcend his own problematic script, but he and the cast do much better than it could've been.
The basic premise has more than a touch of Stardust Memories - in case you can't tell, which is possible, Woody Allen is one of Rock's heroes
The basic premise has more than a touch of Stardust Memories - in case you can't tell, which is possible, Woody Allen is one of Rock's heroes
- as Allen doesn't want to do funny movies anymore (he's been "Hammy
the Bear" for three films, making this kind of a double-bill/companion piece for this year's Birdman), and has a new, serious work where he plays a Haitian white-man-killing revolutionary. He's spending this one day going around New York city, promoting the film, visiting his family, doing this and that, and he's tagged along by a journalist (Rosario Dawson, who is terrific here by the way), who wants a personal-profile scoop. He's not having it, at first, but over the course of a day and night and lots of memories of things gone wrong - he was/is an alcoholic, as she is, conveniently enough - he opens up.
Again, not a strong story entirely, though it has its moments. Really, it's actually the moments that Rock wins best at here: when he goes to visit his family (first his father, who seems to be kind of a bum but it's funny/sad seeing Allen have to haggle with him over money) and how they all rag on him, and he rags on them back, you can see the warmth and improvisation going on (how much is scripted is anyone's guess, but the tone is just right and the jokes all work in this piece). His set pieces, mostly in the flashbacks, keep bringing the comedy forward and he has many, many funny lines, but even funnier situations for his actors. Cedric the Entertainer especially steals his scenes, but the same can go for Kevin Hart, JB Smoove (to an extent, though he has really one shtick), and even Brian Regan in an uncredited cameo. And DMX... Jesus.A lot of the film also hinges on Rock and Dawson, and despite a third act reveal (is it a twist?) that made me roll my eyes, their chemistry really sells much of the film. He has just great dialog for the two of them to play off one another, so that we can still buy *them* even if not always the story or situations that develop.
And, again it must be stressed, the movie is funny. Sometimes it's very funny - I'd be remiss to forget that Seinfeld and Adam Sandler show up at a bachelor party and had me crying laughing - and that helps it make it just an unabashed crowd-pleaser first, cutting satire second, which I think was really Rock's goal here. Whether he was trying to also make a GREAT film, I don't know. At its very best, it does come closer than any Rock film to show the sorts of topics he does in his stand up brought to a dramatic context, like the whole marriage-TV-show sub-plot with Gabrielle Union (who is also fantastic here).
But hey, for a night out - as a date-night movie it's especially adept
- it works, and it'll get you thinking about your own Top Five after a
while. Or if you'd ever see Rock play a Bear-cop (obviously a play on Martin Lawrence more than himself, though ironically Rock wrote the script while on set for Grown-Ups 2, so it goes).
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BY: MY FUN CORNERZ
Big Hero 6 (2014) DVDSCR XviD
From Walt Disney Animation Studios, the team behind "Frozen" and "Wreck-It Ralph," comes "Big Hero 6," an action-packed comedy-adventure about the special bond that develops between Baymax, a plus-sized inflatable robot, and prodigy Hiro Hamada. When a devastating event befalls the city of San Fransokyo and catapults Hiro into the midst of danger, he turns to Baymax and his close friends adrenaline junkie Go Go Tomago, neatnik Wasabi, chemistry whiz Honey Lemon and fanboy Fred. Determined to uncover the mystery, Hiro transforms his friends into a band of high-tech heroes called "Big Hero 6."
o be honest, when I saw the preview I thought it was going to be another Disney movie gone bad. So when the movies came around, I had really low expectations for it. But holy crap nothing has made me laugh this hard at a movie since maybe Amelie or Up! Baymax is a non-threatening huggable robot who's only purpose is to nurse those who are in need of medical attention. The only way to wake him up is to scream out "OW" and he is alive and will help you until you are better. The only way to put him back to sleep is to say "I'm satisfied with your work" (Or something like that I'm only paraphrasing) and he has gone back to sleep. But this movie isn't all comedy: it does have a bit of an emotional side to it which I won't go into too much detail about. However I do know that the movie isn't really like the comic books: the back stories of the characters aren't how they are in the movie and even the plot itself isn't like how the movie is, so for the devoted comic book fans, I understand if you hate this movie. However the people who didn't read the comics confuse me when they say it's "Cliche" "awful" "boring". I found none of these things in the movie at all. I was smiling right from the beginning and found myself a little teary-eyed towards the end.
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BY: MY FUN CORNERZ
