Geeking out about higher ed since 2013.
Hard to believe July is already over! Here is the month's movie reviews from Netflix for you to enjoy in one bite sized cinematic morsel.
We had a nice slate of movies this past month. Hope you enjoy them all! Keep coming back every Monday for another movie review for you to stream instantly.
Hello and welcome to another Movie Review Monday!
This week, I'm reviewing 2013's The Spectacular Now, which is actually available to stream on Amazon Prime Instant Video (not Netflix). In an effort to include more awesome movies for you to stream at home, I'm including now some movies I've found on Amazon. You can get Prime for $99/year (which also includes free two-day shipping on products sold and shipped by Amazon, music streaming, and other benefits). That equates to $8.25/month, which is pretty comparable to Hulu Plus and Netflix, but I digress.
The Spectacular Now stars Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley (the latter most recently of Divergent fame). The plot is a basic coming of age tale for Miles Teller's character Sutter. Both Sutter and Woodley's character Aimee are graduated seniors trying to figure out their respective lives. Sutter is the popular kid who is lamenting the prospect of the future while Aimee is the simple "girl next door" that Sutter takes a liking to. There is a subplot of Sutter exploring his relationship with his deadbeat father that eventually intersects with Sutter's relationship with Aimee in a dramatic fashion.
I found this to be a fresh, modern take on a pretty routine story of growing up after high school. Both Teller and Woodley are great in the movie, and I look forward to seeing more great movies from them in the future, with Woodley probably taking on more Divergent films and Teller starring in movies like the new Fantastic Four reboot.
This is a good movie if you're looking for a realistic love story intertwined with a classic coming of age tale.
Check it out streaming now on Amazon Prime Instant Video! Hope you enjoy it!
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Hey there and welcome to another edition of my continuing series of reviewing movies available to stream (for now) on Netflix. This week I had the pleasure of watching 1996's Fargo, starring Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, and Steve Buscemi.
I have heard a lot about this movie over the years and it is a modern classic to be sure, being inducted into the National Film Registry in the Library of Congress the first year it was eligible. I think this was mostly for the fact that it is sort of pure Americana, and essentially American. The premise that is the hook of this movie is how a grisly murder takes place in a small town out in Minnesota/South Dakota. The folksy characters and context of these small town American environment is what gives the movie its unique flavor. If you were to take that away, it would be a pretty dull, average movie.
Each of the characters in this movie are great in their own way. Macy is a schmuck ne'er'do'well who is in over his head trying to make ends meet, and Buscemi as the criminal Macy hires to try to get some quick cash, but in turn accidentally murders a police officer and two witnesses to the aforementioned killing. McDormand is great as her classic detective investigating the slayings, and seems to be the only decent main character in the whole film.
This film is a dark comedic crime film, a unique blend to be sure, especially due to its setting. I enjoyed it now even almost twenty years after its original release, it's just that good. I can't pinpoint a favorite part about it but just the original, quirky, unique flair to it had me hooked. I definitely recommend it as a great film, and an American cinema classic.
Check out Fargo, streaming now on Netflix and let me know what you think!
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This week's movie from Netflix is Short Term 12, starring Brie Larson. The synopsis of the film (via Netflix), is that "A new charge at a foster care facility dredges up the memories of a young supervisor's (Larson) own troubled past, and her tough exterior begins eroding."
I found this movie to be very emotionally powerful, engaging, raw, and real. Larson carries the movie along and does a fantastic job as the troubled lead, showcasing a fracturing stoicism throughout the film. The cracks of vulnerability show up subtly at first, but then all the emotions stirring inside her begin to explode. I have enjoyed Larson in other bit roles she has been in like in Scott Pilgrim VS The World or Community but she knocks it out of the park with this one. All of the foster kids also beautifully embody such fragile emotional stability, breaking down under the weight of their own life stories.
The movie's takeaway is a good one; that bad things may happen to us, but we don't have to carry the burden on our own. Even further than that, the film tells us that family can be what we make of it. It can be comprised of whomever we choose and we don't have to live in the shadow of the past, a past that may be comprised of uncaring, abusive, abandoning families. There is a way forward, and there are people in our lives that can help us through it.
You can check out Short Term 12 streaming on Netflix right now.
So I was just thinking recently about one of my favorite movies of all time, Scott Pilgrim VS The World. This film from 2010, directed by Edgar Wright of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz fame, is based on a graphic novel series of the same name written and illustrated by Bryan Lee O'Malley. It stars Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim, and a great ensemble cast of characters. Such awesome actors as Brie Larson, Aubrey Plaza, Anna Kendrick, Brandon Routh, Chris Evans, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Jason Schwartzman all make appearances in the film. The frenetic pace, unique visuals, and quirky dialogue combined with the plethora of references to things I love make this movie such a immensely fun viewing experience.
I wish I would have seen it while it was in theaters to have that experience, but I only was turned onto this film after the fact through word of mouth. This article provides some insight into the film's struggles at the box office. It turns out there were many other people like me who weren't quite sure about this one and didn't spend their money at the theaters to see it. I definitely feel like the movie is very much for a specific audience that can connect with the geeky nature of it but still also appreciate the story and characters.
There are some other awesome parts of this movie that I want to share with you all. The music from the movie is great (both the original soundtrack and the great score for the film), there is even a fun video game that came out alongside the film for the Playstation Network and Xbox Live. Everything about it is awesome! I'm glad this unique, original film exists and I hope it will find all of the specific people out there it was made for.
Buy the movie now, you'll be glad you did!
This week's movie is 1987's The Untouchables, starring Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Andy Garcia, and Robert De Niro. The film dramatizes the historical events of Al Capone's downfall during the Prohibition Era of American history.
As a history major, I enjoyed seeing movies set in real historical contexts. This movie unfortunately seems to simplify these events into an action movie, which doesn't make for a terrible movie, it just feels like there could have been more substance. The acting isn't too great either so that doesn't help much with the story. The action however, is pretty solid, with Costner, Connery, and Garcia taking down the bootleggers in brutal fashion.
As with a movie like Olympus Has Fallen, there isn't much more to discuss here. This movie doesn't work for me as well as some other classic 80's action movies since it has some trouble with pacing for me where something like Commando, for example (which needs to be back on Netflix, it was for a time), is able to avoid since it is just straight action without a focus much on plot. What is so unique about this era of action movies is that they somehow get away with it, where The Untouchables doesn't.
I'll leave you to see what you think of this movie. It's streaming on Netflix now and isn't terrible but it's not great either from my estimation. I watched this movie mostly since it was sitting in my queue for a very long time. I'd be interested to hear what any of you think.
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This week's movie is Mr. Nobody (2009), starring Jared Leto as the last mortal in a world of quasi-immortals. Laying on his death bed, he reflects back on his life and tries to figure out if he made the right choices.
My feelings on this movie are mixed. The proposition this movie puts forth is what drew me in but it is certainly a lofty goal to achieve. The end result is a movie that is a complex & thoughtful answer to a complex & thoughtful question. I say this in both a good and bad way.
Where the film works is where it is giving credence to all the "what ifs" of our life and trying to figure out what was the "right choice". The film goes through Jared Leto's character's (Nemo, aka ' Mr. Nobody') entire life of choices and showcases how sort of a butterfly effect can happen with our choices. Where I feel as though the movie falters a bit is how the 'story' is told. It is very nonlinear, frenetic, disjointed, and at times seems to lack a sense of direction. The visuals and editing are interesting up until a point where it gets to be frustrating (to me at least) since I just couldn't keep track of what was happening. Jared Leto is the only real main actor in the movie, with some other folks in lesser supporting roles. Leto does well in the movie, reminding me that he is pretty awesome for being a good actor and a good musician with 30 Seconds to Mars.
I will commend this movie for it's high aspirations. It was a movie I initially wasn't into so much when I finished watching it but it was a good conversation starter when I was explaining it to some friends. I'll leave it up to you to decide what you think about this movie. It's complicated to be sure but maybe that's a good thing?
Stream Mr. Nobody today and be sure to let me know what you think of it if you check it out!
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Greetings!
Here are all of my awesome reviews for the month of June. Enjoy!
As always, if you have any recommendations for movies that I should watch that are streaming on Netflix, let me know! I always appreciate getting pointed in the direction of new movies I haven't seen.
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Salutations good people!
Welcome to another Movie Review Monday! This week's film is World War Z, starring Brad Pitt.
This movie (loosely based on the book of the same name) is an interesting one for many reasons. First off, it had many production issues, creating a huge budget for the movie (nearly $200 million) as well as needing re-shoots to do the entire end of the movie over after the original cut didn't jive with the powers that be (the explanation of the original ending has some spoilers, so wait until you've watched the movie to find out how it was supposed to end).
The movie is also intriguing since it is so loosely adapted from the book. I haven't read it but I know at least that it is a journal retrospective of how the zombie apocalypse happened whereas the movie is more of a race against time action thriller. An adaptation of a book of faux interviews is difficult to be sure, but it could have been something more original with such a unique basis to pull from.
Alright, onto the movie itself. I watched the uncut version available on Netflix, which has more blood and violence than the PG-13 version shown in the theaters (check out the differences here after you watch the movie). I would recommend seeing this one since it is more of what the movie should have been. The violence gives the movie more of a tense, visceral feel that builds upon the best parts of the film.
For my actual review of World War Z; I enjoyed this movie. I enjoy the zombie genre enough and I like this different interpretation and worldwide scale to the story. Brad Pitt does well carrying the film, being in pretty much every scene. The zombies are great and I appreciate all the practical effects they used paired with CGI when it was needed. The tense action and investigative drama of the plot is engaging as you journey with Pitt's character to figure out this global epidemic.
While it could have been something completely different and original and isn't perfect, I enjoyed World War Z and would definitely recommend it. Stream it today and I hope you enjoy it as well!
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Hey there!
This week's film is the 2002 sci-fi action movie, Equilibrium, starring Christian Bale, Taye Diggs, and Emily Watson.
I was turned onto this film years ago, which was also years after this movie came out. It is a hidden gem to be sure, a movie that had the unfortunate circumstance to live in the shadow of the more popular Matrix films of the early 2000s. The premise of the movie is that Christian Bale is a 'cleric' named John Prestion in the dystopic, futuristic, fascist society where emotions are outlawed. Bale must enforce these laws with brutal efficiency. He eventually becomes sympathetic to the resistance cause trying to overthrow the regime and starts to work both sides. Bale does well here playing someone who allows his emotions to come through and then becomes sort of addicted to feeling after not feeling anything for his entire life, questioning everything he has ever known. All the other actors in the film are people you've seen in other things before and do a fine job supporting Bale's protagonist in his journey. Sean Bean has a small role in the beginning of the film which is a fun sight now after his successful stint on Game of Thrones.
The sci-fi elements are pretty light and the action is solid. The drama of it all helps anchor the movie and prevent it from going into any hokey territory. It takes itself seriously and rightfully so. The tragedy of a whole society no longer feeling, no longer caring for one another, and most of all not being able to appreciate art or music, is given its due here. The message that feelings are important is a simple but important one. If we lose our humanity in the quest for peace, is it really worth it?
Overall, the plot is straightforward and simple enough, and the whole thing is a fun ride with some good twists and turns. So if you're looking for a good popcorn movie to watch, Equilibrium is definitely for you.
Check it out streaming now on Netflix and be sure to check out all my other movie reviews for more great stuff to watch.
Have an awesome day!