Movie Review Monday: When Harry Met Sally

Welcome to another awesome edition of Movie Review Monday!

This week's film is the 1989 romantic comedy classic, When Harry Met Sally, starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan.

This movie came out the year I was born and has been referenced and given homage to many times over the years. I feel like I had seen it already but I had never sat down and watched it from start to finish. It felt like a good choice to watch on a lazy night with my partner and we were right.

The story follows the long, winding journey of the friendship between Harry and Sally (Crystal and Ryan respectively). They fall in and out of contact over the course of over ten years, sharing a special connection neither dares to speak of. Their friends all know it, but they feel as though what they have is good and they don't want to ruin it by trying to make it more.

This movie is a wholesome, fun, relatable story about love, friendship, and the courage to take a chance. It is a very timeless story (other than some of the fashion choices and the use of pay phones) and I'm sure will be a classic in the genre for many more years to come. While it isn't uproariously funny, it more than makes up for it with heart.

I definitely recommend checking out When Harry Met Sally, which is streaming now on Amazon Prime Instant Video.

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Summer Movie Musings: Ant-Man

This past weekend, I saw the new Marvel movie Ant-Man with a group of friends. It's been an anticipated movie for me since it continues the long, positive streak of films and television shows in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). While the trailers had me a bit worried, there was a lot of good buzz going in ahead of Ant-Man's release and the movie lives up to it's Marvel pedigree. It's a lot of fun and further builds upon the established MCU in some very cool ways.

The story surrounds Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and his redemption through his origins as the classic Marvel hero Ant-Man. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), who created the Ant-Man suit decades earlier, needs Scott to use the suit to stop the evil plots of Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), his former assistant who has been obsessed with recreating Pym's work. With the help of Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), Scott devises a plan to break in and destroy Cross's work for good.

This film is another fun, light-hearted entry in the MCU. It is most like Guardians of the Galaxy, which also has a very different tone and vibe to it. Ant-Man is a heist movie (for the most part) much like GotG is a sci-fi, space-faring epic. None of the other Marvel movies really come close to embodying the unique feel of Ant-Man. What they do all have in common is the fun, humor, and increasingly rich universe they all share. They put Hank Pym into the history of the MCU properly and set up new characters too.

I really enjoyed Ant-Man and I hope people will check it out, especially if you're a fan of the MCU.

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Movie Review Monthly: June 2015

Welcome to this monthly wrap up of my weekly movie reviews!

This month had a wide array of movies available to stream instantly via Netflix. This month had just a few movies, mostly comedies and an enlightening documentary . Each week I hope to bring you a fresh new review of a great movie in the Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime streaming library. Recommendations are always welcomed!

• Pump
• Nick Offerman: American Ham
• It's a Disaster

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Summer Movie Musings: Inside Out

I had the pleasure of finally seeing Inside Out in theaters this past week. It's been one I knew I wanted to see for a while now, even before it's release and positive buzz. The concept really intrigued me from the first teaser I saw and I was definitely not disappointed by the final product. It is a unique, fun, cute, and insightful film about emotions and growing up, which is something that is universally poignant.

The premise of movie follows a young girl, Riley, as she moves to San Francisco from her beloved Midwest home with her parents, and the struggles that come with that transition. We see the emotions play out inside her head throughout the story, which is obviously where a lot of the fun and heart comes from. The movie does a really good job setting up how the concept works with the different major emotions; anger, fear, joy, disgust, and sadness (as seen above from left to right). We see how memories are made, stored, and forgotten within the film's setup, which is very entertaining yet also very in depth and spot on. I'm not an expert on emotions and what not, but from what I understand (and have heard elsewhere) Inside Out takes the premise seriously and gets a lot of the science right.

While the movie is not as laugh out loud funny or heart-wrenching (at least for me) as some of the other Pixar movies, I appreciate it for its originality and insight. We could use a bit more empathy in our lives and this movie has a great message about that as well as how to process our own feelings and how to help others process theirs. A great moment in the movie showcases how sometimes we just need to feel our sadness and not just pretend it doesn't exist.

I definitely recommend seeing Inside Out if you get the chance before it is out of theaters. If not, it would absolutely be worth a rental. I'd also love to hear your thoughts if you saw it!

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Movie Review Monday: It's a Disaster

Welcome to another awesome edition of Movie Review Monday!

This week's film is the 2012 black comedy It's a Disaster, starring David Cross, Julia Stiles, and America Ferrara. It was directed by Todd Berger.

I have seen this movie on Netflix for a while now and just recently got around to it. I had no idea what to make of it before I started watching, and I will say that I was pleasantly surprised in some ways, and in other ways, I was frustrated.

The movie focuses on a couples' brunch between four different pairs all with their own problems. Cross and Stiles are just getting to know each other, others are long married and struggling to keep it afloat, others are not able to move forward towards marriage, and all of this happens in the backdrop of a massive chemical weapon being unleashed on the city they're in, forcing them to stay inside and work out their respective issues. The premise was intriguing to me, enough so to have me watch the film. The acting in the movie is also good, being very subtle, real, and funny at times. The thing that frustrated me is how petty and mean some of the people are. That started to be a stretch for me. It also takes a weird turn in the end which I did not feel was good or well done for the most part.

This easily could have been a worse movie. It's not bad, but it just seemed to miss the mark for me in the end with all things considered. I feel like it would strike others completely different, with them either loving it or hating it. I can see it's appeal, but it also started to lose me.

You can check out It's a Disaster streaming right now on Netflix.

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Movie Review Monday: Nick Offerman - American Ham

Welcome to another awesome edition of Movie Review Monday!

This week's film is Nick Offerman: American Ham, the 2014 standup special that was taped live in New York City.

Nick Offerman is best known for his depiction of Ron Swanson on the popular sitcom, Parks and Recreation, which recently finished it's seven season run on NBC. Offerman embodies much of the same lovable traits of his beloved character, but he strays away in a few, key ways that make his performance here a bit skewed from expectations, which is both good and bad. This special is also less standup comedy and more artistic humor. Offerman essentially is adapting his book, Paddle Your Own Canoe, into a stage show. He goes over ten tips he believes lead to delicious living. Some of which I totally agree with, others are just for obvious laughs.

I can appreciate that there is more to the man of Nick Offerman than Ron Swanson, but I was curious about this special because of that character. It's hard to know what to expect from something like this but I felt like it was only okay at best. He is certainly funny, but it was too long overall and just not funny to me in some parts. He definitely goes for the crude jokes whenever he can get them, and otherwise is content to linger on more humorous, emotional, and meaningful bits. It all results in a highly mixed bag when it's all shaken up together. I haven't read the book, so I don't know if it is the same vibe or if the book is better, but this one is not as powerful of a positive recommendation for me as are some of the other amazing standup comedy specials available on Netflix (such as John Mulaney's New in Town).

I'd say maybe check this one out for the sake of curiosity. It perhaps just isn't for me.

You can find Nick Offerman: American Ham streaming right now on Netflix.

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Movie Review Monthly: May 2015

Welcome to this monthly wrap up of my weekly movie reviews!

This month had a wide array of movies available to stream instantly via Netflix. Everything from comedies, dramas, documentaries, and classic 90s action flicks. Each week I hope to bring you a fresh new review of a great movie in the Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime streaming library. Recommendations are always welcomed!

• Nebraska
• They Came Together
• Face/Off
• Pump

Thanks for stopping by!

Movie Review Monday: Pump

Welcome to another awesome edition of Movie Review Monday!

This week's movie is the 2014 documentary, Pump, directed by Joshua Tickell and Rebecca Harrell Tickell and narrated by Jason Bateman.

Pump explores the story of our nation's addiction to oil as a fuel source, and how it is killing our planet, ruining our economy, and generally needs to be put behind us for smarter, more efficient, and more sustainable fuels.

I enjoyed how this film gave a historical context to the issue, as well as some economic correlations to the toxic nature oil has since it is so deeply ingrained in our society. The fluctuations in oil supplies and prices have a powerful impact on American lives, and we don't have much choice about using it or not, which puts forth obvious problems.

I also liked that the documentary also provides solutions backed up by instances of it working elsewhere. Things such as bio fuels and biomass (which are awesome), electric cars (super cool), and flex vehicles (a simply effective solution) all hold promise for alleviating our reliance on oil and even more so foreign fuel sources that are dirty, expensive, and limited.

Our addiction to oil is a huge societal issue. It has ramifications as a social justice issue in terms of access to jobs, wealth, ease of transportation, and huge environmental impacts with climate change affecting us more each day. We need cleaner, cheaper, and more renewable sources to power our world.

It will take time to dismantle the oil industry on a global scale. A lot of progress has been made, but we still have a lot of work to do. We can get there a lot of different ways, which is nice, so that each country, city, community, can make it work for them. I look forward to the day where the chaos and detrimental effects of a global oil economy are history.

You can stream Pump on Netflix right now. Check it out!

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Summer Movie Musings: Pitch Perfect 2

I had the pleasure of watching Pitch Perfect 2 last week, the sequel to the awesome smash hit original film from 2012. While this sequel succeeds on many fronts, it stumbles in others making it good movie but not a great one.

We pick up with the Barden Bellas during their senior year. With graduation on the horizon and winning streak behind them (and an unfortunate embarrassment that endangers the Bellas forever), they head to a worldwide a cappella competition to save the group for the future and try to be the first American group to win the global title.

The newest major addition to the cast is Hailee Steinfeld as a new student, Emily, to Barden and a legacy Bella. She melds in well with the established ladies of the group, and provides a future for the franchise if they so choose (they probably will). All the favorite cast members from the original pop up in one way or another. Beca (Anna Kendrick) is the lead of the Bellas now and still gets a majority of the screen time alongside Rebel Wilson's Fat Amy. Another new addition to the Bellas that is one of the low points of the film is Flo (Chrissie Fit) who is a Guatemalan student. Her one-liner jokes fell completely flat for me and even bordered on racist stereotypes. The bits were stupid, low hanging fruit that felt a bit below the rest of the film. I appreciate their attempt to add more diversity to the cast but she added nothing to the story and the rest of the movie would have been better without her unfortunately.

The music is on point, as always. We have all new songs from the Bellas, the Treblemakers, the new foe of the film: Das Sound Machine, as well as others which show up during a fun new a cappella battle and the worldwide competition. While I'm honestly not as huge into the music aspect of it all, it's definitely of a high caliber again in this sequel.

I really appreciated the story beats they hit toward the end of the film especially. With all of the core cast graduating and moving on to their new lives, Steinfeld's Emily finding herself at college, and understanding the value and beauty of a sisterhood like the Barden Bellas, it was an awesome way to capitalize on the deeper meaning that can made from an already simply fun movie. These films have been original, fun, fresh, and great female led movies for a generation of young women that I'm proud exist.

I definitely recommend seeing Pitch Perfect 2 if you can. If not, it will be definitely worth a rental to check out down the line. It's a good time at the movies and it's very worthwhile to support movies like this versus something like Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2. That's just my opinion.

Check out my other summer movie review for Avengers: Age of Ultron!

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Movie Review Monday: Face/Off

Welcome to another awesome edition of Movie Review Monday!

This week's film is the 1997 action movie Face/Off, featuring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage.

I've seen this movie a few times, and watched it again most recently with my brother. We wanted something simple and fun, and this delivered. The entire film is pretty ridiculous, over the top, and implausible, but it's fun and doesn't try to push an agenda or message. It takes most of it's queues from classic action movie cliches and the unique style of director John Woo.

The basic premise is that Travolta plays a cop, Sean Archer, chasing down Cage's rogue criminal, Castor Troy. Troy killed Archer's son and has been wreaking havoc for years before Archer finally apprehends Troy. Once captured, Troy's last scheme of deploying a bioweapon on Los Angeles comes to light, and Archer has to go undercover to stop it. The catch is that Archer has to take the face of Troy in order to go undercover at a secret maximum security prison to find out where the dirty bomb is. They end up swapping faces (Troy awakens from a coma and forcefully takes Archer's face) and a game of cat and mouse is on.

The premise is obviously pretty wild. The entire movie is essentially just wacky antics from Cage especially but also Travolta pretending to be Troy pretending to be Archer. It's just bad enough to be entertaining however, and while the movie is confusingly long in my opinion (over two hours), it is an enjoyably bad movie.

If you're a fan of classic '80s action movies and/or Nicolas Cage, this is definitely worth checking out. It is especially enjoyable if you listen to How Did This Get Made? do their review of the movie. They notice some laughable moments from the movie that I didn't catch the previous times I watched it but after listening to it, I really noticed them this most recent viewing.

Check out Face/Off, streaming right now on Netflix.

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