The Lego Movie

The Lego Movie
Directed by: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Starring: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Morgan Freeman, Will Arnett
Synopsis: Emmet (Chris Pratt), the hapless hero, becomes the Special, the one destined to save the Lego Universe from Lord Business’ (Will Farrell) evil plan of world domination.
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5


             The Lego Movie is essentially a one and a half hour long commercial. It’s a tongue-in-cheek, self-aware comedy that slyly winks at adults and doles out the laughs for kids of every age. It succeeds masterfully at two levels: Being highly entertaining, and making the viewer want to play with Legos.
             
           We begin with Lord/President Business (Will Farrell) setting up the plot by stealing the Kragle (we don’t know what this is until the start of the third act), and announcing that he’ll use it to destroy the Lego Universe. His nemesis Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman, naturally), a Wizard-like figure, delivers a prophecy that “The Special” will find the Piece of Resistance and foil his plans. Our next introduction is to Emmet (Chris Pratt), who is bright and cheery and bouncing off the walls with vigor. Basically, Chris Pratt in Lego Minifig form. Some have described him as a Golden Retriever in human form, and that seems rather apt here.
             
           Emmet goes about his day, following the instruction manual given to every Lego citizen by President Business. Everyone does exactly as they’re told, watches what they’re told to watch, and listens to the music they’re told to listen to. Ironic, no? All of this is done to the tune of “Everything Is Awesome,” a song played on repeat, presumably everyday, and is also presumably the only song, ever. At the end of his workday Emmet sees Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) digging through the bricks, looking for something. He’s about to follow the instructions and report her when he sees her face and naturally falls head over heels in love. He also falls literally and finds the Piece of Resistance. And so begins our hero’s journey through adventure, doubt, hope, acceptance, and finally victory. It’s a classic story arc, so why mess with it, right?
             
           The beauty of the movie is that it is completely aware of what it’s trying to tell us and the irony of the way that it’s conveying it’s message. Basically, the moral of the story is to not get stuck playing by the rules so much that creativity and originality get lost. It creates a nice balance between teamwork and individuality, following the instructions and letting your imagination run wild. It preaches moderation in all things. All of this is quite heavy for a children’s animated movie, but it’s handled in such a delicate way as to let viewers come to their own conclusion. It doesn’t feel forced or contrived by any means.
                       
           The dialogue is skillfully crafted and perfectly delivered. Wyldstyle in particular has some rather fun bits, especially when Emmet isn’t paying attention. She’s monologuing, going over everything the audience already knows, so rather than waste the screen time or the talent they allow Emmet to zone out and imagine Wyldstyle voicing over herself in a seductive manner, “Blah blah, blah, plot, backstory, blah, blah, exposition…” etc. And you get to see just how cheeky this movie will really be. Emmet has his own almost-but-not-quite ah-ha moments, which translate nicely for adult viewers.
             
           Probably the best part of the film is the inspiration it offers its viewers. It is truly a successful advertisement for Lego’s as by the end of the movie you feel that even you, total noob that you are, could possibly build something vaguely spaceship adjacent. I admit, I’m a fan of the bricks, so I’m always battling the urge to go purchase an absurdly expensive set and indulge in hours of building fun, but I’m no Master Builder. Without those instruction booklets I feel lost, helpless, and overwhelmed. The movie, however, lets you know that that’s okay. Play around and experiment, build something, anything, and see what happens. It’s not like they’ll be stuck like that forever! Which, again, is the whole moral of the story. They’re meant to be fun, an expression of creativity. You can let their instructions guide you, but you can also revel in your own creativity, even if the end result isn’t great. It’s about the journey.

           Overall, the movie is a fun, cheeky adventure, for both kids and adults. Not bad for a really long commercial!
  

Divergent

Title: Divergent

Directed by: Neil Burger

Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet

Description via IMDb: In a world divided by factions based on virtues, Tris learns she's Divergent and won't fit in. When she discovers a plot to destroy Divergents, Tris and the mysterious Four must find out what makes Divergents dangerous before it's too late.

My rating: 2.5/5

The movie “Divergent” is based on the book by the same name. In it a post-apocolyptic society has divided itself into “Factions.” Based on inherent personality traits and beliefs Factions provide clear cut guides as to who everyone is, how everyone should act, and what roles everyone plays in society at large. On the face, it’s a pretty cool system and it seems to be working for our characters.

The movie revolves around a young girl, Tris, who has to choose a faction to belong to. She makes a bold choice and goes with one she wasn’t born into, which, gauging by the gasps of her audience at the Choosing Ceremony, is not common. Her new Faction: Dauntless, the thrill-seekers, the warriors, and the guardians of the wall surrounding their city.

The whole movie follows her through her 10 weeks of initiation. We see her train, make friends, deal with a power-trippy leader who is reckless and has zero compassion, and finally, we see her fall for the broody hot guy who’s training them. Seriously, that whole thing takes up most of the movie. It’s not until the last 30 minutes or so that anything remotely interesting plot-wise happens (and even then it seems like an afterthought, just shoved in to get the action moving).

But, what I think the worst part is, even the meat of the movie seems superficial. It just wasn’t able to capture how difficult her training was as compared to the book. How she struggled emotionally and physically. She got the crap beat out of her, bones broken, and all we get in the movie is that she was unconscious for a day (MINUS EVEN BRUISING FROM SAID BEATING!!!).

It also wasn’t able to demonstrate how different Tris really was from the other characters. The movie is called “Divergent” because that’s what she is. The way her brain works diverges from the “norm”. Everyone is able to fit into those neat little categories of the Factions because the way they think is so limited. Tris is able to see through eyes capable of thinking in more than one way. For example, Dauntless people will choose weapons and find ways to physically take control of a scenario. This is in contrast to the Erudite who will only use logic, reasoning, and science. Abnegation are literally only able to think in terms of selflessness, while Candor can only see things in black and white, lies vs. truth. Seriously, Candor can’t even fathom that little white lies are ok sometimes. So, in the book, Tris really is a unique character and her interaction with the rest is kind of fascinating. And all of that subtlety and intricacy is lost to a basic interpretation of what can be seen from the surface.

This also seems to apply to the characters we see on the screen. The actors did fine with what they were given.

Shailene seemed to lack an internal strength, resolve, and shrewdness that Book Tris had, although she played well on screen.

Jai Courtney, who played power-trippy Eric, was totally believable, if somewhat one-dimensional.

Kate Winslet played the Big Bad as Erudite leader Jeanine. She did well, although that characters development won’t really happen until the second book. We’ll see how the character develops (if at all) in the second installment.

Theo James played the hottie trainer and love interest of Tris. He’s cute but the character was meh. Actually, James showed little depth, of which this character has tons. I mean, we literally get to see this guys greatest fears played out and how he handles them, and James is stony faced throughout. I wonder if he even read the book? Hopefully he does so before filming begins on the subsequent movies.

I think it’s also interesting to note that director Neil Burger won’t be returning to helm “Insurgent.” Hopefully the new director will allow the actors to take a bigger bite out of their characters and show some depth and development.

Overall, the movie was disappointing. It wasn’t a grand sweeping epic. It wasn’t a rousing rebel cry in the night. It was quite vanilla where it could have been a limencello. The movie glossed over the best points of the book, dragged for ages, and wasn’t able to convey the urgency of the final action (which I’ve intentionally not discussed, because SPOILERS!). It was a solid meh from me, so it only gets 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Whedon and Star Wars!?!

Unfortunately, it's just the wish of every hardcore nerd on planet Earth (including Joss himself). He's currently too busy with the Avengers sequel (SQUEE!!!!) and a new TV show for ABC (DOUBLE FREAKIN SQUEE!!!!) based on S.H.I.E.L.D. (TRIPLEklsjadlkkd... Ok, I'm better now.).

Maybe Disney execs will see the wisdom in delaying any kind of production so that the Almighty Whedon can be involved. One can only dream.

Golden Globes!

Apparently the Globes happened last night. Is it bad that I had no idea? I was having a Doctor Who marathon so I probably wouldn't have watched it anyway.

Anywho, here's who won (in various and sundry broken down categories):

Best Picture(s):

 Drama

 Comedy/Musical

 Animated

Foreign

Best TV:

 Comedy

Drama

Best Director: Ben Afleck

Best Actor(s): Daniel Day-Lewis, Hugh Jackman, Damien Lewis, Don Cheadle, Kevin Costner

Best Actress(es): Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Lawrence, Claire Danes, Lena Dunham, Julianne Moore

Best Supporting Actor(s): Christoph Waltz, Ed Harris

Best Supporting Actress(es): Anne Hathaway, Maggie Smith

Safe to say that everything I thought was going to win, did win. No real surprises here. No wait. I take that back. There were some surprises. On the red carpet! What a fashion flop! No real "WOW" moments, and lots "meh," moments. 

 Anne Hathaway looks quite nice! I think she was the best dressed of the night. Given how so-so this look is, you can tell the red carpet was fairly boring.

 Jennifer Lawernce looks good too, but I feel like we've seen this somewhere before.

I had to include this because of the face. You look at the whole dress and posture and then you get to the face and you're like "Dafuq!?!?!" Looks like someone let Taylor Momsen do poor Kaley Cuoco's makeup. Either that or Bride of Chucky.

Series: Arrow

Title: Arrow

Network: CW

Starring: Stephen Amell (pictured above), Katie Cassidy, Willa Holland, and more

Brief Description: Oliver Queen (Amell), rich and bratty playboy, gets stranded on an island and must "become someone, something, else," in order to survive. Once he returns to the mainland he uses his new found Kung-fu to wreak havoc among the cities criminal class.

My Rating: 2/5

I think the above poster perfectly describes this show. It's a bunch a man-candy and not much else. I'll be honest and admit that the main reason I've been watching every week is to catch that one scene where Amell is shirtless and working out. No, really. Every week there is at least one scene where he's shirtless and working out. And not just running on the treadmill or lifting weights. It's using a dumbbell bar and brackets to climb to a ceiling, or hanging by his feet and doing crazy swinging crunches. Dude's an animal.

And boy is it appreciated!

Other than the impeccable bod, there's just not much going for this show. I pretty much hate all the female characters. The main "love interest", Katie Cassidy is a mega-bitch so, naturally, all the male characters are in love with her. Thea, the younger sister of Oliver, bounces between royal-pain-in-the-ass addict/partier/bitch and sweet/wise/loving/fun lil' sis. The mother is also a nightmare. Sometimes you think she's a victim, sometimes a villain. Sometimes you want to feel sorry for her. Maybe she got embroiled in this mess, maybe she started it all, maybe she just wants out. It's hard to tell and because of that you can't really hate her or feel sympathy for her. She just exists in this nebula of question marks.

The guys, on the other hand, are much more interesting and likable. Amell, besides being deliciously hot, flips between his personas (playboy and tortured-do-gooder) with surprising ease and authenticity. You feel sorry him in his home life and root for him in his pursuit of justice. I actually kind of love it when he has to put on his public persona. He does it with a touch of irony and humor, almost winking at the camera saying, "Can you believe they buy this!? I know I shouldn't, but I enjoy playing with them."

Then there's Colin Salmon, who is so suave and sophisticated.

He's kind of a dream boat. As an interesting side note, he was considered for the role of James Bond in the 2004 reboot. I can totally see him as a Bond, just not the current, gritty, Bond. Anywho. Salmon lends sophistication and seriousness to the show, balancing out the craziness contained by all the ladies. I think he and David Ramsey (the family  bodyguard and Oliver's/Arrow's living/breathing conscience) are the heart of this, somewhat lacking, series.

Finally, we have Colin Donnell.

I'm pretty sure he was meant to be the jester of the series. I really like this character. He has so much heart, and wants to change so badly and make himself a better man. How many characters do you see these days that start a series actually wanting to grow!? I'm always interested to see where his character goes with each new episode. Yes, he's funny and adds a nice comedic break (otherwise the show would truly be unwatchable), but he's really the only character that keeps me coming back. Maybe he's the heart of the show?

Am I being overly critical of the female leads? Am I just biased towards the hotness? I dunno. But, that's my take on the show. Thoughts?

Razzie Noms for 2013!

I totally forgot about these! Here's the list:

• Worst Picture
• Battleship
• Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure
• That's My Boy!
• A Thousand Words
• Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2

• Worst Actress
• Katherine Heigl, One For the Money
• Milla Jovovich, Resident Evil #5: Retribution
• Tyler Perry (in drag), Madea's Witless Protection
• Kristen Stewart, Snow White and the Huntsman, Twilight #5
• Barbra Streisand, Guilt Trip

• Worst Actor
• Nicolas Cage, Ghost Rider 2, Seeking Justice
• Eddie Murphy,  A Thousand Words
• Robert Pattinson, Twilight #5
• Tyler Perry (not in drag), Alex Cross, Tyler Perry's Good Deeds
• Adam Sandler, That's My Boy!

• Worst Supporting Actress
• Jessica Biel, Playing for Keeps, Total Recall
• Brooklyn Decker, Battleship, What to Expect When You're Expecting
• Ashley Green, Twilight #5
• Jennifer Lopez, What to Expect When You're Expecting
• Rihanna, Battleship

• Worst Supporting Actor
• David Hasselhoff (as himself), Pirannha 3D
• Taylor Lautner, Twilight #5
• Liam Neeson, Battleship, Wrath of the Titans
• Nick Swardson, That's My Boy!
• Vanilla Ice (as himself), That's My Boy!

• Worst Ensemble
• The entire cast of Battleship
• The entire cast of Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure
• The entire cast of That's My Boy!
• The entire cast of Twilight #5
• The entire cast of Madea's Witless Protection

That about sums it up. Naturally I'm hoping Twilight "wins."

Oscar Noms for 2013!!

Wow, that really snuck up on me! So, here are the nominations (I'll just post the most important):

• Best Picture
• Amour
• Argo
• Beasts of the Southern Wild
• Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
• Django Unchained
• Les Miserables
• Life of Pi
• Lincoln
• Silver Linings Playbook
• Zero Dark Thirty

• Best Actor
• Bradley Cooper, “Silver Linings Playbook”
• Daniel Day-Lewis, “Lincoln”
• Denzel Washington, “Flight”
• Hugh Jackman, “Les Miserables”
• Joaquin Phoenix, "The Master"

• Best Actress
• Emmanuelle Riva, “Amour”
• Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook”
• Jessica Chastain, “Zero Dark Thirty”
• Naomi Watts, “The Impossible”
• Quvenzhane Wallis, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”

• Best Supporting Actress
• Amy Adams, “The Master”
• Anne Hathaway, “Les Miserables”
• Sally Field, “Lincoln”
• Helen Hunt, “The Sessions”
• Jacki Weaver, “Silver Linings Playbook”

• Best Supporting Actor
• Alan Arkin, “Argo”
• Christoph Waltz, “Django Unchained”
• Philip Seymour Hoffman, “The Master”
• Robert De Niro, “Silver Linings Playbook”
• Tommy Lee Jones, “Lincoln”

• Best Director
• David O. Russell, “Silver Linings Playbook”
• Behn Zeitlin, "Beast of the Southern Wild"
• Michael Haneke, “Amour”
• Paul Thomas Anderson, “The Master”
• Steven Spielberg, “Lincoln”

• Best Animated Feature
• “Brave”
• “Frankenweenie”
• “ParaNorman”
• “The Pirates! Band of Misfits"
• “Wreck-It Ralph”

• Best Costume Design
• “Anna Karenina”
• “Les Miserables”
• “Lincoln”
• “Mirror Mirror”
• "Snow White and the Huntsman"

I'll admit that out of all of these, Les Mis is the only one I've seen. Still, I'm surprised by some of these noms. "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel?" "Silver Linings Playbook?" "Amour?" I've not even heard of the latter! The other two looked meh at best. Silver Linings seemed like a place holder for Cooper and Lawrence while waiting for the next action flick and Hunger Games. I suppose I'll have to watch all those noms now...

But lets talk about what surprises me the most: Snow White and the Huntsman. How!? Why!? Ugh. I know it's only Costume Design, but still! Everything about that movie was awful. Ok, there was one scene that was fairly awesome (Theron crawling out of a pool of black goo. Wicked.), but everything else was just... eww. I even had issues with the costumes. It always bothered me that little ole Snow White was in a dress one minute, rips her skirt and she's suddenly in leather pants. There was little to no logic in that film, even when it came to costumes. I feel it's safe to say that this category belongs to Anna Karenina.

As for who I think these awards should go to, I don't really have a preference in most of the categories, however, I'm so rooting for Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman! Hathaway was absolutely stirring and Jackman was a singing ball of emotional Wolverine-ness. His Awesomeness should just win all the awards and be done with it.

Just for fun:

Upcoming Releases! January 2013

Texas Chainsaw 3D

Directed by: Jon Luessenhop

Starring: Alexandra Daddario, Tania Raymonde, Scott Eastwood
Description: A young woman inherits an estate in Texas. She and some friends go to check it out. Hijinks and chainsaws ensue. Mostly chainsaws.
My Prediction: Your typical slasher flick. Hotties running around, barely clothed, screaming, crying and dying. Probably a good addition to the Halloween-scary-movie-marathon. 2.5/5

Gangster Squad

Directed by: Ruben Fleischer

Starring:Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Sean Penn

Description: The LAPD work to keep the mafia out of LA using officers outside the law. 

My Prediction: I'm not sure about this one. I kind of liked the trailer, but I wasn't in love with it. There were awesome explosions and a vintage car chase, gun battles, Ryan Gosling shirtless. It could be a pretty awesome movie. I just worry that they made a modern movie and put it in period costume, which is one of my pet peeves. If your going to make a period piece, then you have to do the period full justice. For this movies sake, I hope they did just that. 3/5

Broken City

Directed by: Allen Hughes

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones

Description: An ex-cop turned PI is hired to follow the mayors wife. He comes across a bigger scandal and conspiracy.

My Prediction: I couldn't get a whole lot in terms of spoilers from the trailer so I'm actually quite curious about this one. It looks gritty, action packed, dramatic and a bit thriller-esque. Russell Crowe seems to be coming back to the land of the living and this will probably be a good addition to his resume. If this is your typical gritty dramatic thriller, I'd say we're looking at a solid 3.5/5

The Last Stand

Directed by: Jee-woon Kim

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Johnny Knoxville

Description: A defeated LA cop settles in a small town. As an escaped baddy and his minions head for them the retired cop and the Feds gear up for the last stand.

My Prediction: Laughable. 2.5/5

Mama

Directed by: Andres Muschietti

Starring: Jessica Chastain

Description: Two young girls are found in the woods five years after their abrupt disappearance. As their aunt tries to reintroduce them to normal life she wonders, not only how they survived, but also if they brought something evil into the house.

My Prediction: A seriously good contender for Horror Movie Marathon nights. And possibly my nightmares. 4/5

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

Directed by: Tommy Wirkola

Starring: Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton

Description: Fifteen years after their own witch-incident, brother and sister team Hansel & Gretel are professional witch hunters.

My Prediction: Hilarious, whether it's intentional or not, just for the sheer absurdity of it. 2/5

Parker

Directed by: Taylor Hackford

Starring: Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez

Description: A thief with an honor code is double crossed and left for dead. He works with an insider to get revenge (and his loot).

My Prediction: Typical. But hey, Jason Statham. If he gets shirtless, I'm so there. 3/5