2013: Side Effects

Side Effects

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Main Players: Rooney Mara, Jude Law, Channing Tatum, Catherine Zeta-Jones

General Gist:  A woman's life falls to pieces when the side effects of her medication get the best of her.

Deb's Take: 
Fun little facts.  Rooney Mara's family is really big in the football NFL world. She earned her degree in international social policy and psychology.  Her older sister is also an actress.

The reason I looked her up is because she is sort of a freaky actress.  I first saw her in Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and now in this movie.  I don't know what I expected to find out about her personal life, maybe that she was a troubled teen who lived on the streets, under a bridge, until she was discovered by an agent who gave her a break and she still lives in a small studio apartment in downtown Detroit.  HA..look her up, that is so not her story!

Anyway, what I think that says about her, is that she is a pretty good actress, because I truly believed she was a very troubled individual in this movie (as well as Dragon Tattoo).  This movie was not what I expected.  In fact I had a coat ready in case I needed to hide my face.  Not that kind of movie.  The other thing, I sort of pride myself on being able to figure out the twists in a movie.  This one had me jumping around all over the place, up to the end I wasn't really sure what was going to happen.  Like I said, Rooney was good.  Jude Law was pretty good too, and Catherine Zeta-Jones really impressed me.  I am always a little surprised at her talents. 

All that being said, the movie wasn't bad.  I think it wove a good thriller weave of webs.  I can't say it was anything magnificent, but it was entertaining.  Not one that will rate up there with my top 10, but could have been worse!

Deb's Rate: Matinee

Tiff's Take:
I was excited about this movie because I LOVED Rooney Mara in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  I thought she portrayed Lisbeth Salander perfectly.  And Lisbeth Salander is probably one of my favorite fictional characters so it makes it easy to like Rooney Mara too.  Following my logic?  I know, sometimes I have a hard time separating fiction and reality.   

Well, the previews for this leaves you very confused.  Who is the bad guy or good guy or what really happens?  At least that's how I felt watching them.  The movie almost leaves you just as confused until the very end.  And even then I think I'm still a little confused.  So does the good guy (and by guy I mean guy or girl-I don't want to spoil it) end up being the bad guy when it's all said and done?  I'm not an over thinker when it comes to my movie watching so I didn't sit and ponder it too long but this movie definitely keeps you on your toes.  Isn't that what makes these movies good? 

It was a really interesting story and the actors really played their parts well.  Especially Rooney and Jude.  Channing Tatum was just okay I guess.  His role was more minor then I thought it would be.  Honestly his part could have been played by anyone and it wouldn't have made much of a difference.  I still love Rooney Mara even if she seems to be drawn to slightly disturbing characters.  Maybe that's why I like her.  And when it comes to suspenseful thrillers, I think this one hit it right on the head. 

Tiff's Rate: Friday Night

2012: Week 45: Argo

Argo

Genre: Drama, Thriller, History 

Main Players: Ben Affleck, John Goodman, Alan Arkin, Victor Garber

General Gist: Six Americans are trapped in hiding in the Canadian embassy in Iran.  In an effort to get them back home, the CIA creates a fake movie as an excuse to get in the country and get them out by saying they are a film crew.  Based on a true story in the late 70's early 80's.

Tiff's Take: 
This movie was based on a true story which I love.  And it has Ben Affleck who I'm always rooting for.  He doesn't have the best track record in my mind as being the best actor in the world but I've always really liked him.  This character really fit him well.  Maybe it helped that he was the director.  Who knows.  What I do know is this story was so interesting.  It makes you wonder what movie will be made 30 years from now about something happening right now that we have no idea about.  That's a little unsettling so maybe we shouldn't think about that.

This was a pretty serious movie with a big emphasis on suspense.  The whole time I was on the edge of my seat wondering if they were going to get out.  Now, if I knew the story from way back in the day I would know the answer to that but I didn't.  I was only like 2 and to be honest I probably wouldn't know too much about it if I was 18 at the time.  Since I didn't really know exactly what was going to happen it was even more nail biting.  And just to give my heart a little break there was comedic relief by John Goodman and Alan Arkin's characters.  Just the right amount.

I really enjoyed this and so did Russ.  Russ thought this would be interesting but I don't think he thought he would like it quite so much.  (I mean it's no James Bond movie but...) Great date night movie.  Both parties will enjoy this one.       

Tiff's Rate: Opening Night

Deb's Take: 
I am not much of a history buff either.  I married a history buff so that he could give me all the details of the things I have missed in life.  Brian said he remembered this, and I don't know if he told me, or I just assumed, but I knew from the beginning they were getting out, so I wasn't in as much of a suspenseful stupor as some, but I agree this movie was suspenseful.

I think Ben Affleck did a great job as both director and actor of this film.  After watching a true story based movie I always go and do a little hunting around to see how the film was different from the real situation.  This movie was good about trying to get the story accurate, while making it "Hollywood".  I, like my sister, am amazed at the things that happen in this world without the general public knowledge.  Well,,maybe not that surprised. 

I really think you will like this movie if you like history, or even if you just like movies that include real life events.  There was plenty of suspense, light humor and action, with enough drama to round it all out.

Deb's Rate: Opening Night

Preview: Skyfall and Breaking Dawn 2 both in the same week.  Oh, and maybe we'll throw a bonus review in the mix as well. 

2012: Week 17: The Cabin in the Woods

The Cabin In The Woods

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Main Players: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford

General Gist: Five friends go on a weekend vacation to an isolated cabin in the woods.  They find some old hidden treasures in the cellar of the cabin and awaken a family of zombies. They then must attempt to escape to safety.

Deb's Take:
Well, as you may or may not notice, Tiff and I seldom go to horror/thriller movies.  Off the top of my head I can't think of one we have reviewed in the last year and a half.  We are big weenies when it comes to horror! We are the people sitting all couched down in their seats.   I have my shirt up over my mouth (for some reason that protects me...) and my eyes are squinted to the point of barely even being able to see the screen.  When I think of it though, it's not really the slasher type movies that freak me out. I hate the scenes that make you jump, but really it's more that I just don't enjoy that type of movie.  The movies that really freak me out are the ones with ghosts and spirits and such.  I watched "Poltergeist" as a kid and have never been the same!

So...we wanted to see "October Baby", but when we got there the projector was broke, (I need to interject here that planning a weekly movie is not always the easiest thing for us with our families and jobs and timing is an issue.  We had this one perfectly timed with pick-up times for the kids, dad's getting home at a certain time and babysitters...so we were bummed) the bright side was that since the projector was broke they told us we could go to any other movie for free. 

Anyway, about the movie.  I had no idea what this movie was about, simply because I never go to them so never even look at their story lines.  This movie was VERY different then I expected.  I really don't want to give the details away because it was so unique as a horror film.  There was sort of a sci-fi twist that I wasn't expecting.  All the typical scenes were in the movie, the stupid..."I am going out in the woods in the middle of night by myself" and "Let's split up so we have to fight alone".  But really this horror movie was actually made for those people who don't really like horror movies.  I jumped a few times, but really, I wasn't scared because of the way they played it all out.  The movie wasn't intended to be that kind of horror.  The actors were good, for all the necessary acting that is needed in a horror movie.  They all fit their parts well, and weren't too corny.

Deb's Rate:  Matinee( I say this mostly because I think the movie theatre environment would be better than your home, unless you have a cool home theatre room!)

Tiff's Take:
Well, an interesting turn of events and we end up at this movie and we survived to tell about it.  You know, I use to love watching scary movies.  In highschool and college I really enjoyed it.  These days, not so much.  I'm becoming more of a wimp in my old age.

I really didn't know exactly what this movie was about but it wasn't what I expected.  Don't get me wrong.  It was gory and made me jump and all that jazz but it had a little twist that was unique, at least I'm guessing, to horror films.  Actually, I thought it was pretty interesting.  It gave the movie a little more dimension.  That being said, I'm not sure it made the movie exceptional but it did take it to another level.

Nothing really to add about the actors.  Dido to what Deb said.  Funny fact though.  Anna Hutchison who plays the "slutty" girl looked so familiar to me as I was watching the movie but I could not put my finger on where I'd seen her before.  Turns out she was the yellow power ranger in Power Ranger Jungle Fury.  Thanks to our son, my husband and I know that series all to well.  It's left me scarred seeing a power ranger take her shirt off.      

Tiff's Rate: Rent it.  Unless you're really into horror movies then it's worth a Matinee.

Preview: It seems to be about time for another giveaway. 

Week 37: The Debt

We were all set to see Moneyball last weekend for a free screening but they were having "loading" issues so we couldn't see it.  I won't even pretend to know what that means.  As we were hanging our heads in disappointment we realized that we could still see another one.  Even if it wasn't free.  So that's just what we did.  We were able to boogie into The Debt minutes before it started.  Talk about preparing yourself to see one kind of movie then ending up seeing something completely opposite. 

The Debt was a spy thriller that goes between the past and present of three characters.  As Deb said, the main characters were played by Jessica Chastain, Marton Csokas and Sam Worthington as the younger characters and Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson and Ciaran Hinds as their older counterparts.  All did an exceptional job especially Helen Mirren.  She was fantastic.  Actually, Jessica Chastain did a pretty good job too.  And I just looked her up and she was the one who played Celia in The Help.  Wow.  I would have never guessed it was the same person.  I guess that means she's doing her job.  The men were good but I felt they were in more supporting roles.  That's a change.

Even though this was a spy thriller I would say it was more thriller than spy to me.  In spy movies you tend to have a lot of action and gadgets.  And there was but it had a little more suspense aspect to it.  There were at least two or three times where I had to squint my eyes to avoid seeing something full on that I knew would make me jump.  I'm such a wimp.

Although I'm sure this movie was a lot more intense than Moneyball would have been I'm glad we saw it.  Very well done.

To Sum it up:  Interesting plot, well acted and a few jump in your seat moments.

Week 14: Limitless

This week we saw Limitless.  Bradley Cooper plays the main character.  He plays a washed up writer with major writer's block.  He basically looks like a bum who hasn't taken a shower in weeks.  He runs into his ex-brother-in-law who gives him this pill that supposedly allows you to use the "other" 80% of your brain that us humans haven't tapped into.  Suddenly he can see clearer and knows how to fix all his problems.  And he ends up looking a lot better too.  Well, of course there are side effects and he gets into all sorts of trouble.  It's actually a little gory in some spots.

Really, it was a pretty interesting concept.  Although, there were some parts where the cinemotagraphy (not sure if this is the write word - Austin you would know) actually made you a little dizzy when you're zooming through the city at warp speed.  I guess it just added another element of interest.  And I thought Bradley Cooper was a good fit.  He was believable as a bum and he was beleivable as an uber-smart, put together guy.  Probably because he's not this major good looking guy but also a step above the guy next door.  In my opinion anyway. 

Robert De Niro was also in it as a high-powered exec who tries to use Bradley Cooper's character for his own use.  And the girlfriend was played by Abbie Cornish.  I haven't seen her in a lot before but she was good.  Nothing exceptional.

Overall, I think this was an interesting movie and made you think but it wasn't much more than that.  I did enjoy it though.

To Sum it up: Cool concept, a little disorienting but keeps you thinking.  

Week 10: I Am Number Four

This week we went and saw I Am Number Four.  I really wasn't sure what to expect with this movie.  I hadn't heard a whole lot about it and didn't really know what it was about.  I knew it was a little sci fiish but that's about it.  I have to tell you I was surprised how much I liked this movie. 

I'm not usually into sci fi movies but this one was really entertaining.  There were a couple elements in this movie that really sucked me in.  The first was the high school love story.  What is it about teenagers falling in love that is so appealing?  The next was the fact that it's set up to be a sequel.  I love good sequels.  But I didn't realize it was a sequel going in to it.  Or the fact that it is a book too.  (Wow.  Maybe I should research a movie a little before I see it.)  Throughout the whole movie I was thinking, "How are they going to wrap this story up?".  Well, turns out they didn't.

The story is about these "beings" from another planet who are in hiding from these bad guy aliens trying to kill them.  There were nine of them and three had been killed so far.  Number four finds number six and realize they are stronger together.  So the goal is to find the rest.  I can't wait to see the other four and what they are like.  It sort of reminds me of the X-Men movies where they introduce new people with new powers. 

I didn't really recognize any of the actors.  The main guy was Alex Pettyfer.  He was a really good and cute teenage alien.  The main girl is Dianna Agron which I guess is on Glee.  She was good too.  All the other actors were pretty fitting for the characters.  Overall a really good movie.

To Sum it up:  Good story, a lot of jump in your seat action and leaves you wanting more.

Week 1: Black Swan

So, this is the first week of our year of reviews. I can't think of a better way to start the new year than with a movie.

The movie we decided to see tonight was Black Swan. I'm a big Natalie Portman fan so I was excited about this one. And it didn't disappoint. It was a lot more sexual then I thought it was going to be which was fine but a little uncomfortable when you're sitting next to your mom. There was even a part that made me blush. I guess it got it's intended effect.

This movie was also considered a thriller. When I was younger I use to love to go to movies that were a little scary. I've gotten out of that phase mainly because I tend to freak myself out way too much after the fact. Well, this movie wasn't necessarily a scary movie but it did have it's moments. I have to admit there were a few times when I had to watch through squinted, half-closed eyes. But I'm a wimp so take that how you will.

Like I said, I'm a Natalie Portman fan so I'm slightly bias but I thought she was really good. Mila Kunis, who played Lily was good too. I looked her up afterwards cause I couldn't remember where I've seen her before and it was from That 70's Show. Totally different role for her and she did it well.

Overall, great movie. Words to sum it up: sexual, intense and a little artsy.