2014: Week 30: Lucy

Lucy

Genre: Action, Sci-Fi

Main Players:  Scarlett Johansson,  Morgan Freeman, Min-Sik Choi

General Gist: A woman is kidnapped and by happenstance, ends up injected with a drug that allows her brain to function at a higher percentage than imaginable.

Deb's Take:
I loved the concept of this movie.  That fact that we as humans use only up to 7-10% of our cerebral cortex is really quite unfathomable.  Also, the fact that we haven't learned, evolved, captured...the ability to use more of our brain is mind boggling.  This movie idea had so much potential.  Predicting what would happen if humans had the capability to tap into a higher brain potential is intriguing.  This movie did lay a different idea out there.  I got the concept, and was interested in the theory, I just feel like the movie wasn't great at it's presentation of the idea.  Hollywood kind of got in the way of this one for me.  The movie played a good spin on brain power, but I wish the action, gun fighting, drug dealers wasn't part of the movie.  I think Scarlett Johansson did well.  I liked her character, and I feel like she captured the personality that the story was setting.  I just didn't feel like the movie tied everything together well.  Morgan Freeman's role could have been much more played out, and I also feel like the movie sort of balked the ending.  Here's a nice little present with a bow...we are done here.  I just wasn't impressed, but I really wanted to be, so rent it...it will give you something to speculate.

Deb's Rate: Rent It

Tiff's Take:
Yeah, I agree.  This movie had a lot of potential.  The concept could have turned into a great movie, like Inception, that really made you think about, well, thinking.  But it really fell short.  One issue with this kind of movie is that if it's not done right it can be really confusion and hard to wrap your, apparently, underutilized brain around.  This one had a little bit of that going on.  And it got a little too philosophical for my liking.  And not because I don't like philosophical but because it didn't fit well with the rest of the movie.  

The acting was okay for me.  I usually really like Scarlett Johansson and I think she did great with what she was supposed to portray but I guess I just didn't really like her character.  It was sort of uninteresting.  The French policeman was sort of a weird addition and Morgan Freeman was boring for me as well.  

What could have been a lot better movie was just sort of blah. 

Tiff's Rate: Rent It

Preview: Guardians of the Galaxy

2012: Week 30: Step Up Revolution

Step Up Revolution

Genre: Drama, Romance

Main Players:  Kathryn McCormick, Ryan Guzman, Peter Gallagher

General Gist: The daughter of a wealthy developer wants to be a professional dancer much to her father's demise.  She meets a local boy who's neighborhood is in jeopardy because of her father.  Dancing ensues. 

Tiff's Take:
We chose this movie because my eldest niece begged us to take her to it.  Okay, she didn't beg.  She asked nicely and we said sure, why not.  I mean who doesn't love a good dancing movie?

First, I want to preface my review by giving you a few facts about myself.

• Me and my family are addicted to watching So You Think You Can Dance (or SYTYCD as they say).  My husband, my kids, all of us.  Seriously.  We love it.
• I have not seen Step Up 2 or 3 and it's questionable whether I've seen the first one all the way through.  I just don't remember.
• Unlike Musicals, I enjoy a good dance.  Just leave out the singing and I dig it.

Whether these little tidbits are relevant to my review is up to you.  Let's continue.

The dancing in this movie was really cool.  I'm mean so cool.  A lot of the choreographers and dancers were ones from SYTYCD.  The main girl, Kathryn McCormick, was from SYTYCD so this was her first acting debut.  She did pretty good for being a dancer.  The actual story line was well...did I mention this movie had great dancing?  Okay, so the story didn't do anything for me.  The relationships were a little weak.  You know, it's okay though.  The dancing was entertainment enough and isn't that really why you would go to this movie in the first place?  

Tiff's Rate: Matinee

Deb's Take: 
As Tiff mentioned, my oldest couldn't wait for this movie to come out and go watch. My oldest is a dancer, a good one..  I grew up with my mother who loves to dance.  I remember sporadically my mom just turning on music and breaking out in dance.  She still loves to dance and has passed the passion down. 

This movie was extremely entertaining, and utterly amazing.  I can not believe how good people can dance.  I am amazed at what the human body is capable of doing.  This movie really had some awesome dancers.  I think the thing that amazed me the most though, was that the main male character, Ryan Guzman, was actually a MMA fighter in the past.  I wonder where he learned to dance?  I watched Kathryn McCormick on SYTYCD and it was cool to see her act in this movie.  She too is  a great dancer.

The movie itself was pretty good.  The acting was nothing amazing, the story line was a basic movie plot and simplistic, but I think the movie wasn't meant to be noticed for it's acting as much for it's dancing.  I loved how they "mobbed" the city.  If you like dancing this is a winner.

Deb's Rate: Friday night....a must see on the big screen.

Preview: I guess we better get that popcorn giveaway like we promised huh?