Movie Review: Mission Impossible Rogue Nation (2015)

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Hello All,

For a brief moment I considered putting this on under the complete series moniker, but decided against it because this is a movie that came out this year that I had not previously seen. So that’s going to be my standard for that. Now, getting back to the point this weekend finds the release of the fifth in the franchise Rogue Nation, which was hinted at at the end of Ghost Protocol. My guess they only did that was to ensure the fans that the series would go on. So, having now seen the rest of the films, where does it stand on the scoreboard?

Plot Summary - When the director of the CIA Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) gets the IMF shut down, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) becomes their most wanted when he fails to return, having just learned of the existence of the Syndicate, a rogue nation, trained to do what the IMF can do. Now on the run and low on time, Ethan must find proof that not only that the Syndicate is real, he also has to put a stop to their plans.

Pros - Right off the bat the movie throws a curveball that  I would argue was a better setup than ghost protocol. Instead of waiting for Ethan to go off on his own the movie just goes pretty much straight to it because we all know thats the most fun part. The cast is once again well done, Rebecca Ferguson as an undercover british intelligence agent brings a nice touch as an agent who know one is really sure who she’s working for and they don’t drag that out too long either. The plot is well told too, keeping you on edge as they keep throwing in situations to mix it up and keep it interesting. Both the syndicate and it’s head are interesting too, as they let you see what they are capable of and they actually let the man in charge of it have some scenes as well. They also manage to have a fair amount of humour in it which amazingly never falls flat.

Cons - Honestly, part of me kind of thinks that this villain wasn’t as good as Hoffman in three, but we got to see a lot more of him than the villain in four. Honestly though no one could be as good as Hoffman but what he did in the film was way better than the villain in four so yeah screw it I got nothing wrong with this one.

Final Score - 10/10

I would honestly say this is the best one so far, and I really honestly cannot force myself to think of any moment of it that I didn’t like.

So since this is the only mainstream release that comes out Friday, I might try and find a couple of things to catch up on…….vacation is so far down that list though, I will say that right now.

So until I figure out what I’m doing next, I’ll see you folks at the movies.

The Complete Series: Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol

Hello all,

In the last part of our look at the series before Mission Impossible Rogue Nation comes out, we examine the previous, and some would say, the best one in the franchise Ghost Protocol. As someone who has only watch the other previous films in just this past week, minus the first one, I thought it would be hard to top number three. So did it succeed?

Plot Summary - After being busted out of prison, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) must bust into the kremlin to find out more about a man known as Cobalt and to prevent him from stealing Nuclear launch codes. But when Cobalt sets them up for destroying the Kremlin, the entire IMF goes on Ghost Protocol, meaning they are disavowed with absolutely no back up. Now Ethan and his team must find the codes and prevent nuclear using only what they have and each other.

Pros - This one by far has the biggest stakes out of any of them meaning I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. The story was really well done too, multi layered without being overwhelming and it all tied up nicely by the end of it. It’s well acted, the new additions to the cast are superb, and it was great to see Simon Pegg being more of a co star in this one.

Cons - We basically never learn too much about the villain and I was a little disappointed by that as he seemed to be really interesting as a man who thinks peace can only be achieved through nuclear means. I wanted to see more of his mind set like we did Hoffman in the previous film. Also we don’t see Luther until the end but I’m guessing he had film commitments elsewhere.

Final Score - 9/10

If had gotten to see a little more of the villain, had he been done well, I would’ve liked this a bit more but as of now, it’s on par with three with me.

Rogue Nation is out on Friday, I will do my best to see and review it A.S.A.P

As for the complete series, I rather enjoyed doing this and while it might not be a while until the next one, I already have a new series in mind for it.

So until then, I’ll see you folks at the movies.

Movie Review: Pixels (2015) - Just.........fuck you Adam Sandler........fuck you.......

Hello All,

My plan to see three movies today got shrunk down into two, Southpaw, and Pixels, which will be our main topic of discussion. I feel I owe Southpaw a moment of time before I get to Pixels.

Plot Summary - When boxer Billy Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal) loses everything including his family, he must regain the strength to once again rise through the ranks.

Pros - It’s well acted, well shot, and has really good fights scenes and carries a lot of dramatic depth to it.

Cons - The story is all too familiar, and it’s doesn’t do a lot to change up the formula, plus it really lays on the drama and sadness of the whole situation which might be overwhelming for some.

Final Score - 7/10

So there we go, Southpaw. And now, for the first time since I saw Billy Madison, Adam Sandler will be get my undivided attention.

Plot Summary - In 1982, Nasa sent out a space probe containing images and videos of life and culture on earth, including clips of Sam Brenner (Adam Sandler), Will Cooper (Kevin James), Ludlow Lamonsoff (Josh Gad), and Eddie Plant (Peter Dinklage) competing at an arcade tournament. When an alien race intercepts the probe and sees the video games as a challenge, they send real life video games icons back to earth leading our four protagonists to once again face the games.

Cons - (Yeah we’re doing cons first) you know, I’ve seen punch drunk love, and I liked it, and I saw the longest yard remake, and I liked it, but then I saw this movie…….and holy fuck did all that just go right out the window because this movie is a fucking nightmare. The best way to describe how bad the jokes are in this movie is that the only people who were laughing at like 99% were the fucking kids under the age of five who dominated the audience, and has me seriously debating asking child services to plant agents in every screening of this fucking steaming turd to figure which parents are the fucking shitty parents doing mental damage to their children. Plot points are brought up and dropped just as fast, it’s own internal logic DOESN’T FUCKING EXISTS, and everybody is fucking sleepwalking in this movie, and it has genuine good actors in it. In fact, here’s the fucking list of all the good actors in this film and what this movie makes me think of them now:

Josh Gad - Ludlow, madly in love with a female game character, meets her during the final battle, when she dies at the end also yeah no spoiler warnings you’ll thank me later, Q*Bert (the one thing this movie had going for it and they literally fucked that up too) turns into her and then get this, one year later at the end of the movie, josh gad is married to her AND THEY HAVE Q*BERT FUCKING BABIES!!!!! THEY HAVE JOSH GAD FUCKING Q*BERT!!!!!! So guess what mr. gad, until I see you in a better movie, I’m calling you Q*Bert fucker. Deal with it Q*Bert Fucker.

Peter Dinklage - I don’t watch game of thrones, a lot of people seem to like him in it as Tyrion Lannister. I hope Tyrion fucking dies just to teach Mr. Dinklage a lesson in making better role choices.

Michelle Monaghan - I just saw you in Mission Impossible 3 why the fuck are you here?

Brian Cox - You were Hannibal Lecter for god’s sake man why this? The worst part is they set him up for some epic moment of him stopping our heroes and taking command of the situation which never happens because after one confrontation we never see him again, hopefully because he came to his fucking senses.

Sean Bean: He’s in one fucking scene and they give him nothing to fucking do other than being Scottish, he got off easy.

Dan Aykroyd - Okay dude we know you don’t give a shit anymore, please stop informing us of that fact.

This is cinematic poison, this is Adam fucking Sandler literally telling all of us to go fuck ourselves and that he above anyone else cares the littlest about quality, entertaining people, or about people at all. He’s out there somewhere pissing over a hotel balcony, drunk off his ass laughing at the entire goddamn planet while someone else in the room writes it into his next fucking film because fuck you that’s why. This movie is so bad, and I swear to god I wish I was clever enough to make this up, that it sucked all the joy out of me I had from this morning, WHEN I GOT TO HELP A SICK KID MAKE HIS MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION WISH A FUCKING REALITY. Yeah, we had a private screening at my theatre today for a sick kid and his family and friends, they came to see minions, I got to help out with that, it was one of the greatest moments of my life and a heartwarming experience, and ADAM SANDLER MADE ME ALMOST FUCKING FORGET I DID THAT TODAY. I’m not only recommending you stay far away from this monstrosity of the senses here, but every single person who asks to buy a ticket to see this movie from me, I am warning them too. I didn’t have to pay for my ticket, and I damn near asked for a refund. I will admit though, I laughed exactly four times. Twice out of desperation which brought nothing more than a “ha” which fuck it I’m not going to count those because no fucking comedy ever should have me laughing out of desperation, once for Q*BERT, and you know what, since they once again literally fucked him I’m not counting that either. And you know what, the fourth one isn’t going to count either, because it was at the beginning of the film and I don’t even remember what the fucking joke was. I remember none of the jokes because there were no fucking jokes because it’s ninety minutes of ADAM FUCKING SANDLER telling us to fuck off.

Pros - ………………...you know what, none. Not a single goddamn one, because the only thing this movie accomplished was making wanting to buy a stuffed Q*BERT so I can feel better about keeping it out of the hands of Q*BERT fucker and the rest of the sandler goon squad.

Final Score -  A motherfucking, sorry, Q*BERT fucker fucking score of 0/10.

The new frontrunner for not only the worst film of the year, but if it keeps going like this also the first film that may have to be systematically burned from the planet. If I ever see a dvd rack for this at HMV I’m burning it down.

No idea when I’ll be seeing paper towns, will do ghost protocol on Monday.

until then, for the love of god don’t see Pixels.

The Complete Series: Mission Impossible III

Hello All,

I once again find myself with a day off and another movie to watch. Where we last left off in the mission impossible series we had just gone our way through the very slow and dull Mission Impossible II. Now for MI III you all might recall the controversy around this one regarding Tom Cruise and the South Park episode trapped in the closet. If you don’t, the short form is supposedly Cruise threatened not to do the press tour for it unless the episode was pulled, but that backfired and a boycott against the film was organized by South Park fans in response. But we’re not here to talk about controversy, we’re here to review the movie, so let’s get to it shall we?

Plot Summary - Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is now retired from active duty and is now training field agents and engaged to a nurse named Julia (Michelle Monaghan). However when one of his trainees is captured by an arms dealer named Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Ethan must go back into action to save and unravel the mystery of what Owen’s planning and why.

Pros - The late, great Hoffman is by far the best villain in this series. The total just cold and brutal way he operates is a refreshing thing to see and probably one of the best performances he ever gave. The plot is well done too, and while it’s still in the end him trying to find the macguffin they give him something to do before that in finding owen and a reason for finding it better than because he just has to find it which I won’t spoil here. The film also looks and plays out a lot better than the last one and is overall a much better film.

Cons - They do the cop out the hero is not actually dead thing at the end and honestly I’m growing really tired of seeing that in films.

Final Score - 9/10

So far the best one I’ve seen, even better than the first one. But we have one more left and it’s the one that people seem to like the most so we will see.

So, tomorrow I have the potential to see all three new films coming out this week, Paper Towns, Pixels, and Southpaw in that order. From what I’m hearing about these films so far, it’s going to be a very long day.

So until then, I’ll see you folks at the movies.

Movie Review: Trainwreck (2015)

Hello All,

I am just as amazed as you are that I’ve just been knocking these reviews out on a somewhat speedy basis. This week I’ve already done Ant-Man and Mission Impossible 2 for the new mini series. Now I’m doing my third in as many days. So let’s keep moving along with Trainwreck….that sounds a lot worse out loud than it did in my head.

Plot Summary - Amy Townsend (Amy Schumer) is a writer at a cosmopolitan style gossip magazine. She’s in a lousy relationship with a guy who she keeps cheating on with other guys.  One day her boss sends her to meet a sports doctor named Dr. Aaron Conners (Bill Hader) and the two of them end up dating. There’s not much more I can say without going way too into it but trust it’s worth watching.

Pros - Amy Schumer owns this film, balancing being funny while also being emotionally unsure of herself and her relationship. The rest of the cast is solid two with even some surprise supporting characters and even a few great cameos all of which work out well and don’t feel out of the blue or anything. The story is familiar but told with such a fresh sense of honesty that I ended up actually liking this movie and I usually hate these kind of movies.

Cons - Like I said parts of the story feel familiar and yeah it’s another to  kind of well off people fall in love yada yada but unlike other films like it it’s written with a sense of realism. Other films like this feel like a complete fantasy and while that’s fine for some people, but for me if you’re going for a two people falling in love and nothing else story, if I don’t feel like it can actually somewhat happen, Im just not going to be invested cause because it’s just pure silliness and I can’t stand that in romance films. Like I said though it’s more realistic than some but it’s still has touches of those silly moments.

Final Score - 9/10

Aside from those few silly fantasy moments and the whole two kind of well off people fall in love thing, it’s an honestly refreshing romance film and it’s definitely worth a look.

Next up, Mission Impossible III, don’t know when though, maybe wednesday.

Until then, I’ll see you folks at the movies.

The Complete Series: Mission Impossible 2 (2000)

Hello all,

Continuing our look at the Mission Impossible series, today’s entry is Mission Impossible II directed by John Woo, who for those of you who read my top ten best films of 1989 list will recall I put his film The Killer at number six, so I was actually looking forward to seeing what a north american film he directed might look like…..boy do I regret that one now.

Plot Summary - Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) returns, this time to track down renegade agent Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) who has stolen something only known as Chimera. To do this he recruits expert thief Nyah Hall (Thandie Newton) to his team, forming a personal bond with her along the way. But when she has to go in undercover in Ambrose’s compound, Ethan must find a way to keep her safe and make the mission a success.

Pros - Dougray Scott is really good in this, taking his role just a little over the top when needed but all around still keeping it quite well…...villainy. Plus when the film finally starts getting going it is pretty intense and has some really good action scenes as well.

Cons - The first third of the film is padding, in like the worse way possible. Instead of Cruise simply recruiting Nyah, they drag it out to do this incredibly forced falling in love subplot which both drives the rest of the movie, and drives me up the fucking wall. Then the second third of the film is just nothing but build up as most of the characters do basically nothing interesting. There's a long elaborate plan to get a flashcard full of photos and a very brief scene of Ethan kidnapping someone, but it’s all a jumbled mess. When it finally gets going it’s slowed down by an overabundance of Slow Motion shots and birds flying around which makes it feel like more padding. If they had written this to be a ninety minute movie it would have been fine, but they try to cram in so much stuff that they think will help us relate to the characters more when it’s not needed. They’re spies trying to save the world from an evil villain we don’t much more than that, the bond films have been showing us that for decades. If they had simply dropped the romance subplot and just had Ethan focusing on getting the mission done while also keeping an eye on his teammate then that would’ve seemed less forced upon us.

Final Score - 2/10

This one is a massive misfire. It’s too much underdeveloped buildup with a limp pay off. Please lord let the third one be good.

The next review will most likely be Trainwreck.

Until then, I’ll see you folks at the movies.

Movie Review: Ant Man (2015) - Another early screening for me, arent I lucky? Yes, yes I am.

Hello all,

The only reason I am doing this tonight is because through a lucky coincidence that I was able to go at all. I am grateful for the opportunity, but it’s also now early friday morning for me so I’m gonna keep this one short.

Plot Summary - Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is a former burglar fresh from jail who wants to go straight. After his attempts fail, he ends up unknowingly robbing the house of Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and stealing a strange looking suit. After he puts on the suit though, Scott is thrust into a plan formed by Dr. Pym to save the world.

Pros - Everyone is on point acting wise, but the big three I want to mention are Paul Rudd as Scott who is honestly just a solid dude exactly how Paul needed to portray him. A man trying to do the right thing the best way he thinks he can. Second is Michael Douglas as Dr. Pym. He brings some solid emotion and depth to a character who, if you knew anything about him from the comics, was actually kind of a massive asshole. And lastly, Michael Pena as Luis, Scott’s cellmate and friend and honestly sort of the great comic relief in this movie. The action scenes are pretty solid too as they do some interesting and even kind of funny things when it comes to their sizes and the perspectives they chose to take with those. The last big thing I wanna touch on is the awesome cameos, which I’m not going to mention, but stay through the credits. All of them. There’s also great humour spread throughout the film.

Cons - It doesn’t quite match the spectacle of some of the other films but I think the (no pun intended) smaller scale of the film actually works in its favour, making this more of just an observation for others. Other than some small clunky exposition and one kind of forced upon you sad moment that doesn’t quite hit the mark, it’s still pretty good.

Final Score - 9/10

If Guardians was the most fun Marvel Movie, than this would be a pretty close runner up. It didn’t try to take itself as seriously as other films and it works better for it.

I have the day off tomorrow so I might stay in and watch the next Mission Impossible film, then I’m going to try and tackle Trainwreck over the weekend.

So until then, I’ll see you folks at the movies.

The Complete Series: Mission Impossible (1996)

Hello All,

And welcome to the first of four parts of my new mini review series, The Complete Series, where I take a look at a complete line of films in a franchise, and for this first series we’re taking a look at the Mission Impossible Movies. So naturally of course, we start today with the first of the series, Nineteen Ninety Sixes Mission Impossible.

Plot Summary - Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is an agent of the IMF Spy Agency. He’s the point man on a team led by Jim Phelps (Jon Voight). They get tasked with stopping a traitor from stealing a coded list of CIA agents who are in deep cover agents across Europe. Things are going to plan, until Ethan’s team starts killing him off, leaving only him and Jim’s wife and fellow teammate Claire (Emmanuelle Béart) alive. Ethan tries to turn himself in to the IMF, but it’s revealed that the operation was a mole hunt and now he’s the prime suspect. Now disavowed, Ethan must find the mole and prove his innocence.

Pros - It is well acted for the most part, it’s shot well and the story is well told and played out with interesting twists and turns. That and the stunts, action, and watching the plans play out are also good as well.

Cons - While being well told, the story just basically boils down to find list, retrieve list, and use list as bait. It’s a very basic story is what I’m trying to say.

Final Score - 8/10

Mission Impossible still holds up for the most part. It’s not a complete mind blowing spectacle like I’ve heard some of the later ones are, but it’s still some good quality entertainment.

Not sure when I’ll get around to the second one, especially with Ant-Man coming out this weekend, so expect that one first.

Until then, I’ll see you folks at the movies.

Movie Review: Self/Less (2015) PLUS a new mini series(?)

Greetings all,

I’m now back home and reviewing back on home turf. Okay that was a bit repetitive but I also just got off work and I got three mission impossible movies for 15 bucks, but more on that later. Today I decided to watch Self / Less because it’s one of those movies that really wasn’t promoted too well (at least around here anyways) so I thought we might’ve had a hidden gem on our hands, I mean it does have a pretty interesting idea. Does it pull it off?

Plot Summary - Billionaire Damian Hale (Ben Kingsley) is a man who made his own fortune and lives a pretty good life until he is diagnosed with cancer. Facing death, he learns of a medical procedure call shedding, where a person’s mind can be scanned into the blank mind of a new body. After going through with the procedure, he is given the name Edward (Ryan Reynolds) and tries to start a new life, until disturbing mental images force him to dig deeper into the origins of the new body he possesses.

Pros - Ryan Reynolds does actually do a solid job of being a man plagued by two identities and for the most part the whole idea is actually pretty interesting. The rest of the cast is fine and the film does look really good.

Cons -  Ben Kingsley is in this movie for exactly 20 minutes and barely does anything. I really hope the car he used the money from this to buy was worth it. Now the idea of the film is interesting, but unfortunately everything that happens between the scenes that actually relate to that idea are overall……..meh. Unfortunately they decided to fill the gaps with generic shooting and car chasing scenes. they’re not bad but it doesn’t really make any real effort to be distinctive. I always hate to see good ideas wasted and for the most part it really is wasted here.

Final Score - 3/10

For such a good looking film with mostly good actors, the potential here for a much better movie is just not utilized enough. This deserves a much better film than the one we got here.

As for this miniseries. Through a series of lucky finds I now have all four of the Mission Impossible Films that are out on DVD so far. I have only seen the first one once but I was like half asleep when I watched it so I barely remember it. So in honour of the fifth one coming out, I’m going to some time to watch all four of the other movies and review them. If this idea is popular enough I might do it for other franchises but we’ll see. For now though I’m going to call it……

The Complete Series: Mission Impossible.

I don’t know when the first one might go up, maybe wednesday, but I hope you all enjoy it.

Until then, I’ll see you folks at the movies.

Movie Review: Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl

Hello all,

So this review is coming out much later after I saw the film, but since I’m still on vacation for a few more days this is the first chance I’ve gotten to sit down and write this review out. Because of that I am also going to try and keep this one short as well. So let’s get to it shall we?

Plot Summary - Greg Gaines (Thomas Mann) is a high schooler who tries to avoid everybody by getting along with them. Because of this he ends up spending most of his time alone aside from when he shoots bad spoof films with his “co-worker” Earl (R.J. Cyler). One day, his mom comes him and tells him to spend some time with a classmate named Rachel (Olivia Cooke) with whom Greg hasn’t spoken to since kindergarten because she has just been diagnosed with cancer. Greg is forced to learn to deal with people and grow up fast as he begins what he calls his “doomed friendship” with Rachel.

Pros - I’ve probably never done this before, but this is an instance where I’ve seen two movies in a row where I can honestly say I liked everything about it.  It’s perfectly cast, well written, well made, once again blending humour and drama with heartfelt moments as well.

Cons - Once again, got nothing.

Final Score - 10/10

Honestly, am I being lazy because I’m on vacation? Maybe, but is my opinion still 100% honest? Yes as well.

So until next time, I’ll see you folks at the movies.

Double Movie Review: Terminator Genisys(2015) and Dope (2015) - Happy Fourth y'all.

Greeting everyone, and Happy Fourth to my american fans. I’m actually visiting your lovely country at the moment, unfortunately it is raining at the moment so I’m inside for now but this has given me an opportunity to review the two movies I’ve seen so far down here. So let’s get started shall we?

Terminator Genisys Review

Plot Summary - At the end of the war between the humans and the machines, John Connor (Jason Clarke) leads the final assault against the core of Skynet which causes it to send back a terminator to the year 1984. Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) offers to go back and save her, but when he does he finds that Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) is not only a fully trained soldier with her own Terminator Guardian (Arnold Schwarzenegger) helping her out. Sarah informs him that they must be the ones destroy skynet and save the future.

Pros - The effects are pretty awesome if I’m honest, the cast is really good in this and the action scenes are actually impressive. I actually did enjoy this movie.

Cons - That being said, there’s not a terrible amount of originality in this movie. Granted making John Connor as a terminator seems like an interesting idea (the trailer spoiled that before I did so Im not putting a spoiler alert) and while Jason Clarke is an interesting John Connor he’s still just doing rudimentary villainy things. There’s also the whole running conversation where Sarah tries to avoid telling Kyle that he’s supposed to die that when they finally say it it just sort of tells you what’s going to happen. They also do the fake death cop out (won’t say for who) and even leave a vague ending. There is a post credit scene but I didn’t see it.

Final Score - 6/10

Like I said, I did enjoy it but I can’t help but point out what’s wrong with it. I’ll end up putting this one under a guilty pleasure list.

Dope Review

Plot Summary - Malcolm (Shameik Moore) Jib (Tony Revolori) and Diggy (Kiersey Clemons) are three nineties hip hop geeks who live in a part of Inglewood California called the bottoms. They are constantly bullied and beaten up by their peers, until a chance encounter gets them invited to a party. When Malcolm finds a load of drugs in his bags afterwards, he ends up setting of on an adventure to get rid of the drugs and get himself ready to start following his dream of going to harvard.

Pros - Honestly, this is probably one of the best movies I’ve seen so far this year.  It’s a great mix of comedy and drama that’s well acted, well written, well shot and has an amazing soundtrack as well.

Cons - Nah, can’t think of any.

Final Score - 10/10

Honestly, this is a very good contender for the year end best of list.

If this review seems short I apologize, but I honestly don’t need to say too much about this one other than go see it. Plus I’m on vacation so cut me a break.

So until next time, I’ll see you folks at the movies.