This week I was hoping to check out five films but had to settle for three. Thankfully two of those three were good, or this would be one cranky review.
Let's start with the latest tween film, The Host.
Another Stephanie Meyer blockbuster, The Host is about the people of Earth being taken over by aliens. The more I talk to people about it, the more Star Trek references I make and my Trekkie friends are now getting mad because they feel like Ms. Meyer totally ripped off their show. Say it ain't so Steph!!
Regardless of what your nerdy beliefs may be, I liked this one a lot. I didn't read the book ahead of time like I had hoped to but thankfully, it wasn't a giant turd like the first Twilight film. I hope it stayed somewhat true to the book and I do plan to read it eventually I swear. But, in the beginning, some of the dialog had me looking over at my movie-going companions and make that silly gag motion, it was just that vomit-inducing. Thankfully the film picked up the pace and there was enough drama and conflict to keep you interested.
I like things to be wrapped up in a neat little bow at the end and while the issues weren't completely resolved (spoiler, the aliens are still on Earth), I was pleased with how the film ended.
I saw Stephanie and the cast at a filming of the Anderson Live show (please feel free to read all about that experience on my other blog) and Ms. Meyer said she was considering writing a sequel to this story so we'll see where all of that goes.
If you're a Twiheart you'll be pleased. If you're going just to placate your girlfriend or young kid, you won't hate it.
Another one the tweens will be flocking to theaters to see this month is Spring Breakers. I spoke to a ton of people before seeing this one and the general consensus was, everyone, including myself, was really excited about checking it out. For me, it was the all star cast acting in roles that were nothing like anything they had done before and the trailers just made the whole thing look really fun without actually telling you just what the heck is going on. So I bought into the hype and got myself super pumped to see it.
Holy crap! What a train wreck!
First off, why was everyone freaking out about Selena Gomez' involvement? She was only in the movie for 35 minutes! She didn't even do anything crazy! Her character smoked some pot and drank a lot. Wow, drinking and smoking pot, in a film about college girls on Spring Break?! Shocker!!!!!
Puh-leeze..... Then there was Vanessa Hudgens. Now, why did no one freak out about her involvement? She was actually naked-like SUPER naked in this one and acted a hot mess the whole time! But I digress....
What really killed me about this movie was that, aside from the characters, the story itself was an absolute hot mess. You ever leave a movie and look at your companions and say "what the hell was the point of all that?" Yeah, Spring Breakers.
I think what killed the film for me the most was how "artsy" the director tried to make it. I'm sorry, but focusing in and out of random crap constantly while repeating various pieces of dialog over and over again during random montage scenes, does not a quality film make. The camera work was along the same choppy and blurred lines as Cloverfield only this time there wasn't any reason for it, unless you're trying to make your audience nauseous then, well done. Lord knows I left the theater wanting to puke.
The only thing I can say I actually enjoyed was James Franco. That guy plays creepy like no one else in Hollywood. His character was so far from anything he's ever done that you actually end up really liking the weirdo and hoping he comes out on top. He doesn't though, so once again, you end up looking at your friends and going "wait...seriously?"
Yeah, please don't see this. Or at least, don't see it sober.
Now I must confess, I have never seen a Tyler Perry film. I have seen Tyler Perry in other people's films, but never one he had written and directed. So I made it a point to check out Temptation this weekend. Truth be told, I saw that Kim Kardashian was in it and was extremely curious to see how she'd do. I have to say, girlfriend did a decent job. Granted, she played a character that was very much just like she is in "real life" but still, I was mildly impressed.
The rest of the movie wasn't half bad either. I didn't like the ending but you can't win them all. It did leave me with a desire to see Perry's other films though because I want to know how he ends all of those too. I went in thinking things would be resolved nicely based on the fact that he did all of those Madea movies and I just assumed the comedy writer liked things to end on a positive note.
I'm not going to give anything away but I will say, you'll be surprised when you see how it ends.
I felt that the acting was decent and the story was very interesting. It definitely got intense at times but wasn't anything too outrageous to the point that it was unbelievable. If you like his other films, I think you'll be pleased with this one as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment