When I uploaded the movie clips to YouTube I got emails saying things like "Your video, Date Night Clip 1, may have content that is owned or licensed by FOX". They then removed the majority of my clips. I for some reason spaced out and didn't realize that posting short clips of films I was reviewing would be considered breaching YouTube's copyright infringment rules. For this reason I'm in the process of removing my videos from YouTube and will instead be embedding files from MegaVideo (which keeps the videos in higher quality anyway). The only thing you have to keep in mind is every time you play an embedded MegaVideo video, the first time you click on the play button (while it's red) it will turn the play button green and give you a pop-up ad. All you have to do then is close out the pop-up ad and click the green play button. The video should then play.
******/UPDATE******
Don't worry, I'm not going to do movie reviews every Monday. I just happened to watch a couple movies over the course of last week, so I thought I'd maybe try my hand at reviewing them for y'all here. To be perfectly honest, I probably shouldn't ever do movie reviews because I tend to enjoy darn near every movie I ever watch. I really like movies in general and maybe am not as critical about them as others would be. I can probably count on one hand the number of movies I've watched that I didn't like. Granted, I appreciate movies to different varying degrees, but I rarely walk out of a theater saying "that movie sucked!" Also I've found that the movies I tend to dislike the most are usually based on drugs, drug addiction, or drug-related activities. I imagine people who have had experiences with drugs and can relate to these things might likely get much more out of these movies than I do--but I myself have never actually tried any kind of illegal drugs nor have I ever had to fight with addiction, so I just can't relate. Trainspotting was one of those movies. Many people I know loved trainspotting, but it's all about heroin addiction and I personally found it very boring (and in many cases, disgusting and/or disturbing).
I also am a product of my environment. I have grown up in a culture and at a time where everything moves very fast and we're constantly bombarded with visually stimulating medium. So older movies that are slower tend to not hold my attention very well--which definitely has it's downsides. I have found I frequently have a hard time enjoying (or even finishing) 'the classics'. It's for that reason that even as of today I've never fully watched the entirety of Citizen Kane. Every time I try to watch it I get bored out of my mind before it's even half over. I understand why it's generally considered to be the greatest movie of all time--it was very innovative in terms of cinematography and music (and other things)--but damn, it's so boring!
One last thing before I get started on the reviews, I'm going to rank these movies with both a numerical rating from 1-10, plus each movie is going to fit into one of these categories: Worth seeing in the theaters, Worth buying the DVD, Worth renting the DVD, Worth downloading for free via bittorrent*, or WORTH BUYING EVERYTHING YOU CAN FIND RELATING TO THIS MOVIE.
*for legal purposes nobody is to take this category as me actually suggesting you 'steal' this movie via bittorrent. I would never publicly support anything that might even remotely be considered illegal (don't look at me like that, MPAA!)
Anyway, with those caveats in mind, here are the reviews of the most recent movies I've watched.
As is appropriate, My first ever movie review is going to be a review of the movie:
Starring: Nathan Fillion, Summer Glau, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin, Jewel Staite, Sean Maher, and Ron Glass
Created and Directed By: Joss Whedon
Now, this movie I haven't seen recently (within the last two months, anyway), but since this is my favorite movie of all time I thought I'd do it the honor of being my first ever movie review.
I give this movie a 10/10 rating, and put this in the category "WORTH BUYING EVERYTHING YOU CAN FIND RELATING TO THIS MOVIE".
I absolutely love this movie. And I loved the TV show Firefly that it was adapted from. I have probably watched this movie (and the TV show) more than a hundred times (and I'm not exaggerating). Whenever I find myself depressed or bored or sad for any reason, all I have to do is pop in Serenity and my spirits are instantly lifted.
I have found that love him or hate him, Joss Whedon is one of the few movie minds that still puts out original content. Every TV show or movie I've seen him make has been unique. I'm not going to say I've liked everything he's done, though I will say I liked the vast majority. I also have the pleasure of being his exact demographic. Everything he creates is geared toward peeps like me. Serenity (and it's corresponding TV show) is a very unique mix of space-based science fiction and old-western style. The originality, excellent mix of action, drama, and comedy, as well as the not overdone special effects and general storyline concept (I'll be honest, I have a soft spot for 'con artist with a heart of gold' or 'robin-hood-esque' movies) are what make this my all time favorite movie. If you watched this movie and didn't come out of it with a wholly inappropriate crush on Summer Glau, then I'm afraid I just don't understand you.
I mean, how could you not fall in love with a killer-woman like that?
Next up for review is:
Starring: Steve Carell and Tina Fey
In general I'm a big fan of both Steve Carell and Tina Fey, so was relatively sure I'd enjoy this movie. And it certainly didn't disappoint. I can't say it's the most funny movie I've ever watched, but it was certainly worth seeing. I'll give it a 8/10 and put it in the category "Worth renting the DVD". This movie didn't have anything in it that made me feel like I was missing out not having seen it in the theater (no outrageous special effects or amazing action sequences), and it was a movie that I really enjoyed once, but doubt I would watch it over and over again--hence why I would choose to rent the DVD instead of buy it. A very funny movie that is worth seeing and supporting via DVD rental. One of the things I liked in particular about this movie is that during the credits they had some outtakes that made me think many of the lines were ad-libbed. Both Steve Carell and Tina Fey are generally hilarious when ad-libbing and I love being able to watch all the 'not chosen' ad-libbed lines. One of my favorite bits of this movie I have cut and uploaded to youtube. This scene is Steve Carell and Tina Fey's characters making fun of other restaurant patrons while out to dinner.
Also I clipped out the associated outtakes.
Oh, I will say this, one of the things I loved about this movie is how I felt I could relate to Steve Carell's character. Granted, I'm not married, don't even have a girlfriend, nor am I as funny as him, nor do his character's existence mirror my own in any way shape or form, but I understood his character's non-confrontational style, he never got angry or yelled (except when he told Marky Mark to "put on a f**king shirt!"), and I generally just liked the relationship between him and his wife. One of my biggest beefs with romantic comedies is that the idiot guy always gets in trouble when he tries to hide what would normally be a mostly benign situation and then his lies compound upon themselves in which hilarity ensues. It always seemed so unrealistic. I would never act like those idiot guys in those cookie-cutter romantic comedies--and neither did Steve Carell's character in this one. This movie still was romantic and hilarious without the male character having to try to cover up or hide something stupid that nobody would likely care about anyway. This is more of a 'comedy of errors' than a 'caught in a hilarious web of lies'--and I think in general I like (and relate to) the former of those two more so than the latter.
My next review is:
Starring: Angelina Jolie
Again, a movie I really enjoyed. I think I really just like watching hot girls kick ass. There's something about it. And Angelina Jolie is generally considered to be pretty darn hot. She has, however, done several movies wherein she kicks people's asses. The Tomb Raider movies come to mind. I can't say that this movie is necessarily better or worse than any of the others she's done of a similar ilk--but if you're looking for a fun, easy to watch action flick wherein a hot Angelina Jolie goes around kicking ass, then this movie will fit that bill. Plus, an interesting side note, the counter-terrorism agent in this movie is played by the same guy who played the antagonist in Serenity.
In this clip you get to watch a hot blonde Angelina Jolie escape from the CIA.
And in this clip you get to watch a hot raven-haired Angelina Jolie escape from the police.
I will give this movie props for clever use of a taser to control the throttle and the guy's face to control the steering.
Because this movie had some nice action sequences I wouldn't be opposed to seeing it in the theater, but because it's not overly unique or spectacular, I have to put it in the "Worth renting the DVD" category and give it a 7/10 rating.
And my final review for today is:
Starring: Sam Worthington & Liam Neeson
I've always been fascinated by Greek Mythology, but sadly in this case, aside from the few accurate parts of Greek Mythology that this movie used (the Olympian Gods overthrowing the Titans, Perseus being the demigod son of Zeus and a mortal, Perseus killing Medusa by cutting off her head then later using Medusa's head to kill someone else), much of the mythological aspect was inaccurate. But that doesn't really matter when it comes to blockbuster movies. The sad fact of this movie is that it just wasn't spectacular. I can't really put my finger on why, either. It had nice special effects, an okay story line, and perfectly good acting, so really I don't know why I wasn't more impressed. I'm guessing it's because it's not really any different than so many other action movies out there. I know I used this term before already in this entry, but it's very cookie-cutter-ish. There's just not a whole lot of originality. Most of the movies that I've loved the most were unique in one way or another. Or they spoke to me in some particular way. But this movie felt to me just like an action movie for action movie's sake. It was fun and fast paced, but predictable and I guess somewhat boring.
I'm going to go ahead and give this movie a rating of 6/10 and put it in the "Worth downloading for free via bittorrent" category. If you have nothing better to do, then go ahead and watch it. But It's not so spectacular that I would've spent much money on it.
The dialogue was kinda cheesy too. I had the opportunity to be an extra in a movie that'll be coming out next year. Based solely on the dialogue, I'm actually afraid the movie I'll be in will suck. I was only in one scene, but in this scene there's really cheesy dialogue involving Frost Giants--who are apparently the main bad guys in that movie. In Clash of the Titans, Liam Neeson's line about the Kraken reminded me of cheesiness in the picture I was in. Here's the clip:
Well, that's it for this week's movie reviews. I know none of these movies that I reviewed were particularly new. None of them are still in theaters. But I don't often get a chance to watch movies while they are still on the big screen. So if I do continue to do movie reviews for y'all, they'll probably all be reviews of the DVD. Maybe on rare occasions I'll be able to review a brand new movie for you. Or maybe I should get a part time job at a movie theater so I can watch movies while they're still fresh and then review them. Hmmm, not a bad idea.
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