Krampus

The first thing I am noticing is that this movie poster radically understates the extent of just how Krampus-y Krampus' fingers and nails are. They are very Krampus-y; that hand looks like it could be remotely human aka nowhere near the reality of a Krampus hand. This movie isn't necessarily "scary" per-say but I found the monsters in it really cool and the sequence of events was more interesting and funny than it was scary to me.  I overall really enjoyed myself while watching this movie. It certainly isn't a classic holiday movie by any means but it was good enough to go to the movies to see it. And just a forewarning I started writing this the second I got back from the theater so a lot of this is first impression soup and little things that I noticed. Side-note: This director is set to direct X-Men Apocalypse which I don't know why, but I found that surprising.

Trainwreck

This movie is funny, but it's also pretty dumb. I really hate romantic comedies, like, they pain me to watch. A group of my friends wanted to watch Bridget Jone's Diary and I got to the part where Hugh Grant was a pig and was cheating on whats-her-face and I left. By in large, romantic comedies drive me up a wall with their sexist plot devices (manic pixie dream girls, the inexperienced virgin, the clutzy nerd-turned-hot girl, the soulless "other women", a boyfriend/husband completes a woman, the career-woman who is saved by a man--need I go on). But now lets talk about Trainwreck. It's dumb. It's goofy. But Amy Schumer's character is a frisky ass girl who likes sex, and smokes weed. There are obvious tropes with her character in regards to her love life (she has daddy issues so she can't commit) that are problematic, but for her personality in general, it's pretty good for a romantic comedy.

Edge of Tomorrow

This has, of recent times, been the movie that I almost always make people watch, solely because I want to see their reactions, because I think this movie is great. I've seen Edge of Tomorrow at least 7 times, probably more though. The time travel in this movie is pretty damn interesting, that saying, it is not without its flaws. This is one of the only movies I have seem with Tom Cruise in it; I've recently watched Risky Business and it did not convince me to watch anymore young Tom Cruise movies, so I think I'm going to stick with more recent Tom Cruise movies i.e. Edge of Tomorrow, Mission Impossible, Minority Report-- basically nothing before 2000. Anyway, I have been watching more action movies lately, starting with this one, and damn I actually don't hate them anymore.

Trumbo

Trumbo does a great job showing the injustice of the blacklist throughout the late 40's and the 50's. I've always been interested in the time period because, in the way I have always looked at it, the persecution of communists seemed so incredibly unconstitutional, so much so that I always thought I was missing a part of the story; luckily (or unluckily), I wasn't missing anything and my assumptions about the status of the blacklist are actually quite true. Through Dalton Trumbo's story, audiences can see the greater implications of the blacklist and the persecution of communists in America at the time of the Cold War.

Everest

"Never Let Go" the movie poster says, even though they all let go. I saw Everest with two other people and they loved it, however all I could think about was why in the world would anyone want to do that? Especially when they have a family; what in the world is so fun about this thing that looks horrible even when shit doesn't hit the fan? My roommate let me know that people don't do it because it's fun, they do it because they have something to prove to themselves, which just led me full circle to think what about this could be so meaningful people would risk their lives to the degree that 1 in 4 people die on Everest. Despite this very logical stream of thoughts, a bunch a people went to summit Mount Everest in 1994 and pretty much all of them die.

Let Me In

This movie is an adaptation of the Swedish film Let the Right One In. The premise to both the films is that this bullied boy living in suburbia meets this girl who lives with her father but never really leaves her house, and they become friends. The whole thing takes a pretty drastic turn when the audience finds out (before the boy) that the girl is actually a vampire that doesn't age and her "father" is actually just a dude she met that she's been shacked up with and he kills people and gives their blood to the vampire girl so that she doesn't have to kill people.

Hot Fuzz

Out of all the three movies in the Cornetto trilogy, Hot Fuzz was probably my least favorite. There were a some good twists and it was pretty funny, but I just thought it was slow. I could pretty easily predict the ending, but there were too many delays to get there. Then once the ending twist was revealed, the movie took way to long to finish up. It could have ended a few times before it actually did. I remember getting to a part nowhere near the end and checking the time that was left and there was honestly, like, 40 minutes left and I couldn't imagine what could possibly happen between now and the next 40 minutes.

Black Mass

When I saw the trailer for Black Mass, I saw a clip of the scene where Jimmy (Johnny Depp) is just casually shooting an automatic gun in broad daylight in a parking lot, and at that point, the main reason I wanted to see Black Mass was to watch that scene. I wanted to see that scene and I wanted to see Johnny Depp in all that makeup (just a step under Steve Carell in Foxcatcher). I was not disappointed. I have previously talked about how much I enjoy violence in movies and I have now realized there is a difference between Quentin Tarantino's over the top to the point of ridiculousness violence, and this serious, cringe-y, very much real violence that came up in Black Mass. Not saying I disliked the violence in Black Mass, I just couldn't derive any joy from it, especially because the people who are killed in this movie are people who are a threat of gangsters, so they aren't doing bad things and in no way deserve to die unlike the amazing violence that takes place in, specifically, Inglorious Bastards.

A Fantastic Fear of Everything

Easily the best, quirky, weird movie I've ever seen, A Fantastic Fear of Everything is so entertaining

and discombobulated you have to watch it twice just to get the whole picture and maybe a third time for giggles. I found a Fantastic Fear on Netflix so as of now, you can watch it as many times as you want. A neurotic writer, Simon Pegg, through writing his television script about serial killers, becomes paranoid that he is actually being stalked by a serial killer. With a mixture of mediums tied in through storytelling, A Fantastic Fear of Everything is the most unique movie I can think of; it reminds me of a Wes Anderson film but not not as coherent. It didn't get great reviews on any of the official review cites, but you have to have an open mind.

Pan's Labyrinth

I don't necessarily have a favorite director, but every Guillermo Del Toro movie I've seen, I have been absolutely been amazed by. Pan's Labyrinth was my introduction to Guillermo Del Toro; I saw it in my 11th grade Spanish 4 class and at first, it freaked me the hell out. I then saw Mama and realized Guillermo Del Toro was involved (executive producer) and they kind of had the same sort of ending (come to think of it every Guillermo Del Toro has sort of the same ending). I've recently re-watched Pan's Labyrinth and I think that because I wasn't in a class being forced to watch it, I enjoyed it more, even though a lot of the parts still did/does still freak me out.

The Martian

I was not expecting to come out of this movie liking it. I thought I would be impressed with the visual effects but otherwise I was not really expecting much mostly because of the fact that I am not a fan of Matt Damon (probably because of those goddamn Jason Borne movies). I think the theme of abandonment on a planet, and the similar cast and vibe to interstellar (you know what I mean if you've seen Interstellar) also made me kind of wary of The Martian, simply because I thought it was going to be too much like it, and I am not one of those people who could watch Interstellar twice. But, as my friends and I were deciding between seeing Black Mass and The Martian, they raised some points about the other cast members and the scientific accuracy of it and the visuals and they outnumbered me, so we saw the Martian, and I did not have any strong feelings against it.

The Fly

I've enjoyed my fair share of weird movies, but I only recently watched The Fly, and I've got to say that is the most fucked movie I have ever seen. Even though its from 86', it really doesn't seem that dated, which surprised me. I was surprised that it didn't just seem kind of goofy with bad effects, but it actually really got me, and I was so shocked afterwards it has since been the only movie ever that, when it ended, I was sweating. I caught myself a few times with my mouth just hanging open. I can't say whether or not I liked it, but I definitely appreciate it and the effect it had on me; I've never seen a movie, except for The Grudge, that had such an impact on me, and even with The Grudge the only prolonging repercussion from that movie was that I couldn't sleep on or look under my cover for a while, and I couldn't be in stairwells alone, you know, because of those scenes. However, if I wasn't in my bed or in a stairwell alone, I didn't think about it and it wasn't a problem. The issue with The Fly, is that even when I'm just walking around town or something is, if I'm thinking about it, I worry about it becoming a pseudo King-Kong Situation where this "185-pound fly" is going to escape and terrorize masses of people and somehow make its way onto my middle-of-nowhere, in the mountains college campus and we'll be stuck with it and no one will save us. I've thought about that extensively. The Fly was so disturbing that I wouldn't necessarily make the decision to ever watch it again by myself, but I was damn intrigued and fascinated and I'm super glad I watched it.

Instructions Not Included

For some reason this movie has a 56% on Rotten Tomatoes, which makes it "rotten". Instructions not Included is the cutest, funniest, most amusing father/daughter film I've seen. It certainly isn't a family film in cases where children would be watching it, but I watched this with my mom and we both really liked it. It certainly isn't award winning, but it provides for some decent plot twists and an unapologetic tearjerker ending, which some might call cheap, but I thought it was really smart. Yes, most of the movie is a goofy and cute documentation of how a father would do anything for his daughter, and the whole movie is sort of misleading about what the reveal will be at the end, but the last 30 minutes, I would say, has the most abrupt change in tone from the rest of the movie, and if you have any heart at all, you will cry.

Quentin Tarantino: A Binge in Review

This past weekend I finished watching every Quentin Tarantino movie available on Netflix. I started out watching Pulp Fiction a few weeks ago simply because I had never seen it and its one of those classics that you need to see if you're going to talk about movies. The only other Tarantino movie I had seen prior to my weekend binge was Django Unchained. I've kept a list of movies I need to watch in my phone and I knew Inglorious Bastards was on it, so I decided to just watch it because I sort of needed to get it off my list. Now, after watching that, I was pumped. I watched Kill Bill Volume 1 & 2 in one night and than Dusk Till Dawn, Reservoir Dogs, and Four Rooms the next day. My official verdict: pretty distinct disappointment after Kill Bill Volume 1.

Ruby Sparks

This is the most creative romance film you'll come by. I don't like romance films. The Notebook is predictable, and my favorite part of Titanic is when the boat snaps in half. This movie frustrated me the way most romance movies do. The male protagonist is problematic, the problems that arise in the plot are largely blamed on the female protagonist, and the arguments that happen seem petty and are annoying. This movie is quirky and cute in a lot of instances; the same directors that did Little Miss Sunshine did Ruby Sparks. What I do appreciate about this movie is the way the relationship comes about. Calvin, the main character, is a writer, and to combat writers block, he writes nonsensically about this perfect girl; this perfect girl (Ruby Sparks) appears in real life, in his apartment the next morning, believing she is his girlfriend and completely unaware that she is the reality of his writing. The part of this movie that is gripping for me, is the fact that this story quickly switches to a movie about morality: Calvin's morality.

The Babadook

Have you ever heard of it? Probably not. Will it scare you shitless? Probably. Pulling some of the stylings from iconic horror movies, The Babadook is the combination of all things terrifying without being blatantly terrifying. It'll crawl under your skin and before you realize it, and without any warning you'll just all at once feel horrified of this monster. In this Australian thriller, it follows a typical storyline, with an atypical approach to telling the story. There's nothing better than a horror movie that relies on the substance of the story rather than its ability to make you jump with loud noises and scary faces.

American Ultra

Stoner Kristen Stewart and stoner/assassin Jesse Eisenberg? And they're a cute stoner couple? Yes please. So in. I was so in from the second I heard anything about this movie. Maybe it's because I've been dying to see Kristen Stewart finally be awesome in a movie because I think she's awesome in general. Maybe it's because I saw The End of the Tour the same week I saw this movie and, as I aforementioned in my review about The End of the Tour, I was not a fan of Jesse Eisenberg's character in it and I really wanted to see him in this innocently clueless role. Regardless of why this movie caught my attention so quickly, it did, and I was a thousand times satisfied with what I saw.

The End of the Tour

Everyone's heard of the self-destructive creative archetype and how that story has been told a million times before in a million ways, but none of it really seems that different. The End of the Tour is another one of those stories, but somehow it did feel different, and maybe it wasn't and I'm placebo-effecting myself because I saw it in a small county theater that shows two movies a week that almost no one has heard of (the Google description says it focuses on "independent, art, and foreign films"), but even if it wasn't any different from the other movies that tell similar stories I still thought The End of the Tour was a great movie and a compelling story.

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

The fifth and only installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise I've ever seen, Rouge Nation is fun, interesting, and funny, which is what sets it apart from its ultra convoluted and dull counterparts (James Bond/Jason Borne). Granted, I've never seen a James Bond movie and I'm pretty sure I've only watched one Jason Borne movie and I may have fallen asleep in the middle of it. Regardless, I don't need to see these other movie franchises to know I won't like them. The main reason I saw Rouge Nation in theaters (twice), was because the trailer I saw 1. highlighted the bomb-ass stunts Tom Cruise was pulling and 2. had Simon Pegg in it and, therefore, was funny. As an avid fan of Simon Pegg I was like "yeah, I would probably see that if I got the chance" but I wasn't about to go out of my way to see this movie because I'm not a fan of the spy movie genre, and luckily, I got the chance to see it. I usually find spy movies super boring, which is ironic because its action-y and thrilling and full of car chases and fight scenes. Nonstop gun fights and confusing plot-lines just aren't up my alley, crazy right? But for a few very obvious reasons, and in some very obvious ways, Rouge Nation diverts from what I believe to be the typical spy story line and it surprised me how much I liked it.

August: Osage County

Since I began with my favorite movie, it makes sense to follow up with my least favorite movie next. When I tried to think of my least favorite movie, August: Osage County was the only movie that came to mind, and I'm sure there's been another movie that I disliked more than this, but when I saw Osage County it made such a negative impact, it's the only one I can think of now. The main component that went into me finding this movie so unpleasant, was that my mom got me to go with her by telling me this was a comedy. If you Google August: Osage County the genre description tell you that it is a Drama/Comedy. That is an out the ass lie. Nothing about this movie was funny in any way, and I enjoy dark comedy very much, but this wasn't dark, it was just Meryl Streep being blatantly rude, mean, and selfish to her family. It was sad and painful to watch everything unravel. And I wish the acting was sub-par so I could have maybe not taken it too seriously but the problem was that the acting was good; it was really good, I mean it was Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts and Benedict Cumberbatch. The cast was really good, which made it worse to watch because it was believable that these insane situations were actually happening to this poor family. I've never walked out of a movie before because why do that? Movie tickets are $11, I'm gonna stay and watch the whole thing otherwise it's a waste of money, but hypothetically, if I could have walked out of any movie I would've choose this one; it's not worth staying for the whole movie since nothing changes and everything just gets worse for everyone.

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

I thought I would start this whole thing off with a "review" of my favorite movie. I put review in quotes so you can keep in mind that this is completely biased and not based on any formal education about movies, with the exception of one elective film class for a semester in high school. So no, I'm not going to drop any crazy revelations on your brains or probably even use correct movie terms. What you are about to get (assuming the lack of formal knowledge doesn't completely disinterest you) is the opinion of someone who has immersed herself in every type of movie for the past 20 years. Now, given that you're still with me, let's get into it.