How to Train Your Dragon 2 - Movie Review

First of all, I LOVED the first How to Train Your Dragon movie.  It was one of the best movies that year, animated or not and definitely one of the most visually stunning.  I knew immediately how amazing that movie was and I also knew immediately that it would not get the recognition it deserved, because it came out the same year as Toy Story 3...and that broke my heart.  With this second installment (of 3, yes, this was imagined as a fully realized trilogy!), I'm pleasantly surprised to see the first movie actually receiving a lot of retroactive praise, once separated by the (equally good) Toy Story competition.

Loving the first one as I did, I was simultaneously looking forward to seeing the second one and worried that it would let me down.  I. was. not. let. down.  Dragon 2 is full of just as many gorgeous flying sequences and rolling oceans as the first movie, but this time, they've amped up the CGI with a new technique that allows the designers to actually draw on top of it as well for an added realism and it worked.  Most reviewers are recommending we spend the extra $ for the 3D version, but I'm here to say although I did see it in 3D, this movie would be beautiful either way.

What really works in these movies are the themes.  The first movie had several unique and positive threads for kids and they worked because the Dragon movies don't treat children like children.  Most kid's movies have the same simple good vs. evil style themes over and over but these movies strive for more.  In Dragon 2, the lead character has matured and even has a love interest, but thankfully even that typical trope is set aside in favor of more important themes.

Now to mention my favorite part - Toothless.  I love Toothless, the main character's personal dragon.  It was modeled on a black panther, a wombat and your everyday house cat.  Toothless is loveable, loyal and as well rounded as any human character in the movies, and all this with no dialog.  I want a Toothless myself...

4 out of 5 stars

I Hate to Say It, But There's No Fault in The Fault in Our Stars - Movie Review

Where to start?  Well, to start with, I haven't read the book, so let's get that out of the way right at the start. Those of you who have read the book may have different insight than I do on the comparison, etc., but I always look at books turned into movies as two different art forms and evaluate them separately anyway...Now on with the review.  I honestly can't find much wrong with this film and if there is anything, it is definitely counteracted by what goes above and beyond here.  I am not a fan of sappy movies or "chick flicks" and I have never even seen many of the most popular of that genre, including The Notebook and the Twilight Series.  However, my 11 year old wanted to see this movie after having seen the previews as many times as the rest of us and it didn't look quite as pukey as some of those others, so off we went.

I'm sure the book is very well written - why, you ask?  Because so much of the film is very well written and that is usually the downfall of translations like this. The writers of Fault also wrote 500 Days of Summer, which was phenomenal in much the same way and is now probably just old enough for the audience of this film to require a recommendation from Netflix to see 500 (but seriously, do it). From the interpersonal dialog to the underlying intelligent themes, this movie must be doing a pretty good job of satisfying at least some of the fans of the book.  The individuals and the relationships are so well written, that I will go so far as to say it is one of the best portrayals of motherhood and of falling in love that I have ever seen on screen.  Laura Dern is literally ALWAYS good, but the subtlety with which she performs even the smallest moments with her terminally ill daughter is beyond accomplished - it's reality.  These are Oscar nomination moments.  Willem Defoe deserves a mention here as well, playing yet another unlikeable character, though in a completely different way...

Shailene Woodley is at her best in this film (she is much better suited to intricately played drama than interchangeable action heroism, see: Divergent).  She is completely natural and it left me wondering how very close to one girl's reality of living with cancer her performance actually is, not having direct experience with this particular road traveled myself. 

The complete surprise of the film for me was the lead actor who truly lit up the screen, Ansel Elgort.  He played Shailene's brother in Divergent and though his part was too small to garner much attention in that film, at this point, I can only think they didn't want to cast him as the lead opposite Miss Woodley in two films in a row, because his acting abilities, plus the way the camera loves him and the chemistry between them would have them cast and re-cast together ad nauseam.  He was beautiful in their first film together, but I wonder how strange it was to play his love interest after playing his sister.  It may be that their amazing chemistry was so evident on the first set that it led to the casting of Fault. We will get the unusual opportunity to explore this issue on the flip side when Insurgent comes out as well.

To no surprise for those who loved 500 Days, Fault also has a tremendous soundtrack - check it out.  I also liked the innovative way they integrated the reality of texting into the film, since it is a way of life, especially for youngsters, but probably doesn't normally translate too well visually.  (Chef also recently created a quirky way to integrate social media into this visual art form and I have to say I support this trend).

One final note.  I said I'm not into schmaltzy movies, but that doesn't mean I'm not a crier.  In fact, I sometimes cry at commercials or bad Adam Sandler movies (not for the reason you think).  So let's just say that I forgot to get napkins with my hot dog and so my hoodie sleeves haven't been this snotty since the last time a boyfriend broke up with me.

4 out of 5 stars

Final, final note: This review dedicated to my friend in cupcakes, Kelsey Hays.

Finally, A Good Movie!: Chef Movie Review

Finally, a good movie!  Sometimes I think anyone reading my reviews might think I'm too harsh and don't like anything, but thankfully, Chef has come along to counter that perception.  It actually caused me to look back at the movies I've seen this year and there are about 5-6 favorites so far, which puts me perfectly one track to have a Top 10-15 for the year, so 2014 is shaping up nicely.

Chef is a food movie in the grand tradition of food movies like Babette's Feast and Big Night, only more watchable than the first and more fun than the second.  If you love food, there is enough food porn in this movie to both satisfy you and make you hungry at the same time.  It is also a bit of a road movie, with visits to Miami, New Orleans and the LA restaurant and food truck scene. I may have a soft spot for Jon Favreau, but the level of acting across the board is natural and enjoyable (and this is a vast and varied group of actors with all of Favreau's friends on board for the ride).   Even the music is notable, with great local choices made for each location without being cliché. 

With a  food truck background myself, I found it very believable (aside from the seeming ease of starting a food truck and dealing with regulations which in reality are a nightmare, but not necessary to the plot) and fun and I really didn't want it to end.  For those not into food or food trucks, it may seem slow in a couple of places as they linger over the food and the chef's world, but the only problem I found with this movie was the R rating.  This movie has "colorful" language from the first moment to the last, but THAT IS IT!  Again, cursing is easy to explain to kids and you know whether or not your kid can handle it.  There is none of the ambiguous and impossible to explain over the top sexuality and innuendo or supernatural conjecture of other films routinely rated just PG-13.

This movie is heartwarming without going too deep and should really be seen and enjoyed by all age groups.  It's opening wider and wider every weekend, so it should now be at a movie theatre near you.   Grab dinner at a local food truck this weekend and follow it by seeing Chef!

4.25 out of 5 stars

Mirror Mirror & Legend Did it Better - Maleficent Movie Review

So I'm not going to harp on the quality of acting here, and I certainly don't blame the director for it this week, but it IS a Disney movie and some might say they picked the perfect actress to play Maleficent...it's just that Angelina Jolie doesn't really settle into the roll until the second half of the film, when she's truly a villainess, with or without a heart of gold.  In the first half of the film, there are only two actors I liked, and one of them played a crow (Sam Riley) ;).  The other was Imelda Staunton of Harry Potter fame - those two got all the good lines early on and they handled them well.  Also, once the princess comes along, Elle Fanning is so one-dimensional that I think I prefer the acting range displayed by the animated version of Aurora.

Though this is supposed to be the origin story of Maleficent, we still don't know what happened to her parents and later when we are given an early reason for her initial hardening of the heart, it seems less than even a schoolgirl would fret over.  We're supposed to see her grow into a young woman as beloved by her fellow woodland creatures as later Sleeping Beauty is to become, but Maleficent has no friends, so I don't think I was appropriately endeared to her for the following struggle.  Later, when there is an epic battle between Maleficent and the King, I couldn't find it within myself to cheer for either of them because I still felt they were both in the wrong and both justified in their actions.

It's definitely a female power movie, with even the Prince (played by Brenton Thwaites of this summer's highly anticipated - by me - The Giver) relegated to just a few lines and tossed aside, which I can't say bothered me ;).  However, the ultimate story of "love" triumphing over all, no matter how dysfunctional, left me with mixed emotions, though it was a story preferable to the original.  The original Sleeping Beauty never captured my imagination as a child and seemed to make the least sense of all the stories available to little girls of my generation anyway.  Maleficent herself was always more interesting, but I'm not sure this version made her any moreso.

Try 2012's Mirror Mirror (if you like musicals) with Julia Roberts and Lily Collins for a more upbeat and overall better film or even reach back to one of my all time favorites - 1985's Legend, starring Tom Cruise and Mia Sara.  That one is just as dark, but more beautiful and Angelina Jolie's headdress is just a sad copy of Tim Curry's Darkness anyway.  If it's any consolation, the 10 and 11 year olds in the car with me at the drive-in really liked it but thought it was too scary for PG - they were pondering the possibility of creating a new rating of PG-10 - girls after my own heart.

2.75 stars out of 5

Yours, Mine & Ours Did it Better: Blended Movie Review

I see few movies reluctantly, but I could smell this one coming as my darling daughter dragged me to it.  I'd seen it in the many, many commercials and previews I've seen for it, all the time wondering why a romantic comedy starring Drew Barrymore could look so bad.  Even 50 First Dates with Adam Sandler himself was a decent rom-com.  Then it hit me.  This isn't a Drew Barrymore movie, it's an Adam Sandler movie, and I had solved the problem.  Grown-Ups aside, when Adam Sandler gets together these days with a few friends to have a few laughs, he decides to film it and is never able to translate what I'm sure is a hilarious few weeks of work for them into an even halfway enjoyable 2 hrs for those of us paying to see it.

In this case, I mainly blame direction, but with the recent Here Comes the Boom and ZooKeeper under his belt, I shouldn't have been surprised. (Frank Coraci, what's happened to you since The Wedding Singer!?!?).  There are some good actors in this movie who can't even deliver simple one liners with any kind of comic timing, and I'm sure they all tried their best.  Few things upset me more than when a bad director blemishes an otherwise laudable career because I bet most people blame the actor.  Of course, there is some blame there as well, since they must have seen the script, and I do give some actual credit to whoever cast this mess because they somehow convinced seasoned as well as up and coming promising actors to participate.

Take your pick of poorly rendered aspects of this movie - offensive racist and sexist jokes/themes, check!  going for over the top physical comedy and failing miserably, check!  There were even scenes that had potential and I had (well, not high, but moderate) hopes for that were sloppily directed and edited, leaving the audience with no payoff. 

There were a couple of things I liked about the film.  1) They were successful in making the strikingly beautiful Bella Thorne look frumpy and she really gave herself over to the part, which let her acting skills shine through when others seemingly gave up.  2) The overall theme of step-families was unexpectedly pretty true to real life.  There were no fairy tales here, just a multitude of varied responses to the often difficult realities of blending families and I appreciate realism, so it got me there.

Overall, the movie was uneven with many lows and no real highs and the only people who might really enjoy it are under 8 years old, but it's rated PG-13 and I wouldn't want to start the conversations this movie would undoubtedly cause with that set, especially while they are simultaneously laughing at potty jokes.  Rent Yours, Mine & Ours (2005, PG, Rene Russo & Dennis Quaid) instead.

2 out of 5 stars

Neighbors (at least I think that's what it was called, all I remember is Zac...) - Movie Review

Yes, I know Seth Rogen was in the movie too, but for the life of me, I can't remember him...I'm just kidding of course, Seth was naturally hysterical as always, but truthfully, Zac Efron is completely underrated and he proves it again in this movie.

A kind of Animal House meets The Burbs, this movie had me laughing throughout and reminded me both of my college days and my baby days, with a good balance of relatable jokes from both.  Yes, it's a bit bawdy, but honestly not as bad as I expected ;).  Oh, it's a bit excessive, but doesn't cross that invisible line that Million Ways to Die in the West did recently.  It's equally funny, but I'll give it a higher rating just for that.  Rose Byrne is surprising as the suburban wife with a party past.  She's the straight woman to Seth's bumbling husband, but her timing is suspiciously good, almost like she planned to be cast in a series of over the top comedies like Bridesmaids and last year's Internship.  Maybe the accent was throwing me off the scent...

The secondary cast members provide good support, but there are no stand-outs, which probably would have made this one of the funniest movies of the year, but it doesn't quite get there.  Also, actually being a parent myself, I kept wondering how they could leave their infant daughter alone in the house while they partied, plotted and sabotaged for hours night after night next door, which was a bit distracting for me as an audience member!

3.5 out of 5 stars

Heaving Breasts and Harry Potter - Belle Movie Review

Belle may be rated PG, but it has more going for it than just the squeaky clean Disney-esque rating would suggest.  Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of heaving of corseted breasts, just no actual bodice ripping.  In fact, the two female leads seemed to be competing to see who could show more breast, shove or heave it higher.  However, it turns out this is more of a political film than a mere chick flick or period piece.  Think of it as Lincoln meets Sense & Sensibility, no let's go with the weaker Emma. 

The established actors in this movie (Emily Watson, Tom Wilkinson and Miranda Richardson) bring needed depth, but are basically wasted in this movie.  However, it was fun to see the conniving characters from Harry Potter brought back to life in the mini reunion between Miranda (Rita Skeeter) and Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy).  I really thought at any moment that Mr. Felton was going to spit Harry's name on accident.  Unfortunately, the lead actress doesn't bring much but a pretty pout and pretty cry to the role, which I suppose is suited to the PG rating and is sufficient to get the point across.

The movie starts off as the story of the lead character who is actually referred to by her first name, Dido, throughout the movie.  Her early years are almost comically curtailed into a very choppy and lacking reminiscence of missed opportunities that could have helped support the storyline better along the way.  However, after we arrive at the present day of the heart of the film, that's when the screenplay shines.  Dido's coming out as a young woman coincides with her crashing into the real world of repressed and racist slavetime England.  As she develops as a young woman and an independent mind, it becomes clear that this is the thread of the story that is why the movie was made.  The politics of slavery in England was new to me and since this is based on a true story, kept my interest, while the typical Jane Austen style romance and societal issues go on in the background.


Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars