Just saw “Planes: Fire and Rescue”

Another strait to DVD movie with a few good moments.

Although both of the "Planes" movies were pretty much uninspired they both never shy away from the physical dangers and emotions that the characters go through. I'm not saying that they have Pixar, Disney, or DreamWorks level depth but they are better then the trailers make them out to be. If nothing else the movie has moments of ambition, honor, duty, and sacrifice that other movies would fail to convey properly.

I love animation but this movie seems to be just another small profit footnote in Disney's animation history.

Just saw “The Purge: Anarchy”

An interesting premise but an execution that is too annoying to be taken seriously.

The biggest drawback in this movie is the dialogue with none of the protagonists saying something believable in the given situations they are in. It's so terrible it actually distracts from the Rich v.s. Poor conflict that movie is suppose to be propagating. By the end part of me wanted to believe that the movie was being cleaver by explaining that the real conflict was the The State v.s The People and that the Purge itself was a failed government program that is being pushed for the governments own sake. However I doubt many will care to notice or even remember that point even as it is revealed so near the end.

Movies like this are meant to be politically insightful entertainment but the only amusing insights I had came from my own imagination filling in the gaps after I muscled through the annoying dialogue.

Just saw “Begin Again”

Every striving artist cliche brought to life by great acting chemistry and music.

This movie is basically the musician version of an underdog story except the only real antagonist is the emotional duress of the characters. Mark Ruffalo and Keira Knightley are great as the two leads of the film and so is everyone else for that matter. There is also a wide variety of musical numbers with Knightley actually being a great singer.

This film isn't my first choice for a movie day but it was enjoyable.

Just saw “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”

Prequels can be exciting after all!

A problem with prequels is that the people who know the franchise already know how the story basically ends; so when handled poorly it will seem too convenient or ridiculous when certain plot points take place. The Star Wars prequels are the best examples. However this movie compensates that by having richly developed characters, defining action scenes, and incredible computer animation. Best of all if you don't know the franchise the movie is pretty engaging on its own merits. The only real problem is that the human characters are very underdeveloped as the human race is more like a prop to frame the changes of the ape society.

After watching this movie I am very curious if there will be a trilogy that will successfully fill in the details about the world before the Carlton Heston character arrives.

Just saw "Tammy"

A slightly humorous film that only serves to normalize secular life and sin.

As entertaining as it is to watch Melissa McCarthy and Susan Sarandon act together there isn't much to this movie's entertainment value except for the set up of watching Tammy lose her job, her car, and her marriage. Its basically broken people having a broken field trip which makes it funny to watch but it also makes it less memorable. As par for the course the most interesting and decent characters are the homosexuals with the only good male characters being Tammy's new love interest (Mark Duplass) and Tammy's dad (Dan Aykroyd) who wishes to murder Tammy's cheating husband and is only in the movie for 10 minutes.

The movie certainly isn't boring but it's just not as funny as the trailers would imply.

Just saw "Earth to Echo"

This mockumentary reversion of E.T. is an perfect reminder that cheap gimmicks and melodrama are no substitute for fully developed characters and a well paced story.

The movie is basically driven by the assumption that if you have an adorable alien character or precocious child characters that automatically makes the movie good. However the reason why mockumentaries like Paranormal Activity, Cloverfeild, and Chronicle are good is because we have time to meet and relate to the characters and absorb the environment. The events of this movie, which mainly revolve around the course of one day, have the kind of story and character arcs that should have taken place over the course of a week; for example a girl who suddenly joins the adventurous boy trio despite having no previous friendship establish with any of them. The techno alien Echo is interesting to see but there's noting really original nor miraculous about him, except for the scenes that have already been exploited by the trailers.

This movie was suppose to be a surprise adventure of true enduring friendship but overall I left the theater board and yearning to watch E.T. again.

Just saw "Deliver us from Evil (2014)"

It may have a positive illustration of faith but the only redeeming factor of this jump scare exorcism movie is having been based on actual events.

It's near impossible to make a traditional movie arc with materiel that is based on a true story. You can't really add to the characters or alter the events that occurred which is very difficult in this case because so many things are happening; criminal investigation, hand to hand combat, strain on family relations, the exploration of a supernatural, exorcisms, and the rediscovery of faith. This movie could have been more informative on the subject of demonology as the main character, Officer Ralph Sarchie, begins his inevitable leap into it however that might have distracted from the story of personal transformation. With so many things going on the film feels a bit disjointed at times and the overall experience is more like a sample of what might have been. Also the heavy reliance on loud noise jump scares does get a annoying, if not painful to the ears.

This movie is supposedly based on real events, so shouldn't I be more scared?

Happy Fourth of July!!! Movie Recommendation: 1776

As part of a new fourth of July tradition I watch one of my favorite movies; 1776.

Just Saw Dinesh D'souza's "America"

Although simplistic and rather scatter shot in its presentation this documentary inevitably makes some points that some might not know or consider.

The information in this documentary might be old history but for those who adhere to people like Michael Moore (I use to) or the American left narrative you would think this information didn't exist. D'souza doesn't try to be fully in depth as he is only trying to illustrate a point that most politically aware people already know. Some might say it's preaching to the choir but it's also informing to anyone who bothers to buy a ticket.

Documentaries like this are meant to start debates so if you are on the American right and you're going to see this documentary then bring along a friend on the American left and debate.