Director: Akiva Goldsman
Writers: Akiva Goldsman (screenplay), Mark Helprin (novel)
Stars: Colin Farrell, Jessica Brown Findlay, Russell Crowe

Synopsis: The story of a privileged girl and a charismatic boy whose instant desire sparks a love affair made only more reckless by parents trying to keep them apart.

[/info]

DIRECTION
Here is the initial reaction you’ll have to Akiva Goldsman’s Winter’s Tale…

And as the movie goes along…

Nothing make sense, the CGI is terrible and this pretty much sums everything up…

Grade: F

[divider]

SCRIPT
Oh dear God, I hope the book is better than the screenplay…

This is seriously some of the worst writing I’ve ever seen. You don’t buy into anything for a second. The fantasy elements are forced, the pacing is terrible and nothing seems genuine. Everything is so contrived and ridiculous that it’s almost laughable. Again…

Grade: F

[divider]

RELATED: The Lego Movie Review

[divider]

PERFORMANCES
Colin Farrell is not bad at all but his character is so badly written that it’s hard to believe anything he does. Jessica Brown Findlay is pretty good and probably the most believable of anyone. And Russell Crowe…

I love Russell Crowe and what he was doing in this movie is a head scratcher. To this credit though, his character, like all the others, is written really bad. And then there’s Will Smith…

Will Smith owes us all an apology. He keeps choosing terrible projects to be a part of and what in the world was he doing here? His scenes are terrible and almost made me cry. This is an actor I used to love a lot…

Grade: C

[divider]

SCORE
Finally…

Something worth talking about. The score was done by Rupert Gregson-Williams and his mentor Hans Zimmer. Much like The Counselor last year, this is an awful film with a really beautiful score. It’s the only saving grace for this movie and it’s the only thing that kept my interest. The are some action-like moments that Zimmer and co. just nail but the majority of the film was a laid back orchestral style score that was absolutely gorgeous. So, thank you Hans. Without you, I would’ve had nothing.

Grade: A-

[divider]

FINAL THOUGHTS
This movie is absolutely absurd on all levels. I can believe in flying horses, not aging over time and a battle between angels and demons when it’s used right and makes sense for the story. In this case, we have all those elements with no foundation to support them and it all comes across on screen as laughable. Thank you Hans Zimmer for giving me something.

All in all, I’d rather watch the entire Twilight saga 100x over before seeing this film ever again.

Overall Grade: F

Director: Shana Feste
Writers: Shana Feste, Joshua Safran
Stars: Gabriella Wilde, Alex Pettyfer, Bruce Greenwood

Synopsis: The story of a privileged girl and a charismatic boy whose instant desire sparks a love affair made only more reckless by parents trying to keep them apart.

[/info]

INTRO
Valentine’s Day is here (fellas I hope you are ready) and this weekend the movies should be very busy we three movies that gives us three different love stories, with two of them being remakes. In one corner, we have the classic remake of Endless Love. Much like the reptiles that I keep, I come off as having a cold-heart, in reality I sometimes do enjoy a nice love story. Last year, About Time ended up being one of my Top 5 Movies of 2013. About Time was no where near perfect, but then again hardly any movie is; it was the message that resonated with me.

DIRECTION
Director Shana Feste and Co-Screenwriter Joshua Safran do a fantastic job of planting a formula and sticking to it (they must be Seattle Seahawk fans). Very often these love stories fail to keep the attention of Men but this film has a few jokes that work well and are not overdone. Another problem with these love stories is way too much affection. Endless Love did not have a single kiss between Jade and David until almost the half-way point which allowed more focus on the actual storyline. The film also shows that Love can change you or inspire you to do better while also illustrating that you should never be afraid to chase your dreams.

Grade: A

[divider]

SCRIPT
Endless Love tells the story of Jade Butterfield (Gabriella Wilde), a sheltered but privileged teen that becomes enthralled with David Elliot (Alex Pettyfer), a simple hard-working man with a cloudy past. Jade and David fall in love almost immediately and there love going gets stronger when Jade’s father Hugh (Bruce Greenwood) is hell bent on keeping them apart. The story is basic and has been used many times over. Feste and Safran quickly change the dynamic of this film within the first couple of minutes though, from what we are used to in these types of movies. Endless Love by no means avoids the usual cliché love story, but the flow of the story keeps you enough to overcome all the affection.

Grade: B

[divider]

RELATED: The Lego Movie Review

[divider]

PERFORMANCES
Neither Wilde nor Pettyfer are ideal actors for this role as they are too much like Ken and Barbie. However, they do work together very well to make the film enjoyable. Joely Richardson tried very hard to expand her role of Jade’s mother, Ann. Greenwood played an excellent Hugh while Robert Patrick played David’s dad very well in his limited role.

Grade: C

[divider]

SCORE
The score featured music by Florence and The Machine and Elli Goluding. As great as the soundtrack was, I cannot grade it very high as they did not even play the Endless Love song. The Endless Love song was the cornerstone of the first film and in fact it is one of the best songs I have ever heard. Not having this song play is like having Jeopardy with no sound.

Grade: D

[divider]

IS IT WORTH IT?
Needless to say, based on the trailer I assumed this movie was going to be a complete disaster, and although not as good as About Time, it is not a bad movie. Having already seen RoboCop, About Last Night and Winter’s Tale, my clear choice this weekend for any movie goers would be Endless Love.

Overall Grade: C

Director: José Padilha
Writers: Joshua Zetumer (screenplay), Edward Neumeier
Stars: Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Abbie Cornish

Synopsis: In 2028 Detroit, when Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) – a loving husband, father and good cop – is critically injured in the line of duty, the multinational conglomerate OmniCorp sees their chance for a part-man, part-robot police officer.

[/info]

INTRO
In 1987, Paul Verhoeven introduced us to RoboCop. Since its initial production two sequels were made in 1990 and 1993 respectively. In typical Hollywood fashion, they choose to remake a classic. José Padilha is the man in charge of rebranding RoboCop in 2014.

DIRECTION
Within the first 10 minutes of the film, Director José Padilha clearly shows us that this film is not trying to upstage big brother, but rather please him. One thing that auidences will notice is that this film is more focused on political ideologies and technology control rather than action. The reason for RoboCop’s creation in this film is rooted in politics. OmniCorp CEO Raymond Sellars plan is to create a man-machine which, through the endorsement of pro-robot media will convince voters and politicians to finally allow Robot enforcers in the USA. Padilha rather than focusing on one concept, focuses on several themes which were too rushed. The film has a rough last act as it is very rushed with poor camera shots and rushed ending. One obvious difference from the original is the choice to make the suit Jet Black. Seeing the Jet Black suit was refreshing because it gave the film its own identity and of course the suit was amazing. One thing I did not like was the poor use of the Detroit City. Taken place in a futuristic Detroit, we did not really get any glimpse of the city as the best scenes in the film took place in other parts of the world.

Grade: C

[divider]

SCRIPT
The story itself, as I stated above, is not really about RoboCop, but rather how OmniCorp is trying to be a financial juggernaut and RoboCop is merely the “Spider-Man” of Detroit. What I really liked about the story is that there is that battle between the Man and the Machine. Alex Murphy in this film deals a lot with his emotions especially his love for his family and it is nice to see that even love can override a computer. The film has more scenes dealing with political jargon than it does actual action and for me it was a huge distraction. The action scenes were nothing special and in fact those who play Call of Duty or Halo are going to find the shooting scenes very comicial.

Grade: B

[divider]

MOVIE REVIEW: The Lego Movie

[divider]

PERFORMANCES
The saving grace of this film is the great acting by all the main actors. Joel Kinnaman played Alex Murphy well and RoboCop even better. Gary Oldman played Dr. Norton, the man responsible for creating the RoboCop suit also very extremely well. Michael Keaton, played a very convincing Raymond Sellars. The political newscaster was played by none other than Samuel L. Jackson and I always enjoy everything he is in.

Grade: A

[divider]

SCORE
Pedro Bromfman did the score and his efforts were very weak as the score was very repetitive and bland. There were moments when I expected a Cloud Atlas like soundtrack but no it thought that by being louder will draw more emotion. It did not work.

Grade: D

[divider]

IS IT WORTH IT?
RoboCop is going to be a hard sell because the movie was not bad, but it was not great either. The original film was done so much better on all cylinders and unlike most other remakes I am sure most people have seen the original in some regard. I answer the big question on whether it’s worth it or not? The movie to me was enjoyable, but it is not worth more than the matinee ticket price.

Overall Grade: C

Director: Phil Lord and Chris Miller
Writers: Phil Lord and Chris Miller
Stars: Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, Liam Neeson, and Morgan Freeman

Synopsis: An ordinary LEGO minifigure, mistakenly thought to be the extraordinary MasterBuilder, is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil LEGO tyrant from gluing the universe together.

[/info]

INTRO
Everyone has had to encounter with LEGOS in their lifetime. When I was a kid I always enjoyed playing with LEGOS because it always allowed you to use your imagination and creativity. As the years went we hardly have any toys that are not electronic or digital. LEGO always stayed with their brand image and expanded to video games and various print sources. The LEGO Company has finally decided to construct a feature length film and right away I knew this would be a brick of a good time.

DIRECTION
Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller deliver a superb film that bridges the film so every LEGO lover young or old will find enjoyment out of the film. Lord and Miller are successful because they bring us the imagination of a 9 year old with humor that everyone can enjoy. Any one that builds Legos knows that there are those that build by Instruction and those that build by creativity. Lord and Miller must have been Lego kids because those two styles are prevalent in the film and it makes you appreciate the other one. Another challenge that the directors faced was the visuals. Most of the film is CGI of course, however it is shot so smoothly that it seems like it is almost stop-motion.

Grade: A

[divider]

SCRIPT
Lord and Miller also wrote the script for The Lego Movie and for me, it was impressive how well they built the Lego culture into this film. The fact that Emmett is a boring mini-figure at first, as any Lego builder knows a construction worker is the lowest brick on the Lego system. Kids and some adults marveled at Batman and other high up Lego characters. As for the story itself, it is very easy to follow and deals with Emmett who is recruited to stop the evil Lord Business. In reviewing movies of this nature I usually see how the target audience is reacting, and in this case kids were excited and understood what was going on. If the kids are happy, parents are happy, everyone is happy.

Grade: A+

[divider]

MOVIE REVIEW: The Monuments Men

[divider]

PERFORMANCES
Chris Pratt does an excellent job voicing Emmett, I believe that the movie will not be as good if it was not for him. The only gripe I have about the characters is there was no love for Olivia and Stephanie of Lego Friends. Elizabeth Banks voiced Wyldstyle perfectly so the lack of many female characters was not a big deal. Every other role was voiced with no issues from me.

Grade: A

[divider]

SCORE
If you do not go home singing Everything is Awesome, than I cannot help you. Mark Mothersbaugh was the man in charge of bringing music to Lego’s. The challenge of these types of films is being creative in your selection and Mothersbaugh makes great choices and by far, the Everything is Awesome song was a fan favorite.

Grade: A

[divider]

IS IT WORTH IT?
Absolutely this film is worth it. The animation is brilliant, the humor is fun and it’s everything you’d want from this world. Definitely go see this movie.

Overall Grade: A

Director: Mark Waters
Writers: Richelle Mead (novel), Daniel Waters (screenplay)
Stars: Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry, Danila Kozlovsky, Olga Kurylenko

Synopsis: Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, half human/vampire, guardians of the Moroi, peaceful, mortal vampires living discretely within our world. Her legacy is to protect the Moroi from bloodthirsty, immortal Vampires, the Strigoi. This is her story.

[/info]

INTRO
You can blame the Twlight Series for the sudden urge to make all books of that nature into a film. The only successful film thus far in my eyes is the Hunger Games series and it is simply because of Jennifer Lawrence. Nevertheless, the next batter is Vampire Academy. Vampire Academy is a movie that I never heard about until last week and after finding it was a book I knew right away what to expect.

DIRECTION
Vampire Academy is directed by Mark Waters-if you are best known for directing Mean Girls and Freaky Friday than that cannot be a good thing. As soon as the film starts it is a train wreck with a very fast paced moving storyline and a plot that has more layers than a Stephen King novel. I noticed that half the theater was either asleep or bored within the first 20 minutes of this film. Waters does the one thing I cannot stand in films and that is flashbacks and dream-like sequences. Those two can be used efficiently if it enhances the film but in Waters’ case it simply makes you even more lost and confused. The fighting scenes also were not shot very well and in fact I think I have seen better shot videos on a Blackberry. I am also tired of all these Twlight inspired movies using vampires because this film embarrassed vampires so badly that I would not be surprised if Dracula files a lawsuit.

Grade: D

[divider]

SCRIPT
The plot follows Dhampir (half-human/vampire) guardian-in-training Rose Hathaway (Zoey Deutch) and her royal Moroi (the peaceful, mortal vampires) best friend Lissa Dragomir (Lucy Fry) as they are dragged back to their school-St. Vladimir’s Academy. The two girls soon realize that the threat of the Strigoi (bloodthirsty, undead vampires) is bigger than ever. The dialogue was very cheesy and I hope the novel was written more coherently because this film had too many characters and we hardly knew much about any of them. I think the script was written for people who already read the book. The plot is so dry that 5 people walked out during the middle of the film.

Grade: F

[divider]

MOVIE REVIEW: The Monuments Men

[divider]

PERFORMANCES
There is not much to say about the performances of the film except that the film has a weird love relationship between Rose and her much older mentor, Dimitri Belikov (Danila Kozlovsky). The movie never really gives us a chance to get to know any of the characters because the plot went quicker than a NBA basketball game.

Grade: F

[divider]

SCORE
If there is any shining light on this movie, it would have to be its score. The music was composed by Rolfe Kent. Kent is no stranger to films like these as he also did the score for Freaky Friday. The music he selected was crafted to fit perfectly for the target audience and featured songs from such artists such as Katy Perry, Sky Ferreira, Natalia Kills, Au Revoir Simone. This of course was not enough to save the film.

Grade: B

[divider]

IS IT WORTH IT?
Based on the crowd reaction and my thoughts on the fail I predict this film to fail at the box office and also make my top 10 worst movies of 2014. Thankfully, I did not waste my money and I’m hoping you will go see The Lego Movie if you must watch a movie this weekend

Overall Grade: F

Director: George Clooney
Writers: George Clooney (screenplay), Grant Heslov (screenplay)
Stars: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman

Synopsis: An unlikely World War II platoon are tasked to rescue art masterpieces from Nazi thieves and return them to their owners.

[/info]

DIRECTION
When you put George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray and John Goodman in the same movie, it can’t be bad right? Well, Clooney’s The Monuments Men is unfortunately in that boat and it’s sad for me to say that. Clooney is trying to play off of the art theme and plays the film artsy, but also tries to keep it dramatic at the same time. Some parts are artsy, while the next scene is dramatic, which is followed by scenes that are cartoonish and comedic. The movie has no idea what it wants to be and what kind of tone it wants to deliver. Clooney tries to hit on all those beats but mostly it just falls flat and is too messy for any sort of cohesiveness it needed to solidify it’s foundation. The third act of the film was much stronger when there was a clearer sense of direction and more focus. Overall though, Clooney had the right heart, but just didn’t know what to do with the story and actors he got to be involved.

Grade: D+

[divider]

SCRIPT
The script, like the direction, is just all over the place. The story itself is a pretty interesting one and a story that most of us probably had never known before. And to credit the story a little bit, the editing for this film is awful and probably chopped up the original scrip quite a bit. However, either way, you had the opportunity to do something really special with a relatively unknown story about saving culture and art and how that matters. And while the story does touch on that a little, it’s mostly fickle and frail. Each of the characters are not explored well and you’re never engaged with what’s going on. It almost feels like a few short stories trying to work together but there’s not much that ties them up. There are elements that are interesting but the pacing isn’t great and nothing to solidify it.

Grade: C-

[divider]

MOVIE REVIEW: About Last Night

[divider]

PERFORMANCES
This is actually a hard topic to breakdown because the story and the characters aren’t really delivered very well so the acting isn’t anything that will blow you away. That being said, the performances are fine, despite a lack of direction. Clooney is the leader of the bunch and has some pretty solid scenes, including one with German officer toward the end of the film. Matt Damon plays his character pretty straight forward, as does John Goodman and Bill Murray. Goodman and Murray do have some comedic scenes but they don’t work very well within the context of the story. The performances are never distracting though and they do a fine job, just needed better direction.

Grade: B+

[divider]

SCORE
This is also very tough to breakdown and again, it comes down to a lack of focus and direction. Alexandre Desplat is a fantastic composer and the music itself was very good. If you listen to it without seeing the movie, you’ll like the tone and themes Desplat bring to the table. It has that 1940’s, World War II kind of feel that you’d expect from a period piece like this one. However, much of the music doesn’t really work within the movie because it enhances the unfocusness of Clooney’s direction and only supports the messiness of the film.

Grade: B- (Music itself is an A though)

[divider]

FINAL THOUGHTS
The Monuments Men is incredibly disappointing, not just because it involves great actors, but because this story is actually really great and deserves a better adaptation than what we see here. That being said, you still get a good idea of what happened and the heroism these guys had to save modern art and what they went through to save that culture.

Overall Grade: C-