Shop Talk
By BOP Staff
August 21, 2014
BoxOfficeProphets.com
J. Don Birnam: X-Men: Days of Future Past: I enjoyed this movie a lot. A lot of the drama and sequence was predictable, but some of the beginning and end sequences (I don't want to spoil it too much) involving some of the main characters were different and refreshing. I liked the bringing together of some of the cast, and the pace was overall well done. The movie could have done without some of the emotional, soul-searching pitfalls, particularly those involving the professor, that the franchise tends to fall into, but the action was sufficient to overcome this. Also, this franchise arguably has the best acting cast out there right now, and that's a breath of fresh air for summer blockbusters.
Transformers 4: Here's another movie I would recommend happily to those that are looking for entertaining summer fare. Some of the interpersonal relationship plot points are ridiculous and infantile (mostly the relationship between the main character and his daughter), but that has become expected from this franchise. Interestingly enough, the plot has points similar to the new X-Men movie: the main heroes are made mortal by a more advanced enemy, both created by humans, and both eventually dangerous for humanity. What's even more obvious is that this plot device derives almost directly from the central premise of the Terminator franchise. No matter, because the effects of this movie are spectacular, the cars pretty cool, and the action sequences highly entertaining. You won't find any ground broken, but you will be thoroughly amused through this flick.
Maleficent: I thought Angelina played a stupendous Maleficent and I enjoyed the innovative take on the old story. This movie is, to be fair, no different than the Oz live action movie we saw in recent months in the sense that they freely use and discard plot elements from the old story and make it into something that most fans scoff at but can be amused by. What's nice about Maleficent is Jolie's presence, as she's the perfect evil vixen turned good mother type to fit into the role.
Edge of Tomorrow: By far this is my favorite action movie of the summer so far. I thought the plot was quite clever and entertaining, and some of the symbolism and allegories subtle enough to provoke some thought. I actually agree with Max that I enjoyed Oblivion, but this was actually better. The ending is a bit confusing and somewhat off from the storyline you have come to expect and, to be sure, some of the supporting characters are action movie clichés. But the effects were cool, the new enemy intriguing, and the overall development well executed. Director Doug Liman always does better with this type of movie than when he ventures into more serious fare like the Valerie Plame bomb, and I hope he makes more movies like this.
Godzilla: In continuing with my theme of agreeing with Max, I have to say that this is my biggest disappointment of the summer so far, the one movie I can truly say I did not enjoy. The trailer looked so promising and yet the story was completely reinvented in ways that not even the most open-minded fan, I fear, would tolerate. To make matters worse, you simply could not bring yourself to care about most of the main heroes (who were sidelined anyway because someone else stole the show) and most of them were incredibly annoying by the end of the film. To add insult to injury, the destruction scenes were limited, unimaginative, and flat-out boring.
Begin Again: I saved this for last because I saw it the most recently and is the best movie of the summer, for me, thus far. Not only is the music (composed by the composer of Once) fantastic and perfectly in sync with the movie as it develops, it is masterfully vocalized by Adam Levine (not surprisingly) and Keira Knightley (who knew the girl could sing?). I have never been a Keira fan, but she finally won me over just a tad. Mark Ruffalo is also superb, as he is in his element in this type of emotional life/family dramas like the Kids are All Right (where he plays a similar character) and even Eternal Sunshine. Some of the scenes are truly moving, and emotional without being hokey or contrived. As an added bonus, the movie is essentially a tribute to New York, which I appreciated. I highly recommend this movie.
Kim Hollis: I'm surprised people found Godzilla boring. When I watched, I was frankly not expecting the monster to show up as soon as it did because of all the comments I had heard about the movie's dullness. I think the film moves along at a pretty decent pace. With that said, I didn't love the film - I'd probably give it a B-. I liked how they handled Godzilla but the human scenes did less for me.
You can count me in with the group that loved X-Men: Days of Future Past. I was a big fan of X-Men: First Class (in fact, it's one of those movies I can watch over and over again), and seeing those actors recreate the characters alongside the older versions of themselves was a treat. I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere. I may never enjoy Michael Fassbender more than I do as Magneto. I admit that I do find First Class to be the superior film, though. I think Matthew Vaughn has tighter direction than Bryan Singer.
Edge of Tomorrow was indeed terrific, and I say that as someone who went into the film with high hopes based on the reviews I'd read. I always like Tom Cruise despite his... eccentricities and even occasional insincerity. His persona really worked particularly well for this film. Emily Blunt showed a different side of herself as an actress, and Bill Paxton is hilarious in a smaller role. A lot of people have complained about the ending, but I knew that was exactly where they'd go with it from the moment the reason for the repeating day was explained. I'm surprised people had that much of a disconnect. I warmly recommend the film.
Speaking of warmly recommending, How to Train Your Dragon 2 is a delight. I'm a little heartbroken that it hasn't performed better at the domestic box office, because it is both a natural continuation of the first story and a facile combination of humor and seriousness. I think that people may be bothered by how somber it is - and now that I think about it, this might be a tough film for smaller children - but it is completely heartfelt and moves things forward in the best way possible. Hiccup and Toothless are wonderful.
Bad Words was a lot funnier than I ever anticipated, with Jason Bateman completely cracking me up. It might have been lowered expectations at play, I admit. Still, there's just something endlessly amusing about watching him attempt to mess with a teenager's mind in the midst of a spelling bee.
Finally, Snowpiercer is an interesting apocalyptic science fiction film that can be a little tough to watch at times, but that I'd recommend. I'm happy to see Chris Evans taking a role like this (I know that he's planning on smaller films moving forward, which I assume is an option because of Captain America), and I liked him a lot. Song Kang-ho, who I last saw in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, is terrific. The film has moments that will not be for the squeamish. I won't go so far as to call it unique, but it's a good story executed in a powerful way.