Aladdin

 

I’m sure most of you have heard about this by now, one of the most talented actors of our time has lost the battle to depression. Robin Williams had a niche for being such an iconic source of laughter. He knew how to make you laugh and cry through the art of cinema and that’s something that did not go unnoticed. I decided to do a movie review of one of my favorite Robin William movies in honor of his memory and all of the laughs he brought to children and the knack he had for bringing the child out in all of us. As expected, I immediately watched Mrs. Doubtfire right after I heard the news. Reminiscing in the wonderful humor Robin William shared with audiences, I remember my favorite role of his. Though this role was animated, he gave it so much life and humanity. The Genie in Aladdin is one of the BEST supporting roles in the history of supporting roles. Not only is Aladdin one of the best movies released in Disney’s cinematic golden age (alongside Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King), but the Genie steals the show the second “A Friend Like Me” debuts in the movie. I’m actually listening to the soundtrack while writing this review so I can rekindle my childhood memories in my mind and document them in this blog post. It’s not very often where the supporting character is the LARGEST character on the movie poster…just goes to show you. I believe this movie encompasses the kind and humurous spirit of Robin Williams he shared with us on the big screen. Robin Williams is the master of ad libs and as I’m listening to the soundtrack I am starting to realize how much of the Genie’s dialogue was probably pure improv. The movie follows Aladdin, a “street rat” that has a forbidden romance with the Princess of Agrabah, a typical plot scheme for 90s Disney. This movie is heart warming and was the first time Disney animation incorporated true movie magic. Anyone who saw this movie as a kid cannot lie to me and tell me they didn’t FREAK OUT when they saw the Cave of Wonder…it was epic. Jafar was a pretty amazing bad guy as well. The Sultan’s advisor with a hidden agenda and a mischievous talking parrot is a pretty wonderful set up for a perfectly evil baddy by Disney standards. Nowadays Disney is going for that whole “the villain is misunderstood” plot line which I thinks cheats the audience of the fulfilling baddies like there was in the good ol’ days. Jafar is one of the few Disney baddies that doesn’t even need a theme song he is just that perfectly disgustingly evil. Mwahaha. Following Belle from Beauty and the Beast, Jasmine is one of the first Disney princesses that had goals and dreams that didn’t involve a man, but happened to fall in love on the wonderful journey she went on with Aladdin. If you claim you never had “A Whole New World” stuck in your head, you’re lying to yourself. There’s always that turning point where two characters that were unsure or maybe even hated each other have some experience together and fall in love, and in this movie, it takes place on a flying carpet. I can show you the worldddddddd. All in all, it’s one of the most epic “falling in love” scenes I have ever witnessed and you could only imagine how it made little 6 year old me feel sitting in front of the TV screen on my regular carpet THAT DOES NOT FLY in utter disappointment as well as joy. FYI some spoilers are going to be in this review from here on out if you have not already seen this Disney masterpiece. One of my favorite scenes in the movie is the ultimate action scene where Jafar takes control of the Genie and the Genine is absolutely aware of the wrong he is doing, but can’t control it. I can’t exactly explain what it is, but when I see good characters that are forced to do something bad against their will and you can see the pain in their face as they consciously know they are doing something wrong is one of the most amazing things to see an actor/actress achieve in a movie (even if it’s animated). Back to the character I really want to focus on…Genie. His overall persona in the film just fills you with pure joy. His character takes it upon himself to be a source of comedic relief and a role model chop full of modest advice. The fact that anyone who worked on this movie can vouch for Robin Williams in stating that he basically created the character himself and so much of Genie emulated who he truly was only makes you love and appreciate what he gave to the world even more. Overall, this movie is a classic Disney animation that will bring the child out of adults and children will appreciate just the same. Laughs, honesty, humility, a struggling kid that lives on the street and his claim to fame (the early Slum dog Millionaire), and a fulfilling baddy are the ingredients to Aladdin that makes this movie a classic. RIP Robin Williams, you will be missed. Thank you for inspiring me to be a permanent child.

I just had to add this in 🙂

XOXO

KMarie

 

 

 

 

 

 

Up in the Air (2009)

I stumbled upon this movie on HBO the other day and was wondering what took me so long to watch this sentimental heart wrenching film. If you are an extremely empathetic person, this movie might diminish your happiness for a day or two. This film focuses on the isolated (and quite frankly depressing) life of a corporate “down-sizer” named Ryan Bingham (George Clooney). When a young innovative woman starts work at his firm, his way of living “up in the air” takes a huge turn. Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) starts work at the corporate down-sizing firm with George Clooney’s character and starts implanting new technology into the firm. Before Natalie, the initiative of the corporation was to travel all around America and (literally) fire people. This movie took place right after the economy took a dump and corporations were letting go of a majority of their employees. This movie has a road-trip aspect added to it, or should I say “air-trip.” Natalie and Ryan embark on a journey to fire people so Natalie understands the aspect of how the cooperation functioned before she tried to innovate it, and that’s where all the fun begins…if you can really call it fun. If watching the depressing reactions of people getting fired isn’t bleak enough, following the lives of the main characters doesn’t bring much light. However, the stories are beautiful and honest. The director, Jason Reitman, prevents a full-blown depression by adding a lot of humor to the story as well. I felt as if Anna Kendrick and George Clooney have a sort of “father-daughter” chemistry in this movie and learn from their opposite lifestyles. It’s refreshing to watch an Adult American comedy that deals with the real world, especially at a moment where times were very pressing for the working class. Americans are all too familiar with this moment in recent history, either knowing someone whom was laid off or being laid off themselves. There is so much honesty to the film that coincides with human nature so the audience can relate to this story so well. Bingham is a typical anti-marriage character married to their work and set in his ways; however, you can’t seem to hate his character. In fact, you end up pitying him. Clooney brings a relatable and charming aspect to the character that you can easily believe his character lived his entire life lonely and empty. This movie tells a story about corporate brutality with a romantic comedy atmosphere. It’s unique and well-played out. I have come to the conclusion George Clooney and Anna Kendrick need to be in a film together again, what a freakin’ pair. It’s hard to describe the endearing relationship they have. It’s almost as if father-figure meets mentor meets best friend. Kendrick’s character, Natalie, starts to become undone when she goes on the road with Bingham. She starts to realize the pain of firing people, and how painful it is to be the messenger of such grave news. She tries to emulate Bingham’s autonomous personality, but slowly realizes how unfit she is for the job. In the end, it isn’t a movie about the dreadful economy – it’s about learning to maintain and build relationships with people and the value of being attached to a place, job, or loved one. Bingham’s character starts to realize how lost he become flying high above the clouds for too long, and how his life steered off course in the process. This movie aids in the realization of the idea of home and family, and how we should cherish them. Up in the Air uses an interesting perspective and story telling platform with a comedic twist to alleviate you from the painful reality of the movie. A beautiful story that will make you cry, laugh, and appreciate those around you.

XOXO

KMarie

 

Guardians of the Galaxy: Blockbuster of the Year

Action packed, thrilling, hilarious, and sincere are all adjectives I would use to describe this revamped superhero movie. Young StarLord/Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is the Han Solo-esque emblematic asshole with a big heart deep down that goes through a hilarious and enthralling turn of events to discover his heroic attitude. Seems like a few movies we’ve seen before, but this movie has a twist. The strange turn of events that bring the outlaw/criminal/assassin/psychopathic gang together is intricate, elaborate, and detailed. These characters have such depth and interesting back stories I just want to learn more about! Gamora (the badass green chick/Zoe Saldana) has this amazing backstory I would love for the second movie (officially announced at Comic Con) to delve into because it seems that majestic. Now, what you all have been waiting for, the freakin’ Raccoon (Bradley Cooper). I’ll be honest, that Raccoon was the absurd, amusing, rude, and endearing icing on the cake of this film. He was the peanut butter to the peanut butter and jelly sandwich because let’s be honest, a just jelly sandwich is kind of gross and needs peanut butter to make it complete. This hilarious, crotch scratching, and outspoken experimental Raccoon ties together the humor and action in this film. The sequences of this movie are phenomenal and I feel attention needed to be paid to appreciate how wonderfully they organized this movie. The action packed scenes are perfectly balanced with the humorous and emotional scenes. You never get stuck in a series of explosions or a sappy story, the dialogue always loops you back and takes you on another adventure, which makes this movie so funny and alluring. With every amazing movie, there are a few faults (fewer than most in this wonderful Marvel concoction, but still a few). Drax the Destroyer (David Bautista) is definitely the only fault in casting I found in this movie. Now don’t get me wrong, his acting is not that bad. The only reason I pointed it out is because compared to his fellow cast members, it is a bit noticeable. It’s like the kind of acting where someone is talking like they know there is a camera in front of them. However, don’t fret. I would rate him as an average new-to-the-industry actor. I feel as if he will adapt and take notes from his co-workers and grow from here. For future reference, if I rate an actor on the same level as Kristen Stewart, there’s no hope. So be thankful he’s well above that mark! Apart from the acting, his actual character had very little to offer compared to the mad genius, Rocket the Raccoon, and Groot who reveals his secret magical powers throughout the film. One of the quirks added to Drax was his endearing literality (he doesn’t understand sarcasm or metaphors) that was clearly intended to distinguish him just made him all the more disappointing compared to the rest of the crew.The baddy in this film, Ronan (Lee Pace), was average. He isn’t a memorable all-star baddy; however, he did his job as a baddy (aka you hate his guts). Am I going to go out and buy myself a Ronan action-figure? Probably not. Do I own a Loki action-figure? You bet I do. I wouldn’t rate him among the Greats, but he sufficed and fulfilled his bad boy duties in the film. I would rank him next to the Dark Elf in Thor 2: The Dark World. He does his job, but I didn’t resonate or connect to the baddy in any way shape or form. Oh, and there’s one more character that needs to feel some love. GROOT! (Vin Diesel) If you would have told me 7 years ago I would watch an animated tree and fall in love with his sincerity and big eyes I would have thought you were crazy, but it is just crazy enough to work. Groot just gets me, guys. He’s just this sweet little ol’ tree that’s trying to keep his sidekick (Rocket the Raccoon) in check. Every now and then he has these badass moments where he uses his tree-like abilities to wipe out the baddies, he is one of those characters that’s meant to blend into the background to tie it together but ends up standing out more than the main characters in some moments, he just looks at you with those sweet big eyes whenever another character is acting like an asshole, and he extends the love (literally) with his branches. (You’ll understand that reference when you see the film). 😉 Hands down, a wonderful film that all ages will enjoy. This movie has something in store for everyone. You don’t have to be a comic book nerd to love and adore this film. The only risk Marvel really took with this movie was incorporating the quirky and atypical characters, but not only did they work, they went above and beyond my expectations. This cast works wonderfully together, the dialogue is funny and moving (which is difficult for a movie to achieve both without sounding tacky), the special effects are astounding, and the story is captivating. I expect this movie to be loved for generations and become an adored blockbuster. James Gunn remembers what it’s like to have a movie high and clearly emulated it for all of us so we could leave the movie with that wonderful feeling and voice in your head saying, “I have to see that again.”

I’m in a Kardashian kind of mood, so I figured it’s only appropriate to rate this film by using ugly crying Kim Kardashian. Enjoy 🙂

5 out of 5 crying Kim Kardashians for GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY.

XOXO

KMarie

X-Men: Days of Future Past & Iggy Azalea

 

Before I get into my movie-critic zone, I came up with this fantastic grading system for my movies. Typically, people will put 3 out of 5 stars or whatever, but that’s BORING. In honor of the fact that I stumbled across Iggy Azalea on my way to Starbucks this afternoon, I decided to make this review whatever amount out of 5 Iggys. I figured every week I’m fascinated or inspired by a certain celebrity, I’ll make them my rating system. Don’t worry, I have a new fascination literally every week. Alright so now that’s taken care of, time to get down to business.

So I was a little troubled about what movie to do next seeing as being a full time working woman allows for very little time to attend the movies and Netflix cannot always suffice my movie craving hunger with mediocre romantic comedies. This movie came out a little while ago, but it is hands down a fan favorite and for a good reason. X-Men Days of Future Past tells the tale of a world at war with a security apparatus that got out of control and has been destroying both the human and mutant race. The X-Men send Wolverine into the past in a desperate effort to change history. One obvious flaw was that time seemed to be a little obstacle as Wolverine frolicked around the past with no consequences in the present for quite some time when the mutant putting him there was bleeding eternally from it,  but a very minor detail compared to the film in whole. The government’s attempts to expand American security to protect the nation and the result of a complete war and flat out annihilation of the human race is definitely a hot topic in Hollywood right now. X-Men takes an exciting outlook on the idea by incorporating sci-fi, character development (young and ignorant Charles Xavier compared to old and wise Professor Xavier), and everyones’ favorite and most alluring subject in high school…AMERICAN HISTORY. Hell yeah, ‘Merica.

I wouldn’t say this movie is by any means groundbreaking, but it was well-polished and tied up many loose ends from the previous movies. I, personally, feel as if Star Trek: Into Darkness took a more exotic and other-worldly twist on the desperate attempt to expand security to ultimately protect the world and have it obviously turn against them, but X-Men had a unique American prospect added to it. It was interesting to look back into the 70s with historically accurate content added to the sci-fi movie which is rare since sci-fi movies are typically set thousands of years from now. It was an interesting take on the popular Hollywood anti-government security theme, so I believe your opinions on the movie rests in your preference of sci-fi.

This X-Men is all about the mutants and there’s one scene that I found just flat out AWESOME.  Using stop motion and slow-motion camera techniques, we find Quicksilver (Evan Peters) taking down a number of adversaries during a rescue attempt to get Magneto out of a Pentagon prison where he’s been held by the US Military. The special effects are mind-boggling in this scene, much better than anything to date. Apart from the astounding movie magic, it’s such a clever and witty way to tackle the adversaries instead of the classic head banging and gun shots we’re all too familiar with. Here, Quicksilver travels at high speed racing around the room moving objects and propellants as he attempts to save Wolverine, Professor X, Beast and Magneto from death (in a very snarky and conceded manner, of course). Not even the bullet dodging in the Matrix or the gun shot in Wanted that spun around the room can compare to this scene.

It’s been a slow comeback since the X-Men First Class prequel (which I thought was clever) and the humdrum spin-off The Wolverine. X-Men First Class seals the deal on the franchise and incorporates history, sci-fi, character development, and a surprisingly relatable and pragmatic plot. Overall, 4 and a half Iggys.

Iggy 1

 

Iggy 2

 

 

Iggy 3

 

Iggy 4

 

Iggy half

Oh, and Hugh Jackman is shirtless and Jennifer Lawrence kicks major boot-ay. 

XOXO

KMarie

Maleficent

Aneglina Jolie could do no wrong in my mind. She hasn’t seemed to age in years, her bone structure is legendary, and her grace carries on and off screen. This is exactly why her role is the sole reason I can grade this film as a B instead of a C. I don’t know about many of you, but I’m getting a little sick of Disney’s new “the villain is misunderstood” trend. I understand the message and the purpose of it for children, but at this point in my life I want an ultimate bad guy that is just bad to the bone. Not of this wishy washy villains, they just won’t do.

Although my love for Angelina is immense, I can’t whole hearty appreciate her performance. As a cameo, her part would have proven to be splendid. As a protagonist; however, I feel as if the audience didn’t have enough to hold onto in that regard. Her presence was heroic and mystical, special effects are mostly to thank for that, but it was one shred of light on Disney’s casting. If only the movie were just as heroic as the special effects made Angelina seem. Time to get to the worst of it…THE FREAKING KING. THE WORST KING I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED IN ALL MY YEARS (only 19 years, but still). His accent was his downfall. One, I couldn’t even take him seriously when he sounds like a goddamn jolly leprechaun. Two, when he “switched to the dark side” and became this paranoid evil man that fear and power consumed…he just sounded like an angry leprechaun that had his gold stolen from him. I never valued something as simple as a voice until this movie. You realize how much a person’s tone actually does for their acting after you experience Sharlto Copley’s acting. The lack of chemistry in this film was almost painful to watch. The character dynamics felt forced and…well…scripted. One twist I appreciate in this retelling of the classic fairytale is how the King did, in fact, go insane. Paranoia, especially over the imminent death of one’s own child, will drive someone to complete insanity.

The chemistry between Angelina and Elle Fanning lacked that “mother daughter” dynamic I think everyone was waiting to spark, but never did. Also, I had high expectations for the adorable and loving fairies. But quite frankly, they were ANNOYING. They weren’t funny, no one even attempted to laugh when they tried a punny line. Their voices started to sound like nails on a chalk board at a certain point. There was no charm to them; in fact, you were pretty pissed with them in the beginning because the idiot fairies couldn’t even figure out how to FEED the baby (aka the Princess Aurora). I know their oblivious and neglectful attitudes were supposed to be charming and push Aurora into the arms of Maleficent, but let’s just say it was not executed in the right fashion and they just played irritating cameos that the film could have really done without.

This film sunk into CGI oblivion and the narrative was mediocre, but Jolie’s strong screen presence did attempt to salvage it. Overall, bad casting all around except for Jolie. The narrative lacked substance, but it did include realistic and honest motivation for these characters to lose their shit (pardon my french). I felt it was a bit of an unnecessary take on an old tale. If you’re going to reinvent something that is held so close to so many people’s hearts, more passion, character development, and chemistry needs to be included.

XOXO

KMarie