Film: Lucy

GENRE: Action/Sci-Fi

RATING: R for strong violence and disturbing images
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 30minutes

STARRING: Scarlett Johansson (Avengers, Lost is Translation, Her)

Morgan Freeman (Oblivion), Min-sik Choi (Oldboy – original version)

DIRECTOR: Luc Besson  (The Fifth Element; La Femme Nikita)

WRITER: Luc Besson (Leon: The Professional; The Transporter)

PLOT: A woman, caught up in a drug mule situation, goes up against her captors when her brain is affected by the drugs.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:

1 Looking at the trailer, I was expecting more action in this film. I got a little too much trippy cerebral stuff. Johansson is great but I wanted more butt kicking.

2 There are some fun nature cutaways in the opening scenes.

3 Speaking of nature shots, this film seemed to blend Bradley Cooper’s Limitless with footage from Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life. Beautiful cinematography but a lot of it.

4 They really insisted on playing up the language barrier. Lots of Chinese. I find it hard to believe that a crime boss as big as Mr. Jang wouldn’t know another language.

5 After seeing what Johansson went through, I am glad I only use a small part of my brain. [insert joke here]

RECOMMENDATION: Wait for TBS

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Guardians of the Galaxy

Film: Wish I Was Here

GENRE: Comedy / Drama

RATING: R for language and some sexual content
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 46 minutes

STARRING: Zach Braff (Scrubs, Garden State, Oz Great & Powerful)

Kate Hudson (Almost Famous), Josh Gad (Frozen, 21)

DIRECTOR: Zach Braff  (Garden State, some Scrubs episodes)

WRITERS: Zach Braff (Garden State) & Adam Braff (crew of Chaplin)

PLOT: A middle aged man is at a crossroads in his life, career and family when he finds out his disapproving father is dying.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:

1 I have always enjoyed Zach Braff’s work. I find him extremely relatable for some reason. I loved Garden State. This is not as good but I still enjoyed it. There are great moments throughout but also some parts drag and are a little too schmaltzy. But my man-crush on Braff forgives the slowness.

2 I like all the actors Braff brought aboard. It was awesome seeing him with Turk again (Donald Faison) even though it was a small moment. Jim Parson (Big Bang Theory) practically got his start in Garden State, so it was fun to see him in another Braff film. I haven’t seen Alexander Chaplin (Spin City) in ages, so that was fun. And of course, Mandy Patinkin as Braff’s father was outstanding even though at times he seemed more beard than man.

3 There’s a spaceman thread that runs throughout the film. I understand the meaning but it didn’t really work for me.

4 I love the use of the swear jar. What a great prop.

5 The soundtrack is not as tight as Garden State but there are still some gems in there. I loved the use of Paul Simon’s ‘Obvious Child’.

RECOMMENDATION: Wait for the rental

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Lucy; Guardians of the Galaxy

Film: 22 Jump Street

GENRE: Action / Comedy

RATING: R for language, violence, and some sexual content
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 52 minutes

STARRING: Channing Tatum (White House Down, Magic Mike, GI Joe)

Jonah Hill (Wolf of Wall Street), Ice Cube (Ride Along, Are We There Yet)

DIRECTOR: Phil Lord & Chris Miller  (Lego Movie, 21 Jump Street)

WRITERS: Michael Bacall (Scott Pilgrim vs the World, Project X)

Rodney Rothman (Grudge Match) Oren Uziel (newcomer)

PLOT: Schmidt and Jenko do the same things as last time only this time they are in college.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:

1 Talk about a meta movie. There was a plethora of references to the fact that this film is a sequel often commenting on doing the same thing with a bigger budget. The hilarious end credits really drive the idea home.

2 Tatum and Hill have fantastic chemistry. They play so well off each other. And who would have thought Channing Tatum could be so funny. His realization of who Schmidt slept with is hysterical.

3 I’m glad they used Ice Cube more this time around.

4 While it’s funny, the film still is thirty minutes to long. The middle is overdone. It takes way too long to get to the conclusion.  

5 Wyatt Russell who plays Zook, just looks and acts like a poor man’s Owen Wilson.

RECOMMENDATION: Funny at theatre or at home.

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Wish I Was Here; Lucy