Saturday, July 06, 2013

Film: The Lone Ranger








GENRE:
Action, Western
RATING:
PG for intense action and violence
RUNTIME:
2 hours and 29 minutes

STARRING:
Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Tourist)
Armie Hammer (Social Network); William Fichtner (Armageddon, Go)

DIRECTOR:
Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Carribean, Rango)
WRITERS:
Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio (Pirates, Shrek, Mask of Zorro )
Justin Haythe (Revolutionary Road, Snitch)

PLOT:
A very long backstory on how Tonto helps the man who would become The Lone Ranger.  

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1
What a mind-numbingly boring  story! There’s this mini-scene involving a robbery. I wish the rest of the movie was more like that instead of this boring story about the railroad and vengeance.
2
I enjoyed the chemistry and characterization of Tonto and the Lone Ranger but I didn’t find myself caring what happened to them. I also wondered why they rode together as they seemed pretty selfish for almost the entire film.  I like Silver the most though.
3
I liked Hans Zimmer’s musical score. I enjoyed the use of the Lone Ranger theme song (The William Tell Overture).
4
I enjoyed the cinematography. At least the movie was well shot.
5
I felt most sorry for the boy listening to the telling of the story. I had a hard enough time sitting through the bloated 2½ hour running time, imagine standing. What a terrible book end to the movie? So unnecessary.

RECOMMENDATION:
Wait for TBS
UPCOMING REVIEWS:
The Way, Way Back

Friday, July 05, 2013

Film: Despicable Me 2








GENRE:
Animated Comedy
RATING:
G for some rude humour and mild action
RUNTIME:
1 hour and 38minutes

STARRING:
Steve Carell (The Office, Burt Wonderstone, Date Night)
Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids, SNL); Benjamin Bratt (Miss Congeniality)

DIRECTORS:
Pierre Coffin(Despicable Me), Chris Renaud (The Lorax)
WRITERS:
Ken Daurio & Cinco Paul (Despicable Me, Horton, Lorax)
PLOT:
Gru is on the dating scene and is recruited by the Anti-Villain League to go undercover in a mall.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1
I would say that this film is pretty on par with the fantastic first installment. Thankfully they gave more to the fun characters of the first film (namely Agnes and the minions) without taking away from Gru’s main storyline (unlike Pixar’s Mater-centric Cars 2). Agnes is adorable once again. If only I could adopt a cartoon character.
2
The minions are put to better use in this installment as they are more integral to the plot. Sure there are some extra stuff thrown in for fun. Some work (All 4 One’s I Swear and the swinging mace) and some not so much (ice cream party). I also love how all the minions have names (Kevin, Bob, Stuart) and Gru knows them all.
3
I wish Wiig’s Lucy character had more of something. I can’t quite place my finger on it but something was missing. I enjoyed Bratt’s El Macho much better than Jason Segel’s Vector from the first one. Maybe there something about being tied to a shark instead of having one swimming under your feet.
4
There were a couple parts that went on a bit too long including the break in at Salsa with Salsa, the minion ice cream party and the cinco de mayo dancing. But these are minor offences. 
5
I didn’t watch it in 3D but probably should have. I’m sure the underwater sequence looked awesome as well as the always fun closing credit antics of the minions.  

RECOMMENDATION:
See it in theatres, in 3D
UPCOMING REVIEWS:
Lone Ranger

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Film: Monsters University








GENRE:
Animated Comedy
RATING:
G for minor scariness
RUNTIME:
1 hours and 44minutes

STARRING:
Billy Crystal (When Harry Met Sally, Monsters Inc.)
John Goodman (Roseanne, Argo); Helen Mirren (The Queen, RED)

DIRECTOR:
Dan Scanlon (newcomer)
WRITERS:
Dan Scanlon (shorts) & Daniel Gerson (Monsters Inc)
PLOT:
A prequel where we get to experience when Mike and Sully first met each other on the campus of Monsters University.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1
I was never the biggest fan on Monsters Inc, I loved Boo and all but I found that I didn’t care too much about the monsters. For this film, I got see a whole bunch of fun characters (minus Boo of course) and found myself way more invested. This film is sheer fun.
2
I enjoyed many of the new characters but the one I love the most was furry Art voiced by Charlie Day (Horrible Bosses). He had the funniest lines and I loved the way he moved. Very creative stuff.
3
Mirren’s Dean Hardscrabble’s was perfectly drawn.
4
I understand that this Mike Wazowski was younger but I felt the retainer seemed more high school than university.
5
Mike as disco-ball gag wasn’t in the film. Too bad.

RECOMMENDATION:
Can wait for DVD but fun in theatres
UPCOMING REVIEWS:
Despicable Me 2; Lone Ranger

Friday, June 28, 2013

2013 Emmy Dream Nominations








The votes for the Emmy Award nominations are due today. Looking over the very long ballot, these would be my dream nominations for the upcoming Emmys. The majority of these are long shots but its fun to dream.

Lead Actor in a Drama Series
·         Jeff Daniels as Will McAvoy [The Newsroom]
·         Jon Hamm as Don Draper [Mad Men]
·         Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody [Homeland]
·         Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes [Elementary]
·         Matthew Ryhs as Philip Jennings [The Americans]
·         Kevin Spacey as Francis Underwood [House of Cards]

Lead Actress in a Drama Series
·         Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison [Homeland]
·         Vera Farmiga as Norma Bates [Bates Motel]
·         Lucy Liu as Joan Watson [Elementary]
·         Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson [Mad Men]
·         Keri Russell as Elizabeth Jennings [The Americans]
·         Robin Wright as Claire Underwood [House of Cards]

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
·         Louie CK as Louie [Louie]
·         Josh Gad as Skip Gilchrist [1600 Penn]
·         Jake Johnson as Nick Miller [New Girl]
·         Joel McHale as Jeff Winger [Community]
·         Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper [Big Bang Theory]
·         Matthew Perry as Ryan King [Go On]

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
·         Zooey Deschanel as Jessica Day [New Girl]
·         Tina Fey as Liz Lemon [30 Rock]
·         Dakota Johnson as Kate Fox [Ben and Kate]
·         Mindy Kaling as Dr. Mindy Lahiri [The Mindy Project]
·         Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope [Parks and Recreation]
·         Krysten Ritter as Chloe [Don’t Trust the B** in Apartment 23]

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
·         Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister [Game of Thrones]
·         Freddie Highmore as Norman Bates [Bates Motel]
·         John Noble as Walter Bishop[Fringe]
·         Mandy Patinkin as Saul Berenson [Homeland]
·         Sam Waterson as Charlie Skinner [The Newsroom]
·         Steven Yeun as Glenn [The Walking Dead]

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
·         Jennifer Captenter as Debra Morgan [Dexter]
·         Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen [Game of Thrones]
·         Debra Messing as Julia Houston [Smash]
·         Emily Mortimer as Mackenzie McHale [The Newsroom]
·         Monica Potter as Kristina Braverman [Parenthood]
·         Maggie Smith as Dowager Countess [Downton Abbey]

Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
·         Will Arnett as Gob Bluth [Arrested Development]
·         Brett Gelman as Mr. K [Go On]
·         Donald Glover as Troy Barnes [Community]
·         Max Greenfield as Schmidt [New Girl]
·         Chris Messina as Dr. Danny Castellano [The Mindy Project]
·         Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson [Parks and Recreation]

Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
·         Sarah Baker as Sonia [Go On]
·         Mayim Bialik as Amy Farrah Fowler [The Big Bang Theory]
·         Carly Chaikin as Dalia [Suburgatory]
·         Elisha Cuthbert as Alex Kerkovich [Happy Endings]
·         Jenna Fischer as Pam Halpert [The Office]
·         Aubrey Plaza as April Ludgate [Parks and Recreation]

Writing for a Drama Series
·         Dead Freight [Breaking Bad]
·         The Rains of Castamere [Game of Thrones]
·         New Car Smell [Homeland]
·         For Immediate Release [Mad Men]
·         We Just Decided To [The Newsroom]

Writing for a Comedy Series
·         The Closet Reconfiguration [Big Bang Theory]
·         Basic Human Anatomy [Community]
·         PS I Love You [How I Met Your Mother]
·         Fulgencio [Modern Family]
·         Cooler [New Girl]

Drama Series
·         The Americans
·         Game of Thrones
·         Homeland
·         House of Cards
·         The Newsroom

Comedy Series
·         The Big Bang Theory
·         The Mindy Project
·         Modern Family
·         New Girl
·         Parks and Recreation

Main Title Design
·         American Horror Story: Asylum
·         The Americans
·         Elementary
·         House of Cards
·         Weeds

The nominations are announced on July 18th at 5:35am.