X-Men: First Class

The main plot of X-Men: First Class comes off as extraneous, but the movie is still an entertaining look into the characters' backgrounds. Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy do a great job portraying the origins of Charles and Erik's relationship, and Kevin Bacon hits the right notes as the villain. 

I don't know why I wasn't interested in First Class when it first came out; maybe because I didn't know any of the actors at the time. Now James McAvoy is one of my favorites, and I like Nicholas Hoult from Warm Bodies. I wasn't really on the Michael Fassbender boat before I saw First Class, but now I think he's good. I was a little confused about the casting of Kevin Bacon for the villain, but he did a good job with it. His nose was insanely distracting, though. I guess it's always been like that and I just haven't seen him in a lot of movies. Maybe they could've shot from a more flattering angle. Or maybe it didn't bother anyone else.

I always thought of the title "First Class" as like "elite fighters for the government" or something, and I don't think I realized until I saw the movie that it meant "the first class that Professor X trains." I still don't like Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique; or I don't like the way they're styling this version of her, or both. The suit is just unattractive, and the hair looks so fake. What they did with Rebecca was so much better. And I'd love for them to spring on some CGI or something to soften the look of the greasepaint. My #1 X-Men pet peeve, greasepaint; especially glaring for Azazel this time.

Princess Mononoke

Princess Mononoke wasn't exactly the epic I was expecting. The theme is pretty simple, but the animation is solid, and it held my attention for the entire movie.

I like Miyazaki's work, so Princess Mononoke has been on my "to watch" list for a while. Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle were better, but at least this wasn't as bad as Ponyo. The animation was good, and it held my interest for the entire time. Maybe it's one of those movies that's better for its iconicity than it is for watching for the first time. I liked San's general look/outfit, but other than that there wasn't anything really striking about it, visually or thematically.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is pretty anticlimactic, especially if you already know all the spoilers. It's not that interesting visually, and there's just not a whole lot going on.

I finally finished the Harry Potter series, and it only took me until four years after the last movie came out. The beginning of this one is really weird. It felt like I came in at the middle of the movie, which I guess makes sense since it's a two-parter. I didn't remember Part 1 at all, though, so I was pretty confused. Maybe they could've done some kind of recap. Or maybe they thought they did. There wasn't a whole lot going on in this movie. I was pretty tired when I watched it, and I was just waiting for it to end already. It probably would've been more interesting if I hadn't found out all the spoilers from the internet.

A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange is one of my favorite movies (and books). I love the aesthetics, from the framing to the costumes. The dialogue is brilliant, especially the use of Nadsat. The soundtrack is amazing, and the plot is visceral and thought-provoking. Burgess' writing in combination with Kubrick's vision created something truly iconic.

This was the third time I've seen A Clockwork Orange. It's one of my favorite movies, and books. I love languages and different lingo, which is probably why I like it so much. There are so many lines that just strike a chord with me, maybe because they've been reinforced a few times.

Furious 7

Furious 7 could've been a much better movie if they had just tried a little harder not to be so absurdly cliché. There were some cool stunts, though, and I can't say I didn't enjoy it.

I don't know why I keep watching these. Maybe now that Walker's gone, I can stop. I held out for about half of the trailer before I saw too many interesting stunts and felt like I wanted to watch it. And then Roeper gave it a favorable review, so I had to do it. I don't regret it, but I do wish it could've been just a bit less cliché and more intelligent.

A Walk Among the Tombstones

A Walk Among the Tombstones is interesting for the atmosphere. Liam Neeson gives a great performance, most of the side characters are done well, and the setting ties everything together nicely.

I wasn't that into A Walk Among the Tombstones from the trailer, but Roeper kind of got me interested in it. The title's a little clunky, and I'm still not really sure how it relates to the movie. The movie itself is pretty straightforward, but it's interesting. Liam Neeson gives a solid performance.

Inherent Vice

 Inherent Vice is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Josh Brolin, Joaquin, and Benicio all give standout performances. It's definitely confusing, it does drag on a bit, and the ending isn't completely perfect, but the humor is so refreshing and spot-on that I'm giving it 4.5/5.
Inherent Vice looked interesting from the trailer. I don't remember what Roeper said about it, but he gave it a B, so I guess he didn't hate it. I think Chris liked it more after thinking about it than he did right after he saw it. All that put together, and I still wanted to give it a shot, but I went in prepared to just enjoy the ride and not have everything wrapped up at the end.

I was surprised by how funny it was. It's subtle humor; they don't beat you over the head with it, but it's good. I'd say it's the funniest movie I've seen in a year, so that should count for something. I love that they shot it on actual film. It looks amazing; it has character without looking dated - although since it is set in the 70s, you could probably allow some dated-ness leeway. I liked how most of the women didn't look like they were wearing makeup. They all looked clean and natural. I'm sure they were wearing some makeup, but it just wasn't over-the-top like usual.