The Lego Movie

Yes you did not misread the title, this is a post about "The Lego Movie".  There is a film coming out in February 2014, about legos.  Right off the bat, it made me think of "Wreck it Ralph" except this time it is Legos and not video games.

Every single thing in this movie was rendered to look just like Legos.  Things like the water, smoke and other effects are actually legos (lasers in the film are the lego rods used in any Lego lightsaber sets).  Their isn't a whole lot known about the film at this point.  One thing we do know is that this film is packed with A, B and C List celebrities from all corners of the business.  The lead, Emmett, is played by Chris Pratt (Moneyball, Parks and Rec, etc).  He is surrounded by actors such as Will Ferrel, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeso, Elizabeth Banks, Channing Tatum, Will Arnett and many many more.  There is not a single unknown quantity in this film, every single name is one that the audience should know.  This film is being directed by Phil Lord (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street, producer How I Met Your Mother) and Chris Miller (same credits).

At this point only the basic plot of the film is known.  Emmett is mistaken to be the "MasterBuilder", which seems to be some sort of destiny that renders him very powerful.  He is pulled onto a journey where he must go up against a villain who is trying to "glue the universe together".  In my mind I see this either being incredible or horrible.  We will see...

Love Actually

Every year one of my family's Thanksgiving traditions, besides watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is to watch Christmas movies. We love to watch Home Alone, Home Alone 2, Jingle All the Way, Miracle on 34th Street, It's a Wonderful Life, several versions of A Christmas Carol, etc. However, one of my favorite holiday movies that I love to watch, but only when I am amongst friends, would be Love Actually.

Love Actually (2003) is a British romantic comedy that follows several characters' friends and family as they find love during the holiday season. Granted I am not one to like rom-coms, but this one I can sit through and watch multiple times in a row most likely because it has such a fantastic star-studded cast. Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Keira Knightly, Alan Rickman, Rowan Atkinson, and Martin Freeman are only a few of the actors involved in this well-executed and delightful British love story. Some of the characters have office romances, one couple breaks through a language barrier, and another couple even met for the first time on the set of a movie as sex stunt doubles. Although the movie mostly focuses on couples, some characters just find the love of their family and friends that help them carry on. This movie goes to show that "love, actually, is all around us."
Besides the story and the cast, the music is another significant aspect of the film that I enjoy and cherish. The movie begins with a British has-been pop star that still has one hit left within him. Although using the same melody from one of his past hit songs, he only has to replace the word 'Love' with the word 'Christmas' and he's got a new hit. This song, although quite a bit of a joke, is used throughout the film and can be heard on the other character's radios or on their 'tele.' Another song that is particularly memorable in this movie is 'Bye Bye Baby' sung by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The song begins to play when Liam Neeson's character says goodbye to his late wife, the love of his life, at her funeral, and then the song carries over into the next scene where Keira Knightly's character has just been happily married and the couple is sharing their first dance. The duality of this song is beautiful. There are other moments in the film that are accentuated through the use of music as well, but I don't wish to give anymore away.
I highly recommend this British comedy for the holiday season.

Star Wars

I am a huge star wars fan.  I love 4, 5, and 6 and own them on DVD and while I don't hate 1, 2, and 3 like many star wars fans, I find them entertaining, but I cannot accept them as real star wars movies.  I was introduced to star wars at a young age and never looked back.  I think what makes star wars so amazing is because it changed the sci-fi genre and what was possible from movies.  Star wars was first released in 1977, the same year as encounters of the third kind, and it looks amazing.  For 1977 the effects look amazing and the universe is very creative.

Watching star wars for the first time is like nothing else, you are transported into another world field with new and amazing technology and the most wonderfully strange creatures.  The characters are great  and each movie is a thrill.  Watching Luke Skywalker transform from a farmer's son to a Jedi is fantastic.  While 1, 2, and 3 are as good they are very fun to watch and the fight scene between Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of the most epic fight scenes ever.  If you haven't seen star wars that is sad and you should watch it right now.

Epic fight scene:

Taken 2

I wasn't taken by Taken 2. What can I say?

Sometimes – only sometimes – under a blue moon will a sequel be on par with it's predecessor. Taken 2 is a clear cut case of this rule. Taken 1 told a story that audiences hadn't seen in a while. A daughter is adducted on a trip to Europe and Liam Neeson, the overprotective dad, goes hunting for her kidnappers. It's one of those movies where bad guys just keep dying.... and dying.

Taken 2 lives up to that same level of death. Liam Neeson kills everyone. It gets tiring.

We get it, a hollywood producer sitting in an L.A. office somewhere decided that turing a half way decent film into a franchise would earn him that big bonus. We know that producers sometimes force a sequel that shouldn't be made in the first place. Taken 2 is that atypical sequel we all know and despise.

We know that sequels (and prequels) are notoriously bad. It's a given fact that as film students, we can be an excellent judge of a film's story and quality. We can spot when the 'Hollywood Industrial Complex' tries to pull a fast one on us. We're better than sequels like this.

We're better than Taken 2. Taken 2 is a weak attempt at an exciting thriller. Stereotypes permeate the plot line. The writer has decided to play up the Middle Eastern/Muslim card this time, turning the characters into something we've all seen before. It's a cheap and quick way to play off the fears of the American audience, while offending the vast majority of the Muslim community.

Plain and simple this movie is just boring. The unimaginative storyline is predictable and boring. Essentially every White character that wasn't kidnapped last movie was kidnapped this time.

Instead of Liam Neeson hunting down the bad guys, he and his wife have been kidnapped and will be executed when they are brought to Afghanistan. The bad guys want revenge for all of the bad guys killed in the first movie. And now, the 17 year-old daughter has to come save her parents.