The End Of The Tour

Directed by : James Ponsoldt  
Written by : Donald Margulies  
Starring : Jason Segel, Jesse Eisenberg  
Release Date : July 31, 2015  

"The End Of The Tour" is an adaptation of "Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip With David Foster Wallace," which is a non-fiction book written by David Lispky, about his time interviewing the acclaimed writer. The movie is primarily two men having many many conversations about perceptions, addiction, ideals, loneliness, and just life in general, that we get to eavesdrop on. It has a very simple premise, and it's not a huge drama, nor is it action packed. 

Short of several beautiful vistas of American locations, this movie is not very heavy on visuals, which already limits the amount of people who would watch this movie. People might actually benefit from seeing this film though, because it has a lot of insightful things that I thought resonated really well. I was very enthralled with what was said. Very deep in ideas and philosophy, and I was eating it all up! 

Jason Segel is fantastic as David Foster Wallace, is quite the fascinating character, and is absolutely mesmerizing to watch on screen. Jesse Eisenberg is great as David Lipsky, and is perfect as our surrogate character to follow along in this movie. The camaraderie and chemistry of Segel and Eisenberg is so perfectly palpable, that I would have loved to have watched twice the run-time of this movie, just to see much more of these two characters having all these interesting conversations. Kudos to the two actors for bringing these characters to life on screen. 

I'm the perfect target audience for a movie like "The End Of The Tour," so it's no surprise that I absolutely loved it! Excellently poignant and enlightening. It's not the kind of a movie that most people would watch, but I encourage everybody to give it a chance. 

LOVED IT  enjoyedititsokayitsmehitsterrible

Irrational Man

Directed and Written by : Woody Allen  
Starring : Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Parker Posey  
Release Date : July 17, 2015  

Woody Allen films usually end up being either a serious dramatic work of great insight, or a lark of a project that's whimsical in it's ideas. "Irrational Man" is more the latter. This movie has a lot of scenes of two characters talking to each other, philosophizing about life. The story is also told via internal monologue from the two primary characters; which I thought was a weird directing choice. 

The story starts off rather simple, and is about a bright and talented student who is highly infatuated with her philosophy professor who seems deep in despair. Both Emma Stone and Joaquin Phoenix are good in their roles respectively, although sometimes their dialogue sounds overly written. This is the part of the story that I found uninteresting, and uninspired. 

However, once the story took a fantastically humorous but wicked turn in the plot, is when things started to actually get interesting. I suddenly wanted to see how the rest of the movie plays out, and it went from being a boring movie into something that's actually kinda fun to watch. It even went places I didn't think it would go, but I'm glad it did. 

"Irrational Man" isn't exactly the most memorable Woody Allen movie, and may only really appeal to a particular audience, but it's at least not a horrible film. Unfortunately it's hard for me to point out who should watch this, because it would spoil the plot twist. 

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The Gift

Directed and Written by : Joel Edgerton  
Starring : Rebecca Hall, Jason Bateman, Joel Edgerton  
Release Date : July 31, 2015  

There's a lot of movies that involves a mysterious and suspicious person that's seemingly stalking somebody, and "The Gift" is not that different. There's a slow burning build up to the story, and there are your typical suspense thriller jump scare moments. Despite it's own specific circumstances, this movie doesn't really offer anything incredibly new to this type of story.  

This movie isn't horrible though, but it's also just not that remarkable. The pacing of the story may be slow enough to bore people, but once the creepy situations settles in, it becomes compelling enough to see how things play out. Some moments will keep you guessing, while others are predictable fake outs that are just there to keep things tense enough. 

What makes this movie work the best is with the actors, led by Rebecca Hall, Jason Bateman, and Joel Edgerton playing the source of all the scariness as "Weirdo Gordo." The uncomfortable interactions between the actors helps keep things off balance enough, but it's the characters' well acted personalities that brings everything together. 

While "The Gift" may not be this great movie, I really liked the theme and message of the movie. It's very relatable to a lot of people, and there will be things to think about at the end of the story. 

loveditenjoyedit  IT'S OKAY  itsmehitsterrible

Fantastic Four

Directed by : Josh Trank  
Written by : Josh Trank, Simon Kinberg, Jeremy Slater  
Starring : Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, Toby Kebbell, Reg E. Cathey  
Release Date : August 5, 2015  

The main problem with "Fantastic Four," isn't that it's not faithful to the source material, because that's neither here nor there. The main problem isn't that it doesn't have a lot of super powered action sequences, because it wanted to focus more on the thematic themes behind these characters anyway. The main problem is that this movie simply wasn't that entertaining to watch.  

This movie was just so fantastically mediocre. It seemed so by-the-numbers, and had that "been there, than that" feeling to it. The story is told so aggressively dull, and that's a huge disappointment, because the subject matter it's talking about could potentially be more interesting than what's presented here. There were a few flashes of inspiration in some thematic moments, but the whole movie just never clicked together into one fantastic whole. 

What also didn't seem to work, are the character dynamics. The actors themselves seem fine; in particular Miles Teller as Reed Richards, but they all lacked chemistry being together. It's hard to care about how these characters are suppose to have a particular bond with each other, when the movie does a poor job translating that aspect on screen. A montage sequence depicting their relationships is simply not enough. 

It's hard to recommend "Fantastic Four" to anybody, besides those who want to watch all the comic book related movies. The material had potential to be good or great, but it just was not that fun to watch. The "Fantastic Bore" would have been a more appropriate title. 

loveditenjoyedititsokay  IT'S MEH  itsterrible

Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F

Directed by : Tadayoshi Yamamuro  
Written by : Akira Toriyama  
Starring : Masako Nozawa, Ryûsei Nakao, Sean Schemmel, Chris Ayres,  
Release Date : March 30, 2015  

If it isn't obvious, I'll start off by saying that "Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F" is primarily targeted for fans of this franchise. It also helps a little to watch the previous movie; "Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods," to fully grasp the context of this story. Now if you fit those criteria, then you're in for a fun time watching this. 

As far as the plot goes, it's very simple. A main villain is brought back to fight our heroes, and for the majority of the movie, they fight. There's nothing really complicated about this story, but that's not important as it could be. The main draw to watch this movie are two things. The characters that fans have grown to love, and the battle sequences. In that respect, this delivers. 

The biggest strength of this movie is however the dialogue. The conversations, the sense of humor, and the banter, are what really made this so enjoyable to watch. The way the characters interact with each other are great. There's also something comforting about seeing Goku and Vegeta together, like some odd couple. The addition of Lord Beerus and Whiss to the cast continues to also be one of the best things to happen to this franchise. With this installment, we also have a great new character with Jaco The Galactic Patrolman. 

There are plot issues and character flaws that can be traditionally seen as huge flaws for a traditional movie. However with "Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F," the fans can easily ignore them. If you haven't been a fan of Dragon Ball Z for a very long time, now is the best time to jump back on. 

lovedit  ENJOYED IT  itsokayitsmehitsterrible

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

Directed by : Christopher McQuarrie  
Written by : Christopher McQuarrie, Drew Pearce  
Starring : Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Jeremy Renner, Ving Rhames  
Release Date : July 27, 2015  

"Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" can be summed up with these few descriptions. Great visuals and set locations. Fun action and stunt set pieces. Spy vs Spy entertainment. Simon Pegg is awesome. Rebecca Ferguson is amazing. Those are what makes this movie worth seeing, and I did enjoy watching it. It's simply a solid movie. 

One thing that probably surprised me the most though, is that I didn't care too much about Tom Cruise as Ethan Hawke. He may have been good at acting intense, serious, and charming on his missions. He may still be pretty impressive for continuing to do a lot of his own stunt work. However, as a character, he was just... there, to be that likeable stereotypical action hero. It seemed like there was more effort to make the supporting cast more rounded as characters, than the lead itself. 

The story for these movies are also starting to feel rather uninspired. I still enjoyed watching the plot play out though, and at least the action and stunt sequences were wonderfully distracting me from noticing any faults the movie has. Some stand out set pieces has to be the opera house in Vienna, and the chase scenes in Morocco.  I had so much fun watching those sequences. 

"Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" didn't exactly break new ground for the franchise, nor did it set a new high bar to surpass. However, I still can't deny that I'm still entertained by it. Good flick!  

lovedit  ENJOYED IT  itsokayitsmehitsterrible

Vacation

Directed and Written by : John Francis Daley, Jonathan M. Goldstein  
Starring : Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Skyler Gisondo, Steele Stebbins,  
Release Date : July 29, 2015  

There's a lot about "Vacation" that's kinda stupid, but at least it was actually pretty amusing and funny for the most part. I would say that I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed myself watching this movie. In particular, a lot of the jokes revolving the car was fun, and the whole running gag about the younger brother Kevin bullying his older brother James was very entertaining. 

The story does go through several scene after scene of broad comedy, that's bordering on just being crude and offensive, as well as outrageously absurd. Considering that this is a road trip movie, that kind of comedy actually works well here. It's like getting a different comedic skit whenever the characters are in a different State. It also was never tiring for me to see how much more of a disaster this family's vacation can get. 

Part of the charm of this movie is this Griswold Family itself. Led by Ed Helms who is really good at playing that somewhat clueless underdog kinda guy, his level headed but still a go getter wife played by Christina Applegate, and their two sons played by Skyler Gisondo and Steele Stebbins who take their sibling rivalry to a different kind of destructive level. 

The sense of humor of "Vacation" is mostly on the embarrassing and awkward comedy, as well as several cheap laughs. That's not the kind of comedy that works for everybody. Thankfully it did for me. I had fun watching this, and that's all I really needed from it. 

loveditenjoyedit  IT'S OKAY  itsmehitsterrible

Pixels

Directed by : Chris Columbus  
Written by : Tim Herlihy, Timothy Dowling,  
Starring : Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Michelle Monaghan, Josh Gad, Peter Dinklage,  
Release Date : July 16, 2015  

The main problem with "Pixels" is that it thinks it's clever and funny, but it looks like the creative team behind this movie didn't put enough effort into actually making it clever and funny. There's a lot of stupid things that happen in this, and unfortunately it isn't even stupid funny. It's suppose to be a comedy, but it just wasn't funny. It's suppose to be entertaining, but it wasn't enjoyable to watch. 

From a classic arcade gamer who feels useless in life, a United States President who has an embarrassing public image, to invading video game looking aliens, there's a lot of things going on with this story. It's too bad the story feels like a first draft script. This movie seems fit to break it's own established logic and does whatever it wants with the plot just for a few laughs. Well, there's that problem again, it didn't succeed in making me laugh! 

I saw this primarily for all the classic arcade video game characters, and the movie failed to make me care about them. They did a decent job with QBert, but even that they absolutely ruined by the end of the movie. If you want to watch a movie that does a great job of bringing the world of video games to life, go watch "Wreck-it Ralph," "Scott Pilgrim vs The World," "The King Of Kong: A Fistful Of Quarters," "The Last Starfighter," or "Tron" instead. 

"Pixels" has got to be the laziest directing work done by Chris Columbus, but at least the whole all star cast of actors and celebrity cameos looked like they were actually having fun making this movie. Unfortunately, us viewers didn't get to experience that fun while watching it. 

loveditenjoyedititsokayitsmeh  IT'S TERRIBLE

Paper Towns

Directed by : Jake Schreier  
Written by : Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber, John Green (Author) 
Starring : Nat Wolff, Cara Delevingne, Austin Abrams, Justice Smith  
Release Date : June 18, 2015  

"Paper Towns" follows a lot of the tried and true formula for what usually makes up a slice-of-life story involving High School kids. One could argue that the movie is very cringe worthy for it's overabundance of preciousness and sentimentality. The story also raises some eyebrows at how it's trying to feel realistic, even though the plot is ridiculously idealized, overly romanticized, and kinda unbelievable. 

The marketing for this movie may be heavily promoting Cara Delevingne in her role as the enigmatic Margo, but it's really about Nat Wolff's character Quentin. What really makes this movie are Quentin and his best friends, Radar and Ben. In particular, Ben is an absolute scene stealer as the comedy relief of the group. The whole cast is good in this, and huge kudos to Nat Wolff for playing the awkward hopeless romantic teenage boy so perfectly. 

While I have a lot of issues with the story, I have to admit that the movie kept my attention throughout the whole thing. The adventures of being out on the town at night, the house party, going on a road trip, and the allure of Prom, are a rite of passage for teenagers that this movie perfectly captures. The thematic messages of the story is also something I can wholeheartedly get behind. 

Based on the John Green novel of the same name, "Paper Towns" is not a badly made film. It unfortunately still feels like it's primary audience are teenagers and hopeless romantics though. Even so, there are some very compelling points in this film that adults could really have a good discussion about. 

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Southpaw

Directed by : Antoine Fuqua  
Written by : Kurt Sutter  
Starring : Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker, Oona Laurence, Rachel McAdams, 
Release Date : July 22, 2015 

If you've seen the full marketing trailer for "Southpaw" and questioned if it showed the whole movie, then I'll say you're wrong. It didn't show the whole movie, just most of it. Almost all of the primary plot points were revealed in the trailer, which probably makes you question whether you should bother watching this movie then. Well there's only really one reason to watch this movie, and that's Jake Gyllenhaal. 

Jake Gyllenhaal continues to be one of the best actors around, and his performance as boxing champ Billy Hope, who then becomes a distraught husband and father, is absolutely outstanding. Gyllenhaal displays a full range of emotions here, and even took on the task of physically looking like a boxer. The rest of the cast are also really good, from Oona Laurence who plays his daughter, to Forest Whitaker who plays the trainer that Hope needs to help him get his life back together. 

The story for the movie isn't exactly unique. In fact it feels very familiar, and very predictable. While it seems to try and stay true to what happens in the world of boxing in real life, it doesn't exactly make an attempt to avoid the usual sports movie tropes, cliches, and plot conveniences. Thankfully the relationship aspect of Billy Hope to his wife and daughter are so emotionally resonant, that many scenes involving that plot can be very heartbreaking to watch. 

This is the kind of movie that would have gotten a lot of accolades if it was released 40 years ago. Unfortunately, besides Gyllenhaal's strong performance, the dramatic plot element of his family, and those very enjoyable boxing scenes, "Southpaw" simply doesn't stand out as a truly great film. It's a well made movie, but not exactly a modern classic. 

loveditenjoyedit  IT'S OKAY  itsmehitsterrible