Interstellar

On Tuesday, November 25, 2014, I went to see the movie Interstellar, featuring Matthew McConnaughey, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, John Lithgow, Jessica Chastain, Casey Affleck, Matt Damon and Topher Grace.

The story is about Coop, who used to be an astronaut for NASA.  In an Earth that's got lots of climate changes and not enough food to go around, there were many modifications so that people were staying home and being farmers, go farm food.  However, the crops were not sustainable.  So, a secret team of scientists, NASA in secret, were working on a way of sustaining human life on another planet.

Coop stumbles onto coordinates of the NASA site and he ends up finding it.  Then...  He finds out that NASA is still secretly in operation and he gets asked to go to a mission...  There were three planets from a worm hole that opened close to Saturn where there are three planets where the data might suggest that the planet could sustain human life.

What happens next?  You'll have to watch the movie to find out.  This movie was shot in IMAX, so you should go see it in that medium.

Big Hero 6

On Tuesday, November 18, 2014, I went to see the movie Big Hero 6.  This is the latest animated feature from Disney, made by the producers of Wreck It Ralph and Frozen.

This story takes place in San Fransokyo, which is a mix of San Francisco and Tokyo.  The main character is Hiro Hamada, who is the younger brother of Tadashi Hamada.  Tadashi is a robotics student at the local university.  We see that Hiro is also a genius with robotics, but he is focused on the world of robot fighting.  Hiro hussles someone who's a bit of a bully and it turns out that Hadashi has to bail him out of trouble.  But then gets caught up by the police.

Shortly after, Tadashi ends up taking Hiro to his robotics lab, or "Nerd School" as Hiro calls it, where he meets fellow robotics students working on projects.  It is here where Hiro learns about Tadashi's project.  After this experience, Hiro falls in love with the place and he says he has to go there.

We also learn about Tadashi's creation, BayMax, who's a robot health caretaker, he's giant and cuddly and kind of huggable and loveable.

In order to get accepted into the university, Hiro has to amaze the professor, Professor Callaghan, who runs that lab at the university.  And he manages to do just that with his project, which he shows at the open house.

What happens next?  You'll have to watch this action-packed, fun-filled, funny movie to find out.  A perfect mix of computer animation and Japanese anime.

Birdman

Yesterday, November 11, 2014, I suffered through Birdman.

The premise is about an actor who was famous for Birdman, Michael Keaton, who is trying to have a come back in his career by writing, directing and acting in an adaptation of a novel.  This movie, I believe, was shot at St. James Theatre in NYC, which is just across from the Majestic Theatre (The Phantom of the Opera) and Broadhurst Theatre (Mamma Mia!).

Two and a half hours of my life I will never get back!

Granted, there were some novel things about the movie.  For example, it looks like it was one continuous take, which is hard to do, and some of the acting was quite decent:  Michael Keaton, Emma Stone and Edward Norton.  But I thought the bad outweighed the good.

I didn't feel the story went anywhere.  Yes, true, it is centred about getting a play (Broadway even) to opening night and the challenges that go with that.  However, there were so many issues that were just glossed over in the movie and practically all the characters were just glossed over.  There was little to no character development, which made the characters all seem very flat.  Extremely flat.  Just like the movie as a whole.

Let's just say that I am thankful for surviving through that piece of shit.  Even the ditching for dinner after.

St. Vincent

On Tuesday, November 4, 2014, I went to see the movie St. Vincent featuring Billy Murray and Melissa McCarthy and Naomi Watts.

This movie is about Vincent, who is a Vietnam War Veteran, who is pretty much broke.  He ends up taking a babysitting gig for his new neighbour who works a lot and her son, named Oliver.

Things get off to a rough start at school, but Vince and Oliver form a friendship that neither of them would happen.

I didn't understand why so many people were laughing during this movie.  I did not find it humorous at all.  However, there's one part (near the end of the movie) that's really touching and brought tears to my eyes.

I have seen better movies, but this was not as bad as Mommy...  But then again, anything is better than shitty-ass pretentious Xavier Dolan film making.

The Best of Me

On Saturday, November 1, 2014, I went to see the movie The Best of Me, featuring James Marsden and Michelle Monaghan.

The movie is about Dawson Cole (played by James Marsden - the older one and played by Luke Bracey - the youger one) and Amanda (played by Michelle Monaghan - the older one and played by Liana Liberato - the younger one).

Typical story of rich girl falling in love with a poor boy who comes from the wrong side of the tracks (or in this case, the wrong side of the bayou, since Dawson Cole's family are drug dealers).  However, Dawson is trying to not end up following these footsteps as he sees education as a way out.

Unfortunately, circumstnaces forces them to part ways and it's the death of a mutual friend that brings them back together.  What happens?  Well, you'll have to watch the movie to find out.

Typical Nicholas Sparks, I think.  I'm a bit disappointed about the ending, as it's not happily ever after.  But then, I think Nicholas Sparks never does a happily ever after anyway.