Movie Review For May 1, 2015: AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, THE WATER DIVINER

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON
Rated: PG-13
Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, James Spader, Paul Bettany, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Plot: The Avengers must work together to stop one of Tony Stark's creations that has decided the world must be destroyed
Trailer

Clint Says: Drop everything and go see this movie now

And the crowd said, "AMEN!"

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON is two hours and 21 minutes of total awesomeness. It is fast-paced, high-stakes, and intriguing story-telling at its comic-book finest.

Director Joss Whedon should be given a lot of credit for allowing the cast to have the range they needed to explore and develop their characters even more. Because of that we get some of the best scenes we have ever had the privilege to witness in the MARVEL universe.

This movie is hysterically funny, way more so than any of the other MARVEL films, with the exception of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, but it is also deep and at times will pull at your heartstrings.

There is a freedom and a depth to this movie that we've yet to see in any other comic book flick that may even lead to its eventual nomination for awards other than just the technical stuff. It is fun and spectacular from beginning to end.

I don't say this often because the price of going to the movies is so ridiculous, but this is the movie you need to see in IMAX or RPX and in 3D. It's worth the money. This is easily the best popcorn flick of 2015 so far and it's going to take some serious doing to knock it from the top spot.




THE WATER DIVINER
Rated: R
Stars: Russell Crowe, Olga Kurylenko, Jai Courtney
Plot: A grieving father travels from Australia to Turkey to find the remains of his sons killed in the same battle during World War I, but he soon finds out that one of them may still be alive
Trailer

Clint Says: Wait for the DVD

This is an interesting film because it is a fascinating story that is heartbreaking and compelling yet it is brutally boring in its execution. It is an Australian film that has made its way to the US. Maybe they find this style of movie-making much more palatable down under, but for US audiences it feels slow, drawn out and dialogue heavy.

Russell Crowe is incredible and believable in his role, but it's not enough to overcome the nearly two hours of dullness on screen.

This film won three Australian Academy Awards including Best Picture, but it's not even worthy of a nomination here. It is worth seeing at some point if you like post World War period pieces, but it won't be a life-changing or even much of a moving experience for you.

DVD Review for July 29, 2014

NOAH
Rated - PG-13
Stars: Russell Crowe, Emma Watson, Jennifer Connelly
Plot: Noah, with the help of alien creatures, builds a huge ship to save his family and the animals from a massive flood.
Trailer

Clint Says: Don't even bother

Director Darren Aronofsky said NOAH was the most unbiblical bible movie ever made, and he wasn't kidding. That said, there is zero need for people of faith to be upset by this movie. Basically, Aronofsky has a main character named Noah, he builds a boat and there is a flood. That is the beginning and the end of the similarities with the original story. In fact, if God sued Aronofsky for copyright infringement, He would probably lose.

It feels like Aronofsky read a children's version of the Noah story, realized he had enough material for a 15 minute film, then filled up two more hours of preaching about how humans mess up the earth and why animals are better than humans...oh, and alien-like creatures and a snake that looks like a Dodge Neon.

Russell Crowe does a fine job as Noah, but again, this is not the biblical Noah. This is a man that is just as flawed and crazy as the people dying outside the ark.

Aside from everything else this is just not a very good movie. It's slow moving, it's preachy, and the special effects are sub par for a movie of this magnitude.

A lot of people I know had to see this in theaters even though most of the reviews they read were bad. To a person, they all came out of it and said it was a horrible waste of their time and money. 

THE OTHER WOMAN

Rated - PG-13

Stars: Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, Kate Upton

Plot: Three women are brought together by one cheating man.

Trailer

Clint Says: Rent it if you have nothing better to do

This is one of those movies that is marketed as a comedy, but all of the funny stuff is put into the trailer. The actual movie is a fairly boring revenge flick with poor editing (you can see several places where the movie was over dubbed and they didn't bother to fix it), and a completely predictable plot.

This movie is entirely forgettable. In fact, this movie was so boring and forgettable that, even though I saw it in a fairly crowded theater, I only heard a few people laugh just a couple of times and during one particularly boring scene I looked around and most of the people were talking with each other, not paying attention to the movie at all. 

DVD Review for June 24, 2014

WINTER'S TALE
Rated - PG-13
Stars: Colin Farrell, Jessica Brown Findlay, Russell Crowe
Plot: A criminal with the ability to reincarnate goes through several lives trying to find the woman he loves again.
Trailer

Clint Says: If you must see this, let someone else rent it.

This is one of those movies where you look at the cast and say, "this has got to be great." Then you actually see the movie and say, "how on earth did they manage to screw this story up so bad?"

This film tries to be ethereal and epic, but it only ends up being luke-warm mush. It really isn't worth your time.



300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE
Rated: R
Stars: Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green
Plot: A Greek General leads his troops against Persia and their powerful Navy.
Trailer

Clint Says: Avoid this movie like the plague...unless you are a 19 year old boy

This movie is nothing more than war porn. It does everything it can to quickly push through the sub-par plot with boring narration and team-building speeches in order to get to the action shots. When it does finally get to the war scenes, the director goes lazy with shaky camera and super slow motion kill shots.

The only people that will like this movie are 20-year old male gamers because it is full of the two B's: Blood and boobs. If you don't fit that category stay far away from this flick.

Movie Review for March 28, 2014

NOAH
PG-13
Stars: Russell Crowe, Emma Watson, Jennifer Connelly, Anthony Hopkins
Plot: A man is told by God to build a massive ship in order to save his family and animals from a world-destroying flood.
Trailer

Clint Says: Wait for the DVD and let somebody else rent it

Director Darren Aronofsky said NOAH was the most unbiblical bible movie ever made, and he wasn't kidding.

It feels like Aronofsky read a children's version of the Noah story, realized he had enough material for a 15 minute film, then filled up two more hours of preaching about how humans mess up the earth and why animals are better than humans.

Russell Crowe does a fine job as Noah, but again, this is not the biblical Noah. This is a man that is just as flawed and crazy as the people dying outside the ark.

Putting aside the issues bible believing people will have with this film, it's just not a very good movie. It's slow moving, it's preachy, and the special effects are sub par for a movie of this magnitude.

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Rated R
Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Jude Law, Willem Dafoe, F. Murray Abraham, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Murray, Edward Norton
Plot: A world-class concierge trains his protege in the ways of hotel service while going on a fantastic adventure.
Trailer

Clint Says: Drop everything and go see this movie now

This may be Wes Anderson's best work yet. Ralph Fiennes is spectacular as are many of the other peculiar characters throughout the film. If forced to put this movie into a category, I'd have to call it a dark comedy, but it is much more than that.

The plot is uniquely interesting, the music is outstanding and, even though we are way too far out from the 2015 Academy Awards for Hollywood to remember this film, it wouldn't surprise me at all for this film to get an Oscar nod for cinematography. Every scene in this movie is framed like a beautiful painting.

Wes Anderson's work isn't for everyone, in fact, some of his former films I find to be a complete waste of time (FANTASTIC MR. FOX and THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS), but if you've ever enjoyed any of his quirky works, you will love your stay at THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL.

The best way I can describe this movie is that it is a cross between MONTY PYTHON and CLUE.



CESAR CHAVEZ
PG-13
Stars: Michael Pena, America Ferrera, Rosario Dawson
Plot: The biography of Cesar Chavez, a civil rights leader and labor organizer.
Trailer

Clint Says: Wait for the DVD

Growing up in California, I was very excited for this movie to hit the theaters. Just about every town in California has a street named after Cesar Chavez. It took a while, but his contribution to the Latino community finally caught the attention of Hollywood. Unfortunately, this is the only wide-release Latino-based movie scheduled for release in 2014.

I really wanted this movie to be good, and it's not bad at all, but it is very slow. I'm sure it can't be easy making an exciting movie about migrant farm workers unionizing, but this movie could have been something really special given a better screenplay.

I hope this movie does well, because I'd like to see more like it coming out of Hollywood, but the truth of the matter is, this movie will appeal to only a small portion of movie-goers and will probably fade away quickly.



BAD WORDS
Rated R
Stars: Jason Bateman, Kathryn Hahn, Rohan Chand
Plot: A 40 year old man finds a loophole in the rules of a spelling bee meant for young kids and, to the dismay of everyone, joins the competition.
Trailer

Clint Says: Wait for the DVD

Jason Bateman makes his feature directorial debut with the darkly funny BAD WORDS. While the movie isn't awful (it's actually quite good in several parts), it tries to be too many things to suit too many people. It is full of the raunchy joke style we saw from Bateman in HORRIBLE BOSSES, but it also tries to be heartwarming in the end.

This movie could be so much better if Bateman decided to choose one or the other. Basically, all you need to know about this movie is how to spell D-V-D.



SABOTAGE
Rated R
Stars: Arnold Schwarzennegger, Sam Worthington, Terrence Howard
Plot: A group of highly-trained DEA agents find themselves under attack after taking down a cartel safe house.
Trailer

Clint Says: No review yet

The studio did not put SABOTAGE out early for reviews. (Usually not a good sign). If you happen to see it, feel free to post your thoughts about it in the comments section.

Movie Review for February 14, 2014

ABOUT LAST NIGHT
Rated R
Stars: Kevin Hart, Joy Bryant, Michael Ealy, Regina Hall
Plot: Two couples head in different directions with their relationships.
Trailer

Clint Says: Wait for the DVD

 



ABOUT LAST NIGHT is one of those relationship movies that makes me so thankful that I'm already married and don't have to go through the stupidity of dating. There are many moments of cringe-worthy arguments and uncomfortable exchanges that make this movie equally uncomfortable to watch. It is very funny, but also extremely raunchy, there are some heart-warming moments and other moment that make you say "what just happened there?" It's a mediocre movie at best, but it will give you several good laughs.



ROBOCOP
Rated PG-13
Stars: Joel Kinnaman, Gray Oldman, Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson
Plot: In the near future, technology allows for OmniCorp to create a human/robot hybrid cop to fight out-of-control crime.
Trailer

Clint Says: Wait until after opening weekend, but see it in theaters

This movie is leaps and bounds better than it's predecessor. The graphics are obviously better, but so is the story. This is a classic style action flick, but it has a large focus on the ethics of the situation as well as biting commentary on the ridiculous 24-hour news shows so prevalent today.

Keaton and Oldman's characters are well juxtaposed and add a level of tension and thought usually not seen in action movies. Samuel L. Jackson plays the role of news caster/salesman so well you almost fall for his pitch. If you are in the mood for an action film, this is as good a choice as any.



ENDLESS LOVE
Rated PG-13
Stars: Gabriella Wilde, Alex Pettyfer, Bruce Greenwood
Plot: A rich girl and a boy from the wrong side of the tracks fall for each other while her parents try to break them apart.
Trailer

Clint Says: Save some money and go to a matinee

ENDLESS LOVE is significantly better than the trailers let on. There are multiple story lines that are compelling. They've tried to market this movie as a teen love story, and at it's base it is, but there is so much more to it than that. It is funny, romantic, heartbreaking and suspenseful.

Bruce Greenwood plays a perfect over-protective father on the verge of losing his cool at any moment. Alex Pettyfer plays a great bad-kid-gone-good. Overall, I'd have to say this is a perfect date movie.


WINTER'S TALE
Rated PG-13
Stars: Colin Farrell, Jessica Brown Findlay, Russell Crowe
Plot: A criminal falls for a woman as she dies, he then uses his power of reincarnation to find her.
Trailer

Clint Says: No review yet

The studio did not do any media screenings or early releases of this movie. If you get a chance to see it, please leave your comments in the comments section. I'd love to know what you thought of it.