I Hate That I'm Inconsistent

I've been missing from here for a while and I absolutely hate it. This time, I'm actually going to try to stay consistent. Rather than posting once a day, I'm going to post at least once a week. Personally, I believe I was holding myself to a strict schedule for my review postings. I mean, c'mon, how many movies can a person watch?! Not one per day with my work schedule anyway! So, if you're reading this, stay tuned for weekly reviews. Thanks for reading! 

Lone Survivor (2013)

I cannot express how jam packed this movie is with emotion. There's honor from the first scene to the last and the pride I felt just from watching this movie was incredible. There's no greater honor than those in our military and that makes this movie even better.

From Wahlberg to Kitsch to Ludwig,  this film was casted to depict the best of the best. Every person casted in this film made the Seals look even more dangerous. These guys were awesome together. Ludwig is up and coming, but with these guys around him, he looked even better. Not to mention the fact that he starred in a movie with two of the biggest baddest actors in Hollywood. The acting was good as expected. These guys really made me feel as if they were brothers. I give the acting a 7.7/10.

The production was KILLER. Amazing war scenes and explosions. With the way it was shot in a few scenes I almost thought Michael Bay hopped in on the deal. In all fairness, Peter Berg out did himself on this film. It's easy to tell he had a vision and he ran away with it and did not look back. Complete success on his part. This entire film had great people on the payroll. I give the production a 7.6/10.

Rating
8.3/10

The Fault in Our Stars (2014)

This movie here was a big time tear jerker. I wanted to leave several times throughout the movie because I didn't want to start crying too hard. I had tears in my eyes for half the movie and cried hard at one scene. It was bad.

These two young actors were PHENOMENAL. I fell in love with both of them from the start. The supporting cast played their parts well too. I enjoyed every single actor and actress in this amazing film. I give the acting a 9.0/10.

The production was great! I couldn't complain at all. I didn't see anything that stood out as bad or good, but it was definitely better than 90% of movies I've seen. This film was so well directed and produced. One more thing I cannot go without mentioning is the casting crew. So amazing. Big time props to them. I give the production an 8.1/10.

Rating
8.5/10

Tomorrow, When the War Began (2010)

When I first watched this movie, I was HIGHLY surprised. I started the movie and was skeptical. I wasn't sure how I would like an Australian based film not known well in the US. That's one thing about me, I'll attempt to watch anything. I love the feeling of putting on random movie and being drawn in. Sometimes, that backfires on me. 

The acting in this movie is below average, but there are a few characters who really speak rather than just memorize their script. I can look past bad acting; not that the acting in this movie is necessarily bad but it's not the best either. I don't remember any scenes that made me flinch. To keep it simple, there were a lot of beginners casted, and in my opinion, they didn't do too bad. I give the acting a 5.0/10. 

The production for this movie is easy to breakdown. Incredibly surprising! None of it screamed fake to me. It dragged me into the story even more. Like I said, simple. I give the production a 7.0/10. 

Rating

7.3/10 

Playing for Keeps (2012)

This was a typical romance film. Adorable but typical.

I'm going to start by saying that Gerard Butler pulled off the role pretty well. He's a versatile actor with a sweet, yet dangerous side. He can play nearly any character. From Law Abiding Citizen to Playing for Keeps, Butler is solid in any role he plays. The supporting cast in Playing for Keeps helped him carry the movie, but he firmly stuck the landing in this romantic comedy. I give the acting a 6.1/10. The sole reason my opinion is so low is due to the fact that Jessica Biel could have been more convincing in her character. She lost me a few times.

The production is almost disappointing for me. Everything was nearly on point EXCEPT the camera work. My own wife pointed it out! I understand some directors and even viewers enjoy the bouncy camera angles and dramatic swaying during the more intense scenes, but I did not enjoy it. However, that's one of my only production complaints, so I give the production a 5.5/10.

Rating
6.0/10

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Dawn of the Dead is actually my favorite movie. That's a little spoiler for you guys. I watched this movie for the first time right after it came out on DVD. I fell in love with it and if I had the opportunity, I would go back and watch it again for the first time.

The acting in Dawn of the Dead is far from good, but it's still well played out. That's what makes it great. Any movie that's put together well will still have a good memory no matter how bad the acting. That's my opinion anyway. I give the acting in this movie a 5.1/10.

As far as production in the film, it was not bad, but I would not describe it as good either. Low budget means low production, but George A. Romero can work miracles with his talent. He took this movie and made it presentable and adventurous in many different aspects. I give this movie a MUST watch. I give the production a 6.0/10.

Rating
9.2/10

Remember, the overall rating I give a movie is based on how much I enjoyed it. I rate the production and acting based on quality and not entire opinion, unlike the overall rating which is decided on my personal satisfaction.  

Disturbia (2007)

This movie was one of my favorites from the start. I saw the film when it first came out at the box office.

The acting in this movie is average. No one really blew me away, everyone just had exceptional chemistry. Whether it was positive or negative, everyone worked well together. I give the acting a 6.2/10.

This movie had some awesome scenes. The most important scene was written,  filmed, and presented to perfection. Spoiler alert. When Kale and his father crash, the scene is so intense and realistic that I nearly lose my breath every time I watch it. Going back to their chemistry, it's easy to tell how strong the bond was that they had as father and son in the film. I give the production a 6.8/10.

Rating
7.7/10

Jack Reacher (2012)

I watched this movie about a month ago and it has stayed in my head to the point of me thinking about it randomly every now and then.

Tom Cruise has always had his own style of acting. I admit, his style is unusual. This was a decent film, but it was extremely awkward at times. There were certain scenes that left me asking myself if it was meant to be funny or serious, and it made things uncomfortable for me on numerous occasions. It's not at all that the acting was bad because it was actually very well. I give the acting a 6.6/10. Not unimpressed at all. Be on the look out for Jai Courtney! Just a heads up. I'm a fan.

The production in this film was average. There were no big time scenes. Everything flowed together almost smoothly. The action scenes weren't too played out, they made sense. The script seemed to be organized. I give the production a 6.1/10. This movie isn't a must watch but it's not a must miss either. I watched this movie on Netflix. If you get bored and want to watch a movie,  put this one on. Not bad at all. Like I said, just weird at particular parts.

Rating
5.5/10

How I Live Now (2013)

Man, I'm totally in love with this movie. UK films are always so catchy. My review on this movie will be a positive one for sure.

In my opinion, for the age of the cast, this movie was carried so well by these young actors and actresses. The acting wasn't as bad as the average movie watcher would think. Seeing nothing but young kids in a movie together would usually trigger some sort of red flag for me, but I noticed that George MacKay was one of the main characters and I knew right then that this movie was worth watching. MacKay isn't really as young as he looks in this movie. Currently 21, MacKay is beginning to break out as a rising British actor. I'm super excited to see him take off. I give the acting in the overall movie a 6.9/10.

The scenery, if you will, is actually impressive in this movie. I was expecting a cheap independent film, but yet again, I was surprised. Just like any low production film this movie has a few "needs improvement" scenes, but those scenes weren't so bad that I had the urge to turn it off or laugh. I'm giving the production a 5.9/10. I was highly impressed and I'm naming this movie a must watch. I watched this movie on Netflix, so if you have access to an account, you should watch it! You won't be let down.

Rating
7.4/10

The Legend of Hercules (2014)

I LOVE mythological films. This movie, not as much. I don't have a problem with the casting of Hercules because I have quiet a lot of respect for Lutz, but he could have carried the movie a little more successfully.

His acting gets a 5.9/10 and the only reason he gets over 5 is because I couldn't imagine working in front of a green screen. For a film centered around CGI, he didn't do as terrible as some would have done. If you can, think back on his performance in the Twilight film series and tell me if you think he has grown as an actor. I would love to know the thoughts of anyone and everyone.

Throughout the movie, Lutz is consistent on the macho aspect. The entire production was based off of muscle, which in some cases may be good, but the acting was simply poor.

Onto the part of the movie I'm giving a 1/10. CGI. Wow. Awful. Worse than any performance in the movie itself. I'm starting to wonder if the CGI for this movie wasn't some sort of junior college computer class project.  A bad computer generated image does not bother me one bit because I can look past that. In a movie, the story line is what matters most to me, but when a movie makes me laugh because it's so poorly generated, there's a big problem.

Rating
2.9

**Edited to clarify which Hercules film this review is on.

Homefront

Homefront is the typical action movie plot, but Jason Statham makes it better than typical with his brilliance. He's one of a kind in this movie. With the addition of James Franco and Winona Rider, this movie is above subpar.

The acting was a 7/10 and the action sequences were 7.9/10. There were a few scenes that were forced. For example, the recess fight could have been mapped out just a little better. It almost seemed like that amateur written schoolyard fight that you see in Disney movies.

Statham's flawless ability to take viewers to the edge of their seats was definitely present in Homefront. Franco was interesting to watch as a backwoods meth cook. He was close to perfect in his role. His nearly arrogant smirk that we have all grown used to boosted him over the edge as the films antagonist.

Rating
7.1/10

It Has Been a While

I have no good explanation as to my absence because I actually have several movies I need to review that I've watched since my last post. I guess all I can really say is that I'm bad with routines. I'm going to try my hardest to blog every single day, but I may fail from time to time. My computer has crashed since my last post, so I lost my top 100 list. :( I'll be working on that next. I won't do a review or rating of any sort in this blog tonight, but I will recommend watching Homefront. I'll review and rate it in my next blog though. Please be patient and don't forget to keep viewing my blog posts! I like the support. Tune in tomorrow for a rating and review! Thank you!

Wow

I doubt I have any true readers who are following this blog, but just in case I do, I would like to apologize for my lack of posting. Things have been busy for me lately, and I grew lazy.

I'm not going to do a review of any sort tonight, but I promise to attempt to restore proper consistency to this blog.

Top 100
#94
Predators (2010)
Rating: 5.5

#93
The Fast and the Furious (2001)
Rating: 5.9