May 13, 2014

Movie Review: Godzilla

Although it is not officially summer yet, Godzilla sure hits the mark as a big action summer blockbuster and kicks of the season.  Admittedly, I know nothing of the Godzilla back story, nor have I seen any previous Godzilla movies.  With that being said, Max Borenstein and Dave Callaham have written a script that allows even the novices like me to easily follow along.

The film starts out in 1999 in Japan surrounding the Brody Family (Bryan Cranston, Julie Binoche, and CJ Adams/Aaron Taylor-Johnson).  A devastating accident happens at the local nuclear power plant that permanently fractures the family.  Fast-forward 15 years to present day and once again the Brody family lands themselves back at that same nuclear power plant looking for answers.  From here forward the action starts to roll with “creatures” raining havoc on major cities.  It takes some time for Godzilla to appear, but when he does he makes his voice heard.  The action sequences between Godzilla and the creatures are pretty insane and fun to watch.

The special effects in this movie are really well executed, sometimes I wondered “How are there still buildings left to destroy in this city?” but that’s only because there was so much destruction and mayhem.  Overall Gareth Edwards did a great job directing this film, while it runs over two hours long, it never felt like it and a number of the shots felt like a tip of the hat to old Hollywood movies (which I highly enjoyed).     Aaron Taylor-Johnson does a pretty good job helming such an enormous movie.  While the character Ford isn’t too deep, he portrays loyalty as a soldier well, compared to Elizabeth Olsen (playing Elle Brody, Ford’s wife).  Her character was not deep at all and some of the acting was a little uncomfortable to watch, but she wasn’t exactly given a lot to work with.  Thankfully, her role is not that big and doesn’t distract from the overall movie.

So if you’re a lover of summer blockbuster movies with tons of action, devastation, and mayhem, this movie is for you! 
 

May 09, 2014

Movie Review: Neighbors

Neighbors is an awesome, fun, hilarious movie.  I was a bit afraid going into it that it would have the typical cliche trappings of a fraternity movie, but it steered clear of those completely.  Neighbors is about Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly (Rose Byrne), a married couple with their first child (the incredibly adorable Elise and Zoey Vargas), not sure where they want to stand in life.  They have a child but are afraid to be the old stuffy married couple.

Cue their new neighbors, a fraternity!  Zac Efron and Dave Franco play Teddy and Pete, the heads of the fraternity on a mission to have the most epic senior party and to become legends.  Mac and Kelly meet their new neighbors and try to be "cool and young" and party it up for the first night, but the next night the friendship is broken and hi jinx ensue.

As I mentioned before, the movie doesn't fall into typical behavior, the pranks and jokes are fresh and had me laughing out loud in the theatre (along with the other movie goers).  Without getting too deep, it's easy to identify with both sides, the young couple afraid to admit they are growing up and the fraternity brothers who hold true to their brotherhood because it's the family they choose to be in.

I highly recommend this movie, it'll have you laughing at loud!

Neighbors is out today!

 

May 07, 2014

Love Letters from Milwaukee

I started a new project today that will take some time to complete.  They are love letters from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Spokane, Washington from 1948.  Amazing they are still in tact!