Minions (6/10): Fun for kids so mission accomplished.

“Work for me, and all this will be yours: respect, power, and…Banana”

Young children will absolutely fall in love with the lovely and insane minions, the humor, and the colorful animation, but unfortunately adults will find their wacky antics to wear off quickly as they become repetitive and tedious. At least that was my experience with this film which I ended up mildly enjoying. It did succeed in keeping the kids completely entertained, unlike with Inside Out where most of the younger kids began to get distracted and run around the movie theater. However it takes animated films like this to really appreciate what Pixar did with the insightful and original Inside Out. Pierre Coffin who co-directed both Despicable Me films with Chris Renaud, now teams up with Kyle Balda (who directed The Lorax with Renaud) for this spinoff centering on the colorful characters who were the highlight of the Despicable Me franchise. It’s hard to resist their cute antics and for that reason most of the jokes work in this film, but there isn’t anything else to the familiar slapstick humor. Coffin is the true hero here as he not only directs, but voices all of the minions and no matter how many times you hear them say “banana” it is funny every time. As uneven as the film might be, there are a number of memorable scenes that will stick with you and help you endure the 90 minute runtime. Unfortunately the funniest scenes are all included in the trailers, but it is still a fun ride nonetheless.

The plot centers on the origins of the Minions who have evolved through the dawn of time and have always followed the most despicable masters (including the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Dracula, and Napoleon). Ironically they are always the cause for their masters’s demise (which can be seen in the trailers). With no master left to follow, the Minions settle in a cave and struggle with depression for decades, until one of them, Kevin, decides to go in search of an evil boss. Along with Bob and Stuart, the trio embark on a journey to America in 1968 where they encounter Scarlet Overkill (voiced by Sandra Bullock) and her inventor husband Herb (Jon Hamm) who are the world’s most despicable villains. Scarlett offers them the opportunity to work for her if they manage to steal the Queen of England’s crown. Kevin, Bob, and Stuart accept the mission with the intention of saving the fate of their brothers and finally being able to serve a worthy master.   

There is no doubt that Minions will be a financial success and it will attract young audiences to the movies. Adults will be glad their children will be distracted for a couple of hours and everyone will return home happy. Other than entertaining your kids for a few hours, Minions doesn’t have anything new to offer. There will be plenty of laughs and the characters will sell a lot of toys, but there is nothing else to it. I still had a better time with this film than I did with Home, which surprisingly had done very well in the box office, but neither of these films come close to the emotional appeal of more intelligently crafted animated films such as Inside Out, which continues to prove that the rest of the animation studios are far behind from producing the quality that Pixar brings to their projects.   

My Review: Gravity (9/10)

"It's time to stop driving. It's time to go home."

There are so many great things I want to say about this movie that it's very hard to decide where to begin. I could mention how breathtaking and spectacular the visuals were, or how powerful Sandra Bullock's performance was, or how tense and gripping the film was, or how well this film established its narrative structure of a simple survival story, but I would have to begin by saying this is the scariest space has been since Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi film, Alien. Alfonso Cuaron had several years to prepare for this film and he had big shoes to fill because his latest film, Children of Men, was a spectacular thriller. Let me begin by saying he doesn't disappoint because Gravity is even more mind blowing than that film was. The vastness and emptiness of space turns out to be the greatest villain here and Cuaron does a masterful job at letting us experience that fear on a personal level. The movie is only 90 minutes long but at the end you walk out feeling physically weak after experiencing so much tension. All the hype the film is getting is totally justified, and not just because it's visually stunning, but because it is a completely well crafted movie. I thought Avatar was visually stunning, but I still didn't like that movie very much, so it takes more than that to get me on board and Cuaron did it thanks to a great script and a powerful performance from Sandra Bullock. The tone of the film and the attention to detail is truly unique and that is what makes this film stand out above all the other thousands of space movies we've seen. The long shots Cuaron loves to incorporate in his films never worked so much to his advantage as they do here adding to the vastness of space. I really want to experience this film on IMAX because I'm sure it is all the more breathtaking and worthwhile. This is a wonderful film that will end up on many critics top film lists. Gravity manages to draw you into space and experience it in first person. It is as if Cuaron put us inside Bullock's space suit and let the camera be our eyes. Gravity is an overwhelming experience and one you shouldn't miss out on. It is something special.

The plot is very simple: Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a medical engineer who is on her first space mission working on a satellite. She went through months of training for this specific mission. Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) on the other hand is an experienced astronaut who is in command of this, his last mission. Matt is a self loving guy who enjoys every second of his work, while Ryan is quiet and tries to keep to herself. She seems to enjoy the quietness of space, but she herself has experienced tragedy in her life and hasn't been able to move on. She focuses on her work and nothing else. During their routine mission Matt and Ryan receive a message from Earth telling them to return to the space shuttle as soon as possible because the debris from a satellite explosion is heading their way. As we see from the trailers, the debris reaches them before they can get onboard and all of a sudden Matt and Ryan are left all alone drifting through the vastness and darkness of space trying to survive.

Gravity may not be a character driven film, but the entire movie serves as a sort of metaphor for Ryan's life. She mentions how she spends most of her days simply driving around without a purpose in life and now she is drifting alone through the emptiness of space. Clooney plays a supporting role here but his character plays a key role in Ryan's transformation. At first she is just overwhelmed by the entire incident without a clue as to what she has to do and dependent on Matt, but he manages to calm her down and convince her that she has to fight for survival. Life is worth living despite the terrible incidents we experience. We can either let it suck our souls and simply drift and continue on living without a purpose, or we can rise to the challenge and fight those obstacles and find meaning and joy in life. I think that is the core message of Gravity under all the breathtaking visual accomplishments. It is a simple story about survival with an impeccable performance from Sandra Bullock, breathtaking cinematography from Emmanuel Lubezki (The Tree of Life), and it is technically perfect. This is probably the closest I will ever be to experiencing space. The film perfectly balances the beauty of space with its horror and you should experience it through the biggest screen your city has to offer because it is a rewarding journey.

My Review: The Heat (6/10)

"I'll shut the door on you. You lay down here and put your head in the door. And I'll slam it about 157,000 times."

We've seen the buddy cop comedies played out a million times before over the years, sometimes with great effect like in Lethal Weapon, Rush Hour, or more recently 21 Jump Street, and others it just plays out terribly, like in Cop Out. One thing is for sure, we go into these movies expecting great chemistry from the lead characters. The plot can be ridiculous or over the top, but if the chemistry in the buddy comedy is good then the film is guaranteed to deliver laughs. It doesn't matter if the movie is predictable and follows all the same rules other buddy comedies do, if you have Danny Glover pairing up with Mel Gibson, or Jonah Hill with Channing Tatum you are destined to have a great time. The secret lies in having two completely different people team up and despite not liking each other at first somewhere around the line everything clicks. This genre has been universally accepted and it has worked since the beginning of film. The Heat follows pretty much the same formula we've seen in all these other comedies, except for one thing: Both leads are females. In the last 25 years there has never been a buddy cop comedy with two women as the main characters. Bridesmaids director, Paul Feig, made it possible by pairing the comedic talents of Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy. Katie Dippold's script might not be genius, but the two ladies are extremely funny together and deliver several laughs thanks to their great chemistry. Opposites attract, and that formula works once again without being a groundbreaking comedy. It was good to see two strong female leads dominate the box office. Somehow despite not being original, the film felt fresh and McCarthy delivered all the right comedic notes masterfully. And that is coming from someone who has never been a big fan of her work (Identity Theft was horrible and I'm not into Mike and Molly either). If you are looking for an easygoing fun time, then by all means check this film out because there are several scenes that will crack you up.

Sarah Asburn (Sandra Bullock) is an uptight FBI agent who does things by the books. She is great at what she does, but her cocky attitude doesn't help her at making friends. She is sent by her boss, Hale (Demain Bichir) to Boston to find a ruthless drug lord named Larkin who has been eliminating the competition by cutting other drug dealers into pieces. In order to uncover this man's identity Sarah will have to start from the bottom interrogating other small time dealers. The only problem is that the person she wants to question is Shannon Mullins's (Melissa McCarthy) prisoner and she isn't very friendly. Shannon is a foul mouthed police officer that doesn't have much respect for authority. She likes working alone and doesn't want anyone messing with her neighborhood. When Sarah begins interrogating her prisoner, Shannon jumps in and begins defending her territory. Unfortunately both are forced to work together after Hale acknowledges that Sarah could use a partner who knows the territory. Despite wanting to find the man responsible for these crimes, both officers get off on the wrong foot because they are completely different. Sarah does things by the books, while Shannon isn't afraid to use force and intimidation to get what she wants.  

Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy working together in a cop comedy is a good reason enough to go see this film. McCarthy is extremely funny here and her character isn't unlikable like in Identity Theft. Here despite being very foul mouthed and disrespectful, she has a good heart and is fighting for all the right reason. Bullock on the other hand plays a very unlikable character at first, but she pulls it off by doing things unintentionally. She really doesn't know she is being cocky or putting other officers to shame, she does things without realizing how hurtful her remarks are. The chemistry between both these characters is what makes this otherwise predictable movie worth watching. The Heat might not be as funny as Feig's previous film, Bridesmaids, but it still is worth watching for the female star power alone. Hollywood doesn't take much risks, but here they managed to bill two actresses as their stars and the risk payed off at the box office. McCarthy proves she has the star power and is becoming a bankable star when given decent material to work with.

My Review: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (8/10)

¨If things were easy to find, they wouldn't be worth finding. ¨

This is Stephen Daldry`s fourth Oscar nominated film for Best Picture after his work in Billy Elliot, The Hours, and The Reader. Many critics seemed to have disliked this movie, and perhaps it may have to do with the fact that it didn’t measure up to some of his previous films. I however found Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close a very powerful and emotional film. It was hard not to get emotionally involved with this film that deals with the 9/11 attacks, although mainly targeted on how it affected one particular kid. Just like the kid in the movie, I found myself recalling these events of the past and trying to figure out what I was doing at the time of the attacks. I personally didn’t lose a loved one in the attacks so I don’t know how this movie could affect those who did, but I think Daldry has paid them a decent tribute. The screenplay was adapted by Eric Roth (who has a great trajectory in writing for films such as Forrest Gump, Munich, The Insider, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) from Jonathan Safran Foer`s novel of the same name. I don’t understand why so many critics hated this movie since it is much better than most films released in 2012, although I wouldn’t have nominated it for Best Picture either. Perhaps critics aren`t ready for a 9/11 film yet, or they thought it was too emotionally involving, but I don’t see how you can make one dealing with this subject that isn`t emotional. The other issue they might`ve had was that this film centers entirely on the performance of Thomas Horn, the Jeopardy winner during Kids Week who never starred in a film before this. I thought it was a good performance, although it did have its up and downs.

The main protagonist of the film is Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn), who is not your ordinary kid. He is very smart, but not very social, and there is something about him that you know isn`t what we would consider normal behavior. He loves however playing expedition games with his father Thomas (Tom Hanks) who is always teaching him interesting facts and sending him on new quests. Thomas told Oskar that in New York there used to be a sixth burrow, but it has  disappeared although the clues of its whereabouts are hidden are around Central Park. All he has to do is continue searching. Thomas sends his son on all these expeditions because he wants him to interact with other people. Oskar`s mom is Linda (Sandra Bullock) who doesn’t seem to connect with him in the same way that his father does. She is however a loving and caring mother who has an excellent relationship with Thomas. On September 11^th their lives will change forever when Thomas is killed in one of the World Trade Center towers. We know Thomas dies from the very beginning because the story is non-linear as most of the scenes between Oskar and his father come from the boy`s memory. It`s been a year since the ¨terrible day¨ and Oskar is afraid of losing his connection with his father. He`s in desperate need of a new expedition and he finds one when he discovers a mysterious key inside a blue vase with the name Black on the envelope and a newspaper cutting with the words ¨not stop looking.¨ Oskar believes this is another quest from his father and is set to find what the key unlocks with the help of a speechless renter (played by Max von Sydow) from his grandma`s home. They embark on the journey together and try to discover the impossible.

I think the main idea of the film revolves around the fact of trying to make sense of these terrible things that have happened and learning how to deal with them. During one point of the movie, Horn`s character tells us that if the Sun were to explode we`d still see it and feel its heat even eight hours after it exploded. In the same way he still feels the presence of his father in his life even if it has been a year since his tragic death. He fears however that those eight hours are running out and wants to do something about it before it`s too late. How can he continue to feel the presence of his father in his life? He believes that with this new expedition he will continue to keep his memory, but what he doesn’t realize is that by embarking on this journey he will encounter many other people and hear their stories. The movie is very emotional and had me holding back my tears. I really found it powerful and enjoyed Horn`s performance, although I really got more involved with the movie when Max von Sydow`s character showed up. He deserved the nomination for best supporting actor because he really lifted this movie. The scene where Oskar shares his story to this stranger is just so powerful, I really enjoyed this film. I wouldn’t have nominated it for Best Picture, but I still enjoyed it even more than I did War Horse, The Descendants, and The Help so my major complain won`t be why this got nominated, but how Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Drive, Harry Potter, and Warrior didn’t.

My Review: All About Steve (3/10)

¨You missed the bus probably because you're not meant to take it.¨

(3/10) If you haven`t seen this movie yet then I would take that quote from All About Steve and change the word bus for movie, and the word take for watch and it would say the following: You missed the movie probably because you`re not meant to watch it. I should have listened to this piece of advice and skipped All About Steve. I didn`t go see this movie at the theater because it looked dumb, so I watched it on DVD later. It was a bad idea. My recommendation for those who haven’t seen the movie yet is to stay away from it because it is one of the worst movies of the year. Sandra Bullock`s character is so annoying that it gives you a headache just to watch her. She will not stop talking for a second and after a few minutes you feel like turning off the TV or pushing the mute button on your control. Bullock did such a good job at creating this annoying character that you feel like running away from her along with Steve- the co protagonist of this story. Phil Traill directs this movie which was written by Kim Barker, the same person who wrote License to Wed, and yes All About Steve is just as bad as that movie. I don`t understand how she is still given opportunities to keep on writing these bad scripts, and the worst part is that she didn`t even improve after the terrible License to Wed. The dialogue is just terrible. The truth of the matter is that this movie only sold because of Sandra Bullock and the only way to pitch it to the audience was saying that it was produced by the people who brought you Miss Congeniality, because there wasn`t anything else positive to say about it. They should have warned us that it was written by the same person who brought us License to Wed, at least a heads up would have been good.

This is Sandra Bullock`s third feature film this year and this is by far her worst movie. As a matter of fact both The Proposal and The Blind Side which also were released this year were good movies (she got acting nominations for her role in both of them). Bullock isn`t to blame however, she was successful in delivering the character that she was asked to play, but it was just way too obnoxious for the audience to handle. In All About Steve she plays Mary Horowitz, a single adult in her late 30`s who still lives at home with her parents. She works for a local newspaper writing crossword puzzles and because of this she seems to be a human dictionary, she knows the meaning of every word and she won`t stop talking about it when given a chance. Her parents have arranged a blind date for her with their neighbor`s son, Steve (with a v, not ph) played by Bradley Cooper (who has also released several movies this year such as The Hangover and He`s Just Not That Into You). He meets her and discovers that she is somewhat of a nut case and makes up a story that he has to go to Boston to cover a news story in order to get rid of her because he works as a cameraman for CCN. While trying to be polite Steve says that it would be nice to meet up with her again some other time and Mary takes those words literally and decides to travel the country following him and the news team. His partners at work make fun of the situation at first, but later Hartman Hughes (played by the very talented Thomas Haden Church from Sideways), the reporter who is always competing to stand out from his other colleagues, realizes that he can use her knowledge of words and history and encourages her to follow them against Steve`s will. The plot continues to get more and more ridiculous from this point on as we are introduced to some other uninteresting characters and situations.

There is no doubt that Sandra Bullock is a great actress and she has proven it this year with some good movies, but it is also true that good actors can`t do anything if they are not given a decent script which is the case with this movie. Bullock, Cooper, and Haden Church are all great actors, but they are given the wrong instruments in order to stand out. The only reason that I gave it 1 ½ stars is because the movie works in some level as a satire on news and each time that the movie pokes fun of this industry I got a few kicks out of it. However Bullock`s character is so annoying that you just want to get up and leave the moment you are introduced to her. All of a sudden near the end of the movie she seems to miraculously change her behavior and act more normal which is a common tactic in these films in order for the audience to sympathize with her. All About Steve has several flaws and it just didn`t work for me. My advice is: skip this ridiculous movie.

My Review: The Blind Side (8/10)

¨You threaten my son, you threaten me.¨

(8/10)The Blind Side, directed by John Lee Hancock (who also directed 2004`s The Rookie), is a biography of the life of Michael Oher, a professional football player for the Baltimore Ravens and an All-American from Ole Miss. The movie does not focus so much on his career as a football player, but in his relationship with the Touhy family who eventually ended up adopting him when he was a teenager. The Blind Side is a great movie for the entire family to enjoy, even if you hate the sport of football because the film doesn`t focus on the game as much. The beginning might be a bit misguiding because it opens with footage from an NFL game, but it only served to introduce the title of the film. The focal point of the movie is the protective nature of Oher towards others even though he had a very difficult childhood and was abandoned by his real parents. How he was able to move on with his life and stay away from all the dangers that teenagers his age have to go through was due in most part because of the family who opened their doors for him. His caring and protecting nature was always innate in him, but he wasn`t used to receiving love from others. This mutual relationship between him and the family, and especially between him and Leigh Anne, is the true heart of the movie. The message is a very uplifting and inspiring one and that is why I really ended up enjoying The Blind Side. Hancock did a great job at directing this film; and I am not familiar with Oher`s life, but hopefully he remained faithful to his biography. The story is very encouraging and uplifting nonetheless.

The movie opens with a voice over of Sandra Bullock narrating real footage from an NFL game with a very marked southern accent. In the game a quarterback was seriously injured and because of that game the left guard position became one of the most valuable positions in the league because a left guard is in charge of protecting the quarterback`s blind side (therefore explaining the title of the film). Then we are introduced to Michael Oher`s character who is played by Quinton Aaron and he is being taken to a Christian school along with a friend and his parent. Because of his size everyone calls Oher Big Mike. He is accepted in the school highly recommended by the coach because he knows he has potential due to his tremendous size even though he doesn`t have very good grades. At school Big Mike meets S J and later is introduced to the Touhy family. One rainy night they find out he is sleeping at the school gym so they decide to invite him to sleep at their home for the night. Leigh Anne (played by Sandra Bullock) takes a special interest in Big Mike and decides to help him with as much as she can. The Touhy`s are a very wealthy family and they are all huge sport fans, and they support all Ole Miss teams. Leigh`s husband is played by Tim McGraw and he supports his wife in every decision she makes. The kids also accept Michael and the relationship begins to build from this point on as we also get to learn more about his troubled past through flashbacks.

The Blind Side is very formulaic, but it does have one thing going for it beside it being a true story: Sandra Bullock. Her performance is the highlight of the film and she carries this movie. An Oscar nomination is not out of the question. Tim McGraw gives a decent performance considering he is a singer, Kathy Bates also has a supporting role as Michael`s teacher and she is always a good addition. I really enjoyed the movie and found it really inspiring. It has a very powerful message and teaches you how much a good dead can change someone`s life for the better. Oher is only a minority is these cases where so many talented kids waste their lives because they don`t receive help or education. The Blind Side is a movie for the entire family to enjoy and at the same time there is a powerful message to be learned. I highly recommend this film.