Why The Spectacular Now is not for me

In what I consider to be a strange convergence of the Force, there were 3 like-minded, coming-of-age films to come out of the Sundance Film Festival this year.  One of these movies,  The Way Way Back, I put very close to the top of my top 10 list of last year.  It was one of the most emotionally fulfilling film experiences of last year for me and I still sob at the end every time I watch it.  The other two, The Spectacular Now and Kings of Summer, were on my watch list, but had a fairly low priority because of their R-ratings (I try to avoid R-rated films, especially if they have hard violence or sex).  However, The Spectacular Now recently showed up on Amazon Prime, so I decided to give it a shot.  I didn't end up finishing it and here's why.

The Spectacular Now (TSN) comes across as a very pessimistic film.  None of the characters are really happy, or at least the ones that I met in the first hour.  They all lead fairly bleak lives and this movie focuses on that bleakness.  It feels like something that the Nihilistic Coen Brothers could have written. 

Also, the film deals with some very heavy and/or dark themes.  Teen alcoholism and teen sex are both prevalent, and both of which I have absolutely no experience with.  I will probably be called a prude for saying this, but almost every one of the problems that these people are experiencing could very easily be solved by choosing to live a more virtuous life.  I found almost no sympathy for them and certainly couldn't relate to any of them. 

So, I cannot recommend TSN to any of you, unless you want to go on a depressing journey.  I think that most of you are like-minded and would find this film to be as unwatchable as I do. 

Cheers.

No-Spoiler Review: X-Men Days of Future Past

Expectations
I consider the first two X-Men films to be among the greatest comic book films of all time.  Obviously the franchise has had its ups and down since then, and most of its downs were the result of too much studio intervention.  Truth be told, the only X-film that I've really liked since the first two was last year's The Wolverine and even that was a mixed bag.  So, when it was announced that Bryan Singer (the director of X-Men and X2) was returning for Days of Future Past...let's just say I got my hopes pretty high.  Singer has had a pretty mixed track record as well since leaving his X-roots, with Superman Returns and Jack the Giant Slayer being two of his big budget disappointments.  Well, I am pleased to tell all 3 of you that follow my blog that both Singer and X-Men are back in true form. 

The Good
First let's start with the action.  The action set pieces in DOFP blow any other movie this year out of the water.  I highly doubt that anything this year will be as awesome as the climax in this film.  Also, Quicksilver's action scene got literal cheers and clapping from my audience.  These two scenes alone are worth the price of admission.

The writing and acting here are beyond any other X-film as well.  I was amazed at the performances that Mr. Singer was able to get out of these actors.  James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, and Patrick Stewart gave remarkably moving performances.  This film adds complexity to these characters that I really don't think we've ever seen in a comic book movie, with the possible exception of The Dark Knight. 

The script was very tight.  Although it wasn't perfect, it was more than I could have hoped for.  Like I said before, these characters are complex beyond anything we've seen.  It's also the most satisfying ending of any in the X-franchise. 

Not only did this movie mark the return of Bryan Singer, but it also marked the return of his Usual composer, John Ottman (did you see what I did there?). Ottman's work is also top notch, and his themes here bring both a sense of nostolgia for the previous films and added depth.  His score is a perfect fit and adds a lot to the film. 

The Bad
There isn't a whole lot bad in this film.  The only thing that bothered, albeit only slightly, was Wolverine's character was a bit too much of a softy.  The performance felt a little phoned in by Hugh Jackman, especially compared with the depth of his work on last year's The Wolverine.  This probably wouldn't have been noticeable if it weren't for the amazing performances surrounding him.  I suppose that Singer had his hands full with such a large cast that he either consciously or subconsciously chose not to spend as much time on Jackman's performance.

The 'Meh'
The studio made us watch the movie in 3D for the screening.  I normally hate 3D, yet this one wasn't as distracting as others that I have experienced (Thor: The Dark World was abysmal and I'm very glad that the studio didn't make us watch Winter Soldier in 3D).  However, when I see it again, I will not be seeing in 3D and unless you really like 3D, I recommend doing the same.

Conclusion
X-Men Days of Future Past is my favorite film of the year so far.  It has stellar performances, complex and likable characters, and action scenes that I don't think will be topped until Marvel releases Avengers: Age of Ultron next year.  It is a return to form by Bryan Singer and I couldn't be happier that he's back.  I'm going to give this a near perfect score (however, when I rate it on IMDB, Flixster, and the like I will round up).  It must not be missed.

4.75/5 Disco Balls

Quick Review: Godzilla (2014)

Expectations
I went into this film with average expectations.  All my favorite critics liked it (Leonard Maltin, Silas Lesnick, Kate Erbland, etc.) but my good friend Kevin (who is also a critic at redcarpetrefs.com) was quite disappointed with it.

Thoughts
With these tempered expectations, I have to say that I was a little disappointed.  I can see why it would appeal to a lot of people, however I just didn't 'feel' it.

It tried to be smarter than it should have.  Although I ultimately thought Pacific Rim was a silly film, at least it knew it was silly.  Godzilla is not a complex subject matter, so I thought it ridiculous that they tried to make it more sophisticated than it was.

Ultimately this 'clever' back story took away from what people wanted to see: giant monsters fighting!  For a monster movie, there is a very noticeable absence of fighting.  In fact, with the exception of the climax scene, they try to NOT show Godzilla.  I suppose Gareth Edwards decided to follow the "don't show the shark till close to the end" principle, cleverly avoiding much monster action until the end.  As a result of this, I personally felt cheated.  The movie just didn't know what it wanted to be.

The characters were pretty shallow, with the exception of Bryan Cranston's. This saddens me because both Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson are both great!  Same with Sally Hawkins and Ken Wanatabe!

My friend Kevin told me that it wanted to be a Steven Spielberg film.  I went in looking for this, and found it to be pretty obvious that the director, Gareth Edwards, is a Spielberg disciple.  He employed mirror and crane shots to no avail, but none of them were nearly as effective as when Spielberg does it.  There were also A LOT of Jurassic Park references.

The special effects weren't nearly as good as Pacific Rim, although I think I liked Godzilla more overall.

3/5 Disco Balls.

I'm back

You might have been wondering where I have been the last year, or at least why I haven't been posting anything (let's not kid anyone, you don't care at all).  Well, I have been writing for a site called RedCarpetRefs.com.  They are growing and I enjoyed my tenure there.  However, my wife just had a baby and being part of the Refs was just too stressful for the time being. 

So, you get to hear my ramblings here again.  Cheers!