Maleficent (2014)

3/5

Disney's Maleficent stars Angelina Jolie as the titular character, and her casting is the best decision the filmmakers' could have made. She gives a spectacularly complex performance as the kind-hearted Maleficent, a fairy who places a curse on Sleeping Beauty as revenge for being stripped of her wings and the power of flight. She brings depth and gravitas that has felt absent in most Disney characters and she alone is the reason to see this movie.

Although the story is full of surprising twists, it is laid out and presented with such unoriginal style as to make it feel old and overused. We start with a voice-over explaining that there are two worlds: the world of fairies and the world of humans. We are introduced to Maleficent's childhood and the magical world she inhabits. She swirls and swoops in extravagant 3D as if to show off the prowess of Disney's CGI programmers. Then she meets a human, falls in love, and gets her heart broken. And on and on it goes in such an unsurprising and familiar progression as to make the whole movie feel like something we've seen a hundred times before, except this time they've recycled familiar names and placed them on opposite sides of the moral compass from the first time they were in a Disney movie.

Now, to be fair, I am far from an expert on Disney and far from an expert on Maleficent. I haven't seen Sleeping Beauty and I've barely seen Maleficent (I was extremely tired and found myself nodding off several times during the movie)! So I suppose it is a little unfair that I am reviewing this movie. But looking at this movie from a purely cinematic perspective, I see a lot of missed potential. Although the art direction and costuming are fantastic, Maleficent feels like even more of a money-making operation than most of Disney's products. They are cashing in on the Wicked train by turning a bad guy into a misunderstood good guy and passing the bad guy buck onto some other poor schmuck. Whereas Wicked felt fresh, original, and textured, Maleficent just feels like a copycat. I wanted this movie to be as phenomenal as Wicked was, but I didn't get that. A good movie that disappoints you is worse than a mediocre movie that meets all your expectations.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587310/

About Last Night (2014)

3/5

About Last Night feels like a stale romantic comedy that lacks vision, innovation, and risk-taking. There's nothing particularly bad about it, but it's very, very plain. Kevin Hart and Michael Ealy play best friends. Hart meets Regina Hall and the two enjoy each other's company on an extremely physical level. Ealy finds romance in Joy Bryant, who plays Hall's roommate, and the two get serious fast. Their tale is as old as time: meet, fall in love, break up, reconnect. Kevin Hart and Regina Hall, on the other hand, provide oodles of laughter throughout their on-again, off-again relationship. Although just as predictable from a plot perspective, they bring outrageous hilarity to an otherwise staid, boring movie. About Last Night is mediocre on just about all levels, but the good news is that half of it feels like a Kevin Hart comedy special.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1826590/

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

4/5

X-Men: Days of Future Past reignites the fire that made the X-Men movies such hits. The story is set at some ambiguous time in the future, in which mutant-killing machines named Sentinels are continuously hunting the last of the mutant race. Fortuitously, Ellen Page's character can send people back in time, and Hugh Jackman's character has the "healing power" to withstand going back to the 1970's and changing the course of human--err, mutant--history. (I'm still not sure how going back in time is physically damaging to the human body, but I guess the producers wanted to milk the Wolverine cow for as much advertising power as they could.)

The movie feels a little over the top, with a depressing post-apocalyptic vision of the future and an overwhelming sense of dread permeating the entire movie. The stakes in action movies just seem to get bigger and bigger with every franchise sequel. But there is one truly magical scene early on in the movie (when the younger generation of mutants break Magneto out of prison) that is filled with such levity and fun, such imagination and creativity, to make you think you were in a different movie. Unfortunately, after that scene, the movie returns to its aggressively-serious, doom-filled march.

I'm sure the comic canon fanatics will have complaint after complaint with the creators playing fast and loose with characters, backstories, and time travel, but the fact remains that the latest X-Men movie is one of the rare action movies that remains a mystery despite a predictable plot progression. Although you know the general trend of what happens, it keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering not just who will live and who will die, but how exactly all the details play out. The story is a bit convoluted and probably has its fair share of plot holes, but the action is astutely-directed, the editing is exciting and tight, and the production value is excellent. It's one of the best entrants in the X-Men series and a fantastic summer blockbuster.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1877832/

Godzilla (2014)

3/5

Gareth Edwards's Godzilla reboot is not really a monster movie; it is a surprisingly well-constructed and engaging story that just happens to have some monsters in it. The acting is first-rate, the camerawork is top-notch, and the computer-generated creatures feel believable. But for all the things it got right, it got one big thing wrong.

The most glaring problem with this movie is the same one I found in The Shining: there's a lot of build-up without any follow-through (until the last few minutes of the movie anyway). It's exhausting and frustrating, not exciting and tense. Imagine thinking, "Something's gonna happen, something's gonna happen, something's gonna happen," and then nothing happens. Over and over again. I can't imagine watching it again; I'd just be skipping through the first 75 minutes because it's a lot of nothing followed by more nothing.

A pretty good movie otherwise.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0831387/

Disconnect (2012)

4/5

Disconnect is a thought-provoking movie about human connections and social interactions. Ostensibly a meditation on the isolating nature of modern technology, there is nothing particularly modern about bullying, sexual desire, or con men. The stories depicted could take place at any point in time; they are merely upgraded to cyberbullying, pay-per-view webcams, and cybercrime/identity theft. The three distinct storylines only peripherally interact, which is perhaps itself meant to describe our contemporary isolation. Lonely and disconnected, the characters seek out comfort in the company of strangers. They allow themselves to be vulnerable and they get taken advantage of.

Technically, the movie works extremely well. For instant messaging and texting, Disconnect shows us transluscent screens that overlay real life. It is a simple but effective metaphor that speaks volumes. Except for that visual flair, the movie sticks with documentary-style realism and subtle acting. Each individual story feels authentic--and has probably happened hundreds of times already. But the best part of the movie is that it doesn't succumb to saccharine sentimentality in the end. It doesn't give us the happy ending Hollywood thinks everybody wants. It sticks with reality, and for that I am extremely thankful.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1433811/

Neighbors (2014)

3/5

Neighbors is an astonishingly stupid adult comedy starring Seth Rogen and Zac Efron as feuding neighbors. I call it an adult comedy because of the content--which includes plenty of sex, drugs, and profanity--but it is really quite puerile in just about every other way. From uninspired acting to barebones characterization, the movie isn't so much a movie as it is a collection of gag jokes and juvenile pranks shot on screen. It's surprisingly similar in feel and scope to the movie Jackass, but with a little extra fiction added on. Even though it's not the most wholesome movie, the humor works. I was laughing the entire time. I won't say that I'm proud of it, but I certainly enjoyed the very vulgar Neighbors.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2004420/

Philomena (2013)

4/5

Philomena is a tremendously tragic true story that pulls at your heartstrings and uplifts your spirit in profound ways. The movie follows Philomena (Dench) as an aging woman trying to reconnect with her adopted son, who was conceived out of wedlock and sold by the convent she was living in as a young woman. A reporter (Coogan) takes on the human interest story after he loses his job as a political correspondent and faces writer's block researching Russian history. So begins the unlikely duo's adventure to uncover the mystery of Philomena's lost son; and so begins their budding friendship.

The movie reveals pieces of information bit by bit to keep you hooked on the twisting, turning plot. The story alone is fascinating enough to make the movie engaging, but it is the performances that make the movie so compelling and ultimately so heartbreaking. We become intensely attached to the characters and we feel their pain and anger. The subject matter is challenging and difficult to stomach, but the pathos and humor infused into each character makes it all worthwhile. The actors reveal humanity at its best and its worst in portrayals that vibrate with truth and honesty. It is hard to separate yourself from the characters and their emotions once the film ends, but it gives us one of the most satisfying endings I can recall in recent memory. Philomena is a treasure to watch and to behold.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2431286/