Endless Love (2014) - Review

Greetings Film-Maniacs!

Well I write today to tell you my review on Endless Love.

Endless Love has the exact same plot points as every single romantic film. Rough boy meets well to-do girl, and they fall in love. Father of the girl hates the boy and tries to break them up.

As you can imagine, I did not care for Endless Love. I didn’t have any excitement going into it ever since I watched the trailer. I will say the trailer made the film look much more terrible than it turned out to be.

The screenplay was cliché-filled, and just a cheese-filled script. The dialogue wasn't interesting or emotionally jarring. 

The acting was pretty good for the most part except for the ex-girlfriend, who was so cliché that I was hoping she would just disappear. Well it seems she did disappear. For someone who was supposed to be a secondary antagonist, she had like a minute of screen time. Gabriella Wilde, who played Jade, the love interest, was so utterly uninteresting, I could care less if she got with David or not. 

The direction was the one thing that saved this film. It was a beautifully shot film. The pacing, and scene set up was very well done.

Can the direction save this film or will the plot for plot carbon copy of The Notebook derail this train?

Endless Love is: RUST.

Endless Love was so clichéd and uninteresting, that I was wishing a horde of zombies would come and tear them all apart. That probably would've received a bronze rating.

So Film-Maniacs comment and let me know your thoughts on Endless Love, and please surf on back for all of your movie news and reviews!

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As always keep on babbling, Film-Maniacs!

Box Office Results for: February 21-23, 2014

10. Winters Tale - $2,130,000

9. Endless Love - $4,301,000

8. Frozen - $4,357,000

7. Ride Along - $4,667,000

6. About Last Night - $7,400,000

5. The Monuments Men - $8,100,000

4. RoboCop - $9,400,000

3. Pompeii - $10,010,000

2. 3 Days to kill - $12,300,000

1. The Lego Movie - $31,450,000

Box Office Results for: February 14-16, 2014

Greetings Film-Maniacs!

So I am starting a new group for Box Office Results.

So for the weekend of February 14-16, 2014 the results from number 10 to number 1 is has follows

10. That Awkward Moment - $3,337,000

9. Lone Survivor - $4,076000

8. Frozen - $5,855,000

7. Winter's Tale - $7,785,000

6. Ride Along - $8,759,000

5. Endless Love - $13,380,000

4. The Monuments Men - $15,000,000

3. Robocop - $21,500,000

2. About Last Night - $27,000,000

1. The Lego Movie - $48,810,000

The Lego Movie (2014) - Review

Greetings, Film-Maniacs!

So after a week I finally got to see The Lego Movie.

                                                                 

Copyright: Warner Brothers Pictures

In The Lego Movie, Ordinary Emmet is mistaken for the most extraordinary master builder and is recruited to stop a tyrant from freezing the Lego World.

The Lego Movie, at the time I viewed it, had a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. It was the big winner at the box office, and it was the most talked about film. So with all of this hype, could The Lego Movie hold up to my high expectations?


To start off The Lego Movie is probably the most beautiful 3D animated movie I have seen in a long time. It was astonishing how beautiful it really looked. It definitely was an animated epic. 


The Lego Movie was written and directed by Phil Lord, and Christopher Miller, who together also directed 21 Jump Street, which I loved. So knowing who was helming this film was very exciting. The direction was just plain spectacular. The cinematography made it feel like it was a set with real Legos with cameras shooting stop motion. They were able to bring this very outlandish story to the screen and tell an entertaining and heartfelt story.


The voice over work was some of the very best. Liam Neeson as good cop/bad cop was fantastic like I thought it would be. My biggest surprise was actually Will Arnett as Batman/Bruce Wayne. His voice was just raspy enough to be dark and brooding, but it was understandable. His portrayal also brought a bit of humor that just made the film even better.


Now I saved the storyline for last this time because this story went to a place I never expected. The third act is where the whole story fell into place. It definitely changed my opinion of the film. Now looking back on it I have a different view on it. This is definitely the best story of 2014 in my opinion.


My only issue is that the film in the beginning was a little too fast. It just went from scenery to scenery in an instant.




So in conclusion The Lego Movie was gorgeously animated, the voice over was some of the best, and the story was just great. It could've been a little slower.


The Lego Movie is: PLATINUM!


Well there it is my first Platinum of 2014 and of my blogs. Sure The Lego Movie wasn't perfect but no film is. Its pros outweighed its cons by over 90 percent so it rightfully deserves this spot at the top.


Thank God for The Lego Movie finally letting us know we are out of the crap-fest month of January.


So, Film-Maniacs, comment below and tell me your thoughts on the film. If you want to put spoilers please put a spoiler warning before the comment, if not your comment will be deleted. Thank you for your cooperation.


Please surf on back to get all of your movie news, and movie reviews.


Also follow me on Twitter @Movie_Babble, or @MatthewGodsey.


Remember to keep babbling on, Film-Maniacs!

Trailer Review - The Purge: Anarchy

Greetings Film Maniacs!

So the other day this trailer just dropped. Which is the newest film from Blumhouse Productins, The Purge: Anarchy.

Now if you read my top ten worst movies of 2013 list, you noticed that The Purge made number six. Now I watched this trailer with the hopes it would be better than the first one.

To start off, I felt it was edited very bad. The song they put in the beginning just didn't fit, it felt like it was crammed in there. The song was there for a second then just randomly disappeared when the plot contrivance of the car stopping conveniently right before the start of the purge.

The whole rest of the trailer is just a carbon copy from the first one from the use of the song America, to  Lena Headey's end line. This trailer was a huge, bland, letdown, but what do you expect when the first movie was just as bland. 

The Purge: Anarchy trailer is: RUST. 

It was terribly edited, and not intriguing at all. This trailer makes me not want to see it, which is the opposite of what it should do.

Please comment below and let me know what your thoughts on the trailer is.

Again as always thanks for reading, and surf on back for all of your movie news and reviews.

Also follow me on Twitter @Movie_Babble.

Keep on babbling Film-Maniacs!

Wizard of Oz (Classics) - Review

Greetings Film-Maniacs!

Today starts my new segment in which I review the classics throughout the ages. I will start out reviewing those in the golden age of cinema.

To start off, I figured I should review one of the most beloved, and the first golden age classic I watched: The Wizard of Oz.

The Wizard of Oz was released in 1939. Victor Fleming was the credited director, with uncredited directing from George Cukor, Mervyn Leroy, Norman Taurog, and King Vidor (who directed the Kansas scenes). It stars Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Burt Lahr, and Jack Haley.

The Wizard of Oz is about a young farm girl named Dorothy that is swept away during a tornado to a magical land where she must go on a quest to find the Wizard to help her get back home.

The Wizard of Oz was a step forward in filmmaking with its Technicolor format. The colors were vibrant and beautiful. That is why the Wizard of Oz survived as one of the greatest classics of all time. It had such an impact on the audience who witnessed this film. Let's dive into the details and see if it is worthy of being one of the best.

Let's start at the beginning with the screenplay.

DISCLAIMER: SPOILERS!! If you haven't watched the movie please note that you are reading at your own risk!!!

My problems with the film come form the screenplay. There are so many plot contrivances that just drive me insane. The biggest one is that the Wicked Witch of the West can create fire out of her hands but the most she does to Dorothy and her ragtag crew is put them to sleep. Not only does she put them to sleep but she just lets them lay there sleeping and she lets Glinda wake them up. Another contrivance is that there is a bucket of water in her castle. OK point one, who keeps a random bucket of water in a castle but especially if that's you're only weakness. The witch deserved to die, she was one of the dumbest villains in movie history. There are just so many plot contrivances in this film, its mind boggling.

Now the direction was splendid. You couldn't tell it had five directors. It was shot well and lighted perfectly for 1939. 

Now the real treat was the acting. The acting was so great. This definitely was all of the actors performance of a lifetime. Looking back at it now, I couldn't see Shirley Temple as Dorothy. Judy Garland made that role what it has become.

So in afterthought, the direction was great and the acting was splendid, but the screenplay was just awful. So is the Wizard of Oz such a gem as people seem to think?

The Wizard of Oz is a solid bar of GOLD. The screenplay may have been terrible but the direction and acting cover the plot contrivances up so well.

Please comment below and tell me your thoughts of this classic, and please surf on back for all of your movie news and reviews.

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Remember to keep on babbling Film-Maniacs!

R.I.P. Philip Seymour Hoffman

Greetings Film-Maniacs.

Tonight I have some somber news. One of my all time favorite actors, Philip Seymour Hoffman, has passed away earlier today at the age of 46. Early report is he passed away due to a drug overdose.

I honestly wanted to cry when I first saw the news, I just couldn't believe it. Hoffman definitely makes it into my top five list of favorite actors.

Now let me say it makes me sick seeing comments on the internet degrading this wonderful actor. Saying how he deserved it for throwing all that success away. Do they honestly think he wanted to die on purpose? It makes me sick seeing people being disrespectful to someone, who probably never did anything to those certain people, who has recently passed.

But it's the internet, it's full of filth and assholes. Well Phil you're definitely in a better place than this hateful planet. Thank you for all of the entertainment and memories. I only wish I could've directed you in a film. I wish the best of luck and love to his family.

R.I.P. Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Please Film-Maniacs post your favorite films of Philip Seymour Hoffman. Let's celebrate his life.

Keep on babbling Film-Maniacs!