THE BEST AND WORST OF SUMMER 2014

THE BEST AND WORST OF SUMMER 2014

I don't think the 2014 summer movie season will be remembered for the good movies that came out. Let's face it, it seemed like each week we succumbed to some pretty disappointing movies at your local cineplex. Like every summer, we had our fare share of comic book movies, sequels, and reboots. There were big action franchises that wanted to continue their reign. Some fared well (X-Men: Days of Future Past), while others left us shaking our head in frustration (The Amazing Spider-Man 2). Here are my picks for the best and worst of the summer season, plus some that were pleasant surprises.

THE BEST

1. BOYHOOD
Writer/Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Ellar Coltrane, Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, Lorelei Linklater, Marco Perella, Libby Villari

By now, you are probably aware of the fact that writer/director Richard Linklater spent twelve years filming this movie. The huge gamble paid off, and I obsessed over it after I saw it. I bought the soundtrack and am currently working on making the Beatles Black Album that Hawke's character created. It was the movie I plugged and championed for whenever anyone asked me for my recommendation. If you are sick of seeing the same kind of movies in theaters over and over again, Boyhood is your kind of movie. It will be one of the most unique and thought-provoking films you will see all year or of any year recently.

RATING: 5 out of 5 TICKET STUBS



2. LIFE ITSELF
Director: Steve James
Starring: Roger Ebert, Chaz Ebert, Martin Scorsese, Werner Herzog, A.O. Scott, Richard Corliss, Gene Siskel

Documentarian Steve James and Roger Ebert started working on Life Itself with the intention of it being an adaptation of Ebert's memoir of the same name. Unfortunately, Roger passed away before the film was completed. I have been a huge admirer of his dating back to when I was a kid watching Siskel & Ebert & the Movies. This film is a wonderful look back at his life and career. He is truly inspirational as he never once gave up or quit working when his health started to decline. It is one of the best documentaries that I have seen in years.

RATING: 5 out of 5 TICKET STUBS



3. THE FAULT IN OUR STARS
Director: Josh Boone
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff, Laura Dern, Sam Trammell, Willem Dafoe

I knew I would enjoy this teen romance as I had already read the book and fell in love with the story. What I didn't expect was that I would go on and do a full ugly cry at the theater. I rarely cry at movies, but this was the grand exception. I even tried to recreate it on Twin Cities Live when I reviewed it. Click HERE for the video.

RATING: 4.5 out of 5 TICKET STUBS



4. SNOWPIERCER
Director: Joon-ho Bong
Starring: Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, Octavia Spencer, Jamie Bell, John Hurt

There were many films this summer that I wouldn't mind seeing a second or third time once they are available on blu-ray. I left Snowpiercer and immediately wanted to see it again as it was also available via On Demand at the same time it was in theaters. I never got around to writing a full review, but I will once I watch it again. It was a stunning visual feast for the eyes. I haven't seen any of Bong's other films, so I went in not knowing what to expect. For a film that takes place completely on a train, I completely awed by the fact that I never knew what was going to happen next! Plus, you've got the brilliance of Tilda Swinton giving her third performance this year alone.

RATING: 4 out of 5 TICKET STUBS



5. GODZILLA
Director: Gareth Edwards
Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston, Ken Watanabe

I admit, this is probably a strange pick that you didn't see coming. I had a hard time filling this fifth spot. Do I go with a trusty and easy choice like a Marvel movie or go in a different direction? I'm going with Godzilla as it was a film, like Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, that really took me by surprise. I had never seen a Godzilla movie before, but now I want to go back and rewatch those old black and white classics. Director Gareth Edwards gives the film its slow burn until our main character is finally revealed in a very Spielbergian way. It's sound and visual effects were top notch and made it a true summer popcorn creature feature flick!



*HONORABLE MENTIONS: it's a tie between X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

THE WORST

Stay FAR FAR away...I'm warning you.

1. TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION

What a piece of garbage. A nearly three hour piece of garbage. Yes, I expected that going in but I still don't think we can excuse Michael Bay and not hold him accountable because we now expect that out of him. I can't believe people keep throwing hard earned money at these movies.

RATING: 1/2 out of 5 TICKET STUBS



2. A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST

Seth MacFarlane is one of the funniest and smartest people in Hollywood. He can act, sing, direct, write and do voices as we have seen with Family Guy and Ted. It was a real shame that his attempt at a western comedy turned out to be a complete waste and really showed how lazy he can be.

RATING: 1.5 out of 5 TICKET STUBS



3. LET'S BE COPS

I didn't even give this film a full review as I saw it weeks after it opened. It should be one of those dumb comedies that's so dumb, it's funny or it's so funny that you don't mind it being dumb. This was all dumb and no funny. Okay, I take it back. There was maybe two funny moments, one of which involved a fat naked man running.

RATING: 1.5 out of 5 TICKET STUBS



4. JERSEY BOYS

It's a shame that this didn't work out in the end. Clint Eastwood was the wrong choice to helm the big screen adaptation of the hit jukebox musical about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. They tried sticking close to the musical but in all the wrong places. They even forgot to include the music in the second half.

RATING: 2 out of 5 TICKET STUBS



5. TAMMY

It's good that Melissa McCarthy, Allison Janney, and Kathy Bates were all up for Emmys this year as it made me forget about this movie. We've seen McCarthy do this type of loud-mouthed, crass, and dirty character countless times. It's time for the otherwise talented actress to retire this character and move onto other more challenging roles that she is easily capable of.

RATING: 2 out of 5 TICKET STUBS



*DISHONORABLE MENTION: MILLION DOLLAR ARM

There you go! Those are my picks for the best and worst of the summer season. Here's hoping next summer gives us some better quality popcorn flicks. I'd love to hear from you! What are your picks for the best and worst? Feel free to comment below or you can find me and comment on my Facebook page by clicking HERE.

TWIN CITIES LIVE- July 25, 2014

TWIN CITIES LIVE
July 25, 2014

Is Sex Tape as bad as people are saying? Could Boyhood be one of the best of the year? Plus, my home release is devoted to the late great Elaine Stritch in Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me.

1. BOYHOOD, starring Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, Ellar Coltrane, and Lorelei Linklaer
2. SEX TAPE, starring Jason Segel, Cameron Diaz, Ellie Kemper, Rob Corddry
3. ELAINE STRITCH: SHOOT ME, starring Elaine Stritch

Here's the video:




Video courtesy of Twin Cities Live/KSTP

You can find all of my past segments HERE.

As always, thank you so much for watching and your continual support. I truly appreciate it!

Movie Review: BOYHOOD

BOYHOOD
Writer/Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Ellar Coltrane, Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, Lorelei Linklater, Marco Perella, Libby Villari

For the last twelve years director Richard Linklater, along with actors Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette, have been filming scenes for this incredible movie. They play a divorced couple and the story is centered on their son Mason Jr, played by newcomer Ellar Coltrane. The story captures the evolution of this young boy from the age of six through eighteen. At the beginning of the movie, we witness how Mason and his sister Samantha (Lorelai Linklater) deal with spending their coveted weekends with their dad. You could think of Mason Sr. as that parent that still needs to grow up and take responsibility. He wants to show them what tough love is, but there is that relaxed spontaneous side of him. Their mother, Olivia, goes back to school in order to provide for both of them. She later remarries and now they have a blended family with two new siblings. The years pass and Mason hits the awkward stages of adolescence. He experiments with pot and alcohol like any teen with his background probably would do. He finally grows into his own identity while in high school and finds a passion for photography.

There is all sorts of buzz behind the movie regarding the fact it has literally been in the making for the last twelve years. Richard Linklater (the Before Sunrise trilogy) wanted to tell the story of a child growing up and set out to do something we have never seen a movie do before. Linklater, Arquette, and Hawke all continued to work on other projects, but every year they came back to shoot portions of this movie. There are plenty of movies where we have seen characters age, but with Linklater’s approach behind filming one scene per year spanning those twelve years, the audience watches the actors grow up before our very eyes. There are no make-up tricks or stunt casting. There is a seamless and graceful transition as we move through the timeline the film progresses. There are no fade outs or a date giving the year each scene was filmed. It never seemed jarring or disruptive to think that in one scene he’s eight years old and now he’s ten or thirteen or eighteen, etc… While the story is focused on Mason, Linklater duly felt the importance of giving the other characters their arcs, problems, struggles, and triumphs.

The story draws you in, not due to some overly complicated plot or edge of your seat action, but by Linklater’s delicate storytelling. You slowly find yourself invested with an emotional connection to these characters and their journeys. It would seem implausible for a moviegoer not to connect with someone in the film. As I sat and watched Mason grow up, it brought me back to various aspects of my childhood. While my story isn’t exactly like Mason’s, I have had those similar moments. I am a product of divorced parents so I can easily remember those days of spending weekends with my dad or what it was like having my wonderful step-sister join our family. I remember those fights I had with my brother in the car that ended up with a pillow barrier between us. I hit those early teen years and went through my awkward stages of feeling left out or not part of the group of cool kids. Even if you don’t relate to Mason, someone’s story will hit you. You may empathize with Olivia’s fight to give her children the best life they can have.

It is clear that Linklater wrote the movie as the years passed. Each scene reads as a pop culture time capsule of what was going on at the time it was filmed. The music spans the likes of Sheryl Crow, Coldplay, Arcade Fire, Kings of Leon, and Family of the Year. Mason and his friends geek out over the midnight release of one the Harry Potter books. Mason Sr. gets his kids wrapped up in the political atmosphere when Barack Obama and John McCain ran for president. It may even drum some of your own memories surrounding a particular toy, gadget, movie, or book.

When you think about the talent needed to pull off this sort of task, Linklater really found the right ensemble. He has worked with Ethan Hawke multiple times, so I’m assuming that was one of his easiest choices. Patricia Arquette shines in a maternal way that I have not seen from her before. Linklater’s biggest risk came with newcomer Ellar Coltrane. He had no idea what Coltrane would grow up to be like, if he would grow to be a better actor, or grow up to detest acting. I can only bet that Mason grew around the kind of man Ellar became. The same can probably be said about any of the characters in the film and the actors that portray them. I applaud the risky endeavor Linklater took on as there is no way he knew when he started this project how it would end up turning out.

As I was watching Boyhood, it reminded me of when you spend years watching a television show and how invested you get in the characters. You feel like you know them inside and out and don’t really want to leave them once it’s over. It has been a couple of days since I experienced this movie and it still permeates inside of me. It’s rare when a film that seems so simple and basic has that affect on you. Some moviegoers may roll their eyes at the run time of almost three hours, but I always felt connected to every moment. It never feels too terribly long as each scene feels like its own mini episode. There is an overall purpose to the length to give this thorough look at Mason’s life. I am typically pretty patient with long movies, but at the same time, I can point out when a writer doesn’t know how to edit his own work.

If you are sick of seeing the same kind of movies in theaters over and over again, Boyhood is your kind of movie. It will be one of the most unique and thought-provoking films you will see all year or of any year recently. I applaud Linklater for attempting something different, and I love hearing that audiences are flocking to this movie and giving it the time of day. It is by no means your cookie cutter, run of the mill summer movie. Yet at the end of the day, it is extremely accessible and powerful. It doesn’t have that abstract stuffiness some indies can have over their audience. Is it too early to hope and predict that the Academy will shower it with the nominations and potential awards it deserves?

Is It Worth Your Trip to the Movies? I absolutely loved Boyhood, and it will no doubt be on my best of the year list.

RATING: 5 out of 5 TICKET STUBS