American Hustle

Holy shit, its that time again to review another movie... welcome back to another edition of Phil Goes to the Movies. I had some extra time to check another movie, which came out during the holidays, so this review will finally close out the holiday season movie reviews. Then we go through that lull until the month of May, where big business, movie companies begin slamming us with all the summer block busters, and they seem to start earlier and earlier every year. I enjoy this because it means less of a lull, but I'm veering off and starting to ramble... Today, I want to look at the movie, "American Hustle", was it any good and worth the price? Or did this movie hustle me out of my money? Lets dive in....

American Hustle- I wasn't sure about the movie's plot other than it had some big stars and was set in the 70's. I imagined with the word "hustle" in the title, there had to be some sort of douche baggery going on, and I'm assuming some betrayal between the cast of characters. Well, the movie opens up telling the story of Irving Rosenfeld, played by Christian Bale, and how he learned early in life how easy it is to hustle people out of their money. He later on meets up with a girl named, Sydney Prosser, played by the beautiful Amy Adams, she is a hustler as well by constantly changing her identities to get what she wants. These two characters refer to hustling people, or being con men to simply surviving or they are survivors. The chemistry between these two characters is real and genuine. Watching them take people for their money, was damn near poetic, but one day they try to take the wrong person. They are caught by FBI agent, Richie DiMaso, played by Bradley Cooper, and he pretty much forces them to work for him to take down crooked politicians.

That's the plot for the most hand, and it seems to just flow as you (person watching the film) get lost into this world of betrayal and deceit. The acting was amazing on all sides of the spectrum, and you really felt as though these characters were real. Christian Bale, yes he played a shitty batman, but this guy what he does with his body for a role is astounding. He lost all the muscle he gained from playing the dark knight, to a frumpy guy with a gut. Its obvious hes dedicated to any role he takes on, which is really respectable, and just shows the level he will go to play whatever role. Amy Adams, dear lord, can you say sex symbol? She was gorgeous! She had me confused the entire movie where her true motives lied, and you she was truly loyal too. Not to mention, Jennifer Lawrence, playing a completely different role from what I'm used to seeing her, where she plays a very ditzy woman, and she thinks everyone around her are the stupid ones. Sad thing is I know a few women like this in real life, sigh... they do exist!

Overall, I can't see any of these actors not getting some kind of rewards for this movie. I mean, their acting made all the characters seem true to life. There was some sex scenes,which they were done tastefully, leaving it to the imagination, but then again there was enough Amy Adams' side boob to last a life time!


Final Verdict- 9.5/10, The movie was a little slow at times, but the acting from all the actors made up for it. The characters were genuine and realistic! The only thing i wish it had was some more action at times to help the slow moments. Highly recommend to see this movie in theaters.

That's it, for now my friends... I am getting some requests lately to check certain movies out for people, and its kinda getting exciting where people actually give a shit what i think about a particular movie. I will try to review some of the requests soon, and if you have any requests feel free to contact me to ask either my opinion or to review a certain film for you. Until then, this is Phil Goes to the Movies, so you don't have too!

Anchorman 2

Hey, everyone welcome back to another edition of Phil Goes to the Movies, and I will be closing out the holiday season with this film. Yes, there are other movies out right now, but i can see them some other time. Plus, I'm limited on time to see the other films i wanted to review... oh well, lets focus on the movie at hand, "Anchorman 2". Was the movie hilarious? Or should this news team be canceled for good? Lets dive in shall we....

Anchorman 2- I was a big fan of the first film, and remember laughing my ass off when seeing it for the first time. Hell, i still laugh at the jokes to this day, and my friends and I still make movie references and quotes to one another. When I found out, there was going to be a sequel I was excited at the same time concerned. Here's why... It's extremely rare for a sequel, especially a comedy, to be as good as the original, so i went into the theater open minded and eager to see what was in store for me.

The plot seemed to make as much sense as any other Will Ferrell movie, and it appeared to have some thought put into this one. The movie did follow the number 1 rule for sequels, and that is to recast all of the actors and actresses from the first movie. Everyone returns to replay their characters, which i was very happy to see, and of course Steve Carell returns as Brick Tamland, my favorite of all them. The jokes were spot on as I laughed a lot during the film, but the one scene I was almost unable to catch my breath. The scene in the RV, where the news team is all sitting in the back talking about good times, and they realized cruise control doesn't steer only maintains speed. Use your imagination from there.... but it was my favorite scene of the movie!

Plus, there were far more cameos in this film, than the last first movie, and it was so over the top it was awesome. Hell, even the trident makes a return... great stuff!

The one main thing I didn't like about the film, was how they recycled many of the jokes from the first movie. Yes, they were funny! No where near as funny as they were the first time they were used. The Austin Power movies were guilty of this as well, and i guess they figure if it's not broken don't fix it. Now if there was an Anchorman 3, there better be newer jokes!

The movie also seemed to drag on at times with the story, yes it was funny, but it could've been sped up a bit. It was like this up and down feeling, when the movie was good it was good, and when it was bad, you get the point!

Final Verdict- 7.5/10, The movie was good, and it was great to see all the characters again up to all new shenanigans. Unfortunately, I say wait to see this film on DVD, I mean it was good, but not worth 10 bucks to see it.

Well, that's it for now ladies and gentlemen, stay tuned for more reviews coming your way. There are a lot of good movies coming this year, and I will be here to review them for you all... For now, this is Phil Goes to the Movies, so you don't have too!

47 Ronin

Hey, hey, hey, welcome back to another addition of Phil Goes to the Movies, and I am here to review some of the last films of the holiday season. Then we have that long break until the summer season, where i will review all of those block buster movies as well, but lets get to the movie at hand. Did "47 Ronin", impress me? Or did make me wanna find the nearest, sharpest object and plunge it into my eyes? Lets dive in:


47 Ronin- After watching the coming attractions for this film, I was blown away by the beautiful cinematography. The landscapes with its luscious and rich forests and grasslands, seemed to really stand out. The colors chosen for all the costuming, for the characters, really seemed to pop for my eyes to bask in it. At this point, you understand I'm pushing how great the movie was visually. Now a movie needs to be more than just eye candy, right? Well, this movie delivers more than just a pretty face... First off, the action sequences were really well done, and yes, there weren't many of them. However, when it was time for a fight, I was not disappointed. The fight scenes were fast pace and choreographed very well. The opening scene, where the samurai were battling this magical, beast of burden, and it was very appealing to the senses. The special effects were really top notch in this film... lately movies have become lazy with CGI making way too noticeable, but this movie pulled it off no problem.

The actors and actresses chosen for this movie did an amazing job, the characters really felt genuine and deep. The emotions of pain, loss, and anger were really delivered well in their whole hearted performances. Of course, they had some familiar faces, such as Hiroyuki Sanada, who played the captain of the samurai in "The Last Samurai". Weird, how he returned to play another bad ass captain of the samurai in this film.... what can we say, give this guy a blade and he will kick some ass. Then of course we have, which shocked me, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, you might remember him from his role as, Shang Tsung, in "Mortal Kombat", playing the Emperor.

Now for the 500 pound gorilla in the room, Keanu Reeves, playing the role of a white male ronin in an all Asian cast. Ok, first off, he really didn't do that bad, in fact, he was great for the character he portrayed. The story explained he was the child of an interracial relationship, and he was considered a half bred by the people around him. This character didn't steal the show making him the sole hero, which i really thought was a great way going about it, and he shared the position of hero with the other characters. Unlike, in "The Last Samurai", where the white guy was the last remaining hero, which caused a lot of controversy when it was in theaters, and I thought it was funny how people were offended by the ending. Even though, it was titled "The Last Samurai", starring Tom Cruise.... what the hell did you think was going to happen?

Now with all that said, I would have to say, my favorite character in the film had to be the shape shifting witch, played by Rinko Kikuchi. She was sexy as she was creepy, and she really stole each scene in my opinion. They gave her two color eyes, and she became a white tailed fox one scene, and in the other she merely a dress blowing in the wind. A great villain for the film.



Final Verdict- 7/10, I really enjoyed the film as a whole, but if i were hanging with some friends and they wanted to watch a movie. The choices were random others and this film, it would depend on the other choices. I'm not saying this movie is terrible by no means. I'm just saying it was better than the average action movie, and seeing it once was good enough for me! If it was on HBO, i wouldn't turn it off, but i wouldn't go out of my way to watch it again.

That's all for now, I have a few more films i want to review before closing the doors on the holiday movie season. Until then, this is Phil Goes to the Movies, so you don't have too!