Wild

Well, finally got to see the movie my lady wanted to see, and to be honest I had no idea what to expect. I usually don't run to see the "chick flicks", but I promise that being said it will not deter me from giving an honest review. Lets dive in shall we:

Wild- Another tale of a true story for this holiday movie season. The acting was really genuine from all the actors and actresses involved in this film. Reese Witherspoon gave an academy award winning performance. It was really outside of her usual acting range and a things she's never done-namely nudity! Laura Dern portrayal of the care free, loving life mother appeared very natural.

The Plot-  Cheryl Strayed (Reese Witherspoon), has decided to take a personal journey down the Pacific Crest Trail, which is over 1200 miles, and along her adventure she remembers all the things from her past good and bad. Each memory you see flash backs of her mother giving advice, or her abusive father. Another time you see her addiction to heroine, and how she cheated on her husband multiple times. She meets many people along the trail, in her search for her own divinity, as she is able to put her demons to bed.

Overall the movie, though intriguing, with plenty of character development, it came off slow sometimes. I mean, a bear attack or something would've sped things up a tad. The movie really didn't need to be 2 hours, but then again what do i know. Regardless, I can see myself watching this movie again. Its worth the price of admission, but then again it couldn't hurt to watch it on Netflix.

Final Verdict- 8/10- great acting and there were some memorial scenes.

That is it for now, some really great dramas coming out in the month of January, and I'll be there to review as many as I can before school starts again. This is Phil Goes to the Movies, so you don't have to!

Unbroken

It has been a glorious holiday so far, and I hope everyone else is having an amazing one too. I went to see some of the new movies, which entered theaters of this holiday movie season, and I went to see "Wild" starring Reese Witherspoon. Unfortunately, it was sold out, so instead of going home decided to see this one. Now, was it a good substitution or should have just gone home instead? Lets find out:

Unbroken- This is a true story about the life of American Olympian named Louis Zamperini played by new comer Jack O'Connell. Angelina Jolie gets her directing debut, and this is truly one amazing story of strong will on another level. Especially, when most people would've given up the sheer will to live.

The plot- You follow him when he was young getting in trouble with the law. Then his older brother convinced him to join the track team, and every day he trained Louis to increase his speed and endurance. Louis becomes so good he becomes an American Olympian, but dreams of winning the gold have to wait when World War II begins. Louis enlists into the air force, and on a rescue search for a fallen plane over the ocean. Louis' plane loses it's engines, and crashes into the ocean. From this point on the audience witnesses this man's struggle to hold onto life.

The acting was very well done. One of the scenes, which blew my mind was when Louis, and the other two surviving pilots were floating on a life raft. A medium sized shark is swimming by the raft, and the three men grab it by the tail, wrestling it into the raft. They killed it, and ate it. I mean, don't get me wrong, there were some powerful moments, but there were sometimes the movie just dragged on and on.

Final Verdict- 6.5/10, I did enjoy the movie, but I don't see myself running out to buy a copy of it on DVD. This is a good movie, but not pay 10 to 13 dollars to watch in theaters type. Save your money, Netflix all the way for this one.

Thats it for now, maybe i'll get a chance this week to see the movie, "Wild" the one i previously wanted to watch. For now this is Phil Goes to the Movies, so you don't have to!

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Now that my semester drawn to a close, i was able to finally get out there and see some movies. Its been awhile since i have seen one, and the inner nerd in me had my sights set on seeing the biggest nerd franchise of our generation. The final installment of "The Hobbit," so did everything come to a perfect ending, or did it shame the franchise that has been going on for nearly 14 years? Lets find out:

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies- As I have previously stated this franchise has been going on for nearly 14 years, and with that, it is odd to see it come to an end. I'm sure, in the future, more fantasy based movies will arise to satisfy people whom enjoy this genre, and put money in Hollywood's pockets. The special effects still blow me away, because these CGI effects are off the chain, and they still get me to say holy crap when something happens.

The Plot- This movie wastes absolutely no time, and takes place exactly after the second movie with the dragon, Smaug, attacking the town. Everyone is fleeing from the town, while Thorin Oakenshield is slipping into madness as the dragon sickness, from the cursed gold, is over taking him. While the Orcs are making their the ultimate attack on the Dwarven city to finally crush the Oakenshield bloodline once and for all.

The acting is top notch like it always has been in every one of these movies. The characters all get their moments to shine as the movie progresses. Then something happened during this movie I never thought would ever ever happen... Legolas actually runs out of arrows, and the face he makes when he does, even he can't believe it! Yes, it true kids, Mr. Infinite Arrows, runs out of arrows, and at the worst possible moment too. Not going to give it away! This movie had a very short amount of slow moments otherwise it was in your face action most of the time. Great fight scenes! Thorn vs. The White Orc on the frozen waterfall, top notch!

Final Verdict- 9/10, definitely a must see in theaters, because the surround sound and big screen does it justice. The characters are all likable, and get their moments to kick some ass!

This is it for now, and the holiday movies keep pouring in, and now that i have some free time I must get to reviewing again! This is Phil Goes to the Movies, so you don't have to!

Big Hero 6

Wow, its been quite some time since my last review, mostly because, well this school semester had me begging for mercy. Now, with that said I snuck off to see the newest animated movie "Big Hero 6." This movie was the first to be inspired by a marvel comic book for a Disney animated movie. Was it a good time, or did I wish the robot's batteries ran out for good? Let dive in shall we:

Big Hero 6- Back in the late 90's, when the first pixar movies started hitting the big screen, I remember saying wow this is really something. Nowadays, the computer generated movies blow those away. I mean, watch the first "Toy Story", and you will see what I mean how far they have come with the animated technology. I bring this up because the movie looked beautiful, a ton of eye humping candy to stimulate those senses.

The plot- Basically, a young boy named Hiro is super genius that is using his brains to hustle people in robot fighting. He is convinced by his older brother, to join the robotic school he is attending, and use his smarts to better society in some way. Hiro designs these tiny nanobots that respond to your every thought, through a head band. The tiny robots can take any form or shape, but when someone steals it for themselves to terrorize the city. Hiro and his friends set up to take the thief down by Hiro building super suits for each other them. Enter the Big Hero 6.

I thought the movie was decent, but nothing i would say I would watch again. I mean, if it was on TV i would watch, but I wouldn't go out of my way! Main reason is because, none of the characters, except for Baymaxx has that "it factor," where you are drawn into or make a connection to them. That's pretty rare for a Disney movie, but it does happen.. I mean there are some jokes, but mostly it was Baymaxx that got the big laughs through him being naive to human culture.

Final Verdict- 5.5/10- Characters were very forgettable, plot became cliche' and very obvious, and the movie was lacking something. I wouldn't see this in theaters.. save your cash and see it another way.

Thats it for now everyone, I am going to try to see another movie in the next couple of days. The school semester made it really rough, but the reviews must go on.. this is Phil Goes to the Movies, so you don't have to!

Fury

Well, still waiting for those big block busters to finally get here already, but I have to wait for the holidays. Until, then I am just sitting back catching some movies here and there. This is the first time in a long time I have seen a war picture in theaters. The last time was "Saving Private Ryan", so yeah, its been that long! Well, lets take a gander at this picture, was it a movie to remember, or was it a complete bomb? Let find out:

Fury- This movie takes place in the time period of WWII, and it really sets the tone right at the beginning. Not since "Saving Private Ryan" have I seen such true to life gruesome action scenes. I mean, I was terrified for the characters in the movie. Just seeing heads being torn off their bodies, or limbs being severed, not for the weak stomached.

The plot- Ok, basically, during WWII American tank technology was crap compared to German tank technology. This fact was demonstrated in one scene of the movie, where one German tank took on 4 American tanks, and it killed 3 out of the 4 before being taken down. Now, the story follows one tank crew, lead by "Wardaddy", played by Brad Pitt, and his crew, plus the slowly shrinking amount of tanks are fighting in Germany. They are capturing town after town leaving dead German soldiers behind them. Thats it.

I mean, the acting is top notch, the character development is superb, and the emotions during the whole movie, you just feel the hopelessness and despair of being in a war. The plot though, was kinda half assed, and to be honest, it didn't matter- because it was more about the people in the movie. How war was effecting them by breaking them down mentally, physically, and spiritually. This alone carries the movie into greatness, and maybe it overshadowed the plot.

I remember when I was young I always said I wanted to be in the tank, and it has to be the safest place on the battlefield. This movie shows how incredibly wrong I was in thinking that. The tank is basically a big, mobile iron coffin, and this movie shows just how crazy you would have to be to want to be inside these things. At the same time, showing you how devastating a tank can be on the battlefield.

Final Verdict- 8/10, the acting was tremendously well done, the special effects were top notch showing the gruesome truths about war. Highly recommend this film.

Thats all for now, this is Phil Goes to the Movies, so you don't have to!

Annabelle

Hey, hey... hey everyone welcome to another edition of Phil Goes to the Movies, and its that time of year when all the scary movies come out. I saw a scary movie where believe it or not, all of the scary scenes were NOT in the trailer.... I know, I know I was shocked too. Now did I enjoy this movie and was happy there was a lead in for another sequel, or did I want to burn that god damn doll along with this movie? Lets find out as we dive into this review:

Annabelle- First off, I had two little bastards talking during the entire movie, with that said.... Don't talk during the movie because it makes people like me want to rip your god damn throats out! Anyway, the movie is the prequel to the successful horror film "The Conjuring", which I thought was a great scary movie, and I remember giving it high scores in the Final Verdict. Now the prequel deals with the doll, Annabelle, from the previous movie, and its terrifying origin story.

The plot was a young couple, expecting a child, move into a new neighborhood. They are doing what many people do by starting a family together, and one night a pair of deranged psychos attack the couple in their home intending on killing them. Luckily, the police arrive in time to save the couple, but one of the psychos were able to place a curse as she laid dying. This is where the doll becomes possessed!

Now, the movie's running time is 1 hr. 39 mins... literally 45 minutes went by with the beginning scene with the psychos and one creepy scene. THAT IS IT! In a horror movie thats a life time before starting to scare people.

Then there was one really intense scene, with a chase up the stairs, if I say more I will ruin it, and the best scene in the movie. After that it was literally one pop scare after another, as if the movie was making up for lost time. Honestly, the magic from the first movie was lost, and the trailer for this movie was intense... but the movie failed to deliver!

Final Verdict- 4/10, The pop scares were intense, but by that time I was already pretty bored with the movie. Honestly, save your money and see this on cable or Netflix.

That is it for now, some movies coming out here and there, but I am mostly looking forward for the block busters to return this holiday season. Until then this is Phil Goes to the Movies, so you don't have to.

The Maze Runner

Hello, everyone welcome back to another edition of Phil Goes to the Movies. I have been away for a bit, I traveled Europe for the last 3 weeks of August, and I returned to a hard semester awaiting me. Now, I have gotten things in order it was time to see some of the latest movies. The thing about this time of year, there are no big block busters, but this is when you see all the horror movies for Halloween, romantic comedies, or some independent films. Usually, you can find a diamond in the rough, but mostly you dip your hand in and pull out a hunk of shit. Lets see if this movie was worth it, or should it have been left in the maze to rot.
 

The Maze Runner- During the coming attractions this summer this movie was advertised, and it really intrigued me on the premise of the film. I went in truly not expecting to be blown away, but I was still eager to see what this film had entailed for me. To be honest, it really didn't disappoint at all. The young actors for the film really gave a great performance all around. They were believable and the storyline didn't insult my intelligence, like many other films have in the past.

The plot- You start off, with a teenager waking up frantically on a rising elevator. You as the audience are just as confused as he is as he reaches the top, where he is greeted by a bunch of other young men standing above him, and he steps out to find himself in an unknown land with amnesia. The main teenager, Thomas, is played by Dylan O'Brien, where some people will recognize him from the "Teen Wolf" series, and he does a decent job acting in this film. He learns the ways these young men have survived by working together building a village for themselves. The entire village is surrounded by super high cement walls. An entrance opens every morning, which gives these boys access to a mysterious maze, and in this maze, mechanical monsters lurk. Thomas is convinced that inside the maze is where he will find answers to everyone's questions.

The maze gives off a terrifying vibe, within itself becoming a monster, and the movie does a great job of pushing that point to the audience. Watching some scenes as the maze moves walls and sections, you need to be in amazing shape to run around and survive. Otherwise, its game over and you will get cut in half or simply crushed.

Final Verdict- 7/10, it was put together well, and delivered some entertaining scenes. It was a good mind screw from beginning to end, which i really enjoyed, and it moved a decent pace. Good movie, worth paying 10 dollars for it.

That's it for now everyone, I will have some more reviews before the block busters return this holiday season. This is Phil Goes to the Movies, so you don't have to!