Movies I’ve seen #5

Good morning (well almost afternoon here), but this blog post was delayed for a good reason. I went to see a movie last night and wanted to include it in this blog post. Since I don’t do these very often, I didn’t want to have it sitting around, waiting until the cows come home. Which is why I figured: I’ll just write up the movies I’ve seen in the past few months the morning after. For some reason I mostly saw action flicks this time round and all of it was pretty much for entertainment purposes only.

Fast and Furious 7

I love the Fast & Furious series. There’s just something about bad jokes and fast cars that gets to me. I own all movies in this series and so I knew I had to see this one too. If you’re looking for a great brainless movie which is action packed, but filled with a weak story line, then this is for you. The ode to Paul Walker was great and not too sappy: it fit with the overall story line that emphasis the importance of family. Great, if like me, you like fast cars, senseless action and bad punch lines.

Magic Mike XXL

Now this is where we get to the fun bit of this overview. The Magic Mike movies really aren’t all that great. The story line, like in Fast and the Furious, is hardly there, but in Magic Mike XXL it is too predictable to even mention: male strippers on a journey to their last gig. And that really is all there is to it. However, the dancing (not necessarily the stripping) and hot men all make up for it. Matt Bomer is delectable and kudos to the random BSB/ Boyband mention halfway through the movie. I saw this in New York though and everyone there was a lot more engaged than in most Dutch cinemas. I mean, when half the audience starts catcalling along with the movie, it makes for a much different experience.

Mission Impossible Rogue Nation

The Mission Impossible series I kind of lost track of. But I was in Chicago, had sore legs and this was the only movie playing in the IMAX theatre. So this is the first Mission Impossible I saw since the original. And I was surprised how much I liked it. I’m not much of a Tom Cruise fan, but I thought here he was at least half decent and Simon Pegg’s dry British sense of humor added the much needed comical touch. Some of the action scenes were very nicely played out, and I liked the motorcycle pursuit in particular. There was just something about the lack of music in that scene that make it work a lot better than if it had music. Or maybe I just like the sound of roaring engines?

Life

During fall break I watched Anton Corbijn’s Life. For two reasons: 1) it’s about James Dean. 2) It has Robert Pattinson. Yes, I am still following his career and since I have seen most of his movies on the big screen I figured I’d go see this one too. This movie is very different from the other onese I saw. This is a slow moving story that seemingly leads to nowhere. It mostly focuses on character performances and I liked that, however I also realize that this may not be everyone’s cup of tea. There’s insecure yet cocky James Dean who doesn’t want to play the Hollywood game and there’s nervous, jittery Dennis Stock who feels life is unfair and is trying to find a way out. I do feel both Dane deHaan and Robert Pattinson lacked a little in really making the bromance that is at the heart of the story believable, but then again, it seem as if James Dean and Dennis Stock were an odd duo to become friends in the first place.

Spectre

Last but not least, I watched the latest Bond movie. Spectre is your classic Bond movie with plenty of references to the older films (just like the last one). The movie starts off in classic Bond style: with an impeccably orchestrated action scene and only gets better from there. From dry humor, perfectly choreographed fight scenes to lots of beautiful ladies and Christopher Waltz as the ultimate bad guy. It is 2.5 hours of pure entertainment.

What movies have you seen?