Wow I am terrible, it has been almost three months since the last post! Wow, where did the time go? Well I actually was very busy for the past couple of months but my attention is now to you whatever few and faithful readers I may still have. One of the reasons I had a busy schedule was due to traveling as my family went to India for almost three weeks. Now anyone who has been on those cross the globe flights knows that the only real way to pass the insufferable hours is to watch movies and that is exactly what I did! So similar to last year’s catch up post after my trip to Barcelona, here are some short reviews of the movies I watched on the plane to and back.
Cinderella (2015: Lily James, Cate Blanchett, Richard Madden, Helena Bonham Carter)
I loved Cinderella! It is a great movie for anyone to watch, classic Disney. Sure there were times when Cinderella’s goodness was almost sickeningly sweet but it was all made up for by the glorious Richard Madden as Prince Charming. He was fantastic and charming, (haha funny joke). However, I thought the best performance was hands down Cate Blanchett, who played the evil stepmother perfectly. Helena Bonham Carter was also a nice little pop of fun as the fairy godmother. Cinderella was very enjoyable.
Into the Woods (2014: Meryl Streep, Anna Kendrick, Emily Blunt, Johnny Depp)
This was a very different turn after the traditional Cinderella as both films included the same character but in different lights. I thought the acting in Into the Woods was spot on, including of course Meryl Streep and also Chris Pine who was pretty hilarious at times. The movie itself was just eh to me. I realize the story is based upon the Broadway musical of the same name but the pacing felt off at times. This also is not exactly a movie for children which I think the marketing failed to highlight. Into the Woods was not really my favorite.
Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014: Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Caine)
I have actually been meaning to watch Kingsman for a while so imagine my delight when seeing it among the plane films. It was a fun movie to watch and I loved the style and tone of it. I am a big James Bond fan so it had that kind of vibe going on at times. I was surprised by the actual reason behind Samuel L. Jackson’s master plan: the environment and population size (shout out to AP environmental students!). The film was definitely goofy at times and the violence/gore actually caught me off guard but only added to the fun in the end. Kingsman was chock full of spy action which I enjoyed!
American Sniper (2014: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller)
American Sniper is not really a film that one enjoys. It is more of a film that one just has to sit down and get through. I can say though that it was very well done though so props to Clint Eastwood for his direction and an impressive performance by Bradley Cooper.
Focus (2015: Will Smith, Margot Robbie)
Focus was more stylish than solid to me. It is a pretty movie on the surface but closer examination just leads to a very confusing and at times messy plot. The chemistry between Will Smith and Margot Robbie was very believable though. I think the movie just tried to be too smart and slick.
Cake (2014: Jennifer Aniston, Anna Kendrick, Sam Worthington, Adriana Barraza)
I was deciding between Cake and Still Alice (which has Julianne Moore’s Oscar-winning performance) but I found myself to be more curious about Jennifer Aniston in Cake. I thought she did a fantastic job! The film definitely acted as a vehicle to show off her skills but for good reason since it seems she has not had this type of opportunity before. However the plot of Cake was very underdeveloped and was more about Jennifer Aniston overall.
The other two movies I watched on the plane were Mili (a Malayalam movie) and Happy New Year ( a Hindi movie), both of which were pretty good in my opinion, but this post is getting long and my fingers are tired of typing so we will save those for another time. Perhaps a foreign film post is needed to also cover the many movies I watched in India as well! Let’s get into the summer blockbusters now in the meantime!
Ticket Stub Love 