This Is Where I Leave You (2014) - Movie Review

Given my habitual watching of everything that comes my way, expectations on how a movie looks and sounds before seeing it means something different than what it used to. Before, as it probably does for a lot of you reading this, I would look at a film’s cast, premise and trailer and judge whether or not I would go and see it based on that. Now, since I watch most if not all of the movies I get trailers for, it feels more like opening a birthday present from somebody I don’t know; it could be good, bad, bizarre or any mixture of the three, but I won’t know till I open it. I’ve had movies that were good that I thought would be bad (The Fault In Our Stars), vice versa (22 Jump Street) or had my assumptions proven right (Divergent sucked). What am I getting at with all this? Well, tl;dr I thought This Is Where I Leave You would be hilarious just because Tina Fey is in it.

Fury (2014) - Movie Review

In the words of one of my favourite actors: "War. War never changes." The same is true for movies about war; more times than not, they deal with the adverse effects going through war can have on the soldiers and how endless the fighting is. Not saying that these bad points to bring up, just that they can be extremely stale if not handled correctly because we’ve no doubt seen such points brought up before. Fury, I have to admit, handles things far better than the trailers would have you think.

Happy New Year (2014) - Movie Review

As much as I like to pretend that I know what I’m talking about, I really don’t for all intents and purposes; I just like talking about movies. It is with today’s film that my lack of experience shows as I go into a Bollywood movie. Not to say that I’ve never seen a Bollywood movie before, but then again, I might as well have because I only have two under my belt so far: Kick from earlier this year, which was good, and I vaguely remember watching Dhoom when I was younger. Aside from that, I know very little about the norms of Bollywood movies and I will without a doubt get thrown off by some things. However, I did start this blog partially as a learning experience for myself, so I guess I’ll just have to learn as I go.

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014) - Movie Review

Before getting into this latest iteration of one of the most popular horror franchises of this generation, let's quickly get into what came before it. The first one was good, the second was even better and the third, while decent, wasn't as good as the other two. In all three, I loved the thick eerie atmosphere, and yeah they are pretty jump-scare heavy but I personally really liked them. Then I watched PA 4, which ended up being a crushing disappointment and easily one of the worst films of the year. After all that, I was very hesitant to check out this spin-off of the franchise, but I eventually gave it a go.

Before I Go To Sleep (2014) - Movie Review

The plot: Christine (Nicole Kidman), after suffering a terrible accident 10 years earlier, keeps losing her day’s worth of memories every time she goes to sleep, and can’t remember anything past her early 20’s. However, she soon discovers that it wasn’t a simple accident but that she had been attacked.  With the help of her husband Ben (Colin Firth) and her neurologist Dr. Nasch (Mark Strong), she sets out to find her assailant.

Tusk (2014) - Movie Review

When I first got interested in reviewing movies back in 2010, I decided to cut my teeth on a little film called The Human Centipede. I reviewed it no less than three times that same year: Once as a blog, once as an assignment for high school Drama (which I got decent marks for), then again as an 'improved' blog on the same site as the original. Now, while I freely admit that giving that much effort to a movie as meme-y as 'Centipede' was a mistake, I also admit that I'm glad that I chose it to start with and after having seen today's movie, Kevin Smith's 'Tusk', I feel even better about that decision.

Tammy (2014) - Movie Review

Okay, I swear I didn't plan for this. It just happens that this is the third review in a row where I talk about a lead actor who is best known for playing one character in most of their movies. At least I get to shake things up a bit by talking about an actress this time around: Melissa McCarthy, best known for being the loud obnoxious woman whose weight is the butt of most of the jokes. Well, here's the official notice: I am going to refrain from just constantly making light of her weight, unlike some other reviews out there, because quite frankly it's well-trodden ground and if there's one thing internet critics are well known for, it's originality… wait…