Movie Review: Warm Bodies

Source

With much of the world's population now an undead horde, R is a young and introspective zombie. While fighting with and feeding on a human scavenger party, R meets Julie and feels an urge to protect her. What happens next is the beginning of a strangely warm relationship that allows R to begin regaining his humanity. As this change spreads through the local undead population like a virus, Julie and R eventually have to face a larger issue when the very nature of their friendship is challenged. Caught between the paranoid human forces and the ferocious "Bonies", zombies who are a mutual threat, R and Julie must find a way common bond bridge the differences each sides must overcome so that they all fight for a better world no one thought possible.. -IMDb

You know, I was all like:  "I've got to review Warm Bodies, because I just watched it!"  Well that was several days ago, and now I'm feeling like I don't know what to write.  Shit!  So, if this review is crappy (because it certainly will be), just pretend like it's awesome, like it should be.

Movie Review: Mama

Guillermo del Toro presents Mama, a supernatural thriller that tells thehaunting tale of two little girls who disappeared into the woods the day that their mother was murdered. When they are rescued years later and begin a new life, they find that someone or something still wants to come tuck them in at night. The day their father killed their mother, sisters Victoria and Lilly vanished near their suburban neighborhood. For five long years, their Uncle Lucas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his girlfriend, Annabel (Jessica Chastain), have been madly searching for them. But when, incredibly, the kids are found alive in a decrepit cabin, the couple wonders if the girls are the only guests they have welcomed into their home. 

Last night, my husband suggested we watch Mama.  When I asked him what it was about he said, "Oh, it's about two girls that are abandoned in the woods after their mother dies."  I was envisioning something along the lines of Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls.  I even jokingly accused, "Why is it you always want to watch these sappy movies with me?"  He never did reply, now that I think about it.  Either a) he didn't hear me or b) I couldn't see the smug, knowing smirk on his face as he was secretly laughing at my total wrong-ness.  I'm going with b.

Anyway, when we watched the trailer, I was a little surprised to find out it was a horror movie!  My brother claimed:

I almost pissed my pants at the movie theater.  I was scared shitless!

Courtesy of my 17 year-old brother.

This kind of set my expectation for the movie, so I was automatically expecting it to be super scary.  Of course, the hubby and I were watching it after midnight in the complete darkness of the bedroom (he likes scaring the shit out of me).  He even let me lay in front of him on the bed so I could see better, but I whined a little:  "It'll be scarier in front!"

Picture from Rotten Tomatoes.

So, on to watching the movie.  The movie is about two girls who end up in an otherwise abandoned cabin in the woods after their father goes crazy, kills his wife, and wrecks his car in the woods.  After a five year search by their uncle, Luke, the girls are found.  When they come to live with Luke and, girlfriend, Annabel, everyone begin to wonder if 'Mama' really is someone the girls made up or if she's something far worse.

Got your attention so far?  Good.

Oz: The Great and Powerful Movie Review

 

So, I was beyond thrilled about this movie.  The Wizard of Oz was probably my favorite movie as a kid.  I remember watching it about a million times.  I was really excited when my husband discovered the SyFy mini-series based on a modernized Oz called Tin Man.  We, of course, purchased it on DVD.

You should not be surprised that I totally forgot about the movie by the time it rolled into theaters.  However, when looking at movies to go watch this weekend, there was no second thoughts on my end: I wanted to see this movie.

If you, at this point, have no idea what I'm talking about...here's a trailer.

 I will sincerely try not to make this all spoiler filled, but I'm making no promises (just in case).

Anyway, we watched this movie in 3D.  I'm, honestly, don't understand all the 3D hype.  90% of the time, I could have done without the 3D and not have missed a thing.  I guess I just don't care about all those extras.  However, this time I was pretty impressed; and right at the beginning, no less.  Right away, the 3D blows me away in a snowing scene where the snow seems to be literally falling in your lap.  Mind you, we sat second or third row back, so I don't know what it looked like from the back of the theater, but we thought is was pretty darn amazing.

My husband claims it's the best 3D movie he's ever seen; much more worth it than many others we've seen.  If he says it, it must be true, because if there's one thing he knows...it's movies.  I call him my little movie guru.   Oh how I loathe the electronics section at Wal-Mart.  He manages to trap me in the store for much longer than I wish to be there if I let him have a look at the $5 movie piles.

So, in short, we were impressed with the 3D and think it's worth the extra.

The movie focuses on an ambitious, selfish, egotistical man who seems to have an knack for making women fall in love with him and then disposing of them after he's met his own agenda on the circus stage.  Much like Dorothy, he is whipped away by a tornado, only he's escaping the beating of a lifetime from Mr. Strongman in a hot air balloon.

Whisked away to Oz, Oscar Diggs (AKA Oz), finds himself being proclaimed the long awaited Wizard, prophesied to save the land of Oz.    My husband and I enjoyed guessing who was who.  We were almost right, thanks to his "director's intuition" and my having watching too many movies with him.  Plus, it is slightly predictable.

My husband's only complaint was the frequent monotonous voices used by the actors, although I'm sure it was intentional.  He didn't think it was...right.  I'm not sure how to explain it, but I don't think it affected our overall enjoyment of the movie.  In fact, we were both glad to have seen it.

I would reccomend it to anyway who needs a movie to watch this weekend and especially for those The Wizard of Oz fans.  Enjoy!

PS:  My favorite character is the little porcelain girl.  She's very sweet and sassy and quite funny!    
Witch Poster from Screen Crush.
Other image from The Daily Free Press.
I was not compensated in any way, shape, or form for this movie.  I paid for it out of pocket and watched it because I wanted to.  This is my opinion, without any nudging from outside sources.  Thanks!

What We're Watching

Rating: 8/10

 My husband and I watch a lot of movies and follow a lot of TV shows.  It's a hobby of his that I get caught up in.  There are definitely plenty of movies and shows that I skip out on and he doesn't, but I catch most of them.  I've always wanted to share some of this on my blog, but it was something that was always put on the back burner.  I will try not to give you any good spoilers, though there may be some minor ones.  Also, I don't have a sophisticated rating system, so take it how you like.

Now, this is a movie you either are or aren't watching.  For the most part, everyone who has watched this, this week has already seen the previous movies.  And most of those fans have also read all the books by Stephenie Meyer.  I read Twilight, the original book in high school (or maybe it was middle school?).  I never knew there were sequels until just before the first movie came out.  I have to say that I have only missed one premier, and my husband has attended all of them.  I'm more of a Vampire fan and he's more of a Werewolf fan (regardless of the movie or TV show), so we love this series.  It is more appropriate for the younger age groups.  Now that I watch shows like Trueblood and Vampire Diaries, it's sometimes hard for The Twilight Saga to measure up.  This was definitely the best one yet.  Of course, I was a little disappointed with a few scenes that were cut short or left out entirely (like when Bella discovers Jacob has imprinted on Renesme).  However, I give this movie an 8/10.

Rating: 9/10

Okay, this movie caught me off guard.  I totally loved it!  It was unexpectedly funny, and not stupid-funny like I expected it to be (I'm not really into spoof movies).  However, as I told myself (repeatedly) that I was going to go to sleep, I find myself standing in the living room sucked into this movie.  I think I probably spent 75% of the movie trying to convince myself to go to bed, until I finally sat down on the floor and finished it.  If you don't know, this story is about a high school nerd (played by Matt Bush) who gets stoned with a his childhood friend (played by Sean Marquette) and fears losing his scholarship when the schools mandates drug testing.  What's the solution?  Sabotage a PTA bake sale and get the entire school high.  Surprisingly funny, I give this movie a 9/10.

Rating: 8/10

Another movie in the Madagascar series, I can honestly say that I wasn't disappointed.  I watched this with my son on the couch one morning earlier this week.  We had just woke up and didn't feel like crawling out of our PJs yet.  It's a cute story where the classic Madagascar crew is being hunted for their heads and, to survive and blend in, join a circus.  It's a nice twist on a the run away with the circus cliche where the characters learn about friendship and helping one another.  It should be a movie an entire family can watch.  I give this movie an 8/10.

I did these "reviews" of my own accord.  I didn't receive anything free to do them.  I paid to rent the movies or go to the theater because I or someone in my household genuinely wanted to watch one of these movies.  I hope you my recommendations help you, or you enjoyed reading them, or something.