X-Men: Days of Future Past

I have been trying to figure out a way to review this movie without giving out a ton of spoilers all day, hopefully you won't find this to be too spoilery. This is the 7th film in Fox's X-Men series and is definitely my favorite of the bunch. It combines the cast from First Class with the cast from the original trilogy in such a perfect way. By the end of the movie you realize that they found a way to retcon the problems of the previous films all at once and it makes you very happy.

The Positives:

• The cast was stacked as always and while there are characters that have few lines, you still end up caring about what happens to them.
• Quicksilver, for as hokey as he looks, he has my favorite scene in the whole movie, you''ll definitely enjoy that scene.
• The Sentinels, I honestly thought that the way the sentinels looked in the past was a little cartoonish but in the future you are scared to death of these things.
• Old characters making surprise appearances - that is as far as I will go because otherwise it is too much of a spoiler.
• Post Credits scene - for anyone familiar with the comics this is one of the coolest scenes ever.
• Jennifer Lawrence - I didn't even see her in the movie, I completely bought her as Raven/Mystique, and don't forget, I'm not a huge fan of her and this was the first movie I truly liked her in.

The Negatives:

• Sentinels in the past because they looked silly
• Quicksilver's costume was so lame, it works but looks so stupid.
• The Post Credits scene - for anyone not familiar with the comics you are left thinking, "what the heck was that?"

Overall Rating -  8.5 out of 10

Neighbors

Neighbors is a new comedy starring Seth Rogen and Zac Efron that will keep you laughing the entire time. Seth Rogen plays the new dad in the neighborhood trying to cope with not being young anymore and finding that the party lifestyle isn't for him anymore while Zac Efron is the leader of a frat that moves in next door. They start out as friends but afte the first party the hijinks of a neighborly feud ensue.

The Positives:

• The baby is adorable beyond reason and every time you see the baby you just get reminded that they seem to have found the cutest baby in Hollywood to be in the movie.
• The different parties the frat hosts are hilarious, including the Robert De Niro themed party where one of the guy comes as Samual L Jackson quoting Pulp Fiction.
• The wife is just as in on plotting against the frat as Seth is and she does a better job of it, she can spot from a distance which guys and girls are going to be hooking up, and she gets the second in command to break the "bro code".
• Outrageous humor from start to finish

The Negatives:

• it wasn't long enough
• Definitely NOT family friendly, so leave the kids at home for this one.

Overall rating - 8.5 out of 10

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Sony's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was first met to luke warm reviews from critics and fans and while I did find problems in the second outing in this Spider-Man series, I didn't think it was as bad as everyone made it seem. This time Spider-Man is pitted against The Rhino (Paul Giamatti), Electro (Jamie Fox), and the Green Goblin (Dane Dehaan)

The Positives:

• Peter Parker's relationships with Gwen Stacy, Aunt May, and Harry Osborn were fantastic and so believable
• The first time we see Electro in Times Square is fantastic and you actually feel bad for him
• I liked seeing Spider-Man have an attitude when fighting the bad guys because it really matched up with the comics.

The Negatives:

• Max Dillon the first time we saw him on screen and when he was bullied at work were ok but the morning of his birthday it felt just like watching Edward E Nigma from the old Batman movie... not a good thing, that said once he became Electro he was much more enjoyable.
• Green Goblin was rushed, maybe showing him put on the armor at the very end could have been ok but  he felt extremely rushed.
• Rhino was completely unnecessary, I liked the plot point he is but they didn't have to waste it on a big villain, just use some random bad guys we won't see again.
• Why did we have to see more of Peter's dad's work? I mean I like the actor but he wasn't needed.
• The movie was all over the place and I would have preferred a better use od the villains.

Overall rating - 6 out of 10

Trust Me

Trust me is an independent film that I saw on Saturday May 17th at Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF). The movie was written and directed by the lead actor Clark Gregg (most known for his role of Agent Phil Coulson in the Marvel movies). The film centers on a former child star turned talent agent and is quite enjoyable. But definitely not one to show your children.

The Positives:

• The movie felt fresh and wasn't afraid to make you think negatively about hollywood executives.
• Sam Rockwell and Clark Gregg star opposite each other as rival talent agents and every time you see them on screen together is wonderful.
• Clark got most of the good one liners but he did share them with the rest of the cast too.
• This was a very dark movie and I encourage all adults to watch it, but don't show your kids.

The Negatives:

• There are 2 scenes with CG and the first time we see it, it makes sense and works well, but the second time it feels out of place and cheesy.
• The language felt excessive, it is one thing to swear a lot, but there were times where it felt out of place.

Overall rating - 7 out of 10

Captain America The Winter Soldier

In this first review of the new age of my blog I am going back almost 2 months to the release of Captain America The Winter Soldier. I saw this movie 3 times within the first 2 weeks of release, I LOVED this movie. The Winter Soldier continues the story of Captain America after the events of The Avengers.

The positives of the film include:

• The cast is stacked with talent with Chris Evans as Steve Rogers (Captain America), Scarlett Johansson as Agent Natasha Romanov (Black Widow), Samuel L Jackson as Director Nick Fury, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson (The Falcon),  Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes (The Winter Soldier), Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce, and many others in smaller roles including Hayley Atwell, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, and Emily VanCamp.
• The score is exciting and if you listen carefully you will notice a few themes from the first Captain America movie.
• The action is intense and in your face, especially in any time that Captain America and the Winter Soldier square off.
• This movie is a big game changer for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and I can't wait to see how it effects The Avengers: Age of Ultron (May 1st, 2015)

The Negatives:

• Personally I would have liked to see more of Agent Hill and Agent Sharon Carter, and not see Arnim Zola, however since he is used more like a Bond villain then anything else I'm ok with it plus the scene was pretty entertaining.
• Why Sitwell?? in case anyone hasn't seen the movie yet I won't spoil it but I had liked his character until this movie.

Overall rating - 9.5 out of 10
















Hail Hydra ;)