Mini Reviews / Pre-Vacation Catch Up

Next weekend, I will be on vacation... at the beach... drinking my way through Ocean City. For now, here are some quick reviews in order to play catch up.

Begin Again
Stars: Mark Ruffalo, Keira Knightley, Adam Levine, Catherine Keener, Hailee Steinfeld
Plot: After her boyfriend becomes a rock star and dumps her, Greta decides to make an album with a down on his luck indie record exec and use the city of New York as her inspiration.
Thoughts: The director of this movie also directed Once, a movie that is so singular, so like catching lightning in a bottle, that he probably should have just stopped while he was ahead. He can never make another movie like Once. So, Begin Again lacks all that natural charm and sweetness and rawness. It feels a bit forced - bigger budget, bigger stars - but it's also just a really likable movie. It's sweet filled with easy, natural performances and great music (especially Lost Stars which I promptly downloaded and listened to on repeat).
Grade: B

Rob the Mob
Stars: Michael Pitt, Nina Arianda
Plot: An ex-con couple decide their low pay jobs as telemarketers are beneath them, so they decide to rob the clubs where mobsters hang out. Based on a true story.
Thoughts: I feel like the idea behind this movie is something really great. It's a true story, and an interesting one, but the movie lacks any sort of dynamic. Honestly, this movie is almost unwatchable, and I love, love, love, LOVE Michael Pitt. But these characters just feel so forced, and annoying.
Grade: D

3 Days to Kill
Stars: Kevin Costner, Amber Heard, Hailee Steinfeld
Plot: A dying hitman takes one last job trying to close a case that went haywire.
Thoughts: What a disaster! I watched this for Costner, and honestly, my grade might not even count because I couldn't even get all the way through this. It was just so boring, and bizarre (Amber Heard's character is literally the most ridiculous thing I've seen in film this year).
Grade: F

The Monument's Men
Stars: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, Bill Murray, Jean DuJardin, Bob Balaban
Plot: The true story of a group of art historians who were tasked with finding art the Nazi's stole and reclaiming it.
Thoughts: Look at that cast!! How could you possibly go wrong with a cast like that? My thoughts exactly, which is how I got into this mess in the first place. First of all, this story is too interesting to be resigned to a movie like this. This is terrible story telling, and just plain lazy film making. Any sort of line that is supposed to be funny just doesn't land well (and if Bill Murray can't make something funny, then you've got a huge problem). This movie is just one big disaster.
Grade: D+

The Lego Movie
Stars (the voices of): Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Morgan Freeman, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Charlie Day
Plot: An every day Lego gets mistaken for the "Special", the savior of the Lego world after their President decides he is going to destroy everything.
Thoughts: Listen, I'm surprised as you are, but this movie is AWESOME. I absolutely loved it totally and completely. I am definitely not one for animated films (with the rare exception like Wall-E and Up), but The Lego Movie is a pop-culture laden movie that everyone can enjoy. It's funny and cute and just plain good!
Grade: B+

The Grand Budapest Hotel
Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Jude Law, Adrian Brody, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe
Plot: A hotel concierge becomes involved in an art heist and a jail break after a long standing guest (and lover) dies.
Thoughts: I love Wes Anderson movies. They are so absolutely singular. He is one of the very few directors that, if you watch even 30 seconds of one of his movies, you automatically know it's his. This movie is brimming with everything I love about Anderson movies - crazy characters, cool set designs, bright colors. Still, this isn't his best work. It's a bit jumbled and maybe feels like it's trying too hard. Still, I'll take an "okay" Wes Anderson movie any day.
Grade: B

Lucy
Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman
Plot: An American party girl in Taiwan can suddenly access increasing amounts of her brain when a bag of drugs bursts inside her stomach.
Thoughts: I wanted this movie to be so much more than it was. I wanted less scenes of apes and dinosaurs and more scenes of Scarlett kicking ass. Scarlett is fantastic here, and I have absolutely no complaints whatsoever about her. However, this movie just plays off as such a huge mess. I mean, sure, it's cool, I guess. But it had the opportunity to be so much cooler. It's a wasted opportunity, in my opinion.
Grade: D+

Under the Skin
Stars: Scarlett Johansson
Plot: A mysterious woman lures men to their doom in Scotland (where you can't understand a word anyone says... actual conversation I had with my boyfriend while watching this movie: Me: "This movie needs subtitles." Him: "It's in English!")
Thoughts: I seriously have done very little other than think about this movie for the last two days. It's that intense and mysterious and thought-provoking. Upon thinking about it non-stop, I have realized that I think I liked it more than I initially thought. I have come to the conclusion that it's this really great feminist tale about how even a superior being becomes weak when stuck in a female body. The movie was filmed so beautifully (so many amazing shots), and it's so been on my mind, that I almost want to watch it again. But, then I remember how I felt while watching it, which was mostly infuriated and even angry. This is the first movie I have ever watched where I literally don't know what grade to give it. It has an equal chance of ending up on my Best of and Worst of lists at the end of the year.
Grade: ????