Love & Mercy, the Brian Wilson biopic that shows two time periods of The Beach Boys’ life’s most recognizable face, is one of the most underrated movies of 2015. Forgot whatever you know or think you know about Brian Wilson. For me, that was absolutely nothing. I knew he was a member of The Beach Boys, but that was about it. I’m not really a fan of The Beach Boys, but I have a new appreciation for the band and especially for Brian Wilson after seeing this movie. While the band is known for its carefree car tunes like Surfin USA, I Get Around, and California Girls, not all was as peachy as I thought it to be. I’ve always considered The Beach Boys one of those bands that didn’t have a lot of substance in their songs. Not being a Mr. Happy Go Lucky type guy myself and having been to the beaches of California only a couple of times in my life, I couldn’t relate to their music like I could a Tom Petty or a Bruce Springsteen. Their songs, to me, were just that. Peachy. While I will not go out and buy their entire anthology, I will give some of their songs a listen, whereas I might not have in the past. Originally I had no intention of seeing this movie. I thought it was a documentary at first. But I’m glad I decided to see it. I think every fan of the band and everyone who enjoys a good biopic should go out and see this movie.
Continue reading Love & Mercy (2015)
Category Archives: Elizabeth Banks
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
I suspended my beliefs at the door when I stepped into the theater to see Francis Lawrence’s (I Am Legend, Water For Elephants) sequel to The Hunger Games. I couldn’t do this for the first movie and was dissatisfied. I wanted the film to be more of a survival movie and less a fantasy/science fiction movie. When I wasn’t able to do that, I just started to question everything that was happening. I liked The Hunger Games but did not love it. I liked it enough to continue with the franchise, though. Every successful fantasy book franchise is being made into a movie these days. I have never read a word of a book or seen a second of the film in either the Harry Potter or Twilight series. I get the cult-like following to both of these movies, though. I do understand how you can be engrossed in a franchise like this. I have not read, nor will I read, any of The Hunger Game books, but I will continue to see the movies, even though I am upset about the franchise’s finale Mockingjay, split up into two movies. I am also lukewarm about the Insurgent franchise coming to the theaters. They showed a trailer for the first Insurgent movies before Catching Fire, and I was disappointed to see Kate Winslet on the screen. In these movies, you don’t need superstars outside the main character or two.
Continue reading The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)