The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 had a significant knock-on it before it even hit the screen. And that was that the book was split into two movies. I have been having a big problem with this. It’s a three-series book. Make it a three-series movie. That’s what it would have been if the first movie didn’t take off and smash the box office. I understand why the studios want to break the last book into two movies. I would do it too. But as a fan, a moviegoer, and someone who pays lots of money at the movie theaters, I have a problem paying an extra $12 when I don’t feel I have to. I know that I am exactly the reason for this issue. I saw the first two movies in the theater. I contributed to that astronomical gross that each of these first two movies reached. And it’s not The Hunger Games franchise that upsets me. All of the moneymaking franchises have been doing this. Twilight. Harry Potter was seven books but eight movies. The Divergent series is going to split its final movie into two. I think that the film gets watered down in many cases, including Mockingjay Part 1. I understand that some believe that maybe there is too much great material to squeeze into one movie, but, at the same time, there isn’t enough material in this one to make it a killer movie. My solution would be to make the movie for three hours. I would also complain about that, but it would be my preference over two films, each that are not going to be the first two movies in the franchise.
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Category Archives: Drama
The Savages (2007)
Perhaps two of the best performances of the careers of both Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote, Doubt) and Laura Linney (The Squid and the Whale, You Can Count on Me) are on display in the most under-appreciated movie in 2007, Tamara Jenkins (Slums of Beverly Hills) The Savages. This movie scored 89% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes yet amassed just $6.4 million at the box office. I did not see this movie in the theater. I remember hearing a lot about it, but I don’t remember seeing many trailers. And at the time, this wasn’t a movie that I thought would interest me. I am always a little lukewarm on films classified as drama and comedies. They are hit or miss for me. When they are right, they are great. But, for me, that seems to be the exception to the rule. I saw it only because it had such a high rating and because Linney earned a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her performance. No one recommended this movie to me. It was a movie I told myself I would sit through and probably not enjoy, based on the reasons I listed above. Boy, was I wrong. The Savages is a fantastic movie and hits close to home for most of us at some point in our lives.
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The Skeleton Twins (2014)
One of the most honest and straightforward movies in all of 2014 saw two of the most well known Saturday Night Live alums take on roles that were very, very different from anything that we have seen them in before. Rian Johnson’s (Looper, The Brothers Bloom) The Skeleton Twins is a movie that deals with mental health, a topic that hits very close to home with me. This is one of those movies that is categorized as a hit or miss drama/comedy, but this is hardly a comedy. This isn’t the heaviest movie in the entire world, but you certainly won’t be smiling much as you empathize with the leads Maggie (Wiig – Bridesmaids, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty) and Milo (Hader – Year One, Superbad). You might spend the first 15-30 minutes wondering when the comedy is coming, only to realize that maybe it not be. Best rest assured that you will know right away that this isn’t the Hader and Wiig that you know. This is something much more profound. This is a film to be seen for the film enthusiasts of the world. Continue reading The Skeleton Twins (2014)
Child of God (2014)
I want to say that I am a big fan of author Cormac McCarthy. I loved his novel “The Road” and thought the film adaptation of the movie was spectacular. It was one of those movies that I went in not knowing what to expect but came out loving it. I read the book after seeing The Road in the theater, and I thought that the book was just as good as the movie. I liked the movie so much that I created a trailer for it. I enjoyed No Country For Old Men, but I certainly didn’t think it was the best movie of 2007. I have yet to read the novel, but I will at some point. I picked up two more of his novels this past year. The first was a book called “Outer Limits,” of which I enjoyed parts. The second was “Child of God,” parts of which I enjoyed. I thought both movies were random and very different from “The Road” and how I would expect “No Country For Old Men” to read. I had heard James Franco (As I Lie Dying, The Sound and the Fury) was directing an adaptation of a McCarthy novel, but I didn’t know it was Child of God until I had finished the book.
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Exodus: Gods and Kings
Exodus: Gods and Men was a movie that I thought would be great, then I thought it would be terrible, and then I thought it would be okay was one that ended up being pretty good. I am a massive fan of Christian Bale (The Dark Knight Rises, Out of the Furnace) and Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator). Bale has had numerous hits over the last decade. I’d say I’ve seen 13 out of his previous 15 movies that I’ve been a big fan of. Once as reliable as they come, Scott has had some misses in recent years, most notably The Counselor and Robin Hood. Both of these movies should have been great, and both underwhelmed. Even after my research, I still have almost no idea about what the plot of The Counselor was. And even though neither of these men was associated with the disaster that was Noah, that movie also had a respected actor (Russell Crowe) and director (Darren Aronofsky). It was quickly my least favorite movie of 2014. Fairly or unfairly, Noah tempered my expectations of Exodus: Gods and Men. It did not help that the Bale/Scott venture got panned by the critics (28% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and was equally shunned by audiences (just $65 million domestically despite a $140 million production cost). And I am not well-versed enough in the story of Moses to know how actual this movie was to the Biblical account. What I do remember is that I enjoyed this movie. It is currently my 12th favorite movie of 2014. I don’t expect it, at this point, to fall any lower than that.
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