Big Hero 6 Review

Big Hero 6 is based on a Marvel comic, and was made by Disney, who owns Marvel Entertainment. But they decided to market it as an animated family film that was not a part of the Marvel Universe. And this is a pretty good movie for the entire family, including those too young for the mainly PG-13 superhero movie genre.

The movie is about an intelligent teenage boy who is recovering from his brother's death in a horrible incident. He discovers that his death is linked to an evil plot. To stop it, he will need to modify his brother's robotic project, Baymax, and some of his brother's friends to fight the mastermind behind this.

This movie is fun for the entire family. There are plenty of laughs, and sequences which are definitely entertaining. There are some exhilarating action sequences, and the animation is very well-done. It takes place in a well realized city called San Fransokyo, a combination of San Francisco and Tokyo that looks good on film. Keeping up with the setting, the animation and certain elements of the story show influences from anime.

The film is also emotionally moving at times. There are a few scenes in this movie that invoke tears, and there are also heartwarming scenes of Baymax taking care of the main character.

In conclusion, Big Hero 6 is a movie that should entertain children and adults alike. It's cute, funny, entertaining, and fun overall.

4.0 out of 5 stars

Birdman Review

The Oscar nominees were announced yesterday, and there are some surprises. I like how Whiplash, my favorite film of 2014, was nominated for Best Picture, and it's good to see Dick Poop get the attention he deserves as a cinematographer (yes, I'm actually going to start with a joke about that flub). One movie that didn't surprise anybody was Birdman, which was nominated for many awards. I have seen this movie today, so now I am going to review it.

The film centers around Michael Keaton's character, who played the lead role in a superhero movie franchise twenty years ago, and now is a washed up actor who hasn't been in much lately (sound familiar). In an attempt to kickstart his career again, he writes, and stars in a Broadway play. The movie is about his struggles with his lack of confidence, as he tries to make this play.

This movie is advertised as a dark comedy, but it doesn't really have as many humorous scenes as you may think. It is also artsier than the average dark comedy, with most of the movie being done in one long take, and with frequent sequences that seem to be in his imagination.

The film's casting is clever. In addition to casting Michael Keaton in a role that could almost be considered autobiographical, there are also actors who were in other superhero movies, such as Edward Norton (The Incredible Hulk) and Emma Stone (The Amazing Spider-man).

The film itself is a pretty good one. It has an interesting story, and is very well directed. It's different from most movies, and I like that. It is not so much a comedy as a satire of the entertainment industry with occasional bursts of humor. It discusses the struggle of has-been actors, as well as how actors are treated according to others' expectations for them.

Birdman is an intriguing, unique movie, that is sure to win a few awards.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Cult Movie Night #2 Donnie Darko

This is the second installment in my cult movie night series, where I talk about movies that have gained a cult following. This post is about a movie that is more recent than my last one (Night of the Living Dead), but is still considered a cult classic. That movie is Donnie Darko. I also tried to go deeper into the history of this film than last time, so I hope you enjoy.

Released: October 28, 2001
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%
IMDB Score: 8.1
Budget: $4.5 million
Gross: $515,000

Beginnings:
 26 year old film school graduate Richard Kelly, wrote a script called Donnie Darko, which he intended to direct, and sent it to many distributors. After several rejections, it was eventually found by Drew Barrymore, who was willing to produce the film giving it an independent release, and to play a small role in it. This allowed for a larger budget than Richard Kelly expected, and allowed him to get well known actors such as Patrick Swayze, Noah Wyle, Jenna Malone, and Mary McDonnel. However, for the lead role Kelly chose an at-the-time unknown actor, Jake Gyllenhall. As a side note, this movie was also the big screen debut for Seth Rogen, who also plays a small role.
Kelly felt like he needed to keep the film under two hours, so he cut several minutes out of the original cut, which gave it a mysterious and ambiguous nature.

Story
Gyllenhall plays the title character, a high school student in the 1980s, who is medicated for mental problems. The movie begins when he narrowly escapes death when a plane engine falls onto his house. He begins to see images of a man in a rabbit suit who tells him that the world is going to end in a month. The movie is about the dark interactions with Donnie and the rabbit.

Rise to Cultdom:
The movie bombed. Despite good reviews, the movie suffered from a bad case of dark-apocalyptic-movie-involving-a-plane-crash-being-released-the-month-after-9/11-itis. However, it gained attention after a theater in New York City played it at midnight one night, and kept playing it for 28 months. Soon after, other theaters followed, and DVD sales exploded earning over $10 million. It also launched Jake Gyllenhall's successful acting career.
As a side note, Gary Jules' depressing rendition of Tears for Fears song "Mad World", which was recorded for the movie, became a number one hit in the UK in late 2003.
The success of the movie allowed Richard Kelly to release the directors cut of the movie into theaters. This didn't make much more money than the original release, but was also a hit on DVD. There was also a straight to DVD sequel called S Darko in 2009, which focused on Donnie's sister. The actress who played her was the only cast member from the original to be in this movie, and Richard Kelly had no part in it. The film was hated by both fans and critics (3.7 on IMDB, 0%(!) on Rotten Tomatoes).

Analysis
Due to the film's ambiguous story, people have dedicated a lot of time to trying to crack the mysteries of it. The original cut of the film is considered to be a movie that needs to be seen multiple times to be understood. It also requires reading The Philosophy of Time Travel, a fictional book in which pages are on the movie's website. However, the story is clearer in the director's cut, and there are several online articles explaining it.
However, there is a reason that people stuck with this movie in spite of how confusing it is. It's an intriguing movie. It's a dark and bizzare movie that is unique and original. It also has some comedy and social commentary. This is why the movie was so popular and enduring.

Conclusion
 At the time of it's release, it seemed that this independent low-budget sci-fi bomb would fade into obscurity. But that was not the case, because it's mysterious, bizarre, and ambiguous tone gained it popularity.

Sources:
 http://news.moviefone.com/2011/10/26/25-things-you-may-not-know-about-donnie-darko/
http://www.salon.com/2004/07/23/darko/

Cult Movie Night #1 Night of the Living Dead

I have decided to add something different for the blog. I have started what I think may be a recurring post called Cult Movie Night, where I talk about a certain cult movie each time. This series will talk about the movie's origins, legacy, and why it is so popular. This time I will talk about the classic horror film Night of the Living Dead.

Released: October 1, 1968
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%
IMDB Score: 8.0
Budget: $114,000
Gross: $30 Million Worldwide ($12 Million USA)

Beginnings:
 After shooting mainly commercials and short films, George A Romero decided to make the transition to feature-length films in the late sixties. He and some friends formed Image Ten Productions, and began work on a B-movie. The movie originally had the titles Night of the Flesh-Eaters and Night of Anubis before they settled on Night of the Living Dead. Zombie movies were around at that time, but they were presented as slaves to a human master.

Story:
The dead in a town in Pennsylvania come back to life as zombies, and eat the flesh of the living. A group of people hide from them in a house as the outside world is taken over by the undead.

Rise to Cultdom:
The low budget B-movie was a huge success, making $30 million off it's budget of little over $100,000. It was officially considered a cult classic by the early seventies, and in 1999, was inducted into the National Film Registry of the United States' Library of Congress. It also launched three sequels Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, and Land of the Dead, as well as a remake in 1990.

Legacy:
 This film was revolutionary for the horror movie in many ways. One of these ways would be what was then considered an excess of gore, which disturbed audiences, and created a more violent form of horror movie. It would mark the first time zombies only served themselves, instead of some other master as described above.
It would also be the first time an African American would be cast in a lead role in a horror movie. This was released in a time where civil rights were just beginning to take off. The ending to the movie is also very reminiscent of  race relations at the time. Romero may have denied that this was intentional, but it resonated with audiences nonetheless.

Conclusion:
This movie went from low-budget  B-horror movie crap to one of the most influential and celebrated horror movies of all time. And it deserved this, because it was a great movie that gave birth to the modern day horror movie and the modern image of the zombie.

Sources:
 http://www.houseofhorrors.com/night68.htm
https://litdreamer.wordpress.com/2011/10/30/night-of-the-living-dead-horror-movie-as-social-commentary/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001681/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

Jay's Top Ten Most Anticipated Movies of 2015

2015 is upon us, which means another year's worth of movies being released. This is a particularly exciting year for film, with many anticipated movies being released. This is my top 10 most anticipated movies of the year. These may change as the year progresses and I learn about other movies, or people tell me what movies they liked/disliked. But for now, here are the movies I'm most excited for.

10. Minions

The minions from Despicable Me are getting their own spinoff movie. While I don't know whether or not they can pull off their own movie on their own, I would be willing to find out, as they were by far my favorite part of the movies.

9. Mad Max: Fury Road

 This is a direct sequel to the previous three Mad Max movies. It is directed by George Miller, the director of the previous three films, so hopefully this move will have the same feel to them. It stars Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises) and Charlise Theron.

8. The Fantastic Four
The last Fantastic Four movie did not go as well as people hoped it would, but this version has the director of Chronicle, so I'm willing to give it a shot.
  EDIT: After hearing about some of the details, including the young cast, I have grown skeptical of the movie.


7. Terminator: Genisys

Arnold Schwarzenegger is back as The Terminator! I have enjoyed his performance in the original movies and await his return to the franchise. Sure the trailer was confusing, but hopefully they'll explain things better in the actual movie.

6. Ant-man
 The next film in the Marvel cinematic universe. It stars Paul Rudd as a man with a suit that allows him to shrink to the size of an ant. That concept may sound weird, but it's not as weird as that of Guardians of the Galaxy, and I really liked that movie. The Marvel cinematic universe has delivered mostly great films, so that elevates Ant-man on my list.

5. Spectre
 Daniel Craig returns as James Bond in the twenty-fourth movie in the franchise. The movie also stars Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Bastards) and Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy).

4. Jurassic World

This is the fourth Jurassic Park movie. I do not remember the other sequels, but heard that they were disappointing at best. There is also the fact that Steven Spielberg is only the executive producer and not the director. But the reason this movie is so high up is because I like the concept that this happens while the park is open to the public. In the movie, the staff at the park uses genetic engineering to create a new species of dinosaur, and (surprise!) things go horribly wrong. The movie stars Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) and is set for release this summer.

3. The Hateful Eight
 The next film from director Quentin Tarantino, one of my favorite working directors. This is a western, like his previous film Django Unchained, which I really liked. This movie will star Samuel L Jackson, and Channing Tatum is also rumored to have a role in it.

2. Avengers: Age of Ultron

 
The Avengers was my second favorite superhero movie, behind The Dark Knight, so I'm very excited for this sequel. The trailer for this movie was great. It is supposed to have a darker tone than the previous movie. Joining the cast is James Spader (The Blacklist) playing the villain.

1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

And so the Star Wars saga continues. It may not be the best time to release another Star Wars movie, after the Star Wars prequels. But with a great trailer, and JJ Abrams directing, I have my hopes up that this could be one of the good Star Wars movies.

And that is my list of the top ten most anticipated movies of 2015. Hopefully, these movies will live up to the hype. If there are any movies you think should be on the list, let me know in the comment section.