Look, I'm sorry David... but a monster took my movie review.
I can't find it... do you know anything about it?
// MUTO: Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism.
It is however no longer terrestrial...
it is airborne.
Now the world still thinks this was an earthquake, and it would be preferable that that remain
so.
// So... um... does that mean I won't be reviewing any films tonight?// We will get on our game,
and we will find this thing.
// Oh, well that's excellent, that means we can produce the show after all!
// It is imperative that we do so.
// And this is Movie Night!
Hello and welcome to Movie Night, home to in-depth film reviews in four-minutes or less.
I'm your host, Jonathan Paula.
Tonight we'll be reviewing three new theatrical releases, beginning with "Neighbors".
This decidedly R-rated comedy from director Nicholas Stoller was produced on an $18 million
dollar budget, and is well on its way to earning ten times that amount at the box office.
Perpetually stoner Seth Rogan stars as a young family mad, struggle to raise a newborn baby
with his sexy Australian wife Rose Byrne after a rowdy fraternity move in to the house next
door.
All grown up from his 'High School Musical' days, the ridiculously toned Zac Efron is
featured opposite as the vengeful leader of the frat, hell bent on making the wholesome
family's life a living hell after they were forced to file a noise-complaint against him,
and his rambunctious college friends.
Rogan is, well...
Rogan... as charming and funny as ever, but still extremely limited and predictable in
the acting category, showing us the exact same beats and dramatic turns we've seen from
him dozens of times before.
Efron plays a more nuanced role, and the 97-minute plot eventually hints that there's more to
his motivation than endless partying, sadly, this thread is left without a really strong
resolution.
Byrne however is easily the strongest member of this picture, really showcasing a depth
and perseverance to her character that anchors the nonsense on screen.
She later defends her decisions by saying, "Just because I'm a mom doesn't mean I know
what's best."
Although the movie is actually funnier during the quieter moments, it's the blitzkrieg-like
editing during the party sequences where it really shines.
Frantically cutting between dozens of interestingly shot angles, all beautifully lit with neon
colors and black lights, these montages are perhaps the most visually interesting and
hypnotic parties ever produced on film.
When it comes time for actual substance though, the well-paced experience thankfully does
a good job establishing the characters, and importance of their goals: it's just unfortunate
everything is a bit familiar.
Well, with one exception...
I can't recall ever seeing a couple of dudes swordfight with foot-long dildos before, so
the movie's got that going for it.
Fans of gross-out humor and sophomoric jokes, or just Seth Rogan will be right at home with
this picture: a capable and hilarious modern-day college comedy.
An amoral and
forgettable experience saved by its talented and attractive cast, this is an enjoyable,
if somewhat pointless and unrealistic experience I probably won't need to watch again for years.
"Neighbors", "Fleeting tomfoolery with raunchy laughs."
Here's what you had to say in the YouTube comments.
Our scores for "Neighbors", two SEVENs.
Recognizing its flaws and familiarity, you still enjoyed the adult-humor enough to score
this a COOL.
Believable characters in some less-than-believable situations made this an entertaining picture,
but I can't help but wonder: is the PG-13 rated comedy dead?
Sure, watching a toddler mistakenly eat a condom is funny... but is grossing-out audiences
the only way to score laughs these days?
I certainly hope not.
Anyway, I thought this movie was COOL too.
For tonight's poll question: what's your favorite comedy of the last 10 years?
Leave your response as a comment below.
Switching gears to a completely different genre, let's review "Godzilla".
This $160-million dollar science fiction monster movie was released on May 16, 2014: almost
sixty years after the titular beast made his first appearance in Japanese cinema.
The fifth American installment of the iconic franchise, and the thirty-third picture overall
scored a very strong $93-million dollar opening weekend.
Thankfully though, it's also substantially better than the lackluster 1998 version with
Mathew Broderick.
Having grown up with the films as a kid, director Gareth Edwards takes special care to portray
the 355' tall monster as authentically and faithfully to its source material as possible.
Stylized as redacted government documents, the opening credits show flashbacks of atomic
testing in the 1950's, which we learn later was actually humanity's attempt to subdue
the giant creature.
The 123-minute film then presents the familiar tale of mankind verses the monsters they foolish
awakened with their scientific curiosity.
One of those scientists is the incredibly talented Bryan Cranston, who drives the film's
emotional prologue with a brilliant performance.
It's a familiar setup for these types of stories, but the three-time Emmy winner makes it work.
Sadly however, we don't see much of him after that, and the PG-13 rated picture definitely
suffers as a result.
In his first substantial starring role, Aaron Taylor-Johnson isn't particularly convincing
as a bomb-disposal expert in the US Navy, nor is he charismatic as the traveling husband
of the extremely underused Elizabeth Olsen, who plays his gorgeous wife.
To be fair though, Taylor-Johnson isn't really given much to do either...
his character only serves as an eyepiece for the audience to view the devastation around
him.
In fact, this metaphor is solidified when we literally watch Godzilla destroy San Francisco
through Aaron's foggy goggles during a high-altitude skydiving jump.
Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, and David Strathairn have pivotal roles as well, but are only utilized
to deliver lots of exposition, including this poignant warning from Watanabe, "The arrogance
of men is thinking nature is in their control and not the other way around."
With such mammoth possibilities, this picture had the opportunity to put Roland Emmerich's
destruction-laden movies to shame, but very dark and spatially confusing sequences make
it difficult to tell what's happening - and the nighttime lightning obscures all of the
coolest action.
In particular, a scene involving a precarious train crossing on a towering mountain bridge
had the potential to be terrifying and suspenseful... but since the geographic relationship between
the humans and monster was unclear, their wasn't much tension.
Given the absurd circumstances of this universe, the execution of giant monsters rising from
the sea to battle each other is handled with a fair amount of realism- even if pulling
a 9mm pistol on a building-sized dinosaur is the most laughable decision I've seen a
character ever do.
The exquisitely handled visual effects make it all look remarkable realistic as well,
with the ferocious title character taking center stage.
Meanwhile, Alexandre Desplat contributes a looming and ominous score throughout the high-stakes
action.
Special mention goes to the cinematography: which despite being dark and cloudy when you'd
simply prefer to see what is happening - is incredibly beautiful and artistic... especially
the aforementioned HALO jump, backlight by the glowing amber of a ruined city.
The loud sound-effects that brings the creatures to life is also rather impressive...
their long and sustained roars are unnerving and frightening.
Contrary to Godzilla's underwater home thoug, this movie unfortunately lacks any depth - but
if you want to see the King Of The Monsters absolutely wreak havoc, you could certainly
do worst than this enjoyable and rewatchable experience.
"Godzilla", "Characters forgotten amid monster mayhem."
Now let's check out some of your opinions on this movie.
Lots of votes and reviews for this... but your scores averaged to an EIGHT, whereas
I'll give it a NINE.
Most criticized the empty story, but loved the effects and battles, you thought it was
GREAT.
As far as monster movies go, this one is a real treat: and a proper return to form for
the decades old franchise, but as far as compelling cinema goes, this picture lacks quite a bit.
I thought it was COOL.
But perhaps you'd be interested to hear what I thought about this movie months before I
ever saw it?
Head over to the Movie Night Archive channel to watch my trailer commentaries, including
one I posted in March for "Godzilla", as well as a full library of all reviews we've done
on the show.
Finally tonight, let's review the brand new "X-Men: Days Of Future Past".
This epic superhero adventure film is the seventh installment in the multi-billion dollar
X-Men film series film, and is hoping to earn back half of its $200-million dollar budget
during its 2014 Memorial Day weekend debut.
The extremely ambitious 131-minute film acts as a dual-sequel to both "X-Men: The Last
Stand" and "X-Men: First Class".
Starring in his sixth X-Men film, Hugh Jackman leads the absolutely gigantic cast of unique
mutants determined to survive a deadly war in the dystopian future of 2023 by traveling
back in time 50 years to stop a threat before it emerges.
Returning director Bryan Singer expertly balances the parallel "Inception"-style narratives,
and rather than being weighed down with this extra story-device, the picture is instead
far more engaging.
Jackman is as charismatic, handsome, and able as ever, effortlessly playing off both groups
of players.
James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, and Nicholas Hoult make up the "past"
group, while Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, and Ellen Page as featured sparingly
as the "future" characters.
Considering the size and scope of this project, it would have been easy for any number of
them to be forgotten and under-utilized, and with the notable exception of Berry who's
role had to be downsized during her recent pregnancy, each individual is given ample
time to showcase their powers, and impressive acting talent.
Meanwhile, Peter Dinklage, Evan Peters, Mark Camacho, and some terrific cameos - also make
important appearances.
As what could best be described as the film's conventional human antagonist, Dinklage defends
his anti-mutant crusade by saying, "Never before had they're been a cause that could
unite us as a species until now."
As a huge fan of superhero films and time-travel stories, I was floored by this PG-13-rated
picture from the very start... which introduces us to a hellish and unforgiving future worth
erasing from history.
In a fantasy land where literally anything is possible, the X-Men films haven't always
been able to illicit the sense of danger and urgency needed for tense and exciting action.
Fortunately, that's never an issue here... which each extraordinary sequence building
upon the last, towards an unstoppable consequence that looms over the entire narrative.
An early prison-break sequence deep beneath the Pentagon is particularly inventive and
entertaining, especially when Peters hilariously listens to Jim Croce's "Time In A Bottle"
while dispatching an incoming security force at lightning-quick speed.
John Ottman delivers a wonderfully bombastic musical score, that besides including motifs
of previous soundtracks also helps sell the grandiose and unbelievable action on screen.
Surprisingly well-paced and coherent for a picture that features this many moving parts,
there's also plenty of great jokes, and callbacks as well - which should delight all comic book
fans.
As expected, the visual effects are flawless... combined with excellent and detailed camera
work make this a beautiful film to look at, and easy to follow during the hectic action-sequences.
Focusing on the central ideal that no matter how dark your path, it's never too late to
find yourself again... this is a hopeful, and dare I say inspiring story that's more
than just magical mutants fighting robot soldiers.
Although the X-Men canon has ostensibly been retconned by itself, the feature ends with
a rewarding climax that thankfully leaves the door open for future... or should I say,
past installments.
An imaginative and exciting movie that perfectly blends elements of multiple interesting genres
into one extremely rewatchable experienc.
"X-Men: Days Of Future Past", "Compelling interplay underlines marvelous action."
Another opening-day review means there weren't enough of your comments or votes, but I'm
scoring this picture a NINE out of ten.
These types of ensemble pictures are never a sure-fire formula, but everything worked
liked gang-busters here: truly combining the best parts of the earlier pictures into one
incredible experience.
I thought it was very AWESOME.
Now let's take a look at what you're saying about movies currently playing in theaters.
If you see a new movie in theaters, tweet your review with the #JPMN hashtag.
Next week we'll be reviewing three western comedies...
including the grand daddy of them all, "Blazing Saddles", the poorly received, "Wild Wild
West" from 1999, and Seth MacFarlane's newest effort, "A Million Ways To Die In The West."
Once you've seen these films, share your opinions by voting in the polls below, or by leaving
a comment review.
If you'd like to watch more Movie Night reviews, check out the "related videos" on the right,
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episodes.
Once again, my name is Jonathan Paula, thank you for watching and listening.
Until next time, have a good Movie Night!