Dallas Buyers Club: Certainly a solid film, but nowhere near as good as I expected it to be. The whole film I was watching this I kept expecting it to turn into something special, but it never did. The only thing that really impressed me about Dallas Buyers Club was the performance of Matthew McConaughey. McConaughey is lights-out as the main character Ron Woodard, a homophobic electrician that is diagnosed with AIDS in 1985. McConaughey is able to capture Woodard's transformation from drug-addicted prick who is in denial of his disease to his formation of a network to help his fellow AIDS victims receive experimental drugs from around the world that aren't approved from the FDA as well as his changing of attitude towards homosexuals after befriending and eventually going into business with a transgender female named Rayon(Jared Leto) It really is amazing the transformation McConaughey has been able to make as an actor in the past few years. This guy went from being laughed at for starring exclusively in low-grade romantic comedies (Fool's Gold, Ghosts of Girlfriend's Past) to being one of the most lauded-actors in all of Hollywood in seemingly no time at all. An Oscar nomination is almost certainly in his future for his work here and it's well-deserved, McConaughey carries this film on his back. The rest of the film aside from McConaughey really could've been so much better and it resulted this being a somewhat aggravating watch for me. I fully understand why this film is being so acclaimed, I just personally didn't feel this was film was anything truly spectacular. There is an incredible film to be made from Woodard's story, but Dallas Buyers Club isn't it.
3.5/5 Stars
Ender's Game: Flawed in its execution and there are a few unintentionally hilarious
moments/bad performances, but it's ultimately far too entertaining to be
bad. I was consistently engaged throughout and Asa Butterfield makes
Ender a really likeable hero. I'm still a bit confused why I liked as
much as I did since there is nothing really all that special or noteworthy about it. Perhaps I'm going insane really early in life.
3.5/5 Stars
Thor: The Dark World: You know exactly what you're getting into with a Marvel movie most of time, which is about the best and worst thing I can about Thor: The Dark World. There's a sense of familiarity to the whole film, but it still manages to get the job done anyways thanks to how well oiled of a machine Marvel is at this point in time. Where the first film was a fish out-of-water tale for Thor on earth, this film is focused almost soley on Asgard. Basing this film on Asgard was a nice touch and saves it from being a complete retread of the first film. The scenery of Asgard is stunning and the filmmakers are able use this striking background to stage some fantastic action sequences. While I enjoy the first film more overall, I will say that the action in this installment is superior. Of course it wouldn't be a Thor film without a slew of entertaining performances. Chris Hemsworth is spot-on with the cheesiness of the title character, Tom Hiddleston continues to make Loki the most intriguing villain in the entire Marvel universe stealing every single scene he is in and Stellan Skarsgard is hilarious as the whackjob scientist that Thor's human girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) works for. If you don't like Marvel superhero films, this certainly won't change your mind. But if you're down with the Marvel formula and aren't looking for the next game-changer in the genre, Thor: The Dark World more than gets the job done.
4/5 Stars
The Heat: Mellisa McCarthy apologizes for the turd that was Identity Thief from earlier this year with the perfect showcase for her comedic chops in The Heat. McCarthy is a comedic tour-de-force here being the catalyst for a vast majority of the many laughs the film has to offer. McCarthy really is something special and it's awesome to see someone that is so funny achieve the level of success she has in the past few years. Sandra Bullock kind of takes a back seat to McCarthy, but still does a pretty good job in the straight role and does shine when she gets her opportunity to show off her comedic skills at the end of the film. It was also good to see that Michael McDonald from MAD TV is still alive. I thought he may have died since he hasn't appeared in anything since the Bush administration. The Heat is easily one of the strongest comedies of 2013 and I hope they go through with making the heavily-rumored sequel.
4/5 Stars
The Conjuring: Director James Wan goes back to the supernatural horror genre and actually learned from the mistakes he made with Insidious to make a quality horror flick with The Conjuring. The Conjuring make use of the same strengths established in the first half of Insidious by developing an eerie atmosphere and a whole lot of suspense. Nothing's popping out, just good old-fashioned tension for most of the first hour of the film. Thankfully The Conjuring doesn't go off-the-rails like Insidious did in the latter stages. The second half isn't quite as strong as the first here either as it resorts to exorcism-film cliches, but it's still competent and doesn't destroy the momentum the first half built. It also helps that The Conjuring develops its characters and isn't just an empty excuse for people to get possessed/murdered. The film spends time with the family who is getting effected by the haunting and the paranormal investigators who are brought into stop it. The Conjuring is by no means a revelation for the horror genre, but it gets the job done in a haunted house subgenre that tends to squander its good ideas with a whole lot of ridiculous ones. The Conjuring's near-complete avoidance of venturing into the territory of stupidity is a huge victory for everyone involved and shows that the haunted house film may actually have some life left in the tank.
3.5/5 Stars
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