James' Chicken

Gone Girl

Sat, 18 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Gone Girl: A+

Last week, I saw the movie, “Gone Girl”. I was expecting this movie to be awesome and have insane twists and turns throughout, and it certainly met my expectations. According to imdb.com, this movie is about: “With his wife’s disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it’s suspected that he may not be innocent.” Ben Affleck plays the title role as Nick Dunne, a man whose wife one day disappears. I think he did a wonderful job acting in this movie. I am also a big Ben Affleck, which could have also factored into that decision, but I digress.

NOTE: I do not want to spoil this for anyone going to see the film, so I will be brief and non-descriptive about her role.

Rosamund Pike plays the role of Amy Dunne, Nick’s wife who disappears. I think she did the best job out of all the other actors in this movie. In my opinion, I think she should be at least nominated at the Academy Awards for the brilliant job she did acting in this film. Carrie Coon plays the role of Margo Dunne, Nick’s sister in the film. She is an unknown actress to me, but I think she did a pretty good job. Neil Patrick Harris plays the role of Desi Collings, Amy’s ex-boyfriend. I am a huge Neil Patrick Harris fan, so this may be biased, but I think he did a great job. Tyler Perry plays the role of Tanner Bolt, Nick’s lawyer in the movie. Tyler Perry is mostly known for his comedy roles, but in this Drama movie he played his dramatic role very well too. He even provided parts of scenes with comedic relief.

Overall, I thought this movie was brilliant, and I very highly recommend it to anyone, especially to those who likes edge-of-your-seat type thriller movies. I recommend seeing it in theaters though, if you get the chance.

Thor: The Dark World

Thu, 21 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Thor: The Dark World: A-

Last week, I saw the movie, “Thor: The Dark World”. I was expecting this to be awesome and have mind-blowing action, and it certainly met my expectations. According to imdb.com, this movie is about: “Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all.” Chris Hemsworth returns in the title role as Thor, the God of Thunder. As in the original Thor movie, he did a really good acting job. I think that overall, in my opinion, the role of Thor went to the best possible actor out there since this role seems to fit Hemsworth so well. Natalie Portman returns as Jane Foster, the scientist who originally discovered Thor in “Thor”. I think she did a really good job in her role, as she did in the 1st one. Tom Hiddleston also returns as Loki. Hiddleston’s performance as Loki throughout the 1st one, “The Avengers”, and this one were absolutely spot-on! I think that without Loki, this movie series would not be even close to as good if they did not go to Tom Hiddleston to play Loki. I am so glad they stayed with him. Anthony Hopkins also returns as Odin The All-Father, father of Thor and adoptive father of Loki. Hopkins never ceases to amaze me. Even at age 75, he still seems to have the ability to act and act very well I might add, especially in this movie. Christopher Eccleston is the new edition to this franchise playing the role of the main villain, Malekith the leader of the evil dark elves who want to plunge the world int0 darkness, where they thrive. I first saw Eccleston in the movie, “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” , where he played the role of James McCullen/Destro, and he did a great job playing the villain in that movie which he also did in this movie. Kat Dennings and Stellan Skarsgård also return as Darcy Lewis and Erik Selvig, respectively. As in the first “Thor” movie, they both provided hilarious comedic relief.

Overall, I thought this movie was great, and I highly recommend it to anyone who has seen the first “Thor” movie and/or enjoys a good action movie. I recommend seeing it in theaters though, if you get the chance.

Insidious: Chapter 2

Thu, 03 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Insidious: Chapter 2: B-

WARNING: Do not read on if you have not seen the first one(and the second one, if you do not want a partial spoiler.).

A couple weeks ago, I saw the movie, “Insidious: Chapter 2”. I was expecting this movie to be even more scary than “Chapter 1” of Insidious, but I found that it was not even as scary as “Insidious” ; just a little less scary as the original. According to imdb.com, this movie is about: “The haunted Lambert family that seeks to uncover the mysterious childhood secret that has left them dangerously connected to the spirit world.” Patrick Wilson returns as Josh Lambert. Josh is the father of the family and is an astral projector and is possessed by the old woman/Parker Crane(Tom Fitzpatrick). I think he also did a good job in Part 2, as he did in part one. It seemed like he did a little better acting job in the sequel, compared to the original. Rose Byrne returns as Renai Lambert, the mother of the family. She did a pretty good job in both movies, but in this one, she seemed to lack the amount of enthusiasm she had to her lines. Other than that, she did a pretty good job. Ty Simpkins also returns as Dalton Lambert, the son of Josh and Renai Lambert and fellow astral projector, due to his Dad, Josh, passing it on to him. As a child actor, this kid amazes me in how well he can act. In both movies, I think he did a great job in acting, making the audience feel like this experience was really happening to this family. Barbara Hershey returns as Lorraine Lambert, the mother of Josh and the grandmother of Dalton and his brother Foster Lambert(Andrew Astor). I think she did a pretty good job in both movies, but I do not think she was the best choice for the role. This might be because I never liked her as an actress, but I digress. Lin Shaye makes a surprising return to the franchise as Elise Rainier, the medium who helps get rid of the demon in the original movie and eventually dies at the hands of a possessed Josh, who got possessed in the Further, a dark dimension that exists parallel to our world and is inhabited by the tortured souls of the dead. I think she did a great job in both movies. Steve Coulter is the new cast member to this franchise, playing the role of Carl, Elise’s old assistant. I think he did a good job. Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson return as Specs and Tucker, who were Elise’s current assistants before she died. They basically serve as comedic relief. They both did an equally great job in both movies, providing two times the comedy in Part 2.

Overall, I would say this movie was great. I would recommend it to anyone who has seen the first one and like horror movies. However, I would not recommend this movie to anyone who does not like horror movies. For those of you who like horror movies, I would recommend seeing this in theaters. If not, on-demand or on DVD or Blu-Ray.

The World's End

Sun, 08 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The World’s End: B-

A few weeks ago, I saw the movie, “The World’s End”. I expected this movie to be awesome, but it ended up not quite meeting those expectations. According to imdb.com, this movie is about: “ Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from 20 years earlier who unwittingly become humankind’s only hope for survival.” Simon Pegg plays Gary King, the self-proclaimed leader of the group of friends. I have been a fan of Simon Pegg since I first saw him in “Shaun of the Dead”. As in that movie, and almost all of his movies since then, he was absolutely hysterical in this one! I laughed in almost every scene he was involved in. Nick Frost plays Andy Knightley, who works at a firm. He is Gary’s best friend out of the four of them. Nick Frost has been a pretty funny actor in his movies and in this one, he had quite a few funny scenes, especially as the movie progressed. Martin Freeman plays Oliver Chamberlain, a real estate agent. He is the more serious and factual out of the five friends. I was never a fan of Martin Freeman, until I saw him in “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”. I thought he did a pretty good job in this movie. He had quite a few witty lines that he acted out so well, and was pretty funny too. Paddy Considine plays Steven Price, who is the 4th member of the group, competes with Gary the whole movie over a girl. I personally had no idea who Paddy Considine was, until I saw him in the movie, “Hot Fuzz”. It was pretty entertaining watching him play out his lines, especially in the scenes where him and Simon Pegg’s characters compete for this girl. Eddie Marsan plays Peter Page, a car salesman. He is the youngest, 5th and last member of the group. I liked Eddie Marsan, ever since his role in “Hancock”, opposite Will Smith. He too had some pretty clever lines in the movie. Rosamund Pike plays Sam Chamberlain, Oliver’s sister and Gary and Steven’s love interest in the film. I have seen Rosamund Pike in action-adventure movies before, but in few comedies. Although she has been in few comedy movies, I think she was still pretty funny and did a pretty good job.

Overall, compared to its predecessors, “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz”, this movie was pretty good. My only complaint was that it was not as good as “Shaun of the Dead”, in my opinion. I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a good laugh. I would also recommend that you see this movie in theaters. If not, I would at least check it out on-demand when it comes out.

We're the Millers

Thu, 05 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000

We’re the Millers: A-

About a month ago, I saw the movie, “We’re the Millers”. I was expecting this movie to be funny, but not this funny! Jason Sudeikis plays David Clark, a veteran pot dealer who creates a fake family as part of his plan to move a huge shipment of weed into the U.S. from Mexico. As always, in my opinion, I thought he was hilarious in this movie and had a lot of funny lines to go with. Jennifer Aniston plays Rose O’Reilly, a local stripper who agrees to pose as David’s fake wife. I am actually not that big of a Jennifer Aniston fan, but over the past 3 years, I found she had funnier roles, so I became more fond of her. I think she also was pretty funny and had a lot of good lines in this movie. She also provided some nice eye candy. Emma Roberts plays Casey Mathis, a hobo-like, living on the streets runaway who agrees to pose as David’s fake daughter. I have been a fan of Emma Roberts since her role in Scream 4 and in this movie, she also did a very good job and was very funny. Will Poulter plays Kenny Rossmore, a virgin who is David’s next door neighbor in his apartment. He agrees to pose as David’s fake son. I have never seen this actor in a movie before, but in this movie, his character was very funny and entertaining to watch. Ed Helms plays Brad Gurdlinger, David’s boss who sends David on this quest to get the pot from Mexico and bring back the pot to Brad back across the border to America. Ever since the Hangover trilogy, I have been a fan of his comedic talent, and this movie is no exception. From start to finish, his character was hilarious! Nick Offerman plays Don Fitzgerald, father of the family that the “Millers” meet along their travels. If anyone watches the comedic television show, “Parks and Recreation”, you know this actor will not disappoint; nor did he disappoint in this movie either. Kathryn Hahn plays Elie Fitzgerald, mother of the family that the “Millers” meet along their journey. This actress, if you have not seen her before has just about been in every comedy movie in the last decade. Her roles in these movies, even this one (although minor) make these movies even funnier!

Overall, this movie was hilarious from beginning to end, and I would recommend it to anyone who has a sense of humor. Also, I recommend you see this in theaters. If not, you should rent or even buy it when it comes to DVD and Blu-Ray.

Pacific Rim

Mon, 05 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Pacific Rim: A+

A month ago, I saw the movie, “Pacific Rim”. I was expecting this movie to be good, but not this good! It blew me away! According to imdb.com, this movie is about: “As a war between humankind and monstrous sea creatures wages on, a former pilot and a trainee are paired up to drive a seemingly obsolete special weapon in a desperate effort to save the world from the apocalypse.” Charlie Hunnam plays Raleigh Becket, a washed-up Jaeger pilot called out of retirement to help fight off the monsters(Kaijus). I do not know who Charlie Hunnam is, (people tell me he is on the show, “Sons of Anarchy”) but he did a great job acting in this movie. Idris Elba plays Stacker Pentecost, Raleigh’s commanding officer and sort of the leader of all the robot(Jaeger) pilots. As he does with all of his roles, Idris Elba did a great job in this movie. I think that he did the best acting job in this movie out of everyone else. It also seemed like he was made for this role. Rinko Kikuchi plays Mako Mori, Raleigh’s co-pilot in the Jaeger, Gipsy Danger, who lost her family in a Kaiju attack. I have never seen Rinko Kikuchi in a movie before, but she did a pretty good job acting in this movie. Charlie Day plays Dr. Newton Geiszler, one of two scientists who study the Kaijus. I think, as always in all of his roles, he did a very good job and was really funny. I also think that his character mostly serves as comedic relief, as well as to help the audience understand what the Kaijus are and where they came from. Burn Gorman plays Dr. Hermann Gottlieb, Dr. Newton Geiszler’s assistant scientist that helps Geiszler in the studying of the Kaijus. I have also never seen Burn Gorman in a movie before, but I think he did a pretty good job. Ron Perlman plays Hannibal Chau, a black market dealer who sells parts of dead Kaijus to the highest bidder. As in most of his movies, I think Perlman did a really good job in his role. He also provides some comedic relief throughout the movie.

Overall, I would say “Pacific Rim” was a really amazing and awesome movie! From start to finish, this movie has nonstop action and plenty of entertainment. If you can see this in theaters, I would highly recommend it. If not, I would definitely get it on DVD or Blu-Ray when it comes out. I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a good action movie. However, I would not recommend this movie to anyone who hates violence.

This Is the End

Sun, 14 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0000

This Is the End: A-

About a month ago, I saw the movie, “This Is the End”. Considering a bunch of comedic stars are in this movie, and are all playing themselves, I expected this movie to be awesome and really funny. This movie actually exceeded my expectations. According to imdb.com, this movie is about: “Attending a party at James Franco’s house, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel and many other celebrities are faced with the apocalypse”. Everyone in this movie stars as themselves, so I will just list the actor’s names. Also, since there is so many actors in this movie, I will only name the few that were the main characters and the few that stood out in my mind as the most memorable in this film. Seth Rogan did a very good job in this movie. As always, he was hilarious. I do not think that this movie would have been this good, if it was not for his acting. Jay Baruchel was also in this movie. I think he was really funny and clever in some of the ways he expressed his lines. Another actor in this movie was James Franco. He was also very funny and goofy as always with that bright smile on his face. Jonah Hill in this movie was pretty funny. I do think, however that he played a character that was too sensitive. In my mind, he did not act the way he usually acts in most of the movies he stars in. Danny McBride also stars in this movie. Personally, I thought he acted too arrogant in this movie. I think it was mostly because of the writing for his character. However, he did have quite of a few funny lines though. Craig Robinson also stars in this film. As always, I thought his acting was hilarious! I remember laughing through almost all of his lines and acting parts. Emma Watson was also in this movie. For the few parts she was in, I thought she did a really good job, considering she is not much of a comedic actress. The one memorable actor I will mention is Michael Cera. I thought he was absolutely hilarious, although he was not in the movie much. The character he plays in this movie was the exact opposite of the way he acts in all of his other movies. Instead of acting shy, calm and polite, he acted bold, crazy and rude.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It was definitely one of the funniest movies I have ever seen! I do not necessarily recommend to see this movie in theaters, but I do recommend this movie to anyone who has a sense of humor and do not mind inappropriateness.

The Internship

Sat, 22 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The Internship: C+

A couple of weeks ago, I saw the movie, “The Internship”. I expected this movie to be great and very funny, considering Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson have great on-screen chemistry, however, I left the theater pretty disappointed. According to imdb.com, this movie is about, “Two salesmen whose careers have been torpedoed by the digital age, finding their way into a coveted internship at Google, where they must compete with a group of young, tech-savvy geniuses for a shot at employment.” Vince Vaughn plays Billy McMahon, a former watch salesman, along with his partner Nick Campbell played by Owen Wilson, who want to work at Google, but must take part in an internship to deem themselves worthy of joining Google. I think Vince Vaughn did a good job, along with Owen Wilson. As in every movie they are in together, they had great on-screen chemistry and had quite a few very funny lines. Rose Byrne plays Dana, a current employee of Google, who serves as a love interest of Nick Campbell. I thought she did a pretty good job, adding a couple of witty lines to the movie and doing a pretty good job acting like a professional actress as well. Aasif Mandvi plays Mr. Chetty, the manager of the group of Google interns. I have only seen him in one or two movies before, but I thought he was very funny in most parts and did a pretty good job. Max Minghella plays Graham Hawtrey, the antagonist of a group of interns, including Billy and Nick. I have seen him in only a couple of movies before, but I thought he did a good job. He plays a good antagonist. Josh Gad plays “Headphones” (That was not his character’s name; nobody knew his real name), a guy wearing headphones, who turns out to be the head of Google Search. I thought, as always, his performance was hilarious, even though he was only in about 15 minutes of the whole movie. In my opinion, I think he is an awesome comedic actor. Rob Riggle plays Randy, the brief boss of Billy (Billy briefly leaves the team of interns, which includes Nick due to him failing a project which caused the whole team to fail the project, but returns with persuasion from Nick). Also as always, he had a lot of really funny lines and did a great job with those lines.

Overall, I thought this movie was really funny, but had too much drama and serious parts to it. The reason why I did not give this movie a lower grade was because of how funny the movie really was. I would recommend that this movie does not need to be seen in theaters and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good laugh.

The Hangover Part III

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The Hangover Part III: B-

Over a month ago, I saw the movie, “The Hangover Part III”. I was expecting good things from this movie, and it clearly met my expectations. This movie was about the continuing adventures of Phil(Bradley Cooper), Stu(Ed Helms), and Alan(Zach Galifianakis) and their quest to find Mr. Chow(Ken Jeong) because Chow stole money from a drug lord, Marshall(John Goodman) and Marshall kidnaps Doug(Justin Bartha) until the wolfpack bring Chow to him. Bradley Cooper returns as Phil. I think Cooper did a better job acting in this one, compared to the 2nd “Hangover” film. Ed Helms also returns as Dr. Stuart Price. Helms, as he was in the past two “Hangover” movies, had quite a few funny scenes. Zach Galifianakis returns as Alan Garner too. Zach, as always in this series, was the funniest character in the movie. His personality never fails to make me laugh. Ken Jeong also returns in this film as Mr. Leslie Chow. Not like the other two films in this series, Chow has a much bigger, longer part in this final film in the “Hangover” trilogy. He had a lot of funny parts and I think Ken Jeong did a good job enacting those parts. The first of two newcomers to this movie trilogy is John Goodman, who plays the character of Marshall. I thought that John Goodman did the finest acting job that I have seen in any of his other roles in movies. He was not funny, but he was very into his character. The other newcomer to this movie trilogy is Melissa McCarthy, who plays the role of Cassie. I thought she was very funny in all of the scenes she was in, especially her scenes with Zach Galifianakis. Justin Bartha returns as Doug. Although he once again was not in a “Hangover” movie that much, I think he did a pretty good job.

Overall, I thought this movie was good and very funny in most parts. I also thought that this “Hangover” movie was better than the second film in this trilogy, but not as good as the first film in the trilogy. There is also a funny scene during the credits. I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a good laugh, especially those of you who saw these other two “Hangover” films. Since it is not playing in that many theaters anymore because it has been out for so long, I recommend watching this on demand, when available or on DVD or Blu-Ray when available.

Fast & Furious 6

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Fast & Furious 6: A-

About a month ago, I saw the movie, “Fast & Furious 6”. As the other Fast & Furious movies, this sixth one in this franchise, I was expecting it to be really good with lots of action and it did not disappoint. Everyone from every “Fast & Furious” movie made so far, was included in this one. This one is about the reassembling of the “Fast & Furious” crew to take down a mastermind criminal of an organization of mercenary drivers across 12 countries, in return for full pardons for the whole crew. Vin Diesel returns as Dominic Toretto. In this movie, as in the other “Fast & Furious” movies he has been in, he did a great job acting. Paul Walker returns as Brian O’Connor. In this movie, and the other movies in this series that he was in, I did not think his acting was up to par. Maybe I just do not like Paul Walker, but I digress. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson returns for his second time in this movie series as C.I.A. agent Luke Hobbs. As in “Fast Five”, I think he did a really good job acting and fighting. Jordana Brewster also returns as Mia, Dom’s sister and Brian’s wife. I think, compared to her roles in the other films in this franchise, she did not act as well. Although, she was not in much of the movie. Being absent in the last movie, but later revealed to be alive, Michelle Rodriguez returns as Letty. I personally thought she did a great job in this film, considering the type of role she takes in the movie. One of the two new characters to this franchise, Luke Evans plays the villain, Owen Shaw. I do not know Luke Evans too well, but I thought he portrayed a great villain. The last of the new characters to this franchise, Gina Carano plays the second in command to Shaw, Riley. I have only seen Carano in a few movies, but I think she did a great job acting and fighting.

Overall, compared to the other five “Fast & Furious” movies, was the best out of all of them. As well as having a lot of action, this movie in this franchise also had a lot more attitude and fighting in it. I would recommend this movie firstly be seen in theaters if possible and secondly, be seen by any fans of action movies or the other “Fast & Furious” movies in this franchise. There is also a surprising cameo appearance seen during the credits, which makes this movie even better.