My Summer in Movies

So Labor Day is tomorrow. That sucks. It means back to school, back to work, back to real life outside of the hazy bubble that is summer. I'm currently taking a break from scrambling to finish summer assignments (which are utter bullshit in my opinion, but that's a conversation for another time,) and I feel that I should make a post about something before I get sucked back into my never-ending academic life. So I'm going to talk about movies, because I've seen a lot of them this summer. Without further ado...
P.S. - Each movie title is a link to its respective trailer. You're welcome.

Lucy - This movie had the potential to be so frickin' awesome, and that's probably part of the reason why the final product is so disappointing. The theory proposed within this movie is that if humans could access 100% of their brain power simultaneously, we would be able to do unfathomable things. As you can see, the plot potential for this theory is exceptional, but the creators of this movie chose to take it in such a snooze-worthy direction. There was hardly any action, which would've saved this movie a little bit, and Scarlett Johansson's character was so underdeveloped it was almost laughable. We know hardly anything about her character at the beginning of the movie, and when things start to pick up for her, they sequence of events are hardly explained at all. Essentially, this movie was a big disappointment and a general flop.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) - Given that I saw this movie because I promised my 12-year-old brother I would take him to see it, I wasn't expecting much. I saw the previous movie starring James Franco, and it struck me as such a bizarre story. I had absolutely no interest in following up with Caesar and his ape crew, but when I found myself in the theater actually understanding what was going on, I was slightly confused. Despite the strange premise, it is admittedly a movie that sucks you in once you succumb to it. My advice to you is avoid succumbing to it if you aren't into civilized apes and apocalyptic San Francisco.

Boyhood - This movie was such a redemption in comparison to the previous movies I'd seen in theaters (aka the previous movies I've mentioned). THIS WAS SUCH A DAMN GOOD MOVIE. Being a film geek, I absolutely adored the fact that this movie is about a boy growing up from age 6 or 7 to 18, and it actually followed the same actors and actresses for 12 years. I read an article about the movie, and apparently they filmed for 2 weeks every year for 12 years to finish this movie. It's literally been going on since 2002. I love that the main boy is just about my age, and went through the same societal things that I went through. The music playing in the background was music that was popular during that year, the clothes they wore reflected the style at the time, the movies and books they talked about were what was popular. It was like looking back on a parallel version of my life. Although this character went through family issues I've never experienced, I still felt as if I knew him on a deeper level than just a movie-goer/actor level. You get to watch this kid grow up and go through different phases of his life and react to his surroundings and the people around him and it's just so real. It did go on for almost 3 hours, but the more I thought about it after I got out of the theater, the more I loved it. I was so excited about it, and I went to tell my friend from film club immediately. He hadn't even seen it yet and was getting excited about it just by my description. Ugh, basically what I'm trying to say is that I love this movie because it was like looking at a time capsule I could actually relate to, and I would see this movie again in a heartbeat. It totally made up for the movies that sucked, which ended up being almost all the other movies in theaters. (Editor's Note (I'm the editor, so my note) - after watching the trailer, and remembering the movie anew, I can say with even more conviction that I love this movie so damn much it almost hurts.)

If I Stay - First things first, this movie's soundtrack is phenomenal. There are well-known songs and original songs by the love interest's band that are surprisingly fantastic. Other than that, this movie really wasn't anything special. About 60% of the lines were too cheesy to take seriously, and the only characters I truly liked 100% of the time were Mia's parents. They were badass but still so loving, and I adored them. Adam, the love interest to Mia, wasn't too bad either, but he had his insufferable moments. I also can't bring myself to like Chloe Grace Moretz's acting, as much as I try. In this movie at least, it felt like she was hardcore channeling Kristen Stewart, and it was painful to watch sometimes. The plot moved too fast in comparison to the book, (which I read in 8th grade, thankyouverymuch,) and hardly gave any time to anything other than the love story between Mia and Adam. Which, if that's what you're there to watch, is great. But I was so hoping they were going to give me the full story, and of course, they didn't. Like I said, the only redeeming thing about this movie is the soundtrack, which quite literally rocks, (soft-rock, but still).

Divergent - So, this movie came out forever ago and I am so late to the game by mentioning it now, but I saw it for the first time last week so I'm going to talk about it anyway. It did a pretty good job of translating the written story to the screen, and the acting wasn't actually that bad. I like Shailene Woodley a lot, especially the more I watch her movies, because she does a very good job of keeping her characters real and not overly dramatic. Except for that one brief stint of teen pregnancy (**cough** Secret Life of the American Teenager **cough**), all of her projects have been enjoyable. I like the way she goes into character so full force that she becomes the character she's performing. As for Divergent, Shailene was great, Ansel Elgort as her brother Caleb was great, and even Theo James as Four did a decent job, (despite his haircut, which didn't suit him AT ALL, but that's a minor detail). I guess because I wasn't a die-hard fan of the book in the first place that I didn't feel one way or the other about the movie. It was good, all things considered, and it's a good action movie with just the right about of romance mixed in - not too much, not too little, a very delicate balance most YA Novels Made Into Movies can't seem to get right. All in all, this movie was not a waste of time, which is definitely a good thing in my opinion.

Almost Famous - Ok, so there is a short story behind my reason for seeking this movie out, because it most certainly isn't new and therefore I did not see it in theaters. So in the May 2012 issue of Teen Vogue, they did a two-page spread on One Direction just as they were infiltrating every media outlet in the United States, and subsequently the world. It was their "My World" segment, where the subject gets asked questions like "What's on your playlist?" and "Celebrity Crush?" One of the questions was "Favorite Movie," and there was only one answer listed, Harry Styles'. His answer was "Almost Famous. I love this film. It is beautifully directed and acted. If you haven't seen it, you need to!" Me in 2012 was decidedly on the hunt for this movie, because if Harry Styles loved it, I loved it. It took me 2 years and the act of growing out of One Direction a little bit until I found the DVD at Target for $5. I bought it and after letting it sit on my bookshelf for a few days, I watched it 4 days ago. And let me tell you, Harry Styles was 100% right about this movie. It is, in fact, beautifully acted and directed, as well as scored and edited and written. Kate Hudson is generally not my favorite actress in most situations, but she did SO FREAKING WELL in this movie, it's unreal. The complexities of the relationships described in this movie are fascinating and the fact that it takes place right amid the 70's rock scene makes it even more awesome, especially because that means the music playing constantly throughout the movie is amazing. 10 out of 10 would recommend. ;P

Good Will Hunting - I quite literally started watching this movie for the first time 24 hours ago as I am writing this. Again, late to the game, but you just have to let me talk about this movie because OH. MY. GOD. So effing good. I love that Matt Damon and Ben Affleck wrote this movie themselves, and Robin Williams, as always, was phenomenal. It seems, on the surface, that this movie is just about a troubled kid who happens to be a math genius getting help from a snarky therapist. But of course, it's so much more than that. It addresses the cost of a relationship in regards to what it's actually worth, relationships with people we've known for years and yet seem to know nothing about, and indirectly, the effects of the ineffectual foster care system, especially on people with untapped potential. It's not a feel-good movie, or a comedy, or a romance. It's a story about people, and a little bit about math, but you don't actually have to pay attention to the math so much as what Matt Damon's character does with it. Also, the woman who plays the love interest in the movie is the voice of Jane in Disney's Tarzan, just for future trivia knowledge. :)

I still have a lot of movies I need to watch, and as soon as I watch a good portion of them, I will publish another post about what I think of them. But, just to satisfy your curiosity, here's a list of a few of the movies I plan to watch sometime soon.

Uptown Girls
Casablanca
Pulp Fiction
Reservoir Dogs
The second half of Pearl Harbor (saw the first part and had no motivation to watch the second half)
Dead Poets Society
St. Elmo's Fire
P.S. I Love You

One day, I'm going to have a t-shirt for each of my favorite movies, and they will include Changeling, and The Breakfast Club, and every Harry Potter movie, and Forrest Gump, and Almost Famous, and Boyhood, and American Teen, and Good Will Hunting, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and The Virgin Suicides, and 13 Going On 30, and whatever other movie I come across in my life that speaks to me. :)