The Great Gatsby

My husband took me to see The Great Gatsby last night. I knew I would enjoy seeing the fashion, hairstyles, and cars even if I didn't like the movie.  I haven't read the book and me and my husband were both wishing we had while we were watching this. This movie was at least 20 minutes too long. It was pretty drawn out. Baz Luhrmann has a pretty unique style and I'm a fan of his other films but this one didn't have quite the same pizazz as some of the others. Don't get me wrong, there was some pizazz for sure, but this was a much slower moving film. The costumes and cars and everything were great but I think I was expecting more of a WOW factor as far as the scenes went.  The characters in this story are hideous people so I didn't really enjoy watching them for 2 and a half hours. Leonardo Dicpario was outstanding as usual though. I think I'd see any movie he starred in. Carey Mulligan did this really annoying thing with her voice the whole movie.  It was like a high pitched whine. I did not enjoy that for 2 and a half hours either. The story all said and done is pretty intense and unique. I'll probably read the book this summer to compare.

I'm going to grade this one a B.

Star Trek Into Darkness

I'm pretty behind on my movie blog at the moment aarrggh. I went to see Star Trek Into Darkness last week finally.  Had to catch a 10:30 pm show during the week just to see it! We saw the 3D version which was pretty cool but sometimes distracting.  I was already pretty tired and the 3D was making my eyes even more tired and heavy!

ANYWAYS, I went into this movie hearing how unbelievably great it was and was expecting a great story and character development and that is definitely not what I got. I hadn't watched all the Star Trek series, I had only seen a couple episodes of the original and of Next Generation. My old babysitter used to make us watch Star Trek the Next Generation when we were pretty young and we hated it at the time. We wanted to be watching TGIF! Now that I'm older I appreciate these types of shows more and have more interest in them.

After seeing Star Trek Into Darkness, I felt it was kind of predictable, didn't have much story or character development, and was purely an action movie. We went to a friend's house the next night and watched Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan and also the Star Trek original series episode starring Khan. Seeing the older series and movie, and talking with my friend's I can see that there really wasn't much character development and very little special effects (obviously).  I can now truly appreciate the greatness of how awesome they can make Star Trek now compared to what it used to be by seeing the difference then and now. Had I known I was in for an action movie I think I would have enjoyed it more.  Now I can't wait to see it again! Thanks Victoria and Brandon for showing me the originals!

I'm going to grade this one an A.

Iron Man 3

I went to see Iron Man 3 opening day with my husband and a couple friends.  I don't usually like to go opening day but I couldn't wait to see this! This is definitely my favorite of the three movies! It was 2 hours and 20 minutes long but did not feel that long at all. I love when that happens! They kept it exciting to watch the whole time and there wasn't a lot of fluff. Some parts of course were a little crazy and unbelievable but I expect that in these kinds of movies. Pepper Potts definitely gets more air time in this movie and in a surprising way that was super cool. I did read that in the real comic books she does have a few moments where she comes into play like she does in this movie and I think that's cool that they are trying to keep it authentic, at least a little. Robert Downey Jr. is amazing at playing this character!!! They couldn't have picked a better actor and it's nice to know that this has been a very positive influence and change for his life. I might be seeing this one again in the theater because I don't think I can wait too long to see it again!

Pain & Gain

                                           Pain & Gain

Me and my husband went to see this movie last night with no expectations.  I am a fan of Mark Wahlberg as well as Dwayne Johnson which was my motivation to go see this movie. I'm so glad we did! They were both outstanding in this! Not once during the movie did I get bored or start not paying attention (sometimes I accidentally do this).  I was glued to my chair for the entire movie! This was based on a true story and is pretty unbelievable. I love watching movies that are based on true stories even though I realize half of the movie is exaggerated or untrue. It still feels like I've accomplished something after watching a "true story" movie!

Pain and Gain is a great example of the absolutely horrid things people will do to get what they want. It's pretty scary to know that there are people like this in the world. While the characters in this movie are definitely not role models or people you would aspire to be like, it's still fun to watch and see how different people interpret different things and how they handle different situations. If you have a queasy stomach when it comes to some gore I wouldn't recommend this to you.  It's not super gory but if you aren't used to watching gore it may be too much for you.

Bottom line, I'd say this is worth seeing in the theater! This was a great movie to kick off the summer movies!!!!! Woohoo!! So many good ones coming out this summer!!!!!!!!!!!