100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 2: Frozen

Director: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee

Genre: Animation/ Adventure/ Family/ Fantasy/ Musical

Runtime: 108 minutes

Year: 2013

Starring: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Santino Fontana, Alan Tudyk, Ciarán Hinds

Description: When princess Elsa (Idina Menzel), with the power to turn things into ice, curses her home in infinite winter, her sister, Anna (Kristen Bell) teams up with mountain man Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), his playful reindeer Sven, and snowman Olaf (Josh Gad) to change the weather condition.

Review: In “Frozen” the winter wonderland from the famous Christmas songs, comes to life. The setting, snowy Scandinavia, looks stunning and perfect for the 3D effect. But “Frozen” isn’t just nice images. The story is timeless yet contemporary. Although the convincing bad guy is missing, the characters manage to win you over. From sisters Elsa and Anna, to Kristoff and his faithfull reindeer Sven. But it’s Olaf that is probably the most memorable (and huggable).

Kristen Bell, who voiced for Anna, has a surprisingly good singing voice. But Idina Menzel, as Elsa, blows you away with her beautiful sound.

What I found refreshing is that “Frozen” somewhat mocked other princess stories, where two people get married after just meeting. But the rest makes it classic fairytale and Disney. I can totally understand the success of “Frozen”.

With likeable characters, a vivacious story and old fashioned show stoppers, “Frozen” is a wonderfull Disney musical. Off course there is a message, but it’s not shoved in your face. The ideal animation to watch with the entire family. It’s simply heartwarming.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

Video of the Week (33)

I already had a crush on Chris Evans, but after this video I love him even more. The actor gave the 9-year old Kenny, who is very sick, the surprise of a life time. In the children's hospital where Kenny is, he was visited by Captain America himself. Okay, Chris Evans rules! Especially where Evans sees the kids were building a fort, it's so adorable!

 

 

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 1: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Director: Marc Webb

Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Fantasy

Runtime: 142 minutes

Year: 2014

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Campbell Scott, Colm Feore, Embeth Davidtz, Sally Field, Paul Giamatti, Denis Leary, Felicity Jones

Description: When New York is put under siege by Oscorp, it is up to Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield) to save the city he swore to protect as well as his loved ones.

Review: After Spider-Man took on The Lizard in “The Amazing Spider-Man”, he has become a hero and peace has come to New York. Off course not for long. The powerful Oscorp has a lot of secrets. When boss Norman Osborn dies, he hands it over to his son Harry. When in the meantime Oscorp employee Max Dillon gets into an accident, he loses his humanity and mental health. Spider-Man has no time to sit back and relax.

This pretty much sums up the story of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”. In the two and a half hour runtime it’s mostly rough love scenes and action sequences full off special effects. The quality of the CGI is variable. It’s strange that they choose Electro as the main villain and not Spider-Man’s number one rival Norman Osborn. Electro doesn’t really contribute much. And not even to mention Rhino, whom I found ridiculous and he was only it for a few minutes.

It’s very obvious the actors enjoyed working on this project, which makes it a joy for the viewers too. But because the earlier series, with Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man, isn’t that long ago, it makes this newer series repetitive.

It’s the little details though that make “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” interesting. The secrets of Peter’s parents are revealed. It gives the man behind Spider-Man a history. And the film has some great action scenes. It also has catchy humor, human superheroes an very bad guys.

“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” never goes above average, though it’s entertainment level is pretty high. The movie is a bit too long, because it misses pace. Not Marvel’s best.

Rating: 2/ 5

Top 10: Favorite Movies of 2014

I got to see a lot of 2014 movies, so this year I will make a favorites list of the year. Off course I didn’t get to all the movies of this year, because that’s impossible.  I didn’t see “Boyhood”, for no apparent reason. Some 2014 movies are coming out next year in The Netherlands, like “Birdman” or “The Imitation Game” and there are also some movies on this list that officially came out in 2013, but in my country it was 2014. Let’s get started, here are my favorite movies of 2014.

 

10. Edge of Tomorrow

The most recent view of this list. I wasn’t stoked about this at first, I didn’t see it in theaters. Now I regret that, because it was AWESOME! Finally the Tom Cruise action movie we were waiting for.

 

 

9. The Guest

It sounded so standard, but it was anything but standard. What I got was a solid thriller that had elements of “Drive” and 80s horror/ thriller in it. John Carpenter didn’t help making this movie, but it was like watching one of his creations. “The Guest” was amazing and thank God for Dan Stevens.

 

 

8. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Ceasar made it to my list. “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” was just as good as “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”. It’s something about apes, I’m captivated every time. And I know it’s probably never going to happen, but give Andy Serkis an Oscar! This man is a genious.

 

 

7. Begin Again

This was such a sweet film, I was literally smiling the entire runtime. The soundtrack is great and I just loved this film. When I read the synopsis I thought it was going to be mediocre, but it was so much better.

 

 

 

6. Nightcrawler

I was curious, I wanted to know what this was about. “Nightcrawler” was a surprisingly good movie, I didn’t see that coming. And Jake Gyllenhaal gave away such a mind blowing performance. He really got lost in his role.

 

 

5. The Lego Movie

I your title song is called “Everything is Awesome”, you better be awesome. And that’s exactly what “The Lego Movie” is. I never thought I would love it as much as I do. I’m didn’t even play with LEGO that much as a kid. I enjoyed this so much, I have watched the movie three times already this year.

 

 

4. 12 Years a Slave

If this movie doesn’t touch you, you’re a robot. Ever inch in my body felt the pain and the suffering of Solomon. Such an amazing movie, goose bumps.

 

 

3. Whiplash

Oh how I loved this movie! I heard so many great things about it and I totally agreed with all of those people. Seriously, J.K. Simmons in this film, if his character was real he would scare the sh** out of me.

 

 

2. The Grand Budapest Hotel

This year I discovered that Wes Anderson is one of my favorite directors. His movies are a piece of art, they look amazing. I wish I had his creative mind. I enjoyed “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and Ralph Fiennes’ performance is one of the best of the year. I’m actually missing this movie on a lot of 2014 movie lists. Maybe they aren’t Wes Anderson fans.

 

 

1. Guardians of the Galaxy

I didn’t know anything about the heroes in this film before seeing it. Each one of them stole my heart and I’m a fan of “Guardians of the Galaxy”. It’s understatement if I say I adored this movie. I even think it’s the best Marvel movie so far!

 

 

Honorable Mentions: Her, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part, Neighbors, Locke

Top 10: Worst Movies I Watched for My 2014 Challenge

After all the awesomeness of my movie challenge, here is the crap pile. I really saw some shitty movies. This is list is also a warning for you, to never watch them. EVER!

10. The Counselor

It’s not the actors, or the director. This movie just didn’t make any sense. Thinking of it now, I don’t even remember what this movie was about. I do remember Cameron Diaz making love to a windshield. I wish I didn’t.

 

 

9. Bachelorette It wanted to be like “Bridesmaids”. It did provoke, but not in a good way. I felt ashamed of those people.

 

 

8. Abduction

“Abduction” was clearly about showing Taylor Lautner’s abs as many times as possible. And a constantly out of breath Lily Collins. No, I wish they would abduct this movie so it will never bother anyone ever again.

 

 

7. The Host

Author Stephanie Meyer really didn’t do it with “The Host”. I don’t know if it’s worse than “Twilight”, because it’s pretty much the same story with some alterations here and there.

 

 

6. Empire State

An unbelievable true story, about a heist of very badly protected money. This story is perfect source material for a good crime thriller. Instead I actually fell asleep halfway through the film. I dozed off for a couple of minutes. That’s never a good sign.

 

 

5. Dark Tide

For a shark movie, there aren’t a lot of sharks in it. It’s just Halle Berry in a bikini talking about her trauma, when she saw her friend get killed by a shark. Please skip this one.

 

 

4. Paranoia

You would think that Harisson Ford, Gary Oldman and talented Liam Hemsworth would make this work. Think again. It’s not any good and it lacks originality.

 

 

3. The Big Wedding

The director of “The Big Wedding” had Robert De Niro, Susan Sarandon, Diane Keaton ánd Robin Williams. And this is what he did with the movie!! You might as well send us a box of poop. This sucks, even Katherine Heigl thinks it sucks, because she looks grumpy the entire runtime of the film.

 

 

2. Battleship

NO, bad man Peter Berg, for making “Battleship”! It’s so stupid, everything about is stupid. And Liam Neeson, why are you in this shitty film?

 

 

1. Scarecrow

I don’t think anyone knows this movie, which is a good thing. Please keep it that way. Oh, and for a movie about a killing scarecrow, it doesn’t even look like a scarecrow.

 

 

 

Dishonorable Mentions: The Watch, The Guilt Trip, What to Expect When You’re Expecting, Hoe Duur Was de Suiker, Gone, Devil’s Due, Something Borrowed

Top 10: Best Movies I Watched for My 2014 Challenge

I had a lot of fun with my movie challenge this year and I’m definitely going to start one in 2015. But first I’m going to share my ten favorite movies that I watched for my challenge. Please note them, because if you haven’t seen them yet, you must. Also check my honorable mentions, the movies that almost made my top 10 list.

10. Shame

I never thought I would love “Shame” as much as I do. Normally I would skip a movie about a man with a sex addiction. I’m glad I didn’t, because it’s so much more than that. Michael Fassbender was so good in this movie, seriously Oscar worthy.

 

 

 

9. Prisoners

I recently rewatched it and it left me the same as the first time I saw it: gasping for air. A totally unexpected thriller, that captivated me from beginning ‘till end. Wonderfull performances by Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal, but also Paul Dano did a good job.

 

 

8. 12 Years a Slave

If this movie doesn’t touch you, you’re a robot. Every inch in my body felt the pain and the suffering of Solomon. Such an amazing movie, goose bumps.

 

 

7. Whiplash

Oh how I loved this movie! I heard so many great things about it and I totally agreed with all of those people. Seriously, J.K. Simmons in this film, if his character was real he would scare the sh** out of me.

 

 

6. The Grand Budapest Hotel

This year I discovered that Wes Anderson is one of my favorite directors. His movies are a piece of art, they look amazing. I wish I had his creative mind. I enjoyed “The Gran Budapest Hotel” and Ralph Fiennes’ performance is one of the best of the year.

 

 

5. Intouchables

I’m a bit ashamed that it took me this long to finally watch “Intouchables”. I only heard good reviews about this movie and all I can do is agree. It’s an amazingly touching, endearing movie.

 

 

4. Guardians of the Galaxy

I didn’t know anything about the heroes in this film before seeing it. Each one of them stole my heart and I’m a fan of “Guardians of the Galaxy”. It’s understatement if I say I adored this movie. I even think it’s the best Marvel movie so far!

 

 

3. The Way Way Back

I have a selection of films that I watch whenever I want to feel happy, like “Little Miss Sunshine”, “Singin’ in the Rain” and “Happy-Go-Lucky”. Now I can also add “The Way Way Back” to that selection. Ever since I watched it, I rewatched it twice already.

 

 

2. The World’s End

I knew before watching it that I was going to love it. The combo of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost works every time and I love this movie. I sure don’t hope this trio is going to stop making movies together.

 

 

1. Jagten

This movie really took me by surprise and it was an absolute winner for me. After the movie ended, I couldn’t stop thinking of it, it really grabbed me and got under my skin. It’s always great to get into a movie not knowing anything about it and then be speechless in the end. Fun fact: this was the first movie for my challenge that I gave a 5 star rating.

 

 

Honorable Mentions: Begin Again, Rushmore, Rear Window, The Lego Movie, About Time, Captain Phillips, Nightcrawler

Top 5 Thursday: Movies I Watched for My Challenge (December 2014)

The last monthly list for my 100 Movie Challenge 2014. I will also make a list of all the awesome movies I watched this year for my challenge. It will be a top 10, so not a top 5 Thursday. With that I will also create a list of the worst movies I saw for my 2014 challenge. But first, my favourites of the month December. It started out as an okay month, but I ended up seeing some awesome films.

5. Locke

It’s amazing that this movie captivated me this much, because the entire film is set in a car while Tom hardy is driving it. It’s all thanks to the amazing script and Tom Hardy’s brilliant performance that “Locke” was such a great film.

 

 

4. Her

I thought this movie was going to be my favourite of the month, but I saw three other movies that I liked just a little bit more. “Her” is such a sweet film, even though it is sometimes a bit disturbing and confronting as well. The story sounds silly, but it’s so amazing!

 

 

3. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

I’m a fan of the first movie, “Captain America: The First Avenger”, as one of the few. I didn’t really need a sequel, but now I’m glad there is one. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is even better.

 

 

2. Edge of Tomorrow

I admit, I was skeptical. I didn’t want to see another mediocre action flick with Tom Cruise running. Well, was I wrong. This is one damn good movie, a true movie experience.

 

 

1. Nightcrawler

This movie really took me by surprise. I was amazed by the wonderful performance by Jake Gyllenhaal, he really got lost in his role. “Nightcrawler” really got under my skin, it was so gripping.

 

 

They Almost Made the Top 5: The Skeleton Twins, Inside Llewyn Davis, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies