Daily Awesome #66

Daily Awesome #65

Ouija (2014)

Ouija
Director: Stiles White
Starring: Olivia Cooke, Ana Coto, Darren Kagasoff
My Rating: Didn't like it
Budget: $5 Million

Ouija has some creepily effective moments, but they are way too few and far between. All of the dialogue is paper-thin, and very little of it interesting at all. There is one slightly good turn of plot, but one interesting twist does not make up for a movie full of shit. Ouija is just not very exciting. It's not a slow-burner or a very fast paced movie. It's more of a boring movie that you have to trudge through the lulls and make sure you don't blink for a few of the scary parts. Ouija is mainly valleys, with a few small and scary peaks.

Ouija would be a perfect film to make a Scary Movie type spoof of, because there were a few moments in this flick that were already verging on that territory. If the connection between the spirit and the kids was growing stronger, What in the world was the spirit waiting on? Ya know? Kill the kids already and get it over with.

Ouija really is an awful movie, but it seems that, given its small budget, it's already a huge box office success. It goes to show that America loves horror movies, no matter how shitty they are. I'm sure teenagers can find some stuff to be scared about in this movie, but to a jaded mid-twenties horror movie lover Ouija is painfully bad.

Daily Awesome #64

John Wick (2014)

John Wick
Director: David Leitch, Chad Stahelski
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist
My Rating: Liked It

John Wick's story is very absurd, but if you suspend your disbelief you can have a good time with the in-your-face and gruesome action. In-your-face, like there are a bunch of headshots shown on screen in this movie. Maybe 15 or 20. That's fucking violent. John Wick is a slick movie (or maybe that's the Keanu effect) and it's honestly a lot of fun to watch Keanu Reeves essentially face waves of enemies throughout the movie.

But I will say, it's pretty ridiculous what sets off John Wick, and how far he goes with it. His situation was definitely shitty, though. I guess if you fuck with the wrong person at the wrong time, this could happen, but it's very unlikely. So if you let the story take you into its world, John Wick is pretty enjoyable. I honestly don't have much more to say. If you wanna see Keanu Reeves give a good ass woopin' then see this movie.

Daily Awesome #63

Fury (2014)

Fury
Director: David Ayer
Starring: Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman
My Rating: Liked It
Budget: $68 Million

Fury follows the story of an American WWII tank crew in Germany. During the few days in which the movie takes place, the veteran tank crew loses a key member of their group and a complete rookie replaces him. Throughout the movie you see the hardening of a man by war.

To get down to it, Fury is very entertaining, realistic, gruesome, and well acted. This movie can really be divided into two parts: when the tank crew are fighting; and when they are bonding. It may be tough love a lot of the time, but the camaraderie is palpable and interesting to watch. Just the same, the action and war depictions in Fury are brutal and fast-paced.

I'm not sure if I'm alone on this or not, but didn't the gunfights in Fury look like something out of Star Wars? Maybe it was because I saw Fury on a huge screen, but it had big, super vivid tracers on a lot of the bullets. If this really was an artistic choice, then I commend whoever is responsible. The almost sci-fi looking beams of light added something out of the ordinary in WWII films. Definitely check Fury out.

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Gone Girl (2014)

Gone Girl
Director: David Fincher
Starring: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Carrie Coon, Tyler Perry, Neil Patrick Harris
My Rating: Loved It!!
Budget: $61 Million

So far this year I have given Perfect scores to both Guardians of the Galaxy and Boyhood. I feel like I would be completely remiss if I were to give Gone Girl anything less. If I gave Guardians a perfect score because of how utterly fun it was; and if I gave Boyhood a perfect score because of the monumental achievement Linklater accomplished; then I'm giving Gone Girl a perfect score because it's drama of the highest order.

I have not read the book. I went into the film completely unknowing, and I left with complete hatred for one of the characters. Movies rarely have me feeling such strong emotions, but Gone Girl wanted me to wring this character's neck. This is a testament to the great story told here by Gillian Flynn and the consistently great directing by David Fincher. You won't see any of the flashy Fincher in Gone Girl, but I don't think it called for it. This isn't a movie like Fight Club. The camera and cinematography, while still on point, definitely took a backseat to the story; as it should've.

I don't like to throw around the term "spell-binding" a lot, but that is precisely what Gone Girl is. There are a few jaw-dropping moments in this film, especially if you didn't already know the story like me. You will be filled with rage, and you will sit in complete disbelief at a few of the scenes; and as a movie, if it has that much of an effect on me, it's much better than the majority of movies out there.

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