I know what you’re thinking, how in the hell has someone never seen the film Mean Girls and it’s 2016? I couldn’t give you an answer to that question, but nevertheless It’s today’s film. Everyone in the US knows that high school can be absolute hell where one wrong move can mean social suicide and Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) is about to find that out. You see Cady isn’t from around here as she was home schooled for so many years. After becoming friends with an outcast in Janis Ian (Lizzy Caplan) and the two come up with a plan to infiltrate a group known as The Plastics (the most popular girls in school). All of it works until Cady falls in love with Aaron Samuels (Jonathan Bennett), the ex-boyfriend of Alpha leader Regina George (Rachel McAdams). Now it’s just all out war as everything starts to unravel. The film also stars Tina Fey (Sisters) as Ms. Norbury, Tim Meadows (Grown Ups 2) as Mr. Duvall, Lacey Chabert (Party Of Five) as Gretchen Wieners, Amanda Seyfried (Ted 2) as Karen Smith, Daniel Franzese (I Spit On Your Grave) as Damian, Neil Flynn (The Middle) as Mr. Heron, Ana Gasteyer (Suburgatory) as Mrs. Heron, Amy Poehler (Sisters) as Mrs. George, and the film was directed by Mark Waters (Freaky Friday).
One of the decisions I made in why I watched this film was the fact that I love Rachel McAdams and her work and the other was Lindsay Lohan. She seemed so innocent at this time and she was so beautiful. This was all before the problems broke out in her life and I guess some just can’t handle the fame. This is a film that has probably gone down as a classic because it looks as if it accurately describes high school life for young women. Everyone has gone to high school and they’ve had the same similar kind of people in your school which is why this film is easily relateable. The acting in the film is great especially from Rachel who portrays the alpha female with a fury and Amanda does a great job playing the dumb one. The film explores all of the issues most kids either still face or at least faced at the time of the release. So that means that Tina Fey who wrote the screenplay for the film definitely deserve some kudos for her work. The film had it’s hook in the beginning, it had it’s turning points both in the first half of the film and in the last half of the film when the main character is faced with the final dilemma. So, she definitely did her homework and she pulled it off. This film is definitely worth a watch especially if you are a fan of high school comedies. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.
There are some stories in life that you hear about and you just can’t imagine that these stories could be true. That is how powerful these kinds of stories can be and they can be real game changers. That was certainly the case with today’s film Spotlight which highlights the child molestation scandal in the City of Boston. Spotlight was an investigative team that worked at the Boston Globe that took on stories that they felt the public needed to know about. In the year 2000 or 2001, a new man in charge at the Globe by the name of Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber) came in and suggested a story to his Spotlight team that involved the catholic church covering up the child molestation cases in Boston. The film follows the team as they expose the truth as they became the voice of the voiceless. The film stars Michael Keaton (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)) as Walter Robinson, Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher) as Mike Rezendes, Rachel McAdams (Mean Girls) as Sacha Pfeiffer, John Slattery (Iron Man 2) as Ben Bradlee, Jr., Stanley Tucci (The Terminal) as Mitchell Garabedian, Billy Crudup (Watchmen) as Eric Macleish, Neal Huff (Big Daddy) as Phil Saviano, Jamey Sheridan (The Ice Station) as Jim Sullivan, and the film was directed by Tom McCarthy (The Cobbler).
If you’re expecting a film with a lot of action, then this isn’t the film for you because there’s a lot of investigative research involved in the film. The other side to it is that you see the struggle these guys went through to try and unlock the story. You see all of the red tape and you see all the people involved that just bury the story. You end up learning what they could do and what they had to do to try and get viable sources. The film is just absolutely shocking and you can see why the Catholic church took such a hit after this case was exposed by the Globe. One of the biggest elements of these types of films is the acting and the story. Those are the key essentials for these types of films to survive and be great. I am here to say that I was thoroughly impressed with the acting especially from Mark Ruffalo who after a while just stole the show. Rachel McAdams also did a phenomenal job in the film which leads to my next statement. I am not surprised that Rachel and Mark were nominated for Oscars because they were amazing. The story as you can tell from what I wrote was also amazing and it had to be. It’s a story driven film as I said before. If you love films that are based on true stories then you should check this one out. I am going to give the film an A for a final grade.
There are moments that happen in the world that are just magical and if you don’t capitalize then you lose out. The Lonely Island was one of those moments that Andy Samberg (Hot Rod) needed to capitalize on and he did just that with today’s film Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. The mockumentary style film follows former Style Bros member Connor4Real (Samberg) as he is about to embark on one of the biggest world tours of his career alongside his best friend Owen (Jorma Taccone) and his other 32 members of his entourage. Soon though, Connor will learn that fame doesn’t last forever as the problems begin to pour in for the popstar. He’ll have to dig in deep to try and figure out a way back to the top, but that could mean conjuring up some skeletons in the closet. The film also stars Akiva Schaffer (The Watch) as Lawrence, Sarah Silverman (Wreck-It Ralph) as Paula, Tim Meadows (Mean Girls) as Harry, Maya Rudolph (Bridesmaids) as Deborah, Joan Cusack (Say Anything…) as Tilly, Imogen Poots (Need For Speed) as Ashley, Chris Redd (Empire) as Hunter, and the film features cameos from Ringo Starr, Usher, 50 Cent, RZA, Nas, Justin Timberlake, Carrie Underwood, Mario Lopez, Simon Cowell, and so many more.
If I had to find the right way to describe this film in one sentence it would be that the film is this generation’s This Is Spinal Tap or CB4. What This Is Spinal Tap did for the 80’s, CB4 did for the 90’s, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is going to do the same for this generation that worships popstars who do not write their own material and take themselves way too serious. The film itself was based off of Justin Bieber’s life according to one report that I read and it certainly makes sense after seeing the film. Just as This Is Spinal Tap had hilarious and outrageous songs, this film certainly had it and they were hilarious. One of my favorite songs from the film is Finest Girl (Bin Laden), the song is so outrageous that I couldn’t stop laughing, but I was also singing along too. There’s also plenty of funny moments in the film like Justin Timberlake’s cameo as Connor’s soft spoken personal chef and some of the testimony from the celebrity cameos. One of the scenes that I thought was funny at first, but then in my opinion they dragged it out too long was the CMZ (instead of TMZ) segments. It was cool at first like I said, but they kept the joke going too long in one of the scenes leaving me wanting them to move on. They also tried hard to put in some drama in the film like Connor hitting rock bottom, but even that was too funny not to laugh at like Seal getting attacked by wolves. Nonetheless, I am proclaiming that this is a contender for Comedy Movie Of The Year in the Monster Entertainment Awards next year. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade because I loved it for what it was.
There hasn’t been a movie that I had been looking so forward to seeing than this week’s release of Salem Witch Trials period piece The Witch. Being from Massachusetts, it’s one of the most interesting tales and stories that you hear about growing up. For a family living in a time when accusations are running rampant all over New England, they move to a new area to start a new life. Things begin to take a nasty toll for the family when the youngest child is kidnapped while the oldest was supervising the child. Right after the events, things take a nasty toll as the family begins to fall apart as they are being haunted by the idea of witchcraft and possession. The film was based off of old Salem 1600’s folklore that surrounded that time period. The film stars Anya Taylor Joy (Vampire Academy) as Thomasin, Ralph Ineson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One) as William, Kate Dickie (Prometheus) as Katherine, Harvey Scrimshaw (Oranges And Sunshine) as Caleb, Ellie Grainger (The Village) as Mercy, Lucas Dawson as Jonas, Bathsheba Garnett (Mean Girls) as The Witch, Sarah Stephens as The young Witch, and the film was written and directed by Robert Eggers.
Stephen King was quoted as saying, “The Witch scared the hell out of me. And it’s a real movie, tense and thought-provoking as well as visceral.” Just what in the hell was Stephen King talking about or seeing when he said that. I wondered if we were watching the same movie? Was the film thought provoking? Sure I guess at times it could have been, but where were all the scary parts that scared the hell out of him? The film is basically 1600’s fan fiction come to life on the big screen in a film that is just flat out boring. There were no jump out of your chair scenes as the film was mainly psychological. The one thing I can say about the film that was positive was the fact that the acting was absolutely superb. They made you believe that you were in the 1600’s with the hard to understand old English language and they made you believe that the family was falling apart due to paranoia. This was a film that you legit could end up walking out on if you’re not a completest like me so you know I stuck around for the whole film. To me the last five to ten minutes of the film was the most exciting part of the film when all of the good stuff started to happen. If you want suspense then watch the trailer and save yourself the time because all the good stuff is in that. The film did not live up to the hype in my opinion. That is why I am going to give the film a D+/C- (right on the borderline) and I’m doing so because of the costumes and the acting. Other than that, it doesn’t deserve a higher grade. Watch the film at your own risk!
365moviesin365dayschallenge 