[MOVIE] Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Finally got to watch the Avengers at the cinema! YES! I wasn’t able to watch the first installment at the cinema due to schedule problems. I had to wait a few months for the DVD to be released but it was all good. But now I was finally able to see the movie in the movie theater and in 3D, too. Although I would have preferred the regular one now that I think about it. This movie was not made for 3D so the WOW-factor is not that stellar.

I am a huge fan of Chris Evans and I fell even more in love with his leadership skills in this movie. Obviously, that was because of the script but despite that, I just love staring at his face. haha..

Anyway, Age of Ultron is the average “Artificial Intelligence” gone wrong kind of movie. In this case, it’s Ultron – Tony Stark’s creation as inspired by an out-of-this-world entity that they found in Loki’s sceptre, which turns out to be one of the Infinity Gems. Because of Stark’s typical obsession in making the best machine, he eventually creates an artificial intelligence that sets out to destroy the world in order to make the world a better place. Yep, your typical villain.

Avengers: Age of Ultron also introduces us to several new superheroes namely Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and Vision. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are twins from Sokovia who have a gripe with Tony Stark because it was due to his missiles that they lost their family. They initially side with Ultron as they vowed to take down Stark and the Avengers but as they realise the ultimate mission of Ultron is to kill off all humans, they eventually switch sides. Vision is the creation of Ultron who was supposed to be Ultron’s ultimate body but since the Avengers were able to intercept the body, Stark and Banner helped to create a perfect artificial intelligence with the help of the Infinity Gem and Jarvis’ system.

Although the 3 additions eventually helped the original Avengers in fending off the Ultron bots, I feel that Vision could have had more exposure. He’s basically made of the strongest metal on Earth, has the intelligence of the whole internet and the universe, he can fly and oh, he has a cape! (He saw Thor’s cape and thought, hey, that looks cool so he made one for himself.) I’m pretty sure his lack of exposure is because they were saving it for the next movie but heck, he could’ve been used more efficiently and effectively in saving the people and the world.

Anyway, I will definitely watch out for the next Marvel movies and this would mean I should probably also watch the previous Marvel movies that I missed (mostly Thor movies).

NinthMelody rating: 3.75/5

[MOVIE] FOXCATCHER.

Given the number of Academy Award Nominations and the array of cast of this movie, my friends and I decided to give this movie a shot without knowing what the movie was even about. This movie stars Steve Carell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo depicting the true life story of John E. Du Pont, Mark Schultz and Dave Schultz respectively.

Foxcatcher was nominated for:

• Actor in a Leading Role for Steve Carell, who played John du Pont
• Actor in a Supporting Role for Mark Ruffalo, who played Dave Schultz
• Directing for director Bennett Miller
• Makeup and Hairstyling for Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard
• Writing and Original Screenplay for Dan Gilroy

The makeup and hairstyling was pretty convincing. It took me awhile to figure out that it was Steve Carell and Mark Ruffalo from the poster image. It’s unfortunate that Channing Tatum did not get nominated though. His performance was great too.

Mark Schultz and Dave Schultz were International freestyle wrestling champions who both won gold medals on the 1984 Olympics. This movie tells the story of how Mark and Dave got involved with John E. Du Pont and the events that led to the murder of Dave. Since I had no idea what the history of the movie is and the actual events that inspired the movie, I was surprised at the sudden murder of Dave Schultz.

Did I like the story? Sure. The story was pretty interesting and it showed the real behind-the-scenes encounter and struggles of wrestlers when not in the spotlight. It showed John Du Pont’s hunger for attention and recognition from his peers and especially his mother, who did not approve of his hobbies and interest in wrestling. I believe this was the main motivation of John Du Pont, apart from his fascination in the sport, that he organized the Foxcatcher Team. He wanted to show that he can boast of success even with the “lowly sport” of wrestling which is how Du Pont’s mother sees the said sport. With the help of Mark Schultz’s recognition and success in the world of wrestling, Du Pont becomes the “Coach” of Foxcatcher and presents himself as Mark’s “mentor.” It is also sad to see Mark’s struggle with himself in stepping out of the shadow of his also-champion brother, Dave. His insecurity is what drives him to spiral out of control and turn to drinking and drugs. Although at first Dave refused to join the Foxcatcher team, he was eventually convinced to uproot his family and move to the Du Pont estate to train and help manage the Foxcatcher wrestling team. It is at this point that we see Mark really lose his respect for John Du Pont especially after Du Pont calls him “an ungrateful ape” and goes ahead and recruits Dave to join the team. Mark felt that John Du Pont did not trust him enough with the Foxcatcher that he had to seek the expertise of Dave Schultz. This was a big blow to Mark’s ego, especially when he was already feeling he was able to leave behind being in the shadow of his big brother.

Did I like the movie? No. Why? Because it was slow and dragging.

I have no issues with story, the cast (they were great, by the way) or the plot. These elements show great promise, in fact. I don’t know why the movie was such a drag though and I don’t get why it needed to be like that. The movie was full of scenes where the actors were just staring at each other in awkward silences, waiting for one to speak. I get that there are times when this is necessary but this movie was just crawling with it. Too many unnecessary scenes, in my opinion. I have no idea who was responsible for this but I’m sure they could’ve made this movie more enjoyable.

I don’t know either if it was just me because other people seem to have liked the movie according to reviews. However, I’m sure I wasn’t alone in thinking that the movie was a bit too dragging for its own good. There were a bunch of groups at the cinema who even walked out in the middle of the movie because they couldn’t take it anymore. That, to me, is not a good sign.

Or maybe I’m just not the target audience of this movie, really, I don’t know.

I wonder though if there were scenes edited out due to censorship policies in this country.

NinthMelody rating: 2/5

[MOVIE] Begin Again.

This movie gave me the feels and it’s the same kind of motivation I felt after watching the movie, ONCE. I guess it had something to do with John Carey, who was the director of ONCE. (I did not know this fact until I actually read and saw the movie poster.)

I did not expect to like Keira Knightley’s voice but it is very likeable, I gotta say. She’s not the best singer out there, but hey, it grows on you since it’s a very mellow, sweet voice that sounds good on the ear. I don’t know how much of her voice is real and tweaked but I really like what they did with the soundtrack.

Before watching the movie, I obviously assumed from the poster that Keira Knightley’s and Mark Ruffalo’s characters would eventually end up together. SPOILER ALERT: They don’t. This is also similar to how ONCE ended. Maybe whoever made these movies just didn’t want to end up with a typical romance movie. Both movies focused on the music the main characters were making without letting romantic side stories break the concentration.

In this movie, I respected their decision to not let the two main characters end up together as that would have caused a bigger issue of broken families. Seeing as Dan (Mark Ruffalo) was already in a troubled marriage, one would expect he would find a new love interest in the character of Keira Knightley, Gretta. Thank heavens, that was not the road taken. There is hope in this world for “FOREVER.” Another SPOILER: Dan and his wife rekindle their love and try to make their marriage work.

So, Gretta and Dave (Adam Levine) are songwriter/lovers who go to New York, with Dave having recently been discovered/signed with a major recording label. Gretta has always been with Dave from the very beginning of his career so it’s only expected that she be with him especially in his success. Dave, however, falls in love with someone else while he was apart from Gretta and so they break up. Gretta seeks help from his musician friend who takes him to a bar on an OPEN MIC NIGHT where she was encouraged/forced to sing. She hesitantly goes up on stage and sings a very heartbreaking song, which Dan hears and falls in love with. He makes it his mission to woo her into signing a contract with his record label and they end up recording the record with random musicians whom they find on the streets.

I love how the movie starts in the middle with just bits and pieces of the backstory being fed as flashbacks or just shown as the classic, “12 HOURS AGO” scenario. It gives the movie a more interesting storytelling technique rather than the typical straightforward, linear scenes.

NinthMelody rating: 4/5