Claire's blog

[IMDB link]

RATINGS:
Claire: Netflix: 3/5 stars. IMDB: 7/10.
Carolyn: Netflix: 3/5 stars. IMDB: 7/10.
The native public rating for this movie is: Netflix: 3.0/5 stars, IMDB: 3.3/10.

We forgot to rate this after watching it. A few weeks later, Carolyn remembered liking it, but not much else. This is not a memorable movie at all. It’s rated SUPER-LOW on IMDB, because people are really harsh on spoof movies nowadays.

But for a Walking Dead/zombie fan, this was required watching. And it was way more enjoyable for us than for the general public.

It spoofed a bunch of zombie movies, the main one being, of course, The Walking Dead. I think it was entertaining, but it wasn’t memorable. It serves the purpose of 1.5hrs of entertainment when you don’t feel like doing something more substantive.

PEOPLE:

Directed by Scott Dow.
Written by Tim Ogletree.

Starring:
Tim Ogletree as Green Bay.
Joey Oglesby as Chicago.
Troy Ogletree as Romeo.
Dave Sheridan (Horrible Bosses, Sex Drive, The Devil’s Rejects, Scary Movie, 1 ep of Robot Chicken) as Sheriff Lincoln.
Sophia Taylor Ali as Brooklyn.
Danielle Garcia as Harlem.
Mason Dakota Galyon as Chris, the sheriff’s son.
Andrew Pozza as Darnell.
Jacqui Holland as Isaac.
Richard Lukens as Abraham.
Martha Prentiss as Sarah. (more…)

[IMDB link]

RATINGS:
Claire: Netflix: 3.4/5 stars. IMDB: 7.4/10.
Carolyn: Netflix: 3.4/5 stars. IMDB: 7.4/10.
The native public rating for this movie is: Netflix: 3.2/5 stars, IMDB: 6.1/10.

CLAIRE’S THOUGHTS:
That it billed itself as a stoner comedy was a bit too much–it was really more of a thriller, with comedic elements that were not overt. Still entertaining. But it’s another instance of something like the movie Wanted, where it just seems to want to be a franchise so bad, but probably won’t be. Every movie can’t be a franchise. Maybe every movie shouldn’t try to be. Still entertaining and fun, though. Despite what people may think, Kristen Stewart has some range. Not used to seeing her with blue eyes, though.

CAROLYN’S THOUGHTS: This was good, but slightly generic. Just another “Government Agent forgets he is CIA and then wonders why he’s such a bad-ass” movie. I think the twist with Kristen Stewart was a little contrived and either unnecessary, or it maybe could have been fleshed out better than it was.

PEOPLE:

Directed by Nima Nourizadeh.
Written by Max Landis (Chronicle).

Starring:
Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland, Adventureland, The Village, The Social Network, Roger Dodger) as Mike Howell.
Kristen Stewart (The Twilight movies, Snow White And The Huntsman, Jumanji 2: Zathura: A Space Adventure, Adventureland, Jumper, Panic Room) as Phoebe Larson.
Topher Grace (Eric in That 70’s Show, Take Me Home Tonight, The Giant Mechanical Man, Interstellar, Spider-Man 3, 1 ep of Drunk History) as Adrian Yates, the douchebag manager.
Connie Britton (Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World, The To Do List, A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010), 6 eps of 24, 2 eps of Family Guy, 1 ep of Drunk History) as Victoria Lasseter, the CIA agent who tries to intervene and stop the douchebag.
Walton Goggins (Django Unchained, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Machete 2, House Of 1000 Corpses, The Bourne Identity, The Crow 3, 1 ep of Unsupervised) as Laugher.
John Leguizamo (Kick-Ass 2, Ice Age movies, Luigi in Super Mario Brothers, uncredited in Repo Men, 1 ep of American Dad) as Rose.
Bill Pullman (Lone Star in Spaceballs, The Grudge, Scary Movie 4, Independence Day, Titan A.E., Sleepless In Seattle) as Krueger.
Tony Hale (Buster in Arrested Development, Good Vibes, The Informant!, 3 eps of Drunk History, 1 ep of Childrens Hospital, 1 ep of The Life & Times Of Tim) as Petey Douglas, Victoria’s former assistant who is helping her.
Stuart Greer (I Know What You Did Last Summer) as Sheriff Watts.
Michael Papajohn (Jurassic Park 4, Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, Superhero Movie, Spider-Man movies, Terminator 3-4) as Otis.
Monique Ganderton (Sucker Punch, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, 6 eps of Smallville, 1 ep of The L Word) as Crane. (more…)

[IMDB link]

RATINGS:
Claire: Netflix: 4.6/5 stars. IMDB: 8.4/10.
Carolyn: Netflix: 4.4/5 stars. IMDB: 8.4/10.
The native public rating for this movie is: Netflix: 3.4/5 stars, IMDB: 7.1/10.

CLAIRE’S THOUGHTS: Really good. They had a good story, with intrigue and action… They had comedy… And either one could have made the movie. Neither detracted from the other. A nice amount of ridiculousness and not-taking-yourself-too-seriously. And a total girl-power movie… Over 2hrs, too. I really really really liked it. I kinda loved it, I guess.

CAROLYN’S THOUGHTS: Surprisingly funny and entertaining. Melissa McCarthy doesn’t pull any punches when she lays into someone. Good stuff!

PEOPLE:

Written & directed by Paul Feig (director of 14 eps of The Office, 7 eps of Arrested Development, 3 eps of Weeds, writer of 18 eps of Freaks & Geeks).

Starring:
Melissa McCarthy (Hangover 3, Identity Thief, This Is 40, 1 ep of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Charlie’s Angels, Go, Pretty Ugly People, Tammy, 1 ep of Curb Your Enthusiasm) as Susan Cooper, the CIA analyst-turned-spy.
Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Parnassus, eXisitenZ, Lemony Snicket, Gattaca, Contagion, Repo Men, Rise Of The Guardians, Side Effects, and many more) as Bradley Fine, the spy who was killed.
Jason Statham (Crank, Transporter, The Expendables, Death Race, Snatch, Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, Parker) as Rick Ford, the rival spy.
Morena Baccarin (the new V series, Firefly, Back In The Day, Roger Dodger, Gotham, 3 eps of Justice League, 1 ep of Batman: The Brave And The Bold) as Karen Walker, the spy who went on vacation.
Miranda Hart (1 ep of Absolutely Fabulous) as Nancy B. Artingstall, the other CIA analyst-turned-spy.
Allison Janney (Bad Words, Juno, Tammy, Happiness 2 – Life During Wartime, Pretty Ugly People, 10 Things I Hate About You, Private Parts, The Object Of My Affection, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, 3 eps of Family Guy, 1 ep of Robot Chicken, 1 ep of Weeds, 1 ep of Frasier, 1 ep of King Of The Hill) as Elaine Crocker, the CIA boss.
Raad Rawi (Conan The Barbarian remake) as Tihomir Boyanov, bad guy.
Rose Byrne (Moira MacTaggert in the X-Men: First Class movies, Get Him To The Greek, 28 Weeks Later, I Give It A Year, The Internship, Star Wars: Episode II, 1 ep of Portlandia) as Rayna Boyanov, the bad guy’s daughter.
Steve Bannos (Pineapple Express, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Superbad, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Funny People, 12 eps of Freaks And Geeks, 1 ep of Arrested Development, 1 ep of Undeclared) as Alan the Bartender. (more…)

[IMDB link]

RATINGS:
Claire: Netflix: 5/5 stars. IMDB: 8.6/10.
Carolyn: Netflix: 5/5 stars. IMDB: 8.6/10.
Nathan: ?
Evan: ?
Cristin: ?
The native public rating for this movie is: Netflix: 4.0/5 stars, IMDB: 7.6/10.

CAROLYN’S THOUGHTS: This movie did not disappoint. It had the same charm as the first 2 Iron Man movies and the first Avengers movie. It was a lot of fun. Lots of funny banter. My one complaint was the scenes were Iron Man is in his armor and talking and it just seemed like he was talking to himself more than interacting with anyone, so it seemed slightly awkward to me a couple of times.

CLAIRE’S THOUGHTS: These movies get pretty good free passes from me. Very much like the superhero cartoons we watch, except with a huge budget, and a longer story. The Avengers animated series has been prepping us for Ultron for a whole season, but Ultron came off as much more realistic in the movie. (It may not be like this for most people, but I think a cartoon is usually FARRRRR more believable than a movie. Things that require special effects in movies often stand out as looking unrealistic, but in a cartoon, everything looks the same, and you don’t have that distracting affect. So for a movie to be more believable than a cartoon is a significant achievement.)

PEOPLE:

Written & directed by Joss Whedon (Firefly, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel, The Avengers, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Alien 4, The Cabin In The Woods, Toy Story, In Your Eyes, Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., 4 eps of Roseanne).

Starring:
Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man.
Chris Hemsworth (Thor in The Avengers and Thor movies, Star Trek 12: Into Darkness, Snow White And The Huntsman, The Cabin In The Woods, Vacation (2015), Red Dawn) as Thor.
Mark Ruffalo (Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, 13 Going On 30, Where The Wild Things Are, 54, Date Night) as Bruce Banner / Hulk.
Chris Evans (Snowpiercer, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Not Another Teen Movie, What’s Your Number?, 1 ep of Robot Chicken) as Steve Rogers / Captain America.
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow.
Jeremy Renner (The Bourne Legacy, 28 Weeks Later, The Hurt Locker, American Hustle, National Lampoon’s Senior Trip) as Clint Barton / Hawkeye.
James Spader (The Office, Stargate, Wolf, Sex Lies And Videotape, Pretty In Pink, Mannequin, 1 ep of Frasier, 1 ep of Seinfeld) as Ultron.
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.
Don Cheadle (Ocean’s Eleven movies, Hotel Rwanda, Volcano, Picket Fences, 1 ep of Drunk History) as James Rhodes / War Machine.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass movies) as Pietro Maximoff / Quicksilver.
Elizabeth Olsen (Oldboy remake) as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch.
Paul Bettany (Jarvis in the Marvel movies, Transcendence, Priest, The Da Vinci Code, Inkheart, guest on 1 ep of Talking Dead) as Jarvis / Vision.
Cobie Smulders (They Came Together, The Avengers, The Lego Movie, The Long Weekend, How I Met Your Mother, Maria Hill in 2 eps of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., Robin Scherbatsky in How I Met Your Mother, 4 eps of The L Word, 1 ep of Smallville) as Maria Hill.
Anthony Mackie (Captain America 2, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, What’s Your Number?, The Adjustment Bureau, The Hurt Locker, 8 Mile, 10 Years) as Sam Wilson / Falcon.
Hayley Atwell (The Pillars Of The Earth, 2 eps of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., and 18 eps of some show called Agent Carter) as Peggy Carter. Marvel is out of control! How can there be a series based on some random S.H.I.E.L.D. agent? It’s too much!
Idris Elba (Thor movies, Pacific Rim, Ghost Rider, Prometheus, 28 Weeks Later, 7 eps of The Office, 1 ep of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, 1 ep of Absolutely Fabulous) as Heimdall.
Linda Cardellini (Wendy in Gravity Falls, Bliss in The Goode Family, Grandma’s Boy, Super, Red, Lollilove, Regular Show, Freaks & Geeks, Legally Blonde, 3 eps of Robot Chicken) as Laura Barton.
Stellan Skarsgard (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Pirates Of The Caribbean movies) as Erik Selvig.
Claudia Kim as Dr. Helen Cho.
Thomas Kretschmann (Hostel 3, Immortal (Ad Vitam), 2 eps of 24) as Strucker.
Andy Serkis (Gollum in The Lord Of The Rings movies, The Prestige, Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, Inkheart, Clueless) as Ulysses Klaue. (more…)