Fish and Cherries Productions

Guardians of the Galaxy was, as expected, a lot of fun and a great direction for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to go. It’s interesting because apart from being a new, untested property, Guardians also has the least continuity connection with the rest of the movies (apart from one significant plotline), which was refreshing, but at the same time I sorely missed some reference to the Asgardians or having the only human scene have a Stark Industries billboard in the background. It’s also a new direction because this is the first straight up comedy in the franchise; while Iron Man and Thor definitely straddled the line between action and comedy, Guardians of the Galaxy dives in head first and decides it doesn’t want to come up for air. Sadly, though, the comedy water didn’t penetrate all of its internal organs, as the villains are both lacking in humor and personality. They’re cool, but that’s about it. While we’re on the subject of weak characters, I felt that Gamora was underutilized and didn’t really live up to her reputation as the deadliest woman in the universe. The rest of the main cast is great fun, though I have to give the award to Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon. That man truly nailed the part. With all that said, I’m worried that there’s a bit of a quirkiness to the directing, writing, and editing that may put people off a bit, though I personally enjoyed it. All in all, though, if you can get past that, you’ve got a great experience that I will personally recommend (could’ve used more “I am Groot,” though). Now, Marvel, if you could now do a Captain/Ms. Marvel and Black Panther movie, that would be great. Don’t keep me waiting now.

The following film was viewed at an official screening at San Diego Comic Con 2014 and was in no way involved with any illicit obtainment of the product.

Batman: Assault on Arkham takes place in the universe of the Batman Arkham games and has a fun premise: a group of supervillains on the government’s leash called the Suicide Squad is ordered to break into Arkham Asylum while Batman is in the peripheral focus in an Ocean’s Eleven-style heist story. Unfortunately, the movie drops the ball quite heavily, particularly when the plot gets essentially hijacked by Batman and the Joker in the second half and the characters we’ve been following have to fight for relevance. Also, the “fun” in the premise is quickly lost with all of the pointless shock deaths that occur, some of which include a rather endearing character or two, for the sake of being “serious” and “mature.” In fact, I’m not even sure whether or not one of the characters died or not. It was rather confusing. Also, I hate to beat the DC Comic and women horse even further, but dear GOD, I don’t think either of women in this movie were treated as anything other than sexual desires or counterbalances to a guy in the movie. Badass and combat capable sexual desires, but that bonus can only take you so far. There’s one scene where Killer Frost has to pass as a corpse to get into Arkham and one of the guards straight up leers at her naked body. I’m not making this up. The guy straight up leers at a CORPSE. This is not a human reaction unless the guard is a necrophiliac and if that’s the case, why would anyone, even an incompetently guarded place like Arkham, employ them in the morgue. Furthermore, the opportunity to have the numerous personalities on the squad play off each other is wasted by having the movie mostly go through action scenes constantly and having almost zero character development. There’s one entertaining quiet scene between Deadshot and Captain Boomerang near the beginning, but that chemistry doesn’t hold throughout the movie. The logic’s a bit dodgy in places too. The animation and action scenes are beautiful to look at, but that’s the standard for the DC Animated movies. There’s also no point talking about Kevin Conroy as Batman and C. C. H. Pounder as Amanda Waller, since they are rarely anything other than excellent and this was no exception, but I will say that this is where Troy Baker really shaved off the rough edges and came into his own as the Joker. Overall, though, I wouldn’t give this a glowing recommendation. The genius of Bruce Timm is well missed in these latest animated movies and the dynamic characters are all but lost amidst poor handiwork and a muddled and far too grim script. If you were looking for a fun action heist, I think this will leave you dry. But if you’re looking for a grim and serious Batman animated movie, then I would recommend putting in Batman: Under The Red Hood instead.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a conflicting movie, but an overall good one. Caesar returns as Andy Serkis’ outstanding role as the apes have begun developing their own culture while humanity is struggling not to slip into devastation. The parts with the ape civilization are honestly the best parts of the movie, with all the dialogue taking place in sign language with rarely a spoken word. The humans, on the other hand, are a little bland, even though they are sympathetic. In a way, it harkens back to WALL-E, though the quiet period doesn’t last quite as long and the humans aren’t colorful enough to stand out. But the film falls into one of my least favorite tropes behind the Amnesia Reset Button, which is the trigger-happy/xenophobic/take your pick asshole who screws things up for both civilizations (see the Doctor Who episode “Cold Blood” for this trope in action). This time, we get not one asshole, but three, one of whom turning out to be the villain, so I get a three-for-one sale on something I didn’t want to the first place. Hooray. Like the first movie, the action pieces are astounding and quite brutal, but there are also some really grim, almost holocaustian scenes that stay for just a bit too long. So I’m a bit mixed on this movie, but there was still enough quality to consider it good. I’d recommend you see it for the sequel at least, because make no mistake, there WILL be a sequel.

Chef grabbed me from the very first shot and continued to take me on a wonderful journey. As someone who enjoys cooking, the shots focusing on making food (which the internet calls “food porn”) were right up my alley, but there was so much more to love, especially the dynamic between Carl, played by Jon Favreau, and his son as their relationship continues to evolve. Creative types will be able to connect and learn from a lot of things in this movie, like satisfaction on the job, dealing with harsh criticism, and the danger of getting so sucked into your work that you lose touch with those closest to you. Carl goes through all of these and while he isn’t the most likable person at first, you really start feeling for him at some point or another. Another standout moment is the technology gap between the adults and the kids and how it’s used to further the plot in more ways than the traditional “those darn kids” route. But my favorite part had to be John Legguizamo’s character, who was the likable and fun best friend and surrogate uncle. Every scene with him was just a delight. There are only two nitpicks I have: most of the side characters in the beginning don’t come back or pay off later in the movie and the final scene left me feeling a little strange, like it felt good, but I’m wondering if it wasn’t a bit underdeveloped. Overall, though, it was a really great experience. I think this deserves just as much recognition than the standard blockbuster, even if more people probably went to see Dawn of the Planet of the Apes on the weekend they both opened. And if you want to know what I thought of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, well…

A Brony Tale is a heartfelt documentary looking at the phenomenon that sprung up after 2010, as well as voice actress Ashleigh Ball’s initial exposure to the fandom. The first word that springs to mind when thinking of this movie is “pleasant;” everything from the music to the shot composition to the music invokes a feeling of being welcome and friendliness. This is especially true when the movie simply glosses over the harsh media coverage that has painted bronies in a bad light over the years, while other documentaries would have devoted a section to covering it and rebuking it. Not A Brony Tale. It stays true to its name and make the bronies the focus, from personal perspectives coming from The Manliest Brony In The World, the head of Equestria Daily, and a military man who lost himself in Iraq and found himself again through the show, to outsider perspectives like Ashleigh Ball herself and the psychologist sharing his stories about passionate patients and even his own son. Brent Hodge, the filmmaker himself, admitted in a Q&A that he doesn’t love the show but finds the sense of community in the fandom so wonderful and it shows. There are few documentaries that make you feel good to be alive and this is one of them. The DVD comes out soon and I highly recommend a watch.

Dear Mr. Watterson is a heartwarming and emotional reflection on the legendary comic strip Calvin and Hobbes and its ever-growing impact. As an avid Calvin and Hobbes fan for as long as I can remember, it drudged up many old feelings, from wonder at the amazing art to sadness as the film discussed the famous final strip. Even the more informative selections about the artistic influences on the strip and Watterson’s refusal to license his creations were packed full of emotions and made you empathize with the man, even though you hadn’t met him. Like the comic strip itself, Dear Mr. Watterson fills you with a special kind of wonder and comes highly recommended from someone who doesn’t particularly care for documentaries. Just get ready to yearn for a stuffed tiger to clutch when “the feels” hit.

Edge of Tomorrow is a very well done action movie that gets a bit of bad reputation from its main actor. But make no mistake, Tom Cruise is well in his element here and for those that don’t like him, you get to watch him die many times throughout the movie. The rest of the elements are no slouch either, with special mention going to the plot, the creature design, and all of the action sequences. However, and this is a big however, the ending is a major cop out that makes less sense the more you think about it. It’s true that’s only one thing, but it really drags down what was shaping up to be a great movie. Still, if you can get past that, you’ll find quite a bit to like about this flick. Even if it tripped on the last leg of the race, it’s bound to be smarter than the upcoming Transformers movie.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 is indescribably good. The first one was a hard contender with Toy Story 3 for best animated film of the year at their time and the sequel improves on everything significantly. All of the characters, even the minor ones, still have very distinct personalities, the animation is still beautiful, the flying scenes are still breathtaking, and there were some very emotional scenes that definitely hit harder than the ones in its predecessor. The ending seemed like a bit of a deus ex machina to me, but it was still within reason. Oddly enough, the thing that always impressed me the most about these movies is how they did the hair, as that is often the hardest thing to animate. But in this series, every single one is given a lot of detailed work and legitimately looks real. Overall, this is definitely a must-see. Here’s hoping that this one takes the Oscar home.

The Fault in Our Stars is a brilliant movie, but a very difficult one for me to talk about and an even harder one to sit through. Growing up, I have lost a lot of people, some young ones to cancer, so watching a movie nail the pain and experiences so well was like losing them all over again. So when I say that I’d have a difficult time watching it again, it has nothing to do with the quality and everything to do with the old wounds it reopened. Some of the lines even felt like they were directed specifically at me, which made the film hit even closer to home. It runs the gambit of emotions, from sadness to laughter to disappointment to joy and even to heartbreak, and ever one of them hit their mark. If you’re looking for a deep film making analysis from me, you won’t find it in this article. The acting, offbeat dialogue, cinematography, and interactions are all beautiful. That’s all I can really say at the moment.

Maleficent is not nearly as subversive as it thinks it is, but that does not make it a bad movie. A friend described it as feeling like a pro-Maleficent fan fiction where all of the other characters are made to look horrible and I can see where he is coming from. The three faeries are borderline useless and the people in the human kingdom are dark and evil with zero shades of gray or redeeming features. The only good one are Aurora and Prince Philip, but the latter is so bland and uninteresting that he was almost a non-presence (though his counterpart from the original Sleeping Beauty was probably the least interesting Disney Prince, so at least they’re consistent). There were other problems too, like the fact that certain relationship progressions progressions were relegated to rushed montages, there is a very unnecessary narrator that is really hard to put up with, and a few serious scenes are nearly ruined by some unintentionally hilarious moments in them. But there are some superb moments as well. The characters of Maleficent, Diaval, and Aurora are wonderfully written and lend themselves to some brilliant and funny moments. On top of that, the visuals of the film are drop dead gorgeous and may be some of the most beautiful you see in a while. On top of that, the second half of the movie is really engaging and the twist on the end, while already done in a much better Disney movie, is still refreshing to see, as is the part where the Prince says that he wouldn’t feel right kissing an unconscious girl. Those who are sick of the Disney tropes will not have a good time, but there are still quite a few gems in here to prevent it from being a bad movie. Just don’t go in expecting Wicked.