A Good Day to Die Hard

I was NOT impressed with this movie!  This “felt” like a 5^th movie in a series – and one that needs to just hang it up!  The original Die Hard movies are classics and this didn’t compare at all.  John McClane was like some cheesy version of his former self.  And he can somehow survive almost ANYTHING and come up pretty much unscathed – some of what was fun in the originals was how beat up he got.  Who doesn’t remember him going across that broken glass with his bare feet?  There wasn’t even anything worth remembering in this one.  You’d think that being in Russia at Chernobyl and things blowing up all over would be exciting, but you’d be wrong!  Bruce Willis was like some side-kick almost the whole time and finally turned into “John McClane” about the last 15 minutes of the movie – other than that, he was trying to be a dad and connect with his son he’d lost track of over the years and spouting one-liners he was hoping would catch on.  He even throws in his famous "Yippee-ki-yay" toward the end as if that’s going to save this movie!  It didn’t!  This was just horrible!!!

A Good Day to Die Hard

You know – some things aren’t better the 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th or 5^th time around.  Take for example – the latest Bruce Willis movie in the Die Hard series.  It was just a lame movie all the way around and a sad excuse for a Die Hard movie.   Bruce Willis is still a great actor – but this movie didn’t need to be made.  Like Eric said, there wasn’t John McClane in this movie.  It just seemed like Bruce was walking through his role.  It felt like a sad attempt to hold onto something that was great in the 80’s but now just seems old and out of date.

Identity Thief

I want to like this movie better than I did.  It’s not that I didn’t like it, but I’d say it was just alright.  I was expecting it to be a LOT funnier - but it wasn't as dumb as I was thinking it might be, either.  There were definitely some stupid/over the top scenes - and quite a bit of language - but there was also more story to it than I was expecting.  The movie made me feel sorry for Melissa McCarthy’s character, even though she’s the bad person who stole the identity of Jason Bateman’s character.  Even he felt sorry for her after awhile.  It was much more emotional and touching than I thought it would be.  Maybe it just wasn’t quite what I was expecting?  Depends what mood you're in, I guess!

Warm Bodies

This is a quirky movie.  When I first started watching it – I didn’t think I was going to like it.  I’m use to “real” zombies that look and act like death - so I thought, how am I ever going to like this movie??  But I did!  I was genuinely surprised by the story and that I did get involved in it.  This isn’t a horror flick, even though there are some elements of “scare” in it, this isn’t an “eat your brains and shoot them dead” movie even though there are some elements of that, too.  It’s a love story – a zombie that turns back into a human love story.  That is the premise of this film.  Our zombie, R, who lacks any remembrance of his past, narrates the story from his point of view.  Even though he’s a zombie, he can still feel and think and care – but he just can’t express himself.  A group of young people looking for supplies for their city set out in the dead world and along the way, R and his friends run into them and well – let’s just say – not all of them make it.  But there is a certain girl that does – her name is Julie.  How does R know this?  He eats the brains of her boyfriend and his memory becomes R’s.  Yep, he kills the boyfriend and saves the girl.  From there, we follow the two as they find themselves learning about each other - a corpse and a human??  That is unheard of!  But the love story continues as R saves Julie and Julie saves R and the whole world of the undead starts to change.  It’s the power of love that begins the change back.  It’s a different movie but if you sit back and go with it – you might like it more than what you thought you would.

Jack Reacher

I was expecting a big blockbuster from this movie and all I got was your run of the mill movie.  The movie is based on Lee Child’s books about his character Jack Reacher.  Not having read any of them – I had no expectations going in except to enjoy seeing Tom do his stuff - and he did.  There is no argument that he and the other casts members gave it their best shot as far as acting goes.  It's a crime movie and Jack Reacher is the guy you go to for the tough answers and the tough whoppings!  It had some nice plot twists but to me, it never felt like the movie delivered anything new.   But it was ok to watch.

History of the Eagles

First off, I will admit that I am a huge fan of the Eagles, so I might be a little biased.  Saying that, I thought this set was incredible!  I thought I’d already heard everything there was to hear about the group and seen everything there was to see – I was wrong!  This was filled with new footage and interviews, mixed with talks all the way back to the ‘70s along with concert and studio footage from all through the years and discussions with artists they learned from and had helped them get their start.  It was raw.  It was honest.  It was everything you could ever want to know about the Eagles!  And besides how great all of that was, there was also a bonus disc with 8 tracks performed live from a 1977 concert!  I felt like I was taken back in time to see a concert I’d only heard about and had maybe seen “clips” from during the last 35 years!  The original music video for “Hotel California” seems like it had been taken from this concert, but I had never seen the rest, so that might have actually been my favorite part of this set – and that’s saying a lot!!!

Silver Linings Playbook

I was really looking forward to this movie, but wasn’t quite sure what to think about it while I was actually watching it.  But the longer it’s been since I’ve seen it, the more it seems to be affecting me!  I thought Bradley Cooper did a very good job as Pat, a man with bipolar disorder just getting out after a stay in a mental institution.  He’s trying to get his life back together after losing his job, his house, and his wife.  I absolutely LOVED Jennifer Lawrence in her role – a woman named Tiffany trying to get over her husband having been killed.  I also thought Robert De Niro was good as Pat’s dad.  I’m not sure why this one has affected me so much – maybe just that there were a lot of scenes and “issues” they had that were very relatable if you’ve ever dealt with those types of things or people.  I could feel how much Pat was trying to make his life work and the walls that Tiffany had put up trying not to get hurt and just how vulnerable she really was - it all just felt very real to me!  Maybe it’s a good reminder that everyone has things to deal with and some may be having a rougher time than others and that there is just so much more than meets the eye with most people.  Maybe we're all a little damaged inside.