Friday, March 21, 2014

Divergent - Hunger Games Big Sister



In Divergent, set in a Dystopian Chicago of the future, teenagers are given a choice to stay with what is familiar to them, or switch to a completely different life, or “faction” to put it in futuristic terms. Once a choice is made, there is no going back.



 
Divergent - Official Trailer

Tris, played by the talented Shailene Woodley, & her fellow dauntless newbies fight to survive a highly competitive initiation. They must undergo extreme physical and intense psychological tests, transforming them all.  

Just like Hunger Games, Divergent is also based on a best-selling young adult trilogy. I am sure writer Veronica Roth is pleased with the outcome.  


Shailene Woodley plays one tough cookie.Kate Winslet does a respectable job in her first “bad guy” role of her career, playing Jeanine (an answer to Hunger Games Gamemaker role, if you will...)  It’s also fun to see Ashley Judd again.  Playing Tris' mother, she looks lovely as ever and is just as bad ass as she was in Double Jeopardy some 15 years ago.


I promise fans of the book will not be disappointed when they finally come face to face with the legendary Four, perfectly played by the hunky Theo James.  



He rocks in this role.  It is quite easy to see why Tris is so easily distracted by her would be trainer.


It’s a great story that translates well onto the big screen. It really makes you take stock of the person you want to become.  If given the choice, would you walk away from your life for a chance to start over alone, knowing you could never go back?


Divergent will not disappoint, whether you have read the book or not, it is a fun movie to watch.


But be warned if you are afraid of heights, be prepared for lots of shut eye.  Watching it in Imax was almost more than I could take!






Thursday, March 6, 2014

Let's Hope this is the Last Vegas.

I was very excited to finally see Last Vegas - such a fantastic cast!  Busy with my Oscar chasing, I had to wait until now to catch it on Redbox.  
Cue the "WAH WAH WAH".  
Lame.  Boring.  Depressing.  Yuck.
Dislike.  Two thumbs down.



Michael Douglas is way too tan and simple-minded as "Billy"

Morgan Freeman - my man!  Wait - this can't be him.  This guy can't stay out past 9pm and has to check in with his babysitter son.

Kevin Kline - Nope.  No way.  Not him. Except it was!

And finally Robert DeNiro, one of the greatest actors of all time played a grouchier version of my husband in old age.  Who wants that as entertainment?

These four buddies head off to Vegas for Billy's Bachelor party, taking us along for the ride.  We get to endure all the normal "old men behaving badly" slapstick as well as reminisce with them as they talk about the good ole days.  

As a middle aged woman, I despise being led to believe all 20 year old girls are attracted to old men.  (They aren't).  The one female in the movie is Mary Steenburgen, who plays a washed up singer - and doesn't really seem to into her role either.  And she is STILL 9 years younger than Douglas.  So frustrating!!

So why didn't Las Vegas work for me?  I think mainly because at 47 years old, I am not ready for the idea that four of the leading men of my entire life are considered senior citizens. 

I remember during the press tour for this movie, Morgan Freeman had trouble staying awake and DeNiro looked generally ticked off most of the time. 
After seeing this movie, I can understand why!

Plenty of people liked this movie, I just wasn't one of them.