2015 Movie Stubs

In 2015, I went to see seven movies in the cinema. Actually, there might have been more (lol, memories), but I only kept seven ticket stubs, so seven is our magic number! I prefer to go into movies sight unseen, meaning I actively avoid trailers. The only ones I seek out are teaser trailers at the cinema as they are shorter and tend to have less spoilers. I prefer going into movies knowing no more than the genre because I like to be surprised instead of waiting for the bits in the trailer to appear on screen.

Although I try to avoid talking about major plot points, there may be spoilers, so be careful!

22nd March 2015

Focus

My brother took me to this movie as my birthday present, and we only picked it because Will Smith and it was on at the time that was available for us both. Focus is a very fun movie, the only thing I didn’t like was the age gap between the two romantic leads. When they would appear on the screen, I’d remember, and I’d be squicked out.

Rewatch? I probably wouldn’t seek it out to watch again, if it was on TV, I’d probably give it another watch through.

23rd March

Insurgent

“I’m Diiiveerrrrgeeeennnnt.” Hunger Games was an absolute surprise hit for me and the Mr. We went to the cinema, this was playing next so we thought, eh? Why not? After the movie ended we weren’t sure if we actually enjoyed it, but we sure as anything wanted to know what happened next! So we were hooked, and while I waited for the next movie instalment (I found the books rather dry), I watched Divergent.

Movie was bad yo. It had such a good premise but it’s wasted it on a terrible teenage romance and teen-mary-sue-angst that I was actually offended when I finished it. I must warn the world I promised myself, but everyone I retold the plot to burst out laughing, and then it became a joke. “I’m diiiiiverrrgeeennnt“, my brother and I would shout to each other from our rooms, and we’d giggle.

Why would I miss the second instalment of my favourite comedy movie? I went to the cinema by myself at 2pm on my birthday as a Happy Birthday treat to myself, and it was everything I hoped for and more. This movie is a testament to cashing in on a trend and pandering to your audience. The worst part? I actually enjoy the books! I find them more compelling than Hunger Games, but the movies, wow, how ..? Actually terrible, but I highly recommend you watch it as a comedy.

Rewatch? I watch this every time it appears on TV, and I plan to take a half day (or the whole day) off work!

24th April

Avengers 2: Age of Ultron

Comic books are officially a thing, and like fellow comic book character lovers, I am riding the wave until the inevitable bubble bursts. We know it’s coming, it has to, things are going too well and the cracks are starting to show. What I didn’t expect was that the cracks would be so large so soon, because as much as I liked Avengers 2: Age of Ultron it was missing something. It was still funny where it should be funny, actionny where it should be actionny, but it just missed the wonder, excitement and spectacle that I had come to expect from a key movie like this.

Marvel have built up their cinematic universe into a puzzle piece of interconnectivity. It all links together and by watching each media product, you’re given a little bit more information than you would if you watched them on their own. I enjoy that, but I know movies with characters like Thor, Ant man and Hulk are the ‘filler’ movies that are supposed to middle along, but somehow it felt like Avengers 2 was a filler movie. Not much information was given, and I left the theater feeling a bit, meh.

Retwatch? Sure, to refresh my memory, but I’d rather just watch Iron Man all over again. Actually, I have and it’s brilliant!

28th May

Mad Max: Fury Road

I will freely admit that I went to see this because of the controversy surrounding it, so the angry internet mob actually did me a favour, thanks because this movie was wonderful. Everything about it was absolutely intriguing, from the stunts (which were mostly practical effects), plot, characters, acting and pacing everything about it was amazing. Of all the movies I watched in 2015, this is the movie that I’m happiest that I saw on the big screen because it really is an experience. I would have even paid out to watch this in 3D if I was so inclined, but I’m not, 3D is the worst. TANGENT!

Rewatch? Absolutely!

26th July

Ant-Man

ANT MAN? Have you ever heard anything more ridiculous? This movie surprised me, it was fun, engaging, had a hero you rooted for, and a bad guy with motivation that you kind of understood. I mean, it was shaky at best, but it worked. Plus, it answered the age old question in these kinds of movies, “Why.. Why don’t we just call the Avengers?” with a totally plausible response!

Rewatch? Yep!

8th August

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

source: http://pawntakesqueen.tumblr.com/

Ah! I went to the cinema with my mother because I know this is the kind of movies my parents enjoy, fun action movies. I’ll be honest, the plot was utterly forgettable, but I do remember that there was a woman, a deadline, some amazing stunts and Tom Cruise running really really fast. Which is all you want in a Mission Impossible movie isn’t it? In the moment the plot was fun and engaging! Plus. knowing that Cruise actually did the stunts himself, and is actually trained to do so really impresses me about his action movie work, so this movie was an enjoyable experience all around.

Rewatch? Probably, if it came on TV or I wanted to watch something with my parents, I’d pull this out but I wouldn’t go looking for it to watch alone or suggest it with friends. But it stands as a fun fun movie.

29th August

Man From U.N.C.L.E

This movie is visually stunning and I’m not just talking about the leads, whooo, self five! While the two main actors are absolutely gorgeous, this is a movie I really enjoyed because it made sense and flowed really well. It is also really easy to follow and doesn’t add twist upon twist just to be super edgey, it is at its core a retro spy comedy that wants to entertain you and it does that perfectly.