The blog of author Stacy Kingsley

Movie Review - STAR WARS THE FORCE AWAKENS

12/31/2015

I tried not to say any spoilers so if you find something that you think is, I apologize.

I will readily admit that I am not a STAR WARS fan, I am more of a Trekkie. I have no problem telling everyone this, and I hold no judgement of those who enjoy the Star Wars franchise. Since this was the biggest movie of December it seems fitting that I end this year's blog with a review of it.

A lot of people who I have talked to have really enjoyed this movie, while some just think it is okay, I personally, didn't care for it. Not the worst movie I have seen this year (I think I will leave that honor to CRIMSON PEAK), but I really didn't think it was worth all of the hype.

So basically this movie should have been called the search for Luke, or why does my son disappoint me, either would have worked. And unfortunately for this movie, I kept thinking about SPACEBALLS while I was watching it. When the new bad guy was introduced all I was thinking was he was the nephew of his mothers fathers sons roommate. It went on from there.

One of the main problems I had with this movie was that it reused a lot of stuff from the older ones. The bad guy has a helmet and a voice altering device just like Darth Vader, they destroy something large in the same way that they destroyed something in large in EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. The father/son stuff is all reminiscent of Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, and really I wasn't surprised by anything.

Beyond that, the landscape was dull, the acting was sub-par, and no one stood out but the little robot. There seemed to be little to recommend this movie to me, except maybe the very end, which took a long time as well.

Sorry but I just thought this movie was dull, dull, dull and way too long.

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Movie Review - MAGGIE

12/1/2015

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From IMbD - A teenage girl in the Midwest becomes infected by an outbreak of a disease that slowly turns the infected into cannibalistic zombies. During her transformation, her loving father stays by her side.

This movie starts of very slow, and really doesn't pick up much speed, but honestly it is more about the story than it is about zombies. Sure, there are zombies in this movie, and yeah, they eat people, but it is more about what would you do if someone you loved were infected. Wade Vogel (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a loving father who would do anything for his family. We see him driving to town to pick up his daughter, Maggie (played by Abigail Breslin), has gone off into town, the viewer doesn't know why, and ends up getting infected. Wade brings Maggie home so he can spend time with her before she is forced into "Quarantine".

Maggie spends time at her house with her step-mother, Caroline, and her father until her time comes to leave. As she turns she finds that she can't handle most food, and eventually she starts to find herself thinking that her father and step-mother smell like food. Maggie only gets worse and worse, her breathing becomes raspy, her eyes glaze over, and her veins spread darkly over her body.

In the end a choice has to be made, Maggie either gets shipped off to quarantine, gets killed by her family, or she can take her own life. When that choice is made, it is out of pure love and it shows how humanity often makes hard choices.

This was a really interesting movie. It reminded me of the TV show IN THE FLESH. If someone you loved were suffering, what would you do to help them or save them? If you were suffering or dying, what would you do so that your family wouldn't have to watch you suffer anymore.

Deep thoughts and insight from a zombie movie is not what most people expect when they watch a zombie movie. It was an incredibly good movie, and I recommend it.

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Movie Review - JOHN WICK

12/1/2015

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I waited a while before I watched this movie, a lot of people told me I wouldn't like how it started, and I didn't. I think too often that movies kill animals because they can and for shock factor, but in this movie it made sense.

John Wick is a man who is deep in depression. After losing his wife he doesn't know what to do with his life. Then one day he gets a gift from his late wife after her death. He realizes that maybe there can be a way back to happiness. After getting some gas in his sporty car, some thugs decide they want something he has. They follow him home, and attack, not realizing who it is they are attacking, or what he was before.

Full of both action and humor this movie was hard to watch but also really well done. I thought as a revenge movie it didn't focus too much on silly fighting scenes and actually everything seemed to have a purpose. When you betray a man who has done some work for you and completed a task you never thought he would complete, it is bad business to go back on a contract.

Keanu Reeves, while often playing himself or versions of himself, was really good in this movie. He showed a range of emotion and I really felt for him. There were scenes where I felt he needed to be a little less of a sympathetic man, and he should have done what was needed, but eventually things worked out.

One of the most awesome ideas in this movie was the hotel when work was never to be done and trouble was never to be started. It was a safe haven for assassins, drug cartels, and anyone who wanted a break from the criminal lives they were living. I haven't seen an idea like this in any other movies that I have watched, although I am sure there are other examples of this, I thought it was a novel idea.

I really enjoyed JOHN WICK. I wasn't sure I would because of what I had heard about it. I am glad I took the chance and I am interested in what they do to keep the fun and action and story in JOHN WICK 2.

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Movie Review - STAR WARS THE FORCE AWAKENS

Movie Review - MAGGIE

Movie Review - JOHN WICK

Stacy Kingsley

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