Pain and Gain

If you like fitness and believe in the American dream, then look no further than to Pain and Gain. This movie has both of those aspects and tons of humor on top of it. Pain and Gain was excellent in my opinion.

Based on a true story and set in Florida we get to follow a bodybuilder and his crew as they follow the American dream on the wrong side of the law. Mark Wahlberg is masterful as always and really buffed up insanely nicely for this part and I can’t do anything but to bow down to him and salute. He’s one heck of a guy I’ll tell you that.

Humor. Realism. True story. Fitness. Strippers. Success, right? Indeed.

Their American dream is bigger than yours.

Matt Damon might return as Jason Bourne

Several rumors are floating around that negotiations are on-going with Matt Damon to return as Jason Bourne and that he has agreed to do so if the former producer returns as well.

This, of course, is happy news as he was excellent in that role and that the latest Bourne movie without him was a complete and utter disaster.

I support him through and through. One of my all-time faves.

Fast & Furious 6

Can a series be good after six installments? The answer is yes. Fast & Furious 6 is one of the best films in the series, if not the best.

I had fairly high expectations with such an all-star cast and expected some nice scenes with a few good laughs. Boy, was I surprised. This movie had tons of memorable scenes and hilarious jokes that had me laughing long past the scene. Also, the ending offered candy like none other. My whole body was in shock and I couldn’t be happier. Don’t worry, I won’t spoil a thing.

Fast and Furious 6 continues right where number five left off. And it offers more of the same beloved formula: fast cars, hot women,  action, explosions, racing, jokes and pure excitement. I mean, what more could you ask? That’s what I thought. Not much.

Sure, it has its flaws like all other movies. Some scenes are ridiculously unrealistic and there are a few logical loop holes that could be filled, but other than that, it was fantastic. I am already excited for the sequel and I hope they hit Fast and Furious 10. I wouldn’t mind if each installment is this good. At all.

Go and see it. Now. Maybe even race there?

Rating: 4 out 5

The Great Gatsby 3D

Suits. DiCaprio. Gentlemen. Ladies. Champagne. New York. The 1920:s. How can this be anything but epic?

I am constantly repeating myself in saying that I belong in the olden days. And this movie certainly proves it. I felt like I had taken a time machine and gone back in time to where I belong. It was that magical. It was that fantastic. The Great Gatsby offered countless laughs, excitement, drama and intrigue as expected. It was an excellent film from the beginning to end.

And Tobey Maguire was brilliant together with Leonardo DiCaprio and he certainly grew on me a lot. DiCaprio’s greatness was to be expected and he delivered as usual in the highest level possible. It’s always a privilege to see him act and I couldn’t be more happy with it. But like I said, the hidden star of this show to me was Tobey. He did an excellent job and it was very nice to see. But all in all, all the actors did their job nobly and there was nothing to complain about.

The soundtrack was exquisite and it delivered some catchy tunes and some really nice dancing scenes that are highly memorable. The 3D effects were also very good and focused on little things to add to the experience on the side rather than try to take over the movie entirely, which to me was an excellent idea. Snow, rain and things like that. It was nice and helped to make the movie more entangling for sure.

The Great Gatsby is without a doubt one of the strongest movies of the year and I know I will watch many times over again. Highly recommended.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Cheers, to a marvelous movie.

Disney’s Star Wars plans

Disney has revealed their plans for their Star Wars movies and it is looking fantastic from a fans perspective. We will be getting a new movie annually. Fuark yes.

• There will be a new trilogy starting with Episode VII and that debut’s Disney’s movies in 2015 with Episode VIII coming in 2017 and Episode IX 2019.
• For 2016 there will be a spin-off movie and they will alternate bi-annually with the new trilogy.
• Han Solo spin-off considered, a young Han Solo with amazing escapes and battles with smuggling and whatnot.
• Yoda spin-off, not much details about when or how.

So that’s some pretty juicy information and if the movies are well-made, I have no problems with an annual release of Star Wars movies, in fact, I welcome it. I mean, they can’t be worse than the prequel trilogy, right?

I’d love to see the Return of the Sith and that they scratch the Rule of Two, but that’s just me. I love the Sith.

Oz the Great and Powerful

I really had no expectations going into this movie as I never read any of the books nor had I seen the original films from decades ago. But I was expecting it to be good and boy was I blown away. Oz the Great and Powerful was nothing short of a masterpiece.

Oz the Great and Powerful stars James Franco as Oz and he delivers as always. A phenomenal actor in an extraordinary role. This movie had everything you’d expect. A beautiful fantasy land with stunning visuals and special effects along with hilarious humor and jokes flowing at a constant pace. I honestly cannot recall the last time I laughed this hard at a movie. It was just that good.

With wizards, witches and fantasy land, you’d expect some magic right? And this movie was just that. It was pure magic. Clocking in at over two hours, it felt like 20 minutes. I didn’t want it to end and once it did end I didn’t know where I was or what I was doing beforehand. This is how I define a masterpiece. I was sucked into the land of Oz like there was nothing else in the universe.

The story was great and touching, with very memorable and strong scenes that I won’t forget for a long, long time. I can’t praise this movie enough it seems. It’s one of those movies I will pick up on Blu-ray 3D and re-watch immediately. It was that fantastic.

I urge all my readers to go and see it in theaters and 3D. The 3D added a lot in my opinion and in one scene I actually titled my head away as I thought I was going to be hit by an object. Fantastic.  The best movie of 2013 without a doubt. Rare movies such as these make me proud to be a movie buff.

Rating: 5 out of 5

A masterpiece through and through. I will enjoy this movie numerous times over and over again.

A Good Day to Die Hard

Yesterday was the world premiere of Die Hard 5, or A Good Day to Die Hard as it’s also known as. Of course I was there for the premiere – nothing else would’ve been good enough.

I knew immediately it wouldn’t be as great as perhaps Die Hard: With A Vengeance or perhaps the first one, but since the fourth was really, really good I still had hopes. Unfortunately, it was as I suspected, the weakest movie of the franchise.

I’m not going to spoil a single thing from the story or anything. Instead I will say that it’s the shortest movie of them all. It had the least amount of jokes and John McClane humor and style. It was a bit more action oriented and more “modernized” to the mass markets, and that was clear and deviated from the path a bit that made the franchise what it is. It was a good movie – don’t get me wrong. By all standards it was. Very enjoyable and it offered a few laughs here and there as suspected.

If you like action flicks you should definitely go and see it. Apart from some very unrealistic moments, it was good. I can’t tell you about the momenst that bothered me, as it’d be a spoiler. But from a medical point of view, it was flatout ridiculous and I couldn’t get it out of my head.

Rating: 3 out 5

It was without a doubt the weakest movie of the franchise.

Best Action Actors

I just saw a major website publish a list like this and thought why the heck haven’t I thought of this idea? Needless to say, their list doesn’t correspond with mine so I thought I’d share mine.

1. Arnold Schwarzenegger

2. Sylvester Stallone

3. Jean-Claude Van Damme

4. Bruce Willis

5. Tom Cruise

6. Steven Seagal

7. Chuck Norris

8. Mel Gibson

9. Wesley Snipes

10.  Matt Damon

It was incredibly difficult to make this list and narrow it down to top ten. I could’ve stretched it more, but in all honesty I don’t know how to rank the difference between number 14 and 16 for one, and how far should I stretch it? There are only so many actors worthy of being considered “best”.

Special credz go out to: Mark Wahlberg, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Tommy Lee Jones, Russel Crowe and more who would’ve been on my top 15 list.

To see Van Damme, Stallone and Schwarzenegger in the same movie and together like this is an honor and privilege. My eternal gratitude goes to Stallone for making it a reality.

Gangster Squad

1949. Gangsters. Suits. Hats. Guns. I mean, this movie had it all on paper and add to that Ryan Gosling, it couldn’t be anything less than a masterpiece, right?

Well, let me tell you something. It was no masterpiece by any means in my eyes. But it was good. It was a good gangster flick and that’s a fair deal in my eyes.

I saw it mainly for Ryan Gosling. And it saddened me to hear that he had somewhat of a faggot voice tone in this movie. It bothered me immediately and throughout the entire flick. But then again, there was more to the movie than just him. In fact, he wasn’t even playing the lead role.

Gangster Squad offered some funny moments, some decent action shootouts old school style, classic music, nice suits and hats, and the atmosphere that I considered to be the ultimate. I wish it was like that today. But, those days are gone and it’s time to move on.

Needless to say, if you’re looking for your gangster fix, this will suffice, no doubt about it. Besides, it’s not like you have much choice as it’s currently the only gangster movie in theaters.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

A solid flick despite not living up to my hype.

Movie of the Year: Lawless

It’s 2013 and that means that 2012 has come to an end. And you know what that means, right? It means that it’s time to announce what I considered to be the best of 2012. This year I thought I’d spread it out a little and start with crowning the movie of the year first.

Movie of the Year: Lawless

Why it won: I am old fashioned. No doubt about it. And Lawless is old fashioned as well. Moonshine days during the prohibition old. So, that’s pretty old. But there’s more than that, of course. It was beautifully written and played out. I was more emotionally attached to this flick than any other this year. The characters were great and memorable and I still run quotes from the movie in my head daily and think about it. It also was something different than what is dominating the theaters now and it was original. I like that.

Runner-up: Looper

Notice: Some major AAA-titles such as Django, Wreck-it Ralph and more are coming out in 2013 in Sweden, thus my list couldn’t include them in the 2012 awards.

Beating AAA-titles such as The Dark Knight Rises, Spider-Man, and Dredd, Lawless truly blew me away.