Happy President’s Day! I’m blessed that I get a day off today, woo hoo. Nobody likes Mondays so it’s always nice to get Monday off 😀
I’ll reserve my weekend roundup until tomorrow, but instead I’ve got a couple of new release movies for you. Perhaps those of you who get today off are considering to see either one of these. Are they worth a watch? Well, read on.
A Good Day to Die Hard
Well, where do I start? If only the studio and everyone involved take the film’s title to heart and put a bullet right in its head and kill this franchise once and for all!
I’m actually a big fan of the Die Hard franchise mind you, Bruce Willis is always fun to watch as the reluctant action hero. The first three Die Hard are fun to watch, and I even like the fourth one (despite the silly Justin Long casting) and the internet-terrorism theme was quite timely. Now this time, our wisecrackin’ John McClane travels to Russia on a mission to save his estranged son. John hasn’t even made it to his hotel yet from the airport and he soon gets caught in a building explosion and shoot out. It turns out the rebellious Jack McClane is a CIA operative who’s on a mission to prevent a nuclear-weapon heist from happening. The plot involving a high-ranking Russian politician Viktor and a government whistle-blower Yuri (I’m surprised neither one is named Ivan!) is really stretched thin, as the movie is far more concerned with explosions and shoot-em-ups.
You know how young boys like to crash their match cars and destroy things? Well I feel like watching an 8-year-old boy playing with his toys here, except that the boy here (director John Moore) was given close to $100 mil worth of playthings to smash as he pleased. Within the first twenty minutes there’s a huge explosion, guns blazing like there’s no tomorrow, followed by a relentless car chase that never seem to end. I haven’t seen sooo many cars being smashed, crushed, mangled so much so quickly. At first I was laughing at its inherent preposterous-ness but the amusement doesn’t last long. All the deafening clanging and bullets wheezing grow more and more tedious by the minute and I’m afraid not even Bruce Willis self-satisfied smirk can’t save this movie.
It certainly doesn’t help that Jai Courtney has zero charisma and the father/son dynamic between him and Willis are ridiculously lame. Forget ‘under developed,’ as the screenwriter never even bothered to make any effort to imbue any sense of wit or fun in their dialog. Willis’ usually amusing wisecracks are frustratingly repetitive as he keeps saying over and over again that he’s on vacation. It’s just so stupid as John wasn’t really on vacation as the reason he went to Moscow was to get his son back. Even his famous ‘yippikayay’ line was so uninspired and was delivered kind of under his breath that some people around me didn’t even realize he even said it. Poor Mary Elizabeth Winstead was completely wasted as McClane’s daughter, but did she even read the script??
Now, I have to give it to Willis that at the age of 57 he still looks good enough to run around, jump, leap from tall buildings and blazing semi-automatic weapons at bad guys. But it’s getting to be a bore to see him playing himself over and over again. I can’t even tell the difference between his role here and in RED, yet another action franchise that’s fun initially but will likely overstay its welcome.
I get it that a certain ‘suspension of disbelief’ and escapism is to be expected from a Die Hard movie, but I think this one fly waaay past my tolerable threshold. Seriously, the McClane duo are apparently made of rubber as no matter how far down they fall or how hard they smash into things, they both manage to come out unscathed with not even a twisted ankle!!
Director John Moore hasn’t directed anything since 2008, which was the equally dreadful Max Payne (funny that they both got 16% rating on Rotten Tomatoes). I sure hope he takes a much, much longer directing hiatus after this one for all our sakes. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of this tired franchise as it once again tops box office! 😦
Beautiful Creatures
When I first saw the trailer of this film, the first thing that came to my mind is ‘oh not another Twilight!!’ Here’s another supernatural teen romance based on a popular young adult novel by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, and of course they’re trying to capitalize on the Valentine’s Day weekend to suck lure young audiences in.
Instead of a rainy small town on the West Coast, this time we’re taken to a small town in South Carolina called Gatlin where there are “twelve churches, one library and no Starbucks.” That’s what narrator Ethan Wate tells us as the film opens. Ethan is a 16-year-old cool kid who likes to read ‘banned books’ and he’s been having a recurring dream that torments him. Suddenly there’s a new schoolgirl in town, a gloomy 15-year-old Lena Duchannes, known as the niece of the reclusive Macon Ravenwood whose family line been living in that town for centuries. Ethan immediately takes a shine to the new girl who reminds her of the girl in his dreams, and soon learns that she’s a witch, or ‘Caster’ as her family prefers to call it. Well everyone in school finds out who she was the day she uses magic to shatter the glass window of their classroom when she was bullied. It turns out that the reason for Lena’s angst (beyond the typical teen angst that is), is that on her sixteenth birthday, she will be claimed for either Light or Dark. The whole film largely focuses on how Ethan could save Lena from going Dark and also figure out how he is connected to her.
Good thing I read Wikipedia before I went to the screening, so at least I know just who the heck are Jeremy Irons and Emma Thompson playing in this movie, as those two are the main draw for me in seeing this. Well, Irons plays the debonair-looking Macon whilst Thompson was in scenery-chewing mood the entire time — complete with her amusing Southern accent — as Serafine, Lena’s mother who’s an all-powerful Caster but takes the form of Mrs. Lincoln, the mother of Ethan’s BFF. Viola Davis also has a small but important part as Ethan’s governess of sort who’s a seer who can communicate with the dead. Emmy Rossum on the other hand, seemed to have too much fun with her role as the rebellious Ridley, Lena’s cousin who’s turned Dark for some time, that she overacted in most of her scenes.
Now, I find the whole black magic stuff quite repulsive, not to mention baffling as so many things just don’t add up. Not having read the books, I’m willing to wager that there are perhaps more depth in them than what’s depicted on film. But that’s just speculation, I’m not that interested in this story to ever find that out. Thankfully, the movie is not devoid of some wit and humor, albeit some of them are quite campy. Director Richard LaGravenese (who also co-wrote the script) infuse some comical aspects into the characters and there are some references to some famous works like To Kill A Mockingbird that I find quite amusing. Alden Ehrenreich as Ethan is actually quite likable and nowhere near as morose or vapid as any of the Twilight boys, though he also likes to stare creepily at the girl he fancies quite a bit (is that what teenagers do these days?? I wouldn’t know). Australian Alice Englert (apparently she’s director Jane Campion’s daughter) could’ve been more captivating as Lena, but at least she doesn’t annoy the heck out of me.
Though I enjoy some of the performances and the beautiful Gothic set pieces and cinematography (the snow scene is quite lovely), I feel that the word I use to describe this movie is laborious. The long drawn-out exposition threatens to grind the movie to a halt by over-explaining things instead of focusing on crafting a love story worth caring for. The young actors have decent chemistry, but their relationship descend too much into melodrama and insipid melancholy. I think the more mature actors are having more fun in this, especially Emma and Emmy, relishing on the chance of being oh so evil.
Overall, I don’t find this adaptation would appeal much to those outside of the young adult demographic. There is a good message of sacrificial love at the end of the film, which I thought is quite refreshing to see. But unfortunately it was soon dampened by an eye-roll inducing cliffhanger finale set up for an inevitable sequel. Heh, I guess it’s too much to ask these days to just have one good movie, but no, the studio seems set to give us (I’m going to use the dreadful words again) sequels that overstay its welcome [sigh]
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Have you seen either one of these films? Well, what did YOU think?
FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
Die Hard getting no love anywhere it seems 😦
Yeah, it’s too bad as I actually like Willis as McClane but the stupid script is impossible to like, Ty.
It makes me sad about Die Hard. I love Willis, but Die Hard is a movie that stands alone and really should have been left that way.
Yeah I like Willis too. You’re right about leaving the first film alone. I like the 3rd one but still, even Irons cant beat Rickman as Hans Gruber!
Nice reviews Ruth. Haven’t seen Beautiful Creatures but my Die Hard review goes up tomorrow. Haven’t seen many good things said about the film. You make some good points about it. I do have to say I thought the early car chase was a highlight with the exception of one major issue. I’ll get into it tomorrow. Anyway, great job as always!
It would’ve been a highlight if the director knew when to stop. It just went on n on that it became a bore. I hope this franchise would just die already. Thanks Keith.
Hope you’ll check out my take tomorrow. We share many of the same thoughts. 🙂
Will do! Btw did u see my post on Marriage in 2012 films? Let me know what u think 😃
No I haven’t! Not sure how I missed it! I’ll be sure to check it out!
It’s yesterday’s post 😉
I saw this Die Hard sequel last Saturday. I have no words… But, it did do the unexpected: displace Renny Harlin’s DIE HARD 2 as my lowest rated in the series. I now wish I’d have gone to see ‘Beautiful Creatures’, instead. Thanks, Ruth.
Ahah, well this fifth one makes Die Hard 2 looks like the stuff of legend, Michael. Can you believe it a Die Hard movie that’s actually super boring?! Beautiful Creatures isn’t great but still better than all the loud noises of the latest DH.
I think I might have to see Die Hard just to see how bad it is. Like Tyson said above, it’s getting horrible reviews everywhere.
Ahah, well proceed at ur own risk 😄
I know I’ll probably see A Good Day To Die Hard, despite the awful reviews.
That’s why this kind of tired franchise keeps on going.
There needs to be a good film soon in 2013!
Agreed! 😀
I was looking forward to seeing Die Hard 5 on IMAX but with all the bad reviews, I’ve decided to just rent it. No need to waste $16 on a crappy movie, I’m predicting the second weekend earning will drop significantly so then Fox won’t earn enough to green light the sixth film.
Yep, I probably would just wait for Netflix if it weren’t for the free screening Ted. I sure hope this movie won’t do well to warrant yet another sequel!!
Sounds like a couple of disappointing films there, Ruth. I’m still curious to see Die Hard, but I have very, very low expectations. I wasn’t aware it was directed by the same guy who made Max Payne — that explains a lot right there, I think.
Yeah, I didn’t see Max Payne but even just reading the reviews of it is well, painful, ahah. If I were you, I’d just give it a rent Eric, only worth it if it’s free 🙂
Laborious. Damnnn. That is a GOOD word to choose for Beautiful Creatures. LOL. That one was drawn out exposition filled chore, wasn’t it? Uhhhf. 2.5 out of 5 isn’t that great a rating, so there’s not much to argue. I’d be more like at a 1.5 I think.
Anyways, I rated “Die Hard 5” slightly higher I guess cause Im one of those boys with toys. LOL I cant understand why I didnt mark it lower after reading your points. I agree with much of what you said, especially Jai Courtney. Its laughable to think they might have been thinking about passing the torch to him and thats why they cast him in this, named him John, etc.
Why thanks Fogs, I had to use my thesaurus to find the right word 😀 2.5 isn’t great either but I guess I like that guy playing the protagonist, he wasn’t too annoyingly morose and the girl is eons better (read: more palatable) than K-Stew!
He..he.. well, nothing wrong w/ Boys w/ Toys, I mean I’m a fan of action flicks where things go kabloooey, but this one is just soooo vapid that it gets boring. I mean I gave The Last Stand a 4/5 because it made me laugh so I didn’t mind the flaws.
Jai Courtney is like Sam Worthington-stiff, only stiffer and with even less charisma!! Oh dear, I sure hope they won’t give the franchise to him. That’s like waaaaaaaaay worse than giving the Indy franchise to Shia LaBeouf!!! LOL
Ohhh, I dunno, I think Labeouf would have been a terrible choice! Way worse!
Yeah I guess both franchise should just stop now. Really, we need fresh stories, Hollywood, gee whiz!!
The new Die Hard was pretty ridiculous. John and his son were almost superhuman, and the “vacation” line bothered me too. Plus, the film felt too rushed to me.
Beautiful Creatures looks really bad. If I decide to see it, I’ll wait for the DVD.
Yeah, since when are the McClanes become superheroes??! Both of these are only good enough for a rental Josh, and if those decide to skip ’em they’re not missing much either.
Too bad none of those movies seem to appeal you (and me even though I haven’t watched them). I was disappointed with the previous Die Hard. I am a fan of Die Hard till the third series. The fourth was already pushing TOO much and I know, without seeing it that the fifth will be the same….and your review confirmed my prediction.
Yeah, the 4th one wasn’t good but still way better than this one as there’s still some brain cells involved when making that one.
I wonder why movie industry likes ruining a perfect movie with continuously making the sequels (O.o)
I know, right? That’s what happens with an industry motivated by money 😦
Btw Nov, check out the trailer I’ve got posted that I’m SUPER excited about. I think you’ll dig it.
Doesn’t sound like you’ve had the best time at the cinema this week Ruth! I just can’t be bothered with either of these films, all the negative reviews have just convinced me to save my money for something else.
Well at least I didn’t have to pay for them Chris. It’s wise to just avoid this one, or just rent it if you’re curious.
Yeah I might check them out for a rental, we’ll see! Did you manage to catch a free screening of this or something? Or just sneak in 😉
Oh I’m in the press list, so I get free screenings every week. I don’t watch everything though, only the ones I’m interested in or curious about.
Sweet! Now that is the good life. I wouldn’t know where to begin going about that here!
Is there a marketing agency in the UK that you could contact? I knew about them through a local film fest that I was covering 3 yrs ago and sent an application to be considered ‘Press.’ You should give that a shot, I think Scott at FrontRoomCinema got one, he lives in Brighton.
There are a few marketing agencies but I always presumed I wouldn’t get anywhere near a press list with just a blog. I’ll look into it though, cheers Ruth!
Shame about the new Die Hard film 😦 Poor Bruce!
Poor Bruce??! He’s gotten paid millions to just be himself, I mean, he’s livin’ the high life!
Oh man, someone would have to drug me and pay me to go see Beautiful Creatures and that comes from a person who likes Twilight. BC just looks terrible and I’m pissed off about dumbing down the idea of magic and portrayal of witches in those cheap, bad movies. Practical Magic was probably the last fun and good film dealing with that subject.
As for Die Hard I only saw the first three movies but that sounds like a big waste of Winstead who is very talented.
Ahah, I’m surprised you’re not interested in BC. I actually think in terms of acting and dialog it’s much improvement over Twilight. Well the black magic stuff is not my cup of tea, so I don’t usually care for films dealing with that subject.
As for Die Hard, yeah I’m surprised Winstead even agreed to take this role. I mean she didn’t really do ANYTHING. Any high school play actress can do her role, it was such a big waste of her talent.
I won’t be seeing Beautiful Creatures at all. It certainly feels like another attempt at banking on the success of the Twilight franchise. I’m surprised that several good actors were a part of this film, but I’m sure there were “millions” of reasons to say yes.
As for the latest Die Hard, I have yet to see the previous entry of the franchise and I’m not in a rush to do so given what I’ve heard of both. Lets seriously hope that the franchise comes to an end despite the strong showing at the box office on week one.
Nice reviews Ruth!
Yep, a ‘million’ reasons, most of which involving dump trucks full of money 😀
Actually, the box office take apparently isn’t that good compared to previous DH films, so fingers crossed this would be the last one, Niels.
Beautiful Creatures better than Bruce Willis? It’s a sad day indeed when that happens! ha.
and I agree, Mary Elizabeth Winstead was completely wasted in the role. Both of the different daughters in DH5 were wasted!
Yeah I know! I love McClane but that script is just so darn lousy! Winstead was way more wasted than the Russian gal as at least she was sort of part of the plot. Winstead only appeared in 3 minutes total and on the finale she barely even talked!
Wow, sounds like a torture. I almost saw Die Hard last weekend with couple of friends, but I caught fever. I have a feeling I won’t enjoy it. I did watched Django Unchained last weekend. I’ve never heard Beautiful Creatures, but it doesn’t sound very appealing to me. Thanks for sharing, Ruth.
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