I will also be debuting a new rating system! I am going to begin using a more subjective scale instead of the objective Out of 10 scale I had been using. I will be using a scale that will change with the season of the movies. It is a scale of 4 being I really loved the film and down to 1 being a film I hate. For Oscar season movies, I will obviously use Oscars. For Summer movies I will use bags of Popcorn. For Spring movies I will use boxes of Candy.
For this review I bring to you a double feature of sorts. Two movies which are sorta of similar. Two teenage love story movies. So let's have a go at this again shall we?
The Spectacular Now (2013) 91% on Rotten Tomatoes: The Spectacular Now was released on August 2nd of this year and got a limited release in theaters. It is a coming of age, comedy-drama film. It follows the lives of two high school seniors, Sutter (Miles Teller) and Aimee (Shailene Woodley), as they start a by-chance relationship that neither of them saw coming. Sutter is a goof off who as he says "lives in the now" and does not like to plan too far into the future. Aimee is a good girl who does not garner a lot of attention. The two meet after Sutter breaks up with his girlfriend (Brie Larsen) and after a night of drinking is woken up on a strange lawn by Aimee. The rest of movie follows the growth of the relationship and how the two characters learn more about themselves from the other.
The movie is fantastic. It is a great coming of age story. The two leads have amazing chemistry with each other and they really sell the film. The acting from these two young actors is great. I believe we will be seeing a lot of both in the future. The only downside I would give it is that Shailene Woodley may have been "a little too good looking" for the role. It is a little bit of a stretch to believe that she would have been ignored as much as is told in the film, but her acting is what sells it and makes you believe.
The story is very realistic and that is what makes it such a compelling watch. Everyone can find a character in here in which to relate. The writing and dialogue is very good. The acting is tremendous. This movie is getting my first ever 4 Oscars.
Beautiful Creatures (2013) 46% on Rotten Tomatoes: Beautiful Creatures came out at the very beginning of this year (back in February). It is a fantasy romance movie that takes place in South Carolina. It follows the relationship of small town boy Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich) and the new girl in town Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert). Only problem is that Lena comes from a family of Casters (basically witches) and on her 16th birthday her powers will be claimed for either Light or Dark.
This movies had the unfortunate opportunity to be the next young adult fantasy romance adaptation since the end of Twilight. So this movie inevitably got the full brunt of the Twilight backlash. But in my opinion this is much better done than Twilight. Where Twilight was filled with a story that didn't really make sense, this one did. Beautiful Creatures sets up its love story in a very believable fashion. While watching you actually care about the two leads and want them to get together. Twilight's fantasy element seemed forced and out of place. The fantasy element in Beautiful Creatures is very subdued. The fantasy is in the background, while the love story takes center stage. The "villain" of this movie isn't even in it for much of the movie, which allows for a lot of character development with our leads.
The other problem that Twilight has is the acting. Everyone has heard of the wooden acting that movie has. The acting from the leads is actually surprisingly good for the type of movie you expect this to be. Englert does a good job and should pop back up in the future. Ehrenreich has a future as well. But the best acting in this movie came from Jeremy Irons who plays Lena's uncle Macon. He really sells the movie and makes you want to watch him more. The only problem I really had (which isn't a big problem) is the accents. They had very thick southern accents in this film and took me awhile to get over it. When Irons came on screen is probably when I dropped my feelings towards them.
This movie received a large backlash because of Twilight. But it is a much better made movie and much better all around. This didn't deserve the criticism it got from the critics. This was fun to watch and you actually did care about and want to root for the leads. I give it 3 Boxes of Candy.
Feels good to be back! So give me some feedback down in the comments.
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