Top 10 Movies of 2013

The year 2013 didn't start off strong, but it has given us it's fair share of gems late in the year. And I got the pleasure to see a lot of them. However, let it be known that these aren't necessarily reviews of these movies; this is a biased list of the movies I enjoyed the most this year. So without further ado, let's get started with a couple honourable mentions.

Honourable Mentions:
Dallas Buyers Club
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Upside Down - This is a very little known film, which is actually a shame, because once I saw this movie I couldn't stop thinking about it. It's probably one of the most unique films I've seen in awhile and it was directed in such a great way, that I was immediately sucked in. Upside Down takes place on two planets that are literally so close to one another that if you look up, then you would see the people and buildings of the other planet. People and objects from each planet retain gravity to their respective planet, so if a person is on the other planet, they will be upside down, or fall back to their own. In that, the central plot is that of a love story of two people, each from the different planets. The writing is rather generic and the acting is good. But the special effects, directing, and camerawork are really what make this movie great. I wanted to learn so much about these worlds, because it was such a cool premise/setting. Upside Down is a relatively short movie, and it's on Netflix; so if you get the chance, I urge you to see it.
The Hunt - Another movie that's relatively unknown is The Hunt, a Danish film that I gave 9 out of 10 Noodles. And it rightly deserves that rating because it is a very well-crafted film. Mads Mikkelson gives a spectacular leading performance, as a kindergarten teacher whose whole life falls apart once a student tells a little white lie, leading to people thinking he molested her. The events of the movie play out so realistically and you feel like you know each of these characters. And the raw emotion of this film is astounding. It's not an easy watch, and doesn't have much replay value. But The Hunt is one of the best made films of the year, in terms of technicality, enticement, and talent. It's also on Netflix, so fill up your watchlist.

Man of Steel - Man of Steel really polarized audiences. Many people didn't like its focus on action and that veered away from being an inspiring tale. I, however, am not influenced by popular opinion, because my opinion is that I can probably watch this movie every week. I'm a huge Superman fan, and have a bunch of comics. I used to watch the old Christopher Reeve films when I was little; but those are really dated now. I think Man of Steel did a great job of introducing Superman and was casted very well in almost every character. The special effects are incredible, and the musical score by Hans Zimmer is probably my favourite of the year. I personally feel that this movie brings a lot of enjoyment; the action scenes, though plenty, are high-octane, intense, and awesome. The hero and villain were both portrayed greatly, and Man of Steel, to me, has proved itself to be a great comic superhero movie.

10. Prisoners
Prisoners didn't get the real buzz it deserved. It was oddly released in September, but boy was it still a great film. The story of two neighboring families whose little daughters have been mysteriously kidnapped one night, and the efforts taken to find them, has become one of the most emotionally investing and real modern stories I've seen in awhile. You really get the feeling of loss that the characters in the movie get, and that's great testament to the acting and writing. It's, of course, a very depressing movie, and it's very emotionally heavy. That's what it was going for and it perfectly hit its mark, because the emotional intensity of this movie really sticks with you after watching it. Just as well, this movie's Oscar-nominated cinematography by Roger Deakins is probably some of the best cinematography this year. The movie is shot so smartly, and in such a way that it makes you feel cold when watching it. That's how I'd describe the movie, in fact; Prisoners is a very cold movie. But that just might be why it's one of this year's best.

9. Despicable Me 2

Undoubtedly the funniest movie this year to me, Despicable Me 2 is another movie I can watch over and over again. I loved the first movie, especially the minions (c'mon, you know everyone loves the minions); and this one brought all the flair of that movie, with fresh laughs and situations, that I honestly can't choose which of the two I like better. This one really capitalizes on the minion humour, and that's something I can never stop loving. I just wanna keep watching minions doing stuff forever. The main character, Gru, is hilarious too though, as well as the situations he's thrown into. The humour in general is just all over the place; there's laugh-out-loud parts, scenes of subtle humour that you have to be quick to catch, scenes of slapstick comedy. Despicable Me 2 is a nonstop entertaining ride; because the few times when it's not utilizing comedy, it's either showcasing cool action/spy scenes or heartfelt family scenes that make you go "awww." It's a movie that essentially anyone can enjoy as long as they're open-minded, and it's the funniest movie of 2013.

8. Captain Phillips
While Despicable Me is the funniest movie this year, Captain Phillips is definitely the most suspenseful. This movie is a straightup thriller, conveying the true story of a cargo freight ship captured by Somalian pirates, and what the captain does to keep his crew safe. This movie kept me at the edge of my seat for pretty much its entirety. You care for these characters, especially Captain Phillips himself who's played excellently by my favourite actor, Tom Hanks. And style of tension is so great, as the movie can slow down but still keep you invested and in anticipation. Kudos to Paul Greengrass, because his direction is really what takes this movie to the next level. And it stays at that high level all the way until the credits roll; Captain Phillips is one of the most intense and realistic movies this year.

7. Star Trek Into Darkness
For a great chunk of this year, Star Trek Into Darkness was my favourite movie of the year. 2013 didn't start off greatly, but this movie signified the start of when this year finally picked up. I loved the first Star Trek in 2009; I thought it was a great reboot to the series, and it was greatly favourable to viewers who weren't fans of the shows. Star Trek Into Darkness plays off that, in that it's an incredibly awesome sci-fi action movie that's enticing even for those not familiar with the series; but it also has a lot of material there for longtime fans. I'm a Star Trek fan and I enjoyed every minute of this movie (besides the sort of abrupt ending). It's great to see everyone on the crew of the Enterprise, as their all beloved characters and have great chemistry and dialogue with one another. And Benedict Cumberbatch is menacing and perfect as Khan; that's all that needs to really be said. This movie has a great blend of action, excitement, humour, and heart to it. While it's no longer at the top of my list for this year, it still remains one of the best.

6. Gravity
One of the most talked about films this year is Gravity. And after seeing it, I had to agree that it is a very astounding film that should be talked about. Gravity is actually really simple; a medical engineer is in space with an astronaut, and then a catastrophe takes place resulting in them drifting off in space. Though space is big and the "vast unknown," Gravity has this ability to make you feel claustrophobic. Sandra Bullock's portrayal is impressive, as you can genuinely feel her freaking out and desperately doing anything to survive. However, I feel a connection with this movie to 2009's Avatar. Not because they're in space, but because of its cinematic value. The writing and dialogue are good but not great; but on a technical scale, this movie is an absolute marvel (much like Avatar was). The visual effects and sound editing are absolutely intense and on point. Alfonso Cuaron absolutely deserves to be called Best Director for this movie because it is his direction that really makes this film great. Unless you plan on becoming an astronaut when you grow (because this film will definitely dissuade you from that desire), I would recommend Gravity to anyone, because it's a very entertaining and intense film, with amazing special effects, convincing characters, and all encapsulated in a brief runtime of 91 minutes.


5. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

We all know that The Lord of the Rings trilogy is my collectively my favourite movie of all time; so it's a given that I look forward to each Hobbit movie, since they're prequels to LotR. While the first Hobbit film was bit of a letdown due to its issues in tone and pacing. However, Desolation of Smaug turned the series around in the right direction as it had a tone more akin to the original trilogy, as well being filled with action and excitement that is intense, but also family-appropriate. It's a long movie but it's exciting and upbeat for almost the full runtime. The dragon, Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch), is one of the best villains I've seen in a movies in awhile. All of the characters are growing more likable in this series, as well as the events. Desolation of Smaug is a definite improvement over An Unexpected Journey and is hopefully a sign that the finale will truly not only be an awesome Hobbit movie, but an excellent action fantasy film altogether.


4. Elysium

The third movie in space on this list (fourth if you count Man of Steel in the honourable mentions), Elysium was perhaps one of my top 3 anticipated movies of this year. That anticipation paid off because it's one of my favourite movies this year. Neil Blomkamp's film debut District 9 was one of my favourite movies of all time, as it portrayed sci-fi in a very gritty and realistic way, while retaining drama and social commentary. Elysium did just that, and added world-building and some of the coolest action of the year. An increasingly engrossing film, Elysium had a knack for drawing me in. I was so sucked into this world where Earth was essentially a crumbling slum. The characters, too, are all enticing characters; as they're acted and written so well. Matt Damon's protagonist is incredibly likable and ambitious; while Sharlto Copley as the villain is so menacing and psychotic. The special effects are so convincing and on point that I sometimes couldn't tell if certain things (for example, a robot, or a spaceship) were actually made props or just really well-done special effects. The settings, too, were incredibly convincing. Everything about this film is convincing in its own way, especially the societal themes of it; being a metaphor for our real-world issues of immigration, healthcare, etc. This film's greatness is highly testament to the amount of love Blomkamp pours into it. He wrote the script personally, he directed every shot to fulfill his vision. And even if this film isn't perfect for you, you still gotta appreciate how passionate of a filmmaker he is. That's what makes this movie awesome. It's an epic sci-fi action movie with awesome special effects and a unique story; but it's also a passionately made film, that I happen to love.


3. 12 Years A Slave

This is probably the most well-made film of 2013. Years from now, I wouldn't be surprised if 12 Years A Slave is considered a classic. It's this generation's Schindler's List (which, to me, is probably the most perfectly crafted movie ever made), in that it digs deep into a terrible time in history and conveys it to us without holding back. Undoubtedly, 12 Years A Slave is an incredibly emotionally heavy film. You get connected to all these characters, and then wonder how such hatred and bigotry could've ever existed. The movie tells the disturbingly true story of Solomon Northup, who is played excellently by Chiwetel Ejiofor (my pick for this year's Best Actor), a respected successful free black man living in New York. He is, however, captured one day and sold into slavery; resulting in the most brutal 180 turn a person's life could take. The acting is so fantastic in this film. Ejiofor is so compelling and really carries the movie because it is, in fact, about his character's life. The supporting cast is amazing: Michael Fassbender is the absolutely menacing slave-owner; I just wanted Django to come in and shoot him down at so many points. New actress Lupita Nyong'o plays another slave and is incredibly impressive in the role; we got Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt, Paul Giamatti, Paul Dano, Sarah Paulson. The acting is amazing, and there's the writing, too, that helped bring these true characters to life. It's written in such a way that you know it's taking place in the 1800s, but you still understand what's taking place. Steve McQueen's directing was astounding, and he did a great job of turning a $20 million budget movie and making it look like it cost $100 million. The setting was spectacular, you really felt like this is what it would look and feel like.

While this film has so much going for it, I have to say the best thing about it was its absolute and disturbing realism. It displayed the travesty of the slave days in America in such an unapologetic manner. 12 Years A Slave completely accurately captures the brutality of it, and it does it so well that it still left me speechless when I was driving home after the movie. This movie is by no means an easy watch but definitely one that everyone should see at least once. It's a tough and emotional ride, but one of the most intense and astounding movie experiences I've ever had. I normally say that each decade has one absolutely perfectly crafted film; not necessarily my favourite, but made in such a way that it's essentially an engrossing and emotional story that really gets you in every way. 70s has The Godfather. 80s has Amadeus. 90s had Schindler's List. 2000s have got There Will Be Blood. The 2010s are still just starting, but I have a feeling that this decade's perfect film is 12 Years A Slave.

2. Her

This is the most recent film on the list that I saw, and I'm glad I saw it before I made this list because it's (obviously) one of the best of the year. The story of a guy falling in love with his computer sounds quirky, and this story kind of is quirky. But it's also incredibly engrossing; it really draws you in and makes you believe that this is happen. I was totally on board this whole film and in support of this weird relationship between Theodore and his OS system, Samantha. Joaquin Phoenix's performance in this film is so likable and so realistic; it's one of my favourite acting performances of recent years. Scarlett Johanssen, too, as the voice of Samantha, was so great, and played a big part in making this relationship convincing. Even though she was a computer, she felt so human. And that's a big thing about this movie: it tells a futuristic story about a quirky relationship between a guy and his computer, but it has such a human theme to it. Her has such a great feeling of humanity and love, and it's a great social commentary about these subjects. But it's also an entertaining film, because the drama and weirdness going on with the characters was so compelling; and then there was also comedy that was gut-bustingly funny. Something I forgot to mention in my review of this film was the production design. This is one of the best portrayals of the future I've ever seen in a film, because it had a sense of awe in its futuristic features, that were cool and desirable; yet, it also seemed like a possible future, like it could be attained in maybe a couple decades. It was a believable depiction of the future, and I loved that; which probably helped to make the overall story so convincing and engrossing. Her is definitely one of the best written films I've seen in awhile, and it's got great performances, passionate directing, and spectacular charm to complement that.

1. The Wolf of Wall Street

Was there any doubt? This was my only 10-Noodle movie this year and it rightly deserved that as it broke my Top 50 Movies of All Time list! Wolf of Wall Street is another true story on this list, and it's brought to life by one of the all-time greatest filmmakers, Martin Scorsese. He again does a legendary job in bringing the exciting life of stockbroker Jordan Belfort to the big screen in such an amazing way. This is a three-hour movie, but it went by so quickly because this movie's pace is so high-octane. Dialogue is witty and realistic, situations are eccentric and extraordinary, comedy and drama alternate seamlessly. This movie is entertaining, especially the first two thirds, that showcase Belfort's rise to power and the things he does when he's at the top. It's so fun and filled with such vibrant characters that I couldn't help but appreciate it. DiCaprio is perfect in this role, as he is in many movie; Jonah Hill gives his best performance of his career; and everyone else is so great and real. The events of this film were real, and probably terrible, because these characters were living such lavish and bizarre lifestyles by essentially ripping off investors. And like 12 Years A Slave, this movie doesn't shy away from anything. However, the movie is laugh-out-loud; you can't help but laugh at the things some people say or the way situations play out. And the genius of this film's writing and directing, is that you feel like you shouldn't be laughing at these things, but you just have to anyway. But Wolf of Wall Street also displays the dire consequences, in the last third of the film that depicts Belfort's fall from grace. The movie may slow down and start to veer away from comedy, but it remains absolutely compelling because it's also such a great drama. The movie's momentum never stops, and it keeps such a consistent focus throughout while blending so many great cinematic elements together; and still remains incredibly entertaining. The Wolf of Wall Street is undoubtedly my favourite movie of 2013.

Short Reviews from January 2014

I haven't gotten the time to write up reviews lately, but that doesn't mean I haven't seen the latest films of the past month. However, I somewhat feel I like I shouldn't have made time to see January releases, because we know January to normally have the cinematic diarrhea of the year. In spite of that, though it's not usually fun to have to watch them, sometimes it's fun to review a crappy movie; so I've compiled some short reviews for the movies I saw in January. So here are the 5 films I saw this past month, in order of when I watched them.

Legend of Hercules
2 out of 10 Noodles
This was one of the first movies of 2014. And the only way that this year could start off with a bang is if somewhat shot themselves after watching this film. This is movie is actually sort of laughable, because it attempts to convey a sense of epicness, but completely misses that mark. And I knew even from the trailers that it would miss that mark. Legend of Hercules started off terribly. It was stupidly cheesy and had awful CGI/special effects. And the tone of it didn't improve or change at all. The writing, acting, and lighting never seemed to go right in this movie, as there was always something bad about it that I could point out. The set was sometimes cool or felt like it matched the time period. But the costume design absolutely ruined that. This movie is supposed to be filled with grit and action, but virtually everyone's outfits are clean and ironed. It seriously looks like they literally bought them from a party store and were wearing their togas and armor for a history project. And the acting, too, seems like that which would come from a mentally retarded student presenting the aforementioned history project. It's so offbeat, and many of the characters grunt for no reason whatsoever. It's horrific. Watching this movie, I was thinking that it could be given some slack because it was probably a low budget movie that was trying to show it had artful value or whatever. But after looking up this movie, I came to find out that it had a budget of $70 million. 70 MILLION DOLLARS went into a movie with 1980s CGI, elementary school acting, and costumes from Party City. There's pretty much nothing to like about this movie. My mom wanted to see this movie because it looks like a cool action movie. Oh, I forgot to talk about the action! Literally every single fight scene is drowned in slow-mo. Maybe the first use of it was cool because it was obviously ripping off of the stylistic action from 300, but then they just started overdoing it and using it every five seconds. It grew increasingly irritating, just like everything else in this movie. I wouldn't recommend it at all, and it gains its few Noodles because I liked Liam McIntyre, the actor who played Hercules's buddy; and that's expected from him because he's Spartacus. Other than that bright spot, Legend of Hercules doesn't have anything going for it.

Her

9.5 out of 10 Noodles
Her is officially a 2013 movie, but it came out at my theatre in the beginning of January, so I didn't get to see it until recently. But better late than never, because Her is one of my favourite movies of 2013. This movie is a gem, and it's so impressive because it seems so simple, yet it's so profound and layered. The premise is that of Joaquin Phoenix's character, Theodore, who is a recently divorced writer. Well not exactly a writer; he writes love letters from a client's perspective. And he lives in the recent future; not very distant, but they have a little more advanced technology and architecture. Theodore purchases a new OS system that organizes his stuff, reads him his emails, sets alarms and schedules, etc., and has an artificial intelligence (voiced by Scarlett Johanssen) in that Theodore can have conversations with it. However, as he spends more time with this OS, he starts to sort of develop feelings for it; and the computer, via it's artificial intelligence system, starts to do the same for him. They start to date. You might be thinking right now: wait, this movie is about a guy who starts dating his computer? Um, yes. The genius of this film is that it makes you believe it all. All these characters seem so real and you get so invested in them. You see this love story from many perspectives, and you actually kinda get into Theodore's head. He's falling in love with a computer, and you're totally behind it. Watching this movie, I was just so invested in this relationship and it's truly compelling and emotional. The writing is so perfect, wherein everything that takes place seems so fluid and has purpose. The conversations are real, and the way they're spoken have enthusiasm and feeling to it. The acting is on point. Joaquin Phoenix gives one of the year's best performances; he was so great at playing this eccentric guy while retaining such an immense amount of likability. And his loving computer, Samantha, was voiced with such awe by Scarlett Johanssen. It's amazing how just her voice actually brought so much to this movie Then we have the supporting cast which was all great: Amy Adams, Chris Pratt, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde. But a star in this movie was the director, Spike Jonze; he really put his stamp on this film and shows that he's really a great filmmaker. He sprinkles in great commentaries on things like love, misunderstanding, and humanity; it had a nice little share of big Hollywood moments; and his direction makes this movie so vivid and engrossing. Her is one of the most original and unique movies I've seen in awhile. It had a really fresh feeling to it, but was also enticing and sucked me into the world and the characters. I really wish more movies could be like Her.

Devil's Due

1 out of 10 Noodles
Hollywood just needs to stop making found footage movies, because they just have absolutely no cinematic value anymore. The last found footage movie to actually work well was the first Paranormal Activity, but Hollywood realized that a lot of people (normally teenagers and date-goers) like to watch these "scary" movies, so with such a small budget that found footage films cost, they can definitely make big money. But even then, they should at least try to make these movies have plausible stories, instead of just throwing in possessions and apparitions for shits & giggles. The writing in this movie is so bad, and the characters are so unrealistically stupid. The movie centers around a newly married couple, but before I get to them I have to speak about the totally unrealistic cop. The guy calls 911 because of all the shady and creepy stuff going on and the cop comes but literally is no help at all. He just leaves and says he'll write a report, instead of giving any type of solution to this helpless guy. I dunno, that just got to me how unrealistic this cop was, but anyway, back to the main couple. The main couple of the movie is on their honeymoon, and a really shady cabdriver tells them he'll take them somewhere special. He takes them to a creepy alley in the middle of nowhere, and it looks so sketchy. But they still continue to follow him! If it even got that far, any sane individual would turn around and get the hell outta there. But nope, this is a found footage movie; our characters have to be dumb enough for our scary stuff to happen. Anyway, they go into this underground club. Let me tell you, this whole creepy club and society there was actually a tad interesting in how it existed, and was honestly scarier than the actual happenings in this film. That's another flaw of the writing, which I cannot seem to bash enough. Also due to the writing, and probably the directing, was that this movie was unbearably boring. It's an hour and a half, but still felt so long. Sure, it was had a couple of scares, but all of them were predictable and cliche, much like this whole movie. And while a cliche found footage is bad, Devil's Due absolutely sucked.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
6 out of 10 Noodles
This is technically a prequel to the previous Tom Clancy movies, The Hunt For Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, and Sum of All Fears. All of these movies are centered around the character, Jack Ryan (portrayed by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, and Ben Affleck, respectively) and his ongoing espionage conflicts. The first is considered a classic, and the others are also considered excellent spy thrillers, so Shadow Recruit had a lot to live up to. Does it? Eh, kinda. This movie chronicles the genesis of how Jack Ryan became a CIA analyst and ended up getting caught up in international crises, it's an origin story. But in spite of that, it's a pretty generic spy movie. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit tended to play it safe in that it didn't try anything new that could end up being only either great or bad; it just stuck to what most people like to see in a spy movie. You like intense chase scenes? It's there. How about conversations between the protagonist and the bad guy? We got it. Cliche secret spy life that the main character can't tell his girlfriend? Yup. There's nothing really bad to say about this movie, but nothing very great either. It's entertaining and it's a cool spy movie that sticks to the roots of spy movies. Plus, I really liked Kenneth Branagh as the Russian bad guy. Gotta love Russian bad guys. It's a good movie but not one that's highly memorable. I'd say it's the best movie of January, but is that even saying much?

I, Frankenstein 

4.5 out of 10 Noodles
Let's get something straight. Frankenstein is NOT the monster. He's the guy who created the monster, he's the crazy scientist. The monster is simply Frankenstein's Monster. Or in this movie, his name's Adam. However, some people still call him Frankenstein. You think that's sloppy? Wait till you actually see this movie. It is sloppy from the start; the tone, the story, it's all sloppy. But that doesn't mean you can't enjoy it. I'd say that I, Frankenstein is purely just a guilty pleasure movie. It has some pretty cool action sequences, among them that have somewhat bad CGI, but it's still entertaining. Aaron Eckhart, as Frankenstein's Monster, you can tell he's acting his ass off in this movie. He's trying hard; is he overacting a lot? Yes, of course, but it's a guilty pleasure movie so it's fun. His character's morality was interesting too, probably the best point of the writing in this sloppy script. He's sort of a wild card in this ongoing war between Demons and Gargoyles. The Gargoyles looks really cool sometimes, especially one scene where they fly to a rooftop and change into human form. The Demons, though, looked really weird; the makeup done on them was almost laughable and they didn't look intimidating at all. Even their first scene where they try to gang up on Adam, it's cheesy and unformidable because you know the main guy is gonna look badass and then beat all these guys. That's what we get for a lot of this film. Coming out at the end of January, though, was a good marketing scheme for this film, since it came out after all the shit movies so it would comparatively seem better. I, Frankenstein is by no means a gem, or even a remotely good film; but it's definitely a guilty pleasure.

Top 10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2014

2013 has come to an end. While a lot of the hollywood juggernauts are being saved for 2015, we still have another year before that. But, 2014 does have its fair share to offer us moviegoers as it's going to bring a plethora of awesome sequels as well as some unique flicks. So let's get started.

Honourable Mentions:

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

Guardians of the Galaxy

The Expendables 3

10. The Edge of Tomorrow (June 6th, 2014)

Edge of Tomorrow is an action about a soldier played by Tom Cruise named Lieutenant Cage. He's fighting in war against an invading alien race and this battle could be the determining point in who wins the war. However, Lt. Cage dies pretty quickly but ends up waking up at the beginning of that day again and starting the whole day over. He finds himself caught in a time loop of this last day and becomes increasingly more skilled along the way, while trying to figure out how exactly to defeat the alien menace. This movie looks really unique and looks to give a cool and gritty take on sci-fi. It stars one of the most consistent actors in the business and is directed by the director of The Bourne Identity, which is known for its immersive action sequences and suspense. If director Doug Liman can bring that to this flick, then this could really work. Plus, the special effects and costume design look awesome, especially the huge mech-looking armor suits that the soldiers wear.

9. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (May 2nd, 2014)

I wasn't a big fan of the first movie. It was entertaining and had some cool web-slinging moments, but for some reason it just didn't feel right. I was still attached to the earlier Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy. Hopefully, this sequel can veer the audience towards believing in this Spider-Man. What it really is that I'm anticipating is Dane DeHaan as Harry Osborn; he's a great new actor and looks like he can bring something much needed to this franchise. From the posters and new trailer, it looks as if he's going to don the persona of the Green Goblin, Spidey's most well-known nemesis. That would total this movie's supervillain count to three, when you add that to Electro and Rhino. One problem that Spider-Man 3 had was that it lost focus because it was too overcrowded with big bad guys. It'll be interesting to see if they can get it right this time.

8. The Wind Rises (February 21st, 2014)

This movie probably isn't as well-known as the rest on this list; but it's already been nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film, and that's quite feat for an animated movie. The Wind Rises has already released in Japan and gained critical acclaim. That's expected because it's the newest film of Hayao Miyazaki. If you don't know who that is, he's basically the king of anime when it comes to story, emotion, and immersion (Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Way). But this time around, his cartoons tackle the true story of the life of Jiro Horikoshi, the man who designed Japanese fighter planes during World War II. If it's everything it's being hyped to be, The Wind Rises could be one of the best animated films in a long time.

7. The Monuments Men (February 7th, 2014)

From the trailers for this movie, it looks like one of those high-profile Oscar movies, almost like last year's Argo (which ended up winning Best Picture). But the release date of this movie kind of scares me, because February is not normally the movie season for gems. If we're looking at it optimistically, the film has already been released to critics and is being considered in this year's awards. Otherwise, it would be forgotten next time around since it's coming out so early. Nonetheless, Monuments Men looks to be an entertaining yet engrossing movie, as it tells the true story of a group of soldiers who actually aren't even soldiers; they're just in the war to recover all of the art that's been taken by the Nazis in order to preserve them or return them to their rightful owners. It's got a really credible cast, starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, John Goodman, Bill Murray, Jean Dujardin, and Cate Blanchett. Also directed by Clooney, it looks like it could end up being quite a memorable World War II movie.

6. Noah (March 28th, 2014)

The biblical story of Noah's Ark looks to be one of the most epic movies of 2014, as it features such a huge scale. It looks like one of those movies that will inevitably have awesome sweeping cinematography, complemented by an epic musical score. And that should be the case, as a huge budget has been poured into this film; which should help it to have great special effects. Noah, himself, is played by Russell Crowe who is one of my top 5 favorite actors. He's supported by a cast of Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, Kevin Durand, Logan Lerman, and the legendary Anthony Hopkins. Add to that one of the most experienced directors in the fields of character development and engrossing narratives, Darren Aronofsky, and we should have a breathtaking film to look forward to.

5. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (July 11th, 2014)

A sequel to a prequel of one of the most classic movies in American cinema. Rise of the Planet of the Apes blew away my expectations and is one of my favorite movies of 2011. It was engrossing, and you never knew what to think. Just as well, Andy Serkis's motion capture portrayal of Caesar, the main ape, was groundbreaking. (Spoilers for Rise ahead!) At the end of that movie, we saw the apes becoming dominant and the human race dying away from a plague-like disease. In Dawn, years later, we see Caesar as the leader of warrior-like apes and the human race as struggling to survive. This movie looks so appealing because it looks as if it can capitalize on everything in the first movie, as well as even further tie it to the original Planet of the Apes. Also, it's technically a post-apocalyptic film; and I'm a sucker for those.

4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (April 4th, 2014)

To me, Captain America: The First Avenger was probably the weakest film in phase one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (besides Iron Man 2, but we pretend that that one didn't happen). It was an entertaining movie and Chris Evans is good in the role, but it just didn't capture the essence of importance and is sometimes forgotten as a movie. However, the trailer for this sequel utterly blew my mind. Winter Soldier takes place in present day, and I imagine it will further deal with Cap still getting used to how the world is now (which shouldn't be easy since he went straight from the 1940s to 2012). Also, the trailer touches upon the concept of freedom and fear in the country, and that's what really got me. I mean, it had all of its awesome money shots, action sequences, and cool moments; but what got me was the possibility of this movie having that kind of social layering. Captain America should be an icon, and he truly cares for the people; he's not just a soldier for the government. That's why his line in the trailer, "This isn't freedom, it's fear," is so great. Add to that what looks to be an awesome villain, the Winter Soldier, and we could have the best movie of the franchise's second phase.

3. X-Men: Days of Future Past (May 23rd, 2014)

X-Men is one of my favourite movie series, X2: X-Men United is one of my favourite superhero films of all time. The first X-Men movie is what opened up to us that we could have so many successful and awesome superhero movies. Before then, all there was that Hollywood wanted to count on was Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man. Who could blame them? Those three are arguably the best known heroes with the highest likability factor. However, X-Men opened up the door to further vary the superhero genre. While it had a bit of a dip in quality with X-Men Origins: Wolverine (which we don't talk about, ever), the franchise quickly got back on its feet by releasing one of the best superhero movies of all time, X-Men: First Class, which served as a prequel and dealt with the characters of the series in a much earlier time period where they were younger. Days of Future Past looks to be one of the most unique movie moves ever as it's going to bridge the gap between the original movies and the prequel movie; in that, the older cast will meet the younger cast as their younger counterparts. We'll get virtually the best of everything, as the story is adapted off of one of the best X-Men comic book story arcs, the massive cast of stars will be giving their all, director Bryan Singer of the first two X-Men movies returns, and hopefully everything will blend swimmingly to give us a complex, yet fun comic book movie to start the summer right.

2. The Hobbit: There And Back Again (December 17th, 2014)

The opposite from starting the summer could be ending the year. And if it goes right, 2014 could end with a bang. This is the third movie in The Hobbit trilogy, as well as the final film in the Lord of the Rings series. If you didn't already know, the Lord of the Rings trilogy is collectively my favourite movie of all time, and so I was greatly looking forward to The Hobbit movies as they serve as prequels to the series, and offer a chance to get back into the amazing world of Middle-Earth. Having read the books, I have knowledge of what will go on, but Peter Jackson has taken his own liberty in adding a ton of content taken from all of J.R.R. Tolkein's Middle-Earth related works. This gives us the chance to not know what's fully coming and ultimately not know what to expect. While the first Hobbit film was good, I felt it didn't fully capture the essence and epic value of The Lord of the Rings, but the second did go into the right direction. If they're consistent, There And Back Again could end up being an epic fantasy classic that's fun for the family while offering service to fans and critics alike. The second movie left us off just wanting so much more, so this movie could get it right off the bat and offer the flawless special effects and action that the second film had, as well as the acting and directing that the whole series has flourished upon. Regardless, I know for sure that I'll be back again for it.

1. Interstellar (November 7th, 2014)

There's not a lot that anybody knows about this movie. It looks to be an incredibly ambiguous film that can't really be explained to its full potential unless you actually attentively watch it. That's not uncommon, coming from arguably the best filmmaker in cinema today, Christopher Nolan. Some will argue that he's not a classic filmmaker yet, but he is my favorite as he's consistently released films that could almost all be considered classics in their own respect, as well as a great number of my favorite movies of all time. Just put Nolan's name on something and I will flock to the theatre to see it. Interstellar is written by Chris Nolan and his brother Jonathan Nolan, who co-wrote The Dark Knight trilogy, Memento, and The Prestige (all incredible and engrossing films). There's not much known about the story, except that it features a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole in order to surpass the limitation on human space travel. Even from that synopsis, we can't really tell much about the plot, other than the fact that it will be a complex sci-fi movie that will really require the viewer to use their noggin and remain invested. It stars Matthew McConaughey (who's recently gotten back on his game), Anne Hathaway (fresh off of her Oscar win), Jessica Chastain (a powerful leading lady), Casey Affleck (probably one of the most consistent actors in choosing the movies he acts in and one of my personal favourites), and Michael Caine (who's come to be a Christopher Nolan staple). Though there's not much known about Interstellar, I'm certain that it's my most anticipated movie for the year, as just the little that is known has piqued such great intrigue. 

The Wolf of Wall Street - Noodles Review

10 out of 10 Noodles

Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese can never go wrong together. Scorsese is a legendary filmmaker. The late Roger Ebert (arguably the world’s most renowned movie critic) even said that Scorsese has given us a classic each decade with Taxi Driver in the 70s, Raging Bull in the 80s, Goodfellas in the 90s, and The Departed in the 2000s. It’s my pleasure to say that he’s continuing that tradition with The Wolf of Wall Street. The Wolf of Wall Street is the basically biography of legendary stockbroker Jordan Belfort, who is an incredibly greedy and despicable, yet ambitious guy. My favorite quote of his is in his narration when he says, “the year I turned 26, I made $49 million, which really pissed me off because it was just three shy of a million a week.” That just shows how arrogant and confident this man is. But that’s not it, because he also lives a life filled with drugs and sex. This movie is gratuitous and insanely realistic about that; it doesn’t hold back at all and you’ll know what I mean when you see this movie. It explores that world of rich Wall Street brokers who are extremely corrupt, and it does so in such detail. You witness the arc that is Jordan Belfort’s life from his start as an innocent and ambitious stockbroker looking to make his way up in the ranks, to the peak of his life where everything is bizarre and extreme, all the way to his tragic fall from grace. Along the way, he’s accompanied by some diverse interesting characters, sharp quick-witted comedy, and probably one of the most engrossing and fast 3-hour movies I’ve ever seen.

This film is so entertaining and filled with such colourful characters. At the front of it all, we obviously have Leonardo DiCaprio with yet another Oscar-worthy performance. He’s such a vibrant character in this movie and his energy resonates so well that it’s contagious to the viewers. He plays his role so well that you stand behind him and love him because he’s so fun and silver-tongued, but at the same time hate him because he’s such a despicable person. While I expected a great performance from him anyway, this is one of those times where I started to not even see him as Leonardo DiCaprio. He was so phenomenally invested in the character that every word that comes out of him is gold. And then there’s Jonah Hill, who plays his best friend and right-hand man, Donnie. If you thought his Oscar-nominated performance in Moneyball was good, then this will blow you away. Jonah Hill has greatly matured as an actor and he’s absolutely spectacular in this movie. Like DiCaprio, he got lost in the role and you started to not see him anymore, but instead just see that character he’s portraying. On top of that, there’s an extreme amazing supporting cast. Margot Robbie (who most people will end up thinking is the hottest woman on the planet) plays Belfort’s wife, and she absolutely nailed the east-coast accent. Matthew MacConaughey’s there for a short time and he’s awesome. Rob Reiner, Kyle Chandler, Jean Dujardin; they’re all incredible, and add immensely to the completion and hilarity of the overall movie.

And this movie is hilarious. It’s that sharp and quick type of comedy that you have to sort of think of about. It’s almost like a Tarantino movie in that respect. There are so many laugh-out-loud scenes and even some where you feel like you shouldn’t even be laughing, but you do so anyway. The movie goes by so fast because of all the crazy and outrageous scenes. It’s a long story but it’s so high octane that you don’t really even feel the length of it up until the end. On top of that, this film is still a serious character study and biography of this man Jordan Belfort, and there are some very serious scenes in which the tone gets really dark. While there’s so much fun going on, the film doesn’t shy away from the consequences and what negative results can come from living such a lifestyle. In that, Scorsese so seamlessly blends these elements together and retains a consistent focus throughout the entire film. It’s astounding how well the tone can change so drastically, yet the perfect focus can still be there, and it continues to show why Martin Scorsese is such a legendary director. He brings such great style to the movie, with vibrant shots and utterly bizarre scenes that just confuse you but draws you in. It’s a really hypnotic film as it all the bizarre things that go on just draw you in and keep you invested, despite the long runtime. It’s fast-paced and the writing is stellar. There’s quick and realistic dialogue, as well as so many great memorable monologues. It almost felt like Pulp Fiction wherein it keeps you so entertained for so long just because of the witty dialogues and great words that come out of every character’s mouth.

The Wolf of Wall Street blends such great elements together and everyone involved in the movie works so well together. The serious drama and starkly opposite vibrant comedy blend so seamlessly, while still holding focus. And the directing of the movie complements the writing to the point where the momentum of the film just never stops. The writing works perfectly with the actors as they sell every word they speak as if they’re selling you a stock share. The Wolf of Wall Street really sucks you in and shows you the lifestyle of these characters, sparing nothing as it displays the great successes, the bizarre occurrences, and the dire consequences. I gotta say: The Wolf of Wall Street is my favorite movie of 2013, and it gets 10 out of 10 Noodles. I can’t think of a single flaw. Jordan Belfort once said, “If you give people a good enough ‘why,’ then they’ll figure out the ‘how.’” Well, I just told you why this movie’s great; now figure out how you’re gonna see it.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - Noodles Review

8 out of 10 Noodles

   This is the movie I wanted to love the most this year. From the first trailer I saw of it so long ago, I was greatly looking forward to it. I really didn't know what to expect from it; you really don't know what the story's gonna be about until you actually see the movie. That kind of ambiguity really intrigued me. What also intrigued me was that it looked as if Ben Stiller was veering away from strictly comedy into a more serious role in this movie. It almost reminded me of Jim Carrey when he went and did Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. And while Carrey was much better in that movie than Stiller is in this one, I think I enjoyed Walter Mitty's adventure more. So, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is about a guy who kind of lives a boring lifestyle, which leads him to be ultimately the biggest daydreamer in the world. He literally freezes and imagines some spectacular things going on, usually including him as a hero. And we get to see everything he imagines and how people perceive him when he zones out, all from Walter's perspective. From the trailers, these dreamlike sequences seemed really cool and I thought they'd be an awesome highlight. However, in the film, sometimes they're a bit drawn out. They do result in some cool or funny moments though. One of these is even so outrageous that some people may not like it. But it was just so ridiculous that I was laughing so hard; you'll know what I'm talking about if you see it, because it involves conversation of another film that came out in 2008. Anyway, Walter Mitty works for Life magazine as a negative asset processor. He gets all the negative slips of film and process them so they can be photos in the magazine. And this time the one photo that they have to use for the cover is missing, so Walter decides to track down the photographer so he can get ahold of the picture. From there, his real adventure starts and this movie greatly picks up. He starts to go into his fantasies a lot less since his actual life is becoming so lively and epic.
   This is testament to the directing of the film, which is done by Ben Stiller himself. I was really amazed with so many shots in this movie. The cinematography sometimes has such a large and epic scale, and then other times it has a really interesting and visually artful take. Some scenes really even gave me goosebumps because I really felt so sucked in and moved by some of the shots and sequences in this film. His acting isn't bad either because he plays a convincing Walter Mitty. He's hardworking and determined but also a bit quirky and awkward. Kristen Wiig's character, Walter's love interest, was also played well; I think this is the best she's ever been since it's the first time she wasn't playing an outrageously absurd character, and instead a desirable and somehow inspiring woman. The strongest role in the movie, however, is the small amount of time that Sean Penn is onscreen. He plays the photographer that Walter is tracking down, and he's really in this character; he's so interesting and laid back, really encapsulating the presence of a photographer. Then, of course, there's the downsides. There are a few corny characters in this movie. Adam Scott, whom I know as the jerk older brother from Step-Brothers, plays an incredibly cartoony character in this movie. It's made in such a way that he's such an unrealistically mean asshole. I understand that he's supposed to be an antagonist but he really didn't fit. As with a couple other characters, like Walter's weird sister or Adam Scott's bearded friends who just act like henchmen. This sort of disrupted the tone of the film as well.

    A major gripe of this movie is its tonal inconsistency, since the tone was all over the place for the first third of this movie. It sort of got out of it. The daydreams, even, kind of come out of nowhere and most of the time don't have time to get you connected to them. Just as well, the movie has some very cliched moments, and the movie overall has a lot of very predictable elements. As a result, the writing of the film isn't very strong. Even some comedic moments are hindered by this. But even so, the film does have a large share of funny scenes, whether they're subtle or laugh-out-loud. What I came to see this movie for wasn't the comedy, though; I came for an inspiring feel-good tale. And from the moment Walter makes his decision to go to Greenland, that's what we get. The location shooting is absolutely breathtaking and the transitions in this movie from scene to scene are even cool in their own way. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is probably the most visually stunning film of 2013 and the epic cinematography gives it such an ambitious feel. The real thing to this movie is Walter finding himself, and actually living life, and I can't tell you enough how satisfying that actually is to see. This movie polarizes critics and viewers as some can love it, some can hate it, and some can go straight in the middle. While I wasn't totally invested in the first act of the film due to tonal inconsistencies and some bad characters, once Walter Mitty embarks on his adventure, it becomes one of the most uplifting and awe-filled movies I've seen in a while. While it subtly disappointed me, it still impressed me to earn 8 out of 10 Noodles. The ambition of Walter Mitty's life should be no secret.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Noodles Review

9 out of 10 Noodles

            The movie I've been looking forward to the most in 2013 has finally come. And while it's still not the perfection I hoped for, it's still quite a treat. The second installation in The Hobbit trilogy (serving as a prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy) brings us back to Middle Earth with style and houses a grand feeling of adventure which is the main element I wanted out of this series. The Lord of the Rings, if you didn't already know, is collectively my personal favorite movie of all time. The trilogy perfectly captured the fantasy, wonder, and amazement of the lore from Tolkien's literary classics, as well as blending components of action, adventure, humor, and gave viewers moral senses of hope, friendship, courage, among tons of other things. The trilogy escalated from amazing character development to extremely epic in such a seamless fashion, that it's truly something to marvel at. That trilogy is taken from three 400-page books, whereas The Hobbit trilogy is taken from one 300-page book, with ideas from Tolkien's other books as well as new story elements that fans of the books won't see coming. As one of those people, I can say that it's pleasant to have read the book yet not completely know how all the events in the film will unfold. Though some die-hard fans (or hipsters) will say that it's too starkly different from the book, I say that that's what we should come to accept now. The outside story arcs that aren't in the book (such as Gandalf's personal quest to see if darkness has returned), all make sense and, for the most part, don't feel out-of-place at all. Desolation of Smaug has the right tone throughout the movie; it's the tone I was looking for in the first movie. In the first one, it held more of a familial tone, and while this film is still a fun-for-the-family movie, I feel like it definitely grew up and became more like a Lord of the Rings movie (and that's exactly what we all want!).

            Something that's consistent throughout all the Lord of the Rings movies (which includes The Hobbit movies) is the characters are so well done. And that is the case in this movie, too. The casting is so well done that the actors/actresses fit their roles so well. They look like essentially exactly what I would imagine them to look like while reading the books or thinking about the characters. Just as well, the acting is pretty much stellar. Martin Freeman proved to me in An Unexpected Journey that he is the definitive Bilbo. He kills it in this role and he nails every expression, mannerism, hobbit-ism, and line in the exactly the way that he should. Also, you can see that his character has grown. I like to see character growth, especially when it's not overtly-cliched. We saw in the first movie that he was still a homesick peaceful guy, even on the adventure. But he grew since then, and we can see here that he's grown quite courageous, as well as cunning. He even is responsible a lot of the time for getting the gang out of trouble in a bunch of situations. The company of dwarves is still well acted done and the leader, Thorin Oakenshield, feels even more heroic and leaderlike in this film. As well as Gandalf, but we all already know that he's an inherent badass. 

            And then we have the elves. Legolas, who was my favorite character in The Lord of the Rings trilogy for most of my life, is still awesome in this movie. His actions scenes make this movie so much cooler and appealing, since he's a such a fluid fighter with his bow-and-arrow and his two swords. However, it's incredibly noticeable that he's sort of like a different character in this movie. He's arrogant and sometimes comes off as a jerk. But I realized that this comes to play into his overall character arc over the span of the entire series, and imagine he'll grow into a more humble warrior in the next movie. The other elf is Tauriel, who, like Legolas isn't in The Hobbit book. However, unlike Legolas, she's not in any of the books whatsoever; she was completely made up for this movie. However, she definitely feels like she belongs there and she's acted well by the beautiful Evangeline Lily (plus she's got her fair share of badass action moments!). The one thing is just that there's a bit of a small romance and it feels a little bit forced and childish, so I don't think that really fit, but it was partly essential for some story segments to move forward. A lot of things in this movie, you can tell were shoehorned in by Peter Jackson, especially the involvement of Legolas and Tauriel, but it's executed in such a way that it feels like it belongs there. But the character who really belongs here is Smaug (his name's in the title, duh). In case you live under a rock, Smaug is the dragon who lives in the Lonely Mountain, which is where the Company of Dwarves is journeying to in order to reclaim it as their kingdom. Smaug, is voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch; and let me tell you, they could not have picked anyone better. Cumberbatch is already one of my favorite actors and his voice is such a chilling an awesome one. He lends to Smaug just the right tone of voice and speaks so articulately; it's honestly amazing. Smaug just gives off the perfect vibe of arrogance and you can tell he condescends upon virtually everyone. He was such a memorable character and he was so menacing that I don't think I'll ever forget him as a movie antagonist. When Bilbo first encounters the incredibly huge Smaug in the mountain, it is the ultimate "oh shit" moment and it keeps you so invested throughout their conversation.

            The special effects, as expected, are also breathtaking. The dragon is designed so flawlessly, that you don't just feel like he's there; you KNOW that the dragon is right there about to roast some poor souls. The CGI in other scenes was mostly on point; however it did slack a little bit at some moments. The effects are done by WETA (pretty much the gods of computer-generated special effects); we can't just let them off so easily, so there's a minor gripe there. The orcs are done better in this movie though. One of my major gripes with the first movie is that firstly, the orcs were done with CGI, and secondly, I could easily tell they were. Thankfully in this movie, a lot of the orcs are done with makeup and prosthetics so there's a more realistic and gritty feel to them. The feel of the entire movie is much more exciting. One of my main problems with An Unexpected Journey was that it had pacing issues and a lot of it felt slow or uninteresting. But Desolation is turned on for pretty much all of it 161-minute runtime; in that, I mean that it's exciting and something's happening, almost all the time. When they get to Laketown, it slows down a bit, but that could just be in relativity because the rest of the movie there's so much stuff happening. I mean, hey, we can't have action every second of the film; so that makes sense.

            All in all, Desolation of Smaug a greatly welcomed installment to the series, and it's a great improvement over the first movie. It's moreso like An Unexpected Journey was actually just building up to the events of this film. This movie capitalizes on a lot of what it's got; the characters and action are spectacular, while the overall scope and tone are going in the right direction. Hopefully, the final film in the trilogy will veer towards even greater excellency, as there is still room to improve. However, The Desolation of Smaug as a movie is the opposite of a desolation, as it rightly earns 9 out of 10 noodles.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - Noodles Review

8.5 out of 10 Noodles

            May the odds be ever in your favor... Just kidding, I'm not that cliche to start off a review with a generic quote from the movie. But for future reference, do not whistle four notes while holding up three fingers; you will get shot. That's not all I learned from this movie though. I learned that there's hope for The Hunger Games series. Actually, let me rephrase that. We all know that it's going to make big bucks from all those devout fans of the books and just the teen populace of the world, so: I learned that there's hope for the quality of the movies in the series. So, we left off in the first movie that Katniss and Peeta won the Hunger Games, and the way they did it gave way for people to get the hope and idea to rebel against the oppressive government in this world. Let's talk about the world for a second. The world that Suzanne Collins has established is actually really impressive and interesting. I really dig the lore and how everything came to be, as well as the overall atmosphere of it. This movie gets that atmosphere right. The tone throughout the beginning of this movie is spot-on and I was afraid that wouldn't get it right, because the first movie didn't quite do it. I liked the first movie to a certain degree; it did hit some good notes, but I personally don't feel like it did the source material the right amount of justice. Catching Fire, takes almost a 180-degree turn, because this is SO much better! First off, they build off of the good things in the first movie, and then they improve on some of the weak points, and I think that's a lot due to the new director because I could definitely tell that this was directed differently (for the better, though). The camera angles are a lot better, as well as the tone and placement of everything; especially the pacing. Pacing was a major problem for me in the first movie because I don't think I should be getting bored during a movie about a government-orchestrated fight to the death between teenagers in a post-apocalyptic world. But I did. Sigh. The pacing is much better in this sequel. I was invested throughout more of the movie. And here's what you've all been waiting for... wait for it... the violence in onscreen! In the first movie, almost all the violence was offscreen so we didn't even see what happened; it was moreso implied. That deters the viewers from caring as much for what happened. Being able to see the actual cuts, injuries, hits, and deaths, really adds more to the emotion and investment in the film.

            That is also thanks to the acting because that's also great. Jennifer Lawrence has obviously proved herself as a credible actress now. She's got an Oscar, is the frontrunner for one of Hollywood's currently largest franchises, and is a great onscreen presence. We know she's great as Katniss. But I was really surprised by her in the beginning of the movie. You really begin to feel bad for Katniss and she effectively portrays her post-traumatic stress and stubbornness. What really surprised me, though, was Josh Hutcherson. Wow, man, give yourself a pat on the back. Josh Hutcherson improved so much; I was literally impressed. In the first movie, I gave him a lot of crap since his acting was so wooden and ineffective. Back then he was just a pretty face. He's really improved, because I genuinely cared for his character in this movie, maybe even more than for Katniss at some points. Their little entourage in the Hunger Games is quite fleshed out and distinctive as well. It's inevitable that everyone's gonna love Finnick (or Aquaman as I called him). He's a humble yet confident guy who protects his old lady friend Mags; he's attractive and he fights with a trident. The guy is acted well, too, so he's definitely a plus. My favorite character, however, is Plutarch Heavensby. He's the gamemaster, and plots with President Snow (the real baddie) on how to get rid of Katniss; their conversation on how to get that done is probably my favorite scene in the whole movie. He's played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, one of my favorite actors, and I knew just from the trailers that I'd end up loving him. He surpassed my other favorite character, Caesar. Caesar, as well as pretty much all of the supporting cast is acted well. The only characters I sort of have a problem with are the career tributes (the tributes from districts 1 and 2). I understand that they're supposed to be formidable foes, but this movie honestly doesn't play them as anything else; it feels like they're just there to be bad guys.  

            Unfortunately, like the first movie, the pace slows down when the Hunger Games actually start out. This is a bit of a letdown because it's a little weird that the movie slows down when the "action" actually begins. Not only that, but the quality of the movie takes a bit of a dip as well. Yet by this point, it is a realization that the actual Hunger Games aren't the basis of the series. The Hunger Games event itself is a tool to help tell the story; it's a vehicle to propel the actual conflicts. That conflict is oppression and revolution. And this is one of the main reasons I like the book series. It's layered and has elements of politics on top of all this action and stuff. It's not just black and white wherein a good guy is trying to beat a bad guy; there's other components involved. Catching Fire really started to show that, whereas one of my main problems with its predecessor was the lack of this layering. So up to the Hunger Games, we have actual dramatic conflict occurring, and it keeps us intrigued most of the way leading up to the games. The scope of the film was great until then, and I really felt more connected to the characters before it happened. Speaking of scope, there are some moments in the film that really make it feel more epic, and truly escalate the experience; this is in part due to a great blend of sweeping cinematography and a strong musical score. The score in this movie is definitely much stronger than that of the first movie since the music is actually memorable. I guess we could sum up this movie that way, because it's overall just more memorable than the first installment of the franchise. Catching Fire is a more exciting and more layered film that not only houses more intrigue, but also more cinematic prowess. Despite it having some obvious conveniences and other downfalls, Catching Fire is definitely a step in the right direction for the series; a step toward 8.5 out of 10 Noodles. The odds are coming to be in their favor.