Starred Up Review

     I do my best to keep up with all movies that come out, in hopes that I manage to find a gem; but every once in a while one or two manage to fly under my radar. One of those is the recently released British prison film, "Starred Up." Now I had never heard about this film until two weeks ago, it premiered at a film festival last year and has been met with rave reviews ever since. After its limited release earlier this year, some have been calling it one of the best films of 2014. So I have been pretty excited for this movie, and going into it I had some very high expectations. And after watching it, those expectations were blown out of the water.

     Taking place in a high security men's prison in England, the film follows a young man named Erik who has just been transferred to the facility. Erik is a troubled young man, with some extremely violent tendencies. He was transferred to the prison from a young offender institution, at the same time his father is also in the prison and is one of the big dogs on campus. Despite being a piece of sh*t, he really does want to help his son and forces him into group therapy sessions. Despite being told to follow the rules, Erik quickly makes enemies of both the guards and several other prisoners; and is forced to fight for his life on more than one occasion. All he has to do is to play the game, and eventually get out on patrol; but for some reason, Erik doesn't really seem to care.

   "Starred Up" is straight up (terrible pun intended) one of the best movies of the year, and probably the best prison movie since "The Shawshank Redemption." Every actor gives the movie their all, but star Jack O'Connell undoubtedly steals the show in one of the best performances of the year. The movie is also very well written with funny and sincere moments, there's also a type of nail biting tension for a lot of dialog between characters; you feel that at any second someone is about to lose their sh*t and shank somebody. One thing I noticed was the great cinematography; not a lot of different locations are used and many are in small areas like prison cells, but the cinematographer makes the most of the situation. One thing that is very common among prison films would be violence, and "Starred Up" is no different. There are some truly brutal fight scenes in this movie and there are as intense as they come. The first fight in the movie is one of the best scenes of any movie I've seen this year, that alone is worth giving the movie a shot. My only problems with the movie would be related to pacing; "Starred Up" is a slow burn, it takes at least 15 minutes for something truly interesting to happen. And there are some long breaks between the more exciting scenes. The movie is never boring, but you’re always waiting for the next fight or emotional breakdown. That aside, this is a really incredible movie. Probably one of the five best movies I've seen so far this year, I'm certain you'll be seeing this somewhere on my best of the year list. If you've been looking for an intense drama, "Starred Up" is a must watch; and it has my highest recommendations. 

Pros: Great acting, gritty and realistic, well written, great cinematography, several very intense scenes, in your face brutality, nail biting tension.

Cons: Slow burn, long breaks between excitement.

4.5/5 Stars

Guardians of the Galaxy Review

     The second generation of Marvel movies is in full swing, and so far it has been a mixed back. Last year you had "Iron Man 3" and "Thor: The Dark World," which I found rather lack luster; but this year you had "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," which some would say is one of the best superhero movies ever. But at the start of this new wave there was one movie that had many people scratching their heads, "Guardians of the Galaxy." Based off the comic of the same name, the plot takes place within the same universe as Marvel's other movies. The thing is that this movie was a coin toss; before these movies came out there were a lot of people who knew iconic heroes like Iron Man and Captain America, but not a lot of people knew who the Guardians of the Galaxy were. There was no guarantee for this movie like the others. But ever since the trailer dropped a few months back, it’s been the talk of the town and one of the most anticipated movies of the year. And after all the hype and expectations, amazingly, it's even better than we were expecting it to be.

   Taking place in modern day in the same universe as The Avengers, mostly revolves around a thief and self proclaimed Star-Lord Peter Quill. Out on a job one day looking for a priceless item (an orb) wanted by a salesman, he is ambushed by some men working for a genocidal mad man named Ronan the Accuser. He manages to escape but is later arrested trying to sell the orb, along with him an assassin named Gamora and two criminals looking to collect a bounty on Peter's head Rocket and Groot. They are sent to a maximum security prison where they meet Drax the Destroyer, a murderer with a personal vendetta against Ronan for killing his wife and child. Gamora reveals that she has a buyer looking to pay an absurd amount of money for the orb, so to get their pay day they all team up alongside Drax (who Gamora promises she will help kill Ronan) in order to escape. And thus like that the Guardians of the Galaxy are born; a thief, two thugs, an assassin, and a maniac. And they are the only thing standing in the way of Ronan and death of billions of people. 

     The best way I can describe "Guardians of the Galaxy" is if "Star Wars" and "Firefly" came together and had a glorious comic book baby. This movie does just about everything right from start to finish. Something that the people behind this movie had to face was that these are not well known heroes. Everyone knows Iron Man and Captain America, but not many people know Peter Quill; but it seems they actually used that to their advantage. It looks like they just had fun with the source material, and made a Marvel movie like no other. One thing that this movie did better than all the other Marvel movies was the humor, it is very funny and uses a several hilarious cultural references; but at the same time, it doesn't ruin the tone of the movie like what in "Iron Man 3" which was built up to be a much more serious movie that at times came off as silly. The movie also is able to switch between comedy and drama on a dime and feels very natural, and there are a couple of surprisingly heartfelt moments in it. I think one reason both the comedy and drama work so well are the characters, they're great. Each is unique and has their own tragic back story, but do their best not to show it. And yes, Rocket Raccoon and Groot steal the show. Pretty much every actor does a really solid job, but that leads me to my first problem. Dave Batista, who plays Drax, is not on par with the rest of the actors. He doesn't do a bad job, and I understand that they needed a big guy to play Drax, but you can tell he's not really an actor (he's known for his professional wrestling days). I actually really like the character Drax, he had some of the funniest lines in the movie; I just hope Batista takes some acting classes before the sequel. What this movie does best is something that other movies should pick up on, it's never boring. From start to finish it never slowed down and always kept you entertained. Using fantastic CGI to help with several awesome action scenes, this movie is just pure entertainment for both casual movie goers and those who go to the theater every weekend. It also helps that the movie has a great sound track that goes surprisingly well with everything happening. Now there is one real problem with this movie that left a sour taste in my mouth, the villain. He can best be described as lackluster. I think the reason you don't care about him is that you know in the next movie the Guardians are going to be facing off against the baddest mother f*cker in the galaxy, Thanos. But in this movie, Ronan is just kind of boring. He's not a bad villain, he's just kind of there; but other than that, this movie just did about everything right. 2014 has been a great year for super hero movies, first "Captain America: the Winter Soldier" then "X-Men: Days of Future Past" and now this. "Guardians of the Galaxy" is arguably the best movie of the Marvel franchise; I'd certainly place it in the top three or four. This is a movie I can recommend to just about anyone; whether you like comedy, action, sci-fi, or super-hero movies, this is a film you'll probably love. And after seeing it, I can't wait to watch the sequel.

Pros: Great CGI, very funny, humor doesn't ruin tone, switches between comedy and drama on a dime, awesome action scenes, rockin sound track, never boring, surprisingly heartfelt at times, solid acting from the cast, interesting characters, Groot and Rocket steal the show, entertaining cultural references.

Cons: Lackluster villain, Batista's acting isn't on par with the rest of the cast.

4/5