Rock of Ages

Being born in the 90's, you would expect me to be to listening to current music. Not really though. 80's music and 90's music a little is where it's at for me even though this is not really common for people in my age group. It is music that brought me to where I am now as a teenager and in some ways how I found my friends. That being the case, I really should have liked the 80's - themed musical Rock Of Ages. It appealed to me because of the music but there were many problems that caused me not to like it.

Rock of Ages is set in Los Angles in the 1980's, Sherrie (Julianne Hough) ditches her Oklahoma hometown and family and sets off to LA for a new start. She meets the handsome Drew (Diego Boneta) and a relationship forms with both working at The Bourbon, a rocking bar where rock bands perform. Rocker, Stacee Jaxx ( Tom Cruise) is the main subject in the film and his interactions with Sherrie causes Drew to be distant with her.


Actually you are not going to find a finer collection of 80's music in one piece. You get Journey, The Scorpions, Guns N' Roses and other big names from the 80's but actually this is the main problem with this film. Who really wants to watch an actor who is lip-syncing one of your favorite songs when you know the band who really plays it and you would rather watch them? Also at times the song's rhythm and message don't really fit the story. On the other hand, the atmosphere depicted is pretty wild with good lighting on the stage which makes you want to be there. 


After struggling with the music, the plot is not all that strong either. The story is one of a middle-age person running away where that's not really common. The supporting cast includes Russell Brand who sports a terrible wig and also Paul Giamatti who seems lost here. The lead characters are thin and about as cheesy as they come. Tom Cruise is not very likable and it is hard to follow what he wants or where he's going. There is also a rap idea that added nothing for this film. Further, the main  band here is something called Wolfgang Von Colt and I can't come close to figuring what they are all about.


I am also not sure why this movie was sanitized to give it a PG-13 rating. Drugs and sex were a big part of the 80's music scene and the movie needed more of this to be realistic. The ending is also a little weird with amateurish bands who seems tame and that's dates back to the PG-13 idea.


In short, this movie does not really depict the 80's music scene very well. The setting of the movie is one cheap bar with nothing special to it. The filmmakers just did not show the 80's very well and many more ideas could been used to get the full 80's effect.


Rock Ages is a film that kind of makes me want to listen to 70's or alternative music and makes me forget how much I was into this type of music in the first place. It was that bad for me.

1.5/5

Jerry Maguire

As film followers, every year we seem to get a fair amount of love stories. Every one is different of course. In 1996, we got a love story called Jerry Maguire that still stands out close to sixteen years later. It did a whole lot of everything and really for everyone in almost every way.

It is the story of a sports agent named Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) who finds himself with girl named Dorothy (Renee Zellweger) after getting fired. It also about Jerry trying to connect with Dorothy's son Ray (Jonathan Lipnicki) and the point of it all is Jerry trying to get back to his normal and true self.

All in all, this is a really nice story that is quite original. The love story between Cruise and Zellwegger works really well. Both Cruise and Zellweger are touching and work real well together. The story also introduces sports into this mix which is not a common thing.

The supporting cast is also very good. Jonathan Lipnicki and Cuba Gooding Jr. add great humor and Bonnie Hunt plays a sister who's character really works here. These characters work in secondary roles but they really complement the main plot and do quite a bit more than you might think.

The film does have it's flaws though. It does struggle with an overly-long NFL draft scene and Tom Cruise gets punched in the face in a scene that does not look real. As for the female audience, I could see how maybe you could think Zellweger was barely on screen here and needed more time.

Jerry Maguire was not one of that year's top films and is kind of easily forgettable. That said, it is a memorable film from the 1990's that really stood out for me.

4/5

My most anticipated films of 2013

Every year, there are films that will stand out. Memorable films that are exciting, may add something to a series or whatever. Here are films scheduled to be released in 2013 that I am most looking forward to.

 

I really enjoyed the Kick-Ass movie. I see that Kick-Ass 2 is returning most of the great cast from the original. Kick-Ass 2 also adds Jim Carrey so anything can happen and I am looking forward to it.

 

After a brief absence of mob films, we get a new one, Gangster Squad in January. It's got a big and impressive case led by Ryan Gosling and looks to have some potential.

Being a fan of the original, I am really looking forward to this remake of Carrie. It will be interesting to see how Chloe Grace Moretz does in the lead.

Producer M. Night Shyamalan will hopefully get back on track with After Earth after some very rough and subpar movies in recent years. It will be also interesting to see Hayden Smith again.

Monsters University is another film that I am interested because what came before. Like the first one, this looks to have a great plot and animation.

Oblivion might only be remembered for Tom Cruise getting dumped while on set by his wife, Katie Holmes but who knows.

Dark Skies feels like an old fashioned film with children in some type of horror plot. This one could go either way and I am interested in how it turns out.

                                                                             

                                                                                                 

Oz appears to be loosely based on the classic Wizard of Oz movie. I want it to be great and or else because I wouldn't see a point of it if not.

 

Thor returns for Part 2 and Iron Man for Part 3. Both should be interesting after the original movies and also their parts in the recent Avengers movie.

Into Darkness is the new Star Trek movie and I loved most of the other Star Trek movies including the 2009 version. It should fun to watch and see where this series is going.


Obviously 2013 will have it's share of good and bad films but these are the ones I am most looking forward to.