It’s week two of my Fortnight Flicks series and I’m hoping to keep it up, sharing with you any and all of the movies that I’ve seen in the last two weeks and what I think of them!

Insurgent ★★★ 1/2

For this series, I really wanted to read the books first but my husband watched the first movie without me and insisted I see it. I was glad, because it was awesome. This one was a little quiet at first, not as action-packed as the first, but still very good. When the action picked up, it got extremely interesting! It’s such a unique idea that I had absolutely no idea where they were going with the story and that was fun because you had to pay attention to really know what was going on. I don’t really have to talk you into seeing this one or explain much about it because if you saw the first one, you’d be crazy not to see continue on with the series and I’m sure the books are even better. I started reading the first one on my vacation and can’t wait to find the time to finish them up.

Get Hard ★★★★

My husband and I were both pleasantly surprised at how funny this movie was! Neither of us are big Will Ferrell fans but the combination with Kevin Hart was perfect. The premise was different and the jokes were hilarious. If you don’t know, it’s about a guy (Will Ferrell) who’s going to go to jail and wants to learn how to brave it from someone he assumes has been in prison (Kevin Hart).

Annabelle ★

My husband has been into The Warrens for years so I’ve heard the “true” story of Annabelle and the occurrences surrounding the “possessed” doll. It’s pretty creepy. The real doll itself is not very creepy looking though. Hollywood decided to make the story weirder and the doll scarier, which was just not necessary. I think the movie was kind of boring and without much scare factor compared to others of its kind.

Maggie ★

When I was asking my husband to rent “a scary movie that has a girl on the front”, he rented this and the next one because I’d forgotten the name. Maggie was listed under the “horror” section although I’m not entirely convinced that’s what I’d call it but I guess there’s really no other genre for it. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, which is a totally different area for him. It’s actually sort of a zombie movie but more from the dramatic side of things, as in how the zombie apocalypse would personally affect families and loved ones. It’s extremely, almost painfully slow but it was okay because it was something different. I can’t decide if I recommend watching it or not but I’m leaning towards no.

The Lazarus Effect ★★

This is the movie I meant for my husband to rent because I saw a friend posting that she was watching it on Facebook and I figured “well, she has good taste!” This one is kind of a thriller but also scary. It’s about an unlicensed experiment that brings one back from the dead. During the experiment with a dog, one of the scientists accidentally dies and the science team brings her back with it. The person who returns is clearly not the same from before and chaos ensues.

Sex Ed ★★★

Haley Joel Osment was one of my favorite little kid actors so I was excited to see him in something. He seems really convincing as a sexual education teacher and I bet he learned a lot during this movie. It was moderately funny and so is he, we liked it.

Birdman ★

Let me start by saying that my husband absolutely hated this movie and I knew he would. Most movies that are nominated by the Academy are incredibly slow and dull. I’m not sure if that’s just something sophisticated people are into or what but it seems to be rare for us both to enjoy anything that’s been recognized by them. I love Michael Keaton and he’s my favorite Batman, just putting that out there. Also, Emma Stone is one of the best actresses out there right now. Michael Keaton’s character is an actor trying his hand at Broadway and I guess he’s a little bit crazy. I didn’t think it was terrible and there were moments that I was definitely intrigued, I paid attention for almost the entire movie, and mostly talked to myself about the scenes since my husband was vastly uninterested. I guess I would recommend this if you usually like those films that the Academy does?

Back in the day…

Real Genius ★★★

Real Genius is a comedy from 1985 where prodigies attend a school together. It stars a young and very stunning Val Killmer as a sarcastic funny man and complete genius. It’s all of the college shenanigans you expect, except they’re even more clever and thought out because they’re being done by ridiculously smart young people. It’s funny and cute, not bad!

Devil’s Own ★★

In this 90s flick, Brad Pitt does an adorable Irish accent while playing an Irish terrorist taking up residence with a family in America, in attempt to obtain guns. The family is that of a cop played by Harrison Ford and his family is in jeopardy because of it. It’s an okay movie but maybe a little bit slow and quiet for a movie of its kind.

Labyrinth ★★ 1/2?

I don’t even know how to rate this movie because I haven’t figured out how I feel. Is this movie for kids? It seems too creepy for kids but also kind of like Sesame Street on acid? Many of my friends rave about this movie and I was sick of being out of the loop so when I saw it available on Netflix, I had to see it even though I had no idea what it was even about. A girl wishes her crying baby brother to be taken away by goblins and immediately regrets it, having to go on the weirdest journey ever to get him back from a castle ruled by David Bowie’s character. I don’t know what to say about this movie except I probably would say to watch it just because it’s so insane that it makes your mind do backflips. No drugs necessary.

 

*Check out all of my other movie reviews here.