The First Time (2012)

The First Time
Director: Jon Kasdan
Writer: Jon Kasdan
Cast: Dylan O’Brien, Britt Robertson, Craig Roberts, Lamarcus Tinker, Victoria Justice, James Frecheville, Joshua Malina, Christine Taylor, Molly C. Quinn

Plot:
Dave (Dylan O’Brien) and Aubrey (Britt Robertson) meet at a party. Even though Aubrey has a boyfriend and Dave is desperately trying to let Jane (Britt Robertson) know that he’s been in love with her for years, the two of them have an instant connection. A connection that will quickly change things for both of them in the course of a single weekend.

The First Time was really sweet. It wasn’t a great masterpiece of cinema, but it was fun, enjoyable and despite a couple of clichés, it did give us a different perspective on teenagers in love than we usually get.

High Road (2011)

High Road
Director: Matt Walsh
Writer: Matt Walsh, Josh Weiner
Cast: James Pumphrey, Dylan O’Brien, Abby Elliott, Rob Riggle, Joe Lo Truglio, Matt Jones, Lizzy Caplan, Rich Fulcher, Ed Helms

Plot:
After his band splits up, Fitz (James Pumphrey) turns to selling pot full-time, without the knowledge of his girlfriend Monica (Abby Elliott). He spends his days pretty aimlessly otherwise, spending most of his time with Jimmy (Dylan O’Brien), a boy from the neighborhood. When his drug business is  in danger of being discovered, Fitz takes off, taking Jimmy with him.

High Road was bad. Really bad. The acting was incredibly awkward, the story was boring and there was nobody you could actually care about among the characters. It just didn’t work.

Re-Watch: The Last Unicorn (1982)

The Last Unicorn
Director: Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr.
Writer: Peter S. Beagle
Based on: his novel
Cast: Alan Arkin, Jeff Bridges, Mia Farrow, Tammy Grimes, Robert Klein, Angela Lansbury, Christopher Lee

Plot:
The Unicorn (Mia Farrow) hears that she is supposed to be the last in the world, the rest of the unicorns having been chased by the Red Bull. At first, she doesn’t believe those news and she decides to go looking for the others. But as she scours the lands, she doesn’t find them. Instead she hears more stories about King Haggard (Christopher Lee) and his Red Bull. Joined by Schmendrick (Alan Arkin), a rather inept wizard, and Molly (Tammy Grimes), a former robber, they make their way to the castle to find out about the unicorns.

I am honestly not sure how many times I have seen this film. It’s older than I am and it has been with me through my entire childhood (we used to watch it at least once a year, usually around Christmas). I hadn’t seen it for a while now, so I was very glad when the film still carried the same magic for me as it did back then.

The Fast and the Furious (2001)

The Fast and the Furious
Director: Rob Cohen
Writer: Gary Scott Thompson, Erik Bergquist, David Ayer
Based on: Ken Li’s article Racer X
Cast: Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Rick Yune, Chad Lindberg, Johnny Strong, Matt Schulze, Ted Levine, Ja Rule

Plot:
Brian (Paul Walker) is an undercover cop who is investigating a series of truck robberies and their ties to the underground racing community. In particular, her tries to infiltrate Dom’s (Vin Diesel) gang in which he finally succeeds after saving Dom’s ass after a race raid. But soon Brian finds himself sympathizing more with Dom than he thought.

[I think I've seen The Fast and the Furious once before, a while ago. Anyway, I'm not treating this as a re-watch because even if I did, I don't remember anything about it.]
I’m not somebody who enjoys cars or (car) chase scenes a whole lot. With those prerequisites I probably enjoyed The Fast and the Furious as much as I could enjoy it, apart from a few cringe-worthy moments. It’s not particularly awesome, but it is fun.

Stoker (2013)

Stoker
Director: Chan-wook Park
Writer: Wentworth Miller, Erin Cressida Wilson
Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode, Nicole Kidman, Jacki Weaver, Dermot Mulroney, Alden Ehrenreich, Harmony Korine

Plot:
India (Mia Wasikowska) just lost her father Richard (Dermot Mulroney) in a car accident. But on the day of his funeral, her uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode) appears. India didn’t know he existed and her mother Evie (Nicole Kidman) barely knew it herself. Charlie stays and slowly gets closer to India, who is initially abrasive. But he does seem to have his own agenda.

I expected grand things of Stoker. And despite my high expectations, I was completely blown away by how good the film actually is. It’s tense, it’s beautiful and it has an amazing cast. Hats off to everybody.

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Star Trek Into Darkness
Director: J. J. Abrams
Writer: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof
Based on: Gene Roddenberry‘s TV show
Sequel to: Star Trek
Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Benedict Cumberbatch, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Alice Eve, Bruce Greenwood, Peter Weller, Noel Clarke, Leonard Nimoy

Plot:
After a couple of attacks on Starfleet by John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his subsequent escape to the Klingon home planet Kronos, Kirk (Chris Pine) and his crew are sent there with a new kind of missile to kill Harrison. Even though Spock (Zachary Quinto) and Scotty (Simon Pegg) have their doubts about the legitimacy of that mission, Kirk sticks to it. At first at least.

I expected Star Trek Into Darkness to be fun in a not exactly intelligent way. Nevertheless I had my problems enjoying it because it was just so damn dumb. But even that I wouldn’t have minded so much if the pacing had been a little better. It’s still enjoyable, but just not as much as I had hoped.

Re-Watch: The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

The Cabin in the Woods
Director: Drew Goddard
Writer: Joss Whedon, Drew Goddard
Cast: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford, Brian White, Amy Acker, Tim De Zarn
[Here's my first review.]

Plot:
While two technicians (Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford) prepare for a huge day at work, 5 students decide to spend a weekend in a remote cabin: Dana (Kristen Connolly), Curt (Chris Hemsworth), Jules (Anna Hutchinson), Marty (Fran Kranz) and Holden (Jesse Williams) just want to have a weekend of fun and drinks. But something more seems to be going on in the cabin in the woods.

How can I express how much I love this movie? Probably only through interpretative dance. But since this is not a vlog, you’ll have to take my word for it when I tell you: I freaking love this film.