{i watched it} Rock of Ages the Movie

I was lucky enough to get screening passes for the Rock of Ages movie and despite never seeing the previews (and having no idea of the storyline), I was really excited to see the movie based on the soundtrack alone. I am an 80s/90s rock girl and was brought up on all the great rock music of the time. I am a fan of musicals for the most part (although, not a fan of the Original Broadway Soundtrack as it felt way to “broadway” for me), however, I loathe Glee so I was a bit concerned that this movie would follow the Glee recipe (bad acting, decent singing, great songs being butchered). I must say, I was pleasantly surprised.

As everyone has said, Tom Cruise does an amazing job playing the part of a wasted, sex-crazed, losing his mind, big name Rock God. I was a huge Cruise fan up until a few years ago when he fell of my radar and started to show his age. I am now eating my words as he looks AMAZING! Cruise…in leather pants…tons of tattoos…YES PLEASE! A side note, he can sing! I had no idea.

The two younger actors in the cast, Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta, fell a little short of hitting the amazing mark. Both are great singers but just lacked in the acting and chemistry part. Hough is GORGEOUS and that girl can sing but the acting just seemed so forced. Boneta definitely has a great voice and isn’t hard on the eyes, but again…he could use a little acting work.

Russell Brand and Alec Baldwin were hilarious! I honestly was laughing so hard at times that I had tears streaming down my cheeks. The chemistry between these two was amazing…with a twist at the end.

I love Malin Akerman in just about everything she is in and Rock of Ages did not disappoint. Akerman has amazing comedic timing and her love scenes with Cruise left everyone in the theater laughing out loud. The chemistry may have been missing between Hough and Boneta but it was definitely there for Akerman and Cruise!!

The music in Rock of Ages was great…not too over the top “broadway” as it can sometimes get in musicals. The dancing was so over the top that it was hilarious. The wardrobe team did a great job of taking the hideous looks of the 80s and making them look current so as to not feel like a joke.

Overall…I LOVED the movie. If you love musicals, SEE IT. If you are indifferent about musicals, SEE IT. If you hate musicals, you will probably want to skip it…but come on…you will be missing a great movie.

{I watched it – Review} Silent House staring Elizabeth Olsen

My BFF Jackie and I have a thing for scary movies. We really can’t get enough of them and being that the hubs can’t stand them, Jac and I are always heading for a girls’ night when a good movie hits the theaters. We both had come across the previews for Silent House a couple weeks prior and had planned to see it as soon as it came out.

We got to the theater, grabbed some pizza and beer, spent some time flirting with the bartender for a bit {I was playing wingwoman}, and then headed in to grab our seats. Being that it had just come out 5 days before, we expected to have a full theater. This was not the case. We grabbed seats and when the previews began, we were two of the four people in the whole place. By the time the movie started, the total viewers had risen to 10. Not a good sign.

The movie began immediately without a long drawn out credit and title sequence. The entire movie is shown {and supposed to appear to be} one continuous take. Unfortunately, I had watched an interview with Elizabeth Olsen a few days prior where she explained that the movie was actually filmed in 10 minute segments and then edited to LOOK as if it was one continuous take, so I spent a lot of the time trying to ‘catch’ the edits…because that’s who I am.

To give you a bit of the plot concept: a young woman {I would put her at about 21}, her father, and her uncle return to the family lake house to fix it up and sell it. While in the house, Sarah {Elizabeth Olsen} begins to hear things, see things, and sense that someone bad is in the house. Since the movie is ‘one continuous take’, the entire plot story of the movie takes place in 88 minutes from start to finish…so Sarah’s entire horrific experience is supposed to only take 88 minutes, which is a little hard to believe when you think about all that happens but alas…

Over the course of the 88 minutes, you are introduced to the characters and learn a lot of their {shocking} past all while being thrust into darkness, silence, and a handheld camera.The title Silent House was right on as the movie was pretty much silent…very little score though out the film, and I will say, what little musical score there was, was pretty bad. The handheld camera/flashlight aspect of the movie reminds me of the Blair Witch Project (I am dating myself here) but done much better. There was only a small 5 minutes of the movie where the handheld thing started to get to me.

The first 60 minutes or so of the movie are pretty slow with a few scary moments but it was more about trying to figure out what was going on. Many times, I kept thinking, “Someone has got to be right over there!” but no. Nothing. It is dark. It is jumpy. There are a lot of shots of Sarah’s boobs in her conveniently fitted t-shirt. Around the 60 minute mark, you start to realize what you thought was happening, wasn’t quite happening. Yes, there is a BIG twist in the end. I won’t go into details but it really makes you leave the theater thinking, “What the Hell did I just watch?!”

Overall…Jac and I both rode home in almost silence with both of us saying, “Wait…what?”. We were both in agreement that Silent House is either the BEST scary movie we have seen or the WORST scary movie we have seen. The problem is… we still aren’t sure which way it went.

Did it have scary moments? YES.

Was it disturbing? YES.

Was the film style unique? YES.

Will I watch it again? PROBABLY NOT.

Am I upset that I paid money for it? NO.

Have you seen Silent House? What were your feelings on it? Love it, hate it, or feel eh?