tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25721013172123376372024-02-20T12:15:12.473-08:00John Mullin Blogs About MoviesI love movies, and I love talking about what people like and why they like it. On this blog, I'm going to keep track of which movies <i>I'm</i> watching and jot down some unvarnished thoughts and feelings. Although I've got strong opinions, I love good conversation with people who don't see things my way. I grew up reading Roger Ebert, listening to George Carlin, and watching a lot of MST3K and Letterman. I'm looking for good stories that don't set off my bullshit detector.John Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.comBlogger230125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-40671411158069688042015-11-06T09:15:00.000-08:002015-11-12T15:41:49.887-08:00Spectre (11/06/2015)Lettergrade: B+John Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-11882000181209979152015-11-03T11:30:00.000-08:002015-11-12T15:40:52.990-08:00Steve Jobs (11/03/2015)Lettergrade: AJohn Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-50213331636612325212015-10-15T19:00:00.000-07:002015-11-12T15:39:51.454-08:00Bridge Of Spies (10/15/2015)Lettergrade: B+John Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-31318452366347782322015-08-18T21:15:00.000-07:002015-11-12T15:38:10.277-08:00Mission: Impossible - Rouge Nation (08/18/2015)Lettergrade: C+John Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-33341532790165547172015-07-18T16:00:00.000-07:002015-11-12T15:42:16.717-08:00Trainwreck (07/18/2015)Lettergrade: C+John Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-66797611754718351992015-05-31T14:20:00.000-07:002015-11-12T15:35:45.652-08:00Tomorrowland (05/31/2015)Lettergrade: C-John Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-60171688934029245432015-05-03T20:55:00.000-07:002015-11-12T15:34:45.992-08:00Avengers: The Age Of Ultron (05/03/2015)Lettergrade: CJohn Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-89650733519592983452015-04-15T14:00:00.000-07:002015-11-12T15:33:31.591-08:00Kingsmen: The Secret Service (04/15/2015)Lettergrade: CJohn Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-26554418842475926742014-08-12T12:45:00.000-07:002014-08-18T14:56:56.209-07:00Guardians Of The Galaxy (08/12/2014)Lettergrade: B-John Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-20522282995551546202014-07-25T11:20:00.000-07:002014-08-18T14:57:26.194-07:00Chef (7/25/2014)Lettergrade: BJohn Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-74938248785167501572014-07-13T10:45:00.000-07:002014-08-18T14:53:33.383-07:0022 Jump Street (07/13/2014)Lettergrade: BJohn Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-80781942231866295492014-06-02T14:59:00.000-07:002014-08-18T14:59:59.494-07:00X-Men: Days Of Future Past (06/02/2014)Lettergrade: CJohn Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-87238372360787870002014-05-04T15:19:00.000-07:002014-08-18T15:29:01.251-07:00The Grand Budapest Hotel (05/07/2014)Lettergrade: AJohn Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-21292780899351520182014-04-07T21:30:00.000-07:002014-08-18T15:29:34.410-07:00Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier (04/07/2014)Lettergrade: B-John Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-20600334662613056452013-12-28T20:00:00.000-08:002014-01-01T12:46:12.181-08:00Her (12/28/2013)Lettergrade: A
Spike Jonze's Her imagines a not-too-distant future where voice-controlled user interface programs like Apple's Siri are taken to the next level via a newfangled operating system that combines artificial intelligence with the sexy voice of Scarlett Johansson. That's just perfect for sad-sack Joaquin Phoenix, who separated from his wife a year ago and is having trouble finding John Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-69539482586218326832013-12-25T20:00:00.000-08:002014-01-01T10:58:49.500-08:00American Hustle (12/25/2013)Lettergrade: A
In American Hustle, Christian Bale and Amy Adams are a pair of small time New Jersey crooks that get caught by an over-zealous FBI agent played by Bradley Cooper. Sensing that this could be the case that makes his career, Cooper pushes their scams to even crazier heights in an attempt to further entrap local politicians, state congressmen... maybe even US Senators and members of John Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-46355489495303398322013-12-21T20:00:00.000-08:002013-12-30T06:05:53.371-08:00Saving Mr. Banks (12/21/2013)Lettergrade: C+
Several months back, when I heard that Saving Mr. Banks was on the way, I figured it would be a movie that's right up my alley. The picture tells the true Hollywood story of how author P.L. Travers, after 20 years of persuasion, finally agreed to let Walt Disney produce a feature film based on her books, resulting in 1964's Mary Poppins.
I saw Poppins what seems like several John Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-18530097056813030492013-12-18T20:10:00.000-08:002014-01-01T10:59:34.937-08:00Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (12/18/2013)Lettergrade: D
I really didn't like the original Anchorman when I first saw it back in 2004, but I warmed up to it upon subsequent viewings, mostly because several of my friends kept quoting it and would talk about its unsung brilliance. While I can now see a kind of crude genius to the film, I still maintain that it's best seen in small segments on YouTube instead of in one tortuous sitting.
John Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-8996868631634112202013-12-14T12:30:00.000-08:002013-12-30T12:26:59.552-08:00Inside Llewyn Davis (12/14/2013)Lettergrade: B-
I didn't enjoy Joel and Ethan Coen's Inside Llewyn Davis much while watching it the other week, but I've thought about it a lot in the days since and might want to give it another try somewhere down the line. A number of my friends who have seen it as well seem to have similarly mixed feelings about what it is and what it does.
I was a bit surprised that my initial reaction wasJohn Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-27307558090555135422013-10-15T11:30:00.000-07:002013-12-30T06:52:47.346-08:00Gravity (10/15/2013)Lettergrade: A-
My friend Randy saw Gravity recently (in 3D IMAX!) and was completely blown away by it. We both agreed that on a visual level, the movie is as immersive and as stunning as any that either of us have seen - and hey, I only saw it in a regular 2D theater!
While talking about the various story points, he said something I thought was really interesting: That in a sense, Gravity is John Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-29011344525267386502013-10-08T12:40:00.000-07:002014-01-02T09:54:49.188-08:00Enough Said (10/08/2013)Lettergrade: C-
The first trailer I saw for Enough Said had the glossy veneer of a standard issue studio romantic comedy… the kind of lab-tested product that you would expect to star a former cast member of Friends back in the late 90s. Or to put it another way, the kind of thing I would have virtually no interest in going to see.
What turned my head as the ad went on, however, was that the John Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-15432860913333657232013-09-29T19:40:00.000-07:002014-01-02T09:55:29.637-08:00Iron Man 3 (09/28/2013)Lettergrade: B
My minimal enthusiasm for seeing yet another superhero movie (during a summer that seemed to contain nothing but) meant I didn't really make the effort to catch Iron Man 3 when it was in theaters last May. Nevertheless, the flick showed up at the Redbox across the street from our house recently, and we decided to give it a crack. Low and behold, while I didn't think it was a "John Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-64486332734098092672013-08-28T10:35:00.000-07:002014-09-06T21:27:47.142-07:00The World's End (08/28/2013)Lettergrade: B-John Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-60786086019338134902013-08-10T18:30:00.000-07:002014-09-06T21:26:46.147-07:00Blue Jasmine (08/10/2013)Lettergrade: B+John Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572101317212337637.post-38745382712547891862013-07-30T23:53:00.000-07:002013-08-01T19:32:54.524-07:00The Wolverine (07/30/2013)Lettergrade: C+
For whatever reason - maybe just by default - The Wolverine wound up being the popcorn movie I was most looking forward to this summer. And yet, whilst watching it, I found myself a little under-stimulated for big sections, despite the fact that I think I appreciated on an intellectual level what director James Mangold was trying to do. If you had asked me, I would have said John Mullinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18250330384554218118noreply@blogger.com0