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Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic (2012)
Epic Fantasy Anime!
If you're a fan of adventure, action, and fantasy, this is the perfect anime for you! Magi starts off with a clever premise, it takes parts from some of the characters in the famous "1001 Nights" tales and mixes them together in an original, exciting story that will keep you always wanting to watch the next episode to see what happens. The animation is very good, and the dubbed voice acting is solid. If you're familiar with dubbed Anime, you'll recognize a bunch of the voice actors. Magi even has some good messages about friendship and choosing not to hate those who have hurt you.
Overall I would recommend Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic to any Shonen style Anime fans, Anime fans in general, and to anyone who just enjoys a fun, adventurous tale of fantasy and friendship.
Butter (2011)
Moderately enjoyable movie that suffers from indecisiveness
Butter is a moderately enjoyable movie that suffers from one major problem. It doesn't know what type of movie it is, or what type of audience its trying to appeal to. The movie feels torn between being a dark comedy and a heart-warming family movie.
When Butter focuses on being a feel good movie, it pulls it off relatively well. The little girl (Yara Shahidi) and her foster parents (Corddry and Silverstone) all put in enjoyable performances, and there's a cute little message about loving and caring for others.
Where I feel this movie fails is as a dark or black comedy. Its really not very funny, and the offensive/rude humour that randomly pops up feels almost out of place in this movie. Plus the performances for this side fall flat as well. Hugh Jackman is essentially wasted as a stupid car salesman, Ty Burrell just plays a weaker version of his character from Modern Family, and Jennifer Garner's character comes across as an awkward jab at Sarah Palin (who was popular at the time). There's also a meaningless and pointless side story with a stripper that sees basically no resolution in any of the characters it affects.
If Butter had focused a little more on the heart-warming side and added a little substance, it could've been pretty good...but instead it tries too hard to be something its not really that good at.
Payback (1999)
In one word...Tough
Tough...if I could describe Mel Gibson's character in this film, or even the entire movie in one word; that would be it.
Payback is sort of a modern version of the Film Noir movies of the 40s and 50s mixed with the tough guy movies of the 90s. Mel Gibson plays a tough as nails robber/ex-bodyguard named Porter who's out to get revenge, get his money, and prove a point. While there are many points throughout the movie where Porter comes across quite mean and almost heartless, you can't help but end up cheering for him by the end of the movie. Porter even comes across as quite caring at points...in a violent, tough way though of course! All the actors in this do a pretty decent job with their roles. Gregg Henry comes across quite scummy as a selfish, sadistic member of the "Outfit", and Maria Bello is quite intriguing and attractive as the almost classy prostitute. Ultimately though Mel Gibson steals the show in this movie with his cool narrative, and his unflinching resolve to take down the "bad" guys.
If you're a fan of movies like The Crow, Man on Fire, Taken, or Die Hard; or you like Film Noir or old Gangster movies; or if you just want to see Mel Gibson own a bunch of people...this is the movie for you!