ggibson63 Reviews

Into the Storm (2014)

Not great but not horrible either

[4/10 · 2 August 2014]

I had the honor of seeing an advanced screening of this movie, and it was better and worse than I thought it would be. Yes, this movie has all those typical clichés, and characters that have predictable outcomes, but the epic storm scenes made it worth all the other boring scenes. One thing I will point out is that his is filmed like a documentary, and they don't mention that in the genre or in the trailers. I wish I would have known that before seeing it because it was not what I was expecting at all. Most of it is filmed from a teenagers perspective, and from the perspective of a storm chasers crew. For some reason, with the filming being done in this way made me feel less attached to the characters. I didn't really care about the main characters as much as I would have liked to, but that doesn't mean I wasn't entertained throughout most of the movie. I was not expecting some scenes to be as emotional as they were, and they try really hard to make you cry, and it worked on me (mostly because I cry at nearly anything that's sad) but the mood of the theater changed in those scenes. If it wasn't for the epic tornado scenes this movie would not have been good at all, but the effects they used made me feel terrified of tornadoes. If I was afraid of storms before this movie I'm even more terrified now.

Overall, this movie was just okay. The storm scenes were epic, but it took a long time to actually get into the storm scenes, and to be honest there were not as many storm scenes as I was expecting from a movie that is based entirely on storms. I probably wouldn't watch it again, but it was entertaining while it lasted. This is probably one you can rent though.

Fargo (2014–2024)

So intense!

[10/10 · 11 June 2014]

This show is surprisingly amazing. I didn't expect much from this show when I first started watching it, but right off the bat, the first episode left my mouth hanging open in shock. It was so intense and so much happened in the first episode! Then after the first episode, the season gradually keeps building and building with suspense. Malvo is an evil genius, and he's easily one of my favorite "villains" of all time. He's so manipulative and sneaky, I just love it. This show reminds me of a combination of Breaking Bad and Bates Motel. Lester's character reminds me of Walter White in a way, how he used to be so innocent and nobody treated him with respect, but as his character develops he becomes a bad ass. I just can't wait to see what Malvo does next! It's quickly become one of my new favorite TV shows. Billy Bob Thornton does an incredible job as Malvo, and I don't think anyone could play Malvo as good as he does. His character gives me the creeps in the best way. I really hope there is a second season, even though I know this is a mini- series, but it's so good and I'm not ready to give it up. My favorite episode of the season has to be episode 6 because it was so intense and I was shocked and in tears and it was an emotional roller coaster. Sure, this show can seem slow at times, but it's all build up for the intense, dramatic, and amazing scenes coming up (which is another similarity to Breaking Bad). I just really love this show and I don't want to see it end.

22 Jump Street (2014)

Hilarious!

[9/10 · 11 June 2014]

I had the honor of seeing this movie in April at the very first public screening in Orange, CA, with Jonah Hill sitting in my row! This movie is absolutely amazing. I am a huge fan of the first movie, and I was nervous about this movie because I was hoping it would be just as good as the first one, and luckily it was! Channing and Jonah's chemistry is perfect and they are so hilarious together as always. Also, Ice Cube's character had a lot of growth in this movie and I really loved all of his scenes. All of the action sequences were very well filmed and highly entertaining. I especially loved how they emphasize Channing and Jonah's "bromance" throughout the movie. Especially with the therapist, I couldn't stop laughing.

I also appreciate this movie because I'm a college student and I connect a lot with the characters in this movie. 21 Jump Street came out when I was in high school, which was awesome, and now 22 Jump Street came out while I was in college. It's awesome to sort of grow up with these movies and feel connected to these characters.

Overall, it's just as good as the first one, if not better. I highly recommend going to see it. Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, and Ice Cube did an amazing job!

How I Met Your Mother: Last Forever: Part Two (2014) Season 9, Episode 24

Is this a joke?

[1/10 · 1 April 2014]

I have been a huge fan of How I Met Your Mother for a long time, but this last season has lost it's charm, and it was getting dragged on and on, but I thought if the finale is good, then it'll be worth that entire season of filler. But no, the finale was really upsetting. First of all, they have us waiting (and counting down) the entire 9th season for Barney and Robin's wedding, and then in the first 15 minutes of the finale they get divorced! What a buzz kill. And the fact that Barney goes right back to being a player was disappointing because his character had matured so much throughout the last few seasons and they just threw it all away.

The finale was so rushed, it was skipping through years extremely fast and I don't understand why they did this. They had the entire 9th season to show these events happening and they could have gone more in depth, but instead they use the first 22 episodes of the season as filler and then cram everything into the last episode. I don't get it.

The biggest problem I had with this show was in the last 5 minutes. I expected the Mother to die, because I read tons of theories about it online previous to the show, so that wasn't my problem. But the fact that the Mother dies and we are still processing the fact that she's dead and we are feeling sad for their family, they immediately jump into Ted wanting to ask Robin out on a date! I was seriously sitting there like what? It was disrespectful to the Mother's character, I mean we have waited 9 seasons to have this glorious moment of Ted saying "And that is how I met your mother" only to have the kids jump in and be like "clearly this story is about how you love Aunt Robin". The mother was supposed to be the most significant character in this series, and yet the final moments of the show are about Ted going back to Robin? I get that it had been 6 years since the Mother's death, but the way it happened so quickly while we were watching it, it felt rushed and disrespectful. The Mother's character seemed like a detour instead of the destination. If they knew that was how they were gonna finish the series 9 years ago, then the show shouldn't have been called How I Met Your Mother, it should have been called "My Undying Love For Robin" or "How I Went Back To Your Aunt Robin 20 Times"

I'm just upset because it's not what I was expecting at all and this season finale was so horrible compared to the rest of the series! The only people who still want Robin and Ted together are the writers, and it's really annoying as the viewer to constantly see the writers trying to force that relationship on us. I am extremely disappointed in this series finale.

The Walking Dead (2010–2022)

Addictive series

[8/10 · 7 March 2014]

I just started watching this series 2 weeks ago because I've heard so many great things about it and since I was a huge fan of Breaking Bad, I knew AMC could do no wrong, and man was I right. I only started watching this show 14 days ago, and I'm already halfway through season 4. I literally can not stop watching it, and I'm not kidding when I say it's addictive. I haven't been this excited over a show since Breaking Bad. What surprises me is that I'm not a huge fan of gore, and I'm the biggest wimp, I can't even handle scenes that are bloody, but this show changed me. This show is pretty gory but it doesn't bother me as much for whatever reason. I love the concept of the show, and it seems more believable than most zombie movies and shows in the industry. The characters are really like able and you grow really attached to them so quickly. Although the characters get killed off very quickly, and it's hard to get attached to a character just to see them eventually die, it does make the show more realistic because main characters do die, and there is always a presence of danger. I still personally think season 2 is my favorite so far, because I literally finished it in 2 days, and it's so exciting and you're so involved in what's happening, and that's when the major plot twists happen. Season 2 also reminded me a lot of "Lost" except it was better and less confusing. I love Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes. He is such a phenomenal actor. In the beginning, he was the main reason why I watched the show, and he's continued to be my favorite character. It's been very interesting to watch him grow, and change, and develop as a character, and they timed it out perfectly. I could go on and on about how wonderful this show is, but you'd have to watch it for yourself to see how insanely addictive it really is. Just after 2 weeks it's become one of my favorite series of all time.

Endless Love (2014)

Not as bad as people are saying, but still has problems

[4/10 · 16 February 2014]

You have to realize that the targeted audience for this movie is young teenage girls, but with that said, I'm a 19 year old girl, and I still found parts of this movie to be cheesy and cliché and predictable at times. But it's still a decent, enjoyable movie. It was beautifully filmed, and the actors did a great job. The problem I had with this movie was how quickly their romance began. It was only around 3 scenes into it when they started to "fall in love" and honestly it felt kind of rushed. And I hate how they make her Father out to be the bad guy, when I agree with him for the first half of the movie. I don't think any parent would like to see their daughter throw away a once in a lifetime internship opportunity for a stranger she barely knows who is a criminal and has had a violent past. Any parent would react the way he did, if not worse. I also don't like how they make it seem like it's such a horrible thing for her to spend her time reading books instead of "living", like she's a 17 year old girl, it's not a crime for her to stay in and not have sex and party.

There are a couple scenes that made me cringe due to how cheesy they were, like when she walked into the café/restaurant and saw him sitting in the booth with that other girl, and of course she jumps to conclusions and thinks there is something going on, when clearly absolutely nothing was going on. It was very over dramatic, and during that scene they said the most cliché lines ever like "I'm just not good enough for you", and "You're a coward, you need to fight for love" and various things like that, and it just bothered me.

Other then the cliché scenes and some predictability, it was still one of the better modern teen romance movies I've seen. Typically, modern teen romance movies these days are just horrific, but this one wasn't as bad as people are saying it is. But what I don't understand is people comparing this to The Notebook. The Notebook is the king of all romance movies, and it's offensive to compare the greatest love story of all time to a movie like this. Not to mention, I didn't get emotional once during this movie, which is rare because I'm an emotional person, so I found that odd.

I would still recommend seeing it. It's a decent movie, and it's not as bad as the critics and everyone says it is. I just really wanted to love it, and I only liked it.

Gravity (2013)

Disappointment

[4/10 · 5 October 2013]

I was very excited to this movie because of the trailers and the amazing reviews I read on IMDb, and amazing reviews from critics. I really wanted to like this movie, and I tried so hard to like it, but the movie was really slow-paced and boring and repetitive. I expected so much more from the supposed "best space movie in years" but it fell short. The first 20 minutes were really interesting, but I was bummed that it starts off in space right away. You didn't know anything about the characters until after the first accident happens, which makes it more difficult to connect with the characters. Not only that, but the characters are the stereotypical cliché cocky guy and scared, weak girl.

Then, the rest of the movie is a series of repetitive events that I could have sworn I'd already watched. Also, spoiler here, but when they showed Ryan talking to Matt, I thought he was actually with her, and they didn't make it very clear that she was having a dream, so that scene was very confusing.

I thought it might get better, but it didn't. The ending was very cheesy and unrealistic. And the ending doesn't conclude anything about the story as much as I hoped it would, it just kind of ends... I was just extremely disappointed because I was really excited about this movie, but overall it is just a bunch of hype. Sure, the visuals were stunning, but that's all this movie has going for it, which isn't enough to keep you entertained for 90 minutes. The scenes were painfully slow and boring, I found myself falling asleep. And the plot was so repetitive with Ryan just floating around trying to grab on to something. It felt like a waste of time and money. I wouldn't watch it again.

Love & Other Drugs (2010)

Beautiful Movie

[10/10 · 9 August 2013]

People who are narrow-minded or immature would say that this movie is about nothing but sex, but for those who are mature they would understand the beauty in this movie. This movie is very realistic, because it's not the typical romantic comedy where the guy gets the girl and they live happily ever after. It's about the struggle of being able to fall for someone completely without being broken after wards. It's realistic because they start off hating each other, and then they are friends with benefits, and then they happen to fall in love unexpectedly. But they don't just say "I love you" and kiss and all those clichés. When he realizes he's in love with her, he has a panic attack, and I believe that that is a more realistic way of realizing you're in love with someone. Sure, there might be a lot of sex, but the message of the movie is being able to love someone for everything they are and seeing past all their flaws, ad that's a beautiful thing. I respect Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway so much for being apart of this film, and they played their roles so well. I give props to Anne Hathaway because she had to act like she had Parkinson's disease and she did it flawlessly. Really inspiring, beautiful movie.

Waiting for Forever (2010)

What A Creeper..

[4/10 · 9 August 2013]

This movie was said to be romantic and charming, but it was not romantic in the slightest. The story line started off extremely slow and it was almost difficult to understand what was happening at times. The way this guy talks about this girl is like he i a stalker, I don't find it romantic at all. I was waiting the entire movie for her to realize what he's doing by following her around everywhere is creepy and not sweet, and when she finally realized it I was actually excited to see that this movie wouldn't be the cliché I thought it would be. But no, she ends up with him at the end of the movie, which is extremely predictable.

The movie had it's moments, don't get me wrong. I liked how they threw in a random murder, and her boyfriend got Will involved and that made it more interesting. I also like the way Will and Emma got together at the end, by her following him to his job and him looking up and seeing her, I thought it was nice, and it tied it all together, but I didn't want to see them end up together. Overall I didn't know what to feel after I watched this movie. I expected to feel happiness or joy but I didn't feel anything but disappointment. I would not watch it again. It's a waste of time and overall makes me feel uncomfortable.

Struck by Lightning (2012)

Extremely Inspiring Movie

[9/10 · 9 August 2013]

I watched this movie when I was bored and I really didn't expect much, but this movie is emotional and inspiring. Chris Colfer's character is the typical teenager who believes that he can reach his biggest dreams, even though no one else believes he can. But what I find amazing about this movie is how real it is. They don't sugar-coat anything. The fact that his Mom doesn't believe he can achieve his dreams because hers were broken is such a typical thing that a parent would do. And I appreciate that the movie doesn't end with the cheesy cliché of him achieving his dreams and proving everyone wrong, but instead it ends with a tragic death and everyone suddenly realizing he was right. Because in reality, things don't always happen the way we want them to. I mean sure, the struck by lightning thing is kind of cheesy and random for a death, but I like the metaphor, of life hits you like you're being "struck by lightning". It was inspiring for people to go about achieving their dreams even when others say you can't, and to do it before it's too late.

I liked the twist that they threw in that the pharmacist his Mom was going to happened to be the girl carrying her ex-husbands baby. But Chris Colfer's characters parents really bothered me. The Mom was so selfish by hiding his college acceptance letters from him, and his Dad was the typical dead-beat Father who only speaks to his son when absolutely necessary. And he continuously says "I can only say sorry so many times" because that's his defense mechanism and I feel bad for his new wife and future baby mama for even being involved with such a heartless man.

I genuinely liked this movie, and it sure did surprise me. I didn't think I would care so much, and by the end it had me in tears. It's an incredible and inspiring story.

We're the Millers (2013)

Surprisingly Entertaining

[10/10 · 9 August 2013]

I was really excited to see this movie when I saw the trailer, because I thought it looked hilarious, and I'm a huge fan of Jason Sudeikis and I absolutely adore Jennifer Aniston, and I can guarantee that it does not disappoint. It was actually better than I was expecting it to be, because you don't usually expect much from drug dealing comedies. The plot in this was actually pretty clever, and to be honest Will Poulter's character Kenny really makes the entire movie. He played it so well, and he was perfectly awkward and strange, it was hilarious. It was definitely one of the best comedies I've seen in a while. Sure it did have some corny moments that are unrealistic, but I overall enjoyed the movie.

White House Down (2013)

Intense, epic, patriotic - The total package

[8/10 · 28 June 2013]

I had high expectations for this movie and it did NOT disappoint. The story line is completely realistic, and the father-daughter relationship made me very emotional as a daughter being really close to my Dad. It is very patriotic and if you are a proud American like I am, you would LOVE this film. From the very beginning the action begins and it doesn't stop for the next 2 hours! Scene after scene you are just holding your breath and the intensity is killing you! I absolutely adore Joey King and she did such a great job playing her role. Not to mention Channing Tatum played her Father, and this is probably my favorite movie from him (which says a lot since I am a huge fan of him). There is a bit of comedy in the movie as well, which really ties it all together. I would highly recommend seeing it in theaters, because the sound of the speakers is overwhelming and adds to the intensity which is something this movie needs. Go big or go home. Really great movie! I would go to the theaters to see it again.

After Earth (2013)

Waste of time and money.

[1/10 · 17 June 2013]

I had high expectation for this movie, and I think that's why I was so disappointed. I went in thinking it was going to be epic because the previews made it look that way, but it was the farthest thing from that. I hated how the camera angels kept panning in on Jaden's face and flashing back to when he was a kid and his sister was killed, because after so many times, we get it. H'es "overcoming his fears", it just felt very repetitive. The acting just felt really cheesy to me, I'm used to seeing Will Smith as a bubbly, funny character and the stern Father role wasn't really working for me. Sure, the movie had some moments; I like the scene where the bird saves Jaden's life by pulling him out of the cold, and I liked when Will Smith ended up saluting Jaden at the end, but I hated how the story line was all over the place. They said they left the planet Earth because it was taken over by aliens of some kind? And then he only ended up fighting one alien on the whole trip there? It just doesn't make sense to me. If humans left the planet because it was taken over by aliens, you'd expect them to be crawling all over the place, not just one here and there. It was just a waste of time and money to me, and I wish I hadn't seen it in theaters.

Now You See Me (I) (2013)

Mind is blown.

[9/10 · 16 June 2013]

I saw this movie today and wasn't expecting much, but I was completely blown away with the story line in this movie. It literally makes you think one thing and then it does the exact opposite. This movie had me thinking for hours after wards. It keeps you on the edge of your seat, and (spoiler alert) I never expected the master mind to be Mark Ruffalo's character, like my mind was blown. And all the tricks with the switching of the cars, I honestly thought that guy in the car had died, and I was so shocked to see that they did the switch and he lived. I was wondering in the beginning why they were showing the bunny in the box trick because I thought that trick is so boring and old school, but it made sense to connect it to the safe scene where they put in the mirrors and make them believe the safe is already gone. "The closer you look the less you see" was the perfect theme for this movie, because it stayed constant throughout the whole film. Not to mention I already love magic and the mysteriousness to it all, so this movie was just a home run for me, and definitely a good way to spend time and money.