Lunch, Guardians and Argo

Today my buddy Christopher came over to my place for a visit. We went out to lunch at Chili's before coming back to my place to watch some screeners. We choose Rise of the Guardians and Argo for our movie selection.

I wanted to see Rise of the Guardians as soon as I saw some standee in a movie theater. I didn't know anything about the story but the characters looked cool. Then I saw the previews and it was a must see for me. I was actually going to go to the movies this weekend to see it but as I mentioned in yesterdays blog, I got a screener of it. I was so happy when Christopher picked this movie as his number one movie to watch. Here's a synopsis: When an evil spirit known as Pitch lays down the gauntlet to take over the world, the immortal Guardians (Santa Clause, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Sandman and new addition Jack Frost) must join forces for the first time to protect the hopes, beliefs and imagination of children all over the world.

My Review.. I love this movie. The story, the characters, the animation.. everything just came together so perfectly. This movie had such heart, right off the bat you love these characters. I mean maybe it's because they are characters from our childhood, ones that we grew up with and loved. The Sandman character was my favorite.. which is crazy since he doesn't ever say a word.. but that's how great this animation and story telling is. The main character Jack Frost was charming and fun. You wanted to see good things happen to these characters. When it was over I turned to Christopher and said.. wow this has now been put on my list of Christmas movies to watch every year and even when I just need a pick me up. I give this movie a big A.

The next movie we watched was Argo. Here's a short synopsis: In 1979, the American embassy in Iran was invaded by Iranian revolutionaries and several Americans are taken hostage. However, six manage to escape to the official residence of the Canadian Ambassador and the CIA is eventually ordered to get them out of the country. With few options, exfiltration expert Tony Mendez devises a daring plan: to create a phony Canadian film project looking to shoot in Iran and smuggle the Americans out as its production crew. With the help of some trusted Hollywood contacts, Mendez creates the ruse and proceeds to Iran as its associate producer. However, time is running out with the Iranian security forces closing in on the truth while both his charges and the White House have grave doubts about the operation themselves.

My Review.. Now I was a kid when the Iran Hostage thing happened.. but I do remember hearing about it as it was on every TV station. But I knew nothing about this six who escaped. So I didn't know how this story was going to play out. This made watching this movie very intense. I kept waiting for something bad to happen or someone get killed. This movie is very well acted but I didn't feel it was Oscar worth. It was well paced and never gave you a moment to breath. I enjoyed it from beginning to end but I don't feel the need to watch it again and again. I give this movie a solid B