by Logan Butts | Jun 23, 2014 | Opinion
Logan’s Home Video Update is back! With summer movie season in full swing, I have decided to revamp the series with movies to watch alongside this summer’s biggest hits. How to Train Your Dragon (PG, 98 minutes- starring the voices of Jay Baruchel and Gerard Butler) One of the best (non-Pixar) animated films of the past decade, this smash hit was loved by children, adults and critics. The sequel, How to Train Your Dragon 2, is out in theaters right now, so you can make it a day with an afternoon viewing of the first movie at home and a nighttime showing of the sequel in theaters. Sleeping Beauty (G, 75 minutes- starring the voices of Mary Costa and Eleanor Audley) With the alternate take on Sleeping Beauty’s chief antagonist (Maleficent) currently in theaters, now is the perfect time to go back and visit one of Disney’s most beloved classic animated films. Transformers (PG-13, 144 minutes- starring Shia LaBeouf) Before the rebooted phase of this lucrative franchise kicks off this weekend with Transformers: Age of Extinction, go back and watch the movie that started it all. Say what you will about the sequels (I think the third movie is worth defending), but the first film filled audience members with wonder thanks to unbelievable visual effects and robot fighting action. The X-Men Film Series (X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: First Class, The Wolverine) X-Men: Days of Future Past has been the biggest hit and one of the best reviewed films of the summer season so far. Before seeing it, make sure to catch up on...
by Logan Butts | Jul 11, 2013 | Opinion
Welcome back, readers, to another edition of Logan’s Home Video Update! In honor of the upcoming Marvel film The Wolverine, I decided to dig through the series of X-Men films and pull out the best ones for this week’s recommendations. X-Men (PG-13, 104 minutes- starring Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart)
The first X-Men movie opened up the floodgates for the oncoming rush of modern superhero blockbusters that would eventually takeover the film industry. It had an impressive cast, with the likes of Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart and James Marsden all being perfectly suited for their mutant roles. It also didn’t hurt to have a villain with the charisma of Magneto and the acting prowess of Ian McKellen. It is a fun movie (especially any scene involving Hugh Jackman) and one that you can re-watch many times. X2: X-Men United (PG-13, 133 minutes- starring Hugh Jackman and Ian McKellen)
By far the best film of the original trilogy, X2 wasn’t settling for cute and enjoyable. It was going for greatness. This is obvious form the very beginning. The opening scene with Nightcrawler invading the White House still leaves me breathless to this day. Magneto upped his villainy, Wolverine and Cyclops traded stinging insults over their affection for Jean Grey and Halle Berry held her own as Storm. Once you reach the climax, you’re fully expecting anything to happen, and the ending doesn’t disappoint. X-Men: First Class (PG-13, 132 minutes- starring James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender)
In an attempt to erase the embarrassment of the previous two X-Men films (X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine), director Matthew Vaughn brought both style and tenacity...
