Friday, June 24, 2016

Independence Day: Resurgence (IMAX 3D)

Plot:
Twenty years after the events of the first movie, Earth is once again faced with an extraterrestrial threat, but this time it's bigger and stronger. 

Pros-
•Bill Pullman & Jeff Goldblum (even they looked like they were tired and didn't want to be there. 
•Visual effects
•Looked good on an IMAX screen

Cons-
•Lacks the charm and fun of the original. 
•Aside from the ones they brought back, didn't give a shit about any of the characters. Felt nothing when someone died. 
•Editing. Felt like huge chunks of the movie that might've explained things were missing. 
•Dialog

My Rating: 6/10

Friday, June 17, 2016

Finding Dory (3D)

I've been dealing with severe tooth pain all week and currently on pain meds. While I'm finally starting to feel a little better, I'm just not up to writing a whole review. You'll just be getting some quick pros and cons and my rating. Same goes for next week for whatever movie I see then. Sorry guys :( I hope to be back to my usual reviews soon. 

Pros:
•Pixar once again tells a great story with a sweet message
•Goregous animation
•Entertaining for both kids and adults
•3D actually added to experience
•Adorable short called Piper (the best one Pixar has done in awhile)

Cons:
•Slightly over the top during one scene at the end (I have no problem suspending my disbelief, but they kind of pushed it)

My Rating: 9/10

Saturday, June 11, 2016

The Conjuring 2

The Conjuring was a big hit when it was released in 2013. Of course I saw it and it's still one of my favorite horror movies in recent years. When they announced that they were making a sequel I was very excited and knew that I had to see it on opening night. Now that I have I can tell you that while I love the first one more, this was still really good.

The movie takes place six years after the events of the first movie. Lorraine and Ed Warren (Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson) are back. This time they go to London to try and help a single mother and her four kids whose house is plagued by a demonic spirit.

James Wan was offered a shitload of money to direct Fast & Furious 8. While I thought he did a decent job with Furious 7, I'm glad he turned them down in favor of doing this movie. He seems to be at his best in the horror genre. He's able to create such a creep atmosphere with everything from the color scheme to the music and even the way he holds the camera. While I didn't scream out loud as much as I did in the original, the scares in here were overall effective (even if I did see them coming from a mile away). Also, he's able to create characters that for the most part you actually care about. A rarity in horror movies.

My biggest problem with this was that it was too long. The first I believe was just under two hours. This one was two hours and fourteen minutes long. You really feel the length after awhile, to the point where I kept thinking, "Oh my god! Just figure out what's going after this family and vanquish it already." They could have easily cut out a good twenty minutes.

Overall, if you loved The Conjuring or horror movies in general I would definitely check this out. It's way better than most of the movies of this genre these days.

My Rating: 8/10

Saturday, June 4, 2016

Me Before You

Thank god for waterproof mascara! I had seen the trailer for this movie several times so I knew what I was getting myself  into but still :'( I haven't cried that much while watching a movie in a long time. Wow. Despite a few issues, Me Before You was very good. 

The movie stars Emilia Clarke as Louisa Clark- a quirky young woman who is hired as a companion for recently paralyzed billionaire Will Traynor (Sam Claflin). Their relationship starts out very rocky but, as you probably guessed, they  slowly fall in love. 

What really sets this movie apart from other recent movies of this genre is the amazing performances by Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin. Emilia can go from being the bad ass Mother of Dragons to here where she's this very sweet, slightly eccentric woman and make it very believable. And not many actors can pull off what Sam does here- give a genuine, heartbreaking performance without really moving his body and relying solely on his eyes and facial expressions. He's quite charming. And the two of them have very strong chemistry. 

There were really only two issues I had. The main one being-

**SPOILER ALERT**



















I felt like they could've delved into the whole assisted suicide issue way more. They barely even touch on it. A wasted opportunity to shed some light on this very important and controversial issue. 



















**END OF SPOILER**

The other thing is, and this is minor, the editing was a little odd. Some scenes ended rather abruptly. It felt like there had been more there at one point but the studio made them trim it down to get it under two hours. 

If you're a fan of romantic dramas, definitely checkout Me Before You. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and sometimes do both at the same time. I'm really glad I saw it. 

My Rating: 8.5/10