Sunday, May 28, 2017

Their Finest

Plot:
Catrin Cole (Gemma Arteron), a former secretary, is hired as a scriptwriter for a propaganda film as World War II rages on around them. 

Pros:
•I had been wanting to see this movie for awhile. Going into it, I expected a light hearted sort of comedy and while at times it is that, it's also a very well written drama that doesn't shy away from showing the tragedy of war. 
•Gemma Arteron and Sam Claflin were absolutely wonderful together. Great chemistry. 
•Characters were very likable. 
•Fascinating look into the film industry in Britain during the war. 
•Story moved at a good pace and kept me interested the whole time. 
•Beautiful score by Rachel Portman. 

Cons:
•There's only one I can think of and it's very minor- the ending. It's not bad at all, I just personally wish it had ended differently. Still, it's one of the best movies I've seen this year and I highly recommend it. 

My Rating: 9/10

A Quiet Passion

Plot:
The story of poet Emily Dickinson (Cynthia Nixon). 

Pros:
•Beautiful cinematography and costumes. Really makes you feel like you're in that time period.
•Strong performances, especially Cynthia Nixon and Jennifer Ehle. 
•If you're a fan of Emily Dickson, by all means check this out. However, I wouldn't say it's something I'd pay to see in theaters. More of a Netflix watch. 
•Clearly the director had good intentions and was a fan. 

Cons:
•Very dry at times to the point where I found myself falling asleep. 
•Some odd choices in terms of editing and story structure. 
•Doesn't offer anything new. 
•While I thought Cynthia Nixon was very good, there were some moments where I felt she was too overly dramatic. To the point where I almost laughed out loud. 

My Rating: 6.5/10

Friday, May 26, 2017

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (3D)

Plot:
In this fifth installment, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is being hunted down by someone from his past- Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem). His only hope to survive is finding the legendary trident of Poseidon. 

Pros:
•Well, its better than the last movie. Not that that's saying much. Honestly though, this movie was okay. Not as good as the first three of course, but I don't think it deserves 33% on Rotten Tomatoes. 
•Some really fun action scenes, mainly at the beginning. The guillotine scene for example. 
•The flashback scene explaining Salazar's history with Jack was interesting. I only wish they had taken the time to develop this subplot and cut out a few of the other characters that in the end didn't amount to anything. 
•Some of the humor worked. I laughed quite a bit at times. 
•I thought Hans Zimmer had done the score for this one (the way he did the previous four) but he didn't. Whoever did the score this time around sounds very similar to his style. I enjoyed it though. 
•Orlando Bloom & Kiera Knightly!!! 

Cons:
•As much as I liked Salazar, the special effects on him were some of the worst I've seen in awhile (especially the scenes during the day). When I saw the trailer a few months ago I was hoping this was because they were still in post production and not finished with the effects yet. Nope. It looks even worse when you see it on the big screen. 
•They need to stop trying to make Brenton Thwaites a leading man. It's NEVER going to happen. The guy has zero charisma. Of course a lot of my hatred for him has to do with the fact that he was in Gods of Egypt and every time I see his face I'm reminded that I saw that piece of shit in theaters *shudders*
•Once again the 3D was barely noticeable. If you're going to see this in theaters I'd strongly suggest 2D. I would've done that myself had the showtimes worked for me. 
•Yes there's an after credits scene. All I'll say is it looks like we're going to get at least one more movie *sigh* They should've just ended this franchise after the third one. 

My Rating: 7/10

Friday, May 19, 2017

Alien: Covenant

Plot:
The crew of a colony ship set off for a remote planet. When they arrive, they discover more than what they bargained for. 

Pros:
•Definitely nailed down the look of the original two movies. 
•I enjoyed all of the sci fi aspects. 
•Aliens looked pretty badass. Not sure how much of it was practical effects and how much was cgi. I'm guessing it was mostly the latter. Either way, job well done. 
•One of the creepiest movies I've seen in awhile. 
•The human characters do some really dumb shit here but for some reason, it didn't bother me as much as it does in similar movies of this genre. 
•Michael Fassbender, in a duel role as both Walter and David, was by far the best part of this movie. I felt more for these two than I did almost all of the humans. 
•If you're a fan of the original two, I definitely think you'll like this. Out of all the movies in this franchise, I'd say it's the third best. Not that that's hard to do. 

Cons:
•I liked the first half much better than the second half. The second half wasn't bad, it just delved more into the horror genre and I just didn't care for it as much. 
•While most of the writing was decent, there were a few bits of dialog (mainly one scene in particular) that were so awful several of us in the theater busted out laughing. 
•The ending. God damn it Ridley Scott!! You were thisclose to having an almost perfect movie. I won't spoil it, all I'll say is I so called that twist and felt like it was a fuck you to the audience. Not enough for me not to recommend it, but I had to take a point off my rating. It literally had me saying "Fuck you!" to the screen. 

My Rating: 7.5/10

Sunday, May 14, 2017

Graduation

Graduation 

Plot:
Dr. Romeo Aldea (Adrian Titieni) is a loving father who wants nothing more than to see his only child Eliza (Maria Dragus) succeed. One day, something happens to Eliza that could jeopardize her future. Romeo will stop at nothing to fix the situation. 

Pros:
•Strong acting, especially by Adrian Titieni. 
•Interesting story about the role of a parent. And what lengths one would go to help their child. 

Cons:
•Some scenes were so poorly lit I could barely tell what was happening. 
•Fucking shaky cam! While it thankfully got better as the movie went on I still have to take a point off. 
•Moved at an agonizingly slow pace. At one point I thought for sure the movie would be wrapping up soon, only to look up at the clock and see there was still another hour left. I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Never a good sign. 
•The movie is a little over two hours and it didn't need to be. They couldn't cut out a good 20 minutes of scenes that when all was sad and done didn't mean anything. 
•While I wouldn't call this a bad movie, I can't say I'd recommend it either. 

My Rating: 6/10

Friday, May 12, 2017

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

Plot:
The story of King Arthur (Charlie Hunnam), this time from the crazy mind of director Guy Ritchie. 

Pros:
•I'll give Guy Ritchie credit for trying to do something different. This is unlike any other version of King Arthur I've ever seen. 
•Charlie Hunnam. The main reason I had any desire to see this movie. Hell its the ONLY reason. He does a good job given the material he has to work with. He looks amazing as always. Very charming. The things I would do to that man. 
•When the movie was moving at a decent pace (which wasn't often at ALL) it had some nice sets. 

Cons:
•Guy Ritchie has officially crossed over into Zack Snyder territory. Not quite Michael Bay yet but he's getting there. Holy shit. This whole slow mo then speed it up thing he does hasn't gotten really old. It worked in the Sherlock Holmes movies and some of his other ones. It doesn't work here. 
•James Herbert. If you ever see this man's name listed in the credits as the editor of a movie you're about to watch, do yourself a favor- RUN!!!! This is some of the worst editing I've seen in my life. Most of the time I had absolutely no idea what was happening from scene to scene. At times it gave me a headache. 
•Everyone on this production (especially Guy Ritchie and James Herbert) must have done some serious drugs. Only explanation I can think of. 
•Makes me want to watch Suicide Squad again.
•Jude Law (a great actor that I normally like) is the very definition of "I don't give a fuck!" here. 
•Apparently Guy Ritchie wants this to be the first in a six movie series. HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!
•I expected to walk out of this angry but I'm not. I'm just confused and stunned at the train wreck that I just witnessed. It's really something you have to see to believe. But for the love of god DO NOT see this in theaters. 

My Rating: 5/10

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Karl Marx City

Plot:
A filmmaker looks into her father's suicide in what use to be East Germany. 

Pros:
•An interesting look into Germany and what it was like for the people living there both before and after the wall fell. 
•Some really nice shots and locations. 
•Good interviews. 

Cons:
•The film is shot almost entirely in black and white. I'm sure the director had her reason but I felt like it didn't add anything. 
•Leaves you with more questions than answers. 
•Narrator's voice was so dull that at times I found myself starting to nod off. 

My Rating: 7/10

Friday, May 5, 2017

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (IMAX 3D)

Plot:
Peter Quill/Star Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), and Baby Groot (Vin Diesel) continue their adventures all over the galaxy. Along the way they discover the truth about Peter's father. 

Pros:
•Didn't really spend any time on Earth. They explored and expanded upon other parts of the galaxy which I thought was cool. 
•Such a visually gorgeous movies. Definitely should be seen in IMAX if possible. 3D was actually good too. 
•I'm still amazed at what Marvel and James Gunn has been able to pull off with this. Very proud to be a Marvel bitch right now. 
•If you loved the humor in the first movie, there's even more of it here. I was laughing so hard throughout the whole thing my stomach was hurting. Haven't had this much fun at a movie in awhile. 
•Chris Pratt remains just as charming as ever. 
•Overall a way better villain than the first movie. Not that that was hard to do. 
•Baby Groot.... so fucking adorable! 
•Not only was there a lot of humor but some surprisingly touching moments as well. 

Cons:
•While I liked the villain for the most part, some things that are revealed that had me rolling my eyes a bit. Also, their motivations were a little confusing. 
•It's true, there are FIVE (yes five!) post credits scenes. I'll be honest, this was the one thing that pissed me off about the movie and is preventing me from giving it a perfect rating. They were a complete waste of time and did nothing really to set up any of the other movies like they normally do. Not sure what the hell Marvel was thinking when they came up with this but they really need to go back to doing just one or two. 

My Rating: 9/10