Sunday, May 27, 2018

Beirut

Plot:
A former US diplomat (Jon Hamm) is sent in to negotiate for the life of a friend that he left behind. 

Pros:
•Jon Hamm’s brilliant performance. Had it been a lesser actor I doubt it would’ve worked as well. 
•The last 45 minutes are tense as fuck. Really keeps you on the edge of your seat. 
•Supporting cast is pretty solid. 
•If you’re into these types of thrillers I definitely think you’ll like this movie. 

Cons:
•The first hour or so really drags a lot. 
•Whoever was in charge of lighting, mainly in the beginning, should be fired. There were times it was so dark I could barely make out who was who. 
•Seriously, how hard is it to hold a camera steady?!?! Felt nauseous a few times. And I’m not talking about action scenes, I could understand it there. But is it really necessary for a simple dinner party scene?
•While the movie is decent, it’s not something I would rush out to see. 

My Rating: 7/10

Friday, May 25, 2018

Solo: A Star Wars Story (IMAX)

Plot:
Years before joining the Rebellion, young Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) meets his future copilot Chewbacca and encounters Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover). 

Pros:
•I’ll admit I went into this with very low expectations and came out surprised. I really enjoyed this movie. It was a lot of fun. 
•If you were like me and Alden Ehrenreich was your main concern I’m happy to tell you that you have nothing to worry about. He really nailed down the mannerisms of the Han Solo we all know without it turning into a bad imitation. At the same time he made the character his own. 
•Thrilling action scenes that keep you on the edge of your seat and your eyes glued to the screen. 
•Donald Glover was good as Lando, although I wasn’t as impressed as I was with Alden Ehrenreich. Still, I would love to see a Lando movie happen. Love the character. 
•Looks really nice on an IMAX screen. 

Cons:
•The way they shoehorned in a certain character towards the end. I don’t have a problem with fan service but this had me rolling my eyes. 
•Emilia Clarke. She wasn’t terrible or anything like that but I just didn’t care for her character. 

My Rating: 9/10

Friday, May 18, 2018

Deadpool 2

Plot:
Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) puts together a team in order to protect a young boy (Julian Denneson) from a time traveling mutant named Cable (Josh Brolin). 

Pros:
•Ryan Reynolds has done it again! He really was meant to be this character. I love how he can poke fun of himself and certain points in his career that we all like to pretend never happened. 
•Still very funny. Most of the jokes I thought worked. 
•This marks two movies in a row where I’ve seen Josh Brolin play a great villain. Of course Thanos is by far the best, but Cable was really good. A lot more three dimensional than I was expecting. 
•Fight scenes were even more brutal than even the first movie. 
•A lot of fun and surprising cameos. 
•The mid credit scenes alone were worth the price of admission. Also bumped up my rating a bit. 

Cons:
•I felt like the middle dragged quite a bit. Also, a few of the jokes in this part felt a bit forced. Whereas in the first Deadpool all of the jokes felt natural. 
•While I enjoyed this movie a lot and highly recommend it, I still like the first better. 

My Rating: 9/10

Sunday, May 13, 2018

Finding Your Feet

Plot:
Sandra (Imelda Staunton), a middle class women on the verge of retirement, discovers that her husband has been having an affair with her best friend. She then moves in with her bohemian sister. 

Pros:
•Stellar cast
•Story was sweet and at times very moving. 
•The perfect type of movie to take your Mom or Grandma to. 
•If you’re a fan of British humor or just British movies in general I definitely think you’ll enjoy this. 
•Some fun dance sequences. 
•Pretty locations

Cons:
•Extremely predictable. Nearly everything I guessed would happen when I first saw the trailer happens. That’s not to say I didn’t like the movie. I really did. Just a few more surprises would’ve been nice. 
•Could’ve used some tighter editing. Some scenes needed to be trimmed down or removed all together. 
•A few cheesy moments. 

My Rating: 7.5/10

Sunday, May 6, 2018

Hitler’s Hollywood

Plot:
Documentary about German cinema from 1933 when the Nazis came into power until their collapse in 1945. 

Pros:
•If you’re into history, specifically this time period, I think you’ll find this both fascinating and horrifying. I know I did. While I wouldn’t suggest paying money to see this in theaters, I’d say it’s worth checking out if you come across it on Netflix or the History Channel. 

Cons:
•Too much narration. I understand that it’s kind of necessary in a movie like this but still. I’ve always believed that showing is better than telling. Also, the guy they got to do the narration had a voice that was so monotone that it was putting me to sleep. 
•Some sloppy editing in the beginning. 

My Rating: 6.5/10