Emma

Pros:

•Gorgeous cinematography and costumes.

•I’m a sucker for a good period piece. And the fact that it’s Jane Austen makes it even better. 

•Anya Taylor-Joy was perfectly cast as the title character. She’s a very talented young actress and I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve seen her in so far. 

•It’s always a delight whenever I see Bill Nighy in a movie. 

Cons:

•It got off to a bit of a slow start and I wasn’t feeling it at first. Luckily things picked up in the second half. 

My Rating: 8/10 

This will probably be my last review for a little while. I’ve been meaning to take a break to focus on other things. Mainly my other writing including several stories I’ve had floating in my head for a long time. And with this horrible coronavirus sadly affecting everything, who knows when we’ll get more new releases. 

The Way Back

I didn’t even know about this movie until just recently. But when I heard this was directed by Gavin O’Connor (who also directed Warrior, one of my favorite movies ever) I knew I had to see it. He’s definitely your go to guy if you’re looking to make a sports movie. I’m happy to say that once again he did not disappoint. The Way Back was absolutely amazing. 

What I really love the most about Gavin’s movies is that you don’t have to be a sports fan in order to enjoy them. Honestly this movie wasn’t as much about basketball as the trailer lead me to believe. It’s a big part of it yes, but it’s more than that. It’s a really well done drama about a man named Jack Cunningham (Ben Affleck, who gives one of his best performances in my opinion), a former high school basketball star who has gone through some really tragic things in his life and is battling severe alcoholism. And that’s putting it mildly. 

You can tell how personal this movie is for Ben Affleck given his own struggles with addiction. He really put everything into this and gave a raw, brutality realistic performance. I would love to see him get some recognition come award season but given that it’s super early in the year who knows. 

There were some rough spots with the dialog but that really my only complaint. I highly recommend everyone check it out. 

My Rating: 9/10