Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Plot-

A manhunt is ordered when troubled young Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison) and his foster father Hec (Sam Neill) go missing in the wild New Zealand forest. 

Pros:

 •Julian Dennison was hilarious in this. I see a lot of potential in him as a comedic actor. He and Sam Niell had great chemistry. They gave surprisingly heartfelt performances. 

•Beautiful locations and cinematography. 

Cons:

•Things went a little too over the top for me at times. They really push your suspension of disbelief. But not so far as to stop you from seeing this. 

•The way they portray the social worker is very cliché. 

•Animal deaths. If you're an animal lover like me, I feel I should warn you about this. 

My Rating: 7.5/10

Genius

Plot-

A look at Max Perkins' (Colin Firth) time as the book editor at Scribner. There, he saw the works of Thomas Wolfe (Jude Law), Ernest Hemingway (Dominic West), and many others. 

Pros:

•Wonderful performances by Colin Firth and Jude Law (even if he was a little over the top at first). I enjoyed seeing their relationship develop. They had a nice bromance going on. Great chemistry. I hope these two work together again in the future. 

•Considering this was Michael Grandage's first time directing, I thought he did a decent job. He tried really hard between the costumes and the music to recreate the 1920s. With more time and experience I think he'll be even better. 

•Guy Pearce as F. Scott Fitzgerald. He's not in the movie that much but when he is he steals the scene. 

Cons:

•The majority of the movie is shot with very bleak colors. I get why they did this but still, a little more brightness would've been nice. 

•Nicole Kidman got on my nerves. Normally you would feel sympathetic for this character but I found myself not giving a shit. 

•Tries a little too hard to be an Oscar type movie.

My Rating: 7.5/10

Jason Bourne

Plot-

Ten years after the events of Ultimatum, Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) comes out of hiding to discover more truths about his past as an operative of the CIA. 

Pros:

•Matt Damon gives the only good performance. Although if I'm being honest he had a look on his face the whole time that said, "I am way too old for this shit."

•I've said it many times over the years but I hate shaky cam with the exception of the Bourne movies. Paul Greengrass remains one of the only directors out there that knows how to use it correctly. 

•A couple of bad ass action/fight scenes. 

•Always nice to hear Extreme Ways by Moby again. 

Cons:

•Tommy Lee Jones. God damn. His performance was the very definition of phoning it in. 

•Editing was so poor in a few scenes that I had no idea who was who or what the hell was going on. 

•The twists were so predictable. How could you not see them coming from a mile away?

•The final fight scene was a HUGE letdown. All that build up for that? What the fuck! I had to take a point off just for this alone. 

•While I don't think this movie was as bad as some critics are saying, it's definitely the weakest of the four Bourne movies (I don't count the Jeremy Renner one). They should've stopped after Ultimatum. 

My Rating: 7/10

Weiner

Plot-

Documentary following disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner and his run for mayor of New York. 

Pros:

•Very insightful. You see a lot of behind the scenes stuff during his campaign and how he delt with the scandal. It's like a train wreck- you can't stop watching. 

•Humorous

Cons:

•Even though the movie is only about an hour and a half long, it feels longer. It does drag a bit towards the end. 

•Would've liked to have seen more about his wife. 

My Rating: 8.5/10

Star Trek Beyond

Plot-

The crew of the USS Enterprise, led by Captain Kirk (Chris Pine), is half way through their five year mission when the ship is destroyed by an unknown group of aliens. Stranded and with no means of communication, they not  only have to find a way back to Earth but also deal with a powerful new enemy. 

Pros:

•Reminded me a lot of the original series. Definitely a good thing. 

•Direction by Justin Lin. I was so worried this would be Fast & Furious in space (it looked that way in the trailers) but it wasn't. He's very good at developing characters and actually making you care about them. I now forgive him for Tokyo Drift. 

•Strong writing by Simon Pegg. 

•Well choreographed action scenes. 

•I thought they handled Leonard Nimoy's death and his character very respectfully.  

•Sabotage scene. From what I heard from other people I thought it would be dumb but I ended up really liking it.

•I highly recommend you spend the extra money to see this in IMAX. It's the perfect movie got it. The 3D was barely noticeable but far from the worst I've seen. 

Cons:

•While I thought Idris Elba did a great job as usual, his character was poorly handled. His motivation is pretty much exactly the same as the villains in the previous two movies. And I'm sorry but you have a talented actor like Idris Elba who's fucking gorgeous and the perfect choice to play a Star Trek villain and you hide him behind all that makeup. Such a shame. 

My Rating: 9/10

Ghostbusters

WARNING: This review may contain a few slight spoilers. 

Plot- 

Four women in Manhattan take on the paranormal- researchers Abby (Melissa McCarthy) and Erin (Kristen Wiig), engineer Jillian (Kate McKinnon), and subway worker Patty (Leslie Jones). 

Pros:

•First half was actually pretty decent. I enjoyed seeing how the whole team came together. 

•Chris Hemsworth. I thought he was just going to be in there for eye candy (and who can blame them. Good god that man is goregous!) but he's actually really funny. His scenes were some of the only times I actually laughed. 

•Most of the special effects looked good. 

Cons:

•The trailer pretty much gives the whole movie away. 

•Yes, Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, and Ernie Hudson have brief cameos that sadly were pretty pointless. 

•That fucking Fallout Boy song!!! Holy shit that was terrible. It needs to die in the fiery pits of hell and/or be used to torture people to give up information. 

•The last 30 minutes or so when the big battle occurs was nothing but fan service. I don't mind that if done right but this was all just in your face. Too much. Also, the editing was pretty choppy. 

•While most of the effects were good, they should fire whoever did the ones for Slimer. Just awful. The ones in the original looked better. No excuse with today's technology. 

My Rating: 7/10

Dark Horse

Plot-

Based on the true story of a working class group of friends who decide to take on the elite world of horse racing and breed themselves a horse. 

Pros:

•Fascinating story that's well directed by Louise Osmond. Even if you're not into horses or horse racing you can still get something out of it. It's sweet, charming, feel good movie. Like a fairytale. 

•Beautiful locations. 

•Music fit perfectly. 

Cons:

•There were a few times where, because some of the people spoke with such thick accents, it was hard to understand what they were saying.  This isn't a knock on the movie itself nor should it stop you from seeing it. I'm just saying it would've been helpful to maybe add some subtitles during those parts. 

My Rating: 9.5/10