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Showing posts from August, 2018

Kin

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   When it comes to movies about family, they for the the most part land in the way to cheesy department. When you watch a trailer for this movie it seems like a family movie that is about a gun. What could possibly go wrong?    The story revolves around Eli (Myles Truitt) and his brother (Jack Reynor) running from a vengeful criminal (James Franco). The only thing that can protect them, a giant alien gun.   The best thing about this movie was the design of this super weapon. It does some cool things, and looks great doing it.   The story is a bit of a rough ride. It is pit as a science fiction film, and it is, a little. It mostly sticks to the family drama portion. it feels like it does not exactly know what it wants to be.  I wont give away anything, but there is a central plot point, not related to the gun, that is so ridiculous, it should never happen. If it does not, you do not have a movie. You see where the problem there.   In the e...

Classics Reviews:2001 A Space Odyssey

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  It has been a while since I have written anything, so why not come back with something I have not done in a while. I was lucky to be able to catch an IMAX showing of this film for its fiftieth anniversary.    The story surrounds Dave Bowers ( Keir  Dullea) and a group of astronauts are on the first trip ever to Jupiter. During the mission, the on board computer, Hal, begins to behave strangely.   My biggest negative for the film is the acting.  Through the speaking parts of the film, it just seemed so stiff. If they had just loosened up, the emotions would have come across better. It was hard to tell what the difference between the tense and, well not, tense scenes   For a movie that filmed in the 1960s, the special effects are incredible. Watching it in 2018, they still hold up pretty well. There are movies that were made a few years ago that do not old up today. With "2001", I can still watch it, and wonder how it was made.   I could ta...

Mile 22

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  "Mile 22" brings the fourth team up between Mark Wahlberg and director Peter Berg. Will they be able to keep the streak alive of great films?   James Silva (Mark Wahlberg) is the head of small military unit that is charged with taking an asset from the American embassy in Southeast Asia to the air field. As obvious as it may seem, this is a distance of twenty- two miles. To say that is resistance to their efforts, would be a big understatement.    The biggest thing that almost ruins the movie for me was how it was shot. Through the whole movie it was shot with a lot handheld. This is fine at some points, but when you have as many action scenes as this does,  not the best idea. This film, also, has a deep fear of wide shots. This destroys potentially great fight scenes from the legendary Iko Uwais. For those that do not know, this man was the lead on both of the "Raid" films a few years back. This man really knows what he is doing. When you watch the figh...

Movies of the Weekend 8-17-18

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  This is a bit of a slower weekend in terms of how many there are to see. First up is "Mile 22", it tells the story of an elite militay unit that must transport an important asset out of the country to prevent nuclear war. The final one is "Alpha", which tells the story of how "man's best friend" came to be. Whatever you decide to watch, I hope you enjoy!

Crazy Rich Asians

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   When it comes to romantic comedies, in general, one could say that I am far from a fan. When I saw the trailer for this, I really did not like it. I felt like it was going to be the same as every other one of the romantic comedies. I can say, I was mostly wrong.   Rachel (Constance Wu) is a professor of economics at NYU, and she has the perfect life with her boyfriend,  Nick (Henry Golding). When Nick's friend is ready to get married, he figures its time for her to meet the family. The catch is, she doesnt know how rich he really is.  There is a second storyline that really adds to the story and helps take away from the formula. This would be the family drama that rings through the film. People could say, is that not part of many romantic comedies? You would be right in some sense. I feel like the friction between everyone in the family. I also feel like the implications that being rich, and what it does on relationships.   Overall, this film uses ...

Trailer of the Week - Climax

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 I know what you are thinking, where has the trailer of the week been? To put it simply. I have not seen anything in the last few weeks that I have not really been a fan of. Along comes "Climax", a French film about hip hop dancers. The story revolves around a night of coming down from a bad trip for the dancers. What I liked about the trailer is how the trailer was put together. It is really hard to explain, it is something you will just have to see for yourself. The movie will be released September 19th

Slenderman

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  In 2009 Slenderman was first discovered on the creepypasta website. To say that it became an internet phenomenon would be a big understatement. So why are we now just getting a movie?  The film revolves a group of friends who discover the craze that is slenderman. As most people do when they want to find out more, search the web. They find a video that supposedly summons this entity. The girls do not believe this, and, of course, watch it. Strange things begin to happen..  The biggest problem with the movie is the story. They made it a "monster" movie when really should have been about not seeing him. In the movie, at least the beginning, it was all about not seeing him. As it goes a long you see slenderman more and more. It turns the movie into a "boogeyman" type film. Building anticipation for slenderman could have made it so much better.  To add onto the story issues, I felt like the movie lacked suspense. Anytime there was suppose to be a suspenseful mome...

Blackkklansman

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Photo from imdb.com  Spike Lee has been known for several great films over his career. It's just these films have not really come recently. Does "Blackkklansman" fix this funk?   Ron Stallworth (John Washington), is the first black cop in Colorado Springs. He is quickly promoted to detective. Ron, with the help of his partner Flip (Adam Driver) infiltrate the KKK.  I think the biggest positive about this film is its relevance. In this day there is a lot of hate over race. I feel like it really makes you question what the point of the hate was.   On the technical side, I thought the movie was put together well. This was most prominant for me in a scene for a college rally. It definitely made me feel like I was there.   I did want to comment on John Washington's performance. There is such a charisma to his presence. He up and down steals this movie.   If I had to pick something to say against it, I would say that it seemed a little long. With a two ho...

The Meg

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Photo from collider    Giant shark attacking a group of scientists, what kind of movie should you expect?    The story surrounds Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham), a deep sea rescue diver. In the beginning, he is outcasted for saying that one of his rescue efforts was interrupted by some giant monster. Five years later, he gets called back by a friend to help rescue his ex- wife. Guess who decides to join the party?  From the trailer, people generally expect this is not a movie to be taken seriously. Not to sound crude, but movies like this are watched for two reasons, nudity and great death scenes. Unfortunately, this movie has heather of these things. For those that do not know, this is pg-13. That means none of the things people want to see from this movie, are in it. Having said that, the ending was pg-13 cool.   Building on what I was saying previous paragraph, plot and characters tend to fall to wayside. When things are more focused on the shark you ...

Films of the weekend 8-10-18

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This week we have a decent variety for everyone. First, what happens when a prehistoric shark comes from the depth? Jason Statham has to come and set things right in "The Meg". Next, the internet phenomenon is brought to the big screen with " Slenderman ". Finally, what happens when a black detective infiltrates the KKK? Find out in "Blackkklansman". Whatever you choose, I hope you enjoy!

Castle Rock Season 1 - Episodes 4 and 5

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     To be honest when you get into Stephen King movies and television, you get good and bad. When this started out I was not sure on which end this was going to go. Even when the first three episodes dropped, I feel like I was on the fence. With the release of the next two episodes things really began to pick up. On a side note, with this series I am purposely keep the details scarce to keep the mystery alive for people that want to watch it can. This way they people can get the best of the show.   The episode surrounds Henry's past and present. Through the present, he is preparing to get the mysterious kid from Shawshank out. In his personal life, he is increasingly worried about his mother. With his mother's dementia as bad as it is, he thinks the best thing to do is to take her to Huston when he leaves. This is met with friction from both his mother and her boyfriend. He also does some digging into his disappearance. He comes across a man that lives deep in ...

Dog Days

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  We have now made it into the August movies of 2018. It is the period of the summer that is called the dumping ground. As you may guess it is where the bad movies go, or the films where they are not certain where to put them. I feel "Dog Days" fits into the second category.  This is one of the movies where it has many seperate stories that all somehow end up meeting at the end. Some of the stories include: An old man loosing his dog and a fundraiser to keep local dog rescue open..   This movie follows the same logic that all huge cast movies do, caring about the characters is not on the top of their lists.. When there are so many characters, there is not not enough screen time for everyone. What I mean by this is, the less time you spend with the characters, the less time you would care about them. When it comes to this movie, I feel like they try to fix this issue with dogs.  They knew that if you cared about the dogs, you would be more invested in them and no...

Succession Season 1- Episode 10

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  It has all lead to this, the pot has been boiling for nine episodes. What do we end up with? Let us find out!   The episode begins with who should be the one to deliver the letter to Logan telling him of the takeover. Stewie is worried that Kendall can not do it, he thinks of Logan as an unarmed soldier. Kendall says that he was the one who shot him first. Kendall is clearly terrified of what is going to happen. The takeover was to buy Waystar from Logan for one hundred and forty dollars a share. This went as about as well as people would expect. Kendall did crumble under the pressure.   The satellite launch that Roman has been running for most of this season, blew up before it even left the ground. What will be the fallout of that? Logan Roy is in a bit of a panic about the possible takeover. But the key is to not looked panicked. Connor has come to the decision that he wants to run for president. Will it be against Shiv's boss?   It is revealed that Roman ...

Succession Season One- Episode 9

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  With the show winding down in its first season, who will end up on top. There is so much double crossing, it could be anyone's game right now.   This episode surrounds the day before Shiv's wedding. The episode starts with the roy children's mother (Harriet Walter). She is set up as a big scary character, but we will see where that goes. Kendall's bid to take the company from his father has been fast tracked to throw logan off guard. There seems to be doubt in whether he actually wants to do it. The financial backers do not have faith that if the takeover is successful, that Kendall would be good for the head position.    Logan is looking for any reason not to come to the wedding. When he can not find anything that would not hurt the the company's image, he goes. Tom begins to doubt what is going on between him and Shiv. She tells him it is all real, despite what the rumors have been going around. As apart of the "trust" agreement between Ton and Sh...

Eighth Grade

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 The one thing that got me interested about this was the writer/ director. For those of you that do not know, Bo Burnham is a stand up comic. The thought of a stand up comic writing and directing a movie about growing up. Once you get past that thought, you ask well is it any good?   Kayla ( Elsie Fisher) is an introverted kid looking to make some changes in her life. It is the last week of eighth grade for her. The year has not gone great, but she is looking to end it on a high note.   The biggest thing about this movie was how relatable this movie is. It doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman. The scenes that take place in school, everyone can relate to these scenes in some way.  The performances of the film were also really well done. This was especially the case when it came to Elsie Fisher. She was able to capture the pain and the awkwardness of being thirteen. I would go as far as a star making performance.   If I had to knit pic the film, I wo...

Death of a Nation

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 As my time of being a critic continues, the more the documentaries that seem to come my way. This week the infamous documentarian Dinesh D'Souza. He has put out many documentaries in the last few years including "2016: Obama's America" and "Hilary's America". So obviously, this is a political documentary. I do swear to keep this as politics free as possible.    The idea that the documentary has is that America is at a crossroads, same as in the Lincoln era. It tries to say that the country needs to be pulled together. It further explores what is the root of the evil that is the Democratic Party.   First thing to look at with any documentary is the entire picture. If you are arguing one point, you must come back and give the counterpoint. It is up to the viewer to make up their mind. This documentary goes very one sided the whole way. When this is done, it all but ruins your credibility.    Through this documentary there is many uses of skits to cov...

Darkest Minds

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 Young adult adaptations were a craze, after the success of the original "Twilight" film. Since then, when people see that young adult novels are made, it is looked at as a joke. But as you know, they still get made, but that is why I am here.   The story takes place in a world were 98 percent of the children haven been killed thanks to a mysterious illness. The ones that did survive where left with powers. The story surrounds Ruby (Amandla Stenberg), a girl that erased herself from her parents and then was taken to a camp. These camps were used to study the effects of the disease on the kids. After six years in the camp, a big shift begins to happen.   The biggest thing about the movie that stinks, is the story. The novel was originally published in 2012, and obviously, I have no idea what changed from story to screen, but things seemed rather familiar. There is a hell of a lot of "Divergent" story mixed with, surprisingly "X-men". I will not get int...

Upcoming features 8-3-18

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 Another week, another set of films to watch. First we have "Darkest Minds".  It is another, in a long list of young adult adaptations to come through the theaters in the last ten ten years. This one surrounds a girl that has escaped a camp of teenagers who have super powers.   Next up, is "Eighth Grade". The film surrounds a shy girl that just wants to end her eighth grade year on a high note.   "Death of a Nation" is a documentary that tries to draw similarities between the presidency of Abraham Lincoln and Donald Trump.    To round out the list, "Christopher Robin" tells the story of how Christopher Robin gets help from his friends in the hundred acer wood.  What ever you choose to see, I hope you enjoy!