This is a movie about self-doubt, uncertainty, blame, perspective, circumstances, gratefulness, heroism, and people. It's a meticulously simple premise, but it's still able to give us several emotional moments. I questioned the way Director Clint Eastwood framed this true story, but he justifies his method, and hits the landing by the final scene (pun intended). Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, and Laura Linney were good in this, as expected.
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Movie is better than I expected. It had some good surprises, despite the fact it's pretty much another "Frankenstein's monster premise." Cast is great, with Anya Taylor-Joy and Kate Mara leading the charge. Loved that Paul Giamatti scene.
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It's very random, nonsensical, stupid, and ridiculous, BUT as a fan of Kevin Smith and Ralph Garman, I was able to excuse a lot of its flaws and had some fun with it.
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Until further notice, this movie review blog as it looks right now is no more....
for the time being...
it might look different when or if I come back to it...
sorry.
if you really want to know my thoughts on the matter...
https://www.patreon.com/posts/6642127/
Directed by : Fede Alvarez
Written by : Fede Alvarez, Rodo Sayagues
Starring : Jane Levy, Stephen Lang, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zovatto
Release Date : August 25, 2016
The premise for "Don't Breathe" is simple. Three young house burglars try to steal from a blind man, but the old blind man is scarier than they originally thought he would be. The whole gimmick of the movie is that the burglars have to be quiet, so that the blind man can't find them. So much so that there are scenes when the movie just goes extremely silent, except for the slight sounds the blind man is making. These are even some moments where I ended up holding my breath, in fear that the old man might hear me. That's what makes the movie fun to watch.
It could be argued that a series of scenes involving people trying not to make noise, while a blind man tries to find them, can get repetitive, or just pushes it's luck on how far they can take the concept. Thankfully the film makers made multiple creative scenarios to keep the premise going for as long as necessary to the plot. I wanted this movie to be longer than it was actually, as I was enjoying seeing where the story was taking me with every passing scenario. The movie cheats sometimes with some plot conveniences, but it's all entertaining either way.
Stephen Lang is amazing as the blind man, and he is like the menacing monster in a monster movie that our protagonists are suppose to hide from or defeat. The camera work is also done really well and shows the blind man popping up on the scene in very effective ways. Jane Levy does a great job as our leading lady in distress, and Dylan Minnette gets put in some very tricky situations multiple times.
As a suspense thriller "Don't Breathe" is definitely one of the best of 2016. It's hard not to be totally sucked into the movie, with the notion that the blind man is actually going to find you.
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Directed by : Todd Phillips
Written by : Stephen Chin, Todd Phillips, Jason Smilovic
Starring : Miles Teller, Jonah Hill, Ana de Armas
Release Date : August 18, 2016
Considering "War Dogs" is marketed as being "from the guy behind the modern classic comedy The Hangover," you would think that this was going to be a raucous comedy. But it's not. Considering this is based on a true story that is suppose to be outrageously stranger than fiction, this movie didn't really play off as being overly-outrageous in tone. Basically, if you're looking to have a "turn-off your brain" fun time at the movies, then this is not for you. However, if you're looking for a strange and interesting look at some of the behind the scenes going-ons during the War On Terror under the George W Bush era, then go see this movie.
The premise of this film is fascinating, and that's arguably what made this biopic rather engaging to watch all the way through. Two drugged out twenty-somethings as gun-runners for the US Government? That's an incredible story about the war that I knew very little about. The movie's narrative is pretty straightforward about the details as well, which makes things easy and uncomplicated to follow. One could argue that it doesn't make the movie very deep, and that's not an entirely false accusation either. If you're looking for themes condemning the fact that the US Government made it too easy for this to happen in the first place, or how far people will go to make money, well the movie does touch on those things. That's not the main subject of the movie though, as it's really about those specific twenty-somethings in this story.
Miles Teller as David Packouz and Jonah Hill as Efraim Diveroli are really good in this. The story is told mostly through Packouz's point of view, so he's the character that we're suppose to sympathize the most with. Diveroli however is the guy we're suppose to have fun watching, because he's the one that gets to joke around more. It's Packouz as the straight man, and Diveroli as the loose cannon. There were several enjoyable scenes to watch them both in; like their trip to the middle east, but usually you're just waiting to see what crazy thing Jonah Hill is going to say or do next. It however only reminds you to wish that this movie actually went all-in crazy in tone, style, and narration.
While "War Dogs" is a good movie the way it is, I personally do wish it didn't try and play it too traditionally as a biopic. I can easily recommend seeing this movie just for the story aspect of it, but it also doesn't really do anything extra special for people to go out of their way to see it either.
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Directed by : Travis Knight
Written by : Marc Haimes, Chris Butler
Starring : Art Parkinson, Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Rooney Mara
Release Date : August 18, 2016
The very impressive and absolutely beautiful stop motion animation work by Laika for "Kubo and the Two Strings" should be enough reason alone to see this movie. It doesn't rest on just that achievement however, and proceeds to also have this fantastic epic adventure story to share with us as well. Plus it's filled with wonderfully creative sequences and characters, that successfully brings it's imagination to life on screen. Visually amazing to watch. Engaging story to see play out. Memorable scenes and characters to entertain us with. So much praise, you'd think I'm talking about a masterpiece of a movie. Maybe I actually am.
This movie is about story telling, in a metaphorical sense, and in a plot sense as well. It seems obvious that the creative minds behind this movie have much love for Asian mythology, culture, and fantasy tales, because it shows. From magic origami, a talking monkey, and a samurai beetle person, all combined in a quest for mythical items, to defeat an all powerful enemy. It may be the tried and true "the heroes journey" story formula that structures the plot, but it stands out because of how imaginative they are in telling that story. There are admittedly some plot conveniences and conceits tossed in there, but they don't distract from the story telling that much.
One of the biggest strengths of this movie is the teaming up of Kubo, Monkey, and Beetle. The interactions between Kubo and the Monkey, or the Monkey and Beetle, are all fantastic. The three of them on screen together are just very enjoyable to watch. Of course part of the secret formula there are the voice actors of Art Parkinson as Kubo, Charlize Theron as Monkey, and Matthew McConaughey as Beetle. I would actually have preferred if this was a longer movie, because I simply wanted to see more of these three characters.
Visual eye candy, and a compelling premise, there's simply a lot of praise that I can give to "Kubo and the Two Strings." It's definitely an animated movie that needs to be experienced.
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Directed by : Jean-François Richet
Written by : Peter Craig, Andrea Berloff
Starring : Mel Gibson, Erin Moriarty, Diego Luna, William H. Macy, Michael Parks
Release Date : August 11, 2016
If you want to see Mel Gibson acting like the badass that he can be, then go ahead and see "Blood Father." I should warn you though, that even if this looks like some kind of hard boiled action thriller, it's not really an all-out high adrenaline film. The production quality of this is serviceable enough to give us some action sequences, but there isn't as many as you might expect to see. What you'll get here is a story about two people on the run from bad people who are out to get them. You've seen that movie before, and you'll see it again if you want to see Mel Gibson's latest venture in kicking ass.
Mel Gibson is in this movie as John Link, a grizzled old ex-con who is just trying to live a peaceful life, away from all the trouble that his past life brought him. That's not the Mel Gibson movie we want to see though isn't it? Enter Erin Moriarty as Lydia, his teenage daughter who has been missing for several years, and have been caught up with some nefarious individuals who are looking for her. Mel Gibson goes out of his way to protect her. He shoots bad guys. He evades bad guys. He chases bad guys. People get killed. Things get shot at. Places blow up. Basically the elements of an entertaining Mel Gibson movie.
Part of the fun in watching this movie is seeing John Link and Erin Moriarty try and figure a way out of their life or death situation. In doing so, we get to see a lot of good bonding moments between Father and Daughter, and I thought the two leads have great chemistry together. Erin Moriarty in particular stands out really well in this movie and holds her own against the action star veteran. Her character may have gone through a lot and can be tough, but Moriarty plays her with a vulnerability that successfully shows us how broken she is as person, and why her Father is the perfect person to help her survive through this. They really brought their characters to life, and that helped keep me invested with what happens to them in this story.
Besides the great performances by Mel Gibson and Erin Moriarty, "Blood Father" doesn't really stand out among the many similar entrees to this genre of films. It's done well enough to watch though, and the comfortable familiarity only adds to the fun.
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Directed by : David Mackenzie
Written by : Taylor Sheridan
Starring : Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Jeff Bridges, Gil Birmingham
Release Date : August 11, 2016
I have to admit that the reason I went to see "Hell or High Water" isn't because it looked like a modern western set in the state of Texas where just about anybody has a gun, or that it seemed to have some unflattering message about how banks seem to control the world, or that this might be a fun heist story involving bank robbing brothers and the Texas Rangers lawmen set out to stop them. I went into this movie specifically because of the people involved in it, which gave me the expectation that this is going to be a good film. It is a good! But my description of the movie are all true as well.
Written by Taylor Sheridan and Directed by David Mackenzie, this isn't a full on action thriller of a movie. It's primarily a drama, with some scenes of action when it's needed. Yes there are dialogue scenes where the characters have discussions involving some heavy life topics, but it's not all serious. There are many lighthearted moments littered throughout the movie, like the brothers arguing about their methods during the bank robberies, or the Texas Rangers teasing each other like old married couples, and even the other supporting characters gets to toss in a joke or two. It's moments like those that helps this movie feel relatable, to balance out the big ideas it does have to say about the world we live in.
The draw of this movie is to see whether the bank robbers get away with it, or to see if the Texas Rangers stop their crime spree. Who are we suppose to root for anyway? The out of control but entertaining Ben Foster character and his kind-hearted sympathetic brother played by Chris Pine, who are robbing banks with justifiable intentions? Or do we root for the old and wise Ranger played by Jeff Bridges who loves to tease his fellow Ranger played by Gil Birmingham; who happens to be half Native American and half Mexican, who are just trying to uphold the law? Both sides of the story are excellent, and you'd want to see them through to the end. All of these actors are great in this, and the chemistry they have with each other are very enjoyable to watch.
It has to be said that "Hell Or High Water" isn't exactly some kind of ground breaking modern western, that has a complex plot that needs to be dissected for further educational studies. You can analyze this film if you want to, but it seems unnecessary. Watch it for the characters and all the little memorable moments that they bring to the screen. If you don't get too distracted by the big ideas, and just go with that, then you should enjoy watching this movie.
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Directed by : David Lowery
Written by : David Lowery, Toby Halbrooks
Starring : Oakes Fegley, Bryce Dallas Howard, Oona Laurence, Robert Redford, Karl Urban
Release Date : August 10, 2016
During the introduction scenes of "Pete's Dragon" that showed us how a young boy ended up alone in the forest, and how he came upon this huge magical creature, I knew from then that I was probably going to really enjoy watching this movie. That isn't necessarily because of the special effects, or the characters, or the story, or action sequences, because all of that were serviceable at best. It was because this film has it's heart in the right place, and that's what counts the most for a story like this.
Despite the fact that this movie can be called out for playing it safe and being by the numbers, there were important elements that it got absolutely right. It didn't try to be this big epic original blockbuster of a movie, because it's simply not. It was what it was suppose to be, which is a simple family movie, that is essentially a "boy and his pet" story, that's designed to tug at your heartstrings. The connection Pete has with Elliot the Dragon is the strength of this story, and the need of an orphaned boy to be with a family is a powerful theme that this film also uses with great effect.
The cast is good in this, with Oakes Fegley leading the charge as the wild orphaned boy of the forest, and also Bryce Dallas Howard as Grace the forest ranger who discovers him. I also have to give kudos to the team that brought Elliot the dragon to life, and I actually liked this version better than the 1977 one. He is essentially a big giant fuzzy dog or cat with wings, and as a dog owner myself I was completely engaged with the character. There are many scenes between Pete and Elliot; and with Grace, that I thought were very charming and heartwarming to watch, and are those moments that only made the movie better.
So it's best to look past the illogical flaws, the familiar story tropes, the plot conveniences, and the simplistic character developments, because "Pete's Dragon" is made to remind you about those easy to digest family friendly films that would give a 7 year old kid the desire to have his own Dragon friend. It's that power of innocence and nostalgia rolled into one. It's magical.
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