Inferno

The premise of this movie, about the danger of over-population, and the mystery about a global pandemic threat, is something I found rather interesting. Using historical facts and locations, to provide clues to the main plot, is a clever story device that's been a staple of this franchise. What's also a recurring theme to this series of movies, is that it never seems to be able to live up to it's potential. 

This once again has a great cast with Tom Hanks, Felicity Jones, Irrfan Khan, and it's Directed by Ron Howard. With that said, why is it that this movie can look like it's exciting and captivating, but actually feels like it's a chore and frustrating to watch. Oddly enough, I think it's because the pacing is actually too fast for a mystery film, and doesn't really allow us to play along and savor the clues. It's like it's only interested in showing us plot points after plot points after plot points, as opposed to moving the story at a natural pace. 

If it wasn't for the cast and the interesting theme of the plot, I would say that this movie isn't worth watching at all. It tries to make us care, but it makes us just want to get it over with fast. 

loveditenjoyedititsokay  IT'S MEH  itsterrible 

Coming Through The Rye

At first it felt like the movie was a little too precious, with a lead character that seems a little to insufferable to put up with. However, as soon as Alex Wolff and Stefania Owen go on their little road trip of a story to find J D Salinger; the author of "Catcher In The Rye," I was completely all in. I wanted to see what's going to happen to these two characters. The movie is actually based on the true life experience of the writer / director James Steven Sadwith, and it's important to mention that, because the premise may come off as a little bit too fanciful. 

I was charmed by this film, sympathized with the troubled character of Jamie Schwartz, and absolutely adored the positivity that DeeDee brought to the story. This is a whimsical coming of age story, that seems dedicated to every one that is a hopeless romantic idealistic dreamer with good intentions. Wallflowers and outcasts should connect with this movie really well. It does touch on familiar themes that movies like this usually cover, but it's effective, and that's what matters. 

lovedit  ENJOYED IT  itsokayitsmehitsterrible 

Keeping Up With The Joneses

There's a lot of comedies that involves a spy premise to it, and this is yet another one to add to that list. The biggest strength this movie has is the cast. You know what to expect from Zach Galifianakis and that usually involves awkward humor. Isla Fisher is an underrated comedic actress, and most of the best comedy bits in this film involves her. It's always amusing seeing Jon Hamm in lighthearted roles, and I really liked his character here. Gal Gadot is hot and badass, so enough said there. I like the cast and their chemistry together, but unfortunately that doesn't completely elevates what is just an average comedy. 

The humor in this movie verges from stupid, to annoying, but sometimes it's actually genuinely funny; once again usually involving Isla Fisher. The story is ridiculous and there's a lot that pushes your suspension of disbelief. If you can look past the shortcomings though, the movie is ultimately just harmless lighthearted entertainment. The movie at least seems to understand that fact and just goes with the flow of just being as enjoyable as it possibly could. Well, it honestly could have possibly been a much better movie, but what we ended up getting is at least fun enough for what it is. 

loveditenjoyedit  IT'S OKAY  itsmehitsterrible

Jack Reacher Never Go Back

After the spectacular first installment of Jack Reacher, I suppose the only main issue with this sequel is that it's very unremarkable. Tom Cruise is still great as the character, the supporting characters in Smulders and Yarosh are good enough for their roles, but the story here is just mildly interesting, the main antagonist is alright, and the action sequences are just your standard affair. There's just no wow factor to this movie, and unfortunately that's the biggest thing I'm holding against it. Director Edward Zwick made a competent film, and I was admittedly still entertained by it, but I was also hoping to get something more than just another typical action mystery movie. 

loveditenjoyedit  IT'S OKAY  itsmehitsterrible

Ouija Origin Of Evil

Full disclosure, I did not see the 2014 Ouija movie, that this is the prequel of. I may have missed some details and clues on how the two movies connect, but it didn't really matter to the quality of the film. This is a good movie! It's not necessarily the most unique or groundbreaking scary movie of the year, but it was very enjoyable, and arguably one of the best made horror sequels around. A lot of what worked well here, is because of writer-director Mike Flanagan, and the great cast. Awesome job! 

This movie thankfully doesn't rely too much on jump scares; although there are some of that, as it's focus was just to creep and freak you out with what's simply shown on screen via some clever edits and camera work. Sometimes the scary parts of a scene simply happens in surprisingly subtle but effective ways. Of course one of the best elements of what's scary in this movie is Lulu Wilson as Doris Zander. What a great young actress, playing a character that's able to creep you out in many little ways. 

Unsettling, creepy, freaky, and ultimately an entertaining scary movie. Fun stuff. 

lovedit  ENJOYED IT  itsokayitsterrible

Batman Return Of The Caped Crusaders

Alright, there's no denying it. This animated movie is purely fan service for fans of the Batman TV show from the 1960s. I personally didn't think of that as a problem, however the campy sense of humor of this Batman show may not be to the liking of the general Batman fans out there. Don't try to apply logic, and don't be alarmed by the ridiculousness of it all, because this just isn't suppose to be taken seriously. If you can go with that, then you should be entertained by this. 

As a fan of the 60s TV series, I was completely sucked in by the nostalgia factor of the whole thing, as well as hearing the voices of Adam West and Burt Ward in their most famous roles. I was also glad that they went in the direction of doing things in this movie that they couldn't possibly have done with a TV budget, as they were smart to take advantage of the animated format. The story line in this one is undoubtedly the most ambitious plot the show could have ever done, and I was hooked all the way until the end. 

If you ever wanted to step away from the always serious Dark Knight, and want a more lighthearted Batman, then do check out this movie. 

lovedit  ENJOYED IT  itsokayitsmehitsterrible 

Desierto

As much as I like the idea of a horror movie about an American man murdering illegal border crossers from Mexico, I felt like this wasn't horrific enough of a direction by writer / director Jonas Cuaron. Well, there is exactly one horrific scene that I'm not going to forget anytime soon, but that's about it. This is billed as a great tense thriller, but it was more like a mediocre tense thriller. Yes, people are getting murdered here, and I should care and be scared for them, but it just felt oddly too impersonal to me. 

The whole movie probably could have just been a 15 minutes short film. Seriously, there isn't much substance to the story here. It could have been done in a way where it felt like a cinematic eternity being caught in a harsh environment, but this is no "The Revenant." Gael Garcia Bernal and Jeffrey Dean Morgan were fine in this, but I didn't really care much for any of the characters, which means that I didn't care much for what happens to them. Some of the plot conveniences and logical flaws, also didn't do this film any favors.

One could argue that there's a good social and political commentary in this movie, and that may be true. The visuals are at least worth a look, with the good cinematography of the desert. At best I did find it as a mild diversion of a movie to watch through, but it's just unfortunate that it just left me generally unsatisfied by the end. 

loveditenjoyedititsokay  IT'S MEH  itsterrible 

The Accountant

Some people are going to accuse this movie for being too slow paced, while others will just accept that it's just taking it's time to tell a proper story. It's a little bit of both. There are times I did wish the movie would just get on with it already, and it didn't help that the flashback sequences can happen in odd places that absolutely halt the momentum of the film. Thankfully, the premise and it's characters just grew on me, and by the end of the movie, I wanted to see more; despite some general flaws and some typically familiar plot points. I wouldn't mind seeing this turned into a movie franchise as well. 

This movie is a mixture of a character study about an Accountant with autism, as well as an action thriller when it's revealed that this Accountant has a particular set of skills to protect himself in his world filled with dangerous clients. Because of his character, Ben Affleck may be a little too stoic and unemotional to truly carry the whole movie, but there's where the supporting cast comes in to mix up the tone; especially the lightheartedness that Anna Kendrick brings. Add in some fun action sequences, and we've got a movie that's much more entertaining than I originally gave it credit for.

lovedit  ENJOYED IT  itsokayitsmehitsterrible 

Shin Godzilla

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but this is very much a Writer / Director Hideaki Anno made movie through and through. From the frenetic quick edits, the overabundance of using captions, up close camera angles, the lack of transitional story beats, scenes of mass destruction, and a bit of grotesque imagery. Now besides all that, you're probably wondering how much of Godzilla do you actually get to see here? Well you do see him, and there isn't even much of a build up to showing him. However, this is mostly a talking heads movie, with Godzilla only being shown in probably 10% of the whole thing. 

True to the spirit of the monster however, he is treated like a natural disaster that the whole country; and the whole world, has to react to. The main crux of the narrative are people trying to figure out how to stop Godzilla from destroying everything. You're basically watching politics and red tape being played out on screen here, and I was honestly completely engaged with the whole proceedings. Might not be for everybody though. In addition, within the story there is a strong theme about Japanese Nationalism; with several jabs taken against the US, as well as a huge acknowledgement to what happened during World War II. 

I thought the movie was interesting, and Godzilla absolutely wowed me; despite the CGI not necessarily being the best at all times. I'm already hoping for a continuation to this incarnation of the classic monster. 

lovedit  ENJOYED IT  itsokayitsmehitsterrible

American Honey

Director / Writer Andrea Arnold's vision of what the youth of America is like today, will either alarm you or inspire you. With an aspect ration of 4:3, a running time of 2 hours and 43 mins, scenes that last longer than you expect; especially scenes where the kids are singing or dancing along to a song, and you've got a movie that isn't for everybody. As much as this is a movie though, this is very much mostly a cinematic experience that might just completely suck you into it's stream-of-consciousness-like narrative. 

We've got a group of young adults here who are traveling around the country, barely making some money, listening to hip-hop music, having a good time with their friends, loosely following some rules, and making their own rules as they please. It's like they are just living life in the moment, riding in their van, until it eventually just falls off a cliff. There's a certain appeal to that seemingly carefree lifestyle, and this movie captures that very well. 

Sasha Lane as our main female protagonist Star, perfectly embodies what you could expect from a nothing-to-lose American teen, who clearly isn't completely satisfied with where she's at in life, and hopes this van full of misfits will guide her to where she wants to be. Shia LaBeouf and Riley Keough are also fantastic in this, as well as the rest of the supporting cast. 

lovedit  ENJOYED IT  itsokayitsmehitsterrible