Moviebuffreview

This Barbenheimer weekend, Christopher Nolan stepped up to the plate to remind us why he’s one of the best filmmakers of our time.

Even as someone who is not all that invested in Pokemon as a franchise (which admittedly would hinder my enjoyment regardless), this feels like another classic case of Americans trying to adapt a Japanese property and having no clue what is appealing about it. The two leads are fairly charming, and there are one or two amusing scenes. Otherwise, this script is a mess. It takes itself far too seriously, it is painfully predictable, it does not do a good job in fleshing out its characters, and it is a tonal disaster. The biggest issue for me is that it fails to deliver on two essential elements that fans seem to like about this property: the Pokemon battles and the relationship between a Pokemon and their master. This is a waste of a potentially promising premise. That said, I can definitely see a younger generation of fans enjoying it for the thrill of seeing their favorite characters adapted to live action. Furthermore, bigger fans will definitely get some appreciation out of the lore. But as a movie, it just doesn't work.

After watching this film at the Chicago International Film Festival, my original plan was to wait until closer to the film's actual release date to give my thoughts on it. However, after sitting with it for two days, with the images and sounds still sweeping through my mind, I cannot help myself. I will be as vague as possible, because I do not want to ruin the experience of seeing it for the first time, but I have to talk about it. La La Land, as it has been advertised, pays homage to classic movie musicals. Not only does it visually allude to films such as Singin' in the Rain and The Band Wagon, but it also preserves the upbeat, wondrous tone of those classics. There is something wonderful about seeing this tone and style recreated for a modern film. Cynicism and pretentiousness are completely absent from this film, and nostalgia and joy take their place. But calling La La Land a terrific recreation of the classic movie musical is selling it short. Like director Damien Chazelle's previous work, La La Land has much more going on narratively than the movie may lead people to believe. On the surface, this is a love story about two artists trying to make their ways in Los Angeles. However, this framework is deceptively simple. La La Land forces us to think about the realities of personal relationships and artistic endeavors. It explores the excitement of our dreams, the hardships of pursuing these dreams, and forces the audience to question the importance of both. Fortunately, Chazelle never looks down on the audience with these ideas. They are not presented in a heavy handed manner, and he never forces you to think a certain way. On top of its thematic richness, La La Land has one of the best understandings of film as a storytelling medium that I have seen in recent years. On the surface, it is the most technically astounding. The cinematography is stunning, and the soundtrack is beautiful. Even better is that both the visuals and soundtrack are never used in a way that is shallow or uninteresting. La La Land has an understanding of how to tell a story visually. It understands the power of sequencing, the power images can have on the emotional impact of a story, and the way in which these images simultaneously indulge our fantasies and remind us of our humanity. In other words, for me, it embodies everything that I love about movies. There are instances that everyone can recall in a cinema where we have felt what I like to call "movie magic." These are evoked by the films that completely absorb us into its world, and movies that have a lasting, personal impact on us far beyond the theater. They are the films that we hold as the pinnacle of what makes watching movies so great. La La Land is one of those movies. During its 128 minute running time, the only time I wanted to look away from the screen was to turn to the people around me and check and see if they were experiencing the same kind of magic that I was. I can affirm that everyone I saw in my theater was. La La Land is a masterpiece. It is not only the best movie of 2016 so far, but also possibly one of the best of the decade. It's spectacular, stunning, moving, and absolutely magical.

I am not going to waste the time to talk about why this movie is the worst I have seen all year because it is clear that Warner Brothers did not take the time to ensure that this would be a quality movie. Instead, I am going to give you a list of recommendations based on what the marketing had people fooled into thinking Suicide Squad would be, but really wasn't. If in a comic book movie, you are looking for: -A good licensed soundtrack, watch Guardians of the Galaxy. -a fun team of characters, watch The Avengers (or Guardians). -good humor, watch Deadpool. -realism and emotional maturity, watch The Dark Knight -good characterization, watch Spider-Man 2. And last, but most certainly not least: -something cohesive, funny, tense, exciting, authentic, or even remotely entertaining, you'd have better luck with almost any other movie than Suicide Squad. It may not kill you, but it'll hurt you... really, really bad.

Blatant propaganda. This movie, regardless of political preferences, is an embarrassment for this country, our ideals, and our politics. Hilary is an imperfect movie, but the only thing that this movie is perfect at being is flawed.

When it is adapting the graphic novel of the same name, Batman: The Killing Joke is phenomenal. Although its art style is less haunting, the script itself is very faithful to the script of the comic. This not only keeps all of the interesting ideas intact, but surprisingly, the structure of the story also makes for a relatively well paced and entertaining animated film. Unfortunately, The Killing Joke is not long enough to fill out the runtime of a feature length film. As a result, an extended, thirty minute prologue was added to help flesh out a character whose treatment in the original source material was often criticized. While the intent is commendable, this extended prologue is abysmal. It feels far too disconnected from the main narrative, but it is also extremely rushed and horribly written on its own terms. It not only suffers from not adding anything significant to the story; the things that are added clash thematically and tonally with everything that the rest of the film stands for. If you skip the prologue, Batman: The Killing Joke is absolutely worth your time, whether you love the original graphic novel or have never heard of it. However, with the prologue included, it's pretty poor. A shame, considering how good the source material (and half of this movie) is.

Star Trek Beyond mixes up the formula of the previous two films by being far slower in pace and smaller in scale. This is welcome not only because it is a nice departure from the previous two films, but also because it makes it feel the most like the original series of these three movies. Fortunately, the cast from the previous movies are able to make this change in pace work, being as consistently likable and entertaining as they were in the previous films. Unfortunately, while the scale of the story is welcome, it struggles in the way of character development and themes, setting up some interesting ideas without exploring them for the rest of the movie. And while the previous two films were able to distract with brisk pacing and some well filmed action sequences, Justin Lin does not handle the action sequences well, especially in comparison to Abrams. Many of them are often disorienting and difficult to follow, which makes the narrative shortcomings even more apparent. All of this amounts to a film that makes some improvements upon its predecessors, but also takes many steps backwards, making it less enjoyable in many ways. Star Trek Beyond is still worth watching, but while the crew of the Enterprise boldly goes where no one has gone before, this film doesn't quite have the legs to fully live up to that legacy.

I wanted to love Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. So badly. Although my expectations were low, I hoped for the best, and all I wanted to do was to have fun. I underestimated this movie. I underestimated how bad it would really be. Batman v Superman introduces a semi-interesting Batman, presents a few cool visuals, and the story itself has some ideas in it that have potential. However, the script itself is a mess, being one of the worst screenplays in terms of structure that I have seen in recent memory. The movie has about seven storylines going on all at once, none of which tie together in any cohesive way, and none of which get enough screen time to be developed or interesting. Here, characters feel empty and shallow. Ideas are silenced by explosions. Potential future storylines are wasted. After enjoying Man of Steel, and being a fan of the genre, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is one of the biggest letdowns in cinematic history. It's messy, tonally confused, often times unintentionally funny, and every bit as much boring. When the film was first announced at Comic-Con a few years ago, the sheer epic nature of the announcement had me in giddy tears. Now, I am practically in tears once again. But not for the reasons that I had hoped.

Creed certainly has things going for it: the performances are mostly solid (though I don't think Stallone is Oscar worthy in this by any means), the cinematography is excellent, and the overall concept of the story is excellent. However, Creed really suffers from its execution. And no, I am not going to criticize this movie for sharing similar elements to the original Rocky. That isn't the problem for me. The problem lies in the fact that Creed's script feels filled with unfocused themes, unexplored plot lines, and new characters that aren't all that interesting. The movie seems to know what its main theme is by the end, but it seems so unsure of itself throughout the majority of its runtime that I found myself just not caring that much by the end. And ultimately, the movie didn't focus on the characters enough for me to really care. As a result, Creed left me incredibly disappointed. It's by no means terrible, and there is certainly enjoyment to be had. But a great movie, Creed certainly is not.

The Good Dinosaur may be perhaps one of the most frustrating viewing experiences I've had at any Pixar movie. On the one hand, it is one of the most technically impressive films the studio has done, with near photorealistic environments and incredible attention to detail in the characters. Furthermore, the characters are all, for the most part, quite memorable, and there are moments of excellent visual storytelling that match the studio's typical high mark in quality. At the same time, The Good Dinosaur has almost as many frustrating moments, where the plot falls into cliches, where the storytelling becomes on the nose and rushed, and where the bad parts often times stand out more, unfortunately, because of the glimmers of brilliance throughout. The Good Dinosaur still lives up to the name of being "good", but in a movie where it had the potential to be "excellent", I cannot say that I'm not slightly disappointed.

I couldn't be more sad to be giving this film this rating, especially because, in the months leading up to the film, I saw a lot of potential despite the rumors regarding shooting problems. There's an excellent cast here with tons of potential for energy and chemistry. There's a director who has proven himself to be a good filmmaker and storyteller. And there's an exciting concept at the core of this movie: presenting the Fantastic Four's origin like a sci-fi horror film, similar to movies like The Fly. I give one point to a sequence in the film which shows the potential of this original concept. However, everything else in this movie is awful... Fantastic Four reeks of studio control, leaving the film confused as to what it is and what it wants to be. The story is a series of plot points with no coherent way of connecting, the characters are nonexistent, and the film's pacing is awkward, with only one and a half action sequences and no second act. Overall, this is as bad as comic book movies get. A film with such great talent and so much potential squandered by trying to fit a mold of cliche superhero movies. Studios, take notes. Let filmmakers make good movies.

It starts off rough, and it lacks the sense of awe that the original had, and the characters start off as shallow and uninteresting. Once Jurassic World gets going, it manages to be a fun Blockbuster with cool action sequences and exciting moments, but ultimately, the entire experience feels shallow and disappointing.

It's definitely not flawless, but then again, no Star Wars movie (or any movie for that manner) is. What's important is that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is not just a return to form. This not only includes the imagination, excitement, and wonder from the previous movies. Rather, it promises a bright future. These new characters are the most interesting that Star Wars has ever seen, the action sequences and visuals are as stunning as ever, and the movie does a great job of balancing the old and the new, especially surprising considering that JJ Abrams has had a habit of relying too heavily on references. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a classic Star Wars film, and it easily ranks as one of the top 2 best movies in the series. And if the series continues on this path of greatness, we could potentially see something pass up Empire Strikes Back in quality. As it stands, second best will do just fine. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is one of the most thrilling and satisfying movies of the year, especially amazing considering the ridiculous hype.

Filled with phenomenal performances, an expertly written screenplay with both clever twists and likable characters, and a perfect blend of comedy and drama, American Hustle is another incredible achievement from one of my favorite film directors of the past few years. American Hustle is easily my favorite movie of the year.

Filled with beautiful cinematography and visual effects, excellent performances, a clever script, awesome humor, and an emotional attachment to the characters, Star Trek: Into Darkness is not only a great summer blockbuster, but also one of the best films of the year. The additions of more Trekkie references, an awesome villain, and beautiful 3D also boost the film to make it even better than its predecessor.

Visually stunning and well acted, Pacific Rim succeeds in being an entertaining Summer blockbuster, despite the uneven pacing and cliche script. It certainly isn't up to par with some of del Toro's other work, but it certainly is a lot of fun!

Disappointingly, Spider-Man 3 puts the bad back into third films. While the film had some stunning visual effects and solid performances, the script was an absolute mess, the tone was confused, and the movie simply had too much going on to focus its sights on one thing. Additionally, the unnecessary cheese and goofiness made the story difficult to take seriously, making for a film that equaled the death of a series.

Need I say anything? Batman and Robin is a dull, uninspired, insulting, and ridiculous take on the character. Had Batman Begins not come out, this movie would continue to leave a bad stench to the Batman franchise in Hollywood.

While Christopher Reeve continues to soar as Superman here, the rest of the movie is nothing but a failed, crash landing. Awful plot, laughable characters and villains, a ridiculous sense of humor, a plot free from logic, and lackluster action make Superman III an awful sequel, especially after the acclaimed Superman II.

Christopher Reeves is a fantastic Superman, but even he seems half asleep in this awful sequel. Terrible plot, lackluster effects, a trainwreck sense of direction, and an absolute lack of an epic scope that the first two delivered on so well makes Superman IV: The Quest for Peace not only the worst Superman film, but one of the worst comic book movies in general

The heck with the critics. Thanks to incredible action, a fantastic ensemble, a wonderful original score, fantastic script by David S. Goyer, and an incredible new direction, Man of Steel proves to be the best Superman movie since the original, and it is one of the best comic book movies ever. This is a fantastic reboot to the franchise, and a great start to an inevitable Justice League franchise.

Thanks to powerful performances, exciting action, and a thrilling script with one of the best endings every in a movie series, The Dark Knight Rises effectively and epically ends Christopher Nolan's masterful Dark Knight trilogy.

Disappointing. While the cast does a generally good job with what they are given, and the visual effects are pretty good, the dialogue is poorly written, the pacing sometimes suffers, and the movie tries to do too much in too short of time.

Amazing is an understatement. As a Spider-Man fan, I have waited for my whole life to get the true definitive Spider-Man movie, and I have finally gotten it. Wonderful performances, thrilling action, incredible screen writing, perfect humor, and fantastic character arcs make Spider-Man one of the most entertaining, and personal, comic book movies of all time. This is a fantastic movie, one that everyone should see.

Exciting, incredibly well written, and hilarious, The Avengers is Marvel's best film. The action is incredibly thrilling, the humor unmatched in a blockbuster, and the performances fantastic. This is the best way to start off the Summer movie season.

The Social Network is one incredible movie. Thanks to an incredible screenplay with snappy and smart dialogue, unbelievable performances across the board, and solid humor and emotional elements, it is one fantastic movie that nobody should miss out on.

Perfectly acted, emotionally flawless, and laugh out loud funny, 50/50 is one of the best movies of the year, with at least a couple of Oscar worth performances, the funniest lines of the year, and a powerful blend of crying and laughing. This movie is basically flawless, and should not be missed by anyone.

There are certain horror movies that are gross and that is their general appeal. Some horror movies attempt to be original and that is their general appeal. The Human Centipede's appeal? Well it attempts to try to mix these together, but the lack of substance already puts it below what you would normally expect. In addition though, the Human Centipede is a sick and disturbing movie that has no general appeal in its story, and absolutely no substance. The graphic content alone makes the movie nearly unwatchable, but the rest of the movie is just as painful. From laughable dialogue and situations, acting, and a bland mood that doesn't make the movie more exciting or scary. The Human Centipede: First Sequence is just a sick, horrendous movie that no one should watch. From a film and general perspective, this movie is abysmal.

With an A plus cast, a great premise, and some solid drama and suspense, Contagion gets lots right. But the lack of a real plot or satisfying conclusion does make it somewhat of a disappointment.

While it is not for everybody, The Adjustment Bureau is the biggest surprise of the year thanks to its excellent story, an A plus cast, and some awesome drama that pushes the story along satisfyingly. The ending is also fantastic.

The ending is unsatisfying, the pacing is off at points, and there is a lack of excitement to some degree, but Unknown's strong cast, including Liam Neeson, thrilling action, and second half to make up for some of its shortcomings. This movie is recommendable, but only a very small recommendation.

Cowboys and Aliens needed better aliens to support the cowboys, the pacing was uneven, and there was nothing innovative or new, but Cowboys and Aliens was fun, thanks to fun action, a strong cast, and a script which was much better than I thought it would be. It may not be a Captain America or Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, but it is better than the sad action movies this year such as Transformers Dark of the Moon.

There really isn't a lot to say about this movie. Besides Kevin James, who makes the movie slightly watchable, is the only sunshine in this awful dark cave. Uninspired, cliche, and laughably bad script topped with some horrible and annoying performances, bad effects, and most of all, a pointless message, and Zookeeper is one of the worst movies of the year. The trailer perfectly sums up how bad this movie is. Don't watch it!

Outside of the special effects and action, which are stunning and improved from the second one, and the cut down on annoying humor, Transformers: Dark of the Moon really is a lifeless movie, with nothing very good to offer outside of the effects. The script is weak, the performances are a little underwhelming, the pacing is off, and the movie is far too long. I don't know why so many people liked this movie, but I say compared to some of the quality Summer releases of the past few weeks, like Harry Potter and Captain America, it falls flat on its face. And sure it is better than Revenge of the Fallen, but is that really saying anything?

While some I did find some of the action to be a bit too "montage" like, Captain America: The First Avenger is the best comic book movie of the summer thanks to it's excellent cast, thrilling action, and appealing script.

There is nothing fantastic, fresh, or very original about Mr. Popper's Penguins, but there is enough good humor and a solid performance by Jim Carrey which makes it worth a look. It was much better than I expected it to be.

The Lightning Thief isn't bad. It has decent effects, okay performances, and can be fun for people who haven't read the book. But people who have read it might get a few thrills, but ultimately will be frustrated by the unfaithful adaptation that Chris Columbus did, and the ending which doesn't open a franchise as well as you would have hoped.

A cinematic masterpiece. Batman Begins took the big risk taker, but the most rewarding one: bringing a comic book hero well known such as Batman and bringing him to a more realistic level. The result is a thrilling, dazzling, emotional journey full of darkness, heart, entertainment, and magic. Batman Begins is a masterpiece, with a sequel that is just as good. Batman Begins is a must see!

On Stranger Tides is a frustrating fun time! The cast is great, the script improved, the action is breathtaking, and the pacing better. The movie is a bit stale, no lying there, and some of the new characters were a bit of a waste, but Pirates was still a fun time!

Dazzling, emotionally gripping, wonderfully acted, and faithful to the source material, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I is a masterpiece, and is the best Harry Potter film in the series! I can't wait for Part 2 to blow audiences away.

The reboot or return to the widely successful and acclaimed Star Wars saga was disappointing in just about every way. With the exception of the Ewan McGregor and Liam Nesson, the acting was underwhelming, the dialogue made me barf in my mouth, the pacing was awkward and often slow, and the villains were not only unclear and underdeveloped, but lacked the threat and power that Darth Vader and the emperor had in the original trilogy. The ending was a little better, with some solid action, and throughout there were some decent effects, but many of the actions scenes had no real weight to them and felt like they were there just for the sake of being there. Episode I is disappointing, boring, and not worth your time if you are a Star Wars fan.

Thor had solid acting, including a breakthrough performance by Chris Hemsworth, great action, solid humor, and a good ending. However, Thor also suffered from some pacing issues and some scenes that take you out of the experience. Nonetheless, this is still a movie worth watching and is a solid adaptation before The Avengers comes out next year.

X-Men First Class's opening is a bit underwhelming and awkwardly paced, but once you get past the first 15 minutes the film is clever, emotionally gripping, visually appealing, and incredibly well acted. The youthful cast sparks new life into the franchise and going back to the beginning helps to reboot the franchise, without detaching from the original universe that the other movies took place in. This is a must see of the summer, and the best X-Men of them all.

Normally I would be able to appreciate a comic book movie for what it is trying to do with the story, trying to go deeper with the character, but not with a movie like Hulk, where every other aspect of the film doesn't work at all. The slow moving plot, underwhelming and boring action sequences, and the unconvincing performances from some talented actors makes Hulk the most disappointing movie Marvel has made along with Daredevil and Fantastic 4.

Super 8 was visually stunning, well acted, and a lot of fun as well as well written for the first hour and 35 minutes or so. However, the ending was disappointing and cliche. The ending really brought down the score of the movie for me, but nonetheless, it is still a summer movie worth seeing.

A little cliche? Sure. But Zombieland is one hell **** time, in fact, one of the best comedies I have seen in a long time. Thanks to a strong cast and characters, awesome action, awesome dumb slapstick as well as smart dark humor, it is ingenious and entertaining. See it

Wes Craven is the master of the slasher genre. Scream is not only scary, it is also funny, smart, exciting, and suspenseful. Scream may be one of the best horror movies of the modern generation. Sure, some might say that others like Halloween and A Nightmare on Elm Street are better, but this one is smarter and more original. You should see this movie!

Seriously? Only a "Generally favorable reviews" from critics? Really? The Godfather Part II is an absolute masterpiece. It keeps all of the great elements from the first movie (the drama, fantastic cast, great script, and unforgettable quotes), and also adds new elements that are great (a new story with Michael that is fantastic, tragic moments, and plenty of twists). I really am not doing this movie justice, just go see it!

Scream 4's awkward pacing in the middle and some sometimes bad dialogue are very small prices to pay for a good movie. A clever script, a consistent cast, and the ways that Wes Craven refreshens the franchise are satisfying. Whether you think that this is better than the original Scream or not, it is the best since the original and is definitely worth checking out.

I don't understand this. THESE ARE REVIEWS TO THE WRONG MOVIE! Alright, now time to review the ORIGINAL Halloween II. The first Halloween was a great movie, and while this one is stale and definitely cliche, it does have a good ending, some scary scenes, and is probably the best sequel that the series has had. Not good necessarily, but it isn't horrible. Rental at best.