Donnie Darko is one of my favorite films. It has depth, substance and mystery in every scene. It's a shame Richard Kelly hasn't come close to this masterpiece ever since.
Southland Tales is completely incoherent. It lacks any logic whatsoever. It is the perfect example of a writer/director thinking he can handle too much at once.
Snyder is a horrible writer, but an excellent director. Justice League is the perfect example of this. The dialogue is cliche, the relationship between characters is unsatisfying given it's the entire point of a film to be a team. The plot is childish at best. Godot and Miller give excellent performances but they can't hold up the entire film on their own.
Overrated and passionless, Phantom Thread is boring Oscar bait. Greenwood's soundtrack is fantastic. But the story is trite, and the characters uninteresting. Anderson's worst film to date.
The Last Jedi is easily the worst Star Wars film to date; no better than the one-off Rogue One. Rian Johnson continues his personal series of flops by writing this awful fan-fiction. It focuses on the father-daughter relationship with Luke & Rey, and mostly a simple young female janitor to set-up a trite romance with Finn later on. There’s extraordinary pacing issues, and the longstanding characters act as though this is their very first Star Wars film. There is no pay-off in the end, and the humor is particularly bad. It tries so hard to be different in formula from The Empire Strikes Back, that it does nothing exciting. What could’ve been a fantastic departure from the obvious sci-fi standard is instead a tedious spin-off. Episode IX could ignore The Last Jedi entirely and no one would be the wiser.
I've never seen so many fake positive reviews for a film. Sidways tries to be a comedy, but actually has more in common with a stale drama, but fails on both counts. Giamatti gives an interesting performance, but his depression is boring. Nothing happens in the film. He doesn't change or undergo some sort of transformation. The irony is his character is a failed writer. But even as a novel this story would fall on its back.
At this point even Baumbach is adhering to his own formula. Nevertheless it is a very good one. Each character stands out from the rest, and the cast does very well, especially Dustin Hoffman as a pretentious artist, and even Adam Sandler as one of his depressing sons.
Behind the roughly made paper mache mask of the titular Frank, played by a mentally ill Michael Fassbender, is little more than a shallow drama aspiring to be a quirky comedy. Like a modern Great Gatsby without the flair, charisma or the vitality. It misunderstands such simple concepts such as mental illness and artistry.
A passable comedy, with SNL alums Wiig, McKinnon and Sudeikis. Jared Hess does what he can with so little. It has so little of his original style and enough of Lorne Michaels as a producer, it might as well be one long SNL skit.
Considering its horribly negative reviews, I imagined The Emoji Movie to be a complete disaster. Imagine my surprise when I found it wasn’t. It’s actually a bit more clever than most cynical, pretentious film critics give it credit for. The story concerns an “meh” emoji as he cannot do what he was created to do: one thing only. The plot tackles universal themes, including purpose, meaning, and belonging. It’s meant for children, and is important for them to understand these ideas. What fascinates me is the same topics are lauded in other animated films like Zootopia and Inside Out. It’s a funny, witty satire with enough style to criticize social media while being incredibly inclusive; traits which many people unfortunately lack.
Not even Kurt Wimmer’s spastic filmography choices and Milla Jovovich’s hilariously bad acting could save Ultraviolet. The premise is wasted on such horrible talent. I couldn’t even finish watching it.
One of the worst fantasy films ever made, which is disappointing considering its lively cast. Even more hilarious considering Christian Bale thought a sequel could be forged from the disaster fire which is this film.
The Day the Earth Stood Still could have been much better with a different choice of actors. Jaden Smith infects everything he touches with awful mediocrity, and the rest of the cast doesn't fare much better. Keanu Reeves gives a typical performance, but so does everyone else. No one seems to care in a film which relies heavily on the way the characters interact. Without the acting, the film contains few interesting merits, even its message about environmentalism wasn't as heavy handed in the original film.
The Great Wall is entirely unnecessary. With terrible acting (especially Matt Damon), tedious action, and awful SFX, it creates yet another Hollywood bore.
The Force Awakens is clearly just a stepping stone to The Last Jedi. But it still manages to create interesting characters in newcomers Rey & Finn, who are Star Wars character tropes turned upside down. With series' mainstays, the film creates an excellent tone for the next few films, which are inevitable at this point. Even its similarity to A New Hope is just enough to carve out an interesting enough villain to sustain a new trilogy.
It's difficult at this point to dislike a Philip K. **** story, but even the mighty John Woo manages it with incredibly low expectations. The major problem is the lead, Ben Affleck, who is about as likable and charismatic as a wet blanket. Uma Thurman and Paul Giamatti give honest performances, but they aren't enough to save the lifeless plot. There's little to care about such an action film such as this one which takes its drama so seriously.
Thirteen Conversations About One Thing is a fantastic drama. It has one of the best ensemble casts I've seen, with McConaughey and Arkin as the standouts. Even without the acting, the suspense is believable and worthwhile. It never becomes cliche or boring, with emphasis on shared experiences and unique perspectives.
Get Out is a typical thriller, though it fails to capture honest suspense. Instead, the anxiety is fueled by racist questions like, "Why are there so many white people?" & "Why don't the black people act like obvious black stereotypes?" The characters are unfunny and unrelatable, including the fat friend used as comic relief. Jordan Peele chooses to ignore important questions of race, and would rather provide heavy-handed commentary about misappropriation. It's at times trite, ridiculous, and blatantly unoriginal. It's The Stepford Wives with black people. It's Invasion of the Body Snatchers without the fascinating philosophical questions about humanity. And the worst part is, if it didn't talk about black people no one would care about this hackneyed disaster.
It's fascinating just how quickly Baby Driver becomes the typical formulaic nonsense I would expect from less experienced directors. Edgar Wright follows The World's End with this film about a teen named Baby who's a driver. It really is quite difficult to make a heist film like this uninteresting, but it's little more than a good soundtrack and fun car chases.
Napoleon Dynamite is one of my favorite films. It manages to be both hilarious and bitingly sarcastic. Focused on the titular hero, it is successful in upending the typical coming-of-age plot which is found so commonly in film. Perfectly capturing the awkwardness of youth, and the beauty of disaster.
Tony Scott was an excellent action director before his untimely passing. He gave a unique sense of power and effort to what could have otherwise been a by-the-numbers action film. Instead, fantastic performances by Mickey Rourke, and Keira Knightley highlight the unforgettable, tense scenes. Unfortunately there's quite a bit of what might as well be flash photography interspersed throughout the film. It's incredibly jarring and unnecessary. But overall, for a film centered on a female bounty hunter, it certainly managed to keep my interest.
It's difficult to understand who is exactly to blame for Spider-Man: Homecoming; the worst Spider-Man entry to date. Is it the obvious tonal inconsistencies of the script and its 5+ writers? Or maybe it's the subpar acting -- regardless of Michael Keaton's star power and dramatic triumph. This is not a Spider-Man film; this is simply an obvious to tie-in not only overt progressive themes but the character into the larger Avengers franchise. And at a point when superhero films are becoming more and more commonplace, originality becomes necessary -- a trait Homecoming does not possess.
A technological film created by a group who neither seem to understand nor care about the overarching narrative implications. A star-studded ensemble cast with little enjoyment in their own individual portrayals. At two hours, it’s a bore masquerading as a philosophical think piece. My embarrassment is overshadowed by Wally Pfister's insurmountable lack of insight.
One of the greatest films ever made. A fantastic cast with superb humor and drama. Strikingly perfect compared to the rest of the Coen brother's oeuvre.
Undercover Brother contains a lot of the same tropes as an all-black Austin Powers spin-off, which isn't surprising considering it shares the same screenwriter. But disregarding the obvious cliches, viewers can find an honest racial underpinning essential to the comedic action.
Heat will be remembered in film history because of its amazing cast, well-executed action, and powerful story. What is truly spectacular is how it manages all of these aspects at once.
A postmodern philosophical prophecy, rife with self-referential humor and metatexual commentary. But at the heart of Adaptation is a beautiful story about love and soulmates. It's supported by an amazing cast, with perfect performances by Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper.
S.W.A.T. is underappreciated, not because of its solid acting, or worthwhile action, but for its tongue-in-cheek dialogue and realistic sequences. It manages to be exciting and fast-paced while engaging in a commentary on the aspects of police work in society.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang might be Shane Black's worst film. Its narration is jarring and annoying, and its characters are unlikable. None of the actors seem to show any amount of range; Downey Jr. might as well be playing himself. Black's primary problem is he thinks his cleverness is enough to carry the plot, and it's not. It is merely a diversion from the lack of truly original ideas. A bunch of incoherent threads are haphazardly linked together. None of them meaning much in the lackluster ending.
As a children's film, The Lego Batman movie seems to appeal mostly to adults, which isn't surprising considering its generic pileup of references to other media. Much of the humor comes from changing the personality of Batman altogether. Scenes change so rapidly, the director must have a short attention span. The voice cast is terrible; it's as if they chose people based on their star power alone. Compared to The Lego Movie, it's a letdown, and compared to any other Batman film, it's a disaster.
As a coming of age story, Mean Dreams is incredibly lackluster. What is meant to be a believable relationship builds for about ten minutes in a montage sequence. It lacks any authenticity. The thriller aspect is predictable and generic. Bill Paxton gives an interesting performance in one of his last film roles. But the film's primary theme is thrown away when a ridiculous sequence of events becomes the main focus.
Marauders is a very disappointing action-thriller. With an excellent cast, it squanders its potential with a nonsensical plot. The characters are interesting enough, and it had a great start with an homage to Heat.
You might as well watch the original Blade Runner from 1982. It has stronger acting, better characters, an unpredictable story and fascinating cinematography. Though 2049 excels with its slow pace and spectacular presentation, it is ultimately a lifeless (pun intended) philosophical diatribe. A quintessential cerebral mess which asks too many questions without answering any from the first film. It's less like a sequel and more like a diversion. The ending is enough to make me wish I was a replicant so I wouldn't be so disappointed.
Even with its passable action scenes, it's leagues ahead of just about any other DC related film. Take out the actors looking uninterested in every scene, the plot bordering on a combination of inane and ridiculous, and you're left with typical superhero fare.
The Mummy hardly understands itself. As an action film, the scenes are so haphazard they might as well have been an accident. As a horror, it lacks any sort of believable authenticity in its storytelling to make any element consistent and interesting. As a starting point for the Dark Universe Cinematic Universe, it's an abysmal failure. Not even big stars like Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe could save this forgettable flick.
John Wick Chapter 2 is an incredible improvement over the original. While the first film had excellent action sequences and not much else, this sequel has even better sequences and everything else. The characters are interesting, the script is tighter and the acting (sans Reeves) is good enough. Gone is the ridiculous plot of a deceased dog from the first John Wick. Now we're treated with fiction surrounding the criminal underworld, and it's just enough. Looking forward to the third film in this series.
If you're looking for a great sequel to the original Blair Witch Project, look somewhere else. This poor man's reboot is marred by an awful script, bad acting and even worse directing. There's a few clever moments and one connecting it to the original film, but overall is another of Wingard's terrible films. Visceral horror is traded for absolute shock. Nothing to see here.
Nocturnal Animals is an excellent film adaptation. In fact, it might be just as good as the book, which is very rare. The acting is absolutely superb, with amazing performances by Gyllenhaal, Shannon and Taylor-Johnson. The culmination of their performances truly sells the fictional world of the story. I think the original author would have been pleased with Todd's adaptation.
Excellent psychological thriller, with enough twists and turns to make your head spin. Costner & Hurt are terrific together, and the rest of the cast shines. Even Dane Cook gives an interesting performance. The plot is interesting and its conclusion could not have been predicted.
You don't have to be a Shakespeare scholar to enjoy this film. There are enough cursory details to be well-informed of the plot, considering its simplicity. In fact, that was my biggest problem with Shakespeare in Love. Without the setting and unique characters, it becomes a boring plot. However, with these details, the cleverness stands out. The cast is excellent and for once Gwenyth Paltrow is likable.
Rock the Kasbah suffers only from one thing, and that's not having "Rock the Casbah" by The Clash in its soundtrack. Instead there's mostly Cat Stevens, which has the ability to pacify most of the middle-east. At least that's what I learned from the film. Bill Murray delivers yet another enjoyable performance. The plot is constantly moving from hilarious event to another. Though it isn't until late in the film when the actual conflict is introduced. Before this, Murray simply moves around and meets people like an American prostitute played by Kate Hudson, arms dealers Scott Caan and Danny McBride, and Bruce Willis as a no-nonsense mercenary with a heart of gold. Surprisingly, all of them continue to be heartwarming and funny, despite the lack of focus. Once the conflict presents itself though, the story becomes a bit predictable, with a few interesting diversions inbetween. Overall, it's a satisfying film. It certainly doesn't deserve the negative criticism it has received, being a box office bomb.
As a director, Duchovny has some serious talent. As a writer and actor, however, he is a bit more boring than I would have expected. The plot is typical, and there isn't really anything new when it comes to coming-of-age stories. Anton Yelchin and Robin Williams give standout performances as good friends growing up together despite their differences. As both have since passed away, it is a shame considering their individual charisma and chemistry together ultimately make the film enjoyable.
This film is certainly for the religious, and everyone else will probably find it annoying. I enjoyed it for the most part, up until around the 2hr. mark when suddenly the main character Rodrigues (played effortlessly by Andrew Garfield) decides to go against his upbringing and sacrifice his own beliefs, ultimately leading to an unsatisfying ending. Despite this, the film leading up to it would have sufficed as very well-done and enjoyable enough to see how a group of oppressed Christians in Japan lived and died because of their unwavering faith, which is a more powerful story and resolution than the last 40 min.
Heist is so poorly made it made me question the acting capabilities of Robert DeNiro and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. It's as if every unoriginal idea was combined into one film.
Spectre is the perfect example of a lack of new ideas in the Bond franchise. Its story is so ridiculous it seems it was written by at least five people all with their own different ideas. The cinematography is excellent, and the action scenes are worthwhile. Unfortunately, there aren't enough of them to justify this two hour bore.
Moonlight may think it's unique, but in fact it is incredibly trite. The entire plot is simply about how the main character deals with being a homosexual. There is no plot. It is a two and a half hour film about a boy discovering his sexual identity. His drug dealing patriarchal mentor, drug addicted mother, and childhood bullying are all elements which have been done a million times before. There was so little payoff in a lackluster ending. The camerawork is all over the place, like it was directed by two different people. The only thing I liked about the film was its attention to realism such as the relationships between students.
The first hour of Passengers is very well done. The pacing, the set-up, the characters; everything is plausible. Then the script actually calls for logic and the audience starts to question what's actually going on. This is where the plot fails and the film becomes a by-the-numbers sci-fi. Jennifer Lawrence gives a great performance, and does what she can with such a boring character. It ultimately leads to a third act and conclusion which are painfully unoriginal.
The CGI creatures look like high school notebook rejects. With a lackluster plot and boring characters, even notable performers Eddie Redmayne and Colin Farrell look as though they've lost interest. This blatant, overwrought cash-grab is unsatisfying.
I thoroughly enjoyed this film, especially considering it's not for everyone, but that isn't an aspect of its quality. It is dividing, with its excellent cast and original tone. It dares to be hyperbolic and comedic, while maintaining a sarcastic sense of morose and daring.
Rogue One is a bloated, pale imitation of the Star Wars series. The music, the acting, and the story seem as though they were attempts to copy obvious Star Wars tropes, but they ultimately cannot be appreciated when compared to the previous films by George Lucas. There is absolutely no character development, making each bland stereotype of a role forgettable. The only interesting aspects of the film were its nostalgia trips and cameos, including Tarkin, Leia and of course, Darth Vader.
