Tag Archives: movie

A Quiet Place

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Man… That was good. Extremely well made. The use of sound was incredible. It had to be given the premise, but I wasn’t sure how well they would pull it off. They pulked it off very well. They made you fear the noise just as the characters did. And, incredibly, without the use if much dialogue, even less actually vocalized, they were able to establish relationships between characters, make us care for them and drive the plot forward meaningfully. They used the lack of sound as powerfully as the sound itself. And I am impressed with the actors for giving such powerful performances without their voices.

It was a good one from just a watching standpoint too. It kept you on the esgr of your seat. The way it opened really grabbed you and set the tone for the whole movie. The plot moved well, nothing out of place that I noticed. Every gun on the shelf in the first act was used to shoot someone in the third as they say. Something about the end was less suspenseful to me, though I can’t explain why. It may have been as simple as I was getting antsy and was ready to leave, not something with the movie itself. But overall, I think it was a well-paced, well-crafted story. Definitely worth the watch.

Baby Driver

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This one was good.  Very well made movie.  In terms of storytelling, I can think of only two things that made me question them.  One was one character’s motivations near the end.  It felt kinda vague and weak.  The other was how prepared one minor character was to the point that I was certain he was a bigger character than he was.  Otherwise it was very well put together.  Everything tied in well with no excess pieces.  It carried through in a smooth, but exciting ride without sudden and uncalled for diversions.  A wild ride right to the end.

I have nothing but praise of the director.  There were many scenes I was just marveling at the way it was filmed.  Showed exactly what had to be shone and nothing more.  Set the mood of every scene perfectly.  And the use of music was incredible.  The way songs were incorporated into the construction of so many scenes.  Just awesome.

And the actors.  Oh man.  I was captured by every single one of them.  Kevin Spacey was remarkable as always, executing every line perfectly.  And Ansel Elgort played his character so well.  His interactions with the music and with the other characters was great.  His character felt real and I felt connected to him.  The others did a great job as well, special mention to Jon Hamm.

Overall, I really have nothing but praise for this film.  Serious kudos to Edgar Wright for a well done film.  I highly recommend this one to most everyone.  Not the young ones, but most everyone else.

Kong: Skull Island

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Not my favorite movie. The special effects were pretty good, though it was sometimes pretty obvious when there was blue/green screen. It was fairly enjoyable on the surface, but with my focus on my stories and characters, I over-analyze everything I see or read. So, I didn’t like this one a whole lot.

For starters, the pacing felt weird for much of it. It was jumpy. It bounced between times and characters rather suddenly. And some of the events just seemed to happen out of the blue with no build-up and then the story jumped again. That can work when it creates shock, but I never really felt shocked or surprised, just confused.

And the whole movie was trying too hard. It worked hard to push a message with blatant images and statements. The cinematography also tried too hard. There were some cool shots, but also quite a few that didn’t make sense and were distracting. Too much slow motion. At one point the camera focused on a character’s hand for too long and it didn’t really make sense why, the scene would have been exactly the same, but flowed better had that shot not been in there. Similarly, it tried to foreshadow. A lot. In obvious ways. A whole shot of a guy walking by just to settle on a gun on a table. Setting a sword down and lingering on it for too long. There were so many blatant foreshadowing shots. There were some points that tried too hard. Two in particular come to mind. Two moments of huge heroism that looked fake and/or came out of nowhere and served to purpose.

My biggest complaint has to be the characters. Only one character seemed to come off naturally and that’s because he was supposed to be strange and awkward. There were too many characters and not much time spent on any of them. They had a few moments where they tried to force-feed who the character was to us in the most obvious way. Basically the closest showing can come to telling. In distracting ways. Their interactions and dialogue were awkward and unnatural. Their relationships seemed to come out of nowhere and grew with no real sense of what went into it or even what it was. I felt no attachment to any of them and got no real sense of who they were. Aside from the traits forced down my throat, I got nothing from them. There were some great actors in the film, but I felt like most of them didn’t really get into it.

Overall, I wasn’t thrilled with it. Others thought it was pretty good, so I can’t say you won’t like it. Again, I’m into over-analyzing stories right now, so you could disagree and not see anything I did or not care. There’re my thoughts, but, as always, make your own.

Arrival

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Excellent movie.  Not super exciting in an action sort of way, but gripping still.  It requires some thought and leaves you thinking when it is over.  The idea is fascinating and has me thinking about my own world and my own language.  The story, despite not being very action-based as I am used to, engaged me and definitely kept the stakes and suspense.
The construction of the movie was marvelous as well.  The director did a great job.  It felt fairly artsy, like every scene was very carefully crafted.  Each shot was deliberate.  And the sound. . . wow.  There wasn’t an epic score like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, but the sound was perfectly designed.  The music gave the right mood, but the true perfection was in the smaller sounds.  The world felt so real simply because we could hear it so well.  And the use if sound really made you feel what the characters felt, experience what they experienced.  It was beautiful.  The acting was great as well.  You could see every thought and emotion that crossed their minds written out on their faces. 
Overall, I thought this was a remarkably put together film.  Not my usual pick, but I am very glad I went to this one.

Suicide Squad

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Meh.  You have to see it, but it wasn’t great.  It had such great potential, but fell so short.  The story was flat and detached.  It felt more like someone telling you what happened rather than immersing you in it for most of the movie.  And much of the dialogue was forced and cheesy.  Like seriously, unless you character is intentionally goofy or uses cliches in a funny manner, don’t have them say “join me or die.”  That is just about the stupidest line a villain can say. And that was definitely not the only bad line.  

And the characters, most of them were fairly one-dimensional and kinda dumb.  Most of the actors did a great job with what they had to work with, but what they had to work with was not great.  Harley Quinn had such potential, and while still entertaining, she fell short of what she could have been.  Too much effort put into her sex appeal and crazy when she could have been a much deeper character.  You saw pieces of the deeper character, but they often felt out of place and just an aside rather than the focus they should have been.  Margot Robbie did the best she could with the character, but she could have done so much more had her role been written well.  Deadshot was done a bit better, but still had some room for improvement (Will Smith did a great job though).  Diablo was kind of stereotyped, but he had some depth.  Boomerang was fairly flat.  Entertaining, but flat.  I did like Killer Croc though.  Enchantress was the worst.  She could have been a good character, but she had the worst lines and was just not done real well.  And probably was acted the worst.  Most of them had great acting, but hers was a bit below the rest.  I’m not going to go into the rest except to say that Amanda Waller was probably the best and was wonderfully played by Viola Davis.
And then there’s the way the movie was shot.  Too much slow motion and too much emphasis on style.  Great cinematography can be put into a movie without a hundred slow motion shots saying “look at this awesome shot we’re filming.”  And then there were a decent number of scenes where it wasn’t clear what happened or how a character got from point A to point B, which was a bit distracting.  Then there were just some unnecessary shots that really served no purpose.  Like, I like the shot of all the casings falling at their feet as much as the next guy, but I think I’ve seen it enough and really don’t need it to understand that their using a lot of ammo.  Just show me what they’re shooting or what the more interesting characters are doing.  Or move on with the story rather than just showing five minutes of shooting gallery.  We get it, the enemy are mindless drones and the heroes are untouchable.  Next scene please.  Okay, that may be an overeaction, the scene is question wasn’t too bad and went a long way toward establishing what the characters can do and even who they are, but it wasn’t perfect.

So the acting was great for the most part, and the story and characters had some real potential, but the movie just kinda flopped.  These new DC movies are just a bit of a disappointment.  They make me long for the Dark Knight trilogy again.  At least the tv shows are starting up again fairly soon, they at least are pretty good.  I really hope Wonder Woman is better.  It looks amazing, but so did this movie.  Forgive my rambling.  Go see this one, but leave your expectations low. 

Jason Bourne

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Pretty good.  Felt like a Bourne film.  Maybe too much, like a lot of it felt kina recycled.  Luckily I enjoyed the others immensely, so that isn’t all bad.  It was fast paced and kinda hard to follow, just like the others.  It had mind games and epic car chases and fist fights and people you’re not sure whose side they’re on.  Basically everything the others had.  Even the soundtrack was basically the same.  So in short, it was basically just like the others with little new to offer.  But since I enjoyed the others, I liked this one.

It was good to see Matt Damon back as Bourne and the new additions of Alicia Vikander an Tommy Lee Jones made for a great cast with good acting.  And with Paul Greengrass directing again, it kept the exciting, slightly confused but enjoyable feel of the latter installments of the original trilogy.

So really, it didn’t feel any different from the last couple, but was enjoyable nonetheless.  Maybe if they do another they can bring something new to the table but I’m not too disappointed that we didn’t get that this time.  If you enjoyed the originals, then you will probably enjoy this one as well.

Captain America: Civil War

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I was very excited for this movie and was not disappointed.  Was very true to the other Avengers films.  Lots of action and a good story.  I like the conflict within the team and their different opinions on how they should be run.  I like the trend of superhero movies questioning the power of the superheroes and people thinking they need to be controlled.  The destruction they cause is finally being addressed in what I believe is an excellent way.

Throughout the movie I was never bored and never lost track of the storyline.  The actors did as fantastic as always and the new additions were great.  I am now even more eager for the Black Panther movie and no longer have my doubts about the new Spider-man. 

Basically if you are a fan of the Avengers movies, then you will love this one.  If not, you are crazy and beyond saving.  And if you’ve never seen one, I recommend moving out from under that rock.

Deadpool

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Best movie ever.  Maybe an exaggeration, but it is definitely up there.  Quite possibly the best Marvel film to date.  Very different than the others, but better.  People who think it is like the others and want to bring their kids, I suggest you pay attention to the rating.  It is rated “R” for a reason.  But for those of us fine with such a rating, it is a magnificent movie.

One of my favorite things ever, when it’s done right, is fourth wall breaks.  Given that this is Deadpool we’re talking about, I was expecting them, and I was not disappointed, starting with the opening credits.  Between them and the constant pop culture references, this movie was non-stop laughs.  The best references were about Ryan Reynolds and his other Marvel roles.  This movie is also the bridge between X-Men and the rest of the MCU, if only barely, and the references to both are fantastic.  As with all Marvel movies, be sure to stay through the credits.

Really, this movie was awesome.  I want to watch it again, and again, and again just so I can start to get all the jokes.  Absolutely see this one of you are good with the language, gore and sex, because it is one of the funniest movies you will see.