Demons (1985) movie review

Demons (1985) -

What "Demons" lacks in characters, it makes up for with style, gore, English dubbing over Italian acting, a synth score, fun commentary on movies, and a kick-ass 80s rock soundtrack. Basically, it's a zombie movie where it's demons instead of zombies.

I'm a bit disappointed the US didn't make this in the mid-late 80s or 90s; seems like it would have been perfect for New Line or Dimension, with possibly Wes Craven or maybe an younger Peter Jackson directing. I'd also be curious to see John Carpenter's take on this.

Conclusion: Recommended

Incredibles 2 Movie Review

As a big fan of The Incredibles (a favorite animated movie, favorite score, excellent blend of superheros and James Bond, the emotional journey), I’m rather mixed on Incredibles 2. I tried going in with little-to-no expectations, trying to soak in the movie I saw, but probably still had a degree of bias / expectation.

SPOILER-FREE quick take: Incredibles 2 has a number of really great things in it (such as the action), it also has a few too many plot lines, with no storyline really getting the breadth and depth they deserve. Overall, the film lacks the heart of the first movie, but there's almost always something going on and I was surprised how quickly the movie flew by, despite being bored at times and awkward pacing leading to a general lack of proper climactic moments.

Extended review with SPOILERS:


WHAT I LIKED:
1. The action was really, really great! Some seriously top-tier stuff. That raccoon!

2. Jack-Jack’s micro storyline (the various scenes) were pretty great - he made for some excellent humor and action, giving other characters lots of things to play with.

3. The villain’s message and general motivation was solid – I loved the callout of consumer culture, with regards to people defining themselves by consumption as opposed to creation, as well as becoming passive due to that consumption. And the reason for the villain being a villain is pretty good (ruined faith/reliance in Supers), and fairly in-line with the Syndrome’s motivation (burned entitlement by Supers).

4. Voyd! Like with Blink in X-Men: DOFP, Voyd was awesome.

5. Winston Deavor (MILD SPOILER) actually being an earnest good guy. Yes, men are problematic in society and in media, so it's nice to see an earnest good guy in this.

6. Frozone getting more to do. More Sam Jackson is almost always a good thing in my book.

7. The company logos (Disney and Pixar) in the beginning done in the red Incredibles aesthetic.

8. A number of little moments, such as SPOILERS Evelyn calling out Helen think they'd be friends despite not knowing each other, and Jack-Jack towards the end using his telekinesis to save his mom after recognizing the situation (I would have loved this to have held for an extra beat).


WHAT I'M MIXED ON:
1. The dialogue – For the most part it’s fine, but there were a number of lines that were a bit too on-the-nose for my preference. Again, probably fine, but another pass or two would’ve been nice (may also have been tied to the delivery).

2. Brad Bird’s storytelling voice is somewhat questionable and he isn’t exactly great with women – He’s mostly fine, but there are little signs in Mrs. Incredible, Violet, Edna Mode, Voyd and Evelyn Deavor that are questionable, and are presumably a reflection of his baby boomer upbringing and current middle-aged status. A couple examples: while Mrs. Incredible is an incredible character, she’s a bit more of a plot mover than any real emotional thrust; there’s a fun-but-side-eyed puberty joke at Violet’s expense (plus her general reaction to her plot). Again, things are generally fine, but Bird’s voice has a certain coldness to it that’s become more apparent (after the Tomorrowland bust, presumably).

3. Michael Giacchino’s score – I could probably put this under “didn’t work for me” since it’s a largely forgettable score, saved only by the re-use of the great themes from the original (a personal favorite score). Maybe it’s a fault of the high number of plots causing auditory disarray, but shrug. Maybe both MG and BB are past their prime. :/

4. The new Supers – Again, Voyd is great, but they’re all largely gimmicks and barely characters. They serve the plot decently and do make for good action scenes, which is / can be fine.

5. The villain’s plot – While the motivation is great, the actual plot is a bit wonky, with at least one plot hole towards the end (SPOILER the kids realize the goggles are the problem, but when Violet’s fighting Voyd she doesn’t bother to go for the goggles).

6. The humor - There were some good jokes in the film, but the timing and delivery were occasionally... off/odd.


WHAT DIDN'T WORK FOR ME:
1. It’s kinda boring – The movie had an odd mix of having too many plotlines (Mrs. Incredible taking the lead and female empowerment, Mr. Incredible learning to be a good dad, Violet’s dating life, Jack-Jack’s powers and the family’s discovery, Frozone kinda having something, the tech siblings trying to bring Supers back into the limelight, the commentary on legality, the villain’s message to callout consumer culture, the villain’s motivation, Edna Mode “kinda” having something, the retired FBI guy “kinda” having something) and awkward pacing. There were a number of times where the story would follow Mrs. Incredible and just as she was about to do something, it’d cut back to Mr. Incredible doing boring dad stuff for an extended period, as opposed to following the more interesting Mrs. Incredible. There’s also just a general cold tone that comes through in the cinematography, particularly for Mr. Incredible’s parenting stuff.

2. There’s no emotional thread! – The first one was so great because it mainly followed the emotional journey of Mr. Incredible, along with how it affected Mrs. Incredible (and her reactions), and their journey towards becoming a stronger couple and family. In the sequel, we’re still largely following the emotional journey of Mr. Incredible, despite Mrs. Incredible taking the more prominent role, and there’s also a little journey by Violet, but nothing really comes together. The film touches on so many things, then distances itself.

3. Being an immediate sequel – Can we please stop this trend? It didn’t work in Quantum of Solace, it didn’t work in The Last Jedi, it didn't work in Search for Spock (though awesome opening sequence) and it didn’t work here. Immediate sequels that aren’t written at the same time (e.g. LOTR, BTTF) make for really, really awkward plot structures, and Incredibles 2 highlights that problem for me.

4. Jack-Jacks macro storyline about the family not knowing about his powers. The whole first movie was building towards Jack-Jack having powers, which were revealed at the end. Sure, the characters “might” not have known about the powers, but it’s been 14 years since the movie came out – it was an awkward creative choice to have none of the character aware of Jack-Jack’s powers.

5. Changes in the art direction – While there’s still a lot of the wonderful throwback art direction that made the first one so great, the advances of CG animation since the original has given the sequel a polish that is awkward and took me out of the movie several times – increased details in the characters’ complexions, certain shots with regards to lighting, and other aesthetic choices that just felt disconnected from the more simplified and stylized approach of the original, and some character designs that didn’t feel entirely Pixar-esque. That said, the animation is fantastic.

6. The pacing / climaxes – Kinda touched on this above, but want to explicitly call it out. There were a number of times where the movie felt like it was building towards something only for the film to quickly touch on it, then move on. There was no real weight to anything in the movie for me. Hell, the actual climax of the movie just kinda comes and goes.

7. Screenslaver - The hypnosis angle was interesting, but they ultimately felt underwhelming and SPOILER the identity reveal was rather telegraphed, which gave the movie a somewhat rote plot.


CONCLUSION: WASN'T FOR ME. But while it didn’t work for me, I’d happily put this in the Your Mileage May Vary category, as it does have a number of really good things, but also some questionable creative choices / direction.

It's certainly nice seeing the family, characters and world onscreen again, but what I saw wasn't nearly up to the highs of the first.

The Big Sick Review

To get to the point, The Big Sick is a highly enjoyable earnest romantic comedy that does an excellent job of promoting the importance of love in our lives.

Filled with great acting, the cast brings a number of honest moments to life, for better and worse. From awkwardness to tension, the emotions are both real and relatable. The family dynamics are a particular enjoyment.

While the movie does follow an archetypal love story (boy gets girl, etc.) and is very much a relatively youthful "of our time" story (trying to avoid "millennial"), the execution and specific content help Sick stand out. It's very refreshing that the film highlights the value of love and how it's so much more pure than dishonesty, guilt, fear, traditions and societal pressure. When we can learn to love and accept each other, the world is a better place.

Then again, we are just human, as the film so greatly shows.

With plenty of charm and laughs to spare, The Big Sick is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Special props to Ray Romano for stealing so many scenes with his more deadpan delivery, as well as both Kumail and Emily for telling (and in Kumail's case acting in) this story.

Under the Shadow movie review

Quick review:
A middle-eastern supernatural horror movie set in the 1980s and in the same vein as The Babadook? Having greatly enjoyed The Babadook, color me intrigued.

When a friend first referred me to Under the Shadow, I was instantly captivated by the premise, even going so far as watching it the same day (thanks, Netflix). There were many intriguing elements in the film, despite coming up a bit short by the end. However, on the whole, I enjoyed the film, despite leaving the experience with more questions than answers, and would RECOMMEND it to someone who's interesting in the subject matter. At the very least, there's some great insight into the Iranian culture at the time.

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Warning: More in-depth SPOILER-filled thoughts below

First things first, I greatly enjoyed The Babadook. It was different enough as a horror film to merit intrigue (e.g. the story direction changing halfway through), encapsulating a terror-ific overall experience, despite an arguably good or bad ending. Under the Shadow has a fairly similar premise of a mother trying to take care of her problematic child, but there are some key differences:

1. The father is still in play, even though he's transferred to another city
2. The story is much more linear, per se (follows one character)
3. The story tries to play with reality, to mixed results

To continue with the listing format, here are two things Under the Shadow does well:

1. Shideh (Nargas Rashidi) - She's a compelling character, with an intriguing backstory: she wants to assert her independence, but is stuck in a culture that limits her freedoms, not to mention leaving open the question of to what extent she's pursuing her own goals or those of her mother.
2. The cinematography - Shadow is a gorgeous movie. It's crisp and vibrant, yet still colored in a way that works for both the Iranian, 1980s and horror settings.
3. The depiction of war-torn Tehran - As someone who's has limited exposure to that experience and perspective, it was great to see it told on the screen, even in a fantastical way. Despite living among the horrors of war, it was still a fairly human story, at least until the supernatural elements kicked in.

Here's one thing I'm neutral on:

1. The pacing - Shadow is on the slower side, but building up nicely towards the end. I would have enjoyed a bit more supernatural teasing earlier, but the film was focusing more on character, relationships and other elements

Here are a few things I thought could have been better:

1. The playing with reality - The film could have delved much more with the idea of whether what Shideh was experiencing was real or not. As the film progresses, it clearly delves more into the supernatural, which is fine, but the earlier portions feel like a red herring and/or missed opportunity for the viewer (or to me, at least), even if it's meant for the character to disbelieve; yet her belief never really played a factor in the film.
2. Dangling character direction - As great as the setup for Shideh is, it's never really paid off. She's still stuck in the same directionless situation at the end as during the beginning, she doesn't become a better parent (per se) or pick a new career. As such...
3. It's anti-climactic - Even though there's a fairly elaborate ending sequence, it feels rushed, with the film rather abruptly ending, leaving me wanting more in a bad way.
4. The focus on Shideh and Dorsa - Something about the amount of time spent on these two, particularly Shideh trying to find the tell, felt like it took away time better spent elsewhere, whether getting to the horror faster or focusing on other ideas.

And finally, here are a couple more positive final thoughts:

1. I love the idea raised in the film of using supernaturally-tainted weapons for war, such as the implication of the missile in the apartment. It's such a fantastic concept, though would have been a different story than the one told
2. Will there be a sequel? - The film leaves a pretty open end to their fate, with both Shideh's mother's medical book and Dorsa's doll's head remaining in the apartment. Will the jinn follow them to her step-parents house? If the story continues, the Shadow has the potential to become an AMAZING start to an ongoing horror series, ideally a trilogy. Even if I was a bit underwhelmed, I would still like to see another chapter in this story.

Sky High movie review

Spoiler-free review for the top portion, while some more spoilery-comments below*...

For YEARS I have wanted to see Sky High and, thankfully, it was worth the wait. I had grown a bit skeptical due to the relatively low IMDb rating (currently at 6.2, the equivalent of "fun-but-flawed" leaning more towards flawed), but it turns out this is closer to the live action Josie and the Pussycats movie (itself a rather delicious satire of both pop culture and consumerism, among others) where people may just not have been in on the joke.

Suffice to say, Sky High is pure camp fun that almost perfectly blends superheroes and teenage Disney (Channel) sensibilities, complete with elements of coming-of-age, family dynamics, comedy, action and the right amount of commentary on both class and gender power dynamics. There's even some brilliant material on ageism. It touches on lots of topics, yet handles each of them deftly to the point of leaving very few, if any, dangling threads. I would have loved to see more material on certain elements, but I view it more as a positive of wanting more of the world, rather than a critique.

I fully am of the mind that, had Disney continued the trend of Sky High and Enchanted, they could have had a nice renaissance of building tongue-in-cheek worlds to appeal to slightly older audiences, instead of spending BILLIONS on acquiring Marvel (though it's netted well for them).

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED if you're looking for a fun, campy Saturday afternoon (or any time) movie. In a way, it's a genuine classic, if not cult classic.

*Some more SPOILERY comments below.....

Things I liked:

• Kurt Russell may have been perfect in this, with Kelly Preston doing an admirable job, as well
• Mary Elizabeth Winstead - Pretty much everything about her in this was fantastic: the casting, the music that plays when Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano) sees her, her general villainous storyline ESPECIALLY her backstory
• Bruce Campbell, 'nuff said
• The cheesy dynamic between Magenta and Zach, complete with the "happy ending" 
• Every contrived plot moment to allow the "sidekicks" to use their powers
• Steven Strait going from villain to thoughtful stranger-turned-friend
• All the many nods and Easter Eggs to comics/superheroes
• Michael Giacchino's cheesy musical score - it's not really memorable, but works perfectly 

Things that could have been better or are odd, but rolling with anyway:

• Will Stronghold - Angarano was serviceable, but his storyline was rather par for the course. It was both interesting and nice that he developed one of his powers part way through, particularly to advance the story, though there could have been more emotional weight to the idea of never gaining powers building to a reveal at the end (but would have been a different story). As well, while some of the relationship elements were fun, others were a tad too cheesy; or at least, the ending of him and Layla kissing at the end (remember: they're 14ish years old)
• The dynamic between Royal Pain and her "dad" was very strange/didn't make much sense

Despite any flaws, Sky High was such a fun time that I wish we had more of the world and voice. Although apparently as of November 2016 a sequel may be in the works!

The Wailing movie review

I'll preface that I'm not familiar with every Korean horror movie of the past 10-15 years, but I will say two things from the ones I have seen of the past 10+ years: 1) they are interesting, and 2) they are not afraid to go to dark places.

The Wailing is another great entry along those two lines. With beautiful cinematography (and some gorgeous shots), the film starts practically as a comedy before steadily progressing into darker and darker territories, raising new questions and doubts on the path towards a beautiful crescendo of an ending. It's a type of horror I don't often see in American horror films, which, in my experience, are typically either shock scares or a steady sense of dread.

The movie does a great job of blending the practical with the supernatural/religious, providing enough treats and morsels of hints that fully roped me in, anxious to see what would happen next and how everything would be resolved. Maybe one of the greatest parts of the film is how this is pretty much all unveiled through the knowledge/perspective of the lead character, which is why the film is able to take such great twists and turns. There is also some very interesting race commentary, though that's all I'll say on that.

It may not have had the ending I wanted, but it had the ending I needed, overall earning a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED status from me. One of the nicest compliments I can say about The Wailing is that, for 2.5 hours, it flew by and left me wanting more.

The Lobster movie review

I rather enjoyed The Lobster - it is fun and quirky in many of the right ways. I thoroughly enjoyed the discordant dystopia presented in the film, particularly in the first act. Featuring/hiding animals throughout the rest of the movie was a wonderful touch. On the whole, the acting was also fantastic, with almost everyone having very dry, awkward personalities that fit the tone of the movie brilliantly. Colin Farrell continues his renaissance with another great choice (everyone does really well).

The movie is far from perfect, though, as I hav two gripes with the film (SPOILERS if you haven't seen it):

1. It's a bit long in the tooth - As the film is rather unique, it became challenging to stay with the voice towards the end. Had the pacing improved, it may have remedied the issue and helped with rewatchability. Then again...

2. The final act - While the very end of the movie is executed excellently, I would have loved if the third act went in a different direction: do more commentary on romance and societies by having a minor twist where the loners are an additional layer of the society controlling people's love lives, with Léa Seydoux's character actually working for a company trying to control society (same one that owns the hotel). The current dark revenge ending was fine, but it felt like a missed opportunity. It would have also been great to see some of the fallout from the loner's mission to the hotel, but what was done (to expose the lies relationships are built on) was nice.

In either case, The Lobster gets a solid RECOMMENDATION for its originality, ideas and humor.

Midnight Special movie review

If I ever needed an example of a movie that's a giant fart, I now have it: Midnight Special

I actually liked that the film had realistic dialogue and rather than heavy exposition, the actors actually got to act/emote to show their implied history, relations and emotions. The music was also nice.

However, the characters were much closer to bland than interesting. The boy, Michael Shannon and Kirsten Dunst were kinda interesting, but mostly it was the mystery surrounding them.

The film is a parental character movie masquerading as sci-fi. I personally don't enjoy movies that feature specific genres and don't actually use them; they rarely work for me (Looper is another one that missed the mark).

There were lots of great elements and ideas that ultimately amounted to a limp chase movie. As for the ending? Ugh...

Batman: The Killing Joke movie review

Batman: The Killing Joke was disappointingly mediocre...

The new opening was interesting, telling a nice story fleshing out Batgirl and her relationship (both figurative and literal) with Batman. I didn't even mind the implied sex between the two. However, the overt sexualization of Barbara left a bit to be desired...

Some of my main issues with the movie:

1. Who's story is this? Batman is the third most important character behind both Batgirl and The Joker, with no character receiving a proper arc/throughline, so the story feels disconnected. As they had decided to mess with source material by adding a new prologue, I would have loved if they embraced it more to modify the structure overall and taken some more risks (e.g. start with the Batman confronting Joker scene at the beginning, then flesh out relationships and characters more). While some may complain that Batgirl lacks agency (both in this and the source material, which is a topic for discussion), if anything, Gordon is the afterthought plot device in this film

2. The tone - Something about the story wasn't connecting with me/sucking me in, trying so hard to be dark that it took away from the story. I'd argue the film never really has a chance to breathe and live on its own once it starts adhering to the source material. The choice in tone even impacts the voice acting, which also felt disconnected, like it was missing something or just wrong. As legendary as both Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill are, their voices felt out of place.

3. The visuals - Brian Bolland has such an iconic take on the Joker, yet the movie wasn't able to properly emulate it. The art styles change throughout the movie in a way that's unfortunately distracting. Sure, there is changing art direction in the source material, but it didn't translate very well.

On a side note, I was very curious how the film would handle the recently "controversial" ending, in which some believe Batman finally kills the Joker. Had the film been adjusted to center more on Batman's experience and how the Joker was actually pushing and testing Batman, or that the events impacted him more than Joker's target of Gordon, especially the new additions with Batman's relationship to Batgirl, it would have been so wonderfully bold if DC had Batman finally break and kill the Joker.

Overall, the new Batgirl prologue is interesting and could be a fun-yet-dark supporting episode for Batman Beyond, but after that you're probably better off reading the source material. I'd rank this on the lower end of the DC animated movies, particularly for Batman stories. For reference, two of the ones I really enjoyed were Under the Red Hood and Dark Knight Returns; I did not like Year One.

Green Room, Someone Marry Barry and Ghost Town movie reviews

Quick reviews of recently watched movies:

1. Green Room - Fucking intense, one of the best of 2016. A slow build thriller that continues to push the limits of tension up to the very end. Patrick Stewart can be a great villain. Make sure you have audio adjusted so you can hear things clearly. Definitely RECOMMENDED, somewhere between good and great. (Available on Amazon Prime)

2. Someone Marry Barry - A very funny, yet contrived movie about two obnoxious assholes who fall in love. There are actually some nice life lessons to gleam and the characters are fun, if you're willing to let go of questioning things and role with the film tropes. Casually RECOMMENDED. (Available on Netflix)

3. Ghost Town - There are some fun ideas/moments, but other movies do it better. It's difficult when two of the leads (Ricky Gervais and Greg Kinnear) are assholes, not to mention the third, Tea Leoni, falls into the female love interest trap. NOT RECOMMENDED unless you're really intent on seeing the movie. (Available on Netflix, expiring soon)

Star Wars Rogue One, Strike Two

(Note: This review involves SPOILERS)

It could be argued that when George Lucas first started creating Star Wars, he was the indie filmmaker (Rebel Alliance) going up against the big film studios of the day (the Empire). As "Star Wars" became a global franchise, there was a transference of power, with George Lucas eventually becoming that which he despised - the Emperor.

The creation outgrew the creator.

We first saw this with the transitions of the directors of the Original Trilogy. This was further solidified with the prequels, when Lucas himself was out of ideas. This has been firmly established and cemented since the Disney purchase in 2012 and the subsequent releases of both The Force Awakens and now Rogue One.

Some might argue that Star Wars ended in 1983, with everything since being a bastardization of the franchise, losing the heart and soul of the auteur origins which combined serialized space adventures with Japanese aesthetics and operatic themes, replaced slowly by consumerism, nerddom, nostalgia and self-indulgence. It has become its own cult and religion, yet lacks a central creative force to drive home what the brand and big picture are.

Case in point, let's look at the most recent entry in the franchise: Rogue One.

There are many great ideas and a few good moments in Rogue One, but the heart and soul are lacking. It's a dead, hollow movie, The resurrected carcass of Darth Vader is an apt metaphor for what Disney did with Rogue One - a glorious magic act playing off the "oohs" and "aahs" of nostalgia on one hand, meanwhile distracting from the other hand which is an empty frame for an emotionally moving story that's not there.

But I tend to be critical, so let's get some positives out of the way...


The Good
The cinematography may be the best thing the movie has going for it. Each planet had a great look, particularly the last one - Scarif. The action was largely clean and a number of shots were on point.

Donnie Yet as Chirrut Îmwe and Wen Jiang as Baze Malbus. Easily the two best new characters in the film, as they had a wonderful rapport, with a fully implied history and fleshed out characters (actual motivation!). That non-Force users were so trusting in the Force did wonders to re-establish the spiritual element of the Force, that it's not simply about Midi-chlorians....

Going in a different saga/story direction - It was great to see a non-Force, non-Skywalker entry into the franchise. This fleshes out the universe in a powerful way, regardless of the execution

The final act on Scarif - It wasn't perfect, but this is the movie we should have had


The OK
Michael Giacchino's score was simply OK. Listening as a standalone, it riffs reasonably well off John Williams' classic takes, but actually used in the movie is random. There's also a relative lack of memorable themes. This is his second take on Williams' style and while much better than Jurassic World, still falls short of confidence for potentially taking over the main series. There's promise, but he's not there yet; and I'm sadly not sure if he'll get to it. Part of it may be input from director Gareth Edwards, so hard to fully say.

K-2SO - The design of the converted Imperial Droid is nice, but the character is a ripoff of Star Wars: Knight's of the Old Republic's HK-47, among other tropes. Several of the jokes hit, but a good half of them were misses, with the eventual death of the droid also missing any deserved gravitas. It's a fun character, but the obsession by fans is lost on me.

The CGI of certain characters - Tarkin went back and forth between good and bad, but on the whole was surprisingly decent. We're getting closer to surpassing the Uncanny Valley. I didn't mind Leia at all, if only because she was so brief.

James Earl Jones as Vader - While it was nice to hear his voice again, something felt off. I don't believe it was so much Jones' age, so much as the audio engineering on his voice.


The Bad
Honestly, I could be quick and dismiss most of the movie in the "Bad" section, as the first two-thirds could have been significantly recut and shrunk before getting to the main thrust of the film - the final act on Scarif. The film was reminiscent of Man of Steel (easily the worst movie I've seen in theaters in the past decade, if not ever), with it's many conveniences and contrivances, but not yet nearly as bad; it's more like a bad Transformers sequel.

For the sake of time, let's try and fire off some quick ones...

The cold opening - Please don't do this again. It didn't work and wasn't good (particularly the musical cue that was almost Star Wars, but wasn't). Also, no more time jumping within a single movie - stick with moments unless you're REALLY going to follow a character and do a better job of establishing growth, motivation and an arc. Unless you want to go hard into James Bond territory, complete with big new villains and everything, then yes, I'd support that (on the condition of being a good movie).

Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) - She's a weak character with no motivation. Her cold demeanor wasn't cool, it was boring. She had a great look, but stiff dialogue for her drab persona, which only broke when she saw the holographic message from her father (which is bad character direction because she expressed no emotion prior and the relationship wasn't built properly to merit a reaction). That she suddenly tries to become a leader of the rebellion and ambassador for hope came out of left field, or at least a poorly developed relationship (of any variety) with Cassian. She was also robbed of her story arc by not defeating Krennic.

The father-daughter story - This also didn't work. We never saw the bond between them, just that Galen was pulled away. Mads also either didn't have great material or just didn't care, because his acting was stiff. This served no purpose in the movie.

Jyn's mom - You're a terrible mom, abandoning your child. Would have been better if you had died off-screen prior to the film to further establish the father-daughter relationship. You offered absolutely nothing.

Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) - Also a poorly developed character. There were interesting ideas, but the backstory was poorly developed, along with also having no motivation. Your role as an assassin could have been better fleshed out. Even his "fake death" saving Jyn moment was bad. He robbed her of her story arc.

Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) - A fun idea for a villain - a middle-manager wanting more power - but ultimately a weak character. Take's a lesson from MoS' General Zod - yell when in lieu of an actual character. He's nothing more now than another example of Star Wars amazing ability to create great looking, well-cast villains that end up trash/wasted: Boba Fett, Darth Maul, Dooku, Grievous, Phasma, to name a few.

Tarkin - Could have been removed from the movie and not skipped a beat. Completely unnecessary.

Saw Gerrera - Dear god was this character and Forest Whitaker's acting terrible. Absolutely awful and added nothing to the story, besides another bad father figure for Jyn. The idea of him was better than the execution. More on that below...

The dialogue - So much of the dialogue was rough, to say the least (which is sadly a Star Wars tradition). Most of the Rebel Alliance scenes were flat, Jyn and Cassian's chemistry was flat, the aforementioned Vader and Krennic scene was flat, Krennic and Tarkin was flat (and, again, unnecessary). Mads was bads.


The Egregious Errors
Darth Vader - I'll be direct: Darth Vader is a broken character. Absolutely broken. His arc was perfect in the Original Trilogy - from brute enforcer, to big bad, to redeemed father. The prequels were an unnecessary exploration of a whiny child-killer. Rogue One offered nothing worthwhile other than to further highlight how broken Vader is - his scene with Krennic offered nothing but boring dialogue and awkward visuals (the cinematography with the fog and red lighting did not look good, with the devilish "meanings" being cheesy and on-the-nose). Also, Darth Vader should NEVER have said a pun; providing crass, sass and sarcasm, yes, but a pun? Especially over such an iconic action of his? Terrible creative choice only meant to service fans. As for the final end sequence of the film - Darth Vader is a villain, he is not a badass. The sequence was fascinating from a Force and choreography perspective, but when a crowd roots for a child-killing villain because it's "cool" signifies to me there's something wrong with the storytelling (and audience). Basically, Vader's inclusion throughout the film felt like bad video game fan-service and fanfilm territory.

The excess - Sure, budgets and technology and everything are better today than any time prior, but there's such a lack of proper scale with the films now. Just because something can be done doesn't mean it should be done. I loved the "less is more" approach of the Original Trilogy, if partly because of budget and technology restraints for the time. However, it gives the world and stories more life and a better sense of scope. With Rogue One and Disney's coffers, pretty much anything was possible, including the resurrection of the dead.

The lack of "big feel" moments, aka heart and soul - For the first two-thirds of the film, things just happened with the film just on auto-pilot. It wasn't until the arrival on Scarif when the actual story started happening. There were a couple genuinely sad moments (particularly the death of Churrit), but director Gareth Edwards proved his amateur skills by not featuring any "big" moments. For an example of a "big feel" moment, see the lightsaber duel on Bespin in Empire between Vader and Luke. That entire sequence is a master class of direction, choreography, music and writing. Another? The climax of A New Hope when Luke is doing his Death Star trench run - the tension and music were superb. One more? The drama and emotion of the final duel between Vader and Luke on the Death Star bridge. Even the Sarlacc pit has its moments.

Rogue One had zero big moments (the two Death Star attacks were nice visual effects, but lacked dramatic oomph, with the first one being corny/stupid thanks to Saw and second being excessive with no emotional impact. They also take away from the destruction of Alderaan.


The Missed Opportunities 
The trailers set up wonderfully setup Rogue One to be a dark, mysterious spy/thief film a la Ocean's Eleven in the world of Star Wars. Watching a scrappy band of Rebels take on the monolithic and all-encompassing Empire. Were Jyn and others going to go deep undercover to infiltrate the Empire? Was one already a spy? Would have been significantly more interesting than the crappy father-daughter story we had.

The option of the war/conflict highlighting the similarities between the Empire and the Rebellion were lacking, despite being entirely on the table; it was barely hinted. Same with the disparate nature of the Rebel Alliance, where Saw and his guerrillas are opposite sides of the same coin with regards to their tactics (tactics which were barely explored). Saw's design is actually a very intriguing riff on Vader's, complete with the breathing apparatus, but nothing was present in the movie.

Hell, we didn't even get the big, epic, Saving Private Ryan space war film this could have been. Had the final third been stretched out over the course of the film, that would have been something.


Conclusion
So little of the film emotionally resonated. Things just moved and fell flat. Which makes Rogue One an incredible disappointment, though not without a few merits. Sad thing is, I can tell there's a legitimately good movie hidden within the depths of Rogue One.

As someone who grew up after the Original Trilogy was released, I've had the luxury of not having to wait for future installments, with the privilege of being able to see everything at once. It's hard to predict where the Star Wars franchise is going, but if the two most recent entries are any indication, they're derivative and hollow. Or to ape a different franchise, Star Wars is going where every man has already gone before, which means I'm losing reasons to continue watching.

I grew up loving the franchise, so I hold it to high standards, not simply as a "Star Wars" entry, but as a potentially magical movie experience. The worlds, the music, the visuals, the action, the characters, the sweeping drama, the tense action, the magic and spirituality - that's what Star Wars is to me. TFA had elements of it, but nothing that wasn't already in the Original Trilogy; one could say TFA is a condensed rehash, for which I'm guessing is a "holdover"/"setup" movie until Episode 8 kicks things into actual gear. However, I'm not sure I have the patience to give Disney much more of a chance.

It's hard to give Rogue One a recommendation, even as a spectacle film (the derivative and contrived Avatar was a better example of an event movie). Sadly, Disney's Star Wars is currently sitting at two strikes. I sincerely hope Rian Johnson can deliver a hit, otherwise I'm contempt with the idea that Star Wars did truly die back in 1983.

4/10

Odd Thomas quick review

Odd Thomas was a disappointing movie. Both the acting (by the two leads) and writing were flat, though general direction and cinematography were alright. I'm not sure if the original source material is better, but I have little to no interest in checking it out based on this movie. The comedy was underwhelming, action not good, though the minimal horror elements were alright.

It's a weaker version of Constantine, which is already unfortunately weak.

It's currently available on Netflix, but not sadly recommended. I really wanted to like this, as I enjoy the late Anton Yelchin, but it sadly didn't coalesce.

Jaws (1975) movie review

For a film from 1975, Jaws still largely holds up very well. It has a pretty classic structure that can be found in films made after, such as Predator (which I'd argue perfected the idea in this movie) and Jurassic Park (which was Spielberg's SIGNIFICANTLY improved attempt).

A threat falls upon an area, with a key person trying to rectify the threat, while facing some opposition from the local community, which allows for some solid social commentary on greed, with a cartoonish-yet-human mayor (the suits!). It then comes down to a few people taking on the thread heads-on. It's a very reasonable structure that mostly does what it needs to do.

The only real flaws stem from the films tonal shifts. Though starting out as a potential horror movie, the film then turns into a bit of a buddy/adventure movie. While the comedy and human bonding during this portion is excellent, the shark-chasing parts with the more upbeat musical score took me out of the movie. By the time it got to the ending, a good degree of the drama and tension was removed. Combined with the rather abrupt editing (particularly the death of Quint and actual conclusion by Brody), it felt rushed.

Then again, when viewed as a product from the 70s, leniency can be given.

Jaws was absolutely a precursor for both Spielberg and Williams, which is probably the most special reason to watch it, at this point. With Williams score, he has hints of so many of his big movies to come: Superman, Raiders, Star Wars, Last Crusade and more.

Best parts of the movie:
1. Human dialogue throughout (it's really good)
2. Quint
3. Richard Dreyfus
4. John Williams' score
5. Roy Scheider (his understated performance may be slightly higher)

Worst parts:
1. The occasional awkward editing
2. Some tonally out-of-place Williams music

It's a classic for a reason and RECOMMENDED at the very least from a film history perspective. It's not perfect, though, so expect some elements to be a bit dated, such as a relatively even or slow pace.

Clue remake casting

Slightly old news that Clue is being remade (which I'm fine with), so here's my current casting thoughts, which were actually made with friends in the summer of 2015:

Mustard - Nick Offerman
Peacock - Kristen Wiig
Scarlett - Tina Fey?
White - Julia Louis Dreyfus
Delivery lady - Kristin Chenoweth
Yvette - Kate Upton
Green - Robert Downey Jr or Aziz Ansari
Wadsworth - Tom Hardy, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio or Colin Firth
Mr. Body - ?? (Christoph Waltz?)
Plum - Jonah Hill? Maybe Chris Pine

Thoughts? And yes, while the above cast is fairly white, non-white actors are 100% welcome (these were just quick-thoughts from more than one year ago). Stephen Root and Kate McKinnon would also be great additions.

The Mermaid (2016) movie review - STEPHEN CHOW!!

STEPHEN CHOW!!

The trailers (American?) did not do The Mermaid any justice, presenting it as more of a hard action movie. In actuality, this is more of a return to form for director Stephen Chow, returning to his 90's comedy-romance(-action) roots.

One could argue that if you've seen one of his 90's comedy-romance movies (whether he acted or directed), you've seen them all, but The Mermaid has a few nice differences.

For one, it feels more cohesive. There's a core story that flows very well, with each of the main characters feeling fleshed out and motivated.

Two, there are some great themes, such as the most obvious environmentalism, commentary on wealth and class, personal growth and love.

Three, while his 90's films typically feature an amazing guy who may be down on his luck falling in love with a "loser" girl (somewhat haphazardly), this one features a woman who isn't anything close to a loser. She's dedicated (to her family, friends, self), strong, funny, can fight and more. There may still be some cultural challenges, but it's a refreshingly different direction. The guy is still on the wish fulfillment side, though, but is also the protagonist who grows the most during the journey.

Long story short, it has some great visuals, GREAT comedic sequences (Chow would be a perfect choice for Looney Tunes), great themes and is a LOT of fun.

A solid RECOMMENDED (with a personal bias towards HIGHLY because it's Stephen Chow). Catch it as soon as you can.

X-Men: Apocalypse movie review

Where to begin with this dud-filled piece of dudly crap that is X-Men: Apocalypse... perhaps with some positives:

1. The costumes were generally pretty good
2. Storm - she gets a solid yes

And those may be the only good things I have to say about this movie. I'll give some neutral credit to the music and music selection, though the X-Men series on the whole, for something that's a good 6-plus movies in now, has still FAILED to create a proper score with recurring themes, leitmotifs, etc. The closest thing to is it John Ottman's title credits theme (done with wonderful aplomb in Days of Future Past).

The X-Men series has a great distinction, to me, of having every entry be generally entertaining, though flawed in various degrees. Yes, even both X-Men 3 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine were fun (though perhaps the heavily negative bias set my expectations super low); the musical scores of both definitely helped, as well.

Yet here we are with Apocalypse... I was excited for the film when the teaser at the end of DoFP first played, but shortly after had a sinking feeling in my gut when it was announced that Bryan Singer was returning to direct.

Bryan Singer is not a good director.

At the very least, not anymore. Or if he is, he certainly needs a LOT of help with writing and should consider changing some of his Hellfire Club (inner circle); they are doing him no favors. For example, DoFP's future sequences were the best parts, but the 70s-set character driven story with Magneto, Professor X and Mystique was boring as hell. The one great sequence being Quicksilver, which was a mere 40ish minutes into the movie and created such a stupid loophole that was underutilized (recruit the damn guy!).

Which leads us to the convoluted, poorly edited, mediocre-acted mess that is Apocalypse.
Point blank: who's story are we following? I don't care about anyone or anything that's happening due to three reasons:

1. Recycled storylines/a sense of been there, done that
2. Too many characters/not enough screen time
3. Things happening for no good reason

There's no point in going into the details for any particular character, as they're all underwhelming and poorly developed, save for maybe the new gen of kids. As well, any time something interesting is about to happen (e.g. Quicksilver and Magneto), the story goes into the wrong direction.
Mystique/Jennifer Lawrence doesn't care at all about being in the movie, followed closely by Magneto/Fassbender (though whether he's acting as a burnt-out character or just being himself is another question). McAvoy as Prof X has never really done anything for me (save for Fassbender's Magneto). Neither of the two have the gravitas of Patrick Stewart of Ian McKellan, story taking place earlier in their timelines be damned.

And FFS Oscar Isaac's Apocalypse... So much wrong. The writing is certainly the biggest travesty, but Isaac himself was miscast. Such a thankless role. The creative direction here, again due to the writing, was so bad that it's hard to really properly comment. The changing consciousness, absurd power levels, random story direction and lack of actual comic book characterization similarities form a giant suffering of underwhelming (I have no idea if that sentence/phrase makes sense, but I'm going with it). Michael Clarke Duncan would have been awesome. The Rock would have been awesome. Hell, James Earl Jones in makeup would have been awesome.

Also, why are we even leaping decade by decade? Who oversees the story direction for this franchise? Are they trying to make it like a TV series or movie serials? Gah...

The editing is bad, jumping around with poor character choices. Again, convoluted. Hell, it's so bad it's making my review convoluted. I have no idea what direction I'm going in, the film has rubbed off on me that much...

Psylocke. Have to mention her, so she can be just as "there" as she was in the actual movie.
For a film that goes out of its way to make fun of X-Men 3 and the third entries of trilogies, I'd rather watch that one any day. Singer even re-used some of the same ideas fans hated about that entry! What stupidity is this?

Apocalypse is a hot mess of a movie and a great example of how important story construction and paying attention in the editing room needs to be - so much to cut from this film, yet I'm not sure if there's enough of a core story present to save it.

Bland, unfocused, messy, stupid.

I watched the extended cut of Batman vs Superman after this, which looks like the Godfather in comparison.

You know what would have been better than this? Hire Stephen Sommers to remake his remake of The Mummy but using X-Men, with Apocalypse as Imhotep. Follow the young kids as they're on a random trip to Egypt and accidentally summon Apocalypse, who falls in line with the Brotherhood as they piece him back together, etc. etc. Make it more of an adventure/event movie.

Long story short... NOT RECOMMENDED, with a Bret Hart-approved 4/10.

Kubo and the Two Strings review

To anyone who's a fan of movies, please go see this.

Kubo and the Two Strings is an absolutely stunning, beautiful, gorgeous movie and a breath of fresh air amidst a sea of forgettable blockbusters. It is largely everything I can want in a movie:

• Top-notch animation/production values
• Amazing soundtrack by Dario Marianelli
• Stellar art direction and costumes
• Great (adult) themes
• A solid (dark) fantasy/folk story plot
• Great villains
• Good comedy and humor (for both kids and adults)
• Heart-wrenching sentimentality and emotion
• Did I mention the soundtrack? It's really good

There is very little about it I didn't like and it's easily Laika's best yet (note: I've yet to see Boxtrolls, but meh).

However, is it perfect? No. I can understand some arguments about how the voice casting could have been more culturally sensitive, as well as how some of the themes/ideologies may come across too heavy-handed. But I'm willing to forgive both of those because the film is just that good.

One other area people may complain about is the relatively straight-forward plot, which consists of gathering items in order to defeat the villain(s). However, this is offset by some rather sly comedy that leans more adult/meta. I can understand how some may find it disconnecting, but it worked for me.

Regardless, I LOVED this movie and HIGHLY recommend it. I saw it in 2D and would gladly go back to see it in 3D. Hell, I wanted to instantly rewatch it, which is rare.

Please, if you love cinema, go see this movie. It deserves to be on any best of 2016 list and NOT just in the animation category - declaring it now.

Again, if you are a fan of movies, please go see Kubo and the Two Strings. Then listen to the soundtrack on Spotify or buy it from Amazon.

The Brother from Another Planet movie review

The Brother from Another Planet is a surprisingly enjoyable movie about the immigrant experience told through the story of an alien's first encounters on Earth.

Joe Morton is wonderfully endearing as the completely mute alien known as The Brother. The film features some downright excellent scene work which occasionally manages to have great social commentary (it's seriously top-notch stuff, particularly for 1984), while also including some fun absurdist moments, particularly from the dynamic duo of writer-director John Sayles and David Strathairn (yes, that David Strathairn) as two character who could fit perfectly in SNL sketches. The music selection is also a nice hodgepodge of songs, with a few being personal standouts.

However, TBFAP is missing just a little something to hit real greatness (it could click or gel more), but it hits the right spots enough to be satisfying, if not moreso.

Easily recommended if you can find it.

The Mummy (1999) movie review

Stephen Sommers' The Mummy is a fun serial throwback rollercoaster ride with gun fun characters, good humor and good action. Is Rick a little too machismo? Is Evelyn a little too damsel? Perhaps, but they have enough moments to round themselves out, particularly Evelyn (while the film skews heavily male, it had some solid feminist moments that come across very naturally).

Yes it's a 90s movie, complete with cheesy CG, but the art direction works. The movie may have some cringe worthy moments with regards if you read into the social portrayals, but on the whole it works (it may lose some steam towards the end).

Also, solid soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith.

Very fun and recommended.

Predator 2 quick review

Predator 2 is not a good movie. It's a solid premise (changing the location from the jungle to the urban jungle), but it's a victim of 90's filmmaking - plot driven with characters you don't care about (and are generic stereotypes). Seriously, where did the 90's style of camera angles/cinematography and editing come from? It's not horrible and Danny Glover is OK, but the film is incredibly flat, bland and boring. Even the Alan Silvestri score is a weak rehash of the original film.

A shame it set the Predator franchise back so long, as it's a great concept; Predators was a fun return to form and I'm looking forward to the supposed Predator 4 by Shane Black.