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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opens in 1926 as Newt Scamander has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident…were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt’s fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.
I'm pretty sure that this movie is going to be all about people's expectations when going in to it. If you are super pumped and want something Harry Potter level - you will probably be disappointed. If you go in thinking it is a lame knock off of the Harry Potter movies - you will probably be surprised and like it. If you are down the middle - you will walk out thinking it was a pretty good movie and a good setup for a spinoff franchise moving foward. I fell into that third group. They did a good job of developing the main characters (although Newt Scamander kind of felt like my least favorite one). They did good with the effects on the "beasts" and the story progressed well enough to keep you interested as the tension built. The only real knock I'll make against the movie is that I had hoped that when it started with a quick story update via newspapers in the opening credits that the movie wouldn't be so long. I was wrong and it was definitely longer than it needed to be.
I would recommend people checking this out. Not that my thoughts ultimately matter on this. You were either definitely seeing this or definitely not seeing it already. Just keep your expectations not too high and you will be able to enjoy the movie more.
In the aftermath of an unspeakable attack, Police Sergeant Tommy Saunders (Mark Wahlberg) joins courageous survivors, first responders and investigators in a race against the clock to hunt down the bombers before they strike again. Weaving together the stories of Special Agent Richard DesLauriers (Kevin Bacon), Police Commissioner Ed Davis (John Goodman), Sergeant Jeffrey Pugliese (J.K. Simmons) and nurse Carol Saunders (Michelle Monaghan) this visceral and unflinching chronicle captures the suspense of one of the most sophisticated manhunts in law enforcement history and celebrates the strength of the people of Boston.
I have always tried to stay away from any current event type stories or tragedies. I am worried about the sadness and tragedy weighing me down. Just a thing I've always done. This story was completely different for me. I don't know if it's because so many of my favorite childhood memories are from my regular trips to Boston, my Red Sox fandom, my college memories from once again regular visits to Boston or the fact that I was there with my daughter and her boyfriend 24 hours earlier than the incident and even asked my father what they needed alll the heavy police vehicles and presence for. I followed this whole story non-stop for days and remember standing at my nieces first bday party watching Big Papi's speech the following weekend with one of my oldest friends who grew up near Boston in dead silence. I was very eager to see this movie but was afraid that it would be the usually tragedy movie that is done all wrong. Very happily - that was not the case. They did this one right by focusing on the everyday people that stepped up to become heroes when their times came. They didn't focus on the act or the criminals as much as the news does. I very much enjoyed this movie.
I would absolutely recommend that people check this movie out. It was a very good watch and made you feel good after such a horrible event.
Over the holidays, Ned (Bryan Cranston), an overprotective but loving dad and his family visit his daughter at Stanford, where he meets his biggest nightmare: her well-meaning but socially awkward Silicon Valley billionaire boyfriend, Laird (James Franco). The straight-laced Ned thinks Laird, who has absolutely no filter, is a wildly inappropriate match for his daughter. The one-sided rivalry-and Ned's panic level-escalate when he finds himself increasingly out of step in the glamorous high-tech hub, and learns that Laird is about to pop the question.
This movie was completely formula in every way and you pretty much have seen the movie just by watching the commercial. That being said I still kind of enjoyed the movie. James Franco was great talking vulgar freely and him and Cranston had really good chemistry. The other supporting actors held their own laugh wise. So even though completely predictable - still a decent watch.
I'd sort of recommend people checking this movie out. It is by no means a must see but it was enjoyable still and you could do much worse than this. It's definitely a R rated comedy though.
A visually spectacular drama from acclaimed director Juan Antonio Bayona (“The Impossible”), based on the award-winning children’s fantasy novel. 12-year-old Conor (Lewis MacDougall) attempts to deal with his mother’s (Felicity Jones) illness and the bullying of his classmates by escaping into a fantastical world of monsters and fairy tales that explore courage, loss, and faith.
Wow! I can't tell you the last time a movie hooked me and destroyed me so much emotionally. To say that 2016 was easily the most difficult year of my life would be a massive understatement. There were of course tons of positives but the losses and the events around them were huge. This movie basically combined several aspects from 2016 and showed how the 12 year old processed it all. The movie while crushing was also very touching and incredibly imaginative. I am not even sure that this review is doing justice to how good of a movie it was because I'm starting to get emotional all over again like I was during the movie.
I would absolutely recommend people checking this out. Be warned that it is a very emotional movie but was so well done.
Martin Scorsese’s Silence tells the story of two Christian missionaries (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) who face the ultimate test of faith when they travel to Japan in search of their missing mentor (Liam Neeson) – at a time when Christianity was outlawed and their presence forbidden. The celebrated director's 28-year journey to bring Shusaku Endo’s 1966 acclaimed novel to life will be in theaters this Christmas.
Easily one of the longest feeling movies I have ever watched. The actual run time was 2 hours and 45 minutes but I felt like I was just watching this all day. I'm not saying it's bad. It's actually a pretty good movie for the most part and easily the best acting of Andrew Garfield's career by far. But I cannot stress how long this movie felt. If I would have seen this in theaters I don't think I ever would have made it.
On quality - I do recommend the movie. However, unless you have pretty much a whole day to give to it I don't know that many will be seeing this.
Set in a world like ours but entirely inhabited by animals, Sing stars Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey), a dapper Koala who presides over a once-grand theater that has fallen on hard times. Buster is an eternal optimist—okay, maybe a bit of a scoundrel—who loves his theater above all and will do anything to preserve it. Now facing the crumbling of his life’s ambition, he has one final chance to restore his fading jewel to its former glory by producing the world’s greatest singing competition. Five lead contestants emerge: A mouse (Seth MacFarlane) who croons as smoothly as he cons, a timid teenage elephant (Tori Kelly) with an enormous case of stage fright, an overtaxed mother (Reese Witherspoon) run ragged tending a litter of 25 piglets, a young gangster gorilla (Taron Egerton) looking to break free of his family’s felonies, and a punk-rock porcupine (Scarlett Johansson) struggling to shed her arrogant boyfriend and go solo. Each animal arrives under Buster’s marquee believing that this is their shot to change the course of their life.
This movie was a pretty fun watch but I have to honestly say that I feel like I saw the entire movie from the months of trailers leading up to its release. There really was very little that I didn't remember already seeing. The characters were cool but with this coming out less than a year after Zootopia (the same society premise but with singing), it seemed kind of like a repeat. The songs were catchy and kids are sure to love it but this wasn't nearly as enjoyable for the parents as it was for the kids.
I would still recommend people with kids going to check this out but it's definitely not one of those top notch animated movies where the adults enjoy it as much as the children. It's slightly below that.
Adapted from the non-fiction book "A Long Way Home" by Saroo Brierley. Five-year-old Saroo gets lost on a train which takes him thousands of kilometers across India, away from home and family. Saroo must learn to survive alone in Kolkata, before ultimately being adopted by an Australian couple. Twenty five years later, armed with only a handful of memories, his unwavering determination, and a revolutionary technology known as Google Earth, he sets out to find his lost family and finally return to his first home.
This movie was an incredible journey. It fully took the audience along with the lead character. The first half of the movie was rough watching young Saroo go through his journey and at the same time you couldn't help but love the child actor playing him. That hook carried you through the rest of the movie with Dev Patel taking over. I've loved him in everything I have seen of his and this was no different. It's the type of movie that you want to stand up applaud at the end.
I would definitely recommend people checking this out. It's a very feel good movie that makes you feel like you are on the journey as well.
Through a revolutionary technology that unlocks his genetic memories, Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender) experiences the adventures of his ancestor, Aguilar, in 15th Century Spain. Callum discovers he is descended from a mysterious secret society, the Assassins, and amasses incredible knowledge and skills to take on the oppressive and powerful Templar organization in the present day.
Let me first say that I never played the game and I know nothing about the game. Maybe I would have liked it more if I had. That being said, this movie was a pretty giant turd. They were all over the place. I had little to no clue several times about what was going on. So much of the movie was in subtitles. It was just too much crammed in there and lamely connected.
I would not recommend anyone bothering with this. Maybe it's better with a background knowledge of the video game but honestly - I doubt it.
What you put out into this world will always come back to you, but it never comes back how you predict. Taking fatherly advice is not in Joe Coughlin’s nature. Instead, the WWI vet is a self-proclaimed anti-establishment outlaw, despite being the son of the Boston Police Deputy Superintendent. Joe’s not all bad, though; in fact, he’s not really bad enough for the life he’s chosen. Unlike the gangsters he refuses to work for, he has a sense of justice and an open heart, and both work against him, leaving him vulnerable time and again—in business and in love. Driven by a need to right the wrongs committed against him and those close to him, Joe heads down a risky path that goes against his upbringing and his own moral code. Leaving the cold Boston winter behind, he and his reckless crew turn up the heat in Tampa. And while revenge may taste sweeter than the molasses that infuses every drop of illegal rum he runs, Joe will learn that it comes at a price.
This was a textbook half and half movie. When they were doing the gangster stuff - this movie was awesome. Kept marvelling once again at how good of a director Ben Affleck is. But when it was the slow and romance stuff it was kind of blah and dragged. The movie was still watchable and enjoyable but it kind of felt like it didn't know what kind of a movie it wanted to be. Because of that it ended up probably being the worst directorial effort from him to date.
I would somewhat recommend people checking this out. It's not a bad movie but doesn't really commit to what it wants to be enough and gets dragged down because of it.
An African American father struggles with race relations in the United States while trying to raise his family in the 1950s and coming to terms with the events of his life. Based on the play "Fences" which opened on Broadway in 1987, and the production won the Tony Awards for Best Play, Best Actor, James Earl Jones and Best Featured Actress, Mary Alice. A revival of "Fences" opened in 2010, and the production won Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Play, Best Actor, Denzel Washington and Best Actress, Viola Davis.
You can tell that this movie was based on a play because of the excellent decision to keep the setting isolated almost entirely to the backyard area. It almost became one of the characters of the movie honestly. This movie was all about acting and the two leads, as well as the supporting characters, did an amazing job. The movie had a lot of talking but it was more about conveying things past the words with their body language and faces and they all did a remarkable job. Denzel Washington did an amazing job being a very not likable person but yet understanding why he is the way he is and Viola Davis's face spoke full monologues before she finally got to deliver an amazing one.
I would absolutely recommend people checking this out. The performances were great and it takes you on quite an emotional roller coaster even though it's so simple and keeps you mostly in the backyard of this family. It was a little longer than I think it should have been but was great.
On a routine journey through space to a new home, two passengers, sleeping in suspended animation, are awakened 90 years too early when their ship malfunctions. As Jim (Chris Pratt) and Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence) face living the rest of their lives on board, with every luxury they could ever ask for, they begin to fall for each other, unable to deny their intense attraction... until they discover the ship is in grave danger. With the lives of 5000 sleeping passengers at stake, only Jim and Aurora can save them all.
This movie was pretty much poop. It was basically a run of the mill sci-fi movie with very little substance. They pretty much banked on the current "it" actress and "it" actor and a sleek look to everything to carry it. It absolutely did not. This is easily one of the more disappointing movies of the year.
I wouldn't recommend anyone wasting their time with this. There are many better options out there and not even the star power of the cast could save this movie.
When a successful New York advertising executive suffers a great tragedy he retreats from life. While his concerned friends try desperately to reconnect with him, he seeks answers from the universe by writing letters to Love, Time and Death. But it’s not until his notes bring unexpected personal responses that he begins to understand how these constants interlock in a life fully lived, and how even the deepest loss can reveal moments of meaning and beauty.
Rule number one in trailers - don't falsely advertise the movie! If you propose this spiritual opening/coping of Will Smith then give us that. Do not give us a con job by Will Smith's friends where you are more excited by trying to outsmart the viewer instead of just giving us what you advertised. Very disappointing. So much so that by the time they actually got to the feel good spiritual ending you can't enjoy it because you are too annoyed.
I wouldn't really recommend anyone bothering with this. It was a major disappointment.
Three thousand years ago, the greatest sailors in the world voyaged across the vast Pacific, discovering the many islands of Oceania. But then, for a millennium, their voyages stopped – and no one knows why. From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes Moana, a sweeping, CG-animated feature film about an adventurous teenager who sails out on a daring mission to save her people. During her journey, Moana (voice of Auli’i Cravalho) meets the once-mighty demigod Maui (voice of Dwayne Johnson), who guides her in her quest to become a master wayfinder. Together, they sail across the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous monsters and impossible odds, and along the way, Moana fulfills the ancient quest of her ancestors and discovers the one thing she’s always sought: her own identity.
Disney knocked this one out of the park. The only knock I can make against this was that it was lacking the usually charismatic and funny side characters that they generate. This one had the crazy chicken which was great but didn't really talk. Outside of that, this movie was awesome. The Rock as a Disney character was just as great as you would expect. Moana is definitely a worthy princess addition. And the story and animation were top notch.
I absolutely recommend people checking this movie out. It's another Disney classic and what could be better than combining The Rock with Disney?
Jackie is a searing and intimate portrait of one of the most important and tragic moments in American history, seen through the eyes of the iconic First Lady, then Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (Natalie Portman). "Jackie" places us in her world during the days immediately following her husband's assassination. Known for her extraordinary dignity and poise, here we see a psychological portrait of the First Lady as she struggles to maintain her husband’s legacy and the world of "Camelot" that they created and loved so well.
Every year there is a movie like this that is pretty much just a showcase of excellent acting while the movie as a whole leaves me thinking ehhhhh. Jackie is that movie this year. Natalie Portman was great but the rest of the movie was just okay and too artsy at times. The timeline was all over the place and it probably would have benefitted. From a point a to point b approach instead. I'm also about as far as you can get from being a history buff so that audience might find this more enjoyable than I did.
I would only recommend people checking this out for Natalie Portman's acting. The rest of the movie left a lot to be desired.
Incarnate follows an exorcist (Eckhart) who comes up against an evil from his past when he uses his supernatural skills to enter the subconscious of a nine-year-old boy.
Wow! This was bad. Like a homemade exorcism movie kind of bad. Has Aaron Eckhart really fallen this far? This guy was a major player in The Dark Knight. That is just sad. As sad as this movie was.
I would not recommend anyone wasting their time with this. I honestly can't for the life of me understand how this even got a wide release in theaters.
