"The Danish Girl" *Non-Spoiler* Review

The Danish Girl is the fictitious love story inspired by the lives of Danish artists Lili Elbe (Eddie Redmayne) and Gerda Wegener (Alicia Vikander). The two leads are the stars of this film. Their characters have depth, carry emotional weight, and make you feel for them throughout the movie. Eddie Redmanye (Theory of Everything) delivers yet another stellar performance as Lili. He starts out the film known as Einar, the husband of Gerda. Throughout the film you watch him struggle with the fact that he is woman stuck inside a man’s body. Obviously this is the main focus of The Danish Girl. The big conflict of the film is with his wife. Alicia Vikander gives an equally magnificent performance as well and may have well stolen the show from her counterpart. The chemistry the two leads is a delight to watch and keep your eyes on the screen every time the two are on it at the same time. As Lili struggles do understand what she is going through, Gerda equally struggles to watch lose her husband slowly every day. When Redmayne and Vikander are not on the screen, which is when The Danish Girl runs into its problems. The film is only 2 hours long but moves at such a pace that it seems a lot longer than that. Outside of the main struggle of the two main characters, the rest of the movie is quite boring. There is nothing that really gets your attention and makes you sit up and demands your attention. The side characters are also very forgettable and not used to their own potential. Amber Heard (Ulla) plays Gerda’s and Lili’s good friend and is absolutely wonderful in the first scene you see her in but is rarely used at all afterwards and becomes an afterthought throughout the rest of the film.

Conclusion: The Danish Girl provides you with one best performances of the year from the two leads and hits perfectly on the emotional chord between them. Director Tom Hooper instantly has you caring about the two leads and the conflicts both are fighting within themselves and with each other. Unfortunately The Danish Girl suffers from forgettable secondary characters, too slow paced, and not the best story telling. It is a shame that The Danish Girl didn’t come out better due to how relevant it is given what is going on in the world today. You don’t have to run out and see this one.

SCORE:                 6.25/10 – AVERAGE  

                                                 

"Joy" *Non-Spoiler* Review

Joy is the wild true story of Joy Mangano who rose to become founder and matriarch of a powerful family business dynasty. Director David O. Russell does an admirable job telling this story as you watch Joy (Jennifer Lawrence) struggle her way up from poverty, only to be knocked down by strangers and those closest to her, but ultimately claw her way back on top of the mountain. Joy is an emotional movie as you watch how tough and cruel today’s world can be. Even though you know the outcome of the film, you find yourself rooting for Joy the entire length of the movie. Jennifer Lawrence gives an Oscar worthy performance as Joy. She hits an emotional chord as you hit on every single emotion possible throughout the film. She proves yet again, that she is one of the best actresses out there in Hollywood today. Robert De Niro (Rudy) plays Joy’s father and his performance is second only to Lawrence’s. De Niro’s Rudy is the ever so relatable father who looks out for his child but will lean on them for support quite often. Rudy is a character you cannot quite put your finger on. Sometimes you will think he is for Joy, while at other times you will think he is against her. Finally, Bradley Cooper (Neil Walker) is a joy, no pun intended, to watch in his limited screen time.  That is where the negatives of Joy start. While Joy is the story of the title character, that does not mean the other side characters need to be forgotten. Aside from De Niro’s Rudy, no characters were given the depth for you to care for them. Tony (Edgar Ramirez) is Joy’s ex-husband but you are given very little details of their relationship except for the time they first met. The film is narrated by Diane Ladd (Mimi) and it felt rather useless to do so. All in all, aside from the story and the performance of Jennifer Lawrence, there is not much in Joy to be very joyful about. Yes, that pun was intended….My apologies.

Conclusion: Director David O. Russell is back with Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, and Bradley Cooper but he cannot quite capture the magic he did with Silver Linings Playbook. While Jennifer Lawrence turns in a trophy-worthy performance, her counterparts are not given enough time or depth for you to really care about their characters. Aside from the story Joy told, there was nothing to get you excited about in the film. The true story of Joy Mangano is heartwarming, astonishing, and inspiring for many, sadly the movie about her is quite average.

SCORE:                 6/10 – AVERAGE 

"The Hateful Eight" *Non-Spoiler* Review

Well this one was a surprise for sure. Going into The Hateful Eight, my expectations were best described as mediocre. It has been a love – hate relationship between Quentin Tarantino films and me. But damn, this one is my favorite film of his and definitely his best one yet. As with all of his films, The Hateful Eight was both gory and long. The gore did not bother me and at all, and believe it or not, this 2 hour and 48 minute movie feels a lot shorter. The Hateful Eight is masterfully paced to the point where it left me wanting more. There was rarely a dull moment and the film is full of interesting characters. Samuel L. Jackson (Major Marquis Warren), Kurt Russell (John Ruth), Walton Goggins (Sheriff Chris Manix), and Jennifer Leigh (Daisy Domergue) are the 4 standouts in the movie. Their characters had depth, motives, and were just a blast to watch interact. The two that stole the show from the group were Jackson and Goggins. They deliver brilliant performances and do not overact at all. They both stay within their characters and it is a treat. The story of The Hateful Eight is a pleasure to watch unfold. The idea of a bounty hunter and his prisoner worth 10,000 dollars, stuck in a house with eight strangers made for a ride that had as many bumps, twists, and turns as I could have imagined. But that is what makes the film work. Tarantino uses multiple styles of storytelling and camera work that blend together perfectly to make a phenomenal cinema experience. The setting of the old west was felt throughout. The cinematography might have been the best of the year behind only to The Revenant. My only problem with The Hateful Eight was that there were certain characters that could have been fleshed out a little more than they were. In the end, The Hateful Eight made me laugh, cringe, hold my breath, and put me on the edge of my seat. Everything I want in a movie.

Conclusion: Quinten Tarantino’s 8^th film, The Hateful Eight, was his best film to date. While it is both gory and long, the film leaves you wanting more and more. The quartet of Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Walton Goggins, and Jennifer Leigh carry the load of the movie but it does not affect their performances because they were all outstanding. The story and plot keeps you on the edge of your seat with every twist and turn it provides. The storytelling technique Tarantino uses are done to perfection. Even though certain characters could have been fleshed out more, which does not deteriorate any of the movie experience The Hateful Eight will provide you. Unless you don’t like blood, The Hateful Eight is a must see movie.

SCORE:                 8.8/10 – VERY GOOD

"The Revenant" *Non-Spoiler* Review

Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is at it again in his new film The Revenant. There is a lot to like in the film. The movie tells the story of Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) who sets out on a path of revenge when his confidant, John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), kills his son and leaves him for dead. The Revenant’s biggest assets are the two leads. DiCaprio and Hardy both turn in stellar performances and get you to care about two characters that could not be further apart from each other. Even though he does not have a lot of lines to work with, Leonardo DiCaprio is at the top of his game in this one and delivers a deep, emotionally driven performance that is definitely Oscar worthy. Almost outdoing DiCaprio is Tom Hardy. His Fitzgerald always draws your eyes to where he is because of the heaviness of his performance. There are a few scenes where Hardy even steals the light from his counterpart. In addition to the two leads, Domhall Gleeson (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and Will Pouter (Maze Runner) also turn in admirable performances in supporting roles. One thing Inarritu does masterfully is his camera work. He can make you in awe and feel as if you are right there in the movie with these characters. As he did with Birdman, his transitions are smooth and where he chose to do edits and cuts were not really noticeable so it didn’t feel like you were watching a movie. The Revenant was shot using only natural light, and it is beautiful. This isn’t some kind of CGI spectacle, this movie is a spectacle of the natural kind. The scenery is absolutely breath taking.  Unfortunately, there were some issues that were rather glaring in the film. The biggest flaw is the length of the film. One could argue that The Revenant could be 20-30 minutes shorter and be an even better film. At times it felt as if you were never going to see the climax of the movie. The last gripe with this movie is that they are some plot points that seemed too easy for the characters. Some things just so happened to work out for them.

Conclusion: The Revenant is a spectacle in its own right. The two leads of Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy turn in Oscar worthy performances, while director Alejandro Innarritu works his magic again as he draws in the audience with his almost flawless camera work. Even though the story has its problem, and the movie could have been shorter. The Revenant is a satisfying movie going experience. The film is not a must see, but it is definitely as close as it gets.

SCORE                   8/10 -  VERY GOOD

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" *NON-SPOILER* Review

The force has awakened….and it was beautiful. We can all finally move on from the prequels because Star Wars: The Force Awakens actually feels like a Star Wars movie. J.J. Abrams does a tremendous job kick starting the new trilogy off. First and foremost, The Force Awakens is an incredible action packed space opera. As soon as the crawl in the beginning started, I was smiling until the end of the movie. I have waited for a long time for this movie and I can gladly say it did not disappoint. The film’s bright spots? Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), and Adam Driver (Kylo Ren). The four newcomers were tremendous in their performances and gave me the sense of a bright future in the Star Wars films with those four leading the way. The new droid BB8 is just as fun to watch as R2D2 was in the originals. Speaking of originals, I got chills every time a member of the old cast appeared on screen. Abrams did a fabulous job giving each character a pretty epic entrance. But as I said earlier, it is the new comers that steal the movie and give me hope for the future. Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren is not as scary as Darth Vader was, (In fairness who can be?) but he is a formidable opponent whom has emotional conflict within himself. The chemistry between Ridley’s Rey and Boyega’s Finn is just a delight to watch. While one is scared, the other is a fighter. The characters have both intense emotional scenes and a lot of light hearted scenes as well. But it was Isaac’s Poe Dameron that was the crown jewel of the bunch for me. His character was not given a lot of screen time, but his performance was so heavy, it just drew me to him. The Force Awakens also has an abundance of well-timed comedy in it as well. There were times though that the comedy felt forced. (No pun intended). Without getting into spoilers, there were some things that bothered me about the film. It was a difficult task for Abrams to fit 30 years of history into one movie and it shows. There are characters that show up throughout the film and we are given barely any, if any at all, history about the character. We never learn who they are, what importance they to the story, and how they fit into the grand scheme of things. There were some story telling issues such as we got too much story of 2 people when we could have gotten a little more from others. Finally, my biggest gripe with the film is a spoiler, so I will give that away.

Conclusion: Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a great action packed, space opera that does an excellent job in reopening the doors to the Stars Wars saga. Director J.J. Abrams does a noble job in making The Force Awakens feel like a Star Wars movie. The new cast brings a fresh flavor to the film, while the old cast brings the nostalgic energy that had us all excited from the beginning. While we don’t get to learn enough about some characters, and the story has its issues. I assume that both those issues will be resolved in episodes 8 & 9. One does not have to see the original trilogy to enjoy Star Wars: The Force Awakens. But it would definitely help make the experience much more exiting. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a must see movie.

SCORE:                 9/10   -  GREAT

"In the Heart of the Sea" *Non-Spoiler* Review

I went into Ron Howard’s In the Heart of the Sea as my 2^nd most anticipated December movie, so one could say I had very high expectations for it. Though Heart of the Sea was a good movie, it was somewhat disappointing because the premise had so much potential. In the Heart of the Sea is based on the 1820 whaling event the brought about the famous novel Moby Dick. Some of the aspects which turned me off were the execution of the story, character development, and pacing. The premise of this movie was so fascinating to me that the instant I saw the first trailer I was hooked on the movie. There were parts in the film that were jaw dropping but then were immediately followed up with a snoozer of a scene. There was a magnitude of intense sequences that were canceled out by a dull moment afterwards. This is very unlike a Ron Howard movie but unfortunately was the movie’s biggest flaw. The last thing that got to me was there was really no character development in the film. The only character I cared about was Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth), and that’s only because I am a big Hemsworth fan.  Tom Nickerson, played by both Brendan Gleeson and Tom Holland, is the narrator of the film, so there was no fear that he was going to die. The rest of the crew was just not given enough time for us to get to know them and fear for the lives. Remember, I did say this was a good movie, so there are obviously facets of this film that I enjoyed. The spectacle of In the Heart of Sea was just magnificent to watch. As stated above, there were so many breathe taking action sequences that had me in awe. Also, the film did a tremendous job making me feel as if I was aboard the Essex along with the crew. Finally, the performances were outstanding. Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson, and Ben Whishaw all gave grade A performances. The scenes between Gleeson and Whishaw were by far the best parts of the film.

Conclusion: While In the Heart of the Sea did not meet my lofty expectations, it was still a rather enjoyable film to watch. Even though there is not much that is special about it, it is still a movie people can sit down and get something out of. There were many great spectacles in the film that made me wide eyed, but were too often followed by dull moments that pulled me right back out. The actors all five great performances but are hampered by the lack of development their characters are given. In the Heart of the Sea is not a must see, but it is a nice place holder as we all wait one more week until Star Wars.

SCORE:                 7/10   -  GOOD

"Krampus" *Non-Spoiler* Review

The premise of Krampus is a very intriguing idea…. It is a shame that the film’s execution of that idea is very flawed. Krampus tells the story of the Christmas demon that is accidently summoned upon a family’s house because of the little boy. Some of the bright spots of this movie are the cast, the humor, and the unique feel of a Christmas horror movie. The cast, led by Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, and Conchata Ferrell, all give outstanding performances and all hit on their humor in the story. Adam Scott and David Koechner lead the field as the 2 biggest figures in the movie, and also come up with the majority of the comedy. Alas, Ferrell is a good laugh when it was her turn to do so. While this was a horror and a comedy, the horror side fell completely short of meeting my expectations. There were very few jump scares, and the monsters themselves were not very scary looking overall as well. Krampus spent a lot of time making us hear the creatures snickering, running around upstairs, or making noises that we really don’t see them a lot in the film. Krampus himself, well, he leaves a lot to be desired. The movie is named Krampus, but he is really just a minor presence in the film, while his monsters do most of his grunt work. . Let’s not forget about the ending! Without getting into spoilers…it was just confusing and pointless. Some say it’s up for interpretation but I am not a fan of when a film does that because it makes the movie feel unsatisfying.

Conclusion: Krampus is just not a scary movie at all. The creatures do not really lay fear into anyone’s eyes and most of the time they are not even on screens. While the cast give great performances and hit on almost all of their jokes, the horror side of this film does not do it any justice. The last thing Krampus has going for it is that I could see this becoming sort of a Christmas classic where it is played on family’s televisions because I will admit that it was pretty cool to watch a horror movie set in the Christmas season. Krampus will make you laugh, but the Santa at the mall is scarier than this movie.

SCORE:                                 5/10    -    AVERAGE

Most Anticipated December Movies

Hey everyone, today I will be giving you my Top 3 movies I am most looking forward to this month. I base my ranking off of 4 categories; Director, cast, story, and trailers. So without further ado, here are my top 3 most anticipated December movies.


3) The Big Short
 Director: Adam McKay
 Cast: Christian Bale, Brad Pitt, Steve Carrel, Ryan Gosling, Marisa Tomei, Melissa Leo
 Release Date: December 23, 2015
 Trailer: The Big Short Trailer #2

There is a lot to like about The Big Short; The cast is something to behold. There is a lot of Oscar winners and nominees on that cast list. Even though director Adam Mckay is more known for his comedies with Will Farrell. He has done some smaller films (Sleeping with Other People) that I have found myself to enjoy. With McKay, I know I am going to get a pretty decent story with some good timed humor in there as well. I must admit that I hadn't heard anything of this film until I saw its first trailer, but it blew my away and I immediately became gripped to the story that this movie is telling. I think we can all relate with being in debt, and not really liking the banks. So, this will be interesting to see this true story unfold and watch this extraordinary cast deliver astonishing performances like they have so many times in the past. I will be curious to see how all these actors play off each other when it seems every single one of them have played completely different roles in the past.


2) In the Heart of the Sea
  Director: Ron Howard
  Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whishaw, Tom Holland, Charlotte Riley
  Release Date: December 11, 2015
  Trailer: In the Heart of the Sea Trailer #3

I will be the first to come out and say that I am usually not a fan of movies that mostly take place out in the sea. The always seem to bore me and have the same feel to them as the next. In the Heart of the Sea is completely different though. The moment I watched the trailer, I was on board....No pun intended. Come on, who hasn't read the story of Moby Dick? It is a famous novel, and one that looks like it will be done justice in this film. Ron Howard is a fantastic director, giving us movies like A Beautiful Mind and Cinderella Man. Plus, the last movie he made with Chris Hemsworth was Rush which was a masterpiece. The cast, I do not know much about. Hemsworth (Thor), Murphy (Dark Knight Trilogy), Gleeson (Edge of Tomorrow) and Holland (Our new Spider-man) are really the only ones I am familiar with. While they are likely the 4 main characters, it is the supporting cast I lack knowledge of, but if the trailers are any indicators, they will do just fine.


1) Star Wars The Force Awakens
  Director: J.J. Abrams
  Cast: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac
  Release Date: December 18, 2015
  Trailer: Star Wars The Force Awakens Trailer #3

Seriously, who didn't see this coming? I cannot describe how much I am dying to see this movie. I have never in my life this hyped for a movie. I am so excited for Star Wars that a part of will be upset after I see it because the wait is over. There is just something I love about the anticipation of a big movie. Unfortunately for me, I grew up when the prequels were coming out. I was 7 years old when Phantom Menace was released. I was raised right though. My mom had the VCR (Remember them?) trilogy pack and I can remember watching those movies for the first time when I was young and just loving them. When it was announced the original cast was returning, I knew this would be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, movies ever. J.J. Abrams did a marvelous job with the Star Treks, so there is no reason he can let us down with Star Wars...fingers crossed! All 3 Star Wars trailers were edited to perfection. It built up my excitement while also not giving away any of the story. I still don't know what is going to happen in this movie and I love that! Also, who didn't get chills watching those trailers? I was one of those people who were freaking out when the movie tickets sites broke down when tickets went on sale. What can I say.... I love Star Wars!


Well there you have it, my top 3 most anticipated December movies. Feel free to comment below and list your top 3 list. Don't forget to come back here when they are released and check out my *Non-Spoiler* reviews!

*If anyone is wondering, I did not have The Revenant or The Hateful Eight in my top 3 because they are not released until January around where I live. I am definitely looking forward to them!*