The Villainess Review

The Villaness is one hell of a ride. It pretty much has everything you want from a summer blockbuster:
-Red Hearings
-Action
-A Bad Ass Protaganist
-Sexual Tension
-Nicholas Winding Refn Lighting
-A Decent Yet Memorable Plot
-Good Acting
and a bit of Comedy.

However, it's far from great, and does have some flaws. First and for most, the ending pretty much ruined the film. The amazing build up was stellar in the first two acts, but when it got to the final act, it just felt lazy and just plain stupid. If you have seen the Villaness, you probably already know about the narrative continuity mistakes. Not only that, it ends on the cliche last shot evil grin thing (In which A Cure for Wellness did earlier this year.) As for technicalities, the cinematography, in almost all of the action scenes, felt extremely shaky. Basically it was on Paul Greengrass mode times 10 with a bit of First Person-Hardcore Henry like cinemetography. This got so annoying to the point I couldn't even understand what was going on screen. To finish off the negative, the musical score was nothing new. Just a plain, boring, action score.

The Villaness was a lot of fun, despite it's flaws. I would recommend seeing it in a cinema, just as long as you don't take the ending so seriously. Bring your friends, maybe some alcohol, and you'll have a pretty damn great time.

Score:
6.5/10

The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman's Portrait Photography Review

The B-Side, in no way shape or form, is Errol Morris's best work. In fact, it may be one of his weakest, which isn't saying much mainly because his wide filmography of documentary and film has been mainly great, or at the least satisfactory. From The Thin Blue Line to A Brief History of Time, his work is quite expansive in variety. This variety can be seen in The B-Side. The B-Side is pretty much a standard one hour and sixteen minute discussion with one of america's most famed photographers. It's interesting, and at times thought provoking to see Elsa's craftsmanship at play. The problem with the B-Side, is that there's nothing all the inventive about it. For example, in The Thin Blue Line, Errol created several different brand new inventive concepts to present his subject. In this, it just feels visually and tonally redundant. However, it's technicalities are well done. The cinematography is nicely polished, and the original score is one of the best I've heard all year. The B-Side is just a standard, yet delightful documentary.

Rating: 6.8/10

From the Land of the Moon Review

From the Land of the Moon was quite a surprise. Because of the negative reception from Cannes, one year ago, I was worried for this French production. Marion Cotillard is one of my favorite actors, and it would be a shame for her talent to go to waste. Thankfully, From the Land of the Moon is on the border of decent to good. It's a solid somber effort at a fictional period romance, and works for the most part. Although both the plot and characters are quite cliché filled, there's enough effort and style for the film to stand on it's own. There's nothing harmful nor new being presented here. It's just a simple quaint drama, with some expert cinematography and musical score, which will may or may not stay with you.

Rating:
6.6/10

The Hero Review

The Hero is one of those film, in which it feels semi-autobiographical and personal. Sam Elliot plays the role of famous western star Lee Hayden, in which it recounts his day in the life routine, at the mildly old age of his early 70's. It's an interesting concepts for a film, even though it's been done before. Performance wise, Sam Elliot does a great job, making the film feel like it's based on a real life character. The problem with The Hero, is that it doesn't have much of a focus. From one scene to another, plot descriptions and character motivations change, making the end product feel unnecessary. There isn't much to grab onto emotionally, which makes the film feel flat on it's own artistic merit. There's some nice moments here and there, and some great dialogue, but it just doesn't feel all that fleshed out. The Hero is a fine, yet flawed art house piece.

Rating:
6.1/10

Beatriz at Dinner

Beatriz at Dinner will now go on my letterboxd list of films which I found immensely entertaining, even though for the most part, it was mainly dialogue. Similar to Polanski's Carnage, this social satire on Trump's america is pretty interesting and intelligent. The performances, specifically by Salma Hayek, and the dialogue, were excellently crafted and deserves more recognition. However, when it comes to the overall direction of the film, that's when it loses track. Miguel Ateta deeply lacked in any understanding of character motivations and foreshadowing, which in the end, clashed into a blaze of fire. This is evident in the ending, in which it just feels more pretentious then memorable. As well, several audio cues and editing choices felt extremely unprofessional. Some moments even felt like a different director came into play and said "F-This, let's do this totally different and without purpose, like a student film!" Beatriz at Dinner was an entertaining effort though, and I do recommend it for a matinee price. See it, if you got time this summer.

Score:
6.5/10

Cars 3 Review

The Cars Franchise will always be the most nostalgic thing about Pixar, right next to the Toy Story franchise. The tales of Lighting McQueen and Tow Mater have always resonated with me. Personally, on its own merits, Cars 2 is a pretty decent film. It may seem like an idiotic concept at first, and some character logic may seem off, but it's still a fun action packed thrill ride which still excites me to this day. Cars 3 on the other hand, is similar to the first film in it's tone. And although this may be my least favorite out of the trilogy, there's a lot of great material in the film which should be reconsidered. The ending was nicely put together and had emotional weight, the animation was gorgeous and as well as the soundtrack, and the over all atmosphere resonated. It's just that some characters needed more development. To this day, I still believe the character of Cruz Ramirez is 10 times more annoying then Mater. Mater, at the least, had some thought out character development, while Cruz just seemed like a one trick pony. An annoying one trick pony. Sure her so called cliche "back story" was relevant, but that still didn't stop me from disliking the character. Jackson Storm, was also a weak villain. Literally zero motivations except for "Fuck you McQueen, I'm going to beat your ass because I have better technology then you, so Ha!" To be honest, the character of Sterling could have made a decent villain. But even then, there wasn't enough motivation to fully flesh out his character. Therefore, Cars 3 is the weakest out of the trilogy, mainly because of it's weak character development. At least it was a decent effort.

Score:
6.3/10






*Also Smokey was the best character, and I'll fight anyone who disagrees

A Dog's Purpose Review

A Dog's Purpose is quite an under rated film. This may be strange for me to say, due to the fact that I side to the critics side more often. But the way this family friendly film directed by Lasse Hallström (who directed Hachi A Dog Tale {Which broke my Heart as a little baby boy}), is a simple yet refreshing look at the afterlife without going overblown existential. It's cute and charming, and has it's emotional moments. And even if some scenes may seem cliche, the heart warming atmosphere helps retain it's re-watchability standard. Overall, an above average kids film with some hic-ups here and there. 

Rating: 6.5/10

Graduation (2016) Review

Graduation is an interesting film with some intruding subject matter to subdue upon. Romanian director, Cristian Mungiu has created a film, which could be described best as an intellectual piece of art, which is yet, quite unsatisfying. It's a shame to see several lost chances, to elevate the plot itself. Instead, Mungiu decided's to take a more tonally self serious route, which may or may not be for better or for worse. Another thing about Mungiu's directing, is how long a scene is extended for. Some scenes do matter throughout this Romanian 2 Hour and 7 Minute production, but some don't. Some scenes go on for at least 10 minutes, and most of them don't really have much of a purpose. The acting was good, the dialogue was great, and the cinematography was decent. I just felt like there was some sort of missed opportunity in this film.

Rating:
6.2/10