chantal-ashford Reviews

Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)

Exodus: A Mockery

[1/10 · 22 December 2014]

I was truly disappointed with this film. I wasn't worried about the whitewashing with this film. I didn't care about that at all. When I went into this film, I was believing it to BE the story of the book of Exodus in the Bible, BUT I didn't get that. If you don't know what it is:

it is about Moses, the man who was raised by the Pharaoh and his wife, but as the child becomes a man, he learns the actual truth of him being a Hebrew, killing a man because he was beating a Hebrew slave before running away, and later down the line he was chosen by God to come back to his "brother" Rameses and have him let his people go...

What did I get?

I get a man's interpretation of this story. It was nothing like what I was taught from the Bible. When people go to see this that hasn't read the Bible and go see this film, they're going to believe that Moses was some crazy man after getting his head knocked and come to, speaking of speaking to God with this mission, going back to free the slaves, but with war and not peace.

I mean, this is what I get when the director is an atheist...

Yes, I am a religious person, and this film is a disappointment. I really wanted my 2 and a half hours of my life back from this film because it was a mockery. The Prince of Egypt was a better interpretation and that was an animated film.

Ridley Scott, you disappoint me.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014)

Mockingjay Pt. 1 has a slow start, but delivers.

[8/10 · 21 November 2014]

For someone, who has read the series and just reread this novel, I have fell in love with this film. Yes, I was having my WTF moments throughout the film, but this is what happens when you're a fan of the books and deal with what is given to you on screen.

*SPOILER ALERT, if you haven't read.*

We're being brought to Katniss and being in District 13 ( the district that was "destroyed). She's dealing with PTSD, not having Peeta at her side, District 12 being destroyed while dealing with President Coin of 13 with wanting her to be their Mockingjay to bring the districts into this rebellion against the Capitol.

With the film running 123 minutes ( and being the shortest than the first two), Francis Lawrence does what he can to give the viewers what they want until the very end, and when you get to the end, someone in the audience will have an "Oh Sh*t" moment. Someone will, I bet you.

The film did move a little slow, but when it starts to get good, it's where it all ends. This is how they hook us in and have us coming back to waiting more. In my eyes, it shouldn't have been done in two films, but with Hollywood: it's all about money.

Lawrence is amazing as always as Katniss Everdeen. She makes you feel what she is going through and what her district went through because of her actions. The scene was brutal and emotional, but it's what's needed.

The one, who definitely stood out in this film was Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark. Even though, he was throughout the film here and there, it was at the very end is where nothing is expecting, but it is. He shows a different side in Peeta, and it's not pretty. Yes, there was a little bit of help with CGI and all (they did the same thing to him as they did to Kristen Stewart in Breaking Dawn Pt. 1). He was amazing, and you wanted to cry whenever he would come up on screen.

If you are a fan of the series & the movies, Mockingjay Pt. 1 does not let you down. It will leave you wanting more and not waiting a year for it.

Horrible Bosses 2 (2014)

Horrible Bosses 2 did not disappoint.

[7/10 · 16 November 2014]

I really didn't know what I was getting into when I saw this movie. We all know how it goes with sequels. It's either good or terrible. It can be a win/lose situation when it comes to sequels. I was hoping it was going to be another Hangover, but I was happy when I was proved wrong.

Horrible Bosses starts back up again with Nick (Bateman), Kurt (Sudeikis) and Dale (Day) with their new invention: the Shower Buddy. They are trying to make their way into the working world again, but they are now they're own bosses. They don't have to deal with the bull they dealt with their former bosses.

They thought they were getting a good deal with Burt Hanson (Christoph Waltz), an investor to start up their business, only to get sucker-punched and lost everything to Hanson. They have no other options to get back the patent to their invention but to kidnap Hanson's son Rex (Chris Pine) for a handsome fee.

With Rex in on the kidnapping, they think they have a solid plan, but of course, things turn upside down and once again Nick, Kurt and Dale are on their own to make things right again before they end up behind bars.

The cast was amazing as always, and Jennifer Aniston returning as Julia, Dale's former boss was hilarious as always. I like to see her in roles like this because she carries comedy very well. Pine was great as well, playing the undermining, crazy, spoiled brat Rex Hanson.

This film truly held its own as a sequel. They didn't do much of outrageous situations for laughs. It was just right. It was just as funny as the first one, if not funnier. I was really surprised because I know how I can be when it comes to sequels. My mother even enjoyed herself with this film, and it takes a lot to keep her interests.

I would see this again because 1. I liked it and 2. I saw it at a screening and missed a few things, but I wouldn't seeing it again, even if I didn't miss a thing.

Dear White People (2014)

Dear White People, opens your eyes.

[9/10 · 6 November 2014]

Dear White People is one of the best films of 2014. I feel like this film should have came a long time, but at this moment, it came at the right time.

This social satire is about being a black face in a white world. It follows four black Ivy League students and what they go through day to day to either fit in or just be noticed without it dealing with race. They deal with their own demons and dealing with the color of their skin, not only with their white classmates.

The film goes as fair as a militant who is mixed and trying to find herself and where she fits in, her white side or her black side, the token black guy, who happens to be gay, the daddy's boy, doing everything his father wants him to do and not what he wants to do for himself and the bougie black girl who wants to be white and not accepting her blackness because she would be consider ratchet if she would be loud and cuss people out. Justin Simien, the director hit the end of the film with a full on black face, hip-hop party.

Race issues is still among us, and this is what is being shown in this film, but it's not being shoved in your face. Simien is being settle about it, but he's telling it like it is for the new generation. The film makes you think and opening your eyes to what's it like for any race trying to fit in with the white world or basically getting them to understand that race tension is still around. It won't go anywhere.

Everyone should go see this film, doesn't matter the race. We could all learn a thing or two.

Nightcrawler (2014)

Intense Ride, but ending fell short.

[8/10 · 29 October 2014]

Intense, driven, crazy and slow burn until the very end. You really don't know what to expect when you step foot into watching this film Nightcrawler, but it does give you everything (in a way) in this movie.

Lou Bloom, (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a driven man. He's a petty thief and just trying to find work in Los Angeles. He does whatever he can to make a buck, until he comes across an accident and two cameramen catching everything on tape. It's where he learns, "if it bleeds, it leads."

He believes he found his niche and becomes a night crawler. A cameraman getting the brutal crimes across the city and trying to make money off of what he has. He starts off as an amateur until he slowly starts working his way up the totem pole of night crawling.

He's very ambitious to get what he wants when it comes to his "career." He even brings in an "intern" Rick (Riz Ahmed), a naive man, who's just trying to get money in his pocket to get a roof over his head. The two men journey out into the streets and getting what they can get, hoping to make it somewhere, but things turn for the ugly.

Lou becomes power hungry and wants everything to be his and no one else. He wants to play dumb and has a dopey look on his face as if he doesn't understand, but he is the one who has the upper hand on everyone. He believes he can be the one to call the shots and not see any consequences in any of it. He goes as far as getting someone killed in the process just to have it all.

I was a little disappointed with the ending. You were expecting more and got less. You wanted more to happen. There should have been something intense to end this film, but it fell flat. Other all, it was a good film.

Gyllenhaal is amazing as Bloom. He makes you want to hate him, but then you want to see him success, but you like to see him fail. He pushed himself in this film. You could see it. You believed him throughout the entire film. In my eyes, I feel like this is his strongest performance in quite some time. (Even though, I did love him in Prisoners last year.) I can definitely see this being an Oscar worthy performance. If he isn't nominated for this role, I would be surprise.

John Wick (2014)

John Wick is just another revenge film.

[7/10 · 22 October 2014]

When you see John Wick, you're thinking, this is another revenge film and this can only end in one way. So whatever way, you're thinking it's going to end, that's the way it's going to end.

John Wick is about a man, a retired hit-man, who lost his wife before having a puppy in his possession because it is the last gift she gives him, but when everything is taken away from him, he's out for blood and yeah, it's personal.

It was good to see Keanu Reeves back and actually making you believe his character was a hit-man once in his life. It wasn't much speaking. It was all about the fight scenes. It became nonstop and didn't slow down. It's definitely a step up from 47 Ronin.

In a way, this film will remind you of The Equalizer, BUT The Equalizer was a lot better. It was still a good film for Reeves, and hopefully, we'll see him again like this.

If you need a film for this weekend, something to have you on the edge of your seat and just enjoying an adrenaline rush, go see John Wick.

Fury (2014)

Fury is the War Movie of the Year.

[9/10 · 22 October 2014]

Fury is one of the best films of the year. It's amazing, emotional and definitely takes you into the world that was 1945 in Nazi Germany.

The film takes the journey of 5 men and their lives inside their home: Fury. A military tank, which they've been in for the last four years before one of them perished and is replaced with fresh meat. It shows the new soldier coming into this crazy world that is war and learning what he has to do to survive, even if it's not what he believes in.

Brad Pitt is amazing as Don "Wardaddy" Collier, the man who has led these men to victory many times and promising them to get them home. As much as I don't want to say it, but this man carried this film, BUT Shia LaBeouf was right there behind him as Boyd "Bible" Swan serving as the moral compass of the crew. It was great to see LaBeouf back doing what he does best. He was amazing as well, and him and Pitt together is phenomenal.

Jon Bernthal, Michael Peña and Logan Lerman were incredible as well throughout the film. All five of these men were perfectly casted. They have the chemistry and made this movie.

David Ayer, the director gets dirty, gritty and bloody, showing what the soldiers went through in WWII.

I can definitely see this movie getting nominated in the following year, if it doesn't... It would be a disappointment.

Gone Girl (2014)

Gone Girl is the FILM of the year. (unless another can be better)

[10/10 · 8 October 2014]

This film is phenomenal. If you have read the book, you would understand why this film was going to be just like the best-selling novel of 2012. It was suspenseful, absorbing and kept you thinking on what would happen next? But the big question was:

Who killed Amy Dunne?

Gone Girl starts on the day of Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth anniversary, but things goes awry when Amy becomes missing. No one knows where she is or where she would run off to, but the looks of a struggle in the Dunne's residence points fingers to the number one suspect: her clueless husband Nick.

The movie twists and turns, transitioning from the highs and lows in Amy's diary to the first day, two days, four days and so on of her disappearance. It'll have you on the edge of your seat, guessing on what you think what happened to her, but I bet all the answers were wrong.

It was amazing and to make it even better, the author Gillian Flynn was the mastermind behind the screenplay. She brought her own baby to life and made it into this cinematic WTF fest until the very end. It has you wanting to know more about these two characters. You don't know who you can trust until you see the biggest WTF twist in the movie. As if you think the twists in this film is over, you're wrong.

Ben Affleck was amazing as Nick Dunne, the strange behavior of a man, trying to understand what happened to his wife, but all his secrets comes to light as well in all of this frenzy that became his life. This is the best I have seen Affleck in a while.

Rosamund Pike.... I have seen this woman in several movies, but this film. The way she portrayed Amy Dunne, the beautiful, All-American wife, was ridiculously amazing. She has you in the palm of your hand, believing every single word she gives until she lets you slip between her fingers. I am happy to see her go as far as she did in this film. I can definitely see Oscar buzz in her direction.

David Fincher did it once again with this film. He puts in the place, and it makes you feel like you're there, taking every step he did with this film. Everything was done beautifully.

The ending was a little bit of a let down, but this film is the FILM of the year. I don't know if Fincher can do it again... Or maybe he can.

Dracula Untold (2014)

Dracula Untold doesn't suck nor bite.

[6/10 · 7 October 2014]

Dracula Untold was the telling of how Vlad the Impaler got his beginning. Vlad, his family and his people have their peace until it is threatened by Sultan Mehmed II wanting 1,000 boys, including Vlad's son to raise into soldiers. Vlad doesn't want to be appear as weak to his people, so the man goes to his last resort: Caligula, a demon who turns Vlad into a vampire to fight the sultan's army within 3 days, but there's a catch...He has to fight while keeping away from the thirst, or he'll be a vampire forever.

Luke Evans is brooding as Dracula and actually showing he could carry a movie like this on his own. As the protagonist of the film, it was easy to root of him and want to win this war, but then again, he could be seen as the antagonist as well, with everything he touches he destroys in his own world.

The film had a good supporting cast, but it was still lacking. The plot line felt rush. It moved quickly until the end, but it would leave wanting more. The film is a just two minutes over of a hour and a half. I wanted to go farther in on how his life went after the beginning. The man had did so much in oh so little time.

As the film was coming to a close, it's being shown with the possibility of a sequel. Hopefully, this new Dracula (for the 200 and something time) can take a bite out of the box office.