vsd324 Reviews

The Legend of La Llorona (2022)

Could've been so much bettery

[4/10 · 17 May 2022]

This movie has a lot of issues. It's clearly very low budget. Right away, in the introduction sequence before the credits, the filter used on the camera or something just screams amateur student film. It does get a little better, but the lighting design is awful. It's hard to even distinguish that nighttime scenes are taking place at night, because it's lit so brightly at times. The make-up is awful, and the acting isn't so great either.

Even with all that, the movie had potential, building on the legendary Mexican folklore of La Llorona. While the details may vary, in general La Llorona is an un-dead mother who at some point lost her child and now as a ghost snatches children. In this movie, a couple goes on vacation to a villa in Mexico with their young boy. The keeper of the villa is immediately concerned upon learning the couple has a young child because the place is haunted by La Llorona. Keeping with the theme of the loss of a child, the couple is struggling with the recent loss of another child, and we find out that the innkeeper also lost her daughter to La Llorona. On the first night of their stay, La Llorona begins to torment the family trying to take their boy. And this is where things get just too bad. The boy is repeatedly snatched by the ghost vanishing into thin air, or sliding through the walls as a moist shadow only to reappear a moment later somewhere else unharmed. The worst part is that the boy in no way seems like he's traumatized by the paranormal phenomena he just experienced. Another concept I don't understand is how a firearm can physically repel a spirit. And at one point the mother thinks she had lost her son for good and simply just says so with no emotional reaction.

There were moments of the movie where I felt vested into wanting to know what would happen, and I even find some parts to be a little chilling despite the low budget effects. I wanted to like this movie, but it just could not save itself from its own curse of bad writing.

Let It Shine (2012 TV Movie)

The High School Musical of hip hop

[6/10 · 12 October 2018]

This movie is everything you would expect out of a made for TV Disney movie. Its hokey plot is nothing that hasn't been done before in many episodes of various sitcoms. It is the classic case of two friends where one friend helps another friend out by letting the other take credit of their work or talent. In "Let it Shine" Cyrus has all the talent of a would-be rap artist, whereas his best friend Kris doesn't have the talent, but has the perfect look. When Cyrus includes a photo of the both of them together with his submission to a songwriting competition under the pseudonym Truth, when he wins it's assumed Kris is Truth. Kris is so excited about the opportunity to work with Roxie, the promoter of the competition, Cyrus goes along with the mistake. The two concoct outlandish plans to keep up the charade. They tell Roxie Cyrus is his DJ so that Cyrus can be part of the journey and so that he is near Kris at all times. The plot is a little thicker with the fact the Roxy grew up with the two boys as part of Cyrus' father's church congregation, a man who opposes rap as a sinful form of music. More than anything this movie is about the soundtrack. This who enjoy hip-hop-that is teen hip-hop-will enjoy this movie more as large segments are devoted to the numbers. The soundtrack boasts it's own success peaking at #1 on Billboard's top rap albums and top kids albums. Other than that it's pretty formulaic of a "be yourself" and "don't be afraid to go for your dream" movie. It's like the "High School Musical" (2006) for hip-hop.

Sin City (2005)

An anthology film that centers aroound sex and murder.

[6/10 · 1 October 2018]

I've never been a fan of anthology films. I like short films, but I don't understand the reason to package them together with some very loose tie. In "Sin City," the link among all the segments is that they take place in Basin City (not Las Vegas), a fictitious city in the west, not the one in Washington state. The city is nicknamed Sin City. It's a crime-ridden place, and the segments each focus on some murder, kidnapping or other scandalous occurrence in this city. At one point, I thought the movie had circled back onto one of the segments, and was therefore going to tie everything together. I don't mind an anthology film as much if it doesn't something like that. Then I realized that portion was merely acting a sequel to the earlier segment. It's a gritty film, and done in a neo-film noir style. This film is base on a series of graphic novels set in this city. In an attempt to duplicate the artwork in the novels, this movie is in black and white, with only occasional splashes of color, usually red. In many scenes, often those that are particularly bloody, anything red is colored in, presumably to symbolize sin. The common sins that seem to pop up in each segment are sex and murder. There is one character that is colored yellow (not I caught the symbolism behind that), but again this duplicates the artwork in the graphic novels. Well known actors make appear in some of the segments such as Mickey Rourke and Elijah Wood. A raked up a ton of nominees and wins in various festivals for the film as a whole, for cast members and for technical aspects; but it was not recognized by any of the major film awards such as the Oscars, Golden Globes or BAFTAs. It's an artsy film, and most of the individual segments were entertaining. It's biggest drawback was that it was an anthology film.

J. Edgar (2011)

A history lesson through the lenses of Hollywood cameras.

[7/10 · 1 June 2018]

One of the most entertaining ways to learn about history is to see it unfold on the big screen. Sure, a good documentary can be very informative, but with those you're confined to seeing interviews, grainy stock footage and still photos. Some may use reenactments, but they tend to be hokey. The problem with Hollywood history, however, is poetic license. You really never know the historical accuracy of what you are watching. Sometimes, especially with a biopic, you kind of have to apply poetic license in order to make it more entertaining. Sometimes they succeed like the films "Frost/Nixon" (2008) and the George Bush biopic "W." (2008). Sometimes they are accurate and entertaining like "The Aviator" (2004) and "Ray" (2004). The problem with this film is that the facts surrounding the life of J. Edgar Hoover are contested among historians. Mix that in Tinseltown and there's no knowing what's real and what's not. In "J. Edgar" they clearly exploit the juicy rumors of his lifestyle that was taboo at the time, although after doing some research it seems as they these rumors have been disproved. The few facts we can agree on is that J. Edgar Hoover was the brains behind establishing the US FBI as we know it today, and he was a pioneer in forensic science, particularly in his contribution of initializing the creation of a fingerprint database. The film takes us through his life as he politically battles communism and the influence of the Bolsheviks, right through the presidency of Richard Nixon. What more, we learn from the movie that Hoover had a tendency of sensationalizing everything he did. He did it so often he truly began to believe the exaggerated version of events over what really happened. This only farther blurs the lines between reality and fiction. I'm normally not a big Leonardo DiCaprio fan, but I thought he did well with this role. Quite frankly I'm a little surprised he didn't receive more recognition for this role. I thought it was better than some of the other roles he's played that received more merit. I've never heard J. Edgar Hoover speak, but according to this film he had an accent I didn't care for. If that's how he really spoke then so be it, but it was kind of annoying. Hoover lived his entire life in Washington, DC so I'm not sure what the accent was. It sounded almost like Boston, but I think it was supposed to be a slight southern drawl. The bottom line is J. Edgar Hoover led an interesting life. Couple that with some creative screenwriting and you have an entertaining film. Just don't quote this move as a source in an intellectual conversation.

Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)

So why did I like this one? All I can say is I was entertained. Maybe I'll have to ask a Ouija board..... Good-bye

[7/10 · 28 October 2017]

I'm going to start by admitting I shouldn't like this movie as much as I did. It's cliché in so many ways. They use the loud orchestral pops to make you jump throughout the movie, but while cheap I found many to be chilling. The PG-13 rating took away from some of the scenes. I'm not look for gratuitous gore, but some of what occurred in the movie was simply too clean to believe what was happening. The premise of the movie is a mother of two makes a living as a psychic medium. She uses various mechanisms to put on a believable show so that she can "provide peace" for the families who come to see her. After deciding to add a Ouija board to her business for added effect. After her younger daughter begins playing with the Ouija board, the daughter seems to gain the gift of being able to do what her mother only pretended to do for her clients. And that's where business picks up. The movie was corny throughout, and the effects were low grade. You could practically see where the harnesses were attached when bodies were thrown about. The ending was rather clunky and sudden. I guess I generally like movies involving the Ouija board. Although it's not inherent as I wasn't crazy about the movie "Ouija" (2014), the movie for which this movie is a prequel. But I loved the movie "Witchboard"(1986) and it's sequel "Witchboard 2" (1992). So why did I like this one? All I can say is I was entertained. Maybe I'll have to ask a Ouija board..... Good-bye

The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age Smackdown (2015 Video)

Fred Flintstone attempts another scheme to get rich quick: professional wrestling

[5/10 · 7 August 2017]

This direct to DVD movie is like a new extended episode of The Flintstones, featuring a handful of WWE wrestling superstars—it's just long enough to not be considered a short film. Fred Flintstone (Jeff Bergman) attempts another scheme to get rich quick. This time it's to face professional wrestlers, and in the stone age, it's not staged. WWE fans will like this as they see animated version of what are often referred to as real-life animated characters. Appearances are made by John Cena, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, The Undertaker, Rey Mysterio, Mark Henry, The Bella Twins, and WWE owner Vince McMahon as Mr. McMagma. Each one has a stone age counterpart name but half the fun of this movie is hearing what the names are so I won't spoil the rest. Older fans of the original Flintstone series will probably be annoyed by the voices, particularly Barney's. Guys like Rick Moranis did a decent job of replicating Alan Reed's voice in the 1994 movie "The Flintstones," but I feel Kevin Michael Richardson does a terrible job. It's not a great movie by any standard, but lives up to its expectations

Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (2015)

They must fix events in the future to fix the present, as the present day accident was caused by someone who came back from the future.

[5/10 · 7 August 2017]

This movie begins in the year 2015—that is the year 2015 in the altered universe created by Nick (Craig Robinson) Lou (Rob Corddry), and Lou's son Jacob (Clark Duke) in Hot Tub Time Machine (2010). An unfortunate accident causes the gentlemen to seek out the tub to go back in time to prevent the accident from happening. In their attempt they find themselves in the future, learning that they must fix events in the future to fix the present, as the present day accident was caused by someone who came back from the future. Confused? Well I can't blame you. I understood it completely, but I personally can't stand these time travel movies, whether serious science fiction, or comedy. I guess this movie actually spoofs on just how convoluted it is, and they even mention several films where this happens such as Back to the Future (1985), The Terminator (1984), and the TV Show Fringe (2008-2013). In the first movie the time travel concept was kept simple, and the humor was enough to outweigh the time travel concepts. I quite enjoyed the first one. This one, not as much. A decent comedy, and I suppose the plot was clever—time travel is just a topic I never really care for.

Strange Magic (2015)

A fun animated movie with popular songs spanning seven decades.

[7 August 2017]

The highlight of this movie is the soundtrack. It includes cover versions of songs from seven decades, spanning an array of genres from the Four Tops' "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" to the 70s hard rock song "Mistreated" by Deep Purple, to Whitney Houston's pop hit "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)." It includes mash ups of unlikely songs such as The Four Seasons' "C'mon Marianne" with Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)." Musical numbers are frequent in this movie with several reprises. It was as much a musical film as an animated film. As for the plot, I'm not sure why the critics tore it apart. The movie opens with Marianne (Evan Rachel Wood), a fairy princess, flying around on her wedding day in jovial bliss singing Elvis Presley's "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You." She briefly wanders into the wrong part of the forest so we can meet the antagonist, The Bog King (Alan Cummings), only to return to her rightful place and continue the song in a duet with her groom-to-be Roland (Sam Palladio). At first glance this movie looks like "Tinker Bell" (2008) or any of the other Disney Fairies Franchise movies. The mood quickly changes when Marianne runs into Roland kissing another fairy. Roland distraught that his future of leading the fairy kingdom has now been ruined, he searches for a way to win back Marianne's heart. The quest ensues for a love potion, held by the Sugar Plum Fairy (Kristin Chenoweth) who is being held captive by—you guessed it—the Bog King. While the movie may have been formulaic, it was entertaining to watch. The characters were fun, the animation was nice to look at, and it was enjoyable waiting to see what good tune they would incorporate next. Just because this isn't a mainstream Disney or Pixar production (although it is distributed by Disney) doesn't mean it's not a good animated movie.

Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015)

A prequel to the Insideous series. A truly chilling horror movie.

[7/10 · 7 August 2017]

Chapter 3 takes us back before the first two installments of the Insidious Franchise. This movie is a truly chilling horror movie, going more for the hair-raising creepiness of demons caught between the living and the after life rather than relying on cheap startling pops to make it scary. Stefanie Scott succeeds in gaining the audience's sympathy as her character, Quinn Brenner, a teenage girl who recently lost her mother, suffers a debilitating accident, and has to battle with the paranormal realm. Lin Shaye reprises her role as the medium Elise Reiner. We see Elise's life before the Lambert family hauntings, and we even get to see how Elise meets Specs and Tucker (Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson) Quinn lives with her father Sean Brenner (Dermot Mulroney) and younger brother Alex (Tate Berrey). Quinn begins to witness strange happenings in her room at night, and she seeks out the help of Elise. Quinn tells Elise that she believe her mother is trying to communicate with her, and therefore she has tried to contact her mother. Elise explains that when trying to contact an individual, all can hear; and that Quinn has opened the gates to some not-so-friendly, or shall I say insidious, demons. Reluctant at first, Elise agrees to help Quinn, but not before the Brenners seek the help of paranormal bloggers Specs and Tucker. The film is suspenseful throughout. The movie ends with a teaser for a fourth chapter. As long as they keep them as good as the first three, I look forward to seeing more.

Jurassic City (2015)

This movie is a cheap version of a Jurassic Park movie. Leave the dinosaur movies to Michael Chrichton and Steven Spielberg.

[3/10 · 7 August 2017]

This movie is a cheap version of a Jurassic Park movie. I guess they were trying to piggyback off of the upcoming release of Jurassic World (2015) at the time this movie came out. In the movie, a secret laboratory in Las Angeles contains dinosaurs (without a real deep development of how or why), and inevitably these dinosaurs escape. To avoid them reeking havoc in the city, they are diverted to a prison where the dinosaurs have run-ins with an unlikely team of inmates consisting of a rapists on death row, a small group of sorority teens in for a misdemeanor, and a trippy druggy. The effects, as dinosaurs rip humans apart, look like they can be done by any amateur with a few prosthetics. The acting was even worse. If it was intended to be a B horror movie, it might not be so bad, but I really don't think it was supposed to be. Leave the dinosaur movies to Michael Chrichton and Steven Spielberg.

Spy (2015)

A comedic American version of a James Bond movie.

[8/10 · 7 August 2017]

Spy is an action comedy starring the versatile and hilarious actress Melissa McCarthy. This movie is an American version of a James Bond movie, with added humor—but not in the manner of movies like Johnny English (2003) or Mordecai (2015). It's not a parody. The movie has a rather serious and complex plot complete with red herrings and twists. I wouldn't say it's completely realistic, but it's just enough to make it very funny without being too outlandish. It reminds me of one of my all time favorite action comedies "True Lies" (1994), where in both films unlikely people are thrust into CIA missions. Susan Cooper (McCartney) is a CIA agent who works as a guide for Bradley Fine (Jude Law). While Fine is doing field work, he is equipped with cameras. Cooper watches these cameras and alerts Fine of oncoming danger. During a mission to stop the transferring of a nuclear bomb, the cameras begin to malfunction, Cooper's images become unclear, and Fine is shot. The CIA chooses to put Cooper on the field to continue Fine's mission. Cooper has been at her desk her entire career, however Cooper is considered a CIA agent and therefore is considered qualified to take on the mission, although she is seemingly far from fit for the job in many ways. Being that Cooper has always worked at a desk, she is completely unknown to the enemies and can thus work well undercover. Having worked with Fine all these years, and having deeper feelings for Fine than even he knew, Cooper feels it is her duty to avenge Fine's death. She sets off to Europe jumping from one crazy circumstance to another. She quickly become more than meets the eye as her quick wit and even physical abilities are unleashed. This is a great comedy filled with witty banter, British satire, slapstick comedy and even some raunchy humor. Stay for the credits—even they're funny.

Dead Man Walking (1995)

A character study of a man on death row.

[7 August 2017]

Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon) is a nun who has been assigned to council and give spiritual guidance to Matthew Poncelot (Sean Penn), a man on death row convicted of murder. This movie is not for or against the death penalty. It touches briefly on that issue, but its intent is not to make a political statement. This movie is far more powerful than that. It is a character study of a man on death row. This movie humanizes the criminal. It doesn't necessarily convince you he doesn't deserve what's coming to him, but it makes you feel compassion for him. The ability to take someone who is by normal standards considered "bad" or "evil" and successfully make them a protagonist, in my opinion, is a work of art. A movie that's not much more than conversations is not easy to keep entertaining, but this film succeeds. The conversations are shot through a variety of angles to keep the film from getting visually redundant. Some may find it a little to preachy because of the religious aspect of the film. This may have been different if Helen were just a counselor and not a nun; however when the themes of compassion, forgiveness, and confession are prevalent, Catholicism is not a bad angle to use. The film was adapted from a non-fiction book, so it's based on a true story. written by the real Sister Helen Prejean. I am surprised that the writing did not receive more accolades than it did, receiving only a Golden Globe nomination. Sarandon won an Oscar for her performance. Penn was nominated but lost to Nicholas Cage that year, an error in my opinion—any one of the nominees that year deserved it more than Cage. Character studies are not for everyone. Many find movies like this boring. But if you prefer thought provoking dialogue like movies like "Fences" (2016), this is an excellent pick.

Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)

The movie seems like a steamy fantasy of a master of English literature.

[6/10 · 7 August 2017]

I haven't read the novel so I can't compare the movie with the book. The movie seems like a steamy fantasy of a master of English literature. Perhaps it is a fantasy of the author herself. Is it coincidence the protagonist is a graduating English Literature major? Ana Steele (Dakota Johnson) is a graduating college students whose roommate has an interview with 27-year-old billionaire Christian Grey (Jamie Drnan). The roommate becomes sick and Ana offers to go in her place. Christian and Ana are instantly attracted, and the next day, Christian visits Ana at work. One night, Ana is out and gets drunk. Christian arrives to her rescues, taking a passed out Ana back to his place. He doesn't take advantage of her and the two begin a relationship, which seems normal at first. In a romantic comedy style, the morning after their first real night together, Ana makes breakfast in a button down shirt, complete with "Beast of Burden" by the Stones playing. They are comically interrupted by an unexpected visit from Christian's mother. Soon, Christian reveals his true colors. He's controlling and wants a dominant relationship, particularly when the lights go out, although he's completely open about it—so open he wants Ana to sign a contact, submitting to his desires. This is not new to Christian. He tells Ana she is #16. Ana struggles with the decision to sign the contract, while struggling with her feelings towards Christian. Christian struggles with his own emotions as he tries to woo Ana into signing the contract. Truly a steamy thriller, but different then what's out there. It starts off slow but it is necessary for character development. The producers must've had fun with the MPAA board to keep the rating at R and not NC-17. Clearly the target audience is women, but it's cerebral enough that a guy can appreciate it.

The Boy Next Door (2015)

"And here's to you Mrs. Peterson. Jesus loves you more than you know."

[5/10 · 6 August 2017]

"And here's to you Mrs. Peterson. Jesus loves you more than you know." This movie is a twisted version of "The Graduate" (1967), although not only has Mrs. Robinson become Mrs. Peterson, but in this movie it is the teacher being seduced. Noah Sandborn (Ryan Guzman) moves next door to Claire Peterson (Jennifer Lopez), a teacher of Classical English Literature at the high school Noah will be attending. Claire is on rocky terms with her husband as the two struggle to be civil for the sake of their son Kevin (Ian Nelson). Noah is orphaned, and has moved in to help his elderly uncle who is going for an operation and Noah intends to provide help as he recovers. Noah quickly befriends the Petersons, and one night, while home alone, he calls upon Mrs. Peterson to come to his rescue on a failed attempt to make a chicken dinner. She goes over, and Noah seduces her, and in the vulnerable state she is in, she succumbs. The next morning, when Mrs. Peterson tries to say what a mistake had been made, we see Noah has become obsessed and now has this incident to use as blackmail. Part of the problem with this movie is there is not enough character development. It would've been better if it toyed with your emotions, making you first really like Noah before he becomes evil; but the movie gives you a creepy feeling about Noah right from the beginning, in his action, in his dialogue, and even in the music they play right from the opening credits. Overall the whole plot is pretty far-fetched. Not a great work of art, but bottom line the movie does make you wonder how it's going to end. Unfortunately not even the ending is that exciting.

Wild Card (2015)

I would not call this an action film. It is a character study of a gambling addict who is struggling to achieve his dream, while fighting the demons of his addiction.

[7/10 · 6 August 2017]

I don't know how "good" this movie is, but I found it interesting because I felt it was different. At first glance, I thought this was going to be one of those hard to follow Las Vegas action movies like "Smokin' Aces" (2006). It turns out the plot of this movie is really quite simple, and the movie is almost more of a character study which is unusual for an action movie of this type. Nick Wild (Jason Statham) is a bodyguard and recovering gambling addict living in Las Vegas, Nevada. His dream is to one day be wealthy enough to leave Las Vegas and sail the Mediterranean. The movie focuses on two main stories. One: Nick helps to avenge a rape victim, and two: he is hired as a bodyguard by a scrappy self made millionaire during his stay in Vegas. The movie is about Nick struggling to achieve his dream, while fighting the demons of his addiction. It also has some elements of the Aesop fable "The Mouse and the Lion." Jason Statham keeps a heavy English accent for this character, although there is no explanation as to how the character ended up from Britain to Las Vegas. What I found odd was that the most prominent songs in the soundtrack are Christmas songs. Although there are several other songs, "Blue Christmas" by Dean Martin and "White Christmas" by The Drifters are played loudly and in entirety. They are just not the types of songs one would expect to be in the background of the scenes in this movie. I think the reason the film has received negative reviews is because one goes into this movie looking for a Vegas action movie, and they get a character study which are movies that many people find boring—particularly someone looking for a movie like "21" (2008). I thought it was good storytelling.

Project Almanac (2015)

This movie had 2 things I can't stand: time travel and shaky camera filming.

[5/10 · 6 August 2017]

Right off the bat this movie has two strikes against it. First, I can't stand found footage films. This technique is used to make things seem more "real," but it just makes it hard to watch. If I'm watching a move with any kind of sci-fi, paranormal activity or supernatural elements, I suspend reality and enjoy the movie. If a movie says that a being torments and kills people by getting at them through their dreams, I accept those terms for the movie and that's the end of it. If I don't suspend reality, the concept is outrageous whether the film is from a shaky camera or neatly edited by a post-production staff. The second element I can't stand is time travel whether it's in a comical movie like "Hot Tub Time Machine" (2010), a serious plot such as "The Terminator" (1984), or even in the form of blatant science like the Stephen Hawkins documentary "A Brief History of Time" (1991). Time travel means infinitesimal points exist of which traveling to can alter the entire path in that existence therefore there are infinite realities, and an infinite copy of every atom in the universe (therefore every person). If that statement confused you…GOOD! In this movie, an intelligent high school senior finds a time machine created by his father who passed away when he was 7. He and his friends get it to work, with the limitation that they can only travel to the recent past. They begin to see how their actions largely affect the present (now which present?) like in "The Butterfly Effect" (2004). The concept that small changes can radiate into larger, even catastrophic changes IS an interesting philosophical concept, and was the saving factor of this movie in the movie, memories are altered as they travel back. What determines which time travel's alterations stick? The most recent? But what is recent when you're traveling through time? And why with the time travel, memories get altered, but one thing that never changes is the video being recorded?

The Maze Runner (2014)

If you're looking for this movie to be like the book you will be utterly disappointed.

[4/10 · 6 August 2017]

A movie is never as good as a book--that's a given. A movie can't develop characters like a book, and it doesn't dive deep into what the characters are thinking and feeling. Time also inhibits the amount of details that can be included. Still some movies manage to capture books on film very well. The entire Hunger Games series (2012-15) has been an excellent telling of the book series. A movie like "The Shining" (1980) has an alternate ending from Stephen King's book, but capture the essence of the novel. "Angels & Demons" (2009) left out a lot of details from Dan Brown's novel, but kept the general plot line. This movie fails on all accounts. After reading the book I was looking forward to seeing this movie. There were a lot of parts I was curious to see depicted on screen. So many details were changed, and the plot line was completely altered. I was disappointed on all accounts. In both we have a world where adolescent boys are taken, wiped of all of their previous memories. They live in a walled region known as The Glade, outside of which lies a mysterious moving maze. At night, the doors that lead to the maze shut. In the book, these doors are massive wall which shut defying all laws of physics. In the movie they show a perfectly plausible gear system only made slightly implausible by the character saying "How is that even possible?" In the book it never rains--in the movie it rains. The meaning of the maze is completely different in the two. The grievers, the creatures in the maze, are an utter disappointment. It's hard for me to tell if I would've enjoyed this movie more if I hadn't read the book more. The amount of death and violence is high for a very young audience, but the plot has been watered down so much it's hard to imagine it's intended for a more sophisticated viewer. If you're interested in The Maze Runner, watch the movie first and then read the book, or skip the movie entirely. Doing it in the order I did will prove utterly disappointing.

Max (I) (2015)

Military dogs that return from duty are treated more like damaged weapons than damaged soldiers.

[5/10 · 6 August 2017]

Max is a must-see film for animal lovers. More so, it's a must-see movie for those who are oblivious to how poorly animals are treated in the US. Max is based on a true story about a Belgian Malinois used in military operations in Afghanistan. His handler, Kyle Wilcott (Robbie Arnell) is killed in action, and Max is sent back home. Much like humans, dogs experience post traumatic stress disorder; so upon his return Max is very irritable and unapproachable. Unfortunately, dogs that return in this state are treated no differently than a piece of equipment that returns damaged—they are discarded. This awful act is one of the messages this movie tries to convey. How can a dog be treated like a tank or a gun? Do tanks and arms undergo PTSD? So how can dogs be associated more with the equipment than the solders that return? Kyle's father Ray (Thomas Haden Church) is a veteran who sympathizes with the military trained dogs, and offers to take Max into his home; both as a rescue and as a responsibility to give to his younger son Justin (Josh Wiggins) who is in need of some discipline. The only time Max is calm is in Justin's presence—Max senses the relationship to Kyle. Justin's best friend is Chuy (Dejon LaQuake) Chuy has a cousin Carmen (Mia Xitali) staying with him. Carmen is familiar with dog rescues, and helps Justin to train Max. We see that Max is a good judge of character, lashing out at anyone evil while being calmer to good-natured people. Max's relentless ferocity to bad people causes problems. Josh finds himself at the wrong place at the wrong time with the overzealous Max, and they get involved in some shady business between Tyler (Luke Kleintank), Kyle's partner in the military, and Emilio (Joseph Julian Soria) a thuggish relative of Chuy. The movie itself was an OK action adventure, but the movie was more about the message. Hopefully after seeing this film people will realize a dog more like a sergeant than an AK-47.

Minions (2015)

A wise move to take a lovable, adorable, and hysterical character and spin off it's own film.

[8/10 · 6 August 2017]

This movie takes the best feature of the movies Despicable Me (2010) and Despicable Me 2 (2013) and turns it into its own feature films…the minions! This movie take place BG—that is "before Gru." We learn that minions are creatures whose only satisfaction is to serve the evilest villains on earth. We see that since the dawn of time, the minions have served the worst villains from cavemen to Dracula—albeit not to the greatest success. The minions fall on dark times, where they have no villain to serve. This causes the entire minion civilization to fall into a great depression, until one day, the minion Kevin decides to set off on a quest to find the most evil villain on earth for the minions to serve. Kevin begins his quest by finding his way to Villain-Con, a convention for all of the world's super villains. It ends up that Kevin and his two apprentices Stuart and Bob fall under the employment of Scarlett Overkill, the world's first female Super-villain. Together they plot to steal the crown of the Queen of England, and the adventure unfolds. This movie is non-stop laughs from the Universal Pictures presents screen right to the Illumination Entertainment logo after the end credits roll. Much of the movie takes place in the minion language (which while incomprehensible borrows words from French, Spanish and Italian; and those are just the languages I detected). Still without understanding exactly what the minions are saying you can understand the messages conveyed, particularly when they are mocking each other for failing—some of the funniest scenes of the movie. For the third movie in a franchise this movie lives up to the first two films. A wise move to take a lovable, adorable, and hysterical character and spin off it's own film.

Seventh Son (I) (2014)

"Seventh Son" has everything you need for a Medieval epic tale.

[5/10 · 6 August 2017]

With wizards, warlocks, witches, walled cities, demons, dragons, knights and ogres, and of course with a side of romance, "Seventh Son" has everything you need for a Medieval epic tale. In this movie Tom Ward (Ben Barnes) is the 7th son of a 7th son, a fate thought to hold great destiny. Tom becomes the apprentice of John Gregory (Jeff Bridges). Gregory is a "spook" which in this world is ironically a good guy who protects humankind from evil supernatural spirits and beings. Gregory's arch nemesis is the powerful witch Malkin (Julianne Moore), who is growing more powerful with the presence of a blood moon. Together Gregory and Tom go and a quest to stop Malkin's havoc. This movie is a film version of the novel "The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch," the first book of the "Wardstone Chronicles" by Joseph Delaney. When these types of novel series moved to the big screen, there are a large number of characters that are well developed in the book. It's hard to cram all this character development into two hours. "Seventh Son" had lots of interesting characters that were likely highly developed in the novel, but in the movie it feels like it moves too fast to get to know any of them…and the movie is not that fast paced. There are just that many characters. All in all it's till a fun movie to watch, with some good action sequences.

Love & Mercy (2014)

Fame and normalcy simply do not go hand in hand.

[6/10 · 6 August 2017]

Fame and normalcy simply do not go hand in hand. According to biopics on the lives of famous music artists, this goes beyond the ability to live a normal life where you can go out without being recognized and where privacy is a virtual impossibility. Beyond this...many have demons in their lives that haunt them. We see this in movies such as "Ray" (2004) (Ray Charles biopic), "Walk the Line" (2005) (Johnny Cash biopic) and "What's Love Got to Do With It" (1993) (Tina Turner biopic). "Love & Desire" shows us that even the happy-go-lucky group The Beach Boys were pretty warped. On the surface the Beach Boys are this surf-pop group with fun summer songs, who guest starred on "Full House" (1988) in their later years. Little did we know that they had their fair share of turmoil. Control issues, artistic differences and even paranoid schizophrenia did not escape The Beach Boys. Biopics are tricky as far as movies go because the plot consists of the events of a person's life, so a finite beginning, middle and end is tricky to create. This movie did well in artistically capturing the craziness of the lives of The Beach Boys. One negative note in the cinematography is that certain scenes were shot as if someone was spying on the speakers with very shaky camera. It's a technique I'm seeing more and more in films and I can't stand it. Just keep the camera still! Overall, this movie was an interesting look at The Beach Boys, but a rather typical biopic.

Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)

If you liked the movie "Jumanji" (1995), then you will like this movie

[8/10 · 6 August 2017]

If you liked the movie "Jumanji" (1995), then you will like this movie. Based on the children's book "Zathura" written by Chris Van Allsberg, the same author as the children's book "Jumanji", this movie has the same premise as the movie "Jumanji" in which children begin playing a board game, where the actions called upon by the game occur in real life. The main difference is that in this movie the game lands the children in outer space. This movie additionally focuses strongly on the theme of sibling rivalries and brotherhood. A simple movie, but fun nonetheless.

Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher (2014 Video)

A formulaic episode of an animated TV series

[6/10 · 6 August 2017]

I'm probably not the best suited person to analyze this movie as I am not the most knowledgeable of neither anime nor comic books. I like anime, and enjoy comic book films and television series, but I'm not a hardcore fan. Comic book fans go into movies already knowing the characters for the most part, whereas for me it's like I'm introduced to each character for the first time. In a way that makes me more objective as I don't know what characters are supposed to be like, and simply watch the movie for what it is. At any rate, I watched this movie and here are my thoughts.

I know anime fans have a debate on "dub" vs "sub"—that is whether they prefer anime movies dubbed into English or with English subtitles. While I normally prefer subtitles to maintain the authenticity of the work, in this movie's case, it is more like this is the English version of the movie than simply a dubbing.

As indicated by the title, this movie focuses on the character The Punisher. Even having seen "The Punisher" (2004), my memory of this guy is vague. He is a vigilante character, who is neither good nor bad, who does whatever it takes to protect the innocent regardless of whether his actions are with in the laws or not. He is arrested by the international organization S.H.I.E.L.D. and they plea bargain with him. An evil crime organization, Leviathan, has stolen weapons and plans to auction them off. The Punisher is sent on a mission with Black Widow to stop the sale of these weapons.

While the artwork was vivid, the animation was minimal—I suppose to keep the feel of reading a comic book. There was not a whole lot of movement in the animation, even in action sequences, and still shots of characters' faces or long pans of people or scenery was common.

Overall, the film is formulaic of any episode of a super hero animated television series. The bad guys have an evil scheme and the good guys have to stop it. That's not a bad thing, it's just what it is, and I happened to like that.

Girl Rising (2013)

Great message, poor documentary

[4/10 · 6 August 2017]

The thesis of this documentary is that the solution for the more than six million women in third world countries and otherwise impoverished regions who are oppressed, abused and violated is education. This documentary follows the story of seven women from Sierra Leone, India, Afghanistan, Haiti, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Nepal and Egypt. It shows how each of these women bettered themselves and their lives through education, albeit gaining such an education was an extreme struggle.

I have nothing against the message of the documentary. It has started a "girl rising" movement for global education of women, and that's fantastic. I just didn't find the documentary itself very entertaining. They tried to use a variety of cinematographic techniques, but it simply failed to entertain me. It is worth watching for the eye-opening statistics, but you may feel like your history teacher didn't feel like teaching today and popped in a video.

Sharknado (2013 TV Movie)

Sharknado is so bad it's good.

[7/10 · 6 August 2017]

Sharknado is so bad it's good. When one thinks of shark movies, this first movies the first that comes to mind of course is Jaws (1975). One of the biggest critiques of a shark as an antagonist is that the defense is easy: stay out of the water. Sharknado takes that defense away, as natural weather phenomena toss sharks all around Santa Monaco, California making no one safe in the water, on land, and, yes, not even in the air! Everything about this movie is corny. The concept is corny. The acting is awful. There is a forced story line of a divorced father's relationship with his older children. The dialogue is terrible. IMDb lists "comedy" as one of the genres of the movie, but honestly I don't think it was intended to be funny; but some of the events that unfold are so absurd you have to laugh. This is pure science fiction, with very little fact. If you are going to watch this and try to point out how the actions wouldn't happen that way, don't bother. Just about every law of physics, chemistry and biology are shattered with this movie, from sharks surviving inside a tornado to the Macgyver-like weaponry they assemble to combat the sharks and the tornadoes. The special effects are better than The Wizard of Oz (1939), but quite laughable as well. But like the train-wreck you just can't look away from, this movie keeps you watching and entertained.