Pawn Sacrifice

Directed by : Edward Zwick  
Written by : Stephen J. Rivele, Christopher Wilkinson, Steven Knight  
Starring : Tobey Maguire, Michael Stuhlbarg, Peter Sarsgaard, Liev Schreiber,  
Release Date : January 1, 2015  

If you decide to watch "Pawn Sacrifice" and expect to learn about the game of chess, then this is not the movie for you. This film does not make much of an effort to allow viewers to feel immersed in the game, and it's hard to feel excited when some exciting chess move is being played on screen, because we don't really know what's going on! At least we learn a lot about some recent history, with this biographical look at chess icon Bobby Fischer. 

Tobey Maguire does a phenomenal job as Bobby Fischer. When Fischer is most unhinged with his mental issues is when Maguire really gets to shine as an actor. Bobby Fischer does, says, and demands some outrageous things in this movie, and all those moments are just some fascinating stuff. The rest of the cast, from Michael Stuhlbarg and Peter Sarsgaard, do a great job balancing out the craziness of Bobby Fischer. Liev Schreiber is also excellent as his chess nemesis Boris Spassky. 

Although I have issues with how left out I felt from the chess games, I did appreciate the build up and the tension of seeing Bobby Fischer attempt to be the world's greatest champion in chess. Since I'm not too familiar with this real life story, I enjoyed not knowing what crazy thing was going to happen next. Wow were there crazy things that apparently happens for what should be a simple chess tournament, and the people who play them. 

Watch "Pawn Sacrifice" for the performances and appreciate this compelling biographical look at this true story. However, the obnoxiousness of Bobby Fischer's personality, and the lack of engagement with the chess games themselves, annoyed me a little. 

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Sicario

Directed by : Denis Villeneuve  
Written by : Taylor Sheridan  
Starring : Emily Blunt. Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Daniel Kaluuya  
Release Date : September 17, 2015  

Immediately from the opening scene of "Sicario," the movie successfully sets the dark, serious, dangerous, and tense tone that permeates throughout this story. The premise of the film involves a special covert operation that involves the drug cartel, and it's definitely not an easy situation to deal with, especially for the lead character Kate Macer. 

Emily Blunt does a fantastic job as Kate Macer, and she is the audience surrogate character to follow. At first, she was being kept in the dark regarding a lot of the details about the operation, which was effective in building the tension for the movie. Questions about the morality and legality of it all also comes to play, which is a perfect way to give us something to think about. 

Benicio Del Toro is great as the mysterious Alejandro that is clearly more than meets the eye, and Josh Brolin is entertaining as Matt Graver who is the man leading the operation. It's a huge cast of characters in a heavy plot, but it's all juggled really well, even when the story take different turns to throw us off guard. I'd like to also point out that the cinematography here by Roger Deakins is excellent as always, with some very picturesque scenes to admire. 

"Sicario" contains many fantastic set pieces and unforgettable scenes here, from a raid in a suburban neighborhood, to a conversational scene about a moral dilemma. This is easily one of the best films of 2015. 

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Sleeping With Other People

Directed and Written by : Leslye Headland  
Starring : Jason Sudeikis, Alison Brie, Jason Mantzoukas, Adam Scott,  
Release Date : August 12, 2015  

It's easy to call a romantic sex comedy that is heavy on conversation scenes, just another copy of the movies "Annie Hall" and "When Harry Met Sally." At least that's what it seems like "Sleeping With Other People" is going for here. Yes, there are several cliche moments and familiar story tropes that this movie can't seem to avoid, but that didn't stop me from enjoying watching this. 

There's a lot of captivating frank discussions about sex, and snappy entertaining banter with pop culture references that may go over people's heads. Thankfully, Jason Sudeikis and Alison Brie are the primary characters that are making those conversations great to listen to. Their chemistry together is just fantastic, with Sudeikis doing a stellar job as the charming womanizer, and Brie as the outgoing funny girl with issues. 

As good as the cast is though, the movie itself is a little bit all over the place. There are tonal changes throughout, from enjoyable funny scenes, to moments that come off rather dark and serious. The narrative also can't seem to decide how it wants to tell the story, and there are some plot points that suffered because of that. Even so, I still found the story captivating. 

"Sleeping With Other People" is worth watching just for Jason Sudeikis and Alison Brie, as well as a particular scene involving a green tea bottle. 

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Everest

Directed by : Baltasar Kormákur  
Written by : William Nicholson, Simon Beaufoy  
Starring : Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Emily Watson, Keira Knightley, Jake Gyllenhaal  
Release Date : September 16, 2015

When watching "Everest," I experienced two immediate reactions from seeing this. The sudden desire to consider actually climbing Mount Everest, and then the fear of being reminded that no human was meant to do so. This movie showcases wonderful visuals of the mountain that is great to look at and admire, but it also goes out of it's way to remind us of how dangerous it is to try and reach the summit. 

Based on a true story, the plot is rather straightforward. At times it almost feels like a pseudo documentary, many times it feels like an adventure film, and several scenes also make this look like a horror movie. It's amazing to think that people actually do this in real life, and this film does a great job of allowing us to witness and feel immersed in what it must be like, while sitting comfortably in a movie theater. 

There's an all star cast here, led by the very likable Jason Clarke as Rob Hall, and Josh Brolin as one of his gruff clients Beck Weathers. Since the characters are all based on real life people, the intense scenes of disaster and death, actually felt scarier and more tragic than it would have if this was a work of fiction. It's a huge cast though, so many of the characters unfortunately do not get enough screen time compared to others. 

"Everest" as a disaster film may seem like it doesn't do that much more than many other films of this genre, but it's the tragedy of how this actually happened in real life that should resonate well after the movie has ended. 

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Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

Directed by : Wes Ball  
Written by : T.S. Nowlin  
Starring : Dylan O'Brien, Ki Hong Lee, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Aidan Gillen, Rosa Salazar, Giancarlo Esposito,  
Release Date : September 9, 2015  

First off I have to say that I wasn't that huge a fan of the first installment of this Maze Runner franchise, despite the fact it did have some refreshing ideas for the young adult dystopian future style of story telling. "The Scorch Trials" on the other hand decided to double down on action sequences, and in keeping viewers in the dark of what's going on. Unfortunately that direction caused me to feel very underwhelmed with this movie.  

I could have just simply enjoyed this as an action-adventure movie, but I thought the action sequences were rather uninspired, and the adventuring aspects were just lackluster. Coincidences, close calls, and lots and lots of chase sequences seems to be the modus operandi of this movie, and it's too bad that all that wasn't exciting enough for me. The film does have great visuals showcasing the post-apocalyptic settings though, but that isn't enough to make up for the shortcomings. 

There are several huge problems for me with the story. There is a lack of any interesting character development here, which only makes the characters highly uninteresting, and me caring even less on what happens to them. Giancarlo Esposito and Aiden Gillen does admirable work in giving their characters some life though. I'm also fed up with how the story teases secrets that still need to be revealed, and how it goes through very contrived reasons on why nobody is giving out the important revelations. At one point, a character claims to get their memories back and have vital information, but nobody makes an effort to find out what those are? Seriously?! 

Book readers will likely be sorely disappointed in how "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials" is primarily a much different story than what they read. It'll test their patience at how unfaithful it is to the source material. For us movie viewers, it'll just test our patience for how mediocre it is. 

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Black Mass

Directed by : Scott Cooper  
Written by : Mark Mallouk, Jez Butterworth  
Starring : Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rory Cochrane, Jesse Plemons,  
Release Date : September 17, 2015  

If you've seen the trailer of "Black Mass" with the Yelawolf song "Till It's Gone," then it looks like this movie is going to be this high octane, exciting gangster crime thriller. It's not though. It has a slow but deliberate pace throughout the movie, with very few action sequences; although it doesn't shy away from showing bloody violence. There is however one primary reason to see this movie, and that's Johnny Depp's performance. 

Johnny Depp plays Whitey Bulger like this intimidating but controlled monster, and it's just captivating to see him in the role. Although this is a gang story, the real tension isn't who is killing who, or who is betraying who, but seeing Bulger interact with other people and wonder if he is going to suddenly explode with violence. That feeling like everybody has to be walking on egg shells around Bulger because they don't want to die is just so palpable when watching this film. It's kinda terrifying. 

Not to be outshined, but Joel Edgerton does a great job playing the secondary lead actor here as John Connolly, the FBI Agent who made a corrupted alliance with Bulger. This is where the strongest drama is with the story, as the FBI basically made a deal with the Devil, on the pretense that the end justifies the means. Connolly has this strong loyalty to South Boston and especially to Bulger, even if it means sacrificing his morality, and that's a good thematic story to think about.  

"Black Mass" is based on the book about the true story of James "Whitey" Bulger, and it is a compelling tale. As captivating as Depp's performance is though, the movie itself may be a little too slow and disjointed to truly excite viewers. 

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Grandma

Directed & Written by : Paul Weitz  
Starring : Lily Tomlin, Julia Garner, Marcia Gay Harden, Judy Greer  
Release Date : August 21, 2015  

Chances are, the primary reason you might want to watch "Grandma" is because of Lily Tomlin. If you don't know who Lily Tomlin is, then this is not a bad choice of a movie to expose yourself to her talent. She is the reason this movie is as good as it is, and the things her character does and says here are just captivating to watch.  

This movie does have a simple premise, in this odd but entertaining road trip of a movie about a Grandma trying to take her Granddaughter to an abortion clinic. To go along with the scenes where the Grandma attacks her Granddaughter's ex-boyfriend and argues sardonically with people over drip coffee, there's also an underlying drama that contain some wonderful insights. The story explores different point of views about living life, from relationships, family, mistakes, and pride.  

As mentioned earlier, Lily Tomlin does amazing work here as Elle Reid, the acerbic Grandma who is quick to anger. Her fiery attitude also seems to run in the family, as her Granddaughter Sage; played by Julia Garner, and her daughter Judy; played by Marcia Gay Harden, both have strong personalities as well. If you want to see colorful characters speaking their mind a lot, then watch this movie. 

The story for "Grandma" might appeal to the more feminist viewers, as there are a lot of female characters sharing their point of views here. Either way, this is a solid movie with many enjoyable scenes to watch. 

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She's Funny That Way

Directed by : Peter Bogdanovich
Written by : Peter Bogdanovich, Louise Stratten  
Starring : Imogen Poots, Owen Wilson, Kathryn Hahn, Rhys Ifans, Jennifer Aniston, Will Forte  
Release Date : April 22, 2015  

This movie is pretty much a throwback to the screwball comedies that were very common in cinema many decades ago. The comedy is a bit wacky and a bit manic, with a lot of humor hinging on all the coincidental plot points that's typically found in TV sitcoms. The dialog is generally clever, but moves very fast, so the audience will have to make that extra effort and pay close attention to keep up with what's going on. 

A lot of the plot are generally very familiar and predictable, but it's very intricate with how things are set up, so don't get confused. It's one of those stories where everybody seems to be connected in one way or another somehow, in a "it's a small world" kind of way. This is nothing most people haven't seen before, but despite that fact, it's still fun to see how this silly story plays out. 

With the Director being Peter Bagdonavich and Producers that includes Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach, it's no surprise that this was able to have an all star cast of actors. This movie has a great bunch of talented people, but I'd like to specifically give kudos to Jennifer Aniston for the outrageous character that she had to play. It's also very fun seeing all the cameo roles throughout the movie, even if some of them were only in it for as little as ten seconds. 

"She's Funny That Way" was originally going to be called "Squirrel To The Nuts," and honestly I think they should have stuck with that title. It's a better representation of the movie, and also refers to something very specific in the plot. This movie isn't for everybody, but I found it entertaining anyway. 

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The Visit

Directed and Written by : M. Night Shyamalan  
Starring : Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie, Kathryn Hahn  
Release Date : September 9, 2015  

There's a lot of negativity towards M. Night Shyamalan because of two specific reasons. He always relies on a plot twist in his stories, and he has made a string of movies that a lot of people seem to hate. "The Visit" does indeed have a plot twist, but to my surprise, I actually did not hate this movie. What a twist! I wouldn't say it's necessarily a great movie, but it's not bad either. I would argue that this might even be the best movie he's made since 2000's "Unbreakable." I did not even mind the two camera documentary found footage style of the movie either, and that's quite a feat to accomplish. 

If there's one thing that might throw people off with this movie though, is that there are two very distinct tones to it. There's the mysterious and suspenseful aspect to it, but there are several moments of lightheartedness and comedy as well. I didn't mind it at all, and if anything else, I thought it's sense of humor was a good comforting contrast to the uncomfortable and creepy scenes this movie did have. The mystery of what's going on with the grandparents will keep the viewers watching, and the funny scenes are entertaining enough to keep people's guard down until that next jump scare moment. 

What helped make this movie worked really well is the cast. Olivia DeJonge as the confidently smart young film maker, and Ed Oxenbould as the comedy relief rapping younger brother, make a fantastic team for us to follow. Peter McRobbie as the unassuming Grand Father is good as well, but it's Deanna Dunagan as the unpredictable Grand Mother that absolutely steals the movie. The elderly may seem frail and just too old, but this movie shows that they can still be scary and terrifying when they need to be. 

As with many movies such as this, it's hard to talk too much about "The Visit" without spoiling the story. The movie's surprises are what makes it worth checking out. 

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A Walk In The Woods

Directed by : Ken Kwapis  
Written by : Rick Kerb, Bill Holderman  
Starring : Robert Redford, Nick Nolte  
Release Date : August 19, 2015  

Based on the Bill Bryson book of the same name, "A Walk In The Woods" is a nicely charming simple movie about two men attempting to do a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail (which is 2180 Miles long). This isn't really a serious drama about the adversities one might find on such a trek, as it's leaning more towards the humorous aspect of the two men that is experiencing this adventure. 

Starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte, they do make a perfect odd-couple type pair, that while they share a similar past decades earlier, they are essentially opposites. Of course that leads to the more comedic aspects of this story, especially when their personalities clash with each other. Having the two different perspectives from these old men also led to some interesting discussions about how to live life and what they think about the world. Despite the lighthearted nature of the story, there are some thought provoking stuff. 

There are some beautiful visuals showcasing the land that the characters are traveling to please the eyes. Other visual touches is a particularly scene that I really liked where it looked like two tents were talking to each other. Besides the visuals, the random encounters with other hikers like the very obnoxiously talkative Kristen Schaal, or the sweet motel manager played by Mary Steenburgen, are also enjoyable additions to the story. 

With the way "A Walk In The Woods" was directed by Ken Kwapis, there's a very easy going feel and tone throughout. This film isn't great or transcendent by any means, but it is a nice diversion to the more in your face movies out there. 

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