The Last Full Measure

POSITIVES…

  • It’s worth acknowledging this movie’s worth purely for bringing the story of Airman William H. Pitsenbarger, Jr. ("Pits") on the big screen. If you don’t know who he is, you should. Go see this film.

  • You know how you are able to be enthralled by somebody just verbally telling you a good story? That’s this movie. It’s filled with scenes after scenes of somebody telling you a really powerful story, without much need for all that visual flourishes to keep you enraptured by it. The stories are that strong, they stand on their own. That’s this movie in a nutshell.

  • Features a fantastic cast of actors, with a good lead in Sebastian Stan.

  • There are some very emotionally moving scenes in this, that showed some great dramatic talent from Christopher Plummer, Ed Harris, Peter Fonda, and William Hurt.

  • The war reenactments were very engaging to watch and didn’t shy away from the violence and death.

  • I appreciated how this movie doesn’t romanticized the notion of being in combat.

  • This movie only proves the point that we should honor our war veterans, support those who are enlisting, and emphasizes the fact that countries should avoid going to war as much as possible.

NEGATIVES…

P.S….

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The Turning

POSITIVES…

  • Amazing visuals and set design. Great cinematography. This film’s visuals are quite something to look at.

  • The slow burn of the pacing, and the dark tone, are perfect for the narrative.

  • Mackenzie Davis had the stand out performance here. Finn Wolfhard was excellent playing the incredibly creepy kid. Brooklynn Prince and Barbara Marten were also good in their roles as well.

  • With the way the story is going, you’re going to want to see how the movie ends.

NEGATIVES…

  • A lot of people are going to hate hate hate how this movie ends.

  • Maybe they’ll just generally hate how the whole final act plays out.

  • Then the end credits sequence is like a knife to your gut, in how it seems like the movie is blatantly mocking your reaction to that ending.

  • While this has the excuse of being yet another film adaptation of Henry James' novella "The Turn of the Screw," it still doesn’t help that there’s a certain level of familiar plot tropes and cliches that keep this movie from feeling fresh.

  • Established premise aside, I couldn’t help but feel a little unfairly manipulated by how the narrative for this story goes. I suppose this is one of those stories that just isn’t for everybody.

  • While this film technically knows how to create good tense build-ups and anticipations for the scares, the actual scares themselves somehow felt unsatisfying.

  • There’s a certain level of frustration when it comes to having to watch annoying characters in this movie. Let’s just say that between Kate, Miles, Flora, and Mrs Grose, I found three of those characters annoying. I hope you have the patience to put up with them.

P.S….

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The Gentlemen

POSITIVES…

  • You like Guy Ritchie making movies about organized crime, crooks, cheats, tough guys, violent men, and all that? Well, here’s a new one for you.

  • I thought this was very Entertaining, with a capital E.

  • There’s a lot of charming and clever narratives, set pieces, scenes, plot turns, and dialogue, that I really enjoyed.

  • Solid writing and engaging premise aside, the huge ensemble cast is really what makes this movie shine.

  • Matthew McConaughey is the epitome of a cool cat here. Also, he’s a powerful lion as well, in this role of marijuana king Mickey Pearson.

  • Charlie Hunnam is absolutely great as Mickey’s right hand man Ray, and is likely the character you will find yourself the most attached to.

  • Hugh Grant is delightful as Fletcher, the “narrator” to this story that’s also a very sneaky devil you’ll love to hate.

  • Henry Golding is fantastic as Dry Eye, the antagonist you’ll enjoy rooting against.

  • Colin Farrell is just the best as “Coach.” A crowd pleaser of a character, and I feel for him in how he gets involved with the rest of these criminals.

  • Michelle Dockery. Do not mess with her!

  • Say what you will about romanticizing the lifestyle found in this movie, but from the very beginning, and all the way to the credits, I had a lot of fun watching it.

NEGATIVES…

  • Doesn’t really add anything much new to these types of films.

  • People looking for huge action set pieces and big shoot outs might be disappointed.

  • Some might argue that the story is too convoluted for its own good.

P.S….

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Color Out Of Space

POSITIVES…

  • This is HP Lovecraft cosmic horror put on film rather well by Director Richard Stanley.

  • It’s like watching a descent into madness, with imagery that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.

  • Creepy. Disturbing. Icky. Frightening. Horrifying. What happens to the characters (and animals) in this movie, I do not wish on anyone.

  • The creature work and the body-horror elements were just the stuff of nightmares.

  • With all that said, this is a fascinating movie that kept me in suspense at what I was going to witness next.

  • Successfully made me feel helpless and hopeless for the characters on screen, which is a key element in creating a good horror movie.

  • It also helps that we got stand out performances by Madeleine Arthur, Nicolas Cage, Elliot Knight, and the rest of the cast to keep us invested into what happens in this movie.

NEGATIVES…

  • First act felt kind of clunky with the whole setup to the premise.

  • Can there be too much Cage? Maybe. Especially when it starts to cross over into self-parody, which can be argued happens in this movie.

  • There’s an unexplainable aspect to the narrative that might not work at all with some people.

P.S….

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Dolittle

POSITIVES…

  • Despite how silly they are, I found the animals quite entertaining, along with the voice cast that brings them to life.

  • I found the fact that Robert Downey Jr seemed very natural and convincing interacting with the animals to be one of the strengths of this movie.

  • Michael Sheen was also a good antagonist as Dr. Blair Müdfly. I give him kudos for looking like he was having fun playing the role as broad and over the top as he can.

  • The story itself is perfectly adequate and held my interest until the end. I did in fact wanted to see where it was going.

  • At its heart, the movie has some good lessons to teach the kids that this movie is clearly targeted for.

NEGATIVES…

  • The comedy in this movie is far too conventionally “kid humor” for my taste. On that note, a lot of the humor just didn’t work for me. Some were even kind of obnoxious.

  • This movie is filled with characters that hardly get much development, and are really just there to fill a plot point.

  • The character that really should be fleshed out more is our audience surrogate “Tommy Stubbins” played by Harry Collett. Unfortunately, despite some backstory and motivation, he’s still more or less a cypher.

  • Many overly ridiculous plot development in this movie, expected us to just take at face value. Hopefully they don’t completely break your suspension of disbelief.

  • Much has been said about the climax ending of this movie, but go back and see my point about how it leans towards the conventional kid humor.

P.S….

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Just Mercy

POSITIVES…

  • It’s worth acknowledging this movie’s worth purely for the true story it’s covering.

  • Premise itself and the plot is definitely engaging enough to see it through until the end.

  • The themes and several of the things that is shown to us in this movie are definitely worth further discussion.

  • There were some powerfully moving and heavy dramatic scenes in this film that really grabs your attention, like the court scenes which were very effective.

  • Several highlights of this film however are truly the simple looking scenes of two people exchanging some words, having a conversation, or an argument. Some strong material there.

  • Michael B Jordan is incredible as Bryan Stevenson, and it’s really hard not to be completely behind this man who is facing all the challenges thrown at him in this story.

  • Jamie Foxx gives us some truly remarkable scenes as Walter McMillian, that showcases what a talent he is.

  • The rest of the cast were also great. Rafe Spall, Brie Larson, Rob Morgan, O’Shea Jackson Jr, and especially Tim Blake Nelson.

  • I really have to give kudos to Co-Writer / Director Destin Daniel Cretton, for having a sure hand in giving us the narrative to this story that’s based on real events.

NEGATIVES…

  • Based on a true story aside, it’s still a relatively familiar drama that might come off as predictable at times.

  • Considering the fact that this movie is advocating a particular opinion, people might accuse it for being too one-sided.

  • I wasn’t completely satisfied with how the character that Hayes Mercure plays was handled.

P.S….

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Weathering With You

POSITIVES…

  • Beautiful. The visuals are so beautiful to look at. Amazing imagery. Awesome animated work.

  • The premise is interesting and fascinating and overall entertaining.

  • Once the movie gets going with its primary story, it completely hooks you into it and won’t let go until the end credits start rolling. You’re gonna want to see where this tale goes.

  • Some of the story set pieces found in this animated film were quite moving.

  • It’s hard not to root for our protagonists of this movie.

  • The premise keeps the young adult teenage romance plot from being too derivative.

  • Can be accused of being too melodramatic and too earnest, but the movie justifies itselfs for openly wearing it’s heart on it’s sleeve.

  • It’s got a good sense of humor too.

  • I LOVE the soundtrack for this movie!

NEGATIVES…

  • The first act was so clunky in exposition and set up, that I would like to just skip to when it gets good.

  • Some people might take issue with a major decision a character makes towards the end.

  • There are plot conveniences that seemed to get right on the edge of going too far.

P.S….

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Bad Boys For Life

POSITIVES…

  • Without any doubt, the chemistry and banter between Will Smith as Detective Mike Lowry and Martin Lawrence as Detective Marcus Burnett is what makes this movie as entertaining as it is.

  • There are some comedy bits between Mike and Marcus throughout the movie that are just fun to watch.

  • They aren’t the only ones in the cast that helps keep the movie enjoyable. Gotta show some recognition to Joe Pantoliano, Paola Nuñez, Alexander Ludwig, Vanessa Hudgens, Jacob Scipio, and Kate del Castillo.

  • Premise and plot progression is effectively engaging enough to see it all the way through.

  • Movie tries to throw you off guard with some plot reveals and surprises, and whether you did or didn’t see them coming, they were pretty solidly done in my book.

  • Action sequences are pretty entertaining to watch too.

  • I gotta say though, that the most memorable action set pieces in this movie are the chase sequences. Exciting enough to ignore some believability factors.

  • Speaking of chases… the Porsche 911 Carrera Turbo. Cool car. Cool stunts involving said cool car.

NEGATIVES…

  • It’s a movie that doesn’t stray too far from the familiar, so it can feel derivative and cliche at times.

  • Plot conveniences. Hello again.

  • Whether it’s a silly action beat or a stupid character plot development, your suspension of disbelief might just break.

  • The movie’s sense of humor doesn’t always work.

  • Charles Melton’s character. Almost everything they tried to do with his character was just a miss.

P.S….

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Underwater

POSITIVES…

  • Plays off as an entertaining tribute to monster creature suspense thriller flicks like 1979’s “Alien,” and succeeds for the most part.

  • Right from the first scene, this movie throws you right into the disastrous situation and keeps things moving all the way until the end. I appreciate the story telling efficiency here.

  • Thriller suspense aspects were rightfully enjoyable enough and constantly adds good tense moments.

  • Building up to showing us what’s lurking in the corners and the darks was nicely done.

  • Creature work is good. I liked what I saw there.

  • I also liked the look of the diving suits. Reminded me of the COG armor in Gears Of War.

  • Solid performances by Kristen Stewart, Jessica Henwick, Vincent Cassel, and John Gallagher Jr, in this film.

  • There are some good plot reveals in this movie, but there is one in particular that made me so giddy with excitement.

NEGATIVES…

  • The story is familiar, the plot is derivative, and the expected cliches do happen. Original this is not.

  • Trying to apply real science and logic to the premise might just completely kill your suspension of disbelief.

  • Some of the stupid things characters do…

  • Although TJ Miller is meant to add levity to this thriller, he just comes off as annoying and kills any scene that he tries to be funny in. He was so not needed for this movie.

P.S….

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Richard Jewell

POSITIVES…

  • It’s worth acknowledging this movie’s worth purely for the true story it’s covering.

  • Premise itself and the plot is definitely engaging enough to see it through until the end.

  • The themes and several of the things that is shown to us in this movie are definitely worth further discussion.

  • Paul Walter Hauser is incredible as Richard Jewell, and it’s really hard not to sympathize with what he went through in this.

  • Kathy Bates gives us some truly remarkable scenes, that showcases what a talent she is.

  • Sam Rockwell is great as always, and helps adds that bit of levity when needed.

  • I really have to give the whole cast a lot of credit for bringing this movie to life.

NEGATIVES…

  • It’s still a relatively straight-forward drama that may feel a little bit derivative.

  • While there are solid scenes worth noting, there isn’t a lot that truly stands out as exceptionally memorable.

  • Besides the actual topic of the incredible true story, the movie itself is generally forgettable.

P.S….

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