Bad Education

POSITIVES…

  • The true life school embezzlement scandal is a fascinating story that this movie captures well.

  • Watching the rabbit hole of how bad this scandal was should keep you invested in seeing it through until the end.

  • Hugh Jackman is fantastic in his portrayal of Frank Tassone and is one of the main reasons to see this movie. He is quite the charismatic actor.

  • Seeing how Frank Tassone works his charm and wiles in getting his way with other people is incredible to watch.

  • Solid supporting casts with highlights by Geraldine Viswanathan, Allison Janney, Ray Romano, plus more.

  • Along with the themes about greed and lost of trust, there is also a commentary about appreciating our educators that really pays off in one remarkable scene towards the end.

NEGATIVES…

  • This is not what you would call a very cinematic movie, so don’t get too distracted and keep your eyes on the screen.

  • It’s easy to forget who all these supporting characters are, and how they are relevant to the plot.

P.S….

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You Can Watch It On HBO

Extraction

POSITIVES…

  • Chris Hemsworth’s character Tyler Rake is like a mix of Rambo and John Wick. He is basically your standard action hero that’s worthy enough to be entertained by his presence in this movie.

  • It’s got a good supporting cast that includes Randeep Hooda, Golshifteh Farahani, Priyanshu Painyuli, and Rudhraksh Jaiswal.

  • There’s a 10+ minutes action sequence that is presented with no camera cuts that was pretty fun to watch.

  • The action sequences in general are pretty good. I liked the choreographed violent chaos.

NEGATIVES…

  • At almost two hours long, the movie could be shorter.

  • There are lulls in the film that seemed superfluous.

  • While there are elements of a very interesting and compelling story, it just wasn’t that interesting or compelling in execution.

  • This movie is basically your disposal action movie that is easily forgettable.

P.S….

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You Can Watch It Now On NETFLIX

The Willoughbys

POSITIVES…

  • I love the visual style of making the CGI animation look like stop motion animation.

  • Inventive. Creative. Imagination. Fantastic!

  • Irreverent gags and clever humor made this very enjoyable to watch.

  • Liked the recurring jokes that gets a chuckle out of me.

  • This movie is filled with elaborate scenes, set ups, and montages, that are really fun to see play out.

  • Has a motley set of characters, and their distinct characteristics are entertaining to observe.

  • Every scene with Ruth is an absolute delight!

  • Story’s premise is odd, weird, and dark, for a “kid’s movie,” but simple and straightforward enough to still be one.

  • Themes and lessons are at least messages that are absolutely worth being exposed to.

NEGATIVES…

  • I think Parents’ will question whether they should be showing this to their kids.

  • While several characters are already well defined, for the most part there isn’t a lot of priority to further expand on the character development.

P.S….

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You Can Watch It Now On NETFLIX

Coachella : 20 Years in the Desert

POSITIVES…

  • Fans will appreciate the documentary’s celebration of the history and relevance of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

  • Showcases how important live music and the concert going experience is.

  • Interview portions and monologues perfectly provides the narrative, with some spot on insightful thoughts.

  • This film wonderfully highlights a lot of musical acts from Jane’s Addiction, Madonna, Rage Against The Machine, Daft Punk, Kanye West, plus so much more. It was an aural smorgasbord of music.

  • An amazing chronicle of the festival’s 20 Years history with some welcome focus on certain acts. Yes, the Tupac hologram scene is definitely a well deserved highlight in this movie. Then Beyonce shows up and gives us another well deserved highlight. This documentary is full of that.

NEGATIVES…

  • Depending on your musical tastes, there will be sections in this film that may just not interest you at all.

  • Not enough focus dedicated to the non-musical aspects of the festival.

P.S….

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You Can Watch It Now On YOUTUBE

Sergio

POSITIVES…

  • Sergio Vieira De Mello is absolutely a real life figure that deserves a film that focuses on him, and this is an interesting movie for him to have about him.

  • Wagner Moura is charismatic as heck playing Sergio. Amazing actor, who easily grabs your attention. Just about every conversation he has interacting with the other characters, plus the monologues he gets to do, are all really good.

  • Amid the character study of De Mello, and all the drama surrounding the international politics, the additional plot of a love story is welcome.

  • With that love story, Ana de Armas as Carolina Larriera is totally captivating and is an equal in having a similar strong screen presence as Moura does.

  • The themes and messages that this movie have are also very admirable, and are worth learning from.

NEGATIVES…

  • It’s a little slow moving, a bit boring perhaps, and arguably meanders too much.

  • The way it handles flashbacks feels misguided to me, and unnecessarily muddles the narrative.

  • There’s an indulgent conceit to the love story that some people may not care for.

  • Speaking of indulgent, with a 118 minutes run time, the movie just feels too long.

P.S….

loveditenjoyedit LIKED IT itsokayitsmehitsterrible

You Can Watch It On NETFLIX

Love Wedding Repeat

POSITIVES…

  • As a romantic comedy that is in the same vein as those British farcical weddings, the premise is I suppose okay enough for light entertainment.

  • Sam Claflin is a charming lead, who is game for the ludicrous things he has to do in this movie.

  • Olivia Munn is playing exactly the kind of Olivia Munn role you expect from her, and she’s great at that. She also got almost all the best and funniest lines in this.

  • Joel Fry had this scene where he thinks he was dreaming that was cringe worthy entertainment.

NEGATIVES…

  • It’s just not that funny of a movie overall. I recognize all these jokes, but I could probably count how many times it was actually funny with just one hand.

  • I found the movie far more of a chore to watch than anything else. It has all these plot threads and characters that I absolutely could have lived without.

  • Watching this movie, I get why they wanted an ensemble cast, but half of them were either useless or just embarrassing to watch. The characters that were played by Tim Key, Freida Pinto, Allan Mustafa, Jack Farthing, and Aisling Bea, at one point or another just annoyed me to no end.

  • Story-wise it ruined my suspension of disbelief multiple times. There were many things about this movie that came off as completely illogical and nonsensical.

  • Writer-Director Dean Craig clearly had some ambitious ideas for the story, but the end result just comes up lazy and tired.

  • As expected, there are tons of cliches and familiar plot tropes.

  • Seems like a nitpick to say, but the editing also needed more work. It became a game for me to spot all the inconsistencies within the scenes.

  • There are a series of cut scenes for us to watch during the credits, and surprisingly enough, I would have preferred to have seen some of those scenes in the actual movie itself.

P.S….

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You Can Watch It Now On NETFLIX

Tigertail

POSITIVES…

  • Excellent film for those who want something nostalgic and melancholic.

  • Immigrants will get a lot out of the experiences shown in this movie. Asian-Americans and specifically Taiwanese-Americans should appreciate the story a lot.

  • Thematically thought provokingly complicated and doesn’t pander to the audience by giving us easy answers.

  • There were powerful and emotional moments in this movie that came from what should just be mundane or innocuous situations.

  • Able to produce some beautiful visuals out of those mundane or innocuous situations.

  • The excellent montage sequences, intercuts, and edits, is an Alan Yang specialty.

  • Great performances by Tzi Ma and Hong-Chi Lee, who had to really carry the emotional weights that reflects the themes of the story to the audience.

  • Pleasantly surprised me with some of the plot turns.

NEGATIVES…

  • The deliberately gentle pacing might be too slow for some.

  • Can be argued to be too melodramatic and maudlin.

  • Felt like the movie could have given us more, and expects us to fill in the plot details ourselves, which might seem unsatisfyingly underwritten for some.

  • The barrier of this film being trilingual and subtitled might be a barrier some people are not willing to overcome.

P.S….

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You Can Watch It Now On NETFLIX

Guns Akimbo

POSITIVES…

  • It’s got a fun outrageous premise that’s entertaining to watch. If you like these kinds of movies that is.

  • Has a kinetic and in-your-face visual style that should easily grab your attention.

  • The comedic moments in this movie are welcome, and matches the over-the-top plot.

  • It actually has some thought provoking subtle social commentary littered throughout the story.

  • Choreography for the gun fights and action sequences in general are nicely energetic and outrageous. Oh, and bloody violent too.

  • Has a good cast. Daniel Radcliffe, Samara Weaving, Ned Dennehy, Rhys Darby, and Natasha Liu Bordizzo. Weaving and Dennehy in particular looked like they were really having a lot of fun in their roles.

NEGATIVES…

  • I can see people saying the whole movie is just obnoxious.

  • That kinetic and in-your-face visual style? It can also get pretty annoying at times.

  • Between certain illogical moments, blatant pandering to the audience, commentary that can get too on-the-nose, plus all those plot conveniences, the writing simply could be better.

  • Yes, it’s one of those movies where a character is either a sharpshooter or can’t shoot worth a damn, all depending on what the plot dictates. I rolled my eyes at that so many times.

  • My suspension of disbelief can only go so far you know, and there are moments that were really pushing it.

P.S….

loveditenjoyedit LIKED IT itsokayitsmehitsterrible

You Can Watch It Now On VIDEO ON DEMAND

Swallow

POSITIVES…

  • There’s a line in a book shown in the movie that reads “Every day, try to do something unexpected. Push yourself to try new things.” My answer to that would be… DEAR GOD, NOT THAT THOUGH! But then, if not that, this fascinating film would not exist.

  • This movie succeeded in making me squirm in my seat.

  • As an unconventional drama, it was able to surprise me a bit as to the direction of the story.

  • Haley Bennett is fantastic in this, playing her character Hunter in a very specifically delicate way.

  • Some welcome levity is added with Laith Nakli’s character.

  • Cinematography is absolutely gorgeous to look at.

  • Thematic wise, there are some complicated but thought provoking ideas brought up by this story.

NEGATIVES…

  • The deliberate pacing of the film might be considered slow for some.

  • Some people might also feel frustrated in putting up with sequences that takes its time in establishing the tone and mood of a scene.

  • Movie makes it too easy to feel a certain way about the Conrad family. How about a little bit more nuance there?

P.S….

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You Can Watch It Now On VIDEO ON DEMAND

Coffee & Kareem

POSITIVES…

  • The quality of the writing be damned, I’m going to give credit to the actors that are clearly trying their best to make this movie work. Kudos to Ed Helms, Terrence Little Gardenhigh, RonReaco Lee, Taraji P. Henson, and Betty Gilpin.

  • I know comedy is subjective, but I can count how many times I laughed with one hand.

  • As stupid as the “roundabout scene” kinda is. That’s one of the scenes I actually laughed at.

NEGATIVES…

  • Just because you are talking and doing outrageous things, does not automatically make it funny.

  • Just because this movie has a young teen talking and doing outrageous things, does not automatically make it funny.

  • So many jokes were big giants misses, and there were a lot of attempts of humor.

  • Just look at the movie’s title. “Coffee & Kareem.” Coffee & Cream. Get it?! Aren’t they so clever?

  • The oil and water dysfunctional accidental partnership that Coffee and Kareem has is suppose to be entertaining and maybe even charming. However to me, it was more obnoxiously trying too hard.

  • There’s also a plot turn during the final act of the movie that I don’t think was earned at all.

  • This movie doesn’t stray too far from other similar movies. Fresh take this is not.

P.S…

loveditenjoyeditlikedititsokay IT’S MEH itsterrible

You Can Watch It Now On NETFLIX