The Secret Life of Pets (2016)

Director: Yarrow Cheney, Chris Renaud
Writer: Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio, Brian Lynch
Stars: Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart

Synopsis: 
Max (Louis C.K.) gets discouraged when his owner brings home a new dog, Duke (Eric Stonestreet), and because of their differences found themselves lost in the middle of New York. And must work together to found their way back home.

Review:
I'm just going to say it. This should have been called Pet Story, because it is the same exact plot of Toy Story. The first trailer released looked like this was just going to be about the title, the Secret Life of Pets, and probably have them actually going around New York and hanging with their friends, but then the more the trailers showed the more I noticed something, this was just going to be telling the story of Toy Story but with pets. And I was a bit sadly right.

Really if this movie's animation wasn't as beautiful as it is, and the characters weren't as great and hilarious as they are, I'd probably say that this was just a bland carbon copy of Toy Story, but the jokes and the animation and the voice acting do help this film out a lot. Kevin Hart's bunny character, Snowball, will probably annoy people depending on how they feel about Kevin Hart's comedy, because all he really does is his yelling type of line delivery, which I enjoy to an extent and was worried that it would get on my nerves, but because of how his character is, a psychotic bunny, I feel like it works well here.

Like I said the characters are all great, and even though I only enjoy some cats and am more of a dog person the cat named Chloe (Lake Bell) stole the show for me with every scene she was in. All the other characters though are great and spot on with their personalities. But the movie did lose points to me for copying off of Toy Story and not doing it's own thing.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

Recommendation: See it if you're an animal person and don't mind it being a copy cat of Toy Story, but maybe rent it if you enjoyed the first trailer and thought it would be something original.

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016)

Director: Jake Szymanski
Writers: Andrew Jay Cohen, Brendan O'Brien
Stars: Zac Efron, Anna Kendrick, Adam Devine, Aubrey Plaza

Synopsis:
Mike and Dave are two brothers that tend to get a little rowdy at family functions, so in order to keep them in control their family decides that instead of them being single and getting rowdy they should each find a date that would be able to keep them under control though out the week of their sister's wedding.

Review:
This movie honestly made me more upset at Dirty Grandpa earlier this year above all else, because Zac Efron and Aubrey Plaza showed that they can be really funny to me when their material is actually pretty good. Unlike in Dirty Grandpa where it felt like they were just trying to make something out of nothing and more than anything just get on my nerves more than make me laugh, but this one really did work for me. Anna Kendrick and Adam Devine really bring the laughs with them as well, which I'm glad because I thought they were both great in the pitch perfect films together so I was hoping they'd be just as good in this one. The story is a bit been there done that and I do think that some people might not like this and that some people might think some gags go a bit too far and too long but I didn't think that was the case. Honestly it's a bit of a squeeze between this Popstar and The Boss between which comedy is the best so far this year, I think Popstar would still take the cake.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Recommendation: See it

The Purge: Election Year (2016)

Director: James DeManaco
Writer: James DeMonaco
Stars: Frank Grillo, Elizabeth Mitchell, Mykelti Williamson

Synopsis:
Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) is running for president to end the Purge once and for all but the new founding fathers don't agree with her and try to set up her assassination during the annual Purge sending her and her body guard Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo) out on the streets to fend for themselves throughout the night.

Review:
The Purge movie series is one of the few series that I know that can actually improve upon themselves with each release. I thought the first one was a bit silly but still wasn't a waste of my time, but then I saw the second one and was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed it, even though it did still have its problems. This one though not only was it just as enjoyable as the last one, but a lot of the narrative problems I had with the last one have actually been improved upon to make this one my favorite and actually a bit excited if they do tend to make another one. This isn't perfect, there were a few things that did make me roll my eyes but they didn't linger as much though out the film like the last one's problematic portions did.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Recommendation: See it

The Legend of Tarzan (2016)

Director: David Yates
Writers: Adam Cozad, Craig Brewer
Stars: Alexander Skarsgard, Christoph Waltz, Margot Robbie, Samuel L. Jackson

Synopsis:
Set years after Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgard) met Jane (Margot Robbie) and moved into civilization. He is asked to return to the jungle with George Washington Williams (Samuel L. Jackson) and help investigate mining activities that are happening in the Congo.

Review:
This movie is serviceable. It respects the source materials and it looks great. Samuel L. Jackson is a blast as usual, and the rest of the cast does what they're suppose to do but this movie is mainly bland and boring most of the time. I honestly feel like if Samuel L. Jackson didn't bring in the much needed comic relief this movie would be mostly forgettable, especially compared to the animated movie.
But I do think that if you're a huge fan of the character of Tarzan then this is at least worth a look.

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5

Recommendation:  Rent it

The Shallows (2016)

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Writer: Anthony Jaswinski
Stars: Blake Lively, Oscar Jaenada, Lozano Corzo

Synopsis: 
Nancy (Blake Lively) is on the search for an island her deceased mother had found when she was pregnant with her many years ago and she encounters a shark in the surrounding waters only a couple hundred yards away from shore.

Review:
This movie is the best shark movie since Jaws, which honestly hasn't had an honest contest considering not many other shark films, if any, before this even touched the bar set by Jaws 41 years ago. That isn't to say that this movie isn't good, it's quite unnerving and terrifying honestly. This is this generation's Jaws because along with being filmed with a Go Pro camera a tiny bit, the use of cell phones and Instagram being apparent in this movie even video calling shows up in a scene, this movie makes you afraid of the water again.
Now I would still say that Jaws is a better film but I would be shocked if something could be released today with the amount of heart and suspense that surrounds Jaws and makes it the classic it is. But with the white knuckle thrills and amount of tension that this movie delivers makes it a worthy competitor and could be used as a nice opener for a summer double header at a drive-in or at home next year with jaws.

Rating: 4 1/2 Stars

Recommendation: See it

Swiss Army Man (2016)

Director: Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
Writers: Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
Stars: Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Synopsis:
It starts out with Hank (Paul Dano) being stranded on an island and loosing all hope on being saved and is setting up to hang himself until he finds Manny (Daniel Radcliffe) washed up ashore. The only problem is that Manny is dead. The thought of love though does seem to reanimate Manny, more progressively the more he can remember what love was. Through this reanimation progress Hank realizes Manny's potential at being a helpful tool in helping Hank return to civilization.

Review:
Swiss Army Man is every bit as original as it is hilarious. I can't exactly remember a movie this charming and every bit bizarre as this movie was. Now I can guess that there probably are going to be some people that watch this and want to walk out or turn it off within the first 10 or so minutes because of the bizarre content in this film, but it does reward those who stay by delivering a once in a lifetime cinematic experience that I'd love to experience again before it leaves theaters.

Rating: 5 Stars

Recommendation: See it

Kung Fu Panda 3

Director: Alessandro Carloni, Jennifer Yuh
Writers: Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger
Stars: Jack Black, Bryan Cranston, Dustin Hoffman

Synopsis:
Continuing from the past two entries, Po finds out that he belongs to a bigger family along with an overbearing threat coming after him and his friends.

Review:
The animation is beautiful and the jokes still seem fresh and inspiring after three movies, a feat that not many movies can claim themselves. The voice acting is never dull and the addition of Bryan Cranston helps quite a bit.

I really did enjoy this, even if I had yet to see the second one. I feel like that could have helped my enjoyment a bit more, because the beginning was a bit of a rush to me, but it did seem to slow itself down a bit after the first 20 minutes or so. I really started to enjoy this film when Po goes back with his father to their panda village and he meets with all the other pandas.

The plot is simple, but honestly that is a strong point with it, it allows for a lot of characters to come up and shine. Especially when they introduce a lot of people in this entry. I feel like after this movie there's a lot of promise for even more entries to be able to be made and evolve unlike a lot of series around.

Rating: 4 ½ stars


Recommendation: A fun adventure for the whole family, and one that you don't necessarily have to have complete knowledge over the previous entries to enjoy. Worth the full price of admission. 

Fifty Shades of Black

Director: Michael Tiddes
Writers: Marlon Wayans, Rick Alvarez
Stars: Marlon Wayans, Kali Hawk, Fred Willard

Synopsis:
A spoof film based on the phenomenon film Fifty Shades of Grey

Review:
Well, Marlon did it, or at least is starting to really slip into this comedy form, where you go away from the plot and do a scene that doesn't necessarily attribute to the plot more than just to throw in some pop culture references, which I honestly don't mind, but I don't prefer it. I used to enjoy the first couple Scary Movies and even the Haunted House films, which I felt to be in the minority on being a fan of, because they were just plain funny to me, they told jokes that at least felt like part of the plot, compared to the later scary movie films where they just would go off to a scene that didn't apply to the plot as much as just threw in some cheap laughs.

This film was funny at times and was really nailed the head on some scenes, but for every three or so scenes that were like that you had a scene that went away and put more pop culture references than probably necessary. Other than that though, this has the normal dick jokes and gags, the same type of humor that you've seen in these films before. This really didn't do much different than what other spoof movies have done, which could be a good thing or bad thing depending on your thoughts on the genre. I personally liked this more than Fifty Shades of Grey so that's a plus. I mainly think Marlon didn't want to do another Haunted House film again and decided to hit on the next big movie or genre there was and that happened to be Fifty Shades of Grey.

Rating: 3 Stars

Recommendation: If you enjoy the Spoof genre or enjoy Marlon Wayans, then you'll enjoy this enough. Even then though this could ultimately lead to some disappointment among those fans. I'd say rent it or, if you're really eager to see it, see it at a matinee showing. 

The 5th wave

Director: J Blakeson
Writers: Susan Grant, Akiva Goldsman, Jeff Pinkner
Stars: Chloe Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson, Gabriela Lopez, Maika Monroe

Synopsis:
An alien race shows up and starts wreaking havoc on the world in 5 different waves of attacks.

Review:
The 5^th wave is a Sci-fi film that depending on your sci-fi knowledge, or fandom of the genre, might be considered a boring re-tread or a fun adventure. I personally thought it was a fun adventure that brought me back to the days of the old alien sci-fi films. Now this movie wasn't perfect and honestly my favorite part was any scene involving the character Ringer (played by 'It follows' Maika Monroe). And I haven't read the book so I don't necessarily know what all they did and didn't do with the source material.
With it being a YA adaptation though, there is a small love triangle thing that honestly feels force and I think they should have just kept it out of the film in general. Maybe they should have developed it more or something, again I haven't read the book so I don't know exactly how much they kept or changed from it. But besides that though this movie has been done before, not necessarily within the YA adaptation genre but more in the Sci-fi genre.
This movie overall was a good time and honestly wasn't that bad of an experience.

Rating: 4 Stars


Recommendation: I'd say if you want something fresh in the Sci-fi genre then stay away, but if you want to be able to enjoy a movie full of Sci-fi tropes then you should check this out. Also, if you're wanting to stay away from this because it's a YA adaptation then please give this a look because honestly the only thing that this takes from those similar movies and books is the love triangle aspect and there's enough stuff going on around it that it doesn't stand out too much except for the couple scenes that it is involved in.

Dirty Grandpa

Directed By: Dan Mazer

Written By: John Phillips

Stars: Robert De Niro, Zac Efron, Zoey Deutch, Aubrey Plaza

Synopsis: A grandpa wants to take a trip to Florida with his grandson he hasn’t really connected with in years after his wife died because it’s what she would have wanted, but that’s not exactly the actual plan.

Review:  Dirty Grandpa starts out modest enough. Jokes that are raunchy but you’ve probably have seen worse or about the same before. The actors are enjoyable and no one really does anything wrong with their roles. The movie looks nice and there are a few laughs to be had that do run generic. Dirty Grandpa’s main problem though is that it’s generic.

Really the problem I had is that some jokes run too long, and especially the last scene. I was glad I was able to watch this in an empty theater because I let out the biggest groan during the last scene because it was just so awkward and dragged on so long I was just out loud like, can we just end this forgettable movie already?

There’s a romance subplot too that feels a little force and really only has a few scenes devoted to it, and overall, like I just stated, this movie is mainly forgettable. It doesn’t have a specific joke or scene that is memorable enough to be remembered years from now.

Rating: 3 stars

Recommendation: If the trailers made you laugh then catch this at a matinee or rent it. Besides that though you might as well stay away.

The Boy

Director: William Brent Bell
Writers: Stacey Menear
Stars: Lauren Cohan, Rupert Evans, James Russel

Synopsis:
A nanny is hired to look after a family's son that actually turns out to be a life-sized doll.

Review:
This movie falls into the category of false marketing, much like House at the End of the Street did, although not as bad. I say that because the first half of the film is much like what the trailers show us the film to be, but then by the time the second half of the film hits, its a thriller, and I think that's where people get upset with this film, much like how they were with House at the End of the Street. I personally loved both that and The Boy, and I think it's because of that reason, they're not really what they look to be, and actually surprise me.
Like I said the first half is all about the doll being possessed but through some twist and turns, the plot takes us to thriller territory and the scares fade, which I actually quite enjoyed. Of course I can see why the majority of people would be upset due to the fact that a lot of people come to these to get scared then feel ripped off when it turns out not to be scary.
Now, this movie isn't perfect and I wouldn't even say it's worth full price at this point, and the twist does offer up a bunch of questions that don't get answered, ultimately they might make a prequel explaining it like most horror movies recently. But while that's a problem, Lauren Cohan's character really is the best thing about this movie and makes the movie worth watching. The story can be considered bland, depending on your thoughts on the paranormal and possession genre as of late.

Rating: 4 Stars

Recommendation: If you are looking for a darker movie to watch in theaters right now then this would be your best bet. I'd recommend a matinee to save some money though in case you find yourself disappointed in it. 

Room

Director: Lenny Abrahamson
Writers: Emma Donoghue
Stars: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Sean Bridgers

Synopsis:
A mom and her five year old son try to escape a room, one she's known, and only known, for seven years.

Review:
This movie is really engaging and such an emotional ride. One I haven't felt in awhile based on just how good the movie is, I mean I did have an emotional ride through Star Wars, but that was purely on nostalgia. I didn't know much about this going in, except that Brie Larson won the Golden Globe for it, and I hope she wins the Oscar for it after seeing it, and I honestly think that's the best way to see it, but I found out that this is based on a book, written by Emma Donoghue, and apparently this follows it very well with that book.
The acting is perfect, it's believable and at most points I forgot that I was watching a fictional movie and not a documentary. The story, the way it unfolds, really delivers the emotional punches at the right time and in the right way. Since I didn't know what the movie was truly about I was trying to figure out what it was about the room they were in, when this movie took place, and etc. But when Ma tells Jack what exactly was going on, I wasn't honestly prepared for it and it explained what I was questioning.
This truly was a respectable movie made about its subject matter which I applaud especially with how grounded and real this movie's subject matter is.

Rating: 5 Stars

Recommendation: If your theater is showing it,which most are now because of the oscars, go see it. And try not to look too much into the synopsis, unless you've read the book this is based on. Because I thought that was the best way to enjoy this film with an open mind and not knowing much about what this was about. Highly Recommend.

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

Director: Michael Bay
Writers: Chuck Hogan (Screenplay), Mitchell Zuckoff (Book)
Stars: John Krasinski, Pablo Schreiber, James Badge Dale

Synopsis:
A U.S. Compound in Benghazi is attacked as a security team tries to defend it along with an American Ambassador in 2012.

Review:
I'm going to start out with saying this, this is Michael Bay's best film. But it certainly isn't the cinema masterpiece that the trailers are saying now. Michael bay even goes as far as keeping his camera crew from drinking a whole pack of monsters before every shot they take. They only take them on their off days apparently. There's even scenes and sequences that I'm like, is this really a Michael Bay film? Because some shots are just so well made and sequences are actually tense some times.
Now, like I said this isn't a masterpiece, there are some jokes that don't hit, and there is still quite a bit of shaky close up camera shots that make it difficult to tell what is going on sometimes, but honestly you should at this point know that you're going to be seeing that stuff in a Michael Bay film, but it honestly isn't done in a way that's over the top or obnoxious. It all just comes and goes and there's enough room for you to breath between each time.


Rating: 4 Stars


Recommendation: If you have seen everything else out there, and looking at what to watch that came out this weekend this is going to be your safest bet.

Ride Along 2

Director: Tim Story
Writers: Phil Hay, Matt Hanfredi
Stars: Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Olivia Munn, Ken Jeong

Synopsis:
James and Ben head down to Miami to stop a drug dealer supplying Atlanta dealers.

Review:
Oh boy. This movie is basically what 22 Jump Street could have been. This movie takes everything that made the first one fun and exciting, and just retreads it in a lazy fashion. Honestly if Ice Cube and Kevin Hart wasn't in this, then I don't think this would even be put in theaters. It only goes through the motions that we've seen not only in the first movie, but any buddy cop movie made... ever.
I did find some laughs though, and again, Ice Cube and Kevin Hart I feel like have great chemistry together, that's why I'm even saying it's worth a watch. I just hope that when the sequel comes out, if one does, that they actually try and bring something new to the table and make it a blast to watch much like the first movie was.


Rating: 3 stars


Recommendation: Rent it, or wait till DVD or something if you really liked the first one, because you're just getting more of the same from that one, but not nearly as good.

The Revenant

Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Writers: Mark L. Smith, Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter

Synopsis:
A frontiersman that was on a fur trading expedition in the early 1800's ends up doing a survival quest after being nearly killed by a bear and left for dead.

Review:
The movie, first and foremost, is beautiful. It's also brutal, from the first scene all the way till the ending. The use of natural lighting causes the night scenes to have some of the blackest blacks, and there's a constant bluish hue to everything. There's nothing that looks quite like this, at least in the past few years. Not only does the movie look beautiful, but the performances are just as powerful.
Leonardo, does it again, honestly though, I can't think of anyone coming close to his performance in this, especially when he can't fully speak through most of the beginning. Which leads me to believe that he will be getting his first Oscar with this movie, like most people are predicting.
Tom, plays a great villain, not over the top, nor does he do stupid stuff just to do stupid stuff, but he does things that make sense. He's very believable in his decisions made throughout the film and that makes this movie just that much more engaging, because you want to see how this all plays out because you want to see this man get hurt in some way.
This movie runs at a somewhat breakneck speed, at least that's how it feels, even if there's a lot of walking and riding and usual nonsense to lengthen normal movie run times nowadays, this one actually does that in a way that feels natural and doesn't hinder the audience, mainly in part with the scenery and the unique look this movie has.


Rating: 5 stars


Recommendation: This movie brings 2016 in at a high bar for other movies to follow, so high in fact that I really don't see much topping it as December 31^st rolls around come 12 months from now. Highly recommend seeing this this weekend and paying full price for it, especially before the Golden Globes Sunday evening.