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.

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.

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.

Concussion

Director: Peter Landesman
Writers: Peter Landesman, Jeanne Marie Laskas
Stars: Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, Albert Brooks

Synopsis:
Pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu discovers the connection of football players and brain damage they suffer due to their years of play.

Review:
A movie like Concussion is both rewarding and frustrating at the same time. I can't tell if it's a little too short or a little too long, because everything outside of the science ordeal is kinda shady in its pacing and structure. I can't tell if they shouldn't have bothered and made a pretty great one and a half hour long film or made a two and a half film and improved the life story they were trying to tell of Dr. Omalu. The saving grace in this movie is Will Smith, his performance is one of the best this year and I can see why he was nominated for it compared to nothing else with this film.
The film's plot is interesting, and whenever they're just doing the science and concussion stuff, it's very interesting, but then they add stuff to it that shows off what's happening in his life at the same time this discovery is taking place and it feels disjointed and rushed.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Recommendation: Honestly if Will Smith didn't give the performance he gave than I might not have enjoyed it at all, and might go on to have said that this was just like any other sport documentary true story type of shindig. But because for the most part it is interesting and Will Smith's performance shines brightly, this film is worth at least a rental.

The Big Short

Director: Adam Mckay
Writers: Charles Randolph and Adam Mckay, based on the book by Michael Lewis
Stars: Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Brad Pitt

Synopsis:
Different groups of people predict the credit and housing bubble collaps of the mid-2000's and decide to make money off of it.

Review:
Honestly a movie with this plot probably shouldn't be as entertaining as this movie was. It is very similar to Wolf of Wall Street, but it also doesn't feel like a copy cat either. This is a bit more professional than that movie was, so if the excessive lifestyle images offended you from Wolf, and you really do enjoy the subject matter of banking and wall street, then you shouldn't have a problem with this movie. Now I will say that I enjoyed Wolf of Wall Street a lot when it came out and still consider it one of my favorites, but this one was a lot of fun still and would be a lot better of a watch more due to the smaller run time and overall tamer tone than Wolf.
Now with Adam Mckay directing and writing I knew it was going to have some comedy in it, but I was actually surprised with just how funny this was, I love Steve Carell and Brad Pitt especially. I'm actually curious how this will fare during the awards season, because there are a lot of equally good films this year, so I wouldn't be sad if this lost, but at the same time, I am going to be rooting for this a long with some of my other favorites of this year.
This really is a winner to spend your time at the theater, especially if you want to stay away from the crowds at Star Wars.


Rating: 4.5 stars


Recommendation: This honestly doesn't require a theatrical viewing, but if you want to go to the theater and see something that isn't Star Wars this should be near the top of your list.