Delay and upcoming reviews

If you've been following me you might have noticed my lack of post lately, I sadly have had a busy couple weeks and it's been causing me to not be able to write the reviews like I've wanted to. I have been watching the movies as they come out though so I just need the time to write all the reviews out. I did enjoy a lot of the films that have come out lately so honestly if you want to see a movie that is out, you probably are going to like them.

I've seen Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Hail, Cesar, Deadpool, The Witch, and Risen. I'm seeing Zoolander 2 tonight. I can't wait to see Eddie the Eagle next weekend, and Triple 9 has my interest. Gods of Egypt honestly is going to be a surprise to me if I actually end up enjoying 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.

Facebook Page

I'm writing this to let everyone know that I have a Facebook fan page also that I post little extra stuff at like what my schedules are and what I'm watching trying to get some conversation going on movies and everything.

The link is here if you want to go and like it.

the actual address is http://facebook.com/thecinemasquirrel if that link doesn't work.

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.