Transpecos Slow burn crime flick set in West Texas border country. Clifton Collins is great as always, he's in my top echelon of underappreciated actors. Solid movie, not great, but for a directorial debut (and the guy's from Texas) it shows promise.
Dude what the hellllllllllll. I just don't understand how people can do that. White people you embarrass me.
Secret Life of Pets 8/10 This movie was really good, and very funny. I was frankly surprised, because the marketing people apparently tried to deliberately kill the movie. You remember this one right, the little animated movie that was marketed by showing pet owners leaving, and then the pets basically playing loud music or eating food from the fridge... AND NOTHING ELSE..? Yeah that one. Well, I am here to tell you that this movie was a little bit insane, very well written, well performed, and actually had a full-fledged real story that was not even HINTED at in the previews. This is basically a Kevin Hart movie - yes, Kevin Hart plays one of the primary characters, and no he is not the MAIN character, but as soon as you realize you are hearing this one character being played by Hart, it just makes everything even more funny. The closest vibe I can think of to compare this movie to is Toy Story, because of the interactions of characters, and the way the two main characters are thrown together, become instant enemies, and end up best pals. You don't need kids to be able to enjoy this one. Give it a watch. Two Paws Up!
Captain America: Civil War: 8/10. Watched it twice in 3 days and it was much better the second time. Just slightly behind Winter Soldier.
Amazing how good is the Captain America Series has been. The first one was kind of slow. Rocket River
Civil War: 9/10 That's how u do it. Great character integration, pace, terrific shield slamming end to ironman, fun, and interesting story telling. While I'm not sure every character was on the right side of the Civil War, the movie was so good I didn't even think about it much. I need to watch again to assure myself the bad guy was capable of pulling of the plot, but it seemed to make sense. Interesting that it is almost an exact replica of the superman vs. Batman plot line, but done so much better.
Dope: 8/10 It wasn't the best ever and a little uneven but a lot of it spoke to me and it had some truly hilarious moments. We need more movies and voices like this.
Revolutionary Road: 8/10 Although depressing, thought provoking, terrific performances by DiCaprio and Winslet, and emotional score and cinematography. The idea of reconnecting with the passions of being on the cusp of life rather than in the muddle of it was uplifting, only to realize they weren't going to find it. I'd like to see the ending in Paris. Reminds me of when I watched About a Boy and thought the movie would have been equally interesting if he committed to his single life and we got to see that play out. Worth a look for thirty and overs.
Central Intelligence: 8/10 The first 45 minutes is fun and popcorn entertainment. These two are a great duo. Wouldn't say that it is drop over dead funny, but the dynamic is solid enough to pull you along for the ride and u want to see what happens. It gets a little too real near the end which takes away from fat Robbie's sympathetic character which is drawing you along. Not sure Fat Robbie going naked at the end was funny or a necessary. They deal with the serious issue of ending up in the middle, but don't do much with it. Overall though it's a fun watch.
Zootopia 7/10 Wife's choice. Diverting and kind of cute lots of funny throwaway lines and touches like a DMV staffed entirely by sloths. Probably not oscar bait, but there are worse ways to spend an hour and a half when there are no sports on.
The Shallows: 8/10 Surprisingly interesting and smart movie given that it's premise has been done and done again. Liked the feel and atmosphere. The shark is bad ass. The fear was real. Don't think it had one dull moment. The shots and water were all great. Blake pulled it off to my surprise and while some sexiness there, it did not take away at all from the movie and she was less than sexy for most of it, and real. Ending was good, but also thought she could have tied the buoy to the shark to slow him down. I would have liked it too if the bird had been taken by the shark while floating on the surfboard near the end, but they had enough kills already and that might have been one too many, and over the top, but also think that might have been an "it's on"moment. Hit the mark and felt original. Should see.
Speed 6.5/10 Yeah, I've seen it many times, but I just watched it this morning at like 4 am as I couldn't sleep, so I'll rate it. It hasn't held up as well as one would have hoped. I've watched some Die Hard recently as well and that's held up better. Just way too many crazy, not possible type moments. The freeway jump - I mean, watching that back now you just laugh out loud. But it's still vintage Keanu, vintage Bullock, vintage the black guy from Terminator 2 (sorry... forgot his name, great character actor!!), etc. Still a fun movie. Just not sure the next generation will be all that impressed.
Steve Jobs - 7.5/10 Added on HBO this weekend. Liked this one a lot. The story was structured interestingly, and I'm a sucker for Aaron Sorkin dialogue.
I've been watching horror movies on Netflix non-stop for the past week or so. Here are a few notable ones... VHS - As far as found footage horror movies go, this isn't too bad. 3/5 VHS II - They have the entire series on Netflix and this one by far is the best one. It's a good mix of zombies, aliens, and the occult. 4/5 VHS III - Terrible. Don't bother. 1/5 Jeruzalem - Israeli horror film. I was expecting subtitles but it's all in english. It's a different take on zombie movies with a more religious feel. It's also viewed from the perspective of the main character, who's wearing Google Glasses. 3/5 Dead Snow II - If haven't seen the first one, it's a group of friends vs. Nazi zombies. The sequel follows the story directly after the first one. It's entertaining but is way more goofy and comical than the first one, which was more intense. It's ok. 2/5 Hush - This one is pretty intense, especially early on. The main character can be frustrating at times, but that's with any horror movie. The main characters have to be stupid sometimes. 3/5
Hardcore Henry 5/10. Uniquely filmed, like a nonstop FPS game. Feels like a bunch of random skits put together to make a film.
Magnificent Seven 4/5 This is a mindless old school spaghetti western that's an homage to the originals. While you could probably pull more thought and feels by watching the old school westerns or the original Seven Samurai, there's enough chemistry and humor to pass the time. Chris Pratt will either steal the movie for some people or override its charm. It does a good job not trying to take itself seriously... there were some moments when it could've gotten darker by going into the backstory of a character only to quickly shift back to crude bar room humor. Definite summer box office, but if you're sick of dark "real" themes plaguing action movies right now, 4/5 is as good as it'll get.
