Reviews

Coming from someone who hasn't seen the video game, this pilot episode did what all pilot episodes aspire to do: establish tone and set-up the rest of the season. Within the first few frames I knew that the attention to detail would provide a stunning viewing experience and I was proved right. The writing, the cinematography and the music all blended together so well. Pedro Pascal gives us a haunting portrayal of a broken man. Whether he speaks or doesn't speak he's able to freeze you in your seat, a truly remarkable performance. Once the ride starts after the first 10 minutes, you're off. Not a wasted step and headed into episode two, I can tell we're only getting started.

Indiana Jones. Jaws. ET. Schindler's List. The list goes on and on. Spielberg develops a timeless story onto the big screen in a seamless fashion. I have yet to develop a coercive definition of for the term "they don't make movies like that anymore". But when you hear that phrase, this is the kind of movie that comes to mind.

The performances. Ansel Elgort gives one of the best performances I've seen from him as Tony. Mike Faist does an incredibly good job as Riff where he was in control of almost every scene he was in. As was David Alvarez as Bernardo. And Ariana deBose as Anita. But for me, the standout was Rachel Zegler as Maria. A virtually perfect casting choice as her voice was filled with the sound of the 50s. The cinematography and production design were stunning. Transporting me to the 1950s Manhattan neighborhoods.

Coming from a guy who isn't the biggest musical fan, the musical numbers most definitely moved the story forward and gave us a deeper understanding of the characters. It was never too self-indulgent to the point of taking away form the momentum of the plot. The singing was incredibly impressive combined with well choreographed dance sequences made for awe-inspiring scenes.

Go give movies like this the proper money that it deserves. The care and attention that went into the production of this movie is well worth the price of admission. Not to mention the theatrical experience is priceless. Take anyone and everyone to see this movie as it is one for everyone. A movie that stays after you long after you leave the theater, which Spielberg has done a time or two.

Going into this movie I knew exactly what it was going to be. A lot of one-liners and a lot of unrealistic action sequences. And that's what I wanted, and that's essentially what I got, but the end product was a bit of a messy, poorly paced buddy cop movie. The highlight of the movie (other than those few scenes if you've seen it *wink wink) is the chemistry between The Rock and Jason Statham. I thought they knocked it out of the park and, for the most part, the humor between the two worked. Idris Elba killed it as Brixton, and the Eteon idea was cool and interesting I thought. But the way they decided to tell the story took away from the movie big time. Not only did some jokes not land for me, or they tried to hard, but there were scenes just thrown in the middle of other scenes that made absolutely no sense. The action sequences were a tad disappointing and pretty much all out of the trailer. But the chemistry between the two is what saves the movie for me. I was disappointed with the movie, but it definitely could have been worse. I'd also like to take the time to look back on how far this "Universe" has come. It's truly incredible.

A solid 7.0/10 is my score. If you want to hear my complete thoughts go checkout Episode 13 of my podcast, Reel Sons of Cinema, now on iTunes and Spoitify!

Starting off this review I must say this film is not for everyone, not because it's an "over the top Tarantino style film", although I must say this is the least excessive of his films that I've seen. This movie is a comedy, that has a heart and makes you feel for its characters. Tarantino proves that he is the king of dialogue, I was glued to the screen for every second of this movie. Leo gives his best performance that I've seen from him and Pitt is an excellent supporting role as well, the two's chemistry makes you wonder how they've never been in a movie together before. You are fully transported and immersed in the culture of the late 60s and what Hollywood was like then, while seeing the parallels between a successful TV star (Leo) and a successful Movie star (Margot Robbie). Tarantino does this masterfully and has made this movie my favorite of his and my favorite movie of the year (so far). There's a lot to take in with this movie (at a nearly 3 hour run time), and I could break down certain scenes (the last 10 minutes were absolute perfection), but this movie isn't just a masterpiece through its acting and technical aspects, it is just a FUN movie, from start to finish. Although primarily a comedy it covers just about every single genre you can think of, which will have you leaving the theater fully satisfied. I give it a 9.3/10!

If you want to hear my full thoughts including spoiler discussion, the next episode of my podcast, Reel Sons of Cinema, will be posted this Tuesday 7/30 on iTunes and Spotify! We're doing a call in section all day Tuesday so if you want to call in and discuss with us follow us on Twitter @SonsReel or on Instagram @Cinemaforreel for details!

Starting off this review I must say this film is not for everyone, not because it's an "over the top Tarantino style film", although I must say this is the least excessive of his films that I've seen. This movie is a comedy, that has a heart and makes you feel for its characters. Tarantino proves that he is the king of dialogue, I was glued to the screen for every second of this movie. Leo gives his best performance that I've seen from him and Pitt is an excellent supporting role as well, the two's chemistry makes you wonder how they've never been in a movie together before. You are fully transported and immersed in the culture of the late 60s and what Hollywood was like then, while seeing the parallels between a successful TV star (Leo) and a successful Movie star (Margot Robbie). Tarantino does this masterfully and has made this movie my favorite of his and my favorite movie of the year (so far). There's a lot to take in with this movie (at a nearly 3 hour run time), and I could break down certain scenes (the last 10 minutes were absolute perfection), but this movie isn't just a masterpiece through its acting and technical aspects, it is just a FUN movie, from start to finish. Although primarily a comedy it covers just about every single genre you can think of, which will have you leaving the theater fully satisfied. I give it a 9.3/10!

If you want to hear my full thoughts including spoiler discussion, the next episode of my podcast, Reel Sons of Cinema, will be posted this Tuesday 7/30 on iTunes and Spotify! We're doing a call in section all day Tuesday so if you want to call in and discuss with us follow us on Twitter.

After the events of the biggest cinematic event in history, Endgame, there was a lot riding on this movie, and boy did they knock it out of the park. A lot of people may be tired of superhero movies, especially Marvel super hero movies, but this is a nice (sort of) breather from the epic Infinity Saga. At its core, it is a movie about a young man finding his way admits the pressures that we all faced in high school, as well as the pressures from pretty much the entire world in becoming the next leader of the avengers and fulfilling Iron mans shoes. It took a little bit for the movie to get going and for the jokes to begin to land for me, but it gave us one of the best villains in Mysterio as well as a coming of age story that also reminded us of the same "horrors" we all faced during high school. On top of all of this they brilliantly thought through what the world would be like after the snap if it really happened and the humor found of that is nothing short of hilarious. This movie is terrific and MUST be seen in theaters for the epic action sequences. And be sure to stay for BOTH post-credit scenes. You won't want to miss them ! 8.6/10

Be sure to give my podcast, Reel Sons of Cinema, a follow on iTunes and Spotify! You can hear my full thoughts on the film and go more in depth on the future of the MCU and what I thought of Stranger Things 3!

We start to see each storyline begin to grow and slowly intertwine. Love what they're doing with Billy's character as he is now looking like the new host for the Mind Flayer, and how Joyce is off on her own adventure (someone please make a GIF of Mr. Clarke opening the garage). The kids are still off on their own thing with relationships which I'm still buying (love the coming of age 80s stuff) but I can tell things are quickly going to make a turn. I LOVE the new relationship between Steve and Dustin and their plot on figuring out what the Russians are planning. I can tell the show is really about to ramp up.

I'd consider myself a huge Beatles fan (I'm 20 y/o so not exactly my generations kind of music), I was so excited for this movie. For me, the movie didn't have to be great, but hearing the music in the theater would be remarkable in and of itself. But this movie exceeded my expectations. Is it a perfect film? No, absolutely not. But in an age of superhero movies and musical biopics, to have such an original idea be brought to life about a band that is seemingly larger than life was a joy to watch. There are a few sequences and jokes that don't hit their mark, but the theme of the movie certainly does. Love. It was more of a romance than I thought it would be, but the undeniable chemistry between Jack (Himesh Patel) and Ellie (the lovely Lily James) turned this movie from solid to a very good movie. You begun to wonder halfway through the third act how they're going to tie this together and let's just say, you won't see it coming. All I have to say is: Wow. The movie also reminded me how timeless their music is, being a fan I have to say you come to re-appreciate the genius of Paul and George and Ringo and John, in a way that cut's even deeper while paired with the romance with Jack and Ellie. If you are not a Beatles fan (how can you not be?), the movie will undoubtedly lose some of it's effect and charm, but it will still carry itself through guest appearances by Ed Sheeran (who did a very good job) and funny sequences. All in all a 7.7/10, the feel good movie of the summer with great performances and original story, that is paired with some of the greatest songs ever written! If you want to hear my full review, I will be posting it on the next episode of my Podcast called Reel Sons of Cinema, check it out on iTunes and Spotify now!

I was extremely excited to see this film after first seeing a small clip of the diner scene between Timothee Chalamet and Steve Carell. Based off of the clip and the trailer, going into it I knew the film would rely very heavily on the performances. Beautiful boy follows David Sheff (Steve Carell) a father who is trying to help his drug addicted son Nic Sheff (Timothee Chalamet). Carell gives a tremendous performance that makes you really feel for the father and everything he's trying to do to help his son. I've only seen two of Chalamet's films (Interstellar and Beautiful Boy) but he really impressed me in this movie. HIs ability to capture the physical and mental transformation of a drug addict was extremely realistic, especially in the scenes of him interacting with Carell. The movie itself is very hard to watch at times, especially if its subject matter resonates with you on a very personal level. But, with a movie such as this that deals with something so serious it does need to be shocking to convey the harsh reality of what drugs can do to a person and his/her family.

Now aside from the great performances and some very deep/moving sequences. The story telling style is where the movie became to jumbled where I felt it took away from the emotionally moving side of the film. The Director decided to go with many flashbacks throughout scenes to show what Nic was like as a kid and compare it to how he was now while on drugs. At times extremely effective and I loved it, but more so it made the story feel extremely jumbled and tried almost to hard to be non-linear and different. I can see what the director was trying to do but it just took away from some scenes I felt could've made the movie a great movie compared to just a good movie.

Beautiful Boy is a very harrowing look at drug addiction and its effects, combining great performances, cinematography and a solid script I give it an 8/10, B. Definitely worth a watch, but once again it is a hard film to watch at times but this helps convey the desperateness the father was going through.

Hollywood is obviously known for their liberal agenda, so it should come to no surprise what their portrayal of a former conservative Vice President will look like on the big screen.

Politics aside... Adam Mckay continues a very intriguing story-telling style as seen in The Big Short (also featuring both Bale and Carell) that kept me engaged for the entire run time. His ability to take the little tendencies and mannerisms of each character and blow it out of proportion for humorous purposes was genius. For example, the Bedroom Scene between Lynne and Dick and the restaurant scene with a nice cameo from Alfred Molina. It was a fast paced story that covered a lot about the mans life. And then the third act hits... When showing the time of Cheney actually in office, the story seemed to be a bit cluttered. It did a poor job of showing how time had passed once he accepted the Vice Presidency from George W. Bush. Other than that I absolutely love Mckay's story telling style, I can see how it might be a bit much for some and that may be off putting but if you love the way The Big Short was filmed you'll like this. Even though once again The Big Short is the better movie and isn't as over-the-top as this movie.

The acting. Oh, the acting. Bale proves once again that he is not only one of the best actors working today but one of the best actors of all-time. Personally, will be a close draw with Bradley Cooper for best actor in a leading role (Rami Malek right behind them). He escapes into the role as Cheney and delivers one of his best performances. Everyone was trying to figure out how Leo hadn't gotten an Oscar until he finally got one in the Revenant in 2016. I'm trying to figure out how Amy Adams hasn't gotten one (5 time Oscar Nominee). She has always been one of my favorites and from the other supporting actresses I've seen in other films this year, she has the Oscar on lock down this year. Her ability to both command a scene and add onto Bale's performance was nothing short of perfect. Steve Carrell was also a big stand out to me as Donald Rumsfeld. He continues to prove that he has the widest range of any actor working today.

Now remember, this review is setting aside politics. For those of you truly wondering , it does paint Cheney as a "heartless" person (near the end of the movie it pretty much blames him for any bad thing that has ever happened in America after his service in office was over). The movie is worth a watch though due to the performances, story-telling style and witty humor that supports the characters. 8/10, B-.