Caro the Movie Critic

Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. Traditional horror films, nowadays, are basically targeting audiences who enjoy the aspect of a pole going right through a person's chest or torso, or a knife stabbed on the head. People just love gore. I am not the kind of guy that really enjoys gory horror films, but they have to have creativity, entertainment and some sort of unpredictable scare and originality. As for this movie, this does not a lot of gore, but a lot of unexpected scares and that's why I considered this to be a truly terrific horror movie. It is one that people will watch during a Halloween season or when a girlfriend wants to "watch" it with her boyfriend. In 1971, The Perron family move into a farmhouse in Rhode Island. Everything is normal with the family and everyone is happy, I mean, what's the worst that can happen? The family dog, Sadie, refuses to enter the house for an odd reason and one of the daughters find a closed entrance to the cellar. Hmm...

Here are the movie reviews that are coming soon on the week 10/28-11/3: 12 Years A Slave Ender's Game Last Vegas Monster's University (DVD)

Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy as Jesse and Celine. The Before  trilogy is basically complete. A romantic drama between two people can get so boring and trite because of so much stupid dialogue and unattractive chemistry. The journey between two characters in love has to be detailed and realistic in such ways that many people can relate to while going through certain periods of life. Nowadays, I think people are afraid of long-term commitment whether if it is marriage or a normal dating relationship. After the conclusion of Before Sunset , Jesse and Celine (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) reunite nine years later and they are parents to twin girls, which they were conceived during their relationship in the second movie. While they are happily communicating with one another, they both have issues in their own personal lives. Jesse struggles to have a good relationship with his son, Hank, who lives with his ex-wife in Chicago. After he spends some time with Jesse on the peninsula in ...

Bullock and McCarthy in a pretty messed-up situation. A buddy-cop action comedy is one of the most formulaic genres in the book of cinema. I mean, Lethal Weapon  and 48 Hrs.  are considered primal cop-buddy movies with a lot of chemistry between two opposite and different characters. Now, when a director and writer create their own story of the genre, it now depends on the plot, characters, style, dialogue, timing, and of course, action sequences. If it does not work, it will turn out to be a waste of time. In this movie, although it is not as great as Bridesmaids and not perfect, it is a pretty entertaining and enjoyable time, thanks to two funny performances. FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn (Sandra Bullock) is one of the most dedicated investigators on the forces despite being treated unfairly by her fellow agents for being condescending and trite. Hale, her boss, tells Ashburn to Boston to investigate a drug kingpin named Larkin (Taran Killam). If she successfully acc...

Here are the movies I will be reviewing on the week of 10/21-10/27. There are a lot: The Counselor The Way, Way Back (DVD) The Conjuring (DVD) Before Midnight (DVD)

Julianne Moore watching Chloe Grace Moretz getting ready for the prom. Mostly, everybody I know has seen the original movie from 1976 by Brian De Palma. Sissy Spacek as the title character did a great job conveying her shyness and inability to fight off against the bullies in the beginning. I felt sorry for her, but there is more that meets the eye. But, Piper Laurie really had a great performance as the overprotective, Catholic mother who is fond of her religious beliefs. With this remake, do the filmmakers have the skills and discipline to create a better movie than the original? You all know the story if you have seen the original. The movie starts out with Carrie (Chloe Grace Moretz), a high school senior with three months left of the year who is showering in the gym and she sees blood down her legs relevant to her menstrual period. She does not know what menstruation means and she thinks she is dying. Because of that, the girls in their underwear throw napkins and tampons at...

Halloween is around the corner. So for anyone who wants to just stay in during the halloween season and watch a scary movie at night with your friends, boyfriend/girlfriend, spouse, siblings, etc...here are the movies I recommend. (There are 18 movies on this list...) The Exorcist Saw Scream The Silence of the Lambs Rosemary's Baby The Shining Halloween The Omen Psycho Black Swan  The Conjuring  Carrie (the original) Alien  A Nightmare on Elm Street  Insidious The Sixth Sense Shutter Island The Birds Hocus Pocus It Follows The Babadook

Danny Trejo and Michelle Rodriguez as Machete and Luz. Robert Rodriguez really knows how to create a movie that has a flair of imagination and gutsy characters. But, sometimes, the imagination can go a little too far. I find that the last two Spy Kids  seemed to go on different territory taking away the spirit of adventure and entertainment. The previous Machete movie seemed to have some originality and spark, but the movie just went on and on. This movie, however, has a few bright characters, but a joyless and confusing story that seemed to go nowhere. Try to keep up with me because I cannot really chronologically remember what is going on in this movie because it was a definitely a confusing array of events and I pay attention carefully. Maybe, I was having an off day. Machete (Danny Trejo) and Sartana Rivera (Jessica Alba) try to stop military men from selling weapon to the cartel on the Arizona-Mexico border. Unfortunately, there was a terrible ending in that fight. (Come...

Uh oh! Hanks is in trouble! Paul Greengrass has established to become one of my favorite directors because he knows how to highlight action sequences so efficiently with a documentary feel. When The Bourne Supremacy  came along, I thought that was a better sequel. When he made United 93 , he made one of the most important movies ever made regarding the horrific day of 9/11 remembering the unsung heroes on board the plane. With The Bourne Ultimatum and Green Zone , I thought, "Wow! Now, he's definitely a great director!" Now he has made this movie setting up a realistic character with traumatic peril while having conversations with the main terrorist. The movie starts out with Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) gathering up his gear and essentials and he and his wife, Andrea (Catherine Keener), talk about changing times and effects on themselves and their children on their way to the airport. Andrea tells Phillips that everything will be all right and they hug and ...

Jaden Smith "taking a knee down". Well, I'm really shocked. I will say that this marks the death of M. Night Shyamalan's career. There is nothing pure and joyful about this movie. The characters were uninteresting, the acting was so bad, and the special effects were nothing special. No question that this is the worst movie of the year, possibly the worst kids movie ever. Rare rating: 0 stars out of 4 stars. That little excerpt is a brief review of The Last Airbender  3 years ago. When a science fiction film comes along, I am salivating for originality, not stupidity. What I got from this a movie is a stupid story with lots of holes as to why Earth has transferred and why other mediocre decisions hamper with the lead character. I was constantly laughing throughout the movie. Let me try to summarize and analyze this story and if I make errors, forgive me. Something environmentally disastrous had to force the human population to abandon Earth. They settle on a ne...

The gang and Chow formulating a plan. When I first saw The Hangover ,  I laughed constantly throughout the movie. The guts to turn a surprisingly very funny comedy into a franchise statistically does not pay off. I mean look at the Friday the 13th  series, Saw series, and the Alien  franchise (Ok, Aliens  was awesome.), it is a travesty. All of the studio executives want to make more money and it pays off since the audience likes the characters enough. I did not think that Part II was that good, but with this one, I think the series has ran out of gas. Thank goodness that this is a conclusion of a trilogy. Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong) has escaped from a maximum security prison during a wild riot after the events of Bangkok two years ago. Meanwhile, Alan (Zach Galifianakis) gets in an accident where he purchased a giraffe and gets it decapitated on a low bridge causing a huge pileup. Because of this huge accident, Sid (Jeffrey Tambor) gets angry about this incident b...

Bullock and Clooney working on a satellite. When a science fiction movie comes along, I hunger for a brilliant idea to come off the screen that I can evaluate as a mechanism that can propel into sci-fi cinematic history. Every few years or so, a sci-fi discovery comes along that can help other filmmakers to create their original story with a visual effect tool like 3-D. James Cameron with Avatar , Neill Blomkamp with District 9, and Christopher Nolan with Inception . Now Alfonso Cuaron has already put in his name in the history of sci-fi cinema with Children of Men, but he definitely has now a work that he can call his masterpiece. The movie starts with a brilliant unedited 12-minute scene with Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) fixing on a satellite with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) commanding his final mission. He's telling a funny story with Mission Control (voiced by Ed Harris, a nice touch for the movie), but he has to assist Stone. They are warned by ...

Affleck and Timberlake on a yacht. Hold on a minute! Haven't I seen this movie this year where a kid is in trouble and because of his talents he gets a job, but then, the scheme spirals out of control? Yeah, I think it was called Paranoia . That was an awful movie despite the two only good scenes from Gary Oldman and Harrison Ford going at each other. This one is not as awful because of two pretty good performances again and a very good set-up. But, the movie dwindles into a formulaic and lame third-act and conclusion. Richie Furst (Justin Timberlake) has had a profitable career on Wall Street and because of that, he does not receive tuition at Princeton. He controls an online poker service where encourages college students to participate to receive more money. After the dean's threat to expel Furst for his activities, Furst himself participates in an online poker game and after things were going really well, he suddenly loses all his money to a cheater. Boy, no wonder he...

Gordon-Levitt and Johansson dancing the night away. His body. His pad. His ride. His family. His church. His boys. His girls. His porn. Everything that Jon Martello objectifies in his life. Don Juan may be a mythical character, but that romantic stereotype is featured as a caricature in many movies, especially in a romantic comedy. The stupidity of the script and inept attitude makes a romantic male caricature a jerk and the romantic interest an embarrassment. The script takes a predictable arc and challenges the audience onto deciding the fate of each characters. It is a really bold and risk-taking movie with dignity and self-esteem. Jon Martello (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a man who woos extremely attractive women and his friends call him "Don Jon" because of his reputation to succeed for "getting 10s". His pornographic addiction spirals him out of control like Michael Fassbender's character in Shame.  Because of that addiction, he sets out to find a grati...