Caro the Movie Critic

2013 has been another terrific year for the movies. I think it was pretty equal to 2012, but there were about 32 movies that were in contention for my top 10 list, which is a record (previous record was 30). I cannot believe how many good movies I saw but it was clear to say the least which was #1 and #2, but it was rest of the list that got me thinking a long time. So, since it was another great year, I posted a runners-up list. Runners-Up List (11-20, alphabetical order): The Act of Killing Before Midnight Blue Jasmine The Conjuring Frozen Fruitvale Station The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Mud Rush The Way Way Back 10. The Spectacular Now A great coming-of-age that has a few cliched characters but avoids the predictable outcomes. It is basically an almost identifiable outlook of what happens in the senior year of high school. Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley create good chemistry. I can't believe Teller gave a great performance after his stinkers  Project X ...

Ben Stiller and Kristen Wiig having a natural conversation. Everybody daydreams at one point or another. The question is what does anybody daydream about? Basically, daydreaming is imagining all aspects of a fantasy or an image that nobody could ever realize in their own minds. Also, it is what happens when you go to sleep and can think about anything what's going on in your brain or mind in the state of hibernation. However, in this movie, when someone frequently daydreams of fantastic adventures, the imagination captures the magic well to anchor the spectacle, but unfortunately, the magic seems to interfere with the confusing story. The movie opens with Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) going over his expenses while he is about to go to eHarmony to check out a profile of a co-worker named Cheryl Melhoff (Kristen Wiig). After being hesitant to send in a wink, he clicks and sends in a wink but the computer does not approve. After a few more attempts, he gives up and frustratingly le...

The stockbrokers worshipping Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) like a god. Wall Street. The clients, the adrenaline, the stocks, the money, the power, and the decadence. The former three pertains to the man's job, but the latter three pertains what any stockbroker wants in order to have the freedom to do whatever they want with the client's money. As Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey) would say, "The name of the game is: move the money from your client's pocket into your pocket." We basically spend three hours seeing all of these Wall-Street scumbags steal the clients' money into their own pockets and spend it on booze, drugs, women, and other insane things in more insane activities. I have witnessed here is a great movie that I would not watch repetitively. The movie starts with Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) blowing cocaine onto a hooker's butt and he and his brokers throwing a little person onto a board with a dollar sign in the center. It'...

I have seen more documentaries than usual this year and this is a really good batch since I'm not a fan of documentaries. So, basically what I've posted are in mini-reviews of the documentaries I have seen this year (good and bad): The Act of Killing (2013), Unrated, 4 stars The filmmakers putting "bloody" makeup on the actors.  It is the September Movement in 1965 and gangsters Anwar Congo and Adi Zulkadry in Medan are promoted from selling tickets to leading a death squad in North Sumatra as part of the Indonesian killings of 1965 and 1966. The real-life death squad members re-enact their mass killings and scenes depicting their emotions and feelings about the killings. The scenes are produced in their own favorite genres: westerns, musicals, gangster pictures, etc. The documentary shows what Anwar is really depicting behind the scenes. This is a fascinating documentary of how Anwar and his friends feel about their crimes and murders back then, especially...

Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) and P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) having a magical time at Disney Land, I think. Don't you have any recollection of when you went to a Disney Park? Do you recall the wonderful memories of spending the time with your family and friends the whole day and have fun and look at the awesome fireworks at night? Well, of course, none of these memories at a Disney Park would ever happen if Walt Disney had not have the imagination and spectacle that he envisioned to create a suitable and friendly environment for all families to enjoy, especially with the movies. I mean he had imagination with certain films. This movie was about the making of one of the most successful films, Mary Poppins . But, he has to work with a very difficult woman. The film is set in 1961, where a grumpy woman named P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) is living in London where she hears that she is successful with the Mary Poppins series. However, after some financial issues with the rights of her...

Merry Christmas to everybody. I'm blessed and thankful to be healthy and to be with my family during the holidays. Today is really about sharing the memories with the ones you love and remember for years to come. God bless us, everyone! And just for laughs...here's a clip from a recognizable Christmas classic.

Oscar Isaac (Llewyn Davis) looking out the window. Blood Simple, Barton Fink, Miller's Crossing, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, No Country for Old Men, etc. This is some of the finest work that the Coen brothers put on screen and in their spectacular filmography. However, what is so astounding about the Coen brothers is that they could take any material, original or adapted, and make it into something better. And now, here they are with this movie, Inside Llewyn Davis . This movie can be placed with their finest work in their filmography. The movie is set in 1961 where Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac), who is a struggling folk singer living in New York (another New York story). There have been many good New York fables in the last few years. His solo record is not selling, he has suffered setbacks, he does not have a lot of money and he is sleeping in friends' couches. His friend and musical partner, Mike, has committed suicide. Llewyn performs at a cafe...

Young Bilbo Biggins (Martin Freeman) stumbling and looking at something. Sometimes, so much of a good thing can be a burden after the disappointing first Hobbit  movie. I felt like that movie had so much visual excellence that it almost felt like that the filmmakers were almost too focused creating a video game than an actual movie. The battle scenes in that movie felt like that it was too redundant and had no idea what each opponent was fighting for. And, there was too many shots of Bilbo exploring that the viewers felt bored. I even felt bored. However, this second chapter of the Hobbit trilogy is a vast improvement over the dull predecessor. In the opening, Gandalf (Ian McKellen) persuades Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitrage) to obtain a white gem called the Arkenstone to get the Dwarves together. Gandalf thinks that they both need a person to swindle a jewel from Smaug. A year later, Thorin and his group are being hunted and followed by Azog (Manu Bennett) and his Orc p...

Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Christian Bale and Jennifer Lawrence are having a party. The 1970's were basically a glorious time for people just celebrating the decadence with shiny ambiance and festivities that were going around the cities that were doing well. You have to wonder though, what is behind that decadence? There's got to be some scandalous controversy and activity going on behind the scenes. The 1970s is still defined as a "pivot of change" going on social and economical and political forces in America. However, there was an operation that takes place in the late 1970s called the ABSCAM operation and ends in the 1980s. This movie explores some of the operation but also delves into all of the characters' issues and participation during the scam. And, wow, this movie is a riot. This movie opens in April 28, 1978 where Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale), a hefty Jewish man who is in a room in the Plaza Suite in New York, is just combing ...

Greta Gerwig (Frances) expressing herself. Manhattan, New York. It would be challenging and difficult to live there. I mean, there's always going to be struggle financially and physically to overcome the adversity that is against a new coming resident living in New York. But, it's a fantastic city because you have no obvious idea what's going to be in the way of your life positively or negatively. Ever since Woody Allen's classic films, Annie Hall and Manhattan , I don't know any other filmmaker would ever photography The Big Apple so beautifully, especially in black and white. This filmmaker, Noah Baumbach, does accomplish his task to make a very interesting story in New York. The movie starts out with Frances Ha and Sophie (Greta Gerwig and Mickey Sumner) where they are just playing around like little children in a park. They are roommates basically talking with each other, smoking, and watching a movie on a laptop. Frances is at Dan's (Michael Esper) ap...

Well...you know these characters if you have seen the first movie. The chips are down. Many people may bet if a sequel to a comedy may be really bad. I mean there are a lot of bad sequels to many good comedies: The Hangover Part II and Part III , Arthur 2 , Grown Ups 2 , Smokey and the Bandit Part 2, The Odd Couple II,  et cetera, et cetera. It seems that many directors and actors who want to work on a sequel tend to focus more on the money rather than the material and jokes itself. Anchorman was a wonderful comedy and it would become impossible to make a good sequel, but, the result is astonishing because it is a funny sequel. The narrator begins to continue Ron Burgundy's journey as the movie starts in New York City in 1980 where Ron is now married to Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate). They both have jobs and are doing news at the World Broadcast news station. After their broadcast is over, their boss, Mack Tannen (Harrison Ford, that's the only cameo I'm ...

Hans (Geoffrey Rush) hugs Liesel (Sophie Nelisse). The Holocaust and World War II are tough subjects to organize and structure a plot around because the filmmakers try to get the audience's attention and divulge their emotions. The movie has to have a balance of overwrought horror and a little sentimentality with the characters and the events to actually result as part of the collection of war movies. However, this is more of a family drama, than a ward drama, even though it is about an adoptive family. The movie has some great moments of horror and drama, but the sentimentality does not mix well with the movie. It opens in April 1938, when Liesel's brother was killed and Liesel Meminger (Sophie Nelisse) finds her first book near her brother's graveside, she is sent to foster parents Hans and Rosa Hubermann (Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson). She makes friends with a noticeable neighbor, Rudy Steiner (Nico Liersch). Rudy decides to become her friend and guides her on th...

Here are the movies that I will post in the last remaining weeks of 2013: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues American Hustle Saving Mr. Banks Inside Llewyn Davis August: Osage County The Secret Life of Walter Mitty The Wolf of Wall Street Kick-Ass 2 (DVD) Frances Ha (DVD) Blackfish (DVD) Her (maybe) Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (maybe) Plus: The Best Movies of 2013 Oscar Nominations Predictions

That's not me, but that's the facepalm I make when I suffered a bad experience with a bad movie. 2013 had a lot of really good movies this year, but also there were a lot of bad and disappointing movies from almost every category, especially in the animated category. But, I mean it was really difficult picking the 10 worst movies because there were about 20 fighting for those spots. There were a few movies that I sacrificed my time for y'all to warn you not see the movie. It was a public service. So, without further ado, here are my picks for the worst movies of 2013: 10. The Counselor A great cast but a truly awful and convoluted movie from Ridley Scott and Cormac McCarthy featuring the most random sex scene of the year starring a Ferrari and Cameron Diaz. 9. Planes The obvious joke is we had Pixar's Cars , now we have Disney's Planes , but what's next: Disney's or Pixar's Trains  or Boats ? I mean, ugh, this is basically punishment fo...

Bruce Dern as Woody Grant. Set yourself in a room with a lottery ticket or scratched lottery ticket. How would you react to winning a million dollars or more in a lottery draw or a scratch off? How would you feel if the ticket was part of a lottery scam? Well, in today's society, anybody who would believe that he or she won a million dollars or more would have the trouble and time to travel to the sweepstakes company to collect. I mean, do you think that odds are in your favor when picking the correct numbers to win the lottery ticket? It's a really slim chance. But, however, the great news does not stop an old man from trying to get to his destination in this wacky and great movie. The movie starts hilariously when Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) is walking in the snow alongside a busy road where many cars pass and a sheriff sees him and pulls over asking where he is going and where he is coming from. His son, David (Will Forte), arrives at the police station after he was conta...

Dame Judi Dench and Steve Coogan. Mothers have an instinctive sense of watching out for their children, I mean, if a mother wolf sees a human carrying the her baby, the person better let the little one go, otherwise...you get the picture. But, a mother who realizes that because of authoritative laws, she would like to go look for and reunite with a long lost child after a long period of time. The discovery behind Philomena  was not all that original and plausible, but thanks to one great performance, the movie was rather truly interesting and moving. The movie starts with Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan), a journalist, had just lost his job and was debating whether he should write a book about Russian history. Meanwhile, Philomena Lee (Dame Judi Dench) tells her daughter that she gave birth to a son out of wedlock 50 years ago and because of that, she had to give him up for adoption. But in a sudden bit of fate and luck, Martin meets Philomena's daughter at a party and e...