Caro the Movie Critic

Chris Pine as Jack Ryan. Jack Ryan. If that name sounds familiar, it is because he is a fictional character from the Jack Ryan series written by the late author, Tom Clancy. His books were, and still are, popular that Paramount decided to make a series of movies with this character: The Hunt for Red October , Patriot Games,   Clear and Present Danger, and The Sum of All Fears . I really liked  Red October and Clear and Present Danger, thought Sum was ok, and Patriot Games was flawed despite convincing performances and a good score. However, I felt like that this latest installment is over-plotted with a lack of imaginative drive despite some skillful action sequences and solid performances. In a weird flaw in the time continuum, the movie takes place after 9/11 where Jack Ryan (Chris Pine) drops out of the London School of Economics to enlist in the Marines to become a lieutenant. However, he is in a horrific helicopter crash where he is placed in rehab under the care of...

2013, again, was a splendid year at the movies. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences faced with many decisions as to who or what movie will be nominated in any category. Honestly, I was delighted with most of the nominations placed onto the list of nominees this year. However, there were some snubs regarding Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson, Hans Zimmer, Inside Llewyn Davis ' chances of being nominated for Best Picture and Lee Daniels' The Butler  being shut out completely. Everybody's opinions do not matter anymore as we look at the deserved nominees for the 86th Academy Awards. BEST PICTURE: American Hustle Captain Phillips Dallas Buyers Club Gravity Her Nebraska Philomena Twelve Years a Slave The Wolf of Wall Street BEST DIRECTOR: David O. Russell (American Hustle) Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity) Alexander Payne (Nebraska) Steve McQueen (Twelve Years a Slave) Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street) BEST ACTOR: Christian Bale (American Hustle) Bruc...

The soldiers are in immediate danger.  War is intense, scary and unpredictable. A soldier does not know what is around the corner, who is in hiding, and whether or not he will get out alive. It is utterly important to witness each soldier's fear and bravery to accomplish their mission on screen. However, recent war movies seem to lose their own way with trite dialogue, inconsistent character development, over-the-top camerawork, and spectacular action. It has been a while since we have seen a poetic war movie or a realistic war movie. The last realistic war movie I have seen was The Hurt Locker  in mid-2009 and that was a great movie. Lone Survivor  is hit-and-miss with its message of true courage and patriotism, but it is a good movie centering around some powerful performances. The movie begins 3 days earlier before a mission gone wrong where we meet the four main soldiers: Hospital Corpsman Marcus Luttrell (Mark Wahlberg), Lieutenant Michael Murphy (Taylor Kitsch...

Joaquin Phoenix listening to Scarlett Johansson's attractive voice. This movie is basically an important outlook of what everybody can turn into while they are surrounded and obsessed with technology 24/7. Let's face it, we are in the futuristic world full of technological products and resources that can entirely make our lives quite suitable. However, when a person is a recluse or lonely in the world, he or she will be afraid of social contact and will be totally isolated from the population. So, what will this person have left? Technology. But, let's be specific. Wouldn't he or she want an operating system with artificial intelligence that would sound like the opposite sex? Well, Theodore Twonbly does in this extraordinary film. Theodore Twonbly (Joaquin Phoenix) is an introverted person who works as a writer helping people with difficulties by sending their love letters expressing their true feelings. He is unhappy because he is in the middle of an impending di...

I've decided to post my predictions of who will be nominated. (My predictions of the winners and actual nominations will be posted much later and next week respectively.) I do not want to post my predictions of the nominations in the smaller categories and it's going to be very difficult who will be on them in a few of the major categories: So, without further ado, here are my predictions or people/movies that I hope will get nominated. BEST PICTURE (Could be 5-10 pictures): 12 Years a Slave American Hustle Captain Phillips Gravity Her Inside Llewyn Davis Nebraska Philomena Saving Mr. Banks The Wolf of Wall Street BEST DIRECTOR: Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave) David O. Russell (American Hustle) Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity) Spike Jonze (Her) Alexander Payne (Nebraska) There are about 3 additional directors who also deserve to be nominated: Paul Greengrass, Martin Scorsese, and the Coen brothers. BEST ACTOR (the toughest category this year): Chiwetel Ejiof...