Caro the Movie Critic

Optimus Prime fights the bad guys again for revenge. *sighs* Transformers. Michael Bay is back. Why? I'll confess there were moments of his last movie, Pain and Gain , where he had some good scenes with actual good characters that really chewed the scenery and made me care about the story, but it gets a little too tonally inconsistent for me and I gave it a mixed review. I don't like the director because he just captures scenery and visual effects and not show us the story or the character development. His best film is without question The Rock  with Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris. The first Transformers movie was fun and Armageddon, despite its preposterous plot and really fast-paced editing, is a guilty pleasure. But, now, we have another Transformers movie and this movie was boring, over-the-top, painfully noisy and incoherent. Oh, boy. I don't know what I'm writing in because this plot does not make any sense. Ok, 65 million years ago, a Cybertronian...

Every character is back...why? I am not going to waste my time explaining what the story is about. All I saw is a rip-off its predecessor along with The Hangover  and a little bit of Rain Man . The Vegas stories are getting old and tiresome. The only recent film successful enough, in my opinion, to make a good story in Las Vegas was Last Vegas with Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Robert De Niro and Kevin Kline. It is basically Kevin Hart's loud voice narrating, clichéd slow-motion shots of women strutting their figures, men being crazy, slapstick, and jail. The only original scene was the women singing the song "Poison" and that was kind of cute and sexy simultaneously and there are a few moments of Hart's jokes full of humor and talent. Otherwise, this sequel was a waste of time. Plus, reading my review of the same retread from the first film and the Hangover films will bore you. So, you're welcome because this is one of the worst films of the year. If y...

2014 has been a good year so far for the movies seeing great movies right from the start of the year and seeing not so many awful movies this year and looking at the second half of the year, I may be in for some entertaining treats. So far, here are the 5 best films of the year...so far. The #1 selection so far is probably guaranteed to be in my top 10 in the end of the year. The rest, we'll see. 5. X-Men: Days of Future Past Along with Captain America: The Winter Soldier,  it has been a surprisingly good year for superhero films. But, this film takes all of the characters and puts them in a time-travel movie that is action-packed and funny simultaneously. It is my favorite X-Men film of the franchise. 4. Under the Skin A very interesting and unique sci-fi film that surrounds a woman that lures men into being in the right moment at the right time. We see that side but we also see the vulnerable side of the nameless alien character played by Scarlett Johannson, who ...

And...action! I admittedly praise movies from high-caliber and award-winning directors, and sometimes, when a disappointing or bad movie comes from one of these directors, I am a little confused and really disappointed because they brought originality and imagination in the movies in their resume. But, here are my 10 favorite directors. (The list of the films underneath the director is not all of the films in his filmography, I just select them just as miscellaneous along with the best film and worst film in the career...so far.) ( This list has been re-edited as of 9/22/2014. ) 10. Wes Anderson Best Film: Rushmore (1999) The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) Moonrise Kingdom (2012) Worst Film: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou Every one of his movies has a unique flair and style that makes the film so delicate and intricate to the material. Even though his style is about the same every time, it does not matter because I care more about the charac...

Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill are back. They're back. The mismatched duo that made the first film a laugh-out-loud riot. Before I begin, sequels for comedies do not have a great record. The only one movie that I can think of that the filmmakers were trying to make and succeeded was the latest Anchorman sequel, which the first half of the film was more hilarious than the second half, which was a bit overstuffed and running out of gas. But, let's think about it. Has any sequel of a comedy been funnier than its predecessor in any series? No. This movie, however, still produces funny jokes and I think it is a bit funnier than the first one...so it is potentially, the funniest sequel ever. But, this movie is not going to be hard to beat, so, writers...there is hope. The movie opens with a brief recap of 21 Jump Street  and Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) assigns Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) on a new assignment in college. However, they are taking online courses.....

Jon Favreau (direct of Iron Man) creates a scrumptious dish. Who loves food? I do. Sometimes, a movie about realistic characters make food can tempt you to become happy and hungry simultaneously. It's delightful to watch behind the scenes what characters create with so many ingredients and so much texture to deliver the plate. Ratatouille is a prime example that is hailed as one of the best animated movies of the decade as far as I'm concerned. We see chefs working as hard as they can to move service, plus, we witness a talented rat helping a useless chef working his way up in the culinary business. Cooking is about passion, spontaneity, and enjoyment. And, Chef is authentically passionate. Chef Carl Jasper (Jon Favreau) is a restaurant chef that prepares some good food and sauces. His co-workers, Martin and Tony (John Leguizamo and Bobby Cavanale), enjoy preparing the food but the latter is having a hangover from the previous night and his day does not start too well. ...

Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort. Every year (I think every 6 months) there is a traditional teen chick flick and sometimes I cringe because I question the studios behind these projects whether they can take this genre in another direction or craft something original. I had to suffer through Endless Love , a clichéd teen romance that had stupid characters in preposterous situations. I understand that most teenage chick flicks consider that love is universal. It always happens and it is natural in our lives. You only live once. However, pain is universal and reality has to interfere between two people in love. Love and pain interweave with one another in this adaptation from the best-selling book. Hazel Grace Lancaster (Shailene Woodley) is a teenage girl who is suffering from Stage IV thyroid cancer and has to carry an oxygen tank with a cannula in her nose to breathe. Her parents, Frannie and Michael (Laura Dern and Sam Trammell), insist to attend a cancer support group. Franni...

Tom Cruise in combat. Time-looping. Have you ever seen Groundhog Day ? I have. Have you ever seen Groundhog Day ? I have and it's a film starring Bill Murray. Have you ever seen Groundhog Day ? I have and it's a spectacularly funny film starring Bill Murray which is one of my favorite comedies ever. See how I started this review. Filmmakers try hard to place that "time-looping" formula in a great film, however, they need a great story, interesting characters, and a well-executed premise. I thought Source Code  was a pretty nifty film about a man trying to find the perpetrator to find the bomber in 7 minutes. This movie, however, is Source Code , Groundhog Day, Starship Troopers, Aliens and a hint of Looper all in one package. And, this is the most delightful surprise of the summer. I cannot reveal much of the plot in this review, so, bear with me. For 5 years, the human race has been at war with an alien race called The Mimics, shown in a great newsreel in the...

Angelina Jolie as the wicked Maleficent. Every family is always entertained by Disney classics and about every generation in a family witness those classics such as Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs , Bambi , Pinocchio , and Cinderella  (the latter is good, but not great.) Another movie that is seen by every family is Sleeping Beauty , a very good film that is plain pretty to witness. Any girl will fantasize being a princess for a day or forever and dance the day and night away and even being rescued by their one true love. However, this 97-minute live-action version of Sleeping Beauty primarily focuses on the antagonist, Maleficent. It is not destined to be a classic, but there's one performance that I cannot avoid singling out which, in my opinion, saves the movie. The movie starts with a narrator (Janet McTeer) stating that if we can remember this old tale as we witness a young Maleficent, a young and powerful fairy, who lives in the Moors, a magical realm near the kingdom, ...