Caro the Movie Critic

Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone laughing at something. "Hawaii is paradise..." Ok, I'm not going to start advertising the luscious state...but it is a beautiful place to vacation with your loved ones. Nevertheless, it is a state of beautiful images of the blue water of waves crashing into the land and you keep hearing that and it is soothing at times. It is a sense of relaxation. A sense of relaxation that transcends your honest stress into beautiful harmony of awe and excitement. I did cheat a little bit as I said I was not going to start advertising Hawaii, but I lost it. But, this movie is set in Hawaii and it is real pretty, however, the convoluted plot-line(s) can be set anywhere because it does not matter where it is set, this is a lousy movie from a gifted writer/director. Brian Gilchrist (Bradley Cooper) is a military contractor who has a second chance in Hawaii because he felt that his boss who is now a billionaire, Carson Welch (Bill Murray) abandoned him wh...

The Rock as the next "Charlton Heston of disaster movies". Let's ask myself one question: "Am I a sucker for disaster movies?" I'd respond, "Not really." However, one disaster movie will take place every year. Last year, we had a cartoonish and stupid disaster film, Into the Storm , which had dumb characters who had no idea what they are saying and what they are doing. But, yes, this genre of disaster films is a category of entertainment and guilty pleasures and I am still waiting an accurate and masterful disaster film. My favorite is The Towering Inferno , with  Independence Day  pretty close. And, there are three categories of disaster films: good disaster films, guilty pleasure films and bad disaster movies. San Andreas  falls in the middle between good and guilty pleasure and that's enough of a recommendation due to a few strong performances at the core of the film. Chief Ray Gaines (Dwayne Johnson) is a Los Angeles Fire Department r...

Welcome to Tomorrowland. What does the future hold for mankind? What does mankind hold for the future? It is uncertain because it is up to ourselves to make the future a positive world of imagination and leadership. If not, then the future will be bleak and outright depressing. It'll be like a post-apocalyptic world after the post-apocalyptic world of The Walking Dead . It is an intriguing premise for an optimistic but troublemaking teenager to solve and uncover the secrets of a new world. But, why is there a new world filled with robots and a Star Trek -type of city? The lead-up to the mystery is worth the journey, however, its journey's end is convoluting that it becomes non-sensical and a distorted conclusion that becomes a bit self-indulgent. In 1964, a young Frank Walker (Thomas Robinson) attended the New York's World Fair. He meets Nix (Hugh Laurie), who is unimpressed with Frank's jet pack. But, he gets Athena's (Raffey Cassidy) attention as she gives a...

Remember the fallen heroes... Happy Memorial Day, everybody! Before I get into my favorite military/war films of all-time, I want to type that we need to remember those who sacrifice themselves for our country and to go all through the struggle and horror to defend our country. Also, we need to remember the fallen soldiers/heroes that has passed only this year but in past years. We respect them and we honor them and God Bless America. Anyway, when I define a war film, I define a film that has some entertainment but also sheer quality and pure storytelling to make the event and battle scenes look realistic, spectacular and horrific simultaneously. It is all going to be sad in the end but we have just watched a depiction of what the soldiers in reality have gone through or will be going through in future events. So, here are the best military movies to watch... Apocalypse Now Saving Private Ryan Black Hawk Down Lone Survivor Full Metal Jacket Born on the F...

They're here! In an imaginative block of stories and plot-lines, there has to be one horror film out there that has a sense of pride and originality that the filmmakers construct to deliver to the audience that there is a great horror film. The problem is that, lately, there have been 2 very good movies and a fun horror film ( The Babadook , It Follows , Unfriended ). It is a bit shocking to me because all three of them are probably have an original spin to the horror genre as they are all different especially the latter two. Now, we get back to that "horror remake" genre where a director and the studio take a gamble to make a better film than the original. Does it fail? Not badly, but again, did we really need a remake of the original Poltergeist . Eric and Amy Bowen (Sam Rockwell and Rosemarie DeWitt) move into a new house with their children - Kendra (Saxon Sharbino), Griffin (Kyle Catlett) and Madison (Kennedi Clements). Eric has been laid off from his job and A...

Mad Max is resurrected again: featuring Tom Hardy.  Ah, yes. Mad Max. The adrenaline is high and my mind is out of control so let me gather my thoughts for a second. Action movies have been a problem recently as how characters have been developed, how the story, or how minimalistic the story is, is being put into the play and how the action sequences need to be a bit fun and cheesy and not self-serious and boring like the Transformers movies. Well, the first one was not that bad, but, no matter. However, coming it into this movie, seeing the trailers and all, I expected to be a fun and good time at the movies. I expected the movie good but I did not expect it to become one of the best action films of the decade, possibly, the best action film of the decade. In a distant future, the world is a desert wasteland and civilization has dwindled to impoverished circumstances. "Mad Max" Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) was once a cop and a road warrior trekking through post-apocalyptic ...

The Bellas competing...again.  "I'm singing, I have a voice and I'm singing. I HAVE A VOICE AND I'M SINGING..." Ok, that's from Elf . It is not the best Segway ever but we'll go from there. Anyway, singing or more specifically, a cappella groups capture the authenticity of how a song is processed with only their mouths mostly with beatboxing, singing and maybe vocalizing with being a back-up and if it is done correctly, it is crazy and quite extraordinary. For example, Pentatonix has a vocal style ranging from their own percussion. It is unbelievable. However, the first Pitch Perfect movie took me by surprise on how fun the film was and how dynamic most of the characters are in the film. But, this sequel felt like the same movie and I felt because they are more comfortable, most of the jokes are scattered and forced and takes the entertaining value away from my interest. The Barden Bellas - led by Beca (Anna Kendrick), consisting of Fat Amy (Rebel ...

Schwarzenegger taking care of his zombie daughter.  The "zombie apocalypse" exists as far as I researched on the Net but I do not want to know how it will happen because there will be a pandemic and/or epidemic that could ruin civilization and would lead to extinction. Yikes! This zombie trend in films and television is widely popular as even though the whole genre is silly, it is suspenseful simultaneously. The Walking Dead and World War Z  are the most recent successful films that I enjoyed. Even though it is a departure for Arnold Schwarzenegger's canon of action films, it is an interesting concept with not enough depth to get my full attention because of its plain dialogue and weird cinematography. Most of the population on Earth has been infected by the virus called: the Necroambulist virus that turn people into zombies. Farmers have burnt their crops to prevent contamination. Wade (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a father searching for her daughter, Maggie (Abigail ...

Juliette Binoche...where has she been since Chocolat? What happens when not just an actress but a person transform her persona into a different and her own character and communicates with people in a different way? She is lost but for an actress or actors in general, it is called method acting. However, we have seen some movies regarding to male acting as other characters or psychos. One grand example is Martin Scorsese's  The King of Comedy with Robert De Niro aspiring to be a comedian by kidnapping a talk show host to have the spotlight to himself. It is an underrated dark comedy. But, this movie focuses on a woman in show business and what it takes. It is a reflection of actresses in that business and two actresses give strong performances in a solid film. Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche) is a successful actress who is propelled to stardom thanks to a director named Wilhelm Mechior, a playwright and director. She and Valentine (Kristen Stewart), her personal assistant, are ...

Vergara and Witherspoon trying to make us laugh desperately. I'm going to get this over with because there's only a few chuckles in the movie and not much to talk about in terms of great quality, character development and plot. Cooper (Reese Witherspoon) is an inexperienced cop who wants to do anything to become more than just an ordinary cop has not had the opportunity to prove herself in the field since the accident involving his father, who was also a police officer. Plus, she always recite the dialogue like a caricature of a cop commandeering the dialogue like it is her own audition of the movie. Cooper has the opportunity, one day, to accompany Daniella Rivera (Sofia Vergara) and her husband to testify against a drug cartel leader, Vincente Cortez (Joaquin Cosio). However, problems arise as the compound is attacked by assassins as the detective and Daniella's husband are gunned down and both Cooper and Daniella are framed for the murder as they run away. It doe...

The Avengers are back. "There are...no strings on me." Joss Whedon established the previous film with such loose energy and high-wire action that delighted not just myself but about the entire world as we witness all six superheroes teaming up to defeat a villain. What made the first film so much fan were two elements: the banter/chemistry between the six superheroes and the humorous action sequences and dialogue. It's about what you can get from a standard comic-book film. The only test with all blockbuster hits: Can you top the original? Well, he's back again and unfortunately, it is not as energetic or superior as the first film, but it's entertaining at best. The Avengers (you know who they are: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner) are infiltrating HYDRA headquarters at Sokovia to break in and retrieve Loki's scepter. They also try to defeat Baron Von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann) as he i...

One of the many movies of the 2010s. We're about over halfway through the decade so I figured why not do a list of the great movies of the decade...so far? There have been many great movie and some fun ones so far and even though, 2015 has not started so well, it is, I think, a perfect time to constitute which films we will remember 5 years from now or already 5 years later. Without further ado, here they are: These are movies that I picked for the top 10 movies of the decade so far so I do not pick the 5 best movies from the last 5 years so I just picked the ones that I have felt that are important and/or entertaining. You never know there could be a film that is not on the list that can sneak up in the end of the decade from the past 5 years. Runner-Ups (10): 12 Years a Slave Argo Black Swan Bridesmaids Interstellar The LEGO Movie Silver Linings Playbook Toy Story 3 Under the Skin Zero Dark Thirty 10. The Wolf of Wall Street Martin Scorsese's movie tha...

Doesn't this photo remind you of Gossip Girl? Think about this. How would it feel if you remain the same age forever? What age would you remain to be? There are pros as to being the same age but in my opinion, there are more cons because there are consequences to not just your life but the lives around you. However, how long does it take for someone to run away from his or her past to cover the truth? It is simply the premise of the film that has a potential good story behind the film. But, even though has some strong elements, there are the clichés and romantic storyline that hurt the movie by becoming a tighter and actually more memorable film. Adaline Bowman (Blake Lively) is a woman in her 20s that is stuck in the world of purchasing fake IDs and is commented by someone that her age defines Adeline and could shave off a few years. We observe from the narration and her apartment that she had raised the same dog over and over again and when she opens her film reel, she expl...