Caro the Movie Critic

The year is about done at the movies and even though when I was looking back at the slate of films for this eventful year, I was going down throughout the list of the films during the summer and I thought: "Wow, this is the one of the worst years ever." But, now I have to clarify: "It was one of the worst summer movie seasons ever." It is because there were a lot of surprises and also solid films throughout the year besides the middle of the year. Now, I have to say that this is going to be a shocking stat: Excluding documentaries, I have only given 4 stars to only six movies. That is one of my all-time lows since 2008 and I have only given 4 stars to five movies that year. It was a good year in terms of what the indie and some of the Hollywood studios had to offer. But, in terms of expectations, most of the movies I have anticipated were disappointments: bad or not to the level of greatness. However, let's get that out of the way and celebrate the best mov...

Pedro Almodovar is one of the most influential voices of international cinema in the industry today. His films capture visual beauty in some profile shots and some great sequences throughout his lifetime that most professors and film students will study for a lifetime. His films of Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down! (it's ok), Broken Embraces, Talk to Her , Volver , The Skin I Live In  (I was not fond of that movie) are an eclectic collection of cinema that people view and say that Almodóvar captured some poetry in his film and also in his characters. However, with his new film, I was a bit unimpressed and disappointed because of how uneven and self-indulgent his melodrama is. Even though it has stunning and detailed composition, I was a bit bored by his latest movie. Julieta (Emma Suárez) is about to move in to Portugal with his boyfriend, Lorenzo (Darío Grandinetti). She is now re-acquainted with Antia's childhood friend, Beatriz (Michelle Jenner) in which she learns that Antia, Ju...

Dev Patel. This is a movie that can take a formula such as a family endeavor and becomes an emotional drama but it is a tragedy to have someone you love in your family household be lost or be distant especially in the 1980s India which there's not much digital communication involved. However, when it comes to family dramas, it can be either uplifting and emotionally gut-wrenching or simply corny. I am siding with the former because this movie is an emotionally character-driven film that will have your tears swell up in the end because you want him to be reunited with his family. I almost cried because I rarely cry during the movie. (It is a very good movie, filmmakers, but nice try.) This is a based on a true story in Central India in which young Saroo (Sunny Pawar) plays with Guddu, his older brother, near the train tracks as Saroo jumps, after being caught by an officer, as the train goes by and he makes it which earns Guddu's compliments. They live in Khandwa Village w...

I have watched about seven or eight documentaries this year and almost all of them were terrific but all of them were at least good. And, I believe that this may be the strongest year for the documentary genre because in the past few years, there is always one that seems pretentious or overlong that has no explanation, background or depth in the political or inspiring figures of that topic. I have reviewed De Palma  and Before the Flood  already so I managed the time to watch five more, one which took eight hours to unfold but hey, I did take one or two breaks over the course of a few days because the inside scoop of one's life was startling and very interesting. However, here are the five short reviews that I have brought upon you: 13th, NR, 4 stars Director Ava DuVernay takes the 13th Amendment into her secret project and explores the amendment inside today's society and standards within the prison system. It is a bit odd and also shocking that most African-Ameri...

Welcome to another bloated world of a video-game genre. Video game movies. Ugh. We have another one. You know what? I'm going to save my strength by typing in an opening paragraph as to how bad video-game adaptations are. This is another wasted opportunity for a superiorly talented cast that was reluctant to participate in this project for a paycheck. A young Callum Lynch has witnessed his mother, Mary (Essie Davis) being murdered by Cal's father, Joseph (Brendan Gleeson), who is an Assassin. Cal runs away from home as his father is being pursued by the Templars. Now, we transition to present day as adult Callum (Michael Fassbender) is being guided to his execution after being convicted of murder. After being lethally injected, Cal experiences some images before passing out. Cal wakes up to Dr. Sophia Rikkin (Marion Cotillard), who tells him that he is legally dead but is in a facility. Sophia tells Cal that he is needed for an experiment to Abstergo Industries. Callum ...

Meet this guy. He's going to be your new son-in-law. All right, people, even if you are in a relationship with another person, do you have that feeling when you get nervous that there would be a time you would have to meet your boyfriend's or girlfriend's parents? Advice: be calm, cool but the only thing is be yourself. Composure is the key. However, in a comedy like this when characters have to meet their parents, I like those types of comedies to see what sort of relationship they will form or how the meeting will unfold. Comedies such as Father of the Bride , Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? , Meet the Parents , My Big Fat Greek Wedding  have all those sorts of formulas as to what slapstick and jokes are coming. I have to admit I did laugh but sporadically because the execution does not take off as to why the father questions that his daughter wants to be with a crass billionaire. I simply stated the answer because most of the jokes are hit-and-miss in this formulai...

Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. Denzel Washington is one of the best and most versatile actors, period. He can propel a routine screenplay or formula movie into another level. But, even with his impressive resume, he wanted to participate in a passion project in which he has experience and that was August Wilson's Fences . I have read the play in preparation for the movie and what got me interested in this were the characters because each character had a dream to pursue but priorities and responsibilities got the best of them as they were enclosed to reality as the fence was representing as it enclosed their space. From translating this play onto the big screen, the performances are great as they give it all their strength but somehow the direction is too laid back to capture the depressing and forceful period in which each person wants to go their separate ways. In 1950s Pittsburgh, Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington) is working as a garbage collector alongside his friend, Bo...

2016 cannot get any worse as both in and outside of the media, it has been a rollercoaster of terrible news coverage. But, out of all the icons in both the music and movie industry, we lost another beloved icon at the age of 60: Carrie Fisher, who many people relate to as Princess Leia from the Star Wars  universe or many young women relate to as a figure of intelligence and wit in both the movies and in real life. But, even out of Star Wars, she has been in other memorable movies in which her role played a key element into the movie. It is too soon to see her go. So, here we are, my favorite performances from the legendary Carrie Fisher. Star Wars franchise This is the movie or franchise that catapulted her into stardom as the sci-fi genre has transported into something bigger. But, it is not solely the visual effects, it is also the characters. We cared about many of these characters in the universe including Princess Leia, who was a person determined to do what is rig...

Let the Lord look down upon you. I have been speaking against movies surrounding any sort of religion or faith that could change people or be overdone with those topics. Lately, the faith-based films have been lackluster in exception to Miracles from Heaven , which I thought was solid. Martin Scorsese has taken 28 years to develop this project that is based on the book from Shasaku Endo. Scorsese wanted to dial down from his loud thrillers or crime biographies to bring us a cinematic epic-looking tale of how people who cannot believe in Christianity are being treated and how faith can restore one's pride and glory but can hurt people by punishment for death. The movie explores the pros and cons of how Christianity can affect people in such a quiet and delicate manner that the experience was breathtaking and disturbing to behold. This is one of the most personal movies from Mr. Scorsese. In 1637, two Portuguese Jesuits named Father Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Father Garrpe...

This...is American Idol...Animal Edition. This year has brought some movies of variety from a particular genre: movies about the passion for music and movies about animal life. Well, this movie combines both of those elements into one animated story. Sometimes, when a movie about music comes along, a filmmaker and/or writer or a team or writers can infuse that passion for music and creativity into a gallant love letter to that art because in that field, it is difficult to come up with the right song. It is basically whatever comes up in your mind and heart that can translate to the demographic's psyche. The movie does get carried away in its singing than its predictable story but its message is in the right place that kids and families can enjoy. A koala bear named Buster Moon (voiced by Matthew McConaughey) is the owner of a theater he had seen a special play when he was young. However, business in the theater has not being doing that well and they are in financial trouble. ...

Sorry, Jennifer, I just did not want to be alone. I was expecting for a trailer to this movie all year because of three reasons: I am a big science fiction fan and of Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, who are the two most charismatic actors out there and could potentially bring out some chemistry. But, I knew something was up when the trailer released real close to the expected movie release date because it was too soon and I knew they were going to promote the heck out of these two actors and also the genre. So, going into this, I was excited to maybe see another great sci-fi adventure with these two actors because of its genre momentum with the past sci-fi film, Arrival . This is a different type of sci-fi film because it is mostly a romantic film from a sci-fi angle and not the other way around. I have to say I enjoyed the movie for most part because of its two leads even though the movie is hampered by a thriller element and also its screenplay that needed some work. If they h...

Jessica Chastain stating her own mind. This has been a wild and crazy year for political figures and politics itself in the spotlight. It allowed probably more people in the world than ever to voice their reasons for amendment and laws such as gun laws. People, in particular, who cannot do anything about it because they do not have political experience, advocate for almost anything in particular they believe they are against or for: you have such topics such as gun laws, LGBT community, immigration, taxes, jobs and even higher education. Even though there are one too many subplots to juggle for there could have been a TV show about this project, this is a quippy and entertaining political thriller that focuses more on the solid dialogue and Jessica Chastain's performance than a central screenplay. Elizabeth Sloane (Jessica Chastain) is a political lobbyist determined to get things right in the government and maybe satisfying the people. She believes that "lobbying is ant...

2016 has not been the best of years but I think, in my opinion, it finished the year on a solid note. However, there were more disappointments than disasters while I was determining what to put on my "worst" list because I think that this is the first time that there could have been an awful movie in each month. But, this time, even though it took me about 10 seconds to establish what my worst #1 and #2 were, it took me a long while to figure out which movies should should be honored or (dis) honored on that list. So, even though we had a dismal movie in almost any genre, I would not hesitate to say that I did suffer through all of these films on this list. I'd rather be staring at a blank wall thinking or just actually be running around on the street than watching any of these films again. Ok, I am over exaggerating on the latter. So, without further ado, here are my worst movies of 2016. (Dis)honorable Mentions: The Boss The Huntsman: Winter's War Ice Age:...