Caro the Movie Critic

Yeah...to taking a break from motherhood. Ok...I am not a parent...yet...but I am certainly am not a mom. But, mothers have to be treated with respect because they balance the work life, taking care of her children and also maybe cooking for herself, her children and her husband (Hey, he has to help out for sure). However, sometimes, overworked mothers let out the anger maybe in front of her children, husband, co-workers and maybe in front of the mirror. I had very low expectations going into this movie because there have been many Hangover -esque type of films and I was getting very tired of it. But, thanks to a great performance from one of the female performances and its aggressive nature, this is a big surprise of the summer and I quite enjoyed it. Amy Mitchell (Mila Kunis) is an overworked mother of two children, Dylan (Emjay Anthony) and Jane (Oona Lawrence). She has a hard time balancing her part-time job at a coffee company, PTA meetings and a whole bunch of things. She b...

Matt Damon is Jason Bourne...again. Remember when the Matt Damon that starred in Kevin Smith movies and in drama that present as a likable kid or a jerk was cast in an action film back in 2000? We were all wondering if he'd be the right fit for an action vehicle to take control of the situation amongst espionage, fight sequences and car chases. Well, he has made three of the Bourne films and all three of them had a distinct certain quality that people will be enamored by and be blown away. The whole trilogy follows the story as to why he is an amnesiac and also why he is a perfect specimen to fight against bad guys and solve some cases. The director, Paul Greengrass, and Damon re-team for a fourth adventure and the result is: we've seen it before. It is not necessarily a bad thing because it is a competent action film. The story was ultimately not as interesting as I thought. The movie recaps of David Webb (Matt Damon) when he first joined Treadstone, training to become a...

She's playing a game. It's not The Game , though. The Internet is a haven for people to get access onto any coverage that entices people to get sucked into an environment that seems entertaining, informative or from reality. Nowadays, I believe it is easier for hackers or thieves to conceptualize a game or plan onto a site and seduces customers or viewers to do whatever they want for pleasure or for money. It is ironic and scary for this movie to be released during the time in which many people are playing Pokemon GO  that propels many teenagers or young adults to go outside and look for Pokemon for points. It is a smart app with a few pros and cons. But, this is not a business blog. Nevertheless, this movie spawns a cool idea and intriguing premise, the movie is thin on unnecessary supporting characters and the plot veers onto dark territory that becomes not as engaging nor as addressed as an informative message. Venus "Vee" Delmonico (Emma Roberts) is a high s...

Why are y'all looking at me? It's that bad. Boy, I mentioned that in my review of the movie, Lights Out , does not overstay its welcome into the horror franchise. My goodness...the fifth (I cannot believe there are five of these movies) Ice Age movie produces some humor that is old and tiring that when the weasels that they are reporting for duty, they make a scathing reference to, well, excrement. And, most of the movie is in that definition of excrement because this movie has run out of steam or in this case, ice, to get the engine get going. I desperately want this series to end. What is this? Groundhog Day ? Well, the best character in the whole franchise, Scrat, that pesky squirrel, is still trying to find a place where to store his acorn. Before he sticks it into the ice, Scrat falls and lands on a pad. While he attempts to store his acorn on this pad, the pad turns into a giant flying saucer, bursting it out into space. While he is shot out of the saucer, Scrat dec...

Separated...from what's left of the crew. 50 years. Wow, it's definitely a milestone for a series to accomplish a feat that a myriad of fans grew up loving and started to love. Believe it or not, you have to put it in the same ballpark as James Bond and Star Wars in terms of how successful a series can be to engage many fans. But, between Star Wars and Star Trek , it is the personal story between the crew members that unite as one as a family and that, more or less, is what this latest film of the rebooted series explores. The movie honors the tradition of unity and friendship in outer space as its creator, Gene Roddenberry, wanted to present in the first place. It is a simplistic plot, but it is a heck of a lot of fun to see chemistry between the crew of the Enterprise . Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and his crew are on their third year on their five-year mission exploring the ends of the universe. He has become bored by this point as he matures well into his next b...

What's hidden in the dark? The concept for the film was a lot scarier than I thought because many people are afraid of the dark, knowing that some unknown object or person will come out from somewhere random to horrify the person fearing the room with the lights out. However, when the writers come out with a scary premise to have an unknown person maybe take out people depriving them from their lives, well, you got a solid horror film. Based on my experience watching this film, the result is not that amazing but it demonstrates how calculated and taut its set-up is to get a solid end result. Paul (Billy Burke) is having a Skype chat with his son, Martin (Gabriel Bateman), late at night while he is working at a mannequin factory. Martin tells his dad that his mother, Sophie (Maria Bello), has been acting strangely around the house. Paul tells Martin that things will get better. Later on, when Paul is about to leave the office, he remembers what his assistant told him regarding...

Who are you gonna call? The New Ghostbusters. In a disappointing summer full of reboots and remakes, there has not been one that has sincerely improved from the original material. I will save as to what I have to say regarding the controversy surrounding the Ghostbusters campaign. But, hearing the news regarding the cast, I thought that the chemistry will be fantastic because mostly of what Paul Feig, the director, can do with these ensemble casts and its genre. So, even though I had a very low expectation coming into this movie because of its marketing campaign regarding its trailers, TV spots, clips and magazine covers, I came away from the experience humbled that it was not a train wreck but it was certainly a disappointment because it felt more like a very long SNL sketch with inconsistent humor that don't land than a complete movie. The movie starts with an effective and scary scene in which a tour guide (Zach Woods) hears a noise near the basement while closing up shop....

I ask all the time regarding movies coming out...why are there remakes or why is Hollywood remaking good movies or classics such as Psycho  and  The Shining ? Two reasons: 1) The Hollywood studios want money or want to lose  money because audiences are infatuated with the classics. 2) It is because of a generational gap because people have not heard of some of the masterpieces. Regardless, there are many needless remakes such as the recent Point Break or  Poltergeist  nowadays that executives seem to know that audiences are clamoring for it and they just make it and have the marketing staff come up with a strategy and plan. But, there are good remakes are better than the original and/or on par with the original. Here are my top 10: 10. The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) When watching the original from 1968 with Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway, I felt like there was less excitement and suspense throughout the whole movie except for one scene, an infamous ch...

Adam Devine and Zac Efron as young wedding crashers. When you arrive at a wedding, there is always going to be that one misanthrope that will cause damage into a newlywed's grand event that will be a memory for the rest of your lives...in somewhat of a bad way. Trust me...without going into any details...I have witnessed this and it did not well for the guest. Moving along, a comedy surround mischievous and childish people causing trouble for both themselves and the guests can be tricky to attempt because how much humor can be played into their issues surrounding an event? I went into this movie with somewhat low expectations and some of the material was a bit repetitive and raunchy and went into familiar territory, but for some reason, I grinned and laughed enough to consider it a potential guilty pleasure. Mike and Dave Stangle (Adam Devine and Zac Efron) are brothers who have a liquor business that are party animals. Their parents, Burt and Rosie (Stephen Root and Stephani...

Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe being somewhat adventurous. When I heard about this movie regarding one man stranded on an island and finds a corpse that has the ability to fart, I thought, "You got to be joking me?" I appreciate the filmmakers and writers being ambitious by tackling a character having suicidal thoughts redeemed by a corpse that would get him out of his misery. It is an original premise surrounding those characters. But surrounding the plot and material, it combines the adventures from Cast Away and Weekend at Bernie 's and they both equal into a tepid and minimalistic outline of a movie that has some imagination and thought but never takes off.  On a nameless deserted island, a man named Hank (Paul Dano) is about to commit suicide by hanging himself until he sees a corpse (Daniel Radcliffe) of a young man washed ashore. Hank almost dies because his rope was still around his neck when he attempts to approach the corpse. When he gets to the corpse, ...

I'm standing in front of the door waiting... What happens when an owner like myself leave our pets at a house or apartment? Well, I don't know unless you have a camera at your house/apartment to see what our pet is up to. Is it asleep, running around, making a mess, eating, drinking or still waiting in front of the door? Regarding its first teaser, which was a joy to watch, it sold me regarding how cute and astute most of the pets are when they did unknown and funny activity around the New York apartments. The movie's result has already been originated from Toy Story , and for that reason, the movie is familiar in its storyline with some funny but predictable humor. Max (voiced by Louis C.K.), is a dog that has a lovable owner named Katie (voiced by Ellie Kemper). After Katie leaves for work, Gidget (voiced by Jenny Slate) asks what Max's day will consist of. His response that he'll just be waiting in front of the door for Katie. Max is visited by Chloe, a fat...

Tarzan and Samuel L. Jackson? I don't know how to type in that Tarzan scream, so I'll let this video speak for itself... Ok, he is not swinging on the vines from tree to tree, but you get my point. He is somewhat of an iconic figure that people seem to recognize. But, also, in my opinion, he is not as particularly a memorable character as I would want him to be. He screams, swings and is part of the jungle life and that's all. But, other than that, Tarzan has a presence in the jungle like he is part of the animal life. This movie has a lot of going for it because of the success of the earlier hit,  The Jungle Book, this year with some great special effects and a good story. With some great moments in its visual substance and some solid adventurous pacing in its action, the movie is devoid of a solid storyline and some interesting characters. We all know the tale. After being shipwrecked, John Clayton II and his wife, Alice, (Hadley Fraser and Genevieve O'Reill...

I have to admit when thinking about doing a list of the best movie talking animals, live-action or animated, I thought to myself: "This may be an easy list to do." I was certainly proven wrong because when researching every likable character, it was down to about 25-30. What that proves is that animators, storytellers and filmmakers work real hard on not just its special effects, hand drawn or computer animations, but its persona. How do we, the audience or the viewers, connect with a talking animal? How do you all get us to like the animal? About each of the characters I list have a different personality and charm that we have immediately or have grown to adjust to. Plus, I thought that this was a fun list to do bringing back some of the childhood talking animals that I grew up to watch and also maybe show some of much little cousins the characters that are lovable. 10. Mr. Fox (The Fantastic Mr. Fox) 9. Po (Kung Fu Panda series) 8. Baloo (The Jungle Book) 7...

A girl and her giant. Roald Dahl has inspired a few filmmakers to capture the same imagination that children and some young adults have read from his words, literary devices and imagery descriptions. With Matilda  and Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory  made, those are two of the unsung and very good children's films that kids would want to watch repeatedly. I think those two are good movies. Even though The BFG  does not reach the same levels of those two films, it is rare to see a children's novel adaptation nowadays because of so many superhero films and heavily relied CGI movies in the market. And, additionally, even though it is not one of Spielberg's best movies, it is a nice step-back as to how a great filmmaker now can observe into another film from a child's standpoint. A little girl named Sophie (Ruby Barnhill) lives an orphanage in London and is awake in the middle of the night. When it is 3 a.m., she thinks that it is the witching hour but it'...