Caro the Movie Critic

Three kids against one blind man.  Looking back at 2016, I said many times that it has been a disappointing year. However, looking at the year so far for a horror genre, it has kind of been a banner year with solid horror/slasher films: The Conjuring 2 , Lights Out , Green Room , etc. And, I am not a horror fan. In the end of August, we expect basically leftovers from the blockbuster buffet: note, an underwhelming blockbuster buffet. But, it seems to me, that this latest horror movie is a leftover that may be better than most of its main courses because it is crafted real well story-wise and it is creepily disturbing. This may be the best horror movie of the year. We follow three Detroit friends - Rocky (Jane Levy), Alex (Dylan Minnette) and Money (Daniel Zovatto) - who are burglars breaking into homes of wealthy owners, retrieving money or any valuable objects that could potentially be worth big to benefit their families or themselves. Rocky lives with his little sister, Di...

Welcome to the Ben-Hur 500: Chariot Style. Mostly everybody who is familiar with Ben-Hur  is familiar with the Charlton Heston version in 1959 because it is established as a classical epic about a man's journey for vengeance and redemption intertwined with the tale of Jesus Christ. However, back in which Hollywood was more restrained and directors have more creative control, legendary director William Wyler had eye into what the story can factor with support from some great performances and an epic scope. Ok, when I heard about a remake about this movie, I was rolling my eyes and saying that this will be a bomb, which it will be because nobody will care about this remake. Regarding my instinctive expectations, this movie had me for about 30 minutes, but then dives into monstrosity into balancing the emotional, religious aspect with such distracting special-effects extravaganza that it adds to the plot's conclusion with such laziness. The movie has a more different structu...

I have to confess...I almost forgot that it was almost three years since my first published review on the blog and this third year has been crazy with some weeks especially during the summer where numbers skyrocketed as to how many is reading my reviews and also what a rollercoaster year this is had been regarding a few great movies, good movies and bad movies. But, again, I want to say thank you to everybody who has been reading my movie reviews, in-depth discussions, great selections (classic films) and some lists. It is you all that strive me to push forward as to what movies I recommend and share and why I did like or hate the overall project. Plus, sometimes, I sacrifice myself for sharing my pain with y'all after a bad movie experience so that you will not have to suffer. Hahaha! However, please...go ahead and read some past reviews and GREAT SELECTIONS. Let's hope for another year. (By the way, I actually made that image above. I'm getting better little by l...

Two brothers chilling in Texas.  I have been to West Texas before and it is so different than other places I have been to. I am more familiar with urban life, so I do not want to downgrade rural life because it is not fair. But, when living or exploring the territory or territories, it does not become only a different region, but feels like a different country. Ever since No Country for Old Men , it has been a while since a great story has come about regarding the situation about lives in dangerous territories. With Sicario last year, we had a keen interest by exploring the criminal activity in Mexico and it was chilling. Now here, this is a more personal story regarding the Old West and New West meeting for a showdown to collide the predicaments of what may happen with each character. And, this is both a fascinating outlook of a portrait of lower-class people attempting to relive their dangerous situation and a character study of three interesting players in the game. Two me...

Here's the deal... Right off the bat, coming out the theater, I had fun watching the movie half of the time but then I got tired of the formulaic music choices and did not balance the comedy with the drama which the latter conquered the film because of it is a true story about two young guys impersonating arms dealers to make shady business deals with shady businessmen. The two young guys are jerks that you want to punch well, mostly Jonah Hill's character, because I started to feel dour thinking about the experience. Director Todd Phillips has a particularly interesting story to tell to persuasively tell us what's going on in the arms business with satire, however, ever since The Hangover Part II , his creativity has gone astray and interfered with the overall feeling of being tonally confused and mostly, not having a fun experience. In 2005, David Packouz (Miles Teller) is a massage therapist who is living with his girlfriend, Liz (Ana De Armas). On the side, David ...

The feeling I had when I look at great animation. I have to admit...despite a disappointing year so far, it has been a solid year for animated films financially and critically. To wrap up the summer movie season, I wanted a fresh story that can persuade me to come out of the theater and say, "Wow!" Now, granted with LAIKA Studios, they have made two of the most vibrant animated films of recent years, Coraline  and ParaNorman , and I knew going into this, I would get something special. And after my experience with Kubo and the Two Strings , I got something out of that movie, maybe even better. Kubo (voiced by Art Parkinson) has been caring for his ill mother (voiced by Charlize Theron) for some years. His mother suffered an accident, as with her child, as one of his eyes has been taken away by his grandfather. Kubo heads to the village with several origami figures he created. He usually tells villagers some stories while he strums his magical guitar, getting them to be i...

2016 has been an underwhelming year, unfortunately, with the summer movie season having a disappointing string of films but ended with a glimmer of hope. The only saving grace by capping the year as a good year at the most is the Fall Movie Season where studios release directors' best work that can inspire and/or surprise you. Despite the crummy summer, I am actually looking forward to most of the movies in the Fall/Winter lineup than the summer, honestly, because there is a wide range of true stories, mysteries, comedies and entertaining sci-fi flicks especially one, in particular. #1 and #2 were easy to establish but the rest were a bit difficult to place to be honest because there are a lot that are particularly interesting and also, I'm looking forward to. Note : Silence, from my favorite director, Martin Scorsese, is not on the list because I have heard very little about that movie and there's not much material posted regarding that project but I'm very much...

Looking up Disney live-action films on a certain webpage, I was surprised that there were many throughout many decades and it was sort of difficult to compile a Top 10 Disney Live-Action list because there are many inventive and pretty good movies. A few movies on the list are just there because of my preference reminding myself of my childhood. Now, regarding hybrid films in which combines animation and live-action...counts...because there is one movie on the list that people will yell at me for not putting the movie on the list. So, here are my top 10, #1 was actually easy to choose but the rest took me a long time to figure out. This was actually one of the harder movie lists. 10. McFarland, USA 9. Cool Runnings 8. Mary Poppins 7. The Santa Clause 6. National Treasure 5. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 4. Miracle 3. Holes 2. Remember the Titans 1. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Honorable Mentions: TRON Th...

Pete and his dog, I mean, dragon.  Pete's Dragon was an original live-action film back in the 1970s that has the same plot in which a boy is being stuck in the woods for years but becomes friends with an animated dragon. And, I even looked at some clips. It looked like a very bad, corny movie with music and a noticeable soundstage in the background that went nowhere for me because of one-note slapstick and unmemorable songs. So, I thought to myself that this live-action adaptation has to be worth it, otherwise, I cannot possibly imagine this version being worse. This movie is a Disney live-action adaptation that highlights the fantasy genre with such gentle audacity that is welcoming for both adults and children. After a tragic accident that killed Pete's parents (it's not surprising because it is Disney: they somehow like to kill one or both parents), Little Pete (Levi Alexander) enters into the woods alone in which a pack of wolves chasing him until they get scared ...

Ah...they've been chosen.  I have never heard of a concept like this ever before and that was refreshing because Seth Rogen's and Evan Goldberg's spoof of a Pixar/Disney or maybe Dreamworks animated movie pushes the boundaries in terms of content and storytelling. When watching the first red band trailer for the first time, I laughed so hard unlike any other comedy trailer in a while. When coming into this movie, I had high hopes and expectations as to what Seth Rogen and the team will bring onto the table besides food saying profanity and puns. I was ultimately a bit disappointed by the result because every joke relies on the profane language, the puns and also the raunchiness that sometimes the comedy does not go anywhere. However, because of its brilliant concept, even though it derailed my expectations, it did not derail my experience like a train wreck because there are a lot of big laughs mixed with some surprisingly religious beliefs into the picture. At a supe...

Let's go make some music. Listening to music and loving music is one element of your lifestyle but creating original music and persuading people to enjoy it is a whole different ball game. I tried my hand at creating some musical flare and I did come up with one quickly but a few others not so much. When making music or a song, it's all about improvisation and rhythm that flows. But, having a theme of having the appreciation for music set in Dublin is a breath of fresh air because it is all about the journey, personal relationships and camaraderie. This is one of the few fresh and crowd-pleasing movies in a disappointing year so far.  Back in Dublin, 1985, 15-year-old Conor Lalor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) is living with his parents, Robert (Aiden Gillen) and Penny (Maria Doyle Kennedy). They constantly bicker and argue as they are in financial strain, which inspires his lyrics. Robert announces during a family meeting that Conor will be put in a free state school than a curre...

Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart reunited. Ah, yes, Hollywood. 1930's Hollywood. The Golden Age of Cinema. There would be so much glamour and gossip going on that is highlighted by everyone from their decorum. It would have been the same today except there's so much social media attention and not as much privacy. It felt like a busy-going but restrained Hollywood. Woody Allen has been making films for quite a long time and even though his latest project is familiar with his themes and narrative structure, the movie is filled with luminous art direction and witty performances that is hard to resist, especially in a golden era of cinema. In the 1930's, Bobby Doorman (Jesse Eisenberg) wants to make his move to Hollywood. He has a family including two other siblings named Evelyn (Sari Lennick) who is a schoolteacher and Ben (Corey Stoll), who is a gangster notoriously known for murdering numerous people who has done dirty business. Bobby tries to get an appointment wit...

"Don't worry, Christopher, it's just for the money." Ok...deep breath. I don't know what I just saw to be honest. All I saw was a cat, a girl, cast members standing and reciting dialogue that was old-fashioned and probably for a failed pilot from a TV show because even though that 2016 has been a disappointing year for the movies so far, this project can drag my 2016 experience into the pit. Just maybe, maybe... Kevin Spacey and Christopher Walken could have brought some depth and humor onto the movie that is much-needed. But, there's nothing to think about when watching this movie. You're basically not sitting up straight and get bored for about 90 minutes and think about what you need to do for the next week or next month. It's actually much more interesting than watching this unholy comedy. Manhattan business mogul Tom Brand (Kevin Spacey) is a distant father but egotistical billionaire that is near a milestone on its greatest achievement to d...

They're some kind of Suicide Squad. Besides Captain America: Civil War , this next DC Comic movie project was my most anticipated movie of the summer. Why? It is because of the talent and also grittiness behind the material and its characters reminiscent of The Dark Knight , still, the best superhero movie ever made in my humble opinion. When I saw most of its promotional material, I was pumped for it because DC has been in kind of a slump since Christopher Nolan stepped down from the director's chair of the Dark Knight trilogy to tackle on new projects. I liked Man of Steel enough despite the over-the-top third act but since then, nothing clicked for me. Going into this experience, I heard muddling reviews and news regarding the creative control over this film. I have seen it and from my experience, the chemistry and banter between the squad brought subtlety and wit but the story and its narrative structure was sort of a travesty. MINOR SPOILERS It's been months si...