Caro the Movie Critic

Ah...yes...a family reunion for the holidays. Well...yet another Christmas film. But, this time it borders on the cliches of family comedies that sometime strain myself to emotional manipulation that bothers me. The Family Stone is a prime example because it tries to become a cheerful family comedy but panders on so much drama surrounding the characters regarding cancer, homosexuality and family problems that it has to come together in a neatly-tied happy ending. And, then, you have Love the Coopers,  which is tiring and overlaps so many stories and jokes that it becomes cringe-inducing and then come together in a neatly-tied happy ending. Yuck! However, this movie approaches that family storyline a different way  because we know that they were going to have a big family reunion during the holidays but this movie felt more realistic and surreal than the other holiday family comedies that it becomes more effective. I was surprised by its result.  Walter Meyers (Dann...

A tired Willie Soke and a more tired Thurman Merman. I am not a big fan of the first Bad Santa  movie. Yes, there are golden moments in the dialogue that is provided by Billy Bob Thornton's that made me roar with laughter, but, somehow, I have detracted from that experience and have not generously accepted as one of the best comedies or one of the best Christmas movies. As far as comedy sequels go, especially this year, it has been a train wreck. I can easily put probably the worst movies of the 2010s list and half of them would be comedy sequels. And, with Bad Santa 2 , I'm afraid that the garbage comedy sequel streak continues as it is overloaded with the same scatological and one-note filthy humor that the first one had and had no fire or intelligence in the dialogue or the script. Willie Soke (Billy Bob Thornton) has been in a terrible rut over the last few years: he has been fired after working as a valet driver, his girlfriend, Sue, left him due to his screw-ups and...

Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard. Brad Pitt is killing Nazis...for the third time again? All right. Well...there have been a lot of news surrounding Brad Pitt's personal life and his marriage with Angelina Jolie due to the rumored relationship with Marion Cotillard. It was proven false because Cotillard is in a relationship with his boyfriend and are also expecting their second child. So, it was unfortunately the false promotion going on with this movie instead of this movie is the next project by director Robert Zemeckis who has made stories with such wondrous visual effects. Even though there is notice in its spectacle, the story drags with its predictability in its main storyline despite the fact that Zemeckis is trying to go for an old-fashioned love story. As an action and suspenseful film, it works. As a love story, not as much. In the French Morocco in 1942, Max Vatan (Brad Pitt) is an intelligence officer that has descended into the desert with the information that he...

Again, Disney is capping off the year in a great way with this movie and Rogue One  coming out. It is doing more outstanding business than any other movie studio this year and maybe even longer with their filmographies in the upcoming years. So, sometimes, Disney would put a throwaway animated film in the end of the year to let themselves breathe a bit. The Good Dinosaur , a Pixar film, is a prime example of it did not do as outstanding business as it was predicted but also it was not as well-received and I enjoyed primely of its technical animation but it is not a memorable movie.  It is definitely in contention for the best animated movie of the year along with Kubo and the Two Strings  and Zootopia.  But, I'm not sure it is as original. Te Fiti, an island goddess, created life and also became an island to cover an all-aquatic planet, which you can considerably call it Earth. Te Fiti's heart, an ancient green gemstone, is located at the center of the island ...

Joe Alwyn as Billy Lynn.  Ang Lee is one of the most versatile directors in the Hollywood industry. He's engaged in different films in different genres that edifies us into different subjects or entertaining and majestic artistry. In Sense & Sensibility , a movie that I liked but do not love as much as many, we see the journey of sisters going through financial strain in the late 1700s. In The Ice Storm , we witness different characters go through the exploration of politics, alcoholism, adultery and sexual orientation in the early 1970s. In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon , we saw martial arts in the Qing Dynasty that has never been attempted before and it was awesome. In Brokeback Mountain , he explored an isolated but secretive, gay male relationship in the 1950s which the subject had not existed. And, in Life of Pi , we are on board with an Indian man with a tiger stranded in the Pacific Ocean. We explore the mind of a soldier coming back from a tour from an Iraq battle....

Now, what are you complaining about this time? Let's start off right the bat that the late director, John Hughes, would love this movie and be appreciative on how rich the characters are drawn as reality sinks for a main teenage character but also some adult characters, especially a teacher with not much soul. This movie takes a look at a teenage girl's point view in the modern world to know what it is like when she is growing up maturely and what obstacles she has to face. Thanks to the clever and witty screenplay and one charming and outstanding performance, The Edge of Seventeen is surprisingly one of the funniest and poignant comedies of the year.  Nadine Franklin (Hailee Steinfeld) is an awkward teenager who is on the verge of young adulthood. The movie starts in media res  as she walks into Mr. Bruner's (Woody Harrelson) classroom interfering with his peace and lunch. She takes you back into the beginning as she noticed at the age of 7, his older brother, ...

Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga. Back then in 1967, Loving v. Virginia , a landmark civil rights decision which invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriage was important for our history because if that case did not happen, love will not be as conquered because if that case had not existed, you have to basically be forced to marry a person in your own race. But, it is one's decision to choose a particular gender of your own race to deeply care or love. However, it is narrower. Love is a broad topic so why not go broader with different races. Remember: you choose who you want to love. So, this movie is mainly the behind-the-scenes story of that case and behind the case, it is a moving and complicated story about an interracial couple that falls in love, however, laws get in the way of their way of life.  Richard Loving (Joel Edgerton), a white man is sitting on the porch with a black woman, Mildred (Ruth Negga), who is his girlfriend. It is the mid 1950s in Virginia, stil...

Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander. Well...after Deathly Hallows ...the HP movie universe was over. But, now, 5 years later, even though it is not an HP movie, we have a movie dealing with the same magical aspects and the same world that we, the audience and fans, are enamored by for the past decade or so. So, obviously, I am enamored by most of the movies from the franchise and also the books from J.K. Rowling. The franchise transcended a genre almost unlike any other that succumbs to the realm of fantastical settings that we are almost inhabited in. Well, if you wanted to inhabit in a world of Hogwarts, go to Universal Studios in Orlando. However, this spin-off sets a solid start to a potential franchise that ultimately pays off in its settings, special effects and some memorable supporting characters. But, the movie has somewhat of a thin screenplay as the story is a bit underdeveloped and does not pay off as well as I thought it should have been. In 1926, Newt Scamander (Eddie ...

What are you up to? Huh? I heard some praise from a few people I know that have seen this film and I was a bit skeptical because unfortunately I do not get the chance to see many foreign films. This movie is based on a British novel that is transposed to a Korean story under a Japanese ruler. I was going into this cold not knowing what the title could lead to or what the story will be about and how this movie will unfold. And, I have to say: Know a little bit of the plot but not much else because the result is a harrowing experience that is twisted, disturbing, erotic, and most of all, classical with such disciplined filmmaking by director Park Chan-Wook. A con man hires a pickpocket named Sook-hee (Kim Tae-ri), who is well-known as she comes from a family of con artists, to become Lady Hideko's (Kim Min-hee) handmaiden. Her mission is to convince Hideko to reject her barbarous uncle, Kouzuki (Cho Jin-Woong) and marry Fujiwara (Ha Jung-Woo), who hired Sook-hee. Kouzuki's ...

Amy Adams either seeing a vision or thinking.  The trailer for this movie came out of nowhere because mainly I was focusing on two science fiction films: Rogue One  and Passengers . Denis Villeneuve is an up-and-coming director that tackles different topics such as psychology, kidnapping, crime, drugs and politics. He now tackles science fiction as he tries to engage us in the mystery as to why aliens are coming to Earth. It is a set up that has been done many times but this movie is different regarding the mystery and the communication between alien and human. Even though its set-up is familiar, the movie veers into different territory that messes with your mind that its payoff is unbelievably clever. It is clearly one of the best science fiction films in recent years. Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is a linguist and language professor as her students' phones mysteriously go off as a student asks her to turn the television on. It is reported that at least 12 extraterrestr...

What? Another Dan Brown adaptation? Everybody has guilty pleasures when a topic is brought out as to what movies you do like or do not like. I have to admit I liked The Da Vinci Code  and Angels and Demons . I just cannot explain the reason why but I found the mystery surrounding the controversy regarding fictitious religious beliefs and stories a bit fascinating. Obviously, I know what the true stories lies in. But, sometimes, authors and/or filmmakers and writers have to conceive an idea to make an entertaining story and create an intriguing twist to the true facts. If you think the  Indiana Jones  movies are real, then, you are lost. Even though they are highly entertaining, you cannot make the notion that the Ark or the Holy Grail will be easy to find. This movie is over-the-top in its shallow and silly storyline and even though there are some thrills in its frenetic storyline, the movie is riddled with holes and filmmaking tricks that got tiresome. Professor R...

Andrew Garfield going to war. Where has Mel Gibson been? Well, he has certainly been in the tabloids a lot. But, I will not bring any personal disparities towards the person because I want to solely want to focus on his art as a director because if you look at his resume of movies he has directed, it is outstanding. He has  Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ and Apocalypto (a movie that I was entranced by from its production and costume designs but its story was one-note.) If you think about it, Gibson is a filmmaking perfectionist. And, in my opinion, I think he does it again with a remarkable story that balances a faith-based character's journey with harrowing and gruesome war sequences that defines accomplished filmmaking. Desmond Moss (Andrew Garfield) lives in Virginia with his father, Tom Doss (Hugo Weaving), his religious mother, Bertha (Rachel Griffiths) and his brother, Harold. Tom is a hard-drinking man who is haunted by his WWI service and losing his friends in ...

Once upon a time there lived a Troll... I have heard of these toy trolls but I never played with one of them because these were decades old and never attained my interest. However, when I heard that this movie was made, I thought that this is a weird year for films now because this year we had Warcraft , a film that is not that terrible but had very bad qualities of storytelling, The Angry Birds Movie , a visual delight but the story was not as creative and then this movie. I will say that this movie is better than those two films because of its enthusiastic charisma, but it felt like a visual overload of metaphorical and slapstick jokes infused another overload of be-bop versions of a greatest hits album. It is basically a creation and not a story. Trolls are the happiest creatures living in a tree who would sing, dance and hug all the time. On the other side, the Bergens are miserable and are only happy whenever they ate a Troll. One day, the King (voiced by John Cleese) voices...

Teach him. There have been many origin stories, some good and some not as executed properly, but you would like to see how a group of superheroes or an individual superhero got their powers or collaborated with each other to defeat an opponent. I have to admit I did know not much about this sorcerer from the comic books because I do not read the comic books as much as I read novels. I only heard that he has developed some magic and sorcery and that's pretty much it. Based on the trailers, I thought it was visually hypnotic and stunning. The movie achieves a good balance between the visual aesthetics with the main story regarding its superhero that conclusively is created as a solid entry to the MCU franchise. Doctor Steven Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is an intelligent doctor but is also sort of a jerk towards others. He finishes up an operation and receives news from Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) about a man with lodged bullet in his head. Strange wants to keep his rec...

Carry you out to sea. Just kidding. I have not heard much about this movie going in to the assigned theater except that it was good. When the theatre went dark, I was immersed by the glowing Miami sun that accentuates the everlasting heat that sets upon the characters in the film because I have been there and I do know what it feels like to be under the glaring sun. You would not want to walk on the streets for a long period of time. However, this is a different focus for a movie in Miami. I have not encountered a movie that sets across three periods of time that is both confusing and revelatory for one protagonist. He is confronted about who he is and what is his state in relation to others. This movie is conflicted, personal and glowing with such confusing agony and small hopeful glimmer that it will impact you when the movie is over. Like I said above, the movie is set across three different points of the protagonist's life but I'll try to avoid spoilers. In Miami, a...

Leonardo DiCaprio has been stressing about climate change for about most of his life because he has a natural love for the environment. But, as always, life is not always perfect. The environment can be a beautiful realm of God's nature, however, it is interfered with climate change and also humans wasting away terrible resources of carbon dioxide and gas into both the aquatic environment and also airborne. The harm would kill the plants and animals and waste away the planted lands that was suitable for the living. The documentary focuses on both the impact of how the climate is changing but also the financial issues that is strained that is somewhat helping us but taking away investments to help out the environment. One topic that is brought up is carbon tax which, according to DiCaprio, "sway a capitalist economy to attempt to invest in renewables and bring less money out of subsidiaries and oil companies." It is fine that political leaders are invested into helpin...

IT ALL ENDS. Well, here it is, at last. The last movie of the Harry Potter franchise. What a journey it has been for not just for the actors, filmmakers and writers but also moviegoers because we have grown alongside with them for 10 years. This franchise is special for both moviegoers and also lovers of the seven books that fortunately allowed Borders to be open for a while because sales were up when children or families bought the book. So, when I was sitting in the theater, after a brief fight between two people who was fighting over a movie seat, I was exhilarated and sad simultaneously because I wanted to see how David Yates, the director, would finish the franchise. This movie ends on a great note with such frenetic pacing and dramatic backstory that closes the franchise with positivity and memorability. We left off when Part 1 ends after Dobby gets buried, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) asks the goblin, Griphook (Warwick Davis), who was the head banker of Gringotts, ...