Caro the Movie Critic

Dennis Quaid and his dog. I wanted to start this review about the controversy surrounding a tape that was leaked from the footage by Universal Pictures that TMZ provided. Before the controversy, I have to admit that I had somewhat of mixed expectations because with dog movies, I am hot-and-cold on those genres because almost every single movie ends with the same sort of ending. However, regarding the controversy, animals right activists were baffled by the dog's treatment of having them being forced to act in a scene surrounding water. I was stunned but not surprised because I knew that obviously when handling a domesticated animal or animal of the sort that they cannot be harmed, otherwise, legal counsel and PETA will go after them. I knew they were being handled by stunt coordinators but I did not like how they execute the idea of treating the dog on set. After watching this movie, it did not make much of a different in "entertainment". This so-called "family f...

"Damn, it feels good to be back." Look...I have a question about Vin Diesel...why does he return to franchises that we're or we're not craving for? I understand he is a star in some households but for example, he came back in Fast & Furious : Tokyo Drift  at the end of the movie which was a surprise and basically he came back in the fourth movie which was ok. But, the franchise turned around in the fifth movie. He returned in the Riddick series in the movie called Riddick  which I thought was muddled at times but I thought it was ok. Now, he returns to the xXx franchise with the first movie being fun at times but I thought it was a ridiculous mess as it was being self-serious with its material and the movie with Ice Cube was ridiculous. I have to say that the movie knows that it is ridiculous that I had fun for most of the time, however, it is pretty much generic and forgettable. The movie opens in Brazil with Augustus Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson) trying to r...

Well, as they did so, the Academy of Motion Pictures and Science released their Oscar nominations early this morning and I have to say, this year's batch of nominees was more than expected because there were not many surprises but I'll reveal my thoughts as what I think about the nominees in the bottom of the page. So, here are the nominees for the 89th Academy Awards: Best Picture: Arrival Fences Hacksaw Ridge Hell or High Water Hidden Figures La La Land Lion Manchester By The Sea Moonlight Best Director Denis Villeneuve - Arrival Mel Gibson - Hacksaw Ridge Damien Chazelle - La La Land Barry Jenkins - Moonlight Kenneth Lonergan - Manchester By The Sea Best Actor Casey Affleck - Manchester By The Sea Andrew Garfield - Hacksaw Ridge Ryan Gosling - La La Land Viggo Mortensen - Captain Fantastic Denzel Washington - Fences Best Actress Isabelle Huppert - Elle Ruth Negga - Loving Natalie Portman - Jackie Emma Stone - La La Land Meryl Streep - Flo...

James McAvoy as a creepy kidnapper. I have heard about this movie when the trailers came out and I saw the trailer and I thought to myself, maybe the director, M. Night Shyamalan is returning to form once again. However, when Shyamalan was tackling a subject associating with a psychological disorder, I thought it was bold for him to place a routine situation but relevant situation in his myriad of movies. Now, I would not categorize this movie as a horror movie but even though there are elements of horror, it is psychological thriller aspect that jolts this movie into such curiosity. Now with two movies in a row, Shyamalan's resurgence is now noticeable as he has made his most solid and well-crafted movie in a long time since Signs . Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy) is invited to Claire's (Haley Lu Richardson) party out of pity. Claire tells his father that Casey frequently gets into trouble and gets sent into detention in school. When Casey hears that her ride broke down, Cla...

Glimpsing at both the Golden Globe wins, which La La Land  dominated with a record-seven golden globe wins, and also the nominations from both the Screen Actor Guilds and BAFTAs, it is a bit baffling as to who and what movie is left out. There are some predictable choices in all of the categories that I will predict that will get nominated this Tuesday morning on January 24th unless someone out of left field gets nominated. However, unlike last year, there are a couple of movies that came out in limited release on Christmas that swayed into wide release this month gaining some momentum for their awards campaign. So, here are my predictions for which movie or actor/actress will get nominated Tuesday in the MAJOR CATEGORIES: Best Picture (The committee can pick 5-10 nominees.) Arrival Hacksaw Ridge Hell or High Water Hidden Figures La La Land Lion Manchester By The Sea Moonlight Potential nominees: Fences , Silence , Nocturnal Animals , Deadpool , Jackie Best Direc...

The luminous Kate Beckinsale in an overblown series. Ummm...well...it's the fifth movie of the Underworld  franchise. Let's see...vampires, werewolves, blood, fighting, spawn but we still have Kate Beckinsale in that same tight outfit that we've seen her in throughout the series. You know what, let's jump to it, I followed with the movie for most of the time and then even though there were fun moments throughout the storyline, I did not seem to care in the end as to who will make it out alive from these "blood wars". Ok...whew. Here we go. So, I don't remember this series too well and it has been a while watching one of these movies. So, Lycans and vampires are searching for Selene (Kate Beckinsale) as the vampires are trying to seek justice for a couple of important deaths and Marius (Tobias Menzies) and the Lycans are going to use her to locate Eve, whose blood is the key to build some hybrids of Lycans and vampires. Semira (Lara Pulver) wants Sele...

A boy and his monster. This is tough to see yourself in the position as a young child witnessing your mother/father or any other relative slowly withering as the victim is about to die from a certain disease both physically and psychologically. This movie deals with both angles as it is about a boy is worrying about his mother dying and recounting some memories about his mother. Once I heard the outline about A Monster Calls , I was rolling my eyes in utter disbelief. When I saw the trailer, I was truly mesemerized.  When I saw the movie, I was entranced by the visual scope and themes of the movie but I was sympathetic and sad by its bittersweet story. But, what I like most about this movie besides its amazingly visual storytelling is that it does not retreat from its dire issues and themes and the movie will punch you in the gut. Conor (Lewis McDougall) is twelve years old as he is witnessing his mother, Lizzie (Felicity Jones), dying from a terminal illness as she has no ha...

Ben Affleck as a 1920s gangster. Ben Affleck could be defined as resurgence or redemption when he directed three great movies: Gone Baby Gone , The Town  and his Oscar-winning movie: Argo . He had a period in which he was unstoppable where many studios and people were recognizing him as a filmmaker and not just as an actor who has had a slump. Yikes, now, thinking of that slump: Reindeer Games , Pearl Harbor , Gigli  (YUCK!), Jersey Girl , etc. But, he has had a difficult year surrounding the tabloids regarding his marriage, movies and also the divisiveness with the Batman v. Superman movie, which was not good. Well, this is his fourth outing as a director and even though I was excited that he was going to direct a gangster film, this is a rarity saying that this is a snooze-fest of a gangster film. Joe Coughlin (Ben Affleck) is a prodigal son of a police chief who has returned from his duty in service in WWI and based on his narration, he witnessed many good men dying f...

Mark Wahlberg as a Boston policeman. I remember the Boston Marathon bombing not too long ago as I witnessed the news on CNN and the actual event on YouTube and it is horrifying to witness a terrorist bombing in an annual event where kids and other loved ones can watch their husbands/wives/father/mother/brother/sister simply accomplishing a marathon run that they have prepped for months. This was one of the worst events in American history as it again involved a terrorist bombing and innocent lives. Even though, the movie covers the event. It also covers the investigation of how the bomb got in place and who was involved. It was great to watch a movie about people doing a great job working and uniting by catching the perpetrator(s). It is a solid movie about a myriad of people's unity and strength that Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg can do real well. The movie follows some people in a shaky beginning in which Sergeant Tommy Saunders (Mark Wahlberg) comes home late with a limping...

The three women with their children at church.  There have been many "inspirational true stories" where the studio leans more towards the inspiration than the true story because sometimes, the movies get carried away with their material that it becomes overreaching and manipulative than factual and interesting. So, going into this movie, I am a fan of both Taraji P. Henson's and Octavia Spencer's work but I have never heard of Janelle Monae much until this year with this and Moonlight , but I had some apprehension going into it because I thought it will overreach with their topics and themes. Yes, the result is a bit corny, but somehow, the story about three African-American women to achieve their goals with their knowledge and skills by helping NASA with the Mercury program weaves into a well-told and well-acted movie that is uplifting and important for people and also middle-schoolers and high-schoolers should see.  In 1961 in Virginia, Katherine Johnson (Taraj...

I've posted my lists of the best films over the years, 1999, 2003-2023. You can take a look and glance at them. (Revised on 04/22/2024). 1999 1. The Insider  (Mann) 2. Magnolia  (Anderson) 3. The Matrix  (Wachowskis) 4. Being John Malkovich  (Jonze) 5. Fight Club  (Fincher) 6. The Straight Story  (Lynch) 7. The Talented Mr. Ripley  (Minghella) 8. Eyes Wide Shut  (Kubrick)  9. The Iron Giant  (Bird) 10. American Beauty  (Mendes) 11. The Sixth Sense  (Shyamalan) 12. Topsy-Turvy  (Leigh) 13. Toy Story 2  (Lasseter) 14. All About My Mother  (Almodovar) 15. Galaxy Quest  (Parisot) 2003 1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King  (Jackson) 2. Lost In Translation   (Coppola) 3. Finding Nemo   (Stanton) 4. Memories of Murder   (Joon-ho) 5. Oldboy   (Chan-Wook) 6. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl   (Verbinski) 7. Mystic River   (Eastwood) ...

I found my lists. Here are the lists of the movies that I had to suffer through over the years from 2006-2023: 2006: 1. Just My Luck   (Petrie) 2. Basic Instinct 2    (Caton-Jones) 3. Nacho Libre    (Hess) 4. Aquamarine    (Allen) 5. Deck the Halls    (Whitesell) 6. The Wicker Man    (LaBute) 7. Lady in the Water    (Shyamalan) 8. The Black Dahlia     (De Palma) 9. When a Stranger Calls    (West) 10. Failure to Launch     (Dey) 2007 1. Norbit   (Robbins) 2. I Know Who Killed Me    (Siverston) 3. Evan Almighty      (Shadyac) 4. The Number 23   (Schumacher) 5. Good Luck Chuck     (Helfrich) 6. Perfect Stranger     (Foley) 7. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry     (Dugan) 8. The Last Mimzy     (Shaye) 9. Rush Hour 3      (Ratner) 10. Because I Said So    (Lehmann) 200...