Caro the Movie Critic

All right, now we have entered into the fifth movie of the Pirates franchise. There was once a time that many people were excited about a Pirates movie starring Johnny Depp. But, times have changed since the first movie came out in 2003. The series has dwindled with the directors, screenwriters and visual effects artists trying too hard to please me and the target audiences. Plus, Johnny Depp's history and celebrity status has been now questionable because of the news surrounding his persona and also he has not made many good movies for a while and has played too many cartoonish characters or caricatures. The only solid performance he has given in the past few years is Black Mass . I did not have high expectations going to this movie because I was groaning with another Pirates movie. Thinking about my experience with this movie, I have to say that I had a better time than I thought because of its second half. However, the first half started out very sloppy and drags the overall

To be honest, I am getting a little tired of young adult novel adaptations. You know what? I want to rephrase that: I am getting tired of operatic or dramatic YA adaptations that focus on the terrible dialogue than the characters or the story. Plus, a trend that is coming along, recently, where teenage couples are coping on the verge of losing a counterpart because of a disease: think about it: The Fault in Our Stars , Me Before You  even if it is not old, A Walk to Remember . In my opinion, I do not think any of the movies work. With this movie, this product continues the trend of bad YA movies. However, this movie is different in its mistakes than the previous films and I will explain later in the review. Madeline "Maddy" Whittier (Amandla Stenberg from The Hunger Games ) is living in a house, in a secluded state due to her disease called severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), meaning her antibodies are not properly fighting off the infection. Her mother (Anika Non

I have heard of the TV show and watching a few episodes in preparation for this movie, I thought that  the people look tan and fit. However, in terms of the few stories, I said to myself, "This show could have gone old fast. But, I could see why many fans enjoyed it." I was surprised that the show lasted for 11 seasons as most shows I know last around 7 or 8 seasons. Even though it was anticipated, I had low expectations because I did not laugh at the trailers as much as I want it to. And, also, all studios want to chase that TV comedic reboot magic like 21 Jump Street . CHIPS  failed and even though, it stars two charismatic actors at the helm, unfortunately, this TV-to-movie adaptation sinks into the abyss. Lieutenant Mitch Buchannon (Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson) faces challenges as a lifeguard from shark attacks and rescuing people with parasailing accidents. Buchannon's fellow lifeguards are Stephanie Holden (Ilfenesh Hadera), who has the best record behind

Some can debate and consider that the Alien franchise has run out of steam. I thought so before Prometheus came along. It is a divisive film but, in my opinion, I thought it brought in more curiosity and some intelligence into the franchise plus even though there are holes in the plot, it was a skillfully done movie. Yes, we are left with some questions in the end like why did * spoiler * David, the android, put in the black goo into one of the crewman's drinks? With this movie, it felt like watching a retread of the first Alien movie, along with the action-packed segments of Aliens  and a few sprinkles of Prometheus . I was a bit disappointed that the movie could have been a bit better and a bit  more intelligent but as a return to that sci-fi horror genre that was missing in Prometheus , the movie works. In the year, 2107, a colony ship called the Covenant is flying to an uninhabited planet called Origae-6. The movie is filled with 15 crew members alongside 2000 colonists (e

I saw the trailer for this movie and I though that this is another version of The Firm  but in a digital age. Remember in the Firm  in which a person gets their dream job in a lauded and prestigious small law firm and treats everyone like family? Well, this movie is like that Tom Cruise movie in which he discover that the firm is corrupt as they are money launderers and one of the clients is the Mafia. This is about the same movie and even though they both start similarly strong, this movie gets more ridiculous as it winds down to it silly conclusion. Mae Holland (Emma Watson) is stuck at a dead-end job that she is unhappy at. She gets a call from her friend, Annie (Karen Gillian), who works at the Circle, a powerful tech company. She is constantly traveling because of her responsibilities and is upbeat and it is a surprise because how stressful her job is. Mae gets an interview at the Circle and immediately retains an entry-level job at Customer Experience. While at the campus,

Another King Arthur  movie? Ugh... And, guess what, we have some sort of Transformers movie dealing with the King Arthur material coming up in July that looks attainable with curiosity but looks like another product of stupidity. I don't know. We'll see. But, with this King Arthur version, I had very low expectations because of its trailers and I'm not too fond of Guy Ritchie's direction and style. However, his last two of three movies have been solid. With this movie, it is the typical blurb of "style over substance" that takes over my interest and has the thought of saying that the movie falls with dire disappointment and almost dizziness. Young Arthur Pendragon has been living in a brothel after Vortigern (Jude Law) has killed Arthur's parents (Eric Bana and Poppy Delevingne) to overthrow his brother, Uther (Bana) and to retain a title as king. As he grew older, Arthur spends his time on the streets, getting into trouble and pick fights with those

When was the last good comedy this year? I had to go back and the only good true comedy was The LEGO Batman Movie  because of its style and its laughs but it was not as revolutionary as The LEGO Movie . I was craving for a good comedy and I was hoping, even though I am divided on Amy Schumer's brand of humor because her comedy seems to be relatable but it gets repetitive, then it gets tiresome. But, the only positive expectation going into this movie that her last movie, Trainwreck , was surprisingly good despite its running time. With a talented director and a legendary comedic actress at Schumer's side with her next movie, this movie adds to the list of movies this year that will get lost in a vacuum once you finish the film. Emily Middleton (Amy Schumer) gets fired from her clothing store retail job for slacking off and goofing off too much. Also, her boyfriend, Michael (Randall Parks, in a hilarious scene) meets up with Emily and breaks up with her because of an opport

Oh, boy, when was the last time I've seen Katherine Heigl on screen? All I can think of is The Big Wedding or unbearable New Year's Eve . You know what? I do not want to waste time getting this review set-up. This movies makes Fatal Attraction look like a masterpiece of epic proportions and it also makes some of those Nicolas Sparks' movies look like good movies. Tessa Connover (Katherine Heigl) is barely coping from her divorce with her ex-husband, David (Geoff Stults). David has become happily engaged to Julia (Rosario Dawson) and she steps over as both wife and stepmother to Tessa's and David's daughter, Lily (Isabella Rice). Tessa does not allow the relationship to go on and become happily ever after. Tessa steals Julia's cellphone and sends Facebook messages (that's right, Facebook is part of this "masterpiece") to his ex-boyfriend (Simon Kassianides) and pretends to be Julia telling him she wants him back. Julia does not bring him up to

This movie was under the radar for me but the promotion of "the producers of Get Out" caught my attention because Get Out was a standout for me, not a home run, but a standout. However, this little indie was brought to my attention and I was curious because this movie does not use superhero powers as noticeably or as noisily as the usual blockbuster superhero movies. But, the movie also focus on the combination of character and imagination and with the support of one terrific performance, the whole product works. Bashir "Bo" Wolfe (Jacob Latimore) is living with his little sister, Tina (Storm Reid), after they have lost their mother. His hobby is performing card tricks on the streets of Los Angeles and also impressing a girl named Holly (Seychelle Gabriel). He levitates a ring in front of her. However, his side job is that Bo is a drug dealer for a gangster named Angelo (Dule Hill). Sometimes, cops are on the lookout and he nearly avoids being incaracerated. Be

The Guardians of the Galaxy  was a surprise hit in 2014 because not many people are familiar with the comics surrounding these five mavericks. As I walked out of the theater after watching the first movie, I was surprised and entertained by the chemistry between all of the five characters and the humor was consistent throughout which supports the action sequences. The climactic action sequence reminded me a lot of Star Wars  because I had that feel of excitement and fun that was transparent to my experience of watching a Star Wars film of watching entertaining characters be in that action and surrounded by all the colorful special effects. Now, we have this sequel and now we have loved both the cast and characters, many fans were craving for this. I have to admit I have seen the first movies about three or four more times and it gets more enjoyable. However, comedy or superhero sequels, with the exception of the Captain America films, do not do as well. Unfortunately, this movie i

May the Fourth be with you! Well, even though I have review all of the Star Wars movies on the blog. (You can search for them on the blog. All eight, including Rogue One, are on here on this site.) I decided, because of this day, to compile ten favorite moments, in my personal opinion, from the Star Wars franchise. They could be from the prequels, original trilogy or from Rogue One that deserves be on this esteemed and memorable list. So, here are the clips. 10. The First Death Star Assault (Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope) The first assault in space in the Star Wars franchise and imagine how advanced the technology has come from this 1977 movie. 9. Han is Frozen in Carbonite (Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back) The moment is pretty epic in terms of acting, dialogue and a great exchange between Leia and Han Solo. 8. Finn & Rey vs. Kylo Ren (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) There are some cool moments in this movie but you have to admit, even though