Caro the Movie Critic

We are living in sensitive times in our country because of all the political and cultural issues that are surrounding our society. However, I have to admit because I have observed in both a personal level and also a societal level that people have become more involved into discussing politics as to how our society has been affected because of the presidential election. It seems that it gets awkward as we enter the realm of that world because 1) we do not know what is going on in the White House and 2) we are not professional politicians; we are the people that will be experimented as to how laws will be imprinted onto our country and also how it would affect people in races, sexual orientation, income individually and in families. I have heard buzz about this movie when it arrived in Sundance and it had fairly good reviews but I entered with an open mind. This is a satirical dark comedy that is sort of a punch to my face as to look how satirical and dumbfounded we are. It has a grea...

Dog movies have not been too great the past few years (e.g. A Dog's Purpose and Max ). I mean, they completely abandon the spirit of how a dog would change a human's life by setting up the storyline as a front for an adventure. Nobody would want to watch a dog die and reincarnated repeatedly or a gun story that is rehashed from an Oliver Stone film that inappropriately belonged in a children's movie. However, you can take a true story and form how dogs work in the Army and then incorporate the story into a "girl and her dog" story that makes sense. This is a straight-forward true story that combines the dangers of war and PTSD and somehow circles back into a sweet tale that is inspiring and crowd-pleasing. Megan Leavey (Kate Mara) is a trouble-making teenager living in upstate New York. Her best friend's death prompts her to enlist in the Marines and abandon her life and difficult mother (Edie Falco). After barely passing her basic training, she is assign...

I am chuckling while writing this review because based on the trailer, it looked intriguing and inventive. It is because the movie had the potential to be fresh and wildly debatable as to how to stop a father from being more abusive to his daughter. And, boy, what an experience this movie was because this movie will definitely divide audiences. People will stand on the ambitiousness and fresh take as to how a kid and a mother will help a girl to have a better life. Others will ask, "What the hell was that?" I give points for the gritty ambition and solid narrative in the first half but then the second half nearly turns this overall product into nearly one of the most fresh but absurd movies in a long time. An 11-year-old boy named Henry Carpenter (Jaeden Lieberher) and his younger brother, Peter (Jacob Tremblay) are living with his single mother, Susan (Naomi Watts). She is working as a waitress as she is working on writing children's novels. Henry is very keen as he...

How can I describe 2017 as a whole so far? Well, if you would've asked me before June: I would've said a bit disappointing. But, now, I'd say this is a surprising year because there are some movies that exceeded my expectations such as movies like Life or even Power Rangers . But, also, there some decent sequels out there and the genre to beat is: the superhero genre where there is one great movie, one very good origin movie and a solid sequel. Plus, the best movies so far that I have jotted down are pretty varied but four of the five movies share one aspect that is certain to entertain audiences: action. However, you cannot forget the trash that has been in the bin for a while from the beginning of 2017 to now. I have to say that usually in the past few years that there is a clear choice for the worst movie in the midway point but there are three movies in the running that deserve the crown. So, I'd say my #1 is not etched in stone right now but it is a battle. So...

People think of celebrated directors such as Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, The Coen Brothers, etc. But one name that is not mentioned that is under the radar is Edgar Wright: he made the successful Cornetto trilogy: Shaun of the Dead (my favorite of the trilogy), Hot Fuzz  and The World's End . And, then he made a criminally underrated movie called Scott Pilgrim vs. the World  mixing video-game action and romance that is wildly creative. But, also, he helped write the screenplays for The Adventures of Tintin and Ant-Man . Now, glancing at his filmography, Wright has not made a bad movie. And with this new project that was one of my most anticipated movies of the year, this movie has met the hype as another bright spot of 2017. June, so far, has been a pretty solid month and a redeeming month after a disappointing May. The movie starts out with a heist just commencing as Baby (Ansel Elgort), a talented getaway driver that has perm...

*sighs* Another Transformers movie. I'm not going to waste too much energy writing this review because this incoherent franchise has gone beyond comprehension. All I can say is that this movie is a tad better than the fourth movie and it still sucked. Forgive me for not making this review coherent because this movie definitely lacks coherence. So, the movie opens in England in the Dark Ages in which King Arthur and his knights are in the middle of an epic battle, losing men left and right. Arthur awaits his last hope, Merlin (Stanley Tucci) to help them. But, most knights dismiss him as a drunk. Nevertheless, Merlin finds a Cybertronian Knight and asks for help in the fight. The Knight presents Merlin with a powerful staff which allows him to control Dragonstorm. Merlin brings the enemies down with that staff. In the present day, Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) is seen floating in space while frozen. The Transformers have been deemed illegal on Earth as most of the Au...

I usually do this when a beloved actor/actress that I have admired has passed on. But, in a shocking twist of events, a spokesperson has said that Daniel Day-Lewis is going to be retiring from acting following his movie called Phantom Thread coming out on Christmas Day this year. He is collaborating with director Paul Thomas Anderson in this 1950s fashion era film, which sounds a bit odd but we'll see because they have worked on There Will Be Blood , which was undoubtedly one of the best movies of the 2000s. It is unfortunate because he is one of the best actors of our generation. But, given how private he is and how dedicated to his craft in picking the best projects between 2-5 years, I understand his decision. He deserves to maintain his privacy and to be happy with his wife and three children. So, in recognizing his work, I want to look at 5 of my favorite performances in his resume amongst his great performances. My Left Foot This is the first performance that garne...

As I was glancing over the filmography surrounding female comedies since 2011's Bridesmaids , the writers and directors try a little too hard to meet that expectation because believe it or not, that movie set a high standard. Paul Feig hits two out of three with Spy  and The Heat  (not Ghostbusters ). Pitch Perfect was a celebratory and funny movie. I thought Bad Moms was a solid and surprising hit last year. But, the rest were mostly mediocre and they try too hard. With this movie, as I saw the trailers, I said to myself that I liked the cast but the jokes were not funny. Now, after watching the movie, it was a tad better than I thought but even though there is some chemistry between the cast members and a few more additional laughs than expected, the movie becomes less funny as they land the humor on more gross activities on a bleak and lazy narrative and it gets old. Jess, Alice, Blair and Frankie (Scarlett Johansson, Jillian Bell, Zoe Kravitz and Ilana Glazer) ha...

To make a long story short, did we really need another Cars sequel? Who was yearning for one? After its dismal predecessor with Mater in the spotlight, the franchise has become forgettable in the Pixar pantheon. However, business never sleeps as its merchandise keeps selling to the families who have little children and that is what its product are aiming for. And, it did enough to garner another movie. Now, I did not have much expectations going into this movie because the second movie was nearly awful. Even though I was dazzled by the crisp animation, the screenwriters try too hard to incorporate another movie series into another series and it becomes more familiar and it keeps going on in circles in addition to a twist that is coming miles away. An arrogant racer by the name of Jackson Storm (voiced by Armie Hammer) is the standout among the new generation cars with the latest technology to boost their performance. As more and more next generation cars are coming into the fray, ...

What's one word that is terrifying and also entertaining that could jolt you out of your chair and is appropriate for this movie to come out in the summer time? SHARK! The Shallows  last year did not thrill me as much because I felt they did not inject so much tension when the shark becomes closer to Blake Lively's character and it becomes cartoonish and the movie becomes a bit forgettable. I mean it's a solid cable watch. Now, we have a shark movie in which it involves two women stuck inside the cage 47 meters down into the ocean with oxygen running out in the air tanks and shark are surrounding them. Now, that is scary. This movie will tingle your spine as the director films this movie like it is hell in the water and that is enough for me to say this is a suspenseful B-movie that will get you to munch on your popcorn repeatedly. Lisa (Mandy Moore) and Kate (Claire Holt) are sisters vacationing in Mexico. Lisa is distraught because her boyfriend has dumped her becaus...

I read and heard very little about this movie. However, I felt confident because of one main reason: horror thrillers and/or horror movies have been particularly strong last year and this year so far. It feels directors are taking chances into making intelligent horror films. We have had Green Room , Don't Breathe , The Conjuring 2  to name a few from last year. And, then, Get Out  was exceptionally good. Also, Life and Alien: Covenant  were entertaining sci-fi horror films for what it was. Now, this movie raises a question regarding what is out there that made them contain themselves and well, we have to find out. But, aside from the question, the movie is a sleek yet disturbing movie that is well worth experiencing for the first time. However, I am not quite sure if I would want to see it again because the movie leaves things both somber and ambiguous. Sarah, Paul and Travis (Carmen Ejogo, Joel Edgerton and Kelvin Harrison Jr.) are living in a secluded house with...

Back in elementary school, I have heard and read the Captain Underpants books. And, even though I was not a huge fan of the books, I found them quite entertaining on that level. Now, I have not seen a great animated movie this year and quite frankly, I do not see much potential in this year's slate. But, there are exceptions. This may not be the most colorful movie or a great breakthrough in animation, but the message about friendship that is carried along throughout the movie provides us with comedy and wit and it is enough to surprisingly recommend it. The movie is set in Ohio in which next-door neighbors and best friends, George Beard (voiced by Kevin Hart) and Harold Hutchins (voiced by Thomas Middleditch), are in the fourth grade as they bring joy and happiness to the school called Jerome Horowitz Elementary. However, they spend time excessively pranking all of the cruel teachers, especially principal Benjamin "Benny" Krupp (voiced by Ed Helms). After tampering ...

Here's my thing: I had my hopes up with Tom Cruise's upcoming project. Now, I did not expect that his next project would be a horror thriller. But, with him at the helm, it will be an action  horror/thriller with him kicking butt and running (yeah, there's running in this movie.) However, why would we need another reboot of The Mummy? We had already a reboot of the 1932 original movie with Brendan Fraser. It is actually a trilogy. The first movie was solid, the second movie was a guilty pleasure and the third one was awful. Now, Universal Pictures want to solidify a franchise, another franchise called the Dark Universe where each movie headlines monsters such as the Mummy, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Wolfman, Dracula, etc. This movie may have sealed the deal for the Dark Universe before the franchise ever takes off because this movie was not very good. The movie begins with Princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella), who is first in line, to succeed her father, King Me...

The DCEU franchise has been underwhelming because of either directors' visions not coming together or studio interference from Warner Bros. But, there is also another problem occurring in the realm of filmmaking is that many fans (female fans) have been clamoring for a female superhero film. It is true we have not had one since Catwoman and Elektra and those were terrible movies, especially the former. I thought Catwoman was one of the worst superhero movies ever made. But, in these cultural and sensitive times, superhero movies have changed for more of the better than the worse because we have gotten almost a very good movie every single year. Now, Logan  still sets the bar and Guardians is entertaining, but now, calm down, DC fans, Wonder Woman keeps hope alive for its universe and is the best movie of the summer so far. Young Diana (Emily Carey) lives on the island of Themyscira, a luscious island that is surrounded by female Amazonian warriors. She dreams of becoming one b...