Caro the Movie Critic

I was a little worried about this movie for two reasons because it looked overly familiar with the movie, Blow , that I admired more than I completely liked. Even though Johnny Depp's performance was one of his best, I felt that the movie's subject was handled a little badly in the middle that it kind of lost its way in the second half as it crosses into emotional territory with his daughter. However, the similarity between that movie and American Made  is that it deals with the Medellin cartel in the 1980s which involved Pablo Escobar as the authorities were investigating the people laundering money and drugs. After watching this movie, I did not learn much about exploring the issues surrounding the drug shipments, but it was because the movie had a breezy and twisted approach to the American Dream that was quite entertaining and enjoyable. And, because I liked its energetic approach, it is a huge thanks to the combination of director Doug Liman and Tom Cruise. The movie ...

For starters, it is unfair to compare this movie to last year's Patriots Day  because both movies including this one involve the Boston Marathon and the tragic bombing. But, Patriots Day  examined sort of how the bombing started and also the spirit of the Boston community wrapped under one person while the FBI and the local authorities are professional in finding the bombers. However, it did make the mistake of having that spirit in one person and not in other characters and that, in my opinion, lacked some memorability with that movie even though it did a solid job organizing of how the investigation unfolded. With this movie, Stronger  examines a person who want through a traumatic experience that changed his life forever in both a psychological and physical standpoint. The movie delves into one true character's story that is not uplifting throughout but you root for him because he did not deserve the pain. He was an innocent bystander. And, because of two great pe...

The first movie was a surprising success and also a very solid movie based on the comic book, Kingsman , which was under the radar and not many people heard about it. I liked its dark comedy, the characters and most likely, the over-the-top action that meshed well with the spy and comic-book genres that had a fresh edge to it. It is a bit disturbing at times and also some decisions were questionable, especially the ending, which I thought was a bit random but people say that it somewhat pays a kinky homage to the James Bond series in a way. Anyway, director Matthew Vaughn and company return to helm the sequel and even though the action sequences are stylized with such force and energy, the plot seemed so unfocused with the overbearing length that it loses track with the characters and sometimes its own plot. In a fantastic opening sequence, Eggsy (Aaron Egerton) is approached by former Kingsman recruit Charlie (Edward Holcroft), who has gone rogue as they are fighting inside the c...

I have to ask a question: Have I seen this movie before somewhere? Maybe, it has been a long time. It is a movie headlining a man who wants to have revenge on a guy that killed his girlfriend. It is not a spoiler because it is in the trailer and we have seen this formula in other action or other spy movies. I do not mind but it would be great to have another angle of that movie. The revenge concept is actually over in the first 15-20 minutes then the movie becomes something else where he gets trained and goes on a mission. The action is great, the performances are superb but I wished that the plot was not as overcomplicated and not as twisty. It is not a movie to go out to the theaters to watch but it is a worthy rental or cable watch. Mitch Rapp (Dylan O'Brien) has been in psychological distress since his girlfriend was murdered by jihadist leader, Adnan Al-Mansur (Shahid Ahmed). 18 months later, he has been taking kickboxing lessons to improve his physique, but his impulsive...

Oh, Reese. She has a good string of roles in the 90s with Pleasantville, Cruel Intentions and Election . All of them are different movies that used her talents quite well as both a comedic and dramatic actress. However, her string of movies in the 2000s has been fairly inconsistent with strong performances and some duds which is not her fault. She is always a ray of sunlight when she is on-screen as she has an infectious smile and has a nuanced quality. Even though she is good here, I felt like it's really the script that is the problem. It felt more like a TV episode from a home network with the flat dialogue and the underdeveloped characters. So, the movie starts in a Father of the Bride sort of way with a voiceover which Alice (Reese Witherspoon), an interior design businesswoman, was married to Austen (Michael Sheen) and had two kids but separated. Alice moved away from New York to Los Angeles with her kids in her father's home. We flash forward to Alice's 40th bir...

Another movie about the passion for a creative hobby or a potential career? Ok. But, this movie works because of the way this story is being handled even though I have seen this story before about people wanting to create music and produce it to another level. However, this movie is about a character that is trying to make ends meet, sort of like 8 Mile and Hustle and Flow , but you are rooting for the character to do well. Even though I have listened to the same beats from other songs, this song here (or movie) is balanced well between realism and fantasy that you can give this the benefit of the doubt. The movie is crowd-pleasing. Patricia Dombrowski (Danielle Mcdonald) is a 23-year-old New Jersey woman struggling to support herself and her mom and her grandmother (Bridget Everrett and Cathy Moriarty) after her father has left them. The bills are piling up and Patricia is being made fun of because of her weight. She meets her best friend, Hareesh aka Jheri (Siddharth Dhananj...

Going into this movie, there was a lot of noise and buzz surrounding this latest creation from Darren Aronofsky. It was actually one of the most divided, receptive films coming out of a film festival. So, I was skeptical about its divisive buzz because it is a movie that rarely provides that stir that will get you think about and also discuss with other people. I know Aronofsky's history of films that will get people trembling and also talking about because of its metaphors surrounding its genre and also its characters and I will talk about that in-depth later in the review. There are movies like Requiem for a Dream  that cross the line but while watching it, it is like watching a docudrama that puts yourself in a position of being consumed by drugs that is brilliant but yet disturbing as hell. I think Requiem is a great movie that I cannot bear to watch over again but maybe five years later. I felt like that movie was about the process. With mother! , I felt like I was being ...

Robert Pattinson has been a guy that has been in the wrong spotlight, and it is not his fault, because of the Twilight movies and also another bad movie called Remember Me and Cosmpolis , terrible movies. However, there has not been a role that has quite fit him until now. I think that even though that this maybe one of the most overlooked movies of 2017, I think this movie may feature Pattinson's best performance to date. Connie and Nicky (Robert Pattinson and Nicky Safdie) are brothers who perform bank robberies. But, they are not as perfect because Nicky is a mentally disabled man who had a somewhat strained past with his grandmother. After a therapy session, they initiate a robbery by stealing $65,000. However, after they and a getaway driver retrieve the money, they open the page which releases red smoke from a dye pack, causing the driver to crash. Connie and Nicky get out of the car and go on by foot. However, after a stand-off between themselves and two officers, Conni...

IT...is here! The theatrical version of IT is here. Ok, because of the trailers and watching the 1990 TV movie, which was fine and definitely dated but jolted by Tim Curry's spooky performance, the movie catapulted into one of my anticipated movies of the fall. And, I am not a big horror fanatic. However, to specify, I abhor "torture-porn" horror movies than psychological thriller/horror movies because directors and writers want to showcase graphic violence as entertainment with not much context. It is disguised as fun which makes me queasy. Here, it is a psychological horror/thriller about kids trying to confronting their fears, even though the hype is surrounding its main villain, Pennywise. So, even though I was looking forward to this movie, there was a chance that this Stephen King adaptation could be pretty good because of The Dark Tower last month. Now, having seen IT , this is actually one of the best Stephen King adaptations mostly because of the camaraderie...

Let's get this over with because this movie was a waste of time. I was eye-rolling and almost fell asleep throughout this movie because of how pathetic the dialogue, the story, the characters and how predictable its conclusion it was. We have seen movies surrounding two women and two men fighting for a prize, which is a human man or woman. Unfortunately, this is an insult to the romantic comedy genre and it sort of answers we do not have many of these movies as of recent years. Kate and Meg (Alexandra Daddario and Kate Upton) are friends and roommates in Seattle as they are going through tough times as Kate is an English teacher and Meg is a cosmetics saleswoman selling North Korean beauty products. Meg suggests that she and Kate should go on vacation to take away their stress so they use Kate's frequent flyer miles to travel to Fort Lauderdale. A few hours later, due to a hurricane warning at their destination, their flight is diverted to St. Louis. The women are taken in...