Caro the Movie Critic

I have to be quite frank questioning what happened to the characters in the first two movies because the YA adaptation genre is dead in the water unless another Harry Potter or maybe Hunger Games movie will be made. However, I guess I am jumping into the review here now because I find this franchise to be a bit forgettable in spite of the well-made and well-choreographed action sequences. I found the conclusion to be my favorite movie of the series whereas there are stakes but ultimately, I did not care about its main characters. Thomas, Newt and Frypan (Dylan O'Brien, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Dexter Darden) are the last of the "Gladers" immune to the Flare virus that has wiped out most of the world's population. They try to save Glader Minho (Ki Hong Lee), who is on board of a WKCD transport train. They take the wrong cargo as Minho is taken to the "Last City", its base of operations. In the WKCD headquarters, they test Minho's blood, created into a...

Well, as they did so, the Academy of Motion Pictures and Science released their Oscar nominations for the 90th Oscars early this morning as Andy Serkis and Tiffany Haddish read the nominations aloud. To be honest, there were some surprises in most of the top categories than anticipated because there was one movie that scored big that came out late in the year. But, I guess, that movie got sent to the right people for it to be nominated. Anyway, here is the full list of nominees in the 90th Oscars... Best Picture: Call Me By Your Name Darkest Hour Dunkirk Get Out Lady Bird Phantom Thread The Post The Shape of Water Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Best Director Christopher Nolan - Dunkirk Jordan Peele - Get Out Greta Gerwig - Lady Bird Paul Thomas Anderson - Phantom Thread Guillermo Del Toro - The Shape of Water Best Actor Timothée Chalamet - Call Me By Your Name Daniel Day-Lewis - Phantom Thread Daniel Kaluuya - Get Out Gary Oldman - Darkest Hour ...

When going into a heist thriller, I try to temper my expectations down a notch because this is one of my favorite genres. I think the ultimate masterpiece that might get a GREAT SELECTION essay in the future is the 1995 Michael Mann movie, Heat , with legendary actors Robert De Niro and Al Pacino facing off. It was a tense stand-off between criminals and cops especially in a masterful heist sequence that I think gets overlooked. But, I digress. I think director Christian Gudegast has seen this movie a little too many times to get another cinematic similar heist film with similar tools. However, I cannot lie. It was an entertaining time watching this B-level heist thriller. The movies sets in Los Angeles as a team of robbers led by Merrimen (Pablo Schreiber) attacks the guards and break into the armored truck. However, one of the robbers, Donnie (O'Shea Jackson Jr.), kills the first guard and the police arrives engaging them in a shootout. Unfortunately, the robbers escape with...

I am not an expert of blaxploitation movies because honestly, I have not seen many. But, I have seen a couple of movies that started the genre such as Shaft  and Foxy Brown , starring Richard Roundtree and Pam Grier respectively. I was glad I enjoyed it once but I have not revisited them. But, the genre died down and filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino made movies giving their homage to that genre such as Jackie Brown , which I thought was quietly dynamic because of the dialogue. But, unfortunately, Shaft was remade in 2000 with Samuel L. Jackson. I'll give that remake most of the performances like Jeffrey Wright's however the plot was forgettable. I was enamored by Taraji P. Henson's charisma and positive attitude to make this movie but in spite of her performance, it falters in many categories that it went downhill from the opening scene. Expert assassin Mary (Taraji P. Henson) is guilty after killing a target that is related to his son, Danny (Jahi Di'Allo Wins...

Daniel Day-Lewis. One of the best actors in history. Period. It is melancholy to see a great actor retire because we rarely have any actors/actresses dedicated to his craft by forming his character, staying in character (method acting), choose consistently solid projects, work with fantastic directors, etc. You can look at his filmography and you cannot select one bad performance. Now, for his final movie, he is working with director Paul Thomas Anderson for the second time after their collaboration in the masterful There Will Be Blood . I am not a big fan of period dramas because I feel like sometimes the characters are going through the motions, however, I did not see an aspect of a story coming and the movie becomes so twisted that it becomes psychologically fascinating and riveting despite the movie being a tad overlong. In 1950s London, a renowned fashion designer named Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) makes outfits for upper class citizens and socialites, having establis...

I have to be quite honest. It is going to be an unpredictable awards season since there is no consensus as to what movie will take the Best Picture Oscar. I do believe, except for Best Actress, that all the people who have been getting awards are set for getting their deserved award. Getting back to the Best Picture race, I do believe it is between three movies and we'll see if they will get nominated. (I think they will.) So, I will predict who will get nominated in the top categories and may potentially get nominated and also for the first time, I will predict some hopeful, wild card nominees in other categories. Best Picture (The committee can pick 5-10 nominees.) Call Me By Your Name Dunkirk Get Out I, Tonya Lady Bird The Post The Shape of Water Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Potential nominees: All the Money in the World, The Big Sick, Darkest Hour, The Florida Project, Logan, Mudbound, Phantom Thread, Wonder Woman Best Director: Guillermo Del Toro...

The cuddly, talkative Peruvian bear is back and even though I did not review or have not seen the first Paddington  in theaters, I watched the first movie for the first time recently. (It is on Netflix.) I cannot believe I overlooked that first movie because it was such a charming and harmless movie. That first movie almost reaches the level of Toy Story  material where it is so grand in its achievement that both kids and adults will enjoy this movie. I must admit even though some of the advertisement was quite too silly, I went in with an open mind and I came out thinking, if they make a third movie and makes it as good as the first two, this might be in contention for the most underrated trilogy ever made. However, we have the second one and this is a heartwarming children's movie that we rarely get at the movies, especially a very good children movie sequel. Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw) has been comfortable and has been popular around the Windsor Gardens as he is...

Wow! I did not realize how many movies both Liam Neeson and director Jaume Collet-Serra they have collaborated together. I would not put their collaborations up there with Scorsese/De Niro, Scorsese/DiCaprio, Berg/Wahlberg, Tarantino/Jackson, etc. They make solid action movies: I think Non-Stop  is an underrated plane thriller that is subtly interesting and has an unpredictable twist that I did not see coming. But, I did like Unknown  and Run All Night , even though the latter is a bit retread of Road to Perdition . With their fourth collaboration, I can predict how this story is going to unfold. I will admit I was having fun with Collet-Serra's Hitchockian set-up, however, the plot starts to derail and go crazy as it develops that it becomes forgettable. Detective Michael McCauley (Liam Neeson) begins his routine by spending time with his family, wife Karen (Elizabeth McGovern) and their son, Danny (Dean-Charles Chapman), before boarding the train to work, interacting wi...

If you have seen the classic 1976 film, All the President's Men , you will understand this statement: this is sort of an origin story or prequel to that movie because it features Ben Bradlee at the Washington Post before controversy erupted. I understand why director Steven Spielberg wanted to make this because even though it is a significant chapter to the Washington Post's history and also the nation, the themes and context are parallel with today's news surprisingly, both having to do with authoritative controversy and also, a woman taking charge in a lead role. Now, a few years ago we had Spotlight , one of the best movies of 2015 and also the decade, that elevated into the top-tier of journalistic movies. This is a solid movie that has a good and relevant message to our time but I admired it more than I loved. It's a second-tier Spielberg movie. During the Vietnam War in 1965, Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys) is at the campsite in the Hau Giang Province to obser...

Right off the bat... MAJOR SPOILERS ALERT!  Nowadays, many movies do not have a great ending or a clear ending because of a weak third act or ultimately, the movie is so mediocre, but the mostly the former. It is more frustrating to have a weaker conclusion than a weaker opening but the latter has 50/50 chance of redeeming itself, relying on the director, the screenplay and the acting. After your expectations have been tampered when you love a movie, you anticipate what its final act will be. You will never know. But, sometimes, the endings are the ones that will hook you the most, it will stay with you for days, weeks, maybe forever. And, I have picked about 30 movie endings (some iconic, some underrated) that define what a great ending can be, if you have seen the movie. (Trust me. It took me a long time.) NOTE: I cannot find a clear quality of The Sixth Sense ending but it is definitely on the list. It's A Wonderful Life (1946) Psycho (1960) Planet of the Ap...

This is one of the few 2017 leftovers because it came out around Christmas time and I did not have time or could not review it. Aaron Sorkin is one of the most crafted writers in the movie industry today because he listens to other people and the dialogue is quick and rhythmic and also intelligent. His filmography has been on fire since he won the Oscar for The Social Network ; Moneyball  and Steve Jobs were the following projects that still had some great impact along with its performances. Now, it is interesting that his first directorial debut involves a subject regarding poker and how to run a gambling club but illegally. It is something that maybe Martin Scorsese or Paul Thomas Anderson would do. But, I was anticipating this movie for two reasons: Jessica Chastain and Aaron Sorkin. And thanks to their contributions to the movie, this is a solid, well-acted movie. Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain) narrates her life story in voiceover as the movie switches from the present t...