Caro the Movie Critic

Mission: Impossible - Fallout is the sixth installment of this franchise and it is in the midst of the most consistent action/spy franchise to date as the James Bond series has been a bit inconsistent as of late with Casino Royale and Skyfall being great whereas Spectre  was a bit of a letdown yet decent enough and Quantum of Solace  was forgettable. This Mission Impossible franchise seems to keep on going with its momentum of creating better movies ever since Mission: Impossible III , where the franchise seemed to be dying off a bit but it had a memorable villain with the late great Philip Seymour Hoffman but it was  Ghost Protocol, the fourth movie, where each movie started to become an event because of how good director Brad Bird made that movie. Then, Rogue Nation  was very good but a bit lesser of an effort than its predecessor. With Fallout , this movie raises the bar on not solely the franchise but in action genres. This is technically, without question, th...

The transition from junior high to high school is massive for they will go through the last four years of not solely trying to achieve great grades and high SAT scores to get into college but also making a name of himself/herself for the sake of his/her self-esteem and for the school. But, in this day and age, social media is a huge element of one's youth as one would want to display or comment about what they are feeling as it would be highlight in friends' social media databases. Sometimes, negative or nasty comments would give you the boot from a job and/or raise concern from other people, especially from your loved ones. This movie combines adolescence and social media into something far greater about one tackling teen insecurity. This is a truthful portrait about the transition from teenager to young adult paralleling the ever-changing social media. Ladybird  was the definition of a great coming-of-age film last year, Eighth Grade carries on that same definition. Kayl...

Unfriended  was a great concept that turned into a decent enough movie that I liked. I thought that it was a good idea that teenagers will have slumber parties/horror movie marathons and enjoy. But, I predicted that there were going to be sequels from this great concept and I would question why. Why build upon a small success and then ruin it? Let the one movie build and see whether or not the movie's success catch on but no, the studios are eager to make more money and make more horror sequels that may be borderline passable. Well, this sequel is basically shocks and a message of not messing with the dark web because the characters and the story are not as interesting as the first movie. Matias O'Brien (Colin Woodell) has acquired on a new laptop that originally belonged to Norah C. IV. After multiple attempts to figure out the password, Matias only opens with a password that is simply a question mark. He starts to work on this app called Papaya, which hears the user'...

This movie explores the post-soldier life of a man living with PTSD and even though we explore PTSD a bit with American Sniper  throughout the movie. But, to have that and to live an idyllic life is quite complicated because you and your family are in another zip code, isolated from society. The one with PTSD has only his or her family to talk to. But, the movie tackles with family, kindness, solitude and independence in quite a fruitful way and director Debra Granik incorporates all of those themes into a story that is uplifting and heartbreaking. A war veteran named Will (Ben Foster) is suffering from PTSD and is living with his thirteen-year old daughter, Tom (Thomasin McKenzie), in isolated existence in a vast urban park in Oregon. Tom is accidentally spotted by a jogger and police take them away and put them in social services. They are giving food and a house in Oregon only on the condition that Will abides by the rules and follows certain instructions under the house's ...

This is a movie that is about the story of a set of American triplets - David Kellman, Bobby Shafran and Eddy Galland - that were adopted at a young age by separate families. They were unaware that they are brothers. They were part of an experiment which was a "nature vs nurture" twin study in which what would happens if they are raised in different environments in different circumstances. They discovered each other at the age of 19 and the movie how they found each other and how they got along with each other. But, the documentary goes in different directions that are unexpected and dark that keeps you attentive with such grace and sadness. But, the movie unravels with thrills and keeps you guessing until some of those revelations, happy, sad and shocking, maybe all at else. It is not solely a heartwarming story about three boys founding each other but it is a mystery of not about trying to find each other but also what they were up to with their different backgrounds. ...

Oh, God! Mamma Mia!  is coming back into my life like a dark cloud is coming back to overshadow my head and happiness. I hated that 2008 movie. It was inert, full of inconsistent feelings that did not connect or was forgotten from 5 minutes ago. There were plot holes in the situation of the Meryl Streep character and most of the singing was horrid. The only three minor elements that were enjoyable were the setting of Greece, the ABBA songs themselves and I guess, some of the choreography. Ok, I will add Meryl Streep's charisma but she is charismatic is many other better movies. Ok, I was not looking forward to seeing this movie but I have to be honest, I enjoyed this more than the first movie as there were some improvements in the screenplay and its consistent tone. But, despite the energy being high and jovial, the movie jumps back and forth trying to get me in the spirit but the storylines were so thin that I could not even bite enough of that flavor for me to enjoy this secon...

The Equalizer  was a solid success both critically and commercially that it was hailed an entertaining action flick headlined by Denzel Washington, who was bad-ass and driven. So, in his filmography, which was surprising and rewarding simultaneously, he was never in a sequel until this movie will have come out. I am assuming why Washington wanted to this is because that 1) he enjoyed the character so much (he is selective in choosing his scripts) and 2) he has a great, professional working relationship with director Antoine Fuqua, who garnered him a Best Actor Oscar. There were vibes of great energy in the action of this sequel and there is a good story of a young kid looking up to him but it seemed that the brutal tone of the main plot and the nice, light sub-plot did not seem gel together that it felt like too movies, one with a predictable outcome and another that seemed like it was fresh. Robert McCall (Denzel Washington), previously a worker in some sort of Home Depot sto...

A grand concept integrating social commentary and entertainment can come out of a person's imagination but with a wild ambition and a huge creative risk. I think Jordan Peele, who is viewed as a comedian, came out with one of the most original concepts regarding social commentary and mixing it up with horror and a bit of dark comedy with Get Out . I thought that movie worked with wonders and was one of the best movies of 2017 and potentially one of the best movies of the decade. Here we have another wild and crazy vision that is so unique and original that after I saw the trailer, I was looking forward to watching the movie. But, after walking out of the movie, I was in a rare state that I cannot describe how I felt and took a long while to figure out what I want to say. I was silent beyond comprehension because there were moments of brilliance of comedy and social commentary in the first half and then there were moments of bizarre ideas full of social commentary and weird horro...

I would not want to title Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as the Schwarzenegger of this era because it sort of devalues his personality and brand. No, he is Dwayne Johnson who is a humbling and charismatic guy that is driven to perform his best and to give his best product on-screen. The best thing about his work is that he is consistent on the basis of entertainment. Yes, Baywatch  was absolute garbage and Rampage did not quite work for me. But, everything else has been solid. Here, we have another Die Hard rip-off but not in a historical building but it in technologically advanced skyscraper that is taller than the Nakatomi Tower. Yes, there are cliches and moments of dialogue that will make you roll your eyes, but we have had not many fun summer action movies in quite a while and this is a summer action movie that is not quite a blaze of glory but it is a fun popcorn flick. Former Marine/FBI agent Will Sawyer (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) is an amputee from a failed...

I think the first Ant-Man is an underrated movie in the MCU. I thoroughly enjoyed it as a non-bombastic, fun origin story of Scott Lang trying to come back to reality in order to be re-acquainted with his daughter. Obviously, the character grew into popularity not because of the character or the movie but because of Paul Rudd. He has such a charismatic presence on-screen that you realize that you want to hang out with him and have a beer next to him and Robert Downey Jr.. Not their characters, obviously, they are not going to get along after what happened in Civil War . But because it made money, it warranted for a sequel and the result is that the main characters displayed enough humor and fun in order to balance out the weak villains and some of the storyline that did not seem too fleshed out. The movie opens after the climax of Ant-Man  in which Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), while in the Quantum Realm in the final fight, tells Hope (Evangeline Lilly) that there may be a way that ...

What drives people to steal something? Well, two things: 1) the fun and 2) the money, potentially for personal reasons. I think the best proof of the latter is Hell or High Water  where two brothers have to rob banks (I will still not spoil it since it's two years old) for personal reasons. Heist movies are still up in my alley as it could be a great experience. But, this movie was a different experience that is worthwhile and highly entertaining for people who are a fan of the heist genre. This movie is a mockumentary style of a heist in which, in Kentucky, most particularly, in Transylvania University, we observe people doing makeup for others that we do not know yet. Spencer (Barry Keoghan) is an artistic student who is friends with Warren (Evan Peters), who is also another student. They are average suburban kids who, along with their friend, Eric (Jared Abrahamson), want to do something incredible to improve their everyday lives. So, they being to hatch up a plan to rob so...

Ok...ok...another Purge movie. They are 1-for-3 with this franchise and I was dreading of seeing another movie of this franchise. You know what, I'm going to skip the build-up. They are now 2-for-4 for me now with this movie because even though I am not recommending you to go see it in the theaters, I think this is a movie you can watch and stream along with the best one of the franchise: The Purge: Anarchy . The United States is in economic and social turmoil. The New Founding Fathers of America have replaced both republican and democratic parties. Chief of Staff Arlo Sabian (Patch Darragh) and Dr. May Updale (Marisa Tomei) have planned to initiate an experiment on Staten Island within two days to allow the citizens to unleash their anger within a 12-hour period. Those conducting and monitoring the experiment offer the citizens $5000 to stay home during the experiment, and an additional compensation for those who participate. Drug lord Dmitri (Y'lan Noel) tells his deal...

Sometimes, people are in a situation where it is out of your hands when a superior is having a bad mood and that mood interferes with the employee's experience with the company and his/her boss. It could be an awkward office if the boss is having a bad mood. Even though the plot seemed a bit familiar, sometimes, I was interested in the movie because of the people involved and also I have not seen this type of romantic comedy in a while. If you want to just stream a fun movie, this is the movie that you'll be thinking that you made the right choice to watch. 25-year old Harper (Zoey Deutch) is an assistant to online sports journalist/editor, Kirsten (Lucy Liu) whereas 28-year old Charlie (Glen Powell) is an assistant to venture capitalist, Rick (Glen Powell). They both are going through tough times regarding not having money to pay for food or waiting too long for food. Harper and Charlie meet and Harper is worried that Kirsten will fire her if she does not give her her foo...

How can I define 2018 this year in terms of the release of movies? I'd say it has been rather exciting. Usually, in the midway-point, there are about 4-8 movies that are in contention for the best movies of the year. But, in this case, and this was a surprisingly number of movies I gave 3.5 or 4 stars. There are 15 movies in contention for consideration of the best movies of the year. I think this is the strongest first half of a movie year this decade so far and I love that most of the movies that I appreciated were from different genres. It seems that there is something for everybody that people will love. Here's a better part of this blog article: there were more good movies than bad. I was counting the movies that were in consideration for worst or disappointing and there were about 9 or 10 so that was rewarding that I have seen more great discoveries than trash. But, there is a little bit of trash combined with disappointing results. Even though there are a lot of con...