Caro the Movie Critic

I have never been to night school as I completed high school successfully. However, I had some a bit of a mixed expectation going into this because it looked like some sort of routine comedy that may not hit me. But, also, on the positive side, there were the talents of Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish, who were coming off of hit movies with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle  and Girls Trip , respectively, uniting for the first time with this movie. There is comic spirit and talent surrounding the leads and the supporting cast especially during in night school, but outside the school, the movie relies on a contrived plot with tiring slapstick and overbearing sentimentality that I felt let down. Teddy Walker (Kevin Hart) works as a barbecue grill salesman while dating a wealthy woman named Lisa (Megalyn Echikunwoke). He has a financial strategy under his belt of appearing better in that department than he actually is. Later, after proposing to Lisa, Teddy pops the champagne cork cau...

It's easy to say that we are living in a divisive time in which any news or comment of sorts could easily perplex or offend someone. But, also, it's timely because of the news going on surrounding political figures and celebrities and other prominent figures getting caught in sexual assault/harassment allegations. However, I set aside politics and I focus on reviewing the movie but it's hard to get those disturbing realities out of your head as it supposedly relevant to the material. So, focusing on reviewing the movie, I had some hopes watching an original spin of how leaks can split the gender dynamics but it focuses more on the carnage and the craziness than the story and meaning. The movie is way too much style over substance. High school senior Lily Coulson (Odessa Young) is a regular student who hangs out with her friends, Bex, Em and Sarah (Hair Nef, Abra and Suki Waterhouse, respectively). The girls later go out to a party where Bex hooks up with her boyfriend,...

Every now and then, in my mind, since Martin Scorsese's excellent biographical gangster film, Goodfellas , directors have been chasing that Holy Grail of incorporating that narrative melded with their own creativity equalling a great crime product. Some succeeds more than others. I have heard of this story before from reading articles surrounding White Boy Rick and his schemes so I was excited for this movie. As a result, I can see the grandiose ideas of conveying the mood into its atmosphere and story, but the movie is limited in conveying that same mood into the characters while being perplexed by the overall, fuzzy picture after nitpicking how sensational some scenes and details are in the end. The movie starts at an Ohio gun show in 1986 where Rick Wershe Jr. (Rick Merritt) is examining some AK-47s with the dealer. He notices some strange with the guns and afterwards, he calls his father, Rick Sr. (Matthew McConaughey) to back him up and they both blackmail the dealer for ...

You know what? Honestly, I had quite a lengthy period of time to think about how to introduce this review because my experience was one of the most interesting encounters with a movie this year. Before going into this movie, all I knew was this movie was directed by Dan Fogelman, who is the creator of the multi-generational, interconnecting weeper, This is Us . I will admit that I have seen a few episodes and they were solid but definitely emotional tearjerkers so I did not continue with the show because frankly, I did not want to be on the verge of letting out my tears while and after watching every episode. So, Fogelman had something for the show. As for the movie, the experience felt like a weepy therapy session while I listen to rain pouring down and trickling as I want to confess why I'm crying: I saw a manipulative, shallow film that left me emotionless. The movie spans several decades across continents centering on unrelated people that part of a bigger story with poten...

Lies. Deceit. They are both ingredients to a juicy mystery made for any type of audience that will get you invested while either reading a book or watching a movie. All great mystery movies keep you invested in the story, characters and the twists and turns along the way. For example, a movie that I hope I can do a GREAT SELECTION for in the future, I did not expect how dark Seven's twist/revelation it became but it contradicts my surprise because the material was dark anyway but it went up another notch. This movie is not as dark but I appreciate that this latest mystery does not take itself seriously and it made my experience watching this movie better and worthwhile because you again you are invested but above all else, entertained. Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) is a single mother who is a "mommy vlogger" for her website. She gives viewers a recap for what is going on as she starts to compose herself and explain to us, the audience, and her viewers what happ...

Drama. Drama. Drama. When you are in that high school age, you are drowned in that drama that you do not want to be involved in. Everybody has had that problem where somebody has to be involved or forced to be involved in a situation. But, when you mature over time or have "grown up", you roll your eyes at the drama and do not want to get involved. Now, this day and age, people, mostly women, have embrace themselves with their own bodies after critiquing people's idea of the perfect body. Criticisms about one's appearance hurts their self-esteem but stand up for themselves. With this movie, its heart was in the right place but after the movie is over, you start to question the narrative that becomes uneven and attempts to place a message in the right place but sort of places it in the garbage can by accident. A smart, unpopular girl named Sierra Burgess (Shannon Purser) aspiring to get into Stanford University. Even though she has charm and intelligence under her...

Predator was the start of a very inconsistent series of films but the 1987 movie was an action film that took the level of action, testosterone and cleverness on another level. I figured out what was so good about that movie after watching it again recently. The jungle setting inhabits the isolation and fear that the squad is feeling while the hunters are being hunted by a unique type of alien with its camouflage and advanced weaponry. Also, the tone changes from a macho film to an action film to a horror film to a survival film to a mano-a-mano film. That film had a lot of ingredients in a film that horror/action fans were craving for and that is what establishes the first Predator as an '80s classic and action classic. We had some sub-par sequels and a sequel that I thought was surprisingly decent which was Predators  but I'm afraid that we've come to a point that they should just close the book on making another Predator movie for a while because this latest effort wa...

So, Netflix is slowly coming up with solid movies but there are movies out there that are very disappointing like Bright or Mute . Set It Up , a movie that I surprisingly enjoyed, was enough for me to get it distributed to theaters as a light romantic comedy but Crazy Rich Asians filled the void. However, Netflix is getting stronger with their coming-of-age stories with TV shows like Stranger Things  and 13 Reasons Why,  two different genres but with other movies like the now-released Sharna Burgess is a Loser  and this movie. And, the bottom line is that this movie parodies the style of Wes Anderson to a great degree with a fantastic screenplay and an equally star-making performance. Lara Jean Song Covey (Lana Condor) is a 16-year-old high school student who loves to fantasize about romance but is afraid to be committed to a romantic relationship. In previous years, Lara writes letters to boys she has had crushes on in the past, including three people currently in h...

The Conjuring is one of the more brilliant horror movies of the decade as it generated some scares, thrills without relinquishing any gore to make the movie entertaining. The movie relied on the story, propelling its subject matter as the scary element to drive the narrative forward and it succeeded, generating critical and commercial success and hyping up a second movie, which was good but not great. But, it spanned these spin-offs, with the Annabelle  movies, which one of them was terrible and the other was decent. Now, we have another movie focusing on a character that is debatably popular to some regard, but it does not pay off in the long run because of its lagged narrative and not much scares. The movie takes place in 1952 at the Carta Monastery in Romania as a suicide is brought upon by Vatican officials. The Vatican officials enlist Father Anthony Burke (Damian Bichir) to investigate. He seeks out a young novitiate/teacher named Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga). They both...

It is scary nowadays that more people can be missing or lost due to more strangers luring them into certain places that nobody in their inner circle knows about. But, a parent or a group of parents will do anything they can to find their child even if they have to invade their privacy or go against the authorities' will. There's nothing more sacred than a parent's love for their child and to use that cliche concept of a parent looking for a child and mixing it with an up-and-coming computer concept that has been before made me a bit apprehensive. However, thanks to a compelling performance, a suspenseful plot and some solid twists, this is a movie that almost works on all cylinders and takes its concept up a notch. The whole movie takes place from the point of view of the laptop and phone screens. David (John Cho) is taking care of Margot (Michelle La) as a single father after the death of his wife a few years back. Margot leaves for a study group session after David c...

Burt Reynolds was an icon in both the movie and television industry. He was a definitely an influential person being thrown out in the '60s, '70s and '80s because of his suave and cool personality that made him a name in many households. He passed away at the age of 82 due to a cardiac arrest as he had years of heart problems. Now, even though I do know the name and know most of his movies, honestly, I was never quite fond of most of his work. But, Reynolds seemed to have a keen eye of looking for not just work, but work that gets the fans' attention and not the critics' attention. As the movies were successful during his run in the '70s and '80s, the critics seem to deride his work and performances. I remember the late critics, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, always ridiculed his movies repeatedly as they deemed a couple of them the worst movies ever made. But, one of the funnier and well-recognized episodes of their show was their review of the awful Cop...