Caro the Movie Critic

2013 has been another terrific year for the movies. I think it was pretty equal to 2012, but there were about 32 movies that were in contention for my top 10 list, which is a record (previous record was 30). I cannot believe how many good movies I saw but it was clear to say the least which was #1 and #2, but it was rest of the list that got me thinking a long time. So, since it was another great year, I posted a runners-up list. Runners-Up List (11-20, alphabetical order): The Act of Killing Before Midnight Blue Jasmine The Conjuring Frozen Fruitvale Station The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Mud Rush The Way Way Back 10. The Spectacular Now A great coming-of-age that has a few cliched characters but avoids the predictable outcomes. It is basically an almost identifiable outlook of what happens in the senior year of high school. Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley create good chemistry. I can't believe Teller gave a great performance after his stinkers  Project X ...

Ben Stiller and Kristen Wiig having a natural conversation. Everybody daydreams at one point or another. The question is what does anybody daydream about? Basically, daydreaming is imagining all aspects of a fantasy or an image that nobody could ever realize in their own minds. Also, it is what happens when you go to sleep and can think about anything what's going on in your brain or mind in the state of hibernation. However, in this movie, when someone frequently daydreams of fantastic adventures, the imagination captures the magic well to anchor the spectacle, but unfortunately, the magic seems to interfere with the confusing story. The movie opens with Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) going over his expenses while he is about to go to eHarmony to check out a profile of a co-worker named Cheryl Melhoff (Kristen Wiig). After being hesitant to send in a wink, he clicks and sends in a wink but the computer does not approve. After a few more attempts, he gives up and frustratingly le...

The stockbrokers worshipping Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) like a god. Wall Street. The clients, the adrenaline, the stocks, the money, the power, and the decadence. The former three pertains to the man's job, but the latter three pertains what any stockbroker wants in order to have the freedom to do whatever they want with the client's money. As Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey) would say, "The name of the game is: move the money from your client's pocket into your pocket." We basically spend three hours seeing all of these Wall-Street scumbags steal the clients' money into their own pockets and spend it on booze, drugs, women, and other insane things in more insane activities. I have witnessed here is a great movie that I would not watch repetitively. The movie starts with Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) blowing cocaine onto a hooker's butt and he and his brokers throwing a little person onto a board with a dollar sign in the center. It'...

I have seen more documentaries than usual this year and this is a really good batch since I'm not a fan of documentaries. So, basically what I've posted are in mini-reviews of the documentaries I have seen this year (good and bad): The Act of Killing (2013), Unrated, 4 stars The filmmakers putting "bloody" makeup on the actors.  It is the September Movement in 1965 and gangsters Anwar Congo and Adi Zulkadry in Medan are promoted from selling tickets to leading a death squad in North Sumatra as part of the Indonesian killings of 1965 and 1966. The real-life death squad members re-enact their mass killings and scenes depicting their emotions and feelings about the killings. The scenes are produced in their own favorite genres: westerns, musicals, gangster pictures, etc. The documentary shows what Anwar is really depicting behind the scenes. This is a fascinating documentary of how Anwar and his friends feel about their crimes and murders back then, especially...

Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) and P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) having a magical time at Disney Land, I think. Don't you have any recollection of when you went to a Disney Park? Do you recall the wonderful memories of spending the time with your family and friends the whole day and have fun and look at the awesome fireworks at night? Well, of course, none of these memories at a Disney Park would ever happen if Walt Disney had not have the imagination and spectacle that he envisioned to create a suitable and friendly environment for all families to enjoy, especially with the movies. I mean he had imagination with certain films. This movie was about the making of one of the most successful films, Mary Poppins . But, he has to work with a very difficult woman. The film is set in 1961, where a grumpy woman named P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) is living in London where she hears that she is successful with the Mary Poppins series. However, after some financial issues with the rights of her...

Merry Christmas to everybody. I'm blessed and thankful to be healthy and to be with my family during the holidays. Today is really about sharing the memories with the ones you love and remember for years to come. God bless us, everyone! And just for laughs...here's a clip from a recognizable Christmas classic.

Oscar Isaac (Llewyn Davis) looking out the window. Blood Simple, Barton Fink, Miller's Crossing, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, No Country for Old Men, etc. This is some of the finest work that the Coen brothers put on screen and in their spectacular filmography. However, what is so astounding about the Coen brothers is that they could take any material, original or adapted, and make it into something better. And now, here they are with this movie, Inside Llewyn Davis . This movie can be placed with their finest work in their filmography. The movie is set in 1961 where Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac), who is a struggling folk singer living in New York (another New York story). There have been many good New York fables in the last few years. His solo record is not selling, he has suffered setbacks, he does not have a lot of money and he is sleeping in friends' couches. His friend and musical partner, Mike, has committed suicide. Llewyn performs at a cafe...