Caro the Movie Critic

It's been a very strange year, but a very good year, not as highly prestige as the past two years. However, the best movies are scattered throughout all over the year in 2014 and most of the films are in great range in terms in how we feel in the ends. Nevertheless, at the same time, it was mostly a weak end towards the end of the year since the award-caliber films come out, but there were very few great films at that time. There were 29 movies vying for the top 10 spots (Record: 36) and that is proof that it was a very good, but not great year. Here are 10 honorable mentions in the runners-up list: Honorable Mentions: (11-20, alphabetical) The Babadook Citizenfour Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Edge of Tomorrow Life Itself Locke Snowpiercer The Theory of Everything Under the Skin (3-way tie) X-Men: Days of Future Past, Captain America: The Winter Soldier & Guardians of the Galaxy (TIE) 10. American Sniper It was tough to sacrifice this film for a runners...

There's something strange going on inside the house. In a long time of reviewing and critiquing movies, this is the first movie that had me at a loss of words and clearly not thinking straight while writing this review. The premise is very peculiar and strange as to what kind of story the filmmakers want to tell us and honestly, while hearing about its effulgent premise, I said to myself that this may be an interesting horror flick. And, damn it, it was pretty interesting despite how silly it was. Amelia (Essie Davis) is a widowed mother who lives with her son Samuel (Noah Wiseman) and their dog Percy. Sam eagerly does magic tricks and makes imaginative weapons for his extracurricular activities in his house. He does get in trouble at school, however, and Amelia picks him up. She works as an orderly at a hospital and Amelia takes Sam to the park with her sister, Claire (Hayley McElhinney) and her daughter, Ruby (Chloe Hurn). Their relationship is showed to be strained and som...

MLK and his wife. Recount the history of how on Bloody Sunday that many protesters were beaten and struck down by many police officers. It is horrible to witness that tale of history. Reading about the history of Martin Luther King, Jr. and his followers and his fellow activists went through is one aspect and impacts me more intelligently and provoked me a lot more thought, but watching the event as it unfolds is truly one of the most intense scenes of any other film I have seen in a long time. This film is not afraid to show us how MLK defined and changed history and the psychological and physical violence that impacted the African-Americans in their civil rights. It is a great film. Martin Luther King, Jr. (David Oyelowo) is giving a speech in Oslo in 1964 accepting the Nobel Peace Prize and is grateful to accept after his "I have a dream" speech in Washington. But, he is still upset on the lack of civil rights that is given to the African-American community. In ano...

Waltz and Adams having a little argument.  A portrait or picture of something or someone magical or inventive has to have a great trademark of a true artist. But, is the artist's trademark actually in the painting or hidden and we have to feel the same emotion in compared to their other paintings? The artistic value in its paintings are overlooked by people and focus on how it will be sold and almost every painting is worth a lot of money, especially to high-caliber people. How far will it go for a husband and wife to go against each other's throats to get what each will deserve? It is a straight-forward and intimate movie about the struggle of a woman's reputation behind the man's success of her paintings. Margaret (Amy Adams) is a talented painter having no work experience but has the studied craft at an art institute. However, her talent for painting people's portraits outside an outdoor art show is widely ignored. However, Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz) is...

Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle.  Chris Kyle is recognized as the "most lethal sniper in U.S. history" with conviction and bravery and has more than 160 kills, the most in sniper history. I cannot say anything about how conflicted a soldier would get when returning home from a tour and facing civilian life again because I have never been deployed. Having witnessed this movie and another movie called Born on the Fourth of July (and I'll compare those two later on in the review), both soldiers are haunted by loud noises and suffer PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). Everybody in their personal lives will understand and be struggling having a natural conversation with the soldier in how it had been during the tour and other personal things. This movie was resonant, emotional and intense supplied with the best performance by Bradley Cooper in his career. NAVY Seal sniper Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) is dedicated and disciplined to his job, holding a gun and scoping out o...

Jack O'Connell at attention.  How can a movie endure a man who has lived the highest value of success and the lowest value of scum and pain? It is fascinating to witness a man who never complains or never gives up despite being beat up in combat or losing in a race. The movie is inspirational in that degree on how far we go to achieve the highest goal in our lives. But, it is also risk-taking as to how far we will go to achieve it if surrounded by high mortality rates. The movie follows one man on a journey that sets him on a raft for 47 days before being captured by the Japanese and that is when his spiritual mission truly begins. Louie Zamperini (Jack O'Connell) is a man who overcomes odds but desperately wants to achieve it no matter the consequences or the loss of his physical strength. Earlier in the film, we witness a young Louie being trained for the high school track team and sets a record. He goes to the Olympics in 1936 and ends up in last place but it does not ...

It was a very interesting year for documentaries as all of the 5 documentaries I saw this year were vastly different but they were all unique in a different perspective. I already saw Life Itself , about the late film critic Roger Ebert, and I think it was a great movie. And, all of the others were refreshing in entirely different ways and none of them disappointed me and did not get me to go to sleep. So, here are the five that I did see... Citizenfour (2014), R, 4 stars This is the most riveting documentary of the year showing us a portrait of how personal privacy has destroyed people's reputations in America. Since we are in the digital era, everybody has to be extra careful on what we put on the Internet or other sources. This movie also deals with Edward Snowden being in trouble as to how he sort of leaked secret information from the NSA and other government agencies. It is an important film to witness and to learn so we cannot become one of the targets on the Int...