Reviews

I began watching the NBA right after one of the most historic decades of basketball - the 90s. It was the early years of the new millennium, and new stars were emerging. I started tuning in right around the 2002-2003 season, watching a 40-year old MJ playing for a different team. Growing up, I idolized two players; Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant, both of whom happens to consider Jordan as their basketball hero.

Even before I started watching the NBA religiously, I already knew who the greatest of all-time was. I remember as a kid when we would visit my grandfather's place, the replay of the Jazz and Bulls 1998 series was almost always on the television. I remember watching Jordan's final game wearing a Bulls uniform, ending with that iconic push off shot on Bryon Russell. At home, my father has a copy of "Ultimate Jordan", a two-disc DVD set that features five best-selling Michael Jordan documentaries - "Come Fly with Me", "Michael Jordan's Playground", "Air Time", "Above & Beyond", and "His Airness", including a bonus feature; a countdown of his Top 10 Greatest Moves, Top 10 Dunks, Top 10 Shots, and Top 10 Assists. My father loved showing it off to people who would visit the house after playing basketball, he'd showed them who the G.O.A.T. was. So even though I was a decade late, his moves, his stories, are embedded in my mind growing up.

Heading into "The Last Dance" my expectations weren't high. I thought it would be just a mere piece of fan service, a refresher course on my knowledge of the greatest basketball dynasty. But I was gladly mistaken, amazed even. Besides the fact that it contains an exhaustive amount of detail and expertise, the structure - which interweaves the rise of the Bulls in the late 80s up until the crescendo of the final shot that sealed their sixth championship in the 90s, while seamlessly jumping back and forth to different timelines and different stories of key players and coaches - is truly effective in making this docuseries look fresh, insightful, and entertaining. They managed to fit it all in a 10-hour show and it's hard to imagine that they left out some significant details when you consider the fact that the roster of interviewees ranges from Carmen Electra to Barack Obama. There's no narration except for a few important title cards, the stories are being told by the players and the people who lived it. The soundtrack captures the energy of the 90s, the score is moving and uplifting and I love the fact that every episode (with the exception of the last) has a goosebump-inducing cliffhanger.

"The Last Dance" didn't come up short in capturing the essence of the Chicago Bulls dynasty, the cultural impact of Michael Jordan that changed the landscape of professional basketball forever, but most importantly, it gave me a much-needed context to the numerous Michael Jordan highlights I saw as a kid.

I was twelve when I saw the original, and I felt so old when I saw Incredibles 2 alone in the cinema. I saw it twice in one sitting because I've got nowhere to go and the film is so much fun and it brought back memories from a simpler time.

You can't admire Pixar enough for what they bring, one example: some action sequences here surpassed most of the CGI-filled battles of live-action superhero movies. One scene in particular reminded me of a scene in X-Men: First Class, impressive.

The original was smartly written for a family animated film, criticizing American society. This sequel continued and added smart thematics, wonderful voice cast, richly written characters, and entertaining action.

Frozone is underrated and needs his own movie.

After seeing most of Aki Kaurismäki's films and then veering back to his second film, it almost felt like I was watching an all-star cast because most of the actors he collaborated throughout his career is here. And, boy, did I miss my favorite Finnish actor, Matti Pellonpää.

I'm just happy Kaurismäki didn't continue directing while drunk.

It also reminded me of Reservoir Dogs. Did Tarantino saw this movie?

Deadpool 2 is a much needed comic relief (pun intended) after we were left devastated in Avengers: Infinity War.

It's bigger and better than the original in every way.

The X-Men franchise is still alive and kicking thanks to Logan and Deadpool.

"Life is short and miserable. Be merry while you can."

I hope that every sad loser in life and every person who is kind but is faced with tremendous misfortune has a happy ending.

This film is dedicated to Aki Kaurismäki's most prominent collaborator and friend, Matti Pellonpää, who was supposed to reprise his role in Shadows in Paradise in this film, which was meant to be the sequel.

He died of a heart attack and was only 44. Maybe, after all, Aki Kaurismäki's cinematic lens pale in comparison to real life's tragedy.

Robert De Niro playing a Vietnam vet, living alone in a ratty apartment, who commits a radical act near the end of the film. No, he's not playing Travis Bickle, but Jon Rubin, the Peep Art amateur filmmaker from Greetings. De Niro is brilliant and funny here and shows his skills in improvising.

Brian De Palma in his Godard phase here, exhibits also his Hitchcockian tendencies.

I've never thought, ten years ago, that this is even possible. But thanks to the brilliant minds working in the MCU for piecing together all ten years of work into one grand film, and to the Russo brothers for doing their job again.

This is not your conventional superhero blockbuster, MCU didn't push the safety button here, they went beyond anything we've ever experienced in a superhero movie. And they know they need to step up because this isn't an ordinary movie event, forget about the Justice League.

From the opening scene, you can already sense the dread and the heaviness of this film, the humor is still there and the 'relief' in comic relief is more apparent this time because you can feel an air of unease throughout the film.

It felt to me, though I'm not sure if it's intended, that Thanos is the center of the film, it was all about his character and his quest. And I liked that idea, it gives Infinity War another twist.

I've got so much to say here, but I'll leave it in my second viewing.

What truly stands out about Black Panther in particular compared to other MCU entries is the large canvas of characters, yet all fully realized with their own goals and convictions. And finally we have a villain who doesn't just show up to terrorize people and blow things up, here, Killmonger's presence is what causes T'Challa to look within himself and realize his weaknesses. It's also a film filled with timely social commentary, a touch of Shakespearean drama, nuanced and charismatic performances from the cast, and an amazing score from Ludwig Göransson which featured an overlapping layers of percussion. The only downside of the film is the climactic sequence in Wakanda's dark underground vibranium mine.

Terrence Malick have made better versions of this film years earlier. After his 21st century peak in The Tree of Life everything that followed are just residues of that success. Here we've got another set of characters that are lost and longing, but they aren't as interesting as in his previous works - that's the law of diminishing returns. They're just beautiful people filmed in beautiful places murmuring words we've already heard before in a superior Malick film and it is too thematically identical to Knight of Cups.

It stars Ryan Gosling who does Gosling things, Michael Fassbender playing like a lesser version of his character in Shame, and other big names like Natalie Portman, Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett. It also featured Patti Smith playing herself and opening up about her real life, but she chose the wrong Malick film.

This is a perfect example of self-parody. Malick is too old now to take another long break, and I just wish he still has one film left in him to catch us off guard.

The only thing worth seeing is Gal Gadot's disarming smile in the horrendous climax. The most unforgivable thing about it was my favorite superhero growing up was murdered by an annoying performance courtesy of Ezra Miller. His counterpart in Marvel comics, Quicksilver is so much better portrayed, Evan Peters' performance was effortlessly agreeable while Ezra Miller tried so hard to be likable.

DC's extended universe is nowhere near the worst entry in Marvel's cinematic universe.

There's no justice in Justice League

6 out of 10 stars is an average rating for many people but it is a very low rating in my book.

Few films can make you feel as edgy as its protagonist. The whole film feels like a panic attack; thanks to the tight and intense camera-work, Daniel Lopatin's throbbing score, Robert Pattinson's another brilliant performance that recalls the great Al Pacino in "Dog Day Afternoon", and not to be forgotten is Ben Safdie (who also co-directed this film with his brother, Joshua) as Pattinson's mentally challenged brother.

'Good Time' is such a vivid ride.

David Thewlis shines in a bleak performance that never steps wrong, as a highly intelligent low-life roaming around the underbelly of London in this brutal but honest film about people who lack the will to function in their lives while all their knowledge and insight in the world becomes a heavy burden to them.

I know I might've missed some of its subtler themes in a post-Thatcher Britain, but I do comprehend its more transparent messages. It's a hard film to watch, but I would love to see it again just to hear Thewlis' marvelous bitter rants and Ewen Bremner yelling "Maggie!".

Scorsese had dealt with spirituality in subtle ways in many of his films and it is one of the issues that he kept coming back again. So it is not a surprise that a director who worked with brutal and violent films involving gangsters and psychopaths had made his second work on a great spiritual figure. It could be an attempt to wash away the blood and sins of his previous films or an act of redemption that would be repeated years later by "Silence" after the carnal and materialistic "The Wolf of Wall Street" – redemption, after all, is one of the goals of many Scorsese characters, so it is not a coincidence that his filmography had somewhat uncannily mirrored the structure of his films.

The film chronicles the early life of the 14th Dalai Lama – from discovering him into the far reaches of Tibet to his exile to India. Shot by legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins and superbly scored by Philip Glass, the visual and music are rich and absorbing creating a trance-like state for a few patient viewers. But just like "The Last Temptation of Christ" that was riddled by controversies, "Kundun" was not a fan-favorite and was unjustly undervalued.

Considered by many as Scorsese's finest film and even as one of the greatest films of all time, this autobiography of the pugilist Jake LaMotta (played by De Niro with utmost intensity) was not about his fights inside the ring but inside his paranoid, inarticulate, and jealous mind. After a disappointing turn in their last film together that almost ended the director's life, the one-two punch duo of star and director returned in the screen with force and bravura, earning Scorsese his first Oscar nomination for Best Director and De Niro his second Oscar win.

One of the many reasons this film worked is because the themes that Scorsese had dealt with in his more personal films are present here, blending his style with a brilliant black-and-white photography from Michael Chapman, and Schoonmaker's Oscar winning work in the editing room.

"Raging Bull" is the anti-Rocky, although Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff who both produced the uplifting boxing saga re-united here, in a bleak high contrast black-and-white film about a former contender who ends up as a bloated washed-up nightclub owner.

A minor work from Scorsese, but remarkably underrated. This mid-80s film is an exercise of style and pure filmmaking from a director who was frustrated when his passion project was delayed again and again. Instead of letting his own disappointments absorb him, he focused all his energy in this low-budget dark comedy about one man's incredibly disappointing and ill-fated night in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. Working with skillful German cinematographer Michael Ballhaus (a frequent collaborator of R.W. Fassbinder), the film was shot at night with a feeling of strange perplexity and a sense of paranoia that had occupied not only the effective actor Griffin Dunne but also the viewers, using crafty camera improvisations to make that effect.

The film is thoroughly engaging and it works like a dream – it has no intention of explaining itself, and as the title suggests; it is meant to be watched after midnight.

Coming from the success of his previous films, Scorsese went back to the 40s and made a tribute to his home town and the classic Hollywood genre – although he refused to call it a musical, mentioning Billy Wilder's statement that you can't call a film a musical unless characters sing in situations where you don't expect them to.

With almost a three-hour running time, this highly stylized film filled with music and a rambling plot was a box-office failure and only a few critics giving a positive review, including Roger Ebert who said that if we forgive the movie its confusions we're left with a good time. Robert De Niro, collaborating for the third time with Scorsese for his least memorable character with the director, was not charming in this film and almost coming off as an annoying selfish character (and maybe that's the point), but Liza Minelli was great when performing the songs, especially in the highest point of the film when she sang its theme song, which is more memorable than the film itself – an indication that it was one of Scorsese's rare miscarriage as a director.

The failure of the film led his cocaine addiction into rock bottom, which obviously he will recover from with flying colors – bouncing back in the next decade for a brand new chapter of his life and career.

After working with an almost all male cast in his previous film, Scorsese was approached to direct a film with a female lead. It may seem like an oddity in the director's career and a wrong move, but this underrated tender, funny and touching film succeeds.

Ellen Burstyn (who won an Oscar for best actress in this film) stars as Alice, the single mother on the road to Arizona trying to follow her dream of becoming a singer or to just find a steady job to support his wacky 12-year old son (Alfred Lutter). While also in need of a man by her side after her husband recently died, an event that pushed her into her current life, she meets a charming younger man (Harvey Keitel) who turns out to be a psychopathic married cowboy, and then a gentle rancher with a wonderful beard (Kris Kristofferson). A young tomboyish Jodie Foster plays the new and only friend her son, which eventually gets him into trouble.

It may have been Scorsese's only film with a central female character, but this rare instance is a great example of Scorsese's wide range directing talent.

Young into his career – only his third film – Scorsese was already in control of his maturing talent, his signature style was now on full display, delivering an absorbing portrait of Italian-American life of crime and redemption in the streets of New York (although most of the film was actually shot in Los Angeles).

This force of nature of a film is powered by the outstanding cast, namely Keitel who plays a character which seems like an extension of the boy he played six years earlier in "Who's That Knocking at My Door", and De Niro in his unforgettable first role in a Scorsese film, playing Keitel's self-destructive mook of a cousin, Johnny Boy.

Scorsese owed a lot of his gritty filmmaking style to directors such as John Cassavetes, but there are no films like "Mean Streets" before – it became the blueprint for modern movies. In 1967, he used contemporary music as a film soundtrack as opposed to a traditional score, an unheard of practice at that time and even before "Easy Rider" popularized that notion, it had since become a staple for many modern movies, here he used it again more effectively.

"Mean Streets" is rough around the edges, with bloody violence soaked in pop music – the antithesis of Coppola's glamorous gangster epic – and an early masterpiece from a director who will go on to make more.

After working as an editor in the documentary "Woodstock", Scorsese was asked to make an exploitation film for Roger Corman, a known B-movie producer for the American International Picture.

Set in the depression-era starring Barbara Hershey and David Carradine as the pair who led a small gang into a life of crime. It sometimes reminds us of the similar lovers/criminals-on-the-run classic five years ago when this film was released, Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde." Although it borrows some elements in similar films that preceded it, and was restricted by the nature of the film, still Scorsese made a way to imbued some of his style and energy and show us what he can do with the limited materials given to him.

Shot in 24 days with little budget, "Boxcar Bertha" became Scorsese's training ground for making his future superior films – Scorsese once said that the tight scheduling of the film gave him the sense of discipline he needed.

Scorsese's first feature film was already packed with the trademarks and themes that he'll be known for throughout his lengthy and prolific career – contemporary music, quick edits, slow-motions, machismo, male bonding, goddess-whore complex, faith and Catholic guilt. Playing the lead role is his long-time collaborator and friend, Harvey Keitel, alongside TV star Zina Bethune. This film also marks his first collaboration with film editor Thelma Schoonmaker, on what would become a historic partnership between the two, resulting into three Oscar trophies for Thelma. This early Scorsese black-and-white film is both inventive and ragged, influenced clearly by the famous French cinematic movement of the 60s and other films Scorsese adored while growing up. Originally titled as "I Call First" in 1967, Scorsese was asked to insert nude scenes in the film to get it more distribution and eventually called "Who's That Knocking at My Door" and advertised as some sort of sex exploitation film – though those spliced nude fantasy scenes were shot terrifically, if not reasonably. This may not be the best example of the director's work and style, but we can see here the genesis of his genius. A debut film worth a look.

Krzysztof Kieslowski loves to delve in the idea of chance versus fate versus free will. The Double Life of Veronique is a haunting musical epiphany and with such visual poetry, it is filled with symbolism, some frank eroticism, and a slight dark humor. Kieslowski loves to filter colors to have an effect on his films, if it was part of his Three Colors Trilogy, it would've been "Gold". The photography was nostalgic, the lighting gives different shades on different moods of the characters. Irene Jacobs was enigmatic and sensual in her role as Weronika and Veronique. The story is simple, but there is more than the plot here, Kieslowski is more concerned in the visual rhyme, and his mystical narration of the story. He kind of connect the whole film together with strings but still leaves it like a scattered puzzle, it encourages uncertainty, and that is what I really liked about it. It leaves us with haunting questions that remains for us to answer, maybe in our own lives, rather than making us a complacent viewer that understands everything about the film and the world. I admire how Kieslowski made the film a reflection on the possibilities that the film indicates a reality beyond physical mundane lives. This film is both delicate and mysterious. I'd love to watch it again anytime, in a calmer and peaceful place with a cup of coffee at my hand.

An exercise in bad taste, indeed. This filthy trash movie is worthy of a glimpse, though it will not be a movie that is good for digestion, it's like an exotic dish of weirdness. The story is actually dumb but funny, a couple is trying to dethrone Divine in her status in being the "filthiest person alive," the story is enough to tell how filthy this movie is. It's funny not because it's a comedy, it doesn't try to be funny, the situation and the performance of the actors were already hilarious, naturally. The script is another plus for its absurdity. The characters, especially Divine and her mother Edie are unforgettable; you can't forget the Marbles too, with their unusual hair color. The oddest things are in placed here; the notorious last scene will make you sick. I want to watch more of this kind of movies, this is what I love about the journey of cinema, there are many things you'll discover, and there are a lot that I still haven't.

The first time I saw it left my mouth hanging, wondering what the hell is happening, because the film has been edited to show less violence, it took out all the important parts and it made me really angry. The second time around left my mouth hanging again, this time because of the absolutely insane action scenes. About 75 percent of the action scenes had been cut down when I saw it in the theater, a worthless money-grabber. Now on DVD, I'm able to watch the uncut version with the original language, and I fully enjoyed the film.

I was shocked to see the full blast of brutal action for the first time, and I would definitely recommend this to action junkies like my father. The fight scenes were beautifully choreographed and the stunts were amazing. I know now how hard it is to make a martial art action film, it requires actors with such skills and an excellent choreography, and it's hard to perfectly handle a scene with a lot of movements, it was amazing to see how the characters do their stuff, it's like dancing, it's a different kind of art, it should be appreciated. It takes time to master that kind of art.

The violence of this film leaves me breathless, I was a big fan of Jet Li and his movies when I was younger, 5 years ago I would've rated this with a perfect ten. But overall, the film is completely reliant on its action, the plot wasn't a bit of a challenge nor was it a particularly good one. The weakness comes in the plot, I know when we watch action movies we don't really care about it, but it's equally important as the action, but I know this film aims to entertain, and it did succeed. In the end, it's just another karate movie, but it's one bar higher than the usual. The Raid: Redemption is a great piece of entertainment, though not destined to be a great film. Worth watching, if it's the uncut version.

I admire its realistic and sometimes a bit over-the-top approach on violence, and though the slow pacing serves a purpose, I didn't like the unpredictability of the characters and the slow turning of the story. The simple plot circles around so it looks complicated. We come across with characters facing a great deal of misfortunes in their lives. I think the message in this movie is that the world is full of tragedies and you can't face it with vengeance, because it'll only get worse. In the end, I can hardly sympathize with these characters because I wasn't sure what to think of them, and it's not because of their performance, maybe it's the development and direction. Still I'm looking forward to the successors, Oldboy and Sympathy For Lady Vengeance.