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Reviews
Jack Ryan (2018)
Pretty damn close to perfect!
As a longtime reader of Tom Clancy and lots of Jack Ryan stories, I am very happy with the new series!
Watched the whole first season in one evening and my wife and I can't wait for more.
Every actor is going to bring their own flair to the Ryan character and John is the new Jack!
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)
Potential to be great, but ended up being pretty darn good.
Let's cut through some of the pretentious BS of wanting to put this movie on a pedestal.
One, this is based on a comic book. I love comics or graphic novels or whatever else you want to call them. The bottom line is that they expect you to have a certain amount of imagination and I think Luc does as well. If you can't suspend your disbelief for a couple hours, why are you watching this movie in the first place... this goes specifically to you reviewers giving this film anything less than 5/10.
Now that we got that out of the way, this is not a perfect film. Effects are great, cinematography beautiful, and generally speaking a gorgeous visual experience.
The one thing that lets the whole thing down a few notches is the casting. The acting is good and I don't think the cast is horrible by any means, but it certainly doesn't feel like they nailed it casting wise. If you Google the imagery of the original comics, regardless of the "voice" you hear when you read the comics, visually the characters were just not quite right and that's where the movie falls a little short.
Skipping passed all that knit picking, it is an entertaining movie with amazing production value.
The Outsider (2018)
Great mob movie and I want a sequel!
Apparently this is one of those love it or hate it movies. I personally loved it with the exception of a few scenes in the first quarter that felt like they were trying too hard to establish an atmosphere.
Once it got going though, this is a fantastic movie. Sure we have some of the mob movie cliches, but throwing in Yakusa culture to give this type of movie a whole new spin is great.
I take away a point for the atmosphere scenes I mentioned that felt superfluous, otherwise I was entertained throughout and with a great ending, so 9/10.
Sicario (2015)
Holy F@$# the Modern Western is Alive!!!
First of all, this cast is brilliant, period. Everyone nails their roles and Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, and Emily Blunt are just amazing.
That said, let's be sure about one thing, this movie is a modern Western. If you love a good old days of shoot 'em up for revenge type of flick, a la Clint Eastwood style movie, you are in for a treat. Granted this is not the good ol' west, this the modern day version and holy cow does it deliver.
I'm trying to find a reason to not give it a 10, but I can't.
The Hurricane (1999)
Denzel. Period.
There is a lot of controversy about this movie. There are people on both sides of the spectrum that will argue for innocence and guilt... and that's ultimately what makes this story so interesting.
I've watched the film, I've read plenty afterwards and I cannot tell you if the man actually committed the crime of which he was accused. People will always pull the race card on both sides. People will always have an emotional opinion about guilt, innocence, race, and perception. Let's be honest, truth is not really part of judicial system on either side.
If you get right down to it, that is truly what this film is about. It's the human spirit. It's about redemption and condemnation regardless of right and wrong in a legal sense and the bottom line it's a good story. That is why it's a great movie.
Do yourself a favor and watch this movie, not as a documentary. Enjoy every moment that Denzel and all the other amazing actors are on screen. Enjoy the fantastic screenplay for what it is. A story. A drama that inspires us to be better human beings.
Narcopolis (2015)
Potential, watchable, better than average... and apparently polarizing in reviews.
First of all, I think many of the reviews are so polarized is that this story has such potential. Unfortunately it's missing the complexity to make it work. It needs levels of depth, the kind of movie you watch the first time and generally get, but you know you need to watch a bunch more times to enjoy the complexity.
I like the overall style, soundtrack, and cinematography. Sure, there's a healthy homage to Blade Runner and I'm OK with that. In this day and age it's pretty hard to come up with something truly new without a ridiculous budget. I will say one thing that bothered me production wise and does about so many films these days is the audio. Can we please have an audio mix not designed for headphones? Vocals are too low and sound effects too loud. I have a very respectable home theater system and it's still hard to understand dialog without turning the volume to silly high levels. Anyway moving on...
SPOILERS AHEAD
I won't get into lots of detail, so you can still watch the movie and enjoy it. The concept of a society that has essentially legalized drug use is a good one. We are pretty much there now. Without getting into what is legal and illegal, these days any illegal substance is essentially available in a legal alternative. It speaks to the time we live in, taking it one level higher, and a great way to pull us into the story. Now we need a pay off.
The truly interesting part that drew me to watch this movie is the idea of time travel and that we are capable of it via drugs. This is a truly great concept for telling an amazing story and has so much potential for wonderful detail. Unfortunately, the story doesn't focus much on that. It was worth a watch and I hope someone takes the concept and truly explores it to its potential.