Series Review: The Patient (2022)

Therapy, an important asset in our society, there to (hopefully) help people. Aaaand that’s all I got on that right now, so let’s get into the review.

Ladies, gents, and non-binaries… “The Patient”.

On a day like any other, therapist Alan Strauss (Steve Carell) finds himself in a bit of a pickle when he wakes up in the basement of one of his patients (Domhnall Gleeson), who Alan soon finds out is a serial killer. And as Alan tries to find a way to get out alive, he finds himself reluctantly having to council his captor. I find the premise of “The Patient” to be quite fun, a high concept thriller that lends itself to some really interesting bits of suspense. And in execution the narrative is quite compelling, creating an interesting dynamic between our leads, exploring their relationship, and the complexities that it carries. Because obviously Alan wants to simply survive, but the show also goes to great lengths to show that he, on some level, actually cares about helping Sam (his patient/captor). But it’s not just about a therapist delving into the psyche of this horrible man, but it’s just as much, if not more so, about Alan dealing with his own trauma and demons, which further escalates the drama and makes for a much more dynamic emotional spectrum, both when it comes to Alan’s personal stakes, and the story at large. There’s also this quiet undercurrent of awkward, dark humor to a lot of it, which I think adds to the show’s unique vibe. However, for as good as the story here can be, I do think there are things that bring it down a peg. Mainly, it’s the runtime, or more specifically the episode count. Ten episodes is usually a perfect length for a season of tv, but here it feels dragged out, mainly with the last few episodes, as if they had/wanted to pad it out to that length. Adding further to that sensation, the last few episodes are longer than the first half of the show. The first several episodes are roughly 22-28 minutes long. The rest are 30+, which really does add to the feeling of things being a bit stretched out more than needed. Again, the overall narrative is really strong, and it ends on a real high note, but those last few episodes does bring it down with the padding sensation.

The characters in this I found to be really interesting, as they’re never really shown to be simple, one-note things, but fully rounded and surprisingly complex individuals. Especially our two leads, they have so many interesting layers to them, which the show plays around with to give them a really electrifying dynamic. What also helps is that both Steve Carell and Domhnall Gleeson are fantastic, giving career best performances and playing off of each other really well. The rest of the cast is great too, containing people like Laura Niemi, Andrew Leeds, Linda Edmond, Renata Friedman, David Alan Grier, and more, with no one feeling like a weak link.

The score for the show was composed by Nathan Barr, and I thought he did a pretty solid job. It’s nothing too unique or memorable, a fairly standard droning thriller score that occasionally brings in some piano when a little extra sadness needs to be injected. It’s not bad, and it works well enough for the show. There’s also a handful of licensed songs used throughout, and those work quite well in their respective scenes.

“The Patient” was created and written by Joel Fields and Joseph Weinberg, with directing done by a few different people (names will be in tags). And I think this show is generally well crafted. Scene direction have a nice pace to them and have just the right amount of linger to build a nice suspense, editing has a really fun flair to it, and there’s some really interesting shots throughout. It’s just solidly built stuff.

This show’s been pretty well received. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an 88% positive rating and a “Fresh” certification. On Metacritic it has a score of 74/100. And on imdb.com it has a score of 7.0/10.

So while it might be a bit longer than I felt necessary, “The Patient” is still a really fun and compelling little thriller series. It has a really good story, really good characters, fantastic performances, good music, and great directing/editing. Time for my final score. *Ahem*. My final score for “The Patient” is an 8.01/10. So while it certainly is flawed, I’d still say that it’s worth watching.

My review of “The Patient” is now completed.

Steve Carell’s a bit good at this whole acting stuff, isn’t he?

Series Review: Run – Season 1 (2020)

Love… is a burning thing, and it makes a fiery ring. Wait, Johnny Cash has nothing to do with this. Um… Love is complicated? Sure, let’s go with that. Nice save, Markus… idiot.

Ladies and gents… “Run” season 1.

Years ago, Ruby (Merritt Wever) and Billy (Domhnall Gleeson) were romantically involved, but then sort of lost touch. But not before they made a pact: If one of them text the word “RUN” to the other, and that other person texts back, they would hop on a train and run away together. And now in present day… that’s what happens. So we follow these two ex-lovers as they try to reconnect while also dealing with the personal fallout of past and present actions. “Run” is at its surface a rom-com, but does throughout also show that it has elements of a fast-paced thriller. And I thought it was a fun journey. There were several times where I didn’t see what was coming, and I enjoyed a lot of those moments. Though, the story here isn’t perfect. It often buckles under the pressure of it’s fast-pace, which can make parts of it feel a bit rushed. And without spoiling specifically what happens, I felt that the season finale was underwhelming. I get that they might want a season 2, and that they might want some bigger payoffs further down the line (if they get renewed)… but the finale here still felt like such a whimper compared to what the show felt like it was building to. Again, it’s a fine journey, and I hope that a second season could rectify that underwhelming season finale… but overall the story here is alright.

The characters in this are fun, colorful, flawed, and overall pretty interesting. Merritt Wever plays Ruby, a wife and mother and the person we meet first in this show. She’s a charming woman with some emotional baggage that creeps up at times for a bit of drama. And her arc here is mostly interesting. And Wever is great in the role. Next we have Domhnall Gleeson as Billy, Ruby’s ex-lover, and our male lead. And I won’t say what he’s like, since there’s a few details better revealed through the plot. But he also has an interesting arc that they do some fun stuff with. And Gleeson is great in the role. We also get supporting work from people like Rich Sommer, Archie Panjabi, and more, all doing well in their respective roles.

The music for the show was composed by Dickon Hinchliffe (haven’t seen his name in a while, wow). And I think he did a good job with it. His music is fun and frantic, very much befitting of the nature of this show. There’s also a few licensed songs used throughout, and they work pretty well too.

“Run” was created for HBO by Vicky Jones, with writing and directing by a whole bunch of people. And the craft here is generally good. The direction is energetic and engaging, really bringing us into the scene in interesting ways. And the cinematography, which was split between Matthew Clark and Kristin Fieldhouse, is really good, giving us a lot of fun and visually arresting shots.

This show/season has gotten some mixed reception. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an 84% positive rating and a “Fresh” certification. On Metacritic it has a score of 74/100. And on imdb.com it has a score of 6,4/10.

Season 1 of “Run” may be a flawed experienced, brought down by a sometimes overly frenetic pace and an underwhelming finale, but overall it’s still an enjoyable season of television that subverts rom-com cliches in some really fun ways. It has an okay plot, good characters, great performances, pretty good music, and good directing and cinematography. Time for my final score. *Ahem*. My final score for season 1 of “Run” is a 7,10/10. So while flawed, I’d still say it can be worth watching.

My review of season of “Run” is now completed.

This might be the horniest show I’ve seen in a while.

Movie Review: Star Wars – The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

It’s that time of year again… “Star Wars”. The final one… for now. So let’s talk about it.

Ladies and gents… “Star Wars – The Rise of Skywalker”.

The remaining members of the Resistance try to pull off a series of daring plans to try to hopefully finally stop the sinister First Order. It’s the concluding chapter to this new trilogy, that also calls back some (read: a lot) to the older movies. And the story as a whole is a bit of a mixed bag. It’s generally a fun, fast-paced space swashbuckler that does give a satisfying enough ending to the entire Skywalker saga, but looking at the overall thing, it feels ever so slightly paper-thin. And while I don’t need my “Star Wars” to be deep mindfucks in their storytelling, I feel like there could’ve been a bit more put into it, since it’s supposed to, you know, cap off the entire fucking series (AGAIN). But as it stands, while the story disappoints a bit, it’s still entertaining, and I thought the overall ending was pretty good.

The characters in this have earned a shitload of good will over the previous two movies, I’ve fallen in love with them, so that went a long way to me following them here. And while one or two might get some decent-ish enough character conflict, there isn’t too much else to say about that stuff. Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver make for a compelling hero/villain dynamic at the center. John Boyega and Oscar Isaac are as enjoyable in their sidekick roles again. All other supporting actors do well enough in their supporting roles too.

As with every mainline entry in this franchise, the score was composed by the one and only John Williams. And there’s no way one can complain about it. From the classic motifs, to some of the ones from the previous two movies, to some new (if indistinguishable) stuff… come on, it’s another “Star Wars” score from the one and only John Williams, you all know it’s good.

“The Rise of Skywalker” was directed by J.J. Abrams, who did a damn good job. The guy knows how to bring energy to a scene, he knows how to a fun and exciting action scene. There’s tons of good action in this that either made my jaw drop or just had grinning like an overexcited child. Yes, I am easy to please when it comes to that kind of stuff… especially when it’s handled as well as it is here. The effects are of course fucking spectacular, and not just the CG, there’s a ton of awesome practical creature effects and such. It’s just a joy to look at.

This movie just came out, so there’s not much data out there (and as y’all know, I am too lazy to edit after the fact). So here’s where we’re at now. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 58% positive rating. On Metacritic it has a score of 53/100. And on imdb.com it has no score at all… that’s how early I am.

“Star Wars – The Rise of Skywalker” may be slightly disappointing, but I still had a good time with it. It has an okay plot, good characters, great performances, great music, and really good directing/effects. Time for my final score. *Ahem*. My final score for “Star Wars – The Rise of Skywalker” is an 8,45/10. So while very flawed, it’s still worth buying.

My review of “Star Wars – The Rise of Skywalker” is now completed.

Goodbye for now, Star Wars.

Movie Review: American Made (2017)

Don’t do drugs, kids. Also, don’t sell drugs. Or be near drugs. Basically just… to hell with drugs.

Disclaimer: I know this thing is based on a true story, but I will not base my review on how perfectly accurate to the real situation it may or may not be, but I will instead judge it as a movie… which it is. Disclaimer over.

Ladies and gents… “American Made”.

The story follows Barry Seal (Tom Cruise), an American pilot who gets hired by the CIA to run guns for them, which eventually also leads him running cocaine for the Medellín cartel. And we follow his insane life as he tries to balance these jobs while also trying to not get arrested. And it’s actually a really interesting plot with some flaw to it. It’s interesting seeing the ins and outs of Barry’s job, the routes he takes as well as how he just runs his operations. It’s overall a really fun and well-paced plot that is really enjoyable. My flaw with the plot is that it does slow down at a point in the movie. Not in the “let’s take some time to develop the characters a lot” (though there’s a little bit of that in there), but more just starts dragging a bit. It’s not too draggy, and it doesn’t go for too long, but it’s definitely worth pointing out as it is quite noticeable.

The characters in this are enjoyable. Some get a bit more development than others, but none of them feel out of place or anything like that. Tom Cruise plays Barry Seal, the pilot who gets dragged into all this crazy shit. He’s a charismatic, funny, and cool guy who not only happens to be a damn good pilot, but also a pretty good family man. And Tom Cruise is really firing on all cylinders here, this is probably the best performance I’ve seen from him since “Tropic Thunder”. Domhnall Gleeson plays Schafer, the CIA agent that recruits Seal for this dangerous mission. He has some charm, and he does share some good chemistry with Cruise throughout. And Gleeson is really good in the role. Then we have Sarah Wright as Barry’s wife Lucy. She’s a somewhat more reasonable person than Barry and does have outbursts when the strange stuff starts seeping into their home life. And Wright is great in the role. Then we have Alejandro Edda, Fredy Yate Escobar, and Mauricio Mejía as the founders of the Medellín cartel (Jorge Ochoa, Carlos Ledher, Pablo Escobar). And I’m lumping them into the same slot because this is my review and I can do whatever I want. But they are all great in their roles… charming yet intimidating. And throughout the movie you get some really solid supporting performances from people like Jesse Plemons, Jayma Mays, Caleb Landry Jones, E. Roger Mitchell, and more. Yeah, this is a well acted movie.

The score for the movie was composed by Christophe Beck and it was really good. It was tense, fun, energized, and had a healthy dose of guitar in it to give it a cool sound that worked really well for the movie. Then there were a whole bunch of licensed tracks used throughout, some from the era, and even one or two from around 2012. But they all fit incredibly well with the era the film was set in while also helping to give the movie it’s fun mood. So yeah, this has great music.

This movie was directed by Doug Liman and he did a great job. He gives this movie and interesting style by keeping it mostly handheld and also throwing in a lot of crash-zooms, which is very reminiscent of a documentary. And that makes this movie even more interesting since it now has a somewhat unique style. Liman (together with the production crew) also gives it a very retro vibe, which really helps sell the late 70s/early 80s era. There are also some really tense scenes here, which I didn’t really expect. The movie is also funny. Not “BWAHAHAHAHAHA!” funny, but it still got consistent chuckles/laughter out of me.

This movie has been pretty well received. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an 87% positive rating and a “Fresh” certification. On Metacritic it has a score of 65/100. And on imdb.com it has a score of 7,2/10.

“American Made” isn’t perfect, but it’s a highly enjoyable crime movie. It has a good plot, good characters, great performances, great music, and great directing/editing/cinematography. As previously mentioned, I thought it had some slight flaws, including some pacing issues at one point, and some characters not always being the most interesting. Time for my final score. *Ahem*. My final score for “American Made” is an 8,98/10. While flawed, it’s definitely worth buying!

My review of “American Made” is now completed.

Tumm Croos.

Movie Review: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

I really don’t have to make up a clever intro for this… it’s fucking “Star Wars”, so let’s just get into it.

Ladies and gentlemen… “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”.

Set more or less immediately after “The Force Awakens”, the story follows Rey (Daisy Ridley) as she has found Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and intends to be trained in the Jedi arts by him. Meanwhile, Finn (John Boyega), Poe (Oscar Isaac), Leia (Carrie Fisher, R.I.P), and the rest of the Resistance try to fight off the First Order. So now we have our plot. And is it good? Yes. It asks questions, it answers questions, and it dares tackle some dark subjects that haven’t ever really been talked much about in previous “Star Wars” movies. It is a for the most part a great fucking plot. I say for the most part, because there’s a section of it that, while entertaining, didn’t really do much. Sure, it had a reason to be there (sort of), but in the long run it felt a bit more like filler rather than a sensible plot thread. It didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the plot, but it does bring it down from near perfect to pretty damn good.

The characters here are layered, entertaining, likable, and entertaining. Daisy Ridley returns as Rey, the new hero of the franchise. She’s still kind of naive in how she wants to learn the force and bring back the Jedi order and such. And while naive, she’s still tough, determined, and just so cool. And Ridley is fantastic in the role. John Boyega returns as Finn, the Stormtrooper turned Resistance fighter. He’s funny, he’s cool, he’s charming, and he can be a badass when he wants to. And Boyega is still great. Oscar Isaac returns as Poe Dameron, the best damn pilot in the Resistance. While he didn’t have too much to do in “The Force Awakens”, he got a lot more to do here and he gets a good amount of character development (surprisingly so). And Isaac is fantastic in the role. Mark Hamill returns as Luke Skywalker (and he actually gets to speak this time!). You can tell that he’s older, damaged, and a bit more cynical than he used to be, but he’s still Luke Skywalker. And the stuff they do with him here are pretty great. And Hamill is fantastic here. Adam Driver returns as Kylo Ren, the conflicted force wielder. In the first movie his motivations could feel a bit vague when you step back and think about it, but here you get a much clearer picture on that stuff, and he gets some great development here. And Driver is great in the role. Carrie Fisher (may she rest in peace) returns as Leia, the leader of the resistance. She’s a badass, but she’s also older and not as energetic as she used to be. And she does get some solid dramatic moments throughout. And Fisher is great in the role. Domhnall Gleeson returns as General Hux. He’s over the top and a little bit goofy, but I forgive that as it works for me in this crazy galaxy. So yeah, Gleeson is good(?). Andy Serkis as Snoke… slightly underdeveloped, but it’s definitely a sinister performance. So yeah, great Serkis. New people! Kelly Marie Tran plays Rose, a Resistance mechanic that gets involved more than she would’ve expected after something happens. She’s tough, she’s charming, and she’s cool. And Kelly Marie Tran is really good in the role. Then we have Laura Dern as Vice Admiral Holdo, a high ranking woman who gets brought into the fight. She doesn’t see completely eye-to-eye with certain crew members, giving her an interesting dynamic within the movie. And Dern is great in the role. That’s it for now, as I don’t want to get too in-depth here. But expect some solid supporting performances from people like Benicio Del Toro and Billie Lourd.

The one and only John Williams returned to do the music for this movie, and it’s fucking amazing. Whereas the score to “Force Awakens” was really good, it didn’t bring much new to the table and never stuck out much to me, “The Last Jedi” then picks up the orchestra and says “Let’s make some epic and emotional music that the audiences will love”. And really, the score here is absolutely fantastic.

This movie was written and directed by Rian Johnson and he did a fantastic job. He gives this movie and incredibly unique vibe while still making it feel like “Star Wars”. His direction is sweeping, intimate, and filled with all kinds of epicness to it. And the way he directs action makes it feel heavy-hitting and like there are some actual stakes to it. When the movie wants you to feel like someone/something’s getting it’s shit kicked in, the movie succeeds in doing that. It’s also tons of fun and incredibly badass to watch. This is also a visually stunning movie. Johnson’s direction combined with Steve Yedlin’s cinematography makes this one of the most gorgeous “Star Wars” movies, possibly even rivaling “Rogue One” in that regard. There are seriously shots in this movie that took my breath away with how stunning they were. And yes, the visual effects are fucking amazing, no doubt about that one. And there’s a good amount of humor here, and I laughed quite a bit. Really, this movie is surprisingly funny.

This movie has barely even been released, but so far it has gotten some positive reception (keep in mind that these scores will change as time passes, but I refuse to edit along with these changes). On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 94% positive rating and a “Fresh” certification. On Metacritic it has a score of 85/100. And on imdb.com it has a score of 8,4/10.

Is this the best “Star Wars” movie? No. But “The Last Jedi” is still a great fucking movie. It has a damn good plot, great characters, fantastic performances, fantastic music, and fantastic directing/cinematography/action/effects. I guess my one flaw with it was that one bit I eluded to earlier, though it isn’t a total dealbreaker. Time for my final score. *Ahem*. My final score for “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” is a 9,57/10. So it gets the “PORG OF APPROVAL!”.

My review of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” is now completed.

Rest in peace, Carrie Fisher. You are still severely missed.

Movie Review: The Revenant (2015)

Survival, something we all strive for in our own ways. Doesn’t matter at what level, all humans aim to survive in one way or another. Doesn’t matter if you’re sitting in your kitchen, having a cup of tea or if you’re lost in the woods… you are trying to survive.

Disclaimer: I know this thing is based on a true story, but I will not base my review on how perfectly accurate to the real situation it may or may not be, but I will instead judge it as a movie… which it is. Disclaimer over.

Ladies and gentlemen… “The Revenant”.

Frontiersman Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) hasn’t had the best of times. First he got mauled by an angry bear, and then he got left for dead by his hunting team. So now Glass sets out on a long and difficult journey to survive and possibly get revenge. And before you ask, no this isn’t a fast-paced revenge action movie like “Kill Bill”. This is more of a slow and methodical tale about Glass just trying to stay alive while finding the asshole that wronged him. And I have to say that I thought it was a great plot. I don’t want to say that I enjoyed it, because there’s some really disturbing stuff going on at times and it’s a pretty harrowing tale, so enjoyment is not the word I’d use for the plot. It was a ver yinteresting plot that I was invested in from start to finish.

The characters in this movie were all realistic and very interesting. Leonardo DiCaprio… holy fuck, that dude can act. He doesn’t say a whole lot, and when he does it isn’t always in English. But I always believed his performance, it was absolutely fantastic. Tom Hardy was also great in the movie, even though he feel back on the typical “Tom Hardy mumble” quite a bit. But his performance overall was great. Domhnall Gleeson, also turning out a truly great performance in the movie. And Will Poulter was really good too, he really surprised me in this movie. I mean, there wasn’t ever a performance I’d call bad or even mediocre in this movie… all were somewhere between good and fan-fucking-tastic.

The score for the movie was composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto, Alva Noto, and Bryce Dessner. And it was nothing short of great. There were tracks that were really exciting and there were tracks that were really haunting and eerie. Really, the score was very well composed and perfectly fit the movie.

This movie was directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, the man who also directed “Birdman”. And once again he did something very unique when directing this movie. Though instead of making the entire movie look like one continuous shot he opted to shoot the entire movie in natural light. Which means that he actually went out into the fucking wilderness and shot with all natural light sources, like the sun or some fire. No studio lights or green screen here, it’s the real deal. Sure, there was some CG in the movie, but only for some of the more impossible stuff… like Leonardo DiCaprio getting mauled by a god damn bear, that was of course a man in a funny suit getting some CGI edited on top of him so he could become a bear. There were apparently a bunch more bits of CG in the movie, but it was blended so well with the practical that I couldn’t tell which was which. Shit, here I’ve spent a bunch of words talking about visual effects that I forgot to talk about the directing/cinematography. But yeah, that stuff is holy fucking shit levels of amazing. The scenes are very well crafted and the cinematography is some of the best that I’ve ever seen. It is a visually stunning movie. Let’s talk about the action scenes in the movie. There are not too many, but when they happen they are incredibly brutal and disturbing. I don’t have a problem with violence in movies, but the stuff here is done in such a brutal and realistic way that it got some reactions out of me. So if you haven’t seen this movie and you’re squeamish… consider this a warning.

This movie has been very well received. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an 82% positive rating and a “Fresh” certification. On Metacritic it has a score of 76/100. And on imdb.com it has a score of 8,0/10. The movie also won 3 Oscars in the categories of Best Actor (DiCaprio, finally), Best Director, and Best Cinematography. The movie was also nominated for an additional 9 Oscars in the categories of Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Hardy), Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup, Best Sounds Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Visual Effects, and Best Production Design. 

“The Revenant” is an incredibly impressive film. It has a great plot, great characters, terrific performances, great music, fantastic directing, gorgeous cinematography, and great visual effects. Time for my final score. *Grunting noise*. My final score for “The Revenant” is a 9,89/10. So it gets the “SEAL OF APPROVAL!”.

My review of “The Revenant” is now completed.

Damn nature, you scary!

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011)

Guys, we are finally here… the final part in my series of reviews leading up to “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”. I have had so much fun with this series of reviews, especially since it gave me an excuse to rewatch all of the movie in this series I grew up with. And I thank anyone who has given each review a like and/or a comment, I really appreciate it. So… let’s get into it!

Ladies and gentlemen… “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”!!! *sniffles*.

Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) are at the final stretch. Only a few horcruxes left to defeat Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) who now possesses the almighty elder wand. And from that we get the final chapter in this huge saga. But it’s not just a big and epic war, there is still a good amount of substance to it. The plot presented to us is very fast-paced but still manages to give us some very solid drama. We even get to learn more on the backstory on a few of the characters and it really helps to give this world we all love even more depth and emotion. So it’s a very solid plot we have here.

The character are as great as they will ever become in this movie. Harry has now fully matured and become the hero and leader needed for the battle. And Radcliffe is as amazing as ever… not much else to say there. Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, they were great in their roles again. Ralph Fiennes, he was great. Alan Rickman (rest in peace you awesome man) got some more space as Snape in this movie and he was absolutely fantastic. Warwick Davis got to play double roles in this movie and he was great in both. For those wondering, he played both Griphook and Professor Flitwick. Matthew Lewis got some good screen time and further got to evolve Neville. We also saw the return of the great John Hurt as Ollivander. Firstly, good to see you again sir. What’s it been? 8 movies? Jokes aside, he was really good. I’d say that every returning actor ranged from really good to great in this movie. So let’s talk about the few new additions to the cast that this movie got. Firstly we get Ciarán Hinds as Aberforth, someone with deep ties to a certain someone in the “HP” universe. Not gonna mention who because there are people who haven’t seen this yet (grrr), so I just want them to experience it. And I just wanna mention also that I didn’t recognize Hinds as this character. I seriously had to look up who played him. But I can safely say that his performance is good. The second one I want to mention is a character played by Kelly Macdonald that shows up pretty briefly. She’s important in the end and her performance was really good. All actors were really good… MOVING ON!

The music (like in the previous part) was composed by Alexandre Desplat and it’s fucking fantastic. Some of the pieces in the score really are something special. And all hte tracks in the movie perfectly fit the scenes and really helped add something to it all. And of course it was amazing hearing some of the classic themes throughout… fucking nostalgic, I tell ya.

David Yates of course directed this movie, he had no reason not to. I mean, if he did Part 1 he had to do Part 2. But enough of the jokey stuff. Was his directing good in this movie? You can bet your ass it was! It’s just as great as in the previous movie. His directing is tense and dramatic. And the cinematography by Eduardo Serra is beautiful. And the visual effects are absolutely stunning. All of these of course make for some absolutely fantastic action scenes. Let me also say that this movie made me cry. Two and a half times. Half as in one time wasn’t a full cry, only like a single tear. But yeah, this shit made me sad. *sniffles*.

This movie has been very well received. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 96% (100% if you go by “top critics” only) positive rating and a “Fresh” certification. On Metacritic it has a score of 87/100. Roger Ebert gave it 3,5/4 stars. And on imdb.com it has a score of 8,1/10 and is ranked #223 on the “Top 250” list. The movie was also nominated for 3 Oscars in the categories of Best makeup, best visual effects, and Best art direction.

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” is the perfect way to end this magnificent franchise. It has a great plot, great characters, great performances, great music, great directing, great cinematography, and amazing visual effects. Time for my final score. Shut up, I’m not crying. My final score for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” is a 9,89/10. So it gets the “SEAL OF APPROVAL!”.

My review of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” is now completed.

This is it, the very end. And since it’s such a special occasion, I want to do something I never really do. I am asking you all a favor. Share this around social media. Friends, family, followers, pets… doesn’t matter. Just share it, let’s make a big fuckin’ deal out of this! Thank you.

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2010)

Guys, we are now at the penultimate part in my series of reviews leading up to “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”. There’s not much else to say other than… let’s get into it!

Ladies and gentlemen… “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1”!

With Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and his death eaters getting more and more control over the wizarding world, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) have to go out into the world (and by world I mean the UK) and find/destroy the Dark Lord’s horcruxes. And while doing this they come across the existence of three incredibly powerful items… the Deathly Hallows (Roll credits). What the studio and filmmakers did with the story, splitting it into two movies, that shit was risky. So how did it turn out with taking the first half(ish) of a book and making it into one movie? Pretty well actually. You can tell that there is some slight stretching being done to make it into a two hour and twenty minute movie, but it still has really good pacing. The plot is interesting and there are some really great moments throughout, both of the exciting and emotional varieties.

The characters in this movie have now really gone into maturity. Daniel Radcliffe, once again being absolutely fantastic as Harry who this time has to go through some of his toughest challenges yet. There are some scenes where he have to show a lot of emotion, and he just fucking nails it. Rupert Grint, knocking it out of the park as Ron. Emma Watson is also great in her role as Hermione. Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix, great performance. Alan Rickman (rest in peace, you awesome man) was really good as Snape. Imelda Staunton returned for a bit to once again play Dolores Umbridge and she was great as that horrible person. Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort, fucking great. All returning actors were great… so let’s talk about any new additions. Domhnall Gleeson played Bill Weasley, Ron’s older brother that we’d never seen before and he was really good in the role. We also got Rhys Ifans as Xenophilius Lovegood, the father of the magnificently amazing Luna. And he gave a great performance. And we also got Andy Linden as the very shady and slimy Mundungus Fletcher, and he was really good in his role. Yeah, great characters, great acting.

The score for this movie was not composed by the one and only John Williams, nor Patrick Doyle, nor Nicholas Hooper. No, the score here was composed by Alexandre Desplat. And I think he did a terrific job with it. The score is well composed, fun, and exciting. It is really great.

David Yates once again took on the mantle of director and he did a terrific job. The movie is magnificently shot and the scenes are very well handled overall. And the action scenes in the movie, they are some of the best in the series. As an example: There is a very exciting and tense chase through a forest… yeah, it’s awesome. There are also some scenes that really touched me *sniffles* Shut up, I didn’t cry, you cried! Okay that was a lie… I cried. On a lighter note, the visual effects in this movie are fucking fantastic… just wanted to get that out there.

This movie has been well received. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 78% positive rating and a “Fresh” certification. On Metacritic it has a score of 65/100. Roger Ebert gave it 3/4 stars. And on imdb.com it has a score of 7,7/10. The movie was also nominated for 2 Oscars in the categories of Best visual effects and Best art direction.

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” is not perfect, but it’s still a damn good movie. It has a really good plot, great characters, great acting, great music, great directing, and great visual effects. Time for my final score. *ACCIO!* My final score for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” is a 9,83/10. So it gets the “SEAL OF APPROVAL!”.

My review of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” is now completed.

One review left, guys… get fuckin’ hyped!

 

Movie Review: Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens

I really have no clever or witty introduction for this review. I really just want to get into the review so I can tell you about my thoughts on the movie. I guess I could give you my backstory on how I got into “Star Wars” in the first case, but I feel like that’s a thing for a separate post. So let’s just get on with the real deal here.

My dearest ladies and gentlemen, I present to you… “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens”!

This movie is set about 30 years after “Return of the Jedi” and follows a young scavenger named Rey (Daisy Ridley) who meets up with a man named Finn (John Boyega) who used to be a stormtrooper before he left for not liking what this “First Order” does. So it follows them meeting up with Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and the gang to try to stop the “First Order” and it’s leader, the nefarious Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). Guys… it happened, it finally fucking happened… a great plot in a “Star Wars” movie. That’s something we haven’t seen since “Return of the Jedi”, and that was 32 years ago. I felt like they actually put some effort into the plot of this one. You care about the good guys trying to save the day, you care about what happens in general. They actually did a great job… YES!!!

The characters in this movie are all great. Just like in the original trilogy, they were all instantly likable and they played their part in the story well. Let’s start with the old blood which we used to love and see if we still like them… was there ever any doubt? Harrison Ford is great as Han Solo, being just as fun and badass as he was back in the day even though he is a lot older now. Carrie Fisher as Leia… terrific. Peter Mayhew is still as awesome in the role of Chewbacca as he was back in the day. And I will not lie, some people will be disappointed if not mad about how they used Luke Skywalker in the movie. Me personally? I thought it worked, it was good. Anthony Daniels as C-3PO was also really good even though there was limited screen time for him. Now let’s talk some of the new blood they put in the movie. John Boyega as Finn was just great. His performance has a lot of energy, a lot of humanity and a lot of likability. Daisy Ridley was absolutely terrific as Rey. Her performance felt so real and so fine-tuned that she was just great. Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron… god damn badass! Seriously, Isaac was great in the role and his character was definitely one of my favorites in the movie. Finally we have Adan Driver as main bad guy Kylo Ren… yeah he was pretty damn fantastic. And he plays my favorite type of villain: the villain whom you can understand the motivations for. you can kind of get behind his thoughts in the movie. Sure, I didn’t condone what he did because he did some terrible shit, but I can still understand his thinking, and that’s the type of villain I love! And look, there are too many actors in this movie to tlak about them all, but let’s just say that they all did a pretty great job in the movie.

This is a part where I had absolutely no doubts at all: the score. Why was I so confident in it? Because a great while ago it was announced that the score would be provided by none other than John Williams, the man who has done the music for all previous movies in the series. And once again, the man fucking nails it perfectly. Both the classic themes that we’ve heard a million (billion) times and the new songs work perfectly in the movie. I mean, it’s John freakin’ Williams!

This movie was directed by J.J. Abrams who now have his hands in both “Star Trek” and “Star Wars” which means he might finally brings the fanbases together. Anyhow, he did a great job with the directing. Everything looks smooth, it’s all very swift, there are a lot of long, beautiful takes and it all just looks really nice. And oh my god… are those practical effects? Yes they are, holy shit. That’s right, movie has practical effects, which is something the crew wanted in the movie and they somehow made it the majority in the movie. Sure, there is CGI in the movie, but really only when they needed it. For the most part they stuck to the practical stuff (which is amazing to see). And I have to say that all of the effects in the movie look absolutely fantastic. The movie also moves at a great pace, never feeling slow or bogged down by exposition or overall boring stuff. And the action scenes are pretty great as well, all feeling very grounded and almost even real. I especially love the dog fights, those are so satisfying to watch. I also feel like I have to mention that there is actual humor in the movie and it is really funny… something that they failed at with the prequel trilogy. But here, they gloriously succeeded.

Sure, this movie just came out, but I will still say that it has been received well. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 97% positive rating and a “Fresh” certification. On Metacritic it has a score of 81/100. And on imdb.com it has a score of 9,1/10 which most likely will change by a good amount when more people have gotten the chance to see it, but that is what it stands at right at the time of this review.

“Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens” is what I would really call a true “Star Wars” movie. It has a great plot, great characters & acting, fantastic music, great directing, great action, great visual effects, great writing and just an overall sense of fun. Time for my final score. My final score for “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens” is a 9,89/10. It definitely gets the “SEAL OF APPROVAL!”.

“Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens” is at last reviewed.

You have no idea how long I have waited for this…

Movie Review: Ex Machina (2015)

The concept of artificial intelligence is one that both intrigues and scares me a lot. Sure it would be cool if someone managed to create AI because it would be such a leap in science, but it might also go south pretty quickly. I mean, if you have seen “The Matrix” you know what I am talking about. Anyhow, if there is a movie about AI that actually looks interesting, I will most likely watch it.

Ladies and gentlemen… “Ex Machina”.

Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is a young and skilled programmer working for the biggest non-google search engine in the world (at least in the movie). One day he gets a chance to get a trip out to the home/workspace of the owner of this search engine, Nathan (Oscar Isaac). When Caleb arrives at this pretty swanky place in the middle of fucking nowhere Nathan tells him that he managed to create the world’s first AI. A very attractive AI-robot named Ava (Alicia Vikander) whom Caleb seems to form some sort of bond with. And then we see how he tries to figure out if she really is a legit AI or if it’s a total fucking bust. And then it all turns into a “Who can be trusted” thriller with a sci-fi element to it. And from that we get a very tension-filled plot about humanity, artificial intelligence, science and trust. And I absolutely loved the plot of this movie. It constantly kept me guessing. And just as I thought I had something good going, it slapped me in the face with a twist that made me have to rethink everything… and that’s awesome! This was such a smart plot and I just really enjoyed it all.

The characters were all entertaining and interesting in their own rights. And I can safely say that the actors portraying them all did a great job. Domhnall Gleeson did a great job as our protagonist. Swedish (yay, my nationality!) actress Alicia Vikander was fantastic as this AI/robot, giving a lot of interesting nuances to her performance that really helped improve from your standard robot performance. Then we have Oscar Isaac as Nathan… holy shit. This is another one of those movies that solidify that Oscar Isaac is a fucking phenomenal actor. He’s funny, he’s creepy, he’s weird, he’s interesting, he’s just great. Every actor in this movie did a great job in the movie, easy as that.

The score for the movie was composed by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow (double teh greatness?). And I have to say that it was actually really good, having a heavy orientation in the guitar department. And I don’t mean as in rock music, but rather to create a sound that would sound intriguing but also giving you an uneasy feeling. They also did that with a lot of droning noises which really worked because it sounded great and fit the movie well.

This movie was directed by Alex Garland and this is his directorial debut… but you wouldn’t believe that when watching it because it is very well directed. He is also the man who wrote the movie, now that is something he has some experience with, being the writer of movies like “28 Days Later”, “Sunshine” and “Dredd”, three movies I personally enjoyed. And the writing in the movie was very good. I can also say that the visual effects were pretty damn great as well. This isn’t an effects-heavy spectacle of a movie, but when there are visual effects (mainly CGI), they’re pretty great.

This movie has been well received. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 92% positive rating and a “Fresh” certification. On Metacritic it has a score of 78/100. And on imdb.com it has a score of 7,7/10.

“Ex Machina” is one of those movies that just snuck onto my radar out of nowhere and then impressed me a lot when I finally saw it. It has a great and tension-filled plot, great acting, great music, great writing, great directing and great visual effects. Time for my final score. *Bzzzt*. My final score for “Ex Machina” is a 9,88/10. It gets the “SEAL OF APPROVAL!”.

My review of “Ex Machina” is now completed.

This reminds me, that son of a bitch Jeff had something to show me… I wonder what it is.