The Upside

The Upside is the true story of an unexpected friendship between an older, wealthy, quadriplegic and a former felon hired to be his caretaker. 

The movie stars Kevin Hart, as Dell Scott, a man who has been making all the wrong choices in life, until he is offered a job by Phillip Lacasse, played by Bryan Cranston. It also stars Nicole Kidman as Yvonne Pendleton, who is Phillip's assistant and financial analyst.

I thought that this film was a pleasant surprise. It was full of humor and heart. The entire cast did a wonderful job. They had great chemistry and all worked really well off of one another. To me Cranston & Hart stole the show. With limited physical capacity, Cranston was still able to bring a wide range of emotions to the role. I thought that he had great comedic timing but was also able to bring other emotions that helped to make his character complex and one that you really connected with. In the past I noticed that Hart did too much. He would be so extra that the movies weren't enjoyable and corny. I thought that this was the first film where he really showcased great range in his acting ability, he didn’t just rely on his comedy. It was one of the first times were I was not annoyed by what I was looking at and instead genuinely enjoyed his performance.

The script was also well written, it had great themes of forgiveness, friendship, not judging people for the pasts or of what they look like. Additionally, the character development was also well done. You actually cared about these individuals and the journeys they were on.

In the end, if you are looking for a true story that is heartwarming and fun, then I would recommend watching this one.

Operation Finale

Operation Finale is the biographical World War II drama of the search for Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi officer who masterminded the transportation logistics that brought millions of innocent Jewish people to their deaths in concentration camps. 

The movie stars Oscar Isaac as Peter Malkin, a top-secret Israeli agent and Ben Kingsley as Eichmann. Both men along with the rest of the cast, portrayed their respective roles passionately and believably.

I thought that the sets and the costumes all looked visually accurate for the time and the script was well made. The cinematography was also done well. In a way were the horrors of the time were depicted intensely but tastefully.

The story was engaging and well written. This was a more unknown piece of history to me so I found it really interesting. I think that was a great telling of history and one that I would recommend all to see.

The Kissing Booth

The Kissing Booth is a Netfilx produced romantic comedy, based on the young adult novel of the same name. It follows two best friends, Elle & Lee, who grew up together since birth, now in high school. Elle credits their friendship lasting so long due to their rules. One of which is to never date each other’s family members. The rule comes into question when Elle falls for Lee’s older brother, after they lock lips at a kissing booth. She then has to decide to follow the rules or follow her heart. 

I thought that the plot was typical for this genre but cute. I liked the themes of friendship and first loves. It made for a light-hearted and fun film.

The cast was unknown to me, minus Molly Ringwald, which was a pleasant surprise. Her role was more of a supporting, minor part, but still an amusing one to watch. The rest of the cast was pretty good as well. Where they missed the boat a little bit was in character development. I think they could have divulged more in the supporting cast but they did enough for the main cast for you to care about what was going on.

In the end it's just another high school chick flick. Not one that I would have wanted to see in theaters link a Mean Girls or a 10 Things I Hate About You but not bad. It's a proper straight to video type of movie.

The Crow

The Crow is a cult classic, revenge movie starting Brandon Lee, in his final film. One year after a brutal double homicide Eric Draven, played by Lee, comes back to life to enact revenge on the people who murder him and his fiancé. 

The movie did well with keeping the dark and gothic tone throughout. I was also surprised to see some well-known actors in this movie. The most impressive were Count of Monte Cristo’s Michael Wincott as Top Dollar and Ghostbuster’s Ernie Hudson as Albrecht. Those couple of things, however, were the only good things about this move.

It came out in 1994 and just couldn’t hold up visually. Additionally, the editing and the flashbacks were terrible. There was definitely an artistic reasoning behind it, however it just made it hard to see what was going on in some of the scenes. Additionally, there was a lack of character development and very poor acting from Lee and the majority of the cast. The script was corny and the fight scene choreography lacked any sort of realism, physicality or grace.

Overall I think this movie warranted more attention than it deserved, because of the passing of Lee during the filming. I will always wonder, if he was not accidentally killed on set, if they could have made a better film. It reminds me of Aaliyah’s Queen of the Damned, which also had such potential but fell flat. It’s as if these types of movies don’t get a chance to meet their full potential because of these unfortunate circumstances.

Ocean’s 8

Ocean’s 8 is the all-female spin off with an all-star cast. Leading the pack is Sandra Bullock, as Debbie Ocean, sister to Danny (played by George Clooney). She has recently been released from prison and has the plan to run a $150 million dollar heist at the New York Met Gala. 

I thought that the movie was true to the tone of previous Ocean’s movies and a proper sequel. The plot was entertaining, with some points of comedy and a good twist at the end. Even though some of the story was predictable it lead for a satisfying viewing experience.

I enjoyed the acting from the entire cast. It was a unique, diverse, group of women who all had chemistry and worked off of one other well. Although the cast was rather large I think that they did a good job with character development. All of the women came to the table with their own strengths that made for a great team. I also liked how some of the cast from previous Ocean’s movies made cameos.

Therefore, with that being said, I thought that this was a fun, lighthearted movie. One that I would definitely recommend.

The Titan

The Titan is a Netflix distributed sci-fi based in the not so distant future where the planet has started to become inhabitable. In an effort to save mankind, a group of scientists take volunteers to see if they can alter their body composition to be able to live on Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. 

The movie stars Sam Worthington as Lt. Rick Janssen and Nathalie Emmanuel as W.O. Tally Rutherford, both of whom I am fans of. Unfortunately their great acting and friendly chemistry wasn’t enough to save this movie.

It’s easy to get sucked into this one because the promotion was done well. In the trailer they show a plot which looked interesting. And for the majority of the movie I was intrigued. It kept my attention, right until the end, where it took a drastic turn for the worst. I was then left with a lot of questions unanswered.

Additionally, the script was mediocre at best. The rest of the cast were pretty one dimensional. The writers didn’t provide enough character development for you to really be invested in any of the supporting characters.

The movie was only an hour and a half, so I felt like they could have easily added some more detail to beef up the storyline. In the end it just felt unfinished and rushed. Therefore, mostly due to the way it ended, the movie was a waste of time and one that I would recommend avoiding.