The Sun Is Also a Star

The Sun Is Also a Star is romantic drama based on the young adult novel of the same name. It stars Black-ish TV Show darling, Yara Shahidi and Charles Melton. When artist and romantic, Daniel, spots Natasha, a young woman with limited time on her side, he will stop at nothing to have her fall in love with him in a day.

At first glimpse of this plot it seemed really unrealistic, a bit stalker-ish and childish, but after giving this movie a chance, I found it to be quite engaging, mature and unpredictable.

I thought that the acting between Shahidi and Melton was wonderful. The interactions felt really genuine and because of the strong character development for these two, toward the end you really became quite invested in their story. The character development for the co-stars, on the other hand, could have dug deeper but overall I really liked the diversity of this cast. I also liked the surprise addition of John Leguizamo.

If you are looking for an inspiring, surprisingly relatable, tear-jerker this could be the one for you.

The Hustle

The Hustle is a comedy about two con-women who team up to take down wealthy men. It stars Anne Hathaway as the more established, polished, stiff, high-class thief and Rebel Wilson, the yin to her yang, a more relaxed, fun though sloppier, lower-level version.

I thought that the plot was incredibly predicable. There were some clever parts and they did a good job of bringing the movie full circle but that is about all they got right. For a movie that is supposed to be a comedy I thought that the jokes were all softballs and I didn't laugh out loud once.

I just saw Anne Hathaway in Ocean’s 8 and really liked her but but in this film I feel like she over acted and in the end wasn’t very likable. Rebel Wilson didn’t give me much range. She is, at this point, the same thing in everything and it is getting old and tired.

I was pretty much over this movie about 20 minutes in. This is not one worth seeing in theaters, renting or even stealing for free. This one can be skipped.

Red Sparrow

Red Sparrow is a dramatic thriller starring Jennifer Lawrence and Joel Edgerton. It follows ballerina Dominika Egorova, played by Lawrence, who after becoming the victim of an unfortunate injury that sidelines her career, she is recruited to a Russian intelligence branch, known as the Red Sparrow, where she is forced to use her beauty as a weapon. 

I thought that the plot was a lot more interesting than the previews led on. It was surprisingly quite engaging throughout and had a great twist at the end.

I liked the character development for Dominika. She was cunning, smart, ruthless and independent. The costumes for her were chic but her hair looked like a bad wig and at times was a distraction. I also struggled with in the acting from the entire cast, especially Jennifer Lawrence, who is normally a really great actor but in this film I felt like she just wrote it in and didn’t fully commit. She was supposed to be Russian but her accent was terrible. It would fade in and out and was never quite strong enough. Additionally, the rest of the cast, that were supposed to be Russian, also had no accent or a fluctuating one. And hardly any of the Russian language was even spoken, which was an over site for a movie that was supposed to be based in that country. I also would have appreciated it if they would have given a lot more depth in the development of the rest of the cast in the storytelling.

Overall, since I came in with low expectations, I found this movie to be much less of a disappointment than originally anticipated. Now, I’m glad I didn’t watch it in theaters because I think that would have been a waste of money, but for an at home viewing, I found it to be tolerable but not something I would watch again.

Joker

Joker is the origin story of one of Batman’s archenemies starring Joaquin Phoenix and Robert De Niro. 

Set in 1970s Gotham City, the cinematography was dark and gritty. The plot was engaging and unpredictable. The themes of mental illness and the effects of how people treat each other were sewn throughout the film. It was written and delivered so powerfully that if you didn’t know this was a comic book movie, it could have easily just been a well done fictional drama.

The acting was superb; everyone held up their parts. Robert De Niro was a surprise addition and his part was something slightly outside of his normal typecast so I liked him in his role. To me though, Joaquin Phoenix stole the show and properly carried this movie with his Oscar-worthy performance. He was a broken and deranged man, looking for love and happiness in all wrong ways. His commitment to this character was unmatched. This Joker is right up there with Heath Ledger’s performance.

I would not be surprised if this movie receives multiple nominations during awards season. It was an unexpected and impressive portrayal of this DC villain. Note, this is not your typical kid-friendly Marvel or DC movie, it has a lot of intense violence and uncomfortable scenarios. It was one that I had to wrap my head around before I watched because I knew that it may be hard to shake after the fact. In the end I think that this movie will be liked not just by comic book fans but also fans of crime dramas.

Tall Girl

Tall Girl is another Netflix produced, coming of age, teen romantic comedy/drama. This story follows high school junior, Jodi. She is bullied for being the tallest girl in her school, which has always made her feel insecure. But when a tall, handsome, foreign exchange student arrives, Jodi starts to look within to find the confidence to unapologetically be herself.

I thought that the plot was cute and easy to follow. It kind of reminded me of John Hughes' 1980s classic Pretty in Pink. To be honest, the mold for this movie is almost exact to so many of its predecessors so there isn't much that's unique in this story.

In regard to the cast, a lot of the actors were unknown to me but I liked the diversity of the group and their dynamics with one another. Some of the characters were clearly typecast, and they could have done a better job with character development, but for the most part, the cast did well with the script that they had.

There were plenty of parts that were predictable and others that didn’t make sense but I thought overall it was realistic and made some strides at being quite heartfelt. Though not a movie that I would watch again, it was fine for a one time watch. I'd recommend it for anyone who is a fan of this genera.