1917

1917 is well renowned director, Sam Mendes’, tribute to his grandfather, who fought for the British during World War 1 vs the Germans in France.

Led by a couple of not very well know actors, Game of Thrones, Dean-Charles Chapman and George MacKay, the movie follows two young Lance Corporal's  Blake and Schofieldas, as they are sent on an impossible mission: cross through enemy territory to warn their fellow comrades of an impending German ambush.

The movie won best picture and director at the Golden Globes and will probably win at the Oscars, for good reason, the hair, makeup and costumes were accurate and appropriate for the time, the sets were realistic, the Dunkirk-like cinematography was well done and showed what war really looked like in the 1900s, along with the vastness of the land and the dangers surrounding it, the acting was great from the entire cast and there was a lingering intensity throughout.

Although the previews ended up bringing a level of suspense that the movie couldn’t live up to, the locations were not always clear and the character development was lacking, I still found the movie to be entertaining and just the right amount of time to tell the entire story. In the end, I do think that this is one that is worth checking out.

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is the sequel to 2014’s Maleficent starring Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning and Michelle Pfeiffer. Picking up right after the original, Maleficent’s goddaughter Aurora announces her engagement to her handsome prince,  which causes a rift between them as they are pulled in different directions by a manipulating queen and unexpected allies. 

The plot was easy to follow, somewhat predictable but still quite enjoyable. The themes of family, love and sacrifice were all powerful and present throughout the film. The entire movie was full of beautiful cinematography and the costumes were ethereal with bright colors and fabrics

I thought that the acting was great from the entire cast. Three strong female leads, all with unique personalities and very different goals with great character development, made it easy to connect to the characters. The surprising addition of Chiwetel Ejiofor was also great. He took a role that was completely different than anything else I have even seen him in before which was refreshing.

Overall, I thought that the movie was great and worth the watch. It was family friendly and full of heart.

Black and Blue

Black and Blue is an action thriller set in New Orleans. It follows rookie cop, Alicia West, played by Naomie Harris, who witnesses the murder of a young drug dealer at the hands of corrupt cops. She then has to stay alive by evading them, with the help of a man from her neighborhood, until she is able to prove her innocence and present evidence. 

I thought that the pace moved well and that the story was realistic, which helped to keep me engaged . The themes around police brutality, doing what is right and being true to yourself were all timely and relevant. I liked the casting of Harris as the lead. Being one of the few females in the movie, she was able to bring a lot of confidence and power to her performance. Sometimes she was a bit over the top but for the most part she kept it right in the pocket. It was something a bit different from the things I’ve seen of her in the past, which I appreciated. Frank Grillo, on the other hand, who played, Officer Terry Malone, has definitely been typecast at this point. In Point Blank he played a similar type of role. I would have liked to see a bit more character diversity from him. Tyrese was also in this movie. He didn’t give me a lot of range in his performance but he was tolerable.

Where the movie missed the mark for me was in the predictability of the plot, the character development and the script. Because the entire story was foreseeable from early on, it lacked some of the anxiety that would come with a true thriller. The writers were vague with all of the characters back stories so that it made it hard for me to really connect with any of them. Additionally, some of the script was a bit corny and could have used more work.

Overall, I found the movie to be interesting in its idea but satisfactory in its delivery. It definitely isn’t a movie that I would have wanted to pay to watch in theatres. This is something that could have gone straight to Netflix and I would have been content.

Elf

Elf is a story of a man raised as an elf, working in Santa’s Workshop, in the North Pole. After he discovers that he is human, he decides to travel to New York City to locate his biological father. 

The movie came out in 2003 but visually holds up. I thought that the plot was easy to follow and wrapped up nicely in the end. I liked the themes surrounding taking a chance and stepping outside your comfort zone, having positivity through all of the negativity around you and the importance of spending time with loved ones.

I was surprised to see Game of Thrones, Peter Dinklage, in this movie. His role was prior to his well known character, Tyrion Lannister, and a major step away from that iconic role. In regard to the acting from the rest of the cast, I think that everyone, for the most part, was subdued and very one dimensional. Perhaps that was because they couldn’t be out shown by Will Farrell. His character, Buddy, was extremely extroverted, easily excitable, childlike and full of positivity. I know the juxtaposition of his age and height compared to his behavior was supposed to be funny but it just made me uncomfortable. Farrell’s portrayal was so over top that I couldn’t relate and I didn’t find it funny.

I thought that the plot wasn’t very realistic and that script was corny. I imagine this movie plays better for kids than adults. With that being said, I know this is a classic Christmas movie that some watch religiously, this time of year, but in the end it wasn’t for me.

The Irishman

The Irishman is a typical Martin Scorsese gangster drama starring his go to collaborators, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci. It is based off of the book, I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran & Closing the Case on Jimmy Hoffa by Charles Brandt. It is a loose biography on the life of Frank Sheeran, played by De Niro, who is an Irish meat truck delivery man who is recruited into the Italian mob. The movie covers a pretty vast time frame starting in the 1950s. 

What attracted me to this movie was the high profile cast and director. I think that all of the actors in this movie are great. I also thought that the plot was interesting, since I didn’t really remember a lot about Jimmy Hoffa.

I had some issues with the cosmetology. They tried to do some movie magic to make the actors look 30-40 years younger in the flashback scenes but I wasn’t buying it. I think that the aging makeup that they did was way better than their attempts to turn back the clock on these older guys. Physically, they also struggled emboding younger characters. A scene where this really stood out to me was early on the in the movie De Niro had a fight sequence. He was supposed to be a man in his 30s but it was painful to watch because he had the young makeup and hair but was fighting like an old guy. Even the way he walks, it was not the way a young man walks.
In another scene, Joe Pesci’s character, is supposed to be about 20 years older than De Niro’s, but in real life they are the same age and the makeup didn’t give enough distinction in age, so when he calls him kid it’s almost hilarious since they look about the same age. I think the casting director should have just had younger guys in those scenes.


Another place where I think this movie went wrong was over doing it with all of the type cast actors. Robert De Niro, Al Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa, Joe Pesci as Russell Bufalino, and Boardwalk Empire’s Stephen Graham and Bobby Cannavale as Skinny Razor have all played this type of tough guy, gangster so many times now that I wasn’t really excited to see any of them on screen. I came into this movie hoping that I would get some variety from this talented bunch but I ended up getting a lot of the same.

Additionally, the timeline wasn't super clear. The only thing that gave you a bit of a hint was that you could see them ageing a little bit and there were some historic pin points, but other than that, you never really knew what year you were in.

In the end, this movie was 3 ½ hours long which I thought was unnecessary. The plot was slow moving and the script was super dialogue heavy with a lot of moving pieces and characters so it was hard to keep up. Because of this, I became board pretty early in; this one was a waste of time and I am glad I didn’t spend my money to see this in the theater.

Hustlers

Hustlers is a drama based on the true story of four strippers who flipped the game on its head by swindling large sums of money from shady Wall Street men in the early 2000s. Inspired by the New York Magazine article that went viral, this movie stars Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu.

I thought that the plot was interesting especially since it was based off of real life events. With a female director it did give this movie a different, more female driven, possibly more tasteful perspective, than if it were directed by someone else. There were also a couple of comedic moments that helped to break up the monotony.

The character development was good enough to where you actually wanted to side with the criminals at certain points and could understand their individual struggles. Additionally, the acting was pretty good all around. I thought that Lopez did a great job committing to the character and it was refreshing seeing both her and Wu in these unconventional roles. I liked how all of the women were resourceful, smart and driven. I also enjoyed the cameos from famous musicians like G-Easy, Usher, Lizzo and Cardi B.

This movie has received a lot of Oscar buzz and even though I thought that the movie was good I didn’t think it was Oscar worthy. There was something missing for me to fully jump on to that bandwagon. To me this movie would be okay to watch at home but not worth spending time and money at the theatre.

Point Blank

Point Blank is a Netflix produced action drama starring Anthony Mackie and Frank Grillo. In the story Paul, a nurse played by Mackie, is unwillingly dragged into a war between corrupt cops and criminals when he is assigned to an unknown man, played by Grillo, in his hospital. 

The plot was pretty typical and predictable for this genera. The level of suspense that these movies usually have wasn’t really there for me but it was still engaging. The writers did a decent job on character development for the main two leads but they should have elaborated more for the rest of the cast.

As far as the acting was concerned, I though the entire cast did well. Grillo and Mackie interacted well together. I have seen Grillo in other things but he always had a smaller role so it was nice to see him take the lead and carry this movie with Mackie. Of all of the actors though the big surprise to me was seeing Marcia Gay Harden, who played Lt. Lewis. I have been a fan of hers since I saw her in the made for TV gem called She’s Too Young back in 2004, so it was refreshing to see her in something completely different where she took the reigns and was a power player.

In the end, I’m glad that this movie went straight to Netflix. I feel like it was made more for the small screen, since it lacked that big screen budget feel. Even though this is not one that I will probably watch again, I thought it was still enjoyable to catch one time at home.