Cinderella (2015)

Cinderella (2015)

8/10

Starring

Lily James

Cate Blanchett

Directed by Kenneth Branagh

Disney’s decision to start making live-action adaptations of their old fairy tale animations has been a financial success. They began in 2010 with Alice in Wonderland, which grossed over $1 billion at the box office, followed by Maleficent in 2014, which grossed over $750 million.
Although the first two made a lot of money, they received mixed to negative reviews. However, Cinderella has been nothing but positive reviews all the way.

Disney stayed close to their 1950 classic. We had magic, glass slippers, and animals helping Cinderella get by. It was magical and wonderful.
Kenneth Branagh (Thor (2011)), the director, did something magical for the new generation. He took Charles Perrault’s fairy tale and made it suitable for everyone.

Disney went all out with the visual effects, and the costumes are to die for. You have to see Cinderella’s dress as it’s magically created and the after-effect of the magic on it—it’s beautiful. Three-time Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell was on board for this movie, and after seeing her work here, she deserves another Oscar. The Cinderella gown required 18 tailors working for over 500 hours to make (talk about dedication), and guess what? They made 19 of the gowns… do the math.

Disney went all out to ensure this movie would be a masterpiece, and it sure was.

The plot of Cinderella is the same as ever: Ella is the only child of her parents. Her mother dies early, and her father later remarries Lady Tremaine, who has two daughters (the wicked stepmother and stepsisters). After her father dies, the stepmother and her daughters turn Ella into a servant and rename her Cinderella because of the cinders on her face from sleeping by the fireplace.

With some magic from her fairy godmother… well, you know the rest.

Other than being a critical success, the movie was also a commercial success. Disney’s combined cost of $145 million brought in over $530 million at the box office. This movie deserved to make more money than Disney’s previous two live-action adaptations (Alice in Wonderland and Maleficent).

The acting by Lily James and Cate Blanchett is enough to dazzle you. They were so good in their portrayals of Cinderella and Lady Tremaine (Lily and Cate, respectively) that it was hard for me to notice if the other actors in the movie could stand close to them.

Disney has decided to release more live-action movies based on their classic animations. In 2016, we’ll see The Jungle Book and Alice Through The Looking Glass.

I really enjoyed this movie to the fullest, although I preferred the ending of Walt Disney’s 1950 animation of the same name, which this movie was partly adapted from.
In the original, the mice had to get the key from the stepmother’s pocket, take it up to the attic where Cinderella was locked, deal with the cat (Lucifer), and then the dog chased the cat away. The mice then took the key safely to Cinderella, and she escaped… the rest of the story from there was classic. Nonetheless, you have to go see Cinderella.

Ex Machina (2015)

 

Ex Machina (2015)

6/10

Staring

Domhnall Gleeson

Alicia Vikander

Oscar Isaac

Directed by Alex Garland

If humanity desires a future with A.I. so advanced that it functions independently and could be mistaken for a human, that future is near. The way movies portray such a future makes it seem like we’re in line for a hostile takeover by machines. Ex Machina explores that possible future, and it does so with so much style that you, the viewer, will be just as lost as the men involved in the story.

I guess the suspense around the real motive for developing such a magnificent A.I. in isolation was what drove me to see this film to the end. It was intriguing, nonetheless; you wouldn’t want to miss the sessions between the A.I. and her interviewer, Caleb.

In the movie, we have a company named Bluebook, the world’s most popular search engine, which in a way seems like Google. The company’s owner uses people’s search history and preferences to develop his android.
This is a movie about the future where you’d expect high-end graphics and visual effects, but it focuses more on delivering a powerful script that keeps you on the edge of your seat as things unfold gently, making you wonder what’s really going on.
Still, with a $15 million production budget, the movie delivers smooth, cool visual effects for the androids.

Written and directed by Alex Garland (Dredd (2012)), Ex Machina is about a highly intelligent programmer who invites one of his employees, Caleb (also a programmer), to administer the Turing test (a test of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human—according to Wikipedia) to an android he developed with artificial intelligence.

The android Caleb interviews has the features of a woman and, during the tests, begins to display affection and other emotions, confusing Caleb into thinking she was programmed to do so.
Things take an odd turn when the android, named Ava, tells Caleb that his employer isn’t telling him the whole truth about the test and shouldn’t be trusted.

This begins a sub-plot within the main plot, leading to more twists that will leave you gasping in awe at the unpredictable ending awaiting you. Now, the movie’s plot is not full proof, there are holes which you can pick from the plot. Also, although the characters are few, which made it easy to focus, they are not captivating enough and at times, it was a bore to see them

Ex Machina is a great movie and one I’d recommend you see when you have the time.

St. Vincent (2014)

St. Vincent (2014)

7/10

Starring

Bill Murray

Melissa McCarthy

Naomi Watts

Directed by Theodore Melfi

You can never get enough of feel-good movies, and St. Vincent plays right to your heart. It taps into the innocence of childhood and explores friendship in unlikely places (how, as kids, we always seem to make friends even with people we started off disliking).

St. Vincent isn’t a movie for the whole family to watch—the frequent use of strong language makes it inappropriate—but the love in the movie is abundant. To top it off, the cast is phenomenal. The film is led by Bill Murray, who plays the grumpy, foul-mouthed neighbor Vincent, and Melissa McCarthy, who plays the lovable mother of Oliver and Vincent’s neighbor.
In supporting roles, we have Oliver, the innocent little boy who befriends the grouch, and Naomi Watts, who plays the pregnant Russian prostitute and Vincent’s mistress.

Every cast member in the movie is memorable and lovable, right down to Vincent’s beautiful wife and the loan shark played by Terence Howard.

St. Vincent showcases Bill Murray at his best. It’s been a while since we’ve seen him deliver such a powerful role, but here he delivers as a funny man who hides his sentimental side from the world.

The movie starts with an unflattering introduction to Vincent and builds up gently, introducing one character at a time until we’re familiar with everyone and their role. Then, director and writer Theodore Melfi (making his full-length debut with this film) guides the story gently as we see a mother (Melissa McCarthy) struggling to be there for her son, Oliver, and leaving him with her neighbor to babysit.

Her neighbor, Vincent, ends up being a bad influence on the child but takes care of him in ways his mother never had the time to do. A friendship begins but ends abruptly due to divorce issues with Oliver’s dad, resulting in a joint custody 50/50 judgment. A tragedy and a stroke bring the growing friendship to a halt.

Oliver, not ready to say goodbye to his newfound friend, does everything he can to get back on good terms with Vincent.

I guess that’s it for me in the movie. We’re used to adults learning from their grumpy ways and changing to meet their mentees halfway, but that doesn’t happen here. Oliver has to come up with ways to meet Vincent halfway.
You have to see—or possibly own—this movie, as it’s a wonderful drama and I believe you will also enjoy it as much as I did.

The DUFF (2015)

The DUFF (2015)

5/10

Starring

Mae Whitman

Robbie Amell

Directed by Ari Sandel

The DUFF is a movie you can sit through without getting mad at the writers for the obvious things you can guess will happen five minutes in.
What made me like this movie isn’t the story but its modernization. We’ve seen many teen rom-coms with the same tale: someone is sidelined and decides to put themselves out there. In reality, it’s not usually like that. The DUFF plays on the reality that you can be socially awkward and still have friends who aren’t. That being said, The DUFF designates the awkward person as a D.U.F.F. (Designated Ugly Fat Friend), who doesn’t have to be ugly or fat—just less popular and more accessible than the others in the group. The DUFF is the one people go to for information about the other members of their group.

Nonetheless, I didn’t feel the movie was great, as I’ve been through this story (not exactly in this form) many times in other high school rom-coms.

The movie’s plot starts with an introduction to the group our lead character, Bianca, is part of. Bianca’s group consists of three people: her and her two hot friends. Life was great in their circle until Bianca’s childhood friend and neighbor, Wes, told her she was the DUFF in her group.
This statement causes Bianca to part ways with her friends and seek Wes’s help to be less of a DUFF and more of a hottie so she can finally get a date with the guy she likes.

I guess my problem is my age. I was born in the era when She’s All That (1999) was the movie to see—the teen rom-com for the ’90s. With that in mind (not to mention the countless times I’ve seen it), every teen rom-com reminds me of it, especially when it involves a girl coming to terms with who she is and wanting to change with the help of a guy. That’s why this movie is just okay for me, and why I find it hard to give it a 6. I’ll settle for a 5.

The movie wraps up with Bianca’s acceptance of who she is, rather than the typical makeover transformation we see in most high school rom-coms. I guess that’s why the movie is a critical success, even though she does change her look to a sexier version of herself.

Every other actor in the movie wasn’t nearly as good as Mae Whitman, who plays the lead, Bianca (The DUFF). She owned this movie, and I’d advise you to wait until your local TV network gets the rights to show it for you.

Spy (2015)

Spy (2015)

7/10

Starring

Melissa McCarthy

Jason Statham

Rose Byrne

Miranda Hart

Jude Law

Directed by Paul Feig

I have to be honest with you, it is hard to find a Melissa McCarthy movie to like. Spy is a good movie with so many funny moments that you’ll be caught off guard almost every time. It delivers hilarious one-liners I’ve never heard on TV before—many of which are too R-rated to be said in the real world.
I’ve seen many movies with Melissa McCarthy performing exquisitely, but this one is the best I’ve seen of her so far.

The movie actually packs a good story. It’s not just plain comedy and overly obvious, perfectly choreographed fight scenes that leave you captivated (wow, that was a mouthful). The story itself is very good.
Paul Feig wrote and directed this movie, making sure the plot isn’t too complex to lose you—especially with Jason Statham popping in and out everywhere—and not too dull or laid-back to bore you. The only thing I didn’t enjoy about the story was when it reached its peak: Spy fell into the same old trope every spy movie deals with—double agents.

Spy is about a desk-bound CIA agent, Susan (Melissa McCarthy), who guides Agent Bradley Fine (Jude Law) in his assignments. Fine gets killed on duty by Rayna (the daughter of a man Fine killed by mistake while trying to locate a suitcase nuke), and she makes the CIA aware that she knows all their top agents. The agency is forced to send Susan, an unknown and untrained agent, into the field to retrieve the location of the nuke.

Paul Feig and Melissa McCarthy worked together in Bridesmaids (2011) and The Heat (2013), which were both good movies, to say the least. This movie is far better than McCarthy’s ventures in The Hangover Part III (2013) and Identity Thief (2013).

There’s more than enough reason to see this movie. Other than the bulk load of laughs it has to offer, there’s a great spy movie plot attached that could spring forth more sequels if it becomes profitable.

The acting in the movie was wonderful, and all the cast members delivered fantastic moments. Even the cameo appearance by 50 Cent might be the best movie appearance of his life (because he’s a crappy actor but a good rapper).

So, if this is still showing in a cinema near you, go see it. If it’s off their list—hold on, the DVD will be out soon.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

7/10

Starring

Tom Hardy

Charlize Theron

Nicholas Hoult

Hugh Keays-Byrne

Directed by George Miller

Mad Max: Fury Road is a film you have to see. It starts on a high, settles on a plain for a trot, and then goes even higher. The movie maintains a fast pace (after its initial setup introducing the cast) as we watch a chase between a group of survivors and their former captors.

It’s not often we see the lead actor play a supportive role in their own movie, but here, Max feels more like a passerby in a sea of chaos. Charlize Theron was the best part of this movie—her portrayal of the life-saving Furiosa is one I’ll remember her by for years to come. The movie’s script is well done, and it reminded me of Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981). This movie (Fury Road) is the best in the Mad Max franchise.

Mad Max 4 isn’t actually a reboot of the franchise, nor does it bear any continuity with the previous films. George Miller explains that the story takes place after Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985) and wants us to view each Mad Max movie as a "legend of the Road Warrior," with each one standing alone and not connected to the others—just stories of Max Rockatansky.

The Mad Max series was conceived by George Miller in 1979, and he has directed and written all the films in the series. In the last two, he also served as producer. The movies are post-apocalyptic action films, with Mel Gibson starring as the title character, "Mad" Max Rockatansky, in the first three. Here, he’s replaced by Tom Hardy.

The movie starts with Max being captured and used as a "blood bag" for a sick warrior boy named Nux (Nicholas Hoult).
If you’re familiar with the Mad Max movies, you’ll know the world is now a vast wasteland after a nuclear war destroyed everything. People move in groups, driving fast cars and bikes, while water and fuel are scarce commodities everyone craves.

The captor, Immortan Joe, is shocked when he discovers one of his lead riders, Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), has gone off track, fleeing with his five wives—selected for breeding. He launches a pursuit to retrieve his wives and kill their captors. Max escapes from Nux and joins Furiosa as she and the five women try to evade Joe and his army.

This movie will definitely spawn more sequels, as it’s both a critical and financial success. You have to see Mad Max: Fury Road.

Maggie (2015)

Maggie (2015)

4/10

Starring

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Abigail Breslin

Directed by

Maggie is a movie that decided to be different from the rest of the zombie post-apocalyptic films by adding some—well, a lot—of drama into the mix. The problem is, it ended up being so boring that I was amazed I stayed awake through it. I kept expecting more, but more never came. Other than the great acting duo of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Abigail Breslin, there’s nothing else in Maggie for the audience. The film is about a father who’s ready to believe his daughter can beat the zombie virus taking over her body.

Schwarzenegger delivered a strong performance in this movie, one worth commending him for, but the movie lacks fun and excitement to make it a blockbuster. As an independent film with a $4.5 million budget, I guess the makers were hoping their star cast, including The Terminator himself, would bring in the cash. Unfortunately, this movie was a box office flop.
Arnold is having a hard time breaking back into the mainstream after his hiatus as governor of California. His recent movies have been churning out flops, which isn’t a good way to pave the path toward Terminator Genisys (2015).

Schwarzenegger may not be as bankable as he used to be, and dying his hair and making him look younger, may not be what we need. This is his second horror-themed flick, the first being End of Days (1999), which wasn’t great by critical reviews, even though I liked it, but it was profitable nonetheless, costing over $80 million and bringing in over $200 million.

Plot: Maggie Vogel (Abigail Breslin) is lost and has been bitten by a zombie, infecting her with the Necroambulist virus. She’s quickly turning into a flesh-eating being. Her father, Wade (Arnold Schwarzenegger), finds her in a quarantine hospital and is told by doctors she only has about a week before the virus fully takes over.

Wade takes her home to care for her, though his intentions aren’t clear. He watches as Maggie gradually changes, while people around him urge him to take her to quarantine or end her suffering himself.

What we get to watch is how Maggie deals with her situation and how her family reacts to it.

I wanted this movie to be great, but it’s not. Everything about Maggie drags except the acting, and I really hope this won’t have an impact on the performance of Terminator Genisys at the box office.

Jurassic World (2015)

Jurassic World (2015)

6/10

Starring

Chris Pratt

Bryce Dallas Howard

Nick Robinson

Ty Simpkins

Directed by Colin Trevorrow

I must be honest—I wasn’t blown away by this movie. In fact, I don’t think it’s anywhere near as cool as people say it is. The visual effects were great, though. But if I want to be blown away by visual effects mastery and their evolution, I’d rather watch the making of The Matrix.
I recently saw the first Jurassic Park film, and I thank God this is a continuation and not a reboot because, in my view, it would have been a failed reboot.

Steven Spielberg stepped back from directing to be an executive producer for this movie, just like he did for the third installment. In this 2015 continuation, Colin Trevorrow (whom I don’t know much about) took the director’s chair, and I bet he’ll be remembered for this, as the movie is breaking financial records at the box office.

Now, 22 years after the original Jurassic Park (1993) failed, a new and improved park has been created and opened to the public.

The park draws tens of thousands of visitors who enjoy the idea of seeing how life was when dinosaurs ruled the Earth. The genetic scientists in the park went one step further and created a new monster called the Indominus Rex—a hybrid dinosaur that’s highly intelligent and psychotic by nature.

The park owners planned to unveil this new hybrid to the public, hoping it would be the main attraction. Things go horribly wrong when the dinosaur escapes and goes on a rampage, killing humans and dinosaurs alike for sport.

The Indominus Rex is the villain in this movie.

The sound editing and musical score of this movie are wonderful, and the actors were good enough to carry the film through—though I didn’t quite enjoy Bryce Dallas Howard’s performance.

I think the hype around this film blinds many to the script’s total inadequacy in delivering a watertight presentation. After three movies depicting the horrible things that can happen in a park full of dinosaurs, people still keep going back.

The movie is plagued with too many coincidences to be taken seriously:

• Out of the 10,000 kids in the park, the one who gets involved with the Indominus Rex just happens to be related to one of the high-ranking people who run the park.
• She also happens to be in a relationship with a badass, Chuck Norris-esque guy (Chris Pratt).

There are many other coincidences in this film, but sharing them would mean dropping spoilers.

The movie is okay for viewing, but it’s not a great movie.

Inside Out (2015)

Inside Out (2015)

10/10

Starring the Voices of

Amy Poehler

Phyllis Smith

Bill Hader

Lewis Black

Mindy Kaling

Directed by Pete Docter

They say there’s nothing new under the sun, but Pixar went and disproved that with Inside Out. I bet you’ve seen movies about what’s going on inside the mind of an individual, with Look Who’s Talking (1989) spearheading the list. But brother/sister, you ain’t seen the inside of someone’s mind with their emotions having such personalities like this before—trust me (if you have, I will love to know the movie that has done this before).

When Pixar made Finding Nemo (2003), I delayed seeing it because I thought, “A movie about fish? How good can it be?” But after watching it, I never doubted their capability again. Here’s another movie I thought might struggle to connect, but after seeing it, anyone who hesitates or drags their feet to watch it is the one missing out.

Disney/Pixar’s 15th 3D computer-animated full-length movie, Inside Out, is amazing. Every moment is intriguing, and the best thing about it is that everything feels fresh and new. The characters in the mind of the 11-year-old girl, Riley, stay true to their nature throughout the film. The whole idea of not knowing where sadness fits in our lives really caught my attention. The movie portrays the five emotions—Joy, Anger, Fear, Disgust, and Sadness—with accuracy and likability.

Pixar didn’t stray from the emotions being themselves, nor did they wander off the idea of making a good movie while forgetting Disney’s approach of lessons and morals. The movie plays on all fields. There are lessons to be learned while watching Inside Out, and there are moral takeaways for everyone, too.

Set in the mind of a young girl, Riley Anderson, her five basic emotions—Joy, Anger, Disgust, Fear, and Sadness—must guide her through life as she and her family relocate to a new city.

The movie’s core focus is on Joy and Sadness, who get sucked away from the control room in Riley’s head. Their absence causes Riley to misbehave and lose some of her core memories. Joy and Sadness now have to make it back to the control room before Riley is completely lost.

Don’t for a second think this movie won’t be a hit—it will be a financial success. If Disney and Pixar decide to make a sequel, it too will be well-received.
You have to go see this movie now. And don’t worry—you don’t need to let your guard down to enjoy it. It’ll definitely knock you out in the first 10 minutes.

Get Hard (2015)

Get Hard (2015)

4/10

Starring

Will Ferrell

Kevin Hart

Directed by Etan Cohen

Contrary to popular opinion, I don’t find Kevin Hart funny. He’s an over-celebrated actor. Now, pair him with Will Ferrell, whose comedy style revolves around being oblivious to his surroundings and acting silly, and you have a film with so much overacting that it could be spread over three movies.

I sometimes see movies and wonder how the plot of the movie got to the point where it was greenlit for production. For me, Will Ferrell’s great days were in Old School (2003) and Anchorman (2004). After that, the only other time I enjoyed him was in Stranger Than Fiction (2006), where he played a serious role, and the comedy came from the script.
When it comes to actors who have to be funny to make me laugh, these two rank low for me. With that in mind, this movie wasn’t funny—it was dreadful.

The idea of a man learning to be tough so he won’t be anally raped in prison could have been funny if the movie didn’t rely so heavily on the actors to force the jokes. Etan Cohen used this movie for his grand directorial debut, and I wish he’d just stuck to writing. Etan’s writing credits go back to Beavis and Butt-head in the ’90s and other movies like Tropic Thunder (2008), Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008), and Men in Black 3 (2012).

As for the screenplay and writing, this movie could have been done better. Here, we have James King (Will Ferrell), an extremely wealthy fund manager who’s dating his boss’s daughter. She pushes him to make more money to secure their future.
On the other side, we have Darnell Lewis (Kevin Hart), a car washer who dreams of expanding his business if he can secure some funds.

Darnell washes James’ car daily and approaches him for the money to grow his car wash business, but James turns him down.
During James and his fiancée’s engagement party (with John Mayer in attendance), James gets arrested and is convicted of embezzlement (which he’s innocent of). He’s sentenced to 10 years in prison and has 30 days to prepare. He hires Darnell to train him to be tough so he won’t become someone’s b*#ch in jail.

The overuse of gay and racial jokes makes this movie more of a drag than fun. Despite that, the movie was a box office hit, which makes me wonder why people tolerate crap like this.