The Nice Guys (2016)

The Nice Guys (2016)

7/10

Starring

Russel Crowe

Ryan Gosling

Directed by Shane Black

A lot of movies have been making the airwaves lately, but enough of them have been a waste of time. The Nice Guys, for me, is one of those movies that gets mixed up in the uproar of not-so-great films. It might slip by unnoticed, and not many people will get to see and appreciate the work done by the two leads or the rich dialogue the movie has to offer.

Buddy movies have long been overdone, with many coming out looking lame, but this one has a different style. It features two guys you naturally won’t like, and even as the movie progresses, your opinion of them doesn’t change much. But the dynamic they offer is what keeps you glued.
From the beginning, we see two very different guys running their businesses independently. One as a private investigator and the other as a hired hand (if you need anyone roughed up). Their paths cross when the PI (Ryan Gosling) is looking for a girl named Amelia, and Amelia hires the other guy, Jackson (Russell Crowe), to get the PI off her back.

After that happens (with Jackson breaking the PI’s arm), Jackson gets a visit from two hired guns sent to find out Amelia’s whereabouts. Jackson, unaware of where Amelia is, tells them nothing. When the men try to rough him up, he manages to get away.

Jackson then approaches the PI, this time to hire him to track down Amelia, and pays him upfront. Along for this fun ride is the best supporting cast the movie has to offer: Holly, the PI’s daughter. Her many captivating interactions and her innocence make her presence in the mix of these two misfits interesting. The writers involve her in everything from start to finish, with both guys trying hard to keep her out of trouble. But her stubbornness and inquisitive nature make it impossible for them to wrap up the case without her help.

This movie starts with the death of a porn star and grows into a political cover-up of some shady dealings by top officials, one of whom is Amelia’s mom.

Although the movie isn’t doing well at the box office, it’s still a good movie—one I saw late, just before its run ended in theaters. It is not often we see Russell Crowe in an amazing movie.

If you get the chance to see this movie, please do. It’s awesome.

Ghostbusters (2016)

Ghostbusters (2016)

5/10

Starring

Melissa McCarthy

Kristen Wiig

Kate McKinnon

Leslie Jones

Directed by Paul Feig

Reboots can be cool, and I’ve long awaited this one. I loved both Ghostbusters movies, and when I saw this reboot, I was totally psyched to see the guys (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson) make cameos. This third addition to the franchise was done in honor of Harold Ramis, the fourth member of the original Ghostbusting crew. Remember Slimer? Well, he had a cameo too, along with Sigourney Weaver.

Putting aside all the sentiments and the fun recollections of Ghostbusting, this movie was average—not the best form of a reboot, especially when compared to its original counterparts.

But the girls held their own, and it was great seeing this new crew get into place as the new passengers of Ecto-1. The movie had its drags, and the excitement you’d expect from the moment the ghosts went rogue was muffled by attempts to make us laugh. The movie threw out enough one-liners, but they weren’t as funny as you’d hope.

Notwithstanding the downsides, it was a fun ride, and the girls fit into their roles like gloves. The standout was Kate McKinnon, who plays Dr. Jillian Holtzmann. Her character is the Egon of this crew, and she nailed it. She was geeky, weird, and I found myself eager to hear what she had to say.

The movie’s soundtrack or musical score didn’t work for me. Every time the songs came on, I was taken out of the moment, wondering why they decided to wreck a good theme song.

The movie starts with a haunting and the introduction of the girls. Dr. Erin (Kristen Wiig) is busy with her lecturing job when she gets a visit from a man who owns the haunted house from the beginning, asking for her help with the ghost haunting.

She visits an old friend to accuse her of exposing her past obsession with ghosts, and we meet the other two members: Dr. Abby (Melissa McCarthy) and Dr. Holtzmann. Leslie Jones, who plays Patty, joins the group after witnessing a ghost sighting. Thanks to her extensive knowledge of New York, the crew needs her.

Now, these four are trying to study and capture ghosts before the mayor of New York shuts them down.

This is a movie you’ll see and give an OK nod to, you may not enjoy it, but you can appreciate the effort. It is not as good nor will it be as loved the original.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (2010)

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (2010)

5/10

Starring

Nicolas Cage

Jay Baruchel

Alfred Molina

Teresa Palmer

Monica Bellucci

Directed by Jon Turteltaub

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice was one Disney movie that totally missed its mark, it starts very good and then lose its way. The idea of making a movie based on Mickey Mouse’s adventure in Fantasia was great, but the execution was the problem. The whole story revolved around three main characters whose existence seemed designed to make the audience feel some form of sympathy or empathy for what they were going through. In the end, it was a cliché fest, and the only fun part was seeing the Mickey Mouse adventure re-enacted on screen.

The main flaw in the movie was the characterization. The characters had backstories that were too weak and sometimes baseless to build a solid foundation. Add that to the comedy attempts the writers tried to infuse into the movie, and you’ll see why it was a box office bomb and received negative reviews.

Putting all that aside, the movie did have some very interesting visual effects and CGI. These effects were wonderful and fluid, especially the transformation scenes. Now, the cast was never a selling point. If the casting director thought they were, I bet he’s shocked to his teeth now. Nicolas Cage has long passed his expiry point and seems to be doing movies just to pay off his debts.

This comedy-adventure film stars not just Cage but also Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, and Monica Bellucci. The movie’s plot starts with the introduction of two of our leads: Balthazar Blake (Cage) and Horvath (Molina). Both were two of Merlin the magician’s three apprentices, with the third being Veronica (Bellucci), who was a love interest for both Blake and Horvath.
Horvath turned on Merlin, siding with Morgana le Fay to bring the world to an end by helping her resurrect her dead soldiers. But first, they had to get rid of the only obstacle in their way: Merlin.

Their plan failed as Veronica sacrificed herself, but Horvath’s betrayal led to Merlin’s death. Before dying, Merlin gave his magic ring to Blake, asking him to seek out the Prime Merlinian—the only person who could kill Morgana.

The search went on for over a thousand years, but Blake finally found the Merlinian in a young man named David. Now, Blake must mentor David to become a powerful sorcerer.

Although the idea was good, I feel Disney could have done better. This movie has all the ingredients to make a franchise recipe, but Disney botched it.