47 Meters Down (2017)

Directed by: Johannes Roberts

Written by: Johannes Roberts & Ernest Riera

Starring: Mandy Moore & Claire Holt




Lisa (Moore) and Kate (Holt) are on vacation in Mexico.  To get closer to some romantic interests and also to make the most of their vacation, both agree to do some diving, but safely.  Both enter into a cage to keep them safe from sharks, but as they enjoy their time underwater, the cage falls down 47 meters.  Now the sisters must figure out how to get back on the boat before their oxygen runs out or the sharks eat them.

This film was so intense.  It is the best shark film I have seen thus far.

The best part of the film was the twist at the end.  But besides that, as an audience member, you felt like the characters.  You didn't know where the sharks were compared to other films where there was dramatic irony.  There was no music nor visuals to give away where the sharks were.  You were just as lost as Lisa and Kate.

A third positive is the science and survival techniques behind the film.  I thought at first, Why don't they swim to the top?  Duh.  But apparently that can damage your brain.  Who knew right?

There were parts of the film where the characters' actions were not predictable, but intelligent.  I know if I was in that situation, I would have died so fast.

Everyone go see this film!  I haven't heard much about it, but it is seriously amazing and keeps you on your toes the whole time.

5 popcorns!

Paris Can Wait (2017)

Directed by: Eleanor Coppola

Written by: Eleanor Coppola

Starring: Diane Lane, Arnaud Viard, & Alec Baldwin

DON'T EVER SEE THIS MOVIE!

Horrible, horrible!

Anne (Lane) is married to Michael (Baldwin), some executive in the entertainment business.  When he needs to travel to Budapest? (I think.), Anne complains that her ears hurt and she'll meet Michael in Paris.  She decides to take a train, but is convinced to travel with Michael's business partner Jacques (Viard) by car.  Instead of getting there overnight, it turns into the longest car ride of her life.

The worse thing about this movie, besides the plot, is that the film kept teasing you that something was going to happen, and it never did.

The plot is boring and it's basically just Lane and Viard on a car ride enjoying the sights to get to Paris.  There is supposable chemistry between the two characters, but Michael and exes of Jacques keep being brought up that it steers you off course.

I was bored out of my mind and eager at the same time to see what would happen.  Huge disappointment.

1 Kernel.

My Cousin Rachel (2017)

Directed by: Roger Michell

Written by: Daphne Du Maurier (novel) & Roger Michell

Starring: Sam Claflin & Rachel Weisz




After his uncle died, Philip (Claflin) decides to find his uncle's fleeing wife Rachel (Weisz).  After finding her, he discovers her charm and falls in love with her.  But despite Rachel's affections in return, a secret looms from her past.

For the first half of the film, I was falling asleep.  It was all about establishing Philip's feelings for Rachel and vice versa.  It was necessary, but there was too much of it with no subplots to engage the viewer in further.

As for the second half of the film, it was much better.  It started turning into a Hitchcock film interestingly enough and the ending was a satisfying yet not satisfying way to end the film.

Another positive is the camera work brought the film to life.  The shots were so beautiful and moving that it definitely influenced the film to give it an eery feeling.

Nevertheless, 2 popcorns.

The Mummy (2017)

Directed by: Alex Kurtzman

Written by: David Koepp, Christopher McQuarrie, Dylan Kussman, Jon Spaihts, Alex Kurtzman, & Jenny Lumet

Starring: Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, Annabelle Wallis, Sofia Boutella, & Jake Johnson



Aye, where do I begin!

Tom Cruise stars as Nick Morton, a thief and adventurer.  After a thieving mission gone wrong, he discovers, along with his friend Chris Vail (Johnson), an Egyptian tomb located in Iraq.  Once opened, Nick is announced as the chosen one by Ahmanet (Boutella) that will supposedly be sacrificed so the god Set can have a human body.  In an attempt to break the curse, Nick along with his friend with benefits Jenny (Wallis), go in search of entrapping the mummy that's escaped as well as breaking the curse.

Let's get to it:

THE NEGATIVES -

1) I miss Brendan Fraser! Tom Cruise should not have been casted in this film.  The writers tried to make him funny, but he just isn't funny.  Every time he makes a joke, he just comes off as cocky.

2) The relationship between Nick and Jenny was terrible in comparison to Fraser and Rachel Weisz.  With Fraser and Weisz, there was basically a whole film of them just bantering until the moment of falling in love.  With Nick and Jenny, this was how the relationship went:

You slept with me and then stole my map!  I hate you.
Yeah, okay.  DANGER DANGER!

That was it.  There was not enough communication or banter to actually establish a relationship the audience could see.  Then they were like "I love you,"  but don't.  It was confusing and dumb.  I didn't like either of them, nor their relationship with each other.

3) Jake Johnson was in this film, why?  He was there to provide most of the comic relief, but it would have been so much better if he wasn't in it at all or they took out Tom Cruise.  Them together, to me, did not have chemistry.

4)  The mummies looked like zombies.  They're probably supposed to, but it was confusing. Maybe they were zombies?  What makes a zombie?

THE POSITIVES -

5) Best thing about this film was the implementation of other storylines.  Universal seems as if it is attempting to replicate Marvel and DC, but instead of superheroes, it's monsters.  Crowe plays Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  How awesome is that!  Plus there were indications that they plan on making a Dracula film and more monster films.  Do it Universal!  Just don't cast Tom Cruise.

6) Sofia was amazing.  She projected an innocence and fierceness that brought the film to life pretty much.  She was a great mummy.

Anyway, those are my notes.  If you're going to see it, I suggest you rent it.  2 popcorns.

The Book of Henry (2017)

Directed by: Colin Trevorrow

Written by: Gregg Hurwitz

Starring: Naomi Watts, Jaeden Lieberher, & Jacob Tremblay




First off, the trailer does not do this film justice.

At first I did not want to see this film.  I thought it was about a mom helping her kids out, but it is so much more than that.

Henry (Lieberher) is a genius.  He controls the finances, can create magnificent creations, and can research a topic like nobody's business, but unfortunately a family crisis puts him in charge of giving directions to his mother in order to save his school crush from an abusive step-father.

Now, I completely understand as to why the trailer left out the most important part of the film (as I am doing now) because otherwise the film is not as emotionally profound as it is.  But due to this important fact, it presents themes and morals that made me cry and think philosophically about life.

I highly recommend this film for any mother or child that is close to a parent.  It'll make you appreciate them more.

5 popcorns.

Rough Night (2017)

Directed by: Lucia Aniello

Written by: Lucia Aniello & Paul W. Downs

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell, Ilana Glazer, & Zoë Kravitz




Celebrating Jess' bachelorette party, her and her friends from college get together in Miami to have a great weekend.  After doing drugs, clubbing, and ordering pizza, a stripper shows up to entertain them.  Unfortunately, things take a turn for the worst as the stripper ends up accidentally dying as the girls freak out about killing someone.

Despite the movie portraying a simple plot, it actually had much deeper meanings for the theme of friendship and how friends may bicker, be obsessive, and distant, but there is usually a hidden meaning as to why.  It was pretty touching I thought.

Although the film has been compared to Bridesmaids and The Hangover, it isn't as funny.  It is still funny though and had similar subplots, but it just felt like a whole different movie and did not compare to it.  I did though laugh and cry, so take that into consideration.

4 popcorns.

Megan Leavey (2017)

Directed by: Gabriela Cowperthwaite

Written by: Pamela Gray, Annie Mumolo, & Tim Lovestedt

Starring: Kate Mara




Mara plays a lost young woman whose best friend just died.  Feeling depressed and unmotivated, she joins the army to finally get a purpose to her life.  But as she continues her service, she finds that her purpose may be something entirely different than originally thought.

The best part of the film is getting an inside look into the army and especially the canine department.  Her relationship with Max, the dog, shows great character development for herself as well as the dog.  Both have a purpose and it's noticeable how much they care about each other.

The film had pretty much everything technical wise in terms of plot, location, camera work, etc...  The only negative, but could not be fixed, is that you could tell the dog was acting.  For example, he would rush to Mara as if it was a touching reunion, but she would cry, but he would just stand there panting. Dogs typically lick and jump and down when they are reunited with their owner.  So it was obvious it was staged, but you can only control dogs so much.  I'm sure they just wanted him to get from point A to point B and he accomplished just that.

The story overall was touching and I cried here and there.  4 popcorns.

Wonder Woman (2017)

Directed by: Patty Jenkins

Written by: Allan Heinberg, Zack Snyder (story), & Jason Fuchs (story)

Starring: Gal Gadot & Chris Pine





When Steve Trevor's (Pine) plane goes down in Themyscira, Diana a.k.a. Wonder Woman (Gadot) has a choice to make on whether she wants to stay with her family or venture out into the world to save the human race from the God of War, Ares.

Overall, Gadot is the perfect new Wonder Woman.  Her character is naive and as she ventures off she learns lessons that enable her to become the Wonder Woman that is a part of the Justice League.  As for Pine, he works well with Gadot, and her powerful nature does not intimidate him nor bring down his character.

At the same time though, the villain, Ares, was a strange choice casting wise.  I would have hoped they picked someone else.  Preferably anyone else, but perhaps that was the whole plan, to make him look not villainy.

The film is dark like previous DC films.  In addition, don't stay towards the end, there is nothing there.

4 popcorns due to some dragging portions of the film mostly because of the repetitive nature of her explaining her goal and him disagreeing with her actions.