The Snowman (2017)

Directed by: Thomas Alfredson

Written by: Peter Straughan, Hossein Amini, Søren Sveistrup, & Jo Nesbø (novel)

Starring: Michael Fassbender & Rebecca Ferguson






Slowest movie I've seen in a long time.

After women go missing, Harry (Fassbender) and Katrine (Ferguson) begin to find snowmen along with them dead bodies, if there.  Working together, they discover clues to eventually solve the snowman killer.

The film was predictable and like I said, slow.  There was no action really and the investigators kept going back and forth on what they thought were clues, yadda yadda yadda.

Don't see it.  Not worth your time and is hella boring.

1 popcorn.

Wind River (2017)

Directed by: Taylor Sheridan

Written by: Taylor Sheridan

Starring: Jeremy Renner & Elizabeth Olsen







When I saw the trailer for this film, I knew I didn't want to see it.  I didn't like that Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen were the stars in this mystery film that focuses on Native Americans and their reservation.  They couldn't get Native American actors?  But then again someone noted that they would need big star names for the film to actually be successful and made.  But, still...

Nevertheless, the film was great.  The plot was sound and made sense as well as made you think about who the killers of this poor Native American girl could be.  While the main storyline was going on, there was also some consideration about Renner's character's background and how he fit in.

4 popcorns.

Shot Caller (2017)

Directed by: Ric Roman Waugh

Written by: Ric Roman Waugh

Starring: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau







Jacob has it all.  He works on Wall Street, has a beautiful house, and a lovely family.  But after a drunken night, it all goes away and he gets stuck in prison.  In order to make sure he's not taken advantage of, he makes a name for himself "Money."  But once he gets out, he'll have to decide, is he Jacob or Money?

This film was amazing, mostly due to the possibility that this story could haven to anyone.  It's so realistic and played extremely well by Nikolaj.  In addition, this part is very different from his "Game of Thrones" one of Jamie Lannister.

The technicalities of the film are okay, nothing spectacular, but I didn't see anything wrong either.  The only reason for the 4 is because it drags in a couple of places.  But I highly recommend this movie due to the plot.

4 popcorns.

Baby Driver (2017)

Directed by: Edgar Wright

Written by: Edgar Wright

Starring: Ansel Elgort




Baby (Elgort) has dedicated himself to a life of crime to pay off his debts.  When he's all paid up, he plans on leaving the group, but Doc (Kevin Spacy) makes sure he cannot quit.  Combating his conscience, Baby needs to decide whether he can continue doing this life of crime or finally make a life for himself.

With fantastic music leading the way, Wright delivers an action packed film generating the question: is money all that matters?  Wright gives this great cast contrasting views on life and brings forth the reality that it can be very difficult to get out of bad situations.

Now I've seen Elgot in a couple of other movies and have liked him thus far.  My only complaint was that he was a crappy runner.  After seeing this film, he definitely improved on the speed and cool jumps, but his running form is a little strange.  But hey, who am I to judge?  I can't run, but I'm just saying it's something I noticed.

I overall like everything about this film.  The chemistry between Elgort and all the other actors is obvious.  Plus the music always seemed to coordinate with what was occurring and being inferred within the film.  But, I didn't think it was 5 popcorns.  I'm giving it 4, because to me, it isn't a "must see," it's a "you should see it because it's pretty good, but if you miss it, it's okay kind of film."  Not sure why.  I think it's because the film can be compared with other crime films whether the main actor has doubts about doing crime.  It doesn't feel fresh, but it is right?  With all the driving?  You decide.

4 popcorns.

*** Make sure to follow me to get a first look as to whether the film is worth it.  Click on "follow" in the left hand column.

CHiPS (2017)

Directed by: Dax Shepard

Written by: Dax Shepard & Rick Rosner (television series)

Starring: Michael Peña & Dax Shepard




Stupid, hilarious movie.

I have never seen the original series, but apparently the film is just as, if not more funny.  Frank "Ponch" Ponchrello is an undercover FBI agent investigating dirty cops.  Unfortunately, he gets partnered with a rookie, the motocross legend Jon Baker, who is looking to get his wife back by being a cop.

Together, they make an odd pair, but prove that once you get to know a person, they may become your best friend.

This film has hilarious moments and barely drags.  Despite this, the film is not Oscar worthy nor made me emotional.  It's just a good comedy for those days where you just need a good laugh.

3 popcorns.

Sleepless (2017)

Directed by: Baran bo Odar

Written by: Andrea Berloff, Frédéric Jardin, Nicolas Saada, & Oliver Douyère

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Michelle Monaghan, & Dermot Mulroney



When I first saw the preview for this film, I thought that it was an African American version of Taken.  It's not.  So whoever made the previews, you need to fix that.

Foxx plays Vincent, an undercover cop that actually works for the DEA ready to bust drug dealers.  Unfortunately, those drug dealers catch on and kidnap Vincent's son in order to stop him.  Vincent has to choose between saving his son and saving his job, or can he save both?

It was okay.  That's about it.  There wasn't anything exciting and the film felt familiar.  The best part of the film is Monaghan's part.  She plays a suspicious cop that wants to take Vincent down.  She's pretty awesome.

But nothing other than that.  2 popcorns.

The Accountant (2016)

Directed by: Gavin O'Connor

Written by: Bill Dubuque

Starring: Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, & J.K. Simmons





Christian Wolff (Affleck) has autism.  It's hard for him to socialize and control his emotions, especially if he is unable to finish a particular task.  But he is able to participate in society as an accountant.  But he also has a hidden career that only one person knows about.  The government is after him because of his critical connections, but in an attempt to blend in, Wolff decides to take a safe accounting job for a no risk client, but it turns out to not be that safe.

(Sorry I've been MIA.  I actually saw this film weeks ago, but just haven't had the time to write my review.  But low and behold I found some time.  Yay!)

I thought this film was amazing.  Not necessarily for any special effects or cool camera work, but just the plot in general.  Affleck really brought this autistic character to life and his acting was amazing.  Plus this film had some parts that you really have to pay attention to in order to guess what's happening.  Otherwise you'll just be surprised at the end, which I was with one aspect of the film.  Technically there are two surprises, but I predicted the other one.

The only thing I had a problem with was Kendrick and Affleck's relationship.  I thought she was too young for it to be romantic.  But I was okay with how it turned out.

I hope they make a sequel.  In the meantime, 5 popcorns.

Masterminds (2016)

Directed by: Jared Hess

Written by: Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, & Emily Spivey

Starring: Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, & Jason Sudeikis



David Ghantt (Galifianakis) a guard at an armored car company.  After being persuaded by his crush Kelly (Wiig) to rob the bank that the company works for, he finds himself in a load of trouble with the law and an assassin.  In hopes to win the girl of his dreams and get the police off his back, he needs to figure out if he should turn himself in or get the real mastermind behind the operation caught.

This film was funny, but not as funny as I thought.  Like usual, the funniest parts of the film were in the commercial.  There are a couple more, but nothing to laugh hysterically over.

It's hard to believe that this was a true story because these characters all seem like idiots.  Their acting, especially McKinnon's was great and hilarious.  I didn't see any technical issues though.  All in all it was an okay movie.  Meh.  3 popcorns.

War Dogs (2016)

Directed by: Todd Phillips

Written by: Stephen Chin, Todd Phillips, Jason Smilovic, & Guy Lawson (article)

Starring: Jonah Hill & Miles Teller




War Dogs is about two best friends that get into a load of trouble.  Money hungry, they take large government contracts to supply weapons and other supplies to the military.  When they run into trouble with their shipment, friendships are tested to the point where these friends need to figure out what is more important: their friendship or money.

The film has an interesting concept.  It provides the view that has never been seen before of how the military and war are seen as a money making machines.   Nevertheless, the film did drag in some places, but overall was entertaining.

The way the film was made was very similar to The Big Short, where one of the characters describes the story as it continues throughout.  The only thing I didn’t like about the film was that there were these title cards in between acts, that became annoying after awhile.  I felt that they weren’t needed and the film would have run better without them.  These title cards interrupted the flow of the film and therefore get a lower score.  3 popcorns.

Hell or High Water (2016)

Directed by: David Mackenzie

Written by: Taylor Sheridan 

Starring: Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Jeff Bridges, & Gil Birmingham







Hell or High Water should be marketed more in my opinion.

In this film, Chris Pine and Ben Foster play two brothers that start robbing banks.  At first, they seem to not know what they are doing, but as the film goes on, we, the audience, see that they are much more sophisticated than first identified.  As they rob banks, Jeff Bridges and Gil Birmingham take on the case to catch these men. 

I expected this film to be a comedic adventure, but there were some sentimental spots.  The two dynamic duos had great chemistry.  Pine and Foster were just like real brothers with their horseplay and insulting jokes, but they would still protect each other.  The same goes for Bridges and Birmingham, even though they weren’t brothers, they were partners and had a similar relationship.

All the characters had a significant flaw that hindered their quest, whether it’d be robbing banks or trying to catch the robbers.  As the film continued, we got to see the characters develop in relation to their flaw, which made for a compelling story.

The plot is also interesting because, true, it is your typical robbing banks movie, but there is a deeper meaning behind the film, which consists of socioeconomic status (SES) and how it affects the characters.

I recommend seeing this film if you want a couple laughs, action, and some sympathy for the various characters. 4 popcorns.

Nerve (2016)

Directed by: Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman

Written by: Jeanne Ryan (novel) & Jessica Sharzer 

Starring: Emma Roberts & Dave Franco








Nerve could have been amazing…but they casted Emma Roberts in it.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Emma Roberts.  But for some reason, she sucked in this film.  To me, she wasn’t believable when playing the good girl.  She’s better as a rebel/bad girl.

After being rejected, Venus (Emma Roberts) is dared to play Nerve, the new game that’s all the rave.  In the game you can choose to be a watcher or player.  Feeling that she doesn’t take enough risks, she chooses to be a player.  After earning some cash, she becomes hooked and continues to play along with Ian (Franco), another player.  But when the stakes become too high and she wants to bow out, it may be too late.

So besides Roberts being sucky at playing the good girl, I thought everything else was good.  Franco and Roberts had chemistry and worked well together.  The animation worked well too that gave the audience a look into what the players and watchers are seeing in terms of the game.  And the concept it interesting and symbolic.  They always do say that technology is taking over our lives.  3 popcorns.

The Infiltrator (2016)

Directed by: Brad Furman

Written by: Ellen Sue Brown & Robert Mazur (book)

Starring: Bryan Cranston, John Leguizamo, & Diane Kruger








Robert Mazur (Cranston) is the top infiltrator in U.S. Customs.  After being given the option to retire, he decides he'll do one last bust, which is the bust of the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.

This film is pretty intense so don't bring your kids.  There were kids in the theater when I went.  Ridiculous...

Anyway, the acting was great and so was pretty much everything else.  Since this is based on a true story it makes it even greater.  But I did have a problem with the plot.  It was a little difficult to keep track of everyone that was involved with Pablo Escobar.  They were trying to bust his whole team and with the introduction of character after character, I couldn't understand how each person was connected to Escobar.

Other than difficulty of keeping track of who's who, there wasn't much I had trouble with.  I did find a continuity problem at the beginning when Emir Abreu (Leguizamo) is given a cup of tea and as he leaves, the tea disappears.  I couldn't find it on screen.  Maybe you can.

Overall all though, I thought it was an edge of your seat type movie and gives a terrific insight of what it takes to be undercover, such as the sacrifices one makes and the feelings that come with the job.  4 popcorns.