The Disaster Artist Review (2017)

The Disaster Artist

  The disaster artist is a film about the making of a film. More specifically, the making of the cult classic, Citizen Cane of horrible movies. What movie am I speaking of? The Room.

   A film with a 6 million dollar budget that made less than 2,000 dollars at the box office. A film that's popularity is almost as mysterious as its director, Tommy Wiseau. A man who funded this film completely on his own with a bottomless pit of money with no known source. A man that speaks with an Eastern European accent, yet claims he's from New Orleans. A man that tells people that he's twenty, when in actuality he is probably more like forty. This is our main character, and BOY does James Franco kill it in this role!
  I absolutely loved every single second of this film. From start to finish, I had a big ol' smile on my face.
  Not only is James Franco's film one of the funniest of the year, but it's also surprisingly inspiring and genuine! He portrays Wiseau in a very human way, giving us the good and the bad, the sweet and the crazy, the humor with the sympathy. This is a story about dreamers. Perhaps some misguided dreamers, but dreamers non-the-less. It is a love letter to the creative process, even if the finished product doesn't get the response we were hoping for.
  If you haven't seen The Room, you will still enjoy this movie. If you have seen The Room, you will admire the tender care Franco has put into doing this right. Disaster Artist is one of the best films of the year! 10 out of 10 Stars! (A Must See!)

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Review (2017)

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

  Wow, I can't believe it's almost the end of the year and here I am reviewing one of the most anticipated films of 2017. As someone who grew up obsessed with the Star Wars franchise, I want to go on record and say that I will see every Star Wars movie that comes out no matter how bad it is. That is to say that my loyalty to the universe (or should I say galaxy), runs deep. But just because my love runs deep doesn't mean that I can't be objective and call a bad movie bad. And well... I was pretty disappointed with this one. That said, before I go on slashing this film to shreds, let me tell you some of the good things about this film. 

  Number one is the cinematography. Holy moly. It was beautiful. This might actually be one of the best looking Star Wars movies around. 

  Number 2 (and I admit this is mostly weaponized nostalgia), but there is a scene with R2D2, C3PO, and Luke that made my hard heart melt. 

  Thirdly, Oscar Issac is really engaging as Poe Dameron, and probably has one of the better performances in the film.

  Lastly, I love the Porg creatures. Yes, I know they only exist because Disney wants to sell toys, but they are freaking cute, okay?

  Alright! Time to get real (Sorry fanboys and girls). The biggest problem I had with The Last Jedi is the storytelling. This is a film that really doesn't need to exist. You could watch The Force Awakens and whatever movie comes after this one and you will have missed nothing. Not to mention, most of the 2 and a half hour runtime focuses on a subplot that ultimately does absolutely nothing for the story. The pacing of this film is just bad, overstuffed with unnecessary filler.
  Another thing that bothered me was the tone of the film. There were so many times where the script sacrificed powerful moments for the sake of a cheap laugh, even at the cost of what the character would actually do or say. There are several instances of forced one-liners or awkward dialogue that is unsuccessfully trying to get a laugh, and then dialogue that is successfully getting laughs, but unintentionally.
  I felt like if anything, the Last Jedi actually asks more questions and presents more plotholes then it actually answers. Characters are given powers that we've never seen before, which makes us wonder if they could always do that, why didn't they? And if it was because they weren't powerful enough, why didn't we see powerful Jedi's like Yoda doing these things? Why is Rey so special that she can do things without any kind of training? That also brings me to another flaw. They're trying to set up Kylo Ren as the modern Vader, but they aren't doing anything to earn our respect. They keep telling us he has power unmatchable and that he is Rey's equal, yet we never actually see him do anything worth noting. All we see him do is cry and throw temper tantrums. 

  One of the big conflicts of the film is that Rey is trying to pull Kylo Ren to the light and he is trying to pull her to the dark. But we never actually see her struggle. He keeps saying he sees darkness in her and yet we as an audience never see this battle through anything she actively does.
  Oh and let's talk about the acting which was horrible across the board. AGAIN. Even people I know can act like Domnhall Gleason gave over the top, annoying performances. I seriously don't understand why it's so hard to cast good actors for a Star Wars film. Like there are literally thousands of people auditioning and they chose to cast Kelly Marie Tran as the character Rose? Seriously, she was soooo bad. Ugghh... What sucks is that I'm not even done. 

  The past movie sets up questions that are totally disregarded in this one, characters are completely wasted, things happen that are beyond cheesy, and what sucks the most is that they are going to pull a Marvel and give us a movie a year, so the saga will never end and quality will be sacrificed for quantity. 

  *Deep breath* Okay. I'll give it a rest now. You might actually be surprised to know that I am scoring this a 5 out of 10 stars, because in the end, despite its flaws, I still had some fun with it. Then again, that might just be nostalgia speaking... (Rent It) 

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Review (2017)

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

  When I went and saw Three Billboards I didn't go in thinking I was about to watch one of the best films of the year. That, however, is exactly what happened.
  This is the story of a woman whose daughter is murdered, raped, and killed. When the police take too long to find the person who did it, she puts up 3 billboards asking for justice and calling them out personally. If I were to summarize this movie using one of its own quotes, I would say, "Anger only begets more anger." And this film is so angry it's palpable.
  There was sooo much I appreciate about this movie, but let's first talk about that script! Wow is it just outrageous! (And I mean that in a good way!) Writer and Director, Martin McDonagh, is not afraid to be offensive, delivering one of the most laugh-out-loud funny scripts of the year. His tremendously dark comedy and witty dialogue drive this film, but it doesn't only work in the humor department. It is also incredibly unpredictable, taking your expectations and flipping them on their head. Every character in the film does things that should make us as an audience hate them, but then we get these moments of great vulnerability that really bring a sense of humanity to the story. I can't only give credit to the script though. Three Billboards has some of the best performances of the year. Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, and Sam Rockwell KILL IT in this film. McDormand is a raging powerhouse here, balancing vulgar, violent rage and sincere emotion.
  You will probably leave this film with a lot of questions, but I believe that's intentional. This is a film that shows how even the darkest sides of humanity can be redeemable and find forgiveness in others and in themselves. Three Billboards is unforgettable and deserves a 10 out of 10 Stars from me. (A Must See)