Jupiter Ascending Movie Review

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The Good: The absolute best thing about this film are the visuals. From beginning to end, the 3D special effects will simply captivate you. The Wachowskis (directors of the Matrix Trilogy) do a superb job of really bringing to life original alien worlds. They even managed to make those traditional big head aliens we're all accustomed to seeing really look creepy. Overall, if you watch the film in 3D be prepared for a visual buffet for your eyes. Oh, and Channing Tatum wasn't half bad either with his action scenes and those really cool boots.

The Bad: The story was just blah and all over the place. There were no real twists or turns that keep your interest or keep you guessing. It's a pretty basic story line that honestly holds this movie back in many regards. In other words, if they played this movie on mute, it would probably be slightly better.

The Reason: I suppose you could think of this movie as Cinderella meets the 5th Element with a sprinkle of Star Wars. I hardly see this movie going down in history as one of those sci-fi cult classics or anything. I do think that if you are interested in seeing this film then watching it in the theaters, in 3D, for the matinee price, is the best way to go. It just seems that if you wait to watch it on a regular tv then you'll be missing out on the visual experience. IMAX 3D is NOT necessary and NOT worth the cost in my opinion.

The Rating: 7.0/10

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Fury Movie Review

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The Good: The individual characters probably stand out the most for this film. Brad Pitt's character is, of course, the most intriguing. You didn't know whether to hate, respect, or feel sad for him in different parts of the movie. Shia LaBeouf, Jon Bernthal and Michael Peña had really good chemistry with one another. Logan Lerman's character almost steals the show, and you can't help but to feel some level of sympathy for his character. When the characters are together, they each find a way to show some interesting insights of the toll of war. Besides the characters, it was also interesting to see the tank warfare. Each conflict was uniquely intense; even with the Star Wars colored gunfire. The last scene was especially suspenseful and will have you tensing up until the very end.

The Bad: It was actually kind of difficult to find anything bad about the film with out being nit-picky.

The Reason: If I had to give you an idea of which films came to mind when watching this, I'd have to say this was like Inglourious Basterds + 300, except with a more serious tone. The deeper you get into the movie, the harder it is to pull away. There's just always something interesting, or strange, or curious that will keep you engaged. Kudos to director David Ayer (End of Watch, Training Day) for really doing a good job on that note. While I don't regret not seeing this in theaters when it came out, I think it would be a mistake not to see this movie. It's a really good movie that deserves to be rented, downloaded or bought. Either way just see it!

The Rating: 9.0/10

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The Boy Next Door Movie Review

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The Good: Guys will probably really enjoy the constant, intentional reminders of Jennifer Lopez's "best asset " throughout the entire movie. Don't worry ladies, you get your fair share of eye candy with Ryan Guzman too. There's a great deal of suspense once you finally get to the halfway point of the movie. Guzman's character gets pretty intense and crazy, but that's not the most interesting part. What is interesting to watch are the depths he goes to continue his obsession with J-Lo's character.

The Bad: You'll probably predict a good majority, if not all, of the entire movie. So much so, that you'll probably think that you saw this same film in the 1990's.

The Reason: You already know what's going to happen, but it still doesn't take away any the suspense. This may be better suited as the type of movie you watch on DVD or download in the comfort of your own home. If you did want to go out to see it though, I would recommend going during matinee hours or whenever your local theater is doing a special weekday deal.


The Rating: 6.5/10

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Project Almanac Movie Review

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The Good: Even though it's been done before, the 1st person camera view for the entire movie is a nice touch. Seeing everything from that one camera really adds to the realness of the film. Story line is interesting, and there are some moments (not a lot) of comedic relief with some of the "time trials" the main characters go through. (The Chemistry class scene is rather funny) It's nice to tag along with the teens to see how they try to make all of their dreams come  via time travel. That's probably because most of the things they do, you would do too.

The Bad: Majority of the story line seems like something we've already seen. If you've watched any other time travel movie then you'll obviously predict the golden rule: You shouldn't time travel or else!

The Reason: This movie reminded me of Looper + The ButterFly Effect + Chronicle. It's not a must watch by any means, but for those of you who love a good time travel movie, this one is not bad. If there's nothing in the theaters to watch, I'd say save your money by watching this as a matinee or go when your theater is doing a $5 Tuesday special or something. Otherwise, you can probably wait for this on DVD.

The Rating: 6.5/10

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Predestination Movie Review

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The Good: Without giving anything away, I think Sarah Snook did a nice job with her character's role. The film introduces a new twist in the time-travel genre. It's really interesting to see the complexity of time travel, without completely going over your head. The concept in itself is probably the most intriguing aspect because it'll have you still thinking about what really happened, or could have happened. (Chicken or the Egg?) There are some mild plot twists that will take the story down a very interesting path.

The Bad: Unfortunately, the mild plot twists weren't really concealed very well. You'll probably start to catch on sooner rather than later just what exactly is happening (or happened). Maybe it's the writing, but if you pay attention, there are so many clues dropped by the characters. However, this could be because I saw the trailer, and it may have given away a little too much information. I would advise NOT watching the trailer, but for those of you who like to go against the grain here it is.  Lastly, as with most time-travel movies, it can get rather confusing for many people. The film introduces a few different time-traveling theories, that the average person may not be really familiar with.

The Reason: This was actually based on the short story, "All you Zombies" by Robert A. Heinlein. (Do NOT read up on this short story or else it will ruin the movie!) The two movies that come to mind when I watched this were Looper and Splice. Yes, Splice. (You'll see the connection if you have the guts to watch Splice.) While Ethan Hawk has made some decent films (The Purge), this movie may not be for everyone. If you enjoyed Looper, or even another time-travel movie like Primer, then you may enjoy this. If you're like me, and haven't majored in quantum physics, then maybe reading this site about the plot may help.

The Rating: 6.5/10

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