Morgan (2016)

The advertisements MORGAN ended with the question "What is Morgan"?

After seeing this film, my answer is "I don't care"!

MORGAN is the story of what happens when man tries to create artificial life. Much like the superior EX MACHINA, it grapples with issues of whether Morgan is a person, or a thing and should man do this. Unfortunately, it grapples with these issues much like I grapple with getting the top off a jar of pickles - clumsily.

Director Luke Scott (son of Ridley) assembles a strong cast that is, quite frankly, wasted. Kate Mara stars as "Corporate Risk Management Consultant" Lee Weathers who has come to assess the Morgan "project" at a remote research facility (are there any other kind?) - is mysterious and quiet, too much so in fact. I was immediately aware of the telegraphing of "something's up with her" from the get go. Mara (and/or the director) could have benefited from being more subtle with her character.

The usually reliable Toby Jones plays one note as the lead Scientist on the project and the great Michelle Yeoh continues her screen comeback in mediocre films (see my review of MECHANIC RESURRECTION) as another scientist who is there to, I think, mumble the line "We're not going to repeat the mistakes of Helsinki" over and over again. Only Rose Leslie's behavioral psychologist gets to play some range, but her character, who is supposed to be an expert in her field, does some really dumb things.

Add to that 2 actors who, I am assuming, got paid VERY WELL for being in this film. Jennifer Jason Leigh follows up her Oscar- nominated turn in THE HATEFUL EIGHT with this role that she - quite literally - sleeps through for most of the film. Perhaps, she had a juicy scene left on the cutting room floor or perhaps she owed Luke's dad a favor, but this was a NOTHING role that, quite frankly, she brought nothing to.

And then there is our old pal, Paul Giamatti. Mr. Giamatti can be a very fine, nuanced actor. He can also chew the scenery with the best of them - and chew scenery he does. He is in only one scene in this film (though the previews make him look like a major player) and I think director Scott kept saying to him "Bigger...BIGGER!" and bigger he went. To be honest, I was getting a little bored of this movie before Giamatti showed up, so, at least, he pumped some life and energy in this film.

Finally, there is the performance of Anya Taylor-Joy as Morgan. Taylor-Joy is being hailed as an "up and coming" actress for her performances in last springs THE VVITCH and this film. I saw them both and if your definition of "up and coming actress" is playing blank stares and not saying much, then she's your gal. I gotta see more from her before I declare her "the next big thing".

Truly disappointed in this one. If you want to see a film grappling with the issues of man creating Artificial Life, then see EX MACHINA, if you want to see a brand new filmmaker taking a swing and a miss and wasting some good talent, see MORGAN.

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The Light Between Oceans (2016)

For those who were fans of the book, it was a great adaptation. It was slow, but that was certainly true to the book.

The acting was excellent, and I loved the cast. Fassbender and Weisz are always winners, of course - Vikander I have enjoyed in the three movies I've seen her in. She was great when she needed to be great in this movie - there were some very dramatic and poignant scenes, and she pulled them off. 

I loved the cinematography – especially the scenes filmed on the island – the constant wind! That was something which was conveyed in the book, but it's hard to keep "constant ferocious screaming wind" in your head while reading, because it would be awful if it were mentioned every paragraph, yet it's easy to forget that crucial detail while reading – the movie definitely conveyed that. Very atmospheric. 

Yes, it was on the slow side - so don't watch it while drowsy, and you should be fine!

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Hell or High Water (2016)

You need to see this movie. That could be this entire review, but I think I should describe how amazing this film is. Unlike most summer movies, the writing is fantastic, keeping me and the rest of the people watching with me attached to the movie and its characters even when they are just talking in a diner or something. Also unlike most other summer movies, the movie does not attempt to create artificial tension in the form of fast cuts or stupid action scenes, it creates tension in the form of dialogue and sometimes in the form of brilliantly filmed action. It should be noted that the cinematography in this film is truly amazing. The cinematography captures the desolateness and sadness of the area of West Texas that the movie is set in. There are also many wide shots, which looked like they were filmed with drones which also added to the beauty of the filming. The music also adds to the western feel of this movie. The writing of this film is where it really shines. The writing is captivating and it is so natural, for the area. The banter between both pairs of characters (the brothers and the rangers) is very entertaining in that you can almost feel their relationship and the history of it. Also, I have to say, the writing for the side characters, who are only in the film for their respective scenes is even better. This is the first time I have ever cared about some random waitress who is only in the film for 90 seconds because their writing is masterful. Also, the acting is definitely some of the best I have seen, Ben Foster and Jeff Bridges both really shine in the film because of their stunning acting. The acting helps in that when Chris Pine and Ben Foster are mid- heist you can really feel the stress when they get into situations that one or both of them are not comfortable with. In closing, this film has amazing writing, cinematography, acting, pacing, everything. This film is just beautiful and you really need to see it, like yesterday, it is easily the best film this year and a major contender for Best Picture, Best Director, etc.

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The Girl with All the Gifts (2016)

THE GIRL WITH all the gifts opens with Melanie (Sennia Nanua) in a boxed jail cell counting in her head, until a hockey-like siren sounds and two heavily soldiers come to the door and wheel her to a classroom full of other infected children who become frenzied when they smell uninfected blood and they learn some lessons with their teacher Miss. Justineau (Gemma Arterton). Each day is like this until she is put under the microscope with Dr. Caldwell and her desperate attempt to find a vaccine and she thinks that Melanie is the answer out of their struggle. The base where they are hiding out is then attacked by a whole horde of un-dead and Melanie along with everybody else must escape alongside Sergeant Parks (Paddy Considine) and their fight for survival has begun as the team is always weary of their safety. Sergeant Parks is a marine type soldier who despises the disease and believes that every single infected must die including Melanie, he doesn't see Melanie and her gifts he just sees a monster, and he just wants her dead. Melanie is unlike any other Hungry she doesn't feel the need to feed on human flesh well not the flesh of Miss Justineau anyway. 
Melanie is just a child with an extraordinary gift of immunity to a mysterious fungal disease which as the film goes on we learn what that disease can do. Adapted from the 2014 British best-selling novel by Mike Carey who also helped write the screenplay alongside director Colm McCarthy in only his second feature this is a haunting tale of survival and love and Nanua was just the perfect discovery to play the role of Melanie. Unlike other zombie-ish movies out there instead this is very clever with a lot of drama and scares rolling through it, in this the infected called Hungries hunt in packs and they are a clever mix-up of between the sprinting infected in 28 Days Later and the fungus covered infected from The Last of Us but they also do the most unique thing a part that nobody has seen in a zombie movie before these infected fall asleep, and when the team of survivors must walk quietly between an entire horde of sleeping un-dead. Plus this movie learns the lesson that guns are loud and when you shoot a gun you can get an entire horde on you, also the mass hordes of un-dead don't hang around in buildings they just loom on the streets of London.
As the story goes on the female characters Miss Justineau and Dr. Caldwell even during her desperate attempt to make a vaccine, start to fall in love with Melanie, they start to see that she is a wonderful character who doesn't have the desire to eat them. However Miss Justineau saves Melanie after she eats two soldiers who turn on her and after that Melanie tries everything to stop a frenzied horde attacking her. Not just the female's fall in love with her as the story goes on the she grows on the two men even Sergeant Parks who is in a desperate fight for survival starts to see that she is much more than a monster, she even helps them get rid of the mass hordes but not by killing them instead she lures them away with an animal or another living being. The story is brilliantly complex and very moving as it goes on there are some very tender moments surrounded by some dark laughs and intense scares throughout. Melanie starts to feel like a normal child again and she sees Miss. Justineau as a motherly figure to her. The third act gets even more complex as we learn about these pods which if they are opened they will end civilization as they no it, because the infected will be airborne and anybody who breathes it will turn into an angry monster. Melanie grows on another soldier named Kieran (Fisayo Akinade) but there is one moment that we feel for that character as he ends up like the other characters in many other movies like this, you know exactly how that is. 
Along the way the team of survivors and a monster not seen as a full monster find another answer to survival and this is where Dr. Caldwell begins to turn on Melanie as she is worried about the damnation of human life, in a plan that wasn't quite thought out. Although Dr. Caldwell still loves Melanie she just wants the best for her and, as the third act goes on the story gets upsetting as these characters are in total danger, and Melanie does something to save her soul and to save Miss. Justineau in the saddest ending ever that may even make you cry the finale is powerful and moving and very upsetting at first we see a girl whose smart, beautiful and strong and this is shown throughout the film there is one moment when she shows her strong side in a move that's a bit brutish but still quite engaging to see. Despite the camaraderie during the finale it's very powerful, moving and extremely beautiful and the story ends the way it started, this is an immaculate zombie-ish movie that isn't just the best British zombie film but it's the best zombie film ever. 

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Queen of Katwe (2016)

It's such a great inspiring story. Watching the story unfold is very heartwarming. I could not help but to get teary eyes as I watched this girl Phiona take her talents all the why to the top.
In one of the best sports movies I have seen, from the slums of Uganda, 10-year-old Phiona discovers that she has the skills of a chess master, when a man named Robert Katende comes to her village and teaches the kids how to play the game. 
It's very insightful, being that this story based on real events only occurred around six or so years before this movie came out. It does a good job of showing us the life around Phiona, which makes her underdog struggle to the top of the chess world even more amazing. 
As good as the performances of David Oyelowo and academy award winner Lupita Nyong'o, are, the child actors in the movie also gave great performances as well. 
All I can say is that it moved me. It is the type of film that you see and it makes you feel good in the most positive way imaginable

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Masterminds (2016)

Stories about stupid criminals are funny. And when those stories are true, besides laughing, we find ourselves shaking our heads in mocking disbelief. Just think about how many times you've read such stories in an Email or heard them on the radio or on TV and how amused you were picturing what was being described. Well, "Masterminds" (PG-13, 1:34) brings us a true story of stupid criminals in vivid detail – helped along by some of the funniest actors in movies today – including a few "Saturday Night Live" veterans. This ensemble comedically dramatizes the true story of a 1997 North Carolina Loomis Fargo robbery, which remains one of the biggest heists in U.S. history. Although the script by Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer and Emily Spivey, along with the direction of Jared Hess ("Napoleon Dynamite", "Nacho Libre") and the comic stylings of the talented cast, adds a significant amount of humor to the action, the film's story and many of its details stick very close to the facts of the case.

David Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis) is a clumsy and socially awkward, but basically honest and well-meaning armored car driver in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is engaged to the even more awkward and self-centered trailer park dwelling Jandice (played with a sort of catatonic glee by SNL's Kate McKinnon), but David has fallen for his fellow driver, Kelly Campbell (Kristen Wiig). Kelly lives (also in a mobile home) with an old friend named Steve Chambers (Owen Wilson) and his wife, Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Ellis). When Steve hears on the news about a recent Loomis Fargo robbery, he hatches a scheme to use Kelly's connection to David to get him to rob Charlotte's Loomis Fargo. Kelly is reluctant to play on David's affections, but she'd love to get a share of that money and David is tempted by the promise of a new life with Kelly down in Mexico. After Kelly "trains" David for the things that he'll have to do to commit the robbery (and how to possibly "live off the land" until it's "safe" for Kelly to join him in Mexico), and with the help of a few other down-on-their-luck (and none-too-bright) co-conspirators, the plan is all set.

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Storks (2016)

I wanna ask first what comes to your mind when you hear the word Baby? I wanna make that a hanging question. 

So is this film any good? Like pixar good? No, in fact it tried so hard to be. The punchlines just doesn't hit the right spot and even if it did they were fleeting right away. It did made me laugh but there was no fun. Its anthropomorphic world is not easy to get and its eccentricity became annoying and unfunny quirks. Junior and Tulip are too frenzied like they were high on something. 

Though I will rate this film 5/10, Storks had given me a clearer perspective, that final scene hit me like an epiphany and now when i hear the word baby, I think of family.

Storyline

Storks deliver babies...or at least they used to. Now they deliver packages for global internet giant Cornerstore.com. Junior, the company's top delivery stork, is about to be promoted when he accidentally activates the Baby Making Machine, producing an adorable and wholly unauthorized baby girl. Desperate to deliver this bundle of trouble before the boss gets wise, Junior and his friend Tulip, the only human on Stork Mountain, race to make their first-ever baby drop - in a wild and revealing journey that could make more than one family whole and restore the storks' true mission in the world.

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The Magnificent Seven (2016)

Don't misunderstand.
Both Liam Neeson and Denzel Washington are in their 60s, both have defied the laws of Physics by starting brand-new careers as Action Heros late in life. and both are charismatic and talented enough to pull it off.
(Neeson with the Taken series plus a few other assorted action roles recently; Denzel with the Equalizer franchise and this strange oater.) 
Frankly, I would be happy to buy a ticket buyer for all the action roles they both can dish up. If both these gentlemen want to continue to make these sorts of pictures for the next 20 years, I promise to keep watching.
However, leaving aside the star power of the lead in this production, overall this film is a borderline remake.
The original had a better ensemble cast, better music, and better acting.
This is an "OK" remake (as many other members have opined here) with arguably better pistol-handling skills.
And still a very nice way to spend a rainy afternoon.

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Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016)

Just to clarify one thing: I don't hate Tim Burton at all. In fact, I kinda love his work. He has a very unique and imaginative vision, seems to have a tasteful choice for actors (besides Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter), and can really poor his heart and soul in some of his films like "Edward Scissorhands", "Corpse Bride", and "The Nightmare Before Christmas". But, just like any director, he has his missteps also. Some of his recent work is very lackluster and, at times, flat-out bad (Planet of the... BLAHK!).

But I was still excited for this particular project of his. I haven't read the book, or knew much about it, but when I saw the trailer I got my hopes up. Maybe this will be his big comeback! Asa Butterfield is an actor I like, the imagery is appropriately dream- like and the source material seems to fit his style perfectly. It even has the screenwriter from X-Men: First Class!

So I went to see the film with a few of my friends in a theater of around 15 people and 25-30 recliner seats. I couldn't wait to see another great Tim Burton movie!

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Deepwater Horizon (2016)

What is it about disasters that we enjoy watching? I could come up with a number of reasons, but the bottom line is that Hollywood has shifted to dramatizing former events as a means for more movies. Hi, Robbie K here bringing you another review of the latest films to grace the screen. Tonight we hit Deepwater Horizon starring Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, and a handful of other actors. Let's get started. 

LIKES: • Great acting • Over the top graphics • Emotionally stimulating

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