Knives Out

Acclaimed writer and director Rian Johnson (Brick, Looper, The Last Jedi) pays tribute to mystery mastermind Agatha Christie in KNIVES OUT, a fun, modern-day murder mystery where everyone is a suspect. When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is mysteriously enlisted to investigate. From Harlan’s dysfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan’s untimely death. With an all-star ensemble cast including Chris Evans, Ana De Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford and Jaeden Martell, KNIVES OUT is a witty and stylish whodunit guaranteed to keep audiences guessing until the very end.

I'm going to start off with saying I love mystery movies. I love a good 'whodunit' and this was a great whodunit! I am pretty good at figuring out the ending of mystery movies as well, and I did not figure out the ending to this one. Which just made it all the much better! I can not wait for a rewatch to catch all the little clues I did not see the first time around. This movie completely deserves all the praise it is getting.

I was able to catch an early preview at my local AMC, they shoved it in their smallest theater (boo!) because it was opening night for Frozen 2. Every single seat was filled, and people were coming in before the movie even started and had to leave because there were no seats left. I did not hear a single complaint from everyone walking out, there was nothing but excitement over a fantastic movie.

I do not want to talk too much about the plot because going into a murder mystery movie completely blind is the best way to do it. The acting was phenomenal and the cast of characters were hilarious and wacky. My only complaint was I felt we didn't get to know them all well enough. Is it bad to hope for a sequel just to learn more about everyone? They were all delightfully awful. I am at least holding out for more mysteries solved by Daniel Craig's character, Benoit Blanc. If nothing else this made me even more excited for Rian Johnson's upcoming Star Wars trilogy. I joked in the past I hoped it was film noir, reminiscent of Brick, but now I truly would love a good mystery set in the Star Wars universe!

I'm baaack

This blog started out as a project for school. I had every intention to continue it. But life got in the way and I wasn't seeing as many movies as I wanted. Then I felt like too much time had passed to bring it back. Then today I realized that was a silly excuses and there are so many fantastic movies I have plans to see this winter. I'm seeing Frozen 2 and an early release of Knives Out this upcoming week alone. Along with an AMC A list pass I am ready to bring this blog back, because man I missed it.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

The year is 1926, and Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident, were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt's fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.

I wanted to love this movie, I really really did, however, I found myself extremely disappointed in it.  When they first announced this movie I was so excited. I love Harry Potter, I love Eddie Redmayne, and I love movies set in the 1920s! What could go wrong? Johnny Depp A weak plot line and an unfortunate choice in artistic direction. It pains me that my first really negative review is going to be for something that is part of one of my favorite franchises. 

Newt Scamander, played by Eddie Redmayne, just arrived in New York City for the first time when everything goes wrong.  He loses one of his magical beasts who is robbing a bank, performs magic in front of a muggle (or a "no-maj" in this movie), and is caught by an ex-auror. There is also a fanatic woman who is trying to convince people that witches are real and are causing disasters in New York and is using a child army to further her cause. There was also some guy who was jealous that his older brother would be taking over his father's newspaper company? That I didn't really understand why it had to do with anything. 

The plot is beyond weak.  It was both highly predicable and made no sense at the same time. They also tried to make the movie super dark and edgy.  There was no color in the movie. I honestly didn't care for any of the characters and I can't even tell you the girls names.  They were just "Newt" "Muggle" "Blonde" "Brunette" "Colin Farrell" and "President". In my head. I honestly didn't even bother trying to remember the people part of the 'anti-witch' brigade.  They honesty just made Americans out to be really horrible people, both muggles and wizards.  Which made me sad. I did really enjoy every moment with the magical creatures. I felt those were, well, fantastic.  They were magical and fun and what I wanted this movie to be about.  Instead the creatures were thrown on a back burner as a sub-plot. 

Now I'm going to tell you how I would have done this movie differently, spoilers ahead.  One. Drop Johnny Depp. I do not want to watch a movie franchise staring Johnny Depp. Nope. Make Eddie Redmayne the main actor. Next, cut out the horrible anti-witch "Second Salem" crap. It was horrible, also made zero sense. Ezra Miller deserves better, and so does Colin Farrell. I wouldn't want this movie to be dark.  This can be a fun, lighthearted story.  I would give it a golden book feel.  I want the magic to be wonderful and new again, not old. Having the muggle, Jacob, was a great addition because we could see the wonder and aw through him.  However, with the dark and gloomy feel the movie had throughout I didn't get to experience that through him. And as much fun as it was seeing all the creatures wreck havoc in NYC, I want to see Newt looking for and discovering new magical creatures in America. I want adventure and learning. I don't want to see American wizards killing children and saying it's for the good because they are fighting an evil British wizard.  As my friend said, I want The Great Gatsby with Witches and Wizards.

And knowing that Johnny Depp is going to be a major player in the next movie has completely turned me off from it.  I honestly do not think I will be going to see the next four films.  It is not nearly as bad as the script for The Cursed Child, but Jo (I love you but) I think you should stick to writing books.  Scripts are just not your strong suit. Now give me a prequel series about the Marauders! Haha!

Are there any movies you wish you could change because they just weren't want you were expecting them to be at all? 

Moana

From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes “Moana,” a sweeping, CG-animated feature film about an adventurous teenager who sails out on a daring mission to save her people. During her journey, Moana (voice of Auli’i Cravalho) meets the once-mighty demigod Maui (voice of Dwayne Johnson), who guides her in her quest to become a master wayfinder. Together, they sail across the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous monsters and impossible odds, and along the way, Moana fulfills the ancient quest of her ancestors and discovers the one thing she’s always sought: her own identity. Directed by the renowned filmmaking team of Ron Clements and John Musker (“The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin,” “The Princess & the Frog”) and produced by Osnat Shurer (“Lifted,” “One Man Band”), “Moana” sails into U.S. theaters on Nov. 23, 2016.

Moana is such a fun movie! The music is super great, the animation is wonderful, and the story is beautiful. Disney has defiantly entered a new golden era with Frozen, Zootopia, and now Moana. I was not a huge fan of the 3D animation at first, but this movie sold it to me.  Water is one of the hardest things to animate, along with hair, and there was not a scene in this movie without water in it.  Which is crazy to think about. 

Moana follows the story of the chief's daughter, Moana, voiced by Auli'i Cravalho, who has always felt the call to the sea.  However, her father forbids anyone from sailing past the reefs because of bad seas. He does everything he can to discourage Moana from sailing and focusing on helping her people.  However, after seeing her island slowly dying, and with some encouragement from her grandmother, Moana takes to the sea to find the demi-god Maui, voiced by Dwayne Johnson, and help her people. 

What I loved most about the story was that it was about Moana finding courage in herself.  She is a hard worker, willing to learn, and has a compassionate heart.  Overall, a great role model for everyone. There are jokes about her not being a princess in the movie, and well she's not.  She's as much a princess as Pocahontas and Mulan are Disney Princesses. (Trust me, when it comes to marketing, those girls are still considered Disney Princesses despite their lack of royal upbringing, or even having Princesses in their respected countries).  I know people are saying she's automatically better because she is not a Princess (and doesn't have a romantic interest in the movie) and I hate that way of thinking.  She has the same amazing qualities as the other Disney Princesses, she's true to herself and show's kindness wherever she goes. What are your favorite Disney movies? 

Here's just a taste of the amazing soundtrack:

Inside Llewyn Davis

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS follows a week in the life of a young folk singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961. Guitar in tow, huddled against the unforgiving New York winter, he is struggling to make it as a musician against seemingly insurmountable obstacles—some of them of his own making.

Something a little different this week, since I haven't had the time to make it to the theater with all my school projects. I have been wanting to see Inside Llewyn Davis since I first saw a trailer for it. Coen Brothers, Justin Timberlake, and ginger cats, what more do you need in a movie? I didn't know who Oscar Issac was at the time, forgive me, I love him now. I got this movie for my birthday this month so I finally got to watch it, three years later! I fell in love. 

Inside Llewyn Davis follows the story of a folk singer, Llewyn Davis played by Oscar Issac, trying to make it on his own after a successful song with a partner.  He crashes on his friends couches, always hopping from apartment to apartment as he looks for his next gig and fix whatever problem he has gotten himself into. The movie is filled with beautiful music and heartbreak.  The acting and singing is absolutely wonderful.

It is a sad movie.  Nothing seems to go right for Llewyn, but it feels natural and not overwhelming. There is still always hope that something good will happen to him. Why do I like sad movies like this?  I loved the tone and the color palette of the movie as well.  I don't think it would have worked if it looked any different. This is probably my new favorite Coen Brother movie. What Coen Brother movies do you guys enjoy? 

This scene, honestly, got ten times funnier after both Oscar Issac and Adam Driver were cast in Star Wars. Now Justin Timberlake just needs to be cast in Episode VIII or IX:

 

 

Trolls

From the creators of SHREK comes DreamWorks Animation’s TROLLS, a smart, funny and irreverent comedy about the search for happiness, and just how far some will go to get it. This hilarious film transports audiences to a colorful, wondrous world populated by the overly optimistic Trolls, who have a constant dance in their step and a song on their lips, and the comically pessimistic Bergens, who are only happy when they have trolls in their stomachs. 

After the Bergens invade Troll Village, Poppy (Kendrick), the happiest Troll ever born, and the overly-cautious curmudgeonly Branch (Timberlake) set off on a journey to rescue her friends. Together, this mismatched duo embarks on a rescue mission full of adventure and mishaps – trying to tolerate each other long enough to get the job done.

Seeing this movie started out with my sister asking me if I wanted to see Dr. Strange, to which I responded that "I rather go see Trolls than Dr. Strange... but I guess there's nothing else out to see this week."  Which somehow lead us to this movie. I was pleasantly surprised at how, well, cute it is. 

Princess Poppy, voiced by Anna Kendrick, is throwing a celebration on the anniversary of the Trolls escaping from the evil Bergens, who eat trolls once a year to feel happy.  However, a Bergen, literally, crashes their party and kidnaps all of Poppy's friends.  Poppy has to enlist the help of the one negative Troll, Branch, voiced by Justin Timberlake, because he knows the most about the Bergens. 

The animation in this movie blew me away. One of the hardest things to animate is hair (the others are fire and water). Going in I knew this movie was going to have a lot of hair. I mean it is about Troll dolls. But ohmigod, everything was fuzzy. It looked like we were in one of Princess Poppy's scrapbooks. Everything was felt, yarn, or string. I wanted to pet everything. It was a really great, and impressive, creative decision for the movie.

I was also worried that the songs they would be singing would just be pop top 40, but I was again pleasantly surprised by all the song choices. (Which I will not spoil in case you one day watch this movie.) It had a cute story with a good message.  It was a very enjoyable children's movie overall. I also want a glittery Troll now. Why weren't there glittery Trolls when I was a kid? Why did I give away all my Trolls?

Here's a song to get stuck in your head for the rest of the day: 

Inferno

Academy Award® winner Ron Howard returns to direct the latest bestseller in Dan Brown’s (Da Vinci Code) billion-dollar Robert Langdon series, Inferno, which finds the famous symbologist (again played by Tom Hanks) on a trail of clues tied to the great Dante himself. When Langdon wakes up in an Italian hospital with amnesia, he teams up with Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones), a doctor he hopes will help him recover his memories. Together, they race across Europe and against the clock to stop a madman from unleashing a global virus that would wipe out half of the world’s population.

Unpopular opinion: I really enjoyed this movie. Most audiences and critics are giving it a low ranking and score.  I'm glad I didn't let those cloud my judgement before I saw it.  I was excited to see the movie and I had a great time watching it. I felt that it lived up to The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons and is a great addition to the series.

The movie starts off with Robert Langdon, played by Tom Hanks, waking up in a hospital in Florence with no memory of traveling to Europe at all. He is rescued by a doctor, Sienna Brooks, played by Felicity Jones.  Together they team up to stop a plague while Robert has visions and fights off amnesia, trying to figure out friend from foe. 

The main complaint I heard about this movie was that it was confusing and convoluted.  I felt like Ron Howard did a great job of portraying how confusing and frustrating it was for Robert Langdon not to have his memories.  At one point he can't even remember the word for coffee. We are thrown into the middle of this journey with just as much memory as Robert. I enjoyed that and felt it was a great mystery and I did not have trouble following along. 

I will say I felt that the Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons had more interesting plots overall.  Those movies focuses on puzzles and using artwork to solve them.  This movie felt more like Robert trying to piece back his memory to solve a puzzle he had already started to solve before.  It did help make this movie stand out from the previous too.  Other people said they found this plot boring, and while it is a bit of a cliche following a trail of puzzles to stop the villain from doing his thing, I did not find it boring.  Maybe I'm just a positive person though. If you've seen the movie let me know what you think.

If you're interested you can check out the book that the movie is based on here : https://www.amazon.com/Inferno-Robert-Langdon-Dan-Brown/dp/1400079152