A Jurassic Universe

    In the early 1990s the world was introduced to a gorgeous lush theme park that had one special feature most other places don't, dinosaurs. Jurassic Park and it's sequels are classic films and fan favorites amongst most audiences. Over a decade later, the series tacked on another installment to it's dinosaur filled series with Jurassic World, which premiered in 2015. This film had been teased for many years and had gone under several re-writes and complete do-overs by different people and it was a nice treat to fans of the series to revive our relationship with the beauty that is Jurassic Park.

     During 2015, Jurassic World premiered and did terrific at the box office with mixed reviews from critics and overall the fans. The films stars Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jake Johnson, Nick Robinson, Ty Simpkins and even brings back Irrfan Khan from the original film to reprise his role. Colin Trevorrow also made his large big budget directing debut and has a few more films lines up in the near future that will hopefully show his growth as a director and improvement in his work.
      This film's plot is very interesting in that it involves a genetically modified dinosaur that has gone rogue and escaped it's enclosure. The interesting catch is that Jurassic Park is now a full hotel/resort so when all animals break lose and their are dinosaurs roaming the resort all hell breaks lose. It's up to Chris Pratt and his team of trained raptors to find the dinosaur and apprehend it before it does any serious damage. To me, this film was great as it has extremely updated graphics from using animatronics to CGI so a lot of things look much clearer, plus I am a huge Chris Pratt fan. Overall, this movie was an interesting venture back into the series and I'm excited to see what happens next with it!

Deadpool

    As written about in my past blogs, comic book movies are currently a huge success at both the box office and with the critics, and with that, the production of these films has ramped up a substantial amount. The only problem, for some people, is that most comic book movies, especially those made by Marvel and DC, are rated merely PG-13. As there has been a few other R rated comic book movies that were all very well received, it comes as no surprise that one made it's way into theaters in 2016. The film in reference is Deadpool, the latest and greatest comic book character to hit the big screen.

    Deadpool is an undead mercenary who was brought back to life by the man he is trying to kill during the entire film. The character Deadpool is portrayed by Ryan Reynolds, and the rest of the cast features the likes of T.J. Miller, Ed Skrein and Karan Soni, as well as many other. Not only all of that but Tim Miller, director of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (another comic book movie adaptation), also directed Deadpool and he created one incredible film off the otherwise unknown source material.
 

    The film is a classic revenge story of Wade, a mercenary, after he is held hostage by the man who murdered him and experimented on in order to come back to life and be nearly invincible. That man is the main villain throughout the entire film and eventually he steals Deadpool's love interest and the main conflict of the film is getting her back. It's a very compelling plot and between the acting, the action and the hilarious ad libs by Ryan Reynolds, most viewers will be pleased and entertained upon first viewing.

Perfect Puppers

   Over the course of the past ten years, animated films have become huge in the world and have started to draw in such a large audience that these films are at an all time high of technological advancements and popularity currently. The Secret Life of Pets is one of the most recent animated films on the big screen and it's a box office smash and sure fan favorite of anything minion related, as the same animation team created both films.
    The Secret Life of Pets takes place in an alternate reality where once all humans leave their pets at home alone, they are suddenly human-like and can speak to one another. The two main pups are Max and Duke, who are voiced by Louis C.K. and Eric Stonestreet, and features voice acting from many others such as Kevin Hart, Bobby Moynihan and Hannibal Buress. After seeing it in theaters I was absolutely blown away at how beautiful and crystal clear all of the animation in the film was, it's really nice to see the artists hard work finally come to life on the big screen and just be able to take in all it's greatness.
This movie is loads of cuteness and great humor from talking dogs, which is something I think most people can get behind. The story and script are truly compelling enough for the audience to be engaged the whole time and never be bored. The Secret Life of Pets is an overall extremely solid film and is currently my favorite animated film.

In a Galaxy far, far Away...

    Two years ago, Marvel Studios released a film based upon a very low-key and relatively unknown comic book series titled, "Guardians of the Galaxy". In 2014, no one knew Guardians of the Galaxy would be such a sleeper hit at the box office and no one realized the eventual incline to huge popularity for these before unknown characters. James Gunn directed this box office underdog and boy could he not be happier now, especially because GOTG is now viewed as one of the best marvel films to date and helped many filthy casuals get more into obscure comic book characters.
     The cast of this comedic action packed intergalactic adventure features many star studded names such as the rising star Christ Pratt, Vin Diesel as the voice of the tree creature Groot, Bradley Cooper as the voice as the wise-cracking space raccoon, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax and many others including Benicio Del Toro, Michael Rooker and John C. Reilly. This film tells the tale of young Peter Quill, Chris Pratt, after his mother dies he gets abducted by a spacecraft and suddenly ends up in space, where 30 years later he would become one of the biggest space pirates in the galaxy. This is a very unique idea for an origin story of a superhero and was actually one of my favorites.
     This film quickly ranked it's way to the top of most Marvel fans film lists, as it has almost the perfect blend of action, comedic relief and romantic or other drama, all thanks to director James Gunn and his lovely cast. From the acting to the colors to the cinematography to the story Guardians of the Galaxy is one of the best Marvel films to date!

A Modern Civil War

    Back in 2006 a comic book story known as Civil War slipped into the comic book world relatively unknown to the masses and years later that very story inspired one of the biggest box office opener's ever. In 2016, Marvel Studios released the highly coveted Captain America: Civil War starring Chris Evans with a backing ensemble cast consisting of Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Paul Rudd, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie plus many more. This film was directed by Anthony and Joe Russo who have directed other Marvel Cinematic Films as well as other films and TV shows.
     Seeing as this is the thirteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe this film had a lot leading up to it and carried a lot of weight on it's shoulders in terms of world building through the story in order to set up the next few years of movies. This film pits apart Captain America and Iron Man against one another when a United Nations signed document titled the Sokovia Accords is introduced to the world in order to put some sort of governing control over super powered people. This makes for an awesome conflict leading to a disassembling of the Avengers super team and a civil war that sparks between the side of heroes who are pro-government vs those who are on the run from authority. This film once again proves the power house that is Marvel Studios with all of it's A listers as the famous superheroes. I believe this to be the best Marvel film to date and can't wait to see what else they bring from comic book pages onto the big screen,

Apocalypse Forever

   During the 1970s, Hollywood made the transition from small time films to completely blowing up and producing some of the most iconic, and rather spectacular films of all time. One of the most prestigious directors of all time, especially during the 1970s, was Francis Ford Coppola. Coppola, whose most famously known for the classic Godfather series, directed a Vietnam war film that premiered in 1979. The name of this classic war film is Apocalypse Now, and will go down as one of the most beautifully shot and directed war films of all time.

   Apocalypse Now stars the father of Charlie Sheen, Martin Sheen, as well as features the likes of a young Harrison Ford, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall and Laurence Fishburne. The film opens with a PTSD-struck soldier, portrayed by Martin Sheen, who is both metaphorically and physically "stuck" in the jungle and is tasked with going up river in Vietnam in order to assassinate a rogue American soldier. As Sheen's character travels upstream with a ragtag group of soldiers, they not only discover the "horrors" and tragedy of war, but of humanity as well.
    What this film does so well is show the slow mental, physical and emotional deterioration of soldiers during this horrific war and how the bloodbath that was Vietnam tore them apart both inside and out. If anything, this was very much an anti-Vietnam war film which is interesting because many Americans would agree it was one of the most unnecessary wars we have partaken in as a united nation. Apocalypse Now is my personal favorite war movie for it's use of spectacular special and practical effects and it's unique outlook on war.

Kingsman: A New School Twist on Espionage

    Two years ago, my perception of the spy genre changed completely solely based off of one film in particular. This film that really caught my attention is Kingsman: The Secret Service, and it was written as well as directed by Matthew Vaughn, who is known for his work on Snatch, Kick-Ass, and X-Men: First Class. The film's star-studded cast consists of Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Samuel L. Jackson, and newcomer Taron Egerton. This film's witty humour and spin on the spy genre makes for an extremely refreshing and surprisingly hilarious crude James Bond movie.

    As the film begins, we are introduced to a modern world where a secret organization called the Kingsmen exist. This group of extremely skilled and highly trained spies carries out missions unregulated by any form of government and is a completely top secret society. When one of our spies is killed off in the very beginning of the film, we are then transported to his home where his wife and young son live. Just after he passes, one of the leaders of the group stops by to visit the wife and child of his colleague to let them know of the unfortunate news, and while doing so gives the young boy a token that he says he may use once to get him out of anything that he needs. Flash forward fifteen years and that little boy is now a twenty-something hailing from a poor neighborhood and it seems as though life won't stop beating down on him. That is until he gets caught back up with the Kingsmen when we uses his token to get out of jail. 

    The story then takes on the new life of training and becoming a Kingsman in the tryouts with several other people. After he officially becomes a Kingsman he is taken on missions with the other spies as they try to stop the villain from taking over the world with his mind-controlling phone and internet services. This film does justice to not only the action and comedy genres, but has many great callbacks and references to older James Bond and other spy movies. Kingsmen completely changed my outlook on the espionage genre as a whole and allowed me to appreciate them much more!

Insidious

    Six years ago I sat down in a movie theater and watched the scariest movie I had ever seen in my life at the time. Insidious is a paranormal horror film directed by popular director James Wan, who has directed countless big budget modern horror movies and has reshaped the genre as a whole in modern times. Insidious stars Rose Byrne, Patrick Wilson, Ty Simpkins and Andrew Astor as the Lambert family, a seemingly normal American family until one of their sons starts displaying odd behavior and shows signs of a possession. When their son becomes increasingly sick both physically and mentally, weirder things start to happen more and more and the doctor they have working with him doesn't seem to be working, so they call in a professional medium, Lin Shaye. The plot from here then goes into full catastrophic mode as the house begins to literally fill with bad spirits and ghosts who have "insidious" agendas, according to one of the character's in the film.
    What Insidious did to the horror genre as a whole is completely revolutionize it. Before this film, for many a years the world had not seen a horror movie up to this quality and general level of horror contained in the film. As seen now, this was not simply some big-budget horror movie with a horrendous script, but actually a diamond in the rough. This film set the precedent for the modern horror genre and created a revival for the genre and the film series that would go on to make millions off of the sequels.
     The director of this film, James Wan, has been a well known director for many years now with his first big hit Saw from 2004. Now James has not only solidified himself as one of the most genius horror directors of the 21st century, but has begun to explore new genres and isn't only sticking to horror. Insidious really captured my interest and love for the horror genre and has changed the opinion on how good these movies actually are in the eyes of the public. Until this day Insidious is the scariest movie I have ever seen and until we get something that shocks me more, I believe that this will go down as one of the best horror movies ever.

Not a Place for Elderly People

    Back at it again with the Coen brothers! No Country for Old Men is one of the more recent Coen brother's films and I personally believe that it brings their filmography full circle and fully reflects one of their older works, Fargo, in an interesting way. No Country for Old Men tells the tale of multiple people who get intertwined into one story through corruption, money and violence. This film stars Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, Woody Harrelson and Javier Bardem plays the ruthless killer Anton Chigurh. This film begins with Josh Brolin stumbling upon a drug deal that's gone bad in which he steals the money from the deal, and thus starts a wild goose chase where Bardem's character goes on a terminator-esque mission in order to retrieve the money back to it's original owners. The events that eventually unfold lead into an epic tale that all climaxes with who is going to end up getting the money.

     Throughout this film, there are many shots and scenes that remind me a lot of an earlier Coen brother's film, Fargo. What's intriguing about both No Country for Old Men and Fargo is that No Country for Old Men is basically the gritty, serious, and more brutal version of Fargo. The shot composition, containing wide angle shots of empty barren land throughout, the not-so-likely police officers who are put to crack a murder case, and a menacing villain who will stop at nothing to do his job. The only difference is this movie uses humour a lot less and seems to take itself much more seriously, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The contrast between this film and the more comedic sister film Fargo is interesting to look at and see the Coen brother's more serious progression in their films. No Country for Old Men is one of the best representations of modern western cinema and is my personal favorite Coen brother's films.

Fargo: An Unlikely Tale in an Unlikely Place

    Joel and Ethan Coen are a Mid-Western bred couple of brothers who went from rags to riches and are now a duo of some of the best directors in Hollywood. They're filmography is a long list of many critically acclaimed films such as No Country For Old Men, The Big Lebowski, True Grit, and Burn After Reading. In 1996, they made the cult hit that no one would have ever expected to become so big, and that film is Fargo. The film's title comes from the setting of the film which is Fargo, North Dakota. The idea that this film takes place in the unknown town of Fargo, ND is what makes it so great, because this film puts together many unlikely things and makes for an interesting mix of genres.
    The characters in the film are a rag-tag group of unlikely people who all just happen to always end up in the wrong place at the wrong time and get all of their plans horribly screwed up. The film's plot follows a police investigation of a murder and the lead cop in the investigation is a pregnant housewife looking police sergeant. Not only that but the criminals that pull off all of the crimes including multiple cases of homicide are two bozos who really aren't the brightest bulbs. Not only are the characters very unlikely for the plot of the film but another part of the film that's so interesting is the juxtaposition between the soft, vast and snow-capped landscape and the horrific crimes that are being committed there. It really makes the audience wonder, how can such people get away with these horrible things when there is seemingly nowhere to hide as everything in Fargo is a snow-covered plain.
    The Coen brothers films never cease to amaze and they have been working together since the end of the 20th century. Fargo may be one of the earlier and less recognized films in their career but to me it's the perfect blend of smart humour and graphic violence, two things that really draw your attention, especially when done with a backdrop of North Dakota. This film's mix of categories and film elements creates for a super-movie that knows exactly what to do in order to draw in an audience.

John Wick

      Keanu Reeves is an actor who's had a very interesting career with many ups and downs. He donned the famous name of "Neo" in the Matrix series as well as playing the exorcist in the film Constantine but as much he's been successful in his career, he's been very unsuccessful. As his career seemed to be in a large drought, in 2014 a film was released titled John Wick that stars Keanu Reeves as a cold blooded assassin who is dragged back into the business after his ex-colleagues rob him of his car and kill his dog in cold blood. This is a hard revenge story of a man who left the contract killing business in order to lead a normal life with his wife but when she dies and everything else is taken from him, John WIck has no choice but to get back into the game and right his wrongs.

     The all star cast of this film consists of not only Keanu Reeves but also Willem Dafoe, Ian McShane, Michael Nyqvist and Alfie Allen. The chemistry between the director Chad Stahelski and the cinematographer Dan Laustsen makes for a gorgeous and visually stunning film that is a breath of fresh air for not only all films, but specifically the action genre. The pallet of the filter used over the film consists of many shades of blue that allow for a cool feel throughout the entire film that sets a nice eerie atmosphere and creates a stunning aesthetic. Jonathan Eusebio is the film's fight choreographer who has worked on choreography for other films such as The Avengers, The Expendables trilogy, 300 and The Bourne Ultimatum and his work is absolutely mind-boggling. John Wick is one of the most realistic and throttling action movies modern cinema has ever seen. Not only does John Wick break the action movie trope of "infinite ammo" but it also a fan or accurate shooting and that comes from Keanu Reeves extensive shooting and combat training for the film. John Wick is a film that changes the way we look at action movies forever and gives us hope for the rest of the R-rated action flicks to come!

Interstellar: A Journey Through the Galaxy

    Throughout his filmography, Christopher Nolan has had a track record of extremely prestigious films that are recognized commonly for not only being very well shot, but extremely unique and thought provoking in the plot and script. Nolan's most recent film, Interstellar, is an intergalactic sci-fi drama that focuses on the end of mankind's time on earth and the race through the galaxy to find a way to help save the earth. Interstellar stars Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, John Lithgow, and Michael Caine. This film really showed just how amazing of an actor Mathew McConaughey is and was a gateway to display his legitimate acting chops and revive his career as a critically acclaimed actor.

    The entire plot of Interstellar revolves around a small team of scientists who must embark on a journey that could either save the world or leave it for doom if they don't complete their task on time. In the world of Interstellar, the earth is currently infertile and cannot grow crops or natural goods. Our star Matthew McConaughey is an ex scientist turned farmer who lives a quiet life with his family and after the world goes into turmoil, he must go back into his field of study in order to help save the world in a race against time.
     While most of Christopher Nolan's films are highly praised both critically and with fans, they are all recognized to be extremely complex and introduce ideas to people that are completely foreign and difficult to understand. Interstellar is widely recognized as Nolan's most complex and beautiful film yet. The film centers multi-dimensional travel, black holes, and space/time travel that all goes together into one scientific journey that makes you sit on the edge of your seat and scratch your head the entire time. Interstellar is a beautifully shot film that not only keeps you entertained but keeps you educated on modern scientific theories and beliefs that enrich your mind and provide you with an emotional journey through time and space.

The Incredibles: An Incredible Film

     Ever since the late 1990s when CGI became increasingly popular among films, Pixar has always been the dominant studio churning out quality animated films for all ages. Such a filmography includes the award winning Toy Story series, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc, and one of the more recent films, The Incredibles. The Incredibles tells the tale of an ex superhero turned paper-pusher nine to five worker who rekindles his relationship with fighting crime and takes up his mantle again defending the world from danger.
     Along the plot line of the film, Mr. Bob Incredible gets fired from his normal job and goes back to his old ways of being a superhero in order to fight this mid-life crisis of his and fill the rut that was empty ever since he stopped. During that time, he is hiding all of this from his ex-superhero wife and children because he doesn't want them to be put in harm's way. Eventually, the entire family finds out and suits up because of course, when two superheros mate, they're obviously going to create super-children. This creates an interesting family dynamic that allows the Incredibles to work together as one big super-team.
    One of the most intriguing and redeeming qualities of this film so the fact that it's marketed toward children as an animated movie, but it appeals to adults as well. The humor is surprisingly mature and the script is incredibly well written so all of that leads to an enjoyable time for the entire family. With The Incredibles, Disney and Pixar prove once again that they know how to make excellent and appropriate films for the entire family to enjoy. Not only is The Incredibles the archetype for animated films, but it is also a great example of a superhero film and could be seen as an inspiration for the many comic book adaptations that are coming out currently. The Incredibles is a film that everyone can enjoy and I can not recommend it enough.

Children of Men

    In the year 2006, prestigious director Alfonso Cuarón created a sci fi film that quickly fell under the radar and doesn't get the attention it deserves. Children of Men is an action/sci fi movie that features Clive Owen, Michael Caine, Julianne Moore and Academy award nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor. The film is set in the year 2027, and every women on earth has become infertile, and when a woman miraculously gets pregnant, a mysterious former activist must transport the woman to a safe haven for her and her baby. All whilst this is happening, everyone in the world is out to get each other and soon different groups of people are on the hunt to stop the main characters and capture the baby. This film not only tells an action packed tale of a dystopian society, but makes larger comments on social and political issues that are paralleled in the real world.
    From the very beginning of the film, the audience is introduced into a poverty stricken world that has run rampant with illegal immigrants who are treated ruthlessly and literally locked up in cages when caught. The film's main setting, Britain, is a bleak and unforgiving world that is filled with the sight of trash bags on every sidewalk and random bombings being a regular occurrence. What this film does is capture the feel of modern society and it's issues and what those issues could develop into in only another decade. The most prominent social issues Cuarón comments on in this film is the rapid movement of illegal immigrants, terroristic groups attempting to overthrow government and the climate change of the planet. In the United States in 2006, the same year the film came out, Latino protests in America was at an all time high and resulted in many new immigration laws and regulations. Other than the major increase in immigrants, there are several acts of terrorism that reflect the terroristic that occurred in 2006. During that year alone, terrorist attacks increased 25% globally and particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan where there was over 20,000 deaths, nearly two-thirds of Iraq's population. The film's grey and gloomy Britain sets a backdrop of fossil fuel emissions that give the audience a sense of dread and leaves a somber feeling whenever the characters are out in nature. What this film did was use a generic sci fi set up as a cover for something that goes much deeper than surface information.
      The best part about this film is the overarching theme that this new-born and it's mother are almost God-like figures. It can be seen that because this baby was the miracle that was exactly what the world needed, and how it's a mystery that the mother even got pregnant in the first place, that the mother can be seen as someone very reminiscent of Mary the Mother of God and the baby is the messiah Jesus. This movie truly does both a great job making a science fiction thriller as well as a larger social commentary that plays on all real world issues corresponding with modern times. Children of Men is the hidden gem of the past decade of sci-fi films and truly displays the acting and directing chops by those who don't get enough attention. I truly hope this film gets the praise it deserves and gets recognized worldwide for it's true beauty.