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.