Movie Reviews 2016

2016

Manchester by the Sea.

A Kind of Murder.

Alice Through the Looking Glass.

Allied.

Anthropoid.

Arrival.

Bridget Jones’s Baby.

Blood Father.

Criminal.

Deadpool.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Florence Foster Jenkins.

Ghostbusters.

Gods of Egypt.

Hacksaw Ridge.

Hail, Caesar!

Inferno

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.

Jason Bourne.

Keeping Up with the Joneses.

La La Land.

Lion

Maigret Sets a Trap.

Marauders.

Mechanic: Resurrection.

Mine.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

Money Monster.

Nine Lives.

Our Kind of Traitor.

Paris can Wait.

Passengers.

Silence.

Star Trek Beyond.

The Accountant.

The Girl on the Train.

The Great Wall.

True Memoirs of an International Assassin.

The Huntsman: Winter’s War.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

X-Men: Apocalypse.

 

 

Realism in movies exemplified.  

If you like real characters in a movie they don’t come realer than this.

 

This movie teleports us to Manchester by the sea Massachusetts, and into the heart, mind and soul of an emotionally bruised character who revisits his old town and way of life following the death of his older brother.  Suddenly, he has fatherhood thrust upon him but is uncomfortable with the role because of ghosts from his past. 

 

The mechanism of his life is revealed to us cog by cog until we see the intricacies of how and why he functions the way he does. We are almost inside the character as he climbs out of his depression to start living again. An award winning movie.

 

 

The fine cinematography, set design and magnificent costumes does not save this movie. It is like a luxuriously wrapped gift box with disappointing contents. Once you open the lid, you find nothing inside to make you want to give it more attention.

 

Uninteresting characters with very little feeling, a plot that struggles to keep its pace and a failed attempt to mimic Hitchcockian thrillers, make it a boring film.

CAST: Patrick Wilson, Jessica Biel, Haley Bennett
DIRECTOR: Andy Goddard
WRITER: Susan Boyd (screenplay), Patricia Highsmith (novel)

 

 

 

A Tim Burton film… sadly without Tim Burton directing. He chose the role of producer to this Alice in Wonderland sequel from 2010.

A shiny glittering magical kingdom in which Carroll’s heroes are parading in a crazy carnival of colorful folly. A rare feast for the eyes, still not quite what we would expect to see, and I am sure that if Burton was directing this whole movie would be so much better.

The outcome doesn’t hold any surprises and the best part is the overwhelming CGI glitz that brings Wonderland to life with beautiful vibrating colors.

 

A joy to see! Depp so believable as the Mad Hatter 😊 Watch it.

 

 

An intense romance that spreads through the fires of WW2 and climaxes to a dramatic ending with no surprises. Action, war, love and betrayal, narrated with robust directing and strong convincing performances. A well told story, although it can’t reach the masterpiece of the English Patient. Still, a very good movie. Watch it!

 

Heroism and self-sacrifice served up in an excellent war thriller based on true events.

Vivid realism, deep psychological analysis and the plain, almost documentary-like approach, are some of the many virtues of the film.
Powerful performances and well directed action scenes create a fascinating tribute to one of the most intriguing suicide missions in the history of WWII.

 

A must watch!

 

 

Atmospheric, with deeply emotional performances and beautiful cinematography.

 

Time travel and alien contact seen through a very intense psychological introspection. A magnificent vision that fills you with excitement. One of those movies that definitely you can watch more than once.

 

When his missing teenage daughter knocks on his door desperately asking for help, ex-con John Link embarks on a dangerous mission to save her from the nasty boyfriend. And oh, what a journey this turns out to be…

 

Erin Moriarty plays the delinquent runaway convincingly. While Mel Gibson gives a solid and believable performance as the ex con, ex alcoholic father suddenly confronted by his estranged child who seems to have taken the same self-destructive road as himself. Can a fathers love save his daughters life in more ways than one?

 

Maybe the script could have withstood some deeper analyasis of character but this is Mel at his best, perhaps even better, serving up more maturity as an actor than ever before. He gives a deeply authentic performance as a man almost beyond redemption for his past sins.

 

A fervent focus on the turbulent father-daughter relationship inside a masterfully woven canvas of adventure till the very end. Mel plays the nice guy with a badass past so well it is almost like he is playing it for real. Also thumbs up for the excellent cinematography that succeeds in making the most out of the thrilling script.

 

One of my favorite movies for 2016!

 

A rather dull movie.

 

The wit, comedy and charm of the first two movies is ruined by a script that doesn’t live up to the joy of the first two movies.

 

The main characters turn out to be almost caricatures and so they fail to make the viewer connect emotionally.  A love story that doesn’t convince and a colorless happy ending that gives little pleasure, overshadow the few rare funny moments.

 

A movie that succeeds in keeping you hooked from the very beginning. 

 

Unusual in its concept, with strong performances from the main cast. Once again Costner proves that he can be convincing as the deranged criminal hero.  With intense honesty of character, Costner embarks on a psychological journey towards an unexpected awakening of conscience. Exciting action builds up to a dramatic finale.

 

A well-directed thriller and worth a watch

 

More than just another superhero movie. Yes, yes!

 

This first movie in the franchise starts from the fiery furnace out of which the ordinary guy becomes superhuman.  Mr. Deadpool guy then goes on to seek justice by way of vengeance upon his nemesis. And like any other decent superhero, he takes out other bad guys along the way; but this path is one zany adventure.

 

This wisecracking  “Merc with a Mouth” is a far cry from the schmaltzy apple pie of Captain America.  His dialogue  is  chilli pepper  rather than sugary making him seem more real, perhaps hyper-real.  Lots of gags and ironic smart talk amongst the action delivered from a script containing high intelligence. This role could have been played by Robert Downy J but for his profitable occupancy of the Iron Man suit.  However, Ryan Reynolds fits the Deadpool suit perfectly  to give us a fresh take on the superhero movie

 

Intelligent and disciplined use of special effects with well positioned slow-mo and freeze frame to extract more juice from the well-staged action scenes. It's a breath of fresh air onto those saccharine superhero movies we are being oversupplied with.

 

Unsuitable for children because of adult content, and perhaps unsuitable for those with closed minds because it’s ahead of its time like the Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns once were. But it is a definite must watch for everybody else.

 
The movie and its script demonstrate how to bravely break the fourth wall and succeed.  They are a must see for those writers and directors in the industry who want to be successful in the superhero genre.

 

. . . Way to go Tim Miller!

 

 

Charming journey into the world of magical beings, stands proudly as a somewhat darker addition to the Harry Potter universe. Imaginative script, fast paced action and superb visually. Fascinating creatures and adventure sprinkled with romance.

 

Another Warner Bros hit that makes for a good fun filled family evening.

 

What an amazingly beautiful film!

I loved every minute of it and let me tell you, they don’t make many of these anymore! Based on the true story of Florence Foster Jenkins, a NY heiress who out of a real fascination for opera decided to become an opera singer…although she had a terrible voice!  And that turns out to be a great idea for a movie. Visually and aesthetically perfect, funny, moving, full of glamour and music, with grand performances from Streep and Grant.

 

A kind of “dramedy” as some have called it, it is a definite must-watch! Even if you don’t like opera, you will surely love Florence 😊

 

 

A disaster of a movie that should and could of been great. See What Went Wrong

 

 

 

 

 

Expensive flop for me. Full of clichés and badly done CGI.

 

A pretty use of color here and there but a silly and absurd movie, evidently fabricated from a fatuous script.

 

Having someone on the production team with a loud mouth who could recognize the glaringly obvious mistakes in dramatic structure would have been a bonus.

 

Avoid if you can. If not… get a life.

 

 

 

Detailed and well-crafted homage to a real life but most unusual, war hero.

This is a carnage filled masterpiece displaying the strength of the human spirit when motivated by love for ones fellow human beings.  

 

Based closely upon the extraordinary real life tale of Desmond Doss an army medic and outstanding hero of WW2.  Doss was a conscientious objector  who refused to carry a gun or fire a single shot.  Although badly wounded himself, he saved 75 men from behind enemy lines and received the Congressional Medal of Honor.  

 

Flawless directing by Gibson whose cinematic maturity improves to even greater heights.

 

 

A homage to the golden era of Hollywood.

 

The Coen brothers show us a glamour and glitz movie that is funny, smart and absolutely delightful to watch. And how can anyone resist the temptation to see George Clooney in full roman attire?
Watch, watch, watch!

 

 

Dear old Professor Langton is back and this time he tries to stop a billionaire bioengineer who threatens mankind with extinction by spreading a deadly virus, code name “Inferno”.

The old Da Vinci Code recipe is back with its mystery, clues, puzzles and semantics. We are treated to beautiful historic landmarks and intelligent action that makes us thirsty for more as the movie paces from clue to clue.

 

Tom Hanks and the credible performance of Felicity Jones take us deep into the alarming reality of overpopulation. The mind of Dan Brown gives us food for thought regarding science and Ethics.

All in all, Inferno turns out to be a suspense adventure and delivers a powerful outcome on screen.

A definite must see.

 

 

 

This sequel to the Jack Reacher movie starts with the audience expectation that it will stand alongside its predecessor but it lags a few paces behind.  

 

It is pretty much your average formulaic thriller with some good moments of action and suspense.  It is a less successful addition to the franchise in that it fails to keep up the pace.

 

Throughout its performance, I kept thinking, “I want to go back to the vibe of the first movie.”  However, this Jack Reacher is watchable enough with chips and beer 😊

 

Its Matt Damon and its Jason Bourne.  Always a “satisfaction guaranteed” factor so far.

 

Tommy Lee Jones is so into his character he is real deal and Matt Damon is the real Jason Bourne like Saun Connery is the real James Bond.

The movie successfuly continues the Bourne Saga and fills the screen with thrilling  action. Entertainment until the very end. Watch watch!

 

 

. . . I always like the way the thrilling drama of Jason Bourne seamlessly reveals to us that the balance of power between citizen and State has undergone a disturbing shift because of digital technology. We are shown in greater detail how insidiously dangerous the mechanisms of State apparatus can be without proper democratic oversight. The spooks with the tech are the new wrathful gods and Jason is the citizen hero who uses the new tools of power against the corrupt masters who abuse it.

 

Not very witty or funny.

 

It has some moments but mostly it is just average with a predictable plot.  And it’s a shame because Zack Galifianakis is an extremely powerful comic actor that desperately needs a good script to show his versatile talent.
But I think he has to wait a bit for that… (bookmark this site Zack)

Still, the movie is watchable if you don’t have anything else planned.

 

Full of color and music, a feast for the eyes and ears.

 

As far as the story telling goes, there are lots of emotional “ouch” moments and the end turns out to be disappointing. Still, a touching tribute to the golden era of musical, it wouldn’t have the high ratings if it was not a story about Hollywood. Highly entertaining.

 

 

Great movie about a totally lost boy who has to face the cruel world alone but then he is found and loved by wonderful new parents living in another part of the world. Upon maturity he develops a hunger to discover his past. Hardly a minute of your viewing time will be wasted.

 

 

Rowan Atkinson shines in a role different than his usual. He gives a credible performance as Simenon’s much loved detective Maigret.

 

A easy to follow plot with a fair dose of suspense delivered with an emotional touch. Very atmospheric with honest directing, it will not disappoint you. A good movie. Watch it.

Realistic acting and plenty of suspense in this conspiracy crime thriller. Intense performances and a story line full of action will make you want to watch it until the end. A good entertaining watch.

 

. . . Bruce Willis fits snugly into this movie like a strong hand in a strong glove.

 

 

Action, murder, escapism, exotic landscapes, fight scenes and a bit of romance on the side.  

 

Don’t expect excellence, but expect this Mechanic outing to be enjoyable, entertaining and a very good choice for an evening in front of the screen. Though I never, ever, want to swim in a glass bottomed pool again.

 

Statham is excellent in this role, as always. Jessica Alba, Tommy Lee Jones add substance to Stratham’s usual loner performance. Watch it 😊

CAST: Jason Statham, Jessica Alba, Tommy Lee Jones
DIRECTOR: Dennis Gansel
WRITERS: Philip Shelby, Tony Mosher and others

 

 

A soldier alone in the desert, stepping on a mine that triggers when he steps off… Can it get more thrilling than that? Yes, it can.

 

Believable naturalistic performances vividly bring the danger and the hellish face of war to the screen. The movie is excellent visually and its narrative succeeds to keep you intrigued: will the unlucky soldier survive? Watch and find out!
A good watch

 

 

When Jacob discovers clues to a mystery that stretches across time, he finds Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. But the danger deepens after he gets to know the residents and learns about their special powers…

Through the playful eyes of the master Tim Burton, we embark on a joyful journey into the kingdom of Fantasy. Burton manages to turn the theme of misfits into a decent magical film with style and panache.

Perhaps not entirely satisfying the plots demanding expectations, but enough to make the viewer spend a very pleasant 2h 7 mins

 

 

A great psychological focus on how financial cheating can trigger righteous people to go out of their limits.

 

The movie starts out well as much needed critique on the world of high finance: but instead of lashing out with a bullwhip, it merely flicks at it with damp string. Despite its robust directing and realistic performances, it gives the impression that it is scared to develop the main theme of financial injustice any further.  

 

Because of the subject matter, this could have been a defining movie of the decade had it the courage. This impresses less than expected despite being directed by the feisty Jodi Foster. It does give you some decent thoughts worth dining on.

A satisfying watch, once only.

 

 

 A family movie that turns out to be a pleasant delight for adults. Funny and very entertaining.  

 

Enjoyable performance by Kevin Spacey demonstrating his comedic repertoire when his  consciousness is transported into a cat.  To see ourselves as others see us is good for game-changing storylines but here the game is a bit tame. However, it’s a magical movie for children and for those in whom the child still resides.  Christopher Walken makes a purr-fect cat man.

. . . Original story line that steps outside the usual formulaic to give us a perspective on the world from a cats P.O.V. Children will love it and adults will belly laugh in places.

. . . An interesting and happy feel-good movie. Sometimes I laughed out loud, but not often enough. Watch it even if you don’t have kids, it will put a smile on your face.

 

A strong action thriller with a fantastic performance from Skarsgard. Not the best of Le Carre’s adaptations, but still entertaining with strong doses of suspense. It will keep you interested up until the end. Our kind of movie. Watch it😊

 

A charming road movie with a “continental” touch. 

 

A mouth-watering feast for the eyes. I especially loved the perfect photography and the food scenes; and also the entertaining romantic story line, with its wonderful performances that make the best of an intelligent script.  Ideal for a cool romantic evening at home.😊

 

 

 

Space romance with some breathtaking cosmic images, a bit long and boring.

 

Yet another movie lacking a script overseer conversant with the classics of drama. Watchable for the walks out in space, but fails to move.

A better script would make the film more interesting

 

 

Scorsese and religion, hmm, not exactly a happy combination. Too long, too painful, too… everything!

 

The skillful cinematography is the film’s top feature but only fools can’t do good cinematography with modern technology; basically all you need to is switch your tech on and point the damn thing with artistic intent. Some fairly good acting performances but Silence is absolutely nowhere near the Mission masterpiece.

 

 

Super dooper fun, highly entertaining with plenty of action, humor and suspense.

 

The well refined script gets the best from the main characters and sets them into dynamic that remains alive throughout the whole movie. I absolutely loved the Uhura-Spock duo and the Spock-McCoy scene with its humor and witty interaction.  

 

A great adventure; I have already 'boldly gone' on this Enterprise outing twice so far… So what are you waiting for?  Get the popcorn out, get into the captains seat aboard a Galaxy Class starship and say “Take her out Mr. Zulu.”

 

An autistic loner lacking in social skills, is a savant in mathematics and ninja like in survival technique and he uses these talents to live an adventurous life as a most unusual accountant.

 

This movie is almost excellent.  The well written plot is full of interest, twists and surprises; it is superbly acted and intelligently directed. The five main action scenes are as efficient and almost as “Wow!” as John Wick.  All the main actors have worked hard to give a level of performance that fizzes with honesty of character. The director is so good that you are not even aware of his existence, you are just ‘there’ inside the film.  This movie could have been great, it should have been great.   But in places it loses its fizz and goes a little flat.  Overall, it is very entertaining, highly engaging and has franchise potential.

A slightly flawed work of art that you should watch or be lesser for not doing so.

 

The Accountant – What went wrong

 

I was expecting more from this and I was disappointed.

 

The movie still managed to keep me interested till the end, thanks to the excellent performance of Emily Blant.

 
It is a film that fails to deliver the amount of excitement expected, especially if one has read the book by Hawkins.  However, it is a good watch for some scenes in the Hitchcock-like style and psychological portrayal of characters.

 

A period fantasy-action movie of almost epic proportions.

 

This has an eastern Lord of the Rings touch. Impressive and immensely entertaining.

Simple plot, humor, adventure combined with great visual effects and a shiny colorful palette.

A lack of discipline in the use of special effects in parts, especially near the end.

Spectacular and well directed. A must-see.

 

This movie started its life as an intriguing spin-off to the first Snow White but it turned out to be below average.

 

As soon as it starts, you have to struggle to follow a narrative that doesn’t balance very convincingly on the time axis of the story. There is very little chemistry between the main characters, but Theron gives a very good performance next to Blunt. I was expecting more and was disappointed to see less. 

 

Masterful photography and excellent costumes are a plus for an otherwise mediocre film. Watchable once only.

 

Entertaining with lots of laughs and action. A pleasant surprise and an engaging idea that provides an entertaining evening in front the tv. 😊

 

 

Excellent directing and acting with a sprinkle of romance. It succeeds in delivering a satisfyingly naturalistic look on the madness of war from the perspective of journalists who cover it.

 

. . . WTF! is an apt expression to describe how you may respond to various moments in the film. Exciting, funny, with fast dialogues and dark humor.

 

. . . Moving, with excellent cinematography and high quality performances. Watch it! 😊

 

Big budget B movie sure to please X-Men fans who don’t mind puerile storylines and non-engaging dramatics for the sake of bountiful special effects; but quite frankly, they deserve better.

A super-bad mutant has the powers of a god.  What does he do with that power, travel the world permanently having lunch on delicious food he has rendered ‘zero calorie?  Does this super-guy go and  make amazing love to every beautiful woman in the world?  How about dashing along the most interesting roads in the world riding a myriad of beautiful cars while ignoring speed cams?  No, the most powerful guy in the world decides to… destroy the world. 

Of course, why not bring on the Apocalypse, he’s a super-mutant inside a stupid script.  Wait, it gets more ridiculous. The time of his re-awakening is witnessed and triggered by the lone and lame badass CIA agent, Moira MacTaggert. Co-incidence?  No, just a substandard script primed to be average. And that’s what we get, an average quality movie needing special effects to prop up its dramatic banality.

. . . The main story line doesn’t satisfy any great expectations even though the entire world as we know it, is about to be trashed.  Yawn!  It turns out to be an average formulaic sequel of the famous series with not much to add to the X-Men universe.  X-Men fans will enjoy it because of its action and larger than life sets in which characterless mutants stand there hurling fancy special effects at each other.

 

. . . Dull superhero movie with wonderful graphics that quickly become tedious while you wait in futility for a good storyline to develop. The most amazing thing about this movie is that Kinberg was paid $8,000,000 dollars for such a superficial script.

 

 . . . If you are a more sophisticated movie goer this won’t satisfy your hunger for engaging dramatic action. Watch it if you don’t have a better option.