One of the biggest stories out of the summer and into the later stages of fall was whether or not DC Comics and Warner Brothers could follow the success of this past summers Wonder Woman with their own superhero team up movie Justice League. The one thing the company wanted to avoid was another mishap like Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, but I decided to check out the film and present it as this week’s Movie Of The Week. The film seems to take place a year or so after the events of BVS with the world mourning the death of their beloved Superman (Henry Cavill). The world will soon be under distress once again when mysterious madman Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds) comes to Earth to try and collect three boxes that will surely usher the end of the world. Batman (Ben Affleck) has to find a way to unite all these interesting beings that Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) had unveiled to try and fight against Steppenwolf before it’s too late. The film also stars Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) as Wonder Woman, Jason Momoa (Game Of Thrones) as Aquaman, Ezra Miller (Trainwreck) as The Flash, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Amy Adams (Nocturnal Animals) as Lois Lane, Jeremy Irons (The Lion King) as Alfred, Connie Nielsen (Wonder Woman) as Queen Hippolyta, J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man) as Commissioner Gordon, Amber Heard (Pineapple Express) as Mera, and the film was directed by Zack Snyder (300).
I have over the last week or so have heard some mixed emotions about the film itself and whether it lives up to the billing or not and while some of it may be frustrating to you at least hear me out. I had a couple of concerns heading into the film with one being how are they going to work all of them together in one film and what was the overall feel of the film going to be. Is this the greatest film in the whole DC Universe? While in the end I truly believe now that BVS was good, this was a better film than that, but not better than Wonder Woman. I thought the way they presented all of the characters certainly worked for them because it felt sort of natural to me. The film in my opinion had the right amount of humor to go along with what DC’s overall look is and the chemistry feel natural to me as well. The action scenes were great and I even loved some of the sets they visit like Atlantis, etc. The one thing I sort of had an issue with was some of the CGI in the film because some of it was kind of cheesy at times. Other than that, it was a fun film to go in and watch without trying to be to analytical and judgmental. I was just super excited because my favorite superhero finally made an onscreen appearance in Aquaman. You don’t have to take my word for it, but I would at least give it a watch or two especially if you love some of these characters as I do. I am going to give Justice League an B+ for a final grade.
Whenever there are movies released that feature Jake Gyllenhaal (Demolition), I tend to flock to the local theater to see it because he’s amazing. That was definitely the case for today’s film when I saw that he was starring in the film Nocturnal Animals. Amy Adams (The Arrival) plays art gallery owner Susan Morrow, a woman with too much on her mind who is haunted by her wrongdoings to her ex-husband (Gyllenhaal). 20 years after she left him, he delivers a book for her to read and she soon realizes that it symbolically represents their past relationship in a very twisted way. The story in the book follows a man whose wife and child are abducted, raped, and killed and he seeks revenge for what has happened to them. The film also stars Michael Shannon (Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice) as Bobby Andes, Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Avengers: Age Of Ultron) as Ray Marcus, Ilsa Fisher (The Brothers Grimsby) as Laura Hastings, Ellie Bamber (Pride And Prejudice And Zombies) as India Hastings, Armie Hammer (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.) as Hutton Morrow, Karl Glusman (The Neon Demon) as Lou, Robert Aramayo (Game Of Thrones) as Turk, Laura Linney (Sully) as Anne Sutton, Michael Sheen (Alice In Wonderland) as Carlos, and the film was directed by Tom Ford (A Single Man).
Spoiler Alert: There may be some information leaked in this paragraph that could give away the film. So either proceed with caution or do not read any further, but you were warned. First of all the film starts off with an uncomfortable sequence of heavily obese women dancing naked and I get it it’s art and that we shouldn’t judge, but it’s just hard to watch. After that, it’s smooth sailing through the rest of the film that is just absolutely amazing and so well written. There is nudity from now and again, but it’s almost in an artistic way and if you love red heads like me then you love this film. Then there is the performances int he film that are just all around amazing from no matter who. Aaron Taylor-Johnson does an amazing job playing a West Texas creep while Michael Shannon plays the detective who will go to any lengths to get his man because he’s dying anyways. Amy Adams is absolutely terrific in the film as this woman who realizes that everything in the book is symbolic of what happened in her life. That is what I loved about the film because the further it goes, the more you realize how connected everything is even though it may not seem that way. For one the story is about a rape and murder of a wife and child and it’s a reflection of their time together. The cinematography is amazing with the different tones that are incorporated into the film and just the overall scenery which becomes a part of the story. This may be one of my favorite films of the year and another Gyllenhaal film that I absolutely loved. I am going to give the film an A+ for a final grade.
Society has always had the need and the want or desire to play God throughout history of cinema (e.g. Frankenstein, Ex Machina). Of course like all of them, they are usually destined to be doomed. So for today’s film, I chose to watch the newest film in Artificial Intelligence entitled Morgan. Morgan (Anya Taylor Joy) is a new breed of artificial intelligence kind of humanoid that was breed as an organism by scientists as an experiment. One afternoon, Morgan has sort of a metal lapse and she attacks a scientist. The corporate company that is paying for the experiment decides that it wants to send in a risk-management consultant by the name of Lee Weathers (Kate Mara). Lee must decide whether Morgan is a valued asset or to terminate a dangerous asset. The film also stars Rose Leslie (The Last Witch Hunter) as Dr. Amy Menser, Michael Yare (Game Of Thrones) as Ted, Toby Jones (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) as Dr. Simon Ziegler, Chris Sullivan (Stranger Things) as Darren, Boyd Holbrook (Gone Girl) as Skip, Vinette Robinson (Sherlock) as Brenda, Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) as Dr. Cheng, Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight) as Kathy, and the film was directed by Luke Scott (Loom).
The idea for the film was there and for the most part they did a fine job, but maybe the execution didn’t go off as planned. The first part of the film is kind of boring as it’s getting you up to speed with what is going on and exactly who Morgan is. The real excitement in my opinion is when Paul Giamatti shows up to test Morgan as to whether she is an asset for the company or not. That is when the intensity of the film really starts to build up because for a while all you get are pieces of a secret until that secret is finally revealed to you as to why she was locked in the box again. Giamatti is really just there to mess with her mind and prove that she in fact is not human and therefore is not capable of feeling real emotions. He is a ball buster and the only one who is going against science. I didn’t recognize Anna Taylor Joy until I saw that she was in the film The Witch. She was phenomenal in that film and she did a pretty good job in this one as well. One thing that I will say is that she was kind of freaky looking to me which might have been a very small aspect for what they were going for. The one thing I didn’t understand was what was the point of the character of Skip? He really doesn’t serve a real purpose in the film, but he’s just there. There’s a big twist at the end of the film, but if you do the math you’ll figure it out as soon as it happens. I saw the ending coming as soon as it started to unfold which doesn’t bother me too much, but they could have done better with that. Overall, it’s just an OK film that was looking to explore a different aspect of A.I. in cinema. I commend them for that, but it won’t change my grade this time. I am going to give the film an C+ for a final grade.
One of the greatest movie franchises of all time in my opinion are the action adventure James Bond series which has now seen six different men assume the role (Sean Connery,George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig). Out of all the Bond’s, Pierce Brosnan is the one that has played Bond that I have not see very much of so I took the chance and watched GoldenEye for today’s film. After following a couple of leads, James Bond learns that someone is trying to steal GoldenEye, a weapon that destroys through electronic devices. He teams up with a Russian woman (Izabella Scorupco) who survived the first attack with the weapon to try and stop the syndicate that is using it. Although when Bond meets the man behind the syndicate, he turns out to be a familiar person Bond thought was dead. The film also stars Sean Bean (Game Of Thrones) as Alec Trevelyan, Famke Janssen (X-Men) as Xenia Onatopp, Joe Don Baker (Cape Fear) as Jack Wade, Judi Dench (Skyfall) as M, Desmond Llewelyn (Thunderball) as Q, Samantha Bond (Downtown Abbey) as Miss Moneypenny, Alan Cumming (X-Men 2) as Boris, Gottfried John (Proof Of Life) as Gen. Ourumov, and the film was directed by Martin Campbell (Green Lantern).
There was definitely something special going on with this film especially seeing as it’s the first film Pierce did in the series that took six years to come out. They literally almost went with a whole new staff with a new M (Dench) who was the first female to play M in the series and a brand new Moneypenny. The only thing that didn’t change was Q who was once again played by the legendary Desmond Llewelyn. The film had plenty of action scenes to satisfy any Bond fan, it had the perfect Bond girl(s) in Famke Janssen (She is vicious and strange and Izabella Scorupco as well as a good enough Bond villain in a former 00 agent. Who better to match wits with James Bond then another former agent. The only thing I’m not really sure about is how I feel about Pierce Brosnan as James Bond. The only other film in the series I had seen that I didn’t like was Die Another Day. I thought the film itself was very good and I can see why people hyped this one up a lot (I was told that I had to see this one). I think I’ll have to see the rest of his films to really judge where I think he fits among the other Bonds. He’s got suave which I will give him, but he doesn’t exactly have the swagger like Connery or Moore. The car racing scene in the beginning of the film is very cool to watch and the scene with the army tank is another must see. The film was enjoyable to watch which is why I am going to give the film an A- because it may be the best Brosnan-Bond film for now.
I know exactly what you are thinking right now and I know that you know that I’ll watch just about anything. So, I know from the bottom of my heart that all of you will forgive me for today’s film which is Me Before You. Sam Claflin (Snow White And The Huntsman) plays Will Traynor, a man who has everything going for him until a fatal accident leaves him a paraplegic. Emilia Clarke (Game Of Thrones) plays Louisa Clark, a bubbly girl who always thinks of others before herself. Louisa needs a job and she finds one taking care of Will who seems determined to not care that she is there. With her willingness to never give up on people, they form an unlikely bond that will later be put to the test when she finds out about Will’s plans for his future. The film also stars Vanessa Kirby (About Time) as Alicia, Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who) as Treena Clark, Charles Dance (Last Action Hero) as Stephen Traynor, Janet McTeer (Maleficent) as Camilla Traynor, Matthew Lewis (Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone) as Patrick, Brendan Coyle (The Jacket) as Bernard Clark, Samantha Spiro (From Hell) as Josie Clark, 
First of all I know that this is a chick flick, but don’t judge me because I am crushing on Emilia Clarke who is the dragon queen. I used to think it was a myth or just some silly wives tales when you hear about women crying at these kinds of movies, but it’s no myth. Literally in a theater filled from top to bottom with women, I heard so many of them crying towards the end of the film. Women seem to love these Nicolas Sparks type romance movies which is why these keep getting made. I will admit that some tears rolled down my face during the film because even though it’s a sad story there is definitely a positive message in the film overall. If there is anything of value from this film it’s the dynamic of the relationship between Clarke and Sam Claflin who just seemed so natural throughout the whole film. Emilia was the shiniest and brightest light of all in the film with her knack for being a quirky gal in the film. She was so enjoyable to watch on the screen even though the film was predictable. That shouldn’t comes as a surprise because all of these types of films are all the same and they follow the same formula. Take this for what it is or as I should say take or leave it because it makes no difference to me. I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade only because these are not my cup of tea usually and for it’s predictability.
When I was growing up, I was a fan of DC especially Superman and Batman, but it was one faithful Saturday morning in the early 90’s tat changed everything. The X-Men cartoon quickly turned me from a DC to Marvel fan and that was that. So, it’s safe to say that I was super excited about today’s film X-Men: Apocalypse. The world is a lot different in the 80’s following the events of X-Men: Days Of Future Past as almost everyone has gone their separate ways. Unfortunately for mutants all over the world, the very first mutant ever En Sabah Nur (Oscar Isaac) otherwise known as Apocalypse has awoken from a deep sleep is displeased with the way the world has evolved. Apocalypse plans to destroy the world forcing the X-Men to finally reunite in order to destroy him. The film also stars James McAvoy (Wanted) as Professor Xavier, Michael Fassbender (Prometheus) as Magneto, Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games) as Mystique, Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road) as Beast, Rose Byrne (Neighbors 2) as Moira Mactaggert, Evan Peters (American Horror Story) as Quicksilver, Sophie Turner (Game Of Thrones) as Jean Grey, Tye Sheridan (Mud) as Cyclops, Lucas Till (Walk The Line) as Havok, 
I am going to start this paragraph by giving you a spoiler alert because if you haven’t seen the film by now then stop reading ahead for fear of spoiling any details for you. As far as the film is concerned, I actually really liked the film. It’s not the greatest superhero movie out there, but in my opinion it was a lot of fun. It was like seeing a comic book unfold before your very eyes and how can you not love seeing them in the 80’s? I was just excited to see Jubilee finally on screen, but I sort of wish that they had done more with her if you ask me. Oscar Isaac was well he’s Oscar Isaac! The guy can go from playing the hero Poe Dameron in Star Wars to playing the villain in X-Men. He is such an amazing actor with so much talent. One of the exciting moments of the film was seeing Hugh Jackman as the Weapon X version of Wolverine in the film when they go to Strikers facility to rescue the other X-Men. I have to say that when the X-Men do a battle they do it right because the battle against Apocalypse and his horseman was pretty killer. Evan Peters and his Quicksilver was an awesome comedic relief for the film where I think I finally accepted him as Quicksilver. I left the theater in a very good mood and that is the sign of how I felt about a film. One thing I want to comment about is that I know the film is rated PG-13, but this film had to be a borderline R rated film just due to the content. Oh and stick around till the very end of the film cause they possibly set up a future film. I am going to give X-Men: Apocalypse an A- for a final grade.
I was lazy today when it came to choosing a film to watch and there was a film that came out in 2014 that I was curious to watch. The Other Woman begs the question of what would you do if you found out that your husband was having an affair? For Kate King (Leslie Mann), her husband Mark (Game Of Thrones’s Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is her whole entire life and she doesn’t think she can function without him. That is until one day, she finds out that Mark is having an affair with a lawyer named Carly (Cameron Diaz). Together the two will investigate Mark and figure out that there is another woman, a much younger and beautiful Amber (Kate Upton). Now, the three will stop at nothing as they bond and get back at Mark for all the lying and cheating. The film also stars Don Johnson (Miami Vice) as Frank, Taylor Kinney (Zero Dark Thirty) as Phil, Nicki Minaj (Ice Age: Continental Drift) as Lydia, David Thornton (The Notebook) as Nick, Kenneth Maharaj (Old Dogs) as Busboy, Victor Cruz (The Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3) as Fernando, and the film was directed by Nick Cassavetes (Alpha Dog).
I am a huge fan of Cameron Diaz and Leslie Mann, I have enjoyed every movie that they have been in (I believe this is there first together). Sometimes though, I feel that Leslie Mann plays the same role whether it is in Knocked Up, This Is 40, and this film. I didn’t think the film was that bad, it had some funny moments to it, but it’s kind of a chick flick comedy. I did however like the idea of three women who are a part of this love triangle that team together to get back at their cheating husband. They use some of the same tactics that we’ve seen in other revenge comedies like estrogen pills in the man’s shake or laxatives in the drink. If they have comedies known as Bromances, then what do we call a film where sisters band together? Kate Upton looks really hot in this film and she does a decent job. I wasn’t sure what her acting ability was going to be, but she definitely surprised me. I also enjoyed seeing Nicki Minaj and her big booty in the film as she also does a good job in the film. Poor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau started by playing an unlikable character in Game Of Thrones and he plays one in this film. If you enjoy RomCom’s (Romance Comedies) and sismances (my alternative for Bromance unless you come up with a better one), then you may like this one. I am going to give the film a B- for a final grade.
It’s been a little while since I went to the movie theaters to see a film and so I decided to check out one of the new films. A lot of people remember the Jane Austin book Pride And Prejudice which takes place in 19TH century England. In 2009, Seth Grahame-Smith wrote the parody book Pride And Prejudice And Zombies which combines the elements of the original book with Zombie fiction. When I found out they turned it into a movie, I had to see it and here is my review. The story follows Mr. and Mrs. Bennett (Charles Dance and Sally Phillips) and their five unmarried daughters who love in 19TH century England which is plagued by Zombies. When a new eligible bachelor named Mr. Bingley (Douglas Booth) and Mr. Darcy (Sam Riley) move into town, things that may lead to a zombie revolution begin to unravel as soon as Bingley falls in love with Jane (Bella Heathcote). Meanwhile, Darcy struggles with the eldest daughter Elizabeth (Lily James) who is tough and struggles with the idea of marriage. The film also stars Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire) as George Wickham, Suki Waterhouse (Insurgent) as Kitty Bennett, Lena Headey (Game Of Thrones) as Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Matt Smith (Doctor Who) as Parson Collins, and the film was directed by Burr Steers (17 Again).
365moviesin365dayschallenge 