Meh and Overrated Films of 2016

January 5, 2017January 5, 2017 | Rachel's Reviews

When you see as many movies as I do you don’t always agree with the critical consensus around a film. I’m a unique person and I have my own unique thoughts. Especially with some very artistic films I may not respond to the risks taken the way others do.

So here is my list of movies others loved that I either thought were meh or didn’t like at all.

Denial- 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. I wonder if people are applauding the real life story and not the movie itself. I thought the screenplay was very poor at building the case, creating tension and making Deborah a likable character I could root for.

My ranking 111/143

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot- 68% on Rotten Tomatoes. I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again- I don’t get Tina Fey. I don’t think she’s funny and her movies outside of Mean Girls have been terrible. Here is another. I didn’t believe any of the characters, some are in brown face and it’s a bunch of entitled white guys partying in Afghanistan without any insight beyond you can be a jerk anywhere.

My ranking 123/143

Swiss Army Man- 68% on Rotten Tomatoes but I’ve seen it on a lot of top 10 lists. I appreciate artistic risk but the screenplay was very poor. Instead of insight I got lots of bodily humor and the same supposedly enlightened ideas repeated over and over again. Not for me.

My ranking 113/143

Lights Out- 76% on Rotten Tomatoes. I’d heard great things about this horror movie but I was very underwhelmed by it. It wasn’t scary and was so predictable. The actors try but only for schlocky horror fans

My ranking 109/143

Little Prince- 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. This is a watchable movie but is by nowhere near a 93% in quality. It was boring and preachy and didn’t do anything interesting until the end when it became weird and dystopian. It looks pretty but for most of it I thought it was lame

My ranking 105/143

The Lobster- 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. The problem with this movie is it takes a Twilight Zone episode and stretches it to 2 hours. It’s clever premise became extremely frustrating for me as the message is repeated over and over again. I get it. Human beings are lonely and yet society is built on relationships; thereby ostracizing single people. You’d think I’d love that message being single but I became exhausted with the film after a while. I also felt when it ran out of ways to say the same thing it shocked you with sensuality. I really didn’t like it

My ranking 106/143

Jackie- 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. I guess I am a traditionalist when it comes to biopics. I didn’t like the way they turned Jackie into a robot. I felt disconnected from her which made the film feel extremely heavy handed. I know they are Camelot. Do we really need to hear the song played twice over montages of her drinking and trying on clothes? I guess others found this insightful. Not me, which is frustrating because I think she’s probably a very insightful person.

My ranking 91/143

Hail Cesear- 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. I’m sorry but I think we have director bias here. I love the Coen Brothers but this film was a mess. The plot was all over the place and a lot of the comedic sequences weren’t funny like a long scene where Channing Tatum delivers a speech on a submarine? That wasn’t funny. Pretty much only part I liked was the Alden Ehrenreich segments.

My ranking 101/143

Other movies that I liked, sometimes quite a bit, but not as much as most people- La La Land (23/143), Arrival (45/143), Edge of 17 (49/143), Nice Guys (73/143), Nocturnal Animals (64/143), Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (84/143), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (85/143), Eye in the Sky (89/143).

Movies I thought were ok to great that others hated – Assassin’s Creed (94/143), Ghostbusters (77/143), Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (69/143), Magnificent 7 (67/143), Allied (74/143), Miracles from Heaven (80/143), The Mermaid (81/143), Ratchet and Clank (98/143), Snowtime (92/143), Hologram for the King (95/143), RACE (99/143) and Star Trek Beyond (24/143)

I also didn’t think The Wild Life (122/143), Ben Hur (108/143), The Boss (107/143) or The Angry Birds Movie (102/143) were that bad; although they certainly had big problems.

So there you have it. What are your contrarian opinions on 2016 movies? What do you think is overpraised? What did you feel differently than most of your friends?

Hidden Figures Review

January 5, 2017January 5, 2017 | Rachel's Reviews

Today I had the chance to see Hidden Figures, and I could just as easily title this blog- ‘doing what others so often fail to do in a bio-pic’. Rarely have I been to this type of film and the audience cheer loudly throughout. Of all the movies I’ve seen in 2016, Hidden Figures, is one of the most rewatchable and it is one I am eager for friends and family to go and see.

Hidden Figures tells the real life story of 3 African-American women at NASA as they prepared to send John Glenn around the earth. Some may dismiss it as a formula film but that is underselling some of the standout choices it makes. Most importantly it avoids theatrics and instead shows the smaller more systematic racism women like these 3 faced on a daily basis.

Most of these kinds of movies have the evil redneck racist who is gathering the KKK. I’m not saying there isn’t a place for that. There absolutely is but sometimes such violence can make the racism harder to relate to and in a way more easy to shake off. It’s more little things that can impact me more. For example, in one scene Katherine comes into a room and a man expects her to take out the trash. Might we still sometimes expect people of certain races to do such work? We shouldn’t and movies like Hidden Figures help remind us of that.

The 3 women, Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, are played by Taraji P Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae respectively. They are all completely lovely as brilliant mathematicians and engineers who find a way to push through the systematic racism that existed everywhere at that time. Most of the people they work with would never consider themselves racists and yet they lazily engage in stereotyping and discrimination all the time.

It can be a very simple thing like using the bathroom, drinking communal coffee or more serious things like being made a supervisor or getting the information needed to do your job. I love movies about work and the way particularly the Octavia Spencer character Dorothy maneuvered her way through the office politics was very impressive and brilliant.

Kirsten Dunst is great as a supervisor over the white computers. She thinks she is being respectful of Dorothy when she really isn’t. There is a scene between the two of them in a bathroom that is so well done.

I also liked Mahershala Ali as Katherine’s beau, Glen Powell as John Glenn and Jim Parsons as Katherine’s stick in the mud colleague Paul Stafford.

I remember when I used to dread seeing Kevin Costner’s name in a film and now after McFarland USA and films like that I look forward to him. He’s great here as Katherine’s boss. He just wants the job done and this makes him a bit blind to what Katherine is going through, which leads to another scene the audience cheered at.

I guess if I was going to nitpick the movie, the only real flaw I had was the music. I felt they kept playing the same snappy Pharrell Williams song as a cheap way of saying ‘look how sassy these women are’. I grew a little tired of it.

But that is a very small complaint. This is a movie you can take your kids too. It’s PG after all and afterwards have a conversation about the small and big ways we discriminate against others. Talk about how these women were heroes and made a real difference to our country despite the challenges they faced.

In some ways Hidden Figures reminded me of last year’s Brooklyn (except this is true story). Both are simple, old-fashioned storytelling, about important parts of our history. They both have great messages and wonderful performances you can’t help but like. This is more family friendly than Brooklyn but please do not dismiss it because it takes the crowd-pleasing approach. It’s honestly one of my favorite movies of 2016 and I hope it gets remembered come Oscars. Regardless, take your family and be inspired by Hidden Figures.

Overall Grade- A

Overlooked Films of 2016

January 4, 2017 | Rachel's Reviews

Today I posted a video on films I think were underrated or overlooked in 2016. Some of these got good reviews but nobody saw. Some of them I think critics were a little tough on and others have a little of both. I’d love if you check out the video and let me know what you think.

Overlooked Films of 2016 (in no particular order)

The Dressmaker– Very weird messy revenge movie that I liked. Kate Winslet is great and Liam Hemsworth is very hunky in it. I can see why others wouldn’t like it but it was just strange enough to work for me.

Florence Foster Jenkins– A seemingly cloying underdog story that is so much more. There are a lot of subversive elements particularly in Florence and her husband’s unusual relationship. It’s heartwarming but also very sad.

13 Hours- I think if this wasn’t directed by Michael Bay it would have gotten a lot more credit. It was kind of lost in January but I think it is an absorbing visceral depiction of the events at Benghazi and not as political as you might think.

Bridget Jones’s Baby- Sure this film has a million cliches but it made me laugh harder than any film in 2016. Particularly any scene in the newsroom I thought was funny. It is an R rated comedy, like all the Bridget Jones movies, but I liked it.

Eddie the Eagle- Charming underdog sports movie with great performances from all involved. I was having the worst week when I saw this film and it really cheered me up. It’s a must see if you love inspirational true stories or are an Olympics fan.

London Road- It’s been the year of musicals and this is an underseen one. They take the unique approach of using police transcripts as the lyrics for the musical. It is a mystery and as the crimes are investigated we get to know all the citizens of London Road. Plus, Tom Hardy sings in it.

Kung fu Panda 3- This made a good amount at box office but I think it has largely been forgotten by most and I think that is a real shame. The animation was so beautiful and I loved the messages of adoption and Po learning to be a teacher. My favorite of the series.

Knight of Cups- My kind of art film by director Terrence Malick about the bad sides of entertainment and Los Angeles. The cinematography is gorgeous and the acting is top notch. It won’t be for everyone but I thought it was a lovely companion to Tree of Life.

Passengers- Recently this film received a lot of attention because of a plot element determined as ‘sexist’ by some. I disagree. The lead character makes a poor choice but I thought they established why he did this and gave him punishment for it. The movie looks gorgeous and the leads have great chemistry, which is important since it’s a romance.

Midnight Special- Where everyone else is flipping out over Arrival, I prefer Midnight Special. I love the way this film dives you right into the action and doesn’t waste time on exposition and backstory. I loved the acting and what it says about the way different people believe.

Queen of Katwe– A criminally underseen movie. It turns the Disney sports movie on its head by telling a story in Africa about an impoverished girl who learns to play chess. The acting is tremendous and I was impressed how dark and gritty Disney was willing to go. I was really moved by it and I think families should watch it.

Lion- Beautiful film about a boy who is lost in India and then years later works to find his family via Google Earth. I loved everything about this movie from the story, to the performances (especially the child actors), to the adoption message. It was perfect.

Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life- I wish people could appreciate when a film is done well for a particular demographic. Why must every movie please every person? Anyway, this movie is made for the pre-teen crowd and it is made well. I really liked the way they integrated animation into the story and I thought the performances were heartfelt with a surprisingly emotional message about grief and loss.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople– More of a drama than a comedy for me but a very sweet film about a boy and his foster Dad who must explore the wilderness of New Zealand. I didn’t laugh as much as some but I liked these characters and performances. It has such a big heart and looks gorgeous.

Loving- A very different film than advertised. The court case is a small part of it. Most of the movie is about the couple and how they get through life’s struggles together. I really liked it. My only flaw is that it is a little hard to understand Edgerton sometime.

Have you seen any of these? What did you think? Let me know in the comment section and take care!

Ethel & Ernest Review

January 3, 2017 | Rachel's Reviews

As much as I love complex movies that take large artistic risks, I also love simple movies that execute their vision well. Such is the case with the recent UK export Ethel & Ernest. What a lovely portrayal of a marriage and life. It might be too simple for some but that’s what makes is so special.

Ethel & Ernest is based on the graphic novel of the same name written by Raymond Briggs about the life of his parents. Starting in 1928, Ernest a simple milk man, falls in love with a house-maid named Ethel. They decide to get married and end up having a son named Raymond.

Their love is simple and yet it carries them through the tough times including the trials of World War 2. They work through these hardships together and we see Raymond grow into an adult making his own choices of love and a career. The whole thing is completely adorable and I defy anyone to not be able to relate to some part of their lives.

Some people might think such a story is boring but not me. I love seeing stories about life and it gives me hope that good things can come when life is hard. It gives hope that the life of simple men and women like Ethel and Ernest actually matter and that there is beauty in their simplicity.

The animation in Ethel & Ernest is a simple hand drawn water color style but I loved it. It was refreshing and added to the sense of wistful nostalgia in the story. The vocal work by Jim Broadbent and Brenda Blethyn is top notch (two of my favorite actors). You really can’t imagine these characters with any other voices.

I guess if I was going to fault Ethel & Ernest it’s probably not something I will remember in 10 years, but I don’t know if I care about that. While I was watching it, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

The music is also excellent including a new song by Paul McCartney!

So if you are looking for something to brighten your day and make you feel hopeful than give Ethel & Ernest a watch. I think you will really enjoy spending time with this wonderful couple and learning about their life together.

Overall Grade A-

New vs Old Beauty and the Beast Singing

December 31, 2016 | Rachel's Reviews

So today we got our first clip of Emma Watson singing in the new Beauty and the Beast remake. I have put both new and old together side-by-side on this video, so it is easy to compare the two.

What do you think of the new version? It sounds younger with more of a pop feel to it. I am a Broadway girl so I prefer the original more mature sound but I don’t hate the new style. It could work for a younger, more realistic, timid Belle.

So far with this Beauty and the Beast remake I’ve been pretty meh on everything I’ve seen. The only thing I’ve really hated is the household objects especially Mrs Potts.

I’m very nervous about this film but hopefully it will be great like Cinderella or solid like Jungle Book. Fingers crossed.

What do you think of the singing clip and other things you’ve seen from it?

My Most Anticipated Films of 2017

December 30, 2016December 30, 2016 | Rachel's Reviews

It’s that time of the year already where we do our end of the year lists. This includes looking forward to 2017 and the movies to come. I have come up with my most anticipated movies of 2017 list. After being so disappointed in 2016 by most of my selections and other blockbusters I approach this list cautiously. Unfortunately it is hard to put indies on this list because I simply haven’t heard of them yet. I am sure in 2017 there will be gems brought to my attention like Love and Freindship and Sing Street. But for now here are my most anticipated.

15. Wonder Woman- I list this very cautiously as some of the director’s comments have made me nervous and DC has continuously let me down. But if we could get a great female superhero movie that would be so cool. Fingers crossed

14. Kong Skull Island- I was impressed with the trailer and the cast looks great. I hope it is fun with engaging characters and good special effects. I’m skeptical but hopeful

13. The Zookeepers Wife- The premise for this World War 2 drama looks intriguing and I love Jessica Chastain so sign me up!

12. Loving Vincent/The Breadwinner- both of these films will be released sometime in 2017 and I can’t wait. I always root for the indie animation and these look special. Loving Vincent is made up of 65,000 oil on canvaas paintings! The Breadwinner is from the team behind Song of the Sea and that’s enough to get me on board.

11. Spiderman Homecoming- I loved Spiderman in Civil War and he looked great in the trailer. I like that it is a high school story with kids who look age appropriate. Only thing I’m not sold on is the villain.

10. Born in China- Disneynature returns with this story of the pandas. I love the Disneynature films and I am excited for them to explore the pandas. It will definitely be adorable. You can count on that.

9. Thor Ragnarok- I love the director who did Hunt for the Wilderpeople and What we Do in the Shadows. I want this Marvel movie to be hilarious and I want to see our leads interact like the maniacs they are. I love Hemsworth and Ruffalo and it looks so joyous so it should be really fun.

8. Murder on the Orient Express- Kenneth Branagh is directing this take on the Agatha Christy novel. They have a terrific cast and I hope it will be an enjoyable mystery. We don’t get those every day!

7. Paddington 2- I love the first Paddington so much and the entire team is back for the sequel. I hope this is charming and well done

6. Dunkirk- I can’t wait to see Christopher Nolan’s take on the WW2 film.

5. Guardians of the Galaxy 2- I LOVED the trailer for this and I am kind of obsessed with Baby Groot. It all looks like so much fun and you can bet I will be purchasing that soundtrack!

4. Lego Batman Movie- Another film I loved the trailers. They were hilarious especially the one where they go over the history of Bruce/Batman. I hope it is visually inventive and the story is good. They shouldn’t just become too focused on the jokes

3. Coco- An original Pixar musical centered around Day of the Dead? Yes please! I love the cast announcement and the artwork I have seen.

2. Star Wars Ep 8- After being disappointed with Rogue One I am entering this one a bit more cautiously but I am very excited to see the next chapter in the story. I want to know the answers to questions surrounding Rey, Finn, Po and BB8. Mostly I just can’t wait to see these characters again!

1 War of the Planet of the Apes- I’ve loved both of the previous films and this one looks intense and awesome. I loved the trailer and seeing Cesar and the apes get into war with the humans should be pretty epic.

So that is my list. What about you? What are you anticipating for the year? Let me know in the comments section.

Here is my youtube video on it

Blind Spot Choices 2017

December 27, 2016 | Rachel's Reviews

I hope you all were entertained by my Blind Spot series in 2016 here on the blog. I certainly enjoyed watching the 12 films and checking them off of my film bucket list! If you are unfamiliar with the series it’s where we watch and review a classic or well-loved film each month that we haven’t seen (nobody can see everything after all!).

In 2016 I saw- Blade Runner, Tron, Dark Knight Rises, Tales from Earthsea, Yentl, 400 Blows, The Jerk, Talk to Her, Porco Rosso, Unbreakable, Looper and The Ref. You can find links to reviews of all these films here.

My favorite of 2016 was either Porco Rosso or The 400 Blows. My least favorite was definitely Yentl; although it does have some so bad it’s good appeal. It was a great unintentional comedy!

I liked the experience in 2016 so much I intend to continue doing it in 2017. So here is my list:

January- Moonrise Kingdom- Somehow I skipped this Wes Anderson film and it seems like a good fit for the month of my first trip to Sundance!

February- THX- George Lucas’ debut sci-fi film has always intrigued me but I’ve never seen it

March- 8 1/2- My first Federico Fellini film and I look forward to it!

April- From Up on Poppy Hill- Another Studio Ghibli to cross off the list

May-Duck Soup- it’s perhaps scandalous I’ve never seen this Marx Brothers classic

June- Paths to Glory- Director Stanley Kubrick’s World War 1 movie looks amazing and I can’t wait to see it

July-The Boxer- This year I discovered Jim Sheridan’s amazing film In America and so I want to give his boxing film with Daniel Day Lewis a shot.

August-Metropolitan- I fell in love with Whit Stillman’s Love and Friendship this year and have heard nothing but great things about his debut Metropolitan

September- Manhattan- I actually like Woody Allen’s more serious films like Blue Jasmine best but I like Annie Hall so hopefully will enjoy Manhattan.

October- Donnie Darko- Richard Kelly’s demonic take on Harvey intrigues me. I know it is out there but I look forward to seeing it.

November-Giovanni’s Island- this World War 2 anime reminds me of Grave of the Fireflies. It looks beautiful and inspiring.

December-We’re No Angels- a lesser known Christmas movie about 2 burglars who end up helping a family get the Christmas spirit sounds like a lot of fun.

I feel like this is a good mixture of styles, themes, eras and should make for a great series in 2017. Let me know what you think of my list and selections! I look forward to 2017!

Jackie Review

December 27, 2016December 27, 2016 | Rachel's Reviews

2016 has been a tremendous year for indies. I have been disappointed by most of the franchise releases and found relief in indie films like Love and Friendship, Hell or High Water and Everybody Wants Some. However, not all the heralded indies have worked for me, and I’m afraid I have to add Pablo Larrain’s latest Jackie to the dislike pile. I can see why others are drawn to it but it actively irritated me with the choices it made.

Jackie tells the story of first lady Jackie Kennedy in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of her husband President John F Kennedy. Natalie Portman plays Jackie and we get to see her in different eras including in flashback guiding TV cameras through her recently renovated White House. Then we go back and forth between the day of the shooting, an interview 9 days later, and the planning of the funeral.

The problem is Pablo Larrain chose to portray Jackie as a flat emotionally distant character. I cannot understand why they decided to make her so robotic. I joked with a friend afterwards that I kept expecting it to turn into Westworld at the end and she be a robot. Even when she is saying emotional things it doesn’t feel emotional because of the robotic delivery. I got the impression that Larrain and the team didn’t like or admire Jackie very much to portray her in this way.

I’m really surprised this film is getting the praise it is because to me it made very heavy-handed decisions. Like do we really need to hear ‘Camelot’ played not once but twice over montages of Jackie drinking or smoking? Talk about laying it on thick…

In some ways you can tell Jackie is made by a non-American (Pablo Larrain is Chilean). It feels like if I were to go to a museum of Canadian history. It’s all important stuff and I am interested in it but I have no personal attachment to the events on display. That’s what Larrain’s treatment of Jackie felt like. She was cold, distant and thoroughly bland. She had to be more interesting than this script portrays her as! There were a few moments where she manipulates the reporter that were satisfying but that’s about it.

There is a good line where she talks about how she never spent the night with her husband. Now that is a devastating revelation. That’s a revelation that could have been interesting to explore. This seemingly perfect couple that really wasn’t. But the film doesn’t dive into that. It merely keeps adding on the robotic scenes of her packing and insisting on having a Lincoln-like funeral for her husband.

Honestly, the longer the movie went on the more annoyed I got. It was so repetitive in its choices that it never engaged me. It seems a shame that such a fascinating woman would get such a dull, one-note portrayal. Sure it is well made and shot with accurate costumes/production values, but I did not enjoy watching it. I didn’t even think Portman was that good but it isn’t really her fault as the script and direction gives her little to work with.

Some people had issues with the storytelling of Sully this year but at least that was about a fully fledged person with light and darkness, pain and joys. This is just a robot woman who happened to be first lady. Not for me

The whole time I kept wishing I could watch Grey Gardens instead. Now that has some characters! There is no way any woman related to them could be so boring.

Overall Grade- C-

I will say this is a very mild R rating with a couple of F words and some blood from the assassination.

Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2016 | Rachel's Reviews

Just wanted to share with all of you my 2016 Christmas card and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and happy time whatever you celebrate. Thanks for following the blog this year and I hope to continue to grow and become better in 2017