2017 movies

Current Mini Reviews

| Rachel's Reviews

So occasionally I get behind on full written reviews and have to play catch up with a mini review post. Make sure you are following me on my youtube channel. I have started a new series on Wednesdays where I tell you what I’ve seen and how it ranks for the year (and how my ranking has changed over the week).

But let me share with you my thoughts on a bunch of films I have not reviewed on this blog.

How to Be a Latin Lover-

My friend Christina who is from South America really liked this so maybe I am not part of its audience because I did not find it funny. It’s definitely on an Adam Sandler level of humor. The one bright spot was Salma Hayek who glowed like a true movie star. He romantic subplot really worked and I wish the film had been about that instead

Overall Grade- D+

Brigsby Bear-

This is a film the more I think about it the more I like it. It’s a very original unique story about a man who lives in a sealed environment set free in the real world. He must deal with a lot of new stuff and scarring and he does that through making a movie about his childhood obsession with a TV show called Brigsby Bear. It is a very sweet movie with a great heart and it is filmed right in my neighborhood! It is a tribute to the power of creative thinking, movies and movie making.  It does lag in a few spots is my only critique but it’s one I just keep thinking about.

Overall Grade- B+

Ingrid Goes West-

A brilliant movie about our social media addictions but it is more than that. It touches on modern loneliness and our need to be liked by people on social media. It also speaks to our societies complete inability to deal with people facing a mental health crisis (or helping it not get to that point). I related to Ingrid far more than I should have…

Overall Grade- A- (R Rated mostly for language, drug use, mild sensuality and brief violence)

Patti  Cake$-

A sweet underdog story of an overweight New Jersey girl who dreams of being a rapper. It is predictable but I don’t mind that if it is executed well and this is. The performances, particularly the lead, are all strong and a nice example of functioning urban diversity we don’t often see. My only flaw with the film is often the crowd was laughing at things I found sad so I felt like I wasn’t in on a lot of the jokes. It was very odd.

Overall Grade- B (R Rated mostly for language but there is drug use and sensuality)

Leap!-

A harmless animated film that will entertain young girls who dream of being a ballerina. The animation looks nice and they will enjoy it. However, I did have some issues as an adult. I got kind of bored with the predictable story and I thought the lead girl got everything too easily. It’s great to tell kids to dream big but not when the dreams come without hard work. She’s also not punished for being dishonest and unkind on several occasions.

Overall Grade- C (for little girls I’d give it a C+)

Justice League Dark-

Redemption for DC animated films after the disaster that was last year’s The Killing Joke. I really liked these new characters particularly Zatanna and Constantine. They had interesting powers and personalities. I liked Zatanna so much I bought her comic book collection and am reading them right now. It’s dark without becoming dour and depressing. You don’t really need Batman here but I guess DC felt he had to be there. Still very entertaining animated DC film.

Overall Grade- B+

Book of Henry-

A movie you can’t really believe is real while you are watching it. It’s part sentimental family story and part how to murder your neighbor with a little childhood illness thrown in for good measure. Almost every line of dialogue and character choice felt off and the tone is a complete disaster. There’s nothing more funny than a bad movie that is completely sincere so it is definitely worth a watch for the train-wreck it is. I haven’t seen a so bad it’s good movie on this level since Walt Before Mickey.

Overall Grade- D-

The Girl Without Hands-

A beautiful indie animated film basically made by one man- Sebastien Laudenbach. I loved the way the animation moved and flowed together like watching water. It tells the Grimm’s Fairytale of a girl who’s father foolishly sells her to the devil for money. She ends up losing her hands but the devil can’t quite capture her because of her determination. This is animation for adults but not because it is offensive but it is mature with themes of birth, pain, death and sorrow. I really loved it and encourage you to see if you can find it near you. The music is also amazing.  I reviewed it in more detail on rotoscopers.com

Overall Grade- A-

So there you have it. Let me know what you think of these films and what you have been watching lately! Thanks so much for reading my blog. Sure love ya!

Logan Lucky Review

| Rachel's Reviews

Comedies are always weird to review. They are so much more subjective than any other genre. You can judge the performances and other movie-making skill but at the end of the day it has to make you laugh. What makes me laugh may be completely different than what makes you laugh. All that said, Logan Lucky really made me laugh. It reminded me of Talladega Nights- a movie I find hilarious- but this is less naughty than that film. It brought me back to my small town redneck roots with its clever script and engaging performances.

The story of Logan Lucky is pretty simple. It is basically a redneck version of Oceans 11 and that makes sense because both films have the same director- Steven Soderbergh. Both have similar stories and are about a team of people that are planning the heist of the century. Oceans 11 is the better film but Logan Lucky made me laugh a lot more.

The cast is so great in this. Channing Tatum, Adam Driver and Riley Keough play siblings that are planning the heist (Tatum is the lead who looses his job at the beginning of the film). Adam Driver is so funny as a vet who lost his hand in the war. I love when Adam Driver does comedy. The man always makes me laugh.

To make their plan work they have to get Daniel Craig in and out of prison without anyone realizing it. Gone is James Bond! I have never seen Daniel Craig like this before. He was hilarious. Dwight Yoakam, as the warden, has one of the best gags of the movie involving Game of Thrones (which I don’t watch but it was still funny).

Daniel Craig’s brothers played by Brian Gleeson and Jack Quaid were really funny. Sebastian Stan was great. It just w0rked for me. The cast also had really good chemistry together which goes a long way in a heist movie.

Some may complain that the plan is unrealistic especially for these idiots, but I didn’t care about that. Heist movies are always pretty unrealistic and besides many a redneck is surprisingly smart so I bought it. The actors all sell it and the script kept me laughing so it worked. If I had been bored than the unrealistic elements would have bothered me.

The film also looks nicer than it probably deserves to look. You can tell Steven Soderbergh is a strong director because it is shot really nice with great cinematography and lighting. It elevates the film above something like Talladega Nights. It might be sacrilege but I thought this was just as well made and entertaining as Baby Driver.

There are some flaws with the film. There is a point after the heist where they should have ended the movie but it goes on and Hillary Swank is introduced really late. We didn’t need to see the investigation or any of that. Just end with them winning and going off with the money.

Also Seth MacFarlane as a bratty race car owner didn’t work for me but he never makes me laugh- even on Family Guy.

Logan Lucky is also a surprisingly mild PG-13. The language isn’t that bad and it’s not very violent. It’s not a squeaky clean movie but it is pretty tame.  If you can handle Oceans 11 you should have no problem with the content in Logan Lucky. I would expect a movie like this to have a million f words and be more violent but it doesn’t. Yay!

So I really liked Logan Lucky. It did its job and made me laugh. I think you will all have a good time.

Overall Grade- A-

Detroit Review

| Rachel's Reviews

I don’t know if all of you appreciate the struggles I go through to decide on what movies I am going to see and review. Amongst my faith there can be a lot of backlash and judgement towards people who see rated R movies. There’s a certain stigma attached to them, which I think is stupid. Anyway, when I do see them (and PG-13s for that matter) I like them to be worthwhile and edifying. Particularly historical films I find valuable and necessary to portray violence as it happened (for example, war is violent by its very nature but important to know about).

I try my best to research a film and then talk to friends and family who have seen it and make a decision. Sometimes that doesn’t pan out well like with Nocturnal Animals but most of the time it works out. Tonight’s film was one of those positive examples. I finally put on my big girl pants and saw Kathryn Bigelow’s new movie Detroit. This is a tough film to watch, but I’m glad I saw it.

Detroit tells the story of the torture of mostly black men at the Algers Hotel during the Detroit riots in 1967 by police officers looking into a reported sniper shooting. They line the captives up and intimidate, beat and kill them and it is tough to watch. There’s nowhere for the young men to go and no source of law that they can turn to because the law is the problem or at least part of the problem

I’m not going to pretend like I know whether the events portrayed are historically accurate. Some have complained about it like The Huffington Post saying it is ‘the most irresponsible and dangerous movie of the year’. They have their reasons and I’m not going to argue with them. I also wouldn’t argue with someone who felt it didn’t portray the black experience or racism of police officers correctly.  That is not my place.

What I can speak to is my reaction to the movie. So, putting all that aside, Kathryn Bigelow has made a movie that immediately immerses the viewer in a situation, which feels real. In a world where we still have so many of these problems there is value in seeing and living in the shoes of those who experience police coercion and racism.(There is a good cop, the police chief, so it isn’t completely one-sided).

And even more chilling is seeing the court proceedings after the incident and how justice is not served to those you’ve just seen suffer. I think living in that space for a couple hours did me some good and gave me more empathy for others. How can that be a bad thing?

Detroit is very well made by Kathryn Bigelow and while it is very violent it didn’t feel exploitative. I think partly because it feels more like a documentary than a narrative in a way. You don’t get to know the characters that well. It’s kind of like Dunkirk in that regard. You know the characters in Detroit more than Dunkirk but not by much. It’s an immersive experience meant to make you feel and empathize with the characters more than manipulate you with narrative. After having a horrible experience with manipulative narrative yesterday this was actually kind of refreshing.

With the exception of a hard core racist cop played by Will Poulter the script is free of flashy moments and big speeches. All the acting is top notch including John Boyega, Jack Reynor, Anthony Mackie, Algee Smith and Jason Mitchell. The intimate cinematography and music also is very effective.

I have a few nitpicks in Detroit. The animated sequence at the beginning felt added on last minute and John Krasinski didn’t quite work as the defense attorney for the racist cops. It’s also maybe a hair too long with some of the beginning that could have been cut down. But those are small things.

Overall, if you have the stomach for some violence and profanity, Detroit is worth seeing if only for the conversations it should start with questions we need to be asking each other. Again, I just don’t see how that is a bad thing? I’m glad I saw it and I’m grateful to Kathryn Bigelow for making it.

Overall Grade- A-

smile worthy

Glass Castle Review

| Rachel's Reviews

If you follow my youtube channel you know I saw The Glass Castle last night and absolutely hated it. I must admit I don’t feel like I have the energy to hash out all the reasons I didn’t like it again, so please watch the video. However, I will give you a few.

The Glass Castle is based on a popular memoir by Jeannette Walls. It tells the story of her horrible childhood and what it was like to grow up with an abusive alcoholic father.

Unfortunately this movie seems to only half understand that. Instead Woody Harrelson as the father is often portrayed as a dreamer who wants to give his kids the stars and push them to a higher, better way of life.

This message is compounded by cutting back and forth to modern day Jeannette as played by Brie Larson. The film clearly judges her for being engaged to a yuppie man in finance and having the trappings of wealth. She is lectured to on numerous occasions about how she isn’t living up to her true potential.

I guess she should be more like her father who tells his young son that he needs to grow up and be a man after being sexually assaulted. Or when he gets drunk and allows his kids to go without food for 3 days. Or when he holds their mother out of a 2 story window by her neck. Isn’t it great being a dreamer?

I get that destructive toxic people are complex and loving them is possible but the way this movie showed the two sides of the father really bothered me and the way it judged her for living a stable better life angered me.

Other people seem to be able to get something out of it and I respect that but it really offended me and I hated it. My friend who went with me felt the same way. Free thinking is a great thing but not at the expense of childhood and innocence lost. I will not applaud this type of horrible behavior.

At one point the mother says she should stay with the father because ‘he’s the only one who believed in my painting’. Free thinking and creative endeavors have thus become a cage which is as terrifying as anything shown in Room but this movie wants you to be inspired by it. Even the music seemed to say ‘celebrate the free thinker’ at the most horrific times. Heck no!

I can only speak for myself in my reviews and I hated this movie. I thought it was morally repugnant and disgusting and these parents belonged in jail not celebrated in any way.

It really made me mad and it is my worst movie of 2017

Overall Grade- F

Current Mini Movie Reviews

| Rachel's Reviews

Hi guys! I don’t always do full posts on every movie I’ve seen- especially when I am playing catch up. So, here are some mini- reviews of 2017 releases I’ve seen but not reviewed on the blog.

The Case for Christ- 

One of the better faith-based films I’ve seen. It just tells one man’s struggle with faith- Lee Strobel. The acting is good and the preaching is pretty subdued. It still is more for its target demo but it doesn’t pander to them or attack those who don’t believe. Even the moment of conversion is pretty subtle and moving. My religious friends will be inspired by it and enjoy it.

Overall Grade- B

Going in Style-

A group of senior citizens robbing a bank seems like an odd premise for a charming film but that’s what it turns out to be. It doesn’t dive into the deeper problems of this story and it can get sitcomy but the cast elevates it. It kind of reminded me of Fun with Dick and Jane- a movie I find very underrated.

Overall Grade- B

The Nut Job 2-

I’m as shocked as you guys are to say I enjoyed The Nut Job 2! While it isn’t going to win any academy awards it was a solid, charming animated film. It improves upon the original in pretty much every way which I admire. They took feedback and made something better. More than you can say for other franchises like Despicable Me…Anyway, the story is very played out and predictable and the villains are lame but I liked the characters much more. Plus, the animation was better and the characters much more likable. I think if people gave it a shot with an open mind they’d enjoy it as well.

For my youtube review click here

Overall Grade- B-

Landline-

This film is set in the 90s about a family in Brooklyn and each member’s issues. Naturally I enjoyed the 90s throwbacks but what made it work was the great casting. This really felt like a believable family. The way they talked and behaved towards each other felt very authentic. The two sisters (Abby Quinn and Jenny Slate) even look like they could be sisters and they had great chemistry together.  The script is fairly pedestrian but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Overall Grade- B+ (R Rated)

Dark Tower-

I haven’t been this frustrated in a fantasy film since Warcraft. At least with this film I had read the book so I had some idea what was going on but the film is so badly put together. The Gunslinger and Man in Black are supposed to be rivals and here it felt like random scenes that made no sense together.  It reminded me of Fan4stic to be honest. The ties to the Dark Tower and why The Man in Black wants to destroy it are nebulous at best. The kid is annoying and the violence means nothing because we don’t know any of the people being impacted.  The special effects look cheap and the whole thing really annoyed me. Maybe an F was harsh on my youtube review but I found it completely limp and boring. It felt like it would never end at just over 90 minutes! I liked it less than Transformers: the Last Knight, which at least has some visual spectacle. Matthew McConaughey gives a razzie worthy performance.

Overall Grade- F

Maudie-

A terrific performance from Sally Hawkins carries this biopic about an artist that has physical limitations and her unique marriage. The main problem is Ethan Hawke who plays her husband and his character seemed to swing radically from scene to scene . I never knew if I would get the kind man or the beast. Perhaps that was true to life but it felt random here. I still enjoyed it though. A solid biopic with a great lead performance.

Overall Grade- B

Jeremiah Tower: the Last Magnificent-

A documentary about a famous New York and San Francisco chef, Jeremiah Tower. This is a standard celebrity biographical documentary. It didn’t give me a ton of new insight into the culinary world but was interesting. There are a lot of celebrity interviews like Wolfgang Puck and Anthony Bourdain. It won’t blow your mind but it’s interesting enough.

Overall Grade- B- (Rated R)

If you’ve seen any of these please put in the comments section what you thought! Thanks!

STEP Review

| Rachel's Reviews

The big weekend is finally here! After me babbling on about a little documentary I saw at Sundance called STEP some of America finally gets to see it! I’ve actually had the chance to see it twice: once at Sundance and once at an event for the Utah Film Center, and I look forward to seeing it many more times when it opens in Utah 8/18. STEP may be a sweet documentary to some but for me it is why I go to the movies. It really spoke to me and it might sound cheesy but it made me feel better about this crazy world we live in.

Here’s the trailer:

A few months ago I shared that trailer with a friend of mine and she said ‘I don’t like dance movies’. Let me tell you what I told her- this is not a dance movie. Much like Hoop Dreams wasn’t about basketball, STEP is not about dance. STEP is about 3 girls in Baltimore and the community that helps get them to college.

The three girls are named Blessin, Cori and Tayla and each of them face different struggles.  They are all students at the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women that is admittedly owned by the director Amanda Lipitz’s  mother. This school caters to inner city Baltimore girls and graduated its first crop of seniors in 2015-2016 (the year we follow).

In 6th grade Blessin started a step dance troupe but was unable to compete during her junior year because of poor grades. She also has a mother with severe mental health problems. On the other side, Cori is a book worm who dreams of getting into John Hopkins and becoming a doctor despite growing up in a family that can’t pay for power. Tayla has a mother who works as a cop and see’s the worst the city has to offer.

The documentary then follows these girls for a year and we see teachers, coaches, administrators and parents all fight for them to achieve their dreams. Both times I saw it the crowds cheered at the end and how wonderful to cheer for real life and not imaginary superheroes for once? I got to meet Coach G at the Utah Film Center screening and she was awesome. Just as real and down to earth as you’d think from the movie. Roger Ebert said about Hoop Dreams “A film like “Hoop Dreams” is what the movies are for. It takes us, shakes us, and make us think in new ways about the world around us. It gives us the impression of having touched life itself.”

That’s how I feel about STEP. 2017 has been a great year for movies. I loved films like Wonder Woman or Dunkirk but nothing has wowed me like STEP.  Nothing else, you might say, has ‘touched life itself’.

GO SEE STEP!  You won’t regret it!

Overall Grade- A+

 

We Love You, Sally Carmichael! Review

| Rachel's Reviews

Today I had a fun experience! I got to attend a movie premiere- red carpet and all. It was just a little local film but it was still a fun experience to see the cast and have them introduce the film called We Love You Sally Carmichael! Fortunately it also turned out to be a fun little romcom to boot. This is a small local film but it is not a faith-based film, so anyone who likes romcoms will enjoy it.

The is directed by Christopher Gorham who also stars as Simon Hayes. He is an author with social anxiety who has written a huge best selling romantic teen novel series similar to Twilight (the digs at Stephanie Meyer and Twilight were very obvious but tastefully done). Because of his anxiety, Simon chooses to write under a pseudonym Sally Carmichael. He is also embarrassed by the lightness of the novels and their popularity.

Things get messy for Simon when he writes a scathing rebuke of the series in a local newspaper as a favor for a woman named Tess (Bitsie Tulloch). To make matters worse, a big name star named Perry (Sebastian Roche) comes into town who the studio wants to star in the movie adaptation of the series.

We Love You, Sally Carmichael doesn’t reinvent the wheel but it consistently made me laugh especially Roche as the very weird movie star. Tulloch and Gorham have winning chemistry and it all works out to be a charming film.

The liar reveal plot is a bit of a groaner but the cast and laughs more than make up for it. I really enjoyed it and it is so rare that I like a comedy these days. This is one you can take the entire family and they will all have a good time. Imagine that! It’s as squeaky clean as they come!

Overall Grade- B+

In This Corner of the World Review

| Rachel's Reviews

‘Slice of life’ films are not for everyone. Some viewers demand a narrative with a traditional start, climax and conclusion, which I can certainly appreciate. However, some of us can sit back and let a film take us to a particular time and place and simply live with characters for a little while. I love those kind of films and the new anime In This Corner of the World is such a movie. Director Sunao Katabuchi (who I had the chance to interview for Rotoscopers.com) takes us to 1945 Japan in meticulous detail as we follow the life of a young woman named Suzu.

The film starts out with Suzu in Hiroshima in 1944. She has been assigned a marriage to a young man named Shūsaku who lives in the city of Kure. Following the custom of her day she agrees to marry and moves away from her family. This may be difficult for modern viewers to understand but it is portrayed with tact and subtlety that never endorses the practice but merely says ‘this is what happened’. Luckily Shūsaku is a nice man who is probably as nervous as Suzu and the two are able to form a bond.

Of course, wartime is going on and this makes things difficult for Suzu and her new family. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a war movie that was exclusively told from the perspective of civilians. We get incredible attention to detail and particularly focusing on the food- its scarcity and how it had to be prepared during wartime.  There is even a long segment that goes through how rice was prepared to make it last extra long and feed more people.

As Suzu works hard for her new family and faces the struggles of war you see her grow up and become a more confident woman. The entire time she is also an artist and sketches what she sees. This becomes more liberating as the days go by. She must eventually decide who her family is and where she belongs.

Because she is an artist, sometimes the animation can have sketchy elements to it. I was reminded of Isao Takahata and Grave of the Fireflies while watching it. It’s not quite on that level but it was beautifully animated and took some creative risk. The music was also perfect for the simple story.

Some people will find In This Corner of the World to be boring. I can completely understand that.  There is stuff that happens to Suzu but a lot of the film is profiling her daily life. You’ll either like that style or you won’t. I enjoyed it and am glad I saw it. It’s not on A Silent Voice or Your Name level but it is a quality anime film that I am better for having watched.

And this year in animation how many movies can you say that about…

Overall Grade- B+

Emoji Movie Review

| Rachel's Reviews

We live in divisive times. Folks are arguing over politics, relationships and even sports. What’s one thing everyone seems to agree on? Well, that the Emoji Movie sucks. This is a clear fact but do I agree?

There was a side of me hoping Emoji Movie would be a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately it is not a strong film. I don’t know if I can cosign the worst of the reviews but I can see where they are coming from. It’s just not a good movie.

There are some positives. I liked the animation for the most part. It was bright and colorful and some of the world building in the phone looked cool. Also the voice cast was fine. I particularly liked Steven Wright and Jennifer Coolidge in their roles.

Unfortunately there are major problems. The biggest is The Emoji Movie is incredibly derivative. It borrows or shares similar elements with Inside Out, Minions, Wreck-it Ralph, Zootopia, The Lego Movie, A Bug’s Life, Sausage Party, Trolls, Angry Birds Movie, Sing, Secret Life of Pets, Toy Story and more.

Sometimes having a derivative story isn’t a problem. Many criticized The Good Dinosaur for being derivative of The Lion King but it had enough creativity, heart and beautiful visuals to engross me. The Emoji Movie doesn’t have anything like that to distract you from the reused plot points so it ends up feeling kind of dull.

The lead character Gene doesn’t fit in and has to go on a journey to learn to be himself. This is tired enough but along the way he meets a cool talking girl and a snarky boy (Jailbreak and High 5). These sidekicks do nothing to build a compelling story and are mostly annoying.

The movie could be saved by its laughs but they aren’t there. Some of the jokes don’t even make sense. From the marketing you would think Sir Patrick Stewart as the Poop Emoji would get big laughs but he really doesn’t. He is in 3 or 4 scenes and that’s it.

In Inside Out the world was constantly morphing and changing depending on what happens to Riley and the emotions. Here the emojis journey annoys the teen Alex but that’s about it. Plus, the idea that kids don’t talk to each other at all is a little hard to believe even for the greatest of cynics. At the very least Alex had to talk to the girl he likes to get her phone number and she sends him a text to begin with!

There is some creativity in the world of the apps but the problem is most of the time they feel completely superfluous. Like they spend a segment in youtube and another in spotify for no reason and they didn’t quite get the spirit of what those apps are all about to begin with.

The villain is pretty annoying and everything plays out just as you expect. There is also a plot with Mr and Mrs Meh that did nothing for me.

The Emoji Movie isn’t the worst animated film I’ve seen but it’s not good. There’s nothing offensive about it (except maybe the glaring product placement) so you can take your kids and they will be moderately entertained but why do that when they can watch Captain Underpants or Cars 3 instead? Those are far superior films than The Emoji Movie. I guess at least I wasn’t offended like I was after watching The Killing Joke (reaching here).

In the end, it’s not epicly bad to be memorable like Norm of the North but it’s far from good. It feels like a waste of time and resources when they could have made something that said something about communication and our phones. Even if it just had better jokes that would have been watchable but alas it was not to be.

Here is my youtube review:

Now I want to forget about The Emoji Movie and move on to the next animated film of 2017. Oh wait, that’s the Nut Job 2 🙁

Overall Grade- D