Wes Anderson’s ‘Isle of Dogs’ an Insant Stop-Motion Animation Classic

There is a distinct quality in a film that you know it’s made by Wes Anderson, live-action or not. Much like the Oscar-Winning ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’, Isle of Dogs boasts vibrant colors and superb cinematography with subtle humor and surprisingly this time, raw emotions.

5 minutes in the movie you already forgot it’s stop-motion, and it was incredibly done. The movements of characters, the look, they’re all uniquely crafted with incredible attention to detail. It didn’t look funny at all. The dogs are as charming as you can imagine, (shoutout to the french bulldog), and the it was voiced amazingly by the star-studded cast.

The scoring is for me, the best part. Is Alexandre Desplat up for his third Oscar? What a musical genuis.

Isle of Dogs is one of Wes Anderson’s masterpices proving yet again that he is a hell of a film maker, crafting a believed defunct style in animation, but he nevertheless helmed a visually stunning movie with help from dogs, who wouldn’t be won over?

Grade: 5 Stars

The Charming Cast Wasn’t Enough

I had high expectations from the stand-alone Han Solo film as Rogue One is surprisingly and arguably the best Star Wars film. It missed to hit the mark probably just by an inch. But then again, a trip down the galaxy far far away is always a delight.

It wasn’t easy to say the least for the cast and crew for the troubles it took to finish the film with the original director abandoning the film midway through production. (I maybe wrong here) But that wasn’t felt in the film. This spinoff movie was more about putting a narrative to storylines that is already midway The Phantom Menace including the beginning of the rebellion.

Halfway through the movie you start to get the feeling of how uneccesary this film is. In comparison to Rogue One where you get that sentiment of “oh so that’s why!” In this film however, the portayal of the beginnings of the iconic Han Solo proved nothing more of a cash grab since Disney took over. Han Solo is already dead in the current Star Wars universe, and you kinda hoped this film will celebrate him instead it gave us an unspiring love story, and Han Solo’s weird friendship with Chewbacca and his obsession to the millenium falcon. It’s a mess.

Thank God for Emilia Clarke and Woody Harrelson which by the way, acted it solo and they outshone the actual hero. Solo: A Star Wars Story is a weak addition to ths exhaustingly growing cinematic universe that doesn’t know when to stop.

Grade: 3/5 Stars

Deadpool 2 is Overkill

You gotta give a whole lot of credit to Ryan Reynolds for all the efforts and self-mockery. He carried the entire film so much that the other characters fade behind him and sometimes, almost unrecognizable.

Perhaps, we’ve seen enough of Deadpool 1 that the sequel feels a little too much. Well, not in excess of everything but mainly because there is nothing in here that we haven’t seen before. Occasionally funny, but even the self-mockery kinda feels a whole lot of stretch. The first movie was extremely funny but on this one, sometimes I felt like it was “meh” that halfway through the movie I started asking myself on why they made a sequel. Perhaps ‘overkill’ is what I’m looking for here.

What you really have to watch out for are the cameos. There is a LOT of cameos that it was a delight and I was even got really surprised with some.

It’s entertaining, so many easter eggs and pop-culture references that you really have to pay attention to dialogue. Even Deadpol admits, it was lousy writing, and it really was.

Cable, the villain, I feel is a littel out of place. The villain from the first one was entartaining. Brolin’s acting was bland and lifeless. There are certain parts of the film that the CGI looked ridiculous, even when they mocked Justice League’s mustache fiasco.

They should stop making Deadpool movies and just have him join the MCU as if they’re not planning on that yet already.

Grade: 3/5 stars

The Best Coming-of-Age Film Ever

Nick Robinson carried the entire film on his own in a showcase of defeaning vulnerability in the most charming way possible that halfway through the movie, the audience becomes Simon. And on the ride with him in the heartaches and in the ultimate victory of self-realization, Love, Simon immediately becomes a classic.

It’s not the subject matter that makes it work, it’s the honesty we haven’t seen before in a film with kids, and also the love and warmth the film has regardless of circumstances, it’s not about who you are per se, it’s who you want to become.

The ensemble is just magnificent. Everyone fits in their role so perfectly that they must be real. The pacing, on how it went on a complete circle. The level of mystery that is irresistible to the point that we, became Sherlock Holmes of who the hell is this mystery online pen-pal Simon has.

It is movie with self-reflection, that for me, beats “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” more wildly entertaining and funny as “Juno,”; it’s a masterpiece. And sure there is cheesiness and the moment where you thought, “That’s not gonna happen in real life,” but a movie the leaves you so fullfilled is a triumph on its own already.

The best film of the year for me so far, a classic that will be revisited every now and then. Love, Simon is the perfect love letter anchored by a strong performance from its lead actor.

Grade: 5/5 Stars

This Is Not Spoiler-Free, Read at Your Own Risk

This is the most exhausting movie ever. Having said that, it’s the good kind of exhaustion; something we’ve been asking for for 10 years when it all came down in this movie.

It is visually stunning, more stunning than Guardian of the Galaxy Volume 2. It doesn’t feel crammed either, with all the superheroes on the same movie all at the same time, sure there will be less of character development, but this is mainly an exposition all all storylines that has accumulated over the years.

It doesn’t rest, it leaves you astonished and excited for what is to come. It’s very linear and straight to the point, like the rest of all Marvel movies, it does not leave anything for any logical thinking, but what it does is makes you wonder on what’s next.

What pisses me off however, is the amount of ridiculous thing that happened. All the unjustiable twists and turns, the fake deaths how much bullshit it is to show half of them is dead when we all know they aren’t.

The moment it took a page of DC for being a little bit emotional, I lost it. You cannot show a storyline that is a little deep and well, dramatic, in one movie and expect the audience will fall for it. There hasn’t been any real consequence in any Marvel movie and certainly not on this one. You killed Loki 10 minutes in to justify Thor’s drive to defeat Thanos, but that is betrayal to us. Loki cannot die just like that. It’s unnecessary. Vision’s death, if he really is dead, was lackluster. He’s not that special. And to ultimately to have half of them disappear in the end is a little too much. No one is buying it. That’s just a staging for the next Avengers film.

What’s really emotional here, one that they were able to achieve but I don’t think that’s what they were trying to focus on, was the reunion of the Avengers. With Captain America winning us over by saying we have to assembe or we all die.

I felt the struggle for the Russo Brothers to put in some laughs as they are building an emotional journey with the actors. But some of them succeeded. The Starbucks reference for example.

Thanos is worthy villain, thank goodness, but it’s pretty hard to take him seriously as well as he’s CGI. He has no physical limitations whatsoever, and the Gamora-Thanos storyline was not just developed enough.

It is the most action-packed Marvel movie ever, also the biggest assembly of all possible superheroes you want, but as any film that is split in two-parts, Infinity War is nothing but the laying all the ground work for what is really set to come down when they finally defeat Thanos. Avengers: Infinity War is Marvel’s most ambitious movie, but not the best.

Grade: 3/5 Stars

Masterful and Absolutely Terrifying: A Quiet Place Roars

It is common knowledge that Emily Blunt is perfection in everything she does, that includes her professional work as a spectacular actress. What more did we really expect as she gave us her finest work yet on the sci-fi suspense shocker ‘A Quiet Place’ which is coincidentally directed by her husband John Krasinski.

It is GENUIS to create a film where no one talks, and the narrative is set in a literal silence, as a terrified family bravely fight existence in a world where any noise can kill you in an instant.

You absolutely know when something terrible is about to happen; just a little sound and you can expect a series of seriously unfortunate events. John Kransinski’s directorial debut paid off with an entry to the horror genre that is absolutely ingenuis and very well done.

It is easy to botch this film if you’re putting unrealistically pretty faces and teenage hormones, instead, we see a family struggling to survive with issues with each other as pretense and it made the whole thing relatable and also, a little touching.

It’s one of those movies that will put you in the edge of your seat, unable to make a sound, in a sort of emphatically riding with the characters on screen, which makes the movie one of the best this year so far. Superbly acted with the great Emily Blunt with terrifying tricks at hand, A Quiet Place roars triumph.

Grade: 4.5/5 Stars

The Curse of Hollywood Sequels in Full Swing

There is a reason sequels are rare in Hollywood. It can go either two ways: massive success that will prompt more sequels, or the case of Pacific Rim: Uprising, total and complete disaster.

Whoever thought they can move forward with Guillermo Del Toro’s original idea, as Pacific Rim back then was a critically acclaimed alien movie of sorts, without Guillermo Del Toro, has completely lost their minds right about now. This movis is panned by critics and audiences everywhere so far, and I will too. We didn’t ask for a half-baked, cash-grabbing Pacific Rim sequel.

The whole thing is like the defunct Transformers Series: loud and senseless. It’s like we paid to watch cities get destructed by robots, we’ve seen all of that already thank you very much.

The lore of the Kaijus died 10 minutes into the movie, and they continued slaying it with robotized Kaijus, I mean what the fuck?

Pacific Rim Uprising is an utter waste of John Boyega’s potential, and the movie suffers from a stupid plot and an uninspired cast. I’m declaring the ultimate death of this franchise.

Grade: 2/5 Stars

Pure Filmmaking Magic

Steven Spielberg is the one director I know who is timeless and has a profound talent in captivating audiences all over the world with his knack of putting magic of storytelling into the big screen.

Ready Player One is a masterpice: a imaginative world built inside a parallel that is dystopian. The Oasis: a virtual reality immersed in never-ending possibilities where anyone can be anything. Damn it was gorgeous.

The whole thing is orchestrated with genius visual effects that we all probably seen before: but like what I’ve said before, it’s all about execution. And Spielberg, at 71, never lost his touch. There was never a dull moment, you get hooked immediately, like the Oasis sucked you in too, and we can’t get enough.

One thing I admire about a Steven Spielberg film, amongst other things, is his complete disregard of who is casted in his films. It’s about whoever fits into the character, and they were all played with immense care and attention. Truthfully, the 140 minute running is not enough, but knowing Spielberg, there will be no sequels for this. Instead , like all his other films, we have a timeless classic in our hands.

The pop culture references in this film is basically the comic relief, putting aside the sociatal conflict of The Oasis brings, and the bad guys who wishes to control it. You name it, King Kong, Chuckie, The Shinning, even Gundam. The movie is suddenly relatable to all age groups.

What I really love about Ready Player One, is how much it reminded me of why I love going to movies in the first place. It’s the escape. The limitless possiblities. The reality.

Though CGI-loaded, Ready Player One is one of the best films of the year, even of the decade. A timeless masterpice is once again helmed by the incomparable Steven Spielberg.

Grade: 5/5 Stars

You’ve Been Warned: It’s Galactically Disastrous

Eye-popping, at times yes, but mostly it showcases unnecessary CGi extravaganza to the point of ridiculousness. This movie is probably the worst showcase of a talented cast although the story is in the right place.

If Disney is not showing princesses it’s giving us disappointing movies we didn’t ask for. Tomorrowland for example. And I feel bad now for Oprah Wingrey, Mindy Kaling and especially Reese Witherspoon.

There was an unnecessary use of glitters in this film, and textile for the unnecessarily glamorous costumes.

The first half is extremely dull, and the other half exceedingly ambitious and it fell flat on delivery. Kids won’t even like this. Don’t watch it.

Grade: 2/5 stars

Alicia Vikander is the Bomb

All was right especially the casting of Alicia Vikander to the iconic heroine Lara Croft on the reboot of Tomb Raider.

The movie is solemn, and Croft, delicately portrayed by Oscar-winning actress Alicia Vikander, delivers an intricate beauty in showing Lara’s vulnerabilities and weakness. More so is the show of her strength and bravery. Tomb Raider is a breathe of fresh air in a men-dominated industry. It doesnt get any refreshing than this.

It doesn’t show unecessary action sequence; but when it does, we see her only to what she can only do, and her limitations are only broken with the power of her will and determination which makes these sequences extremely powerful and believable.

What impressed me the most is the absence of magic in the literal sense, as I was expecting some kind of ancient powers to be unleashed as seen on Jolie’s previous 2 Tomb Raider films. Instead, the reboot deals with adventures with scientific backing with compilations by politics. This take is more effective and makes Lara Croft indentifiable with the rest of us and well, relatable and I believe that is i extremely important.

Tomb Raider is an immersive, well-crafted action film with the impressive acting from Vikander, and we cannot wait for the next film.

Grade: 4/5 stars