Nocturnal Animals (2016)

Nocturnal Animals is a dark and devilishly stylish thriller from Tom Ford, who knows a thing or two about style having worked as creative director for both Gucci and Yves Saint Lauren in the past. Nocturnal Animals is one of those movies as after you watch you leave being stunned and thinking about life in somewhat of a dark manner seeing that many times it's in the form of regret and tragedy.

The plot centers around Susan Morrow( Amy Adams)who's an elegant high class society L.A. art gallery owner who kind of finds herself in a state of doubt. She's married now to a new guy yet, it's when Susan receives a novel from her ex-husband Ed Sheffield(Jake Gyllenhaal)that brings back the memories of doubt and guilt. As with each page that Susan reads and turns this violent thriller becomes more and more of a symbolic tale that seems like a memory of her life with Ed. As it's clear Ed set out to bring fright to Susan thru the pages of a novel, as it has Susan doing a flashback of her time with Ed.

Spectre (2015)

Casino Royale and Skyfall are my two favorite Bond movies. Unoriginal I know, but whether you like Daniel Craig as Bond or not, you can't deny he has been an integral part of the series' highest points. Following the magnificent Skyfall, Spectre had some huge shoes to fill, and for the most part, it delivers exactly what you'd want. An attention-grabbing, tense opening fight scene, a lovely title sequence (whether the song is good is debatable), and an elaborate sinister plot surrounding James Bond that puts him up against his inner demons more than ever. Does it surpass Casino Royale or Skyfall? I don't think so, but as far as reintroducing the villainous organization SPECTRE into Bond canon after 40+ years, the film hits the nail on the head, pulls it back out, then slams it in even harder.

SPECTRE is revealed to have been affiliated with some of Bond's biggest threats - Mr. White, Le Chiffre, Raoul Silva - all under the control of one puppeteer, the head of SPECTRE and one of the most iconic villains of all time, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. It isn't much of a spoiler, as speculation was rampant ever since the first trailer (and hell, when the name of the movie was released). What's important is its execution, and Spectre leaves breadcrumbs for you to follow all the way through the belly of the beast. Not only is Bond under SPECTRE's crosshairs, but MI6 itself is experiencing a merger led by Max Denbeigh (Andrew Scott) who wants to eliminate the 00 division and focus solely on global intelligence. It's apparent early on that Blofeld has eyes everywhere, and while he works primarily in the shadows (Christoph Waltz only having 20 or so minutes of screen time), he poses a looming threat to Bond because of his sheer cunning and a past secret that unravels itself when the two finally meet.

American Ultra (2015)

This late summer movie 'American Ultra' mixes a good stoner comedy with high octane action with a great cast and some decent laughs throughout. You can add to that a good amount of bloody violence in the second half of things. That all being said, 'American Ultra' seems to lose its steam far from the climax of the movie, and seems to just go through the motions until the end. Still, it's a fun popcorn film to end the summer on. Director Nima Nourizadeh, whose only previous film was the found footage party movie, 'Project X', leaves the hand-held camera on the table here, and delivers some decent long shots of violence and action, which is a step up in his career.

Mike Howell (Jesse Eisenberg) is an everyday small-town stoner, who works a bland job at a market, with the goal of marrying his girlfriend, Phoebe (Kirsten Stewart) but what he doesn't know, is that he's actually an experiment conducted by a CIA agent named Victoria Lasseter (Connie Britton) and that the CIA has put out a hit on him. With lots of time and money invested in Howell, Lasseter goes out to his little town and "activates" him, turning him into a stone-cold killer. But while he's the perfect killer, he's also a sweet guy who just wants to be with his girlfriend. Phoebe Larson (Stewart) didn't add much to the plot, but she was very believable as Mike's (Eisenberg) girlfriend. There was never a moment when the audience didn't believe they were dating. Although Kristen Stewart still hasn't proved she can act extremely well and she can be funny and all.

Sicario (2015)

Sicario is a completely engrossing, beautifully shot, terrifically acted thriller that exceeds expectations. I didn't know what to expect from this film, but I was surprised that from the opening shot the film had me hooked. I won't give away the opening scene, but I'd find it hard to believe that you're bored after seeing that. Sicario is a completely engrossing, beautifully shot, terrifically acted thriller that exceeds expectations. I didn't know what to expect from this film, but I was surprised that from the opening shot the film had me hooked. I won't give away the opening scene, but I'd find it hard to believe that you're bored after seeing that.

As much as I hate to say this I have to, this film isn't for everybody. The trailers are rather misleading as I was expecting, the film is good if you give it your patience because it will be slow and "boring" for some so you have been warned. As far as my experience I can say that this film threw my heartbeat off by the end, there were times where it gets unbelievably tense and I can say that it made my heart skip a beat at a couple moments.

Short Term 12 (2013)

I miss this movie beause I really want to watch ROOM and I need to remind my self how mazing Brie Larson is. Real heroes do not always end up with glory and parades. Heroism is sometimes reflected in small scale actions that no one ever hears about but occur every day in schools, hospitals, or wherever there are people who need compassion. Werner Erhard defines true heroism as "the kind which ends up in the truth, in what works, in what is honest and real being brought out and made available to others." This kind of authenticity is front and center in Destin Cretton's Short Term 12, the story of troubled teens living in a short-term group home who are the recipients of empathy from counselors only a few years older who may have faced similar situations in their life.

Winner of the audience award at the L.A. Film Festival and South by Southwest as well as the narrative feature prize, it is funny and sad with a wide range of emotions in-between. Coming from the director's own experience of working in a similar environment for two years, the film is permeated with an air of authenticity and it is rare that a film has such uniformly natural performances.

Southpaw (2015)

Southpaw follows Billy "The Great" Hope, the reigning junior middleweight boxing champion, having an impressive career, a loving wife and daughter, and a lavish lifestyle. However, when tragedy strikes, Billy hits rock bottom, losing his family, house and manager. He soon finds an unlikely savior in Tick Willis, a former fighter who trains the city's toughest boxers. With his future on the line, Hope fights to reclaim the trust of those he loves the most.

Jake Gyllenhaal giving a ferocious performance as a down on his luck boxer was truly a grand experience. He really stuck to his character by bringing such a mad man to the ring and a man who would strive to make his family a whole once again, one wondrous performance I must say. One person other than Jake that really stood out was Forest Whitaker, he easily gave one of the best performances of this year so far!

The Martian (2015)

Sir Ridley Scott is finally back on track. There's no argument that his last couple films have not been up to his standard. However, now he has gone back to his roots to bring us an adaptation of the sci-fi novel by Andy Weir The Martian.

The story itself is pretty straightforward. Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is presumed dead when stuck with debris during a storm on Mars. When the rest of his crew decides to abort and he turns out to be alive, Watney must ration his remaining resources in an attempt to same himself and make contact with NASA. Despite the familiar storyline (can you say Cast Away meets Apollo 13?), only a true mastermind behind the camera can give the story so much depth and make it so enthralling.

The cast is definitely one of the best ensembles of the year. Everyone does fantastic with the roles given to them, namely Chiwetel Ejiofor and Jeff Daniels. And while everyone does a great job in the movie, the man whose shoulders the film truly rests on is Matt Damon, and he excels in every scene he is in. The audience is always eager to follow Damon's successes and failures on Mars. Damon is so good at playing a wise- cracking scientist and showing us what it might actually be like to get left on Mars alone. With Damon's character, the movie is allowed to delve into themes about what makes us human and our drive to help one another.

The Maze Runner : The Scorch Trials (2015)

This film is the sequel to 2013's "The Maze Runner" and is the second adaptation of James Dashner's initial "Maze Runner" trilogy (which has since added a prequel and is about to add another). The story is even more divergent (pun intended) from its source material than the previous movie was, this time preserving not much more than the mythology, main characters and the most important of plot points.

The action picks up right where it left off at the end of the first film, with Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) and the remaining Gladers, Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Minho (Ki Hong Lee), Teresa Agnes (Kaya Scodelario), Frypan (Dexter Darden) and Winston (Alexander Flores), taken by those who rescued them to a large facility where there's food and fresh clothes. These teens find out that theirs was not the only maze and they become friends with fellow survivor Aris Jones (Jacob Lofland), who suspects that there's more to their new home than meets the eye. The facility's manager, Mr. Janson (Aiden Gillen), assures the Gladers that they're safe now and will soon be taken to a more permanent and more comfortable home. Meanwhile, their freedom is restricted and security is tight. Every day, Janson calls out a list of names and those young people head for their new home. Aris suspects that those who are called never really leave the facility, suffering a fate that is less than comfortable. Soon, Thomas is convinced too.

(500) Days of Summer (2009)

I know I haven't been here for a long time and I have watched a lot of movies. but I'm just too lazy to post some reviews. But I'm gonna start with this one. After this I will try to post more movie reviews that I have watched recently. This is one of my favorite film with lovable character and sweet but angts story. My kind of heaven lol. I just watched this movie again and I remember the hype and the quotes were all over tumblr back in the day.

For starters the charisma and passion between Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel works brilliantly on screen. Finding two actors who work so well together (in every way) is a rare thing. The style of editing is superbly original, at the beginning you might be skeptical, but you'll soon realise how marvelous it it really is. The soundtrack is a treat of indie classics that match the films tonality with perfection. If you try and change anything about this movie you'll soon see the level of class it really sits on.

Suite Française (2014)

The movie tells the story of a french girl with a strict mother in law who falls in love with a Nazi officer. Well, the movie is not the cheesy love story between two people who simply cant and mustn't be together. Is way more than this. It's about the cruelty of the war and how everyone copes in the end, even if that means they have to give up on love or love the wrong people. The moral battle between the two main characters, who are stuck between their love and their loyalty to their country and people.

This is a rare thing nowadays and brings to mind the great heyday of romance in the Seventies. 'Suite Française' is set in Nazi occupied France during the start of World War II. You will therefore be crying with powerful and furious emotion. Michelle Williams is at the fore front of this film; gladly she does not fail or let the production team down in any respect. She plays a French Villager  called Lucile Angellier. I say this statement with doubt as last time I checked French people did not speak English as their first language. Her overbearing mother is played with severity by Kristin Scott Thomas. She outright leads her daughter's life for her and plays a prominent role in all of her decisions, whether they be little or large. Their village becomes ruled and dictated by German soldiers, some much more brutal than others. There are different personalities and beliefs to each of them. This is great to see, because it paints a broader and larger painting. It shows us that not everyone can be placed definitively into a category.

American Sniper (2014)

American Sniper is Clint Eastwood's harrowing take on Chris Kyle's life and his service in the Navy as a SEAL sniper who killed nearly 200 enemy soldiers. The film is relentlessly violent and disturbing but honors the life of the late Chris Kyle in a very admirable way. It doesn't show this man as an invincible legend, it shows him as a mere man with a heart and soul that are clearly broken due to his sacrifice for his country.

Good work on Bradley Cooper's part as well, putting on the weight and getting into character to play Chris Kyle, a sniper for the navy seals who did four tours in Iraq protecting his fellow troops by being a legendary shot. the Movie explores Kyle having to deal with a rival sniper who was keeping him from doing the job of protecting his troops and having to deal with coming home to his wife and kids feeling that his mission was incomplete.

Hobbit : Battle of Five Armies

I know it's been a very long time since I posted something. I just finished my exam and all. Yay for me. So let's start with Hobbit III

"The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" is the final chapter of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" trilogy, and this particular film tells the last three or so chapters of J.R.R. Tolkien's book of the same name.

For those who are fans of the book, one thing that will quickly stand out is that the movie takes great liberty with the book, inasmuch as Peter Jackson has made an entire feature length film out of a story that was told in a relatively succinct fashion by Tolkien. Jackson's work expounds on the story that Tolkien left us with, going into much more detail with character development and the story of the battle of the armies itself in this film.

That being said, though, the movie does all of this in a way that is true to the original source material. I didn't feel as though I was watching something that was untrue to Tolkien, but instead a movie that was made to put meat on the skeleton of a story that Tolkien had left us with in the final chapters of "The Hobbit".

Mr Turner (2014)

We always knew that "Mr Turner" would not be a conventional costume picture any more than it would be a conventional biopic. It is, after all, a Mike Leigh film and Mr Leigh doesn't do 'conventional'. Of course, he normally concerns himself with the vagaries of contemporary middle-class culture, poking fun at, and then finding the bleeding heart of, the little people who inhabit his very personal world. (Leigh is, perhaps, the only writer/director who can crack us up and break our hearts simultaneously).

"Mr Turner" isn't the first time he has looked to the past nor to real historical figures for his material. With "Topsy-Turvy" he created the world of Gilbert and Sullivan and 'The Mikado'. As musical biopics go it is, perhaps, unique. Now with "Mr Turner" he takes us deep into the life of William Turner, arguably the first great 'modern' painter and almost certainly the greatest of all English painters, and in doing so has created the least stuffy costume picture I have ever seen. Of the several masterpieces Leigh has given us "Mr Turner" may be the finest.

Sils Maria (2014)

this movie was a big hit in Cannes maybe because they have Juliette Binoche (as much as I know she is France sweetheart) Kristen Stewart and Chloe Moretz who have their own fandom, and big big fandom. So I got this special opportunity to watch this movie on film festival last week. I was so happy since I can't wait to see it with my own eyes. As a fan of Stewart, hearing good reviews about her in this movie made me want to see it even more.

This was a good movie, to a large extent because of its lead actors. I expected Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart to make a great team, and they did; there was never a moment when I thought one of them was out-acting the other, or drawing attention from the other. They worked in perfect tandem as far as I could see. But the movie is too long. I like the cinematography, Sils Maria is such a beautiful place.

I love Juliette when plays as a desperate woman. Well she does everything great. In this movie she played as a veteran actress with her own personal problem, and then new director asked her to do a remake based on a movie that made her famous. but as the opposite character. The base is great, I mean Maria had their own problems and it would make a strong story but they add more conflict in to it that included Chloe Moretz's character, Joanne Ellis.

Before I Go To Sleep (2014)

As book this is one of my favorite book. But as a movie not so much. that's why not every book needs to be made a movie. because some are not. but some might like this movie tho. Kidman is a perfect choice to play Christine precisely for this reason. Christine is a battered woman who prefers being beaten to remembering anything about who she is. Her amnesia is a metaphor for the loss of self to which abused women consent by remaining with their abusers. Her life is an endless present. In this movie movie she looks dead inside. Perfect

AT first the movie was very exciting and all excellently acted by the three leads, and scripted like a riddle that you keep trying to solve; the one main plot twist is mind-blowing. The twist that Colin Firth did it was pretty obvious from the start as it seemed like the most logical direction to take. The film does what you expect and that is its main problem. But the doctor was very fishy as well, he did a great job that made you wonder he was a bad guy as well.

It gets bored easily, I don't know why. This movie had so much potential with great cast and great plot. i know not the most original plot, but could be something more. I didn't have much expectations but the trailer looked good. The film is about Nicole Kidman who wakes up everyday with no memory of the day before. From the offset you get the feeling there something creepy about the husband... There are lots of movements that I felt were spoiled by a build up a violin music

St Vincent (2014)

This is one of the underrated movie this year. I kinda like this movie. Bill Murray gave us a brilliant performance. This movie is a touching story. It is about a boy who befriends a crusty curmudgeon in Vincent (Bill Murray) and discovers some facts of life. But the deeper story is that family is really the friends you choose and the wide cast of misfits are brought together by a mix of circumstances and events. They are lost but then are found. The story also showcases the lost heroes of Vietnam. These veterans are dying off and as a nation we have forgotten their contributions in this senseless war.

This is Bill Murray's best role in many, many, many years. The man is considered a comedy legend and I think we all knew he had range but St. Vincent shows just how great he can be. Vincent is a truly, undeniably despicable human being. There is no way around that. He is completely flawed and that is not only the point but the reason you will love him for it. He's pathetic and the empathy you feel for this man and then by the end you actually understand him.

I was blown away by the actor who played Oliver. It was not an easy role to portray-- he had to be able to connect to the audience with his emotion, capture the character's desire to see past the exterior of a person, and he had to make it believable which he did flawlessly.

The Imitation Game (2014)

Great film. IMO Best picture contender next to Boyhood and Birdman. I was lucky to watch this movie on near movie festival near me as surprise screening. The Imitation Game has Benedict Cumberbatch playing Alan Turing. The film shows various different points of Turing's life: His difficult school life, his triumphs during the war and his conviction for his homosexuality after the war. The film drifts through these various timelines in a non linear way and paints a brilliant portrait of Turing. His conviction following the war could have been focused on more and Keira Knightly is a bit jarring, but TIG is unshaken by its flaws and emerges a triumphant and deeply moving historical drama. Like many Oscar baiting movies it's all about the acting. Benedict Cumberbatch is absolutely outstanding as Turing and as far as I'm concerned he's the best actor Oscar front runner for 2014.

The film opens with some very good early scenes, that convey well the upheaval caused by the outbreak of the war. The crowd scenes are nothing new, but as time goes by, it must be harder to get the period details correct. The opening scenes, have that authenticity, as well as conveying the great social upheaval of the war. Not so much exciting, but rather impactful and panoramic.

The Lunch Box (2014)

The film is just a story about a man who is going to retire. He is aging. Due to a mistake in the lunchbox delivery system he gets the lunchbox from a woman who is trying to re-conquer her husband by cooking special lunches for him. An epistolary relation starts via the lunchbox: message to and message fro. Till a meeting becomes possible. But it is then the aging man discovers he has no right to entertain some illusion about that younger woman, nor nurture illusions in her about a rejuvenating love affair which is nothing but a compensation for her inability to have a relation with her own husband. And he has no right to flatter his ego with the idea that he might still be young, to the point of maybe not retiring after all.

The trailers were so appetizing! Who wouldn't have been hungry enough to watch one of the most awaited films around this time of the year? 'The Lunchbox' seems to have it all to be a good film: actors like Irrfan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui and the appeal of seeming like a well told story.

There are elements of lazy writing that the writer-director Ritesh Batra has chosen when one of the lead characters is looking for an outlet to convey her thoughts to the audience. Ila then communicates with a neighborhood Aunty (Bharati Acherekar) who is never seen on screen. Both these ladies seem to discuss everything that happens with each other the whole day. After a while, when you hear Nimrat Kaur's character say 'aunty' for the umpteenth time, you would burst into laughter. 

Before I Disappear (2014)

I watched Before I Disappear when it screened at Jakarta International Film festival this past weekend and also fell in love with the short film version, Curfew, when I saw it after it won the Oscar for best live action short film.

Another fascinating movie from SXSW, one I wasn't sure I would enjoy but walked out of the room with a few tears streaming down my face, which never happens to me in cinema. Shawn Christensen's direction in this film was positively extraordinary.

Christensen plays the lead role as well as directing, and while he's good in front of the camera, it's behind the camera that's really what impresses me. The style and flow of the short was good, but he does so much more here, and there's a very strong visual presence in so many scenes that it really sticks with me. This includes not only some of the more fanciful parts, like an expanded version of the music number from the short to simple shots, like the phone on the floor at the start of the film.

If I Stay - Review (2014)

I'm going to make it fast tbh. I'm extremely disappointed with this movie. i couldn't wait to watch this movie. ut when this movie couldn't make it into my theater, I was a sad potato. The movie fails to express any real, palpable emotions. In some defining parts of the movies, where you should start getting some feelings, I rather felt annoyed by awful sound effects, terrible acting and depressing transitions.

Chloe Grace Moretz is one of the best actress on her generation, she is beautiful and very talented. But in this movie she is very disappointed me. And the others acting were MEH.  It's not that she didn't stay true to the book, she just didn't act very well at all.  The actor who played Adam was terrible as well.

I love the book, the book is very weepy, but the movie is not that much.. It's very disappointed. The book is way better than this movie. And when they cast Chloe i thought she would be really good. and The CGI was MEh as well. Such as Adam's band not being called "Shooting Star"; a lot of Adam trying to get into the ICU to see Mia being cut; the film trying to instill a bit more hope in Mia's family surviving the car crash than there is in the book, as well as more drama in Adam and Mia's relationship; and then there are general cuts you recognize had to be done. Things like us seeing how Mia and Kim became friends; seeing Kim's mom; the lead up to Mia's grandpa taking her to her Julliard audition; and a lot of the back stories including Willow's and her grandparents.