Sunday, January 31, 2016

Top 10 2015 Film Moments

10. The ending of Spectre.
9. Benicio del Toro's entire performance in Sicario
8. The main villain captured alive in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation.
7. Bing Bong fading away in Inside Out.
6. Hulk vs. Hulkbuster in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
5. Sylvester Stallone's entire performance in Creed.
4. The guitar guy in Mad Max: Fury Road.
3. The ending to Furious 7.
2. Saoirse Ronan's entire performance in Brooklyn.
1. The hate group massacre in Kingsman: The Secret Service.
Honorable mentions:
The Maz Kanata scenes in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Arnold's entire performance in Maggie.
Butch's story in The Good Dinosaur.
Spoon to throat in American Ultra.
Final dino fight in Jurassic World.
Comic-Con scenes in Ted 2.
Ending and post credit sequences to Ant-Man.
Uncle Rudi's death in The Man from U.N.C.L.E..
Johnny Depp's entire performance in Black Mass.
Matt Damon's entire performance in The Martian.
The ending speech in Trumbo.
Mark Rylance entire performance in Bridge of Spies.
How the monsters are freed and captures in Goosebumps.
The beginning of Tomorrowland.
Snoopy's daydreams in The Peanuts Movie.
Fine's death sneeze in Spy.

Top 10 new 2016 shows most exited for

10. Justice League: Action
9. Syfy Van Helsing series
8. Rush Hour
7. Fuller House
6. Westworld
5. Preacher
4. American Crime Story
3. Untitled Woody Allen series
2. 11.22.63
1. Luke Cage
Honorable mentions or shows already aired:
School of Rock
Damien
Crowded
You, Me, and the Apocalypse
Lucifer
Legends of Tomorrow
Baskets
Angie Tribeca
Shades of Blue
Angel from Hell

Monday, January 25, 2016

2016 Films Most Exited For

Order of release:
1. Jane Got a Gun- A Western starring Natalie Portman and Joel Edgerton as a former couple out to save Portman's husband.
2. Kung Fu Panda 3- The third film in the popular animated martial acts franchise which sees Bryan Cranston voice Po's father and the villain voiced by J.K. Simmons.
3. Hail, Caesar!- The Coen Brothers take on 1950s Hollywood in this all star cast comedy about an actor who gets kidnapped and the studio fixer assigned to find him.
4. Deadpool- Ryan Reynolds plays the Merc with a Mouth in this highly anticipated hard R antihero film.
5. Race- The real life true story of Jesse Owens, a black Olympics athlete competing in the Berlin 1936 Games to prove Hitler wrong about German superiority.
6. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice- The sequel to 2013s Man of Steel, the film sees the first live action pairing of Batman and Superman ever and paves the way for the Justice League movie.
7. Elvis & Nixon- A hard to believe based on real events comedy about Elvis Presley meeting President Nixon so he could be a real government agent.
8. Captain America: Civil War- The third Captain America film sees the hero being hunted down by allies as he tries to protect a friend from the government due to his past, and will see the live action debut of Black Panther and Baron Zemo and the MCU debut of Spider-Man.
9. The Nice Guys- A dark comedy thriller directed by Shane Black and stars Ryan Gosling and Russel Crowe as two mismatched people going out to solve a crime together.
10. X-Men: Apocalypse- The sequel to Days of Future Past sees the team take on one of the biggest villains in comic book history in the 1980s.
11. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows- Stephen Amell debuts as Casey Jones with the first live action appearances of Bebop and Rocksteady in the new TMNT film.
12. Finding Dory- The sequel to one of Pixar's best films sees where Dory comes from.
13. Independence Day: Resurgence- 20 years after the original, the film sees how humanity has coped  and how they will handle another bigger invasion.
14. Ghostbusters- A reboot of the classic 80s movies sees the team formed by an all female cast.
15. Ice Age: Collision Course- The fifth Ice Age film sees the cast surviving through a meteor shower.
16. Star Trek Beyond- Serving as the film to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the franchise, it's promised to have the feel of the original series.
17. Fifth Bourne Film- Though untitled at the moment, this sees Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass return as star and director to the franchise.
18. Suicide Squad- Set in the DC Cinematic Universe, this comic book film sees many well known villains as the leads with Will Smith as Deadshot and Jared Leto as The Joker.
19. Masterminds- A heist comedy based on real events starring Zach Galifianakis and Kristen Wiig.
20. Doctor Strange- Benedict Cumberbatch stars as the Sorcerer Supreme in this MCU outing dealing with magic.
21. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them- Spinoff/prequel to the Harry Potter franchise that explores more of the wizard's universe.
22. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story- The first in the many proposed Star Wars anthology stories that sees how the plans for the first Death Star were stolen leading into A New Hope.
Top 10 expecting most:
10. Race- Even though Jesse Owens is an important figure in the Civil Rights movement, the fact that there has barely ever been any film about his exploits and this film is a very important one especially with how Hollywood treats minorities.
9. Fifth Bourne Film- Though the story is not known yet, the fact that Damon and Greengrass are returning is reason enough to get exited as we see Bourne after the events of the third film as we saw his action's effects in the fourth film.
8. Elvis & Nixon- The very idea that Elvis Presley met with Richard Nixon to become a government agent is so absurd that the fact that it's based on real events is what will make it fun to watch.
7. The Nice Guys- Having seen the trailer, the film looks like it will be very funny and the way Crowe and Gosling play off each other will be a great pairing.
6. Ghostbusters- A reboot to a classic '80s franchise may turn some people off, but the fact that the casts are now played by the funniest women ever will make it worth it, especially with the direction of Paul Feig.
5. Star Trek Beyond- Seeing as this film celebrates the 50th anniversary of the franchise, this has high expectations especially as it's been cowritten by Simon Pegg and will promise a story in tone of that of the original show.
4. Hail, Caesar!- The Coen Brothers have proven themselves time and time again that they can make the best of films, whether through drama or comedy, and with this they will prove that once again in this weird and funny period piece dealing with the filmmaking business.
3. Captain America: Civil War- Having read the original comic on which the film is based, I am very interested in how the film will play out. With so many heroes in one film, and the introduction of Black Panther and Spider-Man to the MCU, this is going to be big.
2. Deadpool- Having been in development for over 10 years with Ryan Reynolds working hard to get the character his own movie, this X-Men spinoff will see one of the most loved comic book characters get his own movies where he will curse, break the fourth wall, and absolutely cause mayhem wherever he goes.
1. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice- The comic book equivalent of The Lord of the Rings films, in that it's something that has been desired for decades but wasn't possible until now. With Batman and Superman sharing the screen, and Wonder Woman in her live action film debut, this will definitely be one of the biggest films of the year.

Sunday, January 17, 2016

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi is the first film of 2016 that I've seen, and as the first film it is a very strong start. Directed by Michael Bay, the film tells the true story of a highly trained security team who try to protect a diplomatic compound in Benghazi after a terrorist attack. This is definitely one of Bay's best films and proves that he isn't just a dumb action director who loves to blow stuff up, as he shows heart and soul in this true story depicting the long hours that the American soldiers faced when protecting their compound, though at times it makes it slow in some areas. Brilliantly acted, especially from John Krasinski as a believable soldier in the middle of a war zone after most of his roles before then were in comedies. Over all: 95%
Top lists so far:
1. 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Revised Overall Ratings of 2015 films

1. Inside Out-100%
2. Bridge of Spies-100%
3. Creed-100%
4. Brooklyn-100%
5. Ant-Man-100%
6. Mad Max: Fury Road-100%
7. Kingsman: The Secret Service-100%
8. Sicario-98%
9. Star Wars: The Force Awakens-96%
10. Spectre-96%
11. Black Mass-95%
12. The Martian-94%
13. While We're Young-94%
14. The Peanuts Movie-94%
15. Trumbo-92%
16. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2-89%
17. Goosebumps-86%
18. The Man from U.N.C.L.E.-85%
19. Avengers: Age of Ultron-85%
20. The Good Dinosaur-79%
21. Steve Jobs-79%
22. Ted 2-77%
23. San Andreas-77%
24. Furious 7-77%
25. Maggie-75%
26. Hotel Transylvania 2-72%
27. Paper Towns-70%
28. American Ultra-70%
29. Minions-69%
30. Spy-69%
31. Cinderella 2015-69%
32. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation-69%
33. The Age of Adaline-67%
34. The DUFF-66%
35. The Visit-66%
36. We Are Your Friends-65%
37. Jurassic World-65%
38. Terminator: Genisys-63%
39. Project Almanac-63%
40. Tomorrowland-61%
41. Home-60%
42. Chappie-59%
43. Strange Magic-58%
44. Pixels-40%
45. Fantastic 4-0%

Brooklyn

As the last film I saw from 2015, Brooklyn is one of the best films of the year with a touching story and acting done to perfection. The historical period drama, based on a 2009 novel, is well paced in telling the story of a young Irish girl in the early 1950s who immigrates alone to the United States and we see what she goes through in her new life as she faces new challenges, love, and tragedy. One of the biggest things about the film is Saoirse Ronan playing the main character in definitely the best performance of the year. Ronan has always proven herself as a serious actress since she was very young, as she was nominated for an Oscar when she was only 13 years old back in 2007, and now is nominated for this role and she definitely deserves it. The film is beautiful to watch and to me it harkens back to the classic love stories of movies from around the '30s to '50s. Over all: 100%
Top lists so far:
1. Inside Out
2. Bridge of Spies
3. Creed
4. Brooklyn
5. Ant-Man
6. Mad Max: Fury Road
7. Kingsman: The Secret Service
8. Sicario
9. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
10. Spectre
11. Black Mass
12. The Martian
13. While We're Young
14. The Peanuts Movie
15. Trumbo
16. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
17. Goosebumps
18. The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
19. Avengers: Age of Ultron
20. The Good Dinosaur
21. Steve Jobs
22. Ted 2
23. San Andreas
24. Furious 7
25. Maggie
26. Hotel Transylvania 2
27. Paper Towns
28. American Ultra
29. Minions
30. Spy
31. Cinderella 2015
32. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
33. The Age of Adaline
34. The DUFF
35. The Visit
36. We Are Your Friends
37. Jurassic World
38. Terminator: Genisys
39. Project Almanac
40. Tomorrowland
41. Home
42. Chappie
43. Strange Magic
44. Pixels
45. Fantastic 4

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

One of the biggest movies that came out in 2015 that was the most anticipated of that year was Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I really enjoyed the film, though there were too many moments throughout it that felt too much like fan fiction you'd find online. The biggest problem I find with Star Wars is the fans themselves who are too attached with the original trilogy and believe that all of the franchise has to revolve around the events of the first three films instead of telling new stories with new character in a galaxy that has had billions of years of stories. Disney is trying to hard to please the fans rather than having the fans understand there more in that universe. I like both the original trilogy and the prequels, which both have positives and negatives to them, and George Lucas is not a perfect artist, as there's no such thing, but at least he created an entire universe with characters and alien species that show how different a whole universe could be. If someone who wasn't so devoted to the franchise was hired to write and/or direct the films they'd take the big step of showing different characters and not the same ones as before. Though it's a whole lot better, I do find there are problems similar to ones I found in Jurassic World in trying to hard to reference previous films. Over all: 99%
Top list so far:
1. Inside Out
2. Bridge of Spies
3. Creed
4. Ant-Man
5. Mad Max: Fury Road
6. Kingsman: The Secret Service
7. Sicario
8. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
9. Spectre
10. Black Mass
11. The Martian
12. While We're Young
13. The Peanuts Movie
14. Trumbo
15. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
16. Goosebumps
17. The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
18. Avengers: Age of Ultron
19. The Good Dinosaur
20. Steve Jobs
21. Ted 2
22. San Andreas
23. Furious 7
24. Maggie
25. Hotel Transylvania 2
26. Paper Towns
27. American Ultra
28. Minions
29. Spy
30. Cinderella 2015
31. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
32. The Age of Adaline
33. The DUFF
34. The Visit
35. We Are Your Friends
36. Jurassic World
37. Terminator: Genisys
38. Project Almanac
39. Tomorrowland
40. Home
41. Chappie
42. Strange Magic
43. Pixels
44. Fantastic 4

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Trumbo

Bryan Cranston once again shows his great acting talent by portraying Dalton Trumbo, a man who was kept from writing films throughout the 1950s due to his Communist beliefs. Trumbo looks at a time in America's and Hollywood's history that is both fascinating and shameful. Though the film takes some liberties with history, the film is still fun to watch for all the historical references especially the ones about films. One thing of note is Hellen Mirren's performance as Hedda Hopper where she manages to make herself very hateful. Over all: 98%
Top list so far:
1. Inside Out
2. Bridge of Spies
3. Creed
4. Ant-Man
5. Mad Max: Fury Road
6. Kingsman: The Secret Service
7. Sicario
8. Spectre
9. Black Mass
10. The Martian
11. While We're Young
12. The Peanuts Movie
13. Trumbo
14. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
15. Goosebumps
16. The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
17. Avengers: Age of Ultron
18. The Good Dinosaur
19. Steve Jobs
20. Ted 2
21. San Andreas
22. Furious 7
23. Maggie
24. Hotel Transylvania 2
25. Paper Towns
26. American Ultra
27. Minions
28. Spy
29. Cinderella 2015
30. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
31. The Age of Adaline
32. The DUFF
33. The Visit
34. We Are Your Friends
35. Jurassic World
36. Terminator: Genisys
37. Project Almanac
38. Tomorrowland
39. Home
40. Chappie
41. Strange Magic
42. Pixels
43. Fantastic 4

Creed

In what can be considered one of the biggest surprises that films have ever offered, Creed proves just how versatile and truthful Sylvester Stallone, the same way Maggie does with Schwarzenegger, can really act and deliver a touching and emotional performance. The film is definitely one of the bests of the year as it sees Stallone reprising the role of Rocky Balboa once again to teach the son of his deceased friend how to box. Stallone rightfully deserved his Golden Globe win and should definitely be nominated and win an Oscar. Michael B. Jordan himself does an amazing job as Adonis Creed and does a whole better job here than in Fantastic 4. Seeing how perfectly directed it is, it only makes sense that Ryan Coogler has been chosen by Marvel to direct their Black Panther film. Over all: 100%
Top list so far:
1. Inside Out
2. Bridge of Spies
3. Creed
4. Ant-Man
5. Mad Max: Fury Road
6. Kingsman: The Secret Service
7. Sicario
8. Spectre
9. Black Mass
10. The Martian
11. While We're Young
12. The Peanuts Movie
13. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
14. Goosebumps
15. The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
16. Avengers: Age of Ultron
17. The Good Dinosaur
18. Steve Jobs
19. Ted 2
20. San Andreas
21. Furious 7
22. Maggie
23. Hotel Transylvania 2
24. Paper Towns
25. American Ultra
26. Minions
27. Spy
28. Cinderella 2015
29. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
30. The Age of Adaline
31. The DUFF
32. The Visit
33. We Are Your Friends
34. Jurassic World
35. Terminator: Genisys
36. Project Almanac
37. Tomorrowland
38. Home
39. Chappie
40. Strange Magic
41. Pixels
42. Fantastic 4

The Good Dinosaur

2015 was a rare thing for Pixar since they had two of their films come out in the same year, with Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur. The Good Dinosaur was not as great as Inside Out, but it is a well made film with a nice, though already done, story. One of the greatest things about this animated film is the background animation for the landscape which is absolutely beautiful to look at and nearly looks real when compared to the characters who are very colorful and very obvious animation. Though the story is very familiar as it's been told by other movies wherein the protagonist must find his way home after getting lost with something they were against, but what happens throughout that is very interesting. The most surprising thing about this film is how dark it is compared to other Pixar films, such as a bug's head being bitten off and a story being told that's very graphic. Over all: 97%
Top list so far:
1. Inside Out
2. Bridge of Spies
3. Ant-Man
4. Mad Max: Fury Road
5. Kingsman: The Secret Service
6. Sicario
7. Spectre
8. Black Mass
9. The Martian
10. While We're Young
11. The Peanuts Movie
12. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
13. Goosebumps
14. The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
15. Avengers: Age of Ultron
16. The Good Dinosaur
17. Steve Jobs
18. Ted 2
19. San Andreas
20. Furious 7
21. Maggie
22. Hotel Transylvania 2
23. Paper Towns
24. American Ultra
25. Minions
26. Spy
27. Cinderella 2015
28. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
29. The Age of Adaline
30. The DUFF
31. The Visit
32. We Are Your Friends
33. Jurassic World
34. Terminator: Genisys
35. Project Almanac
36. Tomorrowland
37. Home
38. Chappie
39. Strange Magic
40. Pixels
41. Fantastic 4

Sanjay's Super Team

Before The Good Dinosaur was shown in theaters, it was preceded by another of Pixar's short animated films. Sanjay's Super Team looks at a young Hindu boy who fixates on his superhero toys more than his religion. What makes this team so special is that it perfectly mixes the stories and mythologies of superheroes with that of the Hindu gods and figures and shows that they're not so different.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2

The last film in the Hunger Games film series based on the three part young adult novel series by Suzanne Collins. Mockingjay - Part 2 is not a perfect film, but it is a well told and very engaging film with it's science fiction elements and war themes. Jennifer Lawrence once again perfectly plays the role that turned her into a household name as she tries to bring down the tyrannical President Snow while trying to make sure the people she cares about stay safe. The ending of the film is very interesting, neither great or the worst, as at first I thought that most of it was some kind of illumination but now I see it as a metaphor for how people expect too many big things at the end or a happy ending. Over all: 98%
Top list so far:
1. Inside Out
2. Bridge of Spies
3. Ant-Man
4. Mad Max: Fury Road
5. Kingsman: The Secret Service
6. Sicario
7. Spectre
8. Black Mass
9. The Martian
10. While We're Young
11. The Peanuts Movie
12. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
13. Goosebumps
14. The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
15. Avengers: Age of Ultron
16. Steve Jobs
17. Ted 2
18. San Andreas
19. Furious 7
20. Maggie
21. Hotel Transylvania 2
22. Paper Towns
23. American Ultra
24. Minions
25. Spy
26. Cinderella 2015
27. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
28. The Age of Adaline
29. The DUFF
30. The Visit
31. We Are Your Friends
32. Jurassic World
33. Terminator: Genisys
34. Project Almanac
35. Tomorrowland
36. Home
37. Chappie
38. Strange Magic
39. Pixels
40. Fantastic 4