What a fantastic summer blockbuster!  It really seems as though Chris Pratt has discovered the formula to great acting in blockbuster films.  Somehow, his characters are always intriguing to follow.  The Parks and Recreation star has really risen up as a star with this film and The Guardians of the Galaxy.  Also, both of Jurassic World and Guardians already have sequels planned for the future.  Honestly, I cannot wait to see Chris Pratt come back for both of these and hopefully his career will continue to climb further and further.

The coolest part of this film to me was definitely its scale.  I am quite sad that I missed seeing this in theaters because it would have definitely been even more fun on the big screen.  The landscape is so similar to the original Jurassic Park and yet even more crisp.  We constantly see dinosaurs roaming around, which is the main attraction of the franchise.  We even get to fly through the theme park multiple times, seeing point of view shots from helicopters and other modes of transportation.  An applause is definitely due here to the cinematographer and everyone who worked on the flawless special effects for this film.

Of course, this film must have been hard to make after all of the other films in the franchise.  I have only seen the original Jurassic Park and I love it.  Jurassic World seems to be a bit more experimental and almost feels like a spoof of the original.  Full of cheesy dialogue, the film flows with a lot of comedy and odd conversations.  The traditional gender roles used make the film super campy but in the best way possible.  Not to mention, I don't think I have seen a film with so much product placement.  Here are just a few of the companies I recall seeing: Starbucks, Brookstone, Pandora, Coca-cola.  Clearly, Trevorrow was trying to create a blockbuster that would be fun for the whole family and nostalgic for fans of the franchise.  And boy did he succeed!

The Bottom Line: This film is campy and creative for audiences to reminisce on the roots of the franchise.

Score: 8.5/10

I am about to tell you all something super controversial to film fans and boxing fans alike, so get ready.  I like Creed more than the original Rocky film.  For those of you that I just punched in the gut, I apologize but its true.  I thoroughly enjoyed this film and hope it gets some sort of sequel.  Maybe we can even get four more Creed films out of the franchise, who knows.

Unlike Rocky, this film kept me enthralled the whole time.  Stallone is a much better supporting actor than he is a lead actor.  My biggest critique of Rocky was Stallone talking to himself for most of the film.  Michael B. Jordan redeems the franchise for me as he portrays Apollo Creed's son.  Adonis Creed (Apollo's son) is a very well-written character who clearly develops throughout the film.  Boxing aside, Adonis has a sort of charm as a troubled youth that the audience can connect with.

The film also moved at a fantastic pace.  The intensity builds up to the fight towards the end, but there are multiple boxing scenes to keep the crowd's attention.  The technical aspects of the film also create a concrete boxing movie that is slightly over two hours.  Every boxing scene is filmed spectacularly as the camera bounces around in the ring.  I really felt like I was in the middle of the fight, taking all of the punches that Adonis was taking.  Of course, along the way there are some awesome montages that remind the viewer of the first Rocky film.  Finally, while the score is not by Bill Conti, it still recalls the old themes that are always stuck in the audience's head.

The Bottom Line:  This film is a very fun watch that Rocky fans can enjoy alongside people who have never even seen a Rocky film.

Score: 9.5/10

The film started rolling
the crowd watched the screen
I think I fell asleep 
at the very first scene.
I might've chuckled once
maybe even twice
but my laughs were as big
as the squeak of some mice.
Gordon-Levitt, Rogen, and Mackie
were cast.
Yet I thought to myself 
this film still sucks ass.

Okay I am done with that.  On a more serious note, this is my least favorite film of the year so far.  The only appealing part of this one is Michael Shannon as a pot-head.  His character is glorious, but the rest of the film is boring with jokes that fall completely flat.  I usually love Seth Rogen too, I just could not see beyond the raunchiness that was not even clever in any way.  Quite honestly, I have nothing more to say for this film.

The Bottom Line: Don't fall for the casting choice and the director's lure.  This is by far his worst film and possibly all of the actors's worst films.

Score: 3.5/10

To date, this is my favorite Bond film that I have watched.  I am sure that this is a highly controversial statement, but Skyfall really seems to hit the core of the franchise.  From high production value to an intriguing story to an amazing cast this one just strikes gold.  By far my favorite in the Daniel Craig grouping of Bond films, it just pulls me in at the very beginning and keeps me attentive to every detail of the film.  That is hard to say about most films that are over the two-hour mark.

Starting with the production value, the sets are spectacular along with the cinematography.  The opening sequence of the film flows so smoothly into Adele's theme that one simply falls into the movie just as Bond falls into his so-called retirement. Later in the film, Bond travels to Shanghai where everything is lit up in a cosmopolitan manner.  He also travels to Skyfall, where old-fashioned Bond becomes more relevant and the viewer can recall Sean Connery's portrayal of the character.  Apparently, Sean Connery was in talks to play the role of Kincaide, but there was too much worry that the fans would fear his placement in this type of role in the franchise.  But his presence is still felt in the well-crafted Scottish house.  The set is just bedazzling and all James Bond fans can be proud of this type of production.

Unlike in Spectre, the cast of Skyfall is used to their highest potential.  Javier Bardem plays a great villain who is creepy and clearly haunted by his past.  This is an iconic villain that will be remembered for the rest of the Bond franchise.  Again, Daniel Craig pulls off a classy Bond.  But the real breakout performance here seems to be Judi Dench.  Of course she has been a vital character through much of the Bond series, but this film's storyline really places its focus on her.  She is spectacular in every way and really helps push the story along.  As a whole, the cast maintains the type of performance that has come to be expected out of Bond films.

The Bottom Line:  Nostalgia and high production value are used to created one of the most well-crafted Bond films ever.

​Score: 9.6/10

With such a star-studded cast, I was afraid that this film would fall into the trap of many other films.  Often when an ensemble cast such as this one is put together, films will lack any sort of development.  Spotlight proves that an ensemble made up of renowned actors can still provide strong performances.  The true winners of this cast are Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, and Stanley Tucci.  They flesh out each others characters so well, that the audience cannot help but feel the explosiveness of each actor's performance.  I also think that Rachel McAdams did a decent job, but her acting has almost never taken me to a step above average performances.

 The film takes a bit to grasp its footing, but once it does it unravels into a focused mystery.  As the characters uncover new information, the audience joins in the journey towards writing a news article.  It amazed me to see just how long the one article took.  Each character meticulously works through their pieces of information, but somehow the film does not seem simple.  This is like a lecture where the teacher is so good that the student learns everything without dozing off.

Tom McCarthy's film before this one was The Cobbler.  Personally, I did not see The Cobbler but I am still wondering how this transformation could have happened.  From casting Adam Sandler to casting Ruffalo, Keaton, Tucci, and McAdams.  How is this possible?  Maybe the answer is Tom McCarthy.  Maybe he is back and ready to take over Hollywood.  One can only tell by seeing his newest film.

The Bottom Line:  This star-studded cast unravels a web of deception in the most engaging way possible.

​Score: 9.4/10

This film portrays a much more subtle Bond than I am used to.  After Skyfall, it is clearly hard to come up with a follow-up movie.  Sam Mendes succeeds in creating a film that is the second best of the Daniel Craig series, but it recalls the older films minus a lot of action.  The pacing of the film starts rolling right away with the first scene, but slows down almost instantly for the first half of the film.  Not much action occurs until the second half of the film and I felt myself dozing off a bit throughout the first half.

With that said, I wish that the villains were a bit more prominent.  Dave Bautista makes and awesome henchmen to the main villain, but Christoph Waltz's character does not get the build-up that most Bond villains get.  When I found out that Waltz was going to be the main villain in Spectre, the hype-train really started rolling.  By the end of the film I was left with a bit of disappointment because his character lacked a lot of development.  Of course, Daniel Craig was great as always and Lea Seydoux was a great Bond girl.  The story just felt too focused on their relationship whereas I wanted more of the Bond-villain relationship.

The action was the usual action involved in a Bond film.  Nothing really popped out, but the action used was fun nonetheless.  Accompanied by a great Newman score, the intensity builds up as the film unravels.  I also really enjoyed the Sam Smith song for the theme, but the visual opening credits lacked the creativeness that Skyfall and previous Bond movies had.  

The Bottom Line:  This is an average Bond movie with a lack of development for supporting characters and an overwhelmingly typical use of action sequences.

​Score: 7.5/10

In October, so many things were going on for me that it got a bit rough to update the blog on a very consistent basis.  But, I am back in full force and ready to gear up for November.  With a new radio show, you can check me out each week at rainydawg.org as I play movie music on Mondays from 12PM to 1PM.  Next week's show is going to feature James Bond movie music so its gonna be quite a blast!  Also, you can look out for a review of the film Spectre which I should have finished tonight after seeing a pre-screening.  I cannot wait to watch the new film and reminisce this month on other Bond films.  With that, I encourage you to email me with your favorite Bond film so I am sure to watch it and give it a review this month.  Other than that be sure to keep watching films, eating candy, and living the good life!

Highest scored movie in October: Beasts of No Nation
Lowest scored movie in October: ​A Nightmare on Elm Street

This film holds grasp of your emotions, just like most other romance movies.  While at times the story is a bit sappy, the film still holds a sort of uniqueness.  Also, who doesn't love the scenery of Ireland along with a not-so-crowded New York.  The parallel views of American culture and Irish culture bring out a view of the world that most people don't get to have.  Many people are afraid of travel for the exact same reasons that Saoirse Ronan's character is.  Fear of the unknown often creates homesickness and discomfort in us.  Ronan (Eilis) conveys this perfectly as she moves from Ireland to Brooklyn to start a new life.

Before the film truly hits the romantic genre, the script relies on wit and humor.  In the boarding house that Eilis stays in, each character has their own personality.  The personalities often play off of each other and eventually Eilis herself adds her own, newly created personality.  The script really engages the audience to chuckle during each scene.  Even once the romantic genre appears, the script continues to poke around with its added humor.

At about the mid-point of the film, there is a tonal shift towards a more dramatic and romantic film.  Pulling at the heartstrings, Eilis is constantly changing and enduring new challenges.  To me the film starts to dissolve a bit here, dissolving into a more typical romance.  I wish that the wit was still involved at this point, but the dramatic aspects are pulled off well nonetheless.  Furthermore, the story remains linear and continues to progress onwards until the end.

The Bottom Line: This romance is a well-paced spectacle that relies on a strong script and an up-and-coming actress.

Score: 9/10