Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) has never let me down with his superb filmmaking, which continues with this installment in his filmography.  After the conclusion of the Cornetto Trilogy, Wright was expected to direct Ant-Man.  However, Peyton Reed (Bring It On) got to helm the Marvel film leaving Wright time to work on an original film of his own.  Wright is clearly a perfectionist when it comes to film editing.  Similarly to his previous creations, Baby Driver flows seamlessly with constant transitions.  The film runs in high gear with fun action sequences comparable to The Fast and Furious franchise.  

One thing that this film can hold over The Fast and Furious is a sustainable plotline.  The story never grows stale because the characters are enjoyable and well-acted.  There is not a lot of cheesy dialogue, even though there are plenty of jokes throughout the film.  At times, I felt like the characters and settings were influenced by Pulp Fiction.  There is certainly a high amount of blood and gore, which might also have brought Tarantino's masterpiece into my mind.  The comedic dialogue plays off of the mature imagery, distracting the audience from the seriousness of violence.  Just when you start to feel grossed out by the film, the script reminds you that this is all fun and games.  

As with all of Edgar Wright's previous films, this one does not need to remind audiences of reality.  This is a film to enjoy because of how it was made, not because of the values it holds.  Sure there are some lessons that we can learn from the film (such as, don't mess with Kevin Spacey), but we never have to compare the film with our own lives.  For that, I thank Mr. Wright.  Sometimes, I like to sit back and look at the technical aspects of film creation.  Baby Driver shows us that we do not only need big franchises to have fun in theaters.

The only complaint that I can come up with for this film is the soundtrack.  For a film focused around music, I was hoping for more iconic music.  It is hard to release a film like this after audiences have familiarized themselves with Guardians of the Galaxy.  The soundtrack for Baby Driver is filled with fuel and fire tracks, but there is nothing that compares to the use of "Don't Stop Me Now" in Shaun of the Dead.  If Wright had given me a comparable track in this film, I would really be in love with this film!

The Bottom Line: Edgar Wright's first film after the completion of the Cornetto Trilogy is another sweet treat for audiences who enjoy high-octane entertainment!

Score: 9.3/10

Image credit: By Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27437520

For a three hour runtime, this is one of the quickest paced movies I have ever watched.  Scorsese (The Departed) directs this biopic about Jordan Belfort, one of the many salespeople who took advantage of others for their own gains on Wall Street.  I have not yet read Belfort's book, but I imagine that it is just as crazy as the film adaptation.  Drugs, sex, and all sorts of raunchiness progress the film forwards at a relentless pace.  Just when I wondered what could happen next, surprising events unfold as Belfort and his gang constantly get high and make millions of dollars.

A trio of acting dominates the storyline with Leonardo DiCaprio (Inception, The Departed, Titanic) at the helm.  Leo's portrayal of Belfort balances on a tightrope of lovability and immorality.  Even with his wishy-washy character, Leo leads the film in what is his best performance to date.  Don't get me wrong, The Revenant is another great film in his filmography, but nothing beats the authenticity of this role.  The other two screen-dominating roles are Jonah Hill (21 Jump Street, Superbad) as Donny Azoff and Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar, Dallas Buyers Club​) as Mark Hanna.  At a time when Jonah Hill was starting to take off, he plays the perfect henchman for Belfort to work with.  Azoff is an oddball character that is shrouded in mystery.  No actor could have been a better fit for this role.  Alongside Hill and DiCaprio, McConaughey shines bright as a mentor for Belfort.  Even though his role is short-lived, he is iconic and exciting to watch.

It still amazes me that this film is directed by Scorsese.  The Wolf of Wall Street is not for all ages, but geared toward a specific audience.  Anyone who is interested in economics might take offense with the film and its display of Wall Street crookedness.  However, at a time when everyone dreamed of being rich, the film played well to young adults.  Honestly, who doesn't dream of a life with the comfort of Jordan Belfort's.  Of course there were clear flaws with living this sort of life, but you have to admit that being able to buy a yacht and go wherever you want in the world has an appeal.  Scorsese's character study is able to appeal to wannabe millionaires even with a story as immoral as Belfort's.

The Bottom Line:  Fine acting and a quick pace push this drug-filled film forwards, creating a piece of art that will be remembered by anyone who dreams of being rich.

Score: 9/10

As the first full Fast and Furious movie that I have seen, this one is exactly what I expected.  One liners, explosions, and a lot of cars round out this eighth installment in the franchise.  The culture surrounding the franchise remains the same with large-muscled characters and rap music playing in the background.  Although the film is shallow at times, it is still an enjoyable adventure/action flick that keeps the audience engaged for a runtime over two hours.

With seven preceding films in the franchise, it must have been hard to create somewhat realistic action sequences.  From what I've heard, as the franchise chugs forward, the effects and events become more and more insane.  Clearly, it is getting hard to stick with just cars for action.  The franchise has expanded into more weaponry and turned into a cheesier Bond-esque genre.  At times hundreds of cars are controlled by one hacker, but there are also torpedoes to keep the film from becoming too focused on car racing.  Honestly, I love the integration of weaponry with the cars because the cars now create a safe place for the characters wherever they go.

While I do praise the film for a lot of it's action, I will warn you that this is in no way a serious action film.  Do not walk into the theater expecting to see Skyfall or Saving Private Ryan.  Rather, expect a fun flick similar to Escape Plan or Get Hard.  The story is simple as heck with a villain trying to terrorize the world and turn a good guy into a bad guy.  As a centerpiece for the film Vin Diesel is just a simple character and without his team this film would be really bad.  Luckily Dwayne Johnson (Moana) and Jason Statham (The Transporter) return with decent dialogue here and there.  Unfortunately, this is one of my least favorite roles that Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road, Hancock) has ever played.  Her script makes her a weak villain who is capable of hacking into anything, but cannot even make a joke funny.  Without seeing the other films I assume that this one is not the worst, but I also hope it is not the best of the franchise...

The Bottom Line:  The Fate of the Furious is a fun-to-watch action film, so long as you do not get too caught up in the physics of the real world.

Score: 6/10 

Image credit: ​By Tokumeigakarinoaoshima - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58045638

Hell or High Water is not the best motion picture of the year.  There is nothing groundbreaking, or majorly original in this film.  Yet, there is not much to complain about.  The screenplay is not the freshest thing in modern cinema, but the cast is spectacular and they grace the screen with their presence.  The other day I watched The Hollywood Reporter's actor roundtable, which included Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski, True Grit, Iron Man, TRON: Legacy).  If I had not watched the roundtable, I might not have been as invested in this film.  If you have any doubts about watching the film, check out the roundtable so that you can connect with Bridges a bit more.  Bridges is as genuinely interesting guy with a lot of experience in acting.

The rest of the cast also makes the film an exciting watch.  Chris Pine (Star Trek), Ben Foster (Lone Survivor), and Gil Birmingham (Rango) act as familiar faces for their roles.  While the screenplay may seem reminiscent of other films in the genre, the acting is excellent and fresh.  Imagine a double-date with Chris Pine and Ben Foster meeting up with Jeff Bridges and Gil Birmingham.  Well it's more of a duel, but there is certain bromance between the two groups of actors.  

Rather than focusing on the storyline, Taylor Sheridan (Sicario) writes deep characters.  With a premise of bank robbers, it is hard to create an original film.  Rather, the setting and the character relationships are the focal point of David Mackenzie's (Starred Up) newest film.  Sheridan's writing is subtly rich and engaging, similarly to his previous work on Sicario.  Look out for more of Sheridan's films in the near future since he appears to have struck gold with this genre.  While Mackenzie's direction is a bit unique, there are some odd moments throughout the film where non-diegetic music starts to play.  I am not sure if I liked the moments where the music kicked in, but it is an interesting way to place more music in film!

The Bottom Line:  Hell or High Water shines bright with its spectacularly written characters, even if it is not the best film of the year!

Score: 9.5/10

What really happened?  How did this University of Washington student get arrested and then set free for a crime that has no evidence of her involvement?  Amanda Knox answers most of the questions for the Italian court case with facts that never cease to astonish throughout the whole film.  The film has a stark tone for the case that created so many mixed emotions among the public.  Different sides of the story are constantly revealed as justifications for the case outcomes are created by many different parties.  With a story this complex, it is amazing to see it masterfully handled by the direction of Brian McGinn and Rod Blackhurst.  The two directors attract the audience's eyes with clear visuals in a fuzzy situation.

Crime documentaries need multiple perspectives in order to grant the full story to the audience.  Amanda Knox makes sure that all sides of the story are told.  This is hard to do in the short 1 hour and 32 minute runtime of the film.  Still, we get to hear how the original court case was blown out of proportion by the media through the retelling by a journalist.  We get to hear how the original court case was justified by a public prosecutor named Giuliani Mignini.  And of course, we hear from Amanda Knox and her boyfriend at the time of the crime.  All of these perspectives mesh together to give the audience a full view of the crime case.  I can gladly say that I learned a lot from this documentary.

The writers choose to tell the story in a well-done chronological order.  It is hard to retell a story that lasted about a decade.  Yet, I never felt overly rushed through the documentary.  A part of the credit must go to the beautiful shots throughout the film.  Found footage combines with new clear imagery to maintain a fresh view for the film.  The color palette maintains the dark tone that often comes up in modern crime documentaries.  Yet, flashy headlines scatter across the screen to make sure that our eyes are always on-target.  These types of innovations create a quick-paced film that feels short, but well-rounded.  

The Bottom Line:  Amanda Knox covers a lot of quantity in its story, yet maintains its quality through superb visuals and multiple perspectives. 

Score: 9.6/10

Image credit: ​By Scott335 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17217794

​We would be going amiss if we did not mention the leading actors in Sicario.  Emily Blunt (Edge of Tomorrow, Looper, The Devil Wears Prada), Benicio Del Toro (The Usual Suspects), and Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men​) bring fascinating characters to life on the big screen.  None of the characters are easy to read into, creating the mysterious and dark tone in the dialogue.  There is an odd relationship between del Toro's character and Emily Blunt's character.  The ending only creates more fogginess in their relationship.  In  every film that I have seen with del Toro, his character is surrounded in a cloud of mystery.  Sicario uses his perfected character form as he portrays one of the members in the government task force.  Brolin's character is set in between the two, as a straight-edged and serious proponent of the task force.  All three of the actors are spectacularly cast and fitting for Villeneuve's thrilling cartel film.

Sicario also achieves it's suiting tone through the technical aspects.  The soundtrack is constantly pulsing through the speakers, bringing us into the terror of gang territory.  The beat chugs us through the story, often times not easily noticeable.  Most of the time, when a soundtrack is less noticeable, it fits into the film better.  There also some very unique shots that include thermal vision in a way that I have never seen before.  Birds-eye-views place us above the action a lot of the time, giving us a real sense of war.  Overall, this film is produced with the style that we expect out of Villeneuve's previous works.

The Bottom Line:  Villeneuve continues to bring tense stories with good casts to audiences who are familiar with his past works.

Score: 8.5/10

Once again, the DC universe sings an all-too-familiar tune with their new superhero/supervillain flick.  Wasted talent, music, and special effects lead the audience astray from their expectations going into Suicide Squad.  The only decently written character in the film turns out to be Deadshot.  Will Smith (Men in Black, I Am Legend, The Pursuit of Happyness) gives a refreshing performance as the assassin, leading a gang of supervillains to do good.  Unfortunately, his gang is full of misfits with poor scripts and undeveloped backgrounds.  David Ayer (Fury, End of Watch) seems to have tried a little too hard to make all of these characters relatable.  The finished product moves quickly through all of their backgrounds, leaving a lot of plot holes and storylines that could be used as individual movies.  Margot Robbie's (The Wolf of Wall Street, Focus) Harley Quinn was portrayed as a stand-out character in the trailers, but ends up as a surface character without depth.  Her one-liners all fall short, detracting from any chuckles that I hoped to get out of the film.  I understand that DC is going for a dark and grittier tone than Marvel, but we need a few decent laughs over the course of two hours!

Jared Leto's (Requiem for a Dream, Dallas Buyers Club) hype for the film through method acting also ends up going to waste.  Jared Leto's Joker is barely in the film and barely fits into the story at all.  This is a Joker that the audience has never seen before on the big screen.  That's cool, but I have no desire to spend any more time watching this Joker.  The Joker is supposed to be clever and maniacal, but Leto's portrayal is more of a mobster without any sort of purpose aside from gaining capital and bling.  Maybe he is just set-up for the next Batman film, but I'd rather see a fresh villain surface in Ben Affleck's (Argo, Good Will Hunting, Gone Girl, The Town) solo Batman film.  There is another main villain in Suicide Squad, but the villain is not even worthy of time talking about him/her, so I am going to refrain from even discussing that.   

The best part about Suicide Squad is definitely the soundtrack, which deserves a lot of credit.  The soundtrack helps to smooth out the jumpy cutting, bringing spontaneous rap and pop into the storyline.  I also liked the flare in the color palette on the screen.  Neon lights combine well with the music to give younger generations a flick that they can enjoy solely for the art.  I really wanted to fall in love with this film, but DC is struggling to create decent scripts and storylines for their star casts to work with.  Hopefully Ben Affleck's solo Batman film will introduce us to a better DC cinematic universe, but for now I will continue to be excited for Marvel films.  When a Doctor Strange trailer plays before a DC film, you know that the DC cinematic universe is on a bumpy journey!

The Bottom Line: Suicide Squad is the best DC film since The Dark Knight Rises, but that's not really saying much.

Score: 5.5/10

Image credit: ​By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America - Will Smith & David Ayer, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49300595

The Coen brothers (The Big Lebowski, True Grit, Fargo) love to leave the audience with a lot of afterthoughts about their films.  No Country for Old Men is no exception to this method.  I often struggle to enjoy Coen brother films because of the way they leave the audience in the dark.  However, like the taste of coffee their films grown on you as you mature.  Their films are deep and thought-provoking, but also use surface-level messages to keep you wondering what is really going on behind the storyline.  In a sense, the storyline is not always important, which is hard for audiences to comprehend.  Finally with No Country for Old Men, I can start to truly appreciate the high-level artform that the Coen brothers are thriving off of.  

One key factor that helps the viewers enjoy No Country for Old Men are the top-notch performances constructed by the main actors.  Josh Brolin (The Goonies) plays Llewelyn Moss, a hunter who encounters more than he can handle when he is out hunting.  Moss is a superb character with internal ideologies that lead him down a path that is bigger than he originally imagines.  On the other hand, Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones's [Men in Black] character) struggles with the path that he has followed his whole life.  The one prolonged case that Bell ends up with is enough to make him question his whole life's work.  Bell delivers the message to the audience that there is a possibility that nothing on the screen really even matters.  Here's the weird part about the film:  The Coen brothers write a whole script, then throw it at the audience, and then basically claim that it doesn't really matter.  What other filmmaker works this hard to complete a pointless project?  I think that's the point though.

The real elephant in the room for this film though is Javier Bardem (Skyfall​).  This accomplished actor creates a villain that can be held on a pedestal at the same level as The Joker in The Dark Knight.  We cannot understand his methods and he constantly shocks us.  Bardem is the perfect fit for the role of Anton Chigurh, a cold-blooded killer.  Every second that Bardem is on the screen, goosebumps crawl all over me as I wonder if he will spare the victim or not.  Furthermore, he is given signature weapons to emphasize his role as an experienced killer.  This role has surely helped him gain more notoriety as one of the greatest actors alive today.  Ever since this role, Bardem has continued to bring amazing villains to the big screen including Silva in Skyfall.

The Bottom Line:  If you do not like conceptual films that make you question life itself, then don't watch this one.  But if you never watch this film, you will have missed one of the greatest films of your lifetime!

Score: 9.8/10

Image credit: ​By MIRAMAX - onlyhdwallpapers.com, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22849805

This buddy cop film takes an odd turn after the very first scene and continues to twist down an odd road.  Shane Black directs this comedy action film with two of the most amazing actors alive, Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe.  When I first saw the trailer for this film, I thought it was going to be awful and similar to other screwball comedies that use big name actors to gain an audience.   On top of that, Iron Man 3 is my least favorite Marvel movie so far and it was directed by Shane Black.  I hated it so much that I puked four times after the screening, but that's another story all together.

Throughout this film, the comedy continues to deliver as you ponder whether you are supposed to laugh at certain scenes or not.  Most of the jokes revolve around drugs, sex, and violence.  This one is not for the kiddos!  The comedy strides around the style of Rush Hour, but it is much more sophisticated and content-based.  Crowe and Gosling have surprisingly different roles than their usual drama-based characters and they play it so well.  The plot starts off with a sort of character analysis of the two "detectives" who are eventually forced to team up and find a missing girl.  The plot is very complex and at times hard to follow, but if I watch it again I will probably be able to catch everything I missed.

The best part of this film is the period piece aspect.  The set looks like it was revitalized straight from Saturday Night Fever.  The costuming gives us an authentic look at the seventies drab that used to be considered fashionable.  Gosling's impressive mustache portrays the detail of the film's setting and time period without distracting us from the plot too much.  With such a complex plot, Black does a good job of subtly bringing us back in time without forcing afros and disco balls in our face the whole time.  The music also brings us back into the seventies throughout the film.  Overall, this is basically a fantastically weird period piece and character study taking place in the seventies.

The Bottom Line:  Shane Black brings us back in time with two prominent studio actors to solve a titillating mystery.

Score: 9.0/10 

Image credit: ​http://www.ew.com/sites/default/files/1462462004/The%20Nice%20Guys_Side%20A.jpeg

From the directors of Tangled and Wreck-it Ralph comes this animated film about a world comprised of animals.  The animals are divided by certain characteristics and the story is about the struggle to break their stereotyped features.  This is all coming from the studio that brought us the hit movie, Frozen.  Unlike Frozen, this is the most diverse animated film I have ever seen.  Its definitely the most diverse animated film from Disney, featuring all sorts of animals with different backgrounds.  That is funny to say about a movie that does not have any humans whatsoever.

One of the reasons I love the medium of film is because it is an object of the arts.  In my opinion, fine arts are used to spread culture.  Zootopia is a clear example of how culture is spread through cinema.  When the writers create a message about diversity and equality, the film comes out with a deeper meaning.  Zootopia not only struggles with race equality, but also sex equality.  Ginnifer Goodwin (Walk the Line) acts as a symbol for women through her character, Judy Hopps.  Hopps is an adorable bunny who is tired of being seen as prey.  She sees all hunting animals as evil, and believes that they see all of the weaker animals as wimpy and easy targets.  These ideologies are heavy-handed throughout the film, which starts to become preachy.  Everyone in the film is wrong with their judgement of others.  Personally I liked the use of diversity and the message of Zootopia, but the message was so deeply entrenched in the film that I could not feel entertained in any way.  Its as though Disney is trying to create something that will engrain itself into the minds of the youth.  The ideologies portrayed in the film are agreeable, but overall I felt brainwashed by the end.  To me, cinema needs to walk a fine line between message and fun.  It is easy for us to forget a film without both of these traits.  If something is fun to watch but leaves me without any afterthoughts, then I no longer have any feelings for the film when the lights come back on.  However if a film is too much like a sermon, then I eventually tune out the jargon and feel a disconnect from the screen.  Zootopia acted as too much of a sermon and started to annoy me because I was tired of listening.  I should not have to feel so downtrodden after a Disney film, especially when it points out everything that I am seeing in the news nowadays.  I left without much afterthought, but rather the thought that big studio cinema is no longer the same because of how modern society is evolving.  That being said, Zootopia is a very creative and intelligent film that serves as a good start to a more diverse Disney studio.

The Bottom Line:  While being the most diverse Disney film yet, Zootopia struggles with subtlety and enjoyment.

Score: 8.7/10

Image credit: http://img.lum.dolimg.com/v1/images/movie_poster_zootopia_866a1bf2.jpeg