Month: November 2017

Roman J Israel, ESQ

“Roman J. Israel, ESQ” is a slow-paced legal thriller. Unfortunately the pace was too slow and not nail-biting or edge-of-your seat thrilling.

Academy Award Winner, Denzel Washington plays Roman J. Israel, ESQ a defense attorney in Los Angeles. Roman’s life is turned upside down when a series of unfortunate events occur and challenge his otherwise daily routine causing chaos. The chaos causes Roman’s beliefs in the system to be question. The story unfolds from there…

The pace of the movie was too slow for what was going on. It dragged and at times became boring. The foundation was not laid properly so there are holes in the story.

Denzel Washington is the bright element in the movie doing what he does so well. Denzel works overtime to hold the story together. Without him, the movie would really be mundane.

This is a 3 Star Movie!

Justice League in Real 3D

Out of the gate this is NOT one of the DC Universe’s best outings.

There is a new rising threat to humanity. Batman (Bruce Wayne) works with Wonder Woman (Diana Prince) so that they can find and assemble a team of meta-humans to stand and protect against this new rising threat.
Unfortunately the task is not easy. Even though a league of superheroes (Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash) has formed, it may not be enough to battle the new threat. The story unfolds from there…

Superhero Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) is the best element of the film. In this first outing I find the movie a bit lacking. The Justice League members are a bit disassembled in this first installment. The director (Patty Jenkins) for Wonder Woman was definitely missed. The story drags and is missing some foundation and there is too much CGI.

However I did find the cinematography and 3D aspects to be good. There was lots of action, but that too was sort of chaotic.

Hopefully the DC Universe will go back to the drawing board and clean this up before the next installment. I still prefer Christian Bale as Batman, but alas I found out that he does not want to play that role anymore. Earlier this year Wonder Woman set the bar high and it’s still the best film that came from the DC Universe in 2017.

This is a 2½ Star Movie!

Murder on the Orient Express

The remake of “Murder on the Orient Express” is loaded with heavy hitters. Too bad they did not hit it out of the park!

“Murder on the Orient Express” is a story of thirteen strangers aboard a stranded train where a murder has occurred. Everyone is considered a suspect. There is a detective (Kenneth Branagh) aboard the train and he races to investigate and try to solve the crime before the murderer strikes again. The story unfolds from there…

I had high hopes for the remake of “Murder on the Orient Express”. The trailers were awesome. The movie does contain some very nice scenic views of Istanbul. The movie would be passable if it weren’t for the second half which drags and goes on way too long. At the theater I was in there were people standing at the exit waiting to bolt.

The train does not run off the rails, but it’s a bumpy ride along the European Countryside.

Stick to the original. Peter Ustinov in the original cannot be replaced.

This is a 2 Star Movie!

Jigsaw

I had never planned to see Jigsaw, but an opportunity presented it’s self today so I went with a friend.

I have never personally been a fan of the Saw or Jigsaw movies. They are just plan gory, but this installment actually had some legs…

The movie starts off with several people in jeopardy. Each person has committed an awful crime that they have each gotten away with, but Jigsaw knows the details of each person’s sin and plans to make them pay individually. The story unfolds from there…

“Bloody”, “Gory”, “Painful”, “Revenge” and “Just Plain Sick” is how I would describe the events that take place in “Jigsaw”. There are some appealing twists and turns and that’s what makes the movie interesting. But alas it was just too “Gory” and “Bloody” for me.

If you like Horror and Gore, by all means see “Jigsaw”.

This is a 2 Star Movie!

Thor: Ragnarok in Real 3D

This is a Special Edition of Thursday Night at the Movies with the Movie Warrior

This 3rd installment finds Thor imprisoned on the other side of the Universe without his powerful Hammer. Thor finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok the destruction of his homeland and the end of Asgardian Civilization. Thor must battle a new powerful villain, the ruthless Hela. Hela will stop at nothing to take over and destroy Asgard. If that’s not enough, Thor also must survive a Gladiator contest against the mighty Hulk…The story unfolds from there…

Wow!! Awesome cinematography, special effects, action, suspense and intrigue. They got it right on this 3rd installment. It’s a wild ride in your theater seat. Colorful scenes give way to spectacular camera angles.

This is a star-studded cast with appearances from The Hulk and Dr Strange.

They definitely did not play it safe with this installment, it’s as if all guns came out blazing. Marvel Universe did hit the jackpot.

If you are a fan of the Marvel Comic Universe, this installment of Thor is definitely worth a look.

This is a 4 Star Movie!