Maggie (2015)

Directed by Henry Hobson
Written by John Scott 3
Starring Arnold Schwartzenegger, Abigail Breslin, Joely Richardson and Jodie Moore

A teenage girl in the Midwest becomes infected by an outbreak of a disease that slowly turns the infected into cannibalistic zombies. During her transformation, her loving father stays by her side, refusing to give up hope.

In an unequivocally valiant effort, Arnold Schwartzenegger gives a shot at a straight drama. No over the top action. No ridiculous comedic scenarios. Just straight drama. And as much I was praying that he would showcase some real acting chops, I feel his ambitions were slightly naive.

His performance isn't terrible, mind you. In fact, it's on par with everyone else in the film. The portrayals of people living in a disease infected world are mediocre across the board. No one shows any deep, intense emotions. Live deliveries are weak and unbelievable. And everyone seems to be trying to cry the entire time, without success.

The movie itself isn't bad. The story is interesting. Overplayed, perhaps, but interesting nonetheless. I do feel as though they could have added more development in the beginning. They jump into the plot very quickly and never look back to explain things or enlighten the audience to what has happened beforehand. It's a movie I enjoyed once. But I really think it could have been better with a different cast.

My Rating: 6/10

The Water Diviner (2014)

Directed by Russell Crowe
Written by Andrew Knight and Andrew Anastasios
Starring Russell Crowe, Olga Kurylenko, Yilmaz Erdogan and Jai Courtney

An Australian man travels to Turkey after World War I to search for his  three sons who went missing during the Battle of Gallipoli.

In his feature length, narrative film directorial debut, Russell Crowe goes all in with this ambitious, large scale story. The passion behind this project is easily seen through every scene and is actually rather informative on the topic of World War I and the battles between Australian and Turkish (or Ottoman) soldiers.

Though the main storyline of a father searching for his sons is captivating enough, the writers decided to propel the story forward with the inclusion of a romantic interest. Despite their best efforts, the attempt to raise the stakes with the addition of a woman fell short and only proved to be a slow moving distraction and a campy side story.

The film was like a roller coaster of quality. It started off extremely strong, then fell to into dullness. The pattern repeated throughout, unfortunately ending with a boring, eye-roller of a scene. It was as though Russell Crowe and the writer's wanted to add too much story that was unnecessary and negated the emotional impact of prior sequences.

For his first film as a director, Russell Crowe could have done much worse. And his ambition will prove to be an important asset with his later films. As much as I like him as an actor, I feel he should stay out of his own movies or at the very least take a smaller role. I would imagine wearing two hats only hinders his potential.

My Rating: 6.5/10

This Must Be The Place (2011)

Directed by Paolo Sorrentino
Written by Paolo Sorrentino and Umberto Contarello
Starring Sean Penn, Judd Hirsch, France McDormand and Eve Hewson

Cheyenne, a retired rock star living off his royalties in Dublin, returns to New York City to find the man responsible for a humiliation suffered by his recently deceased father during W.W.II.

In a role that seems to contradict itself, Sean Penn plays a quiet, mild-tempered former rock star who seems to be trying everything he possible can to not be a cliché. This alone makes for an interesting character, but the filmmakers try to add more, unnecessary elements to make the movie more deep than it needs to be.

The first act is remarkably engrossing. The mannerisms and voice of the character Penn created was an astonishing change from the norm. The study of who this rock star really was after all of the lights and cameras were away and after he grew out of his drug habits was worth making a full-length movie. But they didn't focus on that too long.

In an attempt to make a statement that had already been made in the first five minutes, the writers decided to add the element of a dying Father who was held at Auschwitz during WWII. This played less like a genius twist in the story and more like a cry for an award. The plot had already been set and with the destination not having changed at all, the entire middle forty-five minutes just seemed gratuitous.

Sean Penn gives a killer, toned down performance that rivals many of his other roles. It's just a shame that it is wasted on half of this film. Despite a few technical editing problems (that are more of a personal opinion), I really enjoyed the beginning of this movie. It felt a lot like a Coen Brothers film. But the last half just killed it for me. It was trying to be something it just simply wasn't.

My Rating: 5.5/10

Beginners (2010)

Written and Directed by Mike Mills

Starring Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent and Goran Visnjic

A young man is rocked by two announcements from his elderly father: that he has terminal cancer, and that he has a young male lover.

This movie has so much substance and thematic elements to it, it's hard not to enjoy it. A story dealing with love, life, the history of civilization between generations and gay rights, it brilliantly links all of these themes together into one coherent and emotional story.

A man so unsure about his ability to love due to the unexpected news that his father was secretly homosexual over the past 44 years, Ewan McGregor captures the confusion and insecurity of his character in a powerful performance. Winner of the Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role at the 2012 Academy Awards, Christopher Plummer delivers a stellar rendering of a man finally content and confident enough to live as he is. The acting is undoubtedly the power behind this moving film.

Delightfully humorous and painfully honest, at it's core this is a film about the growth of acceptance of homosexuals over the decades and the trials they were put through during the mid-nineteenth century. It is as relevant today as it was three years ago, and I believe it will remain so for a while.

My Rating: 8/10

The Angriest Man in Brooklyn (2014)

Directed by Phil Alden Robinson
Written by Daniel Taplitz, based on the film "The 92 Minutes of Mr. Baum" written by Assi Dayan
Starring Robin Williams, Mila Kunis, Peter Dinklage and Melissa Leo

A perpetually angry man is informed he has 90 minutes to live and promptly sets out to reconcile with his family and friends in the short time he has left.

Throughout the 83 minutes that this movie plays, the quality goes up and down from being bad, then flirting with the line of being good, only to fall back down again. It never fully satisfies with it's story telling.

Opening with a nice, picturesque scene of a family having a picnic, your image of the father is immediately shattered when they cut to him stuck in traffic 25 years later. It is obvious that this was done on purpose, but I felt that Robin Williams character never fully goes back to that original state of happiness, rendering the entire movie meaningless.

Why would you go to the hospital without a shirt?

With little humor and a lot of yelling, perhaps this film was made more for those who actually live in New York and could relate to the protagonists experiences. But to the rest of us, at least for myself, it fell flat.

That's the perfect word to describe this movie. It wasn't good or bad. It was just flat. Although some scenes peaked my interest and others pushed me away, my emotional connection with the film stayed the same throughout, never changing from the "Yeah… I'm watching a movie…" emotion.

The best part about the movie was seeing Robin Williams. Perhaps this is a new phenomena since his death, but it is quite enjoyable just to see him on screen. It's hard to miss him, even when he's yelling at everyone.

My Rating: 5/10

Danny Collins (2015)

Written and Directed by Dan Fogelman
Starring Al Pacino, Bobby Cannavale, Annette Bening and Jennifer Garner

An aging rock star decides to change his life when he discovers a 40-year-old letter written to him by John Lennon.

A film very loosely inspired by an actual event, it is a heart warming story of a man trying to right the wrongs he has committed to those he should have looked out for. With surprisingly funny performances from everyone involved, it proved all of my skepticism wrong very quickly.

Along with the humor, another thing I did not expect to come from this movie was the human aspect. In most movies involving rich celebrities trying to redeem themselves, the characters in question seem disillusioned and rude before they seek to better themselves. In "Danny Collins", the titular character is kind to strangers, friendly and never acts like a prima donna.

This is another one of those "filler" movies. It's not a film for the history books. But it's not one to simply look over. It's a nice, entertaining movie to watch in between the movies you are excited for. It's a refreshing, satisfying movie that is definitely worth a watch.

My Rating 6.8/10

Boy (2010)

Written and Directed by Taika Waititi
Starring James Rolleston, Te Aho Eketone-Whitu, Taika Waititi and Maerangi Tihore

Set on the east coast of New Zealand in the year 1984, Boy, an 11-year0old kid and devout Michael Jackson fan gets a chance to know his estranged father, who has returned to find a bag of money he buried years ago.

With the dry-humor that Taika Waititi is known for, this movie will keep a smile on your face for a while after the credits are done. Backed by some great acting by the kids and adults alike, the writing in this is some of the best I've heard in recent memory.

Perhaps it is the setting or time period, but this is one of the most unique coming of age stories I have even seen. Yet, it captures the very foundation of the experience of growing up and makes it universal, so everyone can relate.

Who hasn't dug for buried treasure with their father who

insists on wearing a military helmet and just got out of prison?

I might get a lot of flak for this, as I'm sure many will disagree. But in my opinion, this was a much better representation of childhood than "Boyhood". And much more enjoyable (Not that I didn't enjoy "Boyhood"). That is mostly due to one coherent storyline, rather than the mosaic of moments that created the Oscar nominated film. I highly recommend "Boy" to anyone. Especially those who like quirky films.

My Rating: 8/10

P.S. Sorry about the poor quality of this review. It's 6:30 AM, and it's past my bedtime. I'm quite exhausted.