Dredd is an amazing sci-fi action/thriller that seems to finally get the character right. The action is incredible, the visual effect top notch and Karl Urban, given very little to work with, is effective in the title role.
Ex Machina is one of the better surprises of 2015 with a well told story taking a subject seen many times before yet giving it that extra layer and giving us three distinguished characters each fleshed out so well.
Unforgiven is probably one of the best westerns ever made and it’s a movie that transcends audiences so if you’re like me and don’t normally watch those kinds of movies, give this one a shot: it features fine performances, fine direction and a story that is compelling from beginning to end.
3:10 to Yuma is one of the best modern westerns that features precision direction from James Mangold and includes a stellar cast by Russell Crowe, Christian Bale and Peter Fonda not to mention Ben Foster, Alan Tudyk and Logan Lerman in supporting roles.
xXx: Return of Xander Cage, like the first movie, is technically not good but with that had over this entry was a sense it was competently made and was for sure this was a good 8-10 years too late. Having said that, they seem to be set up for a truly fun fourth movie.
It’s really no surprise that Fifty Shades Darker is a bad film but the worst sin of this entry it was awfully dull but did manage to elicit a few chuckles at least.
I’m not exactly sure why Underworld: Blood Wars was necessary and especially with the knowledge a sixth one is in the works, but as much as I disliked the previous entries (finding Awakening tolerable apparently, though I can’t remember one damn thing from it), this is probably the worst of the bunch.
Why Him? is certainly not very good but harmless enough and perhaps worth a watch if only for Bryan Cranston and even James Franco who at least were somewhat entertaining to behold as they both appeared to be having fun.
The final chapter in the Harry Potter saga, Deathly Hallows Part 2 is a fantastic ending highlighted by an intense, action-pakced, third act and nicely closes out giving a fitting conclusion to our favorite characters.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is a good start to the final film in the series that started a decade ago and I can only hope it ends in the bang most have promised it would. It’s certainly the darkest of the franchise but also one of the best especially with the performances of the three leads.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince didn’t quite grab me compared to a few of its predecessors, it’s still an entertaining entry leading way to an intense two-part finale.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix isn’t great but still quite good and highly entertaining, excelling due to its amazing ensemble cast as we see the young ones grow up right before our eyes.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the type of movie one can admire the technical aspects more so than the story or characters, but that admiration only goes so far. Like The Hobbit before, this just seems like a needless spin-off and I cannot imagine how the material can be stretched into a sequel let alone FOUR more.
Assassin’s Creed, from the standpoint of someone who is not a gamer, actually wasn’t a bad movie, flawed for sure, but still decent enough mainly for Michael Fassbender more so than the plot, which was at times confusing, or the writing.
Passengers might’ve been slammed by critics, was a quasi bust at the box office given its budget and had a misleading marketing campaign, but I for one really enjoyed the lonely aspect of the story that tends to appeal to me and has an interesting premise.