Author: Mark A. Lester

Arrival (2016)

While director Denis Villeneuve (who did Prisoners and Sicario) does a great time of pacing and giving vivid visuals in his newest film, the one downside from Arrival is that it tends to be a tad too smart for its own good.

That is not to say the film is not worth checking out; quite the contrary. The story centers around the arrival of aliens in twelve locations around the world. We spend the majority of the time in location in Montana, where Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker) has recruited Scientist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) and linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) to try to access the situation.

Tags 2001: A Space Odyssey, 2016, A Most Violent Year, Arrival, Bradford Young, Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind, Denis Villeneuve, Forest Whitaker, Inception, Jeremy Renner, Pawn Sacrifice, PG-13, Prisoners, Rated PG-13, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Selma, Sicario

4 Stars

Doctor Strange (2016)

Once again, Marvel gives us a solid, all around fun origin flick with their newest Superhero to hit the big screen, Dr. Strange (though obviously not to be confused with the 1964 masterpiece Dr. Strangelove: Or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb).

Tags 2016, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Comics, Dr. Strange, Family, Mads Mikkelsen, Marvel, Rachel McAdams, Rated PG-13, Sherlock, Superhero, Tilda Swinton

2 Stars

Suicide Squad (2016)

It took me a lot of thinking as to how I wanted to respond to Suicide Squad. Like most people, I am rather disappointed it did not live up to the hype. However, I did still find some good things in it as well.

For those who don’t know, Suicide Squad tells the story (not long after this year’s earlier disappointment that was Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice) of a politician (of some kind) named Amanda Waller (the always talented Viola Davis). There is a situation that is far too complicated to explain, and would also be far to boring for you to read. All I will say is that it involves Enchantress, who takes over the body of June Moone (both played by Cara Delevingne).

Tags 2016, Batman, Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice, Comics, DC, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Suicide Squad, Superman, The Joker, Will Smith

1 1/2 Stars

Me Before You (2016)

I have a hunch that whoever is reading this review is interested in one thing, and one thing only: Did I cry during Me before You? I can confidently say I did not cry at all.

That is not to say I am not one to cry at certain movies (I did feel my eyes get wet during The Fault in our Stars, a far better film). The problem is that the characters in Me before You make decisions that seem unrealistic to their characteristics (mainly the character of Lou Clark).

Tags 2016, A Walk to Remember, Charles Dance, City Lights, Emilia Clarke, Janet McTeer, Love Story, Matthew Lewis, Me Before You, Romance, Romantic, The Fault in Our Stars, The Notebook

5 Stars

Room (2015)

I feel like I am walking on the thinnest of ice right not.

Room is definitely one of the year’s very best films, if not the best, but how do I convince you to see it? For starters, I could say that it was playing an hours drive away from me, and it was more than worth the trip. I could say it has probaly the best performances you will see all year. What I can’t say is what you may feel personally, only that I felt emotions as strong as I have in any theater experience I have had in my life.

Tags 2015, Brie Larson, Drama, Jack Tremblay, Joan Allen, William H. Macy

2 1/2 Stars

Ant-Man (2015)

Back in 5th grade, I was told to do a poem based off of an animal that I was like. My pre-teen, short stature self decided on an ant, who was small, but a hard worker. I thought of this poem while entering Ant-Man, hoping for a sleeper of a film to be entertaining and possibly more.

Sadly, it was not the case.

Tags Ant Man, Avengers, Comics, Marvel, Michael Douglas, Paul Rudd, Super Hero

5 Stars

Inside Out (2015)

After Toy Story 3, I have felt that Disney/Pixar has been on a tad bit of a slump. I was not a fan of Brave, and the sequels (plus one prequel) were all sub par, especially to the early works of Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL-E, and Up.

Now comes Inside Out, and Disney/Pixar is back with a big bang. It is one of their top four or five films they have made. I left the theater thinking of one word: Spectacular.

Tags Animation, Comedy, Disney, Family, Pixar

3 1/2 Stars

Jurassic World (2015)

I admit that when I heard they were doing a new film in the Jurassic series, I was hesitant.

The first film came out when I was six, and it was a great entertainment. Sadly, after the unimpressive (but mildly entertaining) The Lost World and the very anti-fun Jurassic Park 3, it seemed the original was doomed to follow the same path of another Spielberg classic, Jaws.

Tags 2015, Action, Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt, Jurassic World, PG-13, Rated PG-13, Science Fiction, Steven Spielberg