October 2018 Movie Reviews
3 stars
Venom is... silly? So to start off, this movie had the deck stacked against it from the beginning. Now that Spider-man is part of the MCU, Sony has the task of creating one of Spider-man's most popular villains, without Spider-man. Also Sony is trying to use this movie to springboard a series of films based on Spider-man villains and side-characters, without Spider-man. And not too mention that Sony has already screwed this character up once in the much maligned Spider-man 3. So considering all of that... the movie is fine? Tom Hardy and Director Ruben Fleischer make some "interesting choices" with the depiction of the character. I never really bought Tom Hardy as a hard-hitting investigative journalist, but Hardy is completely invested in the film and has some really funny moments with the symbiote. And I thought in general, the symbiotes looked really good with intricate textures and movements. However, instead of the getting a psychological thriller about a conflicted anti-hero (like the trailers implied), we got a pretty run of the mill action superhero story that hits all the necessary plot points and CGI fight sequences. Characters change their motivations for seemingly no reason and there is a completely unnecessary and unrealistic looking drone chase scene. Michelle William's character started off strong but then makes some uncharacteristic choices about 2/3rd's through the film. Overall, Hardy's playful relationship with Venom sort of makes the film. I didn't expect a parasitic alien to have the same speaking patterns as your college frat bro, but it's pretty entertaining. So kudos to everyone involved for not letting this be a trainwreck. Should they make more of these films? Probably not, but I'm curious.
Last thing, this movie is tied with the predator as having the worst sequel baity scene this year. The mid-credits scene is laughably ridiculous. As in everyone in the theater was laughing because it was so ridiculously bad. Movie studios, please stop doing this.
3 and a half stars
I don't have a whole lot to say about this besides that it has some fantastic performances from its 2 leads. Cooper's performance reminded me of his American Sniper role where he completely incapsulates the character. And I enjoyed the music, I think you'll especially love it if you are Lady Gaga fan. I did think the movie dragged in parts. Dave Chappelle's character was only in one scene and I thought Sam Elliot as the brother could have easily filled that role and sped things along. Overall, strong performances with a touching story.
2 stars
I couldn't really get into this film. I didn't really connect with the main character and found some of the plot points contrived and overly dramatic. I thought that the movie started out strong and the scene with the inciting incident is tense and well-directed, but after that the movie kind of lost me. I found a lot of the conflict inserted into the film to be forced and made to be controversial. One of the climatic scenes (which apparently was changed from the book) involved cops aiming guns at children in the middle of family feud with a drug dealer who apparently is also trying to kill these kids?! It felt over the top and undercut some of the messages of the book/film. I did enjoy the performances from Regina Hall and Russel Hornsby as Starr's parents trying instill good values in their children in a messy and unfair world. It's very possible this movie just wasn't for me (it's based on a young adult novel), but I thought the content had been more effectively covered in other films such as Fruitvale Station or even Get Out.
White Boy Rick
3 stars
Pretty solid film that is well-stylized and has a good soundtrack, but didn't really stick with me. Great acting all around and is worth a watch.
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