I saw The Circle in the RPX when it came out, and I kind of wish I hadn’t. I had to pay for this movie and it was not worth seeing it on the big screen. Interestingly, I didn’t even really enjoy the movie when I saw it the first time. My friend came over and we had a movie marathon and we watched this one since he hadn’t seen it. He said he didn’t like it, but for some reason, I liked it better the second time I saw it. I’m not sure if the flickering light in the theater really bothered me that much.

I was a little surprised that Emma Watson doesn’t have her British accent in this movie. Truthfully, I was actually a bit disappointed. Her American accent isn’t terrible like some actors I could mention, but I guess I’m just used to her normal accent. I am also highly disappointed that Tom Hanks was not in the movie very because he’s on the cover of the DVD. Just based on that alone, I would think that would warrant more than 5 minutes of screen time. I love Tom Hanks and Emma Watson, but I felt like the film didn’t really utilize their talents. Even John Boyega was underutilized in this movie, and I think he’s a great actor. It almost feels like once it finally gets started, it just sort of ends.

Don’t even get me started on the ending. The whole plot just stops abruptly during what I considered to be the climax of the movie, and nothing ever gets resolved. Like I said I liked it a lot better when I watched it the second time, but I have no idea how this was any different from me viewing it the first time. I would suggest renting this from the library, that way the only thing you lose is time.

My score: 6/10

For more movies reviews, you can view my entire list of movies here.

This is probably one of my favorite Saw moves. I like the first three of the franchise the best because I think they have the best storylines in my opinion. This film doesn’t have the best gore or the best traps; the story is really the best part of this movie. Don’t get me wrong, the gore and the traps are the best parts of Saw IV-VI. However, they lack a real story and dialogue.

If you watch the whole franchise, the movies reveal a little bit about Jigsaw in each film. This film, in my opinion, gives you more background on the games and tapes aspect of the film. Amanda, who has played the game before, is aware of Jigsaw’s nuances and quirks. She knows what to look for when the others are clueless. Jigsaw is a predictable serial killer, and you would think the people who are kidnapped would use that to their advantage, but you’d be wrong. I’ll give the characters a little bit of credit since it’s only the second movie, but they never seem to catch on in the later films.

I liked this film because Donnie Wahlberg, who plays Detective Matthews, and he actually does a great job acting in this movie. The plot basically revolves around him because every person that is kidnapped is set up by Detective Matthews and they went to jail because of evidence he planted. That’s not really a spoiler because it’s not a pivotal part of the plot.

I liked the twist ending; I wasn’t expecting it when I saw this film the first time and I still think it’s a good ending even after watching it a few times. Normally, horror films don’t always have the best endings, but this one was satisfying to say the least.

My score: 7/10

For more movies reviews, you can view my entire list of movies here.

I was stuck inside the house for a few days and decided to go the library and check out a bunch of movies and have a movie marathon. Of the five films, my best friend and I watched this was the best one. I surprisingly didn’t see this in theaters even though I wanted to, I just never found the time. I rarely ever say this, but I regret not seeing this in theaters. All the action, special effects, and space views would have looked cool on the big screen.

I liked the plot and the dialogue, which rarely happens for me while watching a sci-fi film. The acting and set design were great. I thought Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt had great chemistry on film. I can understand all the rumors that surrounded this film regarding Chris Pratt’s divorce from Anna Faris. They did a great job of being an onscreen couple, and I could somewhat see them working well together and doing well as a couple in real life.

I’m glad that Jennifer Lawrence doesn’t think these kind of movies are beneath her. I feel like the movie studio could have gone with two unknown actors, and it would be a great opportunity for a newcomer, but I also think more people would have skipped it if that was the case. I think the casting of the movie had a lot to do with how well it was perceived.

The ending was sad. It was interesting because usually good things happen in movies, and they went with a different approach for the ending. I felt like the movie could have been 5 minutes longer and I never say that about any movie. Not to spoil the ending for you, but it’s probably pretty obvious what happened. I just feel like they could have explained what happened in more detail. My best friend said it didn’t need to be said, and maybe he’s right, but I guess I wanted to hear her say it at the end.

My score: 8/10

For more movies reviews, you can view my entire list of movies here.

I’ve watched this movie, Book of Life, a few times, and I was fortunate enough to watch this again for my Latinx Literature class. I could probably watch it 10 more times before I start to get tired of it. If I had kids, I would probably watch this with them all the time. I love how funny the scenes are. Some of the jokes are a little dated, but I think that has more to do with the fact that some scenes are geared more towards adults. The song selection was a little strange for a film like this. There were snippets of “Just A Friend” by Biz Markie and “Creep” by Radiohead and they just felt a bit out of place.

I like that this movie incorporates Latinx themes such as Dia de Los Muertos and bullfighting. The intro where the tour guide takes the kid on a special tour is probably one of my favorite parts of the movie. The kids are so funny with their reactions to the story of Manolo, Joaquin, and Maria. It’s a cute little love story that’s older than time.

The animation in this movie is really interesting because they decided to make the characters look as if they were made out of wood in a claymation style animation. La Muerte is drawn so beautifully. She is voiced by Kate del Castillo. I think her voice works very well for the character because it comes across as soft and soothing. In her role as Death, she is comforting and nurturing towards the people of the village.

In my experience, don’t count on being able to check this out at the library in October. That’s the only time that it’s popular. Any other time of the year, there are a dozen copies available.

My score: 8/10

For more movies reviews, you can view my entire list of movies here.

I never got to see this movie in theaters because it’s difficult for Tina Fey to keep a movie in theaters longer than 3 weeks, and I don’t always have the time to see every single movie. I really enjoyed this movie because it’s a feel good family movie with Paul Rudd and Tina Fey. It’s a cute little story that deals with the enormous pressure that comes with getting into a prestigious college from both perspectives of the student and the admissions officer. Getting into Princeton is no easy task, and the movie proves that you have be absolutely perfect or you have no chance of being admitted to the school.

There is one particular scene where the students appear in the room with the admissions committee as a figment of their imagination so that the admissions officer can get a visual of the person that they are accepting or denying. The special effects that they used during this scene were a nice touch to add perspective and depth to the plot and characters in the film. If you are a college student, this scene will make you feel like you are small and insignificant because at Princeton, you not only have to be the best, you have to beat the best.

The ending is really cute; I won’t spoil it for you. Paul Rudd and Tina Fey would make a cute couple in real life. I feel like their personalities mesh well with each other. They have really good on-screen chemistry, and I kind of wish they would be in more movies together. I don’t understand the effect that Tina Fey has on the box office. I don’t know if it’s bad marketing, boring story lines, or something else, because I love Tina Fey. She’s a great actress.

My score: 6/10

For more movies reviews, you can view my entire list of movies here.

like this movie because the actions scenes were amazing. At least in this movie, when Gerard Butler’s character shoots at the enemy he dies because he’s a good shot unlike Channing Tatum when he was in White House Down, which I believe is directly related to this movie. The storyline is pretty much what you would expect from a movie about terrorists trying to take over the White House. There’s no twist or anything, it’s just violence for the sake of violence. There’s nothing wrong with that, I’m warning you if you’re not into that sort of thing. Props to Morgan Freeman for being the Speaker of the House in this film and not the President.

I was a little surprised that they still released this movie unedited. Especially since around the time of release, there were a lot of mass shootings. It might have been a trigger for some people. There was a lot of gunshots and lots of rapid gunfire. I watch movies like this all the time, and I felt like it was a lot of gunshots. I live in a bad neighborhood where I hear gun shots every other day, and it was still a lot for me.

There was a film called Gangster Squad with Josh Brolin that was supposed to be released in September 2012 but was pushed back because the original ending had a movie theater shooting. They had to re-shoot the ending and was later released in January 2013. So I was little surprised they went ahead with this movie because it was released after only about 8 months after the shooting.

I think this movie is good, despite all the violence. I like violence, so I enjoyed the movie.

My Score: 7/10

See also: White House Down, Gangster Squad

For more movies reviews, you can view my entire list of movies here.

I watched this movie with my dad. I’m actually surprised that this was only in theaters for a short amount of time. It turned out to be a pretty good film. The cinematography is amazingly beautiful. I loved seeing all the old film equipment being showcased. What I also enjoyed the costume and set design because everything is vintage and I really like that 40’s style aesthetic.

I was worried that too many good actors would ruin this film, but that was not the case. George Clooney’s character is my favorite in this movie. Scarlet Johansson is a close second. She looks and sounds great and her role in the film is very important to how women were treated in the film industry during this time.

Channing Tatum does a lot of singing and dancing in this film. It just feels a little out of place with the rest of the movie. He has a relatively small role in this film despite being on the poster for the movie. I’m actually surprised that Jonah Hill is next to George Clooney because he doesn’t really have a bigger role than any of the other people standing next to him.

What I thought was interesting was the mention of communism in the film. I won’t spoil George Clooney’s speech, but what he said was very interesting. He also talks about communist ideals being interjected in many mainstream films and that has convinced to look at this movie project in a different light.

In my opinion, it was as if he told the truth, but because people have always been told not believe what you hear in the movies, it makes you feel unsure of what to believe. I wasn’t really expecting this movie to make me think as much as it did, but it actually did a good job.

As much I did like it, I still thought it was 45 minutes too long. I also thought it did a good job of portraying the film industry. It’s worth a watch, but I can see why it didn’t last very long in theaters.

My score: 7/10

For more movies reviews, you can view my entire list of movies here.

I hadn’t paid for a movie in 4 years when I saw this in theatres, but I only spent $17 for both the tickets and snacks combined because I’m not about to pay full price for anything. Anyway, this movie was terrible. You laugh but it’s more of a chuckle, not laugh out loud funny. There are some parts that are painfully unfunny and the storyline is all over the place. The tension is all wrong, the casting was decent at best, and the jokes are a little dated in my opinion. You think it’s finally about to get good, and it’s just a complete disappointment.

The Christmas party seemed like a good time, but they severely underused Kate McKinnon in this film. I really hate it when movies use actors from Saturday Night Live and then limit and undermine their acting ability. I’m sure if you like some of the actors in this film, then you might not find it to be that bad because it shares a certain sense of humor that these actors are known for. It may not be my cup of tea, but someone else might like it. I know a lot of people who love movies that have no cinematic value and still waste their money every week. Since I had to pay money for this movie, I started going to the movies less and less. Truly hardly any of the movies I saw this year were worth watching in theaters. It’s not as they say “worth the price of admission.”

I didn’t know the library had recent DVD releases at the time either.

Overall, it’s not the worst way to spend 2 hours, but I can think of a much better way to waste my time and money.

My score: 4/10

Also, my mom thought it was funny so there’s that review.

For more movies reviews, you can view my entire list of movies here.

I may be biased because I love Tom Hanks but I thought this movie was so good. I saw it in the RPX and the sound was amazing. Clint Eastwood will definitely be getting his annual Oscar for sound editing. It’s kinda slow in the beginning, I won’t lie, but it’s all necessary for the end of the movie. The lead up to climax can seem like it drags on if you already know the story. I’m not surprised they included such vivid detail.

The movie is also surprisingly funny. I didn’t think humor could really fit in this type of dramatic movie, but it worked for me. Tom Hanks is my favorite actor and I think he did a phenomenal job of acting. I really enjoyed the cinematography in this movie, especially the shots of them in the airplane and when it was crashing into the water. The whole movie was beautifully shot, but I would expect nothing less from Clint Eastwood. Eastwood is the perfect director for a movie like this. You could take one look at it and see his signature style.

I’ve watched this movie a few times. I could probably watch it a few more times unlike Captain Phillips, another Tom Hanks movie, that wasn’t bad but once or twice was enough for me. Some movies need to be seen in a theater, and this was definitely worth watching on the big screen. It was just as beautiful on my TV screen at home, but the sound was what really made a difference.

If you already know the details of the crash, the first half of the movie may not seem like it’s worth watching. I found it kind of endearing to get to know the people who were on the plane, even though it really wasn’t necessary. Overall, it’s a great movie, and I highly recommend watching this if you haven’t already.

My Score: 9.5/10

For more movies reviews, you can view my entire list of movies here.