The Accountant

By Emilio Frenk

Director: Gavin O’Connor

Cast: Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons, Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey Tambor, Cynthia Addai-Robinson and John Lithgow.

Rating: Good.

From the director of “Warrior” Gavin O’Connor, brings the action thriller “The Accountant” and honestly I was impressed with the result.

The movie centers on Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) an obsesive compulsive man who has a double life as both an accountant and a assassin.

In one of his jobs he is hired to uncook the books for a robotics company run by Lamar Black (John Lithgow) and find out about some missing funds; he will be assisted by Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick) another accountant that works for the company.

When both Christian and Dana find the truth about the funds they will become targets of the most dangerous criminals.

Now Christian will try to protect Dana at any cost before it’s too late.

The direction of Gavin O’Connor on “The Accountant” was precise and sharp. Like he did in “Warrior” back in 2011, O’ Connor likes to illustrate the inner conflicts of his main characters and shows some isolation and the most vulnerable side of them.

This so far I can say it’s the most convincing performance of Ben Affleck I’ve seen in a while and this movie reminded me of The Jason Bourne movies due to the theme that involves assassins.

On the other hand one of the major flaws the movie had was the screenplay written by Bill Dubuque, who wrote “The Judge” in 2014 was that there were moments that we knew as the audience that we’re too obvious and predictable.

The use of flashbacks I think they were not necessary and there were only two of them that really worked. If this elements would have cut off the movie could have had a better result and the screenplay would have been much better.

The editing, cinematography and the score composed were very good. The use of the music cues specially when the assassins are on the run is very well used and O’Connor is a smart director on using this elements.

As an action thriller “The Accountant” delivers the goods and I was very satisfied and it’s pure entertainment. 

There were elements on the third act of the film that could have been avoided and they could have gone straight to what it is and the ending could have been better.

Despite the elements that didn’t work of “The Accountant” I give it a good recommendation and I do think you are going to be at the edge of your seat on most of the scenes, specially the climax which is very good showdown between two assassins. 

Desierto

By Emilio Frenk

Director: Jonás Cuarón

Cast: Gael García Bernal, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Alondra Hidalgo, Diego Cataño, Oscar Flores, David Lorenzo and Marco Pérez.

Rating: Good

Academy Award Nominee Jonás Cuarón, is behind the cameras with  “Desierto” and is a good drama thriller.

The movie centers in Moisés (Gael García Bernal) a mechanic that is in the back of a truck with a group of illegal immigrants in order to cross the us border. 

Unfortunately the truck breaks down and instead of crossing through the river the group will have to try to cross through the dessert. 

Once Moisés and the group cross, they will be targeted by Sam (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his german shepherd dog Tracker will try to take the law under their own hands and start a shooting spread against the group.

That leaves Moisés as one of the few survivors of the group and will try to cross to the United States at any costs even if it means to put his life in danger and making him an easy target for Sam.

One of things that I liked of “Desierto” was the fact that Jonás Cuarón knew how to combine the elements of drama and thriller and made it a straight forward.

The screenplay, also written by Cuarón and Mateo García is very well written; although for moments it was predictable and the characters even though they are simple but they are really well portrayed and they are believable in all levels.

In this kind of movies is very common to see cases of using excesive flashbacks and this wasn’t the case. This is one of the reasons why the movie works.

The cinematography by Damián García is sharp and I lovethe contrast he used for each and every one of the characters of the film.

Like I mentioned in this space before Gael García Bernal is confirmed to be the best actor of his generation and he did an amazing job on portraying a father who makes his son a promise that he will see him again.

The inner conflicts of all the characters work and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who has gained fame for the tv show “The Walking Dead” is a true villain and plays a man full of hate and anger towards inmigrants and is frightning to see his character every time he is pulling the trigger.

The ending could have been better but at the same time I understand in what direction Cuarón wanted to go.

Even with it’s flaws I still give a recommendation to “Desierto” making it a very interesting thriller.

Christine

By Emilio Frenk

Director: Antonio Campos

Cast: Rebecca Hall, Michael C. Hall, Tracy Letts, Maria Dizzia, J. Smith-Cameron and Timothy Simons.

Rating: Excellent.

Director Antonio Campos, brings his thrid feature film with “Christine” and is one of the biggest surprises of this year.

Based on real life events and set up during the 1970’s, “Christine” tells the story of TV Reporter Christine Chubbuck (Rebecca Hall) a single,  depressed and anti social woman from Sarasota, Florida who´s death would be one of the most seen events in television history and eventually changed how the television is seen today.

Antonio Campos directed a smart movie that really tells us the last days of Christine Chubbuck. The direction he gave to the cast was sharp and precise and this movie despite of the theme was enjoyable and at the same time was really intense.

So far this is Rebecca Hall’s most demanding role of her career and I was delighted on seeing this fantastic performance which could land a possible Academy Award Nomintion for Hall and a most deserved one.

The screenplay written by Craig Shilowich narrates every single detail  of “Christine Chubbuck” in a very smart way and it doesn’t make it boring and as a matter of fact you want to know more about her character.

Personally I was not familiar with the life of Christine Chubbuck until I saw the movie and I was really impressed with the life of this woman. In the other hand we saw a hard working woman and the other a depressed woman who carried a big chip on her shoulder that would eventually lead to her death. 

Ever since she gained fame with Woody Allen’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”, Rebecca Hall has become a very fine actress and every single performance I’ve seen of her she gets better and better.

This is a true and believable performance at all levels. Director Antonio Campos knew how get the best out of the cast and specially Hall.

The cinematography and editing of the film were other elements that I loved of it and it was done with so much precision and I saw a lot of influene of Sidney Lumet’s “Network” in this movie due that most of the film takes place in a newsroom.

There were elements in terms of screenplay that could have been better but still it the writing was outstanding. Craig Shilowich’s debut with “Christine” started on the right track and hopefully we can see from him more in the future.

“Christine” is one of the year’s best films and I give it a huge recommendation and you are going to be blown away with Rebecca Hall’s performance which so far is the best of her career. 

Kevin Hart: What Now?

By Emilio Frenk

Directors: Leslie Small and Tim Story

Cast: Kevin Hart, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, Ed Helms and David Meunier.

Rating: Average.

Kevin Hart, one of the most seen comedians in the last years brings “Kevin Hart: What Now?. I´m going to start that I´m not a big fan of his humour but they are some bits of the film that they were funny.

The movie starts with a parody of Kevin Hart portraying a some kind of James Bond figure with her sidekick Halle Berry where Hart is playing cards and wins a bet.

After the game, he  fights the villains in an homage to the film “The Equalizer” with Denzel Washington. He defeats them and now he has to get ready to his show in The Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that took place in August 30th of last year. 

Now Hart is on stage doing his stand up comedy in front of a sold out football field entertaining every single human being present.

The take that I liked on “Kevin Hart: What Now? was that the movie combine a decent sketch and then went straight forward to the show Kevin Hart performed.

The movie reminds me of “Eddie Murphy Raw” and other sketches  of comedians like the late Richard Pryor. This wasn´t even close.

There were moments in Kevin Hart´s humour that they were too much and he can be annoying. I understand the humour that he manages and I admit that he can be really funny and in a certain way I believe he is talented.

I also understand that half of the movie is the show but it could have been shorter.

On the other hand I do admit that it was very well shot and edited and how the approach of documentary and comedy did work.

As someone who does like stand up comedy I´ve seen better shows than this one but at the other hand for Kevin Hart fans I do think you are going to like this film and I recommend at that side point.   

As a critic I was not impressed and I felt the movie pretty slow and it’s one of the reasons I cannot recommend it. 

Max Steel

By Emilio Frenk

Director: Stewart Hendler

Cast: Ben Winchell, Josh Brener, María Bello, Ana Villafañe, Mike Doyle and Andy García.

Rating: Poor.

Max Steel, The Action Figure from the toy company Matell is now on the big screen and the results are very poor.

The movie opens with Max McGrath (Ben Winchell) a teenager who moves with his mother Molly (María Bello)  to the town where he was born.

In the aftermath he begins to develop a special gift that is attracting electronic and metal things and he will be joined by Steel (Josh Brener) and alien his father created and is assigned to protect Max.

Eventually Max will be envolved in his father’s research and when he finds out about the truth of the accident he suffered, him and Steel will combine their powers and become the turbo- charged superhero Max Steel.

When I was watching this movie, I was looking at an exact carbon copy of Iron Man but everything went wrong.

The directing by Stewart Hendler and the writing by Christopher Yost was very poor and the quality of the film speaks for itself.

The excesive abuse of flashbacks was notorious in this film and they were moments that I was about to walk out the theater because I didn’t care of any of the characters.

I’m surprised of actors like Andy García and María Bello would accept to do this movie in which nothing works and is slow from beginning to end.

In a superhero movie even though sometimes the length can be around two hours, the pacing needs to be fast and you need moments that as an audience member you can identify with the characters. Here there weren’t any of those moments.

The past statement also applies with characters that are based in action figuresand need to be entertaining.

Christopher Yost who wrote also Thor:The Dark World and cartoon series that involve superheros knows how to write this type of characters but here there were elements that didn´t work at all.

About Stewart Hendler I hope this a learning lesson from him and hopefully his next project will bring a better result.

With that being said “Max Steel” is one of the worst movies of this year and it has been one of the worst superhero movies I`ve seen in while.

The Birth of a Nation

          By Emilio Frenk

          Director: Nate Parker

Cast: Nate Parker, Armie Hammer, Penelope Ann Miller, Jackie Earle Haley, Mark Boone Junior, Aja Naomi King and Roger Guenver Smith.

Rating: Excellent.

Nate Parker makes his debut behind the camera. Besides directing he acted, wroted and produced “The Birth of a Nation” and I was very impressed with Parker’s directorial skills and the movie delivers.

Based on real events, the movie centers on Nat Turner (Nate Parker) a preacher who becames a slave. He works for his master Samuel Turner (Armie Hammer) who takes Tuner with him to preach the word of God.

Everything will change for Turner when he decides to baptize a man without his master’s consent. This leads to a punishment that consists in torture.

Now Turner is tired of seeing how the slaves have been treated and decides to lead a rebelion of slaves against their masters in order to set them free.

The thing that I liked the most of “The Birth of a Nation” was that Nate Parkerdecided to make a very ambitious project which is rarely seen by actors who make their directorial debut since it´s also a daring one. Even so the movie works at all levels.

Parker’s directing is sharp and the writing plays a huge part in the film as well since the characters are written so much detail and you get to understand the world of the characters of every single one and the approach here works at every level.

Other thing that it’s admirable is that “The Birth of a Nation” is an original screenplay and everything involved tons of research which in my opinion made it even more fascinating and explains why the movie took eight years in the making.

The movie won  the Jury the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s “Sundance Film Festival” for Nate Parker, making it one of the most commented movies. 

Despite the controversy the movie has generated it’s such a delight seeing a movie like this since it doesn’t lead to boredom and the performances of the movie are true.

One element that the movie failed though was the use of flashbacks that for moments didn’t make too much sense but other than that in terms of screenplay, directing and acting works. 

The cinematography and editing is also one of the things that I really loved and they were key for the movie and it reminds me of movies like Spike Lee’s “Malcolm X” and Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave”, still this is more darker than the movie I just mentioned.

I have to mention the movie is really violent and it’s hard to watch. Please be prepared and open before you watch this movie and don’t let your emotions interfere at all levels.

This movie not only marks a fantastic debut for Nate Parker as a director, but I put it as a serious contender in next year’s Academy Awards and I would not be surprised if Parker scores a Best Actor Nomination and a Best Director as well.

“The Birth of a Nation” is one of the year’s best films. I give it a huge recommendation and it’s worth seeing. 

The Girl on the Train

          By Emilio Frenk

Director: Tate Taylor

Cast: Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Edgar Ramírez, Laura Prepon, Allison Janney and Lisa Kudrow.

Rating: Poor

Tate Taylor, director of “The Help” and “Get on Up” brings “The Girl on the Train” and this movie is not even close to Taylor’s early work.

Based on the best selling novel written by Paula Hawkins, “The Girl on the Train” tells the story of Rachel (Emily Blunt) a depressed and alcoholic divorcee who rides a train everyday for her commute.

Everything will change for Rachel after she witnesses a dissaperance from the window of the train and becomes a prime suspect of the investigation.

Now Rachel will try to do anything to prove her innocence before it´s too late.

The thing that bothered me the most from “The Girl on The Train” is the fact that it was too repetive and the movie begans to be very slow.  The movies abuses of flashbacks that are told in a way that don’t work and the movie doesn’t make any sense and this in part is due to the screenplay written by Erin Cressida Wilson, who's most notable work are movies like "Men, Women and Children" and "Chloe". The  dialogue is  over the top and elements of the movie that were here were not relevant for the story. 

The direction by Taylor was not accurate and precise like in his previous films and the acting is less than compelling and convincing.

The movie had everything to be a good movie but the cast was wasted. I think Emily Blunt is a great actress and we have seen performances by her in movies like “Sicario” where she was fantastic.  Here was not the case and she tried a huge effort to convince us as the audience to believe her character but it didn´t work.

Hope this movie is a leraning experience from Tate Taylor who has done really good movies and hopefully we can see a good one from him in the future. 

For all being said I cannot give “The Girl on the Train”   a recommendation and makes it one of the weakest movies of this year and one of the biggest dissapointments as well. 

Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life

          By Emilio Frenk.

Director: Steve Carr

Cast: Griffin Gluck, Lauren Graham, Alexa Nisenson, Andrew Daly, Thomas Barbusca, Adam Rally, Retta and Rob Riggle. 

Rating: Good.

Director Steve Carr (Daddy Day Care and Paul Blart: Mall Cop) brings the teen comedy “Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life” and I was very pleased with the result.

Based on the best selling book by James Patterson and Chris Tebbets, the movie centers in Rafe Khatchadorian (Griffin Gluck) the new kid in school who tries to adapt to the system of the estrict Principal Dwight (Andrew Daly) who constantly reminds all his students specialy Rafe about the code of conduct in school.

In a school meeting in his first day, Rafe draws a sketch of Principal Dwight; eventually he finds out and burns Rafe’s sketch book.

Now Rafe will seek for a payback and his friends will join him to create a plan to attack Principal Dwight and humilliate him in front of the whole school.

One thing that I liked of“Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life” was the fact that the movie is done with a lot of heart and the results speaks for itself. Honestly I didn’t had any expectations towards the film and I said to myself this is the typical teen movie about a boy who gets in trouble and has to find a way to get out of it.  This wasn’t the case and the movie does pay off.

I saw a lot of influence of in movies like “The Breakfast Club” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” directed by the late John Hughes who in my opinion is one of the greatest comedy directors of all time and it’s kind of a homage towards him. I saw this in the development of characters like Principal Dwight’s who has a lot of resemblance with Principal Rooney from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” portrayed by Jeffrey Jones.

The script written by Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer and Kara Holden was written with so much fun and wit that the movie does give a couple of laughs and has good jokes.

The direction of Carr was sharp and precise and other factor that I liked with the movie was the animation secuences that involve Rafe’s imaginary world with his drawings. This is one of the things that are the brand of the movie and the animation secuences work at all levels.

The performance by young Griffin Gluck as Rafe it’s sweet and tender and you identify immediately with his character. The other perfromances that wereboth fun to watch were from Andrew Daly who plays Principal Dwight and Rob Riggle who plays Carl, Rafe’s mom’s boyfriend who is a complete jerk but plays really well and funny.

Overall the movie works and they are details that are cheesy from the film and too predictable but it didn’t bother me.

“Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life” is one the big surprises of this year and I give it a huge recommendation and I can guarantee that you will be entertained and specially for those of you who are parents and take your kids to the theater you will enjoy it. 

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

           By Emilio Frenk

           Director: Tim Burton

Cast: Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, Chris O’Dowd, Ella Purnell, Finlay MacMilan, Terence Stamp, Allison Janney, Rupert Everett, Judi Dench and Samuel L. Jackson.

Rating: Excellent

Tim Burton makes his returns after two years of “Big Eyes” with his 18th feature film “Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children” and this is such a great film.

The movie tells the story of Jake (Asa Butterfield) a 16 year old boy who takes care of his grandfather Abe (Terence Stamp) who he practically grew up with.

Everything will change for Jake when a tragedy hits his family and finds the clues of the stories that his grandfather told him when he was younger. This clues will lead him to a journey of Wales in a quest that will lead him to the truth.

In Wales she will meet Miss Peregrine (Eva Green) and her peculiar children and he discovers that the stories his grandfather told him are true. But not everything is a fairy tale and Jake will find out about the enemies in form of monsters called “Hollows” led by the evil Dr. Barron (Samuel L. Jackson)   who wants to take away the powers from Miss Peregrine and the children and now it’s up to Jake to stop the creatures before it’s too late and will change the course of his life forever.

It’s always a privilege watching a Tim Burton movie and here it’s no different with “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children”. I love the fact that he used here his stop motion animation which is one of things that he has been known for in his career and it reminded me of Burton going back to his origins of movies like “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” and “Beetlejuice” where he used this tool in multiple occasions and works everytime he uses it.

The screenplay written by Jane Goldman who wrote “X-Men: First Class” and “Kingsman: The Secret Service” which is an adaptation of the novel by Ransom Riggs is written with so much precision and does lead you to parts that may sound confusing but her script explains every single detail and works in every level.

The direction by Burton works is brilliant and he is the master of this genre and nobody does it better than him.

The performances by Eva Green and Asa Butterfield were top notch, specially by Green who plays a wonderful and memorable character. If you want to see also a great performance by Green watch the show “Penny Dreadful” on showtime where she is outstanding.

The cinematography from Bruno Delbonnel, who’s most notable work is the french film “Amélie” , “Inside Llewyn Davis” and this marks his third collaboration with Burton which  he previoulsy worked with in “Big Eyes” and “Dark Shadows” is beatiful and I love how he plays with the contrasts of both worlds of Jake when he is with Miss Peregrine and when he is with his family.

This time the score was not composed by Danny Elfman, who has collaborated in multiple occasions with Burton and the music was composed by Mike Higham and Matthew Margeson and like the movie, the score engages from beginning to end.

“Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” I put it as one of the year’s best films and for Tim Burton fans you will not be dissapointed by this movie. 

Deepwater Horizon

          By Emilio Frenk

          Director: Peter Berg

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, John Malkovich, Gina Rodríguez, Dylan O’ Brien and Kate Hudson. 

Rating: Excellent

Peter Berg, director of “Lone Survivor” brings “Deepwater Horizon” and I was very impressed with the results.

Inspired in real life events, the movie centers on Mike Williams (Mark Wahlberg) a Chief Electronics Technician who is on board of the “Deepwater Horizon” oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico which after two tests of the rig cause a major explotion.

Now Williams will try to rescue the whole crew leading to what is considered one of the major oil spills in history.

Peter Berg is a director is well known for showing the most vulnerable side of human beings and in this case here was no different. With “Deepwater Horizon” does it with all the characters in the film specially with Mark Wahlberg who delivers again like he previously did in “Lone Survivor”.

The Screenplay plays a key role which is written Matthew Sand and and Matthew Michael Carnahan is written with such accuracy and it’s not the typical disaster movie where you only see the disaster and sometimes there is no story.

The movie takes us as the audience to the journey of how the events took place leading it to a fantastic climax.

This is the second collaboration with Berg and Wahlberg and again works at all levels. I remember when I watched “Lone Survivor” when it was released   I was engaged with the story of Marcus Luttrell; here I had the same feeling with the crew of “Deepwater Horizon” and Berg is a smart director who knows how to use the element of tension to each scene of the film and I consider Berg one of the best directors on using this tool.

The cinematography by Enrique Chediak and the visual effects played a huge role and they are both executed very well.

I was surprised that for a movie like this the performances were really good since in disaster movies it’s rarely the case we see good acting and here was an exception of the rule.

“Deepwater Horizon” is one of the surprises of this year and I recommend it at all levels. 

I can’t wait to see “Patriot’s Day” which is scheduled to be released next January and will mark the third collaboration between Wahlberg and Berg.

Denial

         By Emilio Frenk

         Director: Mick Jackson

          Cast: Rachel Weisz, Tom Wilkinson, Timothy Spall, Andrew Scott, Jack Lowden and Caren Pistorious. 

          Rating:  Good

British director Mick Jackson, who became very popular in the 90’s with movies like “The Bodyguard” starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston and “L.A. Story” with Steve Martin is back with “Denial” and he does it with interesting results.

Based in real events, the movie tells the story of acclaimed writer and historian Deborah Lipstadt (Rachel Weisz),  a jewish woman who gives lectures in an american university in Atlanta,Georgia is confronted by David Irving (Timothy Spall) a historian who claims that the holocaust didn´t exist and embarasses her in public.

Eventually Lipstadt and her publishing company Penguin Books get sued by Irving by libel in a british court.

Lipstadt seeks the representation of lawyers Anthony Julius (Andrew Scott) and Richard Rampton (Tom Wilkinson) who will help her proove the real existence of the holocaust.

One of the things that worked really well in “Denial” was the direction of Mick Jackson and the script that was very well written by David Hare, who’s most notable work is “The Hours” and “The Reader”  and he does a brilliant work on adapting Lipstadt book “History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier”.

The perfomances by Weisz and Wilkinson are in high caliber and Spall gives a remarkable one. He gave two years ago an amazing performance portraying JMW Turner in Mike Leigh’s “Mr. Turner” and again lands a fantastic  performance as Irving and plays him with such realism that you feel resentment towards him.

I was really surprised of the film since I thought this was going to be another movie from the holocaust that tells the same story and in this case was totally different and that’s another reason why the movie works.

The only problem thatit could have been better was the third act of the film and the ending could have been another but at the same time I understood what Mick Jackson was going for. This is the first time in a movie that is inspired in real life events that there is no explanation on what hapenned to the characters of the movie after the trial was over and I do believe this was an interesting approach.

I have to mention the movie has a slow pace but it has a reason and it needs to be that way since it tells how the origins of the trial until the end of it.

Without a doubt I put “Denial” as one of the biggest surprises of this year and I give it a huge recommendation for the performances, direction and writing. 

Masterminds

         By Emilio Frenk

          Director: Jared Hess

          Cast: Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Jason Sudeikis. 

           Rating: Average

           Jared Hess, director of “Napoleon Dynamite” and “Nacho Libre” brings his latest  comedy “Masterminds” and              what started as an interesting comedy in the became boring.

Based on real events, the movie takes place in North Carolina where a vault supervisor from “Loomis Fargo” David Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis) has a regular life and is about to get married with her girlfriend Jandice (Kate McKinnon).

Everything will change for David when her former co-worker Kelly Campbell(Kristen Wiig) convinces David on stealing from the vault 17 million dollars in cash. David agrees at the end and Kelly ensambles a team formed by her friend Steve Chambers (Owen Wilson) and his crew and they will perform the robbery of “Loomis Fargo” becoming one of the largest heists in the country. 

The major problem that I found in “Masterminds” was that after the first act of the film became repetive and predictable. The movie had a solid first act  and it was being very funny but everything went downhill.

Zach Galifianakis, who I consider one of the funniest men in the business stopped being funny after a while and I was getting desperate and bored to see him perform the same stunts over and over again.

The script written by Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer and Emily Spivery was another thing that didn´t work and the jokes were not funny and for a movie like this the timing plays a huge role and after the robbery takes place I didn’t see that.

Jared Hess knows how to direct this kind of movies. We saw it in both Nacho Libre and Napoleon Dynamite where the characters  not only were funny and both movies worked. Not this time and it’s a real shame because not only the movie had potential to become a great comedy due to the director and cast who has some of biggest actors in comedy but the script needed work.

Kristen Wigg is one of my favorite comedy actresses and I consider it one of the most talented and we have seen her giving memorable performances in movies like “Bridesmaids” and most recently “Ghostbusters”; here she has very funny moments which one involves a sort of a cat fight  she has with the character of Kate McKinnon which was very funny. Still this was one ofthe few funny moments of the movie.

“Masterminds” is one of the biggest dissapointments in comedy this year due to the direction and story that were weak from the second act to the end.  

An Evening with Oprah Winfrey, Ava DuVarney and the Cast of Queen Sugar.

            By Emilio Frenk

Today ata full capacityBing Theater at the LACMA Museum in Los Angeles took place the screening of “Queen Sugar”, TV Show produced by Oprah Winfrey and created by director Ava DuVarney who had critical acclaim with the 2014 film “Selma”.

The 5th episode of the show was screened tonight and I was very impressed with the story of the show and the quality of the work. The episode was moving and one of the things that this show has is the fact that all the episodes in this first season were directed by female directors which is an approach that I am very happy that is happening right now.

After the screening of the show, Elvis Mitchell curator of Film Independent at LACMA had a conversation with Winfrey, DuVarney, and the cast of the film which were Rutina Wesley, Dawn-Lyen Gardner and Kofi Siriboe who played the main characters of the show.

Hearing all of them talk was such a great delight and you can tell that they were excited to work with both Winfrey and DuVarney and at the same they had an enourmous respect and admiration for both women who without a doubt they have became the most influential women in Hollywood.

The showis based on the book by Natalie Baszile and DuVarney shared that when wrote the episodes she wrote them as adaptations of the book. Of course this was a base of trail and error but Winfrey always her trust on her and kept writing until she found the correct voice to the characters and to the audience.

Winfrey mentioned that she was always excited and wanted to work with DuVarney again after the success that they both had with Selma, which scored two Academy Award Nominations (Best Picture and Best Song which won by the song Glory by John Legend and Common)  and Winfrey mentioned that they just got a second season and hopefully we can see many more of them.

I admire the fact that are female directors behind the camera and they are directing high quality material and the episode that I saw tonight was just fascinating.

The performances of the actors were convincing from the beginning to end and the fact that the conflicts of the characters are being illustrated makes it even more interesting and as an audience member I became more engaged with them and wanted to know more about them and like me the rest of the audience felt the same way.

If you haven’t watched an episode of “Queen Sugar” I do think you are going to enjoy it and it’s being broadcasted in Oprah Winfrey Network. 

The Magnificent Seven

          By Emilio Frenk

Director: Antoine Fuqua

Cast: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D´Onofrio, Byung-Hun Lee, Manuel García-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeir, Haley Bennett and Peter Sarsgaard.

Rating: Good. 

Director Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day”, “The Equalizer and “Southpaw) brings the adaptation of the 1960 version of “The Magnificent Seven” and I really enjoyed it.

The movie tells the story of Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett), a woman who just became a widow after his husband was shot to death by the ruthless Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard). 

Now she seeks revenge and hires Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington) a bounty hunterwho will help her out and will recruit the gambler Josh Faraday (Chris Pratt), the sharpshooter Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke), the knife master Billy Rocks (Byung-hun Lee), the mexican outlaw Vasquez (Manuel García-Rulfo), the tracker Jack Horne (Vincent D’Onofrio) and Comanche warrior Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeir).

Together they will join forces in order to stop Bogue and bring peace to the town of Rose Creek.

Besides of being entertaining, one of the things that I really liked of “The Magnificent Seven” was that even though it is a remake from the 1960 film I liked the approach that took and wasn´t a carbon copy which has been a tendency with the adaptations that have been released in the big screen.

The Script written by Nic Pizzolatto who’s most notable work is the HBO series “True Detective” and Richard Wenk who previously work with Antoine Fuqua in “The Equalizer” was written with so much detail and it doesn’t get into cheezy moments and predictable ones that can make a movie boring and less interesting.

The chemistry of the seven characters was real and funny and has many good laughs, specially the performances of Chris Pratt who as usual uses his charm and wit like in most of his movies and I liked the performance of Manuel García-Rulfo, who’s body of work include the show“From Dusk Till Dawn” and “Cake” with Jennifer Aniston delivers a good performance and  I hope we can see from him more in the future.

Not only Antoine Fuqua is one of the most talented action directors in the industry but he is really smart in choosing the write material and he delivers again.

The direction that he gave to the actors is solid, sharp, real and entertaining and that´s what you need for a movie of this genre.

I put this movie at the same level as the the movie from 1960 and I have to say that “The Magnificent Seven” is pure entertainment and it delivers. 

Storks

          By Emilio Frenk

          Director: Nicholas Stoller and Doug Sweetland

Cast (Voice): Andy Samberg, Jennifer Aniston, Ty Burrell, Kelsey Grammer, Katie Crown, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Anton Starkman, Stephen Kramer Glickman and Danny Trejo.

Rating: Excellent

Warner Bros Animation and Director Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Neighbors) bring “Storks” a funny animated movie that I was impressed with the results.

The story centers in Junior (Andy Samberg) a stork who is very popular for the delivery company he works for and constantly makes an effort on earning the trust and admiration of his boss Hunter (Kelsey Grammer) so he can have a raise.

Everything will change for Junior when he is about to have his chance when Hunter asks him to get rid of Tulip (Katie Crown) the last remaining human that the company has.

What started as an easy task it becomes a nightmare when accidentally Tulip reactives the machine that makes babies and a baby girl appears. 

Now Junior and Tulip have to deliver the baby to the family that order itbefore Hunter finds out who will avoid at any cost the delivery of the creature. 

One of the things that I found interesting in “Storks” was that despite of being an animated movie it doesn´t loose the comedic elements that Nicholas Stoller added in his direction and in his screenplay. The characters of the movie have a lot of heart and the ones that I laughed the most was both the Alpha and Beta Wolves who are played by Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele.

I consider Nicholas Stoller as one of the greatest comedy directors on the business today and here he delivers the goods and teams up with Doug Sweetland who makes his feature debut and previously worked with Pixar in movies like “Toy Story” and “Monsters Inc”.

I have been impressed with the animation genre this year since most of the movies has been really good in terms of story and the concepts are truly original. Movies like Zootopia, Finding Dory, Kubo and the Two Strings and many other prove my point and I wouldn’t be surprised if this movie can score an Academy Award Nomination for Best Animated Feature.

Andy Sandber’s interpretation of Junior is hilarious and I couldn’t stop laughing of his performance and I think he is one of the most talented comedians on this industry.

I was very pleased with “Storks” for his humour and it`s well made animation and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Queen of Katwe

           By Emilio Frenk

           Director: Mira Nair

Cast: David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong’o, Madina Nalwange, Martin Kabanza, Taryn Kyaze, Ivan Jacobo and Nikita Waligwa.

Rating: Excellent.

Indian director Mira Nair (“Monsoon Wedding” and “The Perez Family”) brings “Queen of Katwe”, a sweet and touching movie that is engaging from beginning to end.

Based on true events, “Queen of Katwe” tells the story of Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwange) a poor girl fromUganda who sells corn in the streets. 

One day Phiona walks in the village and observes a group of children that are playing chess who are being teached by Robert Katende (David Oyelowo) who then teaches Phiona.

Soon she will be more engaged in the game and Katende will be preparing her for the World Chess Olympiads andeventually will make her a true prodigy and one of the most respected chess players in the world.

“Queen of Katwe” works mostly in all levels and the script was told in so much detail from the beginning to end. I love the fact that even though is a story that it’s based in real events, it doesn’t bore and tells the necessary facts of Phiona’s journey on how she became a chess player in a way that it didn’t fill the audience with tons of informtion which has been a common mistake in this type of movies.

The chemistry of all the characters specially from David Oyelowo and Lupita Nyong’o works and both give solid performances.

I consider David Oyelowo as one the greatest actors of this generation and he has given remarkables performances in movie like “Middle of Nowhere” and of course “Selma” where he portayed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and in this ocassion he delivers the goods.

Lupita Nyong’o gives a solid performance as Phiona’s mother who gives her strength and courage to achieve her daughter’s goals.

The direction by Mira Nair was sharp and she was very smart on how to get the best of the cast and gave very good perfornaces.

The screenplay written by William Wheeler is really well told and although they were moments that they weren’t necessary in the movie but still he wrote a very good screenplay which is true and believable.

“Queen of Katwe” will touch your hearts and I can guarantee you that you will leave the movie theater fulled and inspired and I think that Phiona Mutesi’s life is a great example of perseverance and never giving up on your goals.

I recommend “Queen of Katwe” and I can guarantee you that you will enjoy it. 

Goat

           By Emilio Frenk 

           Director: Andrew Neel

Cast: Ben Schnetzer, Nick Jonas, Gus Harper, Danny Flaherty, Virginia Gardner,  Jack Picking and James Franco.

Rating: Excellent.

Andrew Neel, director of “King Kelly” brings the fraternity drama “Goat”; this is a very hard movie to watch but at the same time it’s very well made.

Based in true events, the movie tells the story of Brandon (Ben Schnetzer), a young teenager that one night after a party is assaulted by two strangers who beat him up and steal his car.

The result of this situation is that his brother Brett (Nick Jonas) is really angry and tries to convince his brother to go to the police about this situation.

Instead of going to the police, Brad decides to enroll in the same University as his brother and eventually tries to pledge to the same fraternity his brother belongs to. 

Thinking that his brother will go easy on him, Brad´s loyalty is going to be tested in many brutal ways and this eventually will either make him a part of a fraternity or not.

One of the things that I liked of “Goat” is the performances of the cast, specially Ben Schentzer who played Brad with so much realism that he delivers a memorable performance and I see a vey bright  future in him.

The script which is based on the memoir of “Brad Land” and was written by Andrew Neel as well as David Gordon Green, who’s most notable work is movies like “Pineapple Express” and “Joe” was written in so much detail and takes us  through the journey of one man who will do anything to be accepted in a group.

The message of the movie of self acceptance is another factor that it was very interested and it is portrayed in an original level that has never seen before and this is one of the main reasons the movie works.

I previoulsy mentionedthe movie has a very hard subject due to the things that had been happening recently and portrays all the things a human being has to do or can do to get accepted.

“Goat” without a doubt is one of the most original movies I´ve seen in a while and I put it as one of the years best.

Please be open and prepared to see this movie due to the hard theme that is managed but I do recommend it at all levels.

The Dressmaker

          By Emilio Frenk

Director: Jocelyn Moorhouse

Cast: Kate Winslet, Judy Davis, Liam Hemsworth, Carolina Goodall, Ferry Fox, Rebecca Gibney and Hugo Weaving.

Rating: Average.

Australian director Jocelyn Moorhouse (“A Thousand Acres” and “How to Make an American Quilt”) brings another drama with Academy Award Winner Kate Winslet with “The Dressmaker” and I have to say that had an interesting premise but the execution was to weak.

The movie tells the story of Myrtle “Tilly” Dunnage (Kate Winslet) aglamorous australian dressmaker who returns to her hometown to take care of her estranged mother Molly (Judy Davis).

While she´sin town the people begin to find out about her skillsand becomes the sensation of the whole town.  Although she has a secret that was one of the reasons that made her leaveand Tilly will try to find out about it andseekrevenge against the people who slanderedand accused her wrongly.

One of the things that I do acknoledge of “The Dressmaker” were the performances of both Kate Winslet and Judy Davis who play the characters with great realism but unfortunately two cast members cannot save a movie and here this was the case.

The weakest spot of the film was the script, which was written by P.J. Hogan who directed “Muriel’s Wedding” and “My Best Friend’s Wedding” was very weak and too predictable and the introduction of characters that weren’t necessary didn’t help the story to move forward.

The first act had an interesting startbut after the midpoint of the second movie is when it becomes a huge mess and leads to a downward spiral. This again was the excessive use of flashbacks which is a tool that most of the time doesn’t work and here it proves my point.

The third act of the film was one of the most ridiculous I have seen in a while and I was not moved and I just wanted the movie to be over.

I cannot recommend “The Dressmaker” for the previous reasons I mentioned before and for it’s screenplay and direction. 

Bridget Jone's Baby

          By Emilio Frenk

           Director: Sharon Maguire

Cast: Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, Patrick Dempsey, Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones and Emma Thompson.

Rating: Good. 

Renée Zellweger portrays Bridget Jones for the third time, the character that catapulted her career and this indeed was an unexpected and great returnin “Bridget Jone’s Baby”.

The movie takes place 12 years after the events of“Bridge Jones: The Edge of Reason” and tells the story of the now Producer of the main news show in London Bridget Jones who is now single again after her breakup with Mark Darcy (Colin Firth).

One dayBridget goes to an english rock festival and has an encounter with Jack Qwant (Patrick Dempsey) an american mogul and has a one night stand with him.

The following day after a baptism she encounters with Darcy and has another nightstand as well. 

After both nightstands, Bridget ends up pregnant without knowing who the father is of her future child. Now Bridget will have to tell both men who will try to win her heart at any costs.

Once she has the baby, Bridget will have to decide if she wants to spend her life with Mark or Jack.

Honestly I didn´t had any high hopes for this third installment after the failure of Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason and I was wrong. This movie not only is funny but has a lot of heart in it and the reason why this third movie of the series works is because the original director of “Bridget Jone´s Diary” Sharon Maguire directs this movie and the script written by Helen Fielding also plays a huge role in this movie.

The premise of this third movie works and it´s not a carbon copy of the second film which was a disaster.

Renée Zellweger not only is a fantastic actress but also can perform really good comedic roles and her portrayal of Bridget Jones is again played with a lot of heart and her performance has many similarities to the first film.

The character of Patrick Dempsey as the love mogul works as well and it´s the opposite of Hugh Grant´s character, which was annoying and was not enjoyable. Dempsey´s character even though is a rival to Colin Firth´s character he is not as mean as Grant´s from the first two films but also is a very human and deep character.

Even though the movie is two hours long it never bores and it brings smiles to our faces.

“Bridget Jone’s Baby” is one of the biggest surprises of this year. I mention this because if the second part of a movie didn´t work the chances of a third are going to be even worse but here was not the case and it works at all levels.

I consider “Bridget Jone´s Baby” a feel good movie since I guarantee that once you leave the theater you are goint to leave with a huge smile on your face and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

Snowden

          By Emilio Frenk

Director: Oliver Stone

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Tom Wilkinson, Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto, Rysh Ifans, Timothy Olyphant, Scott Eastwood, Ben Chaplin and Nicolas Cage.

Rating: Good.

Three time Academy Award Winner Oliver Stone is back after four years of absence since his last film “Savages” and he is back with “Snowde" and besides it's flaws in narrative I was pretty satisfied with the result. 

Based in real life events, the movie tells the story of Edward Joseph Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt)  a computer professional and his journey of how he became and employee for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) until he leaked the NSA illegal surveillance techiniques to the journalists of the“The Guardian”  Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto) and Ewen MacAskill (Tom Wilkinson) and to Documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo) which led to the Academy Award Winning Documentary “Citizen Four”.

During the events, the film also narrates the love story that Snowden had with the photographer Lindsay Mills (Shailene Woodley) who becames his girlfriend and she is a victim “Snowden´s” paranoia and constant epileptic attacks.

Director Oliver Stone has always managed political issues in most ofhis films and with “Snowden” was no different. I understand the use of flashbacks but some of them didn't work in this film and it coud have been a shorter film. 

Oliver Stone he is one of the most predominant figures in film and made iconic films like “Platoon”, “JFK”. “Born on the Fourth of July”, “Wall Street” and many more but I didn´t see it here with “Snowden”

On the other hand is beautfully shot and I love the visuals of how Snowden´s life was when he was the at CIA and when he is about to talk with the reports and the filmmaker, and the high contrasts of the visuals.

The performance of Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Edward Snowden was remarkable as well as the majority of the cast.

The one actress that I was not convinced with her performance was Shailene Woodley as Snowden´s girlfriend. She is a very talented actress and she has given memorable and remarkable performances in movies like “The Descendants” and “The Spectacular Now” but this was not the case.

I understand for movies like this that narrates an event that led to another you need flashbacks and in a case like this is a good tool. The problem is that is how you used this tool. I mentioned previously in the review of “Sully” that the reason why the flashbacks work is because it narrates the elements that were needed and here the use was too much.

One example of this point that I´m establishing is when Snowden is in the army before he became a computer expert. This element I didn´t care about it and it was not needed.

There were interesting elements of the Third Act of the film that had a very good pacing but some of them were not necessary. Although I thought the ending was a very good one. 

I give "Snowden" a good recommendation despite of the flaws in storytelling and this is for the performances which were top of the notch.  I suggest you to  watch "Citizen Four" before "Snowden" since it's a great documentary film and gives you more the details of the whistle blowing but still "Snowden" is satisfying and for Oliver Stone fans I hope you enjoy it.