a hilarious crowd-pleaser -***1/2

James Gunn, the writer and director of this film said that he wanted this sequel to be fresh and different from the first one by giving it a totally different plot structure.  Furthermore,  he was not inclined on adding more characters for this sequel , and instead focus on the existing characters by adding more depth thereby allowing the audience to get know the Guardians emotionally.

Upon completing a mission , the Guardians set out from the land of the sovereign race only to be chased by remotely controlled ships in order to kill them due to Rocket's misdoing.  They were saved by Ego and had to land on a nearby planet.  Ego revealed that he is Peter's father but turned out to have some plot to conquer the universe and use Peter's and his combined celestial power to do it. A battle ensues between father and son, while the others plot to destroy the planet that will eventually kill Ego.

I think this was really an improvement of the first episode in terms of story.  We get to really know the characters very well in this sequel.  Drax the destroyer is showing more personality here and has proven that he is not just a killing machine.  Gamora has shown another side of her with the help of her half sister Nebula.  Rocket revealed more of his human side despite him being a genetically engineered mercenary and bounty hunter.  And we get to finally close the subplot concerning Peter Quill's mysterious roots.  So generally the story moved quite a bit forward while further developing the main characters without any sort of distraction from the other new support that came along.

With fascinating visual effects and very interesting worlds and aliens this movie tries to be a little bit of everything to please quite a diverse set of audience. Mostly funny and action packed, it also tries to be melodramatic, mysterious,  somewhat romantic.  It tries to get into family issues , with siblings and fatherhood.  It also tries to get into the psyche of why people behave the way they do. Though this diversity did not at all dampen the entertainment value of this movie, I think the vol. 3 sequel could use some more resolve.

A rivetting story simply told - *****

The writer and director of this movie Tom McCarthy along with co-writer Josh Singer completed the award winning screenplay in 2013.  He said that one of his goals for his film is to highlight the power of journalism which according to him was 'waning'.  The movie premiered to a 'sustained applause' by the audience of the 72nd Venice Film Festival in 2015 as a non-competitive entry. And in 2016 the movie won Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

Spotlight is a spot at the Boston Globe handled by a group of investigative reporters.  The story is about how the team came about exposing the systemic sexual abuse of Catholic priests in the Boston area, starting with the directive of incoming editor Marty Baron urging the team to pursue the story and ending with the exposure of more sexual abuses by the clergy.  The series of articles won for The Boston Globe the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2003.

This film was superbly made in a way that everything was under control.  Even  the Catholic Church agrees how factual the story was presented regarding the Boston scandal.  Not over dramatizing it, not even exploiting the ploy of the victims, not demonizing the priests nor lionizing the journalists here that to me are the heroes, this movie really told the story as it is.  And it stars an ensemble cast of good actors nobody is dispensable.  I particularly noticed the kind of work that actor Mark Ruffalo puts in his role as Michael Rezendes.  His portrayal is deep into the bone, getting into the essence of his character ultimately changing his outward appearance from within.  I actually almost did not recognize him.. and I'm not talking about prosthetics. 

I feel very lucky having able to catch this film on a special screening.  I really rarely give a 5 star rating to any film because there wil always be something wrong.  But to me this film is what movie making should be all about. 

a contrived story that meant well - ****

Hugh Jackman was eyed to star in this film but he had to decline to be able to do the film Logan.  The producers thought of getting Johhny Depp until Overbrook Company  took over production and took on Will Smith to star in it as well.  The writer Allan Loeb had said that the idea of a depressed person due to death writing letters to the universe has been in his mind for so long that he was sure that it meant something. 

This is about a New York advertising executive trying to cope with the death of his daughter and how his three colleagues connived to save the company by proving his mental instability. It is also about how fate stepped in with the help of Death, Time and Love and tried to fix things for these four people.

I was so intrigued by this movie ever since I saw the trailer. I made a mental note to watch it when it came out.  Unfortunately I didn't have time to go to the theater when it finally did.  And so, now three months after, I am finally able to see it by renting it on iTunes. Really I am always concerned about what would the world say if it could talk.  Or what would abstract things look like when they are personified. The main character, Howard wrote letters to Death , Time and Love not knowing that they would one day come back to see him to reply to his letters.

Though this film did not quite turn out the way I think it would, to me it still sent the same  message despite taking on a course that the this movies trailer made me believe it would.  If that did not make sense to you, I can just say the trailer was a little misleading.   But I knew this movie would be somewhat heavy in feel and very serious in theme but there was nothing really remarkable about the way it was made except that, to me the two strongest points of this movie are script and casting. 

Though I have never been a fan of Will Smith, I know he has such a presence when he starts to speak and he probably gave his best in this film earning him a recognition by the NACCP Image Awards.  He is backed up by quite a strong ensemble cast led by Helen Mirren who is just delightful here as Death personified.  I like the sensitivity that Michael Pena gave to his role as one of the colleagues. Other cast members contributed in there own little way as well.

The script successfully strengthened the integrity of the characters who personified Death, Time and Love by saying things that really grab the essence of who they represent.  Like when Love said, something like love is present in the eyes of Howard's daughter it is also present in the tears that Howard sheds every time he thinks of her.  Or when Time told Howard that time is a gift and it is not for him to waste it. Or how the character Death reminds Howard that we as humans do not have control over death and that we should just accept.  On a certain level, we all know these things but to be able to hear it out of their mouths solidifies the truths that they stated.

Though the script was good the story to me felt too contrived that it was almost funny except that there was some doubt if they were really Death , Time and Love or are they were just actors pretending to be them.  Then it felt like there were too many coincidences going on that that makes you stop and think maybe they really are for no human could ever be that intelligent to be in the right place at the right time.  

Overall, I though this was a nice film although most movie critics will disagree with me. But I am glad I was finally able to watch and I am even thinking of watching it again. 

Possibly a good enough kids' movie - ***

Originally intended to be The Smurfs 3, the people behind Sony Pictures decided to make this latest animated movie a reboot from the previous full length animated versions making it more based on the vision that the comic book creator, Peyo started with.

In Gargamel's attempt to gain more power by capturing the smurfs and absorbing their essence,  he discovered that that there is another smurf village in the forbidden forest.   Smurfette learned about this and joined by three other smurfs they sought out the the lost village of smurfs to try to warn them.

A couple of things I like about this movie, most of it regarding the story and how it has chosen to make a girl character, Smurfette as the main protagonist of this film.  It has also decided to make a whole village full of strong women, the smurf version of Amazons.  The animation is very crisp and the design is more or less consistent with what we saw on TV which was really based on the comic book that Peyo created.

What I don't like about this film is the way the story was told.  I understand that this is a movie intended for kids and that a complex plot would be too bewildering for the young minds.  But to me the story was just too predictable.  Though I really appreciated that I was able to take a nap by a few minutes but the story's predictability failed to grab my attention.