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. 

Cool visuals try to enchance a somewhat common story - ***

This is an American film produced by Paramount Pictures based on a Japanese manga written by Masamune Shirow.   The writer and illustrator of the manga intended the series to be read by adolescent boys and men who are old enough to read kanji.   The books were serialized in 1989 and the  series describes Shirow's vision of 21st century Japan that started in 2029.

The movie starts with the creation of the first successfully enhanced cyber-human, Major Motoko.  This cyber-human was created from a salvaged brain that is put inside a full prosthetic body and was assigned to be part of a team in charge of protecting public security.  While on a mission to fight against cyber terrorists, her paths crossed with someone that led her to discover the conspiracy behind her true identity

I admire the efforts the designers put in creating the Japanese prefecture set in 2029.  What is clearly the strong point of this film are the visuals, both in design and execution , be it by computer generated visuals or real sets and costumes.  Cinematography solidly sets the mood and the tone of the entire film ably supported by dark characters and Scarlet Johansson's internally intense interpretation of her character as the lead Major Motoko. 

But as the story unfolds you realize that you have probably heard this story before, maybe another hero story gone wrong or a conspiracy theory that has been published in several books already and I start to fall asleep and loose interest.  What kept me from totally dozing off are the action sequences and Scarlet's magnetic presence. 

It's the plot that needed saving. - **

This is the third movie of the Power Rangers film franchise all of which were produced by Saban Entertainment, an American/Israeli company operating outside the US.  Mighty Morphin Power Rangers came out in 1995 while the second film,  Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie came out in 1997.  Both of which and including this newest installment are all based on the Power Rangers TV series.

Rita Repulsa was close to acquiring the Zeo Crystal which will give her the power to destroy worlds.  The wizard Zordon kept the crystal from her along with 5 coins and willed them to find 5 strong individuals to give them powers to be able to protect the crystal from being taken by Rita Repulsa.  For the most part the movie was about how 5 individuals became the Power Rangers we know now.

While this is an American film, the movie is based on a Japanese TV series.  What this film tried to do is to veer away from the Sentai style of portraying superheroes and tries to create something that is more palatable to the Hollywood crowd by utilizing more modern visual effects and computer graphics.  This particular series is unique in a way that it created heroes one of whom is autistic and the other one could possibly be a lesbian.  So the story takes a more modern take than its predecessors by doing this.

The wizard willed the coins to look for 5 strong individuals to protect the crystal, and it turned to be more of a work of fate than a work of wizardry, but the truth is, Zordon needed the 5 rangers to combine powers so he can come back to life and so the backbone of the whole plot of sort of skewed.  The character development lacked focus thus taking it a longer time for each character to find something solid they can work on. The story took a long time to move forward and so there was really no morphing happening up until the last quarter of the film.  And when the real action finally starts you become uninterested already that nothing about it becomes thrilling.  Did not like the cast either, some of them were sort of flat and uninteresting while others were just pushed back a bit to give equaly exposure to others.

Overall, I did not like this film.  I got really excited by the trailer and thought how the Power Rangers have come a long way from sentai, but it did not really create much excitement for me to say that it was worth it.  If you are not really a Power Rangers fan you'd probably better off choosing another film to watch.

Twice the enchantment and four times the magic - ****

This is the live action remake of the 1991 animated Disney movie of the same title, while the former was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation the latest version was still distributed through Walt Disney Pictures and is produced by an American independent film company housed in Walt Disney Studios, Mandeville Films.

Based on the abridged fairy tale which was adapted from Gabrielle Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve's La Belle et La Bete this story is about discovering love in dark places like fear and bitterness.  It follows the story of Belle and her desire to reach other worlds other than her small town of Villeneuve and the prince whose curse can only be undone by finding love and being loved in return.

The film took on the good points from the animated original and added more to it by adding some dimensions to its characters.  It took the best tracks from Menken's original playlist and added new songs to further develop the characters giving them a more complete persona. The actors were well casted in this film taking on Emma Watson to play Belle and Luke Evans was just perfect as Gaston and it turned out this movie has a powerhouse cast having Emma Thompson, Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellen and Stanley Tucci playing the staff of the castle who were turned into objects as part of the curse to the prince.  Visually enchanting, the big feature of this movie is the production design the costumes and the scenes were well styled and the animated effects add magic to its already solid scenography.

There is really nothing in this film that I didn't like.  It was a good experience watching this film on 3D IMAX and it took quite a bit of strength not to sing along the familiar songs from the animated version.  This is a good date movie and also one the whole family will truly love. 

Lingers on fanning the flames of grudges - ***

Batman vs Superman started filming in 2013 and was released internationally in March this year.  It is a follow up from the last Superman movie Man of Steel (2013) but takes its inspiration from the Batman movie The Dark Knight Returns.  This film received criticisms at the onset starting from its casting and bombed some more with the critics when it was finally released.

The film takes us back to the fight of General Zod (Michael Shannon) and Superman (Henry Cavill) causing citywide damages and injuring a lot of innocent people. The event destroyed the building that Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) owned that eventually killed a lot of the people that worked for him.  This stirred Batman's ire against Superman.  Clark Kent notices the doings of Batman as a rogue vigilante and decided that he is a threat to humanity as well.
Their mutual antagonism is much further aggravated by  Lex Luthor 's (Jesse Eisenberg) manipulation of events that eventually leads to their confrontation.

This film is a very important film particularly for the comic fans and it is a daring take on what the insiders call the DC Extended Universe where comic characters find themselves united in one material.  It is important because it sets the stage for Justice League (the movie) that brings together major characters in the DC comic franchise.  I like this film for its bravery, one for defying critics about their choice of actors, and then the final interpretation of the Wonder Woman character starting from its costume to its character.  It clearly veered away from the popular idea of how Wonder Woman should look like and then mostly for its decision to take some inspiration from the comic arc 'Death of Superman', whose outcome clearly shocked the movie public.

.Because this film is tasked to tell its story and to set up Justice League it became a lengthy two and a half hour running time.  I mostly didn't notice the time for I thought the scenes were essential except that some scenes could have been shorter.  For the most part it presents vignettes of reasons how people hate people, like how Batman came to hate Superman and vice versa, how the people of Metropolis came to hate Superman, but it failed to mention an important source of hate that really is the stem from which this story came from and it is the hate of Lex Luthor with Superman.  We are clearly caught in the middle of Lex's and Superman's relationship, but it does not benefit the non fanatics to be unaware of where Lex's anger is coming from.