The Magnificent Seven (2016)

This film is great! Great cast ensemble, great story, phenomenal action sequences (although the finale is extremely hard to follow because it's too fast-paced. It was hard to tell who to root for because I couldn't tell the good guys from the bad guys because the cuts were too quick, and it didn't give my brain enough time to register what was happening.) and just an all-around great Western. Although the villain was kind of weak. He didn't give me chills, and I honestly didn't see him as much of a threat. That's more the fault of the writing, not the acting. The acting was fine. Chris Pratt is awesome as always, as are Denzel Washington, and the rest of the cast. The action sequences were great! If an action sequence (or the lead up to it) gets me excited, it's successful by my standards. This more than delivered on that. I was definitely restraining myself from cheering in the theater. (If I were alone, I definetly would have, though.) 

Grade: A-   9/10.  4/5 stars 

Storks

While the film is cute, clever, original and I did enjoy it, I need to put a warning here: The film's ending montage features a family of 2 men and a family of 2 women getting their babies delivered by the storks. Regardless of your stance on this, I know some families would choose not to see this film if they had that knowledge. I personally would not have seen it if I knew, but of course this got no media attention and I feel I was deceived. It's a shame this couldn't just be a fun family film. They had to sneak in an agenda at the very last second. For that reason, I cannot recommend this film. Up to that point, I thought the film was great! The plot was original, the writing was clever, the voice acting was great. The only character in the film I found annoying was the pigeon. He's supposed to be a comic relief villain but he just comes off as extremely irritating. The message of the film was that families are important, and you shouldn't get too busy with other things and spend time with your kids. I loved that! Again, it's a shame they had to throw in an agenda at the very last second. It wouldn't have affected the film at all to leave it out. Kids films do not need an agenda. Let me say that again Hollywood. Kids. Films. Do. NOT. Need. An. Agenda. Other than that, I thought the jokes in the movie were very funny. I can't remember the last time I laughed at a kids film instead of groaning. The wolves were my favorite characters just because of how energetic they were. They were hilarious! And the running joke of the baby putting everyone in a trance with it's cuteness was relatable for me. I've definetly "aww"d over my share of babies.  This would have been a great film if there were no agenda, but I guess I should expect nothing less from PC Hollywood at this point. I'll definitely be doing my research more carefully next time. 

Grade: B+.  7.5/10  3.5/5 stars

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

While I did enjoy the first one, I think this is the one we should have gotten the first time. This actually feels (mostly) true to the original source material. Keep in mind, I never watched the cartoons growing up, but knowing some people who did, I'm taking their word for it. Stephen Amell is fantastic as Casey Jones, the new characters Bebop and Rocksteady were fun, the villain Krang was a nice addition, and there were actually some pretty funny jokes. Especially the jabs to some Ninja Turtles merch back in the day, such as a certain Anti-drug PSA. (Although there are some really outdated pop culture references from Mikey. "Say hello to my little friend" just isn't funny anymore. It's become tired and cliche. Let it die.) Some issues I had with the film were the character of Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry). His performance is cringeworthy and unfunny. Although he is an important character, I wanted his scenes to be over as quickly as possible. They could have cast anyone else and they chose Tyler Perry of all people?! What were they thinking?!   I wish Will Arnett's character was in the film more, because he was the best part of the first one, and I was looking forward to witty banter between Arnett and Amell, but sadly, we didn't get any. There was so much untapped potential for comedy with these two and they wasted it (on Tyler Perry. Again, why?!) The story felt very classic Ninja Turtles and this movie is definitely a hidden gem, despite what Rotten Tomatoes would have you believe.

Grade: A-  9/10  4/5 stars 

The Little Prince

I don't normally review non-theatrically released movies, but this was so good I felt that I had to review it. 

This movie is amazing! The animation is some of the best I've seen. It is on par with Pixar! Even the story and message feel like something Pixar would have done. I definitely almost cried more than once. And for such a small release its got some big stars. Jeff Bridges, Paul Rudd, Ricky Gervais, and many others lend their voices to the production and they do s great job! I could tell there was a lot of love put into this. The stop-motion sequences are beautifully hand crafted. There's loads of detail put into them. And like I stated earlier the CG portions of the film are aesthetically pleasing as well. Everything is so fluid and crisp. And this isn't just "some kids movie", either. I think adults could get a lot out of the message too. This is a beautifully made production with a great story, great message, and stellar voice acting. It's definitely worth streaming on Netflix. 

Grade: A+. 10/10 5/5 stars

Kubo and the Two Strings

This movie managed to do something very rare: Be engaging throughout. There was never a point where I was bored. I tend to appreciate stop-motion films more because of how much more time and effort they require. This film is visually astounding! There's a sequence with a giant (and I mean GIANT!) skeleton that's particularly impressive, especially since it wasn't CGI, but was in fact hand-crafted and operated through puppetry by someone on a ladder. And it really was that big in reality. Now that's dedication! The characters of the monkey and the beetle samurai were hilarious sidekicks and at times reminded me of Disney characters. I also have to applaud how original the plot was. I didn't feel like I'd seen it before. It had some twists and surprises I didn't see coming. This film is reminiscent of the best films of the Disney Renassaince era. The villains in this movie were also really great. I was disappointed they were seldom seen, because they were part of the reason the film was so interesting. I do wish they had explained the villains' motivations a little better, because I was just confused. And this film brings something that's very rare in animated films nowadays: it has complex and sometimes dark themes and doesn't talk down to kids, or try to do nothing more than distract them with pretty colors instead of trying to write a good story. This is one of the best films (animated or otherwise) of 2016!

Grade: A+  10/10   5/5 stars