Glass

A January movie that's actually good?! What a rare treat! This was fantastic! This feels like M. Night at his best again! So far his last 3 movies ("The Visit", 'Split" and now "Glass") have been really, really good. These 3 films, I've discovered all have one other person in common: Jason Blum as producer. I don't know how much influence or control Blum has over Shamalan's projects, but whatever he's doing, he needs to keep at it. M. Night and Blum work really well together, as evidenced by those three films. Everyone in this movie does a great job! This is one of those rare films where there is not a single bad actor, not even in the minor characters. As great as everyone in this film is though, it is James McAvoy's performance that stands out the most. How has this man not been nominated for an Oscar yet? I'd say Kevin Wendell Crumb is his best role. Even the usually loud Samuel L. Jackson pulls back and finally gives a subtle performance again. (In fact, Jackson has no lines until the last 45 min. of the film). Bruce Willis has still got it, even at 63 years old. Apart from some grey hair between "Unbreakable" and now, he hasn't changed. It feels like picking up right where we left off. This is a more subtle, quieter approach to the comic book movie genre. As opposed to big battles with explosions, 90% of this movie is spent in one location and is a bit slower and quieter. There are moments of great suspense that had me wide-eyed and my jaw dropping. This is a fantastic conclusion to the trilogy, and I'm hoping the pattern of M. Night making great movies again continues. 

Grade: A+   10/10   5/5 stars

Max Payne (2008)

Here we go. My first "throwback" review of the year. For those of you who are new, or don't remember from last year when I started doing this, I decided that to keep this blog running in between new releases, I would also review movies that Doug Walker, aka the Nostalgia Critic, on Youtube reviews. (Exceptions being films I've already seen prior, films not released theatrically, and any R rated films.)
Before I started watching this, I was silently cursing Doug under my breath for making me review this. I have had bad experiences with video game movies. (Like last year with "Tomb Raider".) But it has Mark Wahlberg in it, so I was expecting it to be at least fun. And it was. The plot is kind of generic, and sometimes the story feels all over the place, but as far as the action sequences go, it was fun. Wahlberg actually put more effort than was needed in a film like this. It feels like he's actually trying, and is enjoying the role despite the mediocre script. The way the film is shot reminded me of movies like "The Matrix" or Robert Rodriguez movies.  Mila Kunis' character actually reminded me quite a bit of Trinity from "The Matrix." One of my issues with the film, is it does end very abruptly. If you don't stay through the credits to see that last scene at the end, it won't make sense, and since this isn't a Marvel movie, most people would just turn it off at the credits and be confused. It should have been put before the credits, or after the first half before the credits start scrolling up.  Is the film awful? No. Is it great? No. It's just a good ''turn off your brain'' action movie. There's not a whole lot of thinking required. It's just to be entertained by shootouts and explosions.

Grade: B     8/10     3.5/5 stars