Love, Simon

By Emilio Frenk. 

Director: Greg Berlanti

Cast: Nick Robinson, Josh Duhamel, Jennifer Garner, Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Keiynan Lonsdale, Miles Heizer, Logan Miller, Talitha Bateman, Tony Hale, Natasha Rothwell, Drew Starkey, Clark Moore, Joey Pollari and Mackenzie Lintz.

Rating: Excellent.

Greg Berlanti, director of “Life as We Know It” brings “Love, Simon” his second feature film and brings very good results.

The movie centers in Simon Spier (Nick Robinson), a high school kid who has good friends on Leah (Katherine Langford), Abby (Alexandra Shipp) and Nick (Jorge Lendeborg Jr).

Besides having good friends he has his loving parents Jack (Josh Duhamel), his mother Emily (Jennifer Garner) and his aspiring chef sister Nora (Talitha Bateman).

Simon has everything in life but he has a major secret: He is gay. Now Simon is facing a dilemma in weather or not come clean about his preferences to his love ones, even if it means to loose the love of his friends and family.

When I first watched the previews of “Love, Simon” I admit that I judged it harshly  and I thought that it was going to be the typical cheezy movie that is released in the first semester of the year.

I am glad that I was wrong and I was very impressed with this movie. The film debut of writers Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker couldn´t start any better and crafted a very good and original screenplay.

The characters that they created are original, unique and for all moments you feel for them. I feel that both of them created a very good villain in the film in Martin Addison, who is portrayed by Logan Miller. Not only he is annoying, but is someone that you don´t want to have close to you at all.

Greg Berlanti directed a very good film and knew how to get the best out of his young cast in this film. I really admire this since it´s really difficult to direct young adults in this kind of film and he did an amazing job.

You can tell that he learned from his mistakes on his previous film “Life as We Know it” and here he did something special and unique.

The performance by Nick Robinson is so far the best I have seen in his younger career. This young actor has a bright future and hopefully we can see him in many roles in the future.

The message of acceptance is really powerful and true in this film and is one of the reasons why it made it so good.

The film from the opening image to the end is engaging, sweet and I was very happy with the result of it. I confess that the film made me drop a tear from my eye, specially in the finale of the film.  

With that being said “Love, Simon” is so far one of the biggest surprises of 2018. I highly recommend for Greg Berlanti`s directing, performances and both Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker´s fantastic screenplay.

Tomb Raider

By Emilio Frenk. 

Director: Roar Uthaug

Cast: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Walton Goggins, Daniel Wu, Hannah John-Kamen, Antonio Aekeel, Derek Jacobi, Nick Frost and Kristin Scott Thomas.

Rating: Average

Norwegian director Roar Uthaug, bring “Tomb Raider” a reboot from the films “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” of 2000 and “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life” from 2003 both starring Angelina Jolie. The thing I start with is that this film does entertain and serves it´s purpose.

The movie centers in Lara Croft (Alicia Vikander) the daughter of explorer Richard Croft (Dominic West) works as a bike courier and one day she gets arrested after she has an encounter with the police.

Later she is convinced by her father´s business partner Ana Miller (Kristin Scott Thomas) to sign for his father estate or she will loose everything. After she accepts the offer, Lara will make the discovery about his father´s research in regards to a tomb that is located in Hong Kong.

She will embark to a journey to Asia and will go to the Island of Yamatai where she will encounter with Mathias Vogel (Walton Goggins) a rival archeologist who wants to get his hands on Richard´s research. 

Now Lara will be in a race against time to discover her father´s research before it goes to the wrong hands and mayhem will be loose.

This version of Tomb Raider like I mention does work and entertains, which was the purpose of this kind of films. Another factor that also worked was that it was the most loyal of the videogames version and for people who are fans of the game I do think that they are going to enjoy this film.

The first two Tomb Raider films from the early 2000´s where really bad and honestly I didn´t care for it´s main character. Angelina Jolie is a fantastic actress and I do respect her but she couldn´t bring to much on the table here and also the movies had very bad screenplays.

Here Alicia Vikander did a really good job as Lara Croft. She is very convincing and you feel for her character for the film.

Visually is a film that does work,  has very good action sequences and that is also one of the things that makes it entertaining.

Where it really fails and badly like the other two films is story wise. The Screenplay written by Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Alastair Siddons was weak and had many things that could have been cut.

The excess of flashbacks was the thing that really hurt “Tomb Raider” in screenplay. With one we would have get it and it was very predictable from beginning to end. Also the fact that Lara Croft is in situations that in theory she can get hurt really bad but then she reacts as nothing happens.

Also the film is too long and I think that with a shorter length the film could have had a much better result.

Normally in this kind of films where a bad screenplay is involved I can be very harsh but here the exception is different and this is because the film entertains and Alicia Vikander´s performance.

Walton Goggins is a very good actor but I was not convince of his performance as the villain. He did what he good but I feel that his character could have been written better since for this kind of films you do need a good villain and I didn´t see it here.

I believe that if “Tomb Raider” would have had at least one rewrite it could have been a better film but like I mentioned before the screenplay played a huge part and unfortunately didn´t deliver enough the goods.

With that being said “Tomb Raider” is a movie that if either you are a fan of the videogames or of action films you are going to like this film. If you want to see art this is not the film to see.  Still this version is way better than the two films starring Angelina Jolie is better and I did enjoy it as an action film.

7 Days in Entebbe

By Emilio Frenk. 

Director: José Padilha

Cast: Daniel Brühl, Rosamund Pike, Lior Ashkenazi, Mark Ivanir, Denis Ménochet, Eddie Marsan, Ben Schnetzer, Juan Pablo Raba, Peter Sullivan, Andrea Deck, Brontis Jodorowsky, Nonso Anozie and Michael Lewis.

Rating: Average.

Brazilian filmmaker José Padilha, brings “7 Days in Entebbe”, a film with an interesting theme that could have had a better execution.

Based on true events, the movie takes place in 1976 and centers in Wilfried Böse (Daniel Brühl) and Briggite Kuhlmann (Rosamund Pike) two German terrorists who join forces with Palestinian terrorists who hijack the flight 139 Air France on route from Tel-Aviv, Israel to Paris.

In the time they hold the passengers and crew hostage in Entebbe Uganda where they will demand a huge ransom and the release of 53 Palestinian and Pro-Palestinian Prisoners.

The Israeli Government now will have a dilemma on either comply the demands of the terrorists or attempt a daring rescue that could cost the lives of both the civilians and crew.

The reason why I mentioned before that “7 Days in Entebbe” could have had a better execution comes in the screenplay written by Gregory Burke.

I feel that the opening scene of the film should have gone straight to the main characters of the film, which in this case are the terrorists instead of something else that happened. Also the film has two many flashbacks. I understand for this movie you need them but I feel that with one should have been enough.

The love story between the character of Rosamund Pike and Juan Pablo Raba  doesn´t work since that is not the premise of the story and I feel that parts of the film were focused on that.

José Padilha´s direction felt I little bit sloppy and I feel that there could have things that he could have done better visually speaking. I feel that for moments the cinematography was not that good and the choices in terms of shots didn´t had any meaning for me.

On the other hand the movie has very good things like the performances of Daniel Brühl and Rosamund Pike who are both fantastic despite of the film that had a sloppy screenplay.

The editing of the film had an interesting pace but the problem was the beginning of the film, that was with a performance on stage that didn´t make any sense at all.

Again the film should have started with your main characters and it could have been written better since the movie had a lot of potential.

I didn´t know anything about the them of this film and honestly I found it very interesting since it involves a hijack and the length of the film was very good.

In this kind of films there is always the thing that it´s either too long or slow and here it had the ideal pace which made it work.

I slightly enjoyed “7 Days in Entebbe” and it had very good moments  but the execution of it was handled poorly due to the screenplay that it was involved.

Flower

By Emilio Frenk. 

Director: Max Winkler

Cast: Zoey Deutch, Kathryn Hahn, Tim Heldecker, Joey Morgan, Dylan Gelula, Maya Eshet, Eric Edelstein, Romy Byrne and Adam Scott.

Rating: Average.

Max Winkler, director of “Ceremony” brings “Flower”, his second feature film and it could have had a better result.

The movie centers in Erica (Zoey Deutch) a troubled teenage girl that with her friends like to blackmail people for a living. One day her life will change when he meets her stepbrother Luke (Joey Morgan).

Both of them will eventually bond but Erica´s life will suffer another turning point when Luke see´s Will (Adam Scott) a teacher who Luke claims that he sexually harassed him when he was younger.

Now Erica will try to help his stepbrother on setting up Will by becoming vigilantes and making him pay for his actions.

“Flower” is a movie that does have an interesting premise but for moments I felt that the movie was sloppy.

This was in part of the direction of Max Winkler, which led to some moments of the film that didn´t make any sense and were over the top. I felt the film by moments was slow and the characters honestly they were annoying as hell.

In terms of screenplay the film has  good and hadinteresting moments. I liked how Alex McAulay, Max Winkler and Matt Spicer crafted the story and I like the connection that Erica and Luke form at the beginning. I felt that in the third act saw a homage in films like “The Sugarland Express” and by moments “Bonnie and Clyde”. It was a nice try but unfortunately didn´t work, which resulted in a ridiculous ending. 

Zoey Deutch gives by her one of her best performances of her young career and I feel that if she goes in this path she will go even further.

I do see in Max Winkler as a young filmmaker that is very skilled and talented. He has the age to prove it and I hope he can learn from his mistakes from his previous work, including this one.

There is no doubt that “Flower” had the potential to be a very good film but I felt that it needed more work and the result is what was shown on screen.

“Flower” is a film that does entertain from a standup but the only reason that I can barely recommend it is for the performance of Zoey Deutch and for some of the funny moments this movie has.

Thoroughbreds

By Emilio Frenk. 

Director: Cory Finley

Cast: Olivia Cooke, Anya Taylor-Joy, Anton Yelchin, Paul Sparks, Francie Swift, Kaili Vernoff and Alex Wolff.

Rating: Excellent.

Filmmaker Cory Finley makes his directorial debut with “Thoroughbreds” and I was very impressed with this film.

The movie takes place in Suburban Connecticut and centers in Amanda (Olivia Cooke) and Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy) two girls who rekindle their friendship after not seeing each other for a time.

Everything goes well until Amanda meets Mark (Paul Sparks) who happens to be Lily`s mean and cruel stepfather.

After noticing Lily`s frustration, Amanda tells asks her if she wants to kill him. At the beginning Lily doesn´t think that but later she ends up accepting.

Now both Amanda and Lily will try to get solve this issue before it gets any worse, to the point that both of them can drive them crazy.

I mentioned previously that “Thoroughbreds” took my by surprise and this was because I had no idea what the movie was going to be about.

There were posters that compared with “Heathers”, which has similarities and there is no doubt that Cory Finley used it as a major inspiration since you can see some things on this movie to the 80´s film.

Cory Finley wrote a fine screenplay with rich characters. He went straight to what the movie was going to be about and just revelead some backstory but enough so we can understand and relate to the main characters.

The dialogue he wrote was very good and this two girls really have issues and this one of the things that made this movie interesting.

This genre can have the tendency that the characters can be boring but here was not the case and both Olivia Cooke and Anya Taylor-Joy give remarkable performances in this movie.

The directing was very good, the use of steady cam in the film was very well made, specially in the opening miss en scene where we see Amanda play by Olivia Cooke when she is in the house of her friend.

Every shot has a meaning in this film and visually is very well made. The editing has a very good pace and the score hit the mark in the most important scenes of this film.

Anton Yelchin was very good in this film and it´s a shame he passed away in a very youn age and I can say that he gave one of his finest performances.

Paul Sparks is a monster in this movie and you hate him at all times, but that´s why this film looks so good.

This film was a huge rollercoaster ride and again it really took me by surprise. This are the kind of movie that I really enjoy and this was the case.

“Throughbreds” has one of the major twists that I have seen in a film and I was surprised when I saw this during the third act of this film and the ending was very good.

Cory Finley started his career in the right track and he definitely has a bright future if he continues in this path.

“Thoroughbreds” is one of the year´s best films, I highly recommend it by the performances, directing and writing on Cory Finley.

A Wrinkle in Time

By Emilio Frenk. 

Director: Ava DuVernay

Cast: Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Levi Miller, Deric McCabe, Chris Pine, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Zach Galifianakis, André Holland and Michael Peña.

Rating: Poor.

Academy Award Filmmaker Nominee Ava DuVernay, who`s most notable work are films like “Selma” and the Documentary “The 13th” brings “ A Wrinkle in Time”, her most ambitious project to this date but unfortunately didn´t bring good results.

Based on the book by Madeline L´Engle, the movie tells the story of Meg Murry (Storm Reid) a young girl who recently suffered the disappearance of her father and astrophysicist Dr. Alex Murry (Chris Pine).

One night she will be visited by three astral travelers whose names are: Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey), Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon) and Mrs.Who (Mindy Calling), who tell Meg and his younger brother Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe) that they know where their father is.

At the beginning Meg doesn´t believe anything but she will be convinced by his younger brother. Meg accepts in doing the rescue and she will be joined by her brother and fellow student Calvin O`Keefe (Levi Miller).

Now Meg is in a race against time to rescue her father of the forces of evil who have him captive before it´s too late.

I was having high hopes for “A Wrinkle in Time”, specially for the fact that it was directed by Ava DuVernay, who I think is a brilliant and talented filmmaker. Her films like “Selma” and “The 13th” are very good films in terms that she created in both films  a very unique way for storytelling. At some point she had to have a failure and unfortunately this was the case.

The problem that I saw in “A Wrinkle in Time” was in the screenplay written by Jennifer Lee and Jeff Stockwell. For being a children´s film I felt that it was too slow and by moments I was very confused on what I was looking.

The film had very good moments specially in the second act, but the film did collapse at the first and part of the third act.

I did like the message of love and hate how was said but it wasn´t written properly. There is no doubt in my mind that both Lee and Stockwell had the best intentions in crafting a very good screenplay but that was not the case and it turned into a complete mess.

The performance by Storm Reid as Meg was good and convincing, but Derec McCabe who played Charles Wallace wasn´t. I feel really bad about saying this but the things that you see is what you judge and here was the case of a kid who overacted the whole film.

There were positive things about “A Wrinkle of Time” one of them was the visuals of the film and I believe that Ava DuVernay did a really good job in directing very stylist scenes and her crew. The part that I think DuVernay could have done much better is in directing her cast in delivering better performances.

I saw also influences in movies like “The NeverEnding Story” in this film, specially for the events that take place during the second act, were Reese Witherspoon`s character transforms in this creature that flies and other elements that are similar to the movie from 1984.

Again she is really good as a director and in “Selma” she directed an amazing cast which delivered memorable performances like David Oyelowo`s as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and many others in that film.

The message of the film like I mentioned it was good in a way that it´s an original thing of how love and hate can be portrayed and how we can be vulnerable as human beings on having those feelings but I felt that it could have gone in a better direction.

I hope I can see another Ava DuVernay film in the future since I really like her work and hopefully this can be a good learning experience for her.

“A Wrinkle in Time” is an impressive visual experience and there is no doubt about that but unfortunately in a narrative manner it´s a movie that failed and badly.

With that being said I cannot recommend this film and this is because of the screenplay. If more rewrites would have been involved a would have had a different reaction since it had the potential to be a remarkable movie.

Gringo

By Emilio Frenk. 

Director: Nash Edgerton

Cast: David Oyelowo, Joel Edgerton, Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried, Thandie Newton, Sharlto Copley, Paris Jackson, Yul Vazquez, Harry Treadaway, Kenneth Choi, Melonie Diaz, Diego Cataño, Bashir Salahuddin and Alan Ruck.

Rating: Poor.

Nash Edgerton, director of “The Square” brings “Gringo” a comedy and action film that unfortunately didn´t deliver.

The movie centers in Harold Soyinka (David Oyelowo) a businessman from Chicago that works for Cannabax Technologies who just recently created the “Weed Pill”.

One day he goes in a business trip to Mexico with his bosses Richard Rusk (Joel Edgerton) and Elaine Markinson (Charlize Theron). In that trip he will be kidnapped and realize that Cannabak Technologies was doing business with a mexican cartel. Now Harold will try to figure out a way to survive this ordeal before he is history.

“Gringo” is a comedy that had a good start but it went downhill afterwards. The reason why I´m saying this is because the screenplay written by Anthony Tambakis and Matthew Stone was very sloppy and by moments very confusing.

I am really surprised of this since both of them are very experienced writers; Tambakis did one of my favorite films from 2011 “Warrior” which it´s a fantastic film and Stone has a lot of experience in this genre. The characters of this film aren´t that rich and there was a moment that I didn´t feel for any of them.

The plot was useless and I believe that it had a lot of good potential since the concept was interesting.

Nash Edgerton´s directing was all over the place. His camera work was sloppy and the performances by his cast were not convincing. He had huge talent of his disposal but didn´t deliver.

David Oyelowo had very fun moments and I believe he is a very talented actor. The same goes to Joel Edgerton and Charlize Theron who are as talented as Oyelowo but their effort was not enough.

An actor is always going to do their best in terms of deliving a good performance but unfortunately they cannot do to much when a weak script is involved.

There was a moment in the film that I wanted it to be over since it was going nowhere. I think the movie started backwards, instead of going straight to the facts. Another factor is that they showed to much backstory in the characters and less is better.

I agree that it´s important to show something but if you show too much it´s not going to be interesting to watch and this is what happened with “Gringo”.

Nash Edgerton I think is a filmmaker that can deliver the goods. He made “Spider”, a short film of 2007 that was very good and knew how to manage the time in pacing. I would like to see him directing another film at some point since he can deliver and I hope this is a learning lesson for him.

“Gringo” is one of the most disappointing comedies of 2018. I cannot recommend it for the performances, sloppy screenplay and bad directing.

The Strangers: Prey At Night

By Emilio Frenk. 

Director: Johannes Roberts

Cast: Christina Hendricks, Martin Henderson, Bailee Madison, Lewis Pullman, Emma Bellomy, Damien Maffei and Lea Enslin.

Rating: Poor.

Johannes Roberts, director of “47 Meters Down” and “The Other Side of The Door” brings “The Strangers: Prey at Night”, the sequel of the 2008 film and the results of this movie are not good.

Based on true events, the family centers in family from Seattle conformed by Cindy (Christina Hendricks), her husband Mike (Martin Henderson), their son Luke (Lewis Pullman) and their troubled daughter Kinsey (Bailee Madison).

The family takes a road trip to stay in a secluded mobile home owned by Cindy´s Uncle. Everything will change when three masked psychopaths begin to disrupt them and are in a rampage to kill the family.

Now the whole family has to figure out a way to survive before it´s too late and the killers continue their rampage towards other families.

When the opening image of “The Strangers: Prey At Night” appeared I imagined what I was going to see but sometimes in a naïve way I like to give the benefit of doubt but here it was too much.

I don´t know what was the intention of Johannes Roberts in this film but it looked like a complete ripoff of a John Carpenter movie with his music. It looks like he wanted to do a complete homage to the horror film director but it was not the case, which reminds that this is not the first he has done this. I remember in last year´s “47 Meters Down”, also directed by Roberts that he did the same thing and it was too obvious.

The screenplay written by Bryan Bertino, who happens to be the director of the first installment of “The Strangers” and Ben Ketai was one of the dumbiest that I have ever seen. The dialogue of this film doesn´t make any sense, looks fake and the resolutions for the characters are completely idiotic.

In the moment that one of the characters tries to fix a problem, he/she don´t resolve it and make it even worse.  The movie looks completely fake and I never saw a motivation for this assasssins to kill people.

What really worked in movies like “Halloween”, “Friday the 13th”, “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and others is the fact that the killers had a reason to do their actions and of course they were scary as hell.

Here from a comedy stand point it´s a movie that does work. There were some jumpy moments in this picture but nothing to spectacular.

Johannes Roberts direction was all over the place and this is the second feature film I´ve seen from him and all I can think is that he completely lack of originality. I know it´s very hard on my part to say this but I don´t have other words to express what I feel but this ones.

Slasher movies can be enjoyable but here this wasn´t the case and honestly there was a moment in the film that I didn´t care for any of this characters. To make it even worst than it was the ending of the film is one of the most idiotics I´ve seen in film.

This movie should have gone straight to either On Demand or straight to DVD due to the poor quality of it and because nothing of it works. It could have had an interesting premise since it was based in true events but the execution was awful.

“The Strangers: Prey At Night” is one of the dumbiest films of this years so far and I cannot recommend it for any reason at all. I believe that horror fans are going to be disappointed and if you haven´t seen please do not waste your time and money in this piece of garbage.

Red Sparrow

By Emilio Frenk. 

Director: Francis Lawrence

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlotte Rampling, Mary-Louise Parker, Ciaran Hinds, Joely Richardson and Jeremy Irons.

Rating: Poor.

Francis Lawrence, director of the last three movies of “The Hunger Games” series works again with Academy Award Winner Jennifer Lawrence in “Red Sparrow” a movie with so much potential that unfortunately was wasted.

Based on the novel by former CIA Agent Jason Matthews, the movie centers in Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) a Russian ballerina who´s career is over due to an injury.

Eventually she will be recruited by her Uncle Ivan Egorov (Matthias Schonaerts) to seduce a Russian Politician, which will lead to a murder of the politician.  Dominika will have  the choice to either  enter the Sparrow Program  or be murdered.

Now Dominika will become a Sparrow and is being asked to target on CIA Agent Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton).

Both agents will realize that their careers and lives will be stake, as well as the security for both their respective countries, which could eventually lead into a political issue.

One thing I can mention of “Red Sparrow” is that it the film it started very well but it went downhill once half of the second act was shown.

This has to do with the screenplay written by Justin Haythe, which credits include “Revolutionary Rode” and “ A Cure for Wellness”.

He wrote a very long movie and he was swapping between subplots the whole time. In every movie regardless of the genre you have to be clear with the story you are telling and for a thriller like this one you cannot affort the privilege of having a confusing plot. 

The movie reached to the fact that I did not care for any of the characters and the goal of the main character  by Jennifer Lawrence was not clear.

Lawrence is a very talented actress and he has proven it through her career. She did a really good job in this movie but again the cast is not going to save a film.

Joel Edgerton was really good as well and like Lawrence he tried what he could but it was not enough.

Another big problem that I saw was the character played by Mary-Louise Parker. Her inclusion in this film didn´t make any sense and her character was not even relevant in this film. When she had her first appeareance in the film, that´s when “Red Sparrow” begin to go downhill.

I also believe that Francis Lawrence´s direction was kind of sloppy. He only cared of trying to make the film visually good and he didn´t instruct his cast to deliver better performances. I´m surprised with this since he did a great job in “The Hunger Games” film, specially with “Catching Fire” which I consider the best of the franchise.

Another factor was the twist of the third act. An importantly plot point was revealed in the film and then it was switched to another. I don´t know what was the intention of Justin Haythe but it look to amateur in the screenplay.

I like this type of movies that involve political thrillers but in this case I saw a film with to many mistakes.

I admit that this movie had a lot of potential since a former agent wrote it but unfortunately it wasn´t written and directed properly.

“Red Sparrow” is a very big disappointment and I cannot recommend due to the story and that is too long without a reason.

Death Wish

By Emilio Frenk. 

Director: Eli Roth

Cast: Bruce Willis, Elizabeth Shue, Camila Morrone, Mike Epps, Dean Norris, Kimberly Elise, Ronnie Gene Blevins, Beau Knapp and Vincent D`Onofrio.

Rating: Poor.

Eli Roth, director of “Hostel” and “Cabin Fever” brings “Death Wish” a remake from the 1974 film starring Charles Bronson and this one is not even close to that version.

The movie takes place in Chicago and tells the story of Paul Kersey (Bruce Willis) a successful surgeon that one night his wife Lucy (Elizabeth Shue) and daughter Jordan (Camila Morrone) suffer a break in their home where Lucy dies and his daughter ends in a coma.

After constant failures of the Police Department on trying to capture the thieves, Paul Kersey goes to the streets as a vigilante seeking justice and avenging his family, where  not only  he will become the target of the police department, but a media sensation as well. 

As you know “Death Wish” is an action movie that could have had a better result but unfortunately the story was very lame.

The screenplay written by Joe Carnahan, who wrote 2002´s “Narc”, which I consider a fantastic movie failed here and big time. The scenes didn´t make any sense and this film is filled with dialogue and scenes that bored me to death.

The action sequences and deaths of the villains were so over the top that at some point they were laughable. I don´t know if this was Eli Roth´s intention but he failed and badly.

Not only the camera work in this film was not good, but the performances didn’t work either. Bruce Willi´s character was stiff the whole movie and I´m surprised since he frequently plays characters that are likable and fun to watch. 

The other thing that was missing was a villain and there wasn´t a real one. You might think that burglars/killers who break into Bruce Willis  character are the ones but he sets  his personal vendetta against them at almost at the end of act two.

The beauty of the 1974 film directed by Michael Winner, which was a film that caused a lot of controversy due to the amount of violence and the raping scene at the beginning of the film was the fact that Charles Bronson´s character Paul Kersey which plays an architect and not a doctor is that the villain is the system. You see a man filled with rage and frustration that the authorities cannot help him and you feel for his character.

Here was not the case and I was watching a movie that I didn´t feel anything for it´s main character.

I have seen Bruce Willi´s films through the years and normally I enjoyed them even if there are bad but still I have a good time with them.

Eli Roth I think he is a good director and he has prove it with movies like “Cabin Fever” and “Hostel” but here I think he wanted it to do an over the top action film and he achieved it but the screenplay involved was filled with dumb scenes and exposition that was completely unnecessary.

The ending I feel that Roth wanted to do a homage to the 1974 version but it didn´t work and like most of the film I laughed.

With that being said “Death Wish” not only is one of the worst action films I´ve seen in a while but also is one of the worst of this year.

Annihilation

By Emilio Frenk. 

Director: Alex Garland

Cast: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny, Benedict Wong and Oscar Isaac.

Rating: Excellent.

Alex Garland, writer/director of “Ex Machina”  brings “Annihilation”, his second feature film and again he delivers.

Based on the novel by Jeff VanderMeer, the movie centers in Lena (Natalie Portman) a biologist and professor who see´s her husband Kane (Oscar Isaac) after being reported missing. Once he shows up at their home he remembers nothing about the expedition and becomes very ill.

In order to find answers, The Psychologist Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh) will ask Lena´s help to join them in the expedition.

Lena agrees and she will join Dr. Ventress´s crew in order to find the answers that make people become ill once they are in the dimension called “The Shimmer” where the laws of nature do not apply and Lena will try to survive at any cost.

One of the things that really leave me with a lot of thought when I saw “Annihilation” was all the symbolic meanings of the film and like with “Ex Machina” I believe that is a movie that most people will be talking for a long time.

Alex Garland recreated a very interesting world in this film and as audience members it allowed us to interpret the meaning of the film however we want.
 

He wrote a very good script, with very rich characters and again a world that is very different from this kind of films. For starters is very common that in this type of movies the crew are led my men. Not in here and I do think that this one of the things that makes it even more interesting.

I saw a lot of influence in movies like John Carpenter´s “The Thing”, John McTiernan´s “Predator” and other that deal with situations like this.

I like the fact how Garland show the most vulnerable side of human beings in this picture. He did in “Ex Machina” and now here. I like the way how Natalie Portman´s inner conflict was portrayed in this film. She portrays a woman with so much blame and hate in herself and to other that is very convincing.

Like “Ex Machina”, “Annihilation” has one of the most unexpected twists in film and it took completely by surprise. It works at all levels and again I left the theater with a lot of interpretations.

The cinematography by Rob Hardy, who worked with Garland before in “Ex Machina” recreated a world in the Shimmer filled with colors and contrasts that works. Speaking of contrasts I loved the way how Hardy played with those during the whole film and makes it a very interesting visual experience.

One thing that I was not sure that worked in “Annihilation” was some of the backstory that Natalie Portman has with one character in particular. We understood at the point that reached to that moment why her character was having so much hatred and it wasn´t necessary. I understand why it needed to be there but at the same time I think it was not necessary.

The thing that I loved of “Annihilation” is that I didn´t know what the movie was going to be about. All I saw was previous of the film but that was it. This is the main reason why I liked it more and took me by surprise.

Alex Garland has two very good movies so far and I think he is going to be in the ranks of filmmakers like Christopher Nolan and many others who create this kind of material.

Other factor of this film is that I liked the fact that is a movie that it can be opened for discussion due to the symbolic meanings of the movie and those are the movies that I think are the most worth to watch.

One thing before watching this movie is please be open and prepared since it´s more than a science fiction film. It´s a unique work of art and hopefully you can see it that way.

“Annihilation” is one of the year´s best films, I highly recommend it for it´s originality and visuals.

Game Night

By Emilio Frenk. 

Directors: John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein

Cast: Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Billy Magnussen, Sharon Horgan, Lamorne Morris, Kylie Bunbury, Jesse Plemons, Jeffrey Wright, Danny Huston, Michael c. Hall and Kyle Chandler.

Rating: Very Good.

Directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who made “Vacation” in 2015 bring “Game Night”, a comedy that brings very fun and entertaining results.

The movie centers in Max (Jason Bateman) and his wife Annie (Rachel McAdams) who happen to be competitive gamers and love to win.

One night they invite a regular group of friends who they constantly play with and suddenly Max´s brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler) shows up with a very unconventional game that involves a mystery.

In that time Brooks is kidnapped and now both Max and Annie with their friends have to find all the clues that reveal this mystery that will lead to a potential murder. Now all of them are in a race against time to win this and also to prevent that someone close to them looses their lives.

“Game Night” is a movie that not only I define it as a comedy but a very original one with a different style that we have seen but not in this level.

Both John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein learned from “Vacation” what they did wrong in that movie and created here a very funny and original film.

The screenplay written by Mark Perez is very clever, with amazing characters and the humor that he manages in this film is unique and this movie is that at all levels.

I felt in the film there was a lot of influence on movies like “Horrible Bosses”, “Clue” and some in “A Fish Called Wanda” due to the humor that all this movies have and Perez blend them in one to create a very fun film.

The chemistry between Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams works at all levels and both of them are hilarious in this movie. Kyle Chandler is very good as well and so as Jesse Plemons who plays the creepy neighbor and cop of Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams´s characters.

I was very skeptical at first when I saw this movie in the previews back last year but I decided to give the benefit of doubt and I was very surprised.

This film has one of the most original and smart twists I have seen in the genre and it took me by surprise.

There are things that I think they could have been avoided like being to repetive in some of the jokes of the film but I understand why it had to be there. At the same time as an audience we get it and just with one time that it was mentioned was enough. Still the movie works and I never laughed so hard in a long time like I did with “Game Night”.

John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein knew how to take the best out of their cast and used all those tools at their disposal properly.

This by far is a movie that is going to be remembered in a while and it´s the best example for aspiring or experienced comedy writers to use as a model.

“Game Night” is one of the best comedies I´ve seen in a while, I highly recommend it and you are not going to regret seeing this film.

Black Panther

By Emilio Frenk. 

Director: Ryan Coogler

Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong`o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Leititia Wright,  Sterling K. Brown, Angela Bassett, Andy Serkis and Forest Whitaker.

Rating: Excellent.

Ryan Coogler, director of “Fruitvale Station” and “Creed” brings “Black Panther”, his third film under his belt and so far this is a young director that has impressed me.

Based on the comic book by Marvel, the movie takes place in Wakanda, a nation that gets hit a by a meteorite containing vibranium that makes them very powerful.

The movie tells the story of T´Challa/Black Panther  (Chadwick Boseman) a young man who mourns his father´s death and inherits the throne of Wakanda.

During his reign he will encounter with a serious of events which are to confront Ulysses Klaue ( Andy Serkis) a South African smuggler who has a great deal of resentment agains T´Challa and Erik “Killmonger” Stevens (Michael B. Jordan) a black-ops soldier who has a big resentment against the people of Wakanda and wants to overthrown T´Challa at all costs.

Now T´Challa as Black Panther most confront his enemies and save the people of Wakanda over his enemies,  who want to take over Wakanda, control of the Vibranium and use it as a weapon to destroy the planet.

Again Ryan Coogler directed a very fun, entertaining and engaging film and by far the most ambitious he has done so far in his young career.

The screenplay that he wrote with Joe Robert Cole is very original and was written with a lot of detail. I liked the fact that we don´t see the typical superheroe. In Black Panther we see someone who constantly struggles with himself and has doubts of him as the King of the imaginary Wakanda.

I also liked the fact that this film stayed true to the comic book at all senses and the world of the film is very interesting.

The tone of the movie goes with the theme itself. The cinematography by Rachel Morrison is very sharp, with a lot of detail and I liked how she played with the world of Wakanda and The Virtual world where the character of Shuri, played Letitia Wright operates all the technology involving Black Panther.

This film proves that once again, Marvel Comic Films have been better in terms of content than it´s rival DC Comics, since not only care about the look of the film, but also they care about the narrative.

Ryan Coogler´s direction was really good. Not only he chose beautiful imagery, but his cast gave very good performances and knew how to use all the tools he had in his disposal.

The movie had Coogler´s touch in the way that in every single one of his characters goes deep. Not only Chadwick Boseman´s character has a struggle but every single one of them has them as well.

There is one thing that I think it could have been better in “Black Panther” and that is the fact that I would have liked to seen more time screen of Michael B. Jordan´s character since he is the real villain. I felt that we saw more of Andy Serkis`s character in this film and he is not the real villain.

We saw most of the parts that were important in B. Jordan´s character but I felt that if more time would have been invested in his character, I felt the movie could have been even better and shorter.

Michael B. Jordan gives a remarkable performance as Erik Killmonger and I love how he played a character with so much hatred and resentment. For moments you understand why he that way, but in the other you just hate him and that is what makes a very good villain.

The action sequences, visuals are impressive and here Coogler took it to another level. The climactic sequence with the Rhinos was a little bit over the top, but it does work in a certain way.

The beauty of movies like “Black Panther” is that you can be totally over the top and still you´re movie is going to work as long as you have a very good story.

If you can watch first "Captain America:Civil War" before watching "Black Panther" it would help a lot so you can understand more about this character. 

Coogler directed another fantastic film, I highly recommend “Black Panther” and is one of the biggest surprises of this year.

Early Man

By Emilio Frenk. 

Director: Nick Park

Cast (Voice): Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston, Maisie Williams, Timothy Spall, Richard Ayoade, Selina Griffiths, Johnny Vegas, Mark Williams, Kayvan Novak, Gina Yashere  and Nick Park.

Rating: Very Good.

Nick Park, creator of “Wallace and Gromit” brings “Early Man”, another clay animated film under his belt that again delivers very fun results.

Set in the Stone Age the movie tells the story of Dug (Eddie Redmayne) a young caveman who lives in a tribe that is ruled by Chief Bobnar (Timothy Spall).

One night their tribe is invaded by the Leader of the Bronze Age City Lord Nooth (Tom Hiddleston) who wants to control the mines of the tribe.

The following day in a soccer match, Dug challenges Lord Nooth to a game. If Dug´s team wins they will have their valley back, but if they loose they will work in the mines under Nooth´s rule forever.

Now Dug has to prepare his tribe to play the game of their lives and they will do it with the help of local resident Goona (Maisie Williams) who dreams of playing the sport. This game it will represent the future of Dug´s village since if they loose they will be history.

One of the things that I really liked in “Early Man” was the comedy that had in it and you can tell that this movie has the touch of Nick Park in it.

The screenplay written by Mark Burton and James Higginson, who both worked with Park in “Shaun of the Sheep” was very original and the fact that we see one of the most popular sports set in the stone age makes it even more original.

Like most of the movies that he has done in his career, Nick Park used his british humor in it and has very good elements like the acceptance to other and never giving up, which is one of the powerful messages that this movie has.

The quality of the animation is very good and Nick Park is a master of doing this kind of movies. Since he created “Wallace and Gromit” he has been very consistent with the material he creates and every time that a movie like this one is released I am excited to see it since there are the greatest example of spending a good time.

Eddie Redmayne is very good as Dug and at the beginning I didn´t recognize his voice until later in the film; Tom Hiddleston is very funny in this film as Lord Nooth. He puts all his wit into this clumsy villain and it´s very fun to see.

There were moments that I felt the movie was a little bit repetive and that´s one of the reasons why I didn´t give it a bigger rating. Still the movie works and I had a blast watching this movie.

For fans of “Wallace and Gromit” and movies of this genre I think you are going to have a great time and it´s the ideal movie to watch it with the family.

That being said “Early Man” is a very fun and entertaining film and I highly recommend it.

Peter Rabbit

By Emilio Frenk. 

Director: Will Gluck

Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Rose Byrne, Sam Neil,Marianne Jean-Baptiste, James Corden (Voice), Daisy Ridley (Voice), Elizabeth Debicki (Voice), Colin Moody (Voice), Fayssal Bazzi (Voice), Bryan Brown (Voice), Ewen Leslie (Voice) and Margot Robbie (Voice).

Rating: Average.

Will Gluck, director of “Easy A” and 2014`s remake of “Annie” brings “Peter Rabbit”, an animated feature film that has funny moments but had some issues.

Based on the children´s book “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” by Beatrix Potter, the movie centers in Peter (James Corden) a rabbit who constantly steals vegetables from Mr. McGregor´s garden. He does it with his cousin Benjamin (Colin Moody), and his sisters Flopsy (Margot Robbie), Mopsy (Elizabeth Debicki) and Cotton-Tail (Daisy Ridley).

All of them have a good friendship with Bea (Rose Byrne) a local woman who spends her time painting pictures of animals, specially rabbits.

One day Old McGregor dies of a heart attack and his nephew Thomas (Domhnall Gleeson) who works in a prestigious department store in London inherits his uncle´s house.

Now Thomas moves to the house in the country side where he will meet Bea and form a friendship.

Peter see´s trouble in this. Not only he will continue to steal vegetables  but he needs to avoid that Bea has a relationship with Thomas, who will do anything in his power to get rid of the furry creatures.

I mentioned that “Peter Rabbit” is a movie with flaws and one of those was in regards of the screenplay written by Will Gluck and Rob Lieber.

I felt that the movie was too much for kids and the adult side I didn´t see to much in here. I understand that the film is based in a children´s book and the main target for this film are kids but also there are adults who see this film.

For a movie, specially in this genre not everything has to be for children. There has to be some adult humor in it.

Another element that I wanted to see more was the relationship of Bea with Peter Rabbit but you only see it once Domhnall Gleeson´s character is in the film.

 I think that should have been more the focus of the film and I believe it could have been more interesting.

That is one of the things that made “Paddington 2” a very successful children´s film for the fact that had those elements.  I had the funny feeling this film try to emulate some of “Paddington´s” style but did not succeed.

In the other hand the film has very funny and over the top moments, that normally I would be more hesitant about the over the top elements but here they do work.

The quality of the animation of the film is really good and I think that James Corden as Peter Rabbit is very funny in here.

Will Gluck is a director who knows how to make this kind of movies where the timing and comedy are crucial. He did a good job with “Easy A” where not only there was an original script, but very good performances, specially by Emma Stone.

I think that with “Peter Rabbit”, Gluck repeated the same mistakes he did with the remake of “Annie”, which was atrocious and one of the worst remakes I´ve seen in film in a while. The film became very redundant and too predictable.

Again with a movie of this genre you can get away with some level of being predictable but like everything in life there are some limits.

At the middle of the second act to the end of the film it´s where it had it´s issues and begin to fall apart. 

Everything became so easy for the main characters and I wanted to see more obstacles in the way in order of achieving their goals.

The book is considered one the greatest children´s books ever written but the movie I felt that it could have had a better result.

“Peter Rabbit” is a movie that I believe a kid can enjoy it more than an adult and I believe that if more time would have been invested in the story I think we could have seen a better product since it´s a project that could have had potential.

The 15:17 to Paris

By Emilio Frenk. 

Director: Clint Eastwood

Cast: Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos, Anthony Sadler, Mark Moogalian, Isabelle Risacher, Judy Greer, Jenna Fischer, Ray Corasan, P.J. Byrne, Bryce Gheisar, William Jennings, Paul-Mikel Williams, Thomas Lennon and Jaleel White.

Rating: Poor

Four Time Academy Award Winning Director/Producer Clint Eastwood brings “The 15:17 to Paris”, his 36th film as a director  and this was a huge disappointment.

Based on true events, the movie centers in the lives of Air Force Sergeant Spencer Stone, Army National Guard Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Adler.

Both of them form a unique bond a friendship since they were kids. One day the three of them decide to do a backpack trip.

They make the trip and they travel to Paris in a train that departs from Amsterdam. At the beginning everything is fine until a terrorist by the name of Ayoub El-Khazzani (Ray Corasan) begins to open fire against the passengers.

The three of them stop El-Khazzani and perform one of the most heroic acts in recent history. This movie is portrayed by the real heroes who risked their lives to prevent a fatal tragedy.

I remember when I read about “The 15:17 to Paris” that it was going to be directed by Clint Eastwood I was very excited about it. 

The problem was when I saw that he was using the real heroes to act in this film I begin to have my doubts and I was not wrong. In a naïve way I always thought that the movie would do fine and that Clint Eastwood  still could  deliver a good product but this was not the case here.

When you have people who are not actors in a film, the chances of failure a very high and “The 15:17 to Paris” is the perfect example of what I´m talking about.

The screenplay written by Dorothy Blyskal failed in the way that she tried to write the film as loyal to the book written by the real heroes and Jeffrey E. Stern but she failed in the dialogue of the characters and the construction of the scenes. 

I felt that this movie had a lot of flashbacks, which I understand they were needed in a film like this but they were not portrayed  well.  

I believe that if more rewrites in the screenplay would have been involved and if they used real actors to portray the heroes the movie could have gone in a different direction.

This movie had the potential to be a very good film but it failed. This is one of the few movies directed by Clint Eastwood that I didn´t enjoy and despite of the short length of the film it was very slow.

There was a time in the film that I did not care about the characters and I was just looking of three guys in their trip taking selfies and going to night clubs, which happens in the second act of the film.

In the other hand I wonder how this guys really felt when they were asked to portray that event again and the ordeal that represented in their lives.

I still think that they could have coached real actors and tell them the experiences when they were in the train and I think the movie could have been better.

Every time that there is a Clint Eastwood movie I am excited to see it and still am despite this one really disappointed me.

The camera work in the climactic in the film was very well made but that was it. Hopefully in the next Clint Eastwood project he learns from this and I hope he makes a better film, which definitely I´ll be excited to see.

There is no doubt that Clint Eastwood is one of the most important filmmakers of all time and has done memorable movies like “Unforgiven”, “Million Dollar Baby” and many others but at some point he needed to fail and with this one he did.

“The 15:17 to Paris” is one big disappointment, I cannot recommend it and I wish that this movie is a learning experience for Mr. Eastwood.

Fifty Shades Freed

By Emilio Frenk. 

Director: James Foley

Cast: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Eric Johnson, Eloise Mumford, Luke Grimes, Rita Ora, Max Martini, Bruce Altman, Jennifer Ehle and Marcia Gay Harden.

Rating: Poor

Director James Foley, brings “Fifty Shades Freed”, the third and final installment of the franchise and I can finally say: Thank God It´s Over!

Based on the trilogy written  by E.L. James, this third part again centers in Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson), who is now married with millionaire Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan). Both of them are happy until Anastasia´s former Boss Jack Hyde (Eric Johnson) begins to stalk her.

Now Christian most protect his beloved wife at all costs and preserve their relationship before Jack does more harm to the Grey`s.

One of the things that this trilogy did was the all three films were consistently bad, but this one for sure was the worst.

The screenplay again written by Niall Leonard, who wrote “Fifty Shades Darker” had the most over the top and stupid dialogue that I have heard in a while.

James Foley´s direction failed and badly. I was surprised of this since he is a director who has done very good films like "At Close Range" and "Glengarry Glen Ross", which to this day I consider it the best film of his career. Here it´s clear he did whatever he could but it wasn´t enough.  The way how he directed his actors and visually the movie is not compelling at all. 

When I was watching “Fifty Shades Freed” I felt that I was watching a Mexican soap opera with laughable scenes.

In the first act  of the film when they have an argument there is no meaning to the scene and I saw only two people talking about stupid conventional shit.

I know the movie is a drama but honestly I considered it more a comedy since it made me laugh the entire film.

Both Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan gave the worst performances of their careers. It´s a shame since I can see potential in this two young actors and I hope they are more wise in choosing their roles in the future and also I wish they are not labeled for portraying ridiculous characters like the ones they both played in the whole series.

The most incredible thing is that the trilogy still made a lot of money and “Fifty Shades Freed” was not the exception.

I honestly do not consider it a drama and I felt that it was more a pornographic film with a lot of comedy in it.

I am happy that this franchise is over and I do not have to watch it again. My wish is that I hope we see good franchise movies and not pieces of garbage like this one.

That being said “Fifty Shades Freed” is one of the year`s worst films, I cannot recommend it and please do not waste your money in this fiasco.

Winchester

By Emilio Frenk. 

Directors: Michael and Peter Spierig

Cast: Helen Mirren, Jason Clarke, Sarah Snook, Fin Scicluna-O`Prey, Angus Sampson, Laura Brent, Tyler Coppin and Eamon Farren.

Rating: Poor

The Spierig Brothers, directors of “Daybreakers”, “Predestination” and “Jigsaw” bring “Winchester”, a thriller that had potential, but the results were unfortunate.

Based in the early 1900´s, the movie takes place in San Jose, California and tells the story of Eric Price (Jason Clarke) a psychiatrist who recently suffered a tragedy and is asked to see Widow Sarah Winchester (Helen Mirren) who claims that spirits of people who had been killed by the Winchester rifle.

Price agrees to help Sarah Winchester and will try to find the answers around the spirits that live in her house.

The main reason why I think that “Winchester” is a movie that doesn´t work is due to the fact that the story lacked of originality.

The Spierig Brothers tried to do this movie as real as possible to the legends of The Winchester Mansion but unfortunately didn’t work. Another factor that I observed in this film is the fact that the film played with the main characters. I thought that the main character was Sarah Winchester and ended up being Eric Price, played by Jason Clarke.

I think that Jason Clarke is a very talented actor but here I didn´t feel for his character at all. For the minute he is introduced he is detestable and also his main conflict was revelead to late in the film.

When they try to reveal why his character had the behavior it had it was too late and I didn´t are about it all. 

The excessive use of flashbacks drove me insane in this film and it´s one of the things that I think ruined the film. 

I do believe that this movie had true potential, due to the cast that it was involved, specially Helen Mirren and Jason Clarke.

Also I think that The Spierig Brothers are talented filmmakers in this genre. They have shown that in films like “Predistination” and “Daybreakers” where they knew how to manage every element of surprise in a very good way. There are directors who also know how to manage tension pretty well but here they failed and badly.

The movie has moments were you jump, like a music cue or an element that a spirit appears and so on. That´s the only thing this movie has.

Other thing that really bored me to death was the pacing of the film, despite it´s length of 1 Hour and 39 minutes. 

For a movie of this genre you need to know how you play with your elements. Also the use of psychological tools is paramount and I didn´t see those here, to the point that the movie was laughable.  

With that being said “Winchester” not only is one of the weakest movies I´ve seen in this genre but one of the biggest dissapointments in this year and I cannot recommend it for any reason.

Hostiles

By Emilio Frenk. 

Director: Scott Cooper

Cast: Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike, Wes Studi, Stephen Lang, Rory Cochrane, Adam Beach, Peter Mullan, Scott Shepherd, Jesse Plemons, Jonathan Majors, Scott Wilson Timothée Chalamet and Ben Foster

Rating: Excellent.

Scott Cooper, director of “Crazy Heart”, “Out of the Furnace” and “Black Mass” brings his fourth feature film “Hostiles” and again he delivered.

Based in the year 1892, the movie centers in Captain Joseph J. Blocker (Christian Bale) who has one last order before retirement, which consists in escorting a Cheyenne War Chief called Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi) and his family to the tribal lands of Montana.

Blocker reluctantly agrees since he has some bad blood with the Chief. While there are on the trip, they will meet Rosalie Quaid (Rosamund Pike) a widow who lost her family due to a Comanche attack.

Now Blocker with Yellow Hawk and Rosalie will go into dangerous territory to get to Montana, where Yellow Hawk will try to die in peace.

The thing that I really liked in “Hostiles” was the story itself.  Scott Cooper wrote a very original screenplay that has rich characters and immediately we are identified with every single one of them from the moment it starts to the end of the film.

One of the seals of Scott Cooper`s film is to show the frustration, resentment in his main characters and here was not the exception.

Christian Bale plays in Joseph J. Blocker a Captain with a lot of anger and resentment towards War Chiefs and you can see that side from him in the minute that he is asked for his final mission.

Another theme that Cooper manages very well is redemption. We saw that in “Crazy Heart” where Jeff Bridge´s character tries to redeem himself, “Out of the Furnace” has that by moments and here, which by the way is the third movie that Cooper wrote of the four he has on his career.

The screenplay was written with a lot of detail and I can see that Cooper had a lot of influence in movies like “Unforgiven” and some of the Sergio Leone film´s like “Once Upon a Time in the West”, “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” and others.

The cinematography by Masanobu Takayanagi was impeccable and he shot a beautiful film. I loved how with his camera work captured the landscapes and how with he played with the contrasts on every single one of the scenes and characters.

Every shot in “Hostiles” has a meaning, every framing and Cooper had a remarkable direction here.

I´m surprised that this movie was not considered in this upcoming Awards seasons since it had many good elements like the theme in terms of story and elements like Costume Design and Cinematography.

The only thing that could be an issue for a viewer is the length of the film. I think that works but Scott Cooper´s films can have the tendency of having a slow pace but there is a reason for that and it definitely works.

The climactic scene in the film is very well shot and it´s a very good example of how to show tension in a film.

I had high hopes for “Hostiles” and I was not disappointed. So far Scott Cooper has directed four very good films and I hope he continues into this path.

“Hostiles” is one film that I highly recommend for it´s theme, performances of Christian Bale, Wes Studi and Rosamund Pike and for it´s cinematography.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure

By Emilio Frenk. 

Director: Wes Ball

Cast: Dylan O`Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Dexter Darden, Will Poulter, Nathalie Emmanuel, Giancarlo Esposito, Rosa Salazar,  Ki Hong Lee, Barry Pepper, Patricia Clarkson and Aidan Gillen.

Rating: Average.

Director Wes Ball, brings “Maze Runner: The Death Cure”, the third and final installment of “The Maze Runner” franchise and like the previous two films it remained consistent.

The story again focuses in Thomas (Dylan O`Brien) a survivor and runner of the Maze who is in the mission of finding the cure for a deadly disease called “The Flare”.

He will do it with the help of Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Frypan (Dexter Darden), Brenda (Rosa Salazar) and Jorge (Giancarlo Esposito).

Not only they will try to find the cure but they will also rescue their friend Minho (Ki Hong Lee) who is held prisoner in the WCKD Lab runned  by Janson (Aiden Gillen) and Ava Paige (Patricia Clarkson).

Thomas will be in the race against time on performing both tasks before it´s too late, which will mean the end of civilization.

The main reason why I mentioned that “The Maze Runner” trilogy franchise was consistent was due to the fact that they surved their purpose, which is to entertain.

The films, specially this one have incredible action sequences and very good visuals. I could say of all the three the first one is the most solid, but this one is the closest as it can gets.

On the narrative side is where the film had it´s major flaws, The screenplay written by T.S. Nowlin was too long and the dialogue between the characters was to on the nose.

To be completely honest I didn´t care of anyone of the characters of the film and there were moments that the movie became predictable.

Not all is negative in the narrative side; what really worked was the friendship between the characters of Thomas and Newt. I liked their story and the friendship they have and that I think is one of the few things that worked in that side for this movie.

This trilogy has a cast of very talented young actors, specially Dylan O`Brien who I think is really talented but we have not seen him his true potential and I believe he has it. He has a lot of expression and I think is an actor with a bright future ahead of him.

Aidan Gillen plays a very good villain in this film and the character that I do think plays an important asset in the franchise is Jorge played by Giancarlo Esposito.

I still think that another issue of the franchise was the length of the films. I still consider that it could have a had a shorter length and I believe it could have had a better result.

I don´t mind long movies but there has to be a good reason for them and I just didn´t see that here.

“Maze Runner: The Death Cure” is an entertaining film which has a very good climax and again it maintained itself consistently.

For that being said if you are a fan of “The Maze Runner” books you might like and for an entertainment side it complies; on the other hand if you are looking for a different side and see it as a film this might not be the case and you might be disappointed.