Like a movie star

A good comic book flick isn’t necessary a good movie per say. Logan excels at both. This might be the most genuine attempt to convey deep emotions in the genre. Jackman had never managed to combine his top notch Prisoners performance with the Wolverine claws. This statement is clearly a thing of the past now. A dramatic and joyful tribute/farewell to the world’s favorite X-Men. Up there : The Dark Knight, The Watchmen, and now probably Logan. Time will tell, but this doesn’t seem far fetched at the end of this poignant road trip journey.

Light. Radiant light conveyed by the screen, warmly grasping your hearts. Pay no mind to the Slumdog Millionaire comparisons you might have read. Without disrespecting the latter, Lion is nothing alike, and reaches a whole new level of uniqueness. Brilliant directing, shining acting. A necessary reminder that hope rules every shadow out like sun beams piercing through butterflies illuminating a lion cub’s skin on his way back home. There is no reason whatsoever to miss out on this masterpiece.

There is not a single thing wrong about this movie. That usually means, it’s way too right. It’s unpleasant to realize how beautiful it is to gaze through sadness and despair and watch a kid’s journey into premature adult hood. Jones captured such agony and strength within a perfectly portrayed undeserved weakness. Liam Neeson’s voice did justice to the painstaking but warming script. Hold the tears until the very end so you can admire the righteous and colorful drawing that is this film.

9.2/10

Those doubting Cannes’ Jury for the Palme d’Or clearly haven’t watched the flick yet. In times like these, where unemployment and identity crisis are striking hard and high, such stands are necessary. Pretty much every scene will blow you away and make you depressed to the point that you’ll yearn for greater days. As heart breaking as realistic, the slightest desire for understanding the current world should be answered with I, Daniel Blake. 

Elizabeth Davis: First Officer Skiles, is there anything you'd like to add? Anything... you would have done differently if you... had to do it again?

Jeff Skiles: Yes. I would've done it in July.

“You never stop acquire knowledge. You’ll make mistakes. Everyone does. Just learn from them.”

And here we thought Flight (2012) crash scene was impressive, it now looks amateurish, though Sully could even be too realistic for its own good. The viewing felt so cold except for the warm acting from the whole cast and particularly Hanks. While the staging is terrifying at times, there is strange intimacy in the emotions sensed. Chills and tears are on the flight manifest. This is undoubtedly an Oscar snatcher in many categories including supporting role (Aaron Eckhart).

8/10

I’ll post the updates on twitter too 

@likeamoviestar0

Peace Love Empathy

Phil Stern: Two time Academy Award winner.

Bobby: Wow, congratulations.

Is there a limit in milking a profitable franchise? Apparently not. While Star Wars spin off did it with class, Fantastic Beasts is nothing but an attempt to lure Harry Potter fans into some more. The first two acts consists in absolutely zero storyline development nor characters’ progression. Word is, they are planning at least five more. Unless they have something else up in their sleeves, -another trick- hide your kids.

Oh god why. Every single page of Dan Brown’s book was written like a screenplay and was bound to render nicely on screen. Ron Howard managed to completely mess it up somehow. Before the hour mark everything falls appart: acting and narration finish in a fast-forwarded utter nonsense. Dante’s masterpiece was about digging deep down in hell as time passes, and this movie exactly feels like this.

A New Hope, is a success story for both the movie and its ingenious director. The first Star Wars instalment is not only a milestone in its genre, but also marks a technical revolution in the cinema industry. While the writing is somewhat classic, this Sci Fi flick remains a tremendous source of inspiration. A typical rite of passage that ranges from despair, then hope, to joy. It’s quite complicated to argue that it’s not a Classic.

7,5/10

There are only few -an elite of some sort- sequels that outshine the first part. The Empire Strikes back lived up to the hype, and is part of this very prestigious and restrained list. The non-Lucas-directed apparently managed to reach an unthinkable level: Episode V is not just the best SW film, it’s also a great full-length feature. It’s dark, inspired, and its caricature portrayal of what is a black and white moral is strong enough to raise a few questions about one’s life choices.  

8,3/10 

The Return of The Jedi appears equally dark (The Emperor’s portrayal) as cheesy (the ridiculous Ewoks) in what was said to be a non-believable goodbye to the universe. It gathers the best, and the worst, moments of the two previous films, modelling a mash up of a could have been ultimate Star Wars movie. It’s not, but it’s surely a step up in a few areas: the lead actors conclude the trilogy with a long awaited very convincing performance.    

7,2/10 

What if Godfather III hadn’t been made? Alike the latter, Star Wars return to the screen after sixteen years is under-appreciated. To a certain extent the pros –strong lead and supporting roles, impressive action scenes and choreography-  are equally numerous than the cons –disappointing writing, underwhelming revelations and a lot of childish components-. All this adding up to an average to mediocre episode.

5,4/10

At this point many were convinced the saga had turned for the worst. Hayden Christensen does what he can, and it’s certainly far from enough. In addition to that, George Lucas has very questionable Director’s choices. If it wasn’t for Ewan McGregor's aura and the incredible special effects The Attack Of The Clones would be a very difficult watch. The settings are remarkably lush and polished, and yep… That’s about it.

4,9/10 

The Revenge Of The Sith, closing the Skywalkers’ Story, goes full circle in every way. It’s deep, dark, violent and moving, therefore, Ep.III ultimately is a reminiscence of what the trilogy originally was. One could argue that it definitely makes up for the subpar preceding episodes. The most notable feat, is the successful implementations of complicated and manipulative political moves which is quite interesting and not expected in this type of movies.

6,8/10

Disney overtaking one of the most famous franchise is to this day still not considered a good look by many. This Return of The Jedi’s follow up seems to serve solely nostalgia purposes. In comparison, the lead actors’ performance makes Hamill and Fisher’s debut Oscar worthy. Harrison Ford single-handedly saves the day in what looks like a 2015 Episode IV remake. The silver lining is that we are given a glimpse of what could consists in a deeper plot.  

5,1/10

Rogue One review over here :

Although the narration is pretty obvious all the way through, the plot doesn’t suffer from one bit. The supporting cast -over qualified for this job-, eventually felt necessary to approach the sinister fate of the characters. The scenery is a love letter to the human eye. Ironically this spin-off ends up being better than any Star Wars movie since the orignal trilogy.

Here we are.

I don’t want to make a lecture yet again on the keys to happiness and one’s reckoning of self esteem. We’ve been down this road before together. If by any chance you want to recollect the pieces on how you can wish for and advance to better prospects, visit the “Reflect” section.

2016 has been a particular tough year for humanity I dare say. A retrospect wouldn’t serve any kind of wishful purpose. Still I don’t know what pains me more… The continuous Man on Man attacks or the political instrumentalisation of a futile debate. You can’t make war against Terrorism, it’s an operating method. Weapons don’t stand a chance against ideology. Curiously, no one seems to care enough to wonder about the reasons someone would be attracted to such notorious extremisms.

On the verge of 2017, we are sitting on the ashes of Aleppo looking as far away as our fingers can point at, looking for anyone else to blame for but ourselves. As a matter of fact, this past year clearly displayed that we lost the ability to comprehend our own kind and genuinely care about humanity.

In the mist of such aftermath and need for epiphany, Hollywood also had a particular mourning last 365 days. In comparison, this is appearing careless, but it shouldn’t. Art always conveyed emotions and morals about how we understand and act with one another. Of course, cinema also projected the audience in foreseeable future through therapeutic storytelling.

To serve my point, I’ll just thank Princess Carrie Fisher for letting a whole generation of children dream and look way beyond the limits of the sky, in search for hope amongst the stars, in a world of desperation.

Happy New Year, Everybody

“ It’s raining here today, very pretty but a bit melancholy. Leonard said it’s the poignancy of life, and not only do we have to embrace its meaninglessness but celebrate life because it has no meaning. Its too deep for me, but mom always boils it down to: Live every day like its your last. And someday you will be right.”

Café Society (2016) Woody Allen

Peace, Love, Empathy

Yours Truly