Movie Review #446: "The Neon Demon" (2016)

Movie: "The Neon Demon"
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 57 minutes

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A young girl named Jesse (Elle Fanning) moves to Los Angeles with aspirations of being a model. She is on her way to becoming the next big thing, but with each success, she starts to draw the ire of other models who will go to any lengths to get what she's got.

Director Nicolas Winding Refn has taken a shot at creating what can best be described as high art horror with "The Neon Demon." It stars Elle Fanning as a 16-year old aspiring model named Jesse, who moves to Los Angeles to break into the modeling business. She quickly becomes the new "it" girl on the scene, drawing contempt from her beauty-obsessed rivals. In many ways, it gorgeously juxtaposes beauty and horror as it shows an ugly story, shot in a beautiful way, about beautiful people doing ugly things. It's simultaneously flawed and fascinating, immersive and indescribable, grotesque and grand. The beautiful ugliness doesn't stop with Jesse. The film also stars Jena Malone as a makeup artist named Ruby, who befriends Jesse when she first arrives in L.A. The two hit it off right away, but you get the sense that Ruby always has more on her mind than what she's really saying, like she might not always be telling the entire truth about things. Karl Glusman plays Dean, a photographer who found Jesse online and took her portfolio photos, and also has a romantic interest in her even though he knows she's only 16 years old. Bella Heathcote and Abbey Lee play Gigi and Sarah, two models and friends of Ruby's who are quite jealous about Jesse's rapid rise and will do whatever it takes to have what she has. Finally, Keanu Reeves plays the skeevy motel manager where Jesse is currently residing in a shorter but equally nasty, seedy performance.

We feel like it's rather expected that the world of fashion would be dog-eat-dog in nature, full of shallow, nasty, sniping, self-absorbed people, but "The Neon Demon" takes this notion to quite the extreme. Even the protagonist Jesse, who early on is portrayed as an innocent, wide-eyed bumpkin has certain level of vileness to her that gets progressively worse and more outwardly portrayed as time goes on. This is not just from being corrupted by the fashion world, but rather comes from a huge level of arrogance and conceitedness she has about herself. The longer it goes on, the more Jesse's true self gets revealed, and the truth is a whole lot of ugly. Director Nicolas Winding Refn intends to shock his audiences, and it does accomplish this (and then some) the longer it progresses. Much of its ultimate conclusion is foreshadowed in the dialogue and in some of the visuals early on, and the more we think about it, the more we realize almost everything led us to ending beforehand. The script, the haunting and pulsating synth-pop score by Cliff Martinez, plus Refn's stunning cinematography, even when the images he's providing are grotesque in nature, have an underlying beauty to it all. There is a lot of ambiguity as the narrative is not only unclear, but it is messy and not straightforward, either.

In the end, you may be left shocked, possible disgusted, maybe confused, and probably not satisfied with "The Neon Demon," but there's no doubt that it'll make you think and it'll stick with you for hours, possibly even days to come. We know we are still thinking about it several days after watching it. It's stylish but excessive, indulgent but bizarre, messy but remarkable, a cruel and freaky mind-meld in its own right.

My Rating: 7/10
BigJ's Rating: 7/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 47%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?

10 Movies From 2016 You May Have Missed, Part 1!

We all know about "Captain America: Civil War" and "Zootopia" because these are the movies that have made over a billion dollars this year. On the flip side, there are often films that deserve recognition, but come and go from theaters without much notice. We feel it's our duty to promote these little known gems just as much as the big box office smashes. Here's our list of 10 movies from the first half of 2016 that are worth your time, the ones you might have missed!

10) "The Lady in the Van"  - A touchingly humorous film, "The Lady in the Van" technically came out last year, but didn't get a wide release here until 2016. Though we do admit the film is slowly paced, Maggie Smith's performance is an absolute must see. She displays her dramatic and comedic chops as a bitter but funny transient woman who forms an unlikely friendship with a writer. Smith just keeps getting better with age.  8/10

9) "Eddie the Eagle" - Even the star-power of Hugh Jackman wasn't enough to make "Eddie the Eagle" a box office hit. It feels like a subject that has been tackled before, but this inspirational sports film will most likely make you smile, break your heart, make you cry, perhaps all of the above. The performances are great, and it'll make you feel like you're back in the 1980's with its outrageous costumes and fun score. 8/10

8) "The VVitch" - Methodically paced for dramatic effect, "The Witch" is a different kind of horror movie, one that banks on you staying invested until the end credits. Its unsettling nature coupled with its use of lighting and ambient sound is full of psychological thrills and paranoia. Some graphic imagery. 8/10

7) "Elvis & Nixon" - Michael Shannon as Elvis Presley and Kevin Spacey as Richard Nixon. Let that sink in for a moment. This oddball comedy is ripe with brilliant, ridiculous dialogue and spectacular, outrageous performances. A true surprise! 8.5/10

6)  "Maggie's Plan" - An anti-romantic comedy, "Maggie's Plan" is witty, cunning, and full of precision-point dialogue. This isn't the kind of movie for wide-eyed, idealistic lovers of love, but we appreciate its different outlook on life and relationships. 8.5/10

5) "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping" - This crude, raucous parody starring Andy Samberg and the guys from The Lonely Island brings the laughs from start to finish, provided you're not offended by foul language and nudity. It also works best if you're not a Justin Bieber fan. It's not just funny, it's also smart with its dialogue about today's celebrity-obsessed culture and the music industry as a whole. 8.5/10

4) "Hello, My Name is Doris" - A quirky, darling, slightly cringe-worthy film, "Hello, My Name is Doris" showcases Sally Field at her best. It also says a lot about growing older in a culture that often turns its back on the elderly while simultaneously appropriating the vintage aspects of age. Sally Field for all the awards. 9/10

3) "Green Room" - Simple and slow-burning, "Green Room" is terrifying, but not for the faint of heart. It's a freaky, twisted, graphic, very unnerving, macabre, mildly vomitous horror thriller based in real life situations, not alien invasions or haunted houses. Dim, dark, and seedy. 9/10

2) "Eye in the Sky" - An extremely tense and intense film, "Eye in the Sky" exhibits the moral, political, and ethical issues concerning modern warfare. Starring the late, great Alan Rickman, it might be jargon-heavy, but it gets more and more suffocating as the seconds click slowly by. Powerful, engaging, and heartbreaking all at once. 9/10

1) "Sing Street" - One of 2016's best movies, "Sing Street" is fantastically acted by mostly newcomer actors, gorgeously directed, and exquisitely mixes new, catchy music with an 80's synth-pop soundtrack. It's all about finding yourself, pursuing your passion, and expression through music. It will most likely leave you smiling. 9.5/10

Movie Review: "The Purge" (2013)

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Movie: "The Purge"
Director: James DeMonaco
Year: 2013
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes

James Sandin (Ethan Hawke) sells security systems to people in his neighborhood to protect them from the annual Purge. He's also made a fortune doing so, buying a huge house and living a life of ignorant luxury in front of those he's helped protect. He figures just because he has money and a security system, that's enough to keep violence away from him and his family on Purge night. He was dead wrong.

A Lannister always pays their debts.

Government sanctioned crime, one night a year, 12 hours of merciless violence, everything is legal, even murder, in order to purge yourself of all your hatred, anger, and pent-up emotions. Are you in? At precisely 7pm one night a year, the annual Purge begins and people must take shelter and assume the best, or fight for their lives and join in the chaos, murder, and violence. This government sanctioned process was enacted by the New Founding Fathers as part of a reborn United States in response to soaring crime rates, a slumping economy and rising unemployment. The scary part is, it worked. "The Purge" is said to work by those who believe in it because it cleanses your soul. Purge supporters believe in it like they would a religion, and they treat it as such.

On the surface, "The Purge" may appear to be a simple home invasion murder party film, and in some respects, it is. In reality, this is another film about the haves versus the have nots. It actually implies the Purge is a means of getting rid of the poor "trash," society's burdens, though mass population control in an almost 'mass cleansing' of this demographic. It's easy: kill all of the poor and unemployed, and there will be no more poverty and unemployment. Except......no?

This movie is pretty damn terrifying. The entire thing is frightening to think about, especially knowing where our country is headed now, 3 years after this film's release. It isn't just the overall theme of the movie, it's much more than that. The human element is what scared us. People support this movement, people live for this movement. TV personalities talk about it as happily as they would if they were reporting stories about puppies being adopted. A happy sounding sonata plays over a scene of gruesome murders as the credits roll in the beginning moments of "The Purge," which really reminded us of watching Nazi propaganda films in high school, seeing how people believed in every word Hitler had to say. We got very Hilter-esque vibes throughout the entire thing, actually. The tone sets a genuinely creepy stage for what's to come.

Despite its social commentary on poverty and the ultimate solution, much of it is handled in a clumsy way. What better way to focus on the plight of the impoverished than to focus on a rich white family? Beyond this, a lot of it is predictable, with simple dialogue flushing out its murderous intentions. This makes it mostly flawed. On the most basic level, it's a home invasion type of violent horror film, only this violence is simply legal because it's sanctioned by the government. There's no real twists or turns, you pretty much see everything coming. The suspense is decent and it has a sinister feel to it, especially the masks on the people who show up at the Sandin's doorstep. Overall, this is a relatively good movie with some glaring flaws and a bad ending.

**NOTE: This review has been carried over from my other blog, Lolo Loves Scents, and edited to reflect our thoughts upon a second viewing.

My Rating: 6/10
BigJ's Rating: 6/10
IMDB's Rating: 5.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 37%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?
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One year ago, we were watching: "Ted"

Movie Review: "Amistad" (1997)

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Movie: "Amistad"
Director: Steven Spielberg
Year: 1997
Rating: R
Running Time: 2 hours, 35 minutes

Aboard the Spanish ship La Amistad, a group of enslaved people break free from their restraints and kill those aboard with the exception of two men. The freed slaves, led by Cinque (Djimon Hounsou), hope the two men will sail them back to Africa. However, the men steer the ship towards the United States, where it, and they, are recaptured by American sailors. Now, a trial must be held regarding what to do with the ship's cargo and to determine who, if anyone, has a right to owning this group of people.

Steven Spielberg's "Amistad" is based on a true story and its corresponding court case. Of course, like most of Hollywood's true stories, some of the facts are fudged, including the case's historical significance in the American abolitionist movement. However, this doesn't necessarily stop it from being an entertaining or inspiring film. Spielberg is at his best when it comes to camerawork and imagery. After all, you don't get to being one of the best, most well known directors of all time for having shoddy camerawork. The film opens with a mutiny scene, which quickly and violently sets the intensity level very high early in the movie. Djimon Hounsou plays Cinque, a Mende tribesman who was captured from his home in West Africa and sold into slavery. He and many others were sold to a pair of Cuban traders who were transporting them aboard the Spanish ship La Amistad to Cuba. Cinque is the one who leads a group of slaves on an uprising, overtaking the ship and attempting to get it back to Africa.

Unfortunately, the two men that were kept alive to steer the ship have sailed to the United States instead, where the slaves are immediately recaptured. A trial must be held about what to do with them, and their very freedom hangs in the balance. The ship eventually winds up in the hands of the United States government, and from there, the plot settles into a standard trial affair. The major players in the trial scene are Roger Sherman Baldwin, played by Matthew McConaughey, who is a property attorney speaking on the behalf of the enslaved Africans; prosecutor Holabird, played by Pete Postlethwaite, who is representing the government; and eventually, John Quincy Adams, played by Anthony Hopkins, who received an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of the former president turned lawyer. All of these men give relatively good performances, though the cast never fully comes together like we would have hoped. By far, Djimon Hounsou gives the best performance in the film. Hounsou was sadly overlooked during awards season. The amount of painstaking work he had to put into this film is visible from the second he appears on screen. He gives a truly stellar performance.

The trial itself is almost always compelling as it is actually a property dispute. We appreciate the questions raised by this case, essentially boiling down to what defines a person, what defines property, and what it means to be free. Once the trial starts, the most impactful, heartbreaking moment is a flashback in which Cinque talks about his capture and enslavement, a practice that had been outlawed by the time the events in the movie take place. This whole section, showing the terrible conditions endured on the slave ship, is extremely difficult to watch. There are a few inspirational speeches and some emotionally grabbing moments towards the middle and end of it as well, though "Amistad" never really feels as moving and poignant as some of the other films of this caliber. Overall, this is a well acted and technically proficient film with an interesting, important subject that begs to be seen by history buffs and Spielberg aficionados alike. The way Spielberg plays with the light, adjusting it when needed to make his scenes the best they can be, is truly something spectacular. Unfortunately, though mostly gripping, it never picks up the pace and feels at least 45 minutes too long.

My Rating: 7/10
BigJ's Rating: 7/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 76%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?
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One year ago, we were watching: "Jurassic World"

Movie Review: "Four Rooms" (1995)

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Movie: "Four Rooms"
Director: Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez, and Quentin Tarantino
Year: 1996
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 38 minutes

A bellhop named Ted (Tim Roth) has an interesting night on New Year's Eve at the Hotel Mon Signor. He has interactions with some truly bizarre guests in four separate rooms throughout the night. These interactions include an almost fully nude witch's coven, a man with a gun and his tied-up wife, a pair of rambunctious kids and their intimidating father, and a Hollywood producer that is engaged in a rather interesting bet.

Loosely inspired by some of Roald Dahl short stories, "Four Rooms" is an anthology film that tells four separate stories connected through a hotel and its bellhop Ted, played by Tim Roth. Each segment is written and directed by a different person, and you can really tell the difference in the camera work, tonality, and style of each singular piece of this larger puzzle featuring Ted the bellhop.

The first segment is entitled "The Missing Ingredient," which is written and directed by Allison Anders. It focuses on a coven of witches who wish to bring their mistress back to life. It stars the likes Madonna, Ione Skye, Lily Taylor, Valeria Golino, and of course, Tim Roth who is the only constant in these stories. Unfortunately, one of the ingredients these witches need is missing, and only a man can give it to them. The closest man available is Ted the bellboy. This segment is dirty, pretty funny, and has its moments of intrigue, but overall, it's pretty corny. It's all an excuse to showcase topless women talking about "getting seed" from someone, plus stuff you'd talk about in third grade with your friends, you know, boob stuff. Nothing groundbreaking or all that interesting at the end of the day.

The second segment titled "The Wrong Man," which is written and directed by Alexandre Rockwell. Ted delivers room service to the wrong room and is held at gunpoint by a man who accuses him of having an affair with his wife, who is tied to a chair. It stars David Proval and Jennifer Beals as the husband and wife, plus, Tim Roth. Tim Roth starts to get a little more spastic in this segment, and while it's a little annoying, we'd probably be spastic too if someone held us at gunpoint with a tied up woman in front of us. This whole segment feels like something we've seen before and doesn't do a lot for us.

Next up is an installment called "The Misbehavors," written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. It stars a younger Antonio Banderas as a seemingly angry and very intimidating man who just wants to enjoy New Years Eve with his wife, so he's willing to pay the bellhop to watch his kids. These kids look like angels, but are really devils in disguise. The kids start to become hellions the moment their parents leave, giving Ted a harder and harder time throughout the night. Of course, Ted is a bit of a twat in this installment and is unnecessarily combative and careless, but then again, he's there to work, not to watch someone's kids. Banderas is fantastic in this limited role. He is suave, jagged, and you get the sense that he'd kill you for less than what Ted is doing by ignoring his bratty kids. You also get the classic Robert Rodriguez signature camerawork here, just in a smaller time frame. A noble effort. This is our second favorite segment and is overall mostly entertaining.

The final segment is called "The Man from Hollywood," which is written by, directed by, and stars the infamous and notorious Quentin Tarantino. Much like most Tarantino ventures, it is full of fast-paced, rapid fire dialogue including a lot f-bombs. If you don't believe us, we looked it up! During this 21 minute segment, the f-word and its derivatives are used 193 times. WOW. This story is all about a bet between two friends who are very, very drunk. One of the friends bets his car against the pinky finger of the other friend. He bets that he can't light his Zippo lighter 10 times in a row. This segment takes a while to get to the point (as per most of Tarantino's works), but certainly concludes on a strong, very Tarantino note. Overall, this piece of the puzzle has its moments, but they are a bit hit or miss and super disjointed. Tim Roth is in full-fledged spaz mode and can get annoying at many points in the film, but he bothered BigJ more than he bothered me as I rather liked his over-the-top nature that progressively gets worse the longer the hours tick by in the night. Even though Tarantino is a good director, he isn't the best actor and really never has been.

In the end, this movie is a mixed bag for us. We like the idea of taking four interconnected but separate stories that happen over the course of one night, in one place, each one by a certain director, tied together by a single thread. Overall, it's mostly mediocre, even when featuring so much talent.

My Rating: 5/10
BigJ's Rating: 4.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 14%
Do we recommend this movie: Meh.
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One year ago, we were watching: "Terminator 2: Judgment Day"

Movie Review: "Hook" (1991)

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Movie: "Hook"
Director: Steven Spielberg
Year: 1991
Rating: PG
Running Time: 2 hours, 22 minutes

After his children are kidnapped by Captain Hook (Dustin Hoffman), Peter Banning (Robin Williams) is taken to Neverland by a fairy named Tinkerbell (Julia Roberts). Peter is informed that he is actually Peter Pan, and now he must remember all of the skills that he has forgotten in order to combat Hook and rescue his kids.

The 30%  Rotten Tomatoes rating for this movie is sheer and utter blasphemy.

Steven Spielberg's "Hook" is a fantasy adventure film that re-imagines the "Peter Pan" story. This is really more of a sequel that tells the story of what happened to Peter Pan after the events of J.M. Barrie's famous play. In the world of "Hook," the Barrie plays and books exist, they just approach it from a different angle. According to this film, these were true stories, and J.M. Barrie was actually Wendy's neighbor and simply recorded her experiences to put in his works. Peter Pan, now all grown up, has kids of his own and goes by the name Peter Banning, played by the incomparable Robin Williams. Peter is an extremely busy business attorney who often ignores his family because he has so much going on at once. While visiting England to honor Wendy, played by Maggie Smith, Captain Hook, played by Dustin Hoffman, kidnaps Peter's kids and takes them to Neverland. Tinkerbell, played by Julia Roberts, brings the now grown-up Peter back to Neverland and teaches him to "Be the Pan" so he can fight Hook and get his children back.

Steven Spielberg delivers a very playful, often extremely silly film in "Hook," one that is undoubtedly made for children rather than adults. It is exceedingly busy and colorful with solid visuals that are expertly directed by Spielberg. We have a hunch that if you didn't grow up with this movie, you might not appreciate it to its full potential like we do. The movie has a very 90's feel to it, especially the camp of the Lost Boys, which we'd imagine would have been the dream for some adolescent children way back when. Spielberg has put his Lost Boys in a place where they are free to ride skateboards on half pipes and shoot basketball while they chase down Peter, mixing modern and commonplace occurrences with the vintage sea attire and mannerisms of the pirates. Some viewers might find scenes like this, as well as dialogue full of nonsensical catch phrases like "bangerang" a little too goofy, especially when viewed through a modern lens. Like we said, since we grew up with this film coursing through our veins and have basically turned into childlike adults, we don't mind it at all.

We really appreciate the comedic sensibility "Hook" offers to go along with its fun, heartfelt adventure. We wholeheartedly enjoy this movie and think it is great. Dustin Hoffman does an excellent job as Hook, such a great job, in fact, that he is almost unrecognizable, and we say this knowing I didn't even realize it was him until about 10 years ago. Hook and Smee, played perfectly by Bob Hoskins, have a great dynamic with each other and we find them quite humorous when they are together. Hoffman as Hook often outshines Hoskins as Smee, but we think he gives a fantastic performance as well. Of course, the real star of the show is the late, great Robin Williams as Peter Banning/Pan. In the beginning, he is the distracted, serious, and meek Peter Banning, but slowly but surely grows into the confident, outrageous, childlike Pan. Watching his performance here for the first time since his passing brought me to tears. We just cannot believe such a wonderful actor has come and gone. At least his performance will live on forever. There is also a very hard-to-spot cameo from Glenn Close, which can be extremely surprising when you finally realize who she plays.

We always have a good time watching "Hook," though we may be a little biased considering we already knew we loved it going into it. We know it appeals to us on a nostalgic level, but there's no way this film should be as low as it is on any review site. The most shocking thing about this movie is that it's now 25 years old. Just like Peter Pan, how time flies.

My Rating: 8.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 8/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 30%
Do we recommend this movie: Yes!
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One year ago, we were watching: "Inside Out"

Movie Review: "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes" (1984)

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Movie: "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes"
Director: Hugh Hudson
Year: 1984
Rating: PG
Running Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes

A young man (Christopher Lambert) who has been raised in the jungle by gorillas is discovered by a Belgian explorer named Phillippe D'Arnot (Ian Holm) during his scientific expedition to Africa. They quickly discover this young man is actually John Clayton, heir to the massive Greystoke estate and fortune, whose parents went missing many years ago. Now, John must learn to adapt to a civilized society and forget his life in the jungle.

Directed by Hugh Hudson, the unreasonably long titled "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes" is an adaptation of the classic Edgar Rice Burroughs literary tale "Tarzan of the Apes." It stars Christopher Lambert in his first American feature film as Tarzan, though he is never actually called Tarzan in 2 hours and 15 minutes, oddly enough. He is only ever referred to as John Clayton, which is the character of Tarzan's real family name. Lambert is not a very good actor. In fact, sometimes he downright stinks, even while trying to be a wild, untamed specimen. Because of his performance, which some might see as exactly how an ape-man would act, the movie feels unnecessarily long and drags through most of its run time.

When this film first came out, it received high praise for the effects and makeup work of the gorillas, which are designed by the fabulous Rick Baker. He even received an Oscar nomination for his work on this film. However, 32 years later, these effects haven't exactly aged well. It is blatantly obvious all of the gorillas are simply actors in ape suits with fairly well designed animatronic heads. The proportions of humans and apes are quite different, so the flaws in the makeup becomes very apparent no matter how much the actors try and hide the length of their legs. It's sad to see award nominated practical effects age so poorly, but we literally laughed out loud during some of the scenes where the actors are attempting to be gorillas in the jungle because their look so unrealistic and unnatural. From certain angles, the makeup work looks more like something out of "Harry and the Hendersons" than something from a Tarzan film. Sure, the camerawork and natural visuals of the jungle are breathtaking, but putting actors in gorilla suits in front of swaying trees and babbling brooks does little to persuade us that it's anything but a farce.

Much of the early part of "Greystoke" is spent with a young and very naked Tarzan in the jungle. These early scenes have no dialogue beyond the occasional grunt and some screams from Tarzan and the apes. It isn't until the exploration group shows up where we start to get real dialogue. When this group is attacked by a native tribe, Tarzan saves the life of one of the explorers, Phillippe D'Arnot, played excellently by Ian Holm, who in turn starts to teach Tarzan to speak English. Phillippe discovers who Tarzan really is, a nobleman named John Clayton who is the heir to the massive Greystoke estate in England. With Tarzan, errrrr, John, in tow, the two of them eventually travel back to the civilized world where John has trouble adapting and regularly falls into his ape-like tendencies (mostly when at fancy parties where there are tons of people). Soon after arriving home, he meets Jane, played by Andie MacDowell in her feature film debut, though her voice is dubbed by Glenn Close for some reason, and very, very poorly, might we add. John also meets his grandfather, played by Ralph Richardson, who inexplicably received an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor for his performance here. We personally can't really find or think of anything notable reason why his performance garnered award recognition, other than his horrible portrayal of a fall down a flight of stairs, which is laughable and not convincing in the slightest. Of course, John and Jane fall in love, but they may be torn apart by John's failure to fully adapt in the civilized world, always longing to go back to the jungle where he was raised.

Despite the occasional memorable scene and some good dialogue here and there, "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes" is a slow moving drama that hasn't exactly aged well. We probably won't ever revisit this version of Tarzan again with all of the others to chose from.

My Rating: 4/10
BigJ's Rating: 5.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 67%
Do we recommend this movie: Meh.
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One year ago, we were watching: "Love & Mercy"

Movie Review: "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" (1971)

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Movie: "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"
Director: Mel Stuart
Year: 1971
Rating: G
Running Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

When chocolate maker Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder) hides five golden tickets in his candy bars and randomly ships them around the world, the globe is swept up in a frenzy looking for them. Finding one will gain the ticket holder entry into his mysterious factory, as well as a lifetime supply of chocolate. One boy in particular, a boy named Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum), hopes to find a ticket. Unfortunately, his family is very poor and can barely buy food, let alone chocolate bars. After finding some money on the ground, Charlie tries his luck buying his favorite chocolate bar, and his life just might be forever changed after he becomes one of the five ticket holders.

Directed by Mel Stuart and featuring a screenplay written by Roald Dahl himself (even though many say he wasn't happy with the final product), "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" is the first live action adaptation of Dahl's book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." It stars Gene Wilder as the titular Willy Wonka and Peter Ostrum in his first and only on-screen appearance as Charlie Bucket. Willy Wonka has been unseen for many years. The story revolves around the five golden tickets he has hidden within his candy bars and the subsequent search for them. Once the winners are announced, one of them being the very poor but very innocently sweet Charlie Bucket, the five ticket holders and each of their plus one adult guests tour Wonka's factory, which acts as both a reward and a punishment for the lucky or possibly unlucky kids who found them. The children are treated to candy and chocolate beyond their imagination while on this tour, gleaning an insight into how this bizarre candy-man comes up with his creations.

This adaptation is a musical and is filled with many great, catchy tunes BigJ and I fondly remember from our childhoods and often sing now as adults. With songs like "The Candy Man," "(I've Got) A Golden Ticket," "Pure Imagination, " and "I Want It Now," "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" is sure to keep your toes tapping, even now some 45 years later. The only song in the film that isn't catchy and feels sorely out of place is "Cheer Up Charlie," which works as a good lullaby if you are having trouble sleeping (which we have implemented on several occasions while watching this flick at night). In addition to its mostly wonderful music, the colors are bright and outstanding, but unlike its more recent counterpart, seems much more strange and grand, if that's even possible. Once inside the factory, it is truly a world of dreams, one we often wish we could have visited as kids. As you may know if you've seen the film, these dreams quickly turn into a nightmare as the group passes through a tunnel on a paddle boat featuring one of the most bizarre and horrific scenes in a non-horror film, let alone a family movie. It's not all fizzy lifting drinks and rowers that keep on rowing. There are a lot of fantastically smart comedic moments that happen within the frenzy for the tickets, such as kidnappers holding people for a ransom of chocolate bars, auctions selling chocolate for £10,000 pounds or more per case, psychologists analyzing dreams of golden tickets, and a snarky super computer.

Finally, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention Gene Wilder. He owns the role of Willy Wonka in one of the best performances of his career. Wilder offers a wonderful performance where he mixes his unwavering comedic wit with a dry sarcastic cynicism. Watching him act here means to watch a man at the top of his game, and you know you're witnessing greatness each time he takes his contest winners through the nooks and crannies of his factory. Oddly enough, despite the title of the film, Charlie is the primary focus, and Wonka doesn't even make an appearance until the second act.

We absolutely adore this movie. Even in our 30's, we still find it completely endearing and wholly re-watchable, and we would know because we have easily seen it a few dozen times. It's worth watching for Gene Wilder's performance alone, but the mystery, the magic, the music, and the fantasy of Willy Wonka's world is something we'll never forget, and something we'll never stop loving.

My Rating: 9/10
BigJ's Rating: 9/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 89%
Do we recommend this movie: ABSOLUTELY YES!!!

Movie Review #445: "The Shallows" (2016)

Movie: "The Shallows"
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hour, 27 minutes

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Medical school dropout Nancy (Blake Lively) heads to a hidden beach in Mexico where her mother used to visit. While surfing, Nancy is attacked by a great white shark and gets stranded on a rock a short distance from shore. She must now find a way to survive long enough to be rescued while the shark circles waiting for her to enter the water.

"The Shallows" is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, who is best known for directing his horror thriller "The Orphan," and more recently, his Liam Neeson action thrillers "Run All Night" and "Non Stop." His latest film stars Blake Lively as medical school dropout Nancy. While visiting a secluded beach in Mexico, Nancy gets stranded on a rock a couple hundred yards off shore after she is attacked by a great white shark while surfing. She must find a way to get to shore, or find someone who can help her, but most importantly, she must fight like hell to survive.

This is a simple story of woman versus nature, but it executed to well, so quickly, that we found ourselves hanging on every minute of action and thrills this film provides. It starts out with some rather excellent character development as we get introduced to Nancy. This development helps us understand why this specific beach is so important to her, what she is going through in her life, and who would miss her if she was gone. We also get a good outline of her personality and what type of person she is, how she hates it when plans are cancelled, how she loves to label everything, and how she's clearly a person in charge of the situation. We found that because of this development and her personality traits, Nancy is an easy character to root for, and we wanted her to succeed in getting escaping from the shark that seems like it has some sort of vendetta towards her.

The best part about "The Shallows" is the visuals. For a film with a $17 million budget, these visuals are pretty darn good. The shark pursuing Nancy looks surprisingly fantastic! It has an extremely authentic look about it with its gaping mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth and an eye for blood. It's not just the shark that looks realistic and menacing. The camera work is also great. Some of the shots of the ocean, the waves, and the surfing are quite breathtaking. Many overhead shots are used to show the vastness of the Mexican beach where Nancy gets stranded, and there are many fantastic sideways shots while she and a few other minor characters are catching surf. When the shark does eventually show up, it's extreme to say the least, and these visuals only serve to aid in the intensity of the film. There are many exciting moments where the tension shoots up as Nancy races from her board to a nearby rock, or from one rock to another as she tries to outsmart the massive killer great white stalking her. These action sequences, some of which are very gruesome and graphic in nature, will keep you right on the edge of your seat.

We're not going to pretend this movie is "The Godfather," because it's not, but it is a really fun, engaging, wholly terrifying summer action flick that will leave you thinking twice before taking your next dip into the ocean. Maybe if Marlon Brando had stripped down into a bikini like Blake Lively does here, it would be more like "The Godfather"....wait, nevermind, please don't picture that. We have to say, going into "The Shallows," we were apprehensive and didn't care a lick about this film, not expecting anything other than a second-rate "Jaws" knockoff. Once the end credits started rolling, we were both shocked by how much we enjoyed this movie, leaving the theater pleasantly surprised and ready to never go to the beach again. This is a fairly stupid movie when you think about it, but it somehow manages to be tense, bloody, and even mildly horrific. It breezes by its relatively short run time in the blink of an eye, so it's really a no harm, no foul film. See this one instead of "Independence Day: Resurgence."

My Rating: 8/10
BigJ's Rating: 8/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 75%
Do we recommend this movie: Yes!

Weekend Box Office Results: June 24th, 2015 - June 26th, 2016

"Finding Dory" easily swims over the competition; "Independence Day" has a mediocre opening

*all numerical information provided by boxofficemojo.com

Hey, movie lovers! Hope you had a great weekend! Here are your weekend box office results!

Dory had another banner weekend at the box offices. She and her oceanic friends swam all the way to number one once again! "Finding Dory" pulled in an impressive second weekend total of $73,234,746, bringing its domestic total gross to a whopping $286,552,648 in just 10 days. One of the summer's biggest blockbusters, "Independence Day: Resurgence," came in second place to the tune of $41,600,000.  "Central Intelligence" dropped to 3rd place by making $18,370,000 for a two-week total of nearly $70 million. Newcomer "The Shallows" had an impressive weekend as well, shattering expectations by making $16,700,000. Finally, another newcomer in "Free State of Jones" rounded out the top 5 by making a meager $7,772,000.

		This Week	Domestic Gross
1	Finding Dory	$73,234,746	$286,552,648
2	Independence Day: Resurgence	$41,600,000	$41,600,000
3	Central Intelligence	$18,370,000	$69,302,458
4	The Shallows	$16,700,000	$16,700,000
5	Free State of Jones	$7,772,000	$7,772,000
6	The Conjuring 2	$7,700,000	$86,901,434
7	Now You See Me 2	$5,200,000	$52,054,214
8	X-Men: Apocalypse	$2,475,000	$151,126,991
9	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of  the Shadows	$2,400,000	$77,117,555
10	Alice Through the Looking Glass	$2,147,144	$74,574,007

**See you at the movies!!**

Movie Review #444: "Independence Day: Resurgence" (2016)

Movie: "Independence Day: Resurgence"
Director: Roland Emmerich
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours, 1 minute

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Earth has spent the last 20 years rebuilding and preparing for the possible return of their alien attackers. They have integrated the alien technology with Earth technologies to create a massive space defense system and military. Despite all of these advancements, they could have never expected the level of retaliation brought on by their intergalactic adversaries.

Twenty years ago, Roland Emmerich brought the science fiction epic "Independence Day" to theaters, and with massive success. Now, he has returned to the directors seat for "Independence Day: Resurgence." If you're wondering why there is another installment in this franchise, just check its box office numbers to see the proof. It's also no surprise it came out this year, considering this is the year of the long-awaited sequel. Boasting impressive eye-candy, the effects in "Resurgence" somehow don't feel as timeless as the ones from the original which, once again, are 20 years old, but are still flashy and fun to look at. These effects are well executed, but considering its $200 million price tag, they better have some damn good graphics. The aliens, the ships, and the CGI sets all look very good. The action sequences are also great. While we do appreciate that the visuals are entertaining and striking to look at, bombarding the screen with effects on top of effects on top of effects is the quickest way to make your movie become boring, tiresome, and busy, which is what winds up happening here. The entire thing is computer generated apart from a few sets and minor practical pieces.

Many actors from the original cast return to reprise their roles, including Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch, Vivica A. Fox, and Brent Spiner. New to the cast are: Maika Monroe, who takes over the role of Patricia Whitmore, the former president's daughter; Liam Hemsworth, who plays Patricia's fiance and rebellious pilot Jake Morrison; Jessie T. Usher, who plays Dylan Hiller, the son of Will Smith's character from the original; William Fitchner, who plays General Adams, and many, many others. When it comes to big disaster-style epics like this, an ensemble cast is to be expected. Here, this has come at a cost. Having so many characters, Emmerich and his writers have sacrificed any and almost all real character development, especially when it comes to the younger cast members. When you don't care about the characters in a movie, it makes it hard to get invested in their plight or feel for the emotions they are trying to portray. Part of this could be because most of these younger actors lack the ability to emote properly. Liam Hemsworth (unsurprisingly) and Jessie T. Usher are as stiff as a board. These two actors sound completely unnatural in their performances. Maika Monroe may have been good in both "The Guest" and "It Follows," but she has been borderline terrible in everything since these two films. Jeff Goldblum and Judd Hirsch are this sequel's only saving graces, getting in a lot of personality and jokes throughout the course of this mess. Many other characters are also shoehorned in and don't feel like they belong, including Joey King's Sam, Nicolas Wright's Floyd, and Ryan Cartwright's Ryan.

Finally, one thing that is abundantly clear to us is that "Independence Day: Resurgence" doubles down on the idea of an alien invasion. It's as if the only two requirements for this sequel were to: A) be bigger than the original, and B) have higher stakes than the original. When the stakes of the original were to have all life on Earth destroyed, it's hard to try and up the ante. So now, not only Earth is at stake, but the entire universe is at risk as well, with a conveniently added ticking time clock counting down to annihilation. Because of this, the plot comes off as downright stupid, super contrived, and also extremely inconsistent with its predecessor, not that there was much there to begin with. In addition, the plot is fleshed out with "Transformers" levels of full-fledged pandering, which makes sense considering many other thematic happenings reminded us of a third-rate Michael Bay-directed "Armageddon." Tons of unnecessary elements are added to appeal to Chinese and Asian audiences. China is the second biggest film market in the world, so pandering to them is pretty much the norm for big action movies now. We understand it, but when it's as blatantly obvious as it is in this film, it's just tacky.

"Independence Day: Resurgence" might be worth your hard earned money for the visual spectacle alone, but just know this movie is nowhere near entertaining in any other manner of speaking. It drags, it sacrifices character development in exchange for pizzazz in the form of battles scenes, and suffers from a lack of engagement, a lack of interest, and a lack of talent. It's all flash and no substance. We say pass until it comes out on home video.

My Rating: 3.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 4.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 5.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 33%
Do we recommend this movie: No.
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One year ago, we were watching: "Shadow of the Vampire"

Movie Review: "Always" (1989)

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Movie: "Always"
Director: Steven Spielberg
Year: 1989
Rating: PG
Running Time: 2 hours, 2 minutes

After a fire fighting pilot named Pete (Richard Dreyfuss) dies in the line of duty, he returns to Earth as an invisible guardian angel. He is meant to guide a young pilot named Ted (Brad Johnson) through his troubles, but when this young pilot falls for Pete's old girlfriend Dorinda (Holly Hunter), Pete has to make a choice: he can either do what's best for him, or do what's best for Dorinda and Ted.

Directed by Steve Spielberg, "Always" is a modernized remake of the film "A Guy Named Joe." It stars Richard Dreyfuss as Pete, a daredevil fire fighting pilot who often takes unnecessary risks to get the job done. He works with his best friend Al, played by one of our favorites John Goodman, and his girlfriend Dorinda, played by Holly Hunter. After agreeing to stop taking risks and to finally settle down with Dorinda, Pete goes out for one more mission, where he dies saving Al's life. Though it sounds a little cliche, this entire scene is extremely effective in the manner in which it is handled. It's an impactful, necessary, tasteful scene, even though someone is perishing. Now, a dead Pete has become a guardian angel and is meant to guide a young, up-and-coming pilot named Ted, played by Brad Johnson, through his training and his life. In turn, Ted is guided by Hap, played by Audrey Hepburn in her final on-screen appearance. The entire thing becomes this existential love triangle when Ted falls for Dorinda, who is still in the process getting over the loss of Pete, but also starts to have feelings for Ted, too. Pete must come to a decision about whether or not he can set aside his own feelings and let Dorinda move on with her life.

"Always" is a different type of romance to say the least, though it could be compared to something like "Ghost" in terms of plot. This is a film about moving on with your life after a loved one dies, something that can and will be very difficult for some. This is a movie made by one of the greatest modern day directors, Steven Spielberg, and boasts an excellent cast featuring Dreyfuss, Hunter, Goodman, and even Audrey Hepburn, all of whom act the hell out of their parts. Some might see this as an odd choice for Spielberg. Unfortunately, not a lot of his signature directorial style can be found here. We can't help but feel this film is missing something. There is a certain amount of emotional depth lacking within its story, even for such an emotionally charged subject matter. It more of a ghost tale than an honest love story, and a sappy one at that. Maybe it's because we never fully bought in to the relationship between Dorinda and Ted. If we're being honest, we think Dorinda seemed to have much better chemistry with both Al and Pete than she did with Ted. For some reason, Ted, who is portrayed as a handsome heartthrob, seems better suited with the bumbling mechanic Rachel, played by Marg Helgenberger, than with Dorinda.

All this being said, "Always" does have an impressive cast and is still very watchable despite the lack of a connection between characters later on in the movie. There are a few light, humorous moments despite being billed as a drama, though when the drama comes, it comes in droves and is filled to the brim with sap and cheese. We would consider this one of Spielberg's most forgettable films and nothing that happens within its 122 minute run time is all that memorable long term.

My Rating: 6.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 6/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 64%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?
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One year ago, we were watching: "Inventing the Abbotts"

Movie Review #443: "Maggie's Plan" (2016)

Movie: "Maggie's Plan"
Director: Rebecca Miller
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 38 minutes

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Maggie thinks she has it all planned out. She has recently decided to become a mother through artificial insemination. Just as she puts this plan into action, she suddenly falls in love with a married writer named John (Ethan Hawke), breaking up his already strained marriage with university professor Georgette (Julianne Moore). Now after nearly three years of marriage, Maggie is starting to find that John is not the guy for her, and from there, hatches a new plan to reunite him with his ex-wife.

Written for the screen and directed by Rebecca Miller, "Maggie's Plan" is a quirky romantic dramedy starring indie hipster darling Greta Gerwig. Gerwig plays the titular Maggie, and as one might expect, she has many plans that she uses as a means to control her life. Her first plan is to have a child through artificial insemination. She wants the father of her child to be a guy named Guy, played by Travis Fimmel, who despite being college educated, chooses to make and sell pickles. This plan gets slightly derailed when Maggie falls in love with a married writer named John, played by Ethan Hawke. He is married to a tenured university professor named Georgette, played by Julianne Moore, who is one of the top professors in her field and is made out to be a bit of a witch by John. Of course, Maggie and John's affair destroys what little bit was left of his crumbling marriage, but the pair quickly turns around and marries each other. Now three years later, not only does Maggie have to take care of her own daughter (almost entirely by herself), but she's often left in a position by her husband where she has to care for her two stepchildren as well. She's also taking care of John as he is still trying to finish his book, in between long phone conversations with his ex-wife, of course. Maggie is starting to think she's made a big mistake. Now, after some innocent seeming words from her friend Felicia, Maggie hatches a new plan to get rid of John by trying to convince Georgette to take him back.

As you can see, "Maggie's Plan" is not your typical romantic comedy or drama. In fact, the entire thing is very much an anti-romantic comedy. Like many romances in movies, it all starts with an affair. However, unlike most movies, this one doesn't jump to the happily ever after. This one moves straight from Maggie and John's very first kiss and subsequent sexual encounter to the "hahaha, now you're the one who is married and miserable" plot line. It might sound bad for two people who are rather happily married to give a movie like this a good rating, but we so appreciate what it tries to do and say about love and romance by showcasing the messiness of it all instead of the princess fairytale bullshit we are fed in pop culture.

"Maggie's Plan" boasts an outstanding cast, containing many actors who are involved in both smaller, low budget films as well as big Hollywood productions. Greta Gerwig is no stranger to the intellectual, impassioned role. She plays the part of Maggie as well as she's played any other part, only this time around, we actually tolerated her and rather loved her performance. Hawke is always excellent, even when he plays the sleazy smart guy who is simultaneously charming but horrible. Fimmel as Guy is simply adorable, a goofy acting academic who stopped doing math to focus on being a pickle entrepreneur. He's worlds better here than he was in "Warcraft." Finally, Julianne Moore is in a class all her own. Her character Georgette is intimidating, scholarly, slightly cold, but also very warm and surprisingly forgiving and receptive to "the other woman" in Maggie. Her accent puzzled us momentarily, but she pulls it off with flying colors. Together, all of these characters interact with one another in this screwball indie romcom. Along with the aforementioned Gerwig, Hawke, Fimmell, and Moore, this movie also stars Bill Hader as Tony, and Maya Rudolph as his wife Felicia, who are Maggie's best friends. These actors play very well off each other and help breath life into this awkward style of comedy, though we expect no less from two seasoned Saturday Night Live veterans and resident indie movie actors themselves.

There is a lot of precision-point, extremely funny dialogue that goes on within the script, which is insightful, smart, and witty. It shows that even college educated people with advanced degrees can still make stupid decisions when it comes to life and love. As we mentioned, we appreciate this different point of view about modern love and relationships, but this is not the kind of movie for wide-eyed, idealistic lovers of love. "Maggie's Plan" will satisfy fans of Gerwig and her niche type of films, as well as romance cynics who just want to watch it all burn in a blaze of glory. We think the chemistry between everyone involved is pretty great, and we also like the direction by Rebecca Miller. All in all, we think this film is definitely worth watching if you appreciate different takes on all too familiar subjects.

My Rating: 8.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 8/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 85%
Do we recommend this movie: Yes!
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One year ago, we were watching: "The Impossible"

Movie Review: "The Adventures of Tintin" (2011)

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Movie: "The Adventures of Tintin"
Director: Steven Spielberg
Year: 2011
Rating: PG
Running Time: 1 hour, 47 minutes

At a flea market, a journalist named Tintin (Jamie Bell) buys a model ship of a vessel known as the Unicorn. He becomes the target of a dangerous man named Sakharine (Daniel Craig), who wants the ship for himself. Little does Tintin know, the ship contains a clue to the location of a sunken fortune, which is about to send him on an unexpected adventure across the globe.

"The Adventures of Tintin" is directed by Steven Spielberg and is based on the comic book series of the same name. It is the first and only animated feature to date directed by Spielberg. It revolves around a journalist named Tintin, voiced by Jamie Bell, who unwittingly gets entangled in a dangerous adventure when he buys a model ship at a flea market. Tintin is just a ship enthusiast, but what he doesn't know is that his latest purchase contains a clue that could lead to a long lost sunken treasure. A rather sinister man named Sakharine, voiced by Daniel Craig, is after the treasure and will stop at nothing to get it, even if it means killing those who get in his way. Tintin eventually joins forces with a drunken sea captain named Haddock, voiced Andy Serkis, who is also a descendant of the man who sunk the treasure to begin with. Haddock and Tintin have their work cut out for them and must get to the treasure before Sakharine does, so long as Haddock can stay off the sauce long enough to remember where they are going.

Even though this is an animated film, it doesn't have the same tone or look you typically get from almost any other animated movie. "The Adventures of Tintin" plays out much like any live action adventure film would. We also can't help but notice how similar this movie is to something like Spielberg's "Indiana Jones" movies, even though we know this film takes after the book series, which I grew up reading as a kid. The style of animation has a very realistic look to it, and though it does look pretty cool, the film as whole absolutely doesn't need to be animated. In other comparable animated films, characters like the ones showcased here wind up looking dead eyed and soulless. Luckily, Spielberg is able to breathe a certain level of life into these CGI characters, and luckily so because a lot of what we hoped this movie could have been gets lost in translation. Often in animated films, body proportions and the angles of faces are played with to make characters look more innocent or evil depending on what the characters call for. However, all of the characters here are made to look as human as possible, which begs the question: why not simply make this a live action film and save the money? It's not like animated ventures are any cheaper, and with a reported $135 million dollar price tag, a fairly large scale live action production could have been easily accomplished. With a little digging, we found out that a live action film was Spielberg's original intent, but he was ultimately convinced by Peter Jackson that a motion-capture animated feature would do better justice to the characters and aesthetic found in the comics. We aren't sure we totally agree. We feel as if this could have been just as good if not better as a live action adventure.

"The Adventures of Tintin" is not a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it definitely has its faults. It's a pretty solid adventure with a decent story and some good moments of perilous action, but it's still missing some fantastic spark that'd make Tintin pop off the pages of his comics and onto the silver screen. It feels overlong and can get absentminded. Snowy is very underutilized, and we wish he and Tintin both had more defining characteristics to set them apart from any of the other protagonists from Spielberg's repertoire. It's also a bit too silly to me. This is not a complete divergence from the comic book series, but it's obvious that this silliness is implemented in an effort to keep little kids interested, but we're not sure they will be due to its more mature themes and the time it takes to get to its conclusion. You might like this film, but you also might not.

My Rating: 6/10
BigJ's Rating: 7/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 75%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?

Movie Review: "Independence Day" (1996)

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Movie: "Independence Day"
Director: Roland Emmerich
Year: 1996
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours, 25 minutes

Aliens invade Earth and destroy some of the biggest cities around the globe. With all odds against them, the human race must join together on the Fourth of July and fight back against this extraterrestrial scourge.

"Independence Day" is the science fiction action epic directed by Roland Emmerich and perhaps one of the biggest, baddest popcorn flicks ever made. He was fresh off of making the sci-fi adventure film "Stargate," so he was really no stranger to large scale, special effects driven films. Unlike "Stargate," however, which has become a mere footnote in Emmerich's career, "ID4," as it has come to be known in common parlance, made a much bigger impact both socially and monetarily, and it is also slightly better rated, too.

This movie boasts a large, impressive cast of characters played by the likes of Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Randy Quaid (big for the time, we guess?), Judd Hirsch, Vivica A. Fox, James Rebhorn, Mary McDonnell, and Margaret Colin, just to name a few. The plot couldn't be more simple. Aliens come to earth, they blow a bunch of shit up, and the aforementioned actors have to find a way to fight back against their advanced alien technologies. Sure, there is an added human element and a lot of focus on the relationships between the human characters, which is where most the story comes from, but all of this plot only serves to fill the void in between the massive action sequences. Each of these characters are developed enough to where it makes us care about them only slightly. We get a rough sketch of each of their personalities and what their lives are like, as well as their past engagements with other characters within the story.

Speaking of the story, we have to say, it's very flimsy and has plenty of holes which can be easily picked apart if someone wanted to do so, but an enthralling story is not why $817.4 million dollars worth of people watch this type of movie. This is all about epic action scenes, humongous battles with aliens, and motivating speeches given by an inspirational type of hero character on the fourth of July in good ol' 'Murica, and damn it, it's fun as hell. "Independence Day" has these types of plot devices down, and Bill Pullman's rousing "today we celebrate our Independence Day!" speech as President Thomas J. Whitmore is still one of the best speeches in cinematic history. The fact that this line might be ad-libbed makes it all the more incredible. These are the things this film has down to a science. In addition, the special effects are fantastic. Despite going on 20 years old, the effects still look nearly as good as most anything you'd see today. They have held up very well and rarely look cheesy or dated, maybe apart from one or two scenes. The makeup work on the aliens themselves is also well executed. They look amazingly realistic as slimy, practically constructed creatures, something we fear we will not see in the sequel, "Independence Day: Resurgence," which we cannot say we're looking forward to come this June 24th, 2016.

"Independence Day" doesn't masquerade itself as something deeper than it is. It never pretends to be anything other than a mindless, fun, spectacle and action-filled summer popcorn flick that you can kick back and enjoy at at least some level as long as you don't analyze it too much. It's worth it for Pullman's speech and the fantastic visuals alone.

My Rating: 6/10
BigJ's Rating: 6.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 61%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?
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One year ago, we were watching: "Jurassic Park III"