The Disaster Artist

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The Disaster Artist is based off of the book of the same name by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell. It centers on Greg Sestero (played by Dave Franco) meeting Tommy Wiseau (played by James Franco), their friendship, and the eventual decision to make The Room. You believe the relationship that these two men build with one another. James Franco is phenomenal in this movie, from the standpoint of both acting and directing. This could have easily been a movie that took cheap shots at both Tommy Wiseau and The Room. But, Franco never does that. He gives a lot of humanity to Tommy Wiseau. Credit should also go to the movie’s screenwriters, Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. Is it absolutely necessary to see The Room before watching The Disaster Artist? I don’t necessarily think so, but it does help a lot. There are a ton of celebrity cameos in the movie. They could have easily detracted from the movie, but I never really felt that they did. I like that you really see the effect The Room has on the people. Tommy becomes more and more eccentric and full of himself. Greg starts becoming dissuaded by Tommy’s actions and some of his own personal relationships. Seth Rogen plays the movie’s script supervisor (and secret co-director). He is severely underrated in this movie. You understand where a lot of his anger towards Tommy comes from throughout the movie. More than anything, this movie feels like a unique take on the American Dream. It’s about a man of questionable origins doing whatever it takes to make his dream come true. I don’t think I can give this movie a higher recommendation. If you get the chance to see The Disaster Artist, it is 100% worth it.

10 / 10

The Snowman

I’m not gonna lie. When I saw the trailers for The Snowman, I was ready to see the next Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. This wasn’t quite that movie. The concept was really good. It deals with two detectives (played by Michael Fassbender and Rebecca Ferguson) hunting a serial killer who tends to strike during the winter. In the end, I didn’t find the mystery that engaging. This is the worst sin that a murder-mystery movie can possibly commitThey introduce a character and you know right away he’s just the red herring. The identity of the killer feels just as obvious. It honestly becomes more and more clear as the movie goes on, so when the reveal actually is made, it doesn’t come as that much of a surprise. Some of the performances are pretty good. Rebecca Ferguson is easily the standout. She probably the most consistently strong performance, and the greatest range of emotion. I also liked the performances by Michael Fassbender and J.K. Simmons. There were points where I kind of felt like they were sleepwalking. Val Kilmer in this movie sticks out like a sore thumb. Thankfully, he wasn’t in the movie for very long. When he first showed up, my thought was that, unfortunately, he did not look good. When he talked, it was painfully obvious he was dubbed over. The Snowman is one of those movies that feels like should have been tailor made for me, but just couldn’t live up to its immense potential.

4 / 10    

Bright

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Bright is a Netflix movie directed by David Ayer and starring Will Smith and Joel Edgerton. The movie takes place in an alternate Earth where fantasy creatures and elements exist in everyday life. Will Smith is excellent in this movie. He plays a cop in a situation he doesn’t want to be in, and is just doing the best he can. He’s actually put in tough situations, and actually has to make decisions, even if they aren’t always necessarily the right choices. The makeup on Joel Edgerton to make him look like an orc is actually really damn good. Joel Edgerton and Will Smith’s chemistry is alright. It isn’t bad, but I don’t think it’s phenomenal either. I also really liked Lucy Fry in the movie. Her character was kind of interesting. She plays an elf that Smith and Edgerton find during a night of patrol, and she might be hiding secrets of her own. There are two fed characters who specialize in magic. These two never really serve much of any actual purpose. The action sequences feel pretty hit and miss. Some of them are pretty solid. Others are hard to make out. Noomi Rapace plays the film’s main villain. She plays a dark elf who wants to bring back an ancient evil that is never really expanded upon. In a way, she kind of reminds me of Malekith from Thor: The Dark World. She was a villain with a lot of potential that felt underused. I think this movie did a little bit better at making her menacing. I just don’t feel that she was in the movie enough to make her a total threat. Overall, an awesome lead performance from Will Smith and a cool concept prove just enough to keep Bright afloat.  

6 / 10

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

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Four teenagers discover the mysterious game called Jumanji (having transformed itself into a video game). They decide to play the game and are sucked into the game, becoming the avatars in the game. This leads to some pretty solid comedy. Dwayne Johnson is the avatar for a nerd who is afraid of everything. Karen Gillan plays the avatar for a girl who doesn’t even understand the importance of physical education. Kevin Hart plays the avatar for a football player. Jack Black is the avatar for the school hot girl. If you’re wondering, this is a sequel to the Robin Williams movie. They actually do handle it pretty well, and there is a legitimate explanation given as to why Jumanji is a video game in this movie. A lot of the acting is legitimately good in this movie. Jack Black and Dwayne Johnson are easily the standouts. Jack Black is awesome playing a teenage girl. The same can be said of Dwayne Johnson playing a wuss. Nick Jonas plays the avatar for a kid who had disappeared into the game twenty years after the events of the first film. He actually has some good dramatic moments, and handles them really well. Kevin Hart is pretty good in the movie. The only problem I have is that he’s the only one not playing a character. He’s just playing Kevin Hart. The villain is pretty weak. You never really feel like he’s that threatening, and he’s gone for such long stretches of time, you kind of forget he was even there in the first place. The effects aren’t very good, but I kind of wonder if that was the point because the characters are trapped in a video game. It’s a pretty good adventure comedy that has its flaws, but could’ve easily been a lot worse.

7 / 10

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi picks up where The Force Awakens left off. Rey (played by Daisy Ridley) trains with Luke Skywalker (played by Mark Hamill). Finn (played by John Boyega) and Rose (played by series newcomer Kelly Marie Tran) are trying to find a hacker and try saving the Resistance. Kylo Ren (played by Adam Driver) and Snoke (played by Andy Serkis) are trying to crush the rebellion and searching for Luke Skywalker. This movie does things pretty differently, and it’s already dividing Star Wars fans. The truth is, a lot of these things don’t bother me. A lot of the comedy really did hit for me. The revelations worked really well for me, and tied into a lot of the Star Wars mythos, without giving too much away. I love what they did with Luke Skywalker in this movie. This is the best I think Mark Hamill has ever been, not only as Luke Skywalker, but also in his entire career. Daisy Ridley and Mark Hamill work off each other really well. The relationship these two share in this movie is what any good student-mentor relationship should be. Both push and learn from each other. Both equally feel like students and teachers. They also build on the relationship between Rey and Kylo Ren in this movie, and Rian Johnson handles it really well. This relationship is built in such a way that you don’t want it go the way it goes. As much as I did like this movie, I had some issues with the movie. The chemistry between John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran wasn’t bad per se. The moment their relationship built up to came out of nowhere, and the chemistry didn’t really make that moment feel earned. There’s also a subplot in this movie that’s earned a lot of controversy. The overall subplot didn’t bother me too much. One part of it didn’t work for me at all. They throw an animal cruelty message in there, and it doesn’t feel like it fits in a Star Wars movie. Overall, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a really good movie, despite having its issues here and there.

9 / 10