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The Finest Hours (2016)
Coast Guard rescue against what appear to be improbable odds
The first half of this film was a little slow and I wondered if I had inadvertently walked into the wrong theater. Character development and the formation of relationships was obvious during the first 20 minutes; however, in my opinion, less time should have been devoted to the romancing and more to the backgrounds of the three other coast guard crewmen and the main characters who were rescued. In the second portion of this film Director Craig Gillespie demonstrates a talented affinity for placing the audience right in the vessel as it gets slammed by monster waves. Indeed, I was a bit dizzy by the time the end approached! In that sense, the feeling in the pit of one's stomach rivals and at time exceeds the sensations of reality experienced in such films as "In The Heart of The Sea" and "Perfect Storm." The contrast of the rescue scenes with the early part of the movie is sort of like two different movies that were spliced together, with the first part being rated a 6 and the second part a 10 for an overall score of 8. In any event, most people will be pleased that they went to see this movie and even be encouraged to face and to conquer the adverse ocean of monster waves in their own personal lives.
The Boy (2016)
This is a low budget, though somewhat mysterious, film with recurring horror movie theme.
The Boy has no special acting challenges and therefore does not require any special acting skills. It features a beautiful summer mansion, which is the highlight of this film's photographic appeal. Scare scenes are filmed without any modern special effects, but the movie; however, does display an atmosphere of reality and is quite convincing. The strength of the plot is grounded in stimulating an "itching" curiosity in the audience, which is magnificently expanded upon throughout the entire movie right up until the last scene. The bottom line is... if you have decided to give this movie a chance, then be prepared to watch it until it is completely over or your curiosity will likely morph into a hellish nagging question that is hooked onto the far recesses of your conscience and will likely drive you mad. In short, The Boy offers nothing special and is similar to several other old time horror flicks following a style reminiscent of that great story teller, Alfred Hitchcock.
The Big Short (2015)
A thorough analysis of the 2008 financial collapse with an oxymoronic title
One would think that in the absolute least it would be extremely difficult to make an intriguing movie about the housing market and the US banking system and the greedy people who invest and gamble with our country's future... while keeping a cyber-age audience entertained, but The Big Short not only manages to accomplish that goal but does it excellently. The major drawback to this film is that the pace is too fast for an average viewer to sort out who's who from a host of actors, each of whom portrays a key player in a complex intertwined financial system. That being said, this film targets the painful nerve of every American, a nerve that careens through their job security, affecting their monetary value and terminates in the core of their family's welfare: the place they cherish and call their home, for every man's home is his "castle" and whoever messes with a man's castle, is messing with the man's family. The repressed anger of the American people over the 2008 crises and the memories of the financial loss they have endured will be inflated as they watch this film and then "pricked" by the irritating, aggravating and infuriating outcome. Those who plan to watch it should plan on watching it twice and plan to clench a lead bullet between the back teeth.
The Revenant (2015)
DiCaprio's greatest performance rivaling The Great Gatsby.
In 1971 I sat at the edge of my chair and watched in horror as actor Richard Harris struggled to climb a tree while a grizzly bear viciously tore at him and pulled him down. Such was the early scene in the western film, Man in the Wilderness... and I never forgot it because it was so very real. Now, we have a re-creation of that scene with no tree, but so disgustingly real that it is a masterpiece of creativity and ingenuity all by itself! I strongly recommend that you go see this movie, even if its only because the special effects in the first 15:minutes are crafted by computer geniuses. Now, if you are the type of person who cannot separate movie scenes from reality and are haunted at night by flashbacks of the violent scenes then by all means stay home! But then, let's get real...it is a fact that the European settlers have been attacked by bears and also by American Indians...and of course the settlers also attacked them. This is just history. The Revenant may be a very unusual story about survival in the midst of improbable odds but it certainly is not an impossibility. So, did it actually happen? I believe that portions are based on facts...perhaps not all of these unusual circumstances belong to the same individual, but likely were each experienced by one or more people during the 1700s. I am convinced that Dicaprio's performance deserves an Oscar, if for no other reason, because of the emotional challenges he was faced with in portraying the character that this film is based upon. I rated this film a ten, although it does slow down a bit upon approaching a predictable ending.
The Masked Saint (2016)
Great family film that is loaded with unexpected twists, adding humor and social values.
This film is an excellent blend of suspense, satire and humor. It captures the attention of the audience in the first five minutes...so don't come late to see this movie. The acting was convincing, although one would expect that there will be no Oscar nominations for any movie that espouses Christian virtues. Too often critics will intellectualize their review of movies, such as this one, hoping to discredit some aspect, such as the plot, the acting talent, or the directing; however, keep in mind that those critics oftentimes applaud violence and disrespect for decency, and viciously attack those moors of American society that have made America the great nation it is today. The Masked Saint teaches through this true biography that although there are villains in the world, "good" oftentimes does prevail when one has faith. Maintain an open mind when watching The Masked Saint and you will want to stand and applaud like I did at the refreshing ending.