Movies

Inferno (2016)

 in Books / Books-to-Movie / History / Movies by

This review of Inferno contains affiliate links for your convenience.

Starring

Tom Hanks – Robert Langdon
Felicity Jones – Sienna Brooks
Omar Sy – Christoph Bouchard
Irrfan Khan – Harry Sims
Sidse Babett Knudsen – Elizabeth Sinskey

Summary

“When Robert Langdon wakes up in an Italian hospital with amnesia, he teams up with Dr. Sienna Brooks, and together they must race across Europe against the clock to foil a deadly global plot.”

-From IMDB.com

Review

Wow! I am extremely pleased with this movie. I have once again a very good book-to-movie. Quite a while ago I reviewed Dan Brown’s Inferno because I loved it so much. It was so different from his other books and it really was an eye opener with the topic – a virus which will cull half the population.

Now the movie was so close to the book and it made me sooooo happy. You always have to worry that the movie will just spiral out of control and not be similar in any shape or form to the book. However, this was literally the book and it made me just so happy that it was.

Due to this fact, there isn’t much to say about the actual story line itself as if you have read the book, or read my review of the book, you’ll have an understand of what the story is as well as my opinion on the book.

As for the visuals of the movie though, it was stunning. It was mostly basted around Italy, except the ending which was in Istanbul, and the places that it was filmed was just beautiful. I really just want to hop on a plane and go visit all of these museums now. So of course it kept you interested just from the visual appeal.

Also it kept you questioning and wondering what would happen next. I really do think it is ingenious how Dan Brown is able to take an idea like Dante and just work it into his story so convincingly. All of his stories take some historical aspect and wind it into a real life story in such a convincing way, you would think that it actually was happening or was some account of real events. That is what I love about his stories – they’re based in reality and are not so far fetched that you cannot believe them.

Overall this movie was absolutely fantastic! I really do recommend that you check it out and if you haven’t read the book, read the book. This definitely is one of those movies that you do want to read the book first.

If you’ve seen this movie, what did you think of it and if you read the book as well, did you think that it stayed close?

Otherwise, happy watching and reading!

 

Suicide Squad (2016) 2

 in Movies by

This is an affiliate post for your convenience. 

Starring

Will Smith – Deashot
Margot Robbie – Harley Quinn
Ike Barinholtz – Griggs
Viola Davis – Amanda Waller
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje – Killer Croc
Jay Hernandez – Diablo
Jared Leto – The Joker

Summary

“A secret government agency recruits some of the most dangerous incarcerated super-villains to form a defensive task force. Their first mission: save the world from the apocalypse.”

-From IMDB.com

Review

So I went into watching this movie with mixed feelings because I had heard mixed reviews online as well as a bunch of my friends were so-so about the movie but I came out thoroughly impressed. The movie had a good story line, a good bunch of action, awesome costumes and a lot of witty lines.

A lot of people have just said that it was like a more bad-ass version of Ghostbusters (if you watch the movie and really think about it you will see it) but that didn’t really bother me. It was nice to see another aspect of characters – seeing the bad guys and what their lives were really like.

Jared Leto played The Joker really well, even though he had a small part. The Joker was probably one of my favorite characters just because of how well Leto played him and how creepy he was.

But as for the others, their costumes were really good and they all kept quite close to their original ideas which was quite nice.

So much has already been said about this movie so that doesn’t really leave much room for me to say anything that hasn’t already been said, but I’ve seen this movie twice and I never really get bored of it, which is really nice. I like movies you can watch a few times and not get bored, so this is definitely worth the purchase.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Kubo and the Two String (2016)

 in Fun / Movies / Young Adult by

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4-6qJzeb3A

Starring

Charlize Theron – Monkey (voice)
Art Parkinson – Kubo (voice)
Ralph Finnes – Moon King (voice)
George Takei – Hosato (voice)
Matthew McConaughey – Beatle (voice)

kubo and the two strings

From wikimedia.org

Summary

“A young boy with the gift of telling fantastical stories is sent on a mystical quest to discover his family’s magical legacy. Starring Charlize Theron and Matthew McConaughey.”

-From Amazon.com

 

Review

Now, this was something new this year. I mean come on, watching this you think it is some form of animation right? Nope, it’s 3D stop-motion! That’s awesome! Last time I saw something like this was The Boxtrolls and that one really did look more like that. This one looked like animation and it was such a fantastic story. It was like a legend as it kind of was, and it kept coming back to that idea through the entire movie.

This one had me tearing up as well because of the entire premise. If you were a younger child watching this you would find it so cute and an awesome movie, and as an adult you find it all of that but you also understand there is so much more going on in the movie and it was really quite moving.

Besides it being moving, it was just incredibly well done. There was character development, epic travels and a really fantastic story. It was also based in ancient Japan which was really cool as well. It kept alluring to it as well with the sunsets which kind of resembled the Japanese flag which was quite creative as well.

I mean this is one of those movies that will bring you back to your childhood because it’s an animation but it was deep enough that someone from every age will find something enjoyable. It kind of reminded me of Kung-Fu Panda just because of what was happening but it was completely unique in it’s own way and there was a common theme running through the entire movie.

I really do recommend this movie as it was fantastically well done.

So enjoy and let me know what you think!

Moana (2016)

 in Movies / Young Adult by

Starring

Auli’i Cravalho – Moana (voice)
Dwayne Johnson – Maui (voice)
Rachel House – Gramma Tala (voice)
Temuera Morrison – Chief Tui (voice)

moana

From charlottesmartypants.com

 

Summary

“Moana sets sail on a daring mission to save her people. Along the way, she meets the once mighty demigod Maui–together they cross the ocean on a fun-filled, action-packed voyage.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

This was probably one of my favorite movies of 2016, and may be making it into one of my favorite animation movies. This was such an incredible story and just so different from everything else that has come out. I loved how it was based around Hawaiian Islands and had a lot of native kind of ideas going on from the tattoos that the tribal members were getting (which was the traditional tattooing process and a right of passage), to the names, songs and the general lore behind the entire movie as well.

It was just so unique.

The animations were fantastic as well. It was so colorful and tropical, I felt so warm watching it wrapped up with my fuzzy blanket, a cat in my lap and a cup of tea next to me. The bright blues and greens really made it what it was.

Also the dynamics between Moana and Maui was fantastic. It was like a child-to-child relationship but you knew that one was a demi-god and it was nice to see some serious character development between them both, which is of course typical for a children movie. And of course I love The Rock and seeing him in another movie geared towards children (like The Toothfairy) was fantastic. And oh man, who knew that he could sing! There were a few musical numbers in the movie but not too many that it made it one of those ‘gross’ kids movies. The songs were also fantastic! Also the songs were so meaningful, especially if you are older and just really listen to the soundtrack and also listen to what is happening in the story. It had me in tears more times than I would care to admit. Just listen to one of my favorites (thanks to one of my friends who sung this as well).

It was also really nice to see a very strong female character who was strong headed, didn’t fall in love like a few others, and just was bad-ass in general. It was so refreshing and I loved it!

I mean this movie was absolutely fantastic and I do recommend picking it up once it comes out and giving it a watch. I know that I’m going getting this one and forcing my family to watch it. Mwahaha, but I’m sure they’ll love it, just as I’m sure you will as well!

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Lights Out (2016)

 in Movies by

Starring

Teresa Palmer – Rebecca
Gabriel Bateman – Martin
Alexander DiPersia – Bret

Summary

“When her little brother, Martin, experiences the same events that once tested her sanity, Rebecca works to unlock the truth behind the terror, which brings her face to face with an entity that has an attachment to their mother, Sophie.”

-From IMDB.com

Review

This movie was absolutely fantastic. It was scary, but not gruesome scary, which I really am not into. There was a little bit of blood, and a few deaths, but it was more jump scares and they did a good job. It really brought back your fears of the dark from when you were a kid.

I always had this kind of fear that I’d turn the lights out and I’d see something but when the light were on it would disappear and this movie definitely brought them back. It is nice to know that grown men were jumping in the movie theatre as well. I was proud that I didn’t scream once…or jump. But my heart beats were off the chart. I was quite stressed but it was a really good movie.

There was a good story to it and it didn’t end in the way that you thought it was going to. The entire time I was curious as to how the movie was going to end because there was no clear cut way to be dealing with the creature which was terrorizing the family, but in the end you just sat there like “what…oh..” It was a clean ending but not really expected.

The filming was really good as well. It was quite simple and a very dark movie overall. A lot of the movie was spent in the dark with the creature there or the creature living in the dark corners of areas and it was quite an interesting idea with what they had done. The whole idea of this creature only existing in the dark was creative and not something I’ve really come across before.

I’ve only recently started to get into horror movies a lot more and I have to say that this one was really good. For story I would say a 4/5 and for scare factor, I would say 5/5. It kept you on your toes, you weren’t sure what was going to happen and when something would jump out. There were a few moments I was so ready for something to pop out and nothing did and your heart was racing for nothing. So you never knew when something would really jump out and when something wouldn’t.

To say I was a little afraid to turn the lights off later that evening is an understatement. That’s how you know a movie did its job!

Overall I really did enjoy the movie and do recommend watching this. It’s a perfect, absolutely perfect, Halloween movie. And probably will watch it again around then.

It is based off a short which is on YouTube and I posted it below. But once again, viewer discretion is advised. It made me jump…And the movie is clearly based off of this kind of idea. It just takes it way further.

So go out and enjoy it at your local movie theatre if you have nothing else to do this weekend and just want to go out and relax..well kind of relax.

Happy watching!