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"Logan" is the final farewell to Hugh Jackman as the iconic X-Men superhero, Wolverine, who wouldn't be so iconic without his performance. Jackman hangs up the gloves in "Logan" and in a grisly fashion. "Logan" is everything we ever wanted in a Wolverine film, a hard R-rating with bloody violence and over excessive language. The film follows Logan as a limo driver trying to support himself and Charles Xavier as they live in an abandoned factory a couple of miles from the border to the U.S. in Mexico. One day a mutant girl (X- 23/Laura) finds her way into the lives of the two men as she is being chased down by the Reavers, led by Donald Pierce, and the man Pierce is working for Dr. Rice. Soon Logan and Charles are sucked into the situation and take it upon themselves to protect Laura by any means necessary and getting her to safety.

"Logan" might be the most realistic and mature superhero film that has ever been made. It's really hard to categorize this film under the superhero genre because the film is so grounded. There are no big budget explosions or people wearing spandex suits, this is an in your face film about what happens to superheroes when they are no longer superheroes. Logan is a heavy drinker and is slowly losing his healing ability and his powers are slowly draining. Charles Xavier has violent seizures which cause tremors and has lost all hope in what he is and was. This is a very depressing film where there is no glimmer of hope in these characters, all hope is basically lost.

The opening scene of the film where Logan fights off these gangbangers trying to jack his limo is not only awesome and violent but very depressing. You see Logan struggling with his powers and getting his butt kicked around a lot, even though he comes out victorious there's no feeling of relief or success. The Wolverine we know and love is gone, he's not making sarcastic jokes, or buffing up his ego. All of that is gone and all that is left is a broken man.

The acting is spot on. Jackman and Stewart do their finest works in this film and Dafne Keen as Laura/X-23 was great, she is a very talented little girl. Boyd Holbrook as Pierce did a very good job, he was very cool and calm, and brought so much life to the character. Stephen Merchant as Caliban was so great in the film. You felt so much empathy for his character and it wouldn't have been the same without Merchant's performance and the fantastic writing and character development.

The film has a lot of action, blood, and gore. This is a very unconventional superhero film in that the action is very grounded there aren't any explosions and most of the action heavily relies on the hand to hand combat the characters face. The opening scene of the film just shows the grisly violence it has in store for us. It was just awesome to watch, I still have goosebumps thinking about it.

James Mangold returning to direct this film did such a fantastic job at it. He really created a Western drama disguised as a superhero film and it very much does feel like a Western. Mangold's vision for the film was spot on, it just shows how far gone the world is and the state the characters are in. Mangold directed the previous solo Wolverine film "The Wolverine" (2013) which I found to be quite underrated, Mangold did a good job with that film took what worked best about it and brought it to "Logan".

"Logan" in my opinion is the best superhero film that has ever been made. It tackles so many themes in the superhero genre that haven't been touched upon or even noted and does it masterfully. Mangold's direction and Jackman's performance is what really brings this film together and in the end the best portrayal of the Wolverine.

When I think of revenge in cinema I think of "Oldboy" (2003), "Dead Man's Shoes" (2004), "Blue Ruin" (2014), "Lady Vengeance" (2004), "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" (2002), "Django Unchained" (2012), "Kill Bill" (2003;2004) "Gangs of New York" (2002), and even "John Wick" (2014). Now after seeing this masterpiece of revenge, "My Father Die" is now on that list.

"My Father Die" is as you already know, a deep southern Gothic revenge film, and is the directorial debut of Sean Brosnan. The film starts off with two brothers (Asher and Chester) walking around talking about sex and meeting up with a girl (Nana) so that Chester can have sex with her. As Asher keeps on watch for the two his father (Ivan) pounces when he's not looking and hits him so hard upside the head that he ruptures his eardrums. Ivan then confronts Chester and beats him to death in a fit of rage while the recently deaf Asher watches. Jump twenty years later where Asher is taking care of his overly obese mother who does nothing but sit on her bed and watch the local church sermon. Ivan is recently released from prison and Asher plans to exact his revenge upon his fallen brother. And so ensues one of the best revenge films I've seen.

The film is so well acted by the entire cast, mostly the three main stars Joe Anderson (Asher), Candace Smith (Nana), and Gary Stretch (Ivan). These three actors did a magnificent job bringing their characters to life. Joe Anderson was magnificent as he never said a word in the film and yet you could empathize with his character so much. Gary Stretch was unbelievable, if you thought he was bad in "Dead Man's Shoes", you have no idea how much more bad he is in this film. Stretch is just absolutely brutal and brings so much tension and suspense in every scene he is in.

Brosnan's direction is fantastic, he never loses control of the brutal and religious aspects the movie brings. He developed the characters so well and took time to really make them feel real. The cinematography is overall very good, when it comes down to the cinematography of a very low budget film I'm not so harsh on it considering that money is not very abundant, but the film looks beautiful either way.

Throughout the film I couldn't help but see Brosnan's satire on Southern religion. I am not completely sure if it was intentional, but if it was good job. Periodically in the film a painting of Saturn eating his children is seen, which not only symbolizes the characters in the film but also gives the film a religious quality to it which I thought was interesting.

I honestly don't know what else to say, this is a great revenge film with unique characters that we empathize and despise, a great story, acting, and direction. Sean Brosnan debuted with a powerhouse of a film and I will without a doubt be looking forward to what he has in store next.

"Frank and Lola" is a an independent romance drama thriller directed by Matthew Ross, and starring Michael Shannon (Frank), Imogen Poots (Lola), and Justin Long (Keith).

The film follows the characters of Frank and Lola. Frank is an uptight chef who takes pride in his cooking and the culinary arts, and Lola is a young eccentric woman who makes dress designs. The film starts with the two in their relationship and as the film goes on explains how the two actually met. One night Lola comes home crying telling Frank that she "made a mistake." This is where the film takes a dark turn and gives us an eerily disturbing look at what a dysfunctional relationship can be like.

Right off the bat the acting is great. Shannon was perfect as the character of Frank, this obsessed, uptight and disturbing individual. Shannon was on fire in 2016 with "Midnight Special", "Elvis & Nixon", and "Nocturnal Animals", and this film just shows how much of a great actor he really is. Poots was great as Lola, her performance really sold the role and was done very well. Justin Long was good in the movie too as this obnoxious, wealthy, charismatic douche.

The cinematography in the film was beautiful. In a way the film looked very much like a Nicolas Winding Refn film (specifically "Only God Forgives" and "The Neon Demon") There was a lot of bright reds, yellows, and blues, it was gorgeous to look at and never took me out of the film.Matthew Ross proves to be a very stylized director with great vision and execution. He makes time to develop every character in the film no matter how big or small their role was, and justifies the characters actions.

A few issues I had was the relationship between the two characters of Frank and Lola. Their relationship is never really explored on why they "love" each other so much and how they're still able to be together when all these awful things start happening to them. Another issue is that the film gets a little repetitive during the halfway mark which made me question the believability of "that" happening twice.

Overall "Frank and Lola" is a well executed film with great performances by Michael Shannon and Imogen Poots, and a great directorial debut for Matthew Ross.

"Silence" is Martin Scorsese's latest masterpiece of cinema that he's brought us since his 2013 hit "The Wolf of Wall Street". "Silence" follows two Jesuit priests played by Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver who invoke on a mission to go to Japan to find and rescue their mentor, Father Ferreira (played by Liam Neeson) and to spread the faith to the Japanese at the same time.

"Silence" was a film that Scorsese spent the past few decades trying to make and even though it took him such a long time to bring this powerful story to the big screen I'm just glad that it got made. "Silence" is adapted from the novel of the same name by Japanese author, Shusaku Endo. I read the book and loved it and the movie is just as up to par as the book. This is one of the best adaptations of a book I've ever seen, the movie has all the plot points, themes, and messages the book had and brought it to the screen flawlessly.

The acting in this film is phenomenal. Every person in this film is on the top of their game no matter how big or small their role was in this film. Andrew Garfield's performance in "Silence" better get him that golden statue because he gave such a powerful and emotionally draining performance to the point that I forgot that I'm even watching a movie. Seeing Liam Neeson actually give a dramatic and emotional performance was great, it was nice to see him take his time to be in this film and not go off and do another mediocre action movie.

The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous in this film and there's not one shot that feels out of place or out of focus. Scorsese directs the hell out of this movie and never loses focus one bit, he better get nominated for best director for the Oscars.

One thing I will say about "Silence" is that it is very long and very hard to watch at times. Considering that the film is about the test of one man's faith automatically seems like an emotionally draining film, it's nowhere what you thought you'd imagine while watching this film. You see our protagonist (Garfield) go through hell and back while watching and experiencing such horrific things. There were times where I teared up and there were times where I grimaced, and there were times where I just wanted to see the suffering end. If there were to be another title of this film it would be called "Suffering", no joke.

What else can I say, Scorsese pulls another masterpiece out of the box and deserves all the credit he deserves for just making this film alone. If you love Scorsese's work I highly suggest you to go see "Silence" because this is one of his finests without a doubt.

"River" is a Laotian film about John Lake, an American doctor working in Laos, who intervenes in the sexual assault of a young woman by an Australian tourist. His efforts of intervening lead to him killing the Australian tourist, being mistakenly accused of sexually assaulting the woman, and having him being a wanted fugitive. The film is directed by first time Canadian director Jamie M. Dagg, who does one hell of a job with this film.

The film takes its time to develop the character of John and then throws him in this crazy situation that he mistakenly got himself into. I felt so empathetic towards John because he wanted to do the right thing, and by doing so he accidentally kills a guy and is falsely accused of assaulting a woman. The story is very simple and has been done in many other films before but what makes "River" standout is its realism and Rossif Sutherland's performance as John. Sutherland brings so much energy to this role and does an excellent job being a frantic, scared, and innocent person.

As the film continues and John is on the run you later find out who the Australian tourist is related to which adds a new level of extremity to the situation. There's not a lot to say about the film story wise, you have a man on the run and doing what he can to not get arrested for false causes. The performances are great, the direction is great, and the cinematography is overall very well.

A couple issues I had with the film is that during some scenes when John is being chased or running the camera is very shaky. And at the last ten or so minutes of the film something is revealed about the situation John's in which causes our character to make an action that didn't sit too well with me.

Overall "River" is a wonderful directorial debut for Jamie Dagg, which displays great performances from Rossif Sutherland, and all of the cast as well. I'm looking forward to what this talented young man will do next.

(The first half of this review will not contain spoilers but the second half will)

"Pamilya Ordinaryo" is a 2016 Oriental film about these two teenagers, Jane (16) and Aries (17) who are married or at least say they are, live on the streets, and have a less than thirty day year old baby named Arjan. One day after a transvestite named Erna intentionally pressures Jane into making a loan for a couple of packages of diapers, the transvestite snatches Baby Arjan from her when she's not looking, and so begins the two couples tragic journey to find their baby boy.

I saw this film at the 52nd Chicago International Film Festival this year, and I must say that it was a very powerful and heartbreaking film to watch. The two performances by Ronwaldo Martin and Hasmine Kilip were excellent, these two young actors gave very compelling and emotional performances, and were quite possibly the best part of this film. The film is directed by Eduardo W. Roy Jr., who also wrote the film as well. Roy Jr. has a very compelling way of making two very unlikable characters so pitiful and hopeless to the point that we the audience actual care for these kids.

The film definitely takes you into the street life and makes you aware of your surroundings knowing that you truly can't trust anyone. The cinematography consisted of very long takes, which I love because you get to see not only the talent of the cinematographer, but the talents of the actors whose acting is captured in this one continuous, un-cut scene. The story of the film is just so depressing to watch, I felt like garbage after this film ended. This film is as up to par on the Depression Meter with "Requiem for a Dream" (2000) and "12 Years a Slave" (2013).

A couple of flaws I had with the film was the pacing; this is a very slow paced film. Even though the film was only about an hour and forty minutes long I couldn't help but feel that the film was at least two and a half hours long. The film has a lot of long drawn out scenes that are none the less gorgeous to watch, but I felt they lingered on a little too long. The film also uses video security footage as well which works for some parts and scenes in the film but for others it was just style over substance. And at times I felt the film was a little too depressing, I'll explain in the spoilers below.

Overall "Pamilya Ordinaryo" is a very well crafted and depressing film to watch and all of the performances is what truly carries the film to success. The film makes me grateful for the life I have knowing that others out in the world truly have it harder than me and many of you out there as well.

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Now let's get down to the meat of this. Despite me liking this film it was just so depressing to watch. Whenever these kids think they'll get help they either get no help at all or are just used as tools for people. For example the character of Jane goes down to the police station to file a report that her baby was stolen. The police captain notices she's very young to have a child for her age so decides to harass her in a sexual manner. He asks her "when was your first f***?", "Show me how you breastfeed your baby." and just many other disturbing questions and requests. That was by far the most uncomfortable scene in the film. The two go to a radio station to publicly announce their loss to see if anyone can help them but are just cast to the side. A news channel conducts an interview with the two young couple and take their story and made it into entertainment by transforming their story into a corny bio-pic. The list goes on and on.

The other thing is that the film made me feel gross. I mean the thought of two teenagers who have a baby, live on the street, and have their baby kidnapped by a transvestite. It's gross and it's sick.

Now many people in my audience did not like the ending and were disappointed. The ending is the two hopping on a bus after getting chased from the police. The film doesn't resolve whether they find Baby Arjan because we the audience know what's going to happen. The two couple will never find their child, and will either continue to look for him until they get arrested by the authorities, or eventually give up their hopes of finding him. There's no reason for the film to have a conventional ending that's not so open ended because there's no hope for the two characters. Even if they find Baby Arjan they will never be able to support their child or even take care of it due to them being homeless, not having jobs, and having no money. The film will have a sad ending either way.

"Kati Kati" is a Kenyan drama film directed by Mbithi Masya. The film is about a young woman waking up in a small village with no memory of her life or who she is for that matter. She soon finds other people in this village which is called Kati Kati, it turns out that she's dead and all the people in the village are dead, and that's why they are there.

I saw this film at the 52nd International Film Festival this year and it was a very interesting and surreal film that had a lot to say and do but couldn't capture it in such a short run time.

The film has a very creative plot and story to begin with, you have these characters (4 central characters) who are very interesting and give very good performances. The film has a very spiritual vibe as it establishes this form of purgatory as a village that you literally cannot leave from. The characters have an agenda for the days of the week and always show love and care towards one another.

The story is very interesting but I couldn't help but feel that the film was very slow even though it's 75 minutes long. Certain plot points are not explained or given enough attention and are at times just tossed under the rug. Certain things that happen in the film don't really add up or have any reasoning to begin with. Now the film does take a right turn on you which was really cool because it opened up the story even more and made it much more powerful.

Overall "Kati Kati" is a very interesting film to watch, but I felt that there should've been more added to the film due to it feeling like there were pieces of the puzzle that were missing.

"Imperfections" is a black comedy of sorts that stars Virginia Kull as Cassidy, a down on her luck actress who can't seem to make her dreams come true or balance her life out at all. After getting laid off she decides to crash with her mother, Val, played by Marilu Henner. Cassidy's mother gives her a business card for a small jewelry shop that's hiring. Cassidy decides to go and is immediately hired by the shop's manager, Barry, played by Ed Begley Jr., and his son Alex, played by Ashton Holmes. Cassidy's job is to carry a small package of diamonds to her destination and hand over the diamonds, nothing illegal. It turns out Alex is in a bit of trouble when he's in debt and owes this guy some money. So Alex and Cassidy come up with a scheme to screw the insurance company into giving them money by staging a fake robbery with Cassidy having fake diamonds on her, but it's not that simple...

Now I saw this film at the 52nd International Film Festival this year, plus it was shot in Chicago as well. Sadly to say this is my least favorite film of the festival, not saying it's bad, but it could've been better than what it was.

I'll start with the positives, the acting is overall good, there's semi interesting characters, the story is overall entertaining, and the cinematography is as good as it's going to be. Other than that I can't really say much for the film.

Now the negatives. This film is okay, it's an okay film and it's okay for a film to be that, but I can't help but feel the film could've been better. I personally did not care for any of the characters except for the character of Ray, Cassidy's former boyfriend in the movie played by Zach McGowan. McGowan gave the best performance out of the entire film and he was by far the most interesting and entertaining character of the film. A lot of the jokes in the film fell flat, the film didn't have any clever jokes except for a couple and some slapstick humor as well. The first half of the film felt like the director was trying to find his footing, and the story seemed very unclear of where it was going. A lot of scenes in the film felt like they were cut when there was clearly more to the scene/some choppy editing. And I can't forget the microphone that kept appearing on the top of the screen which was very distracting and obvious, good job editor.

The film really picked up for me at around the halfway mark, but at that exact same time I felt like the film switched genres. The film originally started off as a comedy about a down on her luck actress, and then turned into a detective mystery, drama comedy film. Now the film has some pretty tense scenes which were very well done and I enjoyed very much, and there were some pretty laugh out loud scenes as well, but there were so few of those scenes that the film just felt flat. Many scenes felt like they went on for a little too long or just had no real importance except to get a chuckle from the audience.

Overall "Imperfections" is a pretty average film that I can go on forever about how it could've worked better, but I'll just take it for what it is. "Imperfections" is a cute comedy that just felt a little flat for me, and I wish it could've been executed better on so many levels.

"Headshot" stars Iko Uwais as Ishmael, a man who's found washed up on a beach and put in a coma for two months due to him being shot in the head. He wakes up and doesn't remember a thing about himself. He discovers from flashbacks, gang members sent to kill him, and an incredible set of skills, that he is a former assassin/hit-man for the crime boss, Lee. When Ailin (the nurse who looked after Ishmael for two months and has liking to) is kidnapped by Lee, Ishmael sets on a mission to save Ailin, and to confront Lee once and for all. "Headshot" was the last film I saw at the 52nd Chicago International Film Festival this year and it was a very action packed way to leave the festival till next year.

"Headshot" is directed by Timo Tjahjanto, and Kimo Stamboel who also directed the very successful "Killers" (2014). The two directors have an excellent direction when it comes down to choreographing the stunts and fights and always do it with such flare. The cinematography is very well done, not to compare to "The Raid" films but the camera is much more shakier in "Headshot" and not as smooth and fluid as "The Raid" films, but nevertheless I can see what's going on and it overall captures the action very well.

The acting is overall very well. For an action film of this caliber you don't really need stellar performances but rather great action and stunt work which Iko Uwais is very good at due to him being the star for both "The Raid" films. I had a blast with this film, it was just exactly what I expected it to be, amazing action, average plot, and bad-ass characters. The audience that I saw the film with were super into it, there was always an "oh s***." or "whooo!" whenever a fight scene was happening or when it ended. It was awesome.

Other than the film being action packed and violently entertaining there's nothing else to it. This film is 100% pure entertainment, that's what it set out to be and that's what it will always be. I will admit the violence in the film was very overwhelming, every 5 or so minutes you had someone get shot in the ear, have their arm snapped in half, or burning alive. And much like "The Raid" films the absurdity and unbelievability of the violence is UNBELIEVABLE, and I love it. I mean where else will you see a guy who has his arm and leg broken with nails embedded in his fist and half beaten to a pulp still able to keep on fighting. I was laughing out loud to this stuff because it's so damn silly but so damn entertaining.

"Headshot" is nothing but a pure energetic and adrenaline filled film full of violence to satisfy any die hard action cinephile out there. Thumbs up!!!

"Middle Man" is about the character of Lenny, a recently unemployed man whose mother just died and now decides to chase the "American Dream" by going to Las Vegas so he can be a comedian. The film stars Jim O'Heir, Josh McDermitt, Andrew J. West, Anne Dudek, and Tracey Walter, and is directed by Ned Crowley. I saw this film at the 52nd International Film Festival this year, and is hands down my favorite film from the festival.

Jim O'Heir plays Lenny, an awkward but sweet man who seems to be stuck in the past. He still listens to 50's comedy sitcoms on his cassette player and memorizes them line for line, he drives his old '53, and always does what his Christian mother told him. O'Heir was hysterical as this man stuck in the middle of a crazy situation. Josh McDermitt plays the character of T-Bird, the biggest A hole who's the comedic sensation at the "Yuck Stop", it was a very cool contrast from his character in The Walking Dead. Andrew J. West (also played Garrett on The Walking Dead) plays the cool, confident, and mysterious Hitch, who tags along as Lenny's "manager" and is also a psycho killer who burns up easily in the sun. West was just as up to par with O'Heir, and the complete contrasts of their characters really brought a unique character duo.

"Middle Man" does not pull its punches, the film keeps on bringing the comedy and every joke that was made in the film was always answered by a laugh from the audience. The film has such a sick sense of humor which I love. I've never laughed so hard at a man getting his head blown off or a man disposing of a dead body. Now despite this film being laugh out loud funny, it is extremely dark, especially during the last 30 minutes of the film. The film is like a cross between Martin Scorsese's "King of Comedy" (1982) and David Lynch's "Blue Velvet" (1986).

After the screening of the film director Ned Crowley and Jim O'Heir came to the front and had a very cool Q&A, and I got to meet and take a picture with O'Heir as well which was super cool. "Middle Man" is a very original and balls out film that never takes itself seriously and delivers one hell of a black comedy.

"Wolf and Sheep" was the very first film I saw at the 52nd Chicago International Film Festival this year and I must say it was a great way to start the festival. The film is about life in this little isolated village in the mountains of Afghanistan, and is directed by first time director Shahrbanoo Sadat.

The film has a very unconventional narrative style as there's no real beginning, middle or end. The film feels like one flowing scene that doesn't end nor begin for that matter. I can mostly relate this film to David Gordon Green's "George Washington" (2000), as it meanders through the film with no real plot, or climax.

The film mostly focuses its time on the children who live in this little village. Much like any other children, the girls hang out in their group and play games and gossip, while the boys have their group where they talk crudely to one another, and play dangerous games. Now all of the actors in the film were untrained and not really actors for that matter, and that ultimately brought a feeling of realism to the film knowing that they are just people who are literally playing themselves.

The film has an abrupt start and an abrupt ending. When the ending happened I literally waved my hands around in disbelief that that was the ending. But after some time to think I believe that an abrupt ending to the film was the best way to go. The film is simply about life in this little village where nothing exciting or climactic truly happens, and just like life, it starts abruptly and ends abruptly.

Now after the screening of the film, Shahrbanoo Sadat, the director of the film came up for a Q&A, which was awesome. She talked a lot about how she was born in a village just like the village in the film and was based on her childhood and her best friend's childhood in that village. I'm glad she talked a lot because I think it added more depth and perspective to the film seeing where she got her inspiration and motivation to pursue this film for eight years. She talked a lot about the struggle and journey of filming and just attempting to make this film since 2008. That my friends is what you call dedication and passion.

Overall I really enjoyed "Wolf and Sheep", I think it's a very unique film that brings someone's childhood and village life to a very slow paced, entertaining and at times comedic film.

"Gozu" is directed by Takashi Miike, and is about a cowardly yakuza hit-man driver named Minami who's tasked with secretly executing his "Brother" Ozaki, who has recently been losing his mind and poses a threat towards the yakuza squad. Things start to take a weird and surreal turn as Ozaki goes missing and Minami must find him while stuck in this town where there's cow-headed minotaurs, dead people, and an eerie pair of siblings who run a hotel inn.

"Gozu" is probably one of the most if not the most f***ed up movie I've ever seen. The scenes and imagery being displayed is so vulgar and graphic that it was very uncomfortable and eerie to watch. If only David Lynch was Japanese I'd think he would've directed this film. "Gozu" is very much like a David Lynch film in that we don't know what's real or not, the surreal imagery, and the weird characters they both have.

The acting is very well by the entire cast and the direction is just out there. I will admit that the first twenty minutes were pretty unclear as we weren't introduced to the true tone of the movie. Also the actors sometimes over act and sound kind of forced and cheesy.

Overall "Gozu" is not for everyone since this is one of the more weirder films I've seen and I know people don't really favor weird. Miike gives excellent direction in this film and doesn't let the story fall through the cracks. If you like David Lynch's work or even Takashi Miike's I think you'll like this film very much if you haven't seen it.

"High-Rise" is directed by Ben Wheatley and adapted from the 1975 novel of the same name which was written by J.G. Ballard.

The film follows the character of Dr. Robert Laing, a physiologist who just recently moved into the 25th floor of the first of five high-rise apartments. Laing is soon introduced to Anthony Royal, the architect who lives on the very top floor, and Richard Wilder, a brute man who's a television documentarian who lives on the second floor with his pregnant wife and children. When the tension between the lower floors and the upper floors start rise conflict starts occurring. Soon war parties are being formed and eventually each floor is left to fend for themselves.

The performances and the cinematography for the film definitely stand out the most. Wheatley takes his dark turn which he does in every single one of his films and overall works for the purpose of the film. The film has a blend of dark humor with graphic violence and chaos to definitely keep you entertained.

The film starts to fall apart after the first act. With such a strong opening the film just loses its momentum and becomes violently senseless. The transition from normal to chaos was definitely being built up, but to what purpose? When the quote on quote s*** hits the fan the movie loses its structure and becomes pointless. The film literally becomes senseless violence.

The motives the characters have during the chaos is unexplainable and the decisions and actions they make are appalling. Soon things just don't make sense at all and you're completely lost and just watching sexually violent actions unfold.

This could have all been solved with a purpose to the story, a plot, and structure. From my previous viewing of Wheatley's "Kill List" (2011) and now "High-Rise", I couldn't help but feel that the two films lacked structure. Both films take turns and don't have a real purpose to them and just bounce around a lot. If "High-Rise" was more well structured I think Wheatley would've had a much more successful film than the one he has right now.

The film has a very sloppy narrative, one second you're at a party with Tom Hiddleston then the next moment you're watching Jeremy Irons strangle a dog to death. (FYI there's a lot of abuse towards animals in the film) The second and third acts feel like 5 minute vignettes that Wheatley shot to puzzle together, and I do think it was intentional if he did it that way.

Now I do understand why things happened the way they did in the film I just wish it was more specific with how and why it happened because it took me quite a while to figure it out.

Overall "High-Rise" kept me entertained even during the senseless violence and the lack of structure the film had. I wouldn't recommend it unless you're a fan of Ben Wheatley's films or if you like J.G. Ballard's work. I haven't read the book but that's on the top of my bucket list.

"600 Miles" or "600 Millas", stars Tim Roth and Kristyan Ferrer, and is the directorial debut of Gabriel Ripstein, who wrote the script for another Tim Roth movie "Chronic" (2015). The film won the Best First Feature Award at the Berlin International Film Festival. The film was met with much hype by critics and audiences but didn't get a big theatrical release.

The film follows the characters of Arnulfo (Ferrer) and Hank (Roth). Arnulfo is a very young man who smuggles weapons across the border to Mexico along with his associate Carson (Harrison Thomas). Arnulfo works for his uncle who is either a member or the leader of the weapon smuggling mob. Hank is an ATF agent who has been tracking down Arnulfo and Carson, knowing that they're buying a lot of guns. One day Hank confronts the two young men and things go South. Hank is kidnapped by Arnulfo and smuggled into Mexico. As the two characters become weary of what they are doing and the situation they are in they must work together to get themselves out of it.

"600 Miles" is a very well crafted film that has very strong performances by the two leads (Roth and Ferrer). The two actors have such good chemistry and it translates beautifully on screen as the characters they play get to know a little more about the other and soon have a complicated relationship. Tim Roth is gold in this movie, he's the best part of this film, in my opinion. Roth gives a very realistic approach to the character he's playing and adds the humanity that this film so dearly needs. Ferrer did very well in the film as well. Ferrer plays a very complicated character in the movie and you never really know what his character's motives are.

The directing in the film was handled very well. The cinematography is good as well, nothing truly spectacular but I did very much like the angles in which they shot the film and the long drawn out takes. The story was very subtle but powerful at the same time, a beautiful combination which I adore very much.

A couple of issues I had with the film was the editing. Certain scenes in the film would have a significant jump in time and leave a very big gap. This didn't bother me that much since it didn't hurt or affect the story but it was definitely noticeable. Certain scenes would just end and the next scene would be hours or days after the last one.

Now I know many people have an issue with the ending of the film, I'll be honest when the film supposedly ended I laughed and asked myself "That's it?". Now I do think that that type of ending was intentional but if you stay through the end credits you'll see what the film was going for.

Overall "600 Miles" is a solid film with great direction, acting, and a tense story. I would recommend it to any Tim Roth fan out there because he gives a very good performance in this film. Hope this review helped you decide whether "600 Miles" is or is not for you.

I'm going to come out straight, I don't get this film. I don't understand what Malick's message is or what he's trying to provoke to the audience. Now I'm not saying this is a bad film it's just that I don't appeal to this certain film, and I know that others do truly adore this film.

The film centers around the character of Rick, (played by Christian Bale) who is a Hollywood screenwriter who indulges himself with several different women played by several talented actresses. The entire film is told through voice overs by Rick and the women he indulges with. This for me was very frustrating due to the voice overs saying very ominous and cryptic things. The film never explores or explains the relationships Rick has had or is having with these women, all we know is that he's with them and that's all we have to know.

The film keeps so much away from us that we really have nothing to work with. It's hard to care for any of these characters when you basically know nothing about them. The film was completely improvised by the actors who didn't know a single thing about the story or the characters they were playing. Plus the film didn't have a script. When I found out both of these things I was honestly not surprised.

When the director doesn't even give the actors any information about the story or their characters and just keeps it to them self, I find that to be very disrespectful, and selfish. At the end of the line Malick himself is the only one who knows what the story, characters, and meaning are in the movie. If you're going to make a movie for an audience you can't make the movie only for you to understand. That's again selfish and rude. It's like flicking off your audience.

Now sadly this is my first Terrence Malick film and as you might already know I was very disappointed. Point taken that lately his films have been very experimental and pretentious. But this is the man who is hailed as one of the greatest filmmakers to ever live. Before watching this film I was not going into it with high expectations knowing this knowledge prior to my viewing.

The film lacks a clear and solid plot which is very important to a film or story in general. If you don't have an interesting story you don't have an interesting movie. When I'm too busy picking my feet when I have your movie playing at the same time that's automatically a bad sign.

The only thing that the film has going for it is the cinematography. The film looks beautiful but the cinematography can't make up for all the flaws this movie has. The acting is good even though we can't relate to any of these characters due to not knowing Jack about them. Christian Bale is perfect as playing an emotionless moving statue who has nothing interesting to say because he can only talk through voice overs. But seriously you do not see Bale say more than five lines of dialogue on screen and all he does is have a straight face throughout the film.

Overall "Knight of Cups" is not my cup of tea and I don't think I'll ever understand what the hell the message Terrence Malick is trying to provoke to the audience. Love it or hate it I don't get it.

"Swiss Army Man" stars Paul Dano (Hank) and Daniel Radcliffe (Manny), and is the directorial debut by the talented duo known as Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert). The film premiered at Sundance where it was awarded the best dramatic director award and was met with many walk outs during the screenings.

As you most likely know Paul Dano is stranded on an island and Daniel Radcliffe's dead flatulent body just so happens to wash up on the island, and is a "multi purpose tool guide" for Dano to use in an attempt to get home to civilization. While on their journey home Manny (Radcliffe) doesn't remember a single thing about his previous life and life at all for that matter and seeks knowledge through Hank (Dano) as they talk about masturbation, farting, and love.

As silly as it may sound "Swiss Army Man" is a very thought provoking film that tackles subjects about freedom, what it means to be truly free, and what's normal and weird/good and bad/appropriate and inappropriate. "Swiss Army Man" attacks what society may see as the norm and makes it abnormal in this film between Hank and Manny. This film is nothing like you've ever seen before, it's holy original and has a strong message that no other film has brought up before.

Paul Dano is flawless as the character of Hank, and plays it so well with a sense of reality while spicing it up with unintentional comedy. Radcliffe gives the performance of his career as a dead person and pulls it off so so well with such subtlety. This is such a major leap from Harry Potter for Radcliffe and I can see him taking on even more unusual and unique roles in the future. Both the characters play off each other so beautifully and this is due to great direction by the Daniels, and the wonderful chemistry between Dano and Radcliffe.

The only issue that I have with the film is its conclusion. There are so many things happening so quickly that it was very hard for me to take it all in. Plus the film has a hard time finding where to end. (My opinion).

"Swiss Army Man" is a film that takes many chances that are pulled off so beautifully and introduces the debut of the Daniels as one of the most unique set of filmmakers to come in recent years. Go out and support this film because it deserves all the attention it's getting.

Now I just have one thing to say. For those who walked out of the theater during screenings of this film demonstrate how our culture does not appreciate art. For a film to be so unique and original (especially in this age of remakes, reboots, and films just made for money) I find it very sad that people don't support art and would rather have films made with no effort just to make a steep profit. People need to support films that are unique and take a chance for the sake of art. That's the reason why I love the production company A24. A24 produces films that are not main stream, they produce films that are original, unique, and independent. A24 produced "Spring Breakers" (2013), "Green Room" (2016), "The Witch" (2016), and "The Rover" (2014). A24 is preserving and making films that are independent and creative; they are the symbol of art in the film production world. I will buy anything with A24's name on it.

"The Frame" follows the characters of Alex and Sam. Alex is a man who works for the cartel and tries to escape his life of crime. Sam is an ambulance paramedic who is struggling with her past and is trying to live a normal, healthy life. Somehow these two characters lives collide in a complicated and fantasy like way that makes us the audience question what's real and what's fiction. "The Frame" is directed by Jamin Winans who also brought us the movie "Ink" (2009), which I have not seen. "The Frame" is one of the most original films I've seen along with many other films I've seen. The film starts as a crime drama but turns into a psychological thriller, which I really like. The leap from one genre to the next was handled so well by Winans, and it was a risk that was truly worth taking.

The performances by David Carranza, and Tiffany Mualem (Alex and Sam) were good to say the least. The performances weren't groundbreaking or Oscar worthy, but they did project the story and made me very invested in the film and what was going to happen to these two characters. The plot of the film is complicated, I wouldn't say it's David Lynch complicated but I would say that your brain has to be turned on when watching the film.

A couple of flaws I had with the film was some of the acting. At times I felt that the performances got overly cheesy or dramatic. And the other flaw I had with the film was that I felt it took itself a little too seriously. I do understand why it did but I just felt that the film could've been a little more loose and didn't have to make every scene so dramatic.

**SPOILERS** **SPOILERS** **SPOILERS** **SPOILERS** **SPOILERS**

If you're still reading this then you obviously saw the film. That's my last warning.

Now I'm just going to put it out there right away, the character of Sam is imagining everything that has to do with the character of Alex. Alex is nothing but Sam's imagination. Sam is trying to escape her past and live in the present so she can move forward in the future. By doing this she sees her therapist. Her therapist tells her that she's been doing a good job at "distracting" herself and "watching the television". TV plays a big role in the film. Obviously Sam is going through a lot of stress in her life and is possibly psychologically ill, which causes her to see the television show "Thieves AND Saints" which stars Alex as himself. Like her therapist said before, Alex is a "distraction" for Sam, which is why she's the only person who can see this show. Alex is a reflection of Sam.

When Alex first sees Sam on his television they both do the same movements and imitate one another. This happens with every time they see each other. To prove that Sam is imagining all of this, there's a scene in the film where she calls the writers of the television show "Thieves AND Saints". When she's forwarded to the writers all she hears is her voice over the phone saying exactly what she's saying. This proves that Alex's destiny and story is all because of Sam, and she can change it.

When the two characters try to meet in person on the bridge they both sit at the exact same spot. While this is happening Sam's therapist just so happens to be there and sits next to her. And at the same time Alex's boss just so happens to be there and sits next to him. This is Sam imagining herself as Alex, and imagining that her therapist is Alex's boss. Whenever the two characters try to meet in public they can never find each other because one lives in the physical world while the other lives inside someone's head.

The Mechanic very much resembles the character of the cowboy in "Mulholland Dr." (2001). The Mechanic resembles death or the devil. I'm not exactly sure what impact he had on the film but he added an extra layer of substance to this already complicated story.

The end of the film is pretty much Sam getting over her psychosis. The last thirty minutes of the film is Sam imagining all these crazy things happening. I personally think she was just sitting on her couch the entire time while all these insane things started to unfold. Just to put it out there Sam did not get hit by the car and is not dead. At the end when Alex and Sam finally come in contact with one another it symbolizes Sam coming to terms with her past and able to face the future. Both Alex and Sam are facing their past and are having a difficult time facing the future. The character of Alex has his violin of when he was a child. The last time Alex remembers having the violin is when his parents were killed in front of him. The violin is a metaphor or a symbol for Alex's past which he has such a hard time coming to terms with. During the climax of the film when Alex plays the violin he is coming to terms with his past. This causes Sam to come to terms with her past as well because Alex and Sam are the same person it's just that Sam is in control of how she will face her past.

This is simply my interpretation of the film so whatever I said may not mean jack to you. I do think "The Frame" is a film that should have more recognition. So go see it if you haven't already. Even though if you didn't watch the film and are still reading this then you just spoiled the movie for yourself.

"Warcraft" is directed by underrated director Duncan Jones, who brought us "Moon" (2009) and "Source Code" (2011). Both films are very underrated and so is "Warcraft".

I saw the movie yesterday with a friend and honestly I didn't know what to expect of it. Many critics were hating on the film but it was directed by Duncan Jones, so how bad could it really be? Walking out of the theater I was very satisfied with the movie.

Jones brings the Warcraft world to the big screen beautifully. I never got into the game and never even played it so I don't know a thing about the universe or the world itself. With "Warcraft" you don't have to know/play the game to enjoy the movie because Jones does such a good job bringing the universe to you and doesn't leave you hanging. Throughout the film I couldn't help but feel this "Lord of the Rings" (2001; 2002; 2003) kind of vibe.The film feels that way because the structure and the universe of the film very well resembles that of "The Lord of the Rings". One thing I must say is that the motion capture and CGI for the film is spectacular. Everything looks real and has beautiful detail.

The movie plays the clichéd romance which felt very cheesy considering that the two characters didn't have that much in common and it was truly just poor writing. At times you can see where the CGI and actors differ very drastically, but considering how great the movie looks with all this CGI you can't help but let it slide. There were times where I laughed/giggled at serious or dramatic moments in the film. It felt cheesy and kind of cringe worthy.

For a film to be called "Warcraft" you should expect a lot of combat and boy do you get it. I was actually surprised how violent the film was since it had a PG-13 rating. You see limbs get blown up and cut off, and bones being broken, and I love it. You feel the force and power that the film has during its combat scenes. At times I even did an "OOOHHH!" during a fight scene.

The performances in the film are good to say the least, they're nothing spectacular but they fit for the film itself. The protagonist of the film is a cool character who I enjoyed seeing on the screen but I couldn't help but feel that his character was very underdeveloped. Toby Kebbell who voiced the main orc of the film was by far the most interesting and relate-able character of the entire film; and he's not even human! You cared much for the character and what was going to happen to him.

The film has an issue with the human characters. Whenever we transition back to the humans I couldn't help but feel that the film slowed down drastically. The characters of the humans are very uninteresting and nothing new. Plus, they were at times boring. But whenever we went back to the orcs the film picked up its pace because the characters of the orcs are much more well developed, and they were simply more interesting than the humans. I cared much more about the orcs than the humans.

Overall "Warcraft" is a solid film by director Duncan Jones, but critics tend to disagree with a 27% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Honestly the critics got it wrong this time, I don't know why but they just did. If you're looking for a fun, harmless, Summer movie "Warcraft" is definitely the one to go see.

"Southland Tales" is Richard Kelly's follow up film to "Donnie Darko" (2001), which is considered the greatest cult film of all time. "Southland Tales" premiered at the 2006 Cannes International Film Festival, where it was met with heavily negative reviews but was nominated for the Palme d'Or. Kind of ironic.

"Southland Tales" is about Boxer Santaros (a movie celebrity who is married to Madeline Frost, the daughter of political candidate Senator Bobby Frost) who mysteriously returns from the desert to pursue his new screenplay "The Power", which he co-wrote with Krista Now (a porn star who hosts her own reality TV show which talks about "teen horniness", she also has an ability to tell the future, and has links with the secret underground group that call themselves the Neo Marxists). Ronald Taverner, an LAPD cop (who holds the secret behind a grand conspiracy, and also works with the Neo Marxists) plans to act as his twin brother Roland Taverner, (who is the actual cop, and is being held hostage by the Neo Marxists) to stage a double murder with Boxer Santaros accompanying him in an attempt to negatively affect Senator Bobby Frost's campaign and to destroy US IDENT (an organization that keeps everybody under surveillance 24/7. Which is also run by Bobby Frost's wife Nana Mae Frost). Pilot Abilene is an Iraqi war vet (who was severely injured in Iraq due to "friendly fire" by Ronald Taverner, who accidentally threw a grenade in his direction.) who was a movie star but was drafted to go off to Iraq to fight WW3. He now has a severely giant scar around his face from the "friendly fire" incident. Abilene now smuggles "straight up" Fluid Karma, (which is a new found power source found in the ocean just off the coast of Jerusalem, which serves as a global, wireless, fuel) which in this case is used as a drug that is injected into the neck which can make you "talk to God without even seeing him", or lip sinking to The Killers "All These Things That I've Done" while dancing with a dozen women dressed as Marilyn Monroe. Abilene is the narrator/ fortune teller/ God's point of view throughout the entire movie. He spends most of his time reading the Bible, specifically the Book of Revelations, which plays a major role in the story of the film. Finally there is Baron Von Westphalen, the discoverer and founder of Fluid Karma, who is also behind a top secret undercover science experiment run by Simon Theory (who is actually Kevin Smith).

The way to describe "Southland Tales" is the Kardashians meet "Donnie Darko" meet "Magnolia" (1999). Now I will be completely honest I did not like this film originally, this is a film you have to watch more than once to fully appreciate. Now I have read analyzed reviews of the film, which helped me understand the film the second time around. After watching it a handful of times I will openly admit that this is a great movie. I'd like to categorize this film under the "it's so good it's bad" category.

Kelly brought to life a work of pure originality and imagination, and was canned for it. "Southland Tales" is probably not if the most original film I've ever seen. What I don't like most about people who HATE this film is that they constantly say "I didn't understand it." Well guess what I didn't understand it at first and so did many other people. Nobody knew what "Mulholland Dr." (2001) was about when they saw it but it's considered a masterpiece,, people didn't and still don't understand "2001: A Space Odyssey", and it's considered one of the greatest films ever made. Just because you don't understand a film doesn't mean you have to hate on it. Look around the convoluted story and see the great acting, cinematography, and at times cheesy looking CGI. The thing with films that are so original and unique is that I can't hate them for being different and non-mainstream; that's why I appreciate/admire most of David Lynch's work, I may not like his films but I can't hate them for being so unique and original.

The thing with this film is that it just didn't find its audience. This film was so ahead of its time for 2006, until now in 2016 we can relate a lot to how our technology, politics, and society is just as crazy as it was in "Southland Tales". US IDENT sees everything and spies on people 24/7, much like how people can track our history and location with cameras and computer chips nowadays. This film's depiction of the future was completely spot on despite it not exactly happening in 2008.

One thing I must stress out is that there is a lot of footage that was cut from the movie to make it much shorter and less confusing, I'm all for that but Kelly and his editor took out a lot of important information from the film. For example the character of Simon Theory did not have an introduction in the film, he was just some guy in a wheelchair with a big beard. From the footage that was cut from the film he was introduced and you knew what purpose he had in the film besides being the Santa Clause version of Kevin Smith. General Teena MacArthur was a character that was cut completely from the film, and actually helped explain some things about US IDENT. And one other thing, what the hell is Curtis Armstrong and Jon Lovitz doing in this film!? I'm not saying they're bad actors, it's just that they barely played a significance in the film and I felt their talent was very underutilized.

Overall "Southland Tales" is one of the best worst films I've ever seen. I really don't suggest this film to people, I'll let you decide if you want to watch it or not.

What is there not to say about this film? "The Master", is directed by the great Paul Thomas Anderson, and stars Joaquin Phoenix, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Laura Dern, and many more talented individuals.

The film follows the character of Freddie Quell, a WWII veteran loner. In a cabbage field he is accused of poisoning a man's drink with his homemade booze and is chased out of the work reservation. All by himself he jumps onto a ship sailing out at sea that just so happens to be occupied by a cult ran by their Master, Lancaster Dodd. Quell and Dodd soon start to develop a relationship and Dodd accepts Quell as a member of his cult. With Quell's unpredictable behavior there's no telling if he's truly found a place to officially settle down.

"The Master" is quite possibly my favorite film from Paul Thomas Anderson, right next to "Inherent Vice" (2014), Magnolia (1999), and Hard Eight/Sydney (1996). When I first watched this film I honestly didn't get it and was quite disappointed. So I watched it again, and again, and again. Soon after over a dozen viewings of this film I can't help but just fall in love with it.

Joaquin Phoenix, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, give the best performances in their entire career, hands down, period! Now many people call "The Master" "that Scientology film." Yes, this film is loosely based on Scientology, you see throughout, but I'd like to shy away from that because this film is so much more than just to be known as "that Scientology film."

This is probably the most gorgeous looking film I've ever seen, I could believe if a theater showed this film in 3D because it's so damn beautiful. Paul Thomas Anderson makes films about characters who are separated or excluded from society, and this film demonstrates it so beautifully. Freddie Quell, is a WWII vet who can't function in a post war society due to his experiences in the war, and his own personal issues. Lancaster Dodd is the leader of a cult, and due to his beliefs he is excluded from society and by doing so he himself purposely excludes himself from society by sailing on his ship in the ocean.

"The Master" shows what war can do to a man who is already psychologically ill, and how it can completely change their behavior and decision making skills. The film also demonstrates living in a post war society, innovation, and sex addiction.

What really carries this film are the performances. Without these performances "The Master" would not be the film it is today. This film demands powerful performances because the script is so rich with detail and overall demands it. By far the best scene in the film is the "informal processing" scene. The reason why is because it features two of the greatest performances (Phoenix and Hoffman) brought to the big screen.

Now this film has a lot of deleted scenes that didn't make the final cut. You can see the outtakes on the special features of the film, or on video. The outtakes are presented as a 20 minute short film that pretty much tells a story within the outtakes themselves. But what I'm trying to get at is that this film should've been left completely unedited because each outtake goes in depth in the film's story, and in detail about Dodd's unpublished work, to Quell getting his jacket from "the Cause". If those scenes were kept in the film it would be better than it is as of right now.

I highly suggest any fan of Paul Thomas Anderson's to see this film, but I highly warn you, you might not understand the film and will need to watch it more than once. "The Master" is a beautifully directed, shot, and powerfully acted film that will be studied in film schools all around the world just like all of Kubrick's work. "The Master", is indeed a masterpiece.

"Spring Breakers" stars James Franco, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, and Rachel Korine. The film is directed by Harmony Korine, who brought us "Gummo" (1997), and "Trash Humpers" (2009).

The film is about these four girls in college who are planning on going on Spring break but due to money issues they are unable to go. The only solution these girls have is by robbing a diner, which they do. Once on Spring break they party, drink, and do drugs. One day they are arrested for possession of drugs/doing drugs. They are bailed out by Alien, who is a rapper, drug hustler, and arms dealer. Alien takes the girls under his wing to show them what Spring break is all about.

I'll be honest I was very surprised with this film, it was better than I'd expected. Harmony Korine is one of the most stylized and original directors in the film industry, the only thing is that all of his films receive average to negative reviews. With "Spring Breakers" he finally landed a film with enough positive criticism so he can finally be seen and heard.

"Spring Breakers" targets the youth of today's society, social media, art, and most of all Spring break. The very first minute of the film demonstrates what's later to come throughout the duration of this movie. The opening of this movie is a bunch of young men and women partying, and drinking on a beach. The thing that mostly affected me were what the people were doing and the way they were presented, they acted like barbaric animals, it definitely demonstrated what Spring break is all about within just one minute.

James Franco gives the best performance of his entire career so far in this film, I'm very surprised he did not get an Oscar nomination for his transformative role as this gross and disgusting human being. The film looks beautiful, if you love neon lighting this movie is for you. This movie should've been called "Neon Porn" instead.

Throughout the film you wonder what more trouble are these girls going to get into next and it just keeps getting worse. This film demonstrates very poor decision making from the younger generation. But hey, they want to party and do tons of illegal activities! Who can blame them!? (Being sarcastic).

A couple of issues I have with the film is that it has a lot of female nudity. Now I have nothing against the female body but I felt that it was just a distraction from the film's story and heavily exploited women . Now if I was twelve years old and saw this film I wouldn't have had a problem with it. The film is very repetitive with its dialogue, the characters will say the same thing multiple times, and it gets very distracting. The first 20 or 30 minutes are pretty slow, and you're left waiting for when the film is ready to pick up. Once James Franco is on the screen the film is solid throughout.

One thing that I do like about this film is that it has a lot of literary devices in it. You have a lot of imagery, and foreshadowing. I didn't think this film would be so literary but it was and it surprised me a lot.

Overall "Spring Breakers" is a solid film by Harmony Korine, and demonstrates an interesting story about Spring break and all the things that can possibly go wrong with it. One thing I must point out is that this is a drama. For those of you who are looking for the next "American Pie" (1999), you're not going to find it with "Spring Breakers". Now if you don't like artsy films you will most likely not like this movie because it is very very artsy. Check out "Spring Breakers", it is better than what most people say it is, but hey I have my opinions and you have yours so see it if you want.

In the heart of Hollywood, Havana Segrand(Julianne Moore), an aging actress tries to play the role of a remake of a film her mother starred in. A mysterious girl named Agatha Weiss(Mia Wasikowska) comes to Hollywood on a convoluted, secret agenda. A masseuse for Hollywood celebrities Dr. Stafford Weiss(John Cusack), has a method of giving them therapeutic aid through strange exercises. Stanford's son Benjie(Evan Bird), is a child actor coming over drug addiction and starts to see the ghost of a girl he met in the hospital, also he's a little *beep* And a limo driver for celebrities whose name is Jerome(Robert Pattinson) tries to start a career in screen writing. In a nutshell "Maps to the Stars" is a celebrity drama about celebrities and a ghost story.

Directed by David Cronenberg, the film was in the running for the Palme d'Or at the 2014 Cannes International Film Festival. Cronenberg was definitely targeting an assault on Hollywood, and celebrities in general. While watching the film I asked myself,"Is this how Hollywood really is?" As a young 16 year old who wants to be a film director it gave me some chills up my spine. But does Cronenberg truly translate his "hate" towards Hollywood onto the screen. Truly I don't know.

The film in itself doesn't feel whole. There are some plot points that aren't explained thoroughly or just not explained at all. Wasikowska has the best performance in the film. No one does a bad job in the film, they're all good but the characters they portray are annoying, especially Moore's and Bird's characters. There are scenes in the film where it feels like a "why is this in the movie" moment. For example the character of Benjie is sitting with his other teen celebrity friends at a bar pretending to be drinking alcohol when it's truly soda in a glass with a lime on the rim. Anyway, as annoying as the characters are it completely threw me off when they were talking about crap. And I mean actual crap. These teens are talking about excrement, and as pointless as it sounds; is it showing how celebrities are? Are they so "bored" that they are reduced down to crap. Are celebrities so excluded from society that all they do is talk about pointless, senseless things that don't even matter, that's just sad and pathetic.

Robert Pattinson is very underutilized and his character is my favorite because he's the most normal out of everybody else, and he's barely in the movie! Cusack as Stafford was good, his character is also one of the most normal out of the film. His character though is a little off.

A major turn off in the film was in a specific scene. In this scene fire is utilized, and the fire is created by computer animation. It looked cheesy as hell, and definitely took away from a very disturbing moment. I highly doubt it but, did Cronenberg purposely want the fire to look fake? Maybe to say that Hollywood and big star celebrities are fake to the point of not even looking real.

Overall "Maps to the Stars" is not an awful movie it has a lot to say but is translated half hazardously onto the screen. Give it a watch it won't hurt.

In this Texas thriller we follow the character of James, a college dropout with no family, and Webb, a con who just got released from prison and has a debt to pay. The film starts off with James(Skyy Moore) coming home from college to come to his grandma's house to find her in the middle of a stroke and eventually die in the hospital. James meets with his grandmother's lawyer (Brady Coleman), who tells him that he has $85,000 of inheritance money and his grandmother's house and belongings. What can possibly go wrong? While at the same time Webb(James Landry Hébert), is released from prison and heads home to find his girlfriend Amy(Ashley Spillers), leave him and runs off with his $50,000. At the same time the neighbor next-door Dot(Beth Broderick), who teaches the 'two step' to school kids befriends James. Webb is met by his "boss" Duane(Jason Douglas), and finds out that he owes him $10,000 because Duane's been looking out for Webb while he was in prison. With a steep debt to pay Webb decides to do what he does best to get the money he owes. And so these two characters (Webb and James) intersect in each others lives that will change their lives forever.

"Two Step" is the directorial debut of Texas native Alex R. Johnson. The film premiered at the SXSW 2014 Film Festival, where it was met with positive critical acclaim. Sadly the film had a very minimal theatrical release in the middle of 2015, and will most likely not come out on DVD, or Blu-ray. It's a shame that the film didn't get the distribution that it deserved since it proved to be one of the best films of the year. (In my opinion it's my #1 film of 2015) Most people have never heard of this film due to the lack of distribution it had; I was fortunate enough to have amazon prime and was able to see this masterpiece and share it with my loving mother.

"Two Step" in my words is "Fargo in Texas", and I don't think I'm far off. You can see that Johnson was definitely inspired by the Coen Brothers , because it has that Coen Brothers vibe to it from the characters to the humor and to the violence. All the acting in the movie is amazing, there's no dull performance, or moment in the film. James Landry Hébert, as Webb, completely sold me, he had without a doubt the best performance of the entire film. Skyy Moore gives a boasting performance as James, and Jason Douglass (who's on The Walking Dead) gives a great performance as a gas n' go manager and part time criminal.

"Two Step" is a gripping movie that has you on the edge of your seat wondering what can possibly happen next. All the actors in the film are not major league actors which I love and I can't wait to see what they'll do next, especially Hébert. Alex R. Johnson is a new talent to look out for in the future and I can't wait to see what he'll do next. If you have amazon prime definitely check out "Two Step", it will be worth your while.

In 1996, "Fargo"; "Mission Impossible"; "Romeo + Juliet"; "The Rock"; and "Happy Gilmore" we're released and stole the year away from much smaller films such as "Hard Eight". This film was the directorial debut of independent director Paul Thomas Anderson.

The film stars Philip Baker Hall, as the character of Sydney, an old time gambler who lives off his winnings in casino hotels. One day Sydney runs into the character of John, played by John C. Reilly. John is a loner who went into Vegas to win some money to bury his recently deceased mother. Sydney feels pity towards John, and decides to teach him how to work the casino to his advantage and make money fast. Sydney eventually takes John under his wing, and treats him like a son. Two years pass and John befriends the mysteriously sinister Jimmy, played by Samuel L. Jackson, who knows a secret that can destroy Sydney and John's relationship. A local casino waitress Clementine, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, is going through personal troubles and has a friendly relationship with Sydney.

Many fans of P.T. Anderson who mostly know him for "Boogie Nights"(1997) and "There Will Be Blood"(2007) have never even heard of "Hard Eight", and it's a real shame. This film is in my opinion the most underrated film of 1996, and of the 1990s. "Hard Eight" gives a wonderfully crafted crime, casino thriller that never let's go of your attention.

Hall gives the best performance of his career as Sydney. The character of Sydney is very complicated but you can tell that this man has a very big hole in his heart and the people who fill that hole is John and Clementine. You understand the character of Sydney just by the way he dresses, the way he walks and talks, the food he eats, the way he takes his coffee, and how he smokes his cigarettes. In other words Sydney is a hard ass.

There are so many things you can talk about with "Hard Eight". Most movies that take place in a casino are very fast, and exciting; that is not the case with "Hard Eight". This film is very calm, and cool, and it's a beautiful contrast because a good portion of the film takes place in a casino. Anderson takes his time to tell a good story and make sure that his cinematography is on point.

My favorite scene of the film is the craps scene with the loud mouth Philip Seymour Hoffman facing off with the calm and cool Sydney. Hoffman makes all his screen time count in his two minutes in the film. Hoffman constantly harasses Sydney by talking about his sexuality, and calling him and "old timer". That scene makes me laugh every time I see it.

Anderson made the film for only 3 or 4 million and only grossed a little over $400,000; and that is a goddamn shame. Production for the film was dreadful for Anderson as it was just an uphill struggle just to make the film. Now it's not like Anderson is all innocent, he did some things.

"Hard Eight" is a film that people are just now discovering due to Anderson's bigger more well known films. I highly recommend YOU to see this film, it will not disappoint.

In this supernatural comedy drama we follow the character of David Wong(Chase Williams), who is white despite his last name. Wong tells us a riddle about an axe he used to kill a Neo Nazi, which will uncover the true meaning of the universe or something, this pretty much sets the mood for the entire movie(you have to see it to understand what I'm saying). After that things get more weird. Wong sits in a Chinese restaurant 'high on the sauce'. Soon a man named Arnie Blondestone(Paul Giamati) appears out of nowhere sitting in front of Wong. Arnie is a journalist who wants to hear David's story and possibly turn it into a book or small article. David tells the story about his friend John(Rob Mayes) and how one night after his band performs in the park, things get a little crazy, and people start to die due to "the sauce". Pretty much "the sauce" gives you out-of-body experiences by being able to tell the future, go to other worldly dimensions, alternate universes, etc. "John Dies at the End" is based on the novel of the same name, written by author David Wong. Huh- how ironic. The film premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, and was released in the United States a year later on January 2013. It was made for less than a million dollars which is very impressive because the special/visual effects, filming locations, sets, and cinematography look very good. But sadly the film grossed only 141,951 dollars in the box office. Now I personally love this movie, even though I don't fully understand it. All the performances in the film are strong and have an importance in the film. The comedy in the film made me laugh my ass off, this movie is very funny and doesn't take itself seriously, at moments in the film the characters will ask themselves "why am I doing this?" The film is directed by Don Coscarelli who brought us the infamous "Phantasm"(1979) and the cult film "Bubba Ho- Tep"(2002). Now I haven't had the honor to see both these films but I'd like to very much so. The way to explain "John Dies at the End" is The Twilight Zone meets Goosebumps. This film has so many original stories that they might as well should've made it into a TV series instead of a movie. The film currently holds a 61% on Rotten Tomatoes and has a 6.4 on IMDb. I honestly don't know why the film has such low positive scores, is it just me or did the critics get it wrong this time? "John Dies at the End" is without a doubt one of the most original movies I've ever seen and has enough dark humor and tripped up supernatural themes to make you want to try "the sauce" yourself. I highly suggest you to see "John Dies at the End", especially if you like Coscarelli's work and love sci-fi and horror films. Give it a viewing and you most likely won't be disappointed.