A Quiet Place

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Directed by: John Krasinski
Written by: John Krasinski · Bryan Woods · Scott Beck
Gross Revenue: $154 mil

    Let's hear it for (Jim) I mean John Krasinski! This was a tense nail-biter that honestly took me by surprise and knocked me off my feet.  Let me say first that I am not that fond of the coveted horror genre. I can do without the gore and the sheer predictability of it all.  However, this movie was more so not about the monsters themselves but about the family and their ability to stay alive which I love. 

     If it was all about the ugly creatures I surely wouldn't have been so impressed. Which yes, I was as well as so many others astonished by this exceptional story and the execution of it. John has done an amazing job with this fantastic soundscape for the eyes. It takes a massive amount of skill to capture a film such as this.  From the body language to the facial expressions to the intensity of the environment. It all had me vibrating with anxiety. It is rare that I find myself yelling in my head at the characters in a thriller such as this, but I was. 

     It was one of those "skin of your teeth" movies and I enjoyed every bit of it. I found myself wanting to talk for them all and to just scream in terror for them!

Ready Player One

⭐⭐⭐⭐



Directed By: Steven Spielberg
Written by:  Ernest Cline · Zak Penn
Gross revenue: $393 mil

    

"This is hardest movie I've done since Saving 

               Private Ryan"

                                               - Steven Spielberg

       I admire Spielberg's honesty, watching the movie I can understand his resolve.Ready Player One is absolutely breathtaking in terms of visuals and detail. Never to have read the book, I can't do the whole book vs. movie thing, though even if I did I wouldn't have done that. People who do the book and adaption run-over full of trigger remarks are always misguided in my opinion. Expecting a film adaption to showcase every bit of a book is like squeezing a rock and expecting water to be expelled from it. Anyway, the adventure of it all, the fantasy of it all, and  the fact that I wished the whole thing were real is what pulled me in and didn't let go until the credits. I am not really a fan of Young Adult tales, be it film or literary I just find it most of the time, bland and uneventful. However, I am very much into video games and most indeed pop culture! However, Following an  18 year old orphan around while he searched for clues in a virtual game, set in 2045 with the "love interest" was not my idea of a good time. Then I thought to myself  "it is a Spielberg film" in a nut shell he sold me on taking a chance to see it. OOOHHH boy am I so relieved that I took that chance, because I was in another realm of bliss with this one.


       Talk about non stop fun and adventure, which I do most certainly love in a film. I feel if this had moved slower it wouldn't have worked so well. There have been complaints with the pacing but I don't have a problem with it. I've learned that when it comes to animation a slower pacing is not a good thing. At least not for me. I will not say there weren't a few bits I could have done without "love interests" in some films make me grind my teeth and this is one of them. Not only was it annoying and shallow, but his love was expressed prematurely and in the most unstimulating way possible. I just felt like it whole heartily didn't belong. I also felt the antagonist wasn't too much of a threat, but that can be looked over by how awesome everything else is. There has also been a bit of shade thrown at RPO due to its use of references. Some have went so far as to say it's just riding on the cat tails of the films they're mentioning. Uhm, how is that possible? AND WHERE?!  If anything I see homages and a massive amount of admiration, I see nothing to the affect of mimicking anyone's films. Honestly the moments they are speaking of were great, I mean the DeLorean alone was a must watch moment. I thought it was the dopest tribute to BTTF I've ever seen.

       Some would say this isn't the best Spielberg had to offer but I beg to differ, aside from what you all choose to say what coulda, shoulda, woulda been done. I say, see what he DID do, I mean this man was an innovator and will be a legend for eons. Though this movie was tough for him, he put all he had into it and you could tell, he spent 3 hours 3 times a week with ILM crafting this beautiful movie for us all. This was no easy feat and it still came out amazing and full of life just as all of his films do. You can tell in certain films that passion and hard work were the reason for the remarkable feature you're witnessing. I for one am happy I went with my gut and watched this movie, it an unbelievable world that I will visit over and over again.

Phantom Thread

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson
Written by: Paul Thomas Andersom
Gross Revenue: $32.8 mil





      Please bare with me because I am still trying to digest what I just saw. I truly believe I should view it a second time before I review it but screw it, I'm gonna just go for it here. After seeing one stellar review after another for  Phantom Thread I decided what the hell Ill give it a shot. Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Thomas Anderson are my only reasons for even considering this film, I mean I'd never even seen the trailer. He engulfs himself in a role and doesn't come up for air until the final shot. I am ever so grateful for that, because his roles are always amazing and potent almost to a point the entire movie no longer matters, at least that's what happens to me when I see him on screen.

    Now, I hate to sound like another PTA groupie because I mean people worship the ground he walks on, I feel like a cornball being one of them but the man is a genius. Not only can he write a fantastic screenplay but his films are beautiful. Frame after frame is nothing short of perfect, but what else can you expect from the man who gave us There Will Be Blood? That movie put me in a state of lustful passion when I saw it and Phantom Thread was along the same lines. The shots held my attention, the dialogue was  intriguing, the score was beautiful and fit so unbelievably well. The thing is though, I wanted more, I know! I sound like a sniveling, snot nosed brat but I did. I feel like a horrible human being saying this, I truly do.The movie was intimate, very well made and in a way a character study, it had a lot less then what I desired to see between them both.

      The dynamic between Reynolds, Alma and Cyril is what kept me in it and is why my complaint is minuscule compared to the level of adoration I have for this film. My thoughts on Phantom Thread at about an hour and a half in began to change due to the amazing turn of events that not even I saw coming, and for me that took this movie to a whole other level. Call it a twist of sorts if you will, and everyone loves a good twisty end. This was a great love story that wasn't your cookie cutter, run of the mill romance, the people are flawed and everyone understands that from the very beginning. This wasn't a romance seen through "rose colored glasses"  it was real and uncomfortable at times. Mushy "too good to be true" romances make my stomach churn. Phantom Thread is what most real love stories look like, and that is another reason Paul Thomas Anderson is an astonishing filmmaker.