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Phillip McSween (751 KP) rated The Grinch (2018) in Movies
Apr 13, 2020
A Quick Story That Doesn't Linger
A retelling of an old classic, The Grinch is the story of a cranky green curmudgeon hell bent on destroying Christmas.
Acting: 10
Beginning: 10
Characters: 10
What’s a great Grinch movie without the star of the show being an awesome character you love to hate? I loved his story that touched a bit on his history and what made him the character he became. The supporting cast adds more excellence to the movie, but it would be nothing overall without the green guy. The movie captures exactly how mean he is like when he knocks down a kid’s snowman or puts something out of reach for a group of old ladies.
The side characters were something to love which added to the film’s originality. I loved the goat and the reindeer as well as his trusted dog Max. Cindy Lou was just the cutest.
Cinematography/Visuals: 10
Conflict: 6
The conflict is there, but there is a bit of detraction having heard and seen this tale before. You kind of know what’s going to happen and would be very surprised if the Grinch didn’t end up turning over a new leaf by the end of it. The Who’s aren’t going to lose Christmas and we know it’s only a matter of time before everyone is happy again. Still, it was fun watching everything unfold again.
Entertainment Value: 6
The Grinch does have its merits of originality, but you can’t help but feel like you’ve seen this all before just in a different packaging. It is still funny, endearing, and touching even though it can be a bit repetitive at times.
Memorability: 9
Pace: 10
Plot: 10
Resolution: 6
Overall: 87
Yes The Grinch is a borrowed story, but I loved what Universal Pictures did with this movie. With beautiful animations and sweet story, this movie is definitely worth incorporating into the rotation. I highly recommend it.
Acting: 10
Beginning: 10
Characters: 10
What’s a great Grinch movie without the star of the show being an awesome character you love to hate? I loved his story that touched a bit on his history and what made him the character he became. The supporting cast adds more excellence to the movie, but it would be nothing overall without the green guy. The movie captures exactly how mean he is like when he knocks down a kid’s snowman or puts something out of reach for a group of old ladies.
The side characters were something to love which added to the film’s originality. I loved the goat and the reindeer as well as his trusted dog Max. Cindy Lou was just the cutest.
Cinematography/Visuals: 10
Conflict: 6
The conflict is there, but there is a bit of detraction having heard and seen this tale before. You kind of know what’s going to happen and would be very surprised if the Grinch didn’t end up turning over a new leaf by the end of it. The Who’s aren’t going to lose Christmas and we know it’s only a matter of time before everyone is happy again. Still, it was fun watching everything unfold again.
Entertainment Value: 6
The Grinch does have its merits of originality, but you can’t help but feel like you’ve seen this all before just in a different packaging. It is still funny, endearing, and touching even though it can be a bit repetitive at times.
Memorability: 9
Pace: 10
Plot: 10
Resolution: 6
Overall: 87
Yes The Grinch is a borrowed story, but I loved what Universal Pictures did with this movie. With beautiful animations and sweet story, this movie is definitely worth incorporating into the rotation. I highly recommend it.
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Darren (64 KP) rated Any Which Way You Can (1980) in Movies
Nov 1, 2019
Right Turn Clyde
Contains spoilers, click to show
This was the first film i ever rented as a kid from the video shop. I was 5 at the time and the cover just drew me to it. My mum bless her let me have this and The Snowman. That was way back in 1985 and i have never lost any love for it.
Clint stars as Philo Bedo a bare knuckle brawler who has decided after his last fight (Which he easily wins) Enough is enough and he no longer wants to fight as, He is getting to enjoy the pain a little too much. When he is offered $25,000 by Patrick Scarfe ( Michael Cavanaugh) to fight Jack Wilson played by B movie great William Smith, Philo finds the offer to tempting to resist and accepts. Meanwhile, Lynn Halsey Taylor (Sondra Locke) returns to town and plays at the local bar in an attempt to reconcile with Philo, who she betrayed in the first film. Add to this, The Black Widows, the notorious and bumbling local biker gang, plan revenge on Philo for previous misdeeds from the first film.
When circumstances lead Philo to reconcile with Lynn, She and Philo's half brother Orville (Geoffrey Lewis) find out that Jack has killed a guy in his previous fight leading no one wanting to fight him. After much pressure, Philo decides not to fight and attempts to give the money back but Scarfe and his partner James Beekman ( Harry Guardino) won't take no for an answer and have Lynn kidnapped so that Philo has no choice but to fight.
Wilson finds out about this and helps Philo get Lynn back with both of them taking down a Beekmans mob guys.. When the fight is called off again because of the under handed tactics of Scarfe and Beekman, Pride between Philo and Wilson makes them wonder who would of won the fight?
Knowing it can't end how it is, Bedo and Wilson have a wild fight through the streets of Jackson to find out, Just who is the best between them.
Clint stars as Philo Bedo a bare knuckle brawler who has decided after his last fight (Which he easily wins) Enough is enough and he no longer wants to fight as, He is getting to enjoy the pain a little too much. When he is offered $25,000 by Patrick Scarfe ( Michael Cavanaugh) to fight Jack Wilson played by B movie great William Smith, Philo finds the offer to tempting to resist and accepts. Meanwhile, Lynn Halsey Taylor (Sondra Locke) returns to town and plays at the local bar in an attempt to reconcile with Philo, who she betrayed in the first film. Add to this, The Black Widows, the notorious and bumbling local biker gang, plan revenge on Philo for previous misdeeds from the first film.
When circumstances lead Philo to reconcile with Lynn, She and Philo's half brother Orville (Geoffrey Lewis) find out that Jack has killed a guy in his previous fight leading no one wanting to fight him. After much pressure, Philo decides not to fight and attempts to give the money back but Scarfe and his partner James Beekman ( Harry Guardino) won't take no for an answer and have Lynn kidnapped so that Philo has no choice but to fight.
Wilson finds out about this and helps Philo get Lynn back with both of them taking down a Beekmans mob guys.. When the fight is called off again because of the under handed tactics of Scarfe and Beekman, Pride between Philo and Wilson makes them wonder who would of won the fight?
Knowing it can't end how it is, Bedo and Wilson have a wild fight through the streets of Jackson to find out, Just who is the best between them.
Everyday Bento: 50 Cute and Yummy Lunches to Go
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"[Everyday Bento] is packed with ideas for fun, delicious lunches."--AlphaMom.com Your kids will...
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Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Wind River (2017) in Movies
Sep 29, 2021
Survive or Surrender.
Of all of the movie released I missed during 2016 (typically due to work commitments) this one was one near the top of my list. I’m a fan of both Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen, and the setting and story to this one really appealed.
And now I’ve caught up with it, I am not disappointed… certainly one that would have muscled its way well into my top 20 of last year.
Wind River is an Indian reservation in Wyoming (although its filmed in Utah). Natalie (Kelsey Asbille), a young Indian teen, is found in the snow raped and murdered by local tracker Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner, “Arrival“, “Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation“). The local police, led by Ben (Graham Greene), are surprised when a passionate but naive young FBI officer – Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen, “Avengers: Age of Ultron“) – arrives out of a blizzard without remotely sensible clothing. So begins an investigation into who committed the crime, where local knowledge and skills are more applicable than all the CSI-knowhow in the world.
Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) and Ben (Graham Greene) get to work.
This film is everything “The Snowman” should have been and wasn’t. At its heart, there are some memorable relationships established. Gil Birmingham (so good as Jeff Bridges’ right-hand man in “Hell or High Water“) plays Natalie’s dad, grieving and railing against all outsiders other than Cory, who he has a deep and close relationship with. For Cory has a back-story that goes beyond just him marrying into (and now separated from) Wilma (Julia Jones), a woman from the reservation.
Cowboys and Indians. Cory (Jeremy Renner) and Martin (Gil Birmingham) having a deep and moving discussion.
Cory himself has a role that is deep and multi-layered, and Renner is the perfect choice for it (although many scenes could have been cut and spliced into this from his – I thought really strong – Bourne spin-off “The Bourne Legacy”!). Here he has both action scenes and raw emotional scenes to tackle, and although perhaps he doesn’t quite pull off the latter to perfection, he comes pretty close.
“Do you wanna build a snowman?”. Cory is about to make a grim discovery.
Elizabeth Olsen – who seriously deserves more meaty roles like this – plays a ‘flibbertigibbet’ girl (there’s an old word that needs more airtime!) who turns out to have real internal steel. Yet another admirable female role model. #She-do!
The film also paints a vivid and intolerable picture of the dead-end nature of reservation life for many, with poor decisions as a teen (and we’ve all made those) here not being forgiven for the rest of your life.
Written and directed by Taylor Sheridan, who also wrote “Sicario“, “Hell or High Water” and the soon to appear Sicario sequel, “Soldado”, pens some fine and memorable dialogue. “Shouldn’t we wait for some backup?” asks Banner. Ben replies “This isn’t the land of backup. This is the land of you’re on your own”. It’s a film with useful tips as well, like NEVER, EVER go for a run in seriously sub-zero temperatures! (As I’m penning this review in sub-zero Canada at the moment, this is timely advice. #skiptheruntoday.) Sheridan won a Cannes Film Festival award as director for this, but arguably it’s a shame the script has been largely overlooked for the major awards so far.
And that land is one of the stars of the film as well. Filmed around the town of Park City in Utah, it’s gloriously snowy countryside with impressive mountain scenery.
Bleak but impressive, Utah is one of the stars.
My only quibble with the movie is that there are some elements of the plot that don’t quite gel properly. At various times, the heavens open and it buckets down – and I mean buckets down – with snow that must add inches to the landscape in minutes. And yet Cory can still point out tracks in the snow that were made days before? Huh? Also (without spoilers) some elements of communications are also conveniently unreliable when they need to be.
Will this be for everyone? While I commented that the excellent “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing.Missouri” (which shares similar background subject matter) did NOT have flashback scenes to the rape, this film does go there, and so might be upsetting for some viewers.
Girl in Trouble. Kelsey Asbille plays the victim Natalie.
But it’s a high-class, intelligent crime thriller that takes “Mexican standoff” to a whole new level. Recommended.
And now I’ve caught up with it, I am not disappointed… certainly one that would have muscled its way well into my top 20 of last year.
Wind River is an Indian reservation in Wyoming (although its filmed in Utah). Natalie (Kelsey Asbille), a young Indian teen, is found in the snow raped and murdered by local tracker Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner, “Arrival“, “Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation“). The local police, led by Ben (Graham Greene), are surprised when a passionate but naive young FBI officer – Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen, “Avengers: Age of Ultron“) – arrives out of a blizzard without remotely sensible clothing. So begins an investigation into who committed the crime, where local knowledge and skills are more applicable than all the CSI-knowhow in the world.
Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) and Ben (Graham Greene) get to work.
This film is everything “The Snowman” should have been and wasn’t. At its heart, there are some memorable relationships established. Gil Birmingham (so good as Jeff Bridges’ right-hand man in “Hell or High Water“) plays Natalie’s dad, grieving and railing against all outsiders other than Cory, who he has a deep and close relationship with. For Cory has a back-story that goes beyond just him marrying into (and now separated from) Wilma (Julia Jones), a woman from the reservation.
Cowboys and Indians. Cory (Jeremy Renner) and Martin (Gil Birmingham) having a deep and moving discussion.
Cory himself has a role that is deep and multi-layered, and Renner is the perfect choice for it (although many scenes could have been cut and spliced into this from his – I thought really strong – Bourne spin-off “The Bourne Legacy”!). Here he has both action scenes and raw emotional scenes to tackle, and although perhaps he doesn’t quite pull off the latter to perfection, he comes pretty close.
“Do you wanna build a snowman?”. Cory is about to make a grim discovery.
Elizabeth Olsen – who seriously deserves more meaty roles like this – plays a ‘flibbertigibbet’ girl (there’s an old word that needs more airtime!) who turns out to have real internal steel. Yet another admirable female role model. #She-do!
The film also paints a vivid and intolerable picture of the dead-end nature of reservation life for many, with poor decisions as a teen (and we’ve all made those) here not being forgiven for the rest of your life.
Written and directed by Taylor Sheridan, who also wrote “Sicario“, “Hell or High Water” and the soon to appear Sicario sequel, “Soldado”, pens some fine and memorable dialogue. “Shouldn’t we wait for some backup?” asks Banner. Ben replies “This isn’t the land of backup. This is the land of you’re on your own”. It’s a film with useful tips as well, like NEVER, EVER go for a run in seriously sub-zero temperatures! (As I’m penning this review in sub-zero Canada at the moment, this is timely advice. #skiptheruntoday.) Sheridan won a Cannes Film Festival award as director for this, but arguably it’s a shame the script has been largely overlooked for the major awards so far.
And that land is one of the stars of the film as well. Filmed around the town of Park City in Utah, it’s gloriously snowy countryside with impressive mountain scenery.
Bleak but impressive, Utah is one of the stars.
My only quibble with the movie is that there are some elements of the plot that don’t quite gel properly. At various times, the heavens open and it buckets down – and I mean buckets down – with snow that must add inches to the landscape in minutes. And yet Cory can still point out tracks in the snow that were made days before? Huh? Also (without spoilers) some elements of communications are also conveniently unreliable when they need to be.
Will this be for everyone? While I commented that the excellent “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing.Missouri” (which shares similar background subject matter) did NOT have flashback scenes to the rape, this film does go there, and so might be upsetting for some viewers.
Girl in Trouble. Kelsey Asbille plays the victim Natalie.
But it’s a high-class, intelligent crime thriller that takes “Mexican standoff” to a whole new level. Recommended.
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Create photo frames for Thanksgiving, Christmas, new year, love & birthday more Photo Montages for...
Phillip McSween (751 KP) rated Office Christmas Party (2016) in Movies
Oct 13, 2018
Fun Holiday Film
A Branch Manager of a struggling tech company looks to throw the mother of all parties to help recruit a major client. He has to do it under the nose of his jerk sister who is the CEO of the company.
Acting: 10
Stellar cast all around, each of them bringing a different type of hilarity to the film. Kate McKinnon is my personal favorite, playing the role of Office Manager Mary Winetoss. Her against-the-grain role makes you cringe and laugh at the same time.
Jennifer Aniston plays Carol Vanstone, the CEO you love to hate. Aniston, typically an innocent good girl, is actually quite good at being bad. One scene in particular has her squaring up with a little girl in a lounge and it’s easily one of the best parts of the film.
Beginning: 7
Pretty plain lift-off as you are introduced to the majority of the players in the film. It’s not the greatest start, but it still has its moments. Ten minutes was enough to make me want to see more.
Characters: 10
Office Christmas Party would fall short without hilarious characters like Vanstone and Winetoss. They keep the narrative interesting and the party entertaining. There’s random cameos, a crazy black DJ, and a nutty pimp. This film has it all!
Cinematography/Visuals: 10
Conflict: 4
Easily one of the film’s weak spots. The film’s goal is to throw a huge party for a potential client and hope the CEO doesn’t find out. When you think about it, there’s not too much room for conflict here, at least not enough to raise concern. If you go into the film with that in mind, you’ll have a much better time.
Genre: 8
Memorability: 6
There are quite a few fun moments that ultimately save the film. They don’t hit you like machine gun fire, rather they are more sporadic hence the lower score. I did walk away with some good quotable lines that cracked me up (“Something’s happening in my diaper"!).
Pace: 5
Plot: 8
Resolution: 6
Overall: 74
As I’m sitting here watching Olivia Munn and Jason Bateman do their dance routine in giant snowman costumes, I can’t help but think that a few tweaks here and there could have really made this film a classic. I enjoyed Office Christmas Party and have no problem adding it to my holiday rotation. If you’re looking to expand out of the feel good, innocent Christmas films of the year, this definitely one to check out.
Acting: 10
Stellar cast all around, each of them bringing a different type of hilarity to the film. Kate McKinnon is my personal favorite, playing the role of Office Manager Mary Winetoss. Her against-the-grain role makes you cringe and laugh at the same time.
Jennifer Aniston plays Carol Vanstone, the CEO you love to hate. Aniston, typically an innocent good girl, is actually quite good at being bad. One scene in particular has her squaring up with a little girl in a lounge and it’s easily one of the best parts of the film.
Beginning: 7
Pretty plain lift-off as you are introduced to the majority of the players in the film. It’s not the greatest start, but it still has its moments. Ten minutes was enough to make me want to see more.
Characters: 10
Office Christmas Party would fall short without hilarious characters like Vanstone and Winetoss. They keep the narrative interesting and the party entertaining. There’s random cameos, a crazy black DJ, and a nutty pimp. This film has it all!
Cinematography/Visuals: 10
Conflict: 4
Easily one of the film’s weak spots. The film’s goal is to throw a huge party for a potential client and hope the CEO doesn’t find out. When you think about it, there’s not too much room for conflict here, at least not enough to raise concern. If you go into the film with that in mind, you’ll have a much better time.
Genre: 8
Memorability: 6
There are quite a few fun moments that ultimately save the film. They don’t hit you like machine gun fire, rather they are more sporadic hence the lower score. I did walk away with some good quotable lines that cracked me up (“Something’s happening in my diaper"!).
Pace: 5
Plot: 8
Resolution: 6
Overall: 74
As I’m sitting here watching Olivia Munn and Jason Bateman do their dance routine in giant snowman costumes, I can’t help but think that a few tweaks here and there could have really made this film a classic. I enjoyed Office Christmas Party and have no problem adding it to my holiday rotation. If you’re looking to expand out of the feel good, innocent Christmas films of the year, this definitely one to check out.
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