The Hollow Point

The Hollow Point stars Patrick Wilson, Lynn Collins, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, and Jim Belushi. It was released back in 2016 and was directed by Gonzalo López-Gallego who has a very limited filmography, but is probably best know for directing the 2011 sci-fi/ horror film Apollo 18.

The premise of this movie is that hollow point bullets are being smuggled into Mexico from the United States, by way of a desolate road out of a small border town. When the town's Sheriff (played by Patrick Wilson) starts to investigate he quickly finds himself in over his head. It turns out that the bullets are being sold to drug cartels and there is a relentless hitman (played by John Leguizamo) with a list of targets. 

I'm not going to say that is a great movie by any stretch but, I was fully engaged while watching it. I like a lot of the actors involved, and the story is a serviceable thriller. I do think that the first half of the film is a bit better than the second. As it went along it seemed to lose focus and it all lead to a lackluster conclusion. The film looks good and there is some slick cinematography but, the writing in my opinion is where this film suffers. The characters all felt pretty one dimensional and there's this odd recurring thing where anytime Patrick Wilson's character leaves a room, whoever he was talking to calls him an 'asshole'. Not to his face or in a confrontational way, they just kind of murmur it to themselves. Likewise, everyone keeps calling Ian McShane a 'dinosaur'. Sure, the man's in his 70's but, it just seems like lazy writing.

Overall, I thought The Hollow Point was pretty entertaining. It has it's problems and I wouldn't call it a 'must-see' but, it's alright.
2.5 out of 5.

The Infiltrator

This is going to be a short review, because this film may be one of the all-time 'Just OK' movies.

Based on true events, 2016's The Infiltrator is about a U.S. Customs Agent who goes undercover in an attempt to expose a money-laundering organization connected to infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar. The film features a pretty solid cast, highlighted by Bryan Cranston, and tells a interesting story. However, this is a movie that seems like it should have been a little better. As it is, while it's definitely not a bad movie, it feels a bit clunky at times.

Overall, this one is entertaining enough that you won't feel like you wasted 2 hours. That being said, it's also largely forgettable and just made me want to rewatch the 2017 Doug Liman film American Made. 

I give this one a 3 out of 5.

The Legend of Tarzan

Directed by David Yates (who's best known for directing a handful of Harry Potter films), The Legend of Tarzan was released in 2016. I didn't initially see this one in the theaters and I guess I'm not alone there, as the film lost the studio an estimated $40 million. However, it wasn't because of lack of interest, I just never got around to it until now. The film has a pretty impressive cast, starring the likes of Alexander Skarsgard, Margot Robbie, Christoph Waltz, and Samuel L. Jackson. Also, much like films about King Arthur or Robin Hood, Tarzan movies always seem to sucker me in. 

This one starts of with Tarzan (played by Skarsgard), now going by his birth name John Clayton, living in England with his wife Jane (played by Robbie). All of Clayton's back story about his parents being killed, being raised by apes, meeting Jane, etc. is told through flashbacks. Of course, a film about a civilized Englishman who used to be known as 'Tarzan' isn't all that interesting, so there has to be some contrived reason for him to go back to Africa. King Leopold of Belgium has gone bankrupt attempting to build infrastructure in the Congo and has sent Captain Leon Rom (played by Waltz) to Africa in search of diamonds. There is a tribe in the Congo that knows where these diamonds are and their Chief is willing to give them to Rom under one condition: Rom needs to bring back Tarzan to answer for the death of the chief's son. That's the setup, it's pretty straight forward, this movie doesn't really contain any exciting twists or surprises. 

While I do like the cast and think the movie is fairly entertaining, I wouldn't call it 'good'. A lot of the special effects are subpar for a 2016 film that cost an estimated $180 million, and both the plot and dialogue feel a bit clunky at times. It's a shame that there hasn't been a really good Tarzan movie since the Johnny Weissmuller films of the 30's, but I suppose hope springs eternal.
I give The Legend of Tarzan a 2 out of 5.

I.T.

Today's movie is I.T., a thriller from 2016 that stars Pierce Brosnan and James Frecheville. The critical response to this movie wasn't all that good, as it currently holds a 9% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 5.4/10 on the IMDb. While I'm certainly not going to say the movie is great, I do think it's a little better than those scores would suggest.

The film is about a successful businessman named Mike Regan (played by Brosnan) who's in need of a little help with his state-of-the-art "smart-home". Later on, when an important presentation at the office starts to glitch, the new i.t. guy at the office named Ed (played by Frecheville) catches Mike's attention. So, Mike invites him over to his house for help. It becomes pretty obvious early on that Ed has some issues, as over the next few days he begins inviting himself over and stalking Mike's 17 year-old daughter. After Mike decides enough is enough he fires Ed, and this is what sets everything off. Ed has hacked into both Mike's house as well as his business, and he is determined to get revenge...

I've seen my fair share of these cat-and-mouse thrillers, and this one is far from the worst. It's a bit too formulaic and James Frecheville turns in a less than stellar performance. On the positive side, Brosnan is pretty good and I was never bored during the movie.

This one is a solid 2 out of 5.

Best of 2016

2016 has come to a close and, as with every year, there were plenty of great movies and disappointments to hit theaters.
 I originally thought about doing a sort of every-man version of the Oscars and pick my favorite actor, director, supporting actor, film score, etc. from this year, but I ended up with just too many categories. So, I decided to break it down into three categories that stood out to me after all my trips to the theater this year.

Best Comic Book Movie:

Captain America: Civil War

Comic Book movies get their own category because now more than ever before there is no shortage of action-packed hero flicks hitting the big screen every year. There was a lot to be excited about going into 2016, but i would say there were more negatives in this category than positives. Civil War was pretty awesome and Dr. Strange was good but, for me, movies like X-men: Apocalypse, Deadpool, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, and Suicide Squad either didn't live up to the hype or were flat-out disappointments. Some of these movies would have a good action scene or a fun character but Captain America: Civil War was thoroughly enjoyable and, as a result, was the one that really stood out from the rest of the pack.

Best Animated Movie:

Moana

Much like the Comic Book category this wasn't a close call for me. It had been a while since an animated film came around that I absolutely loved, and then Disney's Moana came out. I wasn't the biggest Finding Nemo fan so I didn't expect Finding Dory to thrill me,and it didn't. I found Trolls hard to sit through, Storks was funny, I didn't even get through all of Secret Life of Pets, Zootopia didn't really move the needle for me, I skipped out on yet another Ice Age sequel... Moana was the only one that really had me entertained, and I even went back to see it a second time.

Best Thing I wasn't Expecting:

Hacksaw Ridge

There were a quite a few movies I really enjoyed this year that caught me off guard. I was surprised how much I liked The Jungle Book remake, but the toss up was really between Hacksaw Ridge and In a Valley of Violence. Both were films that weren't even on my radar until right before they came out, and I thought both were really entertaining. In this category, I give the edge to Hacksaw Ridge because I think it's a bit of a better all-around film but I do recommend checking out both of them if you have the opportunity. (Here are links to both reviews Hacksaw Ridge, In a Valley of Violence)
As a bit of a side note: One movie that wasn't quite as good as I was expecting was Rob Zombie's 31. I liked it but it didn't blow me away.

  A big thanks to everyone who has been reading my reviews this year.

Have a movie recommendation for me to check out in 2017?
Leave it in comments below.

Today's Movie: True Memoirs of an International Assassin (2016)

 True Memoirs of an International Assassin is a new Netflix original movie starring Kevin James. Overall, I like Kevin James but have frequently been underwhelmed by his movies, so my expectations were not high going into this one.

Kevin James plays Sam Larson, an amateur author who's fictional novel, 'The Memoirs of an International Assassin', accidentally gets published as a non-fiction titled 'The True Memoirs of an International Assassin' and he is soon mistaken for an actual assassin. That's the basic setup. Shortly after, Sam gets abducted by some rebels that want him to kill the President of Venezuela. 

While in Venezuela he meets and teams up with a DEA agent named Rosa who needs Sam's help on a mission to take down the President and a Russian drug lord. Of course, both of these men want the other dead and they want Sam, who they think is an assassin, to do it. This leads to a series of twists and turns, with some funny lines scattered throughout, and Sam ultimately having the kind of adventure he thought he'd only ever write about.

 Surprisingly, this action comedy wasn't half bad. It's predictable but fun. I wouldn't call it a great film by any means, but it was at least entertaining and maybe Kevin James' best to date. I definitely, found it more enjoyable than some other of James' movies like 2009's Paul Blart: Mall Cop or 2011's Zookeeper.

Overall, I give this one a 2.5 out of 5.

Have a suggestion for a review?

Leave it in the comments below.

Animation Double Feature

I don't often review animated films, but I have two recent releases for this entry: Storks and Trolls. 

First let's take a look at Storks. 

This one mixes solid fast-paced animation with some fun characters. The movie throws what feels like a million jokes at you, but not all of them hit their mark. Overall, while Storks isn't spectacular or groundbreaking, it is an entertaining family flick. 

I give it a 3 out of 5.

Next up, Trolls. 

Colors! Yea sure it lacks a decent story, and developed characters, and clever humor, and the musical numbers add little to nothing to the plot... But at least it's bright. I'd recommend skipping this one. It's a straight-to-DVD quality movie that somehow got a big screen release.

I give this one a 0 out of 5.

Have a suggestion for a review? 

Leave it in the comments below.