Author Archives: John

I wanted to see an action flic, where I could shut the brain off and let the movie just happen.  

This movie delivered it all in spades.

It was an adrenaline rush from beginning to the end. Even with disasters, all the impossible situations manage to fix themselves miraculously. Again, I was here just for the entertainment, not to analyze it or pick it apart.

If you love plane disaster movies, this is the one to see. Not an Oscar contender but well worth the popcorn.

My wife has been suggesting I read the book that turned into this movie.  Her book club loved it.  Being  fan of Tom Hanks, I didn’t need any convincing to see this movie. 

This was a great movie.  It followed the story of how a very grumpy man who was so sad after his wife died, that he no longer wanted to live.  All his attempts to end his life failed.  Meeting a new family in his cul de sac helped him find a purpose in life.

I thought this was going to be a real depressing film.  It was a sad film but it was also very funny.  Tom Hanks played this role perfectly.  Despite his cold hard exterior, he was a beautiful kind person inside.

After dealing with a number a grumpy clients on the phone, this was a perfect movie to end the day. I have to remember that we can’t always know the reason behind why people are so acting that way. 

Wow I have seen a lot of 5 popcorn bag movies recently .. this one is no exception.

 

I wanted to see this movie ever since I had read the many accolades about Brendan Fraser’s amazing come back. I loved all his earlier movies…the Mummy times three, George of the Jungle. His previous roles were always on the “light” side. This long awaited return, is far from anything he was in before.

I loved this film. Definitely not an action flic, nor a happy one. The plot was simple. We knew from the start how it was going to end. Getting there introduced us to the depth of main character’s life. As well, we got into the lives of those that surrounded him.

I kept thinking throughout the movie that I was watching a play. The whole movie took place in one apartment. No where else with exception of a few flash backs. Seeing the credits at the end of the film, it identified that yes this movie was based on the original play.

You are easily drawn into the characters. This movie isn’t for everybody as seen by only a few of us invested.  I would rate this movie as one of the best I have seen in long time. 

It kind of sucks that there hasn’t been any great releases of movies since Avatar showed up. I will admit it was good timing for James Cameron, and it makes you wonder if all the studios were in on it.

Saw this flick advertised in December and it looked interesting. I am a big fan of Olivia Coleman. She is a great actress and after seeing her in this movie, she should get an Oscar node. I do see that she got the Golden Globe nod.  

In my mind I thought this was going to be more of a love story. It was a story of a lonely women who struggles with mental health and how she interacted with the world around her. You start to feel sorry for her, and only wished that something good would happen in her life.  

It shows how some people hide what is going on in their lives and how important it is that we watch out for each other.

I enjoyed this movie. It had kind of an “indie flick”, where I often find the best movies.

It has been awhile since I did a movie review. I got lazy, but still was seeing some great movies. I apologize for not sharing them with you.

I picked a good movie to start again.  

I remember seeing the first Avatar movie ion a cold winter night in Winnipeg way back in December 2009. I really enjoyed the first movie and long anticipated a sequel.

For some reason there was not a lot of previews for this one. Just a very short trailer in the theatre. So there was a lot of mystery of how this one was going to play out.  All I knew going in was there was a lot of water scenes, and it was 3 hours and 13 minutes long. Yikes

The good news, I didn’t even notice the length of this film. In one word this movie is FANTASTIC!  

One of best 3D movies I’ve seen in a long time. Everything seemed to be so real. The scenes were remarkably colourful and vivid.

This flic picked up effortlessly  from the first one.  It created a new story line that was easy to follow and left you always wanting more.

I kept thinking to myself, how the frick did they make these scenes look so real. Especially the ones in the water when they were riding some flying fish that could go in and out of the water. Absolutely incredible.

Not to spoil it but at the end there was some Titanic resemblance. 

The beauty of the whole film, was how one family got accepted into a brand new society. This did so without any hatred, shunning or violence. 

I easily give this film 5 full popcorn bags. I highly recommend though, that you see it on the big screen. Don’t wait to watch this one on your tv, no matter how large it is. This movie needs the full 3D experience.

 

 

I was excited for Canada’s national cinema day that came with a 3 dollar per movie price tag. The main issue was I had seen all the blockbusters this summer so I had to do some digging for a movie that me and the Mrs could enjoy.  

I came across this movie in my search, that I had never heard of or even seen a preview of it. Rotten tomatoes positive and I am a big fan of Idris Elba. My wife even though it would be good.

Such a different movie. It felt like listening to an audible book. The story was actually really interesting. I got entranced by the story telling and I kept wanting to hear more. I was actually sad when it ended. Like any good book you want it to go on and on forever.

This is not an action flick for sure. It is one of those movies, yet, that will stay with you for a long time to come

Looking back at Brad Pitt’s list of movies, I couldn’t find any of them that I have ever disliked. So when I saw he was a lead actor in this film, I didn’t hesitate to buy my ticket

The previews of this flick did not do any justice. This is a great film. Full of drama, light laughs, action, plot twists, you name it, it had it all. It is very much worth the admission.  

The whole film takes place on one of the famous Japan bullet trains.  A train we had book to go on but had to cancel at the last minute because of the pandemic. Oh well, still on my bucket list. This film was one of the first films produced after a COVID standstill. For the majority of the movie, it seems like they had the whole train to themselves. Probably a good thing.

It was fun to see some cameos with Santa Bullock, and Canning Tatum. I understand there was some overlap with the filming of “The Lost City”. The overlap worked really well.

I would ignore the Rotten Tomato score on this one. 

As mentioned before in this blog, I am a huge Tom Hanks fan. (except for course Forrest Gump…sorry) So it was a no brainer that I wanted to see this film. And of course, I have always been a fan of Elvis.

The actor (Austin Butler) planning Elvis was new to me. I was worried about how he would portray the King of Rock’n Roll. There as so many Elvis impersonators and many of them aren’t that great. The good news, Austin did a fantastic job. He was so believable as the younger Elvis.  There was only one scene as the older, large size Elvis. Probably for the best as he looked fake.

This film concentrated on Elvis’s relationship with Colonel Tom Parker who became his manager. Mr. Parker was a carnie who’s goal in life seemed to be to “snow” somebody. He wanted to sell as many tickets for monetary gain. He did find his golden goose when he discover Elvis.

This is a real switch for Tom Hanks who often portrays the “good guy”. He impressed me on how he made viewers come to hate this character for what he did to Elvis.

This film was very artsy.  Lots of amazing scenes of modern versus old. It showed the deep love Elvis had for his mom. He did fall in love again when he met Priscella and again when baby LIsa Marie was born. Yet, it seemed, that he was often more depressed and lonely then we thought. Filling that void with drugs.

It was a sad day when Elvis died. Both my wife and I knew exactly knew where we where when the news came over the radio. Thankfully,  his music will live on for years to come.   This movie is a must see