Deadpool

A former Special Forces operative turned mercenary is subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, adopting the alter ego Deadpool.

Director: Tim Miller
Writers: Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick | 2 more credits »
Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller.

Storyline

This is the origin story of former Special Forces operative turned mercenary Wade Wilson, who after being subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, adopts the alter ego Deadpool. Armed with his new abilities and a dark, twisted sense of humor, Deadpool hunts down the man who nearly destroyed his life.

User Reviews

Deadpool is a triumph of artistic vision over studio interference. Little credit should be given to 20th Century Fox, as they had zero faith in the success of a Deadpool movie. To put things into perspective, Ryan Reynolds fought for this film back in 2004 when Blade: Trinity was released. Reynolds and co. went to shoot test footage that was then leaked online by Reynolds because Fox had no intentions to release it to the public. Finally, after years and years of BEGGING to the studio and the overwhelming positive responses of the test footage from the public, Fox didn't even tell Reynolds and co. that the film was greenlit. They had to find out online like the rest of us plebeians. If that sounds bad, Fox even cut their budget by $7 million AT THE LAST MINUTE, which caused the writers to scratch some action sequences that I'm sure would've been great to see.

Deadpool now has the biggest opening weekend in the month of February (surpassing Fifty Shades of Grey), the biggest opening weekend for 20th Century Fox (surpassing all the X-Men films), and the biggest opening weekend for an R rated film EVER (surpassing The Matrix: Reloaded). With all that being said, Deadpool is a hilariously entertaining film that works mainly because of Reynolds himself. His comedic skills pay off gloriously as the titular character, who gives so many quips in one instance that some jokes will be missed. Of course, credit should be given to the writers too (AKA: The Real Heroes Here), and it's impressive that this is Tim Miller's directorial debut. The action sequences and pacing are so good that you'd think this came from a veteran director.

From the ingenious opening credits to the subversive ending, Deadpool constantly upends clichés and tropes you're used to seeing in superhero flicks in the past few years. What's great here is the filmmakers had something weird and perverse and just went with it. Jokes about pedophilia, pegging, and sex run rampant, but it's never really dark, despite the mature subject matter. On top of that, it's also very refreshing to see a pansexual superhero in such a big studio film. It's unheard of these days. Fox and other studios, learn from this success. It's not the fact that a hard R-rated film can do well, it's that Deadpool also happens to be very good, most likely because you, Fox, actually gave the filmmakers the creative freedom to do whatever the hell they wanted.

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The Jungle Book

The man-cub Mowgli flees the jungle after a threat from the tiger Shere Khan. Guided by Bagheera the panther and the bear Baloo, Mowgli embarks on a journey of self-discovery, though he also meets creatures who don't have his best interests at heart.

Director: Jon Favreau
Writers: Justin Marks (screenplay), Rudyard Kipling (book)
Stars: Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley.

Storyline

The man-cub Mowgli flees the jungle after a threat from the tiger Shere Khan. Guided by Bagheera the panther and the bear Baloo, Mowgli embarks on a journey of self-discovery, though he also meets creatures who don't have his best interests at heart.

User Reviews

To those who still hold any degree of skepticism for Jon Favreau's The Jungle Book—Disney's live-action adaptation of the Rudyard Kiplingclassic—I say just sing along to "Forget about your worries and your strife…" That's a guaranteed earworm from this really good film. Complete with splendid sound design and flabbergasting CGI wizardry, director Favreau, with cinematographer Bill Pope, deftly crafts this spectacle not only to dazzle viewers but also to enhance its dramatic agenda.

With an excellent voice cast, The Jungle Book presents a colorful array of memorable characters. Idris Elba as Shere Kahn is chillingly formidable with his guttural threats. Ben Kingsley brings nobility and wisdom in the sleek jungle cat Bagheera. In her short sequence as the python Kaa, Scarlett Johansson delivers the film's backstory with a magnetic voice. Giancarlo Eposito's Akela and Lupita Nyong'o's Raksha supply the fierce patriarch and protective maternal vibes needed by their characters. Christopher Walken as the mafia-king orangutan waiting for extinction is an oddly delightful sight, especially when he starts to sing. Bill Murray as the manipulative sloth bear Baloo is a crowd favorite as he blurs the line between being annoying and adorable. Even the lesser animals (porcupine, pygmy hog, squirrel, etc.) manage to steal the show as sources of comic relief.

In his first feature appearance, Neel Sethi as young Mowgli is tasked with selling the wonder and portraying the humanity of this tale. Considering that he is basically working within the confines of his imagination and a green screen room for the entire film, he manages to make everything believable: the beauty and danger of the jungle, his kinetic and charismatic character, and his deep connection with the animals. Of course, this is owed in large part to Jon Favreau's direction's too. A magical scene in the film (and my favorite!): an infant Mowgli and Bagheera's innocently touches Bagheera's face. It's a sweet moment, a reminder that the there's a seed of humanity in each of us.

Although the film comes a bit dark, fans are not robbed of iconic songs such as "The Bare Necessities", "I Wanna Be Like You," and a jovial musical scoring for the film (thanks to John Debney). Old as it may, the story of The Jungle Book remains an affecting contemplation on the virtues of family, self-growth, and man's progress at the expense of nature. The Jungle Book successfully opens a new chapter in cinema's visual storytelling prowess. It deserves to be seen, and unequivocally needs to be experienced in 3D or better, an IMAX theater. It is immersive, it is enchanting, and it is wonderful.

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13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

As an American ambassador is killed during an attack at a U.S. compound in Libya, a security team struggles to make sense out of the chaos.

Director: Michael Bay
Writers: Chuck Hogan (screenplay), Mitchell Zuckoff (book)
Stars: John Krasinski, Pablo Schreiber, James Badge Dale.

Storyline

As an American ambassador is killed during an attack at a U.S. compound in Libya, a security team struggles to make sense out of the chaos.

User Reviews

The overall experience of the World Premiere was incredible, but this Movie in any venue would be worth the price of admission.

Like most, I've seen hoards of "Action Movies", but the compressed time line and episodic nature of this one puts you into a pressure cooker that leaves you drained at the end. Probably more firepower per minute than in any true life account ever shown on the Big Screen.

In the final moments, though, you realize just how much these men lost. Few if any other team of six would have survived such relentless and massive assaults. But more than anything, it will force you to ask yourself why our government literally left these men and the people they saved, to die.

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Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Fearing that the actions of Superman are left unchecked, Batman takes on the Man of Steel, while the world wrestles with what kind of a hero it really needs.

Director: Zack Snyder
Writers: Chris Terrio, David S. Goyer.
Stars: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams.

Storyline

Following his titanic struggle against General Zod, Metropolis has been razed to the ground and Superman is the most controversial figure in the world. While for many he is still an emblem of hope, a growing number of people consider him a threat to humanity, seeking justice for the chaos he has brought to Earth. As far as Bruce Wayne is concerned, Superman is clearly a danger to society. He fears for the future of the world with such a reckless power left ungoverned, and so he dons his mask and cape to right Superman's wrongs. The rivalry between them is furious, fueled by bitterness and vengeance, and nothing can dissuade them from waging this war. However, a dark new threat arises in the form of a third man: one who has a power greater than either of them to endanger the world and cause total destruction!

User Reviews

I am drawn back to when this movie was first announced and how I despised the notion of a Batman V Superman film a la Freddy vs Jason, Alien vs Predator and so on. It all seemed like a huge gimmick to me and I expected the worst for this movie. Fast forward a couple years, I am sitting down at a private screening, the lights go down and the movies opens up. The opening sequence was not what I expected but shows Snyder's visual creativity in a similar manner as he did with the opening sequence of Watchmen. 

We are hearkened to the Black Zero Event, only we see it from Bruce Wayne's perspective as shown in some of the trailers. I love that Snyder uses Bruce's as the eyes of the audience to get an outside perspective of the surrounding madness and destruction, and he does it very effectively. You are mad at these beings, you feel the terror, the confusion the anger for them bringing there war here, it plays out with spectacle and sadness. 

I had reported a rumor about Scoot Macnairy's characters months back and was called out by Ocelot and others several times on things I reported, well turns out it was true. Something tragic happens at the hearing and it is our insight of how cunning and vicious this Lex Luthor is. 

The overall story is well woven and much better than MOS, you can definitely breathe a sigh of relief in that Terrio does a great job of crafting this all together. The movie is a visual tour de force as we have come to expect with Snyder but let me just say that his directing has also improved. For those who moaned about the shaky cam and muted colors, they will be pleased. Performance wise. EVERYONE does an outstanding job, the standouts to me were Affleck, Eissenberg and Gadot. I was not on the Ben, Gal, Jesse hate wagon, though I found Eissenberg's casting questionable but I felt he had shown that he has some capable range of pulling it off. Affleck is Bruce Wayne, Affleck is Batman, talk about casting redemption. Similar to Reynolds, GL>Deadpool. Affleck should no longer be bogged with complaints about Daredevil. 

For those that hated on Gadot, suck it, she owns the role in every way possible, she really has stepped up her acting game as well. The woman has presence as Diana, grace and beauty and as Wonder Woman, she is truly a Goddess. People were moaning about Gail's size, forget that nonsense, she proves she does not need bulking muscles to be a warrior and her fight scenes are exceptional, makes Faora look like she was waltzing. Eissenberg, well well well. Let me first say I thought the best versions of Luthor were from the Lois and Clark and Smalville TV shows but Jesse brings something totally new to the game. 

Jesse plays his Luthor like a true devil. He is deceiving, manipulative, conniving, that line the Devil will do it, he is referring to himself to me. I could not help but see him like a Lucifer in his role and wondered if Jesse kind of based playing his character that way. Everyone else support wise was absolutely great. I do not want to write a long report of praises so let me see if I can cap off before getting on my flight. The fight set up was a little weak but boy the pay off was spectacular. Cavill I feel needs to step up a little more, granted he was wonderful but he was out shined. He needs to get beyond that distraught expression that he likes to use because he does it to death in this and I found that annoying. 

The other member intro's were great and will have you all pumped for the JLA, the Knightmare scene was horrific and impactful and made me smile like a little geek. The final fight was amazing. Never in a CBM have we seen anything like it, yes I said it NEVER and lastly, I will say the movie does end on a heart wrenching note but a wink in the end. I loved it gave it a 9 and looking forward to seeing it again next week. If you guys have any questions ask I am going to be on a plane for the next 6-7 hours so will try to respond. I may have exaggerated about it being 10X better than MOS but I will say 5X better.

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