Manchester By The Sea (2016): Review

This drama was absolutely fantastic, it has me crying throughout the entire thing and for this type of movie that is exactly what it should be doing. This demonstrated that it emotionally resonated with me. How the movie was shot, edited, and acted did a great job of pulling me into the story and caring about the characters, even thought this is one of those dramas that doesn't really have much happening, just giving snapshots of the lives of the main character.



Manchester by the Sea stars Casey Afflect as Lee Chandler as man who has a troubled history who is required to come back to Manchester after his brother Joe, played by Kyle Chandler, has died and take care of his nephew Patrick, played by Lucas Hedges. The movie mainly focuses around Lee but does show the people he interacts with, it follows a current day story but jumps back to Lee's personal story (with ex-wife Randi played by Michelle Williams) and why he is detached from the world. The casting of this movie is great and the characters, even though many of them are not on screen for long (and many of them are introduced and then dropped in the narrative) get me to want to know about them and how they play into Lee and Patrick's lives. My one big complain is that there is not any time spent on a lot of the outside characters and I am unsure if this is done purposely because Lee has withdrawn from the world and most human interactions or that the movie was limited on time to really dive into the storylines of the supporting character (if this is what it was I wish that some of them were cut out because many didn't really add to what was going one).

This movie is a drama and one of those dramas that doesn't really have a traditional story structure. It is about a short timeframe in the lives of Lee and Patrick (where Lee's brother and Patrick's father has died) and doesn't feel like it has forward momentum or any real character development. The flashback and interactions with other characters shows why the characters are how they are why they make the choices they do but doesn't show any true personal growth. There is nothing wrong with this type of movie but at the end all it was about was getting to know the characters, not really cheering for them or embracing their journey.

This film was beautifully shot and the sequences on the sea are fantastic. All of the pieces fit together for me and the pacing was consistent, it might be slow for some but it works or the overall feel of the movie. Even though characters where not shown for long, how the movie was done gets me to feel for them and connect through the scene almost immediately. No character is good or bad, they are just people trying to handle what is happening to or around them at this moment in time.  I noticed the score and music of the movie but it went with what was going on and not distracting.

Overall, this movie was fantastically done and well acted. I emotionally connected to what the characters were going though (crying thought the film) and although I wouldn't say the movie was enjoyable (due to what was happening) it was a completely well done film that is worth watching. The only real criticism I have is that I wanted to know more about what was going on with the supporting characters; how they played in later, if they were interdicted early in the movie, or more of their backstory if they were introduced later in the film.

I hope that this movie wins some of the awards it was nominated for as it was phenomenal.

My Rating: 4-

Hidden Figures (2016): Review

This movie was absolutely fantastic and I recommend it to everyone who enjoys a quality film. It had a good script, was well cast and acted, and had some tension and excitement to it. Even thought I knew what was going to happen as it is based on true life events, I was still interested and riveted about what would happen next. It has been a while since I saw a family friend movie that was so well done and that I enjoyed as much as this one and the fact that it is based on real life events just makes it even better. I was hoping that this movie would be good but it definitely exceeded my hopes.



Hidden Figures is a movies based on the book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly. The movie follows three of the amazing women in the book Katherine G. Johnson, played by Taraji P. Henson; Dorothy Vaughn, played by Viola Davis; and Mary Jackson, played by Janelle Monae, who were amazing mathematical minds that worked for NASA during the space race of the early 1960s. During this time women, especially African-American women were fighting for their rightful place among the men in the mathematical, engineering, and early computer fields. Also staring; Kevin Costner as Al Harrison; Jim Parsons as Paul Stafford; Kirstin Dunst as Vivian Mitchell; and Glen Powell as John Glenn.

This movie was based on all three of the women's stories but it seemed to focus mainly on Katherine and then Dorothy's journey, with Mary thrown in for a little extra. The other characters where there to show some of what these women were facing as working mothers and community members.  Although the movie was great and I look forward to watching it gain there was no real development of the characters, especially the supporting characters to the main three. There was some of how these women were pushing for rights and to be treated for the intelligent people that they were but it did so in a family friendly way and the focus was more on the space race and what happened then the emotional struggles. That being said it did show the discrimination and segregation but again in family friendly film kinda way.



Overall, I really enjoyed the film and even some of the not the best but okay CGI didn't bother me. It was not big on the CGI but I did not find any of it distracting or really obvious. The outer space could have been done much more big budget but the fact that most of the shots were tighter into camera worked.

The casting was spot on for me and I do not think I would have enjoyed the movie or felt invested in the story if the cast didn't pull me in. There were a few that were not suburb, like Dunst, but she was alright. It would have been nice to have more connection to the families of these women and I feel like it would have worked better to cut out more of the non work scenes as there wasn't enough time to really develop these relationships as the main focus was on these women as intelligent NASA employees and not mothers (which is perfectly fine for me).

As I said, I look forward to watching this movie again and will probably read the book as I want to learn about the fourth women featured in it that didn't make it into the movie. If you have read it let me know if it is worth a look.

My Rating = 3+

Passengers (2016): Review

I have been looking forward to seeing Passengers since I saw the first trailer months again and went to see the earliest showing I was able. I am very glad to say that this movie met my expectations and that I really enjoyed it. I was apprehensive a bit as when I am expecting good things from a movie I tend to be disappointed, but the acting abilities of Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence were up to the challenge of keeping me engaged and enjoying this movie. I am sure it will become of the movie I watch on rotation in the upcoming years and I am already hoping that others will want to go see it as I want to see it again.



Passengers is a movie that takes places in the future on the space ship Avalon. Where 5000 passengers have been placed in sleep pods during their planned 120 year trip to a new planet which they will be colonizing. Thirty years into their journey the space ship experiences some problems and two space pods end up opening. These pods belong to engineer Jim Preston, played by Chris Pratt, and writer Aurora Lane, played by Jennifer Lawrence. The question is are they able to to come to terms with waking up early and dealing with malfunctions that are occurring within the ship? How will they handle being the only two people awake with ninety more years until the reach their destination. Also included in the cast are Arthur, played by Michael Sheen, and Gus, played by Lawrence Fishburne.

As this movie is dependent on a very small cast it is very important that all the characters are likable and able to hold up the movie, and I am happy to say that all of the cast were well selected and did a great job. I liked all of the characters and was able to follow the emotional journey of them. I like Pratt and Lawrence as actors and their ability to get me to care about them and what is going on makes the movie. There are many movies out there that are simplistic in plot, like this one, but where the main actor or actors cannot hold up the movie and are not able to make me care.  There was great chemistry between Pratt and Lawrence and Sheen and Fishburne added a dynamic that helped the story along without taking away from the connection between the main two.



Although this movie is set in the vastness of space it is still very much character driven. The plot is very simplistic and not a lot happens but it is all about what is going on with the characters, both intra and inter personally. Although there were parts that were spoiled by knowing who was in the movie and seeing parts of the trailers that let me know certain key things were coming I still enjoyed the journey and wanting to see how things would play out. This is not a complex movie and it doesn't have any huge action sequences but it kept a good pace and it worked for me.

The CGI was good overall and I always love it when space is done in a way that looks gorgeous. This film was able to pull it off for me. Even the spaceship didn't look jarring and blended with the rest of the CGI. The only thing that looked obviously CGI was the zero g but this is something that few movies have been able to do well. It is hard to fake zero gravity realness for me, especially as I have seen footage of astronauts in real life zero g. It is hard to fake weightlessness and the hair is always wrong. However I enjoyed how they did the water. I didn't see this in 3D as I didn't want to wait for the later showing but think that this is one of the movies where it would be beneficial. My favorite way to use 3D is by things floating and seeing things far away in the distance, which as a space movie it has.




Overall there is nothing super special about the plot of this movie but it was enjoyable and kept me engaged throughout the whole thing. If you enjoy movies with good chemistry/ banter between the characters and that the plot keeps movie (although it is obvious and not complicated at all) it is worth seeing. Don't expect lots of action as this is not that kind of big budget movie.

My Rating: 3