Maskerpiece Theatre: cinema review

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Sunday, October 30, 2016

Storks - Box Office Review

Animation has really been improving as the years progress and that has benefited storytelling and the movie going experience. Plus, the better the films get the more involved acting talent gets involved and we’re often surprised by their vocal performance, or not. Sometimes we don’t even realize the voice talent performing and this movie carries both scenarios. So let’s dive in and take a look at my thoughts on “Storks” in this box office review…

The film takes place in a time where storks no longer deliver babies, but instead are the delivering force for a company similar to Amazon. We replace baby delivery with cell phone delivery and the story is off and running. We meet a young stork who is being considered to be the next head of the company and his last job before being promoted is firing the human who is still working for the company and causing chaos. Instead of firing her she is reallocated to the mail room and from there we get our first new baby in quite some time and this baby must be delivered before the boss finds out and all Junior (voice by Andy Samberg) has worked for is lost.

The story is entertaining in that the predicaments the main characters get into keeps elevating the story in humorous ways. The wolves were by far my favorite but the weird pigeon was a massive annoyance for me. As hard as I laughed at the wolf pack scenes I was equally frustrated with the pigeon scenes. It was such a weird back and forth of emotions in an animated film. To the films credit, emotions were captured quite well on screen I thought while watching this movie. I believed the voice talent and the emotions they portrayed and the overall story smacked me right in the feels. The end of the film reveals how important adoption is and the special place in a families heart an adopted child takes. Being an uncle for an adopted niece I couldn’t help but catch the feels at the end of the film because it made perfect sense to me, personally.

“Storks” is in theaters now! If you enjoy a touching and humorous animated film about a families desire to add love to their family through adoption this is the film for you. If you enjoy animated films, also for you. I walked out of the theater feeling all warm and fuzzy because I couldn’t stop thinking about my niece and how special she is and how much I and the family all love her. This movie was definitely a surprise for me and I’m glad I took the time to see it in theaters.

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Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Box Office Review

It’s no secret to people I discuss movies with, or to listeners of the Maskerpiece Theatre podcast, that I’m a fan of Tim Burton movies. The visual style he has is unique to him and his vision for how characters and stories should look is something I look forward to when I hear he’s making a new film or I’m revisiting a film he’s already made that I probably own. So let’s dive in and take a look at my thoughts on “Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children” in this box office review…

First, this film was everything I wanted from a story about kids with powers who live in a creepy home that’s stuck in time, forever repeating the same day. Every day, when the bombers are flying over the house about to destroy it with bombs Miss Peregrine stops time and rewinds it back to the morning of that day. The children all have chores they complete on a very strict schedule because any deviation from that schedule could result in the clock not being reset and the bombs landing on the home destroying everything and everyone. This is of course jumping ahead in the story quite a bit because the main character, portrayed by Asa Butterfield, is a loner who is trying to figure out the mysterious death of his grandfather who everyone believes was crazy or had dimensia. It is in fact the monster he sees after finding his dead grandfather that drives him to investigate his grandfathers life, while his parents believe him to be just as mad as his late grandfather.

The characters in this story all felt mostly natural, assuming they had the “gifts” they possessed in the film. The only stand out character was “Franklin” the father of Jake, played by Chris O’Dowd. His character didn’t feel natural at all and the American accent he attempted to have was poorly delivered. Considering most of the movie takes place outside of America, I would’ve been fine with his character having a British accent. If he, perhaps, didn’t have to focus on sounding American, he might’ve been able to portray a worried but not overly concerned father who’s into photographing birds.

The action sequences where the special powers are all displayed were entertaining and the villain, portrayed by Samuel Jackson, was also believable however campy. This would be the second film where I felt Sam Jackson was playing a caricature and not an actual villain, the first being his role in “Kingsman”. His performance didn’t bother me, in fact I found him to be a nice adjustment from the more intense characters the children portrayed and the reasons they hid from him. His over-the-top performance felt like a mustache twirling bad guy and considering he eats a bowl of eye balls and is caught fighting a rogue band of skeletons, I was perfectly fine with his performance. It fit in this film and that’s what matters.

“Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children” is in theaters now! If you enjoy Tim Burton films or just a fresh story that is like nothing you’ll see this year, go see this on the big screen. It’s definitely worth it and you won’t be disappointed. It’s fun but not fun for the whole family if you have kids under the age of 13. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and I might even see it a second time while I wait for “Doctor Strange” to arrive in theaters next week.

Saturday, October 29, 2016

Keeping Up With the Joneses - Box Office Review

The cast looks good. The trailers looked amusing at best. So we make the decision to either take a chance in the theater hoping for a comedy that over performs OR risk the feeling that we’ve been duped by Hollywood once again. So where does “Keeping Up with the Joneses” fall? Let’s dive in and take a look at my thoughts in this box office review…

This movie was a snooze fest. I was so bored during the entire film. I did something I never do and because I’m always honest in my reviews I’ll continue that honesty in this review. I was playing on my phone during this movie. That is completely terrible of me I know. I was one of two people in the row and the theater I was in had a wall behind me shielding the people behind me from seeing the glow of my iPhone. I can’t recall a film this year that had me so bored I found google more interesting. I could’ve fallen asleep if I would’ve been tired on any level. This movie did nothing to keep my attention at all. They tried to catch me with Gal Gadot in lingerie but after seeing the trailer so many times it wasn’t enough to grab me. If anything, this movie was Jon Hamm’s audition for any future live action “Archer” film. It’s like his direction was, “just act like Archer”. I kept waiting for him to shout, “LANA!” throughout the entire film but he did not. Color me disappointed.

“Keeping Up With the Joneses” is in theaters now! Skip it. This was beyond boring and barely humorous at all. I won’t waste anymore words on a film this boring because I’m getting bored writing about it. Miss it entirely. Don’t even Redbox it. Just… Don’t.

Birth of a Nation - Box Office Review

Slavery in American history is not an easy topic to tackle when making a movie. The tone, the mood, the characters, the story and dialogue all amount to what could be considered a herculean task to undertake. So what does Nate Parker decide to do for his directorial debut? He made “Birth of a Nation” and we’re now gonna dive in a take a look at my thoughts about this film…

First, I’m always honest in my reviews so I’ll continue to be honest, I was not aware this was based on a true story going into the theater. I consider myself a bit of a history fan and that reveal was surprising which caught me off guard. So I was glad I wasn’t just watching a story about history but a story about actual history. That elevated my enjoyment of the film up a few notches.

The story revolves around “Nat Turner” (played by Nate Parker) who is a slave that was taught how to read the Bible and slowly becomes a preacher on the plantation he was sold to. Over time, word spreads to other plantations that the slaves on his particular plantation are more well behaved and his master is propositioned to take Nat on a plantation tour to help other slaves become more obedient and docile by his use of the scriptures in the Bible. Over time, and a very personal abuse, he realizes that subservient behavior is not the path he was destined for and he leads a resistance that ends in bloodshed and gun smoke.

I loved this movie. Nate Parker captured so much emotion and, also as the director, got so much emotion out of the cast I was mesmerized. This film took me on an emotional journey that was not expected. Being unfamiliar with the actual story I wasn’t disappointed in certain creative liberties he and the writers took with this movie. I was completely entranced by every performance. I hated certain characters, was repulsed by others, saddened for some and felt incredible pride for a few. I was sickened. I was delighted. I was offended. I was inspired. I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen and I couldn’t help but let all the feelings rush through me.

Now that I’ve gushed about all the wonderfulness this movie had, this is not a movie for the faint of heart. This movie is brutal and vicious in its portrayal of slave treatment. Nate Parker pulls zero punches when it comes the mistreatment of slaves and it will force you to examine your understanding of early, Pre to During Civil War America. One scene in particular, we see a slave who refuses to eat while chained up in a small wooden shed and the insane method of force feeding that takes place. You see it all. The audience is not spared the visual disturbances because Parker made the decision to give you realism that was necessary, in my opinion. My stomach turned and I’m sure yours will as well.

“Birth of a Nation” is in theaters now! If you enjoy movies about America during the civil war times, or historical movies, this is a movie for you. If you want an oscar worthy film, this is also the film for you. I walked out of the theater talking about this film with the older black couple I sat next to in theater. We couldn’t help but continue discussing this film because it’s that good and that powerful. Be prepared to feel all the emotions and don’t be surprised if you find yourself talking with strangers walking out of the theater about your thoughts and feelings about this incredible film.

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