Scene Before

OK guys, before we get into Rogue One, I just want to let everyone know that I will do my best to not spoil anything. Granted the effects won’t be as hard as trying not to ruin anyone’s life by spoiling last year’s “The Force Awakens”, but knowing the Star Wars fanbase, not to mention, knowing myself as a part of such a sacred fanbase, I will make sure spoilers are nonexistent throughout the review. Anyways, it’s time to go rogue!

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” is the newest installment in the Star Wars saga. This installment takes place between episodes III and IV and throughout the movie it shows the construction of the Death Star (as seen in the original movie). While this happens, a team of rebels are taking investigation into this superweapon and they need to know how to destroy it. Essentially, this movie can be summed up in the opening crawl of “A New Hope” (above).

I love Star Wars in general, and I say that as a fan, and on this blog, I see myself as a critic. How so? I’m able to recognize when a movie’s bad. I mean, there have been two Star Wars movies that sucked balls in my opinion (“The Phantom Menace” and “Attack of the Clones”). I even think the special editions of the original trilogy somewhat ruin parts of what made those movies good. Hey kids, do you guys remember the cantina scene? Remember when Han Solo confronted that bounty hunter named Greedo? You know, the blue guy with black eyes? Can you tell me who shot first? Did you say Greedo? NO! It’s Han! They just changed it in the special editions just to make him appear more child friendly! Why George Lucas? Why? Well, at least he isn’t around to disappoint me with this movie, because the director of this movie, Gareth Edwards, didn’t disappoint me at all! I loved this movie from beginning to end and I had a fun time watching it, not just as a fan, but as a critic. Let’s continue onto some of the characters.

The main character in this movie is a girl named Jyn Erso. She’s played by Felicity Jones (“The Amazing Spider Man 2”, “The Theory of Everything”) and after seeing her performance in this movie, I cannot imagine anyone else playing her. One thing that I really love about her character is that her father has a huge connection to the story so it only makes seeing what Jyn does during the movie feel more engaging.

Speaking of which, let’s talk about Jyn’s father. Throughout the movie it is stated that this guy is crucial to the development to the death star. His role in the movie was pretty great and there’s one scene where a message is sent via hologram which Jyn happened to see, it basically explained his main role in the movie which is a solid idea overall.

Forest Whitaker is in this movie, and while his role wasn’t really as memorable as some other ones in this movie, I still enjoyed what this guy had to offer for this movie. Also, just a reminder to everyone in case you didn’t know or forgot, this guy is not a new character. If you are familiar with the Cartoon Network series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”, you may remember this guy. I was able to buy the chemistry between him and Jyn at a certain point in the movie and whenever I saw him on screen I thought this guy has seen some s*it. I have not seen enough of “The Clone Wars” TV series to know what happened to him but if you see this movie and never seen “The Clone Wars”, you’d probably think to yourself, “Wow, what did this guy go through?”

Up next is the character of “Baze Malbus”, played by Wen Jiang. This guy wasn’t the character I was into most of the time while watching this movie. Does that mean I don’t like him as a character? No, I just think other characters stood out more compared to this guy. Although I will bring this up, do you remember from the teaser trailer, as it was coming to a close, they were showing this land battle and this guy was running toward this AT-AT and it was shooting everywhere? This guy was in scenes kinda like that and those scenes were intriguing.

One of the characters I was really looking forward to see in this movie, in fact, of all the newcomers in this movie, I believe I was most excited to see this guy, was Chirrut Îmwe. This guy is strong with the force, in fact throughout most of the movie he’s praying a lot, based on the prayers, it’s easy to tell how much this guy believes in the force, and believes it will make him succeed. By the way, if you saw this guy in the trailers and thought he looked cool, wait until you see the movie, he’s AWESOME, especially when he’s introduced.

When I saw this movie, one of the characters that happened to steal the show is the droid you may remember from the trailer, AKA, K-2SO. Just about every line that came out of this character’s mouth was a gutbuster to me and just about anything he said made just about the entire theater laugh. Let me just say right now that the odds of liking this droid are very high and if you don’t laugh at even one thing the droid says, we probably need to talk.

Let’s move on to Orson Krennic, or as I like to call him, Grand Moff Tarkin wannabe. This is not the most memorable of the Star Wars villains I’ve seen. Did I like him? Yes. Did I think he had some great moments? Yes. However he was not the strong point of the movie and I wouldn’t call him as memorable as other villains in the saga such as Darth Vader or Palpatine or Kylo Ren. What was the biggest flaw I had about this guy? He looked just like Grand Moff Tarkin. To me, I consider my complaint to be somewhat justified but also abnormal at the same time. Why do I have this complaint? I knew from the beginning that Grand Moff Tarkin was going to have a big role in this movie, and basically if you have seen the original “Star Wars” you would already know he is in that movie and he is probably one of the most vicious people in the entire film. To make this go even further, there was a trailer which this character was in, and when I saw him I kept saying to myself “Oh my gosh! Look at Grand Moff Tarkin! Yeah!” However when you see the movie it is easy to tell which character this is compared to Grand Moff Tarkin. Because this character is in white, Tarkin is in green.

If you have seen some of the trailers of this movie, you’d probably already know that Darth Vader is in the movie. As you may already know, according to who knows how many people, Darth Vader may be the most iconic and perhaps the greatest villain in all of cinematic history. So you’re like me you probably hoped he would be up to his full potential in this movie. How is he in this movie? Well, he’s OK. Not too great, not too bad, just OK. That’s all I’m gonna say.

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What the heck am I saying?! THIS GUY WAS AWESOME! Let me just give a warning right now that he is not in the movie for long, but he didn’t need to be, because the time that he was in the movie was short but sweet. For the scenes Vader was in I couldn’t help but get ecstatic and as a fanboy and critic, I loved what Disney did to this villain. Let me just tell you something right now, the first scene Vader is in, is incredible. The final scene he’s in, EVEN BETTER. In fact, I’ll go as far to say that this scene, may be one of the best scenes in the entire Star Wars saga. Is it my all time favorite? That’s something I have to think about, but it was excellent nonetheless! I’m not kidding! This is what Darth Vader is supposed to be, and I would like to thank Disney for not screwing him up!

When it comes to the Death Star in this movie, along with the ships you see in the movie, they all looked great and for the ships that were shown in prior films, they didn’t change much at all so I’m going to give props to the people behind this movie for making them look similar. Speaking of the Death Star, the scenes in which it was used to destroy planets were very similar to those you see in “A New Hope” and “Return of the Jedi”. Fun fact, there were more easter eggs I caught in this movie that I recognized, and if you have seen the Star Wars films made prior to this, you may recognize them too.

One of the things I was looking forward to in Rogue One, in fact, I think many people were looking forward to in Rogue One, was the land battles. There’s like a long sequence on a beach and it entertained me all the way through. Speaking of battles, there’s a ship that wasn’t really seen in the Star Wars universe until now and that’s the U-wing (above). I thought it looked like a Y-Wing if it had flamethrowers in the back of it, by the way, it doesn’t.

If you have seen any prior Star Wars movie, chances are you might remember some of the music. That was all done by legendary movie composer John Williams (Jaws, Jurassic Park, ET). In this movie, he’s actually not the one composing this time around. That position belongs to Michael Giacchino, who has also composed the music for my favorite animation of all time, “The Incredibles”. When it comes to the music throughout the movie, I wouldn’t say it is as memorable as John Williams’ work, although I would say the music playing throughout each scene worked.

I would just like to remind everyone reading this right now that this movie is from Disney, and they haven’t had the rights to Star Wars for too long. So far they have done a few seasons of the Disney XD show “Star Wars: Rebels” and last year’s hit movie “The Force Awakens”. Everyone makes fun of Disney for being incredibly lighthearted and straying away from darkness so their movies can be as kid-friendly as possible. Let me just say right now, this movie is dark, and I mean DAAAARRRK. This is especially true with the end of the film, which may be my favorite part of the movie, and I really think I should keep in suspense that way the flavor is savored for when you go see this movie, because, let’s face it, a lot of people like Star Wars, you may be in that chunk of people. Maybe you haven’t seen the movie yet, if you haven’t, go see it NOW!

In the end, “Rogue One” was everything I wanted and more. Is it better than last year’s “The Force Awakens”? In my opinion, no. As a movie, I enjoyed “The Force Awakens” slightly more than I enjoyed this. However, this movie overall was awesome, I want to see it again, and hopefully since I don’t have any 70mm IMAX screens near me, I can go see it in IMAX laser sometime soon. Also, before I announce my rating, let me just say that coming up with a final rating for this movie was HARD. There were some problems I had in the beginning of this movie, some of which I mentioned, but in the end, the positives outweighed the negatives by a high amount and the flaws I mentioned are undeniably forgivable, so that means I’m going to give “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”, a 10/10. I would like to have you know that this rating could change, part of me while watching this movie thought this was a 9 the whole time based on some parts of the beginning feeling jumpy and everything, but in the end, I got what I wanted so that makes me happy. I hope to go see Rogue One again sometime soon, maybe by the end of the year, or if there are no good movies next January and everything sucks, I can make up for it by watching this. Guys, it’s not much longer until the end of the year, I’m hoping to see a couple more movies this year, I’m not gonna review all of them though. Some of the movies I hope to see are “Arrival”, “Now You See Me 2”, “Criminal”, “Office Christmas Party”, “Jason Bourne”, “Equity”, and “Sully”. I’m trying to get as many movies as I can under my belt before I officially unleash my top best and worst movies of the year, I cannot wait to show this all to you and if you do go see Rogue One this weekend, depending on which theater and time you choose, GOOD LUCK FINDING A SEAT. It wasn’t that hard for me because so many theaters in my area have reserved seating and the theater I went to did not, however it did have an IMAX, so I imagine so many people were apprehensive of going to this theater just because finding a seat in general must be a pain. Anyways, stay tuned for more reviews, and please go see Rogue One this weekend, it’s amazing. Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

Today I saw the new teaser trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming. What did I think about it? Well, I’ll tell you right now. If you have seen Captain America: Civil War this summer and another part of you happens to live under a rock, let me just remind you that this is taking place in the same universe as that movie so that means this movie takes place in the same universe as The Avengers.

What is my number one highlight from the trailer? Well to me it’s obvious, Tom Holland as Spider-Man. First off, this is the first on-screen Spider-Man played by an actual teenager, and not just some adult playing a teenager. Although don’t get me wrong, for adults playing teenagers, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield did a fine job. At the very beginning of the trailer there was this little joke that Spider-Man made because he was in front of these guys, supposedly thieves, that had masks on, and each of these masks was an Avenger. For example there was one guy that was Thor and I noticed one that was the Hulk. Spidey spun his web towards these guys engaging in a fight with them and at the end of the clip I hear him say “You guys aren’t the real Avengers, the Hulk gave it away.” Based on this quote, I was able to tell that the writers understood Spider-Man humor, so good job writers!

While I do think Tom Holland is great casting choice as Spider-Man I will say that there is one casting choice that I may declare as one of the worst casting choices in superhero movie history, and that is Zendaya as Mary Jane Watson. Over the previous summer, I made a post saying that this was not a good choice, and I said this in defense of what several fans would think. In case you don’t know already, Zendaya is black, and I have nothing against black people, but I don’t see how a black person would fit as Mary Jane. And you know what? That actually may be the LEAST of my problems right now with this character. You know how Mary Jane is a redhead? SHE DOESN’T EVEN HAVE RED HAIR! You can argue with me saying that Kirsten Dunst from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies wasn’t a natural redhead but her hair was artificially red for the films! Like, I don’t even know what happened on set. Did the makeup department say no to hairspray or something? Like, what’s happening?! I don’t want to cause a big rant here, so let’s get my next positive, and that is Robert Downey Jr, AKA, Iron Man.

Yes, Iron Man will be in this movie and he seems to be Peter Parker’s mentor per se. Although I seriously wonder how this is going to work. In Captain America: Civil War, I don’t recall any sort of establishment that before that one scene where Tony Stark goes to Peter’s apartment in Queens that Tony and Peter even had a single interaction with each other. However, in Captain America: Civil War, it did show some videos of Peter flying around as Spidey in a rather poor looking suit (which I don’t have a problem with because I could tell Peter was just starting out as the web slinger) on a tablet. So from this, he more than likely just started out. But did he defeat anyone important along the way before he met Stark in Civil War? That’s a question I want an answer to. Maybe he saved lots of people before meeting Tony, and he didn’t defeat anyone prior to that, and that’s where Civil War comes in to fill the gap, maybe after he’s forced to go home, he meets his main antagonist of this movie, and that would make sense because then Tony can be Peter’s mentor and help him in taking down this bad guy. By the way, the main villain of the movie is Vulture if anyone is curious.

Do I have anything else to say? Well, if there is one thing, I think this would probably be a lot like Spider-Man 2 in terms of story. In Spider-Man 2 it made me think that Peter, a guy in college was struggling not only with his studies, but his personal life, along with his hero life. I can imagine the movie would have some elements with that, but the only difference is that Peter is in high school and Iron Man just so happens to possibly be his mentor.

That’s pretty much all I have to say about the “Spider-Man: Homecoming” teaser. I hope this movie’s good, I go into every movie wanting it to be good, but I seriously don’t think it’ll be GREAT. With MJ, I get it if you want to be progressive and change this white girl to a black girl, but the thing about that is while you are taking a progressive move, it is also unoriginal at the same time. It’s like when they changed the genders of the ghostbusters, I don’t hate them because they are women, I hate them because the idea of swapping something such as race or gender lacks originality. Also, on a more serious note, this is not a Marvel Studios movie. Sure, Marvel Studios has the right to use Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the Marvel Studios logo does show up in the trailer, but this is really from Sony, and I was not a mega fan of “The Amazing Spider-Man.” In reality, I’m just a thousand times more excited for the upcoming “Wonder Woman” film, Gal Gadot ACED it as Wonder Woman in “Batman v. Superman” and I will go as far to say that I think she is so much better as a character than Tom Holland as Spider-Man. Stay tuned for more reviews and just a reminder, ROGUE ONE IS OUT NEXT WEEK! Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

Today is Novemeber 28th, 2016. And I have an announcement for you all, in case you cannot tell by the title of this post, tickets for the new Star Wars movie have now gone on sale, and oh boy, getting them is gonna be a hard ride for everyone, especially on premiere day. In case you wanted to know, I don’t have my tickets yet. I’M GETTING THERE THOUGH! I’m actually planning to see this movie on Thursday, December 15th, which is the night of the premiere. After a couple random checks on some movie theaters, I now realize what this is going to turn into. You think malls on Black Friday have crowds? You thought wrong! Today is actually Cyber Monday, the online version of Black Friday, and I’m willing to bet that getting these tickets is going to distract everyone from all the deals. The only thing that would get more people to buy more tickets at this point is if advertisements for sites like Fandango were placed in front of peoples’ heads all day, and if they actually put a discount on tickets you can buy online as a Cyber Monday deal.

Last time I checked, there are already three theaters near me that already sold out all of their tickets. I’m trying to see if a theater would have a showing around the 7:00 range, that way I can see the film instantly, and as one who lives in the town of Wakefield, Massachusetts, I checked these three theaters: Sunbrella IMAX Theater at Jordans Furniture (Reading, MA location), AMC Burlington 10, and Showcase Cinemas Woburn. I did check more but these are three specific theaters I want to talk about. What do I have to say about these? Well, they’re all sold out! The first theater has one theater which is an IMAX so that sold out pretty quickly, the second theater has all 7:00 showings which must have been pretty convenient, plus reserved seating so that must have been a factor that played into this, not to mention recliners, because that’s kind of trendy now. The last one one has reserved seating, alcohol, and recliners. Granted I will say, and I did talk about this on TripAdvisor along with another post on this blog, I don’t like the previously mentioned movie theater, but that has to do with how little the capacities are in each stadium. As of right now, my mind is set toward going to the AMC Loews Liberty Tree 20. Why? It has no recliners (I personally think they’re overrated in a movie theater setting), it is not in a busy or big city, it is simply in a shopping mall, and you get a lot auditoriums as well. I actually went to see the past two Captain America movies here on premiere night in IMAX 3D and it was easy to get a seat. Granted during The Winter Soldier the premiere slot was actually put in at the last minute, but still, I got to see the movies on premiere night and not have a problem, yeehaw! Like Captain America, I’m gonna go for the pricey side here and choose an IMAX showing at this theater, because personally I think this is what this movie deserves, but this leads me to my next statement, if you want to see Rogue One on premiere night, how can you get your tickets?

Well, there are quite a few ways to get your tickets, you can always check online for convenience purposes, if you live across from a movie theater you can walk over and get tickets physically that way you don’t have to worry about printing them out or saving them on a device, you can drive to the nearest theater, and maybe if that doesn’t work out you can keep going and once you find a theater that has your tickets you’re good to go. However, whatever way you choose to get them, do it quickly!

Also, if you have the guts and stamina to get a later showing throughout the evening, go for it, because chances are the earlier showings will all be sold out much quicker than those coming later. Personally, I wouldn’t mind waiting awhile and going to a later showing, but I’m a teenager, and I don’t have a license, so that puts a obstacle in front of me, which means I’m probably going to have to settle for the 7:00 time range. Maybe 9:00 at the latest, but we’ll see.

I bet some of you reading this right now have been to a movie before on premiere night, and maybe even The Force Awakens last year. Although I figured I should post this because Star Wars in general, is a phenomenon, and there probably isn’t a single person who hasn’t heard of it, so in all likelihood, this will make movie theaters more obnoxious and crowded on premiere night. So this is just a guide of what I’d recommend you’d do if you’re going to see this movie. Get the tickets as early as possible in whatever way you can, make sure the theater is adequate driving distance if you are buying tickets physically, don’t be afraid to shove out some extra bucks if you need to, don’t be afraid to go at a later time, just cover your ears if you don’t want spoilers from the people coming out (It’s a prequel so it’s not as much of an issue, but there could be some minor details you may not want in on), and lastly, think twice before getting reserved seating, it’s convenient, but if a friend wants to join you at the last minute, you may have to switch around. Luckily I avoided that sort of issue last year.

That’s all I have to say about the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story tickets going on sale, and if there’s one thing I want to say right now, it’s that you should get your tickets immediately, and maybe even skip out on the rest of this blog post. Yes, I’m not kidding, this is absolutely serious. This is a big opportunity, you don’t want to miss out! Go now! Now I say, now! NOW! PRONTO! Do it right now or I’m gonna keep exclaiming like a guy in a over the top paid programming commercial you’d see in the morning on Game Show Network! Just go!

You still here?

Yes?

WELL GO!

Anyway, if you are still here, seriously go off if you want to get premiere tickets, but if you want to wait a while, or if you simply don’t like Star Wars, I won’t judge you (Even though I think something’s wrong with you if you don’t like Star Wars). Stay tuned for my upcoming reviews, Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

“Save the rebellion! Save the dream!”

“The Edge of Seventeen” is directed by Kelly Fremon Craig, who wrote Post Grad which was released back in 2009 and this is her first time directing a movie. This film stars Hailee Steinfeld (Pitch Perfect 2, True Grit), Woody Harrelson (Cheers, No Country for Old Men), Blake Jenner (Glee, Supergirl), Haley Lu Richardson, Kyra Sedgwick, and Hayden Szeto. This film is about a teenage girl named Nadine and it is established in the beginning of the movie that her life is already bad, but what she didn’t realize is that it is gonna go from bad to worse, and it doesn’t end there. Why? The main chunk of this movie is dedicated to her having to deal with her asshole brother, who starts going out with her best friend, and she feels that she is mentally going into a black hole throughout the entire movie and there is no way out except for when she has lunch in the classroom with Woody Harrelson.

Here is something I feel the need to get out of the way, if you have seen some of my older reviews from this year you may have noticed that the movies I saw with women playing the starring roles were mostly negative in my opinion. These movies included titles like: “The 5th Wave” (2/10), “The Divergent Series: Alligiant” (I didn’t review it, but I gave it a 2/10), “Mother’s Day” (Also didn’t review, but I gave it a 1/10), “The Girl on the Train” (2/10), “Sharknado 4: The Fourth Awakens” (1/10, but you’d probably expect that out of a movie like this), and the “Ghostbusters” remake (1/10). Based on these statistics, you’d probably think I’m a sexist pig, especially with the last one. Let me just assure you I’m not. If you have read my reviews for these movies you may notice that I dislike them for reasons that don’t link to sexism in any way. So how do I feel about this movie? I feel this movie might be the one of the better movies I saw all year! If you want to know my official verdict for the film, scroll down a bit, but I had to get this out because I felt it was necessary so you know the real me.

This movie stars Hailee Steinfeld who plays Nadine. Let me just say right now, this is one of the best performances I’ve seen all year. Will this get nominated for an Oscar? I highly doubt it considering Hailee is only a teenager and teens aren’t the first category you scour for Oscar nominees, but if this performance does get nominated, that’d be pretty cool. She really brings a lot of emotion into her character, especially during one scene at her mother’s office which was pretty funny and when talking one-on-one with Woody Harrelson. Her character is also a stereotype per se of some folks I see in my high school and on social media. I will not give out any names but I thought I’d point that out. Also when I say stereotype, I don’t mean that in a bad way, I mean that in a way that can get certain people just like her to relate to the character without getting offended.

Nadine’s best friend in this film is played by Haley Lu Richardson and her name is Krista. At the beginning of the movie it was very nice to see these two as friends and see how the relationship developed. Not too much later in the movie Krista dated Nadine’s older brother and I was able to understand how all of the characters felt about the situation. I didn’t agree with how all the characters felt, but it doesn’t mean I didn’t understand them.

Speaking of Nadine’s older brother, let’s talk about Nadine’s older brother. At the beginning of the movie it was shown that this character was basically a winner compared to Nadine and it the movie doesn’t stop sticking to that route to further develop the story. To establish this, the movie showed his character never really complained or cared about any of the tragedies that Nadine experienced throughout the film. He even says to Nadine that life sucks sometimes, which is probably gonna stick with me for a little bit. Maybe not as much as Dennis Leary’s “Life’s Gonna Suck When You Grow Up” song, but still, it’s locked in my head and it probably will stay in my head for an extended period of time.

One of the characters that was shown most throughout the trailer I saw for this movie was Mr. Bruner played by Woody Harrelson. I thought the scenes where he talked with Nadine one-on-one were some of the best parts of the movie, which surprised me because in the trailer it looked like one of the parts of the movie that was going to end up feeling stale. However I will say that the “avoid run on sentences joke” he gives did actually end up feeling stale. Maybe it’s just because I saw the trailer multiple times and that was one of the big things I remember from the trailer. These conversation scenes felt like I was actually there, and one of the lines Mr. Bruner says to Nadine during a “therapy session” is “Maybe nobody likes you.” That just made me go, “Wow.” I thought it was a great line and now if some therapist told me that I would be able to handle it. I’d recommend that they’d do it in a quiet voice so I don’t have too much stress in my head but I digress.

I also like the woman who plays the mother in this movie (Kyra Sedgwick). One of the things I noticed about her is that she hates driving Nadine to school because it affects her work schedule. After watching this movie, I am kinda wondering about that with my mother. My mother drives me to school and I don’t take the bus, and for personal reasons I prefer to avoid taking the bus to and from school. I have sensitive ears and that can interfere with the ride and make me feel anxious or angry.

One of the best things about this movie is the fact that it is rated R. Why? Because that makes the movie seem more realistic. Remember Freaks and Geeks? That TV show about a bunch of different high schoolers all in one show? I have not seen every episode of that show, but I have seen a couple. If you just take the vibe of that show, have it focus around one character for most of the time, and make it more mature, than you get this movie. I love how this movie goes for things you usually wouldn’t expect to see teenagers do in some movies. There’s a scene where the main character and her best friend get drunk, there’s a lot more swearing than you’d expect in a movie that spends a lot of time in a high school setting, there’s a lot of sexual humor used by teenagers in this movie. Some of this humor used by teens which I greatly recall include use of the words “handjob” and “tits.” And let me say for the record, Hailee Steinfeld, the movie’s lead actress is currently 19, and she’ll turn 20 on December 11th, so that kind of adds a bit to the movie as well in terms of realism. This movie is called “The Edge of Seventeen” and in a world where we have two live-action movie interpretations of Peter Parker played by adults (Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield), it’s nice to see someone play a teenager played by someone relatively close to the character’s actual age.

“The Edge of Seventeen” is one of the better films I’ve seen all year, and certainly deserves all the praise it is getting by critics and average moviegoers alike. While I am writing this, this film has a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, and it certainly deserves that. By the way, I mentioned once before that this movie is directed by someone who is a first time director, AKA Kelly Fernon Craig, and for a movie that is a directorial debut, this is fantastic. I’m going to give “The Edge of Seventeen” an 8/10. Well guys, the year is almost over, we have just a bit more than a month to go, and I’d like to announce to you right now at the end of year I’m going to be doing a top best and worst movie of year list. I haven’t decided whether I’m doing a top 5 or a top 10, but we’ll find out as time marches on. Also for all of you reading this on the day which this is published, which is November 27th, 2016, I am willing to bet that you are either a movie buff or even if you don’t like movies, you may have some place in your heart for Star Wars, which leads me to this: TICKETS FOR THE NEW STAR WARS MOVIE GO ON SALE TOMORROW! If you want to see this movie in theaters, I recommend that you all get your tickets as soon as possible, especially if you want to see it as early as possible or want to avoid spoilers (Although it is a prequel so I doubt it is as big of an issue as The Force Awakens). Also I want to let everyone know that I plan to see “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” on premiere day, which is Thursday, December 15th, that way I can get an early review up for you guys, and this is just fine for me, because I hate when people ruin movies for me, and I feel since it is a Star Wars movie, it is going to be a bigger deal in my mind. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this review and stay tuned for more reviews! Scene Before is your click, to the flicks!

“Doctor Strange” is the latest movie put out by Marvel Studios, which has had an incredible track record for their movie ratings so far in my book. This movie stars Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek: Into Darkness, The Imitation Game), Tilda Swinton (Snowpiercer), Benedict Wong (The Martian, Prometheus), and Rachel McAdams (Mean Girls, The Vow).
The main premise of the movie revolves around Dr. Steven Strange who gets in a car accident one day causing him to lose all the tissue in his hands. This makes him go bizzerk and make his girlfriend feel uncomfortable. Eventually he is taught mystic arts by The Ancient One, played by Tilda Swinton, all while hoping and waiting for his hands to heal.

Let’s get one thing straight and out of the gate, this movie from a visual standpoint, is spectacular. Alongside “Warcraft,” “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” and the remake of “The Jungle Book”, this movie contains some of the best effects I have seen all year. Seeing all of the spells on screen was pretty neat looking, there was a lot of Inception-esque effects throughout the movie that was pure eye candy, and the portals made something out of fantasy look realistic if that even makes any logical sense. Combine that with one of the most epic IMAX 3D experiences I’ve ever seen then you’ve got a visual spectacle! Also just a reminder, I would tell you to go out right now just to watch this in IMAX 3D, but when I put this review up, there won’t be much time left to go see it in that format due to “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” coming out this Friday, so if you want to see it, check for tickets right away, and if they are still available, good for you!

As I mentioned before, Benedict Cumberbatch plays Dr. Steven Strange and you can believe that Strange is an actual neuroseurgeon in this movie. It’s not like you’re watching one of those movie jobs where the character gives no coherent explanation on what they are supposed to do. The movie does a very good job on showing specific details visually.

Rachel McAdams plays Christine Palmer, Strange’s girlfriend. Her relationship with Strange was buyable and I have to say McAdams did a fine job with her role. Later on in the movie when I see her is probably the best part with her in the movie because McAdams does a good job of making her character look afraid when the time is right. Not to mention Strange’s dialogue throughout the scene I’m talking about is pretty funny too.

Tilda Swanton plays the The Ancient One. First of all, I’d like to say the opening scene with her fighting was visually stunning and that itself was worth the IMAX 3D ticket price. Second, her role as Strange’s guide throughout his training was believable and was interesting to see progress during the movie.

The next character I’m going to talk about is a highlight of the movie to me. Specifically, Wong, which ironically is played by Benedict Wong. He is very stoic throughout the movie and I thought it worked for his character in the beginning and I thought it was one of the best parts of the movie. There’s this one scene where Strange and Wong are getting to know each other and it is clear that Wong lacks emotion. Possibly one of the only ways this would have been funnier is if Doctor Strange actually happened to be Deadpool. There is also one point where Strange wonders if Wong has a sense of humor whatsoever, which also was a highlight for me.

Speaking of humor, the amount of humor in this movie was something I did not expect while walking into it. Sure, Marvel movies have been funny in the past, and I remember tons of scenes and lines of dialogue that have been gutbusters to me. Although based on the trailers of this movie I was expecting the movie to go down a much more serious route than some of their past films. Just about all of the humor worked and I remember it well throughout the first and final act. By the way, I won’t go into detail, but I feel the need to spit this out. Once Strange says: “I’ve come to bargain,” s*it gets real fast. It’s hilarious yet serious at the same time and it works.

I would also like to remind everyone that if they want to know about what is going to come up next in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they must stay for the credits, and when I say that I mean stay for the WHOLE THING. Don’t leave halfway through because there is one credit scene a few minutes in, then there is another one at the very end. I will admit I actually almost forgot when seeing this movie, I guess this is what Comic-Con does to you… Oh yeah, by the way I went to Rhode Island Comic-Con over the weekend and I saw this while I was there. As of now I have no intentions of blogging about it but we’ll see what the future holds.

In the end “Doctor Strange” had a great story with spectacular visuals and I wouldn’t mind seeing it again. It doesn’t matter if I wait for the Blu-Ray or if I just go see it in the theater again because overall I enjoyed the movie and it was definitely worth the IMAX 3D ticket price. Also for the record, let me just say right now I’m not being paid to say that, I’m an IMAX fan in general and I think this represents a good example of what Hollywood IMAX 3D movies should look like. I’m going to give “Doctor Strange” an 8/10. I mentioned before that I went to Rhode Island Comic Con recently and if I were to blog about it, you’d see a post about it up on here soon, however I don’t have any intentions to do that but if I do change my mind a post will be on here not too long from now. If not, I’d like to thank Billy Dee Williams, Brianna Hildebrand, Johnny Brennan, FYE, whatever the name of that store was that gave me that LEGO Batman poster, and Gal Gadot for everything you’ve done for me at this convention and giving me a great experience. Thanks for reading all of this and stay tuned for more reviews. Scene Before is your click, to the flicks!

“The Girl on the Train” is the movie adaptation based on Paula Hawkins’s bestselling novel of the same name. This movie is directed by Tate Taylor who also directed “The Help”, and stars Emily Blunt as a woman who commutes on a train every day and when she is on the train she looks out the window and sees whatever it is that people are up to. In my world that’s called stalking. Throughout the movie’s exposition, this girl explains that there is one house with a specific couple that she is pretty curious about. At a certain point she eventually notices something wrong in the backyard of that house then lets the authorities know about it. This progresses through a good chunk of the movie, at least that’s what I remember, because part of me doesn’t even want to remember this garbage.

Just for the record, I never read the novel which this movie is based on, so you won’t be seeing any comparisons back and forth between the book and movie to show which one was better or what changes could have been added to the movie that may have enhanced or degraded the experience. I have a feeling I should have read the book considering how bored I got watching this movie.

The best part of the movie to me was Emily Blunt, the movie’s star. I have to say her performance as Rachel in this film was really good. Out of everyone in this movie I feel Emily showed much more emotion than anybody else, and I wonder if she will get any nominations for some of the upcoming award shows. Despite what I think of Blunt’s performance, it doesn’t mean I liked her character. Also, you know something? That’s probably the biggest problem I had with this movie. None of the characters caught my attention, and while all the actors seem to do the best they can in this movie, the flick doesn’t have the wow factor.

I will also give the movie credit for one thing, the concept appeared as if it was very interesting and unique. I don’t ride trains often, I mean, I love trains, I might even consider myself a railfan, I just don’t ride them much. Although I imagine a lot of people on trains are looking out the window and seeing what could be going on in the outside world. I doubt many people are as curious as Emily Blunt’s character, but I still imagine a chunk of people are curious to see what’s outside the window. I live near Boston, and I sometimes ride the MBTA Orange Line into Boston for one reason or another and I sometimes look out the window whenever I do, I don’t usually see as many homes as Rachel does in this movie, nor do I even see much scenery to rave about at all, but nevertheless looking out the window is a fun thing for me so that kind of made the overall concept more interesting.

I will say however, I was not a fan of the movie’s storytelling methods. This is a movie that makes you think a lot about what’s going on, now I’m not stupid, so I am capable of liking this. However it all just so slow that it almost feels like you’re going to school and you are sitting at your desk, wanting to fall asleep, all the while someone like Bill Lumbergh from “Office Space” is giving the dullest lecture imaginable. Speaking of unlikable storytelling, this movie had lots of flashbacks. I may have just had a headache from the dullness that is known as “The Girl on the Train”, but I can’t help but say that all of the movie’s cutaways and flashbacks didn’t grab me at all. You give a lot of crap for “Suicide Squad” having too many flashbacks? I think this movie had more, and based on my lack of attention I didn’t care about any of them.

How are the other actors in this movie? I’d say they were decent overall, I’m not the biggest fan of their characters, but the actors were fine. Haley Bennett did a nice job as Megan, Rebecca Ferguson as Anna wasn’t too shabby at all, I even think actors like Luke Evans and Justin Theroux did an adequate job as their characters. Based on what I’m saying, I do think the actors were probably one of the things that held the movie from being a complete disaster, but it’s not enough to make a good movie, or even an OK one.

In the end I was disappointed with “The Girl on the Train” and I say disappointed because from seeing the ads on TV for this film, I thought it looked like an engaging thriller. Was it a thriller? Well, sure, but not an engaging thriller. The movie’s overall concept, Emily Blunt’s performance, along with some others save the train from going off the rails, other than that, I have no other positives to say about this movie. I’m going to give “The Girl on the Train” a 2/10. After this snoozefest I hope the next movie I see will be better, and next weekend, I’m going to see “Sully”, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Tom Hanks, which is based on the Miracle on the Hudson. Stay tuned for that review, along with other reviews coming soon. Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

“Keeping Up with the Joneses” is directed by Greg Mottola and it is a comedy starring Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover), Isla Fisher (Now You See Me), Jon Hamm (Mad Men), and Gal Gadot (Batman v Superman). This movie is about a couple (Zach Galifianakis and Isla Fisher) who currently has their kids at summer camp for a couple of weeks, throughout that time, another couple known as the Joneses (Jon Hamm and Gal Gadot) move into their neighborhood. Not too long after they move in, the main couple consider the Joneses to be abnormal to the point where they investigate their lives and snoop around their home which leads them to finding out these folks are government spies and then Galifianakis and Fisher get involved in an international espionage plot with the Joneses.

Zach Galifianakis plays the main dude in this movie who goes by the name Jeff Gaffney. My mother loved this role, I personally liked it, I wouldn’t say I loved it. I thought the female roles in this movie were funnier whereas the male roles in this movie were somewhat forgettable. Although one thing I won’t forget is the company which he works. Not to digress or anything, but Jeff works for this company I don’t remember what its name is, but the thing that kinda bugs me about it is the logo. This is kind of a nitpick, but I can’t help but point out how much of a carbon copy the logo is of the IGN (International Gaming Network) logo. In case you haven’t seen the logo it’s right here below.

If you haven’t seen the movie and plan to see it at some point, keep your eyes peeled for it if you feel like paying some extra attention.

Isla Fisher plays Jeff’s wife Karen, she is essentially the mom that cares a lot about her kids and throughout the movie it shows even though the kids are not even in it, as mentioned before the kids are at summer camp. Sure, Jeff cares about the kids too, but I almost feel like the mom cares more (definitely not the first time I’ve seen that in a movie). It shows during a car chase midway through the film while she’s on the phone with her kids, you can hear Karen’s voice as if she’s super worried if she’ll make it through the scenario whereas I’m hearing Jeff’s voice and he definitely cares, but if there’s one thing I’ll remember most from the words coming out Jeff’s mouth it has to do with eating a cookie, which was kinda one of the main purposes of the call, but it didn’t sound like he cared about his kids (or his future if he had one) more than how his kids eat a cookie. I greatly remember him yelling “Split the cookie! Split the cookie!” Is this a problem? No, it just sets these two personalities apart.

Jon Hamm plays Tim Jones. He is one of the new neighbors and as I mentioned before, the male roles in this movie are unmemorable. I wouldn’t say they were bad, they were just unmemorable. This is another example. I barely remember any of this guy’s lines, but I thought his interactions with Jeff was a highlight of the movie, and the scene with him and Jeff in that bar was pretty funny.

Gal Gadot is also in this movie, she had my favorite role in this movie and wooooaaaah… Yeah, she’s hot, and might even be my celebrity crush right now, but I’m a professional (or at least I’d like to think so) so I digress. She plays Natalie Jones and she was the funniest character in the entire movie, not to mention she was pretty bada$$. Seeing her in that chase scene I mentioned not too long ago was quite a sight to me and made me feel like I was watching an all-out action flick instead of an action-comedy. Speaking of which, I want to see an action film (No, the new Wonder Woman movie is different than what I’m thinking about) starring Gal Gadot. Get on it Hollywood, if you can’t, I’ll write it for you and I can probably send it to a studio later in life depending on where the road takes me.

 

The most important part of a comedy is the humor, so was the movie funny? Yes indeed. Some characters were funnier than others but the movie had a lot of good sexual humor, slapstick humor, and Gal Gadot, there’s this one scene shown in the trailer where she’s trying on lingerie and she’s leaving a voicemail to her husband, she mentions to Isla Fisher that it is a “thing” she does with her husband. It’s kinda funny, but Gal references it later towards the end of the movie, what happens after it is gold. I won’t ruin it for you, I’ll let you see it for yourself, but it’s freaking hilarious. However I will say that the movie doesn’t deliver much comedy that feels new or fresh, which really bogs down the movie’s score for me.

In the end “Keeping up with the Joneses” is a rather decent film. It’s not groundbreaking in any sort of way, but it does deliver some laughs. I can only imagine myself watching this movie again if I find it on TV, perhaps a channel like TBS or maybe HBO, but if you were to see this in theaters I would say you will probably end up laughing at some point in the movie. I’m going to give “Keeping up with the Joneses” a 6/10. I’m not sure which movie I’m going to see next, but I’m either going to see “Sully” or “The Girl on the Train”, we’ll just have to see what happens in the near future. Also be sure to check out my earlier reviews I’ve done recently, for example I did “The Accountant” starring Ben Affleck as Batman–I mean as a high function autistic dude that kicks some a$$. Check it out, the link to it will be posted down below, and stay tuned for more reviews. Scene Before is your click, to the flicks.

“THE ACCOUNTANT” REVIEW: https://scenebefore.wordpress.com/2016/10/16/the-accountant-ausome/

“The Accountant” is directed by Gavin O’Conner (Miracle) and stars Ben Affleck (Batman v Superman), Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect), JK Simmons (Whiplash), and John Bernthal (Grudge Match). The movie is about a guy with high function autism who makes a living as an accountant (in case the title wasn’t obvious), while using a CPA office in a rather unknown town as a cover. He takes on a robotics company as a client, and JK Simmons is keeping an eye out towards Ben Affleck’s character. As Affleck gets closer to a discrepancy having to do with a lot of money, the body count increases.

Now I’m gonna get personal with you just for a moment. I, like Christian Wolff played by Ben Affleck himself, have high function autism. This means I have trouble socializing, I am sensitive to certain things like loud noises (even though I go to the movie theater whenever I can), although some people are sensitive to flashing lights. When I was a kid, I had sometimes lacked eye contact with people I talked to. Does this make me stupid? Not at all, I’m actually pretty freaking smart, not to show off or anything. This movie’s portrayal of autism, for the most part, is accurate. There is one big thing that is going through my mind and it’s more of a nitpick if anything and I’ll come back to it later.

Ben Affleck in this movie plays the autistic protagonist Christian Wolff. I really enjoyed seeing this character, and the way they used flashbacks on this character from when he was a kid was a smart move and it made the movie better in some ways. I may be somewhat biased, but I want to see Affleck nominated for some awards for this performance because when it comes to portraying a guy with autism, he does it well without overacting or overemphasizing in any sort of way. His chemistry with characters like Dana Cummings was also pleasing to see to me.

On that subject, Dana Cummings was played by Anna Kendrick and I think she nailed her performance in this film. I would even go as far to say she should be nominated for best supporting actress in the Oscars. Just like Affleck I saw no sign whatsoever of overacting, and she seemed to maintain the same emotions throughout the film.

 

JK Simmons is also in this movie as Ray King, a Treasury agent. When I first saw the original trailer for the film I was excited to see JK Simmons was in it. In case you weren’t aware, JK Simmons is one of my all time favorite actors. He was phenomenal in “Whiplash”, I loved him as J. Jonah Jameson in Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” trilogy, and whenever I hear him yell, it’s gold. Did he do that in this movie? No, based on how his character was written that would have been out of place and would have interfered with the movie’s overall structure. JK Simmons’ character overall wasn’t my favorite character in the movie. Does that mean his character sucks? No. I just think other characters stood out compared to him. One of the problems I have with JK’s character is that there is a long segment of background information and it seems to drag on quite a bit. It could be worse, but that’s one con I have with the movie.

Speaking of problems, I have a couple more. Christian Wolff, the hero meant to be portrayed in such light, is also kind of villainous, I won’t go into detail to avoid some spoilery things so I’ll let you see for yourself. Next, I felt like throughout the movie I had to watch it more than once. NOTE: I didn’t say I want to, I said I had to. What do I mean? I mean that there are some tidbits that may have been important to the story that may have flown over my head. Sure, sometimes in a movie you don’t get everything the first time around, but I figured I’d point it out. For the record, I wasn’t falling asleep, I had a soda with me so that was decreasing my chances of doing so. Although I was watching this movie in a reclining seat so maybe that had something to do with this. The last problem I will mention is that nitpick I steered away from earlier, and also before I get into this, I could be wrong here. In the movie there were several scenes where Ben Affleck was firing all sorts of weapons. I can’t remember if they stated how sensitive his ears were, but if they were sensitive, the movie probably should have verified that Affleck had earplugs in his ears, otherwise he’d probably startle after firing his own weapon. There were actually points where “I” startled when several shots were firing. Granted I do have sensitive ears, and it is a movie theater where things sound louder than they do at home, but I can’t help but point this out. There were some points where he had headphones on but other times there was nothing on his ears. He was carrying smaller weapons so maybe if he is sensitive it doesn’t go that far.

The Accountant overall is a great movie. It has a stellar portrayal of autism, a lot of the backstories made this movie excellent, Ben Affleck and Anna Kendrick have both given stunning performances, but it doesn’t mean the movie lacks problems. Despite said problems, I really enjoyed this movie, which leads me to saying for now I’m gonna give The Accountant an 8/10. I’m still skeptical on whether or not I’m gonna keep this rating, but for now I’d say the positives in the movie outweighed the negatives. I may also be biased on my rating since I have autism so therefore I can relate to the main character of this movie but even if I didn’t have autism there’s lots to enjoy about the movie. Next weekend I am planning to see “Keeping Up With the Joneses” so stay tuned for that review, along with other reviews I’ll have up on here at some point. Scene Before is your click, to the flicks!

Before we get into this review, I just want to say something. This movie is basically a debate that was very controversial not so long ago. It’s almost like it’s an appetizer for the 2016 US Presidential Election. Anyway, onto the review.

“Denial” is a film directed by Mick Jackson, and stars Rachel Weisz, Tom Wilkinson, and Timothy Spall. The film is based on true events revolving around acclaimed historian and writer Deborah E. Lipstadt. She’s talking at an event having to do with the holocaust when she finds a holocaust denier in the audience. The two begin arguing, and suddenly David Irving, the holocaust denier sues Deborah for libel, therefore setting the stage for the film’s upcoming events, including determining the answer to this question: “Did the holocaust really happen?”

I would like to say right now that I do believe the holocaust happened, you can say what you want about it, but this is my thought. However I am going to leave my thoughts on it out of the review keeping them as a separate topic. Just thought I’d get that out there.

Deborah E. Lipstadt is played by Rachel Weisz and I have to say she did a fine job in the movie. Now, it’s October, and all of the movies going for awards are starting to come out, with that in mind, I do think Rachel did well, but I don’t think it was enough to win awards, but we’ll have to see what the rest of the year brings. If there aren’t too many great actress performances for the rest of year, Weisz in my mind will probably have a chance to at least get a lot of nominations.

Tom Wilkinson is also in this movie and I barely remember his character. Although for what I do remember it was interesting to see what he did during the movie. The final product does a good job at displaying chemistry between him and Weisz’s character. However the movie does already lose points for me not remembering his character much.

You also have Timothy Spall as David Irving. I was really intrigued with his character throughout the movie and seeing him in the courtroom against Deborah was overall one of the most interesting parts of the film. It was much like the beginning of the movie, which did an excellent job at displaying the rivalry between the Deborah and David. There’s only one thing I don’t like about his character, and that has to do with how the character is treated. At the end of the movie, he tries to say to his opponents that they fought well in court, but they don’t say anything back. I get David is villainized in the flick, but it just doesn’t feel right. If that actually happened in real life I wouldn’t know, but if it didn’t, this wouldn’t be something I would have thought of. It took this movie from having a ending that was going to be solid, then it went a bit downhill.

If I had any other flaws for the movie, it would be the pacing. I felt like there was a lot of time spent in the court room, and too little time investigating evidence outside the court. Granted the movie is basically a court case movie, but I would have liked it better if they fleshed out a bit more on scenes outside the court. If the events of the actual story affect what I said then forget about it, but if there was anything missing, I would have liked to see it outside the court.

In the end, I wanted to like the movie, but I also wanted to leave. Did I think this movie was an absolute abomination against humanity? Nope. Although it had the pacing of “Hail, Caesar!” another movie I saw this year. Based the content of both films and pacing, if I choose one movie to watch again between this and “Hail, Caesar!” I’d choose “Hail, Caesar!”. With that in mind, I’m giving “Denial” a 5/10. This movie had potential, but I left feeling unsatisfied. If this movie were maybe a little shorter and some of the court scenes were trimmed more, I may have ended up giving this movie a higher rating. Also on the note of things I consider broken, I don’t like the final ending shot. I don’t know it’s just not something I would prefer having in this movie. Stay tuned for more upcoming reviews and check out my latest reviews! Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

“Deepwater Horizon” is the new movie based on true events having to do with the worst oil rig explosion in US history. This movie was directed by Peter Berg, who also directed “The Lone Survivor”, “Hancock”, and “Patriots Day”, the upcoming film based on the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing which will be in a theater near you on December 21.

This movie stars Mark Wahlberg as ironically, Mark Williams. I say ironically because I never see anyone play a character, especially a main character, with the same name as them. I have not seen The Lone Survivor, heard good things though, but one thing I noticed is that Mark Wahlberg is in both this movie and that movie as well. After looking on his IMDb, I noticed Wahlberg was involved in not only involved with the acting, but he also was involved in producing both films. It said that for The Lone Survivor, he was a producer, and he executive produced this film. I have no idea how well his performance was in The Lone Survivor, but he aces his performance in Deepwater Horizon. There’s one moment towards the end of the movie where I’m like, “Wow! That’s Oscar material!” I’m not surprised considering he was an executive producer, so maybe that added a little bit to having an idea of how he could execute his performance, but it’s still awesome.

Mark’s wife, it’s funny, I don’t know whether I should say Mark’s wife, Mark Wahlberg’s wife, or Mark Williams’s wife, nevertheless his wife is played by Kate Hudson. That brings me to my next topic. There was another movie that came this year that also featured a disaster based on true events, it’s called “The Finest Hours.” In that movie there was a subplot where Chris Pine, the star of the movie has a love interest, and Mark Wahlberg in this movie is also in love with a woman, and comparing the two, this one is something that can add something to the movie whereas with the other one, it felt either too forced, or perhaps fake. Why does this love interest subplot work? First of all it feels real. There was one point where Kate Hudson receives a call where she’s given the information having to do with the incident the movie is focusing on, she’s crying, her daughter is watching her, she’s asking a realistic question, followed by Kate Hudson giving a realistic answer. So I would give props to the writers and actors for the successfully delivering the drama factor.

This movie is based on a true story so spoiling the movie isn’t really something that should drag it down for the most part so I’ll say this: the Deepwater Horizon oil rig had a BP Safety award streak. In the movie they show that they won it again around the time of the rig explosion, which does add to the story because for a company that won quite a few BP Safety awards, an event like the one mainly depicted in this movie is a bit of a downfall. The movie did a good job of showing positives about the subject that may make the upcoming negative a little more interesting.

Unlike the middle and end of the movie, the beginning of the movie, wasn’t the best example of quality. Sure, it was effective, but it could have been more. I wouldn’t take too many points off though because I will say it did a nice job at establishing the characters and situations in a proper manner. Speaking of characters and things that appear to be lamer than other things, Mark Wahlberg’s co-workers for the most part didn’t do it for me at the beginning. Their characterization definitely improved throughout the film though so that makes up for it. There were a few characters that were fine at the beginning, but let’s just say there’s room for improvement.

I may be cheating here because when I saw this movie, I actually saw this in IMAX, but this movie is one of the most intense things I’ve seen all year. Throughout the entire disaster I was beginning to lose my breath, feel bad for everyone on the ship, especially considering this was real, and sweat. OK, the last one may have been because I had a sweatshirt on but I don’t care. If I were there at Deepwater, I’d probably run around screaming until I die, or run around screaming until I jump off and die, or run around screaming until I jump off and I have assistance getting to a lifeboat therefore I survive. It’s probably worse for me because I have sensitive ears, which means if the average person hears an explosion, it’s probably already loud enough, whereas I hear it and I just want to cover my ears, making them warm and red.

Deepwater Horizon was one of the better movies of the year and contains some of the best performances I’ve seen this year. I’m not surprised if Mark Wahlberg gets nominated for a ton of awards including Oscars, because of this movie. I have not seen The Lone Survivor, but Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg make a great team and I cannot wait to see what the two can do with the upcoming film Patriots Day, which comes out this December. I’m gonna give Deepwater Horizon a 9/10. Also coming up, I’m gonna review another movie pretty soon, that review will be out in just a few days. I just need to see that movie before I review it. I’m either going to review Sully, The Girl on the Train, or Denial. Which one will I review? Find out in just a few days! Until then, stay tuned. Scene Before is your click to the flicks!