Ready Player One

Ready Player One is Steven Spielberg's latest foray back to the world of adventure movies. Based on the novel by the same name, this focuses on a digital world called the Oasis, and the game that the creator has set place in his death to find a successor - both for his fortune, and the control of Oasis itself. In any adventure story, there are the good guys and the bad guys. The film is led by Wade Watts, who goes by the name Parzival in the Oasis. He grew up in a poor charter in Ohio called the Stacks, and he wanted to win the prize money simply to better his life. It was only when he met a star player, Artemis, that his views about the contest has changed, and he along with the other players teamed up to defeat the bad guys. The villain is played by a corporation, led by Sorrento who would stop at nothing to win the game. With the world being focused on a digital scale (as well as the massive references the source had), this was going to be a feat visually. It was visually appealing, but veered more on style over substance. (SPOILERS)

A Clockwork Orange

I didn't know much about A Clockwork Orange before putting in on my watch list. It was a popular film by Stanley Kubrick and has been referenced and parodied again and again in pop culture. It is hard not to associate the color orange, bowl hat, glass of milk, and a mascaraed eye with the film. Since I liked The Shining, I thought I would give this a go.

Blade Runner 2049

It can be said that the sequel to Ridley Scott's Blade Runner is one of the most anticipated films of the year. It is impossible to escape the excitement of it; from the stunning images that peppered articles discussing the film, to interviews and sightings done by the film's star powers, and the trailer to boast it all. The addition of it being helmed by Denis Villeneuve gives the film a certain expectation, as not only is the original considered a classic, but Villeneuve has been churning amazing films. I watched this knowing nothing about the sequel, and with no expectations. I was very surprised, not because it was an incredible film, but because I was already anticipating another viewing even before I finished the film. *spoilers ahead*

Demolition Man

It’s 2036 and it’s a different Los Angeles in Brambilla’s Demolition Man, an entertaining action piece starring Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes. They play John Spartan and Simon Phoenix respectively, and we meet their characters in a crossfire after years of Spartan trying to catch Phoenix. When the incident goes awry, it sends both of them into a cryogenic prison where they would be kept frozen until their respective parole hearings years later.

Terminator Genisys

Terminator: Genisys is the recent attempt to reboot a franchise that has earning power is in need of a reboot due to the decline of the previous attempts. This installment is a means to rewrite the Terminator franchise events in hopes to launch a new take on the series. Unfortunately, there were factors that cannot be overlooked that led to the dismissal of the revival.

The Martian

The Martian was one of my favorite books read last year. It’s funny; it’s adventurous and would definitely make a great film. Despite the influx of space-related flicks as of late, it was a good piece to adapt. I had a bit of doubt about it, particularly due to Matt Damon being casted as the lead character, and that his character might be reminiscent of his earlier astronaut character in 2014’s Interstellar. Nonetheless, the movie didn’t disappoint.

Mockingjay Part 1 & 2

Mockingjay is the third book in the Hunger Games series and frankly my least favorite one. So it made no sense (besides financial reasons) for the third book to be split to two. I had to wait for a while before watching the two movies, and I will be reviewing them as one. Each movie was a bit lengthy and it could have trimmed down a few scenes, but I thought the movies were good in a general sense.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Marvel brings us the newest installment of the franchise where we get to see the Avengers fight a new enemy, make new allies, and find out more about the lives of the superheroes. While this is much grander than the first one, there was something in the first movie that made it stand out but it doesn’t seem to be replicated here.

Fahrenheit 451

I think my soul just died a little. What would the world be without books? Any kind of books, novels, philosophies, poetry, short stories, manuscripts, screenplays? Without text to narrate to us different world, theories, ideologies? An adaptation of a novel by Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 brings the audience to a world without text, and into a life of man whose world began to change when he began to read.

Jurassic Park

After the release of the trailer of Jurassic World, I decided to go and watch the first installment of the franchise just to see what I'm getting myself into when I watch the fourth installment. I did not imagine that I would spend the next two hours screaming at the characters to run or do something beside freeze in place to await for their death. The characters' personalities make you panic for their lives, and the same time wonder how on earth they survived.

Interstellar

When you come out of the cinema arguing passionately, I think it's a sign of a mind-baffling film. An added bonus to this is when none of you know what the film was ultimately about, and putting your trust that Christopher Nolan will deliver a great film. When reviews for Interstellar started streaming in, the reaction varied, so I wasn't sure what to expect. While it did leave me a lot questions, its third act's questionable scenes included, Interstellar was quite the film that leaves things shaken up.

Snowpiercer

Snowpiercer is set in a post-apocalyptic world, where the earth has been engulfed in ice, and the only remnants of the human race is living inside a self-sufficient train. Director Bong Joon-ho immediately throws us into the conflict, where the residents of the back carts decide that they had enough of the treatment by the residents of the front train, and decided to stage a coup to take control of the train.

Double Feature: RoboCop (1987) / RoboCop (2014)

Two short reviews, one movie franchise. While I was aware of the Robocop franchise from way back, I haven't really seen the movie until recently - and same goes for the reboot of the franchise. Doing a double feature on them doesn't mean I'll be pinning them against each other. After seeing both movies, I thought that these should be taken as separate entities. Sure, there are similarities and such, but as my consensus, they were both pretty good movies. The premise is simple: Detective Murphy get murdered, but survived by putting his remaining functioning body parts into a machine that allows him to move, and is transformed to become this super protector of Detroit City. However, his main priorities change when he investigates on his own murder, leading him to unfold plots that were happening in the city.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

I revisited a favorite of mine a couple of nights ago, and was supposed to do a thought piece about it. Apparently I haven't written a review for the film just yet, so I'll try to be coherent as possible. The film didn't waver in terms of its flawlessness. It was still interesting, and the flow of the film was still great. The emotions I had when I first saw this, it was still there. The effect of the film was still there. So I'm just going to dive in the review, if you don't mind.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Of all the members of The Avengers, Captain America can be considered the most patriotic of them all. He was always concerned about serving his people, and it was a mission he kept through and through. He led soldiers into victorious fights, and even came to a point of sacrificing his own life for the sake of the better good. In his third movie, he was no different - willing to go the extra mile for the protection of mankind. While the first movie divulged in his history and origin, the second one brings us up to date with his work as a member of SHIELD, and how his past has somewhat caught up with him.

Divergent

Following the success of dystopian future of The Hunger Games comes another young adult adaptation franchise that has been making marketing headlines to become the next Hunger Games series: Divergent. Does it have the makings to become the next big franchise? I wouldn't say that about now, but who knows what will happen with Insurgent, especially if it also takes in the same momentum as Catching Fire did, appearing to be a superior movie from its predecessor. As of now, I have my reservations with Divergent being great, but it has the potential to become as big as the other franchise.

Prometheus

Somehow I'm not making strides when it comes to Ridley Scott films, opting for another sci-fi work of his. I've never been a fan of alien life form screeching on the screen (hence I'm not likely to catch the Alien movies), but it doesn't appear so much in Prometheus, the loose prequel of Alien. Coupled with a great cast, Prometheus is supposed to strike as a work of grand sci-fi art. While the film was visually appealing, and the concept is interesting, I was expecting it to be something more.

Blade Runner

One down, eleven to go. I sort of cheated here; I didn't have the copy of the original film, but I watched the 2007 digitally remastered one. In the future, the world has replicants, robotic creatures that could not be distinguished from human beings. Because of their act of rebellion, they were banned from earth, and had assassins called Blade Runners to terminate the rebels. The film starts with four rebels landing to earth in order to find a way to prolong their lives, with retired Blade Runner Deckard on their tale.

Iron Man 3

Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle

Director: Shane Black

After coming off strong in The Avengers, I was expecting Iron Man to be as epic, or slightly less than epic as the movie. Iron Man was great but I felt a little skeevy about Iron Man 2, so I expected the third to redeem the sequel. The third movie was a good one, albeit it did not live up to any of its predecessors, both the original and the sequel. Nor did it live up to the standards The Avengers already set in, considering that the movies are now slightly angled towards the story for The Avengers 2. To be honest, the plot is a bit surreal as The Avengers (technically thinking about it), but it's the out of the world crisis thinking that may have placed Iron Man 3 on the edge. Despite the seemingly redeeming third act, Iron Man 3 felt a little bit too off-beat, even for the liking of Tony Stark.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth

Director: Francis Lawrence

The whole world probably saw Catching Fire the weekend it came out. With the array of young adult adaptations, The Hunger Games franchise has emerged victorious among its competitors, lining up to the success of its fellow franchises, namely Harry Potter and the Twilight franchise. While the franchise has yet to earn its ranks as one of the classics, Catching Fire delivers enough fuel to keep its audiences satisfied, triumphing over its predecessor by miles. However, the movie was still lacking in some perspective, with Mockingjay hopefully filling the void and closing the franchise with a bang.