The Movie Paradise

The Shallows was a movie I was actually really looking forward to. I hadn't seen the trailer until recently, but since then I have been eager to see the movie. The movie looked like it could be a lot of fun, and Blake Lively is a really good actress. Of course, this had the potential to be just a higher-budget SyFy movie; a discount Jaws-wannabe. Or it could be a quality thriller that offers some high-octane action and excitement. Leaving the film, I was satisfied. It certainly had its Jaws tribute moments, but it also stands on its own as an action-packed and gripping thriller that delivers on being a fun time at the theaters. 
After going too far out from the beach into the waters, Nancy (Lively) is trapped in a great white shark's feeding ground, and must nurse an injured leg and fight in order to survive the animal's wrath.

I really liked this film. The first two acts are fantastic. The movie is slow to introduce the shark, which is a smart move on the filmmakers' …

The Neon Demon was a film that I didn't have that much interest in seeing. I do really enjoy seeing out-there, artistic films, but the trailers for this film didn't necessarily intrigue me. It just wasn't really on my radar at all. But our other writer Rob saw the movie, and really wanted me to see it. The director, Nicolas Winding Refn, also directed Drive, one of his favorite movies, and one I have yet to see. So I agreed, and went to see The Neon Demon. And I walked out feeling mixed on the film. While it visually looks beautiful and gorgeous, with a fantastic soundtrack, the story and characters are really lacking and utterly underwhelming. 
After just arriving in Los Angeles to begin her career in modelling, Jesse (Elle Fanning) begins rising up the ranks, far surpassing her colleagues who have been there far longer than she has. After her bout of success, rival models take it on themselves to put her back in her place. 

From a technical standpoint, The Neon Demon is …

I didn't see the first trailer for Morgan until I was in the theaters seeing something else, and it played during the previews. Instantly, I wondered what the hell this movie was. The trailer was very well-crafted; you didn't really know what was going on, and it left a lot for your imagination. It made you interested in this film. So I was interested to see where the second trailer would go. If this one was just as ominous, then it might be seen as a simple rehash, and the marketing team is trying to hide this film. But if it followed a true narrative, then it might take away from the suspense the first trailer built up. So I clicked on this trailer, eager to see which path they took. And, unfortunately, it was the latter.
This film now looks very average to me. It's lost a lot of the anticipation and the curiosity behind it, because it looks like just another movie where people play with artificial intelligence and sh*t goes down. The intrigue of the first trailer is go…

I hold Finding Nemo to be one of my favorite Pixar films to date. It was fun, exciting, scary, adventurous, and had a great message about family, and about overcoming challenges and disabilities. So I was hesitant when I heard the news of a sequel coming out thirteen years after the original. Either the sequel would just be a rehash of the original, or it wouldn't be nearly as good as the first. And the trailers hadn't sold me either. The visuals were fantastic and I felt like I was right back in that world, but the comedy and substance of the trailers hadn't clicked. But after the 95% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, I walked into Finding Dory very excited. I checked my enthusiasm, knowing it would not be as good as Finding Nemo, but I went in expecting a good movie. And that's what I got. Finding Dory is a really good film, even though it doesn't come close to being as good as the original. 
Six months after the events of Finding Nemo, Dory begins to have memo…

I was really looking forward to seeing Money Monster. I had seen the trailer play in front of another movie about a month prior, and I thought it looked fantastic. George Clooney and Julia Robets are great actors, and my interest was peaked even more when I saw that Jodie Foster was directing. I thought this could be a great dramatic thriller, with powerful performances that had a clear message about consumerism and Wall Street. But my expectations were lowered by a lot when I saw the Rotten Tomatoes rating was 55%. I went into the film hoping for the best, but prepared to be disappointed. But, after all, I have no idea why critics didn't like this film. It may not have enough substance to last the entire film, but the power it has from both its performances and suspense it builds up is electrifying. 
Lee Gates (Clooney), a renown media mogul who runs a Wall Street analytics show called "Money Monster", is suddenly held hostage by a crazed suicide bomber (Jack O'Con…