Blade Runner 2049 - Movie Review

Blade Runner 2049

Review by Ryan Davidson

Score: 9.75/10

This is what art in a cinematic form looks like. Denis Villeneuve does it again (He directed Arrival, Sicario, Prisoners, Enemy, etc.) with this masterpiece of a movie. This is a slow burn, sitting at two hours and forty-four minutes long, but the payoff is entirely worth it. The long-awaited sequel to Blade Runner is here, and it is masterful. I dug pretty much everything in this movie. My only minor complaint is that it is a bit long. I think the length is useful, but Denis might've been able to shave a few minutes off in some places to make the film more accessible. Who am I to care about accessibility though? I am perfectly fine with sitting through a movie of that length if I feel that the movie earns it, and this movie does. Interstellar is another long movie that comes to mind in recent years that is also in that category. Ryan Gosling is outstanding as K. He really shines in this role, and makes the movie interesting in parts that could've been disastrously slow. The cinematography is perfect. Not much more I can say besides I expect an Academy Award win for Best Cinematography here. The music by Hans Zimmer was quite engaging, and the direction by Denis is a masterclass. If you couldn't already tell, this is one of my favorite movies of the year so far, and I would honestly love to see it in the Best Picture category at the end of the year. This is a must-watch!

Blade Runner - Movie Review

Blade Runner

Review by Ryan Davidson

Score: 8.5/10

I'm a pretty big Science-Fiction fan, and Blade Runner has quickly become one of my favorites. The Final Cut that is. That is the only version I have ever seen, as a matter of fact. I really dug it though, as it dives into some really interesting Sci-Fi territory, that have been explored since, but really weren't explored before. That makes this movie revolutionary in my mind. The world building is superb, as I was really enthralled with this futuristic earth. I was interested in the idea of replicants and humans coexisting. I was enveloped in this futuristic society, which wrestles with the ideas that we are constantly wrestling within today's world a bunch of years later. Ideas like, are we even real? Is life as we know it a simulation? Are their advanced robot/replicants among us? This is great fodder for Science-Fiction, and that's exactly what Blade Runner does best. I quite enjoyed my time with this movie, and am excited to revisit it at some point. 

Battle of the Sexes - Movie Review

Battle of the Sexes

Review by Ryan Davidson

Score: 7.5/10

Emma Stone plays Billy Jean King, a feminist tennis player who finds herself leading a movement to further women's rights in tennis. Steve Carell plays Bobby Riggs, a former Men's tennis champion who challenges King to a tennis match to prove that women are not as good at tennis as the men are. This is in every way a female rights film. I thought this was a solid film. Solid acting, solid writing, solid directing, etc. I wasn't extremely interested in the subject matter, but the film kept my attention throughout the runtime. I think Emma Stone is the biggest takeaway from this movie, as she is just awesome in this role. She's awesome in every role, so I really shouldn't be surprised, but I still felt that I needed to shout her out. I don't know that you need to rush out to the theaters to see this one, but it is definitely worth a watch at some point.

Stronger - Movie Review

Stronger

Movie Review by Ryan Davidson

Score: 9.25/10

Jake Gyllenhaal continues to cement himself as one of the best actors working today. His performance was masterful in Stronger and I would love to see him get nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role at the Acadamy Awards this year. The movie itself is actually quite phenomenal as well. For those who don't know, Stronger tells the story of a man who was, unfortunately, feet away from the bomb that went off at the Boston Marathon. The bomb blew off both of his legs, but he managed to survive and see the culprit who planted the bomb. He was essential in finding the Boston Marathon Bombers, and his recovery is an inspiration to many. This movie is emotional and inspiring all at the same time. I smiled, I cried, I laughed. This was just a strong film all around (no pun intended), and without going into too much more detail, I recommend that everyone go see this film immediately. 

American Made - Movie Review

American Made

Review by Ryan Davidson

Score: 5/10

This definitely wasn't my all-time favorite Tom Cruise movie. That's not to say that I hated it, I just didn't enjoy it quite as much as I had wanted to. American Made is often boring and left me wanting more from an action perspective. I enjoyed the story, and what it was trying to say to the audience, but I wasn't all that engaged in the film. To me, this is one of those disposable films that I'll forget even exists in about 2 or 3 months. There's nothing overtly special about American Made, and to me, it doesn't even live up to being a Tom Cruise popcorn flick. If the story initially interests you, then you will probably enjoy this film a lot more, I just didn't really care all that much by the end of it.

The Lego Ninjago Movie - Movie Review

The Lego Ninjago Movie

Review by Ryan Davidson

Score: 7.5/10

The Lego Ninjago Movie is easily the worst Lego film since the release of 2014's The Lego Movie. That being said, I actually quite enjoyed my time watching this adaptation of a popular children's property. This one is action-oriented, as opposed to the other lego films, which went for a comedic approach through and through, but this movie still presented enough laughs to keep me engaged. The creativity from the first Lego Movie is also very present in this one. There's an awesome scene with a live-action cat, which stole the show for me. The voice acting work was fine enough, and the animation was as beautiful as ever. I'm not big on the Ninjago property, but I have heard that it doesn't sit well with fans of the franchise. I do recommend this to families, and lego fans alike. 

The Lego Batman Movie - Movie Review

The Lego Batman Movie

Review by Ryan Davidson

Score: 9/10

I'm starting to really enjoy these new Warner Brothers Lego Movies. The first Lego Movie was funny and charming while being immersively creative. This one is more of the same. It's extremely fast-paced and hilarious while making sure to poke fun at the long history of Batman. An issue I have with this movie is that it starts off very fast paced, but then kind of slows down at a certain point in the film. Some of the jokes come at you at such a fast pace that you can be hit with another joke before you're even done laughing about the first one. I really really enjoyed the dynamic between Joker and Batman in this movie. They kind of have a sappy non-relationship thing going on and it created a lot of amazing humor. I really enjoyed this film and would recommend it to everyone, especially Batman fans.

The Lego Movie - Movie Review

The Lego Movie

Review by Ryan Davidson

score: 9.5/10

I have never been so surprised by a movie in my entire life. I went into this movie not expecting anything at all, and was utterly shocked at how imaginative it is. It's clever and funny and well thought out all the way through. The voice acting is great from top to bottom. Chris Pratt really knocks it out of the park, but I think Will Ferrell might be the standout here. This movie will continue to be one of my favorite animated films of recent years. The animation is also incredible as it kind of has this stop motion feel, as if all of the lego pieces were real. I'm still super bitter about the Academy Awards not even giving this a nomination for Best Animated Feature. I honestly enjoyed this movie more than the winner of the award that year, Big Hero 6. All in all, I think this is an extremely enjoyable family film that everyone should see.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle - Movie Review

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Review by Ryan Davidson

score: 6/10

I'll keep this review nice and short. The sequel to Kingsman quite literally feels like an exact continuation of the first one. Still over the top. Still a lot of fun. Still very predictable. The reason I think this one takes a step back is because it is quite a bit too long. The second half of the movie feels like a drag. There's also no stand out action sequence like the church scene in the first one. Not that there absolutely needs to be one, but there just wasn't anything that stood out amongst the lacking amount of action sequences. Juliane Moore is in this film, and she is actually quite good in this role, I really liked her character. I would really only recommend this to those who really enjoyed the first one. If you didn't care for the first installment, you're going to be much less inclined to be on board for this slight drop off of a sequel.

Kingsman: The Secret Service - Movie Review

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Review by Ryan Davidson

score: 7/10

Kingsman is just an all around fun movie. It's face paced, it's super stylized, and it's just an epic film. I had a lot of fun watching this one. It is one of the most over the top action films I have ever seen, and that only works to the benefit of the film. Taron Egerton is pretty good here, and Colin Firth has one of the best action scenes in the film involving a church. Overall, I definitely recommend this as a fun, popcorn movie and nothing more.