The Rover: The Best?

Critically acclaimed at the Festival de Cannes, The Rover rakes place in the Australian Outback 10 years after "the collapse," which is presumed to be a global economic collapse or perhaps just the collapse of society. Whatever it may have been, it has laid waste to Australia, where Guy Pearce's(Memento, L.A. Confidential) car is stolen. The entirety of the film is Pearce attempting to get his car back. Eventually he runs into Robert Pattinson(Twilight). Filled with haunting cinematography and even more horrifying realities of life and human nature, Director David Michod constructs a world that the audience will buy into. Of course along with the beautiful yet petrifying cinematography and camera work is a consistent score. Filled with violence, intrigue, suspense, tension, and meanings, The Rover pulls you in until the very last credit rolls.
8.5/10  

Begin Again: See it Again?

In Begin Again, a down music-business executive and a down songwriter end up meeting and try their hand at making a unique album. Starring Mark Ruffalo(The Avengers, Zodiac) and Keira Knightley(Pride and Prejudice), this film appearing as a romantic comedy ends up feeling like a dramatic comedy. Filled with rich and very original humor from very relatable life situations, honestly hilarious. Dramatically, it delivers as well but not on par with the comedic aspect. Adam Levine co-stars and vastly underperforms in his role. It is possible to blame the writing or just the character but I believe this is not Adam's strong suit. Another strong aspect was the New York cinematography, whether it be a backdrop or right in the heart, it was always stunning. Furthermore on the positives, the soundtrack which was a mix of originals and borrowed material was nearly perfect and helped accomplish the mood of each scene and the collective film. Some downsides, the character development was strong but wasn't exactly linear or consistent. This problem occurred multiple times with multiple characters. With a plethora of positive reviews and a good amount of mixed to negative, Begin Again has nabbed a 62/100 on Metacritic. A critical take on the music business and a nice outlook on family and love.
7.5/10

Collateral: What's The Damage?

10 years late, but nonetheless, Collateral is critically acclaimed as one of the best thrillers in (somewhat) recent years. Starring Tom Cruise (Top Gun) and Jamie Foxx (The Soloist), the film takes place over the course of one night in LA. A modest cab driver finds his life flipped upside down when his passenger ends up being a contract killer. Already the basis for this story is ludicrous, along with that there are some issues within the film. Most of all, the awkward comedy writing and even worse  the deliverance of said comedy by Jamie Foxx. A movie with such a dark tone and even darker cinematography deserves better than the poor comedic writing thrown in. It's easy to shrug off but still a takeaway from the film overall. Onto the positives, Cruise delivers as he always has and always will. Foxx is on and off, in my humble opinion. Although appearing as a simple thriller/action "blockbuster" attempt, there is deeper meaning lodged within the film and its characters. More specially the importance, or lack there of, of life. Truly asking the audience, "how much do you care?" "What is your life worth?" And so on. If you can get past the little inadequacies then you're sure in for a treat. 

8/10

Guardians of the Galaxy: Best Movie in the Galaxy?

Marvel studios ventures into uncharted territory with Guardians of the Galaxy, a space-adventure (comedy?) that follows a rag-tag group of five companions searching for a magical orb that can crush worlds. A very simple story arc right? Right. And that's a highlight of the film, their knowledge of the story and not letting it stray too far or get out of hand. This can be attributed to James Gunn's (Slither) handling of the film as director. He creates a character driven story with instantly loveable characters. The way the story intertwines together, allowing all these "heroes" to meet is smart and quick, unlike the Avengers. The cast is lead by Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation, Her), Zoe Saldana (Avatar), Dave Bautista, featuring Vin Diesel (Fast Five) and Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook) as Groot and Rocket. The real show stealers are Groot and Rocket, Groot can only emit 3 words but is a caring tree and definitely unforgettable. Rocket (Raccoon) is a mischievous character who manages to be compelling with every sentence. Right down to the laugh, Cooper hits every beat. Now straying away from the characters, the cinematography for Marvel movies doesn't have that high of a bar but Guardians surpasses that expectation and more with amazing color hues, saturations, and huge space set pieces. Finally, the soundtrack was truly memorable, a slur of 70s songs that fit the mood perfectly. Overall, there are some problems, the biggest of which are the villains. They aren't given nearly enough screen time to appear menacing or important but that does not matter when the heroes are this fantastic. Marvel has catapulted past all the expectations and created my favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe movie yet in Guardians of the Galaxy.

9/10