The Finest Hours

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland



















Michael's Movie Grade:B+

Review: Excellent and very fun adventure film. We have seen it all before, but it is done so expertly here.

The cinematography and editing in this film are down right fantastic, and even when the film is predictable it keeps and maintains an audience's attention. The action scenes are thrilling and edge of your seat fun. The acting is great. This truly an expertly made and very fun film. Helping to make this movie great is a fantastically well done old fashioned atomosphere.

However the film has one major fault. The romance is far too rushed. It is sweet and very likable, but more time needed to be spent on these two characters being together. In fact the beginning of the film just moves too fast, and really could use some slowing down.

Overall an excellent but faulted film.

-Michael J. Ruhland

The Big Short

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland
















Michael's Movie Grade: B-

Review: Adam McKay does a surprisingly good job directing such a different film from his usual style, but he could have done better on the script (though it isn't by any means bad).

The film has great direction, that is not afraid to blend more experimental film making with more mainstream film making. It is not as original as it seems to think it is, but it is still very well done. The writing is enjoyable, and fairly well thought out, but it is not up to par with the direction, and feels like it could have used another draft or so. Again the writing, while good seems to think it is more original than it is. The acting however is top notch and makes the script's weak points still enjoyable.

This is not a new masterpiece, but is a very well directed movie with an enjoyable, if underwhelming, script, and great acting.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Concussion

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland

















Michael's Movie Grade:B+

Review: Excellent film, may be formulaic but is so good you may not care.

This film is excellent at getting someone who is not interested in either sports or science (A.K.A. me) completely involved in it's story line. The main character is very likable, and we grow to care about him a lot (of course being played by Will Smith doesn't hurt this). Writer and Director Peter Landesman is really passionate about this subject and it shows, and he can make someone who doesn't usually share his passion, share it for the length of this film.

On the downside the romance should have been fleshed out more (it is not bad but it could be better), and the film at times confines itself to the typical style of this type of movie. However what is good is so good, you may not care about it's faults.

Regardless of your feelings toward this type of film, this is an excellent film that is well worth a watch.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Sisters

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland


















Michael's Movie Grade:F

Review: Unfunny, and immature comedy is just plain bad, despite good performances from the film's leads.

The main problem with this film is despite being a comedy it is never that funny. For this around two hour movie there are only one or two jokes that work. The two leads try hard to be funny, but their effort was wasted because the script was not funny to begin with. The humor is very immature. While that type of humor can work, it often times doesn't and this is a case where it doesn't. The worst thing about the film is the side characters. These are stereotypes of movie characters, and are just plain bland and annoying.

If you want a good laugh simply look elsewhere.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Point Break

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland
















Michael's Movie Grade:C-

Review: Decent time passer. Will never be remembered as a great movie, but isn't really that bad either.

The characters and story are all stuff we have seen before, and not just in the film this is a remake of, but in many many other films. While it is not done too bad here, it has still been done better elsewhere. The characters are likable, but they are also underdeveloped and been done better elsewhere. However on the bright side the action scenes are great. Doing them out in nature, is a nice change from the the usual city landscape for action scenes. These scenes also have fantastic cinematography. While the rest of the film isn't all bad, you really wish it was as good as thee action scenes are, but as it is this is a decent time passer. Don't go to this expecting a great film, but if you want to just spend some time at a movie theater, you could do worse.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Joy

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland



















Michael's Movie Grade:D

Review: This film tries hard, but sadly it is mostly just bland and overlong, despite a few good scenes.

The main character of this film is pretty likable, but unfortunately she is the only character in the film one feels like they actually get to know. The rest of the characters are just bland and boring. The actors give it a lot of effort and talent, but unfortunately they are given little to work with. On top of that you never truly feel the emotional connection to the story that director/writer David O Russell, seems to want you to feel. Still on top of that the movie just feels like it should have ended much earlier than it did. However there is some good humor (as well as some humor that misses the mark), and a couple of emotional scenes actually work well. Despite this Joy is mostly joyless.

P.S. I was tempted to make this review more jokingly by referring to it as a spin off movie to Inside Out, but I decided against this and the film gave me fairly little to work that joke with.

-Michael J. Ruhland