Dunkirk

Review written by Michel J. Ruhland










Michael's Movie Grade: A-

Reviews: A fascinatingly experimental and moving movie that actually overcomes some Christopher Nolan's usual faults as a filmmaker.

What makes this movie so particularly fascinating is that there is often very sparse dialogue. While this is very different for almost any film today, it is even more shocking to be seen in a Nolan film. While I like some of his films (particularly Following and Batman Begins) a huge fault in many of them is an over reliance on dialogue. This dialogue can often feel un-cinematic as it explains things we could have easily seen and often dissects scenes in a way that should be left up to the audience not the characters. With all this much of Nolan's dialogue in previous movies comes off as pretentious and pointless, even when the movies themselves are good despite that. However here that fault is much less prevalent, because there is so little dialogue in this movie. This works to its full advantage here as we are still drawn into what the characters are going through and no dialogue is needed to make us do this. With this we have a fully cinematic film and in many ways a very effective one because of that. We make our own judgements on what we are seeing and the result feels more satisfying because of this.

All in all this film is a different kind of character study than many other movies out there. Instead of it being a study of a specific character it is the study of a group. We see their reactions to the war and how different it is for many of them at times, but also what panic can do to them as a group. This is quite fascinating and great to watch. At the end while we do not fully know any of these characters as individuals, we still know them quite well as a group. This makes this movie an experience rather than just a simple war story.

However this film does have some faults. The camera never stays still. This can be very distracting and kind of hurts the film. There is also on the camera side too much of a reliance on close ups, which can also be a little distracting. However despite these faults this is a really good movie and I highly recommend it.

-Michael J. Ruhland.     

Despicable Me 3

Review Written by Michael J. Ruhland


















Michael's Movie Grade: C+

Review: Maybe not a great movie but still quite fun.

One of the best things about this movie is the animation. The film looks and moves in a very cartoony fashion and is expertly handled here. The animation may be quite exaggerated but all the exaggeration and cartoony-ness comes straight out of the characters and out of the story line. Because of this the exaggeration really makes the characters come to life for us and believe them all the more. Most of all though this animation is filled with an energy that is just fun to watch. 

There are definitely though too many side stories in this movie. Lucy has one, the minions have one and Agnes has one. Thanks to this they all feel very rushed and not given nearly enough time to be fleshed out. Lucy's side story is the weakest and honestly is just cliché and dull. The minions side story has a couple of good laughs but nothing too memorable. Agnes' side story on the other hand offers the most entertaining part of the movie. It has the biggest laughs, a great premise and above everything Agnes is just so enjoyable to watch here. It is sad this wasn't given more time because even with how rushed it feels it is probably the best part of the movie. The main story belongs to Gru and it is quite enjoyable. Gru is quite relatable and fun here, and the story while it has been done before still has quite a bit of charm. This story is given the most fleshing out and while it isn't anything incredible or original it is still quite a bit of fun. Probably the biggest problem with this main story is that while it had a few good jokes, it also has some that fall a bit flat. They aren't terrible or even necessarily that bad, but they just are a bit unmemorable.

This is exactly what you expect from the Despicable Me movies, meaning it may not be a great movie but it is still fun.

By the way there is a very nice reference to the Marx Brothers' movie Duck Soup, and if they make a Despicable Me 4 Agnes needs a bigger part, she is my favorite part of this series.

-Michael J. Ruhland.      

Cars 3

Review Written by Michael J. Ruhland


















Michael's Movie Grade: B-

Review: A good movie and one that fixes some of the problems with previous Cars films, but still a movie with problems of its own.

One of the reasons the Cars movies have not been my favorite Pixar movies is that the characters never felt real to me in the same way that the characters of Toy Story, The Incredibles, Inside Out or Up felt. They felt like rather clichéd movie stereotypes instead of real characters. I never hated these characters, they just didn't grab me like other Pixar characters did. Here for the first time though Lighting McQueen feels real and relatable to me. Like Woody did in Toy Story 2, Lighting is essentially dealing with his own mortality here and his realization that nothing can last forever. While this is mostly due to getting older, any one who has gone through any change in their life can relate. Adding to this is the new character, Cruz who is also a really relatable and fun character, who again goes through an arc that feels real. Unfortunately all the other characters don't feel real here. They are simply again clichéd movie stereotypes.

The best thing about this movie though is a few scenes where the characters talk about Doc Hudson. As many of you may know in the previous movies Doc was voiced by Paul Newman, who has passed away recently. While it is never actually stated that the character has died as well it is easy to know that is what happened. These scenes are treated with the upmost dignity and respect. These scenes are just beautifully touching tributes to Paul Newman, and are easily the most moving scenes in the series.

Probably the worst problem with this movie is pretty obvious foreshadowing. All this foreshadowing kind of makes it hard for you to not know how the movie will end. This wouldn't be as big of a problem though, if the characters weren't so oblivious to it. While it makes sense for these characters to act this way (after all, they don't know they are in a movie), it can get annoying for the audience. You just kind of want them to wake up and realize what is so obvious to you, nd it makes the movie feel longer and each time they don't realize it kind of annoying. Also hurting this movie is the humor, it completely falls flat. Not a single joke actually works and I don't think I really ever laughed watching this.

Despite this the movie has good character development and some quite touching scenes and this makes it well worth watching.

But don't go away I have a short to review.

LouMichael's Movie Grade: A

Review: If the feature was too predictable, this short film was anything but. I personally try avoid anything talking about the shorts before Pixar movies, because I like seeing a film without knowing what it is going to be about and it is impossible to do this with a Pixar feature. So everything that happened came as a complete surprise to me and it was well worth it. Likewise I am going to not give much away here and do a really short review so you can have the same experience. This film was fun, clever and all together very charming. It is told in pantomime and dialogue is never missed because this pantomime does nothing but add to the charm of this film. Honestly if you don't want to see Cars 3 and are certain you will not like that movie, I still will tell you should go, this short is easily worth the price of admission.

-Michael J. Ruhland





   

Spider-Man: Homecoming

Review written by Michael J. Ruhland









Michael's Movie Grade:B

Review: Quite enjoyable movie and definitely a huge step up from the last three Spider-Man movies.

What interestingly works best about this movie is the high school stuff. None of it is exactly original, but it is done so well that who cares? Three of these kid characters feel especially real. Luckily one of these is Peter Parker himself. Also two characters that could have easily been too cliché are also very real. The best friend and the love interest are much more than that and actually really likable characters. As well as this Peter's troubles in school are done very well and are much better done here than any other Spider-Man movie. You really feel for the kid and anyone who has been through High School will easily relate. On the down side the other kids are not as well fleshed out. In the case of a certain character named Michelle, kind of annoying and pointless. The school scenes are also really tied well into the superhero story, especially in a delightful scene where Spider-Man talks to Karen (those who seen the movie will know what that means). On top of all this the movie contains probably the best cameos Captain America will ever have (the gym teacher's comments after one of these cameos easily my favorite line in the whole film), and a fantastic musical score (by Michael Giacchino) that just makes the whole movie so much better. On especially great use of the score is how in one scene that gets intense, it goes from very present and upbeat, to very sparse and downbeat. I will also give this movie credit for not always doing the obvious thing (not giving away how, no spoilers here).

On the downside is certainly the villain. I get what they were trying to do with this guy, and appreciate that, but he is rather boring. There is just simply little interesting about this guy. Michael Keaton does a very good job playing this character, but is just given too little to work with. On top of this the action scenes go on much too long at times, and are kind of bland compared to the more character driven scenes in the movie.

Overall a quite enjoyable movie and well worth a watch for Marvel fans.

-Michael J. Ruhland