Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Review Written by Michael J. Ruhland


















Michael's Movie Grade: F

Review: This film wasn't as bad as Rogue One. However that is the best thing I can say about this movie and in my mind that is not even a compliment.

This movie simply gave me no reason to care about anything that happened on screen. The new characters were devoid of anything resembling personality, and the old characters seemed to have lost any personality they once had. There were moments that I knew were supposed to be suspenseful but being left with no one to root for I kept waiting for them to end. There was not a side of this battle I wanted to see win or lose, because I felt no connection with any of them. This movie also seemed to lose the atmosphere that is so visible in the best Star Wars movies. What made the best Star Wars movies work is that the planets the characters stayed on felt so real and vivid, that you completely believe these places and picture yourself there. Every place that is seen in this movie is horribly undeveloped and simply uninteresting. I could never image any of these places as real, they simply felt like locations in a third rate science fiction movie. The one thing this does have over Rogue One was that there were some plot twists I didn't see coming. However I was so uninterested in anything I was seeing that they left no impact at all on me. This film also had some attempts at humor that would have been nice, if they were at all funny. Sadly they are just as bland and boring as the rest of this movie.

After this and Rogue One I have lost all hope in the Star Wars franchise. I know it is possible for the series to turn itself around, but I just don't see it happening. Simply put this movie is pure boredom and I simply just don't care about this franchise any more.

-Michael J. Ruhland     

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland











Michael's Movie Grade: A+

Review: Fantastic movie is incredibly moving and powerful.

This film could have so easily been a preachy one sided film about a woman standing against authority. However it was anything but this. The movie did not take sides or try to convince us of anything. Instead it showed us the problem in all its political and social complexity and come to our own conclusions. Writer and director Martin McDonagh isn't afraid to show our main character doing things that aren't quite admirable. It is never fully clear what kind of feelings we are supposed to have towards her. This again lets the audience come to its own conclusion, which is much more effective than the one-sided film this so easily could have been. Frances McDormand's performance makes this lack of clarity much more powerful. Her performance here is one of the finest acting performances of this year. She plays the part with such a feeling of conviction, that you believe her completely, no matter what over the top thing she does. This is needed for this movie since it is so much a character study of her.

However despite the serious and dark subject matter this film was very funny. There were many times I was laughing out loud watching it. The humor also perfectly complemented the story. Not only did it keep the movie from being to bleak and depressing, but since it was always tied so perfectly into the story and characters, it actually helps the story move along and feel more real.

This is by all means a must see film and one that I hope will go down in history as the great great movie it is.

-Michael J. Ruhland 

"CoCo" and "Olaf's Frozen Adventure"

Reviews Written By Michael J. Ruhland



CoCoMichael's Movie Grade: A+

Review: Incredible pure Pixar magic at its best and a must see for all movie lovers.

When I was watching Cars 3 for the first time (and yes I enjoyed that movie) I could tell you each little thing that was going to happen next. This is far from the case with CoCo. Just when I thought I knew where the story was heading it did something completely different. However not only was it completely different, but it was so much more powerful than what I saw coming. This is an extremely moving movie. This is hugely because the characters and environments felt so real. I believed from the bottom of my heart every little thing I saw on screen and accepted it as real. The characters could have easily been simple movie stereotypes, but they are so much more. Each facet of their personality is extremely well thought out and come together to make a completely believable character. The environments are likewise filled with an extreme amount of detail. I can't even imagine how much work probably went into something I probably saw on screen for no less than a second. The story itself is fantastic. As I stated before, you never know what is going to happen next. Despite this though each plot twist seems to naturally flow out of the story and characters and there is nothing in this film that feels forced.

It is hard to praise this movie enough, but every movie fan out there needs to see it.

Olaf's Frozen Adventure

       Michael's Movie Grade: B+

Review: This short was a delightfully enjoyable little film, and I was happy to get both this and a feature film for my money.

The best parts of this film were the humor and characters. While I know many people seem to be tired of Olaf, I find him a great character, whose ability to detach body parts reminds me of silent era cartoon characters like Felix the cat or Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. He is extremely delightful here, as he is funny and good hearted and brings a classic cartoon energy to this film. This film is quite funny throughout much of it. While it is hard to describe why a film is funny, I found myself laughing at quite a few of these jokes. The short also gives us a greater insight to what happened when Elsa had to hide from Anna, and these scenes are very touching and flow naturally out of the characters, we already loved from Frozen.

On the downside this does feel like a story we have seen before, and Anna and Elsa's part in the story seems too brief.

I have to be honest, I don't know why people hate this short so much. I find it delightful. I know many people complained about having to sit through a 21 minute short before the feature. However to me the short felt like it went by extremely quickly. Also to me to get a longer short and a feature just made it feel like I was getting a very special movie going experience that is too rare today. Personally I would love if Disney made more 21 minute shorts before their feature films, but sadly that doesn't look like it is going to happen.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Wonder

Review Written by Michael J. Ruhland



















Michael's Movie Grade: A-

Review: Fantastic heartwarming family film, of the type there are too few of today.

What makes this movie so fantastic is that every character is so fully fleshed out and given a prefect amount of time to shine, without the movie feeling too long or cluttered. This is all worked together perfectly to show you that each of the character has their own side to the story that is just as valid as anyone-else's. This is something that is very hard to capture in a movie as usually when it is tried the movie just feels like it is forcing too much in the film, but this filming is never felt in this movie. Instead we connect to every character in a personal way. This movie is also filled with great humor. The jokes with Chewbacca are especially very funny. The story is not only told well but is very charming. All the emotion in this film feels real and genuine. You care about everything that happens and the movie may even produce a few tears. While this movie has its sad moment the film comes together to be very uplifting. These type of family-friendly feel good movies are sadly becoming too rare, and most of the time when they come about they feel too forced and phony. There is nothing phony about this movie it is a genuinely charming movie and a delight for the whole family.

-Michael J. Ruhland