Luis' thoughts on 2017 theatrical releases

The DCEU is obviously not in the healthiest place right now. I absolutely love Wonder Woman, but Batman V Superman is average at best and Suicide Squad is a complete disaster. I would say that the DCEU's new offering, Justice League, does leap above the studio's weakest offerings, but it never really reaches a height that the most optimistic people would like to see.

From a narrative perspective, Justice League has faults. It is not a hot mess thank goodness, but it's also not memorable either, it is left at an awkward place, which should never be the case for a movie of this scheme.The writing is inconsistent at best, dialogue can be very passable, and other times very on-the-nose and awkwardly placed. The villain was a joke, there's no way of getting around that. Now that the most essential faults are out of the way, I would like to pinpoint that Justice League did the most important thing correctly, and that is the assemble of the characters. Every single member of the Justice League was used appropriately and the interactions between these said characters was great to see play out on screen. The action sequences were exciting and a visual feast. While I would say that Justice League still can't seem to get rid of some of the problems the DCEU has, I would still recommend it for pure fun and enjoyment. And overall, this picture generally got me excited to see more of these characters, were as the former films did not.

You will have a hard time finding another film this holiday season that will uplift your spirit as well as this film does. The protagonist played by Jacob Tremblay is fantastic, he is just the right amount of strong and vulnerable, but it never gets to a sappy point. The writing, particularly in the dialogue, is very strong, and as a result, the characters served each of their respective roles as effectively as possible. This film does not strive to achieve cinematic perfection, the directing is solid at best, the cinematography isn't really mind-blowing, and the performances are not Oscar caliber, and I feel like this is the reason the picture works as well as it does. It's simplistic story and colossal heart carry this movie beyond most movies I've seen in the past couple of months. and I was charmed the entire way through.

Come Oscar season, there are always the handful of films towards the end of the year that truly highlight the beauty of storytelling and filmmaking, and Lady Bird might be the one. This is a coming of age film told masterfully with a giant sense of realism, fantastic dialogue, and Cultural Relativism.

Lady Bird is a fantastic protagonist, she is just the right amount of rebellious, likable, and passionate to solidify herself as someone who is ultimately very easy to get behind. Gerwig directs the hell out of this film, like the best coming of age flicks, she uses the naivety of one's teen self to propel the story in very interesting places, and the outcome is fantastic at the end. The film is hilarious when it needs to be, as well as dramatic in the right moments. The final result is bittersweet, just as it should be. The supporting characters are fantastic as well, and each and every one of them serve a perfect purpose to trigger a specific impact in Lady Bird's life. And lastly, the movie just feels so real, oftentimes It felt like I was actually watching a documentary of this girl going through her life, because this is right on! It never reaches for emotional extremes too great to overdramatize the narrative, it is kept simple, sweet, and I was living for it! If you have a chance to check this out, absolutely do so, it is everything that a Coming of Age flick should be and more.

This is one of the most interesting projects to come in the year. I haven't seen a film go out if it's way to execute morally complex character arcs to this extent in a while. First and foremost, the protagonist is unarguably the best female lead I've seen all year. (and in a world were Wonder Woman came out a few months ago, this says a lot) The script is clustered with amazing pieces of dialogue and character interactions.

This movie delves deep into the psyche of different characters who are directly connected to the case, and the film goes out of its way to execute the latter with complexity, thrills, and ambiguity, by the end of the film, I was left amazed at all turns the characters underwent, and It all felt seamless. If I had one complaint, there was a rough patch of 20-ish minutes around the second half of the film, It felt like the film struggled a little bit with its pace. But this was not large enough to hurt the film, or to bring down the score significantly. Overall, this is not only a fantastically executed drama, with fantastic characters, well-realized dialogue, great comedic undertones, and edge-of-your seat sequences, but it is also an amazing exploration on how flexible a "good" person's actions can get before being labeled as morally wrong.

Lady Bird sounds awesome.

It is! Totally check it out when you can!

This film was definitely one of the more enjoyable experiences I've had in the theater all year; I laughed consistently. The film also does a great job at separating the hilarity of poking fun of the atrocious film, The Room while also validating the creator of the film. This is what ultimately makes this film such a great one, it earns so many points for not just taking the easy comedic route, but for elevating the narrative by exploring the more human aspects of such an interesting story.

Like mentioned, I laughed consistently, more than I normally do, the comedic circumstances are character driven, and handled with care. The film is also very insightful. The Room is a film that has one of the most interesting inceptions in cinematic history, and this new offering definitely delivered in combining a true story with a narrative, and I was entertained from beginning to end. There is also warmth to be found as the film essentially focuses on the friendship brewing between Tommy and Greg, and it is done so well that it basically propels the entire movie forward. The latter also explores how overwhelming pursuing a dream in the film industry can be, and it resonated very loud with me in that aspect. Overall, this film is very great, it is hilarious, insightful, and heartwarming, and ultimately a film that any person who appreciates the art and process of filmmaking should definitely check out.

You are at 61 and I'm at 10. We are pretty close!

Glad you liked Lady Bird though. I think that may make my top 25 of this decade when all is said and done.

Great reviews s usual, Luis. I'll be going through this last few, Bad moms being the exception. Not really my cuppa tea.

hey dude with the same name as me! nice thread!!!

Lol thanks for checking out my thread! And yeah! I will be shocked if Lady Bird isn't in my top 5 best films of the year, it's magnificent!

Thanks for checking in as always! Hope to hear your thoughts on whichever ones you decide to check out.

Hey Luis! Lol, thanks for stopping by!

Will do. To tell you the truth, some of the awards noms I hadnt even heard about but no surprises. 1. I;ve been out of action for a few weeks and 2. promotion over this way is not crash hot sometimes. 3bbs I;m super excited to see. I just love Frances.

Btw, where are you from? xD

I'm from the U.S! South Texas! What about you?

Yeah! It sucks if you want to see some of the award contenders and you're not in L.A. I got lucky that even a couple came out over here.

Oh, Portugal! xD never met anyone with that name outside Portugal!

Well, I'm a Mexican American, and the name is popular in Mexico

It's been 20 hours since I have seen this, and I can already see how much this film is dividing fans. As a fan myself, I can say that I honestly loved this movie. Hours after coming out of the theater I was so overwhelmed, there is just so much to dissect in this film, and I wanted to wait a while to let my feelings age rightfully. While the critic in me sees a flawed film with many great moments, the fan in me sees a great film with a couple of flaws.

To get a few of the negatives out of the way, I will first point out that the runtime was a problem, 20-30 minutes could've been easily shaven off, and there is one particular storyline that in the end didn't add anything to the film whatsoever. Secondly, I thought that the climax could've been better realized, I felt like it struggled a little bit thematically, and it felt short at bringing everything full circle. And lastly, while some of the humor landed right with me, a couple of moments did feel very out of left field and awkward. Other than that, I personally think this film is fantastic. Essentially, it does so much to feel like a unique Star Wars experience, and Johnson definitely took a handful of risks. I love bold filmmaking, and this picture delivered, it plays so much with the mythology of my beloved franchise and does so many unexpected things with it. Not every choice sat right with me, but there wasn't a particular one that outraged me. (One towards the end confused the hell out of me though)

I also think that the characterization is the most interesting ever in a Star Wars film. I love my original trilogy so much, but admittedly, it never tries much to challenge our characters' psyche, at least not when compared to this new film. The character of Kylo Ren is one of the most interesting and fleshed out villains in recent memory, he might even be my favorite character in this new trilogy. There are a great deal of moments in this film were the visual spectacle was so great that my jaw dropped. Call it fan service if you will, but I'm a fan, and I enjoy being serviced. Overall, I think this film will definitely not sit well for every Star Wars fan, but it will at least trigger interesting conversations among some of us. For me, while a couple of issues did bother me, mostly with pacing, inconsistency, and a struggling climax, I still regard this as a fantastic Star Wars experience. With bold storytelling, a narrative that challenges the audience, complex and edge-of-your-seat characterization, and jaw-dropping moments, this is a movie that left the inner Star Wars fan in me happy.