Movie Reviews from Chris

During the second year of the lockdown, I started watching and re-watching more movies than usual, and developed an interest in reviewing them. I initially started writing reviews like  "Whiplash", "Black Widow" or "The Father", though it was stuck in my computer lobby for several months.  On the 11th October 2021, I made the ultimate decision of creating a blog, and up to the time of writing, I have only written 26 movie reviews. I have also included movies I watched this year that I haven't written a review about yet, and this list only focuses on The Best and Worst Movies not necessarily released this year, but ones that I watched this year. Scores beside the title are out of four, in which 👎= 0% 1/2 = 12% ★ = 25% ★ 1/2 = 38% ★ ★ = 50% ★★ 1/2 = 63% ★★★ = 75% ★★★ 1/2 = 88% ★★★★ = 100% The Best Movies I watched this year 5.  The Father  (★★★ 1/2) There are such tiny and fascinating details in The Father, like changes in the furniture, colour or items...

★★  1/2  out of ★★★★  ( 👍 ) Howl's Moving Castle (2004) Runtime: 119 minutes MPAA: Rated PG for frightening images and brief mild language. Howl's Moving Castle should grip you from the start and transport you to another world, just like Spirited Away. The former objective works, with all the enchanting music and exceptional world-building, but the rest of the movie is never as riveting as the start. I can't say that I disliked it, but coming from Studio Ghibli, with all their other animations, this one feels quite disappointing. An 18-year-old girl, Sophie Hatter is cursed by the Witch of the Waste, which transforms her into a nonagenarian. Afraid that people would see her, she decides to flee her town and into the hills, where she finds a moving castle. This castle belongs to a young wizard named Howl, who has been known to chase women for their looks. When Sophie enters the castle, a fire with eyes speaks. It is the demon Calcifer, whose fire runs the c...

★★ ★ 1/2  out of ★★★★ Spirited Away (2001) Runtime: 125 minutes MPAA: Rated PG for some scary moments. Spirited Away is probably the first animation I've ever watched that's over two hours. Yet, it almost never feels tiresome and irritating, thanks to the wonderful delight of images stuffed into every frame of the movie. Especially coming from Studio Ghibli, a Japanese animation film studio known for creating one of the best animations ever, Spirited Away is spellbinding even at its first few minutes and never disappoints from start to finish. It is said that even though Spirited Away has an eminently rich plot and strong characters, there was no script when it was made. Hayao Miyazaki draws storyboards as the film is being made, so that it feels more original and authentic. Now, rarely can a film made up on the spot can be this riveting; we have seen numerous disasters elsewhere. Spirited Away never loses its momentum and transports you out of this world. A 10-year-old C...

★★ ★  out of ★★★★ Dunkirk (2017) Runtime: 106 minutes MPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense war experience and some language. Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk takes place during World War II, concerning soldiers trapped in Dunkirk and how they are evacuated.  Dunkirk is told in a non-linear narrative separated into three stories, all starting at different times but interconnecting towards the end of the film. While on a technical aspect, it's one of the best films with perfect sound mixing and score, and while its depiction of soldiers in dire situations is utterly terrifying, the result is a film I disliked but admired on a technical perspective. It's dramatically flat, and the narrative gets painfully repetitive towards the second-half, but this a film of such spectacle and accuracy that I'm stunned. The film starts with the following text: THE ENEMY HAVE DRIVEN THE BRITISH AND FRENCH ARMIES TO THE SEA. TRAPPED AT DUNKIRK, THEY AWAIT THEIR FATE. HOPING FOR DELIVERANCE. FOR...

★★ ★  out of ★★★★ The Fifth Element (1997) Runtime: 126 minutes MPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense sci-fi violence, some sexuality and brief nudity. Behold the elements: Fire, Water, Earth and Wind! The Fifth Element is needed to destroy the incoming object. It is said that Luc Besson made The Fifth Element, drawing inspiration from the  Valérian and Laureline comics, running from 1967 to 2010. He read the comics as a child and always dreamt of making a film adaptation. His dream came true in 2017, but I think there's already a better version of it - The Fifth Element. The Fifth Element is goofy, I know, but it understands that it doesn't need to be serious and the experience is absolutely joyful. It is a magical and enchanting experience, although it still has its own flaws. Nevertheless, I was endlessly entertained by its unexpected but effective lands on humor, and I never yawned once. Every 5000 years, a cycle happens in the Universe where evil threatens all life in i...