Cinema Civilian

*This review will contain spoilers for Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark . Full disclosure, I did not grow up with the stories this film is based off of. I do enjoy short story horror, but have yet to read these works. With that in mind, I still feel this is a film worth discussing. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is the first horror movie in a while to actually get my blood pumping, the most recent prior being IT Chapter 1 , whose sequel is mere weeks away. The pacing and effect of several of the books effectively created an amazing sense of dread, often with no true giveaways about where the scares would come from. Probably the best example of this was in Augie's attack (Big Toe Stew), where initial build up makes you believe the scare will be quick, but rather turns into a long, slow build to a rather effective jump scare. What made this scene especially good is that they chose to show the corpse before the actual scare, allowing the extremely-creepy character design to ...

*This review will contain spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War Ten years ago, an idea began which sought to create a massive cinematic universe capable of holding its audience... And now, that journey begins to come to a real head. Avengers: Infinity War is the culmination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has now spanned an entire decade. While the universe has its weaker films, Marvel has managed to create an intriguing, and self-sustaining storyline throughout all the entries. And now, we can all sit back and watch the sun rise over a grateful Earth as the Avengers, now joined with almost every hero in the MCU, defeat the Mad Titan once and for all, right? Well, as those of you who have seen the film by now, this was definitely NOT what happened. This is one of the first Superhero films I have actually seen where the good guys actually lose. While many expected this, we may not have anticipated the full scale of what would happen at the end of this film. While it i...

*This review contains Major Spoilers for Star Wars: The Last Jedi I remember watching the closing moments of The Force Awakens, and I was really hyped for the next installment, as Luke was going to return to the screen. The trailer's foreboding dialogue had me intrigued by the thought of where they might be going... Would Rey turn to the dark side?... Has Luke turned dark?... Who is Snook, and how does he fit in the the overall story? And then I saw this film... And it wasn't at all what I expected it to be. While the film itself captures the style of the cinematic series, it runs into some significant challenges with its story, and what should have been significant moments got crossed out in favor of a side story that wasn't necessary. This film has too many self-contained stories that don't have much interconnection. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, unless the side stories take up time that should be given to more prominent problems. I was excited t...

*This review will contain spoilers for Thor: Ragnarok I remember seeing the trailer for this for the first time: Thor losing his hammer, and his hair, and ultimately having to fight Hulk. It looked amazing... The film does not disappoint. Here is another great example of a film in a cinematic universe that doesn't rely on the rest of the world. When Thor returns home after the battle with Ultron, he goes to prevent Ragnarok, the prophesied destruction of his home-world. Finding the entity responsible, and promptly defeating him, Thor returns home to find Loki, disguised as Odin, has been running Asgard. Thor exposes Loki, and demands to be taken to his father. After a comedic run-in with Doctor Strange, they find Odin just in time to say their good-byes, as Odin moves to the next life... And the chaos begins... Hela, the godess of Death, arrives to claim her place as queen of Asgard. She seeks to resume the world's history of conquest and destruction. Naturally, ...

*This review will contain SPOILERS for Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl , Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest , Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End , Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides , and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales . In 2003, Jack Sparrow arrived in Port Royal for the first time. Now, 14 years later, we find ourselves at the end of Jack's journey. I have to say I enjoyed the first three installments. They had an interesting story, compelling characters, and some impressive action sequences. However, I wasn't a huge fan of On Stranger Tides . I felt that Jack, as a character couldn't carry an entire film on his own. It was for this reason that I had my concerns going into Dead Men Tell No Tales , as I feared more of the same. I am pleased to say that the series returned to its roots, where there were several subplots in addition to the main story line. And, with that in mind, let's dive into...

*This review will contain spoilers for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl With the series coming to a close this month with Dead Men Tell No Tales , I figured I would take a look back at the film that started it all. Jack Sparrow first sailed into Port Royale on July 9th, 2003. Well, sot of sailed, that is. Since then, Jack has sailed the seas of the Caribbean for four films thus far.  After facing mutiny from his first mate, Barbosa, and his crew, Jack seeks to take revenge and reclaim his vessel, the Black Pearl. His journey leads him to meet with William Turner and Elizabeth Swan, and together the three go on a swashbuckling adventure as pirates. The plot of this film is very easy to follow throughout, with interesting subplots, such as Elizabeth's relationship to Will and the Commodore, and the various backstory elements of Jack's life. While there is a lot going on in this film, I am glad to say that it is nearly impossible to lose tra...

*This review contains minor spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 I adored the original Guardians of the Galaxy  a lot. It was funny, exciting, and established this side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This one, however... focused of the characters a whole lot more. Normally, I would summarize the plot of the film here. Seeing as I am writing this opening weekend, and wish to minimize spoilers, here is my summary:  Peter finds out who his dad is.  That's all I can summarize it as. Those of you who have seen the film will know exactly what I mean. Let me start off by saying that, given the lack of family developments in the Marvel story lines, I found this one to be the most emotionally involving film I have seen produced by the studio. This film is all about family, both the good and the bad. We learn a lot more about Nebula's relationship with Gamora, her sister, and Thanos, her father. And I have to say, Karen Gillian (Nebula) and Zoe Saldana pl...

* This review contains spoilers for Power Rangers I want to start off by saying that I did not grow up watching the Power Rangers. I attended the film with a friend who did, and she absolutely loved it. I have to say, I was quite impressed by this picture. My only knowledge of any Power Rangers content was the Nostalgia Critic's review of Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie . Thus, I went in with relatively low expectations, given that I didn't know anything about the story of the TV series. That being said, when the film opened in a method similar to that of DC's Green Lantern , I was very afraid that this film would become the first negative review on the blog. Luckily, this was not the case. The film clearly explains the origins of the characters who would ultimately become the Power Rangers. I was very happy to see that their ability to "morph" was not immediate, but rather required them to get to know and be connected with each other, leading to th...

*This Review will contain spoilers for Ghost in the Shell . I am not an Anime person. I just wanted to state that at the beginning of this review, as my opinions are not based in a former enjoyment of Anime. That being said, this film has me interested in this genre of entertainment and animation film. The live action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell felt like an anime in spirit, but a live action "shell" (pun intended). I found the cinematography remarkable in this film, as numerous shots felt like panels from a graphic novel, similar to how The Walking Dead  occasionally copies a shot directly from an illustration. However, this feeling was present throughout the film. A fantastic example comes when Major strains her muscles ripping open the tank. The splitting of the muscle and the particles flying off feel like an image from a comic book. It is shots like this that made for an inclusive experience. While I saw the film in 2D, I could see the 3D version havin...

*This review will contain spoilers for Kong: Skull Island I have never really understood why people like King Kong. Maybe this is because until now the only film I have seen with him was the 2005 version with Jack Black. People find giant gorilla, catch it, bring it to a big city where it gets loose, climbs a skyscraper, and eventually gets shot down. While cool to see, it really doesn't do much more than that. This film has changed my mind. While the film hits all the classic notes of a King Kong film, such as the man seeking validation, the strong military seeing the gorilla as a threat, and a woman falling to their would-be doom if Kong didn't save her, it does away with all the cliche of these moments. Set during the Vietnam War, a government organization that focuses on hunting monsters is in danger of being shut down. If they come back without information, they will be shut down. The team will piggy-back on a LANSAT geological survey, and be escorted by a m...