Moo Moo Movie Reviews

Introduced to 007 at a young age, I harbor a special love for Bond films, even the cheesy ones. Casino Royale is far from cheesy, with amazing set pieces and a breath of fresh air from its predecessors. This movie is essentially a reboot of the franchise and Bond's origin story as it dives into his first real mission. Bond, just promoted to 007, finds a link to Le Chiffre, a man who finances terrorist organizations. Upon finding out that Le Chiffre intends to host a high stakes poker game in order to raise money, MI6 sends Bond to play against him, hoping that their newest double o will topple Le Chiffre's organization.  Casino Royale grabs onto the viewer and never let's go. To start with, this movie has phenomenal set pieces and locations. From Madagascar to the Czech Republic, this movie thrives in creating environments that are equally beautiful as they are intriguing. The opening scene is gritty and entirely in black and white. Bond fights for his life against an...

This is a movie that is hard to put into words on how remarkable it is to watch. The blend of humor, romance, nostalgia, and drama makes this movie a masterpiece. Slightly soppy and slow at times but never boring, this movie is a must-watch. Cinema Paradiso  centers around the life of a young Salvator who lives in a small war-torn Italian village after the events of World War 2. There he finds an escape from his life through the Cinema Paradiso movie theatre, where projectionist, Alfredo, instills in him a deep love of film. Salvator eventually takes over as projectionist and meets a girl, Elena, yet Alfredo convinces him to leave the village and pursue his passion in filmmaking. The movie is set up in three individual parts of Salvator's journey: a boy to a teenager to a man. We are introduced to the friendship that Alfredo and Salvator share at a young age as Salvator lost his father to the war. Scenes shared by the two characters are fantastic to watch, young or old, as...

I knew I would watch this movie the minute the trailer dropped as I am a big fan of Tarantino, like many of my peers. The movie centers around Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), an alcoholic actor, and Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), his stunt double, who can barely recognize the industry around them. The film is set in the late 1960s and utilizes the "what if" idea on the Tate Murders. This movie is certainly a timepiece movie with everything pointing at '60s/'70s hippie culture. The clothing, music, and cinematography all represent this vibrant period of time. The soundtrack is phenomenal, as usual, with hits from Deep Purple and Simon and Garfunkel. The cinematography is also up to standard with one specific scene standing out. The scene that comes to mind is a particularly tense scene where Booth confronts a hippie about possibly harming the owner of the land. As they talk the angle of the camera becomes jarringly tilted to create a feeling of unease within the au...

Based on the book by legendary journalist, Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is one of my all-time favorites. Although it is certainly a movie with flaws, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The movie centers on Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp), a journalist, and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro). The two journey to Las Vegas to cover a motorcycle race yet as they consume more and more narcotics, Duke attempts to find the rot that resides within the American dream. Its cinematography and video style is incredibly unique and far ahead of its time. It incorporates fantastic special effects for a movie that was released in 1998. The effects work to really make the audience feel as if they are ingesting the same variety of narcotics as the protagonist, Raoul, is consuming. This feeling was exciting and new for the first half yet as the second half rolled around it became to feel slightly nauseating and even claustrophobic at times. Though this feeling was almost p...

One of my good friends recommend this to me a while back and now, after watching this movie for maybe the 6th time, I decided it was time to sit down and review it. One of my personal favorite movies of all time as it not only clever but also incredibly relatable. The movie centers around Tom, played wonderfully by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, a hopeless romantic who is caught off guard when his girlfriend, Summer, suddenly dumps him. He reflects on what went wrong in their 500 days together and, by doing so, rediscovers his passions in life. The cinematography, to begin with, is best said as unique. The film loves using techniques not commonly seen on screen. The expectation versus reality scene is a perfect example of this as it demonstrates Tom's idea of what will happen adjacent to what actually happens. The film also uses a 4:3 ratio at times which I also enjoy as it lets you know the thoughts of Tom and the people around him. The timeline of this movie is the only of its ki...

Moonligh t blew me away.  Rarely does a movie have such polarizing reviews, splitting between both ends of the spectrum? Some claim it to be a masterpiece, a relatable look into a life of someone who smothers their identity because of a world that doesn't accept them. Others tag it as boring, an hour and a half long slog with no plot and awful acting. This disparity between reviews highlights something very important about Moonlight. If you're looking for action, for large scale drama, big booming effects or seat gripping twists and turns, this isn’t the movie for you.  Moonlight excels in subtlety. It realizes that life is not defined by the big, booming moments, but by the accumulation of small yet distinct experiences coupled with the influence of the people that surround you. For the conflict that the main character faces, this subtlety is the perfect means for conveying his struggle.  Chiron’s conflict is with identity, something that can't b...

As a fan of Wes Anderson's work, I decided to watch The Darjeeling Limited . I was not disappointed as it certainly met my expectations. The movie centers around three brothers who, after the death of their father, travel to India together for a spiritual journey to find themselves and their estranged mother. Just like all of Anderson's other work, the movie is visually stunning with a vibrant and bright use of color. The usage of almost the entire color wheel creates a beautiful feeling throughout this movie. Wes Anderson has a very unique style of filming where everything is placed meticulously. People are aligned perfectly and shots and quick transitioning from subject to subject. This matches very well with the dialogue that is fast and witty.  The humor is subtle with little jokes that will make viewers smirk for catching it. This might be Owen Wilson's best performance or at least one of them but I only heard him say his iconic "Wow" once...

Into the Wild  is based on a true story in which a young man, Christopher McCandless, with a bright future after graduating university, decides instead to donate all his money to charity, rid himself of possessions and journey to Alaska. Although not perfect, this movie has stellar acting, great cinematography and a strong plot to go along with it. To begin with, the cinematography is gorgeous and for the most part, shot on location. The cinematographer utilized landscape shots to truly highlight the beauty of the environment. The result is an authentic feeling movie that allows the viewer to see the world through the lens of our protagonist. There were many instances where I was blown away by the sheer beauty of the landscape and there were so many shots to choose from that it was difficult to choose a favorite shot let alone runner-ups. It was a movie that allowed me to sit back and relax, allowing the viewer to take in all the natural splendor in front of them. ...

Hands down the most bizarre and sporadic movie I have ever seen, besides Swiss Army Man  which is truly surreal. A black and white Belgian mockumentary about a camera team who shoots a movie about Ben, a serial killer. and his daily life, whether that be brutally killing people or visiting his mother. The camera team begins to abide and participate alongside Ben. It is incredibly hard to describe this movie, as it is very entertaining yet there is a substantially messy script. The movie is entirely filmed by hand resulting in a lot of shaky camera movements, this makes it hard to tell what is going on at times. The film is in black and white, maybe to save costs or produce a particular atmosphere. A very entertaining movie, that finds amusement in the obscene things that Ben does. I enjoyed a lot of the dialogue that took place in the movie with some brilliant lines. The acting was decent particularly from the lead who played a compelling character with great hubris. ...

There are very few horror movies that I truly enjoy, as the genre tends to attract some very bad movies, yet this movie was anything but bad. A truly unique movie that dives deep into the psyche of a single widow (Essie Davis) who's son has extreme behavioral issues while also grappling with the loss of her departed husband. Her son's fear of a monster lurking in the house begins to manifest itself all around her. With impressive cinematography that utilizes interesting camera techniques to convey a feeling of discomfort. A scene that stands out is when the camera takes the perspective of the Babadook, the camera tilts before lurching forward into the room and into Davis' mouth, almost like it was possessing her. The color palette also reflects the movie's tone with a large absence of bright colors. It heavily utilizes black with darkness engrossing most of the scenes, especially whenever the Babadook is present. This creates a feeling of an unknown as the view...