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...

Probably the most authentic movie I have ever seen as it feels more like a documentary than a movie, despite all the characters being fictional. The premise is simple, two patrol cops work one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in LA. Things start to run afoul when they run into conflict with a Mexican cartel. The cinematography reflects this authenticity as Gyllenhaal's character uses a video camera to document what is happening for his film project. The movie is almost entirely done with a handheld camera creating an effect that immerses the viewer into the situation. Yet this technique also has pitfalls as it can be disorientating for the viewer as there are times where the shaky camera makes it hard to make out what is going on. The acting on both leads in this film is perfect as Gyllenhaal and Peña have amazing chemistry that allows for some great lines of dialogue. The two feel like real people and allows the viewer to witness what feels like a genuine brothe...

The 2005 war movie, based on a true story about the First Gulf War, is incredibly unique to others in its genre yet this may not be such a great thing. Unlike most war movies, this film takes the perspective of only one man and his first-hand experience in the war. It begins like every standard war movie yet as the movie progresses, the viewer begins to wonder where does this story lead to? We find at the very end that it leads to nothing, all of Swofford's toil and sweat were for nothing and in his words, "I never shot my rifle". In this movie's eyes, war is boring as hell and utterly pointless. Jake Gyllenhaal's acting outshines all of his fellow cast members in this movie yet even he isn't able to add flavor to this movie. He plays Swofford superbly with moments that are truly exceptional. One that comes to mind is a scene where Swofford has a mental breakdown an attacks his one his squadmates. The scene is riveting with a deranged look in Gyllenha...

One of my favorite movies of all time and a movie you must see before you die. It's a gritty and dark movie that doesn't pull any of its punches while still being able to maintain a sense of beauty. The movie takes on a topic not discussed nearly enough in modern media with the injustices faced against First Nations people. The movie begins with a raped First Nations woman found barefoot and 6 miles from civilization. An FBI agent (Olsen) is sent out to Wyoming to investigate and employ the help of a hunter (Renner) to track down those responsible. To start, the score is beautiful, utilizing First Nation hymns very subtly with a sort of whispering that is not eery but beautiful. Yet when things get intense as does the music. The score becomes jarring and makes situations incredibly tense. It's not jarring enough to pull you out of the moment but feels perfect where it is. The pacing in this movie is also excellent and the second act is masterfully done. The...

An American Beauty is a form of rose and is prone to rot under the surface while its petals stay pristine. The movie, American Beauty , begins by asking the viewer to take a "normal" American family and look closer. As we peer into the life of Lester, an average family man, we begin to notice the unhappiness that resides underneath the surface of his life. To start, Kevin Spacey is phenomenal in this role as his body language exemplifies his inner thoughts. He begins the movie with his back slouched and everything he does seems defeated. The cinematography also reflects this as one of the earlier scenes where Lester is talking to his boss is shot in a way that makes him look small. The cinematography is clever as it employs several different camera techniques to hint to the viewer what the underlying message is. For example, the movie begins and ends the same way with the camera zooming into Lester's neighborhood and then by the end zooming out. This highligh...

I, like many others my age, grew up with the Toy Story series, so when a new Toy Story was announced I was very skeptical. I believe that there was no way a new Toy Story was necessary as Toy Story 3  had perfectly ended the franchise, yet Toy Story 4 proved otherwise. It was the perfect cap to a perfect series as it revisited questions asked from the beginning and completed Woody's arc. I'll start from the beginning of the movie where the iconic song by Randy Newman, "You've got a friend in me", is played alongside the iconic clouds reminiscent of the first movie's beginning. This was the perfect start paralleling just how far Pixar's animation has come from 1995. With the updated visuals, the scene almost made me shed a tear. Speaking of visuals, this movie's animation is the best I have seen for some time. Its animation is familiar yet refreshing with details the make each character and environment feel authentic. The fabric and stitching ...