Since this is the first time I'm posting to this thread...
1. I don't have a favorite movie, but a few contenders are Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Whiplash, The Lion King and Rocky.
2. Right now, my favorite director is David Fincher, though Christopher Nolan is up there as well.
3. Actors - Philip Seymour Hoffman, J.K. Simmons & Brad Pitt.
Actresses - Cate Blanchett, Sigourney Weaver & Ellen Page.
4. I try everything and am open to everything, but if I had to pick a favorite, probably Action/Comedy.
5. Yikes, this is hard. I absolutely adore J.K. Simmons in Whiplash. Everytime I watch that movie it takes my breath away.
Top 5 of July I'm regulating to stuff I saw in theaters, cause otherwise I wouldn't remember all the stuff I saw, since (till now) I wasn't keeping track of what I watched (so really it's Top 4).
1. Dunkirk (favorite film of the year so far)
2. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2nd favorite Superhero film of the year so far after Logan)
3. War for the Planet of the Apes (didn't blow me away, but also didn't hate it)
4. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (a bit of a mess. Tried to do too much in one movie and ended up feeling bloated)
As for what I've seen so far this month (will try and post regularly with new stuff)...
Doubt
Starring: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman & Viola Davis
Director: John Patrick Shanley
I absolutely loved this film. It's based on a stage play, but nothing feels like it was lost in translation, because the person who wrote the play also worked on the film. I will always laud praise on movies that can make scenes of characters just talking interesting and engaging. Amy Adams gave a solid performance, not her best, but good. Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman were in top form as usual, but it was Viola Davis who, even in her short time in the film, gave the best performance I've ever seen her give. The raw emotion she's able to show sold me super hard. In addition, this film has some truly excellent child actors, which is always something to celebrate. The only criticism I can say is that there's a B storyline that they introduce early into the film (trying to avoid spoilers here) but it never really goes anywhere, or at least I couldn't tell if it did. It's only brought up a few more times, and never seems to be resolved. But other than that, this was a fantastic film that I will definitely be picking up a copy of.
The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz
Director: Brian Knappenberger
I'm pretty mixed on this documentary. On the one hand, it told a really interesting story, one that I can see a lot of merits in covering in a documentary format. However, I found the execution to be incredibly flawed. It came off as a bit amateurish to me in some places. The start in incredibly slow, and some of the interview pieces seemed like they could've been edited a bit, since they come off as a bit repetitive. But once the meat of the story kicks in, the film gets a bit back on track. Unfortunately, I found myself lost on numerous occasions as it felt like some things simply weren't explained enough. Not sure if I'll be watching this one again. Maybe better to just read the Wikipedia article.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton, Mahershala Ali, Elle Fanning
Director: David Fincher
It's not often I get an emotional response out of films. This was one case where I absolutely did. This was a film that absolutely mesmerized me. It told a story about the way that time affects people differently, and the way each person's journey was represented felt genuine and ended up being incredibly poetic. Brad Pitt gave the best performance I've seen from him, and Cate Blanchett certainly held her own as well. Taraji P. Henson and Tilda Swinton both gave solid performances as well. If I had to say something negative, the beginning was a little slow, and it was hard to understand what some characters were saying sometimes. I'll definitely have to give this another watch, since I'm sure I missed a lot of subtlety and nuance to what this movie was trying to say. Fantastic.
On the Waterfront
Starring: Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint
Director: Elia Kazan
I haven't seen a lot of older movies from the 50s and 60s, so I decided to start with this, and at first I thought I had made the wrong choice. The first 30 minutes of the movie are a little hard to get through, honestly, but after that, it's nothing but quality. Marlon Brando gave a fantastic performance that really seemed to push him in a lot of interesting directions, and Eva Marie Saint managed to make the seemingly stereotypical love interest way more interesting. And the final scene of the movie is one that will probably stick with me for at least the coming months. Truly an example of classic cinema at it's finest, and proof that these older movies are well worth checking out.
The Social Network
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer, Rooney Mara, Rashida Jones
Director: David Fincher
I found this film to be absolute genius. This could've easily been a pandering film that made Mark Zuckerberg out to be the coolest guy ever, but instead it went for the truth, which I admire much more than the alternative. Jesse Eisenberg easily gives the performance of his career so far, and Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake both gave surprisingly great performances. Even Armie Hammer and Rooney Mara managed to impress me. That's how damn good this film is. The way the story was told made so there was never a dull moment, and nothing that happens feels like it was forced to by the script; it all feels natural. And the score to this film is absolutely incredible. Really, the only negative I could say is that I found the ending to be a little unsatisfying, but ultimately, this is an film that everyone should see.
Chronicle (Director's Cut) - Rewatch
Starring: Dane DeHaan, Michael B. Jordan, Alex Russell
Director: Josh Trank
Chronicle is my favorite found footage film of all time, and one of my favorite superhero films as well. I recently bought a copy of the Director's Cut, which prompted this rewatch. Honestly, I couldn't tell a real difference between the two cuts, with this one simply feeling longer, but not changing too much. Rewatching it did allow me to see a few glaring flaws though. The explanation at the beginning for why Dane DeHaan's character is carrying a camera everywhere is a tad to vague for me, though it does make sense later once they acquire superpowers. In addition, some of the special effects seem a bit dated, though that may be due to the budget, and there were some shots near the end of the film that made no sense in terms of where a camera was relative to where the characters were being seen. However, these flaws weren't enough to distract me from how fresh and unique this movie feels even 5 years after it came out. The three main cast members all do a great job, with Dane DeHaan being the obvious standout. Seriously, if you haven't checked this out yet, do yourself a favor and try it.
A Monster Calls
Starring: Liam Neeson, Felicity Jones, Sigourney Weaver, Toby Kebbell, Lewis MacDougall
Director: J. A. Bayona
I absolutely adored the first 3/4ths of this movie. Almost everything about it's presentation was impeccable, save for Sigourney Weaver's incredibly spotty English accent. I loved Liam Neeson's monster, and the way his stories were presented kept me engaged throughout the film. Toby Kebbell gives a strong performance, and Felicity Jones is much better here than she was in Rogue One. But the real standout here is Lewis MacDougall, who gives an absolutely fabulous performance. Unfortunately, there's one scene towards the end with easily the worst acting and editing in the entire thing, and it tore me out of the film so hard that when the emotional ending hit, I barely felt it because I was so annoyed. Even with that though, I would highly recommend this, unless you're someone who cries easily.
The Dark Tower
Starring: Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Taylor
Director: Nikolaj Arcel
Oh boy, the movie I came here to talk about. First things first: Idris Elba is fucking fantastic in this. He is easily the best part about the movie. Every scene he is in is just ever so slightly elevated by him just being there. Unfortunately, that's about all the positive I have to say. This is easily the most watered-down film I've seen all year, save for maybe Pirates or Transformers. I haven't even read the books, and I can tell this is a poor man's version of what Stephen King intended. Almost all of the acting is atrocious, particularly the main character's parents. And worst of all, it's BORING. I actually almost fell asleep during the first hour. But save for a couple decent action scenes (especially one that if you've seen the trailer you've seen pretty much all of), the rest of the movie doesn't get much better. Even Matthew McConaughey can't save it. His villain is so flat and uninteresting despite the movie trying to convince you that he is that he comes off as bored with this movie as I was. At a certain point this movie becomes a bad version of Thor, and there's a scene about 3/4ths of the way through that is so unintentionally funny and ridiculous that I couldn't take the rest of the movie seriously. Don't waste your time on this trainwreck. Watch Luthor instead if you need your Idris Elba fix like I did. Or just wait till Thor: Ragnarok.
