Doctor Strange

While I have always been a Marvel girl, I was mostly an X-Man fan and never knew anything at all about Doctor Strange. Because of this, I have to say right at the start that I have no idea whatsoever if this film is true to the books, so I can't base any part of my review on that. What I can say is that this is a spectacular film with some of the best effects I've maybe ever seen. It's like an incredible update to things I remember from "Inception", only far better with the advances technology has made. The acting was mostly strong, and I was happy to see a superhero film coming in at only an hour and forty-five minutes. I really enjoyed this and am curious to see how this film and its characters will integrate with the rest of the Marvel Universe. 4/5

Doctor Strange on Netflix

A Bigger Splash

This arty drama had promise and a strong lead performance from Tilda Swinton, who managed to deliver poignant emotion with virtually no dialogue and never speaking above a whisper. The plot built slowly to its inevitable conclusion, buoyed by another strong performance by Fiennes. Unfortunately, my praise ends there, as the rest of the characters were derivative and the plot slow and clumsy. I had expected it to be more daring, but it never seemed to get going for me. Just average I'm afraid. 3/5

A Bigger Splash on Netflix

Hail, Caesar!

I've been sort-of hate-watching the Coen brothers' comedies for a while now in the same way I hate-watch anything by Wes Anderson. A long time ago the Coens and Anderson made movies I absolutely loved, but they've been coming up short for so long I'm beginning to question why I keep coming back. For once, I was very pleasantly surprised by the Coens, because I really enjoyed this. It was an odd plot, that's for sure, but the acting and pacing were top-notch. I was intrigued and engaged thoroughly, and there were moments that really sizzled for me. Channing Tatum's dance number was divine, as was every scene with  Alden Ehrenreich, who I just loved in this. Really entertaining, and enough to keep me watching for another few films. 3.5/5

Hail, Caesar! on Netflix

Trainwreck

In many ways this dark-edged comedy is a big step forward for Apatow. I feel Apatow has been treading water for a time and tends to fall back too frequently on his raunchier words rather than relying on his actors to deliver the complex, dark, and yet wickedly funny adult stories he's so good at telling. I like Apatow best when he's dealing with real adults having real problems which can take absurd or raunchy turns. I feel as if he sat down and watched some of the more daring and successful black comedies of like like "Problem Child" and "The Skeleton Twins" before he made this, and I thought the realness matched the adult nature of the comedy well. On another note, this was my first experience with Amy Schumer, and I enjoyed her work immensely. However, the funniest thing in this whole film was John Cena. That.... that was pure comedic gold. All in all, great work from Apatow and Schumer. 4/5

Trainwreck on Netflix

Snowpiercer

This was AMAZING. The South Korean direction blended with top-notch American/English acting was sublime. Perfect. 5/5

Snowpiercer on Netflix

Only Lovers Left Alive

This was just pretension for pretension sake, but the acting was quite good in spite of the weak plot. 3/5

Only Lovers Left Alive on Netflix

Moonrise Kingdom

I'm so very tired of Wes Anderson's schtick. I was bored by the end of the credits. Just so not good for me. 2/5

Moonrise Kingdom on Netflix

We Need To Talk About Kevin

This is just amazing & Swinton is exceptional in this dark & haunting tale that chooses no sides. 4/5

We Need To Talk About Kevin on Netflix