Reviews Reactor

"It's not what you do, it's when and where you do it, and who you do it to or with. If nobody sees it, it didn't happen." Black Mass is a film based on true story about a gangster named Whitey Bulger, who makes a deal with the FBI to take down his competition. Now I was really looking forward to watching this because it looked like this will be the comeback of Johnny Depp, and it certainly was. All the acting was top notch but Johnny Depp was the obvious standout. His portrayal of the gangster was chilling, intense and at times creepy. He was again wearing tons of makeup but it added rather than distracting. Easily his best work in years. The movie was also really well shot. Great cinematography. This, and Johnny Depp's acting really made some scenes really great and intense, and made you go "I want more of those". And I wish we had gotten more such scenes instead of the other stuff we got. The problem with this movie was that it lacked focus in...

"Human beings simply aren't built to function at the cruising altitudes of a seven-forty-seven." Everest is a film based on the true story of a tragic disaster that befell an adventure club on their expedition to summit Mount Everest in 1996. The cinematography is great in the movie. Some pretty breathtaking shots of Mount Everest and other areas of Nepal. Along with this, the soundtrack was just as good, making it a real treat to watch at times. The movie has a big cast comprising great actors like Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, Jason Clarke, Keira Knightly etc and all of them did a good job. Jason Clarke especially was great and made me care for him. It didn't sugar coat the events nor it added tons of extra stuff for entertainment to appeal to the wider audience. It took it self seriously and honestly, by the time it was over, I was pretty sad, even though it actually did a not-so-good job at developing the characters. And coming to that, it was my main problem...

The Walk is a movie based on a true story about Philippe Petite, a high-wire artist, whose dream was to perform his art on the World Trade Center. Joseph Gordon Levitt plays the guy and he was pretty darn good at it. Add that with Zemeckis great direction and you were in his world. You felt his passion, his reasons, and his dedication. The movie is kinda a mixture of two genres. The first half is more of an origin story and biographical drama whereas the second half seems like a heist movie. The second half was splendid while the first half kinda stumbled. The first half builds the protagonist nicely but the romance kinda felt meh. It was great seeing him creating a team and planning the event and finally doing it in the second half though. Had all the goodness of a heist movie. Fun secondary characters, plan buildup and execution, tension in failure and improvisation etc. The cinematography in the movie was really great. The whole final sequence was JAW DROPPING. I actually felt ...

Steven Spielberg comes back after three years (Last movie being Lincoln in 2012) and shows us that he still got it. Bridge of Spies is a film based on a true story about an american lawyer, James B. Donovan, who during the cold war defended a Russian Spy and handled the exchange his exchange. Tom Hanks plays as Donovan and he needs no introduction. He's yet again brilliant in this film and is his usual extremely likable self. Other characters delivered great performances as well, particularly the Russian spy, played brilliantly by Mark Rylance. He didn't had many scenes but I loved him in all of the ones he was in. The movie is almost 2 and half hour long and is almost entirely dialogue based and I enjoyed the hell out of it. It didn't felt like the movie dragged on or got boring or anything. It was interesting from start to finish. The dialogue delivery was great and just like many of Spielberg's previous movies, there were many long takes that you often don't...

"Power is when we have every justification to kill, and we don't." So I finally got around to watching this classic by Steven Spielberg. For a long time it has been sitting in my HDD, and I even forgot about it. But watching Bridge of Spies recently, another Spielberg movie, reminded me that I definitely have to watch this now. And I'm glad I finally did. Schindler's List is movie based on a true story about Oskar Schindler, a Nazi German business man, who saved many Jews during the Holocaust. Liam Neeson plays as Schindler and at the time (1993), he was mostly unknown in the business, and gave his career defining role. He was brilliant as Oskar Schindler, and perfectly captures his transformation from a businessman profiting over war to a savior. Neeson is accompanied by a great supporting cast, all delivering great performances. Special nod to Ben Kingsley, who plays the Jew accountant for Schindler. I loved their chemistry and how it grew. And another...

"If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse them. That's the truth of it." It is amazing to see how much is buried under the rug in the world. Spotlight is a movie based on a true story about a special division in the Boston Newspaper called by the same name, who stumble upon a story that just shakes their very core. A great ensemble, I mean we got Micheal Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery and more. And all of them were at the top of their game. Great performances by everyone. And the movie took a very subdued approach to it. You see these people just doing their job, they are not portrayed as big heroes or anything, and as the case gets more deep, you see subtle expression of disgust/shock/worry on their faces, with increasing intensity. It just felt very realistic. The movie did felt slow at times. The pacing was almost constant but I guess the nature of the movie made some parts feel slow. Not boring ...

The Big Short is a movie based on a true story about a look at a couple of groups who foresaw the economic crash of 2008 and cashed in against greedy banks etc. The performances were rock solid. The cast did a great job. Most notable was Christain Bale, who played this genius yet socially awkward guy, and Steve Carrel, who yet again proved that he can do more than just comedy roles. Now the subject which was being covered isn't something that an average person will find interesting. Economics, banking and related stuff with tons of terminologies and jargons and numbers. It could get pretty boring fast. So the movie incorporated various ways to make it all interesting like a fun script that kept things light and quirky, various 4th wall breaking moments, celebrity cameos explaining important terms etc. It all combined together to form an uneven but ultimately an enjoyable experience. The pacing was often uneven. I was bored in some parts of the film. And the hand holding got a ...

Trumbo is yet another film based on a true story for this year's award season and is about Dalton Trumbo, a high profile hollywood screenwriter who, along with his companions, were registered communists and were treated differently because of that during the cold war era. I had no knowledge about the events depicted in the movie and I must say it did a great job of reeling me into this time in history and made me interested in it. Bryan Cranston totally killed it in his role. I loved his performance and can see why he is getting nods in different awards including the Oscars. His dialogue delivery is so great that you can listen to anything he say. This man needs to do more movies like this, where his talent is properly utilized. Alongside him we got many other good to great performances, especially an excellent negative role by Helen Mirren. I wished we got to see more of her. The movie had a bit of comedy in it, it wasn't a serious thing through and through, and that cert...

This movie is about the true story, the encounter that inspired the famous novel Moby Dick. Now I had something different in mind when I started this movie up cause the trailers and advertisement painted a different picture. Nevertheless what I got was surprisingly better. The performances in the movie were all really good. It is a well acted movie. Chris Hemsworth and Benjamin Walker, the two leads, both were great and the story had them pitch together in this sort of rivalry, that kinda reminded me of Ron Howard's previous movie also starring Hemsworth, Rush. And while it was no where near that good, it still resulted in tension and commotion between characters. The movie takes its sweet time to get things going, the starting 15-20 mins can be a bit too slow for some, but I wasn't bothered by it. The characters and world set up was interesting enough that I was reeled into it. There was a bit of connection with the crew as well, which I liked and if the movie was lon...

This movie is based on a true story about the attack on an american embassy and a secret CIA base in Benghazi, Libya, on the 9/11 anniversary in 2012. And how a few numbers of of Ex-Soldiers managed to repel the attack. Directed by Micheal Bay, I was surprised to see him holding back his Bay-ism and deliver a straight forward focused film. The story got a long build up at the start, setting up the location, the characters and the situation. And then chaos. What I liked most about this film was the fact that you felt just as lost as the soldiers and people in this movie. The confusion, the chaos, the uncertainty, it was delivered quite nicely, creating tension and thrill. There are a lot of characters in the movie, but ultimately it is focused on these soldiers, and while the movie could have done a better job developing them, what it did was good enough in a sense that it worked for the movie. I liked em. Acting varied, with some delivering pretty good performances. Also, again wi...