Tag / james mangold

by Jaime Rebanal

General Thoughts: The 90th Academy Awards

One knows already how predictable the Academy Awards can become after the route of the Golden Globes and the SAG Awards among many more, but in the 90 years that we have seen them moving onward, what they had managed to turn forth was not only one of the strongest lineups in a while but also one of the most pleasantly surprising, knowing where their own habits lie. If there was anything else to be said about what the Academy Awards have in store for us this year, then it only makes this year’s ceremony – unlike the past few at least, worth looking forward to.

Bold indicates my vote for said category.
Underline indicates who I think will win.

To read more about the picks this year in the major categories, click “read more.” Continue reading →

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by Jaime Rebanal

Logan – Review

✯✯✯✯✯

The end of an era has come upon us with Logan, James Mangold’s second film for the X-Men series to star Hugh Jackman as The Wolverine together with the final intended performance from Jackman in the role. I’ve grown up watching the X-Men films but now a heartbreaking end must come for a character whom I’ve grown up watching all the years and with the Wolverine standalone films not particularly being above average (X-Men Origins: Wolverine being rather dire), it’s only pleasing to see that Logan was as wonderful as it was but at the same time, it packs the emotional gut punch not only supported by knowledge this is going to be Jackman’s final appearance, rather instead from the journey we’ve taken and how far we’ve gone.

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by Jaime Rebanal

Knight and Day – Review

✯½

Mismatched pairings aren’t particularly new for action-comedies, but it’s easy to do them just wrong and Knight of Day isn’t any different. It starts off from having Tom Cruise, an actor who can be extremely charismatic if he’s inside of a role that fits him, paired together with Cameron Diaz, who has always hit me as nothing more than a bland if pretty face. Those aren’t the least of my many problems that arise from Knight and Day, but with that factor out there, it’s already a bad sign. There are moments in Knight and Day that are funnier than all of the rest, but at best it’s only a light chuckle as opposed to what the film wished it could have brought out even more. Stuff really doesn’t get all that much worse from right down there though, but Knight and Day still never finds itself working even with the effort it tries to display. Continue reading →