Top 5 Thursday: Movies I Watched For My Challenge (March 2017)

Here are my five favorite films that I watched for my challenge in the month of March.

5. Logan
Hugh Jackman’s last time as Wolverine and also his best performance as the character. It’s a more sober and serious film, with hints of humor, but it’s a fantastic superhero/ antihero story. I love “Logan”.

4. The Addams Family
How macabre and dark this comedy is! It’s not the most cheerful family, but somehow they are happy. And that makes me happy. Because I highly enjoyed this spooky bunch. “The Addams Family” is most definitely a film I will rewatch.

3. Me Before You
“Me Before You” is a movie that wasn’t very well received, but I loved it. Most of the times I can understand the criticism, but I somehow can’t this time. It’s such a fun and beautiful film and I loved Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin in it!

2. Kubo and the Two Strings
I’m a huge fan of stop motion, it shows all the hard work the people have put into the film. The story is original and it will speak to many people. It’s beyond me how “Kubo and the Two Strings” didn’t win an Academy Award for best animated picture.

1. The Artist
“The Artist” is a silent movie made in modern day. It’s an amazing film, that I loved from beginning ‘till end. I can understand why this film won an Academy Award.

They Almost Made the Top 5: The Addams Family Values, It’s a Wonderful Life, Star Trek Beyond

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 35: Kubo and the Two Strings

Director: Travis Knight
Genre: Animation/ Adventure, Fantasy
Runtime: 102 minutes
Year: 2016
Starring: Art Parkinson, Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Ralph Fiennes, George Takei, Rooney Mara

Description: A young boy named Kubo (Art Parkinson) must locate a magical suit of armor worn by his late father in order to defeat a vengeful spirit from the past.

Review: When you think of animation, you think of Disney or Pixar. Maybe also Dreamworks, but probably not LAIKA Entertainment. It’s a smaller company that started in 2005 and is specialized in stop-motion animation. It did make some successful movies: “Coraline”, “ParaNorman” and “The Boxtrolls”. Smaller films that have atmosphere, are artistic and cost hundreds of hours of work. Why “Kubo and the Two Strings” didn’t win the Academy Award for best animation is beyond me.
Together with his mother, the one-eyed boy Kubo lives in a cave nearby a small village. His mother fleed for her father, Kubo’s grandfather, the evil Moon Kind who killed Kubo’s father Hanzo. Kubo’s mother lives in a catatonic state ever since Hanzo died, so Kubo needs to take care of the both of them. He is known for his storytelling. Every day he tells stories about his late father, with his guitar. It’s a magical instrument which makes paper move and turn into origami art and form the most beautiful images for his stories. When Kubo’s hiding place is discovered, he has to step into his father’s footsteps. He gets the help of a strict white monkey and a heroic beetle.
The film looks amazing, perfect to every detail. Everything created by hand, so much love and hard work has been put in to this film. Stop-motion always fascinates me, it amazes me, it blows my mind. The movements of all the characters are so fluent. It’s an extraordinary film.
The story has all the ingredients of a classic adventure story: a young hero taken under the wing by a mentor, looking for a magical weapon and discovering powers to help him beat the enemy. But this classic adventure story has some adult themes: grieving, forgiveness, keeping memories alive by telling stories. None of these themes are forced, just like the moral of the story.
“Kubo and the Two Strings” is an animation every kid should see. Imagination, adventure, emotion, deeper layers. And the film looks amazing. It’s a piece of art.

Rating: 5/ 5

Movie Trailer Sunday (230)

Here are this weeks trailers.

Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life

Director: Steve Carr

Description: A quiet teenage artist Rafe Katchadorian (Griffin Gluck) has a wild imagination and is sick of middle school and the rules that have been put before him. Rafe and his best friend Leo have come up with a plan; break every rule in the school hand book and as you expect trouble follows.

Starring: Griffin Gluck, Lauren Graham, Rob Riggle

Trailer: Trailer "Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life"

Comment: Looks like a fun movie.

Captain America: Civil War

Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Description: Political interference in the Avengers' activities causes a rift between former allies Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.).

Starring: Chris Evans, RObert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Elisabeth Olsen, Tom Holland, Sebastian Stan, Marisa Tomei, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Martin Freeman, Emily VanCamp, Chadwick Boseman, Jeremy Renner, Gwyneth Paltrow, Leslie Bibb, Paul Bettany, Daniel Brühl, Frank Grillo, William Hurt

Trailer: Trailer "Captain America: Civil War"

Comment: The final trailer, I'm a bit more excited. And Spidey is in it!!!

A Hologram for the King

Director: Tom Tykwer

Description: A failed American businessman (Tom Hanks) looks to recoup his losses by traveling to Saudi Arabia and selling his idea to a wealthy monarch.

Starring: Tom Hanks, Ben Wishaw, Tom Skerritt

Trailer: Trailer "A Hologram for the King"

Comment: I'm Always in for some Tom Hanks.

Kubo and the Two Strings

Director: Travis Knight

Description: Kubo lives a quiet, normal life in a small shoreside village until a spirit from the past turns his life upside down by re-igniting an age-old vendetta. This causes all sorts of havoc as gods and monsters chase Kubo who, in order to survive, must locate a magical suit of armor once worn by his late father, a legendary Samurai warrior.

Starring: Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, George Takei, Rooney Mara, Ralph Fiennes, Art Parkinson

Trailer: Trailer "Kubo and the Two Strings"

Comment: A modern day anime style tale, like it!

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

Director: Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone

Description: When his new album fails to sell records, pop/rap superstar conner4real goes into a major tailspin and watches his celebrity high life begin to collapse. He'll try anything to bounce back, anything except reuniting with his old rap group The Style Boyz.

Starring: Andy Samberg, Sarah Silverman, Imogen Poots, Bill Hader, Joan Cusack, Will Forte, Martin Sheen, Adam Levine, Carrie Underwood, Snoop Dog, Pink

Trailer: Trailer "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping"

Comment: Meh....