Movie Review: Shaun The Sheep Movie

 

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland














Michael's Movie Grade:A+

Review: One of the most cleverly made TV shows of recent years, becomes one of the most cleverly made feature films of recent years. This film is shear enjoyment for anyone, and will definitely hold a special place in many cartoon and movie lovers' hearts.

Shaun the Sheep attempts something very few modern film would attempt, let alone a family film, it is completely without dialogue. There are noises that sound like words, but no words are actually spoken. This works heavily to the movie's advantage. The characters express themselves beautifully through pantomime. Both this film and the TV show contain some of the greatest character animation ever done in stop motion. Not only slapstick humor is shown through this pantomime, but also some truly heart warming moments as well. Showing that a movie does not need to delve into dialogue to tug at your heartstrings, but can do it with simple facial expressions, and physical gestures. Some scenes that revolve around Timmy, the baby lamb (Who has his own spin-off TV series that is also well worth watching), will definitely give you a warm feeling inside.

This film takes a very simple story and turns it into something that is both touching and funny, along with being something that is unique in today's world of dialogue heavy films. The story is simple to follow, but is not without depth.

Overall this is a great film that is shear enjoyment for the whole flock. By the way if you like this movie definitely check out the great TV series that this film is based off of.

-Michael J. Ruhland    

Movie Review: The Man From U.N.C.L.E

 

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland



















Michael's Movie Grade: B

Review: Fun playful movie, overcomes weaknesses in the plot, with a addictively  fun spirit, and by not taking it's self too seriously.

This film is just plain fun, and helped heavily by great direction by Guy Ritchie. It plays with the art form of film as much as it can, from subtitles (for characters that speak foreign languages) getting bigger when a character is speaking louder, great jokes happening in the background of scenes, 1960's style pans between scenes music starting and stopping abruptly, and much more.

Speaking of music the soundtrack is perfect for the film, and compliments it beautifully. It adds the perfect amount of energy to the film, and like the rest of the film never takes itself too seriously.

The story itself is pretty standard but not bad. You have seen this story before and you will see it again. However it is pulled off pretty well without feeling too much like any other movie.

Overall this is a very fun film, and despite weaknesses in the plot it has an addictive energy, and great direction that will make it a worthwhile time spent at the movies.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Vacation

 

Review Written by Michael J. Ruhland



















Michael's Movie Grade: F

Review: Unfunny comedy tries to hard to be like the classic first vacation film, but has none of the heart that that film, Christmas Vacation, or even the disappointing Vegas Vacation, and European Vacation.

Despite all their vulgar and gross out comedy, what made the other Vacation films work was that we felt like we were watching our family on screen, We laughed at the comedy because we related to it, not because of it's vulgarness. In this film the characters are so unreal and unrelatable that all we are left with is vulgar, and gross out comedy, and without the heart, it is no where near as funny as those classic films. It is also not funny on it's own without being compared to the other movies.

This also suffers from something that was not present at all in the previous films, and that is a sense of real meanspiritedness. This film gives us suicide jokes, the least funny conservative stereotype of all time, the bloody death of a cow, cannibalism, and rape jokes, all played only for laughs. This meansprirtedness runs throughout the whole film and is never funny enough to be justified.

While the film does attempt to add some heart towards it's end it feels forced, and simply put in there because the other films had it. There is nothing emotional about these scenes in the least, and they feel out of place.

Overall this is an awful movie that does real injustice to a great comedy series.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Southpaw

 

Review written by Michael J. Ruhland



















Michael's Movie Grade:D

Review: This film is simply not as good as it is obliviously trying to be. It is not as much a bad movie as it is forgettable.

The main character is simply not as likable as writer Kurt Sutter seems to think he is. The script is constantly trying to make you feel sympathy for this guy, when there is nothing especially appealing about this character. Occasionally we do feel sorry for him, but that is more due to the circumstances than the character, and those times don't come as often as the script makes them seem like they should. Though I will admit Jake Gyllenhaal gave a good performance.

Without giving much away one really bad scene involves trying to make the audience feel sympathy for a side character who we barley spent any time with.

We've seen everything in this film done before. Most of it is handled fine, but none of it is handled well enough to overcome that fact.

Overall this is an unremarkable, and forgettable film, but nothing that will leave much of a bad taste in your mouth.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: The Gift

 

Review by Michael J. Ruhland



















Michael's Movie Grade:A

Review:  Joel Edgerton's feature film directorial debut, is a fantastic thriller that thankfully relies much more one being psychologically disturbing rather than on gore. It is a nice refreshing change to see a modern film that can be this disturbing without being gorey.

The film knows when to take it's time. It lets you get involved with the characters and the situation they are in before starting the suspenseful or scary scenes. Again this enhances the movie because we become emotionally attached to what is going on, and therefore are much more interested in the mysteries of the characters. This makes the twists in the film much more effective.

What would simply be cheap jump scares in a lesser film actually add to this movie. They get us into the character's paranoid mind, and therefore make us more emotional involved instead of just being cheap scares.

I can't talk much more about this film, without giving too much away but if you like slower paced, psychological thrillers, that don't have to rely on gore than this movie will be a treat for you.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Fantastic 4

 

Review by Michael J. Ruhland



















Michael's Movie Grade: F

Review: Awful. One of the worst superhero films ever made. This is a film that makes one question if anyone working on it even thought it was good.

A long time is spent on the origin story, which would be no problem if it added anything to the film but time. However it doesn't. It gives you no reason to care. The characters are as bland as characters get (in this film version that is), The story is bland and needs to be much more fleshed out. What is at stake is not presented until near the end of the film, and by then it is too late to care anymore.

Near the end we get and the first and last action scene, which again wouldn't be a problem if there was anything to care about, and wow is it bad. It is rushed, and goes by very fast in fact so fast, that we never get the feeling anyone was in any danger, or the villain was all that powerful. (Spoiler the superheroes save the day).

This is an awful movie with nothing to recommend. Avoid at all costs.

Movie Review: Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

 

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland
























Michael's Movie Grade: F

Review: Well everybody seems to like this movie, so I almost regret to say I'm not among that crowd. This is my first and probably last Mission: Impossible film. It just felt bland, and lifeless, and on top of that it went on for much too long.

The main character Ethan Hunt is bland and boring. He has no likability and I just couldn't come to care if he lived or not. On top of this Tom Cruise makes the character worse because it feels as if he is just phoning it in. If I do not care about the main character, I do not care about the action scenes. I am a type of person who can't enjoy an action scene unless I have an emotional connection with the characters, and there was not one character worth caring about in this film.

Director/Writer Christopher McQuarrie perfect understands action movie cliches and there was nothing in this film I felt I had seen before, but done better.

The action looked cool, but since there was no emotional attachment it came off as still boring. However the rest of the audience seemed to enjoy the film a lot, so there is an audience for this movie, I am just not part of it. Maybe I'm just not enough of an action fan. If you are looking for action, and don't want to try anything new maybe you'll like this, but for me it was awful.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Paper Towns

 

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland




















Michael's Movie Grade: B+

Review: A sometimes beautiful, sometimes funny, and sometimes nostalgic portrait of the High School years, that doesn't view a teenager's life through rose-color glasses or through cynicism. The plot can often times seem quite outlandish, however I have the feeling that that was done on propose, but it still might turn off those who want something more believable.

The best thing about this movie is the relationships between the characters. You truly see how much these characters care about each other, and it made me think of all the great friendships that I have had over the years, both past and present. This film captures a place and time in people's lives so beautifully. This feeling of nostalgia, and of our own friendships is where the film really shines and boy does it shine in this movie.

The cast is amazing in this film especially considering their age. They can even bring some likability to some of the more underdeveloped characters.

However this film is not without it's faults, and is far from a perfect movie. Some of the character's seem very underdeveloped, and this film could have been better, had we felt we knew those characters better. These characters have great relationships with the more defined characters, that really add to the movie, but as characters themselves they don't quite work. While much of the humor does work, there are points were it feels forced and immature. Some pee jokes in particular feel more gross than actually funny, but luckily they are quick and don't hurt the film too much.  However the transitions from comedy to drama are always well handled.      

Overall this film really works though it is not without it's faults. If you can accept outlandish stories, and can overlook it's faults, it is a great movie, that you will probably enjoy as much as I did.


This is amazingly the second feature directed by Jake Schreier. I may have to follow this guy in the future and see what is in store for him.


-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Antman

 

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland



















Michael's Movie Grade: B+

Review: Superhero film raises no bars, but is so good you may not care. A really fun movie, with some surprisingly effective emotional scenes as well.

Unlike most other action films (I'm looking at you Jurassic World) this summer this film waits before getting into the action scenes. It sets up who the characters are and what the stakes are very well before getting into the action scenes. This make the film's action scenes much more effective than those in many other recent action films. Although the action scenes questionably go on too long for the most part they are very well done.

The characters are quite likable and although they are not especially complex, they are not 2 denominational stereotypes. You do sympathize with the characters and care if they make it out of the film okay.

Overall this film is a very entertaining movie that is probably the best action film of this summer.

-Michael J. Ruhland