Hello friends! Sorry this is a tad late. It’s been a busy week for me. Well for the few of you that are interested, I saw a couple of movies recently that I thought deserved the spotlight for one reason or another. So I’ve decided to do another review roundup for these films. Let us separate the good from the bad and the interesting from the blah.
Silence: This is the newest film from Martin Scorsese and this one is about two Jesuit priests trying to survive in 17th century Japan. From a story perspective, this film is very interesting. It highlights the struggle of the Japanese elite with the missionaries from foreign countries and those citizens that convert to Christianity. Additionally,the film is a true masterpiece in directing (at least in my opinion). The problem here is that this film aims to answer many deep philosophical questions (how can God exist when those who worship him are viciously tortured and killed or should religions try and spread their faith to other countries despite heavy resistance from the elites) but it never really answers any of these questions. You might say the reason is because such questions are unanswerable yet the movie tries to answer them but never really completes any of its presented arguments. In summary, this is one of the better movies of the year that I will never watch again. Final Score: 7.2
Patriots’ Day: The newest film from Wahlberg and company and this one follows the stories of the officers, victims, and (oddly enough) bombers of the Boston Marathon terrorist attack in 2013. My biggest problem with this movie is that it came too soon. Why do I think that? Well. 1, this happened only 4 years ago and 2, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (one of the bombers) is still appealing his death penalty conviction (don’t you just love our criminal justice system). We all are too emotional about this whole event and while I think it is important for this story (and the stories of the victims) to be told, I just do not think a major motion picture is right for this current time. I think if this film had been made 20 or 30 years from now, it would be more informative and more impactful for the audience, yet instead, what we have is a film that is all over the place and feels very rushed. Final Score: 6.4
The Founder: The story about the beginning of the biggest fast-food chain in the world is surprisingly interesting. Michael Keaton plays the man that took McDonald’s from a one off restaurant to a global powerhouse. It has some really cool moments that highlight the struggles of people trying to make it, whether it is Keaton’s character or one of the many people who first opened up McDonald’s franchises. The problem is that the movie has many boring points, multiple scenes that could have been cut, and the movie takes kind of a dark shift at the end. This is probably a movie that you can wait and watch when it comes out on demand in a few months. I think it’s generally worth the watch… just maybe not worth the price of a movie ticket. Final Score: 6.8
Split: The final film on the docket isn’t necessarily a drama but I though I’d threw it into the mix here. M Night Shyamalan’s latest flick hoped to recapture the spirit of the director’s older films (and not the trash that was The Last Airbender). The film follows a man with multiple personality disorder who kidnaps three girls and holds them captive to do bad things to them. James McAvoy does a pretty good job with each personality having different touches, from major things like voices to minor differences like facial ticks. I went in thinking it would be a horror movie but I was surprised to find more of a thriller than a horror film. It’s all about mood and atmosphere rather than being about fright and jump scares. Keeping that in mind, it is a pretty good movie and the ending is just enough to keep you thinking about it as you leave the theater. From the opening credits to ending, this is definitely one of the better films of the month. Final Score: 7.2
Well there you have it folks. While I can’t say this with 100 percent certainty, I think next week will be an action movie round up so stay tuned!
No Duty to Watch 
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