Don't want to clutter the entire thread with my reviews so I'll just post snidbits and link to the entire reviews if you guys want to read them.
FrozenThere’s just something about a Disney movie like Frozen that completely warms your heart and makes you feel good every time you think about it. When you watch so many movies you can get jaded and it’s oftentimes even difficult to imagine that a film can have the power to do that. However, there’s something about Disney that if you grew up with them, it has this rare ability to bring back the nostalgia without losing the quality. With Frozen, the team behind it continue the studios strong run of animated films. It’s a movie anchored by a handful of strong performances and musical numbers, but Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell’s characters of Elsa and Anna are the true standouts.
HerHer is a movie that a lot of people probably won’t see based on its trailer alone. It’s a movie that seems so out there that it’s bound to put some people off, which is truly a shame when you find out that it’s one of the strongest and smartest stories in recent memory that deals heavily with the theme of relationships. It features a handful of incredibly strong performances anchored by Phoenix and Johansson, with strong supporting turns by Adams and Olivia Wilde. What makes Her so impressive is the way that Jonze could have so easily portrayed the film in a number of different, inferior ways, but in the end never decided to. Almost every aspect of the film is done in a way that you’d hope for a movie of that genre to be presented, and it’s amazing that he pulled it off.
The PastThe Past is never as relatable as A Separation is, but it never needs to be. Farhadi’s already made that type of movie, and while this film deals in similar themes, it’s a whole other beast. While his work here isn’t as equally polarizing as his previous film, it’s still a tremendous movie in its own right. The script, direction, and acting are all top notch. With his scarce use of music (only for the end credits), Farhadi still has the ability to suck in the audience with only the power of storytelling. It’s movies like these that make you appreciate the art form.
The Green InfernoThroughout The Green Inferno, it’s clear that Roth’s passion is there, as it shines through from the first frame to the last. His talent is undeniable and it’s clear that he loves this genre, and while The Green Inferno will most certainly appease many horror fans, it never fires on all cylinders. Though there’s nothing supernatural about it, it never feels as terrifying as something like Ti West’s The Sacrament (review coming soon), which presents a familiar situation but goes about exploring it in very different ways. It’s an interesting effort from Roth but it doesn’t feel like anything new from him, and honestly that’s the real downfall of The Green Inferno.