Grant Minnick's Movie Reviews

“Do you know that I pray every night that he would escape?” - Laurie Strode Halloween is a sequel to the 1978 horror film of the same name.  It is directed by David Gordon Green, and stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, James Jude Courtney, and Nick Castle.  The film takes place 40 years after the events of the first film, and sees Jamie Lee Curtis’s Laurie Strode as a paranoid alcoholic shell of her former self.  She has been preparing for serial killer Michael Myers’s return for 40 years, and when he escapes from his institution, she must keep both she and her family safe. I really did enjoy this movie, and I think it’s right on par with the original.  There are some really great kills in this movie, and a lot of brutal, intense, gory scenes that worked really well.  I enjoyed the creativity that was on display, not only creative kills, but creative shots and camera angles that really utilized Michael Myers’s presence, and made him intimidating.  One...

“As time goes by, they say ‘He’s washed up.  He’s finished. He’s a loser. He’s all through.’  But you know what? The only ones who are gonna tell me when I’m through doing my thing is you people here.” - Randy “The Ram” Robinson a.k.a. Robin Ramzinski The Wrestler is directed by Darren Aronofsky, and stars Mickey Rourke as Randy “The Ram” Robinson.  This film is about an aging pro wrestler who is way past his prime. He is struggling to make money, and is trying to repair his damaged relationship with his daughter, (Evan Rachel Wood) who resents him for not being present in her life.  He is also trying to pursue a romantic relationship with a beautiful and kind-hearted woman (Marisa Tomei) who just so happens to be a stripper. This movie rocked me to my core.  It holds nothing back. The scenes where Rourke is in the ring are brutal and hard to watch.  Likewise, the scenes taking place in the strip club are portrayed with unflinching realism. Both ...

“All that the artist can offer the world is how they see those twelve notes.” - Bobby Maine A Star Is Born is Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut, and it stars Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, and Sam Elliott.  Bradley Cooper plays a musician who meets a shy young singer (Gaga) who he immediately falls in love with. He talks her into singing on stage with him, and while she becomes a star overnight, he struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction. A Star Is Born is one of my favorite movies of the year, albeit an emotionally crushing one.  To start off, the acting is all around incredible. Bradley Cooper is great as usual. But the real surprise here was Sam Elliott, who in my opinion deserves the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.  And don’t even get me started with Lady Gaga. She kills it here. If she doesn’t win Best Actress, or at the very least get nominated, I will be legitimately upset. She gives the best performance in the entire film.   I loved the characte...

“I am Tetsuo!” - Tetsuo Shima Akira is a 1988 anime film directed by Katsuhiro Otomo. It's about a biker gang called the Capsules led by high school student Shotaro Kaneda. In the midst of a gang war, runt of the litter Tetsuo Shima gets into a bike accident with a young child with mystical powers. As a result of this, Tetsuo gets powers of his own. But as he abuses his powers, he becomes a very dangerous threat to the city of Neo Tokyo. As if this film wasn’t crazy enough, what makes it even crazier is when you take into account that all of the incredibly visceral action contained in the film is entirely a product of somebody holding a pencil.  This whole film is entirely hand-drawn. That’s insane when you think about it, because the animation has a way of not even feeling like animation. It’s really fluid, but also really gritty, making it look both old-fashioned and futuristic at the same time.  It’s super realistic, which can sometimes be hard to find in an a...

“Be deliriously happy or at least leave yourself open to be.” - William Parrish Meet Joe Black is an inventive romance directed by Martin Brest.  It stars Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt. To start off, this film has really good music from Thomas Newman, and a very cool concept about a woman who falls in love with death. Both Pitt and Hopkins are excellent in this film.  However, there is some very poor acting on display from Marcia Gay Harden, Jake Weber, and Jeffrey Tambor. Speaking of Tambor, his character, while fun, bumbling, and humorous, is ridiculously, unbelievably stupid. There are many things in this film that just do not work.  There are painfully awkward moments in the script, and the dialogue is very poorly written, and sloppy at times. They tried to cram as many subplots into the story as they could to keep it interesting, but it was all a convoluted mess. It would’ve greatly benefited the film if the writers and the director simply realized that s...

“You told me she ran away, Vick!” - David Kim Searching is a suspense thriller directed by Aneesh Chaganty, and starring John Cho.  When his sixteen year old daughter goes missing, David Kim (Cho) looks through her social media accounts to try and find her.  The unique thing about Searching is the fact that the entirety of the film is told from the perspective of a computer desktop in the style of such films as the Unfriended series. I love this film, and was on the edge of my seat for the entire length of it.  This film is absolutely riveting. The writing is so smart, and intelligent, and when you look back at the film, it all makes sense.   The acting is amazing for the most part, especially on the part of John Cho.  I was blown away with all the twists and turns this movie took. There were moments where I was absolutely shocked by the events that took place.  That said, the storyline is unbelievable. The editing was masterful, and made it actu...