By Nadia Ranaputri

It's almost the end of the year, but there are still more movies to look forward to. Here are the movies that I am planning to watch and review, so keep an eye on them.

By Nadia Ranaputri

Source: screenrant.com

Director: Antoine Fuqua
Cast: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Lee Byung-hun, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, Haley Bennett, Peter Sarsgaard.

I actually watched this movie about two weeks ago, so this review is overdue. Nonetheless, it is here.

Even if I love movies, I'm still quite new to the Western genre. I haven't seen much from the Western genre except for the Coen Brother's True Grit, which I thought was a fantastic movie by the way. But other than that, I am still new to the genre.

Thus, I deliberated for a while on whether or not The Magnificent Seven was worth watching. I haven't seen the original Magnificent Seven and it's highly unusual for me to suddenly dive into the Western genre, but I do have a friend who's a sucker for Western movies.

The Magnificent Seven is a remake of the 1960 film of the same name, and tells the story of a town named Rose Creek, which has been taken over by a greedy industrialist. As he takes control of the town, the citizens seek help from seven outlaws to protect their town from further danger and ensure freedom from the industrialist's control.

I did not really expect anything going in, if I had to be honest. But I was quite surprised with the fact that it's actually pretty good. Like I said before, I'm no expert in the Western genre, but this movie was a hell of a good time; packed with surprisingly fun elements that made the experience for me. It won't work for everyone, though. But for me, this movie isn't one to take very seriously. It's really just a solid fun action movie.

Source: latinoweeklyreview.com

The characters in terms of the Magnificent Seven themselves are fleshed-out well, elevated by impressive performances from their actors. Everyone gets their time to shine, and they have interesting motivations as to why they did what they did. Other than being fleshed out, they're also charming and have sense of humor, though it could be off-putting at times.

The storyline is solid, but sometimes lacks coherence and substance that would have made it standout. What I do have to say though, is that the action sequences were well choreographed, and were very enjoyable, especially the stand-off in the third act. So like I said before, it's more of a solid fun action movie.

Overall, I can't really discuss anything more, but I really enjoyed this movie. The storyline is pretty solid, but sometimes lacks coherence and substance. The action was great, the characters were fleshed-out (quite well, and enough to make them interesting), and every actor of the Magnificent Seven brought charm and depth to their characters. It's not a complete no-brainer, but if you're looking for a more serious type of Western film, you'd probably pass on this remake of The Magnificent Seven. If you're looking for a fun action movie though,  it probably wouldn't hurt to give this movie a go.

Stars: 3.5/5

By Nadia Ranaputri

Source: foxmovies.com

Director: Tim Burton
Cast: Asa Butterfield, Eva Green, Ella Purnell, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris O'Dowd, Allison Janey.

What comes in your mind when you hear the word "peculiar" or "peculiarity"? Does it sound like a fancy term for "weirdness" or "unusual"? Does it seem like a nice little word that you like to say the moment it rolls of your tongue?

But what if this peculiarity is used to describe one's unusual ability?

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is an adaptation from the novel of the same name by Ransom Riggs, about a boy named Jake (though it's Jacob in the book) who often listens to his grandfather's stories regarding a children's home filled with kids of special abilities. As he grew up, he realizes that his grandfather's stories of this particular home isn't fiction after all. He sets out on a journey to find this particular home, and finds more than what he sought to seek.

As far as characters go, I found Jake quite bland as a character. Don't get me wrong, I like Asa Butterfield. He's a great actor, but his character seems uninteresting and doesn't have any depth that makes us care for him as the main character. Miss Peregrine (played by Eva Green) herself is a delightful character, but she doesn't really have much to do in most parts of the movie except for explaining to Jake (and us as the audience) about the necessary plot expositions to get the story going. As for the peculiar children, they're good, too. However, my friend pointed out that most of the peculiar children, as well as Jake himself; are practically stock characters, and I agree, when I thought about it. Because they don't have much depth and significant development, they're pretty much stock characters that are just there to show us that they are indeed peculiar. Emma (played by Ella Purnell) is really the most fleshed out character for me (again, another friend of mine pointed this out and he's quite right, the longer you think about it).

Source: foxmovies.com

However, I can say that the acting was charming, and all were great at playing their characters. The problem was, the characters just aren't all that great in terms of character depth and development.

And the problem wasn't just at the characters. The movie itself seemed too rushed at times. Most of the scenes in the first half of the movie had very abrupt transitions, which really bugged me, because it felt like there was more to those scenes, and it all became rushed for the sake of the runtime and for the sake of getting to the point. Because of the abrupt transitions, the scenes were short and gave no depth to the characters. I would also like to point out that this movie had some cliches and tropes that I thought could have been better if they weren't there at all.

What I can really compliment from this movie, other than the acting; is the score. The music in the movie was beautiful to hear, and it does elevate some scenes. Those two things are the highest compliments I can give for this movie.

Overall, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children was not bad, but I thought that it could have been a lot more better than how it turned out to be. The acting was good, and the music is wonderful, but those are the highest compliments I can give. The characters lack depth and development, and the movie just felt very rushed on the first half, as many scenes were cut at transitioned abruptly. It definitely has so much potential, but it just wasn't utilized much.

Stars: 3/5