Love Actually (2003)

I have a troubled personal history with this movie going all the way back to 2003, but it is strangely irresistible, magical and charming in a way that most ensemble romantic comedies manage to fail at. I credit that to Richard Curtis embracing the adult humor and R-rated spirit of the material, while somehow comfortably fitting into that cozy Christmas mold. The music in this film is also spectacular and manages to elevate it to new heights. While I'll never shake the pain of watching this alone for the first time (or the last), there's no denying it's become a classic at this point. I won't even try to resist anymore.

Audiences love to try and re-analyze films through the lenses of modern sensibilities and criticize some of its choices for being "tone-deaf" at the time, but that's just a lazy cop-out. It's aged remarkably well and has only gotten better in time. There's only one storyline in this film which I find abhorrent (it's not the one you think), and that's the only reason why I docked it half a star. It's an absolutely perfect romantic comedy aside from it. 

4½ hand-made signs out of 5

NOCTURNAL ANIMALS [2016]

If one had to come with one word to describe Tom Ford's noir-ish psychological thriller Nocturnal Animals it'd be 'devastating'.
It tells a story within a story, firstly being that of a wealthy but disheartened women receives a copy of a novel from her ex-husband, whom she hadn't talked to in nearly 20 years, which he wrote and dedicated to her.  The other half of the film tells the story within the novel, about a husband who is the only surviving member of his family after a violent attack.
With strong performances all around, particularly Michael Shannon & Aaron-Taylor Johnson, stunningly beautiful Herrmann-esque music from Abel Korzeniowski and gorgeous intoxicating photography it's hard not to become entranced with this cold-hearted, cunningly crafted tale of broken souls, revenge and violent desperation.

4 shocking pieces of art out of 5

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS [2016]

Earth to Echo director Dave Green takes over duties for Out of the Shadows, the TMNT sequel to the 2012 live-action comic book adaptation.
This time around the heroes in a half-shell must save the world from a dangerous being from another dimension known only as Krang.
It doesn't really improve or weaken in quality from the first film but instead it finds more fun in the exact same vein as a mindless Saturday morning cartoon, with the hyper-active brains of indigestible sugar cereal.  Based on how much gleeful idiocy you're willing to accept will determine on how much enjoyment you'll get out of this tasty trash.  Really, it's strictly for the kiddies or anyone who just has to see Krang, Bebop & Rocksteady finally make it into a TMNT film.

2 garbage trucks out of 5

Mystic River (2003)

Eastwood assembled a great cast for this moody drama about three kids whose lives are forever connected due to an event in their past. Years later they are reunited in the same place. The acting is wonderful, and it was a joy to see something with old-school filmmaking values not reliant on modern camera trickery, but the story does drag on a bit at times.

3½ hurried beginnings with the wrong hair out of 5