text: Movie reviews by Jarrad Jzyk – my take on the latest films to hit theaters and streaming services
  Movie reviews by Jarrad Jzyk
  my take on the latest films to hit theaters and streaming services
  Angel Has Fallen is the third installment of the Fallen franchise and follows Mike Banning played by Gerard Butler who is framed for an assassination attempt on the president of United States (Morgan Freeman). For the most part Angel Has Fallen passes as a pretty serviceable action movie. Doesn't quite live up of the intensity of the surprise hit Olympus Has Fallen but is much better than the previous London Has Fallen.
  Where the film shines is in its action set pieces and that it embraces itself as a B action movie. If you can get past the first 10-15 minutes of dialogue and set up, where I wasn't really feeling myself getting locked in or particularly caring about what's going on, then the movie it's pretty non stop from there.
  The cast is fine for the most part; you know what you're getting from Gerard Butler and Morgan Freeman is pretty much playing Morgan Freeman. But who steals the entire movie is Nick Nolte playing a crazy old war veteran living in the woods (there's a lot more to his role but it approaches somewhat spoiler territory).
  Though it's not one of the purposes of the movie as it reveals itself somewhere in the second act the film is predictable right away in terms of its villain. So if you can get pass the somewhat boring first 10-15 then you're in for a solid action movie with some pretty decent action set pieces and a great performance by Nick Nolte the rest of the way. You could wait for Angel Has Fallen to come out on streaming or Blu-Ray but if you have nothing else to see I would recommend this movie.
  Jarrad Jzyk	Uncategorized	Leave a comment August 24, 2019 August 24, 2019 1 Minute
  Good Boys aka preteen Superbad follows 3 sixth grade boys who are trying to do whatever it takes to get to a kissing party. Whatever you thought or were hoping this movie to be it delivers exactly that in what is the funniest movie of the year so far. It's rare these days to see any good pure comedies. It seems like we only get maybe 1 or 2 a year the last one being Game Night (2018).
  I genuinely found myself consistently laughing scene to scene with a couple of which I was nearly in tears. All in part do to the terrific performances from the 3 lead kids. Jacob Tremblay (Max) is already a Star, but who stole the film for me was Keith L. Williams who played Lucas who has some of the funniest scenes in the movie.
  The supporting cast is also great in particular Will Forte who plays Jacob Tremblay's dad and a character played by Stephen Merchant who makes for what might be my favorite parts of the movie. The movie also tries to have some heart in the message of friendship and being able to go down your own path and do your own thing while still being able to stay friends with someone. It's also the feature film directorial debut for one of the writers of the show The Office, Gene Stupnitsky who in some instances can tell it's his first movie but can also tell definitely played to his strengths as a comedy writer.
  Overall Good Boys, while not as clean or well made as a film like Booksmart which came out earlier this year, is one of the best comedies of the year and definitely the funniest movie of the year so far. While it may not be a future comedy classic I'd definitely recommend checking this one out if you're in need for a fun, easy watch and want a good laugh.
  Jarrad Jzyk	Uncategorized	Leave a comment August 18, 2019 1 Minute
  Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark follows 4 teenagers who on Halloween night end up finding themselves in haunted house where they discover a book belonging to a dead girl. I never read the material this movie was based off of but I was somewhat familiar about it and for the most part they seemed to have turned it into an enjoyable horror movie.
  Doesn't quite have the young cast talent that the It movie had but all the main actors were fine in their roles although I only felt myself caring for Zoe Margaret Colletti's character Stella. The movie manages to set up some actually very effective horror set pieces (some better than others) and is a lot more gory than you think for a PG-13 movie. Even though he didn't direct it you can definitely feel Guillermo Del Toro's presence in the monster designs which can be quite creepy.
  Yes there's all the basic horror cliches whether it be characters making extremely non intelligent decisions or library research scenes for the purpose of exposition, but you kinda forgive it cause they're done pretty well for the most part and the movie is only about 1 hour and 45 minutes so there's not really any pacing problems.
  Overall Scary Stories is a solid horror movie, though probably could've benefited a little more by coming out around Halloween time, but enjoyable non the less.
  Jarrad Jzyk	Uncategorized	Leave a comment August 11, 2019 1 Minute
  For me, like most other people, the best part of The Fate of the Furious was the prison break scene with The Rock and Jason Statham. Well take that scene and make it into a 2 hour and 15 minute movie and that's pretty much Hobbs & Shaw. The best part about this movie is it knows exactly what it is.. a dumb, fun, makes zero sense, summer action movie.
  If you really wanted to you could pick this movie apart, whether it's the dumb plot, crazy impossible action scenes or the super hero like villain played by Idris Alba (who was absolutely awesome btw). But that's not the world Hobbs and Shaw sets up. As long as you just suspend disbelief and go along with for the ride you're in for one hell of a time.
  This movie also has a couple of great cameos who I was not expecting which offers itself to some of the funniest scenes in the movie. Speaking of humor the chemistry and banter back and forth between The Rock and Jason Statham was off the charts and without the film doesn't really work. To where as the Fast & Furious movies are about family Hobbs & Shaw is about friendship and working together.
  My really only negatives of the movie is that it may be a bit too long for its own good. It runs in at about 2 hours and 15 minutes to which I never really felt myself being bored or it having pacing problems, but I felt like they could've tightened it up a little bit. My biggest problem with the film isn't with the film itself but with the marketing; the trailers basically show you the entire movie and every big action set piece to where you can pretty much guess how everything is gonna play out. But other than that it's everything you can want in a big summer blockbuster and definitely one of the funner times you'll have in a theater this year!
  Jarrad Jzyk	Uncategorized	Leave a comment August 2, 2019 August 2, 2019 1 Minute
  Once Upon a Time In Hollywood follows Leonardo DiCaprio's Rick Dalton and Brad Pitt's Cliff Booth in 1969's Hollywood. Rick is an actor who's realizing he's reaching the end of his glory days as a big time western star and Cliff his best friend and stunt double.
  Brad Pitt steels the movie for me playing as cool, chill, layed back guy who's just grateful for the opportunity to be working. He also gets some of the funniest lines in the movie. Even though we're used to Leo giving A+ performances movie after movie I don't think he'll get enough credit playing an actor who's playing an actor which can be a very complex role. Margot Robbie is great as Sharon Tate even though she's not really in the movie all that much. That's pretty much it for the main cast everyone else in the movie is great but are really only have brief roles in a scene or two.
  As for plot there really isn't one. The whole movie you're pretty much just sitting in for a couple days in the lives of these characters, which for some people I can see be frustrating. I didn't really bother me seeing the great performances from DiCaprio and Pitt and the sharp fast Quentin Tarantino dialogue we're all used to by now. Also the production design in this movie is fantastic you really feel like you're in 1969 Hollywood.
  As for my biggest negatives in the movie there's a time jump from the second to third act with a voice over monologue that feels quite jarring and uneven from the rest of the film that could've easily been done a different way I feel like. Also the movie is about 2 hours and 40 minutes and it feels it sometimes. Overall I really enjoyed this movie not being what I exactly expected but a fun time nun the less. And oh by the way the last 15-20 minutes of this movie is BONKERS. Definitely recommend especially if you're a Quentin Tarantino fan.