Final Update

Hello everybody. I've decided to start reviewing on YouTube instead of this blog. I will not be updating this site anymore, but I will try to upload on my YouTube channel as much as possible. Please subscribe to the Jay the Movie Guy YouTube channel if you want to hear more from me.

Link to the channel

Avengers: Infinity War Review

Directed by: Anthony and Joe Russo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Community)

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Don Cheadle, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Josh Brolin, Chris Pratt

Written by: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe)

Review: Infinity War brings together almost everybody in the Marvel universe together for one three-hour epic. And epic is the perfect word to describe it.
This movie juggles these characters with surprising ease. It involves several stories involving groups of these characters, which eventually converge into the final battle. Despite this structure, the movie never feels crowded, which may have been helped by its long run-time.
The rest of the movie is an amazing spectacle. It's funny at times, but it also gets into some dark drama, which we'll get into later.
The villain, Thanos, (played by Josh Brolin) is a surprisingly sympathetic character. Despite his undeniably evil goal of destroying half of the universe, he is doing it to solve overpopulation, and you get the idea that he honestly believes that he is doing the right thing. There are also several moments where he shows that he has emotions. While his character is not as strong as the villain in Black Panther earlier this year, he is still a lot more memorable than in most other superhero movies.
And now I guess it's time to get to the elephant in the room with this movie. This is intended to be only part one of a two part Avengers story, and it ends on a cliffhanger. Except it doesn't exactly feel like a cliffhanger. There is no indication that there will be some kind of resolution to what happens at the end. It's the exact definition of a downer ending.
Not all of the characters make it out alive. Sure there are a lot of deaths that they will probably find some way to undo. But then there are others before the ending that will probably be more permanent. Either way, not everybody in the theater was prepared for it, and if you have kids who want to see it, make sure that they understand that there will be more movies. Because this is a depressing movie, but that's part of what makes it feel so different.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

The Ritual Review

Directed by: David Bruckner (V/H/S, The Signal, Southbound)

Starring: Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-Collier

Written by: Joe Barton (Humans, Our World War, iBoy) Based on the book by Adam Nevill

Released: On Netflix

Review: Going into the woods never works out well in these kinds of movies.
The story of this British movie follows a group of men who go hiking in Sweden. They decide to take a shortcut, and are stalked by some mysterious force along the way.
This is a tense and effective horror thriller. It starts out as a slow burn thriller, but gradually amps up the intensity until the end. The first hour or so is reminiscent of The Blair Witch Project, but the third act delves into a more Lovecraft aspect. However, this final act, despite having some great monster design, is not as subtle or scary as everything before it, and the ending leaves something to be desired.
But this is still a decent horror movie.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

A Quiet Place Review

Directed by: John Krasinski (The Hollars, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, 3 episodes of The Office)

Starring: Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds

Written by: Bryan Woods, Scott Beck, John Krasinski

Released: In theaters

Review: Sometimes, a movie doesn't even need sound to be good.
A Quiet Place takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, overrun with monsters. The monsters are blind, and rely on hearing to track their human prey. So, the main characters have to be sure to make as little sound as possible to avoid attracting them.
Therefore, most of the movie takes place in almost complete silence. On the rare occasion where the characters talk, it is in sign language (with subtitles), with only a couple exceptions. But every time a sound is made, it is intense because you know that it could attract the monsters. In other words, the tone and atmosphere are perfect.
The last forty-five minutes or so of this movie is constant suspense, that never falters. It's very well put together, and the characters feel real enough for you to hope they get out alive.
A few complaints I have with the movie is that there are a few character decisions that don't make a lot of sense, a common issue with a lot of horror movies. Also, ironically, it relies a little too heavily on jump scares.
But this is still an excellent and original horror movie. However, a major issue a lot of people are going to have is that since it is so quiet, you will be able to hear every little sound from within the theater. I know I was able to hear the sounds of people eating popcorn and shifting in their seats. But just know that throughout the second half, the entire theater was as quiet as the screen.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Isle of Dogs Review

Directed by: Wes Anderson (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, The Royal Tenenbaums)

Starring: Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Bob Balaban, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Greta Gerwig, Frances McDormand, Scarlett Johannsen, Harvey Keitel, Tilda Swinton, Liev Schrieber

Written by: Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, and Kunichi Nomura

Released: In theaters

Review: Wes Anderson delivers another great stop-motion animated film with Isle of Dogs.
It takes place in a near-future Japan, where all dogs have become the carriers of a disease called canine flu, and are quarantined to a island. The mayor's nephew runs away to the island to look for his own dog, with the help of a band of dogs.
The story is told mostly from the perspective of the dogs. Most of the human characters, including the boy, only speak in Japanese, translated by a completely different character, if at all. But, as we are informed at the beginning, "all of the dogs' barks will be heard in English." But it also very closely follows a related story on the mainland, about a government conspiracy behind the quarantine.
Even though it is an animated comedy about talking dogs, this film has a lot of dark material, mostly about the poor living conditions on the island, and certain parts of the conspiracy. This is probably the main reason for its PG-13 rating.
But despite all that, there is plenty of humor and much of it has a light tone. It has all of the trademarks of a Wes Anderson movie. It's kind of funny and kind of sad, and has a fast paced and consistently interesting story.
It may possibly be more for adults than it is for children (although I think that older children can watch it if they want to), it is still a great animated film with a lot of Wes Anderson's style.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars 

Icarus Review

Directed by: Bryan Fogel (Jewtopia)

Written by: Jon Bertain, Bryan Fogel, Mark Monroe, Timothy Rode

Review: This Netflix documentary, which won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, is an intriguing, riveting, and somewhat unsettling look at the Russian doping scandal right from where it was leaked.
It starts out innocently enough, with little mention of Russia for some time, with the director Bryan Fogel setting out to make a documentary simply about steroids in sports. He sets out to prove how easy it is to get away with doping, by doing it himself with the help of Russian scientist, Grigory Rodchenkov. However, after some time, Rodchenkov reveals that Russia had a state sponsored doping program for the Olympics, and the focus shifts away from Fogel and to Rochenkov as the scandal becomes public.
It then turns into a tale of conspiracy and international intrigue. It goes in depth into the alleged doping, its effects, and the whistleblowing, while making several allusions to George Orwell's 1984. It also makes you fear for Rodchnkov, who has gone into the witness protection agency, under suspicion that Russian agents might be after him for leaking this information.
This is a very moving documentary, and very deserving of that Oscar.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Also, from now on I've decided to post every Sunday instead of Saturday to give me more time to write these.

Annihilation Review

Written and Directed by: Alex Garland (Ex Machina) Based on the novel by Jeff VanderMeer

Starring: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson

Review: Annihilation is one of the trippiest science fiction movies since 2001: A Space Odyssey. 
It focuses on a group of scientists who go on a dangerous mission into a forcefield from space. The rules of nature do not apply here, and this leads to some very bizarre occurrtences.
The overall experience is very cerebral, and full of beautiful special effects. There is very little action or anything intense, but when it does try to be intense or frightening, it succeeds with flying colors.
Unfortunately, for anybody reading this outside of the US, you will not be able to see this movie in theaters. The studio does not have a lot of faith in it, and have decided that for international distribution it will go straight to Netflix.
It isn't difficult to see why it may not be fully embraced by the average moviegoer. It is a very bizarre and artistic movie. The ending is very unclear, and raises more questions than it answers. However, unlike The Cloverfield Paradox, another movie Paramount sold to Netflix to cut their losses, it doesn't feel like things are happening simply for the sake of things happening. But this is still a movie that definitely isn't for everyone.
However, if you want a more intelligent sci-fi movie, and don't mind if it's a little surreal, then this is the movie for you.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars