Spoiler Filled Review of The Shallows

     The Shallows, a shark movie majorly hyped up as the next Jaws. Have you seen Jaws? 

     Let me preface this review with a disclaimer: I am a shark lover and will always go to and enjoy even the worst of shark movies (Sharknado not included) but while I'll always love a good water predator film, I promise to be as fair and unbiased as I can.

     Ok, The Shallows is based around a woman who goes to find a beach that her mother visited before she died. She finds it and is enjoying the view and some surfing on the great waves there. After a while and with only a few secondary characters, she gets hurt and is left on a rock.

To add to her problem, there's a giant shark circling and surrounding her. Plot made, story set in motion.

     Let's get into the good stuff about this film:

Blake Lively.

Blake Lively does a great job in The Shallows, she portrays a woman who is going through a time in her life when she's running way from things at home while visiting the place her mother experienced. Her acting is the best part of the movie, her expression is fantastically shown in ever situation she faces and it's very easy to believe she's actually going through it all. For me personally, the worst part of a movie is when you can't relate or believe the main actor.

I'm not sure if Lively is a surfer outside of this feature but she definitely pulls it off, looking great while doing it. She holds your attention with her strength and carries the action on her back.

     Another good spot is the story telling. The writer, Nicholas G. Carr, uses phone calls and Lively in a positive way to move the story along till the shark becomes the main focus. Carr wasn't afraid to jump right into the action while still telling a solid story.

I enjoyed his ability to put her through a lot while not jumping out of the movie's own universe. My second pet peeve in movies is when the writer creates a universe with very specific rules then they break their own rules, breaking that feeling ya get like you're in the action. Carr didn't break that cardinal rule.

     And the final positive point is the time frame. There are a good amount of movies that just drag on, the story telling becomes old, a movie that should be maybe an hour and a half bores the audience for over two hours (Zach Snyder, I'm looking in your direction.)

At an hour and twenty seven minutes, The Shallows doesn't weigh you down with too much story or action that just crosses the line between it's own reality and a bunch of things just to show you shameless action (Zach Snyder, I'm looking in your direction...again...)

     Aaaaand now for the negatives:

While I praised the writer for his ability to story tell, the area I feel he did us viewers a disservice is the amount of things Lively's character had to overcome. She was stuck on a small rock island with the tide rising while dealing with a deep leg injury.

That was bad enough then she has to deal with then she has to deal with the rising water, the jelly fish, the injuries from coral and the metal eating shark...it gets to be unrealistic and the fact that she gets through all of it in the way she does; it's just too much.

When she drops down in the water and seemingly goes too deep to be able to just come back up from (reminiscent of a certain scene from Jaws the Revenge...the movie that shall not be named.)

Then the other thing that was an atrocity to The Shallows was the shark: throughout the story, the shark was pretty realistic looking until that moment of it's demise. When the shark gets it, it ends up looking like a can being crushed. Not only unrealistic but just plain cheesy effects to kill this monstrous beast, terrible way to go.

     For a movie that had the potential to be this generation's Jaws, it failed miserably at that. But it is one of the best in the last twenty years, not that that's saying much (Deep Blue Sea, Sharknado, Sharktopus, Sand Shark and even a little further to the fourth sequel that should not exist)
 This is a very enjoyable, very watchable movie and I definitely recommend seeing it with expectations of being a fun but not epic film.

 Out of 22, I give this a 15. "Not a bad record for this vicinity..."
What do you think of The Shallows? Leave a comment and let me know what rating you'd give it out of 22. Thanks for reading, and a have a wonderful day.

My Favorite Ten Actors

     My first blog entry will be my top ten actors list, men only for this one because women deserve their own list which will be my next entry. This is not an easy feat when you think about all the amazing actors that have graced our televisions in the past...1000+ years of TV. Not everyone will agree with my list and I hope to hear your opinion about who YOU think would be on your list.
     So here goes the Top Ten!

Robert Duvall

My favorite role by Duvall was the tyrannical Pulitzer, he's had countless diverse and amazingly well acted parts before that and since.

Heath Ledger

While Heath's career has been tragically cut short, he used his time to show more potential then most actors show in decades more than he had.

Gary Oldman

The Professional is a personal favorite of mine, Oldman portrayed an evil, scary murderer in perfect form as he killed a family including a small child. His list of amazing roles include Commissioner Gordon,Sirius Black and Dracula among many.

Johnny Depp

Not much can be said about Depp that hasn't already been said by legions of fans and critics. From his baby face looks in Edward Scissorhands and Crybaby to his hilarious depiction of a witty, drunken pirate in Pirates of the Caribbean, he's shown many faces in many different ways.

Jim Carrey

Known for his comedic talents and antics in movies like Ace Ventura and Dumb and Dumber, Jim Carrey displays great acting abilities in such movies as Truman Show and The Majestic. His off-the-screen life has taken many turns and he's challenged himself in many ways to become a better actor and an even better person.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Leo got his start young on television and ran with his fame, absolutely blowing fans away in movies like This Boy's Life and What's Eating Gilbert Grape. Di Caprio finally took home his first Oscar in 2016, using his speech to bring light to climate issues and the planet.

Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro has revolutionized acting and has both entertained and impressed people for decades now. My personal favorite role was as a loving father of Sunny in A Bronx Tale, he built a career by showing his ability to scare and be serious while also keeping us laughing as well. His versatility allowed him to play parts like Al Capone in The Untouchables and Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II and then go on to be Jack Byrnes in Meet the Parents.

Gene Hackman

To me, he'll always be the comical and sarcastic Lex Luthor (no offense Eisenberg...well...maybe a little offense), Gene Hackman has captivated us with movies since the 60's, starring in: The French Connection, Young Frankenstein, Superman, Wyatt Earp, The Quick and the Dead, Get Shorty, Enemy of the State and the Replacements along with many more. He's one of few who can pull off some of those roles while also writing three historical fiction novels. Impressive career and he's not even done.

Brad Pitt

Brad Pitt got his start on Another World and has gone on to entertain us all for the past few decades. J.D. in Thelma and Louise and Louis from Interview With a Vampire were just two of his awesome acting prowess. Pitt has 3 movies on the way as of 2016, one being a sequel to 2013's World War Z. 

Kevin Spacey

Kevin Spacey has a voice you can't help but enjoy, he's a great impressionist. He may do the best Johnny Carson and that includes the man himself, he's had an amazing career with movies that have touched our hearts and made us want to kill him at times. Crediting The Usual Suspects, Pay it Forward, The Ref, American Beauty and Netflix series House of Cards to his resume are just a hand full of his acting career. 

There's my personal list, let me know what you think. Who would be in your list?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Out of the Shadows movie review

TMNT 2: Out of the Shadows Review (Spoilers)

     I'm going to preface this by saying I was not a fan of the 2014 Ninja Turtles and my first bias was against this film. I try to keep an open mind when watching new movies and once in a while, usually in a sequel, I go in with a... well let's call it un-favoritism. That being said, I was able to walk in ready to enjoy whatever was in front of my face for this movie.

     My first impression minutes in was "Oh great, they're making the same mistakes with writing and cinematography as the 2014 piece of flaming garbage." It started out seemingly with the same lack of heart and depth, giving me a desire to sling shot sharp shards of shrapnel in my shins instead of being where I was while watching it.

BUT, over the next hour or so I was pleasantly surprised to see the humor and focus was adjusted from the first movie to this one. The turtles were more personable and showed more personality than before and actually became likable. The 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie was so endearing because we could relate to them  in a way and we felt for them.

In 1990 when Raphael stood in their home and screamed in pain because his father (Splinter) had been taken and possibly killed, I personally felt his pain and wanted to go get Shredder myself.

When Mikey and Donnie were sitting in the room while Leo and Raph were arguing and awkwardly left the room, I too wanted to make a joke to leave the room.

In 2014, I felt no connection to any character. In 2016, I started to slightly feel a connection to the turtles and to Casey Jones. The connection wasn't nearly as strong but a pulse of one was FINALLY beginning.

     Another strong point, in my opinion, was the writing. It seems like the writers, Andre Nemec and Josh Applebaum, learned from the negativity of their first amphibian feature. The writing improved exponentially. Like I said before, there wa s connection beginning to be formed and that is due to better developed relationships between the brother turtles and the overall writing.

And the final and most important positive of this film was the many nods to my generation's childhood. Beebop and Rocksteady, Krang and the original cartoon theme song were just the top of the list of homages to my childhood in this movie. I smiled ear to ear when the manholes came shooting out of the Turtles truck and when the theme song played, I am not ashamed to say I sang along.

They must have made a serious attempt to bring in older fans with these and that tactic worked! They added a lot of big and small nods to the cartoon and 90's movies, which not only were done well but added to our ability to endear us to these versions of heroes in a half shell. Well played, Applebaum and Nemec.

   And now...for the not so positive: The writing, while much improved, is still not up to par with the 1990 Ninja Turtle cult classic or even the 1991 sequel. There were clearly awkwardly forced exposition, especially seen when Krang tells Shredder the entire plot of the movie pretty early on. Things like that were lazy and uncreative. There were plenty of scenes that I felt my eyes actually roll out of my head and onto the floor. Watch out for that if you haven't seen it yet.

     Another thing that was pretty bad was the same tired cg. The turtles have improved but still look goofy and reminiscent of the "Scooby Doo" graphics. Better than the previous movie gets them a little credit but not a full pass. That needs to be addressed in the next sequel, which will be made. Hi, Michael Bay.

     Cinematography gave me flashbacks of Transformers 3, which gave me flashbacks of vomiting only without the fun. Michael Bay wasn't the director but his influence was clearly seen in the explosions and wild cinematic scenes throughout. Director David Green looks like Bay's kid brother trying to impress his idol sibling. I'm not impressed and you shouldn't be either.

     Ok so with all of that made known, I would overall say this is worth watching...at home...on cable access television...or any other free way to watch it...but don't download it because that's stealing...and stealing is wrong...also don't make terrible movies using titles just because you know the title will bring certain fans who want quality and will be annoyed that they gave their money to execs who don't care about us they just want to take and STEAL our money any way they can...eh, download it if you want...

     On a scale of 1 to 22 I give Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Out of the Shadows a 7. D
There was improvement and I hope they build on that in the future.

Thanks for reading.