Cillian Murphy offers an assured and considered performance here as the man who is credited with developing the bomb that hastened the end of WWII in the far east. He is the increasingly acclaimed, eponymous, physicist who is made aware by Admiral Lewis Strauss (another strong performance from Robert Downey Jr.) that it just possible that the Russians have the A-bomb. Now Oppenheimer already suspects that the Nazis are also well on their way to weaponising the atom - his earlier education and career had introduced him to some of the prominent minds in the UK and in Germany who were quite capable of taking the theory forward; so he begins to pressurise the American government to begin it's own programme - and the "Manhattan Project" is born. Motivated/goaded/galvanised by the ambitious "Col. Groves" (Matt Damon) he assembles a formidable collection of scientific minds at a purpose built, desert, location which he christens Los Alamos, and over the next three years - and with $2bn to spend - they work on the science whilst plutonium and uranium are being simultaneously processed at an irkingly glacial pace! Given that much of this is reasonably well documented history, the actual plot here has little by way of jeopardy. Instead, Christopher Nolan attempts via his writing and direction to put some meat on the bones of the characters here. It's clear that Oppenheimer is a bit of a Lothario, but it's also clear that he can engender the loyalty of a variety of people with diverging views - not just surrounding the science of their project, but around the morals and ethics of creating something that - well, you can't get the toothpaste back into the tube. The latter portion of this drama focusses on the subsequent, communist-obsessed, witch-hunting that went on attempting to persecute and smear this remarkable and flawed individual, and it makes some interesting postulations about just who was pulling whose strings. It also has quite a penetrating resonation about it - not just, specifically, about Oppeneheimer - but about all of those post-event "enquiries" that rarely deliver an honest appraisal of what was done in the name of expediency at the time, but ends up more of a character assassination exercise by those who didn't do anything against those who did and had to. Though at times the pace of this thing helps to keep it enthralling, it is too long - at times it really does plod along. Perhaps an other, objective, eye on the writing/direction may have tightened it up without having to sacrifice any of the potency of the story. Maybe someone needs to tell Mr. Nolan that a three hour film isn't always required! That said, it's a gorgeous film to look at. The aesthetics are first rate and the entire sentiment of the film reeks of authenticity. I do think this thrives better on a big screen so try to see it as it was intended. It's though provoking, complex, characterful - and well worth a watch.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a fun ride through the iconic world of Mario. The screenplay is admittedly very bare bones, and the characters lack depth, but the film still manages to capture the essence of the beloved video game franchise. The writers do not attempt to do anything beyond create a narrative that intentionally puts our characters in worlds and areas that are instantly recognizable to the audience. This makes the film feel like a Mario game come to life so that audiences can say “that is like Mario Kart or Super Smash Bros.” The movie pacing flies at a breakneck speed, and I felt that this movie could have benefited from a slightly longer runtime to flesh out the story and characters a bit more.
I was initially nervous about how the voice acting would hold up, but I was pleasantly surprised. Chris Pratt's voice as Mario is not over the top, which works well. It would have been extremely annoying to hear the super Italian Mario accent for a full hour and thirty minutes. Jack Black's portrayal of Bowser steals the show and was the best of the film. Anna Taylor Joy and Seth Rogan were good as Princess Peach and Donkey Kong, although I think Rogan may have injected a bit too much of himself in the character.
The direction of the film is solid, with great action set pieces and creative camera angles that make the action feel exciting and dynamic. The animation is stunning, with the characters and world directly designed off the games, but with more polish and details than ever before. The lighting is beautiful, with the bright lights of Rainbow Road and the dark, fiery flames of Bowser standing out as highlights.
Overall, The Super Mario Bros. Movie may not be the deepest or most complex film, but it is a good time for fans of the Mario franchise. The movie captures the fun and whimsy tone of the games and brings it to life on the big screen. While the comedy may not hit every mark, the voice acting, and direction make up for it. I am excited to see where this film series goes next.
Score: 72%
Verdict: Good

If you enjoy reading my Spoiler-Free reviews, please follow my blog @
https://www.msbreviews.com
I've never written or even thought about my favorite movies of all-time. I don't believe in having a definite Top10 or Top20 of every film I've ever seen. However, if I had to write this special list, I have no doubts that Se7en would be there. Obviously, this is a rewatch of the classic movie that impacted filmmaking and launched David Fincher's remarkable career (I also ignore the fact that Alien 3 is connected to Fincher due to the known production issues). With his next film, Mank, coming up on Netflix in a few weeks, I decided to go through part of his filmography. Se7en will be the first out of five Fincher's movies that I will be able to revisit throughout this week.
I've seen this film countless times, but to be completely honest, I haven't seen it in so long that I didn't remember exactly some important plot points and a key component about the ending. This helped me experience Se7en in a fascinating way once again. Andrew Kevin Walker's screenplay has one of the most intriguing, mysterious, captivating narratives I've ever witnessed, still to this day. From the very beginning to the last second, I'm constantly at the edge of my seat (in this case, my couch) with severe anxiety levels and feeling incredibly tense. Biting my nails, moving my leg up and down, changing positions… it's so mesmerizing that I'm only writing about it more than twenty-four hours after I watched it.
One of the most impressive aspects is how Fincher is able to leave the viewer uncomfortable with showing only a single death on-screen. This is an extremely dark, gory, blood-soaked, gruesome flick, packed with horrible displays of dead bodies, but never the actual murder scene. With just a simple photo or a straight line of dialogue, Fincher lets the viewer's imagination do the work, and it's undoubtedly as or more effective than a visually horrific killing sequence. As the premise implies, the serial killer is inspired by the "seven deadly sins", and he goes after the respective sinners, killing them (or letting them kill themselves) in an innovative fashion, turning the sin against the sinner.
The gluttony and sloth cases are visually brutal, but the lust murder is the one that keeps haunting my memory. The latter is also the less explicit, left to open-minded people to imagine the despicable act. In 1995, a movie with such a dismal environment and dark story couldn't be well-received, and Se7en got its fair share of negative reviews stating that it was too obscure, sinister, overly violent and that the ending was absolutely unacceptable. Over time, it found its success, it gained fans all around the world, and it's now considered by many as one of the greatest films ever made, myself included. From the outstanding cast to the astonishingly enthralling detective work, the third act stands out as one of the most shocking endings of all-time.
I'm keeping this review spoiler-free because I don't want readers who have not seen this movie to have such a magnificent piece of cinema ruined for them. That's why I'm also hiding a certain actor from the starring section, just like the marketing team did at the original date of release (I'll get there). Fincher's third act is simply flawless. Everything displayed on-screen in the last twenty minutes is filmmaking perfection. From the impressively suspenseful build-up to that jaw-dropping climactic moment, passing through a mind-blowing revelation, Se7en's conclusion is and will remain as one of the most brutally shocking endings in the history of cinema.
Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt share fantastic chemistry, portraying two iconic characters that couldn't be more different than one another. Somerset is a notable detective with extreme attention to detail, knowledgeable, and always curious about the case at hand. Freeman incorporates this character effortlessly, delivering a subtle yet powerful performance. Pitt portrays Mills, a childish, unfocused, immature replacement to the previous detective about to retire. Despite its apparent lack of work ethics, Mills is clever, relentless in finding the killer, and desperately wants to prove himself. Pitt, just like Freeman, embodies this persona seamlessly and also gives an outstanding interpretation.
Technically, where should I begin? From the haunting score of Howard Shore to the documentary-like cinematography (Darius Khondji) that offers a tremendously realistic atmosphere, it's the phenomenal production design that stands out. Fincher really wanted the dirty, rainy, depressing city to feel authentic and as real as possible. The first dialogues of the film are meant to point out the bleakness and awfulness of the city, but even without these conversations, any viewer will be able to acknowledge the absence of color, joyfulness, and life in this unknown location. Fincher's filmmaking techniques are demonstrated in plain splendor for everyone to see, and this was just his beginning.
Movies like Se7en are impossible to be made today, period. It would never be conceivable to completely hide one of the main actors from the press tour and/or trailers. We live in a time where the promotion of a film must have everything and everyone. Nowadays, trailers show way too much, and this isn't news to anyone. The ending was forced by Pitt and Fincher since the studio wanted a more mainstream conclusion. Today, filmmakers may have more freedom, but there are still countless cases of executive producers changing a movie without the director's will and/or permission. Se7en was a film released in a time where it should have never been released in the first place. Fortunately, it was.
Se7en might be the best director's sophomore movie in the history of cinema, and it's undoubtedly one of my favorite films of all-time. David Fincher's classic possesses one of the most captivating screenplays I've ever witnessed, marked by an extremely dark, somber, violent, gruesome story that ends with one of the most emotionally shocking conclusions to a movie, ever. The lack of on-screen death scenes is both the most surprising and effectively powerful element of the whole film, leaving the unpleasant work of imagining a specific type of murder to the viewer's mind. Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt are extraordinary as the now iconic detectives, delivering two truly brilliant performances. Fincher's trademark filmmaking style started here, as every technical aspect contributes to the movie's incredible realism. From the simple, documentary-like camera work to the ominous score, it's the authentic production design that sets the depressing tone, the bleak atmosphere, and the rainy, colorless, lifeless city. Overall, it's a technically flawless piece of art. One of the greatest films ever made…. I can't recommend it more.
Rating: A+

He's experienced about as much pain and suffering as anyone I've encountered, give or take, and he still has Hell to look forward to.
"Warning: Spoilers"
Seven is directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. It stars Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Spacey and R. Lee Ermey. Music is scored by Howard Shore and cinematography by Darius Khondji.
An unnamed US city and two cops are on the trail of a serial killer who kills his victims according to which one of the seven deadly sins they have committed.
Having been stung by the studio interference and negative fall out regarding his directorial debut feature film, Alien 3, David Fincher waited three years before committing to a project that he had control over. The result was Seven, a dark masterpiece of unremitting creeping dread that showcased the work of a clinically excellent director. Seven is not just a movie, it's an experience, an assault on the senses, a jolt to the brain, a trawl through the dark recess of some sick city where it always rains and the darkness holds many fears. This is no boorish slasher movie, it's psychological discord 101, we only see the aftermath of crimes, the discussions of which forces us to delve deep into our own imagination to fill in the blanks, forcing us to go where we don't want to go, you sense the director is somewhere gleefully pulling our strings.
"But that's the point. We see a deadly sin on every street corner, in every home, and we tolerate it. We tolerate it because it's common, it's trivial. We tolerate it morning, noon, and night. Well, not anymore. I'm setting the example. What I've done is going to be puzzled over and studied and followed... forever"
Seven is very much an ultimate horror film, really is there anything more scary than a serial killer who is smarter than the cops chasing him? Not only that but they are, oblivious as they be, part of the master plan. This killer is not only unstoppable in perpetrating his violent crimes, he is, as Freeman's weary retirement bound Detective Somerset says, methodical and patient. It's going to end bad, the cops know it and so do we, and that's when Fincher and Walker stick their hands into our guts and pull out the last semblance of solids to deliver one of the greatest endings of modern cinema. An ending fit to grace any noir, neo-noir or smart ass psychological horror movie from across the ages. With each viewing of Seven there's the repeating wave of bleak emotions that come as the reversed end credits roll, desolation and disbelief, sadness and shock, our trip through earthly hell is over, but only in the psychical sense!
Faultless cast performances, no doubt eked out by what we now know is a task-master director, photography that brilliantly brings to "light" the melancholic sheen of a decaying society and a Howard Shore score that crawls out of the speakers and cloaks your body like some evil Incubus or Succubus. Seven, a masterpiece of unease and evil wrung out by a master director. 10/10

**A predictable sequel that continues the story of the first film without, however, being as good as it is.**
After an excellent first movie, this was a predictable sequel, but I have to admit that the movie is a bit over the top and that, sometimes, it feels like a very expensive video game. Furthermore, the main character, Tony Stark, is perhaps one of the nastiest and most irritating comic heroes, and this movie seems to try to accentuate that by turning the protagonist into a spoiled playboy who has expensive toys and looks at women like if they were, also, toys. Okay, I know the character was also portrayed like that in the original books, even though I'm not a comics fan. But the movie could give something that made Tony Stark someone we could really care about.
In this film, the hero will face his first great antagonist, the son of a Soviet scientist that Stark's father knew. At the same time, Stark has to face the US Army, who are eager to get their hands on the combat suits he created, discovering that his father knew of a new chemical element, not yet officially discovered, and in which lies the key for the survival of Stark himself. With these brief lines, we can see, right away, that the script is not exactly one of the strong points of the film. The feeling that remains is that the script shoots in several directions, trying to create a more complex story, but that something got in the way and prevented that objective.
The cast basically has the same names as the previous film. Robert Downey Jr. is back to the red armor for yet another film, where he has shown himself to be deftly sarcastic and irritating without losing his heroic pose. Mickey Rourke is a welcome addition to the cast, playing the villain. The actor was able to adapt to the character quite competently. Samuel L. Jackson, Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle also return, but they don't do more than they did in the previous film, still fulfilling what was asked of them. Scarlett Johansson deserves a praise for her work here, but the rest of the cast just do what needs to be done.
The film is yet another very expensive blockbuster, abundantly financed by Marvel, and it is very obvious that it will become one of the most watched films of the season. With so much money and financial interest involved, the film was doomed to a loud and flashy bet on high-quality, but still obviously false, effects and CGI. The film has a lot of action and the fights are excellent, although obviously choreographed and stilted. The cinematography is crisp, vibrant, and magnificently beautiful. The film bets a lot on quality props, good sets and costumes, as well as a good soundtrack.