October movie reviews

By Danny Villalobos
Staff Writer

With the month of October at an end, here are three movies you might have missed and are worth watching.

Venom

Dumb, but Fun

Starring Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock and directed by Ruben Fleischer, Venom, is about a journalist who merges with an alien symbiote when investigating the Life Foundation. From there Eddie gains powerful abilities that gives him super strength and speed, but at the cost of finding out that the symbiote is alive and in his head.    

I want to make it clear, before I watched Venom, I was ready to hate it; but to my surprise and to the credit of the filmmakers here, this is a fun movie to watch. Not because of its action scenes, its effects, or even its sometimes-on-the-ball humor. The movie is fun to watch because it’s embarrassing. This movie only serves to be laughed at and ponder what more it could have been.

The strange writing and poor casting choices puts this movie in being October’s laughingstock. Yet, please don’t confuse this for being a so-bad-it’s-good type movie, I don’t think it deserves that honor, because there are parts of this movie that seemed to be aware of its silliness.

Now, at the end of the movie there’s a new villain reveal for the sequel, who actually to my surprise is, Woody Harrelson in a goofy red wig. Simply put, I’m ready to watch the sequel.

A Star is Born

Good

For a directorial debut, Bradley Cooper made a stunning movie about a famous musician who discovers and falls in love with a talented and down-on-luck singer, who is played fantastically by Lady Gaga in her first major movie role.

It’s impressive what first-timer Cooper has managed to create. Whatever project he has next should be an improvement upon this. All the characters are written with tons of grace (except for one), and the relationship that Cooper and Gaga bring onto the screen adds not just a well-acted romance, but a well-acted friendship between them.    

Lady Gaga’s ability to command her role and hone in the luster of her voice will undoubtedly give her more job opportunities in Hollywood.

Bad Times at the El Royale

Fantastic

This is my favorite movie of 2018 and I don’t think there will be another contender for that spot. Directed by Drew Goddard, the man behind 2011’s Cabin in the Woods, and screenplays such as 2015’s The Martian and 2008’s Cloverfield. Bad Times follows seven strangers who all have dirty deeds to hide as they stay in the El Royale hotel for one night. Their night quickly turns awry and each stranger must find a way to redeem themselves before their eventual end.

I don’t think I can do this movie a lot of justice, for this review; but I can’t give it enough praise. Jeff Bridges, Jon Hamm, Chris Hemsworth, Cynthia Erivo, Lewis Pullman, Dakota Johnson, and Cailee Spaeny bring a solid performances. The screenplay is smart and strong, with a unique array of characters. The twists and turns of this movie kept me asking about what was going to happen next to the characters; it kept me interested for this entire movie. The style, set production, and costume design are all rich.

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