My Own Little World

I have no words. Guys, Annihilation is one heck of a movie. It doesn’t hold my hand through its runtime; instead, it forces me to think with the iron grip of its narrative. For that reason, it is one of the most unique movies I have had the pleasure of experiencing in a theater. Of course, this film goes nowhere without director Alex Garland. I remember watching his first film Ex Machina and getting floored by the points it made about human nature by using an artificially intelligent robot to demonstrate our unique ability of attachment and how that could eventually be our downfall as a race. Besides that, that film was beautiful and brilliantly crafted, a slow burn that exploded in a pitch-perfect climax. Annihilation changes the game a little for Garland as he continues his exploration into human nature. This time, the film centers on our desires and how they ultimately will lead us to our self-destruction. Jennifer Jason Leigh’s character posits at one point that ...

I've taken a little more time in prepping my year-end wrap-up this year, mostly because I was making sure I had seen everything I wanted to in theaters before publishing. Like last year, I've written mini-reviews on all the films that I either saw too far into their theatrical run to do a full review on or after their home video release. Without further ado, I present to you Part 2 of the Rest of 2015... San Andreas  - Watch it, but only if it's free.  I got more out of San Andreas than expected. Yes, it was a little silly at times, very CGI driven, and a pretty pointless movie. But that's the point: it's a "turn your brain off" film, and a pretty well-made one at that. Dwayne Johnson shows off his action star chops well, while Paul Giamatti does pretty decently too as a seismologist. The massive destruction we see is also well done with some unexpected restraint. No, San Andreas  isn't great, but it's not bad for killing time.  Grade: 45 ...