Ron's World

Category: Reviews

  • Ron Jacobsohn Reviews DreamWorks’ Trolls

    Ron Jacobsohn Reviews DreamWorks’ Trolls

    When I took my kids to see Trolls, I was hoping to get a well-deserved nap, but instead, I got a movie that taught kids and adults alike, about the pursuit of happiness.

    Those fluffy trolls, who like to hug every thirty minutes on the clock, are just too adorable. And might I add that the CGI animation has really come a long way from the early days of Pixar.

    The fact that Justin Timberlake has been brought along to get the groove-on to the flick with nostalgic disco tunes which just can’t stop you from moving in your chairs make Trolls such a fun flick to watch no matter how old you are. Call me crazy, but I loved the soundtrack so much that I downloaded it onto my iPhone.

    Also, worth mentioning is the cast of voices that included Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Zooey Deschanel, James Corden, and Gwen Stefani.

    Needless to say, I really had a good time watching Trolls, so it gets a THUMBS UP from me.

  • Ron Jacobsohn Reviews Inferno

    Ron Jacobsohn Reviews Inferno

    This is the third movie based on the Dan Brown bestseller by the same name, following “The Da Vinci Code” and “Angels & Demons,” in what was promised to be a trilogy.

    Tom Hanks is back as Robert Langdon, the art historian and cryptologist, who is attempting to save the world from a virus designed by our reigning villain who decides to cure overpopulation by wiping out half the population of the world.
    More than in the other two movies, Inferno, is a bit harder to follow if you are not a devout Dante scholar. The plot races from one thing to another as we get to experience the beautiful sceneries of locations from Rome to Istanbul and somehow there seem to be less active and puzzles to solve along the way, in comparison with the first two movies of this franchise.
    Hanks is Hanks, no matter whatever material he touches he is going to be amazing, and his cast of characters follow his lead and give a stellar performance from Felicity Jones through Ben Foster to Omar Sy and Irrfan Khan.
    Even though this is yet again a movie about saving the world there seems to be an absence of urgency throughout. I give it a THUMBS IN THE MIDDLE.

  • Ron Jacobsohn Reviews Keeping Up with the Joneses

    Ron Jacobsohn Reviews Keeping Up with the Joneses

    The resemblance of this flick to Mr. and Mrs. Smith is uncanny, however the coupling of Don Drapper and Wonderwoman aka Jon Hamm and Gal Gadot is not only as visually stunning as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt but funny too, as two undercover spies trying to blend-in in suburbia.
    Its true we have seen those type of movies a million times but somehow this is one manages to capture a nerve and just so we won’t be able to claim this is such a predictable storyline, director Greg Mottola already reveals the end of the movie in the first scene… or does he?
    Zach Galifianakis and Isla Fisher give a great over-the-top performance, as the sidekick, suburban couple caught in an espionage triangle.
    This movie wanted to be a bit a satirical about the spy movie genre, however it does fail in that miserably.
    All in all, I really had a good time watching this movie so I am giving it a THUMBS UP!

  • Ron Jacobsohn Reviews Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

    Ron Jacobsohn Reviews Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

    Tim Burton is back after a two-year absence, directing an adaptation to the best-selling novel from 2012, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, which truly feels like the perfect fit for this visionary director: telling a story that blends between realities and spans between worlds and time. He has done that kind of flicks so many times he could already be crowned a master in complicated storytelling.
    This movie really has every element for a successful tween movie from friendship to love, from the generational gap inside the family to growing up as a weird teen.
    Fox hopes that Miss Peregrine is going to be a Harry Potter sized hit for the studios as author Ransom Riggs has already published two more books in Miss Peregrine series, which are just waiting to be adapted to sequels.
    Although the MPAA gave it a PG-13 rating, I watched the film with my ten years old who did not seem to be frightened by anything going on in the movie.
    I enjoyed it but she did, even more, I give it a THUMBS UP!

  • Ron Jacobsohn Reviews The Magnificent Seven

    Ron Jacobsohn Reviews The Magnificent Seven

    MGM decided to remake the 1960 classic western “The Magnificent Seven” and although it did leave the storyline in the 2016 version identical to the original one, for some odd reason the filmmakers decided to make this a politically correct western having cast members from all ethnicities, kinda like remaking “Boyz’N the Hood” with an all-white cast.
    So in the Yul Brener part, we have one of Hollywood’s greatest African-American actors, Oscar winner Denzel Washington, and then Korean Lee Byung-Hun is reprising the role originated by James Coburn and Mexican Manuel Garcia-Rulfo reprises the role originated by Horst Buchholz. And in which alternate universe does a black outlaw in the Wild West command a bunch of white hillbillies and doesn’t get shot by them in less than a minute…
    Maybe director Antoine Fuqua just wanted to create a science fiction western and didn’t tell us.
    The 1960 movie was considered one of the best action movies of its time… yet in the 2016 movie, the action starts about an hour into the movie after long dialogues between the characters.
    I can’t say anything bad about the acting as all the stars of this movie are really great actors, yet the movie itself is just a bit boring for my taste.
    Sometimes classic movies should just not be allowed to be remade no matter how lucrative the box office return seems to the studios.
    Denzel you know I love you, but I have to give this one a THUMBS DOWN!!!