I went into Kong: Skull Island completely blind. I had no idea that this movie was in anyway connected to Legendary Pictures’ “Monsterverse”, or the recent Godzilla (2014), nor did I realize such a shared universe even existed before watching this movie. Kong: Skull Island is leaps and bounds ahead of the 2014 Godzilla movie. The film differentiates itself by having relatable characters, an A-List cast, and suitably epic monster battles while also having its titular Monster show up for more than ten minutes of the movie. While I was surprised at how much I liked Kong: Skull Island, the film is not without its flaws, namely a lack of character development and an overabundance of characters and subplots.

Image Via: Heroic Hollywood

I am a Tarantinophile. I can vividly remember the first time I saw a Tarantino movie. I was fourteen years old, and my family had gotten one of those super cable packages that included HBO, Showtime, and Cinemax on demand. Ironically it was my mother, a woman who vociferously hates cursing and violence, who recommended Pulp Fiction to me. I reluctantly tuned to the uncensored HBO showing of this film expecting a miserable affair, but I was instantly hooked by Tarantino’s trademarks: witty banter, extreme violence, bizarre circumstances and situations, and above all his love of movies. Having said all that, The Hateful Eight, is not my favorite Tarantino film. It has the pomp and circumstance of his latter releases (Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained), yet it suffers from what I’d term a ‘reverse Kill Bill’, with much of the setup coming in the first half, and much of the brutal violence coming in the second. The Hateful Eight, like most of Tarantino’s films, is a unique violent medley but it’s not among his best. The film’s interesting premise is let down by a plodding first half which is punctuated by an extremely bizarre scene.

Image Via: Independent.co.uk