#1 No forced romance

In my humble opinion, something that is sorely missing from stories is the presence of platonic relationships. So often we create a hierarchy in which romance trumps all, which is simply not true. Even when I think a film might actually succeed in not succumbing to the easy plot driver that is romance, I’m generally disappointed. I was not let down, however, by the way that Me and Earl presented friendship and the way it evolves over time.

 #2 Humor

Cancer stories are experts at making their audiences cry, at inducing sadness at every twist and turn. This definitely still plays into Me and Earl, but what it does not do is take over the film. For a movie with Dying Girl in the title, this film is surprisingly funny. With witty dialogue and characters that simply have humorous personalities, Me and Earl breaks up the Dying Girl pieces of the story with light-hearted (often immature) jokes – which feel incredibly real and honest considering it’s a movie about teenagers.

 #3 Uniquely Pretty

One of the main things I loved about this film was how I never wanted to look away from the screen. Even if you were to take out the dialogue or the story, Me and Earl has a unique, stylized look that mirrors the feel of the plot without being overwhelming. The beautiful colors and intriguing angles of this film added to the slightly whimsical tone put in place by its characters.

 #4 Honesty

We have all seen or read stories about teenagers with cancer. We have all experienced the tugging at our heartstrings caused by the loss of a kid before their time. In my experience, these stories always accept death and explore the meanings of life and death and everything in between. I’ve seen characters angry and sad and lost because of the weight that cancer and death put on their lives, but nothing has ever been quite as sincere and earnest as Me and Earl.

Here’s why: When you think about it, how many teenagers would actually be as profoundly accepting of the presence of death in their lives as Augustus and Hazel in The Fault in Our Stars? How realistic is it that every cancer story we know has a character that acknowledges that the story ultimately will end in death? I’m not saying that these stories don’t have merit, because they absolutely do. What I am saying is that when Greg (Thomas Mann) denies for the entire film that his new-found friend Rachel (Olivia Cooke) will lose her cancer battle, I saw a real teenager. I saw a kid who wanted anything but the truth to be true and I thought that maybe this was even more profound than if he had tried to understand the ‘why’ of it all.

#1. Dinosaurs

Obviously one of the most important factors of any Jurassic movie is going to be the dinosaurs. I personally think that the CGI on this film’s star-studded cast of genetically modified zoo animals was entirely believable and definitely well done. Although the Indominus Rex was a little bit ridiculous, it gave a slew of really interesting ideas to explore, including what exactly was it that they threw together to make this killing machine? From frog to raptor genes and even those of humans, the writers and animators worked well together to create a monster with just enough mystery and fear factor to make even dinosaur whisperer Owen (Chris Pratt) run for his life.

#2. Chris Pratt

Honestly, what more is there to say? We’ve seen him as hilariously oblivious puppy-dog Andy in Parks and Recreation and sarcastic space cowboy Peter Quill, sorry Star Lord, in Guardians of the Galaxy. Up until this point, Pratt has had snark and wit to hide behind if he needed to, but we can see in Jurassic World that he can take on a more serious role without a comedic crutch.

#3. Claire

Jurassic World almost doesn’t deserve the masterpiece of a leading lady that is Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), operations manager of the park and resident badass. Despite what seems to be constant verbal humiliations by her male coworkers and bosses, she remains strong and in charge of her own decisions. Even her own sister makes a comment early in the film about how Claire should and will eventually become a mother, which is obviously not her decision to make. This film tries to turn Claire into a stuck-up, bossy, stick in the mud that needs to loosen up, but I refused to buy that “character flaw” for even a minute, and I like to think that I was right. The moment that tough-guy Owen mocked her choice in footwear, I began praying that she kept the shoes – and boy she kept those shoes alright, and single-handedly ended the fight against the Indominus Rex in the meantime. Claire is tough and feminine at the same time – a mixture of character traits that we don’t often see in Hollywood – and Jurassic World would definitely not have been as good without her.

#4. Jurassic Park Throwbacks

Let’s face it, this movie did so well in its opening weekend simply because everyone wanted to see where they were going to take this universally loved franchise (and maybe also Chris Pratt, but that’s not the point). Jurassic Park has a level of name recognition that most films can only dream of achieving, and certain aspects of the original movie stick with people for life. Jurassic World definitely took advantage of this nostalgia but did so in a way that made you proud for recognizing each throw-back. From the original Jurassic Park gates and music to Rexy reclaiming her territory at the end of the film, each little nod only added to this film.

#5. Humor

People just keep dying in the Jurassic movies; this isn’t a surprise. What is a surprise is how well the writers are able to maintain a sense of humor even in a movie with such a high fatality count. Without any of the small moments of wit and humor, this movie would have been much darker, and far less enjoyable overall. However, because the characters maintained interesting personalities that managed to still be funny in the face of disaster, Jurassic World could be a lot more well rounded.

#6. Seriously, guys. Dinosaurs!

Just in case you didn’t catch it when I said it the first time: this movie has dinosaurs just roaming around. Now I know that people die anytime genetically modified dinosaurs are brought into the mix, but I for one would be at Jurassic World in a heartbeat if it actually existed. I mean, there were people canoeing with dinosaurs, you can’t tell me you wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to do that. So although we make jokes about how they should have figured out that dinosaurs maybe aren’t the best idea by now, we can’t really blame them for trying, right?

#1. Visually Beautiful

Before I even get into how incredible the story and characters of this film are, I just need to point out the sheer beauty in the art style. The animation alone is beautiful, but then the world that animators built to show what it is that goes on inside the human brain is more intriguing and captivating than any other depiction I have seen of this abstract concept. Each section of this world had its own distinct design and feeling assigned to it which only added to the already great storyline.

#2. Important Morals and Lessons

I do not believe that I have ever seen a film quite as relatable as Inside Out. I do not doubt that everyone who sees this movie will be able to see pieces of themselves and their own life stories reflected in that of Riley (Kaitlyn Dias) and her family. This film helps to teach its audiences that our emotions are not all black and white, happy and sad. The older we get, the more complicated and muddled those borders become and the more we are able to realize that there is often both joy and sadness in some of the most pivotal moments of our lives.

#3. Intriguing Characters

The main character in this film may technically be Riley, considering it is her head we run around inside for the majority of the film, but the real stars of the show are found in her emotions. Joy (Amy Poehler), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Bill Hader), and Disgust (Mindy Kaling) are funny and witty but also point out important aspects of human emotion and how we deal with it when life throws mountains at us to climb. All brilliantly depicted and expertly designed, these core emotions lead audiences through what seems to be the first major change in the young protagonist’s life.

#4. Not Just a “Kid’s Movie”

Inside Out may be an animated film with fantastical worlds and characters that are technically geared towards the younger demographic, but frankly I do not care one single bit. I see this film as being important (as well as enjoyable) for people of all ages to get to see. I do not care if you are 12 or 92, you have faced sadness, anger, disgust, fear and joy. What this film does, that I think is so special, is that it manages to show us how to find the sadness in joy and the joy in sadness. Inside Out gives us an example of why, despite our inherent discontent with being afraid or sad, these emotions are vital to helping us find balance and joy in our everyday lives. Joy is not a state of being, and it comes and goes in a fluid manner, being replaced by our other key emotions as we move through our lives and it is these fluctuations and experiences that ultimately make us who we are. You could say that I am reading too much into this basic children’s movie, but I don’t believe that for a second. I believe that this film has the chance to change how kids look at being bullied and left out, loss of friends or family and even major life changes like the ones Riley had to go through. And I think that is definitely worth the price of a movie ticket.

Anyone that has talked to me about movies for more than ten minutes knows how I feel about the lack of new material in Hollywood, and I thought that this could be a chance to show the people in charge that something other than Frozen 7 could be successful. That being said, I was sorely disappointed with the final outcome of this film. It was nice, but not good and definitely not great enough to make the point I was hoping it would. In the end, Tomorrowland had enormous potential that it quite frankly failed to reach.

From the moment this film began, opening with a cringe-worthy introductory sequence, I was disheartened. Much of the dialogue and general elements in Tomorrowland gave the distinct feeling of “trying a bit too hard.” This film did not need to be a frame story, and I would have much preferred it had it not been. The bookend, “present-day” sequences that sandwich a two-hour flashback were probably my two least favorite parts in the entire movie. To be quite honest with you, this structure made the whole film feel clichéd and annoyingly so.

Frank Walker (George Clooney) bears a close resemblance to every other grumpy old man in cinema from the past fifty years. He holds a grudge against childhood crush and actual robot Athena (Raffey Cassidy) for enough years to make it disconcerting rather than heartwarming.

One of the biggest issues with this film is that Tomorrowland practically drowns you in its message. Watching this film feels almost like listening to George Clooney and company sermonize passionately and messily all over the place. While it will feel preachy to adults, I believe that children could feel almost aggressively confronted by this. We all get it: we should be taking better care of the world we live in. However, the way this is depicted is sloppy and confusing, making it unclear if bad guy of the hour, Nix (Hugh Laurie), was actually trying to help the people of Earth after all. His motives are unclear, and for a movie that is desperately trying to be for children, not nearly black-and-white enough.

Athena is actually one of the best characters in this film. Cassidy does a brilliant job with portraying the robot in the body of a young girl as wise yet still with a sense of childishness. She and the teenage computer genius Casey Newton (Britt Robertson) are the only characters out of the main cast who actually feel like they belong in a Sci-Fi children’s movie. Their interactions are amusing and their intentions are nothing but good for the entirety of the film, making them less than fascinating characters but also far more cleanly written than Walker and Nix.

As much as I can bash it, the message of this movie is very important for children to understand. The wolf analogy is a tried and true one that teaches us to nurture goodness within ourselves so that the world can be good as a whole, and it is the most concise message in the film. However, I feel like the writers for Tomorrowland made a bad decision when they started throwing too many conclusions into their script. Save the environment, be a good person, help save the world, etc., etc. When it comes to making a movie for children, and even sometimes adults, one clear message will always be better than a handful of adequate and sloppy ones.

Watch the trailer for Tomorrowland here:

I won’t stoop low enough to say that this film was not entertaining in its own right. Overall, Ultron had plenty of aesthetically and visually interesting action sequences (although I’m still not entirely sure of how I feel about the Hulk versus extra large Iron Man scene). It was a pretty movie, and it deserves recognition on that front.

I also found that the introduction of new characters such as Elizabeth Olsen as the Scarlet Witch was one of the better parts of the film, and one of my favorites. In its other aspects however, Ultron left a significant amount of well thought out plot to be desired. While trying to develop Olsen’s character as well as on-screen brother Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s (Quicksilver), Joss Whedon forgot how to write for the characters we initially fell in love with in the first Avengers film.

For example, I’m not sure what Whedon was trying to do to Black Widow in this film, but I definitely did not like it. I’m going to be honest with you; I adore a good romantic comedy. Are they the most unpredictable or exciting of films? No, but they do have their place in the world of cinema. Frankly, that place is not in an Avengers film. Never have I looked at this group of characters and thought, You know what this needs? An uncomfortable romantic subplot. But alas, that is what I got when this film seemingly pushed Black Widow and the Hulk together without them having any say in the matter.

This piece of plot mostly just confused me because why would you take Natasha Romanoff (one of my all-time favorite characters in the Marvel universe) and tear away everything that makes her Black Widow? This romance sprung out of nowhere at the beginning of the film and by the end left me debating who I could call to make it stop. I asked for a Black Widow solo film, not this monstrosity.

Where this film lacked in well-written heroes, it actually partially made up for with its villain. Ultron carried over a good level of sass from his creator, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) which made for some good quips between the two. Although Ultron may not have made a good character on his own, it was the interactions that he had with everyone around him that made him more interesting.

I may have a lot of negative opinions to go along with this movie, but I honestly don’t believe that it was entirely horrible. It definitely had its moments and if I had had lower expectations going into it, I might have found less wrong with it. For instance, as odd as it was I couldn’t help but smile at domestic Hawkeye as well as the close sibling relationship between the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. I can also see how some people might find the Hulk and Black Widow romance to be touching, but I will never be able to accept it because that is not the Black Widow that I know and love.

Avengers: Age of Ultron is still worth seeing, if only so you can stay updated on the increasing complex Marvel universe and all of its characters. Despite all of the issues I may have with it personally, I still think everyone should go into it with an open mind; you just might enjoy it more.

Watch the extended trailer below.