Jake's Cinema Room

November Criminals follows the story of Addison (Ansel Elgort), a high school senior in Washington, D.C. who just recently lost his mother and is preparing for life after graduating. He has recently started going out with Phoebe (Chloe Grace Moretz) and they are starting to build a good relationship together. Things change when Addison gets word that a friend of his was murdered just hours after having an interaction with him. The media and police claim that the murder happened because of gang involvement but Addison doesn't believe it. With the help of Phoebe he starts his own investigation into the death of his friend to find the truth. The story here has a lot of great ideas but as it progresses it feels as if the execution just isn't there. It felt like the story could have gone the route of racism or how the media constantly jumps to early conclusions, instead the filmmakers decide to play it safe. At times it feels like the main story takes a back seat to the rel...

Anorexia is a serious disease that effects many people everyday, especially teenagers.To The Bone follows Ellen (Lily Collins), a young girl who has struggled with anorexia for quite some time. She's tried multiple things to try and get past it but can't seem to find a way to fix her disease. Her step mother Susan (Carrie Preston) sets up a session with Dr. William Beckham (Keanu Reeves) because the word of mouth is that he's the best person to put her on the right track. Dr. Beckham has her stay at a home with several others who are struggling with the same disease. As Ellen continues to struggle with her disease Dr. Beckham challenges her and tries to get her to embrace life rather than continue to struggle. To The Bone is the latest Netflix original film and it is safe to say that they have hit a nice stride when it comes to their originals. While the subject matter does make things a bit depressing at times there is a lot to like here. Seeing these people struggle ...

Making a comedy that takes place in the Middle Ages can be a tricky thing. Everyone involved needs to be at the top of their game for it to work correctly. The Little Hours had all the right needs for it to succeed. Unfortunately for me it failed to live up to the expectations set by it's talented cast and great premise. After getting caught being with his master's wife, a young servant named Massetto (Dave Franco) flees the castle to avoid any sort of punishment. He takes refuge at a convent filled with some interesting nuns. Father Tommasso (John C. Reily) is the first to find Massetto and comes up with the plan for him to pretend to be deaf and mute as to not draw any suspicion to himself. The young nuns of the convent are instantly attracted to Massetto and they must resist their temptations while Massetto must do everything he can to not blow his cover. To me the worst thing you can do in a comedy is have the initial setup be great and then have the execution almo...

Okja is the latest original film to come from Netflix. It experienced a little controversy when it premiered at the Cannes film festival for being a film from a streaming service. However, I think once that audience watched the film their minds quickly changed. Our story follows a multi-national corporation, the Mirando Corporation, which has successfully created a new species of animal that they call "super pigs." They send 26 of these super pigs to different farms across the world to be raised and taken care of and within ten years time they plan to use the meat from these pigs to sell to the mainstream. One of the super pigs, Okja, is sent to a farm where she is taken care of by a young girl named Mija (An Seo Hyun) and her father. Mija and Okja are the best of friends and spend all of their time together. The farm is visited by members from the Mirando Corporation including Dr. Johnny Wilcox (Jake Gyllenhaal) to take Okja to New York now that she is a fully grown pig...

What would you do if your child was taken from you? Halle Berry shows us that a parent will stop at nothing to get back her son in Kidnap. Berry plays Karla Dyson, a single mother who is overworked at her job as a waitress. She finally gets some time to spend with her son Frankie (Sage Correa) and decides that they are going to have a day out at the park together. Everything is fine until Karla has to take a phone call and steps away from Frankie for just a couple of minutes. In that time Frankie goes missing and Karla sees him being dragged into a car by an unknown person. She attempts to stop them in the parking lot and sets off on a long car chase to try and get back her son. We've seen this type of film before so the story is nothing new. You would think with this being a pretty regular setup for a film that the filmmakers would take the opportunity to try and do something do with a familiar story. That's not the case here at all. From the moment that Frankie is tak...