Best movie of this year hands down!

Simply Perfect

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Not bad, but in the end, a forgettable bit of superfluous cinema with annoyingly poor casting choices of the older versions of the main characters, who didn't look anything like the main characters.

This was such a unique, imaginative and fun experience to be a part of. The way they jumped back and forth through the real people and the actors was magnificent. That made me have a true take on the intense, risk filled story. I was able to see these guys logic and intention behind what they were doing. Created a personal journey and made it more of an intense viewing experience. Evan Peters and all the other cast members did a fantastic job. The adrenaline filled thrill ride was never cut short. The thought and planning behind everything and having this be the first job they pulled at such a young age, made it that much more intriguing and extreme.

I admire the film-makers for choosing the pseudo-documentary style and trying to do something new with it. That said, this movie is D+ in every way and it'd be the very last choice I'd have to watch (narrowly edging out a test pattern)."Animals" is based on a true story and the real people are really in it. The problem here is the story makes a marginally adequate script that would need to be fleshed out with something or someone unique or ground breaking to make it really work. Instead it's a story of four not-too-smart young men, none of whom has anything compelling, or even remotely interesting about them. None of them are facing any sort of desperate situation that would push them to crime (drug addiction, debt, etc.) and their only motive for committing the crime in this movie seems to be boredom. So this train doesn't have enough momentum to push it over into even being mildly entertaining - instead it's a cringe-fest of stupidity. Even the music tries to get in on the story; the score is always there to tell us in big bold terms what we ought to be feeling. But ultimately "Animals" is just disappointing. Their crime is stupid, their motives are stupid, even the method of carrying it out is stupid, and so it came to the point where I myself felt, well STUPID - and even a bit guilty for watching them botching things so horribly. The 4 men in this story have chemistry, of sorts, but ultimately I found it very difficult to even care what happened to them. If the point here is as a lesson for how NOT to commit crime, this movie succeeds in sending that message loud and clear. All in all though, "Animals" is more cringey then entertaining: it's unpleasant to watch, there's not enough humor, the characters are lifeless and dull. This movie has few/no redeeming qualities. If I had it to watch over again I wouldn't - it's not a good use of your time.

'AMERICAN ANIMALS': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)A new crime drama released by MoviePass (the new Netflix of the theaters)! The film tells the true story of a library heist at Transylvania University (in 2004 Lexington, Kentucky). The actual people involved in the crimes narrate the film; while actors Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner and Jared Abrahamson play them in flashbacks. The movie was written and directed by Bart Layton, and it's gotten mostly positive reviews from critics. I found it to be really involving and intense, it's definitely an impressive debut from MoviePass Ventures!Warren Lipka and Spencer Reinhard tell their true story (in modern day), about how they conspired to steal expensive Audubon prints, and rare books, from a special collections library at Transylvania University (in Lexington, Kentucky), in 2004. Evan Peters and Barry Keoghan play the pair when they were younger, as the actual criminals narrate the story. They had help (in the heist) form Chas Allen and Eric Borsuk (played by Blake Jenner and Jared Abrahamson, during the narrated scenes). The criminals' family and friends also take part in film interviews, throughout the movie. The film is funny and seemingly light-hearted at times, and at other times it's really intense and shocking. The climax and ending are pure crime drama cinema at it's best. Keoghan and Peters are both good in the leads, and the actual criminals have strong screen presence as well (especially Reinhard). It's a near masterpiece that's definitely worth seeing I'd say. MoviePass Venture's first win!