Reviews

Perhaps I went in with too grand of expectations given how my small bubble of critics I respect were praising this film. It did not impress me nearly as much as it did some others, but is still an enjoyable watch. The story of our protagonist is excellent and stands in stark contrast to how human characters are handeled in the American adaptations. The pacing is great with some lagging in act 2. The main reason this film is worth seeing is because it shines such a damning light on the neglegence, greed, and waste that must occur in these big hollywood blockbusters that have 20-30x the budget without producing nearly enough to show it.

This did not feel like a 2 hour and some change movie. There was not one moment where I felt like checking the time or got pulled out of the movie from boredom because it absolutely won't let you. Even my favorite films of all time will typically have a scene or two that are fluff or are dragged out but it could be argued that The Creator has none.

That being said, the ability of the characters to seemingly fast travel is immersion breaking. There are also at least 3 times that I noticed not even looking for it that the character is clearly saying something that the audio is not, with poor effort to dub it properly.

Although I appreciate the unique take of the AI being the rebel oppressed force, I feel like the horse was well and truly beaten about halfway through. This is definitely worth a watch.

I am watching No Escape in 2023 but it must have been playing in the background in college at some point because I distinctly remember a few bits. That did not ruin the experience, however, because both my wife and I were hooked from start to finish with this film. Owen Wilson and Lake Bell as the leads seems like such a bizarre choice but I cannot imagine anyone could have given in a better performance in a noticable capacity. The best part of No Escape is that it differs from other films in its genre in that the characters consistently make great decisions. So many times I am turned off by the lead making a completely braindead decision for the sake of creating more narrative obstacles, but the opposite could be said for No Escape, where the characters are making great choices that I doubt I could have thought of in the moment. It is such an intense and seemingly realistic portrayal of how a competent family could best perform in this situation and one I will remember forever.

Admittedly, I had two strong biases walking into the theater; my apathy for the sport of baseball and my hatred for heart-warming movies that don't build to their payoffs. It also didn't help that I have seen only 1 or 2 movies Dennis Quaid is in and certainly could not have put a face to a name.

With that being said, being a low budget Christian drama flick does not excuse the worst writing I have seen in years. I promise you that I could pick a few 6th graders from any given school and put them in a writers room for a day and they would create something more compelling than this abomination. The dialogue was bad and at times preachy, but that wasn't even the problem. The movie lingered in such a constant state of spoon-fed predictability that it really was painful to sit through some scenes. Although he acted well in this, I will forever use Dennis Quaid as a queue to avoid a movie if he was willing to sign on to something like this.

Barbie was a huge surprise in both a positive and negative way. On the upside, I was not expecting as many solid comedy moments and stellar performances by Gosling and Robbie. I was expecting the PG-13 rating to be a bit more for show but it is used to good comedic effect on a number of occasions.

The biggest surprise was how effective the marketing team behind this film was. They were not only able to elevate initial hype by tying themselves to a Nolan film, but they were also able to completely disguise what the film was about. Trailers would lead you to believe this will be a fun-loving comedy with some character moments, some heart, and a lot of nostalgia. Instead, Barbie's central theme and main plot revolve around the least nuanced take on feminism I have seen to date. I would not be surprised if this script was made by having a 10 year old girl describe the basics of patriachry to an AI, specify that it should make an over-exaggerated mean spirited narrative from it, and then have some of the most unintelligent writers in hollywood tack on a monologue for the human character at the end. That final monologue by the mother is one of the most insufferable things I have experienced in a movie theater.

Oppenheimer is an enthralling character drama concerning the life of Robert Oppenheimer and all of the politics, challenges, and nuances that surrounded his work on the atomic bomb. Aside from an at times thrilling score to make otherwise relatively non-thrilling conversation between characters elevated, the film does not have any big dopamine moments aside from the detonation. All of this said, I was absolutely captivated the entire time. It is important to make this distinction because those with less... refined, attention spans may find it a near impossible task to tolerate 3 hours of this dialogue heavy film. I wish I could have experienced this in 70mm IMAX but digital will have to do.

The 7/10 may raise a few eye brows considering my complaints about the movie, but I hope that helps to underscore just how brilliant the sound design and score are in this film. Between the sound, stellar acting, and rock solid hook, the first hour of the film will lead you to believe you could be watching one of your top 10 list. My gripes are difficult to describe without spoilers, but they can be summarized as follows: The movie was going to lose points for dropping its style and intelligent plot for the sake of a heavy-handed feminist message, but it lost much more by compromising the entire script with zero pay off to do so. Olivia Wilde clearly has the talent to create a great movie but hasn't learned to harness it yet.

I don't care what anyone says; ending a film at what is effectively the end of a second act is not good story telling. I could tolerate it if the 3rd film were to come out next weekend (which I actually think could be a great marketing strategy for these block buster hits), but that is not the case.

The one negative out of the way, the rest of the film really is insanely good. I can confidently say that this was the fastest a film has gone by for me minute for minute. I could not believe 2 hours and twenty minutes had passed by. This film does not dip into my top 20 of all time but it was still one hell of an experience.

Everyone talks about how safe this film plays it and that it is the perfect strategy for video game adaptations going forward. Although for the most part I agree, I believe an important point is being looked over. Completely changing Peach into the girl boss adventurer that replaces Luigi was a poor choice. The primary issue is that a majority of the movie does not have the impressive chemistry between Chris Pratt and Charlie Day. Modern day movies, particularly action and comedy focused ones, will belittle the male leads and supports to uplift their female counterparts. It is a tiresome and played out cliche at this point and I did not expect it to be in the Mario Bros movie. Ultimately, this complaint really doesn't ruin the movie and all things considered this is a concise and fun time at the theater.

As of writing this review, The Whale has snuck up into my top 20 list at the number 3 slot. I will highlight some aspects of the film that made it stand out, but most importantly, I would like to stress how it made me feel. I have never had a film cause me to recoil with a sort of depressed cringe expression. My concern for the lead and his behaviors was so potent by the end I could feel myself nearly as distraught as his loved ones around him. The story is devastating and eye opening. This is all compounded by not only Brendan Frasier's Brenaissance inducing performance, but also by equally phenomonal supporting cast performances. Character dramas have never been at the top of my genre list, but The Whale has convinced me to broaden my horizons.

I remember telling a buddy in 2019 that reviewing Marvel films is strange because it is nearly impossible for them to score below an 8/10 for me. A 7/10 is the average score I give and very few films in phases 1-3 dipped down to there. 4 years later, I am just happy that a Marvel film finally made what I thought their bare minimum was. Although the movie can be messy and tone deaf, it does not have a cringey agenda and is centered around a sub plot that has a lot of heart. It is not quite the send off these characters deserve but it is definitely the best they will get given the direction Marvel has gone and the lack of hype surrounding the property in 2023.

Avatar is not a great movie. It is too long, lacks meaningful story, and has some significant fluff plots. That being said, the visuals are the best to ever reach the big screen and the character work was actually really solid. The latter I was more impressed with than the former because I did not expect it.

I knew that this would be a technical masterpiece, and for the most part it was. However, I had heard that there would be a frame rate increase compared to normal movies. This was music to my ears as watching movies in theatres generally dampens the experience to me because 30fps with motion blur looks like a slideshow during a lot of scenes. I was surprised to see that Avatar did not fix this at all, and when characters were doing anything on land where the camera was panning or a character crossing the screen horizontally it was quite jarring. The future of cinema is 120fps. I have no idea what technical limitations would need to be broken to do that but as audiences who grew up with competent gaming systems and PCs age, they will be less and less accepting of this eye sore.

I was a huge fan of Knives Out in 2019. I wasn't familiar with Rian Johnson, but it had me promising to catch his next few flicks no questions asked. I would argue that Glass Onion is as good if not better for the majority of the run time when compared to Knives Out.

Both had world-class dialogue, intriguing direction, and style. Glass onion had the benefit of, without getting into spoilers, complicating the plot to make for more interesting reveals. Really, the only part that Glass Onion really lacks is in the final 10 minutes where it gets cartoon-esque and crossed the line into too silly of happenings.

I was engrossed in the dialogue and plot devices the entire film and didn't feel bored for a second. That is what cinema is about.

The title of this review may sound like highest of praise, but of note, drama's must be my least watched genre of movie by a decent margin. That being said, this film enters my top 30 of all time despite my general aversion to the genre. Considering that the only drama's I have liked in the past were not focused on the building of a relationship, but rather, the tearing down of one, this accolade stands even taller. The narrative, simplicity and unhurried pace of some scenes, and the great acting form a gripping experience where it is difficult to decide if you care more for the outcome of the mystery or for the character's happiness. I would highly recommend checking this out on Netflix when you can.

Following up to a billion dollar plus film that had one of the strongest marketing campaigns in cinema history is no easy task. With the huge shoes that need to be filled in mind, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever really did do a great job. It still suffers from Marvel formulitis and the new trend of over explaining character motivations (i.e. Flash backs during the final standoff) which do cripple it a fair bit. Ultimately, it does the seemingly impossible of taking the tragic loss of Chadwick Boseman and building a compelling story around it without ever seeming like the movie exists to make a quick buck off of his passing.

I feel like a broken record and even slightly mysoginistic whenever I say this, but I feel like it must be pointed out whenever possible: This is female empowerment done right. The lead actresses are fantastic and the characters they play are strong on their own terms without having to condescend constantly to men to prove their superiority. So many "empowerment" moments or whole films today focus soley on showing how the female protagonist is better than the guys, rather than just showing that she is awesome in general.

I love a great war movie. Black Hawk Down, Saving Private Ryan, Hacksaw Ridge, and many others have me at the edge of my seat cheering on the protagonists. What I did not realize, is how much I also love a great anti-war movie. All Quiet on the Western Front is the most potent anti-war message I have ever seen, movie or otherwise. The brutality, futility, and cruelty of war is on full display in a way that makes sense and doesn't make caricature straw-men of the individuals that put the soliders in the situations they are in. Time is taken to dissect motivations and build toward the devastating ending in a way that makes sense for everyone involved. It really is an alien thought to imagine having to go through anything near what these men and boys went through.

"It Follows" is one of my favorite horror movies of all time. The premise of a threat always moving toward you and the exploration of the protagonist convincing people that the situation is very real and very dangerous felt fresh at the time. Smile takes this exact premise but focuses more on the social dynamic of trying to convince people our protagonist isn't crazy.

Smile suffers from being one of the most formularic horrors I have seen in the last few years. It was to the point that you could predict which seen would certainly have a jump scare and when. Also of note, the jump scares were often cheap and there for the sake of the jump scare. The movie is carried by it's interesting yet copied premise, its stellar cinematography and sound design, and a great performance by Ms. Bacon. This is one to catch when it comes to a streaming platform and skip the theatre.

Straight to Netflix without much warning. Comedy starring Kevin Hart. Lead supporting actor Mark Wahlberg. The signs were all there for us to accept that we need to just turn our brains off. That being said, even that warning comes with the footnote that I expect to get some cheap laughs. Unfortunately, I did not, nor did anyone I watched with. This film is as generic as they come but at least it isn't actively insulting or sleep-inducing.

This paragraph is to meet the requirements for the new 600 character limit. I have said everything I want above and refuse to add fluff for the sake of this new rule. Please reverse this as the reviews are getting more painful to read.

I have known for awhile that plot twists, subverting expectations, and gloomy endings are my favorite qualities in movies. Bullet Train was the final nail in the coffin that showed me how much I love quick and witty dialogue. It is impossible to not stay engaged when the script is this well written.

The entire run-time occuring a on a single bullet train with a destination set in stone provides such a great sense of urgency and understanding of the set. This film has style, brilliant character development, and solid payoffs all around. Worth watching in theatres.

This is my first review where I have been forced to write over 600 characters per new IMDB guidelines. At 450 characters my review was done and I had to add padding to submit it. Is this really how they think improving user reviews should be done?

This is one of the most unique films I have seen. I have never felt like I was in a state of plot limbo quite like the middle hour of this movie. The characters would walk into an icecream shop, exchange a few lines of poorly written dialogue that revealed no new information, and then leave the icecream shop. Halfway through I truly believed this was one of this improv movies but done poorly.

I know that the actors are the actual heroes from the event, but there subpar performance wasn't even the worst of it. The dialogue they were given was "The Room"-esque. This was a catastrophic combination of garbage script writing, absent direction, and soldiers masquerading as actors, resulting in the worst movie I have seen to date.

If it wasn't for a solid 20-30 minutes that become a true snooze fest where you grow to hate the main character, Mean Girls is a fine tuned machine of unique ideas and great comedic timing. It somehow avoids seeming cringy to watch like a vast majority of mid 2000's content, especially comedies. I am ashamed it took me this long to see this film. As I write this review, Mean Girls is in the top 10 currently popular films on Netflix, so needless to say this cult classic has and always will have staying power.

The Russo brothers are somehow continuing to improve as filmmakers. They have been phenomonal story tellers and talent directors for years, but their cinematography direction is just now hitting it's stride. Every action sequence is so slick and cool with elements of ridiculousness that are present strictly for spectacle. It all works. I am surprised to see the average user score at 6.6 when I thought this is the best Netflix film I have seen this year.

Entirely non-innovative. Attempts to be constantly funny at the expense of tension but falls flat, with maybe one or two jokes landing. I was holding out hope that the MCU would pull together some large scale event in the future but I think it is safe to say the infinity saga was the last great era we had from them.

I wasn't a fan of the first Top Gun film at all, and I planned on skipping this because of it. I generally shy away from decades later reboots because they are trying to make a quick nostalgia buck. I can confidently say that this isn't one of those movies at all. Every shot and practical effect is oozing with attention to detail and heart. The sound track is nostalgia bait, sure, but it is still objectively an absolute banger.

Miles Teller is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors working right now. He and Cruise are given beautifully written characters to work with and they do not dissapoint. Top Gun: Maverick is a proper blockbuster that reminded me how important extra effort for practical effects can make.

Spiderhead was a delightful surprise on a Saturday night when I sat down to pick a movie at random on Netflix with my relatives. It is dystopian but familiar, dramatic with some goofiness, and tense without taking itself too seriously. All contradictory statements, sure, but maybe I was just given too much Verbulance and am rambling.