Mirai

I'll always have a soft spot in my heart when it comes to anime films. Every year there's at least one anime film that I am really looking forward to and this year it was Mirai. Mirai was directed by beloved anime film director Mamoru Hosoda, who has created some of the best anime films in recent memory (Wolf Children, Boy and the Beast and Summer Wars). The bar has been set high for his movies, and I was excited to see if Mirai would live up to the standard he has set.

Mirai is definitely the most beautifully animated movie by Hosoda so far. There's just something about hand-drawn animation that will always look better than CG in my opinion. Sadly, the days of hand-drawn are slowly going away, but this movie proves to me that it still has a lot of worth. The detail, color, movement, expression, and style bring something special and unique to this movie. Though to be fair, there is a large amount of CG used in the movie, but it blends well with the traditional style. The animation, alongside the beautifully done score, the great voice acting and storytelling make this another great movie from Hosoda.

The story focuses on a young boy named Kun and his family. Kun's life is changed for the worst (in his eyes) when his parents come home with a new baby, a little sister named Mirai. As any young boy would, he becomes extremely jealous of all the attention Mirai is getting now. During one of his tantrums, he is transported to a new world. Throughout the movie, he is transported to different time periods where he meets his family members at younger and older ages and learns more about his family through them. This leads to realizations that help little Kun grow and learn to be a different person. It's a story that I'm sure lots of people can identify with, especially ones who grew up with older siblings or has two or more kids. It's a nice message that I haven't seen too much in family movies recently and it is told in a fun and inventive way to appeal to young and older audiences alike. Though I'm sure the older audiences will probably get more out of the storytelling.

I can't say that I loved every second of this movie though, as it takes it while before it really takes off. It takes it's time building up to the first time travel reveal. The movie spends a lot of time at Kun's house, which got visually boring after spending a little too much time there. The story also felt a bit slow in the moments in the house while the story introduced all the characters and the relationship between Kun and Mirai. All that changed though, after the time travel is introduced it really kicks off visually and the storytelling goes up along with it. It's well worth the wait too, because it leads to some beautifully animated moments, with some great heartfelt moments to go along. There's a lot of lessons to be learned in this story, and the movie deals with them in a way that doesn't feel too pandering to the younger audience, but in a way, they can still understand it. Though I'm not sure if a young child will be patient enough to make it through those slower moments of the movie, I'd sure hope so. This movie is shorter than your average big budget film, but at times it felt like it dragged a little bit. This is a slow paced movie and a few times I wanted the movie to move just a little faster and get to the next scene/sequence. But by the end of the movie, I understood why it was made that way. I appreciate everything this movie did because it all seemed purposeful and made to fit the story that it was trying to tell.

Mirai was a fun experience that I came out of feeling good. The visuals were some of the best I've seen all year and the story, while sometimes slow, was good and memorable. Hosoda had a clear vision for this movie and I think he accomplished it beautifully. This is another great addition to his already great filmography. While I don't think it's his best work so far, it definitely lives up to the hype and doesn't fall short of the standard he has set as a creator. I can't wait to see what else his creative mind will give us.

Overall Grade: B

Read More

Aquaman

After the big failure that was Justice League, DC really needs a big hit to keep things going and to keep the fans interested in it's movie universe. "Aquaman" has to bare a lot of that weight on it's shoulders, while also introducing viewers to the world of Aquaman and all the lore that is apart of that world. We got a brief introduction to Aquaman in Justice League and honestly he was probably the best part of that movie. Jason Momoa oozes charm and like-ability with his dude-bro version of Aquaman. But would it work if he's the lead? "Aquaman" answers that question and more.

So "Aquaman" introduces us to the story of Arthur, a half-Human and half-Atlantean. His mother a Queen from Atlantis and his father some random human who lives in a lighthouse. After the events of Justice League, Arthur is called back home to Atlantis to prevent his half-brother from uniting the different armies of the ocean and attacking the humans on earth. Oh, and there's also a crazy soldier who calls himself Black Manta who is seeking revenge against Aquaman for events that happen early in the movie. Arthur teams up with reluctant partner Mera to find a hidden trident that will help stop Atlantis from going to war with the Humans.

This movie really could have been a great time. There was a lot keeping it from being great in my eyes though. Before that, let's talk about the good things. As you've probably heard, this movie looks awesome... and it does. The effects are pretty damn cool to look at, especially when it goes underwater into the world of Atlantis. Lots of cool colors and designs and shiny things to look at. This is one of those movies that might be worth watching in IMAX just because of these effects and visuals. The other good thing is of course Aquaman himself. He hasn't lost any of that charm from Justice League and he's easy to root for as a hero. The movie has a lot more focus on fun, like what "Suicide Squad" was trying to do... except it works a lot better in "Aquaman". Besides Aquaman though, all the other actors do a fine job with their characters. Some characters don't seem to get a lot of screen time which is a shame, but I'll get to that later. The action scenes where mostly good, though a lot of them were set up the same. The movie constantly started action scenes out of nowhere, with a jump-scare moment, which got kind of annoying. That aside, the action scenes were still mostly fun to watch and well made.

What really kept this movie from being great though was the way it tried to introduce you to the world. The movie had to keep stopping to explain the history and lore of Atlantis, with long dialog scenes that were pretty boring sometimes. There was also the problem of having two villains in one movie, which rarely works in these comic book movies. Instead of putting all of the focus on one baddie, they tried to put in two. Black Manta as a villain, barely got much screen time and it felt pretty strange. It probably would have been better to keep Black Manta away until the next movie or focus the entire movie on him.

This movie also just feels way too long at almost 2 1/2 hours. I struggled to stay interested in the story for that long, especially in the middle where the story takes a turn into an adventure movie. It made the movie feel even longer than it actually was. It didn't always use that time in a good way either. Like not focusing on certain characters enough, or using a lot of time to drop exposition. It makes sense to drop a lot of exposition in a movie introducing us to a whole new comic book world, but i'm sure there were better ways to do it.

There was a lot I liked in this movie and a lot of things I didn't like. That makes the movie fall right in the middle of how I felt about it, it was OKAY. I had enough fun that I would gladly watch a sequel and I would be excited for it, but I don't see myself coming back to this particular movie anytime soon. There's room for lots of improvement, but it was a good start to the Aquaman character. It's worth a watch if you like anything that has to do with DC and comic movies, or you just want a visually interesting action movie.

B-B-B-B-BONUS ROUND!!!!!

Speaking of visually interesting movies, here's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse! This is a new animated movie was created by Sony Pictures Animation. They don't have the best track record when it comes to animated movies, just recently making one of the worst movies in "The Emoji Movie".  But when I heard that Lord and Miller were going to be the ones behind this, my excitement shot up to the heavens. These two guys are behind two of my favorite animated movies of recent memory (Sunny With a Chance of Meatballs and Lego Movie). Expectations were high, and the movie had a lot to live up to with the Spider-Man name attached to it. Especially after how great the recent Spider-Man movies have been on the Disney side of things. 

I'll just say it now, Spider-Verse lives up to all the hype and surpasses it greatly. This is by far the best animated movie of the year, with pretty much nothing coming close to it (except maybe Isle of Dogs?).  The animation is some of the best I've seen in a long time, and it's got a very unique style that fits the world so perfectly. Everything in this movie works so well together. The great voice cast, writing, action, animation, soundtrack and story. Everyone who worked on this movie made sure to make every detail and second of this movie entertaining and well-made. While there are a lot of characters thrown into the movie, it keeps it's focus where it's most important: Miles Morales. The other character are all great, especially Peter Parker who is much different than any other Peter Parker that has been on film. The relationship between Peter and Miles is what drives the movie and was the best part of the movie in my opinion. There's a great balance between fun/humor and emotional moments that push the story forward. 

This might be one of the most flawless movies I've seen in a long time. For me, it's the best Spider-Man movie ever made, and considering how great some of the past Spider-Man movies have been in the past that's really saying something. When the filmmakers pay attention to every detail of the movie with lots of care, you get a movie like this. A movie that accomplishes all of it's goals and more.

It's been a while since an animated movie was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars... this should be the next one.  

B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-BONUS RRRRRROUND! *cough*

It's been a strange year for Disney. Reaching the highest highs with Black Panther and Infinity War, but falling down again and again with movies like Wrinkle in Time, Nutcracker and Solo. One thing that hasn't failed them recently though is their main animation studio, which this year brought us Ralph Breaks the Internet. 

Ralph 2 is one of those movies that looked like it was going to be a letdown from the trailers. Going to the internet is an interesting concept for a sequel, but one that could easily turn the movie into more of an advertisement than a movie. The fact that Disney chose to use real life products and websites was concerning, I was worried about the movie becoming watered down by the constant use of real life products. Then I remember that the first movie also had lots of properties from the real world, but it was all video game properties and not websites. The first movie did a great job at showing lots of love to gaming with lots of references and cameos, but it still put most of its focus on its original ideas and characters. Ralph Breaks the Internet also does that same thing, but tells a completely different story. While I found the use of the internet a lot less charming than the use of video games, it didn't take away too much from the great story and humor the movie had.

The sequel follows Ralph and Vanellope right after the first movie. They are still best friends and hang out everyday after their games are shut down for the night. Things change after the arcade they live in has internet and WiFi installed, and a portal to the internet is opened in their hub. After an indecent where Vanellope is left homeless after her game breaks, they must travel to the internet to find the piece of her game that's missing before it's shut down permanently.

 The story leads to a really good and not often touched upon message regarding friendship. It's what really drives the movie and keeps it going, despite some things that didn't work so well for me. Like I said before, the internet is a much less interesting location than the arcade in my opinion. Maybe it's because we already spend so much time there, that it feels less magical and whimsical than the movie tries to make it out to be. The movie has the characters interact with some real life sites like Ebay and a YouTube style site called Buzztube. The whole Buzztube part of the movie felt really... strange. It was like Disney was trying really hard to connect with all the young kids of today that watch YouTube, but also making fun of people that do at the same time? It was confusing. 

What was cool to see though was Disney actually making fun of itself for once, which happens later in the movie and was sadly shown in most of the trailers. Still, it was a really great moment when Vanellope goes to the Disney part of the internet and meets the princessesesses. Moments like that and the great story between Ralph and Vanellope are what kept this movie fun and entertaining. It's not the best that Disney Animation Studios has put out in recent years, but it's another hit in a time where they keep putting out good movies. While it wasn't as good as the first, it wasn't really a disappointing movie because it kept all of the important aspects from the first movie and built upon them. The characters are still just as lovable as the first time, and by the end of this movie you'll probably love them more. 

Read More

The Best/Worst Pop Songs of 2018

It's been a long time since I've put up anything on this blog and even longer that I've put up anything on music. Seeing as how the year is finally crashing down in all its mediocre glory, I figured I'd share my thoughts on the music scene this year. It was a strange year for music, at least in my opinion. Pop music really seemed to not go anywhere new and is sticking to the same kind of trends we saw last year, with lots of big names dropping disappointing albums. The strange thing is that those trends seemed to translate over to all music this year. Lots of albums I was super excited for and greatly anticipating fell flat and didn't live up to my expectations. Maybe it's my fault. Maybe with all the mediocre music being put out these days, I expected too much. Maybe I just wasn't looking hard enough for good music.

I still try my best to keep up with the charts and listen to the big songs of the year. I still have hope for the pop charts to bring in some great, fun and catchy tunes to my life. Sadly, we are still at a time where that isn't what is popular. It's all about the slowed down, trap beat and drowsy music. With the hot 100 year-end list out now, I went through it and picked out the songs that I remembered for being really good and really bad. So here's a list of songs that I thought were the best and the worst of the year. I didn't get a chance to listen to EVERY single song, but I've heard most of them at least once.

#10 Worst: Drake - God's Plan

Starting things off with the biggest artist of the year here (and the world at this point) Mr.Drake. Drake dropped his much-anticipated album "Scorpion" this year and destroyed the charts with multiple songs. It was a very mediocre album, but at least better than his last official album "Views", which isn't saying much. This song was the number one selling song of 2018 and it didn't have any competition. The closest thing to taking that spot was 2017's highest selling artist Ed Sheeran's team up with Beyoncé, but even that wasn't enough. This is far from Drake's worst song, which is why it's high on this list. It's still a pretty boring song with the kind of lyrics you expect from any Drake song. 

#10 Best: G-Eazy - No Limit (Cardi B, A$AP Rocky)

So this song kinda sucks... but I've listened to more times than I care to admit. I still wonder what keeps bringing me back to this song. Is it the beat? the cheesy outdated lyrics? G-Eazy lying about how much sex he's having? I don't know. It all works together to make a wonderfully cheesy song that is so bad is good. Add Cardi B throwing out super dated Jared from Subway line and you got a keeper. 

#9 Worst: Tyga - Taste (Offset)

It's always a sad day to see Tyga still has a career in music. With some of the worst lyrics in the game and a personality that is non-existent, Tyga always surprises me. Surprises me that someone with this little talent still finds ways to stay relevant. In this song, Tyga spews his usual overly sexual lyrics with no real energy and a boring beat to match.  Thankfully this song features Offset, who adds nothing to the song, but at least gives me a break from having to listen to Tyga pretend to be an artist. 

#9 Best: Drake - Nice for What

Wait, what is this? A Drake song in the best list? No that's gotta be a typo. Nope. This is actually a really good song by Drake, which is crazy for me to say. It's felt like a long time since Drake actually released a song that I really enjoyed, but this is actually very good. It's got a good energy to keep the song going, along with better lyrics from Drake. The background vocals that run throughout the entire song work really well with the flow of the song and never get annoying. The video is also good if you ever get a chance to watch it. The lyrics/video actually feel like they have some meaning behind it and don't just feel like Drake complaining about his haters like his songs usually seem to go. 

#8 Worst: Tekashi69 - FEFE (Nicki Minaj)

Oh look, another lazy song about sex on the charts. The team-up of Tekashi69 and Nicki is a strange one, and it doesn't really work too well. It's kind of like Beyoncé and Sheeran, where one is clearly way out of the others league. In this case though, it's the woman (Nicki) who is out of the guys league. Nicki seems to just put her name on anything these days without a care of how it will affect her career. That's how you build a catalog of bad music, by putting your vocals on literally anyone who asks you nicely. It sucks because I think Nicki has WAY more talent then she often shows, and working with mediocre artists like Tekashi69 doesn't help her at all. This is just a bad song, with bad music and lyrics that will be forgotten in a year or less. 

#8 Best: Migos - Stir Fry

Man, this song is catchy as hell. The awesome beat and music with the great flow from Migos. It all works together so well, and it's a joy to listen to. When I found out that Pharrell was the one who produced this song it all made so much sense. He's always had a special way with music and his talent shows here. Taking artists that I've never been too interested in and helping them come out with songs like this one. I can't get over how awesome the beat on this song is. If only Pharrell could make all the pop songs on the charts. Really, what we need is producers like Pharrell who bring out the best in artists and really showcase their talent. When you put good music behind a good artist it makes good music, go figure. 

#7 Worst: Camila Cabello - Havana

I guess TECHNICALLY this song isn't worst than "FEFE", but I did hear it at least 100 times for than "FEFE" so there's that. There's also the fact that the song has a verse by one of the worst rappers around in Young Thug. This is a song that gets a little worse with every listen and its flaws become easier to spot with multiple listens. Repetitive music, boring lyrics and not much personality from Cabello. It's a song that feels like any other artist could have done and it would have been just as popular. 

#7 Best: Ariana Grande - no tears left to cry

Someone who DOES have personality is Ariana Grande. Here she brings a nice uplifting song as her first single from her new album that dropped this year. It was meant to uplift herself and others around her after a tough year she had. It works well as an uplifting song, helped a lot by Ariana's great vocals and decent music to go along with it. This song is in a lot of ways the opposite of Havana, in that every listen helps the song instead of hurt its quality. Plus it has all the personality that Havana wishes it could have. It's not Ariana's best work, but the meaning behind the song and the talent involved make it an above average song. 

#6 Worst: Bebe Rexha/Florida Georgia Line - Meant to Be

On the subject of no personality, here is "meant to be" by three cardboard cutouts that kind of resemble humans. A song that was written by robots who don't understand human emotion or how to tell a story. Keep things as vague as possible in the hopes that it will get a bigger audience since anyone can relate to it. Keep singing clichés over and over again and call it a song. Add a vaguely hip-hop beat so that all the young people will like it. Make millions of dollars. Repeat. It just feels like one of those songs that was created specifically to be a huge hit. Not that every song that was created to be a hit is bad, but this one is just really lazy and obvious about it. There's nothing that makes this song stand out in any way or make it worth coming back to. 

#6 Best: Sza / Kendrick - All The Stars

This is what a team-up should be like! The super talented Sza and Kendrick Lamar teamed up with each other to create a great song to be a part of the also great Black Panther movie. An amazingly catchy chorus alongside some great verses by Kendrick and Sza. Pretty nice of Disney to let Kendrick drop some f**ks in the verse for their Black Panther song, kids are gonna love that. Kidding aside, this song works in every way from beginning to end and is one of the best movie tie-in songs I've heard in a while. Sadly it's chances to win an Oscar were probably killed the day "A Star is Born" came out... damn you Lady Gaga and your beautiful voice. 

#5 Wost: Imagine Dragons - Believer

First things first: this band is awful. Second things second: this song is awful. Third things third: I can't remember. Just like how this band can't remember how to make good music. 

#5 Best: Marshmello / Bastille - Happier

It was a huge surprise to see Bastille back in the charts this year, I thought they were done after "Pompeii" a few years ago. Though this isn't exactly a traditional Bastille song as it's more of a Marshmello project with Bastille vocals. Still, I enjoy this style of music as it's one of the few styles that I can really get behind in the pop charts (as you'll see in the rest of my list). The music is good and I'm really happy to hear Bastille's vocals again on the radio/charts. Lyrically it's not breaking new ground, but it takes the idea of a breakup and puts a little more of a positive spin on it.

#4 Worst: J Balvin / Willy William? - Mi Gente (Beyoncé)

Probably the most annoying song of the year. Super loud and obnoxious, with music that will give you a headache. Beyoncé tries her hand in Latin(?) music but picks the worst song to do that with. I honestly can't even listen to this whole song, because of how annoying the music is. The vocals aren't much better anyway, Beyoncé isn't doing anything to really add to the song except having her name attached to it which will probably bring in listeners. The other two guys are just as annoying as the music.

#4 Best: Marshmello / Anne-Marie - FRIENDS

Anne-Marie is my favorite pop artist of the year, sadly this was the only song that charted high this year from her. It's one of my least favorite of hers, but still better than most other pop songs of the year. There's something about her personality and vocals that I really like. Her music is a lot of fun to listen to and she clearly has A LOT of talent. She also has good music to back up her vocal talent, so that is a big help. "FRIENDS" is a great pop song that tackles an interesting subject that I'm sure many people can relate to, especially in 2018. If you're looking for a great pop album to listen to, go check out Anne-Marie's debut album. 

#3 Worst: Lil Pump - Gucci Gang

I almost didn't put this song on the list since I thought it was a little bit too easy. Everyone hates this song...or at least that's what I thought. If that were true then this song never would have charted as high as it did. I still don't know if this song is a joke. Is it supposed to be bad? I can't believe that it would be that self-aware though. It's not clever in that way. It's just a lazy song that for some reason people really caught on to. It's music like this that makes me feel old and out of touch. 

#3 Best: Dua Lipa - New Rules

This song really came out of nowhere this year (or last year). Every now and then the charts bring in a song like this. A song that takes you by surprise in a good way. A song that deserves all the attention that it's getting. A song that lives up to the hype. A song that feels new and exciting and brings hope to the idea that good new artists can still get attention on the charts. This song is the perfect introduction to Dua Lipa, even though I can't say I'm a huge fan, I can say that this song made me want more of her. That's what a single is supposed to do. It's supposed to make you want to hear the rest of the album, and a song like this works amazingly for that. 

and that moment right before the chorus kick in is amazing. 

#2 Worst: Imagine Dragons - Thunder

It's amazing to think what qualifies as rock these days. Currently, the two biggest rock artists in the US aren't even rock artists (Panic at the Disco and Imagine Dragons).  This isn't good rock music and it's not even good pop music. It's emotionless and boring music that lacks any real emotion or energy. This from the band that made one of the most uniquely awesome songs in "Radioactive". The worst songs to me are the ones by artists that I used to actually like, but feel like they aren't trying anymore. I'm totally okay with Imagine Dragons not being so much a rock band anymore, but I want them to make music that actually feels like it has some work behind it. 

#2 Best: Childish Gambino - This is America

Donald Glover might be the most talented/creative human living on earth right now. Everything he touches is GOLD. I wasn't expecting to hear more from his Childish Gambino project this year, so this song was a huge surprise. A very topical song and one that feels like it belongs in 2018 more than ever. It's always nice to hear a song that charts be more than just about sex/drugs/sex/money/sex. Even better when the song actually has a speaks about important topics. The song also has great music to back up the lyrics, making it that much better. 

THE WORST! Maroon 5 - Girls Like You (Cardi B)

I don't know how they manage to pull it off. How they can keep somehow getting worse with every new release. It's like setting fire to a pile of ashes at this point with Maroon 5. Adam Levine and friends don't even feel like they trying anymore. For a band with six members, this feels so incredibly empty. There are bands with three members that make more full-sounding songs than this. This is just so incredibly boring and lifeless. It's got a terrible hook and it's not even catchy like most Maroon 5 songs. This song has no redeeming qualities at all. Even Cardi B couldn't bring anything to this song. I just need Maroon 5 to go away now. PLEASE. This was one of the most successful songs of the year, so Maroon 5 really have no reason to do anything better. 

THE BEST! Zedd - The Middle

There are so many little details in this song that work. From the ticking effects, synth beats to the vocals, bass, and production it all works super well.  It's not only insanely catchy, but it has a lot of details in the music to put it above any average song. Zedd and Grey work very well together to make a song really tight in its music. Nothing feels out of place, it all feels deliberate and that really makes it stand out. This really shows that you don't have to sacrifice detail in order to have a great and successful pop song in the charts. It's everything that I look for in a pop song, that's why it was my favorite of the year. To think I hated this song at one point...

Well, that's the end of my list. Feel free to share your thoughts and send me some good pop songs. 

Read More

Venom

This last weekend saw the latest Marvel movie release in Venom. Completely separated from the Disney owned Marvel Studios and Spider-Man Homecoming series. In fact, Spider-Man is nowhere to be seen in this movie or any future Venom project if there is one. I think going into this movie most people were aware that Spider-Man wasn't going to factor into this movie, but in case you didn't know, now you do. This movie follows Eddie Brock played by Tom Hardy who is a journalist in SanFran trying to find his next big story. That story comes along when a giant corporation near San Francisco called the Life Foundation, a company that's trying to make the world a "better place" through science and space exploration, has a huge incident. The incident involving a spacecraft crashing into the earth from space with new mysterious life forms. These life forms are called Symbiotes, and Eddie's search to find out all the dirty secrets of Life Foundation lead him to form a bond with the Symbiote known as Venom, changing his life forever and giving him more power than any average person could ever have.

This movie is kind of a mess. It's not the prettiest movie to look at, lots of CG filled action scenes that aren't very compelling a lot of the time. The story is mostly fine, but I found myself not caring about most of the characters since most aren't really given much time to grow or develop except Eddie Brock. The villain was pretty forgettable too, even though I kind of enjoyed what the actor Riz Ahmed was doing with the role, it felt like most comic book movie villains (that is to say he was forgettable). His motivations didn't always make complete sense, but it was enough to keep the story going. The story is all to set up Eddie Brock and Venom's relationship and how they become the team Spider-Man fans know them to be. I think it gets that part right, which is the most important thing in this movie. While everything around that might not work, the focus of Venom's powers and personality and how they affect Brock does work. Tom Hardy has good chemistry with himself as both characters, which I think was a good choice to have him play both Venom and Brock.

Most of the cast did an okay job with their roles, nothing stood out as terrible or great. That is except Tom Hardy, who was the only part of this movie that felt truly interesting. Eddie Brock and Venom's relationship was the best part of this movie and it was actually done pretty well. Tom Hardy did a good job at playing this strange character who's hearing voices inside his head by making it fun and not taking it seriously. There were some good moments of humor between Eddie Brock and Venom that really helped take this mediocre movie and make it a lot more watchable. Without Tom Hardy, I don't think this movie would have been any good. He carries this movie on his shoulders and does enough with the material to keep it interesting when it could have been and maybe should have been a lot worse.

I don't see myself returning to this movie anytime soon though, but I do think that there's room for a sequel. As long as Tom Hardy comes back and they work on the humor, action, villains, and side characters there could be something good here. This movie didn't really do much for me, which is disappointing when you look at all the potential it had. It was an okay movie with one standout performance that was just enough to keep it from being bad. At a time where Marvel comic book movies keep getting better and better, this one just doesn't live up to that standard. It might not be completely fair to compare it to a Marvel Studios film, but it's hard not to when they've set the bar so high. Hopefully Tom Hardy gets a second chance at Venom in the future because I'd like to see what other stories they can do with him. They just need to work out the other problems the film had (action scenes, villain, storytelling).

Overall Grade: C

Read More

A Star is Born

This is my first review in almost two months! In case you missed them I made two posts about some of my favorite movies: Part One and Part Two!

A Star is Born is the latest take on a classic story that has been told a few times through film. This one is directed by and stars Bradley Cooper alongside Lady Gaga. The story follows Gaga's character Ally, as an aspiring singer who meets a famous musician named Jackson Maine played by Cooper at one of her bar performances. He is so impressed with her he invites her to his next show and convinces her to play a song she wrote at the live show. This kickstarts Ally's career as a singer and a new relationship between Ally and Jackson. As Ally's career takes off and she makes her way to becoming a huge solo star, Jackson's personal problems become bigger and bigger. The movie focuses on their relationship as a romantic couple and as musicians.

Watching the trailer to this movie, I was interested in the movie right away. Going into this though, I thought I would be getting a feel-good story about a singer who finally gets her big break and becomes a star. While that is a part of it, this movie was way more impactful on an emotional level than I ever thought it could be. There are moments where you'll laugh, but there are even more moments where you will be shocked and hit with strong emotional scenes that are very effective. This movie surprised me because I wasn't expecting it to be what it was, and that's a good thing. Of course, I don't have any knowledge of any of the previous films, so maybe it's similar to those in its arc.

Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper work extremely well together, and they needed to for this movie to hit those big moments right. The movie doesn't work if they have no chemistry and thankfully they have a lot of it. Lady Gaga was a great choice and she does every part of her character well, it also doesn't hurt that she actually has an amazing voice. She does a great job at really bringing you into her story with her acting and she nails the big emotional scenes. Bradley Cooper also brings his best in this movie, doing a good job at showing the emotional scenes too and being believable as a big name musician. The best scenes are when they are together though, whether that be a big musical number or just a conversation between them.  They do a good job at capturing the feeling of a big live concert with the live crowds cheering, I believe this was done by actually playing at live events to crowds (mostly fans of Gaga I assume). Bradley Cooper's voice as a singer was very good, there's a great musical moment early on between Cooper and Gaga that was the moment that really brought me into the movie. Cooper's directing was great and the movie looks and sounds great because of it and the rest of the crew. All the shocking and strong emotional moments felt earned and not forced or out of place, because the movie does a great job at setting those moments up.

A Star is Born brings you into the life of two musicians who live two completely different lives that are merged together. I was completely invested in both of the main characters and also enjoyed the side characters played by the likes of Sam Elliot, Dave Chappelle, and Andrew Dice Clay (OOH!). It was a movie with surprising moments and some hard to watch scenes (purposely made that way). At the end of it all, I found another movie that I will probably grow to love more after more watches. This movie left an impact and that's thanks to the great work everyone did making this. It was very clear that Cooper was passionate about this project and it shows in every scene. 

Overall Grade: A

I should be back before the end of the weekend with a Venom movie review.

Read More

Review Schedule Late 2018

I've been very off and on with these reviews for a few months now, after a strong start this year. Now that I'm back from vacation and summer is officially DEAD, I figured I would put up a list of movies I intend to review in the last few months of the year. A way to keep me somewhat motivated and accountable. So if I don't post a review on a movie on this list it's either because of important plans or because of laziness... most likely the latter. A big thank you to everyone who reads these, it's very fun to write and nice to know people seem to enjoy these for some reason?

SEP 28: The Old Man & the Gun

Robert Redford returns to acting for this indie movie about an old man who's lived an entire life of crime. I'm not entirely sure I'll be able to catch this one as it's not going to be playing at most theatres, but hopefully, it gets a few showtimes around this area. The movie has a really great cast besides Redford, with names like Danny Glover, Casey Affleck, and Sissy Spacek. 

OCT 5: A Star is Born / Venom

Three big movies coming out this week, but these are the two that I'm interested in. For sure "A Star is Born" is at the top of my list, because it looks fantastic with a unique pairing of stars (Gaga and Cooper). I'm interested to see how Gaga does as a lead in a big movie, as we already know Cooper is capable of great things. As for Venom, my interest hasn't been very high on this one. Even ignoring the bad moves that Sony did with its last Spider-Man movies, this one just doesn't look like it's going to be that interesting overall. It has Tom Hardy going for it, and low expectations might make this one a surprise hit. With Spider-Man going strong with Marvel Studios, I'm wondering where this will go without the hero. Maybe Sony is trying to make Venom the main character of this new series of films?

OCT 12: Bad Times at the El Royale / First Man

Ryan Gosling and Damien Chezelle team up again after "La La Land" for something completely surprising with "First Man". Not surprising to see a movie about Neil Armstrong, but surprising to see a non-musical movie by Chezelle, unless this turns into a jazz musical in space? 

"El Royale" looks to be a strange but good time from what trailers show. A very strange cast with the likes of Jeff Bridges, Dakota Johnson, Chris Hemsworth, and Jon Hamm. I still don't really know what this movie is actually about, but I think that's probably a good thing. I'm excited to see what this whole thing is about.

OCT 19: Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Looks like Melissa McCarthy is trying to win some awards this year. In this film, McCarthy plays Lee Isreal, a writer whose work doesn't make her much money. She decides to plagiarize and impersonate famous writers of the past in order to start making money. It looks like something different from McCarthy who lately has been putting out some disappointing movies. Hopefully, this will be something to show her in a  new light and open up new opportunities. 

NOV 2: Bohemian Rhapsody

Another biopic about a famous musician, this time Queen's Freddie Mercury. The music will be great, but will the performances? The movie is carried by Remi Mallack who plays Mercury, and besides looking like him enough, I'm not sure how it's going to go. It's a good time for Mallack to step up and make a name for himself as a big movie actor. 

NOV 9: Overlord /  The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

A WWII movie that looks like Wolfenstein and zombies from Call of Duty in the form of a movie. From JJ Abrams studio, this movie looks like a crazy good time if done right. It looks to follow a group of soldiers who stumble upon a Nazi facility where they are experimenting with humans to form a new breed of soldier/monsters. 

On the other side of things is the Disney's new take on the Nutcracker, which looks awful. Very strange this isn't coming out closer to Christmas, but I guess Mary Poppins is more important than this one. This entire movie is basically CG, with actors running around a green screen. I'm still very curious to see how much this movie makes and if it will be a big loss for Disney, who doesn't seem to take very many hits these days with its box office numbers. 

NOV 16: Fantastic Beasts II

The first Fantastic Beasts movie was pretty mixed among Potter fans. I enjoyed watching it and I am glad to be able to go back into the world of Harry Potter anytime. The characters were interesting enough and introducing young Dumbledore could be really fun if done right. Hopefully the movie focuses a little more on the beasts than last time though, and hopefully, Johnny Depp doesn't ruin this movie like he keeps doing these days. 

THANKSGIVING: CREED 2 / Wreck-It-Ralph 2

A week of two big sequels to two fantastic movies. Creed looks to up the stakes from the first movie by having Adonis face off against the son of the man who killed his father. With Stallone and Lundgren returning to play their iconic roles, this has the potential to be really great. 

Ralph, on the other hand, worries me a little. The first trailer was off-putting but the second trailer looked a lot better. Odds are it won't have the same charm the first one did, especially introducing the concept of the internet into the world. Trailers aren't always reflective of the final product though, so my hopes are still high.

DEC 14: Mortal Engines

From the makes of all of dem' Lord of the Rings/Hobbit movies comes this...thing? Judging from the trailers I have no idea what to make of this movie. It's a weird mix of fantasy/sci-fi/steampunk elements taking place in a world where the city of London is a robot that moves? Featuring a cast of mostly nobodies and Hugo Weaving. The question going into this isn't if it's going to be good or nor, but how much money is this going to lose.

DEC 21: Mary Poppins, Alita- Battle Angel, Aquaman, Bumblebee, Holmes & Watson, Star Wars Episode XII, Avengers 5, Blade Runner 2059, Clifford the Big Red Dog

I think I'll just stay home this week. 

Read More

Crazy Rich Asians

It's been a while since I've reviewed a new release, and I'm glad to be back for this one. The main reason I haven't been able to review is that of Moviepass not allowing me to see new movies anymore and only really have two movies available to watch at random times I can't go. So I canceled that. I was actually really excited about this movie for some reason though. It seems like an important movie for Hollywood and big-budget films in general. An all Asian cast in a movie that centers around a Chinese family and it's a romantic comedy too. I guess in the past, Hollywood hasn't done a good job at putting Asian people in leading roles like this, let alone cast a whole romantic movie with them. This alone makes the movie a good step for big budget movies like this and it's good to see things moving forward like this. Of course, that alone doesn't mean that the movie was good or not, that depends on the execution. Luckily, the execution was almost flawless.

Crazy Rich Asians is a great romantic comedy because it gets several things right. Of course, the most important thing is the main couple and what kind of chemistry they have. The two leads, Constance Wu and Henry Golding, have great chemistry and are the kind of couple you root for throughout the movie. The story follows both of them as they have been going out for over a year, and Nick Young (Golding) wants to take Rachel Chu (Wu) to Singapore to meet his family and attend his best friend's wedding. What Rachel doesn't know is that Nick Young's family are the richest and most powerful family in Singapore and are basically royalty. This worries Rachel even though she's found great success in her life as an economics professor, she's not sure how she will measure up to the Young family. It's also shown very early in the movie that Nick's mom is a very very traditional Chinese woman. But, of course, that's just the beginning of Rachel's problems.

This was one of the biggest surprises of the year for me, I was not expecting to love this movie as much as I did. The great characters and performances, the great visuals, the funny and charming writing and the unique atmosphere really captured my attention for the entire run-time. I found myself laughing a lot and really caring about what happens to the lead characters. All the locations visited in Singapore look amazing, as I'm sure they do in real life and help you understand just how rich the Young family really is. Mix that with the use of Chinese culture in story and visuals and you get a really unique setting for this kind of movie.

While there are some romantic comedy tropes in this movie, it's all mostly done very well. There are a few things here and there that didn't feel entirely necessary to the story (no spoilers), but it's very very little and doesn't take away from the overall quality much. It's all just a good time from start to finish with some great laughs and good emotional moments. The title of the movie doesn't lie and it's very appropriate, it's definitely worth a watch in theatres. One of the best romantic comedies I've had the pleasure of watching in quite some time. Hopefully, this opens the door for more diversity in Hollywood and different takes on classic genres.

Overall Grade: A-

Read More

Favorite Movies Volume I

There are so many movies in existence that it's honestly hard to even keep up with the new ones that are being released this year without making it a full-time job. Not to mention the thousands and thousands of movies that I hear about and still need to watch. There are amazing movies out there that I don't even know exist and have been out for many decades. That doesn't stop me from looking for that rush of seeing something amazing and new, and there's plenty of that to find out there. Movies offer so many different experiences, whether that be a great love story, epic battles, iconic characters or grand adventures. So today I want to highlight some of those movies that gave those amazing experiences over and over again with every watch. Movies that grew my love of film and stuck with me way after the credits rolled. I haven't had a chance to keep up with the current releases so I thought it would be a good time to look back and see why I started doing this in the first place.

These movies aren't in any real order, but just a list of movies that I love and am currently thinking about. I also tried to include movies of several different genres just to keep things different. No Spoilers!

Jurassic Park

I guess it wouldn't be right for me to start this off with any other movie than Jurassic Park. This is one of those movies that I think everyone can agree with in saying it's a masterpiece. It's probably the movie I've seen the most, as I've literally been watching it since I was a tiny little boy. As I grew, my love for this movie grew too. The things I loved when I was young are still there, the amazing visuals and dinosaurs, but also so much more than that. The actors all do an amazing job portraying their characters and the writing is so great. The way everything is presented and the story slowly unfolds just works so well. The unforgettable scene where the T-Rex makes his debut on the rainy road as they teased him throughout the movie. The great dialog about the ethics of bringing extinct creatures back to life and opening a theme park with them. It's all perfect and it makes a film that will stay with you the rest of your life. Every part of this movie works and it works fantastically. That's why it will always be probably the most important film in my life and one that I will always love. Oh and John Williams' score brings a tear to my eye. 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Whenever I'm thinking about my favorite movies this one always pops into my head pretty quickly. It's not a movie I grew up watching, but I've seen it enough times that it certainly feels that way. It's a film that really takes you through a rollercoaster of emotions along the main character. The story of how an awkward/shy teen in high school named Charlie meets a group of kids that invite him into their circle. There we see Charlie grow and change into a new person as he finds a place where he really feels like he belongs, but not without some pain along the way. The movie brings this perfect balance of believability and absurdity that really works well and makes for a very memorable cast of characters. As far as High School movies go, this is one of my favorites.

Inglourious Basterds

Can't have a list like this without putting at least one Tarantino film. I've never really been a huge fan of WWII movies myself, but this is one giant exception. This movie isn't exactly factual in any way when it comes to WWII and how it went down, but that doesn't stop it from being one of the best movies ever made. From one of the best opening scenes in any movie to one of the most surprising endings I never saw coming, it's truly a masterpiece. Every cast member knocks it out of the park and I'm sure the great script does a lot to help. There are so many iconic scenes full of tension, laughs and memorable lines. Also one of the best villains in a movie played by Christoph Waltz, who was so much fun to hate. When it comes to Tarantino films, this one is still my favorite.

LotR: The Fellowship of the Ring

I always have this debate about whether fantasy or sci-fi movies honestly it's hard to choose since there are so many great films in both categories. When it comes to fantasy there's not much that stands up against the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Fellowship of the Ring was the one that started it all, and it had a lot to accomplish as the first movie in a series of three. This movie lived up to expectation and it also blew past any expectation going into it. The world of Middle-Earth was established about as perfect as it could be in this one movie and only made everyone even movie excited to see the next movie. Every character was perfectly cast and done justice. The visuals and locations felt epic and unlike anything else in film at the time. Seeing the Orcs, Elves, Hobbits, and Dwarves of Middle-Earth for the very first time were amazing. Even almost two decades later and there hasn't been anything to match this movie in the high fantasy genre. It set the bar so high, even it's own prequels in the "Hobbit" didn't stand a chance to be as good. PO-TA-TOES... wait that's the second one.

Ex Machina

It seems like these AI/robot sci-fi movies are a dime a dozen these days, but none of them have hit me as hard as Ex Machina. That's probably because of the amazing performances by actors that I have grown to love but did not know when I first watched this movie. Oscar Isaac, Alicia Vikander, and Domhnall Gleeson all showed up and gave performances that I won't be forgetting anytime soon. The great performances lead to some truly gripping moments that freaked me out about whatever the future is and I'm glad I won't be around when robots truly become a thing (maybe?). If you're into the idea of robots that are way too lifelike then this movie is for you.

Singin' in the Rain

Movie musicals are usually hit or miss for me. Singin' in the Rain though, was much more than just a hit. It's one of those movies that I get lots and lots of joy from watching. The music is amazing for one, but you kind of expect that in a musical. The story is actually very clever and hilarious, and all the actors come off as very charismatic and/or hilarious. What I love the most though is the amazing choreography on all the musical numbers. Gene Kelly, Debby Reynolds and Donald O'Connor (among all the extras and such) are so memorable in their performances. I love the old Hollywood feel this movie has, it really takes me back to a time I wasn't even born yet. When it comes to movie musicals, I don't think anything compares.

Princess Mononoke

This was the first full-length anime movie I ever saw, and also the first animated movie that wasn't a kids film. It was an awesome experience watching an animated movie with blood, violence and serious topics. Of course, I was too young to really understand it all completely, but watching it now I really get to appreciate every little bit of this movie. Miyazaki created this amazing story and world with lots of great action and topics that can relate to our own world. The film explores man's relationship with nature and how they are in conflict because of man's destructive nature, you know like building another shopping center and cutting down all the trees...except the movie takes place in the 14th century so not quite that. Still, this movie holds up amazingly well, thanks to the highly detailed hand-drawn animation and great voice acting by some well-known actors. Yep, there are some amazing animated movies out there that aren't just for kids and this is a great place to start. 

Whiplash

How much are you willing to give up to become the best at something? That's what this movie asks as it follows young Andrew in his quest to become one of the next great jazz drummers. It's a movie that just builds little by little like a crescendo if you will. Andrew's struggle to make it to the next level keeps taking pieces of his life outside of drumming away as he deals with an instructor who only takes perfection and nothing more. This builds to one of the most satisfying endings in recent memory and one that I always get very excited to see. 

Scott Pilgrim VS the World

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is the kind of movie that I would have made... if I knew anything about making movies anyway. There's nothing like this movie out there, and it took what could have been an awful adaptation of a graphic novel and made it into something that worked far better than it had any right to. It does it's own thing while still paying much respect to the source material. It's got great humor, visuals, and music. It's got lots of fun and memorable characters. It's the kind of movie that I can watch anytime and not feel bored. Oh and also, Ramona Flowers.

Well, I guess that's it for this post, though there are still at least 100 more that should be on this list but will probably be on some future list that I may or may not write. So if you see a movie that you know I love or that everyone is supposed to love... it's probably gonna be on one of the next lists. PROBABLY.

Read More

Incredibles 2

Legendary animation studio Pixar is back along with Brad Bird to bring us the much-awaited sequel to the beloved Incredibles. Back in 2004, The Incredibles was a great movie about a superhero family and the struggle to live in a world where being a superhero is illegal. This sequel picks up instantly after the first and picks continues the story of the conflict between the government and heroes. The world still finds heroes to be dangerous and destructive to society, but one man wants to change all that and bring heroes out of hiding. Winston Deavor is a super-rich businessman who along with his tech-savvy sister want to elect the help of Elastigirl to change the way the world views heroes. This leaves Mr. Incredible to stay at home and watch the kids, something he was never used to. 

For me, Pixar sequels seem to be hit or miss and rarely better than the original. Honestly, the only ones that HAVE been better than the original are the Toy Story movies. Incredibles 2 was one of the only Pixar sequels that I was actually looking forward to because it was the one that made the most sense to continue. There was more potential for stories, growing characters, new heroes and villains, and conflicts. 

The biggest improvement here is, of course, the animation since it's been over a decade. You're getting that Pixar quality animation here with great movement, effects, environments, textures, details and so much more. The one thing you can always bet when you watch a new Pixar movie is that the visuals are going to be the best for computer animation, and this is no different. The movie also features a great musical score, much like the first, that elevates every scene. I'm always impressed by how much detail is put into every Pixar movie, but that's what makes them the best animation studio in my opinion. Really, Pixar almost never fails in the visuals and music department and it's usually in the story and writing that it can sometimes fail. 

So how is the story? Well, I thought it was almost as good as the first one. It's hard not to compare it to the original, but I think that's okay to do since this is a sequel... one that's more than a decade after it's predecessor. As I said before the story takes place immediately after the first one and does a good job of adding new stakes and building the characters a little more. The amazing voice cast returns with some new additions that all work very well and feel like they haven't lost a beat. The story itself is very predictable and I think most people will know exactly what's going to happen pretty early on in the movie. Of course, this is a movie that's aimed at kids, so they probably won't be able to predict it like older audiences will. Still, even being predictable, it's still a really fun movie to watch full of great action scenes and good family comedy. The villain in the movie is nowhere near as compelling as Syndrome from the first movie, but still has an understandable motive for doing evil things. The emotional moments also don't hit as hard in this movie, but there are still some moments that hit at least. 

Overall this was a worthy sequel to the great original movie. It didn't feel forced or out of place but instead felt like a welcome return. It was great to see the return of great characters and to see them in a new light thanks to all the advancements in animation technology over the last decade. It does a good job at playing off of the world created in the first movie and further building on it. While it falls short of the original, it's not by much and it's one of the best Pixar sequels made at this point. If you loved/liked the first then you'll definitely enjoy this one.

Overall Grade: B+

On a side note, they showed the new Wreck-it Ralph trailer before the movie. Am I wrong in thinking that it looks like it's going to be pretty bad? Hopefully, it's just a bad trailer...

Read More

Hereditary

Hereditary is the lastest movie by A24 studios and newcomer director Ari Aster. A24 has quickly become a studio that I look out for every year for new great original movies. They've helped bring out great movies like Lady Bird, Ex Machina, Disaster Artist, Moonlight and so much more. Hereditary is a horror movie centered around the Graham family. When Annie's (Toni Collette) mother passes away she is left to deal with her mixed feelings about her mother. There was a lot about her mother that she didn't know and her passing begins a series of events that will make her question everything. Really that's all I can say without spoiling anything and if you are going to watch this movie it's probably better that you know little to nothing about the story.

Now I myself have never really been into horror, but since I'm been doing these reviews I thought it would be good to step into something new. What I got was a really well made horror movie that did what it was supposed to do: scare me. It does a great job at slowly building the tension and horror and it takes a little while to get started, but once it does it just keeps getting more intense every minute. The movie is really nice to look at and everything is presented very well. My favorite thing about it was that it didn't resort to jump scares in order to scare me or make me uncomfortable. Instead it uses the atmoshphere, acting and situations the characters are facing to make me really uncomfortable in a way that it's trying to do. The way things just keep building and building just work so well that by the end of the movie I kind of just wanted it to end so I can go back to feeling comfortable.

The acting was really awesome though and it really helped make every scene that much better when the cast is acting their butts off. Toni Collette, Milly Shapiro, Alex Wolff, Grabriel Byrne and Ann Dowd all do a great job at playing their characters and making the story work. Because of them you really believe what's happening is real and the way they react makes it that much scarier and meaningful. Really the only thing I wasn't a big fan of was the ending, but I can't really get into that without ruining the movie. There are still many scenes that I think I will remember for a while though, because of how effective they were (in a good way).

Despite the ending though, I thought this was a great horror movie that didn't feel cheap in it's scares. It earns every moment of uneasyness that I felt with good storytelling and acting and great visuals. I don't regret giving this movie a chance because I had a good time watching it...as good of a time one could have being tense and unsettled throughout a whole movie. If you are a fan of horror this is definitely something you should see for yourself. It definitely opened my mind to watching more horror movies in the future.

Overall Grade: B+

Read More

Upgrade

Upgrade is the new movie from Blumhouse and director Leigh Whannell starring Logan Marshall-Green. The movie takes place in the near future where technology has advanced to new heights where AI is integrated into almost everything we do. Mashall Green plays a man named Grey Trace who is a more old-school man who doesn't really fully understand or appreciate technology like his wife does. While running an errand with his wife one night, they are both attacked by a mysterious group of men and Grey is left paralyzed for the rest of his life and his wife is murdered. This leads the creator of a tech company to offer Grey the ability to test his new project called STEM, which would give him the ability to walk move his arms again. What Grey doesn't know is that the STEM implant on his body will actually do more than just make his walk again, it will make him stronger than most humans. This leads Grey to seek revenge on the ones who attacked him and murdered his wife.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie, but the concept was very intriguing. I'm always up for a good sci-fi movie about futuristic technology and how it can affect our lives. This movie does a really good job of showing a world that is very plausible in our future while still seeming like it's somewhat far off from where we are currently at. Most of the tech in the movie is similar to things we are already toying and experimenting with like AI that can control a house and a car (Alexa and Siri) just way more advanced. It was presented in a believable way though, which was necessary to make the movie more impactful. It uses the tech to create a story that is kind of scary to think about the fact that it could happen one day. That was probably my favorite thing about this movie and it was really interesting.

Besides the interesting tech, there's a pretty gritty story here with lots of violence that was presented well. Some well-crafted action/fight scenes and some pretty creepy moments that worked with the character. I was reminded a lot of Robocop and the recent Dredd reboot from a few years ago, it has that sort of dark violence that was done really well in that movie. It's all presented well and the story moves along at a good pace, never really having a dull moment. I really liked Marshall-Green's performance in this movie, since he is the main focus of the movie it was good to have him as the main actor because he did a really good job. The rest of the side characters did well too for the time that they had on screen and kept the story interesting.

This is a lower budget film, but it really looks like they used every penny wisely to make a solid film worth watching. Behind all the violent action and crazy fights, there's an interesting story about technology and the potential it has in our world. It really makes you wonder how far we can go with it in our lives and how it will be used for good or for bad. This movie had me entertained the whole way through and if you're a fan of darker sci-fi movies like Dredd and RoboCop I think you'll definitely like this one. It's a good mix of that crazy violence with an interesting look at our current/future world.

Overall Grade: B+

Read More

Deadpool 2: The Second One

The first Deadpool movie was one that was never really supposed to happen. It wasn't until the leaked test footage of the now famous car chase scene from the first movie that the movie was officially greenlit. After a record-breaking release in 2016, there was no doubt we would be seeing more Deadpool in the future. Now it's 2018 and we just saw another huge release in Deadpool 2. To think the studio didn't even want to release these movies at one point...

So the first movie was a surprise that a lot of people never saw coming. The first time Deadpool was in a movie they completely ruined him pissed off a lot of fans. There was also the fact that the movie was rated-R and Ryan Reynolds just came off a really bad Green Lantern movie. Despite all of that the movie was a huge hit financially and critically and eventually led to one of the best comic book movie ever made (in my opinion) in Logan. With the surprise factor gone and audiences now knowing more of what to expect, can Deadpool 2 live up to the hype and expectations?

I'll start right off by saying, I did not love this movie. Not to say that it was bad, because it was actually very very good, but it just didn't draw me in like the first one did. Maybe that's because of the aforementioned surprise factor being gone or maybe that the overall movie wasn't as strong as it's predecessor. The jokes are a little more hit and miss than the first movie, though I still found myself laughing or at least chuckling at most of them. There's a lot of references that you'll either get or not understand, but that's to be expected. I'll say that the writing is still as wonderful as it was the first time around and Ryan Reynolds is still amazing as Deadpool. The two new characters Cable and Domino (Josh Brolin and Zazie Beetz (yeah, I know)) are also done fantastically.

The story picks up after the first Deadpool and revolves around Deadpool himself trying to save the life of a young orphan boy named Russell. A soldier from the future has arrived in the present day to kill Russell and prevent future tragedy. Deadpool must go against the soldier named "Cable" by assembling a new team to keep Russell safe. The story pretty much plays out exactly how you would think it does, with some good laughs and even a surprise or two along the way. Special shout-out to the after the credits scenes for being probably the best after-credit scenes ever.

The action in this movie is definitely taken up a notch from the first movie. Lots of great fight scenes and flips and tricks with much better effects. The effects still have some really noticeable rough spots here and there, but still an improvement. It's all very fast-paced, but still very watchable and filmed well. As mentioned before, Cable and Domino are two great additions to the series and I can't wait to see more of them in the X-Men universe. Domino has really fun action sequences that I won't spoil if you haven't seen them yet.

Overall Deadpool 2 is a very fun time that goes by really fast. The few things that I didn't like are incredibly overshadowed by all the things it does right (which is almost everything). As I mentioned before, I still like the first one more, but it's actually almost neck and neck I think. Maybe after I get to watch it again my opinion will change, but time will tell. I loved all the characters in this movie and I'm incredibly excited to see more of them and hope that they keep improving like they did here. Because honestly, this is the kind of movie that is really needed in the world that we live in today, that is to say, a world where comic movies dominate the box office. 

Overall Grade: B+

Read More

Ready Player One / Isle of Dogs

READY PLAYER ONE

One of my most anticipated movies of the year is finally here in Ready Player One. Based on the pop culture hit book by Ernest Cline and directed to the big screen by Steven Spielberg with the author himself helping adapt it. The movie takes place in the future and follows a poor boy named Wade Watts living in the futuristic slums called "The Stacks". The movie takes place in the 2040's where the most of the world spends their days in a virtual video game known as the Oasis, created by a genius nerd named James Halliday. After Halliday's death, he announced that he hid an easter egg in his game, and the only way to get to it was by completing three challenges that give you three keys. The first person to get the keys and reach the egg will be awarded control of the entire Oasis system. An evil corporation (IOI) that basically controls the real world is gunning for the egg to also control the virtual world of the Oasis, but Wade Watts and some new friends he makes stand in his way to what would be world domination. Wade Watts basically worships Halliday and everything he has ever done, so he'll do everything in his power to stop IOI from winning.

There's a lot to like in this movie, but it's not without its flaws. The main thing the movie did well though, were the visuals in the actual oasis. The movie was great to look at, it really felt like I was watching a futuristic video game come to life. The action and the characters all looked great and kept me excited to see what would come next. The movie features an endless amount of references and cameos from pop culture, it's impossible to catch them all. Lots of video game, movie and tv characters pop up throughout the movie and made me excited as a fan of lots of pop culture. It reminded me of Wreck-It Ralph in the way I was constantly looking around and trying to spot all the pop culture characters that appeared for a split second. That made the movie fun, but I'm not sure how that would affect the movie on second or third viewings. Yeah, it was cool to see it all, but there's gotta be more than that to make a good movie. Once the surprise factor is gone from seeing my favorite pop culture characters, would the rest of the movie hold up? I think it would, but I also think that it won't be as fun and exciting as the first watch.

The story itself is actually good though and taking away all the reference catching I was talking about previously, I think it's still worth watching on its own. There are lots of fun mystery solving and action scenes that the story never really drags or feels boring. The climax of the movie, in particular, is epic and fun with lots of crazy moments that I'll remember. There are some weaker moments that I could look past and still enjoy the movie. The characters aren't all done very well, some feeling weaker than others. There's a romance in the movie that feels a bit rushed and forced. Also, two characters are kind of just thrown into the story halfway through the movie without much explanation. It kind of makes sense though since this is only a two-hour movie with lots of events that need to happen before the end. It's understandable that there isn't enough time to put into every character and relationship, but it does kind of hurt the story. It's turning a 17-hour story into a two-hour movie, so changes had to be made. The movie is actually incredibly different than the book, but I actually liked that fact about the movie. It had it's own twists and turns that I found very fun, really my biggest disappointment is that the characters didn't all feel as fleshed out.

This is a great blockbuster movie overall, and it was the most fun I've had watching a movie so far this year. You'll get great visuals, action, some laughs, some interesting characters (and some not), a cool setting and an interesting story.

Though now that I'm posting this review late, the new Avengers movie just came out. This movie will probably be forgotten quickly with the rush of summer blockbusters coming in the coming weeks. I still recommend giving it a shot before it leaves, it's a movie worth watching in the theaters.

Overall Grade: B

ISLE OF DOGS

The second stop-motion animation from director Wes Anderson (the first being Fantastic Mr. Fox) finally came out on a wide release a few weeks ago. I was really excited for this movie for two reasons, one being that I love stop-animation and the other being my love for Fantastic Mr. Fox. This movie takes that style from Fantastic Mr. Fox and puts in on a grander scale. The movie takes place in a fictional city in Japan, where the population of dogs are all becoming sick with many symptoms. This leads to the city to getting rid of the entire dog population and putting them all on a giant trash island off the coast of the city. A 12-year-old boy named Atari was one of the people who had their dogs taken away from him. He decides to set off to the island in hopes to find his lost best friend. There he meets a pack of dogs that decide to help him travel through the island and search for his friend. 

From a visual standpoint, this movie is one of the best stop-motion movies I've ever seen. It feels incredibly detailed with every motion, character, and location. The sets are beautifully crafted and all the scenes are shot beautifully. I found myself just staring at the screen in delight the entire movie because of how great the movie was crafted. It's that special feeling that only stop-motion can give you with movies like Kubo, Coraline and Mary and Max can give you. A great sense of joy just from the visuals. 

That being said, I didn't enjoy this movie as much as those previously mentioned movies including Anderson's own, Fantastic Mr. Fox. The story was enjoyable enough, but I felt like it was missing something. I'm not even sure how to explain it well, but I think it has to do with the characters and how the story is presented. I never really felt connected to most of the characters in any way, except for the fact that they are dogs, and dogs are great. I guess I just felt a little bored at times with the story and how it progressed. There are still lots of good moments throughout the movie and overall I still liked the movie. This movie is still funny and the characters can be really charming at times. The voice acting is great and features a huge cast of all-stars who all do a really good job. It still has those weird moments that you'd expect from a Wes Anderson movie (if you've seen some then you know what I mean). 

Just a few drawbacks from the presentation of the story and some strange character moments don't stop this movie from being really entertaining. There are lots of laughs and some good emotional moments throughout the movie. The visuals and animation and the detail that went into them are what take this movie to another level. Like I said, it's a beautiful movie to watch and I find it super fascinating and it fills me with joy to see something like this on the big screen. If you are a fan of either Wes Anderson or stop-motion animation (or animation in general) then this movie is a must see. Just be ready for a little weirdness. 

Overall Grade: B-

Read More

Pacific Rim: Uprising

The sequel to the Guillermo Del Toro directed 2013 movie, Pacific Rim, was one that I wasn't exactly too excited about. For one, Del Toro wasn't returning to direct and the movie would be lead by an entirely new cast. Even with the addition of John Boyega as the leading man, the trailers didn't do much to sell me, so it's fair to say I went in with low expectations. The movie picks up 10 years after the original, with the son of Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba's character in the first movie) named Jake living in a world without the Kaiju. He spends his life stealing parts from old Jaeger machines to sell to the black market to fund his party life. When looking for a part to steal from an old broken down Jaeger, the deal goes south and Jake is caught. He's forced to return to the place where his father was stationed before he died. Jake must help teach the young recruits how to pilot the Jaegers, but things don't go as planned as an old threat is planning its return sooner than expected.

So this is the third movie in a row that features a story about a young prodigy that lost their father at a young age and decide to squander all their potential because of not being able to move on with their lives. Wrinkle In Time, Tomb Raider and now this movie all have the same character arcs in them for the leads. I'm sure it wasn't planned to be that way, but it's kind of funny to see this story being told to death this month. Uprising is just as predictable as those other two movies as well, at least in terms of character arcs. This movie wasn't bad though, it was actually decently enjoyable.

The main problem with this movie for me was the lack of any interesting characters. The lead Jake Pentecost is actually pretty interesting at first, but as the movie goes on his character never really builds on the interest that I had at first. The rest of the characters are all pretty generic and unmemorable, I forgot most of them a few hours after the movie. The movie doesn't do much to build on any of the characters past their generic personalities. To the point that I don't even really care what happens to them when they are put in danger. They also attempt a lot of humor early on in the movie and most it didn't really work for me, it felt like it was trying too hard to have that Marvel style comedy. None of the characters had enough charisma to pull it off, or maybe the timing just wasn't right.

Really the only thing that saves this movie is the epic battles with the cool Kaijus Vs Jaeger concept. It never really gets old watching some cool robots and monsters using weapons and destroying cities in battle, at least not when it looks as great as this movie. The visuals during the fights are still really fun and exciting, even though the characters don't feel that important. The designs for the Kaiju and Jaegers are also as cool as they were in the first one for the most part.

If you're looking for some chaotic action with lots of destruction and robots fighting giant monsters, then you'll probably still get enjoyment out of this movie. Don't expect a compelling story and characters that will stick with you. Everything here is passable, nothing was really terrible but also nothing was more than just okay. I'd probably say just watch the first one again if you really want to see giants fighting each other, but there might be enough in Uprising to at least watch once.

Overall Grade: C

Read More

Billboard Top 10 Week of March 24: Marvel Music Universe

2018 is going at full speed as we are already in spring and almost 4 months in. One thing that doesn't seem to be going full speed though is the music charts, as things don't seem to change in the way that I wish they would. The top three songs seem to be glued onto the charts and haven't changed much in months at this point, while some of those three have gone up and down, they've maintained their spot at least on the top 10. The rest of the charts is pretty unexciting, as the newcomers are artists that have been playing it safe for years now, or just don't bring anything fresh to the table. It seems that pop music is still in need of some kind of shot to the arm to shake things up a bit. Lots of big artists seem to be failing at reaching the higher part of the charts with new big releases, Justin Timberlake the latest big name to drop a huge album only to get mostly negative reactions. This seems like the perfect time for new artists to step up and bring something fresh and new, possibly make a mainstream name for themselves. Artists like Dua Lipa, XXXTentacion, and Bebe Rexha are trying to get their names out there, but don't have a strong body of work outside of their current singles (which aren't that great either).  Here's a quick look at the top songs of the week:

1. Drake - God's Plan

Drake has taken his spot back as the number one streamed at the moment with his new song God's Plan. He and Ed Sheeran are battling it out for the top spot, but since Ed Sheeran's album has already been out for a year and Drake just released two singles recently, it helps boost Drake enough to beat him out for now. God's Plan is another song where Drake seems to complain about how much negative attention he's getting from conflicts and "haters" and also brag about how influential he is. The song is as boring as any of his other recent hits and doesn't really get me excited about anything else Drake might drop in the future. Of course, it doesn't matter what I feel because whatever Drake releases will get eaten up by the radio and streaming.

2. Ed Sheeran - Perfect

There are few pop songs that really stand the test of time for me. Songs that I really like when I first listen to them and continue to like even years after it's relevant. This song is not one of those. While at first, I enjoyed the song for its simple charm, I've grown tired of it at this point. It's strange to think that a song I really wanted to hate like Shape of You is still a song I can enjoy and a song that I wanted to enjoy like Perfect just bores me now.

3. Bruno Mars - Finesse (W/ Cardi B)

Yep, still fun. 

4. Bebe Rexha/FL-GA Line - Meant to Be

Another boring song by Florida Georgia Line and whoever Bebe Rexha is. This is supposed to be Bebe's song but honestly, I don't see the difference between her and the usual FL-GA Line song. Boring lyrics, boring music, boring vocals and just not worth listening more than once. This song just offers a bunch of cliches that any living adult has already heard 100s of times in music and other media. The sad part is that it took four people to write this song. FOUR people. This is what the music industry gives us with four paid writers. I'm in the wrong line of work.

5. Post Malone - Psycho (W/ Ty Dolla Sign $$$$$$$$)

Living meme Post Malone returns with another giant selling single with Psycho. While Rockstar was enjoyable for a few listens before it got old, Psycho was bad right from the first listen. Another brag rap song with generic lyrics you'd expect from this kind of song these days. I can barely tell the difference between Malone and Ty Dolla because they have such similar styles. I'm quickly starting to lose interest in Post Malone as an artist, though I find him to be an interesting person. I guess an interesting personality doesn't always transfer to good music. Hopefully, his next single will show more effort.

6. Zedd - The Middle (W/ Grey and Maren Morris)

Continuing with the boring music comes the new single by Zedd with Maren Morris. I've never really paid too much attention to Zedd, but he has a decent song with Selena Gomez recently... no wait, that was Kygo. I'm not really too familiar with this genre, though I do really like similar artists like Martin Solveig, Madeon and Michael Calfan. This (Zedd) doesn't offer as much excitement and great music like those other artists. The vocals are fine, but the music doesn't isn't good enough to carry the song into more than just being okay. It sounds more like something The Chainsmokers would make, which is not a compliment. 

7. Camilla Cabello - Havana (W/ Young Thug)

As I said 3 months ago (because this song has been on the top 10 the whole year), I like the idea of this song. The problem is just the execution and the terrible guest verse by Young Thug. Adding Young Thug to any song instantly makes it worse, I actually tried to turn on the subtitles and forgot that I was listening to music. Looking up the lyrics though it turns out he was just talking about sleeping with a sex worker or a stripper or something... that makes sense and totally fits with the song. This song has nothing to do with Havana. 

8. The Weeknd/Kendrick Lamar - Pray For Me

Black Panther is not only killing it at the box office but also in the music charts with two big songs from the Black Panther album. In this song, two giants team up (Kenrick and Weeknd) to bring a good song with some good lyrics. Weeknd takes care of the hook and the opening verse and Kendrick takes the second verse. The song is about the burden that the hero has to take on while he tries to save the world (like Black Panther). It's a theme that Kendrick touched upon his last album a lot, so it was cool to see it come back up. I really liked this song, both artists provided great work to the song, with good music and lyrics to elevate their talent.

9. BlocBoy JB - Look Alive (W/ Drake)

Nice to see Drake saving his best work for a guest spot on BlocBoy JB's song here. I'm still pretty tired of hearing these trap beats in the top of the charts, it's getting pretty boring. At least this one has some good energy, even from Drake who's been pretty boring in his last few releases. It's not something I will listen to often, but I can see why someone would like this. It's one of the better ones I've heard recently.

10. Sza & Kendrick Lamar - All The Stars

Nice to see Sza getting some attention in the charts, even better is it also has Kendrick attached to it. Sza is so great and I really enjoy her music, the chorus here is extremely catchy and memorable. The song pretty much follows the same format as Pray For Me, with Sza taking the hook and the second verse with Kendrick taking the first verse. I can pretty much say the same about this song that I said about Pray For Me. I like this song better though because I enjoy Sza way more than I ever enjoyed The Weeknd, and the chorus just feels more powerful and memorable as I said. If you haven't checked out the Black Panther album, I recommend giving it a listen. 

Read More