Oscars 2017

OSCAR PREDICTIONS

http://oscar.go.com/nominees

Best Picture

Who I WANT to win: All the nominees this year are all great choices for the most part, though some good movies might be missing. I don't think it will be disappointing to see any of these win, but I still hope for Manchester By The Sea to take it since it was my favorite out of all of them and if La La Land wins like it probably will, I'll be just as happy.

Who I think WILL win: Seems like all signs are pointing strongly to La La Land winning this one. It's the obvious choice, but I think I would want to take a risk and go with the film Moonlight to take this one for this year. I'd rather have the more happy and musical La La Land win, but I just feel like the academy will go for the more serious and important movie over the fun Hollywood movie. I'm probably wrong here, but it's worth a risk. 

Best Lead Actor

Who I WANT to win: I really hope Casey Affleck wins the Oscar here, I really loved watching him in Manchester and thought it was a really fantastic performance. On the other hand, Viggo Mortensen is another choice that I would be really happy to see win, as his role in Captain Fantastic came out of nowhere and it was also... fantastic. 

Who I think WILL win: This one feels tough, but I think I can rule out Gosling from winning. I'm sticking with the favorite for this category and picking Affleck to win. 

Best Lead Actress

Who I Want to win: How surprising to see another nomination for Meryl Streep, she never gets those. This year I think is Emma Stone's year and not only do I want her to win, but I think she will be the one to take it this year. Though I might just be saying that because I haven't seen any of the other movies in this category, Emma Stone was really great in La La Land and was the best part of that movie.

Best Supporting Actor

Who I Want to win:  Mahershala Ali seems to be the standout here for me and I would really like him to win. 

Who I Think WILL win: Mahershala Ali will take it home for Moonlight, it's possible that Jeff Bridges might sneak up and win, but i'm sticking with Ali.

Best Supporting Actress

Who I want and Who WILL win: I really think that Michelle Williams' performance in Manchester By the Sea was the best out of all of these, even though all of them were great. She's my pick to win it and I also want her to win cause she was powerful in what little time she spent in the film.

Animated 

Who I want to win: I was surprised to not see Finding Dory nominated this year, but I think it's the right choice. There were far better movies and most of these are worthy of being on this list. I would have liked The Boy and the Beast to be here over The Red Turtle, but I think it doesn't matter in the long run because this fight is between Zootoia and Kubo. Of course I loved both, but I have to cheer on Kubo as it was my favorite of the year in animation. 

Who I think WILL win: I'm going to go with my heart and choose Kubo, as the animation and storytelling felt very unique and mature. Even though Zootopia has a better chance with it's more topical message, I still think Kubo will somehow win. Please win.

Director

For this one, it's pretty simple... I want and I think Damien Chazelle will win for La La Land. The only other choice I think could take it is Barry Jenkins for moonlight. It could go either way really - but i'm sticking with La La Land because of the Hollywood story and the performances and music. 

The Other Awards

Going into the more backstage awards I'll just put my winner prediction,

Cinematography: Moonlight

Costume Design: La La Land

Documentary: 13th

Short Documentary: Extremis

Editing: Moonlight

Foreign: Man Called Ove

Makeup: Man Called Ove (I hope)

Music: La La Land 

Original Song: Audition w/ Emma Stone

Production Design: La La Land

Short Animated: Piper

Short Live Action: La Femme

Sound Edit: Arrival

Sound Mix: La La Land

Visual Effects: Doctor Strange

Writing: Fences

Writing Original: Manchester By The Sea

So those are my predictions for this year, and I'm sure most will be wrong BUT it's fun to take a guess and see where it goes. Either way, lots of great movies nominated this year (except Deadpool for some reason) and I'll have fun watching these be given out. 

John Wick Chapter 2

John Wick Chapter 2

Now that January is finally over and the more interesting movies are starting to release every other week, I hope to start reviewing more movies again and I want to try to keep up with new releases at least once a week if possible. To sum up the month of January that I missed: sequels no one wanted, horror movies no one wanted and one good movie in Split. So the first big movie of the year I saw was John Wick Chapter 2, a movie a was pretty excited for considering how surprisingly good the first one ended up being. I've always been a fan of Keanu Reeves, especially as an action star he seems to really work hard on his acting and stunt work. So we return to the dark and underground world of the legend known as John Wick.

John Wick Chapter 2 is not too different from the first, but I think that was really what it needed to be. Reeves is great as the character of John Wick and it was great to see more of him and follow along his new struggles. The film does a good job at making you believe that John is this really big threat and that he is one of the best, if not the best at what he does (or did). The action sequences are all fun to watch and the fighting and choreography done in the film are all really cool looking. When the action starts it's all very fluid and runs smoothly, though the camera shoots aren't always the best like in most modern action movies it can be a bit shaky. Still that doesn't take away from how cool it all looks and how much of a bad ass John Wick is.

The story picks up pretty much right where the last movie ended and it wraps it all up quickly with some good action and funny dialog. John Wick is finally done with his revenge and is finally looking to settle down to a quiet life with his dog. Of course the peace doesn't last long as an old acquaintance reappears in Wick's life to use a favor of sorts that John Wick owes him. With no choice, Wick is forced to do one last job before he can truly settle down, but of course it's not all as easy as it should be. I really liked the world that John Wick lives works in, this underground society of killers with lots of different rules and codes to follow and connections. It's all very interesting to learn about as the movie goes a little deeper into it this time around and you get to meet some interesting characters along the way. It's clear there is still a lot to be revealed about the underground world of killers the movie is about by the end, and it looks like there will be at least one more movie to dive into this world again with.

There are some moments, one in particular that felt a little "over dramatic" even by this movies standards. Just one scene that felt like it lasted a little too long and went a little too over the top. The rest of the movie was always enjoyable whether it was the great action or learning more about the lore of John Wick. John Wick does feel a bit too powerful at times, but I think it's necessary since they established him as a legendary killer who most men fear. I can't say I really loved this movie, but I did love Reeves in it and his character of John Wick. It's a great action movie, but it's nothing more than that really and that's not a problem since it's what it was trying to be. Any fan of action movies should watch this, you will have a good time.

Overall Grade: B-

Split

Split

M. Night Shyamalan's newest film "Split" stars James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy in a thriller about a man who has Dissociative Identity Disorder that takes three girls captive. The girls have to deal with the different personalities that appear as they try to somehow escape from his prison. Shyamalan is a director many thought was going to go on to become one of the greats among the likes of Steven Spielberg after he directed his much loved film "Sixth Sense". Sadly what actually happened was that his films just seemed to get worse and worse with every new release. One thing that always seemed to hold back his movies was that they all had to have a big "twist" at the end to surprise the viewers. It got to the point where people would watch his movies expecting the twist to come and once the twist came, it just wasn't any good to the point where it even made his films worse. Personally I liked "The Sixth Sense", 'Unbreakable" and "Signs" (even though the twist in Signs was one of the dumbest twists ever). After watching his movie "The Last Airbender", which is one of the worst movies I remember watching in the Theaters, I never watched another one of his films... That is until "Split" of course. So is this another failure by Shyamalan?

The Answer is thankfully NO, not even close to a failure because I really had fun watching this movie. I can't say that I loved this movie, but I do think it's actually a great thriller with a really fantastic performance by James McAvoy. McAvoy who plays the man with the split personalities and does such a good job making each of them feel different. It was so great to see how his facial expressions and posture would change for each character, making each of his split personalities actually feel like completely different people when you watch them. Each personality he played has distinct quirks and attitudes and it was exciting when you got to see a new one introduced to the story. McAvoy was definitely the best part of this whole movie, very enjoyable to watch him work.

Also great in the movie was the protagonist Casey played by Anya Taylor-Joy, who also did a good job at reacting to all of McAvoys different personalities convincingly. Her character is introduced right from the start of the movie as an outcast, and I think she does a good job at playing that role as well as selling her fear of her kidnapper. The other two girls with her Claire and Marcia played by Jessica Luca and Haley Lu Richardson were also fine in the movie, not as memorable as the other actors even as side characters to the story. There are some slower moments in the movie, but none of it feels completely unnecessary and it just builds the two main characters and the story more.

As a thriller this movie did a good job at keeping me in suspense. Wondering what personality was going to come out next, and what kind of person he would be with the new personality. The movie keeps you wondering just what is actually going on and why he is doing what he is doing. James McAvoy's performance really shines and makes this a very fun movie to watch. This feels like a good new start for Shyamalan, and I hope he uses the momentum  from this to keep making exciting and fun movies like this one. It seems like he's turning a new leaf with his last two movies actually being good and he's gaining my trust again.

Overall Grade: B

I recommend giving it a watch, it's a very interesting, ecxiting and fun movie with a memorable performance (so pretty much the exact opposite of After Earth).

Billboard Top10: January 21 2017

Billboard 1/21/17

So it's 2017 and it's time for new music to take the charts and we get to see what the big songs and trends are going to be this year. Though, it's going to take a while for things to completely change as the charts are still full of songs from last year. Really things haven't changed much since last month, just a couple of things here and there moving around slightly in the top 10, while the rest of the charts are a different story. Focusing on the top 10 though, the biggest and best news is finally... FINALLY Ju Ju On That Beat is off the top 10 with a huge drop from the number 6 spot to the 11th. Losing it's popularity in streaming, itunes and youtube by huge numbers lead to this finally getting kicked off the top 10. Another big surprise coming up right at the number ONE spot...

1. Bad and Boujee by Migos Ft. Lil Uzi Vert (Try spelling that with autocorrect): 

So black Beatles is yet again kicked to the 2 spot thanks to this.... song? I actually sadly like Black Beatles better than this song. This song feels like it last an eternity, it's literally the same thing over and over and over again and it just feels so drawn out. This song needed to be cut down to 2.5 minutes at the most. What the hell is with that Lil Uzi verse? He sounds a little to breathy, it comes across kinda creepy. The most annoying thing though is the echo and sound effects they have to do after every single line in this song. "DOPE!" "GRAHH" "PEWPEWPEW" are just some of the annoying things you hear and it gets old before the first verse is even over. Take away that echo and make the song way shorter and you have a decent song that's at least average.

2. Black Beatles by Rae Sremmurd

Still going pretty strong in streaming, but dropping in sales it still manages to stick around the top of the charts. I finally got around to watching the video though, and it was strange to see a group who doesn't know how to play instruments on stage with... instruments. besides that, I still feel the same way about this song like I did last year. It's better than anything they have done in the past, so at least there's improvement. Still that's not saying much for these guys.

3. Closer by Generic Artist number 387

This song has been up here way too long at this point, and it doesn't seem like it's going anywhere at the moment. The bad male vocals, the weak drop and the dumb lyrics by Chainsmokers who only seem to write songs about how much girls want to sleep with them. I still listen to it from time to time, because even with it's flaws I can admit it's not a terrible pop song, it's okay at best. Hopefully though, people will stop giving this so much attention and move on to something new and better.

4. Starboy by The Weeknd

A couple weeks ago this song actually made it to the top spot for just one week sadly. Around the time of the albums release, which I guess gave the song enough of a boost to get to the top for a week. Still a great song and I haven't really changed my opinion on that. This would be the ideal choice to be on top or at least 24k Magic, but sadly it's gone down again this week thanks to "Closer" and it's down to number 4. 

5. 24k Magic by Bruno Mars

This one has been floating around here since it made it to the Top 10. Honestly, I think with time i've somehow grown to love this song even more. I though by this point the...uhm... magic would have faded away. It's a sad time when a song that's actually fun, catchy, original, and well made doesn't make it to the top 10. Also sad to that another great song "Versace on the Floor" isn't even on the charts anymore only making it to the 98th spot and leaving quickly after. Seems weird to see a Bruno Mars album have only strong single, but of course the album is still fairly new so maybe in time more songs will gain popularity after 24k Magic loses some steam. Before that happens though, just give this one some time on the number one spot please. It deserves it. 

6. Side to Side by Ariana Grande ft. Nicki Minaj

This one pretty much has the same story as "24K Magic" just floating around the middle of the top 10 since it first appeared here. I guess the streaming and radio play must be very strong because in sales it looks to be slipping. Honestly it seems the only thing keeping this one alive is the video since it's still the second most popular video on Youtube music with almost 670,000,000 views. I wonder why the video is so popular? Email me at Captain@Obvious.com if you know the answer.

7. Don't Wanna Know by Adam Levine and 5 other guys. Oh and Kendrick Lamar is here too. Kinda.

I don't think I need to say much about this one. Still a very bad song. Still sad to hear Kendrick Lamar's bad verse. Still wonder what they did to Adam Levine to make him sound like any other singer. 

8. Let Me Love You by Justin Bieber and DJ Slytherin

It's probably a good idea not to listen to "Don't Wanna Know" followed by this song if you are driving, as there is a very good chance you will fall asleep. Look, Justin Bieber dominated 2016 in the charts and it's time for him to go away for a little while now. There was barely a few weeks without him in the top 10 last year and I just need a little break is all. With time this song went from being just an average song that wasn't terrible to being a very boring song I can't really listen to all the way through. I hope the next song has some more energy, I could use a pick-me-up. 

9. Fake Love by NyQuil

Oh. Look who's back on the top 10. Can someone please just show Drake some real love so he can stop whining and going into bad falsetto. 

10. Bad Things by MGK ft. Fastball

Take a chorus from a good 90's song and butcher it. That's what this song did. Using the chorus from 90's band Fastball's song "Out of My Head", a song about someone who admits to the mistakes they have been  by ignoring the obvious signs a person has been giving him while expressing that they "never meant to do bad things to you". This new song by Machine Gun Kelly changes that last line to "I ONLY want to do bad things to you" changing the message of the original song and of course making it more sexual, because that's what you do now-a-days I guess. Machine Gun Kelly himself isn't that great of a rapper and on this song he seems pretty weak. Mostly I just hate how this song takes a song that I actually like and doesn't use it well at all.  So if you haven't heard the original go look it up and check it out. "Out of My Head" by Fastball.

Well that's it for this week. Still carrying over all the bad, and good from last year. With two new songs that both fail to catch my attention more than just one or two listens. Can't wait for the new music to start coming in, i'm excited to see what the year has in store for music. 

Playlist of all songs!

2017 Movie Preview

Anticipated movies of 2017

Last year was a bit of a letdown in many ways, with lots of big budget movies being pretty disappointing. Though lots of great indie films made up for the bad big budget movies last year. 2017 looks to have even more highly anticipated big movies than last year so far, and i'm hoping they all live up to the hype this time. Here's the big budget blockbuster films that i'm excited for this year. (in no specific order)

Lego Batman Movie 

The Lego Movie was one of the biggest surprises 2014. A movie that really shouldn't have been as good as it was. Now comes the Lego Batman movie, which already looks to be a very funny movie according to the previews. Will Arnett did a really good job the first time around, but of course he was only a side character then. Still, I think a full Lego Batman movie will work really well and if it's anything like Lego Movie's humor, it will be another big hit. Not really sure where else they will take the Lego movie franchise after this, but I suppose Lego Movie 2 would be the most obvious.

John Wick Chapter 2

Speaking of surprises, the first John Wick movie was another big one that I think a lot of people did not see coming. Keanu Reeves revived his action career with the last movie, with lots of great sequences and stunts that were so much fun to watch. I feel like sequels like this always seem to fall short of the original, but I really hope this isn't one of those movies. Keanu Reeves is a great and underrated actor and I think he can keep this from being a failure, as he seems passionate about this. We need more great action movies and 2017 looks to have some good ones starting with this one and XXX with Vin Diesel early on.

Logan

Days of Future Past and X-Men 2 are still two of my favorites, if not my favorite comic book movies out there. It's sad to see Hugh Jackman hang up the claws and sideburns, but judging by the trailers he looks to be going out with a very different Wolverine then we've seen in any of the movies. This has the potential to be my favorite of the year, but at the very least I just hope it's a good send off for Jackman. The first Wolverine solo movie was one of the worst comic book movies made. The second one was a good movie, but not a great one. If that trend continues then this new one should be a great movie, and I desperately hope it's an A+ movie. What an amazing poster.

Alien Covenant

This movie is supposed to connect the Prometheus movie to the rest of the Alien movies. I don't know much about this one yet, but it's being directed by Ridley Scott, who's been up and down with his work recently. I thought Prometheus wasn't a bad movie, but i'm hoping this one gets things back on track. It sort of reminds me of the Terminator franchise that sort of fell apart after the second movie, Alien has a similar story never really being able to match the quality of the second movie "Aliens". Not to forget that there's another Alien movie coming out at an unknown date soon.

Star Wars Episode VIII

Force Awakens was a great start to the new trilogy, introducing some memorable and likable new characters. The most exciting part of this new movie though, is seeing where the story is going to go. Hoping that they take a new road unlike the last movie that used a lot of moments from the first movie "A New Hope" to make the movie feel familiar. How will Luke affect the movie? How will Kylo Ren get revenge or at least become stronger? Will Jar Jar finally make his triumphant return to the series? We will see later this year.

Spider-Man Homecoming

After the perfect introduction to Spider-man in Civil War, we finally get the Spider-Man movie that marvel has been wanting to make. Tom Holland has already shown he's capable of being a very great Peter Parker and Spider-Man, now it's time for Marvel to show us how to make a great Spider-Man movie again. Seeing Peter Parker in high school while juggling his secret super hero life will be an interesting movie to watch. Appearances from Iron Man and other important Spider-Man characters are also said to be a part of the movie. Add Michael Keaton as The Vulture to play the main villain and you have me even more excited. Of course the question everyone can't wait to be answered: What will Stan Lee cameo as this time?

War of the Planet of the Apes

The first two films in this franchise were both fantastic. I've been excited to see how it all goes down when the war between man and ape goes down, and I really hope it's as good if not better than the last two movies. It might be strange to see a movie where it's humans vs apes where the apes are painted are portrayed as the good guys in a sense, so that will be interesting to see. Caesar as a character is very interesting, more so than most of the humans in these movies. The rivalry between him and Woody Harrelson's character will be interesting to watch.

Guardians Vol. 2: How can anyone not be excited to see this... Getting to spend more time with the outcasts we fell in love with in the first movie is a dream come true. I have no doubt this movie is going to be another great one. The question is, where does it fit in with the rest of the Marvel movies, and how does it set up for the future? We shall see soon enough. Oh wait, Nathan Fillion will make an appearance? So will Kurt Russell? Just when you thought it couldn't get any better... IS THAT BABY GROOT?!?!

Blade Runner 2049

Harrison Ford? Ryan Gosling? Sign me up. The first Blade Runner was and still is one of the best and original sci-fi films ever made. With lots of great themes and questions being asked, I wonder how this new movie will tackle new subjects for the current generation. Though I know little about it, I look forward to learning more. I'm excited for the visuals and how they will be in this world 35 years after the original masterpiece. It's also being directed by Dennis Villeneuve, who made some really fantastic movies in "Prisoner", "Arrival" and "Sicario".

Power Rangers

Nah just kidding. The trailers for this movie took away any excitement I might have had towards this movie. It seems like a lot of my childhood favorites like Transformers, Smurfs, Ninja Turtles are being ruined by Hollywood and this looks like it's next victim. It seems that the people making these movies don't understand why we loved them in the first place. Hopefully the trailers aren't reflective of the final product and there's actually a good movie here, but for now I won't hold my breath.


  It's morphing time!!!!

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets 

Always excited to see more big budget sci-fi adventures, especially a more original one (based on books... but still). I'm very excited to jump into this new world and see what original ideas it has to offer in the sci-fi genre. It just looks like a lot of fun, and I hope it isn't another let down...... (Jupiter Ascending *cough*). But I really hope this one turns into a nice franchise with some great sequels. Until I see this first one though, all I can do is hope.

Dunkirk 

Christopher Nolan returns to direct this new World War II movie. With a name like Christopher Nolan behind it, and an actor like Tom Hardy starring in it, it's impossible not to get excited about this. Looking at the trailers, this looks it's to be a beautifully shot film with great effects. Nolan changed the game with some genres like action with Inception and comic book movie with the Dark Knight trilogy. How will he, or will he, affect the war movie?

Baby Driver

I don't know much about this yet (doesn't even have a poster), but it's a new film by my favorite director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim). Supposed to be a more action centered heist movie, so it's exciting to see what Wright will do with this new genre he hasn't done yet.

Kingsman The Golden Circle

The first Kingsman was a very fun original movie. I'm just excited to see what crazy action fun this next movie will get into, and how they will up the stakes from an already insane first movie.

Coco

The next original story by Pixar animation is coming this year. I'm always excited to see a new original story by Pixar, as I think that's when they really shine. This time Pixar taps into the music and takes inspiration from Mexico and Dia De Los Muertos. Even though the idea was done a few years ago with the movie "Book of Life", it's still going to be interesting to see how Pixar tackles it. Also this year will be Cars 3, which already looks a lot better than Cars 2, but that's not saying much. Even though it's a sequel I could care less about, I hope Pixar doesn't feel the same way and still put some passion into it. I'm eager to see more original films by Pixar, starting with Coco later this year.

Mary and the Witch's Flower: 

From one of the directors of great Studio Ghibli movies "When Marnie Was There" and "Arrietty". Though this movie might not be released in the states until later this year, if at all, it's still one I need to watch. Beautiful and highly detailed traditional animated movies are Japan's specialty and Studio Ghibli is the best at it. Even though this one isn't being released by Ghibli, it still looks to have that same quality.

Well those are some of the movies i'm looking forward to at the moment. I'm sure there will be more announced, and of course lots of indie movies to look forward to throughout the year. Hopefully all these movies will be great (even Power Rangers), but we'll see in time.

If all of this doesn't excite you, here's a picture of a cat I found on the internet.

Top 10 Movies of 2016

Top 10 Movies: 2016

2016 was a strange year for movies. Lots and lots of disappointments this year, but still a lot of good movies out there and even some great surprises. To me, this year was all about the indie movie. While big budget movies and sequels just seemed to disappoint and not bring anything new to the table, indie studios were making more unique movies. Before I get to the Top 10 in my opinion, here are some movies I liked, but didn't quite make it to the Top 10.

Zootopia: Another great animated movies to add to Disney's already huge library of fantastic animation. A great message for kids and adults, with lovable characters.

The Boy and the Beast: An anime movie translated to English this year, a very enjoyable story of a boy who is trained by a beast as they grow a special bond. Very well animated and fun characters you grow to love.

Everybody Wants Some!!: A nice throwback to 80's comedies full of memorable annoying, but lovable characters. Check it out if you love 80's comedies like Caddyshack, Police Academy and Fast Times.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople: A very unique and very funny movie that wasn't really seen by many people around here.

Fantastic Beasts: A good start to the new series of films based on Harry Potter. Lovable characters and a very unique protagonist.

The Lobster: The weirdest movie I saw in 2016, but also the most intriguing. Very interesting concept with lots of very bizarre moments that will make you laugh.

Also there are lots of movies I am going to watch now in 2017 that I missed last year, so it's possible that maybe one of those movies I missed may have been in my Top 10 list.

10.  Star Trek Beyond:

 I was worried about this one at first, with J.J Abrams not directing and instead Justin Lin of Fast and Furious fame taking it on. Still this movie was a lot of fun with great action with the characters I've grown to love over the last two movies. Everyone does a good job together and there's always great chemistry between all the cast. In a summer full of disappointing movies, this one stood out as a really enjoyable fun watch. Also some great little moments to honor the great Leonard Nimoy and the 50th anniversary of Star Trek. I look forward to what else could possible come from this series of movies, hopefully another sequel will be coming because I want more adventures with these characters.

9. Edge of Seventeen

I wasn't expecting to love this movie going into it, but it really took me by surprise. It was a really relatable story with great characters, really funny moments and touching moments. It's great to see a movie like this that can speak to the younger generation in a realistic way that doesn't feel like it was just written by adults to pander to younger audiences. The dialog feels real and the characters feel real enough as well.

8. 10 Cloverfield Lane

The first Cloverfield movie was a good movie, but i'm very glad they got rid of the Found Footage style for this one. Really the only problem with this movie was the fact that it has the name Cloverfield attached to it, since it kind of got rid of the surprise at the end of the movie. Still this movie had great suspense, always kept you wondering what was really going on, and the acting was really good. It will be interesting to see where this franchise will be going next and what kind of movie it will be. Hopefully Mary Elizabeth Winstead will be back, because she was really great in this movie.

7.  Deadpool

After making Deadpool one of the worst things in the X-men movies in Wolverine Origins, we finally get the Deadpool everyone wanted. Thanks to Ryan Reynolds and his hilarious deliveries and the constant 4th wall breaking that works well because of the amazing writing in this movie. Even though the other X-men movie released this year was very disappointing, this one lived up to all the hype, and I think even surpassed any expectation I had going into it. We need more Deadpool, and thankfully because of how good this one was, we will be getting more.

6. Captain America: Civil War

While DC Universe movies seem to be struggling to catch up with all the work marvel has done, Marvel just keeps getting better every year. Everything in this movie just worked so well, from the friendship of Cap and Bucky to the crazy airport fight scene. I was glad that even though it was a movie with a lot of the marvel characters fighting each other it still focuses on Captain America and doesn't put him in second place in his own movie. Also can't forget the great introduction to the new spider-man, which was done perfectly. It doesn't look like Marvel is slowing down anytime soon, and next year looks to be an even bigger year.

5. The Nice Guys 

Another movie that came out of nowhere and caught me by surprise. This year felt a little light of great comedies (especially ones from big studios) and this one came out during the dull period right before summer, so it's weird that it didn't get more attention than it got. This was the best comedy that I saw this year, nothing else made me laugh as much as this movie. Ryan Gosling was so great in this movie, and his expressions along with his physical comedy were on point the whole time. The chemistry between Gosling and Crowe was amazing, and they worked so well together in this movie. Angourie Rice, who played Gosling's daughter in the movie, was also really funny in this movie and gets me more excited about the Spider-man movie next year as she will be a part of it. I really hope to see more of these characters in the future in a sequel.

4. Sing Street

I love this movie. I love the original music in this movie. I love the cast in this movie. I love everything about this movie. There was a lot of talent involved in this movie, from the cast that actually played the instruments and sang to the ones in the back who wrote all the songs. Not only was the music really well done, but all the kids were great at acting too. I loved the relationship between the main character and his brother. It all just worked so well, and made this really charming movie with music that will get stuck in your head (in a good way) for days.

3. Kubo and the Two Strings

Animation will always have a special place in my heart thanks to Disney, Pixar, Studio Ghibli. This year though, it wasn't any of those studios that made my favorite animated film, but instead it was Laika animation. This movie felt like exactly what I needed to see in animation. A more serious movie with really unique animation that looks extremely beautiful. You can see the hard work that went into this movie in every shot, everything is amazingly detailed. The story isn't afraid to do something different in a kids movie by going a little darker in certain areas, but still having a really good message for kids and adults both.

2. La La Land:

 I didn't think it could get better than this movie in 2016, but it was beaten last minute. Still this movie was such a pleasure to watch. From the brilliant soundtrack to the great acting and cinematography. The great use of music in the movie and the homage to old Hollywood classic films worked so well. The great chemistry between Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling and the great performances in singing and dancing were so great to watch. I'm not really big on musicals, but this movie was one of the best I've seen all year, which is why it's all the way up here on the list. Director Damien Chazelle is so great at making these movies centered around music. I eagerly await his next project.

1. Manchester By The Sea 

Just. Wow. This was actually the last movie I saw in the year 2016 and i'd never thought that it would also end of being my favorite of the year. While I was watching it I really didn't want it to end, I was enjoying myself so much watching this movie. It's a very beautiful movie to look at, the cinematography is really well done. The settings of Manchester and Boston are so beautiful to look at in the movie. The acting is so amazing in this movie too, there are some scenes in the movie that just left me feeling speechless. One scene in particular between Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams was one of the most touching scenes I've seen in a really long time. I don't want to spoil a single thing about this, everyone should give this a watch and experience it. It's not the happiest of movies, but it has some really powerful moments. In my opinion, nothing this year in movies affected me like this movie did.

That's my list at the moment. It could always change in time, and I see more movies that I missed. Still I loved all of these movies, and I hope that you can take the time to see them.

Music Year End Review II: My Favorite Albums of 2016

So 2016 was a terrible year for the pop music charts (in my opinion at least). I was gonna make a list of my favorite pop songs, but honestly there weren't really enough to list from the Hot 100 Year End list. A lot of the pop songs I liked didn't make it to that list. So in short my favorite pop songs this year were probably "Hymn For The Weekend", "24K Magic", "I Took a Pill in Ibiza" and "Water Under the Bridge". Instead of focusing on the pop charts, I decided to just name albums that I really enjoyed throughout the year. Outside of the Pop Charts 2016 was a really great year for music (especially Rock) with many many many good albums and even lots of great ones. There's a lot that I missed and will eventually go back to, but here are some that really stuck with me all the way through the year.

Honorable Mentions:

BABYMETAL - Metal Resistance

This album really came of nowhere for me earlier this year. I've heard of this band a lot, but I never took them seriously enough to listen to them. I gave this new album a chance since I really enjoyed the first single "Karate". To my surprise I ended up really liking the album as a whole. The lead vocals by Suzuka Nakamoto are great, and the other cute vocals didn't ever really get annoying as I feared they would. The music is also good, with every song covering a different style of the metal genre. None of it is groundbreaking, but it plays as a good homage to the genre. It's not an album I can listen to easily, since the vocals are in Japanese and the music isn't something I really crave to hear all the time. Still it was a good surprise and worth a listen if you like metal or Japanese pop or rock or just want something really fun.

Sing Street Soundtrack

I loved this movie and the soundtrack was just as good. A perfect tribute to some of the most memorable New Wave bands of the 80's. The songs written for the film are so catchy and they really do feel like they came straight out of that crazy unique 80's time period of music. It's worth a listen... unless the 80's aren't your thing. But....no... everyone loves the 80's....right?

Weezer - White Album

 One of the best Weezer albums I've heard in a very long time. Sadly I haven't played it much in the last few months, not because it's bad BUT because there is so much music coming out and sadly, a lot of it is better than this album. Still that's not to take away from how much fun this album is, it's a really good summer time album with the Beach Boy vibes and great listening for those hot summer days. I'll definitely be putting this in my car next year for those hot sunny day drives.

Descendents - Hyppercaffium Spazzinate

The first full length released by these guys in over a decade, and they haven't lost anything. Still the same great punk sounds from these veterans in the genre. Great energy, fun music, some of the best punk songs you can find in 2016. It's amazing when a band that's been around for this long can still release an album this solid, it seems age hasn't affected the energy of this band at all, and that's just amazing. Just like that old school punk, no song overstays it's welcome and are nice and short. For the amount of songs there are (21 tracks), all of them feel like they belong here.

                                                    Blink 182 - California

Who knew the best thing Blink-182 could do was to get rid of Tom? Blink-182 returned to their old ways with more fun, energetic and catchy songs. With the addition of Matt Skiba (of Alkaline Trio), they were able to deliver the Blink-182 album I've been waiting years for. The only thing about the album that felt weak was the overused "ooohs" and "nanana's" which felt kinda lazy at times. BUT it's not enough to keep this from being a really fun and great listen. It's a great comeback in a year of great comebacks, and amazingly this one wasn't the best of those comebacks (but another three piece band maybe?).

Bastille - Wild World

I was very excited to hear more from Bastille after the great debut album they released in "Bad Blood".  This was another great album, although maybe a bit too long, but most of the songs are at least good and even some great ones. "Good Grief" was a tough one to get out of my head, but it wasn't a bad thing since it's a really great catchy song. It was sad to see this album didn't get much love on the pop charts like the last one they released. None of the songs even made the hot 100 this year, which is pretty sad considering how much better than most pop music the singles they released from this album were. Still that's the world we live in I suppose... One might say it's a wild world. Sorry.

Panic! at the Disco - Death of a Bachelor

 I've never been a huge fan of this band, but there have great songs in their past albums that I still listen to now and again. I wasn't expecting much from this album, but it really took me by surprise. This album was exactly what the pop charts needed this year, but still somehow ignored. Lots of great energy and a different sound than any other mainstream hit on the charts this year. Still, even with it's huge success, this album still got overshadowed by all the other predictable bored music this year had to offer. When the music industry finally offers something interesting, the world still picks the obvious choices and ignores the good stuff. Maybe i'm just being too negative, but maybe I just like being negative.

THE TOP 10

This list will probably change over time, as I listen to all the albums I missed this year. There's always great albums out there that I miss and I hope to get to them soon.

10. Ladyhawke - Wild Things

Favorite Track: Wild Things

This album is so much fun and also relaxing to listen to, every single song on the album is great. Lots of great use of electronic sounds, unlike a lot of pop music, everything actually works well together musically to make a complete sound. Admittedly some of the albums on the honorable mentions might be better than this album, but this album is so easy to listen to and I find myself coming back to it a lot. The song "Wild Things" is one of my favorite songs of the year, it's a very relaxing and inspiring song with great atmosphere. That's what this album brings... great atmosphere.

9. Lumineers - Cleopatra

Favorite Track: Gun Song

 Lumineer's last album was a fine folk-rock album with some memorable songs. It put them on the map for sure, and I was excited to see where they would go with this new album. Glad to say it was an improvement from their last album, as it was an overall great album where every song is at the very least good. Much like the last album on the list, this one is a very easy listen and also very relaxing to me. Folk isn't really something I listen to very often, so the fact that this album was one of the ones I found myself listening to more than most other albums is pretty telling.

8. HalfNoise - Sudden Feeling 

Favorite Track: Leaving

This album really came out of nowhere this year. I found out about these guys when they opened for a band I was seeing a few months back, and I haven't stopped listening to this album ever since. I found it very similar to Ladyhawke's album, as it has all the great atmosphere and it's relaxing and easy to listen to. What makes this better is how simple, yet full the music is. I love the sounds they use and I love how all the instruments come together to make really great music. The vocals are simple, as are the lyrics, but that's not a complaint in this case. The simplicity of the vocals match with the tone and atmosphere of the music, so it works very well in this case. I always feel this album ends too early, it's so good that it just flies by. I can't wait to get more music from these guys.

7. Anchor & Braille - Songs for the Late Night Drive Home

Favorite Track: Detroit Stab

Continuing with the theme of relaxing songs with great use of music is this album. Last year my favorite band Anberlin broke up, and it was a sad moment because they always made amazing music and I am going to miss them a lot. Early this year the lead singer of Anberlin released this album from his side project Anchor & Braille, and it ended up being one of my favorites. It's great to know i'll still be getting great music from them in one way or another, it might not be Anberlin, but this is really great in a really different way. Everything from the vocals to the music all work really well, and it creates a great album to... drive home at night to. Lots of beautiful melodies and lots of little details in the music make this album so great. Stephen Christian's vocals are always amazing, I'm glad to hear more from him and I hope to hear more music from this side project of his.

6. Green Day - Revolution Radio

Favorite Track: Forever Now

 Much like Blink-182, Green Day is a band that I've been waiting for a good release from for years. Green Day has a special place in my life, as American Idiot was pretty much the first album that really got me into music. The last decade has been hard, since Green Day has only released three albums that were all pretty disappointing. Then comes 2016 and the release of Revolution Radio, one of my most anticipated albums of the year. This was the Green Day album I've been waiting for, and it cured my itch for more great Green Day music. Every song on the album is great, and the lyrics are actually really great as well. Lots of the songs feel very personal to Billie Joe Armstrong's life and even current events and how the current state of the United States. With lots of great energetic songs, but also some great slower songs with very meaningful lyrics. I loved this album a lot and i'm glad to see Green Day making great music again.

5. Young the Giant - Home of the Strange 

Favorite Track: Art Exhibit

So I was actually pretty disappointed by this album. The reason being that the first two albums by Young the Giant were my favorites for the years that they were released (2011 and 2014 were the two years they released their first two albums). Now in 2016, the third full length by Young the Giant was released. At first I really loved this album and I could really see it being my favorite of the year. Over time though, I lost a lot of that love I originally had for this album. Even though I love most of the songs, there are some here that I lost some love for over time. Songs like "Amerika", "Titus Was Born" and "Mr. Know-It-All" were ones that I lost love for over time. I still like every song from this album and I do think it's great album, but it still feels like a step down from previous albums. Maybe with time I'll grow to love those songs again, but I know that this album won't be my favorite of the year. There were a few more memorable albums that I listened to way more than this one. Young the Giant is still one of my favorite bands, and their music is still really great including this album. I still am excited to hear more from this band in the future. Also, best album artwork of the year goes to this one.

4. Relient K - Air For Free

Favorite Track: Runnin'

Another band this year to make a great comeback was Relient K. Relient K is one of those bands, like Green Day, that really helped grow my love for music and I've always been a huge fan of. I was really disappointed by the last album they released back in 2013, as it was really the first album they released that I didn't love. Looks like it was just a small hiccup for them though, since the new album "Air For Free" is yet another amazing album by Relient K. This album is a very beautiful album with very uplifting lyrics and reflective songs that can be very relate-able in many different points of ones life. There's still some really good fun songs here though like "Bummin", "Cat" and "Elephant Parade". It's a slower Relient K album, but I found no problem with that. The only song that kept this from being a perfect album was "Empty House", which I think would have been a great song, but sadly ruined by auto-tune vocals that feel out of place on the album.

3. Bad Suns - Disappear Here:

Favorite Track: Even In My Dream I Can't Win

 Bad Suns was one of the best surprises of 2014, when they released their debut album and I fell in love with it instantly. With this new album they managed to make an even better album than the last one, and once again surprised me with one of the best albums of the year. From the great music with lots of great guitar, drum,synth, and bass work and the unique vocals, everything in this album just worked really well together.  Every song is a joy to listen to, and I found myself listening to this album over and over again without ever getting tired of a single song. After this album I can easily say that Bad Suns is one of my favorite bands out there. I need more from this band. RIGHT. NOW.

2. Thrice - To Be Everywhere is to Be Nowhere:

Favorite Track: Hurricane

 Comeback of the year. After going into a hiatus around 2012, Thrice came out of nowhere and announced their return in 2016 with a new album. I never thought the album was gonna be as good as it was. In my opinion this is the best album they have released to this day. It's a near perfect album in almost every sense, from the very topical lyrics about the United States and all the problems we face with violence and government to the fantastic music that's always on point. Dustin's vocals have improved so much since the last time they released an album, he has such a great gritty sound to his voice and he hits every note beautifully. With all that it accomplishes, this really should have been my favorite album of the year. This is rock music at it's best.

1. Paper Route - Real Emotion

Favorite Track: Chariots

I almost feel like I can't explain why this album is my favorite of the year. It's only been out for a few months, but it already feels like a big part of my life. I can't think of an album that impacted me so much in so little time as much as this one did. I love every single song on this album, and I haven't been able to stop listening to it since it came out. There are songs here that feel really emotionally (no pun intended?) impact-full, like "Untitled", "Balconies" and "Real Emotion". Musically, there's a lot of beautiful moments in this album, and it feels very personal. The band get every moment right here, from the slower more vulnerable moments, to the faster paced songs like "Writing on the Wall" and "Laugh About It". While musically and vocally, Thrice's album was probably better, this album just won me over with it's.... Emotion (Sorry). It's a perfectly named album, that I know I'll keep coming back to for years.