So it's been a long time since I've done one of these reviews. The last movie I did was actually Shazam a few months back and I haven't been back since. I still love movies a lot and love going as much as I can, but it's not exactly easy to go every week (mostly cause of expenses and whatnot). I decided to come back because of this special movie that came out this week by the name of Dark Phoenix. The X-Men movies have always had a special place in my heart for many reasons. X-Men has always been my favorite comic book series and I grew up watching the X-Men cartoons and playing the crappy X-Men video games (and the decent ones). The X-Men movies growing up were awesome and I think really set up the current landscape of comic book movies. Not that it was the first successful one, because we had Superman and Batman movies before this, but it really did bring them back to the limelight. The thing about the X-Men movies is that they kept going all the way up to this moment. It had its highs and lows, but it never went away. Sadly, Dark Pheonix is probably going to be the end of this X-Men saga that started in 2000. So with all that, I figured I would give it a nice sendoff by reviewing the last movie and also ranking all the X-Men movies from worst to best (not including Deadpool, cause those are probably still gonna be going?).
DARK PHOENIX
So Dark Phoenix is the latest and probably final X-Men movie from the long-running series started in the year 2000. This series has gone through many changes and timeline messes, but it all ends here. Dark Phoenix takes place about a decade after Apocalypse, in a world where humans and mutants finally seem to be getting along. The humans idolize the X-Men as a superhero team that protects the world. The X-Men are called to go to space to save a spaceship full of astronauts from their damaged rocket. While rescuing the humans, the X-Men encounter a mysterious force of energy that is going to destroy the humans. Jean Grey is left of the rocket while trying to rescue one last astronaut and is hit with the mysterious force nearly killing her. She is somehow able to absorb its power. This power inside of her is too much for her to handle and it starts making her do things and hurt people she doesn't want to hurt. Things get weirder when a mysterious lifeform seeks Jean's new power to use for herself and her species.
So X-Men movies have had a problem with keeping a constant quality over the years. Every time it seems they are getting back on track, they kind of ruin it with strange storytelling decisions and timeline issues. This movie sort of falls in the middle of all that. It's not a terrible movie by any means, but it's also not good either. I was entertained enough for most of the movie's runtime, but I also found myself not caring too much about what happens to the characters. The problem is that most of the character's don't really have a connection with me. The movie focuses a lot on a mix of characters that were introduced in First Class and those that were introduced in Apocalypse. The characters from First Class like Professor X and Magneto are the characters I cared about because of their great performances from previous movies. The characters introduced in Apocalypse I found myself not caring much about because the only movie I had to get to know them wasn't very good. It also sucks that one of the coolest characters, Quicksilver, isn't really in the movie too long and just kinda disappears early on.
The best part of the movie was definitely James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender as Prof. X and Magento. They are still amazing at playing those characters and bring a lot of needed emotion and stakes to the movie. The newer characters are okay, but never really deliver great moments. The focus of the movie is on Jean Grey, played by Sophie Turner. She does a fine job at playing the tortured character of Jean Grey and showing her struggle between good and bad. It's kind of brought down though by the weak villain played by Jessica Chastain. Chastain is a great actor, but the motivations and the climax of the movie are pretty weak and it just feels like another wasted villain (much like Apocalypse).
I found enough good in this movie to enjoy my viewing, but it definitely left me wanting more. The sad part is that this is probably the end of the saga and a farewell to two amazing performances in Magneto and Xavier. It wasn't the ending it deserved, but maybe it gives me more hope that things can get back on track in the future of the X-Men. The great cast will be missed and I hope they find other great roles (maybe some can come back). This is definitely not goodbye to these great characters, but a see you later.
RANKING
So now for the ranking. From worst to best:
X-Men Origins: Wolverine - A fairly easy choice for the worst movie. Honestly, it's not just the worst X-Men movie, but one of the worst comic book movies ever made. It ruined a lot of great characters like Gambit and... DEADPOOL (for a long time). The story was a mess and only made watchable by Hugh Jackman, but even that wasn't enough. Actually, this movie did have a really cool opening with Wolverine and Sabretooth fighting in all the major wars. But, this movie also took away Deadpool's mouth so... yeah.
X-Men: Last Stand - The final movie of the original trilogy took all the greatness that was built in the first two movies and wasted it all on a botched Dark Phoenix storyline. The movie was kind of all over the place with its story. You got Jean killing everyone on one side, a war between the good and bad mutants and the humans creating a weapon to permanently take away mutant powers. It was... a mess.
X-Men: Apocalypse - What promised to be an awesome new villain for the series ended up being a pretty big waste of time. You get the usual great work from Xavier and Magneto and a strange cameo from Wolverine. There's also the great Quicksilver scene. Besides that, it introduces a lot of the main X-Men again, but not in an interesting way.
Dark Phoenix - Falls around the lower middle, where it belongs.
X-Men - The first X-Men movie feels pretty dated in a lot of ways. The cheesy dialog and special effects are very 2000. Regardless, it's still a very fun watch. The cast is great and it's a great introduction to the world of mutants. The first time we see Hugh Jackman's Wolverine? Pretty special looking back.
The Wolverine - I really like this movie, it made up a lot for the first solo Wolverine movie. It's got great action, an interesting story, good performances and it's in Japan, who doesn't love Japan?
X-Men: First Class - Kevin Bacon is in this movie so, that means it's good right? A great introduction to all our favorite X-Men in their younger days and also a lot of cool new ones. This one takes place in the early '60s, which means that Xavier, Magneto, and Mystique all age really well since the series ends in the 90s and all the characters look pretty much the same. The two main actors (McAvoy and Fassbender) had some big shoes to fill and they exceeded all expectations.
X2 United - A sequel that took everything good about the first and built upon that. Add a really good villain in Stryker and you got yourself a great movie. Unlike the first X-Men, this movie doesn't feel nearly as dated. It took things a little more seriously and it really pushed the story forward for all the characters, including the introduction of favorites like Nightcrawler.
Days of Future Past - A great mix of the new and the old to make this awesome movie that brought everything together. Also, this movie has Peter Dinklage, so yeah. It's about as emotional as an X-Men movie can get with an all-star cast that brings their A-game. Michael Fassbender really shines bright in this movie and brings the character of Magneto to new levels of awesome.
Logan - What else could it have been? Not just an amazing comic book movie, but an amazing movie period. How did Patrick Stewart not get an Oscar for this? Shame.
Ya boy is back at it with the movie reviews. Well, at least for now? So it's been a while since I reviewed a movie (the last one was Lego Movie 2) and I kind of want to try to get back on schedule with all the movies coming out in the coming months.
So here we have Shazam!, DC's latest attempt at making a new successful series based on one of its characters. At this point, I have little interest in most of the already established characters from the DC movies. Aquaman was a mess of a movie and didn't do A LOT to excite me about future movies with him. Batman and Superman, I could go a year or two without seeing again right now. Flash and Robocop were the worst parts of Justice League, mostly cause they barely did anything. So the just leaves Wonder Woman, who is the only interesting member of the Justice League and has a sequel coming soon that should be good. Actually, I forgot about the Suicide Squad... which is probably a good thing.
The story of Shazam! follows a teen orphan named Billy who keeps transferring from foster home to foster home. A new foster home decides to take him in where he meets Freddy, a superhero-obsessed boy. When Billy is summoned by a weird old wizard that gives him new superpowers, Freddy helps Billy learn how to use those powers. While this is going on, supervillain Doctor Sivana is searching for Billy to take his powers from him.
The good thing about Shazam! is that it's not connected to any of those other movies, nor does it really set up anything in the future. That might sound like a spoiler, but I think it's good to know that this movie stands on its own without trying to be part of a connected universe. It does have references to other DC characters, but it's doesn't distract from the story. So how does Shazam! do as a stand-alone DC movie?
Good, actually. This movie has something that I feel has been missing in all the recent DC movies. Heart and good characters. Shazam! tells a great story and focuses its attention on the right things. It does a great job of introducing new characters and getting you to really connect with them by the end of the movie. I found myself caring about all the characters more in this one movie than I ever cared about Superman, Aquaman and the Suicide Squad in their movies. That's because of the two main characters Billy and Freddy and how well they are written and presented in the movie. They have a great relationship throughout the movie that is really fun to watch and the story doesn't stray too far away from that focus. The movie doesn't feel too long and bloated like Aquaman and that's because it focuses on the characters that you like and doesn't take a lot of time trying to explain itself and establish a ton of lore. The performances are all great and nothing is ever taken too seriously. Not to say there aren't some great heartfelt moments, because there are. There's actually a surprisingly well-done scene in the movie that caught me off guard and got me all emotional.
Simply put, Shazam! was a really fun movie without any ties to the rest of the DC movies. It felt focused and well made. It's got some nice surprises with some great emotional moments sprinkled in it. It's the most fun I've had in a superhero movie in a while, especially in the DC side of things. Honestly out of all the newer DC movies, this one is easily my favorite. It's entertaining from start to finish and it doesn't really ever slow down. So if you've been put off by DC's latest films, give this one a chance because you might be surprised with what you see.
The year was 2018 and the music was... mostly forgettable. Lots of great artists released music last year, but I felt like most of it just didn't hook me like other releases. There really wasn't much this year that I truly loved in music releases. Everything just felt FINE. There wasn't a lot of terrible music, but there also wasn't a lot of great music. My favorite album of last year by far was Mae's latest album " Multisensory Aesthetic Experience". It was the only album that I think exceeded expectations and really captured my attention more than any other release. Anyway, here's a list of albums if you are interested. Please send me other albums that I missed > > >
* Next to albums I REALLY liked.
Electronic: CHVRCHES - Love is Dead *
Phangs - Happy Season
Emo/Post-Hardcore:
Lydia - Liquor * Mewithoutyou - Untitled Joyce Manor - Million Dollars to Kill Me *
Indie Rock: Mae - Multisensory Aesthetic Experience* (the best album) Tokyo Police Club - TPC Young the Giant - Mirror Master * Mitski - Be the Cowboy Fratellis - In Your Own Sweet Time Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino * Father John Misty - God's Favorite Customer Interpol - Marauder Car Seat Headrest - Twin Fantasy Superchunk - What a Time to Be Alive Wombats - Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life Jeff Rosenstock - POST- Beach House - 7 Rainbow Kitten Surprise - How To: Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Sex & Food La Luz - Floating Features Bella & Sebastian - How to Solve Our Human Problems
Folk/Singer-Songwriter: Phoebe Bridgers - Stranger in the Alps * The Milk Carton Kids - All the Things That I Did... Punch Brothers - All Ashore Boygenius - EP Vocal Few - Grand Pre Josh White & Josh Garrels - Self Titled EP
Pop Rock
Loyals - Loyals * Jukebox the Ghost - Off to the Races * You Me at Six - VI The 1975 - (please shorten your albums titles) Fickle Friends - You Are Someone Else The Aces - When My Heart Felt Volcanic * Pale Waves - My Mind Makes Noises
Pop Punk/Punk
Waterparks - Entertainment
Trash Boat - Crown Shyness MxPx - MxPx * The Longshot - Love is for Losers Tiny Moving Parts - Swell The Wonder Years - Sister Cities
Alternative (Or close enough)
Reign of Kindo - Happy However After * Thrice - Palms Manic Street Preachers - Resistance is Futile Twenty-One Pilots - Trench *
Pop
Anne-Marie - Speak Your Mind Bishop Briggs - White Flag/Church of Scars * Janelle Monae- Dirty Computer Mat Kearney - CRAZYTALK Hayley Kiyoko - Expectations Ariana Grande - Sweetener Miya Folik - Premonitions
Just because an idea sounds stupid, doesn't mean it is in fact... stupid. That's what we all learned when the first Lego Movie was released and surprised everyone on earth and space (do astronauts have Netflix?). What could have been a giant commercial for Legos ended up being... a giant commercial for Legos, but a damn good one with a lot of charm. The writing was what stood out the most. It knew exactly what it wanted to be and it didn't take itself seriously for the most part. So here we are now with a sequel that begs the question: Is the world getting tired of Lego movies?
Honestly, after the Ninjago movie, I thought the answer was yes. There's a certain style of humor these movies ALL have now. That self-aware and making tons of references style of humor that was great in the first one, but has become in danger of becoming stale now after three movies. Going into this new sequel I was worried it would start to wear on me and it just wouldn't be as charming. Honestly, it kind of was the case with Lego Movie 2. The jokes definitely hit a lot less in this movie, but there's still a lot of times I laughed out loud. The characters are still very charming and lovable, so that really helps the movie a lot.
This time around, the story picks up right after the first movie. It revolves around the idea of the son from the first movie who played with his dad's Legos, but this time he has to share with his little sister. It leads to a conflict between the Legos from the first movie against all the kiddie and girly toys that the sister is bringing in. It ends up being a pretty predictable story, but that's not really a problem because it's done well enough to excuse that... for the most part. The thing that makes it less impactful than the first one is that we already know that they are being controlled by humans in the real world, so the moments where we might see the human aspect of the story aren't as cool and shocking as the first time it was revealed. It makes the story a lot more predictable, but it also adds to the humor since you understand the world a lot more.
The animation is still top-notch. Everything looks like Legos, and it's all highly detailed. The movement of the Legos is still really well done and funny even after three other movies. After this movie was done though, I think I would be okay with if the Lego Movie franchise took a little break, at least for a few years. Either that or try something different with the style and humor, The problem with making movies based on Legos from this point on is that they will all have to look the same because they are all based on the same Lego toys. So it will be a challenge to make that visually interesting after four movies now that all share the same visual style and animation.
Lego Movie 2 was a really good time despite some flaws. It had a lot of good laughs and a decent enough story with some good messages for the kids. The franchise is in danger of becoming stale if it keeps going the way it is at this point, so I hope it takes a break for a few years. BUT if you enjoyed any of the other Lego movies, then this one is an easy recommendation.
2018 came and went about as fast as everyone wanted it to. It was an interesting year for entertainment, especially in the movie side of things. While in a lot of art seemed to be very mediocre this year (mostly music), there were still plenty of great movies that I really enjoyed watching. There didn't seem to be a lot of amazing things out there, but still enough to be able to make a list like this. There were a lot of movies that I hoped would have been a lot better but ended up being very disappointing. Movies like Aquaman, Tomb Raider, and Star Wars: Solo were not as good as I hoped, but still entertaining in a lot of ways. Other movies like A Wrinkle in Time and Pacific Rim Uprising ended up being huge disappointments that I really disliked. But this list isn't about the bad ones, it's about the good ones. The movies that I loved and that I will watch again and again over time. Movies that stayed with me weeks after I watched them and inspired me. So here are the TOP 10 movies of 2018 (in my opinion). Note that I haven't seen every movie of 2018 and will eventually try to see a lot of the good films I missed.
Honorable Mentions:
Call Me By Your Name: This movie technically came out in late 2017, but I didn't get a chance to see it until January 2018. It's been a whole year since I've seen this movie, but I still remember it pretty clearly. It was different than anything else I've seen this year. It was a beautiful movie from the storytelling, pacing, cinematography, acting, to the writing. It all worked together to make a great slow paced romance between two characters that had great chemistry.
Thoroughbreds: A little movie that came out earlier this year. It was a really unique movie about two teen girls who are planning to kill one of their annoying step-fathers. The story is meant to be a dark comedy and it really worked thanks to the great performances and the acting. It goes to places you don't expect it to go.
Love, Simon: A movie about a high schooler coming out of the closet didn't sound like a very unique idea when I first heard about this movie. It actually ended up being a really good movie in the end. While the subject matter has been done before in other ways, this movie did it in a way that felt very honest and heartfelt.
Juliet, Naked: Judging by the title, I thought this going to be a raunchy adult comedy. It actually isn't anything close to that. What it actually is though, is a really great romantic comedy movie. It's the story of a married couple who are struggling in their marriage. The big reason why is because the husband is obsessed with a musician named Tucker Crowe who release only one album before disappearing. That album was named "Juliet, Naked". The wife happens to meet Tucker Crowe and she begins getting close to him. It ends up being a nice heartfelt story with memorable performances.
Hearts Beat Loud: I randomly stumbled upon this movie and ended up really enjoying it. It's about a father (who's played by Nick Offerman) and daughter who start an indie band together. Features some really good original music and it's a short and sweet movie about love, loss, and passion.
Won't You Be My Neighbor: One of the best documentaries I've seen in a long time. Fred Rogers was an amazing human being and his story is one of the most inspiring out there.
Three Identical Strangers: Speaking of great documentaries, this one was a nice surprise. The true story of three college kids who find out they were triplets separated at birth. What starts off a nice family reunion turns into a much darker story about experiments and secrets.
Roma: If you have a Netflix account give this movie a chance. It's a really beautifully made movie and it's worth a watch.
Sorry to Bother You: The less you know going into this movie the better your experience will be watching it. All I can say is that it went to places I would have never would have imagined. My jaw literally dropped at the places this movie went. Not everyone will like that aspect of the movie, but I really think it's worth a try.
I, Tonya: So I kept this movie out of my top ten mostly because it technically came out December 2017. This was the first movie I went out to see in 2018 and it's still one of the best movies I've seen this year. If it had come out in 2018 it would be on my list without question.
Crazy Rich Asians: A movie that I think a lot of people really loved, rightfully so. It was a full Asian cast movie that really paid respect to Chinese culture, while also poking some fun at it. It had some great performances by some new faces and some familiar ones. Awkwafina stole every scene she was in and hopefully gets bigger roles because of this.
Now for the ACTUAL top 10 list!
10. Blindspotting
I wasn't really sure what this was going to be when I started watching it. I knew that the story revolved around police violence against defenseless African-Americans, but I wasn't exactly sure how it was going to play out. It ended up being a really strong movie that was able to have moments of great humor that didn't take away from the strong emotional moments that hit throughout the movie. It tackles a subject that's still very relevant in the United States in a way that helped open my eyes to how people that are affected by it feel every day. The movie builds to a finale that has one of the most powerful scenes of the year.
9. A Star is Born
I thought this movie would be higher on the list, but over time I think its effect on my has simmered down a bit. I still really enjoyed watching this movie from start to finish though. It had a great performance by Lady Gaga, who I think deserves all the praise she's getting from it. Bradley Cooper was also great, but I think that's less of a surprise because he's an established actor. It had some great original music, which helped elevate the performance scenes. Overall a memorable movie with some really great moments and performances.
8. Infinity War
It's hard to put it much higher on the list since it's only one half of a movie and we still don't know how the rest of the story plays out. It has shocking moments that I still can't take too seriously since I don't think Marvel Studios is going to stick by most of them. Besides that though, this was everything that it needed to be as an introduction to Thanos and his master plan. It was had a very different tone compared to most other Marvel movies which was really cool to see. Every character got the perfect amount of screen time and it was really awesome to see some fire time meetups on screen. I can't wait to see how it all plays out in the finale in a few months.
7. Hereditary
It isn't too often that a horror movie makes this list, but this movie deserves to be up here. It was a truly creepy and uncomfortable experience. The acting was phenomenal, which isn't something you can say a lot in horror films. The best part was that the movie didn't rely on cheap tactics and jump scares to make you feel fear. It relied on its atmosphere and performances to really bring in the scares. It also has one of the most memorable scenes I've probably ever seen (the car scene, if you know it).
6. BlacKkKlansman
This was a really great movie with some awesome performances. It was uncomfortable sitting through a lot of the KKK scenes, but it was good that the movie didn't hold back from that part of the story. It also had a good sense of humor to relieve some of the tension that came from the those KKK meeting scenes. It felt oddly topical for a movie that takes place many decades ago.
5. Black Panther
This is one of the best Marvel movies ever made and that's really saying something when you see how great their catalog is. Ryan Coogler directed the crap out of this movie and made something really special, unique, and memorable. The performances were awesome, the visuals were awesome, the villain was awesome and the action was fun. It's also a really important movie that has inspired many people around the world.
4. Upgrade
I love sci-fi movies probably more than any other genre, so when a movie like this comes out of nowhere it always puts me in a great mood. This movie had a cool story, great action scenes, a cool atmosphere and a weird sense of humor that I really enjoyed. It was full of surprises as well, some that I didn't see coming at all. Probably the most surprisingly good movie of the year.
3. Mission Impossible: Fallout
Tom Cruise does it again. The Mission Impossible movies somehow keep getting better and better and it's kind of crazy considering how good the last few have been. This one was full of fantastic action sequences, cool performances, a really nice Henry Cavill mustache, and Tom Cruise putting his life on the line to get some great shots. It was non-stop fun with some cool character moments for Ethan Hunt. I'd never thought I'd be so excited to see two more of these movies, but I can't wait to see what else they can pull out of their crazy minds.
2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
It was a really tough choice between this one and the one that actually was my favorite movie of the year. Honestly, I'd probably put them in a tie but that wouldn't be as interesting. This movie got everything right though. The animation was the most interesting and unique animation all year long. The story was fantastic and the voice acting was perfect. The humor worked pretty much 100% of the movie, with lots of great references to other Spider-Man works. It had great attention to detail and it showed how much the creators cared about not only making a great movie but making a great SPIDER-MAN movie. The fact that this was the best comic movie the same year that Black Panther and Infinity War came out shows how awesome this movie truly was.
and the number one movie is...
1. Annihilation
This is the kind of movie that stays with you after you watch it. It's a highly detailed movie full of so much that it takes more than one watch to really get everything it has to offer. It leaves you wondering about its many bizarre scenes and themes way after it's over. The best part is that it's all presented in a beautiful sci-fi landscape full of wonder and terror mixed into one. It's a beautifully creepy movie with some the best visuals of the year. While a lot of people might not like what it has to offer, I'd say you should at least give it a chance.
2018 is officially dead and buried and boy what a year it was. It was indeed a year. When it came to movies of 2018, there were a lot of good and bad ones (my favorite movies of 2018 coming soon). 2019 has a LOT of movies to be excited about, so like last year I thought I would list some of the more interesting ones and some of the obvious ones (Disney). There's a lot of potential for some great movie-going experiences and I hope all of these movies live up to the hype or exceed it.
Jan 11: Replicas
January is usually a slow month for movies, but the last few years there have been some surprisingly decent movies (Paddington 2 and Split from 2018 and 2017). This looks like one of those movies that could be a nice surprise or a big letdown. The premise seems interesting enough, Keanu Reeves plays a scientist whose family dies in a car crash. He uses futuristic technology from his lab to recreate them as robots that look and act exactly like them as if they had never died. It looks like it could be an entertaining sci-fi thriller, but it's also being made by the creators of Transformers and Passengers, which aren't great movies. Still, it's got Keanu Reeves in it, which automatically makes it worth giving it a watch.
Jan 18: Glass
The first big movie of the year is also the sequel to a surprise hit from January 2017, Split. This movie picks up where the last one left off, connecting it to the story of M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable. All the characters from both films meet up to bring the story together into what looks like a big showdown between the heroes and villains. Not really sure how this is going to play out, but I'm very excited to watch this movie, which is the first time in many years I've said that about a Shyamalan movie. He really needs to knock this one out of the park in order to show everyone that he is truly back and ready to make great films again. I'm rooting for him.
Feb 8: Lego Movie 2
Back when the first movie was announced, I don't think anyone had high hopes for it. A movie about Legos sounded like something that wouldn't work as a movie and would come off as just a big advertisement. It ended up being one of the funniest and well crafted animated movies of the year in 2014, and it had some pretty strong competition. Judging from the trailers, this looks to be more of the same style of humor and crazy animation, which is not a bad thing at all. If the writing is as good as the first one, this will be another great movie. Though, I think they need to slow down with these lego movies a bit. It already feels like they put them out too frequently and it could start to get old.
Feb 14: Alita / Fighting With My Family
ALITA: I actually talked about Alita in my preview for 2018 early last year. This movie was supposed to be released around Christmas week of 2018 but was thankfully pushed until Feb 2019. This gives it a much better chance of actually being watched since it won't have as much competition as it would have last month in December. I still have no idea how to feel about this movie. The animation looks incredibly detailed to kind of a scary point. Hopefully, it won't be as distracting as it seems to see her interact with human actors. This could turn out to be a really cool movie, but I'm not going in with high expectations... just in case.
FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY: As for Fighting With My Family, this one is interesting because of the subject matter. The movie is based on the life of WWE professional wrestler Paige's life and how her entire family are wrestlers from the UK. It's being made by The Rock's film studio partnered with the WWE. It's got an interesting cast and the story is a really interesting one based on a really cool person.
Feb 22: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
The third installment of the very popular franchise is coming early next year. Can't say I'm incredibly excited to go back into this world, but I have a feeling this movie will be a fine movie. I'd say that about all the How to Train Your Dragon movies... they are fine. Finding a love interest for Toothless seems like the most obvious choice for what could be the last movie.
Mar 8: Captain Marvel
The first of 100 Marvel movies of 2019 is here! Captain Marvel will bridge the two Avengers movies by taking us back to the '90s. The story looks to focus on the amnesia that Carol has as she battles with aliens and shoots lasers out of her hands or something. Honestly, I'm trying to go into this with as little info as possible, because I want to be surprised. I think it's safe to trust Marvel at this point with its characters and I'm sure they will do this right and get us even movie excited for Endgame. I could always be wrong though... ! ? ! ... ?
Mar 22: Dumbo / Captive State
DUMBO: The first of three Disney live-action remakes this year, Dumbo! Tim Burton is going to be directing this one which has me slightly concerned. Burton is a legendary director no doubt, but the last decade he hasn't really put out any great movies, except maybe Frankenweenie? Dumbo has a strong cast behind it and of course all the money that Disney is throwing at it. Disney remaking every single one of its popular animated classics in "live-action" format hasn't really been working for me. The only one so far that I really liked was The Jungle Book, which is also one of the classic Disney movies that I didn't really have a big connection with from childhood. Another classic Disney movie that I don't have a strong connection with also happens to be Dumbo, so maybe there's a higher chance that I will like this one?
CAPTIVE STATE: The other movie this week is the big-budget sci-fi movie Captive State. This one looks like a weird cross between The Purge and the Cloverfield series. A world where aliens have taken over and created a crime free world through what looks like torture and fear tactics. The main reason I have any interest in this is that it's coming from the director of the recent Rise Planet of the Apes movie, which was an awesome start to an awesome trilogy.
Apr 5: SHAZAM!
I really need this movie to be good. After so many disappointing DC movies, I really need to just see something that actually works as a complete movie. This one looks to have a lot of potential and also looks like it could be a really fun movie that doesn't take itself too seriously. If this movie just focuses on great characters and an easy to follow story without tons of exposition, I think it could be really good. My hopes are high for this movie and it's opening on a comic book heavy month, so hopefully, it isn't overshadowed and forgotten quickly.
Apr 12: Hellboiiii / Missing Link
HELLBOY: It's crazy to think it's already been 10 years since the last Hellboy movie came out. The previous Hellboy movies were actually good, though had a lot of flaws in them. Casting David Harbour as Hellboy was a really cool choice and it looks like they are going to try to focus a lot on over the top action and humor. It looks like a great popcorn movie, like the first Guardians movie and the latest Thor movie.
MISSING LINK: The follow up to the movie that inspired me to start writing these mediocre movie reviews (Kubo and the Two Strings). This movie looks so beautifully animated, I'm definitely going to have to watch this movie on the biggest screen possible and the highest quality possible. The story looks a lot goofier than Kubo and will probably be a lot more light-hearted. The movie will center around a Bigfoot-like creature that can speak our language. He teams up with an explorer to try to find others like him and possibly mind a new link between Bigfoot and humans.
Apr 19: Under the Silver Lake
Andrew Garfield stars in the next movie by the awesome A24 film studio. This movie looks pretty insane in all the right ways. Garfield's character Sam meets a woman, who happens to be his neighbor, and they really hit it off. He goes over to her place the next day to find that she has completely disappeared and is nowhere to be found. What follows looks to be a bunch of quirky adventures as Sam tries to find the missing girl by any means necessary. Movies like these are the ones I always feel the most excited for. An original movie with an interesting premise, that looks like nothing I've ever seen before. April is shaping up to be a great month for movies.
Apr 26: Avengers Endgame
Do I even have to say anything? The answer is no, but I'm gonna do it anyway. This is most likely gonna be the highest selling movie of the year, with only the next Star Wars possibly being any form of competition. It's not really competition when Disney happens to own both of these series though. There's a lot of questions going into Endgame, and I'm still not convinced we are going to get all the answers from this movie. All I know is that Marvel Studios seems like it can do no wrong and I don't think they are going to start making misfires at this point.
May 10: Detective Pikachu
I could have sworn that this movie was just a very strange dream I had, but no it's actually real and happening. I still don't know how to feel about this movie, to be honest. The lead actor looks kind of... unconvincing. Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu is also a pretty weird casting choice. There were parts in the trailer that excited me and also worried me. It looks like it's going to be a fun movie overall and hopefully, those casting choices end up working in the full movie. Video game movies still haven't really gone anywhere. Last year's Tomb Raider film was a decent one and maybe this one will continue the streak? Although that streak won't be lasting long since there's another one of these coming out late in the year and it looks.... well.... we'll get to that later.
May 17: John Wick 3
The first John Wick movie was one of the biggest surprises of 2014 and it really put Keanu Reeves back on the map as a big action movie star. The second one upped the stakes and somehow improved on the great first film. This next one looks to continue that trend by sending every assassin after John Wick, as he tries to escape with his life. The John Wick series has really put Keanu back on as a top action star/movie star. I'm not sure how many more of these we're gonna get, but this is one series I'll keep on watching.
May 24: Aladdin
As I mentioned before, this whole Disney remaking all of their classics as live-action movies isn't really working for me so far. The difference between this and Dumbo is that I actually have a strong connection to the original Aladdin. The original animated movie was a game changer for Disney and the way they made movies. It introduced a new style of humor, using pop culture references in a setting where they don't technically belong. In that movie, it worked because of the good writing and the iconic performance by Robin Williams as the Genie. I'm hoping that they don't try to do that in this new remake and instead try something new, especially with the Genie. Will Smith is a good actor, who hasn't really been in many good movies recently. I don't think I can say a lot of people are super excited to see him as Genie, but that leaves room for a nice surprise.
May 31: Godzilla King of the Monsters
The trailer for this movie was fantastic. The cast is fantastic. The effects look fantastic. The last Godzilla movie was none of those things. It was a decent movie that helped introduce the world to Hollywood Kaiju movies alongside the first Pacific Rim. By the end of the first Godzilla, I was left with a lot of hope and optimism for the sequel. It looks like they have the right idea here. The only concern for me is the number of villains they seem to be trying to fit into this movie. I'm just judging everything by the trailer, so I have no real idea how it all plays out. All I can say is I'm very excited to see monsters beat the s**t out of each other. Yummie.
June 7: Dark Phoenix / Secret Life of Pets 2
I sorta feel the same about these two movies at the moment. That is to say, I'm not very excited about either of them. Dark Phoenix seems to be having lots of problems and it's not even out yet. It was delayed many months from its original 2018 release alongside New Mutants. The last X-Men movie that this one is following up wasn't good either. The X-Men series has reached great highs in quality and also has provided some of the worst comic book movies ever. I hope this one isn't another letdown, because X-Men is still my favorite comic book series and it's got so much potential. I might be one of the few people that don't really care to see the X-Men join the MCU, but if the two movies they got for this year are flops... well maybe it's better in Disney's hands like everything else is. As for Secret Life of Pets 2. It's just not for me. Illumination Studios makes mediocre animation and this one isn't going to be any different. It's a good movie for kids, but that's about it.
June 14: Men in Black International
Seems like no franchise can ever just truly go away. If you gotta keep it going through, Men in Black International looks like a great way to do that. Two great leads who have already proven they work well together in the last Thor. Changing things up by taking things to the UK is also a neat idea that could provide enough change to make this a fresh take on a franchise that was getting stale. This looks like a great popcorn movie for the summer.
June 21: Toy Story 4
Man, this year has 90s nostalgia all over the place. The last Toy Story seemed like the perfect way to end the series and say goodbye to all our favorite Pixar characters we grew up with. Things don't go away these days though, especially when they can bring in the billions. Pixar did say that the reason they are making this movie is that they had an idea so good for a sequel that they HAD to make it. I guess we won't really know for sure until the movie comes out in a few months. I feel like I should be a lot more excited about this considering how much I love Toy Story...
July 5: Spider-Man Far from Home
Spider-Man has been killing it recently, and not just on the Disney side of things. Three big hits in a row with Homecoming, Venom, and Spider-Verse. No doubt that this one will make that four big hits. You already got a great cast returning from the first movie and you get the addition of Jake Gyllenhaal playing the best Spider-Man villain Mysterio. This is going to be awesome.
July 19: The Lion King
Disney's not taking any breaks this coming Summer season. We're going to have Toy Story 4, Spider-Man, and The Lion King playing in theatres at the same time. The Lion King will be the last "live-action" remake of 2018 if you can call it live-action. Judging by the trailers it looks like a full CG movie, so I have no idea what live-action means anymore. The trailer literally looks exactly like the original animated movie from the 90s except not as cute. Like I said about Aladdin, I don't want this to be a shot-for-shot remake that doesn't change anything about the original. Like if they could show the hyenas shredding Scar to pieces at the end without cutting away, then it would be worth it. Seriously. Do it, Disney.*
July 26: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Not to be confused with Once Upon a Time in Mexico, which itself was not to be confused with Once Upon a Time in America. What was I talking about again?
So Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is the next big Tarantino movie starring Brad DiCaprio and Leonardo Pitt. Wait... That's not right.
Look this movie is going to be awesome, that's all you need to know.
Aug 2: New Mutants / Hobbs & Shaw
NEW MUTANTS: I could probably just copy and paste what I wrote about Dark Phoenix here. Also probably throw in a Game of Thrones joke since they both star two Starks from that show." But I would never do that. Never.
HOBBS & SHAW: The movie that led Tyrese Gibson to a public meltdown and Vinn Diesel to hating The Rock so much he didn't want to be on the same set as him. Hobbs & Shaw is the new spinoff of the Fast and Furious movies that have made less and less sense as they continue. Finally just taking all the bad parts about the Fast movies and keeping the good parts, which are The Rock and Jason Statham. On paper, this sounds like an awesome idea. These two guys are great action stars and this could make for a very fun movie if done right. Not much else at this point since nothing else has been shown yet. #TyreseSpinOff
Aug 16: PLAYMOBIL
...wait, what-
Sept 6: IT Chapter 2
Yet again it seems like IT has the entire month to itself, has no one learned? The first IT came out in September of 2017 with no competition near it, allowing it to dominate the box office and break a lot of records for that month. Looks like the follow-up is going to follow that same strategy, rightly so. The first movie was a huge success not only because of its great release date but because the movie was actually really good. Horror movies have been doing pretty good these days since they usually have a low budget it doesn't take much to make a profit. I think audiences are really craving great horror movies too, so that actually helps out too. The potential is great for this sequel and the concept sounds like a perfect idea for a sequel. The story picks up 27 years later with an all-new cast playing the grown-up versions of the previous movie's characters. It's an all-star cast and this movie is all set to be another big hit with audiences and critics alike.
Oct 4: Joker
A Joker origin story seems like the last thing I wanted from DC... that is until I saw who was playing Joker. Joaquin Phoenix is one of those actors that can get me to watch a movie on name recognition alone. He's such an interesting actor and his roles are almost always at the very least intriguing. Even in bad movies, he's usually the best part of them. This could really be interesting to see, though I wonder where it all ties with the rest of the DC movies. I'm very interested to see how this turns out.
Oct 11: Zombieland 2
Feels like ages ago since the first Zombieland came out. Maybe that's because it was 10 whole years ago? Yeah, that's probably it. A lot of the actors in this movie went on to star in some amazing things after this after this movie. Jessie Eisenberg and Emma Stone have starred in award-winning movies and won some awards themselves. At a time where we most movies we get are sequels and remakes it's strange this one didn't come sooner. I think that's a good thing though, it gave the actors lots of time to grow as performers and also grow in age. This is a sequel people have been asking for since they saw the first one 10 years ago. I hope it was worth the wait.
Oct 18: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Last years Won't You Be My Neighbor was the best documentary of the year, and also one of the best movies of the year. It really did a great job at showing just who Fred Rogers was and how he changed television forever. This year we will see Tom Hanks take the role of Fred Rogers in a new biopic that will basically do the same thing the documentary did but from a different point of view. Tom Hanks seemed to be the only actor that could possibly play this role so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out on screen.
Nov 8: Sonic the Hedgehog (Dankey Kang)
It's always a good sign when people are already upset at a movie by just its first poster. I can't say I blame them because OH MY GOD this poster looks really stupid. Sonic has a pretty iconic design that has worked for many decades in video games, comics, and tv shows. From the looks of this poster, it looks like they've made him into a monster. This doesn't really mean the movie is going to be bad or good, I guess. It's just not a great sign when Hollywood takes something that doesn't need to be changed and does it anyway. Detective Pikachu is doing this right by changing the art style of the characters, but still keeping the original designs intact. Why the hell is a Sonic movie coming out in 2019 anyway? Who asked for this?
Nov 22: Frozen 2
After a few months of letting other studios make some money, Disney is back at full force with one of its recent mega-hits. Frozen was a worldwide phenomenon that inspired a s**t-ton of youtube videos where little girls sing "Let it Go". The question going into this is this: Can Disney write a song that becomes as instantly iconic as "Let it Go"? Or will they just reuse that song in this sequel? Writing a four-chord pop song mega-hit shouldn't be too hard for them, especially with the amount of money and connections they have. As for the movie itself... well I'm sure it will be another fine movie. The first movie was fine. Nothing special or groundbreaking, but a good movie for younger audiences with very memorable songs to help with rewatch-ability.
Dec 20: Star Wars Episode IX - Return of the Abrams
Earlier this year I wrote a long post about the history of Star Wars and how I feel about the franchise after all the recent movies. [You can read it here if you want]. Basically what I said though, was that more than ever I find myself unexcited about the Star Wars franchise and its upcoming movies. Solo was a big failure not only critically and financially, but it also put off a lot of big Star Wars fans. Disney really needs this to be not only a financially successful movie (which it will be in some way) but a critically successful movie, especially with fans. After The Last Jedi, I found myself to be not very interested in how this trilogy is going to end. Is it just going to be another Return of the Jedi type story, where the big villain Kylo realizes he was wrong and changes sides? It really seems like that's where it's headed. With multiple new tv series and movie trilogies coming in the next few years, things need to change. Star Wars needs to step away from the Skywalker storyline and introduce completely new characters and new stories that aren't connected to the episodic movies. That's how I feel anyway. Star Wars is always a big event when it comes out and I want it to always feel that way. Last year was the first time I didn't rush out to watch a Star Wars movie with Solo, and it was a strange feeling. Hopefully, this last movie will be a nice sendoff to the Skywalker story.
2020 - The End of a Decade
It's been a long and amazing decade for movies and this last year looks to send things off with a bang. The movies on this list are just the major ones that have been officially announced, there are sure to be tons of great indie movies and more to look forward to. Here are some takeaways:
- Disney is releasing at least nine giant movies, most being sequels and remakes.
- The comic book movie crazy looks to be going strong into this year with at least 8 movies.
- Video game movies are going to keep getting made despite the history of flops.
- We could really use a new original franchise about now, but sadly most new ideas seem to fail... because they aren't good (*cough* Mortal Engines *cough*)
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.
