Glass

A January movie that's actually good?! What a rare treat! This was fantastic! This feels like M. Night at his best again! So far his last 3 movies ("The Visit", 'Split" and now "Glass") have been really, really good. These 3 films, I've discovered all have one other person in common: Jason Blum as producer. I don't know how much influence or control Blum has over Shamalan's projects, but whatever he's doing, he needs to keep at it. M. Night and Blum work really well together, as evidenced by those three films. Everyone in this movie does a great job! This is one of those rare films where there is not a single bad actor, not even in the minor characters. As great as everyone in this film is though, it is James McAvoy's performance that stands out the most. How has this man not been nominated for an Oscar yet? I'd say Kevin Wendell Crumb is his best role. Even the usually loud Samuel L. Jackson pulls back and finally gives a subtle performance again. (In fact, Jackson has no lines until the last 45 min. of the film). Bruce Willis has still got it, even at 63 years old. Apart from some grey hair between "Unbreakable" and now, he hasn't changed. It feels like picking up right where we left off. This is a more subtle, quieter approach to the comic book movie genre. As opposed to big battles with explosions, 90% of this movie is spent in one location and is a bit slower and quieter. There are moments of great suspense that had me wide-eyed and my jaw dropping. This is a fantastic conclusion to the trilogy, and I'm hoping the pattern of M. Night making great movies again continues. 

Grade: A+   10/10   5/5 stars

Max Payne (2008)

Here we go. My first "throwback" review of the year. For those of you who are new, or don't remember from last year when I started doing this, I decided that to keep this blog running in between new releases, I would also review movies that Doug Walker, aka the Nostalgia Critic, on Youtube reviews. (Exceptions being films I've already seen prior, films not released theatrically, and any R rated films.)
Before I started watching this, I was silently cursing Doug under my breath for making me review this. I have had bad experiences with video game movies. (Like last year with "Tomb Raider".) But it has Mark Wahlberg in it, so I was expecting it to be at least fun. And it was. The plot is kind of generic, and sometimes the story feels all over the place, but as far as the action sequences go, it was fun. Wahlberg actually put more effort than was needed in a film like this. It feels like he's actually trying, and is enjoying the role despite the mediocre script. The way the film is shot reminded me of movies like "The Matrix" or Robert Rodriguez movies.  Mila Kunis' character actually reminded me quite a bit of Trinity from "The Matrix." One of my issues with the film, is it does end very abruptly. If you don't stay through the credits to see that last scene at the end, it won't make sense, and since this isn't a Marvel movie, most people would just turn it off at the credits and be confused. It should have been put before the credits, or after the first half before the credits start scrolling up.  Is the film awful? No. Is it great? No. It's just a good ''turn off your brain'' action movie. There's not a whole lot of thinking required. It's just to be entertained by shootouts and explosions.

Grade: B     8/10     3.5/5 stars

Top 10 Movies of 2018

Every year I say the same thing: This list gets harder and harder to make every year. There were a lot of great films I wanted to put on this list, but after a lot of thinking and careful analysis of each film I reviewed, I was finally able to rank the top 10. Just because a film isn't on this list doesn't mean I didn't like it, it simply means there were better films. (Please don't burn me at the stake for not putting "Black Panther" on here, OK?)

10. Pacific Rim: Uprising: This was just as good as the original, and I'm hoping there's a 3rd one soon.
9. Ocean's 8: Great cast, great story, great score. A worthy successor to the 2001 film.
8. Ready Player One: There is something for everyone in this film, whether they grew up in the '80's or not. Well done, Spielberg!
7. Solo: I can already here your hate comments being typed. This felt like classic "Star Wars". Just enough grand scale, without going over the top. Alden Ehrenreirch felt genuine as Han Solo, and I look forward to seeing him in more films.
6. Venom: Surprisingly funny, great action scenes, great acting.
5. Teen Titans Go to the Movies: Hilarious movie on par with the "Lego" films.
4. Ralph Breaks the Internet: What "The Emoji Movie" wishes it was. Had great story, a lot of heart, and a lot ( and I mean a LOT) of Easter Eggs and In-Jokes.
3. Bumblebee:  The first great Transformers movie. A great call back to the '80's that proves "Transformers" movies don't need to be big or over the top, and can tell a great story with a lot of heart.
2. Spider-Verse: Everything about this movie was great. It had a great story, great animation, and is the ultimate Spider-Man film (no pun intended)


And the number one movie of 2018 is.....





1. Avengers: Infinity War:  A conglomeration of over 20 movies, with 30 main characters more or less. By all rights, this should not have worked. And yet it did. This is one of the best Marvel movies ever, one of my personal favorite Marvel movies, and I'm proud to rank it as the best movie of 2018.

Bumblebee

Finally, a great Transformers film! Now, I'm one of those people that enjoyed the Transformers movies for the most part, but this blows all of them out of the water! This is what they should have done the first time! This isn't just giant robots blowing stuff up for 3 hours. This actually has some heart and quiet moments to it. It's not exactly what I think of when I think "Transformers", but it was still fantastic! This feels like an '80s' movie. It reminded me a lot of "E.T" or 'The Iron Giant". I was skeptical that since Bumblebee doesn't talk, he wouldn't be able to carry a movie on his own, but this proved me wrong. His scenes are some of the funniest I've seen in these movies. I'm impressed that this is only Travis Knight's second film, and he's already 2 for 2. Rumor says that Marvel is thinking of hiring him to direct 'Guardians of the Galaxy 3' and after seeing this, they definitely should. I also must praise Knight for focusing on telling a story and not objectifying the female characters in any way! This is the most family-friendly Transformers movie. If I had kids, I'd let them watch it. Up to now, I have never heard an audience cheer during a movie that wasn't a superhero or ''Star Wars"movie. My audience went crazy! I think this is the only "Transformers" movie that got a standing ovation from my audience. If you grew up in the '80's you'll definitely love this film! Even if you haven't seen the other movies or know nothing about Transformers, you can still follow it pretty well. It stands on its own as a terrific film!

Grade: A+   10/10   5/5 stars

Holmes and Watson

At the time of publishing this review, this currently has a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, and I'd be lying if I said I couldn't see why. The modern day references in what is supposed to be the 1800s can be a little annoying at times, but I still laughed at this movie. I'm a bit of a sucker for goofball comedies, and I got pretty much what I expected with this. Will Ferrel and John C. Reilly actually do make a pretty funny duo that reminded me of old comedy duos. Some of the jokes were kind of eyeroll groaners, but the ones that worked worked pretty well. Like I said, the modern slang and references do feel out of place, but some of them were actually kind of funny and thought provoking. There's actually some pretty funny commentary on society today compared to society in the 1800s, although some of it did feel a little preachy which annoyed me. There's also this musical number during the last 3rd of the film that is just out of nowhere, and adds nothing to the film, and honestly should have been cut. I didn't hate this movie, but I won't be watching it again anytime soon.

Grade: C     7/10     3/5 stars

Mary Poppins Returns

This is one of the few sequels that is on par with the original. Emily Blunt is fantastic as Mary Poppins, which is a hard feat because Julie Andrews set the bar so high! She is just as good as Julie Andrews. She feels like the same character. I also enjoyed the clever bits of foreshadowing in the film that paid off later. Lin Manuel Miranda is by far the best part of this film! He is so fun to watch! Every scene with him gave me a big grin on my face! And he does a very convincing Cockney, something Dick Van Dyke could not do. (Sorry.) This has all the magic of the original, and the songs, while not as memorable, were still catchy. I was humming a few of the tunes when I left the theater. Will the songs be remembered as fondly and be as timeless as the original? Probably not, but they were still a good attempt. My one negative critique is that some of it did feel like a bit of a retread. Some lines from the original were repeated word for word as if to wink to the camera and say "Hey, remember how much you loved the original?" Overall, it's still an enjoyable flick and definitely a worthy sequel. 

Grade: A-      9/10    4/5 stars

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Last year, I said that "Spider-Man: Homecoming" was the best Spider-Man movie ever. I was wrong. This is! It has the perfect amount of action, drama, and comedy. Allegedly, the directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, were fired from the Han Solo movie because their vision was "too comedic." This movie proves they can balance drama and comedy perfectly, and I'm hoping this film opens the floodgates for them with other studios wanting to hire them. The animation took some getting used too as it is computer-animated, but meant to look like a comic book not quite completely CGI, but not quite completely hand-drawn either. What was clever about this very unique animation style was in certain close-up shots you could see the little dots that you would see in the pages of a comic book if you zoomed in with a magnifying glass. This movie already blew my mind, but if it had come out when I was 6, it would have blown my mind even more so. This is the Spider-Man movie I would have wanted as a kid, and I can't help but feel jealous of kids today who are my age when the original Spider-Man movie came out in 2002. The backstories for the various Spider-people are told very well, and even if you're not familiar with all the various iterations of the character, you still don't feel lost. (and this movie barely scratches the surface of the Spider-Man lore. There are still many, many, versions of Spider-Man that can be touched on, and I look forward to seeing them in the sequel). This is perfect for kids and adults! If this is not nominated for an Oscar next year, something is wrong with the Academy. There was absolute nothing about this movie to complain about!
Grade: A+   10/10   5/5 stars