Reviews

I should know what exactly these Netflix action movies are gonna be but yet here I am watching them anyways instead of skipping. Heart Of Stone is no different from all the others. It's the same movie as The Grey Man, which is the same movie as The Mother, which is the same movie as Triple Frontier. I could go on but you get the point by now. This is a movie that feels like it was generated by an algorithm. "What do people like? Ok well let's just continue to make the same movie over because the computers say that's what popular." I'd be fine with that if I actually have a awful about the characters and didn't have to endure some awful dialogue too. Everyone in this movie is stone cold, even Gal.

This borrows heavily from every spy franchise. Mission Impossible, Bond, Bourne, you name it. All of the popular things and tropes that define those franchises are weaved into this, designed specifically as a new package to make it look like you've never seen it before. Absolutely pathetic.

The action is adequate enough and the stunts are good when they're in camera, but that's not enough to save another compromising Netflix actioner. Also felt like at times this movie was written backwards.

RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON is the latest from Disney animation and takes place in a world named Kumandra, where Raya must find the last of the dragons.

I LOVED this movie. Everything from the voice acting, the colorful, vibrant visuals, the really awesome and unique action sequences, and the photo realistic animation. This is by far my favorite Disney animation of this new Disney Renaissance. Such a unique film with great messages about forgiveness and trust. Please give this a watch!

PS. Kelly Marie Tran's biggest middle finger to salty and awful Star Wars fans. GOOD FOR HER!!

SOUL is Pixar's latest film that I wish had been released theatrically. Joe Gardner is a middle school jazz teacher and musician who has lost his passion for music and is transported out of his body. he must find his way back with the help of an infant soul learning about herself.

With top notch animation, and I mean TOP NOTCH, this movie serves as Pixar's most original and mature work to date. The animation feels photorealistic, almost real, and there is one ow two scenes where I thought real actors were inserted and replaced the animated characters. It's that good.

Coupled with a strong set of themes, an experimental score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and top notch voice acting, SOUL is a wonder to behold! I loved this movie!

THE MIDNIGHT SKY will undoubted be compared to other films such as ARCTIC or AD ASTRA, but unlike AD ASTRA, THE MIDNIGHT SKY remains somewhat engaging, ambitious (ARCTIC is the better of the three), and intriguing.

The downfall of this movie is that it tries to tell two different stories that intertwine, and surprisingly a third one that doesn't fit all. The astronaut storyline is by far the most interesting part of the film. But everything with George Clooney, with the exception of this little girl, who is magnificent by the way, fell very flat for me and in ways felt very bland.

There's also a sequence set in space where the actors were fully rendered in CGI and it looked Bad. It took me out of the movie for a few minutes and because of that I had trouble getting back on track.

It's worth watching with only half a bucket of popcorn

POSSESSOR will be out soon. I'll give full thoughts when the embargo lifts but this is a weird, offed up movie and it instantly makes you feel uncomfortable. The opening sequence is something that is totally unexpected and sets the tone for the type of movie that is ahead of you. It might be one of the best opening sequences of the year.

For a low budget indie flick, the effects were stunning. The director, Brendan Cronenberg, son of David Cronenberg, used a lot of practical effects and the makeup team was very efficient in making believable and realistic prosthetics that never looked cheap. Cronenberg also crafts a film that is as violent as his father's films. Eastern Promises was probably the most violent Cronenberg film, and it is nice to see some of that DNA weaved into this film. It is is unflinchingly violent and very hard to watch at many times. It's slow build to these violent acts end up paying off in the end thanks to clear character motivations.

My issue with the movie is that SEAN BEAN DOESN'T DIE!!! Nah just kidding. If I had one issue with it, it would be that while motivations are clear and of course this is a low stakes, not as bombastic as big budget movies plot, the plot felt a bit weak. It never felt like it amounted to anything.

Full YouTube review come soon

PROJECT POWER is a new Netflix movie that sees a drug dealing teenager, a cop, and an ex-soldier teaming up as a pill that grants an individual superpowers for five minutes has made its rounds on the streets and the ex-soldier must find his daughter and discover a connection to her and the creation of the drug.

Project Power has a surprisingly good amount of character development that I wasn't expecting. Along with this comes some heartfelt and emotional moments that land somewhat of a punch since these characters are mostly fleshed out. The performances of Jamie Foxx, Dominique Fishback, and JGL (absolutely NOT Machine Gun Kelly though) are great and they are committed. It's also nice to see JGL back in a movie again.

The idea for this movie is also a cool one and for the first fifteen or so minutes I was hooked and wanted to know more about this drug and what kind of world this movie could setup.

Unfortunately though, the movie has a murky and muddled script that leads to a generic, bland, and disinteresting story, which leads me to say that this world-building with this drug is wasted potential. This is just an idea, and nothing beyond that. the plot is as thin as a piece of Swiss cheese, done to death a million times before.

I'll say you'll enjoy PROJECT POWER only with half a bucket of buttery popcorn (2.5/5)

THE OLD GUARD is a new movie out on Netflix and stars Charlize Theron as the leader of a group of mercenaries who have lived for centuries as immortals. When their secrets and immortality are exposed and a new recruit comes their way, they must fend off corporate baddies.

This is a fun, entertaining Netflix movie. While it doesn't offer much in the way of substance (in terms of characters, story, and world building) the action sequences and fight choreography make this a two hour thrill ride, though I wish it was a bit more over the top than it actually was.

Overall I'd say you'll enjoy THE OLD GUARD even with three quarters worth of a bucket of popcorn.

Spike Lee's newest film DA 5 BLOODS is out on Netflix now is about a group of African-American war veterans who served together in Vietnam and return to the city to find the remains of their fallen comrade and the gold he promised them.

What a wonderful, thought-provoking, and timely movie. One of the best movies of the year! Delroy Lindo is gunning for that Oscar, deserves and Oscar nomination, and should win.

This is by far Spike Lee's most ambitious and violent film to date. The story may not seem like it plays out to something that will have relevancy to the current climate, but it's Spike Lee and he manages to weave in messages about society's pitfalls and the current political climate in ways you would never understand.

One of the very best of the year to this point, and it feels so good to say that a movie is "one of the best of year" in a year that has studios are trying to kill movie theaters, a global pandemic, and more movies that are horrendous rather than great.

DA 5 BLOODS belongs in popcorn heaven!

CAPONE is written, edited and directed by Josh Trank and stars Tom Hardy as Al Capone and it tells the final year of Capone's life, as after he is released from prison both his physical and mental health start to deteriorate and his past criminal activities now haunt him.

CAPONE does a good job with it's makeup to make Tom Hardy look like an older Al Capone, as well as the costume design, which perfectly captures the time period of the mid 1940s as well as showing us a post-Depression era America.

Unfortunately, that's where the praise stops as this movie becomes full of itself from its gangster/horror genre hybrid, to its corny dialogue, to its unfitting music, and to Tom Hardy's polarizing performance, one that gets him growling like a dog. I was thoroughly convinced he transformed into a dog.

A good idea, but poor execution, and I'll say you'll probably enjoy CAPONE with a bucket of stale popcorn.

This movie is terrible for one reason.... movie theaters are now going out of business. Thanks a lot Universal. You will never get my money again. $100 million in digital sales??? That's a lie. I understand we ar in a pandemic but seriously. F this movie

THE LODGE is a psychological horror film about a family, torn apart by tragedy, that decide to spend Christmas at their remote lodge in New England by a lake. Tagging along is the girlfriend of the father, Grace, and the longer everyone stays at the cabin, the more and more suspicious things seem to become.

This is a movie that is very well directed. The directors are able to get the most of their actors, cashing in on beautiful camerawork involving a loot of zooms that captures the emotions and the complexities the characters are feeling in that current moment. The cinematography is great here as well, as we get a very snowy landscape that is able to capture just how cold and isolated this lodge and these characters are in this situation.

All of the performances in this movie are great. Riley Keough is the standout here, giving a very subtle, quiet performance for a good chunk of the movie, and she is able to play a complex character who is harboring past pain and trauma very well, and is able to express the psychosis of said character immaculately. It's also nice to see Richard Armitage back in a movie. I don't think I've seen him in anything since THE HOBBIT trilogy.

The atmosphere is captured very well. The movie, while slow and perhaps a bit drawn out in some scenes, immediately makes you feel unsettled and disturbed. Right away, from the opening the movie is building to something and when a startling event happens within the first ten minutes or so, that atmosphere is elevated and the directors are able to craft a spooky, haunting, and disturbing tale that keeps you intrigued and wondering what will happen next.

This movie falls apart for me with a reveal that is essentially undone by another reveal. This second plot twists doesn't feel all that earned, as we are led to believe the first plot twist is something that actually happened and it made the movie more interesting, it opened up some questions, it never had answers right away, but then that second twist ruins almost everything. The movie came to a screeching halt with that reveal and I felt it was a cop out.

This movie is also very similar to other horror movies as well. The two major similarities are THE SHINING and HEREDITARY. Essentially this is the same movie as THE SHINING, with aded elements from HEREDITARY mixed in, one of those elements involving a dollhouse. I found these similarities to be very distracting, especially the similarity to THE SHINING. It felt as if they wanted to remake THE SHINING but didn't have Stephen King's approval or the studio's approval and decided to make a soft remake anyways. Even the way the camera moves with its zoom ins and zoom outs reminded me of Kubrick's style of filming and evoked a lot of shots that were done masterfully in THE SHINING rather than here.

All in all, this movie was a very mixed bag for me. It started strong but wasn't able to stick the landing and lacked a lot of originality to the point where it felt like other films, better films, that have been made.

I'll say you'll probably like THE LODGE if you have a half bucket of popcorn.

UNDERWATER finds a group of drill miners at the bottom of the ocean escaping their vessel after it is hit by an earthquake. As they attempt to escape, they are met with unfamiliar creatures and must in turn escape from them as well.

This is by far the best film I've seen in terms of 2020 releases so far (though that's isn't saying much and I'm not factoring 1917 or JUST MERCY into the mix here since those are technically 2019 films). This movie was actually filmed in 2017 and just released now due to the Disney/Fox merger and it really feels like both studios didn't know what to do with this because this is better than most January releases and the filmmaking behind it is adequate. They at least try. The acting is fine, the production design and technical are all passable as well.

One of my huge issues with this film is that it feels to much like Alien or Cloverfield to the point where it feels like a ripoff of those films. There are so many homages to those films that at times it became a bit distracting at times and took me out of the movie at times, causing me to zone out.

I've seen things saying that the lighting is very minimal, but for the most part I thought the minimal lighting helped with the suspense of building up the creatures and the experience of the characters when they come into contact with these creatures. The only parts the minimal lighting didn't work for me was when the camera was skating all over the place and you couldn't see anything that was happening.

This is one of the more decent films in January. This is by no means a great film, but there was enough that was entertaining that kept me engaged, even though it does feel like it rides that line of ripping off some classic films that clearly influenced it.

THE GRUDGE is a reboot of the horror series of the same name or a continuation... I'm not really sure this movie knows which one of those it is.

I honestly don't know what this movie is about, because this movie doesn't really know either. It's told in a non-linear fashion, but none of the ideas with these plot lines are fully developed and it leaves so many gaping plot holes. Because of this, not only does the audience feel confused and have to constantly figure out what is going on, but the movie itself feels confused in its presentation. It's a dull, uninspired movie with no creative vision.

These characters are also amongst some of the weakest characters I have seen in a movie in awhile. None of the are developed and a lot of them make stupid decisions that prove to be fatal in the long run.

The biggest mistake this movie makes is that it lacks any sense of suspense or tension. It thinks that by having a shadowy figure pass by in the background or the foreground or by showing the entities in full lighting is scary and it relies very heavily on jump scares. I'll say this, at least the acting is adequate.

In all honesty, this is what I expect from a release in the first week of January. I've seen stencil graffiti with more depth than this.

I'm going to give THE GRUDGE an F.

Idiots like Jeremy Jahns and the legion of fans he brainwashed into hating Star Wars will hate this movie because it's Rian Johnson and they're still salty over The Last Jedi. People like Chris Stuckmann, Jared Buckendahl, LC Screen Talk, And myself will actually look at this movie through the lens of actual analysis from a filmmmaking perspective, unlike that hack Jeremy Jahns. This is one of my favorite movies of the year and don't let dumb salty Star Wars fans like Jeremy The Dictator Tell you differently.

This is a witty script from Rian Johnson, with well thought out characters. It is witty, funny and eccentric. I loved every minute of this movie.

Salty Star Wars fans like Jeremy will automatically hate because it's Rian Johnson. They need to grow up

"Alita: Battle Angel" is the new sci-fi epic from director Robert Rodriguez and is written by James Cameron. It features Alita (Rosa Salazar), a cyborg who is picked up in a scrapyard in the futuristic Iron City by Doctor Ido (Christoph Waltz). He repairs her but she has no memory of where she cam from and she believes she came from Zalem, the city in the sky so she tries get there but runs into trouble along the way.

The more and more footage I saw of "Alita: Battle Angel" from trailers, behind the scenes, and TV spots, I was really looking forward to it after initially thinking it was gonna be some sci-fi throwaway movie. I also had no idea that it was based on a Japanese manga of the same name until I had seen the movie. I left the theater a bit disappointed. I felt as if the movie was a bit uneven. There's no doubt there's a lot of good in the movie, but it leaves a lot to be desired. It's a very surface level movie, and given the talent in front of and behind the camera, that's not good when a movie like this costs $200 million to make. I didn't find myself invested in any of the characters except for Ido. Even Alita doesn't have much character development. She doesn't learn much about herself throughout the movie, though she is a likable action hero and is easy to root for.

The central romance set up in the story makes no sense. The entire thing feels like a distraction. The movie is entertaining enough where most of the flaws can be passed by, but then it cuts back to this romance and it feels so tacked on. It was an element of the movie that didn't have to be there. The villains were also very weak. Vector (Mahershala Ali) is very weak. He's a corporate baddie with sunglasses and a business suit. THAT'S. IT. The henchmen are no better and this film cannot figure out which henchmen/bounty hunters it wants to focus on. Three times, THREE, Alita fights the same character. It felt like I was playing Super Mario 64 and I had to defeat Bowser three times. The screenplay became so muddled trying to balance all of these villain elements out.

The biggest issue I have with this film is the fact it is sequel bait. The entire third act is all set up for a sequel that we don't even know will happen. I get it's based off a manga and that there are big name filmmakers working on this project, but you can't bank on that to deliver a sequel. The film has to make money, earn good word of mouth, and get a least decent reviews. It seems everything in Hollywood movies nowadays is just there to be setup for sequels.

There are good things in this film too. The visuals are SPECTACULAR, some of the best visuals I've ever seen in a movie. And it makes the action set pieces standout a lot more, which are very entertaining and fun to watch. Though I wanted more of this sequence, the Motorball sequence had me on the edge of my seat. There is also an action sequence towards the middle of the film that I really enjoyed. The film offers entertaining sequences where you can sit back, relax, stuff your face with that buttery popcorn, and have a good time. It is also a movie that sets up its world very well. The rules, laws, background, all of it, is very cool and very well done. But unfortunately the movie as a whole is just middle of the road. It has lots of surface level stuff, and that's a damn shame.

I am going to give "Alita: Battle Angel" a C+.

"Tomb Raider," the 2018 edition is a reboot of the TOMB RAIDER film series and this time Alicia Vikander steps into the role of Lara Croft as Lara travels to the island of Yamatai to follow her father's work while coming face to face with an organization named Trinity and its leader Mathias (Walton Goggins), who coerces Lara into helping him locate the tomb of Himiko.

Now it's safe to say these video game adaptations don't go to well. We all know the track record, however I do like a few. The two previous TOMB RAIDER films with Angelina Jolie are huge guilty pleasures, The PRINCE OF PERSIA movie happens to be what i feel is a competent attempt at making a successful video game adaptation, and from a distance there are parts of ASSASSIN'S CREED that I admire. TOMB RAIDER is fun, entertaining, and one of the better video game movie adaptations we have.

First of all, it all starts with Alicia Vikander. She does a great job as Lara and to me she is Lara. She embodies what Lara Croft in the reboot video game series is. She's vulnerable, young, and acting out of necessity. There is an attempt as well to actually give some development to Lara, something video game movies tend to breeze over. Though this may make the first half hour of the film feel a bit slow and choppy at times, it is necessary in that we get to know who Lara Croft is. the other characters however, are not all that developed, especially the villain Mathias, who is only in about two scenes in the movie.

The action is fun, though it is a bit okay with the sky cam. There is enough to see though and understand what is going while the camera is shaking.

My negatives are the final act was a ripoff of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Seriously, it's the exact same thing, as well as the final scene of the movie being in there for nothing more than fan service.

Overall I am going to give TOMB RAIDER a B.

"Hostiles" is a western written and directed by Scott Cooper, who directed films such as "Crazy Heart," "Out Of The Furnace," and "Black Mass." It stars Christian Bale as an Army captain in 1892 who is ordered to escort a dying Cheyenne Chief back to his homeland in Montana.

This movie is a slow burn to say the least. In the first act and the third act, when the movie is slow, it is still interesting. It manages to keep my attention even though there are a lot of drawn out scenes. Characters take a long time to respond, sometimes a shot will last for what feels like an eternity. Even then, it's in these parts of the movie where I am still engaged. there are some gun battles sprinkled in throughout, but the little violence there is can be strong and explodes when you least see it coming. Speaking of, you should know how dark and breaking this movie is going to be judging from its opening scene. The opening hooked me, but it was surprisingly also a little overboard in terms of violent content. What happened there does serve the story and makes you care for Rosamund Pike's character. I didn't need to see what happened happen right from the get go.

The send act of the movie though....colossal waste of time. It was boring. This is where scenes were failing to grab my attention. My attention was strained. Very little of the plot is moved along throughout this half hour. It's just the gang...hanging out... and Ben foster is there. This is where you can zone out of conversations characters are having. These scenes will put you to sleep.

The story is definitely the weakest aspect of the film. When the film was rising to its conclusion, I sat there and thought to myself that this film has little to no stakes. There are multiple antagonists, and none of them rise to the occasion to seize the day as the "big bad." It really ended up leaving a hollow and sour taste in my mouth.

The rest of the film though, from a technical and filmmaking standpoint, is a glorious achievement, there is no denying that. Beautiful, lush cinematography, a really well directed movie from Scott Cooper. The score is also beautiful but at the same time harrowing and sorrowful. The characters are really well thought out as well, and this is especially the case with Christian Bale, who along with Rosamund Pike and we can't forget Wes Studi give magnificent performances.

Despite the overlong and clunky story, I did enjoy watching "Hostiles" and I am going to give "Hostiles" a B-.

"The Shape Of Water" is the new project from writer/director Guillermo Del Toro who brought us Pan's Labyrinth, Pacific Rim, The Hellboy Movies and to an extent The Hobbit trilogy (which gets to much hate). I wasn't a huge fan of Crimson peak, but the Shape Of Water really looked intriguing from the trailers. I sat there blown away by what I was seeing. This is one of my favorite films of 2017. It is unique, original, interesting, intriguing, and weird all at the same time.

Sally Hawkins gives a really great performance in one of the most inspirational performances I have ever seen. her character is mute and has no lines of dialogue aside from a dream sequence, but man does she play this character with confidence. The supporting cast also does a really great job, Michael Shannon of course being the next standout, and no one phone sin a performance at all.

This film has that old school vibe to it. There is a use of a lot of practical effects, and the makeup and hairstyling is some of the best I've seen on film this year. The amphibian creature, if it is motion captured, is seamlessly integrated into the movie that the use of practical effects looks so appealing.

The set designs are also really great. Lots of little details that you have to pay attention to that you wouldn't normally pay attention to. The lighting in these scenes also adds a lot of depth to the movie. There are scenes that are dim for a reason, and some with more lighting for a reason. It is really a great way to use lighting to convey the details of the environment.

This is a story that grabbed me from the beginning. Not once was I bored watching this movie. It kept me engaged and there is so much character development that it ended up making me care at the end. Out of all of the characters that you root for, there is not one single character that you end up not liking.

And if my memory serves me correctly, there is not one scene of exposition in this film. Not one. There are some "hints" here and there as to what is going on in the background, but from what I remember it's not explicitly stated. It leaves it up to you to put together all of the clues and I really like that about this film.

I'm happy we got something original in Hollywood. Everyone craves for something original, and then everyone hates it when something original comes out. It was a nice breath to just see something so refreshing instead of plot threads being retreaded and following clichés that we see in movies nowadays. This is one of my favorite films of the year.

I am going to give "The Shape Of Water" an A+.

"Justice League" is one of the most anticipated for a lot of people. We have all dreamed of seeing these heroes on the screen for an eternity, and we finally have it. The DCEU hasn't had a good track record, and it's no secret that I haven't been too kind to it myself. They're 1 for 4 in my opinion. Now...they're 1 for 5. I went in giving it a chance. I gave it a chance. I wanted to like it. It's the Justice League for crying out loud. But it's just not a good movie. Everything we hated about BvS is in this movie. They didn't listen. They try to add some humor into the movie but it doesn't work, and it's mostly with the Flash. It came across as forced and none of the jokes were funny. It had some tonal issues, mostly it was a movie trying to be dark and serious and twisted but then there are attempts at humor that really throw the movie off its rhythm. Steppenwolf was a lame villain, with a very generic villain plan. His plan involves these three boxes that are portals, and he has parademons and they try to bring about the end of the world and the Justice League has to stop them. Did i mention beams in the sky yet? His CGI is atrocious. For a movie with a rumored $300 million dollar budget you would think the visual effects team would at least try to make it not look noticeable. it was and it was really distracting. And it wasn't just Steppenwolf. They do the slo-mo action sequences, which I haven't been a fan of for a long time, but I understand that is Zack Snyder's style. I had heard about the movie being flawed, but fun. I can say I didn't think it was fun. There were some moments Where I felt I was having fun but then in the same scenes there was something that just took away from that fun. Even if the movie wasn't executed properly, which it wasn't, I wanted to have some fun, and unfortunately I didn't feel as if I did. There is some bad editing and cropping too. I noticed some obvious ADR moments and a lot of the heads were cut off when it came to cropping scenes. Characterization is really thin, the plot is thin, there's plot holes galore thanks to the mandated two hour runtime. This is a band of superheroes that deserves better than what we got. I am going to give "Justice League" a D+.

"The Disaster Artist" is a true story based on the making of the notoriously bad cult film "The Room," directed by Tommy Wiseasu. Wiseau is played by James Franco and Wiseau's friend Greg Sestero is played by Dave Franco. This was interesting, because I had heard so much about "the Room" and its cult status as one of the worst movies ever made. The trailer for the Disaster Artist was really intriguing, and I walked out pretty pleased.

This movie has the Franco Brothers and Seth Rogen, and we all know the reputation that comes with them. They make stoner comedies and basically all play the same characters in every movie they're in. That is not the case here. All of those clichés from those movies that we see from these guys are thrown out of the window. It was a nice change of pace and pleasant surprise for all of these guys after watching their work and seeing the same stale comedies delivered to audiences.

I also wouldn't "technically" categorize this movie as a "comedy." It's definitely more of a dramedy with comedic scenes mixed in, but this is because Tommy Wiseau, who is so magnificently played by James Franco in what is probably his best performance to date (yes I went there), is such a weird, mysterious, eccentric, and strange individual that his words and actions and his weird passion to make a movie come off as comedic. It's the more intense drama scenes that really work well within this movie. I will add that the comedic scenes shown the trailer are not the only funny scenes in the movie. There's definitely more humor in the movie aside from those scenes.

My issue with this movie really just comes down to pacing. It took a while for the buildup, and I get it, it's character development and you have to explain the relationship between Tommy and Greg, and that's character development, but it just felt a little too long. There were instances where I was checking my watch and thought to myself "i thought Seth Rogen was in this movie." I would also say that the character of Amber, played by Alison Brie, really didn't move the story forward all that much and I felt like she wasn't needed.

Overall, I enjoyed it. Laughed my ass off in some parts. Both Francos and Seth Rogen for that matter are really good in the movie, it's a behind the scenes type of movie that shows you how not to make a movie. I thought they did a really good job of capturing just how strange and determined Tommy Wiseasu was.

I am going to give "The Disaster Artist" a B+.

Check out my review of "The Disaster Artist" here on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT5-PfMK180

"Thor: Ragnarok" is the third Thor movie and 17th entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In Ragnarok, Thor, captured on a remote planet and forced to enter a gladiator match against the Hulk, must find a way to get back to Asgard to stop Hela, the goddess of death, from destroying it and bringing about the prophesied "Ragnarok."

To be honest I haven't seen a Thor movie in the theaters. i missed out on chances to see both of them so I was really excited to see this one, despite thinking "The Dark World" is average at best. I was really happy. This is some of the most fun I've had all year.

Thor actually feels like a character in this film. His dialogue feels more real and natural and I think that's because we've seen him adapting to other realms like Earth in previous films. it felt so genuine and I was happy that he used more of his power rather just swing his hammer around for most of the movie. They made Thor a character, someone you could relate to.

The biggest thing this movie has going for it is the fact they took Earth away as the setting. Setting it in the cosmos is exactly what the Thor movies needed, and what should have been done with the second movie. No offense to Natalie Portman, but I'm glad she didn't come back. The story didn't call for it and she wasn't needed.

This is a very fun, exciting, and funny film. There are scenes where you are dying of laughter. The action sequences, as always in a Marvel film, are fun to watch. there's a lot of great scenery to go along with those and this is a very colorful movie, which added to the overall visual appeal.

The new characters were very well integrated and really likable. My favorite was Valkyrie, played by Tessa Thompson. She did a fabulous job and the character had more of a wild side to her than I was expecting, and that was a nice touch. Jeff Goldblum surprisingly didn't annoy me. There's only so much of him I can handle and he was handled in a way where he was tolerable.

Hela was a good villain as well. Not the best, but a lot stronger than most MCU villains, a new trend that Marvel seems to be making sure that they are doing. Cate Blanchett does a very good job and looks like she is having a lot of fun in the role. Hela isn't in the movie a lot, but is in it just enough. She's perfectly functional and more menacing than one might expect.

As for issues, they're only very minor. One was the CGI in a couple of scenes was weak, and I didn't really like the character of Skurge. I found him to be kind of bland.

I had a blast with this movie. It is my second favorite of phase 3 and one of my favorites in the MCU.

I am going to give "Thor: Ragnarok" an A. For a more in depth analysis, check out my review on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlH_5IA1F-U

"The Foreigner" stars Jackie Chan as a Chinaman living in London whose daughter is killed in act of terrorism. His desperate search to find the terrorists who killed his daughter lead him to Hennessy (Pierce Brosnan), a politician with a shady past.

This is a very different movie from Jackie Chan and I applaud that. I was intrigued by the trailer because it looked like Jackie Chan unhinged, and it practically is. He does a really good job here in a dark, gritty, realistic thriller and it's a thriller that doesn't really venture all that far into the action territoy. He doesn't really get to show off his kung-fu prowess, but more of him getting his ass kicked and fighting in a way that's more realistic than kung-fu. I give him very high praise for that as I thought he did an excellent job portraying a more complex character than we've seen from, one who had more of a tortured past and really just lost his last remaining remnant of his life.

Pierce Brosnan gives a solid performance as well. This might actually be his best post-Bond role and you could tell he was having fun portraying a more villainous type character, someone who you liked then was unlikeable, someone who is untrustworthy and shadowy, but at times understand his viewpoint. He was a bright spot that worked really well.

Martin Campbell directs this movie, who also directed Brosnan in "GoldenEye," Brosnan's first outing as James Bond, and the underrated Mel Gibson thriller "Edge of Darkness." This movie has a lot of similarities to "Edge of Darkness" and those types of movies like "Taken," and "Death Sentence." Campbell does a really great job of staging the action and tension, and proves that he has a real knack for providing realistic thrills when he directs movies not named "Green Lantern." I like watching his work. I think he has a great camera crew, stunt team, effects teams, all of that stuff that goes into the behind the scenes making of a movie, and he shines once again here.

As unoriginal as the movie may sound, it is a bit of a fresh take on the genre. However, with that being said, the first five minutes of this movie were the exact same thing as the first 10 minutes of "Edge of Darkness." To be honest this is basically the same movie as "Edge of Darkness." Both protagonists have their daughters killed, they go searching for answers, their search leads them to to conspiracy theories and political realms. It's basically the same movie unfortunately, and while the first half of this movie sets up a really good story within that familiarity that looks like it'll set this movie apart from the pack, the second half jumps into action movie cliché territory, not always, but quite a bit, and becomes bogged down into how convoluted the plot gets. Basically these terrorists are linked to this guy who's linked to this guy who may or may not know this guy who works for this guy.... it got to be too much towards the end and the movie lost me in some parts with it's political dialogue.

The action scenes though, when they go down, they go down. They are raw, they are dirty, they are realistic. This movie is a bit more violent then I thought it would be, but I still enjoyed watching the movie and I had a fun time with it. I think it's definitely worth another watch.

I am going to give "The Foreigner" a B-.

Check out my video review of "The Foreigner" here on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUVN59I3WXo

"American Made" is the true story of Barry Seal, played by Tom Cruise, who was a former pilot turned drug smuggler and become an informant for the DEA in the 1980s. I was really looking forward to this movie since it had Tom Cruise in it, but I was ultimately let down by an excruciatingly slow pace and a movie that felt really rushed. I don't agree with the critics on this one.

I will say this, the movie is very well directed and most of the movie is shot with a hand-held camera, which to me is different for a drama. Director Doug Liman has proved before that he can use hand-held camera the proper way and this is no exception.

Tom Cruise also delivers an award worthy performance. This is him unhinged, and probably the best I've ever seen him. You could even say he's on Cruise control.

The rest of the movie just fell really flat for me. This film has really poor pacing, as it felt both rushed and a lot longer than it felt. There are a lot of time jumps and it really doesn't give the film a chance to breathe. There is really no intro tot he film as well, which I know there are other movies out there that just jump right into the thick of things, but I felt I needed some more background information as to what the situation was and who the character was. There was no emotional tug at the heartstrings in this film for me.

This movie's lack of a musical score also made the film feel a lot longer than it was. Sure there is a soundtrack in the background in some scenes, and I'm not expecting some epic, blockbuster musical score to go with a movie like this, but the films I find slow are the ones with a lack of musical score at most times.

I am going to give "American Made" a C.

Check out my review of "American Made" on YouTube for a more in depth analysis:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw4ddqed5VE

"Kingsman: The Golden Circle" is the sequel to the 2015's surprisingly good hit action film "Kingsman: The Secret Service" and brings the cast back to take down former drug cartel leader Poppy who has attacked the Kingsman headquarters and they need to investigate her scheme to prevent a virus from spreading across the world.

I really loved the first film. It was unique, original, and just damn fun. Matthew Vaughn really has that knack. I went in with great expectations for the sequel and walked out really liking it, though I didn't love it.

From a technical standpoint this film looks amazing. Matthew Vaughn can craft great action sequences and film them with a hand-held camera where everything remains in plain sight. His special effects and visual effects teams are spot on in handling such scenes, and the set design is also really cool, especially the headquarters for the Statesman.

The acting is also really good. Colin Firth, Taron Edgerton, Mark Strong, Jeff Bridges, Channing Tatum, and even Halle Berry who I don't even like as an actress turn in really good performances. You can tell they are all having fun with their roles which they should because it's a ridiculous action movie, and I think that really let some of the weaker links like Berry to shine. Julianne Moore is also an actress I don't like, and I did think she was overselling her performance a bit.

My problem with the movie has nothing to do with the technical aspects like direction, camera work, acting, editing, or visual effects. What it really boils down to is the writing and how some story elements are handled.

For instance, it feels like this film is trying way to hard to harken back to what made the original so great without coming up with any fresh ideas of its own. This movie takes everything everyone loved about the first one, puts it in this movie, and makes it bigger by trying to be better. Yeah, it is bigger...but bigger does mean better. An example of this is towards the end of the film when there is an action scene that is trying to replicate the church scene from the first one, except the scale of the action scene in this one is bigger. There were a lot of scenes like that in here and I don't think Vaughn really thought of how to make things better while still being bigger. The villain was also kind of a drag. It was just Samuel L Jackson from the first one, but instead of him it's Julianne Moore. Her overall plan just comes across as ranging from silly and ridiculous to pretentious and overstuffed. That's where the film really falters and at times it does have some pacing issues especially towards the second act. There's some stuff with Elton John that both works and doesn't work, and that switches up the pacing at times.

Like I said, there is nothing wrong technically with this movie. I just think it needed some rewrites particularly with its villain and its story.

Overall I am going to give "Kingsman: The Golden Circle" a B.

For a more in depth analysis of the film you can check out my review of the film on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tooIzhvdbmM

"IT" is an adaptation of Stephen King's novel and focuses on a group of outsiders who are bullied and after discovering a killer clown that is really a monster, they decide to take him down. I was looking forward to "IT" despite not having read the book or seen the original miniseries with Tim Curry as Pennywise. The trailers made the movie look intriguing and I thought that this could be the next big break the horror genre needs. I was very pleased.

Easily the biggest praise of this movie goes to the writing. This movie has well developed characters and cohesive storytelling. The thing I enjoyed about these characters is that they not only deal with middle school problems and bullying, but they also deal with real life problems that everyone in this world has or will face. These characters, in their early teens, also cuss a lot. It made the characters that much more relatable and realistic and provided a breath of fresh air into the horror genre, and the writers actually understood the age demographic and portrayed it beautifully. The story is also really straightforward. There are no crazy, so-called "clever" plot twists that a lot of horror movies nowadays try to include. It was cohesive and easy to follow.

Not only were the kids well written, but the actors that played them were magnificent. There was not a dull performance form any one of them. Everyone is skeptical when it comes to kid actors, but each actor portrayed his character the way a kid should portray his character. Character wise, there was perhaps a little annoyance with the germaphobe kid but that could be passed off because the characters were so intriguing and relatable.

The movies earns it scares too. There aren't any cheap scares either. A couple of "jumps" in the second half, but good jumps. The second half of the movie is full of all the scars, whereas the first half, while still having some screw, focuses more on setting up the characters and the story for the audience while also providing the necessary haunting imagery to imprint in our heads. The way the films opens up, you no there's no holding back with this movie after watching the opening scene.

Bill Skarsgard did a really great job as Pennywise. He was scary, he was menacing, and damn he made me afraid of clowns again. The movie did its job and that is make adults afraid of clowns again.

The movie really boils down to being a horror movie mixed with a coming-of-age drama and I appreciated that. I really like when movies have the balls to go all out like that in a horror movie. Horror movies don't have the guts to pull something like that off (runtime is another thing this movie pulls off really well: 2 hrs. 15 mins as opposed to the average 1 hr and 30 mins. for horror films), and to see something so refreshing and relatable is a breath of fresh air.

I will say "IT" will make my top 10 of the year to this point and I am going to give "IT" an A.

Check out my review on YouTube for a more in-depth analysis here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LTU525ZHlw