Category: Reviews of Movies

Dredd: Directed by Pete Travis. With Karl Urban, Rachel Wood, Andile Mngadi, Porteus Xandau. In a violent, futuristic city where the police have the authority to act as judge, jury and executioner, a cop teams with a trainee to take down a gang that deals the reality-altering drug, SLO-MO. Watched again because I was bored and needed a pick me up. Buy On Amazon!

The Lego Batman Movie: Directed by Chris McKay. With Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, Ralph Fiennes. A cooler-than-ever Bruce Wayne must deal with the usual suspects as they plan to rule Gotham City, while discovering that he has accidentally adopted a teenage orphan who wishes to become his sidekick. I decided that I needed to check this out again since I had seen the two “LEGO Movie” movies and I think this LEGO Batman is the superior LEGO Batman, I’m not sure how a sequel could be made in the same vein as this one was with the full...

Lego Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite: Directed by Jon Burton. With Clancy Brown, Troy Baker, Christopher Corey Smith, Charlie Schlatter. When the Joker and Lex Luthor form an alliance, Batman must team up with the Justice League in order to stop them. This came in a weird movie bundle of like 30 animated DC movies that was being sold for just $10 a few months back on Vudu and I’m just now getting around to watching anything from the bundle. I think I’ve actually seen this one in the past, as the story was familiar. Many of...

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: Directed by Simon West. With Angelina Jolie, Jon Voight, Iain Glen, Noah Taylor. Video game adventurer Lara Croft comes to life in a movie where she races against time and villains to recover powerful ancient artifacts. Received free in this month’s Universal rewards program, it’s a fun movie that looks pretty good in 4k/hdr. Buy On Amazon!

After witnessing his parents’ death, Bruce learns the art of fighting to confront injustice. When he returns to Gotham as Batman, he must stop a secret society that intends to destroy the city. An exceptionally long time ago I bought two LEGO Batmobiles from Target (I think it was over a year ago!), they were the cars from the 2022 Film and the tumblr from Batman Begins. I built the 2022 car while watching the second LEGO film, and got most of the Tumblr done during this film, which still holds up as a serious story of an emotionally broken...

A special bond develops between plus-sized inflatable robot Baymax and prodigy Hiro Hamada, who together team up with a group of friends to form a band of high-tech heroes. One more entry for my Stan Lee collection, this 4k disk was free on the Disney Rewards page, so I scooped it up as soon as I saw it. It’s still a fun movie and has a typical “dead family” story line that Disney loves to use for plot development. Buy On Amazon!

It’s been five years since everything was awesome and the citizens are facing a huge new threat: Lego Duplo invaders from outer space, wrecking everything faster than they can rebuild. This was a pretty ok sequel to the first LEGO Movie, there’s a particular energy that carries on from the first but I fear that the special spark that’s required for the movie to be fully appealing was diminished in their rush to capture lightening in the bottle after the huge success of the first film. The puns are all a bit forced and the “in lego” story didn’t really...

The Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being Jack Napier, a criminal who becomes the clownishly homicidal Joker. I can tell you exactly where I got this wonderful toy! For my birthday my wife got me a LEGO Batmobile set that I’d had my eyes on for a while, so while I was putting it together I watched the film that inspired this version of the car. Buy On Amazon!

An ordinary LEGO construction worker, thought to be the prophesied as “special”, is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil tyrant from gluing the LEGO universe into eternal stasis. I went to see this is theaters again this last Sunday as the kick off to my official birthday schedule, I saw it in theaters when it was first released, saw it at home a few time, and enjoyed it all those times and for some reason they brought it back to theaters. It’s not a ten year anniversary yet, so I don’t know what prompted the reshowings, but...

Miles Morales catapults across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. When the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles must redefine what it means to be a hero. I started off my birthday weekend by watching part 2 of the Spider-verse films, which ends on a cliffhanger, something that when we originally watched the film really surprised my wife. I wasn’t surprised, but I was still pretty disappointed by how they did that. Other than that one small disappointment this is a fine film that continues the energy...

Follows the history of sports marketing executive Sonny Vaccaro, and how he led Nike in its pursuit of the greatest athlete in the history of basketball, Michael Jordan. A well enough done story about the rich white guys that got even more rich off the fame of Michael Jordon. It’s not framed like that, with the impression that it’s an underdog story, but it’s clear that while Nike wasn’t the massive company it’s become now, it was still large enough to be in the same game as the top 5 shoe companies. Buy On Amazon!

The Star Wars saga continues as new heroes and galactic legends go on an epic adventure, unlocking mysteries of the Force and shocking revelations of the past. The only way this movie would end up in my physical collection is if I got it for free, and since the Disney rewards store had it for free that’s how I got it in my physical collection. I had to watch it again to make sure, but yeah I still don’t like 2/3 of the film. All the stuff on the salt planet was pretty ok, but the rest of it was...

Natives of a small isolated town defend themselves against strange underground creatures which are killing them one by one. This first Tremors film was the one that got the franchise started and while it’s a novel concept, it really does fall apart once you start thinking about the physics of how these creatures are moving around undisturbed soil like they are in the film. Ignoring that small physics problem, I still enjoyed the movie. Buy On Amazon!

In an alternate Victorian Age world, a group of famous contemporary fantasy, science fiction, and adventure characters team up on a secret mission. No idea why I watched this, it was on Tubi and for some reason it called out to me, asking me to see if it was still as bad as I remembered. Not that it’s a great film, but I think it has some merits that I didn’t appreciate in the past. Those merits don’t really make up for just how bland I felt afterwards though. Buy On Amazon!

A group of high-end professional thieves start to feel the heat from the LAPD when they unknowingly leave a clue at their latest heist. Amazon had it for $8, so now I have it in my physical 4k collection. It still stands as one of the best surround sound movies with some of the most realistic gun play in a movie setting and I believe it was the only time that both Pacino and De Niro shared scenes together, or at least it was the first time. Buy On Amazon!

A young pilot stumbles onto a prototype jetpack that allows him to become a high-flying masked hero. After seeing the film about 20 times and having a ton of Rocketeer statues, comics, and toys, I realized that I didn’t actually own the movie on physical media, something that came to mind a few years ago, so it went onto my personal movie wishlist and it’s time finally came up a couple months ago and I just now got around to watching the disc. I still love everything about the film from the rocket itself to the romance and rugged adventure...

The universe of the Halo video game series is expanded in seven short animated films from Japan’s greatest anime directors and studios. I actually forgot I bought this back in July when it was on sale, but happily stumbled on it again when looking through my Vudu library for something quick to watch, and what’s quicker than seven short films? They’re all pretty damn good and have animation ranging from confusing watercolor fuzziness to hyper realistic cgi with stories involving Ronin or fast charge sprints to get back a lost package. I wish we were getting more content like this...

The true story of a heroic man, Hunter “Patch” Adams, determined to become a medical doctor because he enjoys helping people. He ventured where no doctor had ventured before, using humour and pathos. One of Robin’s best “real life” movies, there’s a lot of enjoy in this story of a man looking for a purpose, then fighting tooth and nail to get that purpose realized. Buy On Amazon!

Jocelyn is desperate to reclaim her rightful title as the greatest and sexiest pop diva in America after a nervous breakdown disrupted her most recent tour after Tedros, a notorious nightclub entrepreneur, reignites her passions. I’m a huge fan of Sam Levinson’s work so it was no big surprise that I enjoyed this 5 hour episodic story as much as I did, then to have the A24 support added in was just icing on the cake. There’s some heavy stuff being bandied about and some deviously delicious slow cooker moments that don’t pay off until the final 5 minutes. If...

An alien scarab chooses college graduate Jaime Reyes to be its symbiotic host, bestowing the teenager with a suit of armor that’s capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the superhero known as Blue Beetle. Introducing a new superhero in a universe that’s quickly on the decline and in the process of being rebooted is an exceptionally brave step to take and I’m pleased to report that Blue Beetle stuck the landing, largely by eschewing major common elements of other comic book films. Sure there’s a hero learning his place in the world, true...

A kind-hearted street urchin and a power-hungry Grand Vizier vie for a magic lamp that has the power to make their deepest wishes come true. I got the 4k disk from Disney for free as a part of their “Movies at Home” reward section of the Disney Points system. This life action remake is slowly growing on me, but still has a long way to go to climb the pedestal that I have the original animated version on. The problem is that Robin Williams was such a large part of the original film that making another version of the story...

Carl Nargle, Vermont’s #1 public television painter, is convinced he has it all: a signature perm, custom van, and fans hanging on his every stroke – until a younger, better artist steals everything (and everyone) Carl loves. I don’t think I can be blamed for assuming this was either a parody or homage to Bob Ross, but other than the hair cut Nargle has absolutely no relation or comparison to the superior Mr. Ross. Though there’s no Ross action, the story of a man having everything but losing it all because of his own hubris is done well enough, though...

Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne are dragged into the Quantum Realm, along with Hope’s parents and Scott’s daughter Cassie. Together they must find a way to escape, but what secrets is Hope’s mother hiding? And who is the mysterious Kang? I still like the world that they built here but still feel it’s a dark world with the need for more nature light. Buy On Amazon!

During World War II, an ordinary inhabitant of a ghetto fakes news about Allied offensives to inspire hope for other victims of the Nazi regime. I think we’ve watched all the good comedy films from Williams and now our journey is taking us to his less humorous or less well received films, a set of movies that I’ve put off for months because of either how poorly they did at the box office or how badly they’d make me feel. “Jakob the Liar” falls in the latter set of films, as it’s a well made film with a sad story...

While fleeing from dangerous assailants, an assassin comes out of hiding to protect the daughter she left earlier in life. I have to assume that Lopez likes making these types of revenge / protector type of films, she’s starred in a few of them by now and doesn’t seem to be slowing down. “The Mother” isn’t a half bad film, but it definitely follows a familiar storyline that I’m familiar and tired with. The soundtrack makes up for the lack of a unique plot and honestly the action and special effects are serviceable with the exception of one motorcycle scene...

An orphaned girl discovers a magical garden hidden at her strict uncle’s estate. The 2020 version of the story, this one moves the timeline from pre-electric to immediately after WW2, moves some of the set pieces around, and adds a ton of cgi that isn’t all that much noticeable, but it was only because there’s no way they had a bird do those tricks and some of the tree situations were straight up fantastical. I think I prefer the original adaptation, but that is in no means a knock against this version. Buy On Amazon!

Two men with commitment problems attempt a relationship. The marketing and interviews for this film were pretty bad, with my impression of the film as a “try-hard” over the top nonsense attempt at shock value, but other than a few orgies, there wasn’t much that was too titillating here and the comedy was spot on and a breath of fresh air. If you can get past watching a dude make out with another dude while two other dude go down on that first dude, then this might be up your alley. Buy On Amazon!

Set in a world with memory recording implants, Alan Hakman is a cutter, someone with the power of final edit over people’s recorded histories. His latest assignment is one that puts him in danger. Sometimes combining two things that I love (Robin Williams and science fiction) doesn’t work out in a way that’s enjoyable and “The Finial Cut” has no joy, no story of redemption, and no happy ending. As a concept the idea of a “Speaker for the Dead” that has direct access to the deceased’s life through their own eyes is a compelling one, but the direction that...

A young, recently-orphaned girl is sent to England after living in India all of her life. Once there, she begins to explore her new, seemingly-isolated surroundings, and its secrets. The first version of the film, this one is from 1993 and is set well before cars and electricity, but still has a captivating story of loss and how people deal with it. Also, how gardening can treat depression and aggression. Buy On Amazon!

Sara is sent to a strict boarding school after her father enlists in WWI. When he is presumed dead, the headmistress, knowing she will not receive any more money, forces the girl to become a servant. After seeing Barbie my wife and I were in a discussion about films from her childhood and “A Little Princess” came up. I didn’t remember much about it, but I realized about halfway through the film that I’d seen it years and years ago. It’s a great story with some real tragedy and drama. Buy On Amazon!

The film follows the Turtle brothers as they work to earn the love of New York City while facing down an army of mutants. Adding to the list of movies that are going to do well despite having a non-standard animation style, TMNT: Mutant Mayhem is yet another reboot of the teenage superheroes, this time having the boys be young teens, around 15, instead of older teens, 18 or 19. There’s a few references to previous outings, but none of them are over the top nor really all that noticeable. This movie is it’s own thing and it’s going places...

A plumber named Mario travels through an underground labyrinth with his brother, Luigi, trying to save a captured princess. Now streaming on Peakcock, it’s a fun and fast movie that I enjoyed watching while half awake due to some medication I’m on. I still think the dog stuff at the beginning is a bit too much, but having polled a few people about it, seems like I’m in the minority there. Buy On Amazon!

Explores the vanguard career of Mary, who, as an actor, performer, and advocate, revolutionized the portrayal of women in media, redefined their roles in show business, and inspired generations to dream big and make it on their own. A gushing look back on the career and life of Mary Tyler Moore with interviews, personal videos, and behind the scenes clips. It’s enjoyable and a good reminder of the effects that a single person can have on society, for better or worse. Buy On Amazon!

Ethan Hunt and his IMF team must track down a dangerous weapon before it falls into the wrong hands. I didn’t enjoy watching this movie at all, but I’m not sure if it’s because I wasn’t able to see it in Dolby Digital, or because there were 5 people in the same row as me that were either on their phones the whole time or were just straight up talking to each other about random nonsense. There was also one lady with a 50 piece charm bracelet that got up twice during the film that sounded like she had bells...

A duo learn humanity when forced to team up and pursue robot doubles of themselves. Feels like a low budget film, but with some big budget results, it’s a feel good story via the redemption of two pretty terrible people that are doing their best to take advantage of society’s expectations via robotic exploitation. The special effects and camera work are where my perception of the budget comes through, but all of that was saved by a solid story, great acting, and cohesive ending. Buy On Amazon!

Finding a ghost named Ernest haunting their new home turns Kevin’s family into overnight social media sensations. But when Kevin and Ernest investigate the mystery of Ernest’s past, they become a target of the CIA. A much more satisfying movie than I thought it was going to be and definitely much more family friendly than it could have been, this is a pretty solid ghost gone right story.

While visiting family in Mexico, teenage Alex gains an unlikely companion when he discovers a young chupacabra hiding in his grandpa’s shed. To save the mythical creature, Alex and his cousins must embark on the adventure of a lifetime. As much of a homage to the 80’s films that inspired it, this is a fun story of a kid trying to find himself by finding his family, then inadvertently finding a goat killing monster hiding in his grandfather’s massive stable on a property that’s got to be valued in the millions. They all act like they’re super poor though, so...

After an entity of mysterious origin annihilates the world’s population causing those who observe it to take their lives, Sebastián and his daughter begin their own great adventure of survival in Barcelona. A sequel to the movie that had no relation at all to the previous movie is a bold choice for Netflix and “Bird Box Barcelona” has a distinct feeling of a movie that was made only so Netflix could check off a language requirement or two to sooth local government’s nerves about the big American company coming in and steamrolling local culture. Is it a good film? It’s...

Five years after an ominous unseen presence drives most of society to suicide, a mother and her two children make a desperate bid to reach safety. Of course I had to watch the movie again after I read the book and having just read the original story I was primed to see the narrative and structural changes that were made to the story, all of which worked in service of the medium that they were in, with Tom changing from just a close friend to a lover and Malorie having a gun and using a blanket at times to be...

Barbie suffers a crisis that leads her to question her world and her existence. Have you seen the first LEGO movie from 2014 yet? Or how about it’s sequel in 2019? If you’ve seen either of those, this will be a slightly less subtle version of those stories about a toy leaving it’s realm to find itself but being betrayed by a loved one while a nefarious Will Ferrell lurks about doing nefarious things that end up not being all that nefarious but are still somewhat concerning. I don’t necessarily have the vocabulary to positively say this is a polemic...

The story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb. Not having seen him in any of the trailers, it took me a solid 5 minutes to realize how large of a part Robert Downey Jr was going to have in the story, and I think we’re all a little better that they didn’t lean on him in the marketing. “Oppenheimer” the film is a mostly true story of how the Manhattan project was conceived and run with a large part of the scientific and practical testing happening under J. Robert Oppenheimer’s...

Five young mutants, just discovering their abilities while held in a secret facility against their will, fight to escape their past sins and save themselves. The final Fox mutant movie, they actually mention the X-men by name, but this team is based off a series from the 80’s that ended in 1991 and featured two different teams, the second of which introduced Cable, the character from the second Deadpool movie. The movie features the first team, who were in the vast majority of the issues from the 100+ issue series and was by far my favorite of the two. The...

Jean Grey begins to develop incredible powers that corrupt and turn her into a Dark Phoenix, causing the X-Men to decide if her life is worth more than all of humanity. I’m of the personal opinion that this is a great film with very minor issues, but unfortunately it came out right when the Disney / Fox acquisition was happening and it was neglected from a marketing standpoint and didn’t do as well as I feel it would have it Fox was still advertising it fully. It’s not a bad film for the x-men to go out on and I...

In the 1980s the X-Men must defeat an ancient all-powerful mutant, En Sabah Nur, who intends to thrive through bringing destruction to the world. There’s some really great elements of this film, but some that were unfortunately too close to previous efforts and were, I think, unfairly judged because they were so similar. They also absolutely drowned Oscar Isaac in his make up and his power set was pretty vague. I did enjoy the Magneto stuff that really gave Fassbender some room to thrive, and thrive he did. The hint of the Phoenix during the end battle was also well...

The X-Men send Wolverine to the past in a desperate effort to change history and prevent an event that results in doom for both humans and mutants. It wasn’t too strange that they pulled a multiverse / time travel story to combine the two X-men casts and they really stuck the landing with some fixes to the continuity that really did the job for me. It’s a shame that they franchise has fallen fallow in the last few years, but hopefully by 2030 we’ll finally get to see what Disney has to offer with their mutant teams. Buy On Amazon!

In the 1960s, superpowered humans Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr work together to find others like them, but Erik’s vengeful pursuit of an ambitious mutant who ruined his life causes a schism to divide them. I feels like ages ago, but I bought the 4k collection of the First Class movies and I’m finally getting around to watching them, and I had forgotten how good these films were, especially this first one. If I remember correctly, this came out right as Jennifer Lawrence was making it big and because her star was on the rise, Mystique was given a much...

A documentary about the friends who made a name for themselves with electronic music live concerts. I went to see this with my wife at a CMX movie theater that’s clear on the other side of town, one that we normally don’t go to, and it was a bit of a frustrating experience. The first part of that frustration was that I bought the tickets online through Atom Tickets, who emailed me a QR code, which I thought was going to be like AMC’s scan to enter system, but no, CMX wanted us to go to customer service first to...

Dune: Part One: Directed by Denis Villeneuve. With Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa. A noble family becomes embroiled in a war for control over the galaxy’s most valuable asset while its heir becomes troubled by visions of a dark future. The internet had it for just $8, so why not, it’ll also get me ready for the second half of the story that’s due to be released later this year. It’s a perfectly fine movie, but the story is incomplete. Buy On Amazon!

Independence Day: Directed by Roland Emmerich. With Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell. The aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth. Fighting superior technology, mankind’s best weapon is the will to survive. Is it really July Fourth if you don’t watch the movie that celebrates the reason for the season? Buy On Amazon!

The Flash: Directed by Andy Muschietti. With Ezra Miller, Michael Keaton, Sasha Calle, Michael Shannon. Barry Allen uses his super speed to change the past, but his attempt to save his family creates a world without super heroes, forcing him to race for his life in order to save the future. Went to see this a second time with my wife and my previous feelings still stand, but man some of the CGI the film is just rough. Buy On Amazon!