“Two ancient titans, Godzilla and Kong, clash in an epic battle as humans unravel their intertwined origins and connection to Skull Island’s mysteries.”
There’s a type of movie that we used to get all the time, and thats the big dumb but fun blockbuster, and we got one of those here. This movie is every bit as fun, as it is dumb, and it’s just a good ole time. We don’t spend ages setting things up, we don’t waste time on ill manufactured moments, this movie just puts its foot on the gas and doesn’t let up until the end. Its incredible that we can have a movie like this, and in the same year have a movie like Minus One that takes a real serious and genuine look at the Godzilla mythos, while we can also just stuff our faces with popcorn and look at him take a pink nuclear power-up and get into a fist fight with a 300 foot gorilla. I’m almost not sure what to really say about this movie, because I think most people are either going to really like it and have fun with it, or they’re not going to be the type to enjoy the mindless fun and think this is stupid. Funny thing is both would be right, this is really a ride that’s going to take you as far as you let it. I think this movie is about having a great time at the cinema. If just eating snacks and having a dumb fun time appeals to you, get to the cinema, if not, you can always catch this in the background when it hits streaming.
“Paul Atreides unites with Chani and the Fremen while seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family.”
What a goddamn movie, my word. Take a damn bow Denis Villeneuve, this is one the greatest blockbuster movies ever created, and I use those words really specifically. The only movie I can think of right now to compare this to is Mad Max: Fury Road, because thats another movie that I think has reached the pinnacle of this type of film making. There are two movies here and they are both masterfully done. There’s the huge and intense spectacle of the everything. Of Arrakis, and the sandworms and dunes. House Harkonnen and their incredible black sun. The on going wars and battle that rage all over. And then there’s the second movie thats a deep stretching religious and political drama, that unfolds itself across the galaxy while also across the connecting between Paul and Chani, and Paul and his mother, and his mother and the Fremen people. Somehow, those two movies are fully woven together and flow from one to the next from start to end. I truly did not want this movie to end. All of that doesn’t even mention just how absolutely gorgeous this movie is. Every shot is so memorable and spectacular, and thats whether big or small. Those visuals also simple build on top of the epic score by Hans Zimmer AND the absolutely incredible sound design here. I can’t not mention both the direction and the acting here either. Denis is such a master of his craft right now and he has a real wonderful vision brought forward in Dune. The cast shines so well here, with each member truly having their moments to do their characters such justice, while also bringing the entire film up as a team. I am honestly running out of great things to say about this movie without just spoiling it all and getting into the minute details, all I can say is RUN don’t walk to the cinema.
“Cassandra Webb is a New York metropolis paramedic who begins to demonstrate signs of clairvoyance. Forced to challenge revelations about her past, she needs to safeguard three young women from a deadly adversary who wants them destroyed.”
OH BOY. I know I’ve been on a bit of a break, but what a movie to come back to my reviews on. Madame Web is a lot of things, but one thing it is not, is good. And you know, truly the most egregious thing here is just how much of this movie doesn’t make any sense with its narrative. It just does what it wants, when it wants to, and doesn’t care to meander across any boundary line at any time. Adam Scott I do think does a good job as Ben Parker, but I think thats because his role and relatively simple and doesn’t call for much from him but being a laid back relatable guy. I don’t know what the script really was asking of Dakota Johnson, so I don’t know if I want to blame her or the script for this performance, but given her comments I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt that its the script. Tahar Rahim however, has a truly baffling role and performance here. Not only does he come off as both over acting and wooden at the same time, but I also think his voice is being dubbed for the entire movie, which just makes it even worse/weirder than it already was, not to mention the absolute lack of physicality being brought to the role here. This movie is so weird, and it makes so many weird decisions. We get such a team about the 3 female spider heroes, but only then to find out that we only ever see that in flash forwards that last barely any time, and are always covered up by weird filters and effects. The film also ends with us getting a real look at Madame Web in her full outfit and…..it looks bad…I just don’t get it. All in all, Madame Web is not good, and I don’t think you need to watch it.
“Against the backdrop of a war between humans and robots with artificial intelligence, a former soldier finds the secret weapon, a robot in the form of a young child.”
It must be said, The Creator is a visually stunning film, and true work of art in terms of its use of CGI in a more seamless manner than maybe ever done before. Gareth Edwards just might be the master on making things look and feel REAL, like in a way that’s hard to describe. There’s no point in this film where you ever question the realness or the validity of the CGI here. The non human characters have a really interesting design where there is a hole running through the base of the head/neck area, which instantly shows you that they are non human, but its done so fluidly well that you NEVER ever question that its a CGI effect. Not to mention the cinematography and color grading here that gives this movie a level of realness that makes you truly feel like you are right there with them. The world here also feels lived in and real in a way that feels extra connected to our current time with the current level of AI in our world now. The place where this production falls down a bit is the writing, as some of most typical tropes of the genre are in here, and it can make some of the plot a bit contrived. I think part of the writing issues may also come from the tightness of this film, because it is very tightly put together and that tightness might be keeping back some of the deeper character development that some of the character here are missing. The score here is also phenomenal and it serves to really heighten the tension and suspense that this movie is able to deliver in its more action oriented scenes (and there are a lot of them), and they do a great job to heighten the terror of what a war like this can be like, in its brutality and clinical-ness. All in all, The Creator is one of my favorite movies of the years, even if it falls short of being one the best of the year outright.
Yep you heard right, the One Piece live action is actually really good, and this is coming from a huge fan of the anime and manga, so I’m definitely in the list of people who would be the fastest to be offended by it. But I am here to say this is good, and I am so glad for it. So the One Piece live action had the near impossible job of trying to adapt possibly the most beloved manga and anime of all time, into a medium renowned for its TERRIBLE adaptations of the source materials. Needless to say this had people really worried, especially since it was being helmed by Netflix, the study who was now most famous for just how terrible its previous live action adaptations had been. So how did they get this right this time?
Let’s start with the cast. Oda, the creator of One Piece, has always envisioned the cast of the series as multicultural and that’s one of the first places the live action cast comes in clutch. All of the main cast hail from a very wide range of backgrounds and cultures and it breathes a wonderful depth to the cast that mirrors that of the source material. They also have proven to have great chemistry as a team, which was a bigger requirement than them being purely amazing actors, as that feeling of family was going to be a major requirement from the cast. The multicultural nature of the overall cast also does really well to give the world here a great real lived in feel, that makes you not question the validity of the world.
One of the biggest issues with adaptations of this sort, is that no matter how well written the source material is there will always be things that have to be changed or altered for the live action format, and that is usually where the issues come in. This series however had a seemingly unheard of level of control from the stories creator, and he had approval over any of those changes. That means that if there was a change made that he thought went against the spirit of the story, he had the control to say no. Now, this can also be a problem for a show like this as there will be certain things that will NOT translate to live action and will have to be changed. Thus there needs to be a fine balance between changes needed to be made and those that shouldn’t, and this show has found that line.
Another big issue for live action adaptations is the action. Most of these shows have crazy powers (and One Piece is no exception) and huge action set pieces that would require massive budgets to cover with special effects. This series has both the large budgets (est 18 million per episode), but also they make good use of when and where they use the bigger more dramatic powers that keep the show grounded and keep things from feeling like they jump the shark. The budget also allows for the CGI to both be good, and to be used only as when needed, where other places can get practical effects. The fishermen being done with makeup and prosthetics I think was the right choice, as we still get the over the top look of the fishermen but still allowing an actor to really bring them to life where a tonne of CGI probably wouldn’t be able to bring that across.
There are many other things that come together to make this adaptation so good. For example the score here is absolutely stunning and punches way above its weight and brings so much grandeur to the series. Of course as with almost anything the series isn’t perfect, but its so much better than any of us expected (and maybe even if had any right to be) that I would gladly gloss over the small issues I have for what they have given us. We also have just heard that they have indeed renewed One Piece live action for a season 2 which has me super excited for where this live action series can go, given the breath and depth of the source material. What did you think of the new live action One Piece? I knew we had a hit on our hands when I my girlfriend couldn’t wait to see more, as someone who’s only knowledge of the anime or manga come from her seeing me watch or read it.
If you agreed with that headline you might be reading to see if my reasoning is the same as yours, but this discussion is going to be based more on why they have a ridiculous business model than its going to deal with password sharing (even though we willl get to that). Netflix is undoubtedly the titan of online, on demand, streaming movies and television shows. They built that lead from being one of the first to market, their price, and the content library they had available. A few years on now, and they have actually lost basically all of those major bonuses.
Netflix has become a truly flawed system, but they continue to look at other areas as the reason for that instead of the actual reason. As a model, Netflix bases their value as a company on subscribers, and in the start that made sense, but, that was only ever going to make sense as an introductory metric. The vastness of the library of Netflix means that it can draw a very large audience to itself and that would manifest in the subscriber count and the money being made. That then means that Netflix gets put in a cycle of perpetually needing new content in order to keep bringing in new subscribers, and that’s where the dumbness comes in. A model based solely on constant growth of new subscribers doesn’t take into account market saturation, and it doesn’t take into account what pre-existing viewers want to consume.
Any of us can name a Netflix original series that we love and rate very highly, that was cancelled for reasons that are unknown to us. The truth of it is that those shows get cancelled not because of a lack of quality, but rather because existing IP doesn’t bring in new subscribers like new IP does. If 10 million people sign up to watch Stranger Things season 1, those same people are very likely to still be subscribed when season 2 comes out, meaning to Netflix that show had no real net growth in subscribers and thus wasn’t that valuable to the company. Now luckily for us we got a lot of stranger things, but the same can’t be said for many other favorite shows that we’ve had to watch get cancelled with little or no resolution to the storylines.
Where Netflix is really starting to feel it in that regard, is now they are getting their loyal costumers upset over the cancellation of these fan favorite shows, showing no respect for the loyalty those fans have shown to the platform. So now, they are upsetting costumers on all ends. Not only are they losing content to newer streaming platforms that reduces their library, they are also losing the faith of the costumer base with their rampant and unfavorable cancellations, and to top it all off, raising prices and fighting password sharing. Do you think Netflix is trouble, or maybe just being as dumb as I am accusing them of being. Comment below and let me know.
“The story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.”
Boy oh boy is this a real feat of film making. Also before I really get into it I would like to comment on how interesting it is that this movie will share a large number I presume of award nominations in categories that it will share with Barbie which is hilarious given how far apart these movies are. Nolan has always had a thing for sound and sound design in his movies, but this is definitely on a different level to anything he’s done before in that regard. This movie also feels in many ways like 2 separate movies, and not in a bad way either, but in a way that does make it feel long (it is long but it also feels long). If I had to really make any other criticism of this movie would be that it doesn’t always treat its women characters the best in their portrayal, but it could also be argued that thats just a product of the time period this movie represents. The acting from this huge cast however is sublime and shows the importance of actors not taking a smaller role as a “small role”. Case in point here are Florence Pugh and Josh Hartnett who have smaller roles in the way they are added into the film as a whole, but are always so strong when they are on screen (even with some of the details of her performance). This movie is also really interesting from the point of view of it being the first time I think Nolan has really sort out to make basically a Biopic, but then at the same time he adds his very specific Nolan qualities to it. There also still really is something to film and seeing a movie like this really does show that I agree that film was the right choice. All in all Oppenheimer is a cinematic thing to behold, with masterful directing and acting and really needs the cinema sound system to full be appreciated. (the battle between this and Barbie for make up and wardrobe awards is going to be amazing)
“Barbie suffers a crisis that leads her to question her world and her existence.”
Lemme just start by saying, this movie is absolutely fantastic and I think this will be real genuine contender for big time awards later in the year. That aside, this movie really operates on a few different levels and each of them is really important. The script here is really wonderfully done as its both genuinely very very funny, and it constantly brings up really astute issues and topics faced by women in the current world mostly (but it doesn’t forget us dudes either). It was such a great idea to create the dynamic they did between the Barbie’s and the Ken’s, but also specifically between Barbie (Margot Robbie) and Ken (Ryan Gosling). Then on top of that for us to get the performances we get from those two really drives home the quality of the writing here. I fully expect both of them to be nominated for their respective acting roles here. Greta really directed her ass off with this one too, as the way they choose when to play things seriously and when to go full doll house was perfect. This is a smart movie, and a movie with a message, and I feel like often movies like that aren’t anywhere near this entertaining and fresh and I’m so glad it was able to walk that line. I know a lot of guys and even some girls might think they know what this movie is and what it’s about and not want to see it, but TRUST me you want to see this movie. Barbie deserves all the flowers it can get and is totally worth seeing more than once.
“Ethan Hunt and his IMF team must track down a dangerous weapon before it falls into the wrong hands.”
You know there’s something that really occurred to me during this movie, and that’s that Ethan Hunt really is a great example of the kind of truly heroic male figure that we’re kind of lacking these days in cinema. He smart, strong, cool under pressure and well put together. He can fight, he can drive he can do it all, but he’s never really cocky and he’s never cruel, he simply does what he must do, and he puts others first, and those things really do make him such a likable character. This movie may have actually one of the most sparse casts for a MI movie, but it certainly makes up for it in the new characters it does add, and by really showing the connection between Ethan and his core team. We get the typical MI setup sequence to start this movie, and then from the roll of the opening title sequence this movie takes off and it never lets off the gas. This is what action movies are supposed to be. Intense action that’s impactful, big, exciting and visceral, mixed in with the intrigue, suspense, and great writing and we have a really amazing package of a movie here. This movie is a part 1 so it does have an unresolved ending, but it doesn’t end on a real cliffhanger like some recent movies, so you don’t even leave the cinema feeling like the movie just cut off on you, but it really does leave you excited for part 2. All in all MI Dead Reckoning Part 1 is more than worth the price of admission and is a must see for the big screen.
“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.”
So before I actually review and kind of place this movie, I MUST say, this is probably the funniest comic book movie ever made, and is very much in large part a genuine comedy. The second thing I also have to really say is this movie made me incredible nostalgic for Man of Steel, I still feel like no one has ever done superhero action like in that movie, and we get some really nice hits of that in this movie. To the movie itself now….it’s great, this is truly a really great movie (and I couldn’t be happier cus the flash has always been my fav superhero). This movie leans heavily on the Flashpoint storyline, but it isn’t that story, it just uses that framework to create a story that’s super intertwined with this DC cinematic universe. And it is a really good story, that is so heartfelt, heartwarming, and has some really good lessons. I don’t think there’s anyway to talk about this movie without talking about Ezra, and his performances here are phenomenal, and I really can’t see how this movie could have been made without him as Barry. There is obviously (and rightfully so) going to be a lot of discourse over his personal life etc, but just taking his performance here as Barry, its hard to see anyone else in the role. We also get some really nice performances here all round, and the cameos when they do come are really something else, great they were able to get them in here and keep them secret too. Its going to be really interesting to see where the actual state of DC is headed, because even this movie leans so very heavily on things from the Snyderverse, but actualized in way that could easily be used going forward, but will there be a forward for this with all the drama who knows. All in all, The Flash is great movie, a great time, and a great big screen summer movie.
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