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mrashtastic89
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Watchmen: Chapter I(2024)
Interesting
Watchmen is not only one of my favorite comics but also one of my favorite DC movies of all time, released in 2009 being almost 3 hours long. Seeing that it was adapted into animation very quickly grabbed my attention, and while this film wasn't bad, it definitely was lacking in a lot of what made the first one great.
This film (being one of two parts) focused a lot more on flashbacks and the story of Dr. Manhattan, with lots of the big parts of the original story not being portrayed (saved for part two). For me the campy animation style took away some of the darkness and seriousness, and it was hard to follow along with the story this time around.
Voice acting and pacing were solid, but overall this one needed some work.
B-
The Prom(2020)
Wow, just wow.
Idc what anyone says, tied with Hairspray this is the best movie musical released in the last 15 years. (Especially on Netflix), I have potential upcoming auditions for a production of this, and I love Andrew Rannells and Meryl Streep, so I figured why not check out the movie?
At first I didn't have super high hopes, considering the last Netflix musical I watched was Matilda. But The Prom somehow amazed me, made me cry, and feel everything and nothing all at once.
Dealing with heavy themes such as societal homophobia in 2020-now can sometimes be cringey in media, or get accused of "queerbaiting", but this movie did it pretty much perfectly. It articulated the experience so well. Watching Andrew Rannells absolutely slay a jump split is something I wasn't expecting, but loved watching. Incredible musical numbers, beautiful performances and heartfelt moments made this movie one I want to watch over and over and over again.
A+
Joker: Folie à Deux(2024)
A musical mess
The original Joker changed my life when I saw it and is still one of my absolute favorite movies today. This sequel added in Lady Gaga and turned it into my favorite style of media, so naturally I couldn't wait, I am disappointed to say it was not worth the 5 year wait. 😬
It starts out messy and just goes completely downhill, the cinematography lowkey carried it. Some interesting plot points and twists were revealed but ultimately the ending just falls flat, Lady Gaga pretty much did nothing besides sing (I mean yeah). But she was basically there as a pawn for Joaquin Phoenix's character, some of the songs and scenes were nice, but ultimately the movie is just a very long mess.
D+
Trick 'r Treat(2007)
Delicious candy.
Rogue, William Stryker, and extras, what could go wrong? Anthology media related to Halloween is rare, but one that I thoroughly enjoy, Creepshow for example! I've seen this one once in my life, and thought it suit to revisit it as I complete my one Halloween/scary movie a day during the month challenge. 'Twas a good choice.
Trick R' Treat tells several intertwined horror stories all on the same night in the same town, and visits themes of werewolves, vampires, stranger danger, disturbia, and old men receiving their comeuppance. And the story telling is basically Creepshow come to life, it's all incredibly eerie, set in pitch black the entire time with one singular entity at the center of each event, creepy in more than one way (ifykyk). While the acting performances can be a bit lackluster from the kids, they're kids, cut them some slack. The adults put in their work here, making an indie cult classic really stand out among late aughts horror. I'd recommend this to anyone who loves Halloween such as I do.
A-
Hocus Pocus(1993)
A great way to kick off spooky season.
Today is the first day of Halloween month, so I'm trying to watch all the scary and Halloween movies that I can fit into my time. I figured why not start off with this classic, which I'd never seen before, but had heard great things about. And there were truth to those good things. Overall this was a very fun time that I quite enjoyed.
Halloween has always been my favorite holiday, and Hocus Pocus pretty much captured it perfectly, featuring extravagant witch sequences, an extremely funny talking cat, and good characters all around. Bette Midler was as always, brilliant, and the song featured in the middle is now stuck in my head.
Hocus Pocus receives an A.
Abigail(2024)
Bland
I'm all for movies about vampires, especially after the Twilight series, and I'm always up for Dan Stevens. So it's crazy how this movie has both of those things and still ends up being bland and underwhelming, I probably would've found Abigail's school assignments more amusing than whatever this was.
It starts with an interesting premise, being paid to kidnap someone and reaping the consequences and lack of rewards, but that quickly gets thrown away by plot holes, uninteresting characters, unnecessary swearing and a villain who's motives don't even make sense. I'll admit the last 15 minutes was cool to watch, but that was about it.
D+
Thanksgiving(2023)
Not half bad
I feel a certain way about holiday themed horror movies, sometimes they're a bang! Such as Violent Night, Better Watch Out, and My Bloody Valentine. But sometimes not as much, such as Jack Frost, both Thankskilling's, and Presidents Day 💀. However Thanksgiving, helmed by the director of Cabin Fever and Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, fell right in between for me, and it wasn't half bad!
The plot is absolutely nothing special, mysterious killer terrorizing a town during the holiday season, surrounding a group of teenagers, been there done that, however this film does actually put a couple unique twists on it. Yes there's the classic "protective guy with a gun" and the social media aspect, but it also sprinkles in plenty of brutal and hard to watch kills, (especially a certain one at the end) I was genuinely scared at the sequences of suspense and torture. And the ending was brilliant
B+
Despicable Me 4(2024)
A cute revival
Ever since I was a small child, Despicable Me has been held near and dear to my heart and memories, I always loved watching it since Gru is such an iconic character, with the cheesiest villain of all time, VECTORRRR. And after the mediocre Despicable Me 3, and the even more mediocre Minions: The Rise of Gru, I went into this one a tad skeptical but was trying to be optimistic, and dare I say, the optimism payed off.
Despicable Me 4 has the Diary of a Wimpy Kid rule that the characters never age (but for some reason there's a baby) sometimes it's confusing but in this film it absolutely excels, Agnes (Bree) is cuter than ever and Edith is still the spicy package of fun she's always been. This film has a lot of twists and plot mechanisms I wasn't expecting, such as identity fraud, another young aspiring super villain, this time a girl, and shifting of locations, with the perfect balance of heart and humor packed into a fun time.
A-
Deadpool & Wolverine(2024)
A grand old time
This is it, the crossover everybody has been waiting for ever since the first Deadpool movie was released, which was in 2016 (sheesh I feel old), and it's finally here! I've been waiting for this movie for over half of my life (literally, 2016 was the 8-year mark) and I finally got to watch it! And honestly, everything was exactly as it should have been.
Hugh Jackman's Wolverine is the one Marvel casting besides RDJ that EVERYBODY can agree was "perfect" and ever since he was killed off in 2017, fans had been dying for a return, and would've rioted at a re-casting of anybody, and Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool is another perfect casting, these two actors work so well together and have such great comedic timing that even if the movie wasn't good, it would've been worth it just for them. But everything else was also great
When you think of the names Deadpool and Wolverine, they don't really scream "multiverse" that's more reserved for Loki and Dr. Strange, and the approach this movie took to it was absolutely brilliant, extravagantly weaving in humor and emotionally jarring moments. No this doesn't contain spoilers, but so many scenes in this movie had me clinging to my seat in anticipation
And of course, Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds are phenomenal here, like I said, but I never expected them to be able to pull this off so perfectly, their mini van fight scene was the funniest thing I've ever seen in my life. Absolutely wonderful
Deadpool and Wolverine gets an A.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire(2024)
Cool and fresh
After an extremely mediocre "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" which left me wondering why they had to make more in the first place (seriously?) so I was skeptical learning about the creation of this one. Wondering if it would blow out my ears just like the last one did. But this entry breathes fresh new life into the franchise and did a fantastic job reviving it.
It beautifully brings back the original cast whom we all know and love, even Annie Potts! No time felt wasted and every character was called back perfectly. This movie experiments with a new type of story element, yeah it might be the cliche "broke guy sells an artifact that he doesn't know is dangerous" but it never feels forced or unfunny. Paul Rudd really shines here, he's always been one of my favorites and gets a great balance of funny and serious scenes. All culminating in a terrific final sequence and a terrifying final villain.
A-
The Princess and the Frog(2009)
Has that certain Disney charm, and was really the last movie until Moana that would
The princess and the frog, one of the few Disney films along with Aladdin, Moana, and Mulan that actually did a good job at portraying a woman of color, that's hard to come by nowadays (don't mention turning red that doesn't exist. And having not seen it in 10+ years, a rewatch is all I needed to solidify it as one of my favorites.
Tiana is a beautiful princess with a beautiful story, although it is quite cheesy as well, kissing a frog and then going on an adventure, an original and creative storyline. This movie has one of my favorite Disney soundtracks of all time, rivaling those of Mulan, Moana, and Frozen II, every song had me dancing and singing along, mixed in with fantastic character beats and a brilliant ending.
Princess and the Frog gets an A.
Cabin Fever(2002)
I was sick of this halfway through
Eli Roth is the maker of one of my absolute favorite horror comedies of all time, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. So it's safe to say I was excited to view this other creation of his, released 8 years earlier starring a star of one of my pandemic obsessions, Boy Meets World. However I was not prepared for the absolute 90 minute mess this would be from beginning to end.
This movie starts with a guy getting his hand bitten by a blonde kid, I have to hand it to them for creating an open that left room for tension without revealing too much, but that was about the best part of this movie. With an unknown cast and obscure villains, but what this movie lacks is a cohort of interesting and compelling characters. Woven with cliches such as trusting a stranger, a gratuitous sex scene (two actually) and the aggressive who swears every 5 seconds.
Followed by an absolutely absurd ending, Cabin Fever gets a D+
Oklahoma!(1955)
Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day
Oklahoma is a musical that everybody likes to hate on, and common answer for least favorite, ask someone their least favorite musical, they'll say "Oklahoma" but I've never really understood that, made by the same men behind the sound of music, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, Oklahoma is the show that first incorporated ballet into modern musical theater, and having seen it twice, once live and once this version, I find myself to throughly enjoy it.
Set in the early 19th century in the year of 1906, Oklahoma tells the tale of a lovesick cowboy, played by the wonderful Gordon MacRae, he gives a standout performance here with a wonderful operatic voice accompanied by a lovely Shirley Jones, each song and dance number is exquisitely entertaining, especially "Kansas City". And although the movie is quite campy, it weaves in plenty of serious moments and scenes, such as "Poor Jud" and the auction.
Oklahoma gets an A, a classic musical that still holds up today.
Ray(2004)
It sure jazzed me
How coincidental that I watched and am reviewing this in Quincy Jones' 91st birthday, iconic composer of my favorite musical of all time, The Wiz, an immediate mention within the first 15 minutes really let me know I was in for a treat, and my prediction was proven right. Ray is a biopic showcasing the life of one of the most famous jazz musicians of all time, in a period in history with many terrific ones, Ray Charles. I was skeptical going in because of the Aretha Franklin movie, but my skepticism was quickly proven wrong.
Making a biopic, especially of a musician, is difficult, you have to be careful about what is in the movie and what main area of their life the focus is, Respect and Elvis weren't great at that, even though those were widely enjoyed by mainstream audiences, and having this movie released the same year Ray Charles died definitely helped with its greatness.
From the very first moment you're captured into the world that Charles lived in, a segregated US in the 50's and 60's, flashbacks play a big role in the underlying subtext and reason for his common traumatic hallucinations, even in the first scene you see blindness play a part in whether or not Charles gets offered a seat on the bus or not, absolutely genius.
Despite the 2 and a half hour runtime, which can feel a little long for a biopic, my attention was captured the entire time, I wish I was alive in 2004 so that I could've seen this in theaters honestly, Jamie Foxx doesn't even sound like himself here, every single song is shown and sounds exactly like the original recordings, some of the most impressive biopic music work I've seen in a long time.
Jamie Foxx really steals the show here, he has just enough charisma to seem likeable until we start to realize that his character isn't the most likeable person sometimes, and then he's able to make us hate him, this was done beautifully and seamlessly.
There's so much more I could say, maybe after a rewatch or two. Ray might just be my favorite musical biopic of all time, and it gets an A+
The Sound of Music(1965)
What a beautiful sound
Some people would absolutely cringe at the thought of watching a 3 hour movie, and some would cringe even more at the thought of watching a 3 hour musical, but in my opinion, those 2 words scream "entertaining!". I've been a lifelong fan of musicals, and when I watched this with my 4th grade music class I was very impressed, but for some reason didn't revisit it at all since then. Having revisited it 6 years later, I am now much more of a fan than I was before, the 3 horsemen of old musicals, Mary Poppins, Singin in the Rain, and The Sound of Music.
Julie Andrews is perfect, having played both Maria and Marry Poppins, released back to back, she surely has solidified herself in the hall of 60's/50's musical stars, her voice and mannerisms are absolutely stunning.
Every single technical aspect of this movie is a 10/10, visual, production, music, dancing, and likeable characters, the way it's shot and directed are truly outstanding, every shot and scene are filled with beautiful visuals and marvelous colors, and the soundtrack is absolutely phenomenal, I have quite a few replaying in my head infinite times over, Edelweiss, So Long, Farewell, Do-Re-Mi, and so many others, chefs kiss.
And all of the children actors are memorable and adorable, the suspense during the final hiding scene was masterfully done and had me holding my breath.
The Sound of Music is a near perfect musical, and it gets an A.
Mean Girls(2024)
Not very fetch
The original 2004 comedy Mean Girls, directed by Mark Waters and starring Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams, is one of my favorite movies of all time. I've seen it too many times to count in many different fashions, so needless to say I was extremely nervous to view this version, because what if it was ruined? And need I say, it was pretty awful. I mean come on, a cringey modernized musical version that nobody asked for? Why?
This version took everything that was original and fresh about the original and puts it to shame, instead of being funny it was focused on cramming every social media platform ever, TikTok? Check, Instagram? Check, etc. And frankly it was not fun seeing these iconic characters burst into song at the most random moments ever, 2 songs from the Broadway version weren't even in the thing 💀.
Renee Rapp hard carried, but if it weren't for her this would be a 1-star.
D-
Barbie(2023)
Pretty in pink
Before my favorite movie if 2023, the color purple, was released. Barbie was my favorite of that year, having seen it twice in theaters and once on rewatch. I thought nothing was going to surpass it, after another rewatch it is still in my top 3, only being surpassed by the color purple and Oppenheimer. Featuring one of my favorite actors, Margot Robbie, I knew I was in for a treat.
Barbie has one of the most powerful storylines of the year, instead of focusing on cancel culture and toxicity (like a certain Black Christmas remake) Barbie focuses on actually empowering women to the fullest, with tons of heartfelt messages about acceptance, self-love, and insecurity.
Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling are both brilliant here, every scene is beautifully shot and directed. And it has one of the most powerful ones with the old woman on the bench, along with one of the best song and dance sequences I've ever seen in my life.
Barbie gives a new definition to pretty in pink, A+
Night Swim(2024)
Drowned in mediocrity and some greatness at the same time
Night Swim was the first movie I saw in 2024, funny how that's been the same for the past 2 years. And January horror movies have a bad rap, and I can't blame them, they're usually not great. Such as Me3an, which I saw last year, I wasn't a fan of that one at all, Night Swim is the 2024 equivalent, which I was quite excited for, but also nervous clearly. However, it really wasn't half bad.
Classic horror movie, nuclear family with a sick relative moves into a haunted house with a tragic backstory, and while this one had a fair amount of cliches (new town, research, talking to previous owner). Night Swim managed to put an interesting spin on it.
I felt the palpable tension, every time the pool was featured I was getting ready for a jumpscare, and this film pulled each one off fairly well, I was definitely cowering at times.
While the acting isn't great, some of the characters are incredibly flat. Night Swim managed to be a not bad January horror film, it wasn't half bad.
C+
The Nun II(2023)
I was praying that this one would be better. But it was just as bad
The Conjuring is one of my favorite horror franchises of all time, (although it can be argued whether or not it's all historically accurate), however both Nun movies are just embarrassments to the franchise. Which is saying something since Annabelle Comes Home does exist, but honestly I only got halfway through this movie before turning it off, and I have no regrets.
Yk there's a certain cardinal thing that can determine whether a horror film is good or not, whether or not it's scary, and frankly, I wasn't scared a bit during this movie's entire duration, and the rest was filled with cheap characters, bad cgi, and bad acting.
D+
Moulin Rouge!(2001)
Flashy and rousing, everything a musical should be
One great friend of mine used to speak of Moulin Rouge as some unforgettable musical experience, that combined with the numerous other great things I heard about this finally got me convinced to give a shot, and yes, Moulin Rouge absolutely was that experience, I've been a musical theater kid since I first watched The Wiz at 4 years old, and I think with a couple more rewatches this one will make its way onto my top 10 list.
With a stacked cast featuring grade A names such as John Leguizamo (violent night + ice age) and Ewan McGregor (star wars), from the very first minute this movie captured my attention, Baz Luhrmann is very notorious for a flashy in your face style, very well seen in Elvis and Romeo and Juliet. Neither of which I was a fan of. But the style absolutely shone here, to be quite honest, I never really had an idea what was going on at all, and the lovely performances combined with the flashy style made this a brilliant experience.
Combined with some of the greatest songs of all time (your song, lady marmalade) moulin rouge is an absolute must watch for any theater fan.
It gets an A.
Ted(2012)
Ted? More like mid tbh
Before I go into my actual thoughts, I'm just gonna say John should've been played by Ryan Reynolds 🤷♀️. He would've suited the role much better
I'd like to preface this by saying I am in no way a big Mark Wahlberg fan, (he always talks like he's out of breath) and I just find him more obnoxious than funny most of the time, besides Instant Family, a true gem, and while I didn't go into this expecting the utmost greatness, I was still sadly disappointed.
A movie about a talking teddy bear that is a man's best friend, while that just sounds weird in general, I found Ted to be creepy and pretty off-putting most of the time.
It's basically 2 hours of sex jokes and swear words (and quite a few slurs), and while that sometimes can work (South Park, Family Guy) most of the time it was just hit or miss here, strip that away and you have a pretty empty film devoid of any heartfelt moments or seriousness.
Ted gets a C-
Violent Night(2022)
Jolly, bloody, and fun
One thing about me, I'm not big about Christmas at all, I used to be super excited for it as a kid (as most kids are) but nowadays it's just an average holiday for me, and I don't like a lot of Christmas movies or Christmas music at all, however this one was a pleasant exception and surprise, being released last year starring David Harbour of Stranger Things fame, I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was a worthwhile 2 hours.
This film takes an exceptionally interesting approach to the idea of a "Scrooge", or a character such as The Grinch, who will do anything he can to get rid of Christmas, John Leguizamo gives an incredible performance as this villain, who just wants Christmas to be abolished.
It's filled with great humor and brilliant action scenes, extremely self-aware and reminiscent of "Home Alone" which it even references itself, and Santa fighting people was not what I expected, but it delivered in the best possible ways.
Violent Night was a great, fun movie for this time of year, and it gets an A-
The Color Purple(2023)
Beautiful and brilliant
My parents and I have a yearly tradition of seeing an annual Christmas movie, 2021 was West Side Story, 2018 was Spider-Verse, and I can't remember 2019. But this year was the true standout, forget what I said about Barbie and Oppenheimer, The Color Purple is my favorite movie of 2023, coming in clutch the 4th quarter of it, truly beautiful and heartfelt.
Having not read the book or seen the original movie, I went in not knowing anything about this story, which honestly kind of made the experience better, it was absolutely rousing to see in theaters, filled with beautiful cinematography, smooth transitions, and a whole lot of outstanding directed scenes and frames.
And being a musical, I anticipated each song with wonderful excitement, the story is depressing, draining, and empowering and uplifting at the same time, filled with outstanding black female characters, which we really don't see in movies in 2023 basically at all.
Danielle Brooks and Fantasia Barrino both give truly outstanding performances here, and it has one of the most beautiful endings and messages of this entire year.
I'm gonna give The Color Purple an A+
The Flash(2023)
Not quite electrifying
While the flash is nowhere near the dumpster fire people were saying it was, it isn't anywhere near the masterpiece that names like Tom Cruise and James Gunn got paid to praise it as, seriously, I have no idea how someone could watch this and genuinely say it's the best comic book film of all time, it's not even in the DC top 10 lol, but it was a good way to finish out the universe.
The main point of negativity for this, is the blatant lack of originality, Flash goes back in time and causes trouble, wow, I've never seen that before (flashpoint paradox) but the problem is, this movie thought all it needed to have was every single Batman and Superman to ever exist, filled to the brim with mediocre acting performances, and obviously the major controversy around Miller didn't help at all.
And I'm not even gonna put this aside, this movie has some of the worst CGI I've ever seen in in my life, now I know some of you will read that and get mad, but you did the exact same thing with She-Hulk, so don't even try.
B-
Fargo(1996)
Coldly brilliant
As a Native Minnesotan myself, being born and raised in the urban parts of North Minneapolis, it was pretty fun watching an excellent thriller set right in my home town, I now know what to blame for the deep rooted stereotypes about how we sound and how much snow we get, (usually more than depicted, but whatever).
Bearing quite a few similarities to No Country for Old Men, which I gave an 8/10, Fargo is an excellently directed thriller that bears plenty similarities to what I mentioned, no country for old men, which is another terrific thriller.
Steve Buscemi stole a lot of the scenes for me, bringing an exceptional charisma, the Coen brothers also directed it brilliantly, showing the cold interior of Minnesota during the winter season, Frances MacDonald and William H. Macy are also truly brilliant.
I'm gonna give Fargo an A.