The Official Movie Discussion Thread

[Self]

Treated myself to Disney+ for my birthday, and caught up on a bunch of blockbuster movies I missed.

 

Black Panther - Nice world-building, but there wasn't much for T'Challa to do. I hated the final battle. Not just the video game train fight, but all of it. The army/skirmish in the grass. The plane stuff. There was a potentially interesting conflict here, but what I saw didn't thrill me.

 

Captain Marvel - I liked this a lot more than I expected. After the dull first 20 minutes (I'd have cut 90% of everything before the space police are heading to the mission) the plot moved nicely. But I couldn't get into Carol Danvers. Like T'Challa, not much of an arc, even though Carol went through a journey of changes/discover. I don't think Brie Larsson knew what she was playing. She surprised me by being really fun and charming in the light scenes, but wooden and 'off' in everything with dramatic weight.

 

Solo - This was fun! I don't know what people were complaining about. Well, I do, but I liked the guy playing Young Han Solo. I loved that he was an action hero who didn't know karate. This went a little long (after the Kessel Run, just get to the finish) and a little too episodic... This could have been a cool Disney+ TV series. Give me 6 more 30-minute episodes of Alden Ehrenreich trying get-rich-quick-schemes in space. This was far from perfect, but maybe my favourite Star Wars movie.

 

The Force Awakens - I'd seen this one before, but Solo had me interested in the sequel trilogy. This was very well crafted, with three interesting new characters, and hammered that nostalgia button real hard. I felt it, and I didn't see the original trilogy until I was an adult. Han Solo was the best part of the movie, and that's probably why I didn't seek out the others until now. It's also kind of exhausting. Every dialogue scene is interupted by an action sequence within moments. I like the quiet moments in films.

 

The Last Jedi - I wonder if I'd have enjoyed this if I wasn't so aware of the discourse around it. I loved Luke Skywalker in this, but I wonder if I would have felt the same without several years of spoilers to get used to the direction. This one really felt too long to me. The entire salt-planet sequence felt tacked on. Rey and Finn had already finished their plots, but here's another 15+ minute action sequence to build to the finish? I wanted more Luke. I didn't hate Canto Bight (without it, it would be 150 minutes of humans on space ships) but it could have been shorter. I liked that Po was a characters in this, but a sloooow chase scene was a bit of a yawner.

 

Rise of Skywalker - I really enjoyed watching this at the time... but the more I thought about it afterwards I've soured. That was it? There was a point where I thought "If this all turns out to be an origin for a new villain in another new trilogy, I will be thrilled". But it wasn't. Throughout these movies, I found the lack of explanation of the light side-dark side thing frustrating. I get that it's just good and evil, and I'm just griping wanting kids films to grow up with me, but it's so abstract. In Last Jedi, Luke has a great explanation of what the Force is, but Light vs Dark is never more than what team you're on. Too abstract for me. Not that the previous films did it any better. I liked Rey. Hell, I liked Palpatine, for what he did/represented. But it does leave you feeling hollow when it's meant to be the final piece of a 9-part epic.

 

Self's Easter Weekend Rankings

 

1. Solo

2. Force Awakens

3. Captain Marvel

4. Black Panther

5. Rise of Skywalker

6. The Last Jedi

 

I think I had a few days left on my subscription. I usually don't keep streaming platforms more than a month, but I do want to finish Falcon & Winter Soldier.

[Jaysin]

Treated myself to Disney+ for my birthday, and caught up on a bunch of blockbuster movies I missed.

 

Black Panther - Nice world-building, but there wasn't much for T'Challa to do. I hated the final battle. Not just the video game train fight, but all of it. The army/skirmish in the grass. The plane stuff. There was a potentially interesting conflict here, but what I saw didn't thrill me.

 

Captain Marvel - I liked this a lot more than I expected. After the dull first 20 minutes (I'd have cut 90% of everything before the space police are heading to the mission) the plot moved nicely. But I couldn't get into Carol Danvers. Like T'Challa, not much of an arc, even though Carol went through a journey of changes/discover. I don't think Brie Larsson knew what she was playing. She surprised me by being really fun and charming in the light scenes, but wooden and 'off' in everything with dramatic weight.

 

Solo - This was fun! I don't know what people were complaining about. Well, I do, but I liked the guy playing Young Han Solo. I loved that he was an action hero who didn't know karate. This went a little long (after the Kessel Run, just get to the finish) and a little too episodic... This could have been a cool Disney+ TV series. Give me 6 more 30-minute episodes of Alden Ehrenreich trying get-rich-quick-schemes in space. This was far from perfect, but maybe my favourite Star Wars movie.

 

The Force Awakens - I'd seen this one before, but Solo had me interested in the sequel trilogy. This was very well crafted, with three interesting new characters, and hammered that nostalgia button real hard. I felt it, and I didn't see the original trilogy until I was an adult. Han Solo was the best part of the movie, and that's probably why I didn't seek out the others until now. It's also kind of exhausting. Every dialogue scene is interupted by an action sequence within moments. I like the quiet moments in films.

 

The Last Jedi - I wonder if I'd have enjoyed this if I wasn't so aware of the discourse around it. I loved Luke Skywalker in this, but I wonder if I would have felt the same without several years of spoilers to get used to the direction. This one really felt too long to me. The entire salt-planet sequence felt tacked on. Rey and Finn had already finished their plots, but here's another 15+ minute action sequence to build to the finish? I wanted more Luke. I didn't hate Canto Bight (without it, it would be 150 minutes of humans on space ships) but it could have been shorter. I liked that Po was a characters in this, but a sloooow chase scene was a bit of a yawner.

 

Rise of Skywalker - I really enjoyed watching this at the time... but the more I thought about it afterwards I've soured. That was it? There was a point where I thought "If this all turns out to be an origin for a new villain in another new trilogy, I will be thrilled". But it wasn't. Throughout these movies, I found the lack of explanation of the light side-dark side thing frustrating. I get that it's just good and evil, and I'm just griping wanting kids films to grow up with me, but it's so abstract. In Last Jedi, Luke has a great explanation of what the Force is, but Light vs Dark is never more than what team you're on. Too abstract for me. Not that the previous films did it any better. I liked Rey. Hell, I liked Palpatine, for what he did/represented. But it does leave you feeling hollow when it's meant to be the final piece of a 9-part epic.

 

Self's Easter Weekend Rankings

 

1. Solo

2. Force Awakens

3. Captain Marvel

4. Black Panther

5. Rise of Skywalker

6. The Last Jedi

 

I think I had a few days left on my subscription. I usually don't keep streaming platforms more than a month, but I do want to finish Falcon & Winter Soldier.

 

I loved Solo. Like you said, it was just pure fun. The Maul cameo made me literally cheer outloud. Maul is one of my favorite characters in all of Star Wars though.

 

Have you seen Rogue One? To me, it might be the perfect Star Wars movie. I know that's sacrilege, but it ticked all the boxes for me. Plus, Donnie Yen is magic in everything.

[Self]

It was on television a while ago. Last year maybe. I remember the last 30 minutes being awesome, but the build didn't grab me. Donnie Yen is cool and the robot had some fun lines, but I couldnt get into the main character. Very serious and kinda boring. This movie needed that somber tone, but I prefer something lighter. Which makes Solo more my style.

 

Then again, I've liked Mandalorian even more than any of the movies, so maybe I dont know what my style is.

[Jaysin]

I also like Mando more than the movies. I have yet to see Rise of Skywalker. Maybe I'll watch that tonight after Soul.

 

I'm not very far into Soul, but the concept and animation is wonderful.

[djthefunkchris]

Godzilla vs Kong was predictable, but fantastic nonetheless. The final fight scene was simply breathtaking.

 

The Snyder Cut of Justice League was outstanding. It was a visual treat and the plot and pacing are far superior to the original cut. Didn't even feel like a four hour movie. I'd probably rank this amongst the top five superhero films of all time to be honest. It's a shame DC/WB is abandoning the Universe Snyder has just perfected, but hopefully what we get in the future is good as well.

 

On Justice League, I quite agree. I didn't expect it to be so different either. I mean, same story but tons more of it, and like you said it didn't feel like 4 hours at all. I had low expectations so maybe that's why I am so surprised by it, but I feel the same... I put it way up there as one of my favorites. Avengers (the first) is still my favorite.

 

Probably something like

 

1. Avengers

2. The Dark Knight

3. Zack Snyder's Justice League

4. Thor Ragnorak

5. Deadpool

 

 

I really loved Black Panther, the first Iron Man, the first two Spider-Man (with Toby), and lots of others I could probably change out on any given day.. Heck, even Guardians of the Galaxy was very fun to watch. Endgame and Infinity war is hard to really say... I haven't really had the desire to go back and re-watch them much, but I kind of put them in a different category all together, the whole Saga was epic, and those two movies were very much needed.

 

Probably the worst movies were Captain Marvel, The First Justice League, Birds of Prey, Suicide Squad (but I hear it might be great if they ever release Ayer's version).

 

Honestly I feel like after watching Zack's version of Justice League, I think every single movie should have a Directors cut, because the difference is unbelievable. I mean you go through and you remember some of the scenes, but almost every one of them has a different feel, much much better.

 

I also think it's unfair to blame Joss (although all those allegations against him make me not want to say this) or any director of how bad the theatrical cut was, after seeing it how it was intended, there's just no way cut so much out, add in "light moments" and somehow expect it to be good. I mean.. what was the point in the whole "Mother is calling me" crap in the theatrical one, as if the mother boxes were his real mother? Just some weird stuff that wasn't in Zack's... No Flash landing on Wonder Woman, etc.

[Jaysin]

<p>I genuinely liked Captain Marvel. Didn't love it and thought Brie was miscast, but enjoyed it nonetheless. I still think Charlize Theron would have been perfect as Marvel.</p><p> </p><p>

I wouldn't put Suicide Squad at the bottom either when X-Men Apocalypse or X-Men 3 exist. I heard New Mutants and Dark Phoenix were some how even worse. F4ntastic Four looked so bad in the trailers that I couldn't even bring myself to give it a shot.</p>

[djthefunkchris]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Jaysin" data-cite="Jaysin" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25823" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I genuinely liked Captain Marvel. Didn't love it and thought Brie was miscast, but enjoyed it nonetheless. I still think Charlize Theron would have been perfect as Marvel.<p> </p><p> I wouldn't put Suicide Squad at the bottom either when X-Men Apocalypse or X-Men 3 exist. I heard New Mutants and Dark Phoenix were some how even worse. F4ntastic Four looked so bad in the trailers that I couldn't even bring myself to give it a shot.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I was putting it together quickly, and was going by mostly modern stuff. I ... X-Men all felt like Wolverine movies to me. Yet, the best was Logan which I can see putting in my top 5 as well. Some really bad ones...</p><p> </p><p> I normally love Brie, I don't know what happened, but that movie didn't click for me. Not even the Sam Jackson stuff clicked for me, although Colson did for some reason. Suicide Squad suffered the same chopping block stuff that ZSJL did, and even after that there were still some redeeming qualities about it. I kind of put it on par with Green Lantern to be honest.</p>

[Self]

Apparently it hurts when I really laugh now.

 

Watched Ralph Breaks the internet and re-watched Deadpool 2 this weekend, as my Disney+ rolled over into a second month. Both are fine. I enjoyed them. Deadpool 2 was definitely better than the first time I saw it, where I really had high expectations that led me to question every plot diversion. Neither were better than the previous film in their franchise. Each, however, had one joke which got me so hard that it gave me chest pains. I had to pause and walk away for 5 minutes. I'm a little concerned about that... and that I haven't noticed it until recently. Maybe I don't laugh much in real life. Nice bit of existential dread before the work week.

 

Baby legs. Bee pun. Dumb, but they damn near killed me.

[Jaysin]

Anyone else check out Mortal Kombat? I thought it was real fun. Obviously it had some major flaws, but for a guy's directing debut it wasn't too bad. Very fun and gorey action scenes.

 

Not diving into spoilers, but I do wish Scorpion would have been featured more. Sanada was the perfect fit for Scorpion.

 

Joe Taslim was real good as Sub Zero.

 

Supposedly, three more movies are planned to really flesh out the MK universe. So hopefully that happens.

[The Swanton825]

I loved Mortal Kombat. Most of the characters were kind of weak (besides Scorpion, Sub-Zero and Kano who were all awesome) but having grown up on stuff like Deadly Alliance and Deception, I'm already used to weak MK stories and watching this movie for the story makes as much sense as watching a Godzilla movie for the human characters. What I came for was awesome fight scenes and tons of gore and it delivered on both to the point that I was unashamedly fanboying by the end. I finally understand why Marvel fans get so excited by obscure characters showing up. I popped big time for Kabal, who I did not know was in the movie before I watched.

 

I also hope that Cole being a bland character forced on the filmmakers by the studio doesn't harm Lewis Tan's stock going forward. He did a good job with how little he was given and IMO he showed signs he's got that "it" factor that action stars need.

[Jaysin]

I loved Mortal Kombat. Most of the characters were kind of weak (besides Scorpion, Sub-Zero and Kano who were all awesome) but having grown up on stuff like Deadly Alliance and Deception, I'm already used to weak MK stories and watching this movie for the story makes as much sense as watching a Godzilla movie for the human characters. What I came for was awesome fight scenes and tons of gore and it delivered on both to the point that I was unashamedly fanboying by the end. I finally understand why Marvel fans get so excited by obscure characters showing up. I popped big time for Kabal, who I did not know was in the movie before I watched.

 

I also hope that Cole being a bland character forced on the filmmakers by the studio doesn't harm Lewis Tan's stock going forward. He did a good job with how little he was given and IMO he showed signs he's got that "it" factor that action stars need.

 

I liked Lewis Tan quite a bit despite the lackluster character written for him. I did enjoy his power set too.

 

Off topic, DC rebooted their animated movie universe with Superman: Man of Tomorrow and Justice Society: World War II and they're both quite good. The animation took a bit to get used to, it's similar to Archer with the bold outlines.

 

That said, if we ever get to see Lobo and Lex Luthor in a live action movie again Ryan Hurst and Zachary Quinto would be great. They were quite good in a voice acting setting and I think they're perfect for live action too.

 

The goddess Alexandria Daddario player Lois and I would be more than okay with seeing her as Lois on the big screen.

 

Gonna try and play catch up on some horror movies I've missed over the years. I picked up the various Insidious, Conjuring, Sinister, and some other odds and ends, but I'm open for some suggestions.

[The Swanton825]

Not sure which horror movies you've seen so I'll go with the ones I recommend to everyone.

 

 

Pandorum: A seriously underrated sci-fi horror gem despite the critical savaging it got.

 

Event Horizon: Brilliant Lovecraftian horror from Paul W.S. Anderson of all people.

 

Dagon: Another great Lovecraftian flick from the director of Re-Animator and From Beyond.

 

Bone Tomahawk: As long as you've got the stomach for gore, this is the finest horror western ever made with fantastic performances from Kurt Russell and Matthew Fox.

 

It's not "recent" (then again neither are Event Horizon or Dagon now that I think about it) but I am required to mention John Carpenter's The Thing whenever I recommend horror movies. It's my all time favorite horror film.

[Jaysin]

Event Horizon and the Thing are the only two I've seen from those so I'll add the rest to my list.

 

If you like The Thing, you should check out Harbinger Down(Inanimate in the UK). It's an indie horror flick that I believe was crowdfunded, but I loved it. It uses all practical effects and is like a spiritual successor to The Thing.

 

Also, Lance Henriksen is in it and well, he's just a legend in every thing he's in.

[The Swanton825]

Event Horizon and the Thing are the only two I've seen from those so I'll add the rest to my list.

 

If you like The Thing, you should check out Harbinger Down(Inanimate in the UK). It's an indie horror flick that I believe was crowdfunded, but I loved it. It uses all practical effects and is like a spiritual successor to The Thing.

 

Also, Lance Henriksen is in it and well, he's just a legend in every thing he's in.

 

A friend has recommended that one to me before and I do love me some Lance Henriksen (He single-handedly saved Pumpkinhead) so I'm surprised I haven't watched it yet.

[Jaysin]

Army of the Dead is fun as hell

 

"It's a god damn zombie tiger"

[Kijar]

Army of the Dead is fun as hell

 

"It's a god damn zombie tiger"

 

Very much enjoyed it. Really thought the action scenes (of mowing down zombies) finally stood out from films and series that we've been used to as of late.

 

Agreeing on sentiments for Mortal Kombat. Especially enjoyed Kano, Kung Lao, and Kabal in this one. Lots of great action scenes, some shoehorned catchphrases, campy goodness. Some people dying didn't sit well with me, nor did what they do to my boy Reptile. Otherwise, very fun set-up film. Johnny Cage, Baraka, Kotal Kahn, and Jade in the future would be great to see.

 

Anyone see Those Who Wish Me Dead (good but forgettable), Willy's Wonderland (unbelievable on paper), or Spiral (lot to unpack there)?

 

Or, more importantly, Promising Young Woman? Definitely changed me. Nearly looked away.

[Jaysin]

Just finished the Vin Diesel movie Bloodshot and it's way more fun than it's RT score of 30% indicates. Is it Oscar bait? No, but it has a fun story with excellent special effects. Looking forward to future movies in the Valiant Universe and Bloodshot 2.

[RKOwnage]

Hey guys, just gonna shill for a second if that's OK: last March when the pandemic started my wife and I decided to start a project where we watch hundreds of movies and "figure out" what the best one ever made was. We're going decade by decade making brackets of 64 movies per decade.

 

Today we announced the four "play-in" matchups for the 2010s bracket - if you're into that sort of thing, feel free to go follow @motionpicturemadness on Instagram and vote for the four play-ins in our story (you've probably seen all 8 movies). The rest of the bracket will be up at http://www.mpm.squarespace.com in the next few days. We've watched over 200 movies from the 2010s since last March and I'm excited to finally get to write about them all! Well, not all of them. But you get what I mean.

[Jaysin]

<p>Sony is making a Kraven the Hunter standalone and I'm excited</p><p> </p><p>

Today they announced who is playing him and my excitement has dropped.</p><p> </p><p>

In a world where Manu Bennet, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jason Momoa, Scott Adkins, and Gerard Butler exist as perfect candidates for Kraven, they cast the lackluster Quicksilver Aaron Taylor Johnson. I obviously hope I'm wrong and it turns out to be good, but my hopes for it have drastically decreased.</p>

[Jaysin]

Just finished Knives Out. Absolutely amazing movie! So damn fun

[Jaysin]

I've watched a few movies over the last few days.

 

Those Who Wish Me Dead- This was pretty good. Jolie was great, but Nicholas Hoult was the real star of the movie. He was downright menacing.

 

Gemini Man- I don't understand the bad reviews this got at all. I thought it was fantastic. The de-aging they did on the clone was amazing. It literally looked like Will Smith was acting along side his younger self. Super fun movie in my opinion and Will Smith was great.

 

Tom Clancy's Without Remorse- This was fun too, but a few things annoyed me. Two of the assassinations relied entirely on luck and it made no sense. One is done during a traffic jam. How on earth can do you make sure to be in the right part of a traffic jam to kill someone?

 

Guns Akimbo- This was great! Super fun. Daniel Radcliffe was hysterical and his gruffy look was a good look for him. If he bulked up a bit, I could honestly see him as the MCU Wolverine.

 

*Edit*

 

Ended up watching Terminator Dark Fate tonight and surprisingly enjoyed the heck out of it. Funny little nugget though. Going into it I legitimately thought that Diego Luna was the antagonist Terminator and for the first half hour I kept looking at Rev-9 going "that does not look like Diego at all...". Then I caved and looked at the cast list and to my surprise, it's Gabriel Luna, not Diego. Not sure how I got them mixed up. Maybe I just saw Luna listed at some point and just assumed it was Diego. It was really fun though. Little bummed they cancelled any follow ups to it as I actually liked the new main character. Trying to decide if I want to give Terminator Genisys a shot. I did see Arnold's performance in that was praised, but everything else was panned.

 

In other news, they announced today that Donnie Yen will be costarring in John Wick 4 as an old friend of Wick with a similar history and some of the same enemies and they team up. Donnie is one of my favorite actors, so I am ecstatic.

[Jaysin]

<p>Even though I'm the only one posting, I watched Jojo Rabbit this evening and holy moly was that good. It took me a long time to give it a shot because well, I didn't understand the premise of the movie and didn't want to read spoilers. After finishing it I saw it was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, but lost to Parasite and I would have hated to be on the committee that voted on that because I'm not sure I could put either movie ahead of the other. They're both funny, superbly written, dark, and wonderfully acted.</p><p> </p><p>

Taika as Hitler was hysterical. Scarlett Johansson was so damn good. Thomasin McKenzie and Roman Griffin Davis as Elsa and Jojo were very good as well. I'm going to keep an eye out for more movies starring Thomasin and Roman as I think they have a hell of a future. </p><p> </p><p>

Man, I can't say enough good things about Jojo Rabbit. It's on Prime Video and I highly recommend it.</p>

[Kijar]

<p>Agree with you about Nicholas Hoult, I didn't expect such a humanized antagonist to be in front of me by the end. Aiden Gillen currently can't escape the goon boss archetype haha</p><p>

Not a bad movie, I just doubt I shall recall it much if ever again.</p><p> </p><p>

As far as Jojo Rabbit goes, I could not agree more. It changed my girlfriend's perspective on a lot of the subject material. Not something I've been able to say of her much in the past haha. To cast yourself as Hitler and knock it out of the park is a remarkable feat. I'm glad I live in a time where Waititi is doing his thing.</p><p> </p><p>

EDIT:</p><p>

A quick list of everything I've seen as of late if you wanted to dive into any of it at all (discussion wise, wouldnt necessarily recommend everything haha).</p><p> </p><p>

The Owners</p><p>

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs</p><p>

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2</p><p>

Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star</p><p>

The Croods</p><p>

Sound of Metal</p><p>

The Smurfs</p><p>

Our House</p><p>

The Devil All The Time</p><p>

Soul</p><p>

Turbo</p><p>

The Collector</p><p>

Hush</p><p>

Alone</p><p>

The Skeleton Twins</p><p>

Hell Fest</p><p>

The Little Things</p><p>

Knock Knock</p><p>

Desperados</p><p>

The Strangers</p><p>

Jojo Rabbit</p><p>

King Kong vs Godzilla</p><p>

The Collection</p><p>

I Care A Lot.</p><p>

Mortal Kombat (2021)</p><p>

Willy's Wonderland</p><p>

Promising Young Woman</p><p>

Spiral</p><p>

Those Who Wish Me Dead</p><p>

The Strangers: Prey At Night</p><p>

Army of the Dead</p><p>

What Happened to Monday</p><p>

A Quiet Place: Part II</p><p>

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It</p><p>

Bo Burnham: Inside</p>

[Jaysin]

EDIT:

A quick list of everything I've seen as of late if you wanted to dive into any of it at all (discussion wise, wouldnt necessarily recommend everything haha).

 

The Owners

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2

Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star

Soul

The Collector

King Kong vs Godzilla

The Collection

Mortal Kombat (2021)

 

My thoughts on the ones I've seen:

 

Cloudy With a Chance- I had such low expectations for the first one and it ended up being phenomenal. The second one was good, but nowhere near as great as the first. Can't recommend it enough.

 

Dickie Roberts- Might be because I'm a child of the 80s/90s, but I love David Spade. This was dumb, but funny. If you like Joe Dirt, I'd recommend this one, but if you're not a fan of Space in general, probably wouldn't enjoy it.

 

Soul- Literally one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. Made me cry multiple times. So, so so good.

 

The Collector & The Collection- Two modern horror masterpieces. I suggest these two to every horror fan I ever meet. They're brutal as hell and made me cringe quite often. Few movies have that affect on me.

 

Not sure if you're referring to the 1962 King Kong vs Godzilla or the 2021 Godzilla vs Kong, but I love both. The 2021 rematch is very good despite being predictable as hell. Plus, the big twist was ruined by the toy line.

 

Mortal Kombat- I seemed to have enjoyed this more than most. I felt the cast was pretty good, but Kano stole the show. Dude was entertaining as hell. Not enough Scorpion or Subzero though.

[Kijar]

My thoughts on the ones I've seen:

 

Cloudy With a Chance- I had such low expectations for the first one and it ended up being phenomenal. The second one was good, but nowhere near as great as the first. Can't recommend it enough.

 

Yes indeed! Just can't figure out why I never knew it was Bill Hader in the lead role here, as I'm a big fan of his. In a way, I'm very happy I watched Barry first :p I'm just glad the quality drop wasn't as big as, say, The Croods' sequel. I did want more time with the characters and am not mad at what I got. I enjoyed them evolving the monsters of their world much more as well.

 

Dickie Roberts- Might be because I'm a child of the 80s/90s, but I love David Spade. This was dumb, but funny. If you like Joe Dirt, I'd recommend this one, but if you're not a fan of Space in general, probably wouldn't enjoy it.

 

Came into this with such low expectations, just knowing it'd be a stretch considering I'd never heard of it until my girlfriend said it was "pretty funny." haha That being said, I can always go for a nice little Joe Dirt, brain-off type of laughter. David Spade's effort is always something I'll appreciate. I enjoyed myself.

 

Soul- Literally one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. Made me cry multiple times. So, so so good.

 

Not often do I want to give into the hype. Waited awhile on Moana and Inside Out just knowing they were being acclaimed, but very, very glad I didn't wait on this one. What a journey. Self-actualization and reasons to live were so prevalent in my mind at the time of viewing too. Ah. Getting slight chills just thinking about it now.

 

The Collector & The Collection- Two modern horror masterpieces. I suggest these two to every horror fan I ever meet. They're brutal as hell and made me cringe quite often. Few movies have that affect on me.

 

The Collector was unexpected as hell for me, I just put it on, on a whim, and was far from disappointed. The brutality is a good point, but for me its every single decision made with the camera. How they pan in to show victims after we know what they are going through... every time I got to see the mechanics behind what was happening. Wasn't as impressed with the sequel, but that was just based on the bar being raised so very high. Also love how savvy the main character was. The Collector himself meeting his match was something I enjoyed, and feeling for him as he just missed the mark on so many goals in his attempt to escape.

 

Not sure if you're referring to the 1962 King Kong vs Godzilla or the 2021 Godzilla vs Kong, but I love both. The 2021 rematch is very good despite being predictable as hell. Plus, the big twist was ruined by the toy line.

 

Definitely should've clarified the new one. Was great for what it was, I really won't say no to watching King Kong knock stuff around haha. How you feeling about the gate to hollowed Earth?

The humans didn't bother me much here either (I expected they would), though Eleven's character wasn't exactly what I wanted.

 

Mortal Kombat- I seemed to have enjoyed this more than most. I felt the cast was pretty good, but Kano stole the show. Dude was entertaining as hell. Not enough Scorpion or Subzero though.

 

Yeah, what was all the hate for in this? Fights were pretty cool, the deaths worth complaining about got retconned as far as I know, and Kano was nobody expectation for the scene stealer. Loved every line he had haha. Sub-Zero was utilized and made out to be very important, that much I'll say, but if we don't care about Cole, I don't see how tying him into Scorpion's bloodline is going to excuse not using Scorpion hardly at all haha.

Some other characters I'd love to see in the sequel are Kenshi, Baraka, and Sektor or Cyrax. Cole shouldn't have killed Goro. I get the stepping stone villain sort of thing, but that guy should be a legendary God-like figure to the characters or some sort of proper smash-em up kind of guy. He was taken down by the only one we didn't really need on screen to "help establish him" via literal plot armor sprouting on his chest. All the lines and big moments worked for me though, and I'd watch again for sure. Still prefer the original film, but glad to have some modern Mortal Kombat.

 

 

On that note, I'd very much recommend:

Sound of Metal (not just sound mixing, but also the acting from lead Riz Ahmed, who is on screen pretty much the entirety of the film)

 

Our House (since you since you are a horror fan, this is an absolute hidden gem on behalf of Netflix. Psychological and sticks with you, with strong but heavy subject material)

 

The Devil All The Time (great work from Tom Holland although a bit of a slog in the 2nd act as it is lengthy)

 

The Strangers (probably only 25-30 films from the last 20 years that are up to stuff in horror and this is one I really should've went for sooner)

 

I Care A Lot. (weird as hell but Peter Dinklage is just a captivating performer, man)

 

Promising Young Woman (I don't want to even say anything because it just feels so impactful when you go in blind... I'll say if you can't hardly get to anything on this list, I'd head for this first. Its hard to watch at one point, I nearly turned it off and apologized for renting it, but still came out on the other side feeling out of body a little bit.)

 

Spiral (Depends on if you can take Chris Rock seriously as he dominates the screentime in this one. I enjoy him unironically. I'd say if you're a Saw fan, don't expect much Saw out of this one, but it is present. )

 

A Quiet Place: Part II (Cillian Murphy is a very, very welcome addition. Another case of really wanting more time with these characters, but now I'm in a state of feeling like Krasinski can do no wrong. The exact type of world-building that you would have anticipated coming out of the first film in the series.)

 

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (Best Conjuring movie? No. Best one since before the series become an overmilked Cow? Absolutely. Half horror/thriller, half drama centered around the Warrens.)