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Reviews
Moonfall (2022)
A solid popcorn movie
First off this is nothing groundbreaking. This is an amalgamation of decades of sci-fi tropes and plot points all rolled into one and a face value that sounds awful. And yet I feel like this somehow worked in only the way the person behind Independence Day, Godzilla (98), Eight Legged Freaks, and 2012 could pull off. If you are expecting Interstellar you're
in the wrong place. If you enjoyed Armageddon then grab some popcorn and let's dig in.
Years after tragedy strikes on a routine space mission two former astronauts and their estranged families team up with a genius conspiracy theorist to stop the moon from crashing into the earth and taking. But while they receive to save the planet they discover not everything is what it seems.
Given the plot the acting was pretty solid. Never really over the top or phoned in but also nothing really befitting the cast. The visuals are pretty solid. Often chaotic but easier to follow than I expected they'd be. Without giving it away the plot is pretty predictable but fun.
The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
A great, albeit imperfect, addition to the Matrix saga!
Let me begin with the negative: the fight scenes were bad for a Matrix movie. This is not to say they were actually bad fight scenes but the fights of the Matrix trilogy were, for lack of a word, iconic: the introduction of bullet time in the original, the martial arts, the Lobby, the freeway scene, the Burly Brawl, the final face off in the rain. They were like watching a dance, and as crazy as the fights can get they're easy to follow and brilliant to watch. And for those reason I feel that the fight scenes in Resurrections felt 'sloppy' in comparison - hard to follow and incredibly busy.
Now that we have that out if the way, I think this was a overall fun movie and bought a new level to the mythos. There was a bit I thought was clunky at time, the lack of Hugo Weaving and Laurence Fishburne was disappointing but made sense for the story (though I feel they could have still been worked in and actually added another level to the story).
I can see why a lot of people did not like this movie, along with the fight scenes the general tone of this movie was very different but I personally enjoyed the topics they brought to this with the ideas of human nature, fears, emotions and accepting of reality around you. For all its flaws it was fun. If you go into this movie with the mindset that this will be different - that it is not a reboot or a retelling, but the world has changed and so has the tone - I think you'll enjoy it.
The Ghost and Molly McGee (2021)
Sugar-frosted dark humor
While certainly not the darkest of humor out there it took an approach I honestly didn't expect from Disney and I enjoyed it. If you fans of shows like The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy or Invader Zim you'll probably enjoy this. And if you enjoy this, I recommend you check out The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy or Invader Zim.
At times Molly's positive attitude can be too much, to the point where if she was the only real main character shed get a bit tiresome fast - but they play her off with an edge of humor, awkwardness and fear of being alone (not having a friend) that it grounds her character and really plays off Scratch (the ghost) and the antics of those around her.
On the surface this feels like it's going to be another paint by numbers kid friendly cartoon, and it is (the kid friendly part) but there's just enough of a 'edge' to it that although I am FAR from the shows target demographic it was a lot of fun. The environments look like exaggerated Nightmare Before Christmas whenever the ghost scare someone, but it's colorful. The overly sweet pop sounding song in each episode feels like it came from Avenue Q or Book of Mormon if you listen closely- not the content of course, but an overly cute song whose cynical lyrics need to be heard.
All in all this won't be for everyone but I'd highly recommend giving this a watch.
Mission: Impossible II (2000)
Suddenly, Doves. Hundreds of them.
Honestly, I love to watch movies and I love to write reviews. Normally I don't sit there and harp on what I hated about a movie. I'll complain but I try to remain objective.
That said I must begin by saying that I actually fell asleep during this movie.
The first, third and fourth of the M:I series were great but this one was so painful that I almost bypassed M:I 3 on the principle of this movie alone.
I can't give too much detail as I have only seen it twice (I gave it a second try on VHS when it came out and it was just as bad) but compared to the spy vs spy intrigue and plot twists that made the others so fun this movies was so straight forward it was less M:I and more attempt at a summer action movie to rake in a couple million before the real summer blockbusters show up.
As I try to stay positive, I will give it two things: 1) The action sequences, while nothing like the other movies, were very stylized and in any other film - like Face-Off - would have been enjoyable. 2) Doves. Not the doves themselves, but they really had fun trying to be stylish with their cinematography. Any they succeeded in many cases I recall, they just were NOT good for this movie. To compare, try to imagine Wes Anderson directing The Bourne Identity...
It was for those two reasons I gave it a 2. Certainly not the WORST movie I've ever seen, but certainly within striking distance of Poltergeist 3
Knowing (2009)
It think I enjoyed it... but I'm not sure yet...
Regardless of what I though of the movie overall, nearly 24 hrs later and the movie is still with me. Overall, I thought the movie was well done. It managed to mix the thriller genre while successfully (to a greater or lesser degree) incorporating both the sci-fi and spiritual elements. Most of it worked. Most.
While trying not to give too much away, the plot can be summarized as the story of a widowed father that has resigned himself to the scientific as a result of her death. After a 50 year old time capsule is opened revealing a list of numbers, he begins to notice a patten defining every major catastrophe over the past 50 years. As he follows the pattern, trying to prevent the events to come, he begins to wonder what all of this has to do with him and his son. It is a good thriller and it kept me second guessing myself throughout.
I think the hardest part for me with this movie was the special effects. Now, whoever did the graphics certainly did a better job than I could ever do, but as this seemed like a big budget movie and as we've see many movies with similar visual sequences done so smoothly, I was very disappointed and I actually had to try to convince myself to ignore the music video par cgi so I could appreciate the movie. As an example, the fire at the plane scene was very flat and the subway lighting and textures were not believable. Even movies like what pixar has put out have been able to create realistic flowing so the long grass appearing so outdated, again, took away from the believability. Though I will definitely compliment whoever made the object that caused Cage's character to fall to his knees towards the end. THAT was impressive.
I think had it not had so many similarities to things such as Signs, or Armageddon, or Die Hard (high tension action), I think it would have gotten a better score.
But that said, I would still highly recommend this movie!
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008)
NPH - 'Nuff Said
To begin, I was surprisingly impressed with Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. I hadn't expected more than just a dumb, buddy stoner movie and when I finally saw it, I really enjoyed it. A lot! So when the sequel came out, I was admittedly looking forward to it.
The movie picks up with Kumar accompanying Harold to Amsterdam. On the way, Kumar runs into his old girlfriend, now engaged, and the two get arrested when an overly paranoid passenger mistakes the two for terrorists. The two are sent to Guantanamo Bay by an overly paranoid and under qualified Homeland Security officer. I don't see any spoiler in saying they escape, after all it is in the title of the film, and have 7 days to get from Florida to Texas without being picked up in order to clear their names.
I think one of the things that annoyed me the most about this movie was the over-emphasis on smoking. It's obviously going to be there as it is a buddy stoner movie, and though it has been a while and I could have forgotten, I don't seem to recall a pot scene around every corner in the first movie. In the sequel, I can't really think of any scene that didn't somehow go right back to it. It became "We're on a plane. Let's smoke," "We're in the sticks. It just got a little old for me I guess. Let's smoke," We're on the Lam. Let's smoke" But overall, the movie had some great laughs. I won't cite any in particular, but there were some hilarious moments. And of course, Neil Patrick Harris. Oh, those Hershey's Kisses...
All in all, it was fun and I'd recommend seeing it if you were a fan of the first, but I think this movie could have done more than just rehashing the same jokes from the first.
Charlie Bartlett (2007)
Overall, better then I had expected
If there is is one thing that has happened over the past year or so, it is my growing distrust of the 'indie' film. After seeing the trailer for Charlie Bartlet, I could not expect anything better from this movie. It looked like the same old awkward teen movie like Running With Scissors, Thumbsucker, or Igby Goes Down with some unknowns, and one or two Hollywood legends taking the roll for the 'artistic value.'
Thankfully, I was mistaken.
The movie follows a well-off teen, Charlie Bartlet (Anton Yelchin), who's shinning academic career is constantly marred by the lengths he will go to to be popular, leaving him with nothing more than an expulsion from every Private Academy he's gone to. Deciding to try public school for th first time, Bartlet realizes it is a whole new world and he's at the bottom. After a brief run-in with Ritalin, Bartlet strikes up a deal with the school bully and, using the extensive list of private therapists at his family's disposal who are more than happy to prescribe medications as a solution to any problem, quickly sets up shop as the student-body therapist and pharmacy.
The situation is complicated when Bartlet falls for Susan (Kat Dennings), the daughter of Principal Gardner (Robert Downey, Jr.), whose past issues and horrible misfortune of being promoted to School Principal from his beloved roll as History teacher have left him somewhat cynical, and suspicious of Charlie.
The only negative to this movie is that it's runtime of 97 minutes far exceeds it's 60 minute plot and will sometimes feel as though it drags on. But the clashing between Bartlet and Gardner has a chemistry (the two actors compliment each other very well in both style and character) that makes it worth the slow points.
Overall, I would highly recommend this movie. It may not be fast-paced, and does lack any strong conflict, but overall it is a very enjoyable comedy that really goes to show that no matter what, everyone just wants to be liked and accepted.
The Mist (2007)
Love it or Hate it, the film sticks with you.
I've labeled this to contain spoilers, though I will make a point to try not to.
To begin, I have not read the novella in which the movie was based. I don't know if anything was left out, or added. What I can say is that from the moment they enter town, I was gripped. There was a level of human drama that not that many movies, at least as far as creature-features go, achieve. Almost immediately I began to feel the sense of worry that Drayton had for his wife. Even the brief scene with the woman worried about her children. With so little background on the characters, you could already begin to empathize with them.
The CGI used for the creatures was well done, though was very particularly noticeable in some scenes more than others. But overall, quite good. Oddly enough, some of the flying creatures movements looked more stop-animation that CGI.
I think the only point in the story that really killed it for me was the very brief description of where the creatures and mist came from. I liked the idea, at least it wasn't exactly supernatural, but the way it was delivered was just really 1950's B-Movie to me. I think even just some rewording of it would have helped. Granted the character delivering the information was supposed to be unaware of the details, but still it just kind of made everything after that a little 'cheesy' for me.
The ending was certainly good, but admittedly it wasn't exactly unexpected. By time they were in the car, I figured there two possible endings. That was one of them. I think the story can be summarized as a mixture of The Lord of the Flies and The Twilight Zone.
As I mentioned it was hard for me to take it too seriously after the origin was revealed and the fact that the end was a bit predictable didn't help. That said, I still find myself thinking about the movie. The ending, the characters, the situation; everything. I find myself replaying a lot of the scenes over in my head. I think that is was made it a very successful film to me.