As I did last year, I wanted to take the time to talk about some of the releases that are coming out the rest of the year, some I am really looking forward to, others I have a little interest in either seeing or seeing how they turn out, so I will give each movie a rating based on how excited I am for it. Now keep in mind that this list won't reflect all the movies coming out, there may be some on this list that are on here but I may not end up seeing but I have my eye on them, waiting to see how they turn out, enjoy this list.
Ad Astra (September 20) - Anticipation Level: Ecstatic
Thoughts: I heard about this movie last year, all I knew was that it was a space movie and there was Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones. I became very interested in seeing a trailer. When the trailers finally dropped, my expectations for the movie really grew as I couldn't help but get vibes of 2001, Interstellar, and Gravity. These are all movies I enjoy and I hope that this movie delivers, regardless, I will be seeing this on IMAX during opening weekend.
Abominable (September 27) - Anticipation Level: Medium
Thoughts: I have this down because this is created by DreamWorks. There are times they release great movies, like the How To Train Your Dragon movies. I saw one trailer and it looks intriguing enough for me to be on the lookout for, it could be a fun story that if done just right, so I will wait to see what the reviews say when I see them
Joker (October 4) - Anticipation Level: Medium
Thoughts: Yes, this is more likely on everyone's anticipated list, and it's not hard to see why, but this is not on mine. Yes, I like Batman, and yes I like the Joker, I think the Joker is an iconic villain. However, I really like the fact that his origin story is a mystery. I hear this movie has great buzz towards it, so I am curious on how this turns out.
Gemini Man (October 11) - Anticipation Level: High
Thoughts: Earlier this year, we got very impressive de-aging effects in Captain Marvel with Samuel L Jackson looking like he was taken from 1995 and filmed for the movie. Based off the trailers for this, the younger version of Will Smith looks like he came from 1990 and shot in our day. The action sequences in the 2nd trailer look rather good. This is on my radar to see when it comes out.
Addams Family (October 11) - Anticipation Level: Medium
Thoughts: Okay, so maybe medium anticipation is a little high here, but I am kind of curious about this. It is always nice to get a family friendly halloween movie, and with that Are You Afraid of the Dark movie not happening anymore since it's a TV series reboot instead, this might do. Good voice talent attached, so I hope it's at least enjoyable.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (October 18) - Anticipation Level: Low
Thoughts: I liked the first Maleficent movie, it wasn't a favorite, but it had a decent story and the visuals were very nice to look at. I don't see a reason for this to happen, plus when Disney did a sequel to their live action remakes lately (Alice and the Looking Glass), it wasn't very good. This could surprise me and I might like it, I will wait for the reviews and maybe check it out.
Zombieland: Double Tap (October 18) - Anticipation Level: Medium
Thoughts: The first one a decade ago was a ton of fun, I got plenty of laughs out of it. When I saw the trailer for the new one, I don't think it got me on board as others, but I certainly hope that it was just a trailer I wasn't very impressed with but the movie puts a big grin on my face. The fact they brought the cast back is a big win.
JoJo Rabbit (October 18) - Anticipation Level: Medium
Thoughts: What an interesting idea, a really bizarre one from Taika Waititi. Basically this kid has Adolf Hitler as an imaginary friend in the time period where he was rising to power. I am sitting here and wonder if it's worth checking out and if the idea is justifiable. I am uncertain at this time if I will see it or not.
Terminator: Dark Fate (November 1) - Anticipation Level: Low
Thoughts: I really like the first Terminator movie and the second to me is a masterpiece. So why is this low, well the sequels afterwards weren't all that great, I enjoyed Salvation more than the other 2 sequels that followed Terminator 2: Judgement Day. But after Genisys, I was just turned off towards the franchise as a whole. Could this save the series, I will wait to see.
Midway (November 8) - Anticipation Level: Medium
Thoughts: To me, this almost looks like it could be a Michael Bay movie, a big blockbuster take on a big historical event, the action sequences look really good in the trailer, but will the emotional story match the big set pieces. Director Roland Emmerich is a hit or miss for me, I really liked Independence Day and Stargate and The Day After Tomorrow, but I didn't really care for White House Down, or Independence Day Resurgence at all. I am intrigued enough to keep an eye on it and see how it turns out.
Charlie's Angels (November 15) - Anticipation Level: Low
Thoughts: We had an adaptation of the movie based on the TV show back in 2000, I really enjoyed it and also the sequel that came a few years after that, yes they were cheesy but enjoyable. So far, the trailers we got haven't really got me interested. But they have Naomi Scott as one of the angels and I think she could be good here as she has been doing really good so far, I guess we will have to wait and see.
Ford V Ferrari (November 15) - Anticipation Level: High
Thoughts: One sport I really like is racing, and I think car racing is pretty cool. I also think this movie has a ton of great talent, from director James Mangold who directed Logan a couple of years ago, and then actors Matt Damon and Christian Bale. With all this in mind, this movie really has my interest and I look forward to checking it out when it comes out, plus it got very good reviews recently.
Frozen 2 (November 22) - Anticipation Level: Medium
Thoughts: Do you remember Frozen back in 2013? If you don't, then I would be surprised and would think that you have been living under a rock. Actually if you haven't heard of it, you must have been living under a rock these last 6 years as I feel Frozen has almost been everywhere. I think the movie is pretty good, the hard part is I feel it's been everywhere to the point I have become exhausted of it. Personally I would rather have a sequel to Tangled instead, or Big Hero 6. That being said, the trailers have gotten my interest and I plan to check this out.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (November 22) - Anticipation Level: Ecstatic
Thoughts: Last year we got a great documentary based on the life of Fred Rogers. I watched an episode of Mister Rogers Neighborhood here and there as a kid, but it wasn't one of those I would watch consistently but there are certain sequences that stood out and were iconic, seeing his values help shape the show was really cool. I am very curious how this portrayal will turn out, I am sure Tom Hanks will do a great job, but I am curious where they will focus the story. Regardless I look forward to seeing this.
Knives Out (November 27) - Anticipation Level: Ecstatic
Thoughts: Regardless of how you feel about The Last Jedi, you got to admit that this looks very entertaining, and kind of has vibes of Clue released back in 1985. I remember hearing this movie being worked on late last year, and it kind of caught my attention. So far, the reviews for this have been outstanding. I look forward to checking this out when it comes out. Also, it looks like another role that Daniel Craig will have a blast playing.
The Aeronauts (December 6) - Anticipation Level: Medium
Thoughts: I only discovered this movie recently. So far my anticipation is medium since I don't know a whole lot about it, but the trailer looked kind of nice. I think this might have a very limited theatrical release but this is suppose to debut on Amazon Prime two weeks afterwards so if this has very good buzz, I will probably check it out on Prime when it debuts there.
A Hidden Life (December 13) - Anticipation Level: Medium
Thoughts: My only exposure to this is one trailer, but I have to admit that based off the trailer, many of the shots featured in the movie are very gorgeous, and just off that I want to check out this movie. It is directed by Terrace Malick who has been known to doing gorgeous looking movies but the story tends to be a bit experimental, so we will see how the movie is. I remember seeing Tree of Life years ago.
Jumanji: The Next Level (December 13) - Anticipation Level: High
Thoughts: When I first heard about this sequel, I was a little concerned as the 2017 original sequel was a surprise movie that Christmas. I was concerned with this sequel until I saw the trailer and then my concerns were washed away and I got plenty of laughs. Dwayne Johnson as Danny DeVito and Kevin Hart as Danny Glover, I am pumped for this.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (December 20) - Anticipation Level: Ecstatic
Thoughts: There are many that aren't a fan of The Last Jedi two years ago, I personally really liked it, it was gorgeously shot, but I can understand the concerns behind it, and I agree that it has it's problems. Regardless, my excitement hasn't diminished for Episode 9. What adds is that JJ Abrams is back in the director's chair. I really liked The Force Awakens as that re-ignited my interest in more Star Wars movies which I wasn't too keen on after the prequels. So with that in mind, I am excited to see what we get with this last movie, plus this is suppose to be the last movie in the Skywalker saga, and I hear that JJ Abrams plans to tie all the movies together, so if this fails, it will fail with glory and ambition in my books. Regardless of the outcome, I can't wait till December 20th.
Cats (December 20) - Anticipation Level: Low
Thoughts: Are you scared? No worries, so am I, these cats look kind of freaky. There is a great cast behind it, from Rebel Wilson to Judi Dench to Idris Elba, and the director has done some pretty good movies before, so I am hoping that we get a decent movie here. Anyway, even if not, we will at least get an interesting freak show here.
1917 (December 25) - Anticipation Level: Ecstatic
Thoughts: I did not know about this movie until I saw Hobbs and Shaw and we got the teaser trailer for this, and I was just stunned by how great this movie looks. There seems to be a great cast as well, and the director is the same one that did Skyfall, so this one has my full attention. Count me in on Christmas Day for this.
Spies in Disguise (December 25) - Anticipation Level: High
Thoughts: Will Smith and Tom Holland lending voices in an animated movie, yeah sure. What gets me is that the characters they play seem to fit who I would envision them as, so for that reason I am really looking forward to seeing this movie. This could be a fun movie to watch on Christmas, so I hope this delivers and doesn't crash and burn.
So these are the movies I am aware of, with many I am very excited for, and some that might gain my interest based on how they are received. I look forward to seeing how the rest of the year turns out for movies. When I can, I will try to do review posts on some of these movies. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Summer 2019 Review
We have come to the end of another summer full of movies. There were a few that were amazing, some that were good, and a few that were disappointments. Today I am going to take the time to rank the movies I saw this summer and how they all fit in to the categories below.
Top 5 of the Summer
1. Avengers Endgame - I don't think this is a surprise to anyone, but if this a surprise for you...umm well SURPRISE. This movie was a mind blowing experience with so many great surprises and wonderful moments that range from laugh out loud to heart warming. What was so great was that this movie was basically kept under wraps, some predicted a few things but not the whole movie, which made the experience a very pleasant surprise. We live in a world today where it feels like everything is given away in the previews. I am so glad everyone went to great lengths to keep this under wraps and beg not to spoil the movie, at least until opening weekend. This was the epic comic book movie I didn't know I really wanted and the movie that I didn't know would be possible but I am extremely grateful we have.
2. Toy Story 4 - When I heard about a 4th Toy Story being made, I thought why, the 3rd ended perfectly that I felt we didn't need one. But this came out and I saw it and I was very surprised on how well this continued the story for these characters, and how this gave a great conclusion to Woody's story. This felt like a nice adventure movie with plenty of laughs, especially from Duck and Bunny, and Duke Kaboom. The one that gave me the biggest laugh (besides from Duck and Bunny's plans to get the keys) is when Buttercup suggests to frame the dad so he goes to jail. I still think Toy Story 3 is the best, but this proved that the Toy Story world can continue with a great movie.
3. Yesterday - How would you react if you woke up one day and your favorite band disappeared from off the face of the earth? You remember the music but no one else knows what the disappeared band is. This concept is brought up in this movie as one aspiring musician decides to take this as an opportunity to present the music as his own. This is a very entertaining and original idea. The actor also does a great job at performing the songs. One of my favorite bands is U2, if they disappeared, don't turn to me to bring the music back since I am not very good with performing music.
4. Spider Man: Far From Home - After an epic adventure in Avengers Endgame, it's hard to imagine where the MCU could go, but this movie gives us a world on what would happen after the events of Endgame. As well, this was a nice palette cleanser. We get a very compelling villain with Mysterio. There is one sequence that was really mind blowing visually, talking about it in detail would be a huge spoiler, so I will just say it's mind blowing and hope you get to check it out as soon as possible, it is amazing what special effects can do these days. There are plenty of surprises, and after the movie was over I wanted to rewatch the movie with the new angle I was given.
5. The Farewell - A movie I heard about but never bother looking up a trailer for, but I heard nothing but great things about, and so I went to see it and this movie was really good. This had a story that made me think about what I would do in that scenario. For those that don't know, it's about a woman who has her grandma get diagnosed with cancer and the family chooses not to tell the grandma about it, and this is supposedly how China culture functions. This had some good laughs here and there, and great performances, especially from Awkwafina, who I have known from comedies, so it was good to see her attempt something a little more serious.
Other great movies
Hobbs and Shaw - Somehow after 8 movies, I have become a fan of the Fast and Furious movies. I did not care for the first few movies, I say the 5th movie was when things got very interesting. So we are with this spin off, and this movie was a blast to watch. Even the few cameo additions really added to the fun. Even if you aren't a fan of the series but enjoy dumb action movies, you will have a ton of fun watching this and don't have to see the other movies to enjoy it.
Detective Pikachu - I didn't grow up as a fan of Pokemon, I did watch some of the episodes of the first season and was aware of the games. Each trailer I saw for this just painted a very fun movie, and that's what I got when I saw the movie, a very fun movie where the world that was created was just fun to explore. Plus, Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu, that was perfect casting.
Enjoyable
Aladdin - This was a movie I had no anticipation to see whatsoever, if you review my list of anticipated movies, I included Lion King and Dumbo, but not this at all. I ended up enjoying this a lot more than I thought I would, this was one of the biggest surprises of the summer. Yeah, we didn't need this movie, but I feel they handled this movie very well. Props to casting Will Smith as the Genie and allowing him to put his own spin on the character instead of trying to personate what Robin Williams had done before.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters - To properly enjoy this movie, watch it on the big screen, I understand this isn't in theaters anymore, I mean watching it on a big screen TV or projector screen. This is a movie that was made to be experienced on the biggest screen possible, even on your biggest TV you have at home, and a very good home theater set up. I saw this on the IMAX screen and many of the shots of the movie were so epic, and the monster fights were enhanced by experiencing it in that way. Also, don't go in expecting a deep story, just go in for awesome monster fights and you will have a fun time.
Scary Stories to Tell In The Dark - I don't have many experiences with the books this movie is based on. I might have heard a couple of the stories, but I don't have a strong connection to the stories. I went because I had a few friends that invited me to join, and I was curious enough to check it out. I ended up enjoying the movie more than I expected to. This had the right amount of scares for me. I was entertained, and this could end up as one of those movies that I might put on my list of movies during the Halloween season.
Watch once, then move on
The Lion King (2019) - Let's describe this movie as the photorealistic version of Lion King. It is suppose to be live action, but since it's done on a computer it's basically animated but it's animated in a way it's suppose to represent real life, so I consider it photorealistic. I didn't have high expectations, but I did have hopes that this would be more different than it turned out to be. The big disappointment for me was this was a movie was done better in traditional animation, and I understand the reason, the creators were trying to trying to go for a realistic approach, and since lions don't show emotion in real life, they didn't emote here and that became a distraction for me. However, the visuals were still incredible, and the story is still good. This was just one of those I wished they did something a little more different with, kind of like Aladdin.
Men In Black International - Ever since I saw the trailer in December, I was excited for this, it looked like it was going to be a fun movie, I ended up being really disappointed with it. However, once we got past the first half of the movie, it got better and I enjoyed it more than the first half, so I walked away with a smile on my face at the end of the movie. However it wasn't enough for me to make this a repeat watch, which is sad because the first movie is one I can watch quite a bit and also the third one as well.
47 Meters Down Uncaged - This should probably be in the major disappointments below, but the thing is, I wasn't disappointed...because I had no expectations going in at all. Did this excel my expectations then? No. But I certainly got plenty of laughs out of this, one could almost say this was one of the best unintentional comedies I saw this summer. The decisions made were kind of baffling. But hey, you want a dumb shark movie and want stupid unintentional laughs, this movie is perfect, but I would wait for Netflix.
Major disappointments
Dark Phoenix - I really think they should have ended the Fox X-Men saga with Logan, that was a perfect ending, also, X-Men Apocalypse ended the prequel trilogy just fine, we didn't need a continuation. So with all this in mind, I had no expectations when I saw the first trailer debut last year. My expectations didn't grow overtime, but I decided to see it regardless. Even with no expectations, I was surprisingly disappointed because I realized there was potential with the movie and it could have been somewhat fixed with a different director and made different choices.
So these are the movies that I saw this summer. There are some I didn't see this summer that I would like to check out soon, and if they blow my expectations away, I might include them on my top 10 at the end of the year. Anyway, I will be back later with a list of my most anticipated movies of the rest of the year. See you soon.
Top 5 of the Summer
1. Avengers Endgame - I don't think this is a surprise to anyone, but if this a surprise for you...umm well SURPRISE. This movie was a mind blowing experience with so many great surprises and wonderful moments that range from laugh out loud to heart warming. What was so great was that this movie was basically kept under wraps, some predicted a few things but not the whole movie, which made the experience a very pleasant surprise. We live in a world today where it feels like everything is given away in the previews. I am so glad everyone went to great lengths to keep this under wraps and beg not to spoil the movie, at least until opening weekend. This was the epic comic book movie I didn't know I really wanted and the movie that I didn't know would be possible but I am extremely grateful we have.
2. Toy Story 4 - When I heard about a 4th Toy Story being made, I thought why, the 3rd ended perfectly that I felt we didn't need one. But this came out and I saw it and I was very surprised on how well this continued the story for these characters, and how this gave a great conclusion to Woody's story. This felt like a nice adventure movie with plenty of laughs, especially from Duck and Bunny, and Duke Kaboom. The one that gave me the biggest laugh (besides from Duck and Bunny's plans to get the keys) is when Buttercup suggests to frame the dad so he goes to jail. I still think Toy Story 3 is the best, but this proved that the Toy Story world can continue with a great movie.
3. Yesterday - How would you react if you woke up one day and your favorite band disappeared from off the face of the earth? You remember the music but no one else knows what the disappeared band is. This concept is brought up in this movie as one aspiring musician decides to take this as an opportunity to present the music as his own. This is a very entertaining and original idea. The actor also does a great job at performing the songs. One of my favorite bands is U2, if they disappeared, don't turn to me to bring the music back since I am not very good with performing music.
4. Spider Man: Far From Home - After an epic adventure in Avengers Endgame, it's hard to imagine where the MCU could go, but this movie gives us a world on what would happen after the events of Endgame. As well, this was a nice palette cleanser. We get a very compelling villain with Mysterio. There is one sequence that was really mind blowing visually, talking about it in detail would be a huge spoiler, so I will just say it's mind blowing and hope you get to check it out as soon as possible, it is amazing what special effects can do these days. There are plenty of surprises, and after the movie was over I wanted to rewatch the movie with the new angle I was given.
5. The Farewell - A movie I heard about but never bother looking up a trailer for, but I heard nothing but great things about, and so I went to see it and this movie was really good. This had a story that made me think about what I would do in that scenario. For those that don't know, it's about a woman who has her grandma get diagnosed with cancer and the family chooses not to tell the grandma about it, and this is supposedly how China culture functions. This had some good laughs here and there, and great performances, especially from Awkwafina, who I have known from comedies, so it was good to see her attempt something a little more serious.
Other great movies
Hobbs and Shaw - Somehow after 8 movies, I have become a fan of the Fast and Furious movies. I did not care for the first few movies, I say the 5th movie was when things got very interesting. So we are with this spin off, and this movie was a blast to watch. Even the few cameo additions really added to the fun. Even if you aren't a fan of the series but enjoy dumb action movies, you will have a ton of fun watching this and don't have to see the other movies to enjoy it.
Detective Pikachu - I didn't grow up as a fan of Pokemon, I did watch some of the episodes of the first season and was aware of the games. Each trailer I saw for this just painted a very fun movie, and that's what I got when I saw the movie, a very fun movie where the world that was created was just fun to explore. Plus, Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu, that was perfect casting.
Enjoyable
Aladdin - This was a movie I had no anticipation to see whatsoever, if you review my list of anticipated movies, I included Lion King and Dumbo, but not this at all. I ended up enjoying this a lot more than I thought I would, this was one of the biggest surprises of the summer. Yeah, we didn't need this movie, but I feel they handled this movie very well. Props to casting Will Smith as the Genie and allowing him to put his own spin on the character instead of trying to personate what Robin Williams had done before.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters - To properly enjoy this movie, watch it on the big screen, I understand this isn't in theaters anymore, I mean watching it on a big screen TV or projector screen. This is a movie that was made to be experienced on the biggest screen possible, even on your biggest TV you have at home, and a very good home theater set up. I saw this on the IMAX screen and many of the shots of the movie were so epic, and the monster fights were enhanced by experiencing it in that way. Also, don't go in expecting a deep story, just go in for awesome monster fights and you will have a fun time.
Scary Stories to Tell In The Dark - I don't have many experiences with the books this movie is based on. I might have heard a couple of the stories, but I don't have a strong connection to the stories. I went because I had a few friends that invited me to join, and I was curious enough to check it out. I ended up enjoying the movie more than I expected to. This had the right amount of scares for me. I was entertained, and this could end up as one of those movies that I might put on my list of movies during the Halloween season.
Watch once, then move on
The Lion King (2019) - Let's describe this movie as the photorealistic version of Lion King. It is suppose to be live action, but since it's done on a computer it's basically animated but it's animated in a way it's suppose to represent real life, so I consider it photorealistic. I didn't have high expectations, but I did have hopes that this would be more different than it turned out to be. The big disappointment for me was this was a movie was done better in traditional animation, and I understand the reason, the creators were trying to trying to go for a realistic approach, and since lions don't show emotion in real life, they didn't emote here and that became a distraction for me. However, the visuals were still incredible, and the story is still good. This was just one of those I wished they did something a little more different with, kind of like Aladdin.
Men In Black International - Ever since I saw the trailer in December, I was excited for this, it looked like it was going to be a fun movie, I ended up being really disappointed with it. However, once we got past the first half of the movie, it got better and I enjoyed it more than the first half, so I walked away with a smile on my face at the end of the movie. However it wasn't enough for me to make this a repeat watch, which is sad because the first movie is one I can watch quite a bit and also the third one as well.
47 Meters Down Uncaged - This should probably be in the major disappointments below, but the thing is, I wasn't disappointed...because I had no expectations going in at all. Did this excel my expectations then? No. But I certainly got plenty of laughs out of this, one could almost say this was one of the best unintentional comedies I saw this summer. The decisions made were kind of baffling. But hey, you want a dumb shark movie and want stupid unintentional laughs, this movie is perfect, but I would wait for Netflix.
Major disappointments
Dark Phoenix - I really think they should have ended the Fox X-Men saga with Logan, that was a perfect ending, also, X-Men Apocalypse ended the prequel trilogy just fine, we didn't need a continuation. So with all this in mind, I had no expectations when I saw the first trailer debut last year. My expectations didn't grow overtime, but I decided to see it regardless. Even with no expectations, I was surprisingly disappointed because I realized there was potential with the movie and it could have been somewhat fixed with a different director and made different choices.
So these are the movies that I saw this summer. There are some I didn't see this summer that I would like to check out soon, and if they blow my expectations away, I might include them on my top 10 at the end of the year. Anyway, I will be back later with a list of my most anticipated movies of the rest of the year. See you soon.
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