Top 10 of 2018

With another year over, it is time to reflect on my personal top 10 of the year. Keep in mind, this list does not reflect what everyone is thinking, but is my own favorites, and also I have not seen everything this year, so with all that in mind, let’s get started.

10. Searching – Picking the number 10 was really hard, as there are so many great movies I saw that could go here, but I decided to go with this movie. We have had found footage movies for a long time, and there are some that were well done and entertaining and intriguing to watch. However, I haven’t really had any that had an emotional impact on me, until this one. How this movie was crafted and put together, I was drawn in on the mystery of the movie and at those moments I thought I had it figured out, I learned I didn’t and it kept me on my toes. I won’t reveal the reveals at the end, but this movie left me satisfied.

9. First Man – For the longest time, I enjoyed movies that deal with space travel, even the ones that were super cheesy. This was on my radar because of the director and because of the subject matter. I am not familiar with the struggles of getting to the moon, except for the fact that they did make it to the moon. It was very intriguing to see the struggles on what it took to get there, including an aspect that I just didn’t think about beforehand, and that is the families that had to sit there wondering if their husbands would survive the trip. It really kept me interested, and I also got to see this on IMAX and when they make it to the moon, it was really breathtaking. Also, when I got home, I ended up watching Apollo 13.

8. Bumblebee – I was done with the Transformers movies after The Last Knight, I am certain others were done way before that though. When I first heard of the Bumblebee spinoff, I didn’t think too much about it, except it might be nice. However, once I learned who the director was, my intrigue grew. I was really surprised by the movie we got when I got to see it, the phrase I kept using was this movie had heart, and it really did, you really cared about the characters, and you could see Bumblebee’s emotional responses and could really feel for him. This was a big shock compared to the other ones. The action in the first 10 minutes is excellent, and in my opinion, along with the opinions of others, is the best in the series. But also, it took everything and simplified it and really gave us a story that mattered. Yes, there are similarities to ET and The Iron Giant, but I was really invested and really liked the movie a lot. It also had a great sountrack.

7. Ralph Breaks the Internet – This was a highly anticipated movie for me, and I was wondering if this would deliver. This delivered in a different way than I was anticipating, so this didn’t have the video game characters that I would have liked, but it did have great jokes in regards to the internet and how it’s used these days, and it also gave a great story and really focused on the development of the main characters. I was really surprised at the direction these characters went, and just how complicated things can get. Yes, a lot of the things in regards to the internet will more likely be out of date in the coming years, but the aspects of friendship that are presented in this move will not.

6. Won’t You Be My Neighbor – I kept hearing about this movie so I decided to check it out and see how it is. I was really surprised, I remember watching aspects of Mister Rogers Neighborhood, but I don’t remember too much beyond that, but watching this documentary made me appreciate the person that he was and the positive interactions that he strived to make with the children around him. This gave us a great perspective on the goals of the man and his show, if there came times I didn’t think much about his decisions when making the show, I would just reflect on this movie and realize what he was striving to do and doing very simple things that made the difference for all who would tune in and watch the show.

5. A Quiet Place – One of the more original movies of the year, A Quiet Place deals with monsters on Earth that are able to find people through sounds, and so this family learns to survive by staying very quiet, they learn to sign and they learn to be very quiet to avoid making any sound whatsoever. I am not someone that likes to go to horror movies, but this one I chose to make an exception because I was hearing very good things. The experience of being in the theater was very interesting, and it was a pretty busy theater, but within the first 15 minutes, when the family was getting around, you could hear the audience attempting to be very quiet, and that included trying not to make loud noises with their food or how they eat. This was a unique movie in the story it told and how it presented itself, and I found many cool things even after my first viewing.

4. Paddington 2 – Back in 2015, we were treated to a family movie called Paddington that I had no desire to see but then it got good reviews and so I decided to go see it, and I was really surprised by it. A sequel came out early in 2018, and I thought it wouldn’t reach the heights of the first as it was years since I saw it, and wow was I wrong. This movie was a great movie and I was spending time trying to recommend this movie to people as it featured so much good. Let me explain by what I mean by so much good, the main character attempts to find the good in those around him and attempts to try to do good that essentially brings out the good in others, how the small acts of an individual can make a difference in the community and how being there for those you love can bring people together and help do good for those in return, to see good happen to everyone in this movie. This is a family movie I strongly recommend checking out.

3. Mission Impossible Fallout – Just when you think that a sixth entry couldn’t be amazing, we are treated with Mission Impossible Fallout. The first trailer caught my attention in February and I knew I wanted to see it on the biggest screen possible, and then I was surprised to find myself really invested in the movie. First off the attempt to do the action sequences on location instead of green screen, where we are taken for these action set pieces is mind-blowing, and the cinematography was just stunning. Not only that, but it felt like the story was very intriguing, yes the action is the main focus here but I felt they tried to give us a good story and characters that you are drawn in on what happens. This was so much fun to watch and I continue to enjoy watching it.

2. Spider Man Into The Spiderverse – This is the Spider Man movie I didn’t know I wanted. The first teaser debuted in December of 2017 and I knew I wanted to see it, I didn’t know if it would hold up beyond the visuals, and I am glad to say that it totally it. Not only does it feature the most stunning and unique animation, it also features a great story and characters where you are really invested on what will happen to the characters and how they will make it out. There are so many different versions of Spider Man that you think it would collapse on itself, but it doesn’t even do that, every character’s involvement plays a role and makes the experience more rewarding, in fact, you will want to see their own movies afterwards, even Spider Ham. This is the most unique movie I have seen in a while, and I heard they spent time trying to get the animation right so it could look as great as it did, and I am so glad they spent that time trying to get the look right, I hope to see more of this kind of movie in the future.

1. Avengers Infinity War – This was my most anticipated movie of the summer and it just blew me out of the water, and it features the most gut punching ending that you would expect. That ending is the reason why Avengers Endgame is the most anticipated movie of 2019, but with all that aside, this movie earns my top spot for my personal top 10 for so much more. First off, the amount of characters in this movie, everyone’s favorite heroes (except for Ant Man and Hawkeye) play a role in this movie, from big to small, and seeing everyone come together from different franchises was just awesome, Iron Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy working together was great, and even the little moments where Rocket approaches Bucky about the arm, just how everything is balanced in such a big epic movie is amazing and well worth the price of admission. As well, this movie features a very compelling villain, Thanos, who steals the show whenever he is on screen. The technology that aids the storytelling has come along so far and it’s amazing to see the payoff here. It’s awesome to think where we were 10 years ago with the MCU and now where we are at, this movie is one big payoff. Can’t wait to see how Avengers Endgame wraps everything up.

That is my personal top 10 of 2018, I hope that you enjoyed, and I look forward to sharing more with you in 2019.

Mary Poppins Returns review

This isn’t a movie that was on my anticipation list, but it did catch my attention a bit lately with the trailer back in September and with all the awards buzz and talk it’s been getting. I haven’t watched the first Mary Poppins in years, but I was familiar with what occurred and knew about the character and world, so with all this, I was curious enough to see it and see what surprises it would give. I really enjoyed it. Was this a sequel that needed to occur? No. Was this fun to watch? Yes.

The original is definitely used as a blueprint to make this movie, and it’s very obvious in the structure of the story, as it follows very similar beats, though it mixes things a bit to give it a bit of a different flavor but very similar structure if that makes sense. So, if you are a fan of the original and want something similar with what you got before but with hints of something different, you will enjoy this movie. If you like musicals, especially upbeat, you will enjoy this. If you are expecting this to really shake the world of Mary Poppins and do something completely unexpected, then you are watching the wrong movie, though I don’t think many would go into this movie expecting that.

One aspect I really enjoyed was the design of the world, there were elements that reminded me of the Paddington movies (if you haven’t seen the 2^nd one, I strongly recommend checking it out). The design made the visit to this world very pleasant and it was very fun to watch. I also really enjoyed the animated sequence, as the animation reminded me of the original movie and it’s style of animation, so they stayed faithful to the time period and the animated world that was already established.

How is Emily Blunt in the title role character? I thought she was great. Keep in mind, don’t go in expecting a recap of what Julie Andrew established, instead Emily Blunt took the character and made it her own. I haven’t seen the original in years but I have seen enough recently to know there is definitely a difference in her take, but she does a great job and was fun to see her interact with the world around her. I also enjoyed all the other characters that popped up throughout the movie. I am surprised to see Angela Langsbury with a great voice even at her age, speaking of surprise, it was great to see Dick Van Dyke do some fun dance moves in the movie during his cameo, a big part of me wished he was kept a secret instead of advertising it, I think the cameo would have been more fun that way and would have caught everyone off guard instead of waiting for him to appear.

The best way to describe this movie is familiar but pleasant. I thought this was a good movie and I enjoyed my return to this world despite the fact it was so many years since my last visit there.

Movie releases during Christmas 2018

As you can tell, this Christmas has a ton of movies that have been released. You have a ton to choose from, from Aquaman to Mary Poppins Returns. The hard part is to choose what to go see. However, if you are me, you just go ahead and see all of them, but I am sure there are many of you that can only see one of two, so I am going to give a recap on each one to help you get an idea of what each one contains and the hard part, sort of ranking them, which will be mainly on preference here.

Let’s start with Spider Man Into The Spiderverse. This is my top pick of the Holiday season. This movie was excellent, the animation style was so unique, plus it had a great story and characters. I have already seen it twice and look forward to seeing it again, and yes that will make it my third time but this movie is worth so many views. I understand we have so many Spider Man movies already but this one gives us a fresh take on the character(s) and gives us a really awesome premise. This one is a must see, and based on the online reactions, it looks like everyone agrees. This one is my top pick to go see this Holiday season.

Believe it or not, Bumblebee is a breathe of fresh air after all the previous Transformers movies that were made with no real thought, and this one was made with care. From the director of Kubo and the Two Strings, Travis Knight comes in and adds heart to the story, and simply takes out the excess and simplifies the Transformers, it feels so much easier to follow, and you will find yourself caring about the characters and what they go through. This takes place in the 80s and does have the feel of an 80s movie. Honestly, overall this is a good movie with a heart and I do recommend checking it out, I worry this will probably not get as much attention but I think it’s worth checking out. 

If you want an insane fun spectacle with lots of action and tons of creative visuals with the feels of an Saturday morning cartoon, Aquaman is the movie for you. This movie was a blast from start to finish. The worlds we are taken to are just amazing, and you get a fun little treasure hunt adventure in the mix. In fact, I plan to check this one out in IMAX soon. I know DC doesn’t have a great track record, and even if you aren’t a fan of the DCEU and you like what I listed above, you will have fun. Also, you really don’t need to see the other DCEU movies to enjoy this, so I highly recommend checking this one out.

An iconic character returns after 55 years, though 25 in movie land, Mary Poppins Returns does have the feel of the old movie, and also does take the majority of the beats from the old movie as well, and gives you a few different variations, so this movie is somewhat new yet very familiar. Enjoying this movie comes down to how much you are a fan of the original and also if you really enjoy musicals, if those are your things, then check this out, you will have a good time. (I will post a full review soon)

The last one I want to bring up is Mortal Engines. Unfortunately, because of an already crowded season, this is one I say you could pass, the visuals are amazing and the idea of moving cities are really cool, and there is a lot of potential, but it seems like the great story isn’t fully realized, which is unfortunate as the visuals are really cool. If you are still interested in seeing this, then go ahead and check, but if this didn’t really interest you, then you can pass.

I do plan to see Welcome To Marwen soon, and when I do, I will share my thoughts. Also, if you want more thoughts on the movies I listed above, I posted individual reviews for each one as I saw them. Thank you for reading.

Aquaman review

My experiences with the DC movies have been interesting to say the least. Obviously the Dark Knight trilogy was great, and there were other good movies, but let’s focus on the DCEU, which started with Man of Steel back in 2013. I liked Man of Steel, it wasn’t anything mind blowing, but it was a good movie. Batman V Superman was frustrating. Suicide Squad was forgettable. Wonder Woman was a great movie, in fact my favorite movie of the DCEU at this time. And then Justice League was entertaining, but didn’t really leave much of an impact. After Justice League, I really wasn’t excited for any more DCEU films. That changed earlier this year when I saw one of the trailers for Aquaman and we were shown glimpses of Atlantis and what kind of movie we were getting, even the trailer in early October shot up my anticipation levels even more.

As a member of Amazon Prime, I was able to get tickets to an early screening tonight. This movie was a blast, a very fun entertaining movie. The biggest highlight for me was the visuals. We are treated to an amazing world here, a giant smile could be found on my face as we were taken down to the world of Atlantis and we did a fly through the world. This is a dream for anyone that wants an overload on visuals in a movie, whether a spectacular world to visit or a ton of inventive action that is fun to watch. Great job James Wan for creating an amazing visual experience that comes together in such a tremendously awesome way. We are also treated to an adventure story where we go to a few different locations besides Atlantis that makes the film so much fun to experience. Along with the visuals, we were given a soundtrack that was really fun to listen to.

With the visuals we are treated with, we are given really good performances. Jason Mamoa as Aquaman is great here and is totally making the role his own. Along with Aquaman, we are given a ton of great characters and everyone is having a ton of fun in their roles and add to the visuals. Honestly it felt great to see everyone feel like they are having a fun time in the DCEU, which feels very refreshing, it’s like they took notes from Wonder Woman and saw where to improve. The story won’t blow the doors down, but it will keep you engaged throughout the movie and will help to drive the experience and make it worth it.

My hope at this point is that the DCEU improves to the point that we are very excited for the next entry. With the trailer for Shazaam, it looks like the DCEU is starting to add more fun into their movies, I just hope they continue to get better. The question may be whether you have to watch the other DCEU movies to get ready this, the answer is no, you don’t have to see any of the other DCEU movies to enjoy this or follow what is going on, you just have to go in wanting to have a fun time at the movies. You will get amazing visuals with a fun set of characters and a story that is good. This movie comes in as highly recommended.

Mortal Engines review

Back in December 2017, we were introduced to a teaser for this movie. It was simply a couple of cities on wheels, one huge one was chasing down another one and simply capturing it and devouring it, it was produced by Peter Jackson and that was it, I was intrigued, but my desire to see this really grew when I saw the next trailer which debuted in June of this year, and I was hyped and really thought that this would be the next big franchise that would blow everyone’s minds, this trailer had amazing visuals and it just looked awesome.

Forward to when I saw this, and I still hope that if a sequel happens to occur that they will be able to fix the problems with this. So lets start with the good, the visuals. The design of this world was cool, the idea was very intriguing and cool to look at. Someone made the mention that it kind of reminded them of Howls Moving Castle, and while I was watching this world, I couldn’t help but think of elements of a world that would be designed by Miyazaki himself, the scope just felt amazing. The first third of the movie was very engaging, especially at the beginning of the movie when London chases down one of the smaller cities, how it was edited together, I was just blown away, and at first I was thinking why were people panning this movie.

As the movie started to progress through the second half, I was starting to see the problems with the movie that everyone mentioned, how the dialogue had issues and how there were issues with pacing and the construction of the story. Keep in mind, I didn’t hate the story, or the script or the pacing, I recognized why they were problematic here. I was still able to enjoy this movie and had a fun time watching it, but I will admit by the time the third act of the movie was occurring, it was starting to lose steam and it wasn’t as entertaining as the first and second act of the movie were.

So the next question would be how are the characters in the movie. They were alright I guess, I felt they had potential, there was one character that was super awesome, Anna Fang. I thought the characters had a good set up at the beginning and had potential to have really great arcs, but then it just seemed like with everything else it started to lose steam. This movie had a great premise and a great set up that I think if they took more time to work out the kinks in the story and characters, I really think this could have been an amazing movie.

Overall, I am very glad I saw this on the big screen. If you go in recognizing that this movie has big flaws and are here for the visual feast, then I do think you can go into this movie and have a great time, but don’t go in expecting a story that will blow you away, just expect the visuals to do that, and they did and I was satisfied for that reason.

Bumblebee review

Let me start with my history with the Transformers movies that were directed by Michael Bay. I really liked the first one, it was a very fun blockbuster. The second one was entertaining when it was released, though it is not a good movie at all. The third one made an attempt to improve, it felt like there was effort to be decent. The fourth and fifth one were just forgettable, the fourth I was just sitting there just hoping the movie would end. I was basically done with the Transformers movies after the fifth one (well, actually the fourth one, but I was kind enough to give the fifth one a shot). I didn’t think much about the Bumblebee prequel when I first heard about it, but my interest peaked when I heard that Travis Knight was directing it, the one who directed Kubo and the Two Strings a couple of years ago, then I saw the first trailer and it just seemed like a more simple movie that looked to actually be good and nothing overdone. So, when the most recent trailer came out in September, I started to become excited.

I got to see the movie during their early screenings to the public on Saturday. This movie was actually a breathe of fresh air for so many reasons. First off, this movie actually had heart, there were characters that you actually cared about, and there were moments in the movie that I just sat there and was taken back by the fact that there was good character development in a Transformers movie. Another aspect that was refreshing was that the crude humor that somehow makes it’s way into the previous installments were no where to be found, and I was so happy to find that this movie was not plagued in it.

One thing that this movie did was to dial back in the amount of characters in the story. If you remember all the other Transformers movies, there were so many characters that it became hard to follow who was who and in fact when it came time for the action sequences, it was really hard to follow a lot of the time. This one, there was action that was great but it wasn’t overwhelming and the designs of the characters felt so much nicer and it felt so much easier to follow who was fighting who. When the movie opens up on Cybertron at the beginning of the movie, it felt like it took us back to the 80s cartoon series, and it was great. This movie felt more simple, and by making it more simple, it felt like it took time to develop the characters, to help us understand them and feel for them, especially Bumblebee, who was more likeable than in the last couple of installments.

Travis Knight really seemed to care about the source material and really took the time to give us something that truly mattered. You will hear that this movie felt like an 80s movie, and not just in the setting but also in the feel of the movie, and they are right, it actually felt like a movie that could have been made in the 80s. With this Holiday season, I could see this movie being overlooked, but if you can find the time, I do recommend it, whether you are a Transformers fan, or whether you just want a good movie to take your family to, I think this movie is worth seeing.

As I continue to see the movies coming out this Holiday season, I will post my reviews on this blog. Stay tuned.

Spider Man: Into the Spiderverse review

This movie was high on my anticipation list for this year, especially after the glorious teaser that dropped last December. I wasn’t familiar with all the different variations of Spider Man out there before this, but this just looked awesome and this was the new kind of Spider Man movie I wanted to see. Forward to today when I got to check out a special screening of it, and wow was this incredible.

I am going to do my best to not go into spoilers here as I want to leave this movie fresh for everyone when they get to see it next week. If this movie wasn’t high on your list because it looked weird or that it was another Spider Man or whatever, I urge you to put this at the top of your to go see list next week, it is that excellent.

A little explanation of the animation, it is to mirror a comic book come to life, and wow was it spectacular, every scene was just gorgeous to look at. I had one of those personal pizzas while watching this and I did not want to eat it because I wanted to keep my eyes on the screen because how gorgeous the animation was. If you have been watching the trailers, you can already tell how amazing the animation is. There is nothing else like this, kudos to the team that worked really hard to get this right, every frame in this movie is a work of art.

When it comes to the story, it works great despite the fact that there are all these different versions of Spider Man, yes despite the fact that there are many different versions of Spider Man, the story works great. The focus is mainly on Miles Morales and how he becomes Spider Man, also there is the Kingpin who builds a collider to open a portal to other dimensions, which basically brings a ton of different Spider people into Miles’s dimension. That is all I am going to say here about the story, yes that sounds like a ton of stuff already but trust me it all works great together and they balance it perfectly. Speaking of Spider people, the characters are great, and when they come together, there is a ton of magic that occurs, the interactions are so much fun and…..man this is just an excellent movie, seriously, you just need to experience this movie for yourself.

This is easily the best animated movie of the year, and also one of my top Spider Man movies as well. I am seriously hoping that everyone gives this movie a shot and checks it out, I really think no one will regret it, this is just an excellent movie, and is a fun movie for the fans, for the family, for the nerds, for just anyone. I really hope this is a box office hit because this is a movie I would love to see a sequel to in the future. I heard that they are working on sequels in the future, and I hope that these do happen. This movie will easily be on my top 10 list of the year when I publish it after this month.

One more thing, this movie does feature a Stan Lee cameo, I won’t say where it is and what the contents of this cameo are, but it is a great cameo and works perfectly. Go see this movie, it is worth it.