What was the last movie you watched?

A Simple Favor: The trailer gave off a Gone Girl vibe, and I loved that film/book and decided to give this one a try. This story wasn't as well-written as Gone Girl, but it went off in directions I wasn't expecting, which kept it interesting. The acting was well done, especially by Blake Lively. It kind of had a weird humorous tone, which worked most of the time but sometimes felt jarring. I wouldn't mind seeing it again, especially to wrap my head around the story, but I'd probably only recommend it at theater prices to someone who saw the trailer and really wants to see it. Otherwise, just watch Gone Girl.

 

Moana - I'm in love with the movie. I find myself singing "How Far I'll Go" over and over again. The movie was pretty straight forward and there wasn't anything in particular that stood out besides the hint of Pacific Islander feeling. I really thought the pig was going to be somewhat of a main focus but that d--- chicken hogged (pun intended) all of the spotlight. I was also impressed that Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson could sing, very impressed.

 

Moana is fantastic. I feel like between my nephew and my niece, I've seen it a million times, and it still holds up in every way.

Last movie I watched was School of Rock. I just saw the national tour of the Broadway musical version and wanted to compare it to the movie. I really enjoyed it (pretty much always enjoy Jack Black, honestly), but actually like the musical better, I think. I felt like the characters were less fleshed out in the movie, as odd as that seems. Still good, though. (Sidenote: I pay for damn Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Hulu and still had to stream this from a shady-ass site because none of them had it. Shameful.)

 

A Star is Born (2018): Perfect, one of the best movies I've seen all year. Great casting and fantastic performances, a great soundtrack, and very moving story. I highly recommend it.

Bohemian Rhapsody: I enjoy Queen's music but don't know much about the band. I'd imagine there are issues with parts of the story being bullshit as all "based on a true story" movies are, but I enjoyed this very much nonetheless. I thought the actors did a great job embodying their characters, especially during scenes of performances that are dead ringers for the actual footage (see: the Live Aid concert). I found the story very moving, but a little bland, I guess is the word. It seemed safe, almost like the bringing to life of a Wikipedia article about the band. There wasn't anything missing that I wanted to see, but I don't think any fans watching would gain any new insights. I still recommend it though, for people who enjoy the band or like these sorts of films.

 

Aquaman: I didn't have very high hopes, because DC, but I thought this was actually a really well-made movie. It had a great tone, respectable acting, and while the plot was sort of cliche, I was invested in it. I took my twelve year old nephew to see it while he was visiting for the Christmas holidays and he liked it, too. This is the sort of movie DC should be making, to establish characters and build up their cinematic universe instead of rushing into it and pushing out crap like Batman v. Superman. I hope the execs learn from the successes of both this and Wonder Woman.

The Upside: I enjoyed this. Kevin Hart is good when he's actually acting and not screeching, and he had great chemistry with Bryan Cranston here. I guess this is a remake of a French film that's kind of based on a true story, so calling this film "based on a true story" is probably a stretch. It also has a very abrupt ending which I found a little jarring. Aside from that, I thought it was well-acted and heartwarming. Not something I'd probably watch again unless I happen to stumble across it on Netflix some years in the future and have nothing better to do, but it was decent.

 

Captain Marvel: I've seen it twice and think it's a pretty typical Marvel film. I like Brie Larson fine and enjoyed her character enough to want to see more of her. I thought she had great chemistry with Samuel L. Jackson and I enjoyed the buddy cop nature of the film. I did enjoy Jude Law's character and I liked the twist the movie gave to the Skrull/Kree conflict. I know there was talk about it being a "feminist" film, and I dunno, I didn't really get that. There were a few scenes, yeah, but I didn't feel like it was trying to shove an agenda down anyone's throat. Thankfully. I thought it had a great soundtrack and I liked the 90s vibe. I'd say it's definitely better than the shit tier of films like Iron Man 2 and 3, Thor 2, etc., but not quite up to par with the great Marvel films.

Five Feet Apart: I went into this knowing exactly what it would be, and yeah. Your pretty standard YA sick teenagers fall in love story, along the lines of A Walk to Remember or The Fault in Our Stars. I did enjoy this, though. I thought the acting by Haley Lu Richardson and Cole Sprouse was very effective and while the story was predictable in a lot of ways, it was still moving. I did see this with the absolutely worst, most obnoxious audience in the planet, who either sobbed hysterically, giggled the whole time, or had a smart ass comment to say, depending on which direction I looked, so it took away from some of my immersion. I'd like to watch it again when I can focus more. One thing that I noticed that the movie did right was making the two leads really look sick. Sometimes actors in films like this just look pretty, but I bought that these were two really sick people.

Shazam: This is the kind of movie DC should have been making all along, I literally don't know what the hell is wrong with their management. I had a lot of fun with this movie. I thought the kid actors were great, it had some surprisingly dark moments which I liked a lot, and it had funny and heartfelt moments, too. Some of it was a little ridiculous (the 80s, Stephen King-esque movie bullies, for example) but overall I thought it really worked. I missed the second end credit scene because I had to use the bathroom, so I don't know what sort of sequel it was setting up, but I'd watch it. DC is finally getting their shit together if they keep releasing films like Aquaman and Shazam. I'm down for it.

Dumbo: Saw this as part of a double feature at the drive-in, so it wasn't what I was going to see. It was surprisingly moving at times; I got teary-eyed for the damn CGI elephant a few times in this film. However, it does that thing that a lot of movies do where they think viewers can't feel empathy for anything besides humans, so it throws in a human side story which ends up taking over the film. I like Colin Farrell, Danny Devito, Michael Keaton, and Eva Green, but I wasn't really on board with it all, especially the shit with the kids, who weren't great actors, and some of their story didn't have much payoff. I would have rather cut back on a lot of that and focused more on the elephant. Overall, it was "fine." I wouldn't go out of my way to see it again, but it wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen. It fits in with these other live action Disney remakes that are all "fine" but not necessary in any way.

 

I felt like I saw more people bitching about Brie Larson than I saw her actual comments. If she called the movie a "love letter to black women," I honestly have no idea why she would say that. *shrugs* I don't usually pay much attention to press. I don't know why you'd purposely try to alienate anyone who'd pay to see your movie, either, but I suppose it did just fine anyway.

I too disagree with Captain Marvel being called the strongest Avenger. It's close, but I also think I'd give the title to Thor. If Scarlet Witch weren't nuked so bad in the films, I'd probably give the title to her.

Thanks for sharing the second end credit scene. I'm kinda glad I didn't try to wait it out; it doesn't sound that interesting. The disabled kid's name is Freddy. I agree that the beginning dragged a bit. I thought that the villain and the backstory around him were probably the weakest things about the movie. I feel like that's pretty common for these superhero movies, though, whether they're Marvel or DC. The villain wasn't bad, it just felt like I'd seen it all before.

I forgot that I've also recently seen Pet Sematary, since I've been rambling about it with Plasmos off topic in my The Masked Singer thread. I thought it was okay but I'd had high expectations after IT and it fell short. I'm more of a fan of the book.

 

^ Yeah, Aquaman is a decent film. DC should stick to releasing films like this for a while and forget about Batman, Superman, and the damn Justice League until people actually give a crap about their characters.

Long Shot: I thought it was fine. Story was pretty standard but the acting was good enough to make me care about the characters. It got some laughs out of me. Probably wouldn't go out of my way to see it again, but I didn't waste my time.

The Hustle: Copy paste from above, basically, except the acting wasn't as good. I would have liked it more if it focused more on the cons and less on boys/romance crap. This movie also felt really short. It still got some laughs out of me and it was something to do on a Friday night, so...

I wasn't ever into Pokemon but I want to see this so badly. It just looks really good. Maybe I have high hopes because of Ryan Reynolds, I don't know.

Funny how they can animate Pokemon and make them look adorable and awesome, then we get a Sonic trailer that looks like absolute garbage. *shrugs*

 

For sure. They oughta trash everything except Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam! from the continuity and start over, moving slowly and establishing characters so that we care about them. But they've probably invested so much money and don't want to acknowledge their failures, so I doubt that will happen. In fact, I think I heard that Robert Pattinson will be playing Batman next, which is pretty much the most WTF casting I've heard in a while, honestly. DC also probably needs to hire someone to oversee everything and keep the continuity straight. Marvel has been great about tying their films together in little ways and building towards the big pay offs. DC has great characters to choose from; I don't know why they keep fucking it up.

Rocketman: Love Elton John's music, thought this trailer looked great. Overall, I'd say it was just good, not great. Taron Egerton did an amazing job, no question. I liked the way they incorporated the music into the story- it was definitely a musical, which I wasn't expecting- I was thinking it'd be more like Bohemian Rhapsody. I didn't really care for the framing device, and the film came to an abrupt end. It's sort of the same story you always get when you look at the life of a celebrity- not the best childhood, gets his big break, fame, drugs, and sex, a sleazy record producer/manager, celeb hits rock bottom, then rallies at the end. But I'd recommend it to a fan or someone who likes biopics.

Aladdin 2019: Like above, I didn't care for the framing device here. Besides that, the story was basically the same as the '92 animated film, can't go wrong with that. The casting was fine; the guy playing Aladdin was charming and gave off the same "diamond in the rough" vibe, the actress playing Jasmine was beautiful and gave her personality. Will Smith was better than I thought he'd be playing the Genie, but he'll never be Robin Williams. I enjoyed that the Sultan here wasn't a total buffoon. The costumes were especially lovely, but the sets and the effects all looked good, too. I'd say that the only thing I really didn't care for was the music. Aladdin 1992 has one of my favorite soundtracks, and the singing in this film just didn't live up to it in my opinion. I'd say if you have wanted to see it, you probably won't be disappointed, but you could save your money and just watch the 92 film instead.