5- Minute Movie Reviews

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Like the recent years with the Ghostbuster franchise, the spooky franchise of Beetlejuice is back but with far less shyness in bringing back the original characters, themes, creeps and haunts. Though lacking much surprises and thrills, the film brings humor, nostigila and an intriquing enough plot for a nice Halloween Treat.

SCORE 3 1/2

The Good, Bad and The Ugly on Beetlejuice 2

The Good: Special Effects and cinematography in this film are both a delight and very detailed. The creators of this film did a superior job at bringing both nostagila to it while also bringing some upscale technology to the special effects. It is a feast for the “juice” in you!If you are a Bettlejuice fan, this alone is almost enough to see it.

But wait! There’s more. Besides the wonderful humor of Catherine O’Hara at her best, Winona Ryder back as her wounded goth self and celebrity medium, Jenna Ortega steals the show as Astrid sent off to an all girls school. She is now what Winona used to be and boy does she take off in this film. There is a cool twist with her and a new boyfriend Jeremy. It is one of the few film twists that are anywhere near notable.

The league of shrunken head workers “headed up” by “Bob” and Beetlejuice provide neverending comedy. Poor Bob! But how does Michael Keaton show up? Well, pretty brilliant as usual. It just takes a long time for us to see him in full force but when we do, he is on it and on it good. There is new song manipulation at a wedding ceremony that is to “die” for.

The plot is actually good and interesting but it takes detours with characters that would otherwise be interesting except they really don’t matter all that much. What is good is that are multiple perils racing. Delores, Beetlejuice’s ex bent on revenge, Astrid’s soul in peril, and Delia set to marry both Beetlejuice and another man she doesn’t want to marry at all. This is all along with Catherine O’Hara’s character getting in her own trouble. Overall, this is a great movie to start the Halloween season.

The Bad: While there is nothing terribly “bad” about this film, but there is nothing terribly great about this film either except for the stunning detail to the special effects and visuals. The plot gets weighted down by trival things that don’t really matter. William Defoe as Wolf Jackson, a dead actor, is a lot of screen time wasted and a character that doesn’t add too much except that for his celebrity status. That is one example. Yet, in the beginning the film takes itself so seriously about trauma, there really is no room for Beetlejuice to take the stage like we all want.

The seriousness of the film outweighs any laughing out loud humor. It is more like a lot of more smaller inside chuckles and that shouldn’t be. Not all the humor packs enough of a punch to rescue us from the serious themes.

The Ugly: Of course, you need to be ready to be grossed out. This is Beetlejuice after all and this one is no different– if not more so with its vulguraty of gross scenes and dismembered dead to throw in your face.

Set in deep space, a cast of young, disgruntled space colonists want to literally escape the cole mines and hitch their dreams on a mysterious floating abandoned ship passing by. However, many terrors ensue as their dreams fall apart and their escape isn’t so easy when they dive head first into a mission gone arwry and aan alien species set to respawn once again.

SCORE: 5 STARS

The Good, Bad, & Ugly of Alien Romulus

The Good: I wasn’t expecting much from this movie but this film is Aliens 1 for this generation and with the production team of Ridley Scott behind the movie you wouldn’t expect less. First, is the great pairing of Caliee Spaney as Rain and David Jonsson as a synthetic human who has been with her since she was a child. There is a warm bond between them that is really touching and believable. It is new for this franchise at this level. It makes it all the more poignant when tables turn at certain points in the film. Ian Holm is also back in his role as synthetic who was put on another mission following Ridley’s last mission and though at some moments a little less believable than everything else, he is still wonderfully fantastic at what he does here for this role.

The cinematography of this giant planetary ring the crafts are trying to out run is jaw droppingly marvelous and so are many other out of this world scenes, such as the craft flying up through the clouds to catch the hold of a Wayland spaceship during a storm. But also, even more so, is the finest of details taken throughout this film that are both reminscent of the older film of the first Alien movie in the 80’s (like the computer terminals, inner makings of space hallways, space crafts) to the the newer looking elements (lab equipment, cyro chambers, alien formed tunnels).

The storyline isn’t like any other Alien movie you seen. It has what I would call familiar remanants or turning points sprinkled in but other than that, it is real refreshing. For instance, the first half of the movie begins mostly on a colony planet establishing the relationship between Rain and Andy and the tough situation the young band of colonist are facing on this colony. When characters meet with the aliens, they actually have a fighting chance. It is a real battle unlike other movies where you know it is a losing one. I thought I would be watching a lost cause from beginning to end, but there are far more twists than that. For that reason, you are on the edge of your seat for each one to make it.

Yes people are going to die but aliens will to and how they do is unexpected. This advances the plot in a way you don’t expect. The creepiness to the alien lore is added to a new level as well. Honestly, I stayed through the credits like I did with Prometheus, to see if there would be more. I wanted more. This, after I was going in saying “Enough already.”

The Bad: There isn’t anything really bad here except that in a movie with so many made, you have to be real cautious of what has been done before. Betrayal from synthethic humans is done in every Aliens film and this is no exception. However, I will say this is done so well and on two levels that you really might not mind. I sure didn’t. One question I had is how did these young kids get access to a space ship to leave the space colony so easily with no resistance? And no one sought them out or this floating craft? They found it but no one else did? That’s a little less believable especially since it is never explained.

The Ugly: The Typical Alien coming out of bodies violence, and remains of bodies after Aliens have had their way with them.

See this in the Theater

Deadpool strikes again but is 3 times a charm or does a piece of fish stink after 3 days? Unlike the other 2 in the franchise, we have a powerful well known character to add to the plot, Wolverine. We got violence, wit, charm, and another for the record books and just as Deadpool and Wolverine must face the riddles and warlords of the multi-verse of face extinction so too is the battle for this movie to cut the mustard.

SCORE: 4 1/2 Stars

The Good: This film delivers on all fronts, we would hope with humor, action, plot twists but suprisingly with some compassion. Watching the film in 3D adds an extra dimension to everything. The humor was laugh out loud funny. The visuals were spectacular and creative on all fronts. This particular one secured it’s success with a plot that included Wolverine, other X-Men, Captain America and a good villian. I won’t describe the villian too much to reveal any spoilers but she is from the X-Men universe/mutli-verse and contributes to a meaty enough plot that would otherwise had fallen through without these characters.

Some may not like the compassion or other softer emotions shown by Deadpool but you must realize that at this point in the 3rd film that there has been character development and in some sense Deadpool has grown up in that regard. Not completely but he does have attachments to his friends, wants more out of life now, can see the bigger picture etc.

But, fear not, we have still things like the immature violent fights between him and Wolverine, his adorable attachment to a god ugly dog, sick humor and all that we have come to love about Deadpool. Then, add Wolverine to the mix–not your average one but a “failed” Wolverine from the multiverse, and a Captain America that uses fire as a weapon and it’s like we are in the Upside Down on Stranger Things.

There really is no character that can go up against the keepers of the multiverse so this leads them in a whole host of trouble except that one of them wants to use Deadpool for a certain simple task—help him end all time lines but one. When Deadpool and others resist this and a facilitator of the multi-verse sends them on a doomed adventure we all white knuckle it through. Part Upside Down/Part King Kong’s Earth’s Core, they must traverse a world unknown to them and ruled by a villian with X-Men super powers that stands in their way. It is sort of reminscent of Mad Max.

The Bad: Some of the tension between Deadpool and Wolverine seemed too hyped.

The Ugly: Violence

Hold onto your tails, Garfield is back in this latest adaptation with Chris Pratt as the voice of the lasana loving feline who manages to get himself in a heaping helping of trouble. Done in a Pixar style format, this proves to be a more memorable rendition as Garfield goes on the hunt for his father, voiced by Samuel Jackson, with the ever adorable Odie leading them into the hands of a cat crime boss who has an offer they can’t refuse…or else!

SCORE: 4 1/2 STARS

The Good, Bad & ugly of Garfield the Movie

THE GOOD: This is a wonderful Pixar like version of Garfield’s world full of his orange feline tropes in the beginning to wet your appetite. Baby Garfield, as we learn the cat’s back story, is simply adorable where he eventually meets Jon played by Nicolous Holt. His little frame devouring the Italian restaurant was hilarious. I would love to have seen a baby Odie too.

Besides the fact that the film takes advantage of Pixar and 3D visuals which are pretty superb for a cat and dog film, the plot is both funny and has enough action and twists in it to keep your claws out. Chris Pratt as Garfield and Samuel Jackson as Vic of course headline this show, but as per usual Odie never fails to steal a scene being an adorable goofball. I think what really helps this movie is that the film plot line isn’t totally absorbed by an Orange eclipse. There is a love interest between two other animals that soon becomes a focal point to the plot line.

Ving Rhymes as the wise older bull Otto and Alicia Grac Turrell as young damsel cow in distress held hostage on Lactose Farm really adds to the story and gives the plot an interesting twist. Sometimes I was really holding on tight as to what was going to happen next, especially those train scenes, which were both hilarious and harrowing.

This is a Garfield movie that stretches itself beyond what we know about who Garfield is and what Garfield and Odie are capable of. And that is why I enjoyed it and found it so refreshing. After I walked out, I could of swore I had some cat nip. I was ready to see it again!

The Bad: Though I feel Chris Pratt’s voice fits Garfield to a T, we are just coming off a lot of Chris Pratt films, and commercials. A big one was Super Mario, which was also Pixar like. I think on a whole audiences could be a little burned out on Chris Pratt and Samuel Jackson appearing in so many films and commercials. I love the actors but I am honestly getting tired of seeing them in nearly everything and hearing their voice everywhere. I honestly cringed when I heard Vic’s voice being played by Samuel Jackson. It is a great voice but I don’t think his voice fit that character as well as Chris Pratt did for Garfield, and both are over used more than any two actors I’ve seen in my lifetime.

Jinx, who has a story line that fits well for a villian, is kind of lame as a white cat with no definition to her body and glows different colors to her mood neglace? I don’t know what is happening there. Her henchmen are scarier than her. I think it would have been great to have the Krazy Klown from the Garfield shows as the villian, or they could have made Jinx a bit more menancing as she became closer to the end.

The Ugly: Nothing

The fourth in the series of the modern version of Planet of Apes series, a young ape finds himself catapulted into a journey that reveals both the past and the future for the new, growing Kingdom of Apes and Gorillas–all of whom who have different ideas on how the kingdom should be run. With a human in a mix and two apes similar to Cornelius and Zira of old, the three are put in a conflict for ape future while struggling with what is the Kingdom’s past.

SCORE: 2 1/2 Stars

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of The Kingdom of the Planet of Apes

THE GOOD: The film has some broad sweeping cinematography in a world of the Kingdom of Apes that is grand, collosal and nearly what we hoped to see all those years back from the 1970’s. It’s just back then there wasn’t the technology for it and now we do. On several levels, this movie doesn’t disappoint on this front. The movie is worth it in the theater just for this alone.

The Animals and Apes as usual, even in interacting with humans is as every bit realistic as anything else. The film starts off exciting with introducing us to death of Cesear and the new younger apes eyes we will see this Kingdom, the main one being Noa. There are some interesting twists in the film like how Noa’s father trains eagles and how this plot is interwoven in the film. Light humor appears in the humor (more so early on) and there could have been more.

Freya Allen as Nova (the human) did an extraordinary as did the entire cast but her, Owen Teague as Noa, Peter Maka as Raka, Eka Darville as Sylva and Kevin Durand as Promixus Ceasar all stood out as excellent in their roles. Really everyone did. There wasn’t a poor act in the bunch including William H. Macy.

The plot, albiet long and winded, makes refrences and explorations to a past at times we know and parts we don’t. The twists and action sequences (especially later in the film) are very welcome and well done and welcome for those times we are feel we know what might be coming. It’s cool see the Gorillas led by Sylva take charge and kidnap and kill apes for Proximus Ceasar–an almost nationalist version of apes resembling the past 70’s version of the Ape films while also representing what we face in our country that some would want here in place of our Democracy. The take over of free kingdom of Apes hits close to home and the human that helps them and Noa is so tight and so close, you can’t imagine how humans ever got on their bad side. But I won’t spoil it for you.

THE BAD This film had so much promise with it’s visual and some of the dynamics of the plot. It had stellar acting and good twist and turns. Where this movie fails is that it becomes a film of transition and introduction to other films. It’s a 2 1/2 film of way too much dialouge and explainations for an Ape movie. I don’t want to see Apes who talk in broken English talk that long. By the end of the film, I felt it could have ended 40 minutes earlier if they had been more clever in their plot and less winded in the dialouge. With all this, it could have used for more humor.

As great as seeing the new Kingdom is (and at is!), even that is somewhat limited. There is the free home range of the Apes with their towers, a wilderness between them and the Forbidden City, the Forbidden City (which is a very cool but limited back drop that reappears) with a few side streets within, and where the Apes and Gorillas reside and work under Proximus Ceasar. We travel between these 4 areas but for a large part of the movie we are in the Apes home, The wilderness with Noa, Raka, Nova, and Proximus Ceasar’s compound. It feels confining for a 2 1/2 hour film.

These 2 factors really bring this movie down but primarily that there is so much talking and this sense of a set up for other movies then a real good, sensable plot that isn’t so long winded. Visually grand but the plot is okay, sadly. Fortunately, some of the acting makes up for it.

The Fall Guy

When an out of commission stunt guy gets re-hired by a director he is in love with, things go everywhere but right. Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt star in this action thriller/comedy that is a love song to stunt actors.

SCORE: 3 STARS

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY ABOUT THE FALL GUY

THE GOOD: First, if you have a crush on Ryan Gosling, woof! There is something about this film and the close ups that give you so much screen time with him, it’s like being on the set with him. There is a close up and slow upward moving panning shot on his upper torso that about gave me a body-gasm. He is just a doll in this film even more so than in Barbie because he is the main character.

Does there need to be anything else? Oh, okay. So, there is a pretty decent story plot here. When Ryan’s character Colt Seavers is called back after a terrible stunt fall, he rekindles a relationship with Emily Blunt’s character Jody Moreno who was merely a camera operator back in the day and is now directing her own movie. There are real funny moments in this movie and awesome cinemagraphic moments as Colt is playing out movie set scenes that we get a “behind the scenes” yet glossed over movie version of what it might be like for a high profile stunt actor. There is a real cool outer space fighting scene and then in a snap all the imaging is taken away. It’s like “Oh, that’s how they do that,” in real time. There are a lot of moments like that. Though the film starts to drag a bit with the back and forth on Colt and Jody’s A-typical bad romance story, the movie really picks up when someone is murdered on the set and Colt is commissioned to find out what happened without involving any law enforcement so the movie can go forward and not ruin Jody’s big movie debut. Nothing can wrong there, right?

The film then makes a good dance of it between the murder mystery and love story tension. What really works well is that it comes off really more believable in fight scenes, driving scenes, boats doing Miami Vice tricks (Colt used to work on the show and wears a Miami Vice jacket with pride lol) because these are stunt guys. So, they can get away with more. Since the story dives into the background of stunt doubles, it provides humor in some actual fight scenes around the murder where stunt men and actors reach for weapons that are made of rubber or a gun that has blanks.

There are a few scenes that really keep you on the edge of your seat with some heavy stunt action that is pretty up there with like Mission Impossible kind of stuff at times, and you aren’t sure how the actors at the time, primarily Colt, will get out of it. Stay through the credits for behind the scenes looks at the movie and to see what happens to the villians in the movie. They put that at the end of credits.

THE BAD Definitely not Ryan shirtless..woof… Anywho…and did I mention his hair and muscles in this? OMG, popping. Okay, back to it. The bad. There is a lull in this movie where you just wonder if this movie is going to be this corny A-typical bad romance story. The humor around this relationship in the beginning is only just “okay”, Emily Blunt’s character is just a bit too prim and proper for Colt’s Wild E-Coyote character to be believable. Actually, to be honest, them being in love in the beginning is hard to believe. It’s just sort thrown at us. The film could have used that murder plot about 15 minutes earlier just there abouts to take us out of the lull and get us into the actual relationship building that occurs around the real tension in this movie–the crime.

The relationship between Colt and Jody ends up working because as the film goes on you see their relationship build because of the trouble Cody lands himself into trying to figure out who is killing who. It is more believable then the candy corn montages in the beginning we are supposed to believe about them. This is a fun movie to watch with some twist and turns you wouldn’t expect along with amazing stunts. And did I say a lot of Ryan Gosling?

THE UGLY: NOTHING

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

When the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second ice age.

When the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second ice age.

SCORE: 4 Stars

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY OF GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE

THE GOOD: I have to give this caveat that I went with a special group of people and sat up close so it felt like 3D. That aside, to me, this felt a little like the Ghostbusters remake we have all been waiting for. An ancient artifact holds the power to bring in what I will call a supernatural ice age (so I won’t spoil it for you). This compels the newer generation of Ghostbusters to seek out the older generation and work out the mystery and stop a world wild takeover by a supreme Ice Ghost Miser of sorts.

Unlike all the remakes of the past, there is no “hinting” or “teasing” of the past Ghostbuster or the characters. It is a full-scale tie-in and Ghostbuster fans everywhere should love that. There is a lot of humor, more Ghostbuster history to be discovered, and a new ghost mystery to unpack.

The standout stars here are Mckenna Grace’s character Phoebe who in this film is having to prove she is mature enough to be a Ghostbuster after the mayor has come down hard on the Spangler family for her ghost-wrangling wild actions. Phoebe’s complex relationship with a ghost named Melody is a new refreshing spin to the franchise.

There is a lot of comic relief with the Spangler family but even more so with some particular characters. Nadeem played by Kumail Nanjiani who originally sold the mysterious artifact and has a family to tie to it stands as reluctant pawn in a dangerous game he didn’t want to be–unless the price was right. Dan Aykroyd as a ghost artifact/pawn shop and mystic is ever jolly like a Haunted Mansion’s version of St. Knick and defender of the Firehouse. Even more nostalgia comes into play and humor when Bill Murray as Dr. Vectman and Ernie Hudson enter the scene. Then later Annie Potts even reprises her role as Janine.

Paul Rudd has his moments too as he tries to keep the family together and the firehouse from falling apart and releasing a whole archive of ghosts. There are several cool ghost scenes, some new Ghost, and of course Slimer. This film is a sweet fragrance of classic Ghostbusters, from the music, the way it is filmed, and the film logo/title.

The Bad: The only thing that really would qualify as bad in this film for me if you could say there was a bad is this film doesn’t have a lot of real Ghostbusting action as more of the threat of it. Outside of a new Ghostbuster prison chamber, the only ghosts we experience is Slimer, A long icy lizarding looking Ghost, and one that is small as a ball that possesses objects. So, besides the ghost Melody who befriends Phoebe, that’s it until the climatic scenes. And even at the climatic scenes, you largely see the main bad guy and only about 2 other new ones. Everything else is the usual ghostly pink lights zooming through the skies. Although Dan Akroyds’ character does run across the ghost librarian again (lol).

This gets to my next point. I think the writers or directors relied too heavily on a villain of ice and the ability to freeze people in fear in place of more threatening ghost interactions. It’s not that people getting frozen or that this giant enemy isn’t ominous looking, but the film is lacking other villain ghosts in the meantime. The film relies heavily on threat that is only really ever seen in Melody’s complex character and the main villain. I don’t know. Maybe they thought ‘we were too afraid of ghosts’.

The Ugly: Nothing

Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire

Directed by: Adam Wingard

Screenplay by: Terry Rossio, Simon Barrett, Jeremy Slatter

Cast: Rebecca Hall, Bryan T. Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle

I have to do 3 scores for this:

STORY: SCORE: 3 1/2

ACTING SCORE: 2

ENTERTAINMENT SCORE: 4

THE GOOD, BAD, AND UGLY FOR GODZILLA X KONG NEW KINGDOM

THE GOOD: After you get past the real cheesy beginning parts and that this isn’t an X-Men movie or Transformers (though it appears the filmmakers were trying for that), if you are a Kong or Godzilla lover, you will settle in just fine for the ride. The plot does eventually turn into a good enough story as it sets our Titans on a journey we have yet to see which is exciting to watch. In 3D the visuals are amazing and the film doesn’t disappoint.

The New Kingdom down in Hallow world is intriguing in an almost Avatar meets Super Mario’s Donkey Kong sense with all the Kongs and mini Kongs. There are other creatures new and old including the Monarch eventually. When the humans are forced to investigate a mysterious distress signal coming deep inside this world, Jia played by Kaylee Hottle leads the way as the Kong whisperer, and the movie then turns into a Jurassic Park meets Kong world. Lots of cool twists and turns here.

Kong lovers, this is your film. It is largely Kong focused with Godzilla more so in a supporting role. I’m a Godzilla fan but, even so, this film still was enjoyable enough for me to not mind. Bryan T. Henry stole the show despite some real flat acting from the other major characters who should have been stronger (Rebecca Hall and Dan Stevens). His humor and realistic reactions made me laugh out loud at certain points. Kaylee Hottle was also enduring as our Kong whisperer and interpreter to her tribe.

You will not be disappointed with the monsters on screen. They are big, detailed, and cool. The sheer entertainment of this film is worth seeing it if you like these monsters on the screen.

THE BAD: I give a film credit for using lesser-known actors but then those actors should still pull off the acting. I’m not entirely sure though if it is on them or the script at times. The first 30 minutes of the film are hard to digest with a really bad job of emotion trying to be expressed non-verbally between Rebecca Hall’s character and Kaylee Hotlee who speaks in sign language. It just doesn’t translate believably. The “emergency” scenes going on in the beginning feel canned and corny. There is also a scene later where the three major stars are heading toward their aircraft doing that typical “runway” walk in slow motion with mist in the air, and I rolled my eyes. They just don’t have that cool vibe to pull that walk off. Really as a whole, the actors here continually rise and fall in believably, sometimes due to the script and sometimes just due to talent.

This really isn’t a Kong vs. Godzilla movie. They fight each other for perhaps 5 minutes before that is put to an end. It is more of a fight with other monsters and of course the main new villain. Godzilla has an important role so that goes without saying. He is always shown in the film gathering energy in a number of ways, but this is a factor of note–don’t come in expecting this film to be about a Kong vs Godzilla knockdown. This is different film. For Kong fans, it is a great turn in the plot that creates a whole new world but for Godzilla fans, you may find it a bit lacking.

THE UGLY: Nothing

Double Feature Mini Review: Mean Girls & Argylle

Well I’m going to say F* to the usual credit list and say go to IMD for that. Let’s just get right down to it!

SCORE FOR BOTH: 3 1/2 STARS

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY OF MEAN GIRLS AND ARGYLLE!

The Good—Mean Girls: Tina Fey does a pretty good job knocking it out of the park with this musical adaption of the Broadway musical based off of the film. Even if a lot of us didn’t know we were walking into a musical–probably intentionally. Renee Rap does such a great job as Regina George. She may have topped the original for me. Angouria Rice did a pleasant enough job as Cady. Some really hilarious performances by Avantikia as the ditz social elite Karen and Jaguel Spivey as Damian who never disappoints with his humor. The settings are very eye-popping and so is the costuming. We have the story we know and love with some new and old cast members and some good musical numbers.

The Good–Argylle: Bryce Dallas Howard, a cat and sometimes (often in a regretable fashion) Sam Rockwell steal the show as it should be. This is a classic, usual spy caper turned on its heals with laughs and twists that make you chuckle, keep you on the edge of your seat but subtly disappoints in its outer edges. It is a fun, racing romp that keeps you guessing. Sort of like Mission Impossible if it was a more a comedy and female-driven. Cool guest appearances by Samual Jackson, Cranston, Henry Cavill, Cena add to the appeal. Some cool music thrown into helps the flare!

The Bad—Mean Girls: The only thing that really takes away from this movie is that there is a musical number for just about everything. It drags on you. It tries to make the film something it isn’t–greater than a High School Musical or the like.

The Bad–Argylle: There’s a lot advertised in this movie that is much to do about nothing. (spoiler alert here). We want to think there is something about this cat that is very important to the plot. We want to think that Henry Cavill is a major character in this film. We want to think among the twists and turns that the plot won’t turn out the same as all the other spy movies do, where, for example, someone forgot who they were. But the film ultimately lets us down on all those accounts. As exciting as the film is, it resorts in the end to the same old spy trist, the cat is nothing more than therapy cat, and Henry is just really an imaginary side dish. Sam Rockwell is his replacement who is no comparison, not likeable and boring on screen. The excitement for much of the movie, the cuteness of the cat etc. overshadow all this but it’s always present. The good news it appears they will be making movies off the actual Argylle books the main character wrote in the films which may be better than the film itself.

Uglies: Nothing ugly. They are both entertaining to see if you want something to do.

The true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, who made history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s.

Score: 5

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly on The Iron Claw

The Good: This movie is a surprise hit largely because it hits more than just on what the film topic is about: the history of a famous wrestling family. As a matter of fact, I was hesitant to see it because I’m not a wrestling fan, but the eye candy and some of the premise intrigued me. I was pleasantly taken by this film. Of course, first of all, if you are a wrestling fan, you will enjoy this film if you want to see the back story of Von Eric family. You get the feel of the matches and even the hilarious old-school television broadcast coming across the big screen. You see plenty of match-ups, muscles, and the brutality of the business spearheaded by a father whose fears and ego lay on the shoulders of his son’s success, which play out to disasterous results.

However, this film is more about that. It’s about the relationships between brothers who are each different from each other pitted against a father who wants them to be a cookie cut out of world champions. It is also about choosing love over idols of success, drug abuse, suicide. The film tackles issues of what defines masculinity and the tragic ways males mishandle broken dreams because “men don’t cry” and “men aren’t to look weak”.

It is a ballad to Gen X who lived as a lost generation and found solice not in their parents or elders. It was either your siblings or your peers. The adults around you were so messed up they couldn’t be there for you like your peers could. There were no Oprahs and counseling wasn’t hip. Kevin, the brother who narrates the movie, believes what his father tells him–that his family his cursed. So, as he enjoys all these glorious moments and then loses so much, he longs for the past of the ‘good ole days’, the time when he had ‘brothers’. There is a powerful message here that there is nothing in the world like the connection you have with your first set of true brothers (or sisters) and if you lose them, you long for them. However, you still carry on and find new ones but perhaps it is never the same. That will forever be like a haunting rock ballad from the 80’s we both love and hate.

Zach Effron, Jeremy Allen White, Harrison Dickson, and Stanley Simmons steal the show as the brothers, their growth as brothers as well as their demise. It is touching how the brothers care for each other and how underneath each is different. Such as Simmons character being shockingly more musical talented, which is a gift his father has but abandoned to enter the sport of wrestling and clearly resents Simmon’s character for not putting behind him. The film largely focuses on the interactions of these brothers with the father. The father reminded me of that gym coach who ate jock straps for breakfast. Driving his sons with a selfish ego-driven dream that he proposed provided protection through perfected strength and “we really believed him”, Kevin concluded in the end. And, it drove them all mad.

The film is interspersed with scenes dealing with a love interest in Kevin’s character and wrestling matches. Nevertheless, the acting is so well done, I really didn’t mind the narrow focus on the family for most of the scenes. There is a great Gen X soundtrack in the movie, lots of muscle, beefcake, wrestling outfits, and costumes. Though there are a series of sad events that occur in this film, it is handled gracefully and done in a beautiful way. You don’t leave depressed though certainly sad for what they went through. Beyond that, there is plenty of humor and good times displayed on the film that are uplifting to the spirit in much of the first half of the film. Kevin, the main character, and the family as a whole show themselves with this fighting spirit that you do not walk away in the end that there was defeat. It is a heart-touching story everyone should see. Some of the acting is Oscar-worthy.

The Bad: The film *may* have benefitted from showing more of the brother’s interactions with other wrestlers that are well-known off-stage.

The Ugly: Nothing

SCORE: 3

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY OF WONKA

THE GOOD: Hopefully, you are expecting musical numbers in this movie. You won’t be disappointed though they are forgettable except for the scrubbing song and the haunting remake of Imagination. The musical numbers are well-choreographed and sung with wonderful use of the background displays, characters and/or magic at young Wonka’s hands.

Calah Lane as Noodle is the most authentic character on screen as one of the orphans enslaved in the laundromat that young Wonka gets himself in debt to as does many a weary traveler who doesn’t read the fine print of this rather 1-star hotel run by a woman humorously named “Ms. Scrubitt”. Humorous because you spend the rest of your days “scrubbing” the laundry to pay off your debts. Noodle and Wonka become a heartfelt duo among a rag-tag team of enslaved adults hoping to break free of their enslavement. However, the three chocolate companies that have a hold on the world’s chocolate see Wonka’s chocolate he has brought to town as a threat and work hard to keep him enslaved.

Noodle probably has an equal if not more compelling heart-wrenching story in this film as Wonka does. Lane presents herself as more with it and less fake on screen than Chalamett who no doubt had big shoes to fill emulating such a big character as Wonka. Another show-stopper was Hugh Grant as an Oompa Loompa–disgruntled and seeking repayment for all the cocoa beans Wonka stole from their island. Terrific job both acting and digital rendering.

There are some cute moments, laugh-out-loud funny moments (such as when Ms. Scrubitt is tricked into believing her male servant is royalty and the two have an affair, or the dog ‘Tittles” that Wonka gets to run on a treadmill with contraptions that takes care of the whole laundromat for them), and some Wonka-like magic moments (often to do with people eating chocolate that makes them fly). The plot is heavily weighed down by musical numbers worshipping chocolate and dreams that we haven’t invested in yet but there is a plot here that works itself out and is engaging when it starts revving its engines more so halfway through the film.

There are some other great supporting characters in this film such as Jim Carter from Downtown Abby fame as the heavy for the laundromat who ends up helping Wonka. There is also Keegan Michael Kay as a constable who wrestles with his consciousness and chocolate that gets him in a heap of humorous trouble. Then there is Rowan Atkinson as a conspiring priest gatekeeper to the secret of the town’s chocolate dirty work and just looking at him makes one laugh. Peter Joseph does a pretty good job as a villain you want to hate as Mr Slugworth.

Think of this film like Oliver Twist with magic and much more liveliness and color thrown in. One thing I particularly noted that I liked was pairing Wonka with a black girl and making Slugsworth a black man and the constable was played by Keenan, yet another black man. I liked that there was this element in the film rather than being an all-white cast as the original. In particularly took pleasure in that Wonka and Noodle had this close friendship on screen. We need to see this in such a time of racial disparity.

THE BAD: Unfortunately, there are a number of things that suck the life out of what could have been a great film. First, we don’t ever get to see how Wonka becomes to be the great magic maker of chocolate he is. He arrives in town and immediately aims to try to sell his chocolate, which lands him in a heap of trouble. We eventually learn of his sad past and the loss of his mother, but how did a boy come to travel the world to get the crazy ingredients he claims are in his concoctions? A better idea would have been the help of Oompa Loompas than the notion that a boy as young as him was going to Russia, China, milking giraffes, and the like.

For much of the first part of the film we are laid upon with musical numbers about chocolate and hopes for the future that are all together nice but forgettable because we have little to invest in before they begin. Except the “Scrub It!” song. That song worked. I would say the first half of the film save Wonka’s roughing it a little in the laundromat felt like something for an elementary school child. Though we get hints of where the plot is going and the background to Wonka and Noodle is intriguing to learn (Noodle’s background much more compelling), the plot really doesn’t even take off till halfway through the movie because every move before then is weighed down by a needless, forgettable musical number.

The story here, while intriguing, and the rendering of the character of Wonka at times funny and charming, really misses a 3 Dimensional sense about it. As the original tale of Wonka was about Charlie, this 2Dimensional portrayal of Wonka makes the story only as compelling as Noodle carries it. There is no development of Wonka’s character so while he sings and dances his behind off, pulls teapots out of his hat, and ultimately saves day, there’s not much to him for us to invest in. I suppose the creators assumed the name, a little magic, and chocolate pixie dust would do it, but it didn’t for me. He is the same kid from the start of the movie to the end except closer to his dream.

Instead, I wanted to see how a kid who might like chocolate becomes this crazy wizard and maybe even a bit off his rocker like the original comes to be. Instead, it’s a sort of Indian Jones escapes Scrub Dub Basement and the Temple of Chocolates. It’s a story but doesn’t necessarily come across as an all-out Wonka story. What saves any Wonka theme really is the battle over the chocolate and the Oompa Loompa at his side. However, it’s all missing that “oomph”, as an Oompa Loompa may say?

Think of this film like Oliver Twist with a good deal of magic and much more liveliness, colorful displays, and many a nice musical number you will forget as soon as you walk out. Here your “Oliver” is fighting to get out to sell chocolate with an Oompa Loompa and a girl with an equally sad past. He has to overcome the people who have imprisoned them in this kind of work home as well as the leaders of the town who are behind it who don’t want to see him succeed.

THE UGLY: Truly wait for streaming. There was a family with children sitting next to me. They left without seeing the ending. It is not a bad movie. My main disappointment is how 2Dimensional Wonka is and that I could have written a better prequel myself if this was how they were going to do the plotline. It’s good but it could have been so much better without the flashy musical numbers and a young Wonka who wasn’t fleshed out before us but rather sang and danced out.

SCORE: 3 (Part of that is for the special effects, costumes, video effects)

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Aquaman 2 (Is she better the second time out to sea?)

THE GOOD: See this movie in IMAX or 3D if you are going out to see it. Two scenes made me jump in my seat. Like the Little Mermaid, some of the underwater scenes can be spectacular. The costuming and the digital rendering in this underwater world are pretty cool and crisp. There is a good premise of a Lost Kingdom that requires Aquaman to enlist his estranged brother played by Patrick Wilson to help stop it from coming back into power.

The Actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II does an excellent job playing Manta and you gotta love his Manta suit as he attempts to exact some revenge on Aquaman for his father’s death but encounters a power from the Lost Kingdom that is even beyond him. The demon king of this Kingdom ends up possessing him for an even greater cause. This film was shot in Canada, Hawaii, and Thailand, and that’s just to name a few places and you feel it. There are some awe-inspiring scenes when the team gets on land.

James Moumsa is back as his old self and of course he shines here. He’s funny as a stumbling father with a new baby and bored king of Atlantis in the beginning. There are some other characters who share the spotlight in this film too: His wife, Mera has some pretty cool scenes in this movie and their new baby does too (I won’t spoil the surprises), and his brother later on in the film.

Environmentalists will like this film because as always, but even more so with this film, the plot line references taking care of our earth and waters in light of global warming. We meet new adorable creatures and new hideous monsters that will keep you on the edge of your seat at moments.

Though the humor in this film didn’t hit hard for me, it was there and did bring a smile especially when Aquaman tells everyone to keep their eyes open a crab commander says, “You are lucky there, because I can never close my eyes anyway.”

THE BAD: This is one of those movies where you see the trailer and want to see the movie to go deeper behind those clips, yet only to discover that was it. There were choices made in the movie at times to move very quickly or focus on scenes for extended lengths that didn’t need to be focused on.

Such as there are a lot of repeat-like scenes. Manta escapes from Aquaman the same way twice. The brothers visit a seedy club that presents itself like a longer extended version of an underwater Star Wars Cantina with a Jaba Hutt-like character poorly voiced and digitalized with Martin Short. It was a clear rip-off from Star Wars. We all borrow but be more subtle! ( spoiler alert with this one) Also, Manta is continually caught by Dr. Shin the same way each time, in his room doing something he doesn’t want him to see and shuts door on him, both exchanging angry eyes. Dr. Shin frowns disapprovally. We get the hint that Dr. Shin is going to be anti-Mant like 20 times before it ever betrays him.

I don’t know about you but I don’t like when filmmakers ramp up an evil kingdom that “could” come to power but never does. I think only The Mummy did that effectively. Much like the Scorpion King movie, this Lost Kingdom is held off till the end requiring a blood sacrifice to break the curse that keeps it at bay. But of course! Yet interestingly enough all its creatures and dead army seem to be fending off the Atlantis intruders while the Lost King is still frozen solid and locked under the curse. Shouldn’t they be too? The writers do make it a bit more edgy than most do by the end of it, and I liked that at least the Lost King comes alive and there is something if a fight but all in all still not a fan of that concept of a cry and wimper. It’s a dangling carrot and a fake one at that.

The Ugly: Kingfish played by Martin Short put in a role and set up like Jabba the Hutt. It looked so fake that it is a shame that Martin Short had to play that role. Dolph Lundgren as King Nereus has a voice in this film at times that makes me cringe. I’m not sure where he is acting from at times in this film but it just isn’t a good place. This can also be said of Nicole Kidman in her role too at times but a little less so. 

BARBIE: WAS IT FANTASTIC OR TOO PLASTIC?

SCORE: 3 1/2

The good, the bad, and the ugly of the Barbie Movie

The Good: If you are a macho male (or a female not head over heels with Barbie) this movie will still surprise you with its humor, some meaningful moments, and big musical numbers we haven’t seen in a while. If you are a Barbie fan, all the better! If you are a gay male, you will love the shirtless bulging Gosling who is busting out all over. This is a good summer entertainer. Ironically, with Will Ferrell as the chief exec of Matell, this film is a lot like the movie Elf in which he also starred, but a Barbie version. We have 2 main characters, Barbie and Ken, that have to leave their fantasy world to go to the real world, just like Elf had to leave the North Pole and go to New York City, but in this case, it’s to fix something that could change the Barbie world forever. The good news is this isn’t done with plastic dolls or legos but with real people. The production is very high quality in creating the set design of the Barbie world and it is a hilarious world of multiple Barbie editions and Ken editions trying to co-exist.

The beautiful Margot Robbie plays “stereotypical Barbie” and does a great job. She starts to malfunction in hilarious ways and this sends her and ultimately her most adamant Ken suiter, played by Gosling, on a journey of self-discovery to fix the glitch. This leads them through a portal back and forth between both worlds. The consequences and benefits for the Barbie world are hilarious and disruptive, and it ends up seeping into the world of Mattel. Kate McKinnon plays a sort of gypsy Barbie to them all as she has been messed up by her owner and is now called “Weird Barbie”. Reha Pearlman plays a guiding ghost at critical moments for the dolls, which is a pleasant surprise. There’s a bigger surprise with her that I won’t spoil here.

Ryan Gosling is my man crush and let’s just say, there are a lot of shirtless, flexing, tight clothes, ab reveal stuff going on here. He isn’t the greatest actor in the world but he is terrific eye candy and does a great job as Ken in this movie with the humor, the dance numbers, and singing.

America Ferra is on the earth’s side and who Barbie has to find and connect with. Of course, she doesn’t disappoint either as a mom who must suck it up and decide who she is going to be for her daughter and for Barbie’s’ mission that Barbie proposes to her. There are many funny scenes on the Earth side of things and one of them is when Barbie confronts some construction workers who are cat-calling her and she tells them that her and Ken don’t have any gentiles.

There are some meaningful moments too in the film. Sometimes they are overdone but still touching as Barbie and Ken discover who they are and who they are not. You cannot help but be touched as they discover the misconceptions they hold about the real world and each other and ultimately a new way of being. The long-drawn-out ending scene which I will call Barbies’ ultimate decision wasn’t really that emotional for me.

The Bad: It is hard to pinpoint what is missing but you do feel it. Sometimes the humor falls flat, and the emotional scenes don’t hit hard enough. The movie tries desperately to pull at your heartstrings but this is Barbie we are talking about not Raggedy Anne with a real sob story. I would have liked to have seen more investment in some other Barbie figures like Holiday Barbie would have been good ones. Then, you could have a more elaborate decorated home. But we only really see Barbies’ house and the outside of everyone else’s. It also might have been cooler to have a couple of Barbies and Kens visit the real world and get lost there than just the two of them? The set designs transitioning between the two worlds at points looked so staged. I get they were trying to be old-school comical and some of them were and others were “oh come on” it was cheap and bad.

The Ugly: Nothing.

The Flash: A Fantastic Feature or True Box Office Flop?

SCORE: 4 1/2

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly About The Flash

The Good: I need to start out by saying I am not even a person that watches the Flash TV show nor am I necessarily a fan. There are just too many other superheroes I’m wrapped in, but I have to say this movie made me more of a fan. I’m not sure how the TV shows goes, but the movie is full of humor, action and adventure with cool special effects and new angles in stop-motion action. They also did a great job of using an actor playing himself in front of himself seemlessly! That was brilliant on all counts. If you are a Flash and Batman fan, this film is FOR YOU. Superman fans too but there isn’t so much Superman here as it turns out to be a Supergirl. You will be in the Batmoblie, Batchopper, Bruce Manor and Bat Cave a number of times! Plus, all 3 Batmen make an appearance with a heavy focus on Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton.

Ezra Miller playing Barry aka the Flash steals the show though. Barry’s humor and emotional appeal are hands-down a wonderful delivery. Fed up with his day job and being Batman’s clean-up guy, Barry longs for the days when his family wasn’t ripped to shreds by a terrible tragedy. So, he decides to run a course to change time and alter the past just a tad but it leads him to a world where the chain reaction in the future is one without super-heroes and a deadly path under General Zod’s control. Woopsy! Only he and his dorky super twin of the future have a chance of changing things and the chances are slim to none since the future Batman is old, cranky and has no interest.

This film is short-changed in reviews and at the box office. There is so much humor and cool special effects. Like when a building collapses in a hospital wing and babies fall out the window and Barry says “Oh my God, it’s a baby shower!”, slows time and attempts to gather them all. In one of several great slow-time motion deliveries in the film, some really funny scenes play out with the babies and a therapy dog mid-air. Barry and his future Barry self are a hilarious team and it is so real you never suspect CGI. Michael Keaton was also so great reprising his role as an old Batman and it was hilarious to watch the scenes before he was willing to take the role back on. It made that much more powerful when he did.

In addition, there are these great scenes where The Flash is in this time warp bubble and he can see everything. It’s done in a way you’ve never seen before and at many points becomes part of a battle scene. There are DC superheroes galore in this movie also: The Flash, Batman, Superman (all of them), Aquaman, Wonder Woman (briefly), and a new Super Girl. It’s fast and furious in its own right.

There is no better villain than General Zod and his crew and yes, they’reeeeee baaaaccck! That’s because of the timeline Flash has taken us to as he tries to patch up and stop his family tragedy. To see General Zod and his crew again and the battle scenes that take place is pretty awesome. However, throughout the entire movie, you get the sense there is another enemy at play–something greater. This is hinted at in glimpses of a creature inside the time warp.

There are a number of good lines in this film about looking backwards, holding onto the past, taking risks, and letting go. There is genuine emotional appeal here regarding Barry’s love for his mother and his concern for his father’s present troubles and it translates in a very believable way because of Ezra’s depth of acting. Not to mention, we get to see Ezra completely in the buff when his twin version burns up all his clothes due to an energy outburst out on the street. A few shots and angles of a rather stellar body and booty!

The Bad: Supergirl in the future was cool but she had almost a mentally deranged sense about her, a rage that seemed too much for a young little girl. She at times reminded me of someone possessed out of Stranger Things. It just felt a bit off for me. I don’t know why DC superheroes seem to have taken too much Gensing or something. Besides Batman, I don’t get the others being deranged. With the ultimate villain aka trouble maker being held off to end, there is this sense that we don’t get the full breadth and depth of General Zod’s appeal and we know all along “this isn’t IT”. So as great as that battle scenes are, they come up a bit on the 2-dimensional side emotionally because they are presented as the ultimate battle but you know it isn’t. This was an error on the film-makers side. They should have either gave General Zod more screen time, more of a role or the last villain more of screen time.

The Ugly: Maybe the waste of an end credit clip that showed us mostly nothing.

SCORE: 4 1/2 STARS

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly about Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

The Good: The only reason I dared go watch another edition of Transformers was the reviews and the trailers I saw. I wasn’t too disappointed either. While this film comes out as the latest Transformers movie, it is a bit of adjustment because, on the timeline of the films, it is only the second. It takes place in 1994 and the directors poke a lot of fun at the 1990’s mostly using the character Bumblebee and his recording of iconic movie clips or songs. In addition to the Autobots, we now have Maximals–animal Cybertronians with beast modes whose home world was destroyed by the dark planet God name Unicron. Before he could, they escape to Earth hiding parts of a secret key to keep the dark God and his forces from getting access to the rest of the universe and eating it alive.

Of course, the key is found, broken open by Ellan Wallace and ex-military electronics expert Noah Diaz– both are the unlikely heroes in this robotic chest match. Noah’s character is both fun and has enough of an emotional background story to it that brings a driving force to the film. Both he and the character of Ellan are humorous and a great pairing for the human element in a robotic background. The Maximals are a cool addition to the robotic group and the film traverses space, from Brooklyn to Peru with breathtaking views and battle scenes that are reminiscent of something out of Terminator Resurrection battle scenes in the Climax There is a cool aspect of Indiana Jones-esc here as Noah and Ellan have to solve puzzles and figure some things out that Autobots can’t. This takes them deep into the recesses of Cybertronian history as to how they got here.

Unicron and his viceroy Scourage are intimidating in a futuristic Lord of the Rings Sauron way. They have various forms of robot menaces at their disposal from gremlins to scorpions too. What is great about this film is this is not an all-about Optimus Prime movie. A lot of other characters shine. Yes, Bumblebee does again, but it is a very good and cool way but new characters from the Maximal clan and other auto bots like Mirage also along with several more.

The Bad It’s a little hard to digest Optimus Prime’s distrust of humans after all these films where he has developed this bond with them, but you have to remember where it is on the timeline. Also, as exciting as the film is, and as cool as the battle scenes are, it is the same plot line of another big enemy coming into Earth’s Atmosphere–the portal has to be closed before they arrive or all is lost. Some of the movie is the same old song just new characters and you have to choose to go with it. The same old storyline in that regard but it’s really easy to ignore with the great acting, visuals, and battle scenes.

Ugly: Nothing

SCORE: 5 STARS

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly of the Little Mermaid

The Good: Despite a small slow beginning, there is nothing to dislike about this film. What I feared to be a flop was not. Disney created a believable underwater world that recreated all the scenes of the original Little Mermaid we love but also added more. With Halle Bailey as the Little Mermaid, we had a voice and a beautiful girl who fit the role perfectly as Aeriel just as we needed her to be. Her voice was out of this world! Her hair, make-up, and costuming were perfect and magical both underwater and above. She stole the show as she should. Halle added emotional strength and depth to the trials and tribulations of Aeriel which a cartoon cannot really do as well. Her struggles with her father Titan and above ground as a muted version of herself trying to gain the love she so desperately wants is very heart-stirring in a way the original film doesn’t get across quite the same way. Everything has an exponent multiplier in this film because of the great actors in each role and what they bring to the roles, making it heart-stirring and believable as only a live-action can. But what about the humor, surely that came across as lame? Not, really. That was a pleasant surprise too. The humorous scenes with the crab and the pelican still play out so well! The scene with all the water creatures and the song ‘Kiss the Girl” was an amazing visual and vocal feat even though I was prepared for a bland disaster. Then, in addition, you have some other powerhouses here: Melissa McCarthy as Ursula and Javier Bardem as Titan. They do not fail in their cleverness and intimidation throughout the film. On top of that, you have a naive prince who is charming in the grand castle where more harrowing and funny events take place. Disney was even able to get the two eels down perfectly and even better than the cartoon version. Last, you have a diverse set of mermaids from many cultures represented which is again very very cool and yet another step up.

The Bad There is one notable flaw in the film and that is Flounder’s vibrant colors and prominence. Flounder lovers beware. The writers chose to make the crab and the pelican more prominent. It worked well.

The Ugly: Nothing Ugly

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 3

SCORE: 4 1/2 STARS!

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY OF THE FILM

The Good: Okay, I’ll admit, I’m a little biased writing this review. I really enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy, but what I love about the film is it is not really like a superhero film. It is more like a quirky bunch of rejects that are a team on a space quest (picture Star Trek but punked up, rocked up with a crew that has some disabilities and superpowers). So to me, it is more sci-fi/fantasy than super-hero though superhero elements are there. The good about this film is you really have no idea where this story plot is going. There is a lot of emotion behind it too as the team is back together again but definitely not in the same way. When Rocket gets seriously hurt, this sets the team on a mission for his life-or-death cure, which seems a bit of a shallow plot line at first, lacking more substance to it, but as the story unfolds, it really packs a lot of emotional punch. We learn about Rocket’s back story. We also get far more in-depth to the other characters like Nebula, Drax, and Mantis. This 3-hour film really packs a punch even more than Galaxy 2 with plenty of chases, special effects, and the cool use of the floating skull planet of Nowhere. Chukwudi Iwuji plays an excellent villain as The High Evolutionary which continues a theme from Galaxy 2 about people who want to create planets and people of perfection. Of course, there is the rather classic humor mostly between Drax and Mantis or just Drax and everyone else, and the classic rock music. No one wanted to see or think of Gemorah being dead in Galaxy 2 and she is back in Galaxy 3 but as supposedly just losing her memory of the past. The conflict in the film between Peter and this new Gemorah creates tension and humor. This is a Herculian film with great landscapes in space and in what is called “Counter Earth”, a replica of Earth with mutant people on it that the High Evolutionary creates. There are 2 pretty good and important clips after the credits too!

The Bad: Things happen fast in the beginning and it’s hard to emotionally invest in their mission but once we learn the story of Rocket’s past more and more, it is easier and easier to invest in that mission. There was one boring similarity in a final battle scene to the High Evolutionary ship which was similar to the ship battle scene in Galaxy 1 where they puncture the ship, crash into it, attempt to take it over, and ultimately destroy it. The final battle scene with the High Evolutionary was weaker than the battle scene with his soldiers in the hallway heading to the High Evolutionary headquarters. That should never be the case. The Big Boss should be the hardest to take down–way so than his henchmen or foot soldiers.

Ugly: Nothing

You will probably want to see this movie more than once! I know I will but then I am big fan of the films! Woops, did I just say that?

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES

3 1/2 STARS

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY

The Good: As all reviewers pretty much agree, Chris Pine is his Pinest with his sarcasm and wit much like what we have seen when he played Captain Kirk in the Star Trek series but amped up even more. He helps this film which would have done much better with a younger cast like from the television that bore its name and idea. From the middle to the end of the movie, there are some really awesome set designs, great action, plot twists, and special effects that help make up for the beginning. The red wizards are menacing enough in an almost Stranger Things way and since that is tied with Dungeons and Dragons, it is fitting. The relationship between Edgin and Holga, the two main characters played by Pine and Rodriquez is very well done with sarcasm and heart. This is a good story about reluctant anti-heroes, thieves set out on a chase because they are all bonded together as a sort of thieving family. Edgin wants to rescue his daughter who has been kidnapped and deceived but the plot is of course much more complex than that and they all end up in more than they bargained for. There are cool dragons, a funny yet very dangerous obese dragon, dragons that are statues, and all sorts of creatures, a hilarious graveyard with a talking corpses scene, and some wizard duels. There is also a great scene involving a set of “games” that involves a large maze that they end up in where the walls rise and lower at different times revealing treasure boxes and monsters. The way they escape is pretty creative! No Dungeons & Dragons movie would be complete without some kind of trip to an underworld and that is probably one of the best CGI effects in the film introducing a great character and actor Rage Jean Page as Xenk. Sexy, smoldering and princely. Besides Christ Pine, he seems the only one really suited for his role. Even if you don’t like Dungeons and Dragons “stuff” this isn’t really heavily laden with that kind of material. It’s more of an adventure like The Hobbit meets Robin Hood.

The Bad: The beginning is a bit weak. All though the settings are dynamic, we fly through them at a fast pace. They seem heavily borrowed from the Lord of the Rings set of Minas Tirith. Nothing can compare to the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings but if you are going to try to do that (and this had a good shot) don’t zip on by it so fast. There were some really weak, hard-to-believe character actors in this film. Justice Smith as Simon the Wizard was mildly funny in his opening scene but quickly became just annoying and whiney throughout. It was like they took a Taco Bell Server to play this part. He did amp up his game or maybe it was the lines when the helmet came into play. Sophie Lillic as Doric was so dry and dull throughout the film, she was only exciting in her battle scenes. Now, you have to have a good prize to rescue and the prize to rescue was Kiara, Edgin’s daughter. Eh. She was alright. Not bad, but she didn’t really give us the heart tugs we need from a daughter or the physical appeal. The real emotional appeal we only ever really see are two scenes when she thinks her father betrayed her and when she Holga appears to be dying (I’ll say appearing because I don’t want to give spoilers). Rage Jean Page’s character Xenk is such a great character and has such minor role. In reality, the helmet wasn’t ever needed though it ends up helping so in reality his character wasn’t needed. His subplot is just a bit of waste and could have been made stronger though it is still enjoyable I wanted more of him. There are some really lame scenes as well such as when Forge is taking the daughter out onto the boat for an escape. The thieves intercept them and Holga stops him by throwing a potato into his face (slow motion throw) and then a rather fake-looking wave our Taco Bell Server Wizard conjures up behind him that he somehow doesn’t seem to notice. We also needed more scenes with the Red Wizards and Wizard duels and for Dungeons and Dragons this was more the Hobbit meets Robin Hood than Dungeons and Dragons but hopefully it was enjoyable for them. There was just too much play on weak wizardry here though for that to happen.

The Ugly: Some costuming and some scenery were a bit of fakery that you could really tell in the beginning but the film really takes off and makes up for it later.

SUPER MARIO BROS

  • Directors: Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenich
  • Writer: Matthew Fogel
  • Cast: Chris Pratt (Mario) Charlie Day (Luigi) Anaya Taylor Joy (Princess Peach) Jack Black (Bowser) Seth Rogan (Donkey Kong)

5 Star Kiddo Entertainment Factor

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

The Good: The movie starts in the real world where see Mario and Luigi in their adorable plumber van trying to make it as plumbers in their new business and struggling with family support. Their Italian family is hilarious. There is a really funny scene with them working on the plumbing in a rich family’s home and a dog that doesn’t take a shine to them and all sorts of hijinx occur as the dog wreaks havoc on what should be easy fixes. The entrance into Super Mario World was great and funny as the two adapt, especially as Mario is mentored. It is a funny and an interesting take that the writers use on his progressive growth in using Power-Ups. Poor Luigi is thrown into some dangerous territory–and that’s a good balance by the way. It comes off like Luigi’s Haunted Mansion. There are a lot of references and scenes to beloved games just like that. Another example, Super Mario Smash Brothers when Princess Peach has to win over the world of Donkey Kong to get Cranky Kong to use his army to help her with a task and it is Mario who pits himself against Donkey Kong in a smash match of sorts. Or, Another scene against Bowser’s hoodlums in a big, heart-pounding Mario Kart chase that includes the rainbow highway. All characters get an equal showing too, it’s not 24 hrs of just Mario on the screen and that is additionally nice. The voiceovers are great and I was at first worried about that because I didn’t see Chris Pratt as a fit for a Mario voiceover but he worked it over pretty good. Jack Black was excellent for Bowser. Bowser and his monstrous moving realm in the sky are ominous looking and not cheesy. However, sometimes Bowser can be cheesy in the film, but just at the right comedic moments, unlike the video games. The bringing in of Donkey Kong’s world with Cranky Kong and Ditty Kong was unexpected and fun. Lots of fun surprises like this in the film will have you walking away wanting another. Stay for film credits and you be the judge whether you think there will be. I can definitely see how they will make this film in a game already.

The Bad: The only minorly bad thing I would say in this film *maybe* is they could have taken advantage of the 3D element even more than they did. Maybe even some more humor.

The Ugly: Nothing.

The only reason you would not want your kid to see this movie is if they can’t stand Mario and Luigi otherwise it is a great film even if your kid knows nothing about the game series.

4 OUT OF 5 STARS

Bonus Extra: Behind the Scenes and Movie Trailer

BREAKING IT DOWN: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY:

We return to the extrasolar moon Pandora where the Na’vi protect their home. Some humans have mixed in to help the races but when the “sky people” return with a mission more significant than their last, Jake Sully finds a familiar threat returning to finish what was previously started. Jake must now work with armies of the Na’vi race he hasn’t worked with before to protect their lives.

THE GOOD:

Avatar is a visual specular that James Cameron did so well, and he doesn’t disappoint here in Avatar: The Way of the Water. A large part of the film takes place in a water world which is utterly fantastic on the big screen in 3D. New creatures and fauna are just within reach of your retinas. This film is visual storytelling at its best. Part of the experience is about getting lost in the natural beauty of Pandora we haven’t seen yet, which clearly the director wants to give his fans more exposure to. There is a new, youthful set of children of the Na’vi that you will explore the wilderness with as well as run from dangers, and if you forget that, you may not enjoy this film. There is the story but part of the story is the visual elements of the story so you must be willing to suspend belief and enjoy the ride. There are unexpected plot twists that I indeed didn’t walk in expecting. Such as, how the “sky people” attempt to ultimately deceive the Na’vi people in a big way, how the character of “Spider”, a human boy, shares certain dynamic tensions with Quarich’s character, Lo’ak, and his relationship with the Avatar’s version of whales called Tulkuns, Quaarich’s character as a new clone, and Kiri as Sigourney Weaver’s daughter who is tightly connected to the planet. There is a good balance here between action and 3D sightseeing of the new world (this is just about a 3-hour tour)– for true Avatar fans, you will dig it! Of course, Jake and Netiri are still strong characters throughout even if somewhat overshadowed by their youngling characters. They still remain critical, strong, and an emotional element to the film’s storyline.

THE BAD

The film starts off with Jack Sully narrating a summary of what things have been like and then we are taken into a series of events when the sky people return and we start off running. It’s a rough shot into the film with little to no character introduction. This definitely builds throughout the story but makes what could be a glorious beginning seem more like a quick skim. Some people will struggle with the length of the film and one lady told us she didn’t like all the fighting in this one. I personally think that is because there is more of everything due to length. Jack Sully always wanting to be on the run is uncharacteristic and seems a bit unbelievable. It’s a turn in the story that doesn’t sit well. If you are coming in looking for an all-out battle between the sky people and Na’vi all the way through, you will be disappointed. There is a lot of it, but there is a good section of the film where the youth explore the water world and that storyline get’s side aside for seeing the world through youthful eyes and even some teen angst and pranks. We also get an introduction to the Tulkun whales here which is critical later. But some may see the length of that plot point being put to the side as a mistake. If you love Pandora, 3D, and visual story-telling, you will enjoy the director’s rather selfish diversion. The forest world of Pandora is almost pretty much the same underwater even though both beautiful and visually astonishing. The director did a great job creating different tribes and an underwater world. Yet, you couldn’t escape this feeling that this was Pandora’s forest underwater at times and some creativity was lost. However, in reality, they did a pretty good job recreating a new world out of a rather boring idea that doesn’t translate well on film all the time.

THE UGLY

Na’vi babies continue to look fake. Not sure why you would have an infant with a huge whale weighing tons and swimming around in the ocean. It just doesn’t make sense, it isn’t believable, and on the screen, it looks ugly and laughable. Netiri’s cry in the first film was critical to the emotion of that film. Her use of the very same cry 3 or so times throughout this film is plain overdone. I want to see Saturday Night Live do a version not getting her order right at Wendy’s and doing the same cry. It is just getting comical at this point.

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SCORE: 3 1/2 STARS

The Movie Trailer

BREAKING IT DOWN: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY:

IMB calls this “A joyous, emotional, heartbreaking celebration of the life” of Whitney Houston and for those of us who don’t know her that well there are a few surprises thrown in. Tap your feet to all the greatest hits of one of the greatest female R&B pop vocalists of all time and earn some greater respect as all these biopics gift us with as we observe her journey from obscurity to superstar to a tragic ending.

THE GOOD: Naomi Ackie as Whitney, Stanley Tucci as Clive Davis, Tamarie Tunie as Sissy Houston and Nafessa William as Houston’s female love interest are characters acted so well the only shame is we didn’t get to see more acting. These portrayals were solid and rich and Naomi was so realistic and beautiful at points, she outshined the real Houston, but of course, it was never her voice used. There was plenty of music covered and points it felt like portions of being right there at a concert. There was a good balance of highs and lows in the film. Houston’s female love interest and lesbian leanings was surprisingly a large focal point and this was done well. It is quite interesting to think that if it wasn’t for the era, Houston may have had a lesbian marriage. There is a lot of Houston’s life that is controversial that is dived into too deeply and that was something Houston didn’t want. It appears filmmakers honored that wish by not even getting into all the abuses that went on with Bobby Brown but just scratching the surface. Still, you walk away with the weight she carried and the pressure of everyone wanting her to be all things to all people. But you also see that she got to live a full life and many of her dreams.

THE BAD: There is more music in this movie than the story at time and that really is the only missing element. It was part of the film-makers attempt to tell her story through both acting and music. At some points, this is used is very beautiful ways, especially at the end of the movie. At other points, enjoyable as it is to re-live, you do feel the lack of depth of the story. For instance, if you compare it to Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman, or Jersey Boys, you get a great dose of music and the depth of the story in those movies. Nothing is sacrificed. That is not to say that there is no depth here. There is but it is clear that the balance was in favor of music over the story. Still it is a toe tapping, heart stirring good time and I can’t say enough about Naomi and Stanley’s acting in it. See it!