aquaman

POSITIVES…
- As he’s already proven in another movie, Jason Momoa is just charming as heck, in the role of Arthur Curry, AKA Aquaman. He is without a doubt the most entertaining character to watch here.
- The rest of the supporting cast are good too, from Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and more. Plus we get to see Nicole Kidman kick ass.
- The world building is good!
- In terms of spectacle, adventure, and action, this movie absolutely hits it’s marks.
- There’s a particular action set piece in Italy that is just a complete joy to watch.
- The fight choreography is also quite excellent here.
- Director James Wan does wonders with how certain scenes are shown on screen. Plus there are a lot of clever scene transitions too. Amazing work.

NEGATIVES…
- The CGI are hit or miss, especially when it came to some of those de-aging effects, or some of the location work.
- Stupid things still happen here and there.
- There’s one plot development that kinda just never developed, and seemed totally ignored.
- Follows some very derivative plot tropes.

P.S….
- This movie acknowledges and also ignores some of what was introduced during the Justice League film.

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the mule

POSITIVES…
- Clint Eastwood turns on the charm all the way up, to make us feel sympathy for Earl Stone, this old man with huge character flaws.
- This is a leisurely told movie that takes it’s time, which borders on the edge of feeling just right or feeling way too long.
- Although you probably have an idea on how this is going to end, you’re going to want to see it all the way through anyway.
- Part of the appeal of this story are the small little encounters that Earl runs into on his runs, as they add a form of levity to an otherwise dangerous occupation.

NEGATIVES…
- Those small little encounters also feel rather questionable if you consider all the subtext those scenes represent. Depending on that, those scenes might feel very distracting. In fact, I would argue that they really were distracting.
- Simply put, some people might find this movie too slow and too long.
- While some of the supporting cast are given some character development, the only one you’ll truly feel invested in is Earl Stone.

P.S….
- If I was to simply use this movie as a basis, then Clint Eastwood must really hate smartphones.

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bumblebee

POSITIVES…
- Finally we have a live-action Transformers movie that is directly targeting those of us who are big fans of the “Generation 1” animated series. The opening scene alone is quite the huge treat.
- The fact that they manage to get Bumblebee to show different emotions just from his voiceless face is still a marvel to me.
- Hailee Steinfeld continues to prove to us what a great actress she is, and her chemistry with Bumblebee is at the heart of what makes this movie absolutely worth watching.
- John Cena is so very entertaining in this as well.
- Has some excellent set pieces that ranges from scenes involving Hailee Steinfeld interacting with Bumblebee, to full on action sequences. There are some good chase sequences here too.
- This is essentially a fish out of water premise, mixed in with Spielberg’s “E.T.”
- Story and Characters versus just some mindless action sequences. Yes, Director Travis Knight and screenwriter Christina Hodson understands what it takes to make us care about and be invested with what happens in a Transformers movie.
- You will believe a girl can have a robot friend who can transfer to a volkswagen beetle, and it might just provoke some positive emotions from you.
- Easily the best live-action Transformers movie, especially compared to the Michael Bay directed installments that are filled to the brim with stupid things happening.

NEGATIVES…
- Some silly and stupid things still happen in this movie that will test your suspension of disbelief.
- There’s a recurring plot device that is used on Bumblebee far too many times to the point of being almost a parody.

P.S….
- Seriously, can we please be done with the whole “Bumblebee talks via clips from pop songs” gimmick?

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ben is back

POSITIVES…
- This is a heartbreaking and emotional story about how drug addiction affects more people than just the drug addict.
- From the very first scene, all the way until the end, this movie just grabs you and doesn’t let go. The pacing is fantastic.
- Amazing storytelling here, that contains very excellent ways of giving exposition in the most efficient ways.
- The plot goes places, some predictable, but still capable of giving us surprises.
- If you needed a reminder about how good of an actress Julia Roberts is, then see this movie.
- If you needed another introduction to how good an actor Lucas Hedges is, here is yet another movie to showcase his incredible talents.
- The chemistry between the two primary leads are so palpable, it’s hard not to feel invested with them.

NEGATIVES…
- Some of the emotional moments might seem melodramatic for some people.
- Some of the plot developments might seem to go too far depending on your suspension of disbelief.

P.S….
- Learned something new in this movie. Naltrexone.

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mortal engines

POSITIVES…
- I really liked the world building for the premise.
- Very creative visual designs.
- The visuals themselves are generally really nice to look at.
- Story moves at a good pace, and kept my attention enough to see it through until the end.
- Shrike, as played by Stephen Lang, is easily the most interesting character in the movie.

NEGATIVES…
- Shrike is unfortunately the only character that’s truly interesting in this movie.
- Katherine Valentine was arguably the worst written character of all of them.
- The nameless citizens of London were also cringe-worthy in how they were portrayed in this.
- A lot of the derivative young-adult-novel plot tropes are present in this one.
- Don’t get too distracted by the obvious green screen scenes, for there were a lot of them.

P.S….
- Cities-on-wheels is a nice creative idea, but physics-wise, how could they possibly move any faster than a turtle?

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once upon a deadpool

POSITIVES…
- $1 of every ticket goes to Fudge Cancer.
- The Princess Bride framing device with Fred Savage is hilarious.
- Some of the deleted scenes from the original cut were inserted back in for this version.
- kudos to adding that new after credits clip.
- This is still Deadpool 2 as it’s core. So if you liked that movie, then that helps with your enjoyment of this version.

NEGATIVES…
- This is still Deadpool 2 at its core. If you’re looking for a vastly different version of the movie that accommodates the more family friendly rating, then you’re going to be disappointed with the lack of effort in how they changed things up.
- There were probably only a handful of clever changes, but that’s about it.
- They still show people getting shot or stabbed, except with a quicker cut, and without the CGI blood. Now it just looks stupid when people get shot or stabbed.
- I simply wanted more of the Fred Savage framing device, and the amount we got was just satisfactory.
- That Nickelback related promotional trailer embedded here on this blog post? Not even in the movie!

P.S….
- 'Deadpool' Can Stay R-Rated at Disney, Says Bob Iger

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spider-man into the spider-verse

POSITIVES…
- Proves that a well produced animated feature is still the best way to translate comic books to the big screen.
- Love this unique looking animation style that perfectly emulates comic book pages. It’s cel-shaded 3D CGI done right!
- Plot moves and moves at a fast pace, managing to cram so much amazing content into this 117 minutes movie. Spectacular storytelling here.
- Multiple great set pieces here, whether it be a simple dialogue scene, to big action adventure beats.
- The kinetic, energetic, and action sequences were just so much fun to watch.
- Excellent in balancing out being funny, clever, exciting, and emotional too.
- Got to love the meta self-aware humor, and visual gags.
- Amazing voice cast overall, from Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Liev Schreiber, Kathryn Hahn, John Mulaney, to Nicolas Cage, and more!
- The main three leads here, Miles Morales, Peter B. Parker, and Gwen Stacy, were simply awesome! Seeing their personalities and their character arcs play out in their own ways, only increased my investment with the story.
- Probably has the best after-credits scene I’ve ever seen in a comic book movie.
- Could this be the best Spider-Man movie so far? Makes a very strong case for that distinction.

NEGATIVES…
- Some people might complain about the liberties and changes made; and there’s a lot, when compared to the original comic books it’s based on
- I’m not a huge fan of the character design for Kingpin

P.S….
- Did Sony just completely steal Marvel Studios’ thunder in introducing Miles Morales to the world on the big screen? Yeah, they totally did.

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Read Ultimate Comics Spider-Man!

been so long

POSITIVES…
- Good cast overall.
- There’s some good singing and dancing in this one.
- Has some nice visual tricks.
- It’s very frank talking about sex, which is refreshing.
- Thematically focused on the different aspects of Love, whether it’s romantic, platonic, or parental. I appreciate that.

NEGATIVES…
- Despite the movie’s attempts to be a fresh take on the modern romance, it didn’t completely capture my interest.
- Was kinda bored during certain chunks of the film.
- Some of the characters felt superfluous, and I wish were just cut from the story.
- Honestly could have used more song and dance numbers.

P.S….
- Is that Gendry from Game Of Thrones singing a tune?

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Watch It Now On Netflix

anna and the apocalypse

POSITIVES…
- If you’re looking for a teen pop musical mashed up with the horror zombie movie genre, then definitely check this out.
- The song and dance numbers are entertaining to watch, and I adore the fact that this movie embraces itself as a full fledged musical.
- I should also point out that this movie thankfully doesn’t skimp out on the horror zombie genre side of it, so expect the blood, gore, and deaths that comes with that.
- There’s a nice levity and playfulness to this film that somehow manages to avoid being too annoyingly precious and quirky.
- I feel like I just buried the lead, but one of THE reasons to see this is for Ella Hunt. Her role as Anna is fearless, and she has awesome screen presence, that it’s really easy to get invested with the main plot surrounding her character.
- Along with Ella Hunt, the cast overall are really good in this, from Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, to Paul Kaye.
- While it has some familiar plot tropes that goes with these genres, it isn’t without some surprises to keep your attention.

NEGATIVES…
- Obviously, if you don’t like the song and dance stuff, or all that zombie horror, then this movie isn’t for you.
- Certain plot developments came off being too expectedly and predictably cliche.
- There will be those that will think that this is too quirky and precious for its own good.
- Some could argue that the movie can feel tonally uneven at certain points, and that fun energetic momentum that you get from the first parts of the movie were unsustainable to carry through until the end of the film.
- Would have liked more of that song and dance stuff quite honestly.

P.S….
- Would Santa Claus still show up during the zombie apocalypse, or will there be nobody good enough to get gifts anymore?

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Check Out The Music From “Anna And The Apocalypse” (spoilers, I guess)

mowgli

POSITIVES…
- Rohan Chand plays a good Mowgli, and he is most definitely one of the main reasons to see this movie.
- Fantastic voice acting all around, from Christian Bale, Andy Serkis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Peter Mullan, to Cate Blanchett, and more.
- Some of the visuals can be really great to look at here.
- The story itself remains interesting and fascinating to see play out.
- I really like the thematic core of this story.
- This interpretation is closer to what Rudyard Kipling intended.
- I’m open to a non-family-friendly version of this story.

NEGATIVES…
- Some people will not be happy with a non-family-friendly version of the story. There’s a particular plot reveal later on in the movie that could potentially be traumatizing for kids to see.
- The CGI animals are hit or miss, with the wolves in particular looking rather odd; almost disturbing looking, and are just distracting to see.
- Doesn’t completely hit the landing in it’s emotional weight to the story.
- Comes off feeling a bit rudimentary at times with the narrative.

P.S….
- I really did not miss the song numbers for this adaptation.

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Watch It Now On Netflix