Uncharted

POSITIVES

  • If you're looking for a treasure hunting action-adventure, that has good pacing, and a compelling enough narrative, then this is a perfectly solid movie to check out. It knows what it is, it's limits, and does a fine enough job being entertaining in doing what it’s doing. 

  • Tom Holland is charming as heck playing Nathan Drake, and I really enjoyed seeing him do all those parkour moves on screen. Sophia Ali as Chloe Frazer is also a fun character to watch here. Plus Tati Gabrielle makes a fine antagonist as Braddock. 

  • This movie has several good set pieces, from the heisting, the chasing, the clue finding, to that big action sequence during the third act. 

  • I overall liked the lighthearted tone and humor of this movie, and those smart ass lines. 

  • Fans of the video game franchise that this is based on will have fun with the easter eggs and references. 

NEGATIVES

  • Doesn't exactly add anything remarkably fresh to the table in the treasure hunting want-to-be-Indiana-Jones genre of movies. You would think there are some inspired and ambitious themes and ideas here, but there really isn't. 

  • Still falls for the same mistakes most movies in this genre make. We in the movie watching audience actually want the chance to play along with the clues to finding the treasure. Characters in the movie solving the puzzles simply because the plot demands it are just not as engaging as they should be. 

  • Are a lot of the things that happen in this movie a bit unbelievable or too convenient? Yes. 

  • Mark Wahlberg continues to just play the usual derivative character that he plays, complete with the seemingly forced banter and nonchalant attitude because he thinks that's supposed to be ssoooo entertaining to watch. 

  • The deaths and murdering of people here all seems a little too casual. Especially when the most remorse you'll get from our protagonist is a “sorry.” 

loveditenjoyedit LIKED IT itsokayitsmehitsterrible

Uncharted - watched it IN THEATERS

Death on the Nile

POSITIVES

  • If you're a fan of Murder on the Orient Express, then you probably will want to check this out to see what mystery Hercule Poirot has to solve now. That's the only reason you really need to see this. 

  • Actually there’s another reason. Kenneth Branagh as Poirot is the best thing in this movie. Although I do like Tom Bateman reprising his role as Bouc as well. The rest of the cast are generally solid in their roles. 

  • You can tell a lot of money was thrown towards the production of this film, because it is visually very grand and extravagant to look at. 

  • I liked that one of the themes and commentaries made in this story fits perfectly with why this ended up being released during Valentine’s Day weekend. 

  • There’s a lot going on in this film, and I think some movie goers will enjoy the denseness and intricacies of the characters and the mystery. 

NEGATIVES

  • This is a traditional murder mystery complete with those plot tropes, narrative conveniences, and familiar archetypes. It just doesn’t have the more enjoyably fun modern takes of the genre. It is what it is. 

  • You just might get impatient and frustrated with this movie, because it takes its sweet long time before it gets to the crux of the mystery. You know, the thing you actually signed up for. 

  • It’s hard to be completely invested with the mystery when I don’t particularly like so many of these characters that are involved in it. 

  • The movie ridiculously lays out all the clues and expositions in such an obvious way that it can get kinda obnoxious. Yes, we get it! Those are the suspects! Quit having the camera continually highlight them like we have to constantly see the line-up. 

  • I seriously feel like this is definitely one of those stories that should just be retold as a limited TV series, instead of trying to cram so much into a two hours time frame. 

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Death On The Nile - watched it IN THEATERS

The Sky is Everywhere

POSITIVES

  • Fascinating look into grief through the lens of a confused and awkward teenage musical prodigy. The narrative goes places with a lighter tone than you would expect from a movie that's focused on so much sadness. 

  • Grace Kaufman is absolutely earnestly fantastic as the grief-stricken lead Lennie Walker. Jacques Colimon as Joe Fontaine is just so cool and awesome. Solid supporting cast which includes Pico Alexander, Cherry Jones, Havana Rose Liu, Ji-young Yoo, Jason Segel, and more. 

  • Stylized visuals, bright colors, and graphical tricks, to give you all that constant eye candy. 

  • Love the musical interludes that go into fantastical imaginative segments like the "Air on a G String" by Johann Sebastian Bach sequence. 

  • Really happy with how the final act plays out, plus the overall message of the story. Rewards you for seeing through the movie. 

NEGATIVES

  • Probably way too quirky and precious, mixed with that teenage angst and melodrama. Not for everybody. 

  • If you find artsy kids annoying, then stay clear away from this movie. 

  • Hope you don't mind all the voice over monologuing, because it can sound pretentious at times. 

  • It's like the camera never stops moving and it can be a little much. 

  • AUGH they went there with that embarrassing cliche of a plot turn. You don't have to do that just to create a complicated conflict!  

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The Sky Is Everywhere - watched it on APPLE TV+

The In Between

POSITIVES

  • This is that great love story that you might have romanticized having when you were an idealistic teenager. Enjoy seeing that put on screen. 

  • Narrative mix of chronological flashbacks, the present, and the supernatural elements, all work really well together. 

  • There are several beautifully shot simple scenes of Tessa navigating through what life has tossed at her, along with some involving set pieces that will drive your interest in seeing the story through. 

  • Joey King and Kyle Allen are amazing here as Tessa and Skyler respectively. Wearing their heart and emotions on their sleeves, how could you not root for these two? Shout out to Celeste O'Connor, Kim Dickens, and John Ortiz, for being really good in their roles as well. 

  • Stellar soundtrack that features some good song choices. 

NEGATIVES

  • Not exactly a unique romantic drama. So expect some familiar tropes, cliches, and derivativeness to keep things from being too fresh of a movie experience. 

  • Might be a bit melodramatic a lot of the time? Might not be to your liking perhaps? 

  • The character of Skyler is just a little too perfect? I mean he’s not perfect-perfect, but damn is he really kinda perfect for that dream boyfriend to have. 

  • Third act might have taken things too far with the premise. I know supernatural elements are involved here, but let’s put some logic to certain plot decisions now can we? 

  • If you somehow don't like "Never tear us apart" by INXS… well, sorry? 

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The In Between - watched it on PARMOUNT+

I Want You Back

POSITIVES

  • Opening montage scene perfectly shows you the kind of silly entertainment that you're going to have while watching this movie.

  • Jenny Slate and Charlie Day. Very funny people on their own, but also their chemistry together is fantastic. Kudos as well to Manny Jacinto for being quite the scene stealer.  

  • If there’s one factor that you can rely on to keep you amused, it’s the funny lines and punchlines that this movie is filled with.  

  • Enjoyable set pieces, from the Little Shop of Horrors, to the after club get together, gives you those situational comedies that this movie’s premise can bring. 

  • There are some subplots and character back stories that I found genuinely endearing. 

NEGATIVES

  • Can’t be helped, there are some predictable and familiar elements.  

  • On occasion, the movie does slow down to a crawl when it has to show some emotional moments. 

  • A couple of the characters unfortunately felt a little underwritten. 

  • Probably goes on longer than it had to. 

  • Can movies stop using the old tired plot trope of the lead characters having a discussion while watching a movie in a theater, while there are other audience members present?!!! Just write them watching a movie at home or at their apartment or something! Pet peeve of mine. 

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I Want You Back - watched it on PRIME VIDEO

Marry Me

POSITIVES

  • While ridiculous for a romantic premise, it’s admittedly charming and cute enough in that it works anyway. 

  • A lot of what makes this movie work relied a lot on Jennifer Lopez’s strength in being very familiar with the character she plays and Owen Wilson being the simple nice guy. Supporting cast was solid as well, from Sarah Silverman, Chloe Coleman, John Bradley, and Michelle Buteau.

  • Plot progression should keep your attention, and it’s entertaining enough to want to see the story play out until the end. 

  • Some key set pieces were fun to see play out, like a lot of the scenes involving the school, plus the montages. There are some solid montages here. 

  • They actually played out a lot of the songs in full, and I really liked “After Love,” “On My Way,” and “Marry Me (ballad).” 

NEGATIVES

  • You’ve seen these kinds of stories before. Expect the usual tropes, cliches, and predictability. 

  • The reasoning behind the premise is quite a bit preposterous. Huge suspension of disbelief required. 

  • Speaking of which, there are some unbelievable moments here and there that you're gonna have to just somehow ignore. 

  • I wasn't feeling some of the song numbers. They just aren’t all hits. 

  • Although I appreciated the commentaries and lessons shared in the movie, it all felt relegated to sound bites or just general plot details rather than fully formed themes. 

loveditenjoyedit LIKED IT itsokayitsmehitsterrible

Marry Me - watched it on PEACOCK TV

Kimi

POSITIVES

  • It's an interesting fresh approach to "the woman in the house," or "girl in the window" plot premise that works well as a compelling film that also has some triggering real-world commentaries absolutely worth exploring. 

  • Once the story really gets going, the plot progression gets pretty engaging and thrilling. Scenes that will keep you guessing how she’s going to get out of her situation. 

  • Zoë Kravitz does a spectacular job with her nuanced and idiosyncratic performance as our main lead, Angela Childs. Supporting cast such as Alex Dobrenko, Jaime Camil, and Byron Bowers are solid overall. . 

  • Loved the way this movie uses and represents tech and the internet, but most especially in how it depicts a smart assistant (like accidentally activating the trigger word and yelling at it to stop). 

  • This might just be one of the better films to heavily integrate it's premise with COVID-19, lockdowns, and the behavioral changes we have now because of them, and it only makes the narrative even more interesting. 

NEGATIVES

  • Angela Childs is not exactly the most affable protagonist to have. 

  • Doesn’t quite find the proper balance between having the antagonists be extremely capable or incredibly inept. 

  • It takes over 20 mins to build up to the actual premise. Hope it's able to keep your attention until then. 

  • There are some plot tropes and conveniences that you'll have to just accept are there. 

  • With “the woman in the house,” or “girl in the window” premise parallels, I’m sure you might be looking forward to some big mystery that has to be uncovered. Don’t hold your breath there.

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Kimi - watched it ON HBO MAX

Jackass Forever

POSITIVES

  • It’s Jackass. You go into this movie wanting to get what you expect to get from Jackass, and it delivers on that. 

  • There are a lot of good stunts and skits in this installment to the franchise. From the opening Kaiju scene, “Silence of the Lambs,” to the cup test sequel, there’s a lot of fun to be had here. 

  • Legacy veteran cast members are still here continuing to entertain you. I felt like Danger Ehren McGhehey was the best overall, but kudos to the whole crew. 

  • Jasper Dolphin and Poopies McInerne were some of the standouts of the new cast members that are worth checking out this movie for. 

  • A lesson that’s worth receiving from this movie (and the franchise as a whole), is to not have hard feelings and have a sense of humor when being pranked. The cast messing with each other and still remaining wholesome about it is a welcome thing to see. 

NEGATIVES

  • It’s still Jackass. If you weren’t already a fan, this isn’t going to change your mind. 

  • Hope you don’t mind seeing naked penis and scrotum over and over again. 

  • For a movie like this, there are expectedly some skits that are just not going to work with you. In fact I felt that a lot of the pranks involving innocent bystanders were not that funny at all. I wish the movie didn’t bother including them. 

  • No shade to the new cast, but a lot of fans will always just prefer the veteran cast. This franchise will not survive without them. 

  • I won’t deny it, there are questionable ethical uses of animals here.  

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Jackass Forever - watched it IN THEATERS

Moonfall

POSITIVES

  • Say what you will about the story telling, but I genuinely found this film to have a fascinating premise. I also liked the math/science jargon that helps make up the plot. 

  • Forget the rest of the cast, because John Bradley as Dr KC Houseman seems to be the only one that is making a real effort to be entertaining in his role. 

  • Those gravity wave scenes are visually pretty cool to watch. 

  • That big giant plot reveal! I give the movie kudos for going there. 

  • There’s a surprisingly unexpected recurring theme that kinda snuck up in this story that I absolutely appreciated. 

NEGATIVES

  • Very derivative to Roland Emmerich’s past filmography. So expect those familiar plot tropes and conveniences to drive the story forward. 

  • There’s a great amount of CGI in this movie, which wouldn’t be too bad if it wasn’t for the fact that the CGI looks average to acceptable at best. 

  • Stupid nonsensical ludicrous things happen so much in this movie.

  • Hey movie! Don’t tease a sequel at the end if you have no idea that you’re actually getting one. 

  • Unfortunately, there will be people who will actually believe the conspiracy theory that this story introduces. 

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Moonfall - watched it IN THEATERS

They/Them/Us

POSITIVES

  • This is for those looking for a different kind of Brady Bunch premise. The ones where the parents are a little more on the kinky side, with a side of embarrassing and awkward comedic situations. 

  • Movie includes a solid cast including Joey Slotnick, Amy Hargreaves, Lexie Bean, Shanna Strong, and Jack Steiner who is a scene stealer with the best lines. 

  • The relationship between Charlie and Lisa is probably the biggest draw to this story, but the main premise about their struggles in raising their teenage kids is quite endearing as well. 

  • There are a couple of running jokes and plot threads that I found pretty amusing. “The D-Type.” LOL 

  • Heartwarming themes that go well with the more modern family dynamics of a story should give you some insightful food for thought.  

NEGATIVES

  • While the sexual content isn't anywhere near tasteless or excessive, they are presented in a very frank and open manner, which admittedly is not going to be for everybody. 

  • Story feels a little aimless and unexciting at times. 

  • There’s a tonal shift during the third act that might kill the mood a bit. 

  • The teenage kids can seem a little too overly unreasonable and difficult. 

  • Was really hoping it wouldn't go for the most predictable awkward gag to do for this kind of movie, but it did 

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They/Them/Us - watched it on VIDEO ON DEMAND