Firestarter (2022)

POSITIVES

  • It's a movie about a kid that has the power to create fire. That's got to be of some interest right? 

  • Cast is generally solid, which includes Zac Efron, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Sydney Lemmon, John Beasley, Gloria Reuben, Michael Greyeyes, and even Kurtwood Smith is in this. 

  • They let loose a little bit more during the last act. Probably a “powered” sequence people were waiting for. 

  • Some of the messaging and the more nuanced themes were at least worth having. 

  • Kudos to the trailer for actually not spoiling everything, and allowing us to discover the nice surprising plot detail to the story. Of course if you’re familiar with the original…

NEGATIVES

  • First and foremost, this remake should have been much better than what we actually got. Disappointing. 

  • It's 2022. A movie about people with powers can't be this boring. 

  • Stock narrative techniques that come off a little tiring to watch. 

  • Stupid plot choices that will make you roll your eyes. 

  • That whole thing with the cat. I mean c'mon now. 

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Firestarter (2022) - watched it on PEACOCK

Senior Year

POSITIVES

  • You may be familiar with this kind of plot and the usual thematic lessons that go along with them, but you might just admit that it’s a comfortably likable premise anyway. 

  • The whole 2002 vs 2022 comparisons with pop culture, social awareness, and just how different High School life can be in two decades time is part of the fun in watching this. 

  • All that inappropriate immature irreverent physical humor can definitely be entertaining for the most part. 

  • Rebel Wilson is fantastic embracing her character’s conceit. Shout out to the supporting cast, Mary Holland, Sam Richardson, Zoë Chao, Avantika, Joshua Colley, Jade Bender, Michael Cimino, Chris Parnell, Justin Harley, and Angourie Rice. They looked like they had a lot of fun making this movie. 

  • Speaking of fun. The era specific soundtrack is fun. The montage sequences are fun. The dance routines are fun!

NEGATIVES

  • This is a very nonsensical but familiar movie that has a generally predictable plot progression. 

  • Don’t overdose too much on all those references from 2002.  

  • Comedy is subjective, and the jokes can be hit or miss here. The humor can also be pretty embarrassing, awkward, and cringey. 

  • Hate to say this, but the mushy stuff just ruins the overall comedic tone of the narrative. 

  • Felt like the movie was equally mocking Gen X and Gen Z kids here, which might annoy you.

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Senior Year - watched it on NETFLIX

Along for the Ride

POSITIVES

  • Young adult coming of age romance drama. In the mood for something like that? But with a more laid back chill tone to it? This is probably a movie for you then. 

  • Finding yourself by doing new things you've never done before. Solid appealing premise for you young adults out there. 

  • It's all about the montage sequences with this movie. Seriously the best parts! 

  • Liked the solid supporting cast like Laura Kariuki, Genevieve Hannelius, and Samia Finnerty. Their chemistry together, along with Emma Pasarow is good. 

  • Cool soundtrack. Love how they integrate all the songs into the narrative. 

NEGATIVES 

  • You've seen this story before. You know the tropes. Nothing should really surprise you. Try and enjoy it anyway. 

  • Have to admit that I really didn’t find myself invested with the main romantic plot thread. Consider the fact that’s a huge chunk of the movie. 

  • Also can't say I particularly cared that much when the movie got all serious. Came off as a bit too precious and melodramatic. 

  • The Parental characters in this are a little too much. Apologies to Kate Bosworth and Andie MacDowell. 

  • Kinda loses some steam halfway through the movie, and just moves in autopilot. 

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Along for the Ride - watched it on NETFLIX

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

POSITIVES

  • If you’re caught up with the MCU and am a fan of anything Marvel in general, then there are no ifs or buts, you should go watch this movie. It’ll reward you for being a fan. 

  • The pacing, the energy, the plot progression, the visual storytelling, the magic, the sheer wondrous spectacle of it all, were all just non-stop and did not let go of your attention. Wow, that was a fun ride of a movie. 

  • It’s easy to take them for granted, but the casting for these MCU characters are just amazing. Kudos to Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, and new to this world Xochitl Gomez who is simply awesome in this. More of America Chavez please! 

  • Fan Service. Some glorious fan service that should excite you. Thank you Kevin Feige. 

  • Loved the fact that there were multiple sequences that absolutely drew from Director Sam Raimi’s film making sensibilities. 

NEGATIVES

  • Absolutely not a movie that you can just “jump-in'' without prior knowledge from the previous movies as well as the many MCU TV series on Disney+. 

  • I know that “plot convenience” is an easy negative for me to criticize a movie with, but there are some sequences where I just have to raise an eyebrow and think “well the movie would really have been over now if they actually applied the logical action to that sequence.” 

  • There are plot directions (some were pretty brutal) that you may not be happy that they went there. 

  • Alright, for several of the CG effects, you can tell that they aren’t going to age well years down the line. 

  • For a movie with “multiverse of madness” in the title, there just wasn’t enough “multiverse” or “madness” in this film for my preference. 

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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness - watched in IN THEATERS

The Fabulous Filipino Brothers

POSITIVES

  • Charming and sweet light-hearted family drama that has a narrative covering some very distinctly different Filipino-American brothers. 

  • Filipino-Americans will find a lot to relate with here. Those who want to know more about Filipino-Americans and the culture should watch this. Plus food. Gotta love those Filipino foods. 

  • One of the best strengths of this movie is the dialogue. Love the conversations found here. 

  • Humorous entertaining sequences, like the Rooster thing, the Church scene, or that eating seductively bit. 

  • Good cast overall, with Derek Basco, Dante Basco, Solenn Heussaff, Darion Basco, Dionysio Basco, Liza Lapira, and more. 

NEGATIVES

  • Not exactly the most exciting movie. 

  • Production isn’t exactly huge and it kinda shows. 

  • Questionable plot developments and conveniences. 

  • Humor and comedy are generally hit or miss. 

  • I wish it was more friendlier for kids to watch too, as the cursing and certain subject matters are more adult. I feel like this could be educational to the younger Filipino-Americans. 

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The Fabulous Filipino Brothers - watched it on VIDEO ON DEMAND

Crush

POSITIVES

  • While high school teen coming of age romantic comedies are very derivative, there's a comfortable satisfying appeal to watching them for fans of this sub-genre, and this movie is no different. 

  • Solid cast overall. Kudos to Rowan Blanchard, Auli'i Cravalho, Tyler Alvarez, Teala Dunn, Isabella Ferreira, Megan Mullally, Aasif Mandvi, and more. 

  • Romantic part of this rom-com is cute and adorable enough. Young love! 

  • The comedy part of this rom-com is pretty amusing, with Blanchard doing the physical humor, plus Aasif Mandvi and Michelle Buteau getting some good laughs from me. 

  • Liked the whole KingPun subplot (plus the artwork that comes with that), and having it be this ongoing mystery for the movie. 

NEGATIVES 

  • Like I implied, it's not too far at all from your typical high school teen coming of age romantic comedies, so expect the usual tropes, like unrequited loves, sports, horny teens, and them illegally drinking... 

  • About seven minutes into the movie, you pretty much already know where one of the main story lines are going. It's just one of those generally predictable movies. 

  • Not exactly the most ambitious or highly produced film. Cinematic this ain’t. 

  • Mother character is a little much. Seriously, calm down with her openness. 

  • Not really a negative to me, but there are those who won't be into the whole queer romance and social awareness. Sorry, it's unfortunately the world we live in, and that's the real negative. 

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Crush - watched it on HULU

Memory

POSITIVES

  • Solid premise for a dark and gritty subject matter in this dramatic crime thriller. 

  • Narrative is generally interesting in that it’s compelling enough to see how they conclude this story, what with all the different parallel plot threads and characters that it juggles with. 

  • Besides Liam Neeson always entertaining as a badass, the rest of the cast is good too, from Guy Pearce, Taj Atwal, Harold Torres, Ray Stevenson, to Monica Bellucci. 

  • Several of the action scenes, the cat and mouse sequences, to the part that will make John Rambo proud are entertaining to watch. 

  • While the story’s thematic commentary is pretty cynical, I think they are absolutely important to think about. 

NEGATIVES

  • It’s a decently standard plot that is kinda middle-of-the-road and doesn’t exactly go above and beyond as a movie. 

  • This story takes a while to really get going. Don’t be too impatient now. 

  • Several of the subject matters addressed might be too triggering for some people. 

  • Conclusion may not be as satisfying as some might want it to be. 

  • As a movie with this production value when considering today’s standards, it seems like there are TV show dramas with more ambition and budget. 

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Memory - watched in IN THEATERS

Bubble

POSITIVES

  • It has an appealing setting and general premise of this world that’s filled with Peter Pan’s Lost Boys, the Little Mermaid angle, and parkour. 

  • As an anime movie, I love the colorful visuals, sleek animation, and the cool character designs. 

  • The parkour sequences are one of the main reasons to see this movie, as it provides the most exciting action for this story. 

  • This movie shines with its chase camera that gives us an exhilarating experience following those action beats.  

  • There are some excellent montage scenes, but the third act overall is a wonderful spectacle that only this movie could give you. 

NEGATIVES 

  • Oh those familiar tropes and typical archetypes that just makes this anime feel so unoriginal. 

  • It even has your typical idealized audience surrogate male protagonist and the cute manic pixie dream girl. Try harder movie!  

  • Somehow the narrative is heavily filled with so much exposition and at the same time shows us some highly illogical, physics defying, impossible unexplainable things.  

  • Messaging and commentary doesn't really stick the landing and comes off kinda superficial in what it’s trying to say. 

  • Weird how it opens like it's a TV show. I had to double check to make sure that this was still a movie I was watching. 

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Bubble - watched it on NETFLIX

The Northman

POSITIVES

  • This movie goes to many interesting places, throws curveballs at you, and challenges your opinions. The premise. Setting and time period. Those surreal imagery. Very weird moments. Epic set pieces. Fascinating sequences. The narrative and plot progression overall. All that adds up to an experience that grips you from beginning until the end. 

  • If you’ve come here for the action, this film is able to provide that for you, and they are quite brutal. There is also a sweet looking sword to go along with all that violence too. 

  • Cinematography, the visuals, and production design are all top notch here. Kudos especially to those great tracking shots that can be found multiple times in this film. 

  • Performances are excellent all around. Great work by Alexander Skarsgård, Anya Taylor-Joy, Claes Bang, Nicole Kidman, Gustav Lindh, Ethan Hawke, and more. 

  • There are themes and commentaries here to really contemplate, but I particularly liked the message that this story wants to teach us. It’s a bit nuanced and some people may not even see that messaging, but I appreciate that the movie gets there with what it wants to say. 

NEGATIVES

  • I know this movie looks visually great and all, but some of those scenes filled with heavy dark shadows maybe need just a little more lighting for us to completely see what’s going on?  

  • Brutality. Violence. Gore. Grotesque deaths. Animals are constantly getting killed. Might go a little too far for some people’s sensibilities. 

  • Some of the plot conveniences seemed like too much of a cheat just to keep the story going. 

  • There are many things that happen in the movie that might come off as very off-putting. 

  • How much male testosterone can you handle? 

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The Northman - watched in IN THEATERS

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

POSITIVES

  • You go into this movie to see Nicolas Cage being outrageous by being an outrageous Nicolas Cage, and that is what you get! There’s a lot here that Nic Cage fans will appreciate. 

  • Not to be outdone, but Pedro Pascal is also awesome in this! The pairing of Cage with Pascal is just fantastic and a huge draw to seeing this movie. 

  • Gotta hand it to the premise, which is the general gimmick itself, for being a highly entertaining watch. It is also much funnier than I expected it to be too. 

  • Excellent scenes to see here, from the bit on the cliff, avoiding security, a particularly trippy segment, all that pop culture references, the exciting third act, to the sequences involving some deep fakery, plus more. 

  • Some solid messaging and commentaries, but there is one particular theme that is directly aimed at movie fans that I got to applaud. 

NEGATIVES

  • This movie has a lot of nonsense that might not work for everybody. 

  • I didn’t particularly care for the attempt at fake outs in parts of the story. 

  • Certain plot conveniences also come off as too illogical or contrived. 

  • Not sure if I would say that one of the big plot reveals is either an uninspired cop out, or just too conventional than what I wanted. 

  • At a certain point I realized that the general plot progression to this movie is very similar to another (honestly better) Nic Cage film. While it may or may not have been done on purpose, it did detract from this movie’s fresh factor.  

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the Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent - watched in IN THEATERS