Knives Out

Knives Out PG-13

My Rating 4.5 Stars

Knives Out is a Murder Mystery / Who Done It type movie with a lot if heart and the right amount of funny bone added in. It is such a fun ride the entire time that the 2 hours you spend in the theater flies by and you don’t want it to stop.  

It definitely takes queues from a Sherlock Holmes or a Murder on the Orient Express but is not typecast by them either. And the cast, oh what a cast. I still do not understand how they can pay for this amount of talent and still afford to make the movie but what a movie they made.  Between the easy dialogue, nervous energy, and intriguing characters that are continually on display, this movie makes for one of my more enjoyable viewings this year so far.

There is one criticism I have with the movie, however it is not something I can get into without giving away parts of the movie.  I will just say, for me, it could have been a little different and I would have loved it more.

With that being said, this is still a great movie and should be seen ASAP and enjoy!!

Terminator: Dark Fate

Terminator: Dark Fate 

My Rating 3 Stars

In yet another time traveling killer robot movie, Terminator: Dark Fate tries to make us forget everything that happened after T2 and almost works. The Terminator is on point, Sarah Connor is great and a well aged but jaded hero and T-800 is the Arnold we remember. The problem is everything else is generic and had been previously done but now has new faces on it. Unfortunately while this movie was fun, I will not remember it as the best Terminator 3... or was it 6, no it is 3.1.5.

Just wait until Redbox.

Midway

Midway 2019 PG-13

My Rating: 4 Stars

Midway is a very unique movie in that it is not a documentary, at all, in any way, and yet it is almost as factually based and accurate that it could be easily mistaken for one if not for the high Hollywood production value a few small embellishments that are taken.  It is being praised by the U.S. Navy because of this and that should say a lot.  If for no other reason, this should be enough for you to go see this movie but luckily for you, there are many more reasons and let's get into some of them now.

The way the flight sequences are shot, give you a full view of what is going on over the battle field while also quite literally putting you in the pilots and gunners seats better than any movie I have seen before.  It really is a feat all unto it’s own how they pulled this off and made it feel both authentic and exciting.

The cast of Ed Skrein, Patrick Wilson, Luke Evans, Woody Harrelson, Mandy Moore, Dennis Quaid, Alexander Ludwig, Nick Jonas, and more all put in so much effort to pay tribute to the real people they were playing and all the care they took with their characters shined through.

The only problem I have with Midway is the run time, more specifically, it needed to be longer.  With everything they try to put into this movie, it is a little abrupt in its jumps of story lines because of editing and with 20 or 30 more minutes it could have been so much smoother.

However that does not take away from the fact this this is still one of the most factual and well done WWII movies I have seen and should really be seen on the big screen by anyone who has even a passing interest or respect for American history.

Phantom Thread

Should I Go or Just Say No?

Phantom Thread: Rated R

My Rating: 5 Stars

I will start off this review by stealing one my my favorite sayings from Grey’s Anatomy, this movie was “Dark and Twisty” and all the better for it.  If feels like a movie that was actually filmed in 1950’s London and then forgotten about until just now and released.  The camera shots, music, costumes, and dialog is so authentic that it almost makes your heart aches for how real it is.

Phantom Thread follows the ins and outs of of the House of Woodcock, a renowned dress maker Reynold Woodcock in London who is at the top of his professional game and at the bottom of his mental one.  Daniel Day-Lewis delivers a very believable performance of mental strain and artistic brilliance combined with an emotional wanting.

Vicky Krieps has a powerful and surprisingly loving yet difficult relationship with Woodcock as the unforgettable Alma.  The Strength and Quietness she brings to the role is both shockingly amazing as it is so out of the norm for what we are used to seeing for a women in the 50s and because of this, it is a wonderfully refreshing performance.

Lesley Manville plays Woodcocks sister Cyril and gives what seems like a more typical 50s ladies role until it doesn’t.  She also gives a perfect performance that deserves every bit of Oscar but she is getting.

Phantom Thread is a movie that cares deeply about the story and feel of the movie and uses every way it can to tell you it instead of just using dialog like most drama’s recently.  In that respect if reminds me a lot of Stanley Kubrick’s Space Odyssey 2001.

So with all that said it is time to answer “The Question”.  Go, you must Go to this movie if only to see something that is so unique and heartwarming in its twisted brilliance.  This While most people will not be able to guess every twist and turn in this movie, some of them may make people mad.  But for me, that is part of the fun.

Please enjoy and leave me a comment with what you think of the movie when you see it.

Blade Runner 2049

Should I Go or Just Say No?

Blade Runner 2049 - Rated R

My rating: 4 stars

The long awaited, requested, and not to be retired sequel to Blade Runner is here.  It has a run time of 2h 43min and at moments feels every minute that long.  Just like the first installment, Blade Runner 2049 is more like an epic in its attempt at in-depth story telling and its sprawling scenic shots.  For me it mostly pulls this off and works well.  Also like the first one there are lots of slower drama moments and action inserted sporadicly here and there (thankfully there is just enough action to keep the blood pumping and should keep audiences engaged).

Blade Runner 2049 stars Ryan Gosling (best known for La La Land, Crazy Stupid Love, and Drive) Jared Leto (best know for Suicide Squad), Robin Wright (best know for The Princess Bride and Forrest Gump), and of course Harrison Ford (best know for Star Wars, Indiana Jones and way to many other great movies to name here…. thats what IMDB is for people.)

This movie was deeper than I thought it was going to be and it really delves into the moral questions of Human vs Robot vs Human Robot or something like that.  I really enjoyed the emotional and tangible struggle that K (Ryan Gosling) goes through and how he deals or does not deal with it.

The graphics where again mind blowing just like the original was when it was made.  There are a couple of scenes in the movie where they edit two scenes together with some amazing CG and these really made me stop and appreciate the art form that it takes to accomplish something like that so seamlessly.

My biggest issue with this movie is it’s length.  I feel it needs to be about 15 minutes shorter, however when it ended I wasn’t quite ready for it to end because the world the movie created was so captivating.  There is just one (ok like 5) too many long panning scenery shots that take up valuable minutes that didn’t really need to be there to move the story along.

This one is a no brainer in the Should I Go or Just Say No question.

Go, Go right now, and then Go again!!

You will probably need to see it at least twice to appreciate everything the movie has to offer anyway.

Marshall

Should I Go or Just Say No

Marshall - PG-13

My rating: 2 1/2 stars

This one is a bit of a difficult one, on one hand there are some wonderful pieces to this and on the other there is just not enough.  Marshall is like Shakespeare for Dummies in that you get some great characters but the story is watered down.  That’s what makes this one so tough for me, the acting is really top notch but the meat and depth of the story being told did not match.

Marshall is a movie about Thurgood Marshall, a central figure in the civil rights movement and a lawyer of prominence whom changed history in the courtroom.  That being said, the movie chose to focus on one of his lesser know cases, and that is where it started to fall apart for me.  Marshall feels the whole time like it is setting up something bigger but never completely gets there.

This movie stars Chadwick Boseman (Best know for 42 and Captain America: Civil War) as Thurgood Marshall, Josh Gad (Best know for Beauty and the Beast 2017 and Pixels) as Sam Friedman who is the co-council for the case involved, Kate Hudson (Best know for Almost Famous, Glee, and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days) as Eleanor Strubing the plaintiff, Dan Stevens (Best know for Beauty and the Beast 2017 and Downton Abby ) as Loren Willis the racist prosecutor, and James Cromwell (Best known for I Robot, the Green Mile, Space Cowboys, and LA Confidential) as Judge Foster the Judge….duh.

Boseman and Gad really almost have a magical chemistry in this movie that is filtered through their own personal realities and Gad does have character arc and growth.  I would say that they are the main redeeming factors for Marshall.  While Hudson, Stevens, and Cromwell all act their parts brilliantly, there is not enough depth to their characters.  There are too many stereotypes with the other characters.  While that might be the point, Marshall just did not delve deep enough into the history of the time or the characters lives to give much more context other than stereotypes.

So, as always, here is the question I strive to answer, Should I Go or Just Say No?

For Marshall I have to Just Say NO and wait until it is released on DVD or TV.  It is a good movie to see eventually with great acting but for anyone with any knowledge of the civil rights movement this movie will offer nothing new or original.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Should I Go or Just Say No

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

As a fan of the first Kingsman movie, I came into this newest installment of the Kingsman world expecting wonderful things.  My expectations were both meet and let down at the same time and I walked out of the movie theater a little confused at my emotional reaction to this one.

The action scenes in The Golden Circle are good, really there are some great sequences, just maybe not enough of them to make up for some of the other issues.  The opening that contains a wonderful car chase scene reminiscent of Ronan and Baby Driver more than holds it own.  However, where the first Kingsman movie did a good job of balancing the action, British Comedy, and story line; The Golden Circle tries to take it to another level and for me, it lost itself in the process.

There are way too many crude jokes in this movie that just did not seem to fit or really need to be there.  Also the movie took a very graphic sexually suggestive swing in the middle that also seemed to be out of place and even the characters of the movie seem uncomfortable with it.

Taron Egerton is back as Eggsy and kills it.  Mark Strong is also back as Merlin and for me, blew it out of the water.  Channing Tatum, Hallie Berry, and Jeff Bridges are all new characters in this movie and while they diid a good job of showing some depth in their characters, there was not enough of them.  Pedro Pascal, who is best know for Game of Thrones, has the biggest part as a new character named Whisky and he is part of what lost if for me.

Both Pedro and Channings character Tequila are cast as the “American Idiot” roles and are the butt of quite a few American jokes.  While their actual characters are far from idiots, this movie is at its heart a British Comedy so any American is going to be stereotypical.  That being said, they went a bit far with this joke line.

Unfortunately I am not really mentioning Julianne Moore because her character was not written well enough for her.  Also maybe because she was following a superb role by Samual Jackson, there was nothing she could have done better with what she was given in The Golden Circle.

Now we get to the question at hand, “Should I go or just say no”.

GO

If you were a fan of the first Kingsman movie, or action movies in general then go see this one and enjoy.  Just realize it may not be all that you are hoping for.

Also I strongly suggest parental guidance on this one.  I was planning on taking my daughter to this movie prior to my seeing it but now I am having serious second thoughts because of the sexual content and the bloody violence.

Thats all for now, hope to be back soon.

A little background and direction

My name is Ryan and I have always been a lover of movies.  It all started for me when I was taken to go see the Lion King in the Theater as a kid.  This was my first time in a movie theater and between the awesome film that was Timba and Simone (aka The Lion King) and the amazing downtown Seattle theater experience, I was hooked.  My love was deepened later in my formative years when I had both the pleasure and misfortune of working at a video rental store.  This job opened my mind to all the different genres and styles of films there are.

Over the years I have increasingly felt film criticism has started to exist only for the ability to point out what people do not like about a movie or to try to talk over peoples heads like film is some alternate plain of existence.  While I agree that a film should put you into another world for however long it is running, I do not think you should have to have a masters degree or mind altering drugs to understand what the critic is talking about.  I also do not think that every movie needs to be ripped apart and torn down with negative criticism.

My goal in this blog is to provide some insight on whether or not a movie would be worth you time to go see and the reasons why or why not.  It is my aim to not be too negative or over the top but to be honest, and easy to understand.  In my reviews I will be putting more weight on emotional reactions rather than just deep critical review as I feel this has really been missing lately.

I want to give a shout out to Aaron White at feelinfilm.com who has helped revive my passion of movies lately and has encourage me to start on this journey.

Here we go....

Annabelle: Creation - Spoiler Free podcast review

Aaron White and I did a podcast review minutes after walking out of Annabelle: Creation.  Aaron is a huge horror fan and I am not.  Listen to the podcast for a unique view on this movie.

Click here to listen to the podcast