The Night Comes for Us Movie Review

Intense action, gore that's not for the squeemish (but occasionally also comical, yet not tone-killing), impressive / ridiculous choreography, lush and stylistic cinematography, atmospheric music, and excellent pacing make for a solid viewing experience.

The Night Comes for Us is incredibly focused and tight on its plot, which is done to elevate all of the incredible action and style that exude every scene of this movie. As well, there's a buildup towards the final fight that makes that payoff (the fight) so beautiful; also helps to be familiar with The Raid: Redemption.

While it won't be nearly as ground-breaking, this has enough elements for me to consider Night the Action-Thriller's (with a hint of Western) equivalent of The Matrix - the visuals, the characters and costume choices, the masterful direction and cinematography; plus a few love letters to other great movies.

Conclusion: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Currently streaming on Netflix

Destination Wedding movie review

I very much enjoyed Destination Wedding, as it worked for me in a bunch of ways.

Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder have great chemistry as the two leads (and essentially only characters in the movie). Sure, the movie is like a stage play, but it's reminiscent of Birdman in that it's better/best served as a movie; and similarly, it's about two less-than-likeable-but-very-endearing people.

DW flips the classic Hollywood romance story, where two folks are in a remote location and "fall in love." Here, the characters are highly opinionated, intelligent and flawed. There's no real "romance" in this romance movie - but there are connections and understanding; it's genuine human interaction (by two of society's "outsiders.")

Plus excellent word play and comedy. Have I praised the intelligence of this movie, yet?

Another element I really appreciated was the restrained cinematography - everything is shot crisp, with intent. Yes, pretty much every shot is a wide duo, but there's strategy in the execution that I rarely see in other movies, and relates to the narrative (journey of the characters). And, mild spoiler, but there's a specific shot around half-way into the movie involving a hill that has one of my favorite visual gags in a long time.

Beyond the acting, writing and visuals, I generally enjoyed the music by William Ross and presentation. I would gladly spend another weekend with Lindsay and Frank if it were done like this, wherever their journey takes them.

Conclusion: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. It's a tight 90-minute film that does lose a little steam around the 2/3rds mark, but the general pacing and overall execution won me over.

Streaming on Amazon Prime, as of this writing.

Incredibles 2 Movie Review

As a big fan of The Incredibles (a favorite animated movie, favorite score, excellent blend of superheros and James Bond, the emotional journey), I’m rather mixed on Incredibles 2. I tried going in with little-to-no expectations, trying to soak in the movie I saw, but probably still had a degree of bias / expectation.

SPOILER-FREE quick take: Incredibles 2 has a number of really great things in it (such as the action), it also has a few too many plot lines, with no storyline really getting the breadth and depth they deserve. Overall, the film lacks the heart of the first movie, but there's almost always something going on and I was surprised how quickly the movie flew by, despite being bored at times and awkward pacing leading to a general lack of proper climactic moments.

Extended review with SPOILERS:


WHAT I LIKED:
1. The action was really, really great! Some seriously top-tier stuff. That raccoon!

2. Jack-Jack’s micro storyline (the various scenes) were pretty great - he made for some excellent humor and action, giving other characters lots of things to play with.

3. The villain’s message and general motivation was solid – I loved the callout of consumer culture, with regards to people defining themselves by consumption as opposed to creation, as well as becoming passive due to that consumption. And the reason for the villain being a villain is pretty good (ruined faith/reliance in Supers), and fairly in-line with the Syndrome’s motivation (burned entitlement by Supers).

4. Voyd! Like with Blink in X-Men: DOFP, Voyd was awesome.

5. Winston Deavor (MILD SPOILER) actually being an earnest good guy. Yes, men are problematic in society and in media, so it's nice to see an earnest good guy in this.

6. Frozone getting more to do. More Sam Jackson is almost always a good thing in my book.

7. The company logos (Disney and Pixar) in the beginning done in the red Incredibles aesthetic.

8. A number of little moments, such as SPOILERS Evelyn calling out Helen think they'd be friends despite not knowing each other, and Jack-Jack towards the end using his telekinesis to save his mom after recognizing the situation (I would have loved this to have held for an extra beat).


WHAT I'M MIXED ON:
1. The dialogue – For the most part it’s fine, but there were a number of lines that were a bit too on-the-nose for my preference. Again, probably fine, but another pass or two would’ve been nice (may also have been tied to the delivery).

2. Brad Bird’s storytelling voice is somewhat questionable and he isn’t exactly great with women – He’s mostly fine, but there are little signs in Mrs. Incredible, Violet, Edna Mode, Voyd and Evelyn Deavor that are questionable, and are presumably a reflection of his baby boomer upbringing and current middle-aged status. A couple examples: while Mrs. Incredible is an incredible character, she’s a bit more of a plot mover than any real emotional thrust; there’s a fun-but-side-eyed puberty joke at Violet’s expense (plus her general reaction to her plot). Again, things are generally fine, but Bird’s voice has a certain coldness to it that’s become more apparent (after the Tomorrowland bust, presumably).

3. Michael Giacchino’s score – I could probably put this under “didn’t work for me” since it’s a largely forgettable score, saved only by the re-use of the great themes from the original (a personal favorite score). Maybe it’s a fault of the high number of plots causing auditory disarray, but shrug. Maybe both MG and BB are past their prime. :/

4. The new Supers – Again, Voyd is great, but they’re all largely gimmicks and barely characters. They serve the plot decently and do make for good action scenes, which is / can be fine.

5. The villain’s plot – While the motivation is great, the actual plot is a bit wonky, with at least one plot hole towards the end (SPOILER the kids realize the goggles are the problem, but when Violet’s fighting Voyd she doesn’t bother to go for the goggles).

6. The humor - There were some good jokes in the film, but the timing and delivery were occasionally... off/odd.


WHAT DIDN'T WORK FOR ME:
1. It’s kinda boring – The movie had an odd mix of having too many plotlines (Mrs. Incredible taking the lead and female empowerment, Mr. Incredible learning to be a good dad, Violet’s dating life, Jack-Jack’s powers and the family’s discovery, Frozone kinda having something, the tech siblings trying to bring Supers back into the limelight, the commentary on legality, the villain’s message to callout consumer culture, the villain’s motivation, Edna Mode “kinda” having something, the retired FBI guy “kinda” having something) and awkward pacing. There were a number of times where the story would follow Mrs. Incredible and just as she was about to do something, it’d cut back to Mr. Incredible doing boring dad stuff for an extended period, as opposed to following the more interesting Mrs. Incredible. There’s also just a general cold tone that comes through in the cinematography, particularly for Mr. Incredible’s parenting stuff.

2. There’s no emotional thread! – The first one was so great because it mainly followed the emotional journey of Mr. Incredible, along with how it affected Mrs. Incredible (and her reactions), and their journey towards becoming a stronger couple and family. In the sequel, we’re still largely following the emotional journey of Mr. Incredible, despite Mrs. Incredible taking the more prominent role, and there’s also a little journey by Violet, but nothing really comes together. The film touches on so many things, then distances itself.

3. Being an immediate sequel – Can we please stop this trend? It didn’t work in Quantum of Solace, it didn’t work in The Last Jedi, it didn't work in Search for Spock (though awesome opening sequence) and it didn’t work here. Immediate sequels that aren’t written at the same time (e.g. LOTR, BTTF) make for really, really awkward plot structures, and Incredibles 2 highlights that problem for me.

4. Jack-Jacks macro storyline about the family not knowing about his powers. The whole first movie was building towards Jack-Jack having powers, which were revealed at the end. Sure, the characters “might” not have known about the powers, but it’s been 14 years since the movie came out – it was an awkward creative choice to have none of the character aware of Jack-Jack’s powers.

5. Changes in the art direction – While there’s still a lot of the wonderful throwback art direction that made the first one so great, the advances of CG animation since the original has given the sequel a polish that is awkward and took me out of the movie several times – increased details in the characters’ complexions, certain shots with regards to lighting, and other aesthetic choices that just felt disconnected from the more simplified and stylized approach of the original, and some character designs that didn’t feel entirely Pixar-esque. That said, the animation is fantastic.

6. The pacing / climaxes – Kinda touched on this above, but want to explicitly call it out. There were a number of times where the movie felt like it was building towards something only for the film to quickly touch on it, then move on. There was no real weight to anything in the movie for me. Hell, the actual climax of the movie just kinda comes and goes.

7. Screenslaver - The hypnosis angle was interesting, but they ultimately felt underwhelming and SPOILER the identity reveal was rather telegraphed, which gave the movie a somewhat rote plot.


CONCLUSION: WASN'T FOR ME. But while it didn’t work for me, I’d happily put this in the Your Mileage May Vary category, as it does have a number of really good things, but also some questionable creative choices / direction.

It's certainly nice seeing the family, characters and world onscreen again, but what I saw wasn't nearly up to the highs of the first.

Solo: A Star Wars Story Review

Damn

I actually enjoyed Solo: A Star Wars Story!

I went in with low expectations, particularly after hearing people's "mostly mediocre" feedback (although also trying to avoid news and reviews), and was pleasantly surprised with what I saw. My fondness was even growing after the viewing, which was interesting.

Liked:
1. John Powell's score
2. The pulpy adventure tone / story
3. John Williams' Han Solo theme (I guess? since the overall score is good)
4. Most of the aesthetics / visuals, which harkened back to the OT but done in modern CG styles (though multiple scenes were muddy)
5. Most character designs (a couple creature and robot designs were meh)
6. Woody Harrelson and his character Beckett
7. The Kessel Run sequence - it was pretty darn cool, and a certain musical reference was pretty darn nice
8. Enfys Nest - Cool design and interesting character
9. Pretty good pacing

Nitpicks / Mixed reactions / Didn't care as much for:
1. The general premise - I don't think it's necessary to see Han Solo's backstory, but, again, I did enjoy the film and what we have does fit reasonably well into the mythos. Granted, if viewers are fresh, I would not recommend watching this before the OT, but if viewing the films chronologically (or just thinking on how this fits in), then I imagine this is an entertaining addition. However, I did like the general character development of Han in the movie (which is why I'm more accepting of these versions as "younger" versions, even if the older versions don't change a whole lot).

2. Alden's Han Solo - No, he's not Harrison Ford and doesn't entirely come close, but he does take elements and deliver mostly his own take on the character, which worked for me when I accepted Solo as a more modern / just different interpretation, plus the character is younger, so it makes sense he'll be different, but there are nuances to the character and performance that are missed (such as a certain casual coolness, indifference and world weariness that Ford brought, along with the sarcasm, occasional chutzpah and occasional lines delivered under his breath). From my memory, Alden was trying to be stoic, constantly staring at whatever he's focusing on, whereas Ford would "drift" around and sometimes seem indifferent

3. Donald Glover's Lando - He seems so young! His take lacked a casual cool confidence that Billy Dee brought. This might make sense if it's a "fake it til you make it" and Lando didn't really learn that UNTIL his Empire appearance, but it'd be nice to see more of the hints. To put it another way, Glover felt more like a performance than being the character. He was also surprisingly emotional, which could work for the younger Lando, which lacks the gravitas and maturity of the older Lando. Also, Lando's pansexuality felt forced and half-assed.

4. The nostalgia and callbacks - could have used less of these, particularly some very in-your-face ones, though thankfully they weren't too impactful on the plot / story. I would have also skipped some of the minor references (e.g. SPOILER mynoks, Bossk, some outfits), but they're lesser issues.

5. Dialogue could have been tighter, at times (there were some overtly expositional lines)

6. Thandie Newton was wasted

7. L3 was... OK (the line delivery of her and the robot from Rogue One are both really awkward from a timing perspective)

8. Audio mixing on English alien dialogue, plus aliens speaking English is kinda weird (though there's precedent)

9. Emilia Clarke's Kira - very mixed on her, both character and performance, but more worked for me than didn't

10. Paul Bettany's Dryden - I really enjoy Paul Bettany, and Dryden was mostly good, but the film tried to depict him in a mixed way (both mildly good and definitely bad) which didn't entirely work

11. The movie could have used a little breathing room; would've been nice to have some resting moments of pathos, but that's also not what this movie was going for

May was a bad release for Solo. It's a fun movie that would have done better either later in the year or earlier in the year. It's not the greatest movie, but it is entertaining. To put it one way, it's an Anthology movie I can get behind.

With regards to the Disney Star Wars movies, this may be my favorite of the bunch, since there's a good throughline (though, again, not the highest quality), as opposed to The Force Awakens which has great direction and music, but a really derivative story. As for the other two, Rogue One was really messy and I really didn't care for The Last Jedi (I thought Rian Johnson was trying to be too clever and it didn't work for me).

CONCLUSION: RECOMMENDED as a fun popcorn movie.

The Breadwinner Movie Review

Simply put, The Breadwinner is a must-see hauntingly beautiful movie, both in story and experience.

An adaptation of the acclaimed 2000 novel, the movie depicts Parvana's story so honestly, that every character feels as human and real as if I'm watching a documentary. Director Nora Twomey masterfully weaves together this earnest tale of a young girl, her love for her father, their family, their struggles under the Taliban-run Afghanistan, female empowerment, the horrors of war, the importance of peace, the importance of stories and the stories of all the other characters who share in Parvana's journey.

But it is a hard story, and yet I can't say the last time I felt so moved by a movie. Let alone an animated one. Let alone a kids movie!

And I love it.

It's everything animation can be - gorgeous visuals combined with fantastic audio design. The beautiful score by Jeff Danna and Mychael Danna perfectly accentuates the movie, transporting me to all the locations and emotions they want me to experience. Even the lack of music is perfectly executed.

I'm so glad that animation has had a great run of more "indie" productions (not Pixar, Disney, Dreamworks, etc.), with movies like this, The Little Prince, My Life as a Zucchini and the Laika productions, among others).

CONCLUSION: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - To me, this is absolutely a must-see movie, but it's one that covers harsh topics. However, stories like this are important to experience, because these are exactly the kinds of stories that help build empathy, and hopefully with more empathy we can come together faster. So, my sincerest "thank you" to everyone who worked on The Breadwinner, and author Deborah Ellis, for crafting this. This has displaced Get Out as my top movie of 2017. Go watch this ASAP.

Barry Season 1 Review

HBO's Barry thoughts... (no real SPOILERS, but some comments on the season)

After getting past the pilot (which I didn't entirely care for, and glad they didn't entirely go down the path I didn't want)...

There's a very poignant show about a military vet-turned-hitman striving to reclaim his humanity and emotions via acting. It's a wonderful bridge of left and right ideologies, with plenty of commentary on both sides (e.g. how Hollywood can be trapped in a bubble away from the horrors of the world, how blindly following orders isn't the best thing to do / that it's good to question things, how vets are/can be abandoned by the system that uses them).

It also has a relatively unique tone, that darkly blends action, comedy and realism, with some generally great direction (Hiro Murai, director of "This is America" directed an episode, along with Hader). Episode 4, directed by Maggie Carey, is the one that really sold me with some great goofiness and play, mixed in with serious.

No character is particularly good, but there are ways to empathize with each.

Scratch that, Paula Newsome's Det. Janice Moss is probably perfect, though TBD on how realistic (but a fun character, regardless).

Similarly, there's such fantastic acting. Bill Hader really shines as Barry, rediscovering... life (and happiness) in this current season's journey. Sarah Goldberg is great as the passionate-but-flawed Sally, who lives in an unfair world but also doesn't see her own issues. Henry Winkler is great as the acting coach Gene Cousineau. Stephen Groot is his wonderful self as Barry's "coworker" Fuches. And both Glenn Fleshler and Anthony Carrigan are just a treat.

SUMMARY: Barry is a great showcase of acting talent (and acting direction), as well as how acting helps people get in touch with their humanity, regardless of the background. Emotions are a journey for everyone.

CONCLUSION: RECOMMENDED - It reminds me of a reimagined remix of Dexter, with more comedic talent. Particularly the early, better seasons.

2017 Movies TV Recap Thoughts

Just like with 2016's entry, here are my quick thoughts / rankings of what I saw in 2017. Overall, despite lots of talent, diversity and variety, I didn't think 2017 was nearly as interesting as 2016, due to a mix of writing and execution. That said, let's get things started with...

Movies

Favorites
Get Out - Tight script, fantastic direction for Jordan Peele who brilliantly walked the line between horror and comedy, great social commentary re: racism, solid acting, atmospheric music and tension. Would be very happy if this won Best Pic

Kong: Skull Island - Total B-movie that was lots of fun. Went in with little expectations and came out very pleasantly surprised. Sam Jackson once again proving to be an excellent character actor, with John C Reilly being his goofy "self" right behind him.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle - It's more of the same from the first, taking some interesting leaps in creative choices while holding back on others; particularly with how it riffs on James Bond. Definitely flawed with a number of missed opportunities, but lots of fantastic action sequences and a number of fun jokes and callbacks. I had a blast.

Colossal - What a bold and interesting movie! No one's really likable, though Anne Hathaway manages to make her character endearing/tolerable, but the way it handles toxic masculinity amidst Rampage-like giant monsters is utterly unique, which earns it major bonus points.

The Big Sick - There's so much to love with this very personal and based-on-true-events story from Kumail Nanjiani. Is it surprisingly a little formulaic for a reality-based rom-com? Sure, but that doesn't take away from how charming it is. Ray Romano was a surprising delight, along with Kumail's family.


Very Fun
Happy Death Day - It doesn't quite achieve the highs of either Groundhog Day or Scream, but damn if it isn't a fun time and seemingly achieves everything it set out to do. It left me wanting more in a good way.

Thor: Ragnarok - Taika Waititi's direction is basically the biggest selling point for me. Watching him just "play" with all his characters and settings is a treat, even if the stakes and tension are a little on the flat side; Cate Blanchett is a delicious villain, even if under-utilized / under-developed. Tessa Thompson, Jeff Goldblum and Waititi as the CG rock monster Korg steal the show.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle - Pleasant surprise is maybe the best way to describe this film. It was a treat to just watch the riffs on both the original, video games, and most of the actors playing characters playing other characters - Jack Black absolutely steals the movie, with The Rock and Karen Gillan not far behind him, whereas Kevin Hart for better or worse is largely playing himself. Some really nice life lessons in the film, if a bit direct / on-the-nose.

Fun, But Room for Improvement
The LEGO Batman Movie - High energy and fun, touching on the essence of Batman and filled with interesting explorations of his various relationships. I would have liked a little more breathing room or something, but still good / very good.

Spider-man: Homecoming - Tom Holland quickly asserts himself as THE Spider-man. While fun to see a John Hughes-esque Spider-man movie, the films tones are uneven (fun comedy vs dark action), with the drama CONSTANTLY undercut but humor. Glad to see Michael Keaton as villain the Vulture, but felt a bit out of place / underutilized.

Split - M. Night Shyamalan returns to some familiar areas here. Sure, it can be faulted for using some outdated tropes and psychology info, along with once again having someone with a mental disorder as a villain, and there are a number of poorly written character, but DAMN if that ending isn't fantastic, not to mention the general high-level concept of the film tied to the ending makes for such interesting execution.

The Girl With All the Gifts - Good acting from Sennia Nanua and others. It's a nice story that's a little too video game-esque at times, but entertaining.

Life - This is both a not good and not bad movie, that doesn't really have any characters and is just the slow victory of the alien entity, with an ending that tries to pull something off but really didn't work. More fun to think of it as a backdoor pilot for a Venom movie.

Wonder Woman - Great to finally see DC's third biggest character on the big screen, but multiple weak villains and at least one weak act, plus a number of questionable choices ("hi" relationship to Steve Trevor) hold the movie back. Happy to see it get such success, here's hoping the sequel has more women writing the film with more insight from director Patty Jenkins.

Ghost in the Shell - It does a number of things wrong, like butchering the story, being convoluted, and the controversial casting, but it's also relatively entertaining. The Major deserves better and Paramount butchered this one.

Stephen King's IT - Entertaining, but over-reliance on CG and repetitive plotting hurt. It's almost as long as the original mini-series, but doesn't cover nearly as much ground, though smart to divide the story into two parts focusing on the past and present. The 80s kids group direction was interesting, but didn't fully work for me.

Logan - Sure, I guess? The first half is better, but really, really weak villains, a weak second half and an awful decision to not include Sabretooth to round out the themes of family hurt the film.

OK
Alien: Covenant - It's a more even version of Prometheus, that doesn't hit either the highs or the lows, and the mad scientist angle with David is somewhat interesting, but it's not really a great "Alien" movie and hard to really care about anyone or anything going on - lots of characters still making stupid choices. Ridley Scott needs to get away from this franchise, though I'm mildly curious about him completing his trilogy.

Blame! - There are a number of interesting elements and parts to like, but the setup is missing along with compelling characters.

The Void - The ending is when things get good, but before then is less compelling characters, writing and plot. A nice homage to John Carpenter at the end may be worth the watch.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 - Really ham-fisted dialogue + meandering plot + underwhelming soundtrack + Mantis issues + too many flat jokes = Guardians 2. Kurt Russell is entertaining, but also poorly utilized. There is a moment with Drax and Mantis sitting and talking that's really sweet, but isn't enough to save the film.

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword - There may be a really good movie hiding in here somewhere, with a pretty interesting ending, but the intro and rest of the movie are awkward, flat and uninteresting, with some shoddy editing. The brawler aspect of Arthur is interesting.

John Wick: Chapter 2 - Not as good or interesting as the first, but also just didn't quite work for me. I can technically respect the action sequences and practicality, but it's like watching someone play a video game on easy mode.

Tokyo Ghoul - Shrug. Some interesting parts, but falls into the same boat as other mediocre live action anime/manga adaptations. The score by Don Davis (The Matrix) wasn't enough to save the film.

Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You - Some interesting and well-animated parts, but also fairly uneven and the ending is rather questionable - there are some fun videos on Youtube of people's reactions that almost make this worth it.

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter - Low expectations helped make this more "enjoyable." It's completely serviceable and by this point you should know what to expect from the series.

Didn't Care For
Coco - This may be a good or fine movie, but I'll admit I struggled to connect to it, as I can't stand families that aren't supportive, even if there's relative justification for why they are the way they are. To me, too many characters were assholes (who made bad choices). Visually, it's absolutely gorgeous, though, but that wasn't enough to save a fairly by-the-numbers plot. Pixar is feeling tired and could use fresh blood. Great to see Mexican culture on screen, though! Particularly when it connected with so many people.

Baby Driver - I greatly respect and admire director Edgar Wright, and technically this is a fantastic film, but the music selection didn't appeal to me, along with the uneven tones and characters. I'm fully convinced there's an amazing 45-minute cut that better follows the journeys of Baby and Jon Hamm's characters.

Blade Runner 2049 - 2049 offered me nothing of interest - the music, visuals, characters and general story just didn't work for me. With such great talent behind the film, perhaps my expectations were too high.

Justice League - Underwhelming. This was DC's big debut of the team and that was it? Generic villain and plot? Over-reliance on CG? Inconsistent character direction from previous films? Looking at you - Batman (comedic) and Wonder Woman (not as compelling as Jenkins' direction). Time for a reset.

Really Didn't Care For

Bright - Interesting concept, but just bad execution thanks to director David Ayersand writer Max Landis. Underwhelming visuals and direction made the world feel really small. Joel Edgerton is the best part of the film, but can't save it. I'm confused where the supposed $90-million budget went.

XX - Perhaps my expectations were too high, as I really wanted to like this horror anthology by women, but it just fell flat almost every time. Some interesting parts, but outweighed by the not interesting.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi - It's not the worst movie I've seen in theaters (Man of Steel), but I was face-palming frequently at the creative choices, execution and twisted/bad characterizations. Writer-Director Rian Johnson tried so hard to be clever with this one, which really, really didn't work for me. He did a disservice to the history of both the original trilogy and the setups from The Force Awakens (I'm OK with ignoring the prequel trilogy).

Didn't see, but want to:
Your Name
Dunkirk
The Disaster Artist
Logan Lucky
Girls Trip
Call Me By Your Name
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Lady Bird
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
The Killing of a Sacred Deer
I, Tonya
Mudbound
The Florida Project
Mother!
Okja
It Comes at Night
Phantom Thread?
The Post?

TV:

Favorites
Legion s1 - Such wonderful writing and execution. Highly creative, and a great depiction of both the character and X-Men universe. Phenomenal acting by Dan Stevens, and the rest of the cast is fun, particularly Aubrey Plaza

Master of None s2 - What a gorgeous and delicious season, with poignant writing and beautiful cinematography that's a touching homage to Italian cinema. The unfortunate scandal surrounding Aziz does hurt things a bit.

GLOW s1 - So much fun! Excellent soundtrack, filled with fun characters and clear respect for pro wrestling, the season starts good and just gets better and better.

The Good Place s2 - I may be cheating by including this, but that's the fault of broadcast TV. Season 2 has each episode upping the game, exploring new topics and constantly moving things forward. The season particularly stood out as a brilliant romance that explores philosophy in an almost child-like, storybook way.


Fun
Bojack Horseman s4 - Still entertaining, but not as good as past seasons, being uneven and less cohesive. Favorite episode was the 11th one, Time's Arrow, which is my preferred version of Coco.

Rick and Morty s3 - Still entertaining, but not as good as past seasons. Pickle Rick was my favorite episode, starting kinda meh, but quickly getting better and better, ending with a phenomenal monologue that fully analyzes and takes down Rick.

Doctor Who s10 - Easily my favorite season of Peter Capaldi's, which finally had the writing and plot gel. Pearl Mackie was so refreshing as new companion Bill. It's a shame we won't really get more of either.

Channel Zero: No End House - I like the tone of this show. This season has an interesting premise, that's maybe not as interesting as the first season, but it's a just to watch things unfold.


Good parts, but room for improvement
South Park s20 - Not as cohesive as past seasons, but almost always interesting.

Game of Thrones s7 - With one season left after this, we're in full swing towards the end game, which unfortunately means rushing through time at the expense of all the beautiful pacing of the first four seasons. Now that we're supposedly past the books' content, we're falling into disappointing fantasy and TV tropes. Showrunners Benioff and Weiss will really be proving themselves with the final 8th season.

Castlevania s1 - Only four episodes, with the first being an interesting and humanizing exploration of Dracula, and the fourth featuring some excellent (!) action, but the middle two episodes leave more to be desired.

Stranger Things s2 - Didn't seem nearly as cohesive as the first season. Perhaps changing the show to more of an anthology would be better?

Black Mirror s4 - Hang the DJ was a pleasant treat, but the rest just... left much to be desired, with a number of episodes exploring the same topic - digital consciousness and the exploration of its humanity. 


Didn't finish
Twin Peaks: The Revival - Got 5 episodes in before stopping

Star Trek Discovery - Watched the 2-part pilot when it came out, which left a lot to be desired, will aim to catch the rest once the season's done

Nerve Movie Review

Nerve is the 80s throwback dark romance fairy tale (meta) comedy I never knew I wanted... But absolutely needed.

I loved this movie!

I was intrigued by the posters, premise and possibly the initial trailer, but never really bothered to check it out. Not exactly sure what it was, but Nerve finally called to me recently (after scrolling screw my most of my Netflix queue then going through Amazon Prime's) and it was indeed the perfect time for it.

Set-up as a dystopian youth-friendly challenge-rising story with social commentary, Nerve unexpectedly proved to be incredibly smartly written and directed, with perfect casting for the roles, and an impeccable degree of capturing the voice of modern "teen" cinema while also skewering it (and the culture)(or at least an interpretation/impersonation of it).

And (partial comedy tone SPOILER), just as you think the film is heading towards tone def territory - the film already knows it.

That's the whole point.

The film already knows what your expectations are, and puts enough little twists and spins to make it an incredibly fun and engaging time that's well worth checking out. Even the soundtrack, while occasionally odd/off (or just not my style), really works for the film.

Hell, the cinematography in the film is enough to salivate over. It's gorgeously shot, with an intelligence to the movements the managed to even enhance the humor of the scenes. Just some excellent storytelling.

Also, don't let the trailers fool you (although I don't really remember them and not sure if I watched them, so...), as the film is still very much character and relationship-driven, as much as it is plot and escalation.

I regret it taking me so long to finally watch, but perhaps it was worth the wait.

Takeaway: Top-notch scores from me: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Though, as always, your mileage may vary, as I could see the humor and tone of the film not working for everyone, but I had an absolute blast while watching.

And, honestly, I'd go so far as to say it's a cultural milestone and a piece of cinema I hope is studied for years to come, thanks to its many great layers, particularly in our current nostalgia era of filmmaking.

The Conjuring 2 Movie Review

The Conjuring 2 is a fantastic blend of an inventive theme park ride mixed with a multi-genre horror movie. In other words - it's a ton of fun!

The film starts with some great tension right in the opening scene and doesn't let up for a good chunk of the movie (maybe an hour? I lost track of time). The quality does dip a bit once the first supporting monster shows up and again with some other ridiculous / overly sentimental scenes that detract from the horror and tension, but damn, what a ride; my theory is if they had cut the score during the sentimental scenes, it would have improved things. It can also be argued that those more sentimental, "relaxed" scenes are their for pacing purposes and to help the scares be stronger later, but not sure that's either necessary or true.

Regardless of any dips in quality, there's a lot to love in The Conjuring 2, not the least of which were the decent number of scenes that were either one-take or faux one-take scenes and a fantastic main villain that had a great design and thematic resonance for the lead characters. Regarding the one-takes, there was a sequence towards the end featuring one of the supporting monsters that's just bad-ass.

The story was simultaneously simple and excellent. The film starts with a tease of the Amityville Horror that presents a throughline for the rest of the film, which was carried beautifully by Vera Farmiga. Speaking of which, the rapport and chemistry between Farmiga and Patrick Wilson was a joy to watch - they're a couple I'd happily see in a series of these movies. Beyond the throughline was a fairly standard possession story, but beautifully directed by James Wan, and well performed by the kids (those previously mentioned sequences go a long way).

All in all, it's a solid film that's pulpy, as well as both modern and a throwback. I absolutely enjoyed it more than the first movie and may now be my favorite horror movie of 2016, easily besting The Witch (though that had arguably better acting), and probably edging out both Green Room and Don't Breathe (which probably had better tension).

Takeaway: Highly Recommended

Batman Forever Movie Rewatch Review

Yes, Batman Forever is still dumb, nonsensical, ostentatious, and a bit boring at times, but...

Hot damn! The movie is a visual treat in both cinematography (particularly the movements of the actors within frames) and production design. The music by Elliot Goldenthal, while nowhere near as good as Danny Elfman's scores, is enjoyable in its cartoony throwback styles, as well.

Plus - there's some really smart writing and bits (such as exploring Batman's psychology), inbetween all the various homages to 60s Batman and general weak points of the movie.

Not to mention the performances! Sure, Val Kilmer's a weak Bruce Wayne (his take is a rather flat traumatized one), but a pretty good Batman. The supporting cast is, for better or worse, 1- or 2-dimensional, and though both villains channel the Joker (via Robin Williams?), they're a pleasure to watch (I really love Tommy Lee Jones in this, even if its a flawed characterization). Also, hot damn! Dr. Chase Meridian.

And I'll say this - while fairly clearly teased, it's arguably a missed opportunity to explore Nigma's obsessive homoerotic tendencies towards Batman. They probably handled things as well as they could for 1995, but Forever presents some interesting themes and ideas that are only lightly touched upon. At the very least, it made for some great bits having Nigma chase Bruce (Nigma's party is a great example of this).

As a kid, I loved the film, so there's a good nostalgia factor for reciting the lines and enjoying the various scenes; and while as an adult I'm not as entertained, I can definitely appreciate a number of the strengths it has going for it.

Takeaway: Dumb but fun, and very enjoyable in some parts while more trashy in others.