Movies
FavoritesGet 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.
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.
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.
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:
FavoritesLegion 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
