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An error has ocurred. Please try againRating scale: < 6= rental. 6=theatre worthy. 7=must see. 8=movie of year candidate. 9=movie of decade candidate. 10=all time best.
Realistically, my scale probably starts at 5 and ends at 8. You have to be a REALLY bad or good movie to get a rating lower than 5 or higher than 8.
Reviews
Old Dads (2023)
Good start, bad second act, ends ok
I would agree with most reviewers here. Starts off hilarious and peaks about mid way through. Then gets oddly serious and depressing for a comedy. The end is ok, and I disagree with people saying Burr "sells out" at the end of the film. The chemistry between the 3 leads are pretty good.
In short, not a bad first film for Burr. There are very few comedies that require an R rating. American Pie and Hangover being the exceptions that come to mind. Usually R ratings for comedies include gratuitous nudity or over the top sick scenes simply for shock value and cheap laughs. As such this film could benefitted from a PG-13 edit.
PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie (2023)
Great for kids
Although it's not as hyped as Mario Bros, this might actually be a better movie. My 6 year old daughter loved it while my 8 year old son tolerated it - though he did get excited seeing some characters from previous shows/films from when he watched the series when he was younger. I think he liked it more then he let on...
It's no masterpiece, but there are a few good laughs to be had.
I'm just happy to have something to take my kids to that isn't overtly progressive in its themes. The moral of the story is no matter how small or young you are you can still make a big difference...something a lot of kids will enjoy hearing.
Sound of Freedom (2023)
Movie good, message great
As a movie it's good. Acting is superb all around. The kids provide convincing performances and the bad guys played their roles quite well.
The move moved at a good pace and was fairly believable up until the first climax. After that you began to question how far the movie deviated from real life events as it builds to a second climax. All that to say, the complaints that the movie is a bit drawn out are valid.
However, don't let the fact that the runtime was probably 15 minutes too long deter you from supporting a good movie that sheds light on such an important topic. Also, stay for the final message during the credits.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)
Movie of the year
Solid storyline that's great for kids. It was a little scary for my 5 year old daughter but just scary enough to be cool for my 7 year old son. Though both liked it enough to pay attention the whole time without getting bored - which is half the reason we take our kids to the movies.
The animation is really great. It reminds of of when Disney's Tarzan was a blend of CGI and animation that had never been seen before. Puss in Boots looks like a combo of CGI, animation, anime and at parts even looked like claymation.
I didn't find the movie overly humorous but it was funny enough. The movie had a very "epic", LOTR feel to it.
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Keeps getting worse
Each Thor movie keeps getting worse. My wife actually convinced me to see this one as she loved the first Thor and was excited to see Jane as Thor (and because fat Thor is gone). But even she hated the movie. Jokes weren't funny, too much profanity for a "family" film franchise, mentions of orgies and gay rock creatures? Bale was actually a pretty awesome villain but it's wasted on this joke of a movie.
Really, after Endgame it seems like Phase 4/5 MCU films' first priority is pushing minority characters and progressive ideologies at the expense of entertainment and good storytelling. What a shame.
The Adam Project (2022)
Ryan Reynolds best movie?
Time traveling movies are always tricky but there were no obvious plot holes (e.g. Looper) and the action sequences are top notch . The emotional scenes between father/son and husband/wife work well due to the pervasive good acting. Sprinkle in some nice humor and you've got yourself a winner.
Additionally, the movie doesn't push any political agenda, which is a breath of fresh air, and if it weren't for the strong language it would've been a movie I could've watched with my 1st grader. Nice job Netflix!
F9 (2021)
Franchise needs to be retired
The Fast and Furious did a good job revitalizing itself (and peaking) with Fast Five by becoming like the Italian Job, but in the attempt to be "bigger and badder" than the previous movie they have now become a cartoonish version that's unrecognizable from original series.
The Batman (2022)
Actors fine, story not
Actors did a fine job but storyline doesn't really make you root against Riddler or for Batman. I mean, if the Riddler is taking out corrupt politicians and cops why should Batman want to stop him so bad?
Secondly, Batman is supposed to be swift like a ninja, but he just stands there getting shot until bad guys run out of bullets then he attacks. Not to mention he does really dumb things like getting shot point blank by rifles and allows bombs that are counting down to explode in his face.
Finally, they actually mention "white privilege" in the movie. So take what you want from that.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)
Worst than Last Stand
This movie reminds me of the third Hangover movie where all the actors are the same but you can tell they're only there for a paycheck. They don't deliver their lines with any conviction, it's almost like they're ashamed they have to say the words that are written in the script.
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2020)
Wish they made a PG-13 version
Like the first Borat, I died laughing at the YouTube clips from the movie. Then the movie came out and it was way too crass/gross for me.
What made this movie worse was the fact that it was filmed like a pseudo documentary which really affected the flow.
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Truly Epic
Not only is it an awesome movie on its own, it makes up for movies that I felt were subpar in the MCU (Ragnarock, Ant Man & wasp, Captain Marvel) by making the events of those movies pertinent to this endgame. Truly a grand achievement! Funny, emotional and smart!
Captain Marvel (2019)
Messes up MCU
The events of this movie contradict other movies in the MCU and Bree Larson was a terrible choice for Ms Marvel. I'm not going to even consider this part of the MCU cannon. As a stand-alone movie it's ok I guess.
Black Panther (2018)
Overhyped
It's a pretty good movie but not nearly on par with the original Avengers or Civil War for the best MCU movie. If I were to compare this to another MCU movie I guess it would be Thor. Both T'Challa and Thor are the heir apparent to their kingdoms and must challenger to the throne. However, whereas you could sympathize with Loki's jealously of Thor, the level of hostility that Killmonger has towards T'Challa never seemed appropriate to me. Nor did I totally accept the circumstances surrounding T'Chaka's little secret.
While the film may be worth seeing just to get a better view of the 'black' perspective of the world we live in, these small story details really dragged the movie down a bit for me. I really wished they spent more time with Killmonger's background as he had the potential to provide the most complex character/villain in the MCU universe. But instead we're left with just another standard villain who is overcome with rage and just wants to kill everyone.
Into the Woods (2014)
Incoherent Snoozefest
Disclaimer: I didn't know this film was based off a Brothers Grimm fairytale/musical. Most of us know Disney and Grimm both have very different styles that appeal to their respective fans. Which makes me wonder: what possessed the folks at Disney to attempt to turn this musical into a movie? The results are nothing short of disastrous. While I understand the moral fiber of the USA is changing dramatically, we (or should I say 'I') still expect a certain wholesome quality from Disney. But when you start having infidelity, stealing and murder being portrayed as morally justifiable in a Disney film it just starts to make you wonder what the Disney brand stands for nowadays. Leave this film alone and see the new live action Cinderella instead.
Tomorrowland (2015)
Utopia or Dystopia?
After reading the Wired article about how this film aimed to break the current Hollywood trend of Dystopian futures, I was really looking forward to this film expecting a breath of fresh air. What I got was more like a warm breeze. I still ultimately enjoyed the message the movie tries to convey - specifically Hugh Laurie's little diatribe during the climax of the film. But that wasn't enough to redeem an ultimately disappointing film.
There are little things that seemed really out of place, like the Terminator copycat scene where Athena chases after a car and causes you to laugh out loud for the wrong reasons. Also, a little background as to why these robots are so willing to kill innocent humans would be nice. Where this movie really struggles though is the the dialogue. It is horrendous and reaches a peak when Athena and Casey first meet - their entire conversation amounts to a scripted Q&A session with no natural flow whatsoever.
Not a terrible way to spend a rainy afternoon, but there are probably better choices out there for the family to see.
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Follows in Man of Steel's footsteps
Fairly disappointed in this film. So many unanswered questions from previous Avengers films...
1. How is Thor on Earth when Loki is now ruling Asgard?
2. Why would Thanos knowingly give up an Infinity Stone in Avengers 1?
3. Didn't Tony Stark retire as Iron Man?
The first film succeeded, partially, because it didn't take itself too seriously and found the right balance. This second act seemed to go out of its way to insult itself. The scene where Hawkeye describes how ridiculous it is that he fights with a bow and arrow to Scarlett Witch is a good example of this.
What bothered me the most though might've been the decision to give Ultron a sense of humor. Ultron isn't a human psychopath like the Joker. So giving Ulton a personality didn't really make sense to me and really screwed up the tension that should've existed between the Avengers and Ultron. It seemed like the success of Guardians of the Galaxy may have added pressure to infuse more laughs into Age of Ultron than was necessary.
Bottom line: This was just an average action film that fails to distinguish itself. It falls more in line with Man of Steel, complete with excessively long and exhausting action sequences, than the upper tier comic book films such as Avengers 1, Dark Knight, Guardians, etc.
Cinderella (2015)
Wonderful
So there are basically 3 Cinderella films now that will be forever referenced: the original animated Cinderella, Ever After and this live action Cinderella. I wasn't a fan of the original animated film when I saw it as a grade school kid but I really enjoyed Ever After when I saw it as a college student. Now, as a grumpy middle aged man, I was reluctant to see another retelling of this classic story. But my wife really wanted to see it, so I gave it a shot. Glad that I did because I believe this Cinderella is the best of them all. This film does an excellent job of blending the realism of Ever After with the fantasy/magic from the animated film. It also truly excels in showing you the depth of the relationships between Cinderella and her parents and the Prince with his father - even thought the on-screen time between the parents and kids is limited. Lily James as Cinderella does an excellent job of showing frustration while maintaining her promise to mom - to be kind to others. In other words, she showed her humanity and wasn't just some sort of animated caricature. It's a shame movies like this don't often win Best Picture or Best Actor/Actress because the acting is that good in this film - all the way around. Go see it, but bring some tissues with you!
RoboCop (2014)
Predictable, but well executed
I saw the original when I was about 8 or 9 years old and really liked it. I held off seeing this remake because the remake of Total Recall may have been the worst movie I've seen of the past 10 years. But I thought this remake was pretty good. Whether it's Robocop, A.I, I, Robot, Terminator or the just released Chappie we know how the story will unfold. A machine that must obey it's commands overrides its protocol or learns how to be "human." We all know that and we shouldn't downgrade a movie because we were able to guess the overarching theme or storyline. I really enjoyed the logic Robocop used to solve the crimes in this movie, Robocop's demeanor when he was human and when he was programmed to be more robot like as well as the portrayal of media bias in the film. Overall I thought the film was very engaging and couldn't stop watching.
Boyhood (2014)
i need closure
I would say that I appreciated the effort in filming a movie over the course of 12 years, but it actually didn't seem like much effort was taken to create a seamless movie. Sometimes the kids hardly change in appearance and the movie just jumps to another storyline without ever resolving the conflict from the last scene and you're left wondering what the heck just happened. Other times the kids have obviously had a growth spurt and you're stunned because they just shot up 6 inches from one scene to the next - again, with no real resolution from the last storyline. Often times people talk about story arcs, well this movie has 12 beginnings to arcs with no real climax or resolution - with the possible exception of minor storyline involving a worker at a restaurant. In summary, this movie is comprised of 12 loosely coupled scenes being passed around as a movie. You have more continuity watching 12 episodes of Seinfeld than you do with this movie. I really wanted to like the movie because I want more films that try to be different - but this just wasn't my cup of tea.
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Perfect Family Film
Considering it took 4 separate films to lay the foundation for the Avengers, what Guardians was able to pull off is quite remarkable. While I thoroughly enjoyed the Avengers what that film lacked was drama - you KNEW the Avengers were going to come out on top. With Guardians, all bets were off because none of the main super heroes are really Marvel mainstays like Iron Man, Hulk, et. al. This lead to a much more suspenseful film.
While the film does an excellent job developing characters that the audience is emotionally invested in where Guardians truly shines is as a comedy. Chris Pratt does a great job being a lovable goofball super hero. Add to all this beautiful visuals - the Nova Corps battle scenes are sensational and you basically have a perfect family film.
Interstellar (2014)
Above Average
I'm a big fan of Nolan ever since Memento, but this movie falls short of the high standards Nolan has set for himself. Black holes play an important role in this movie so be prepared to just nod your head and go along with the "science" being explained. I'm no physicist but I'm pretty sure black holes don't behave the way they are depicted in the film. The climax of the film is where things went downhill for me.
Go to the film for the powerful performances given by the cast. Even if you shake your head at science component of the film there is no denying the emotion of the film and the final frames certainly tug at your heart strings. The visuals are also excellent, but not exceptional. An above average effort but probably Nolan's most "disappointing" film to date.
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
Intense
I would still say First Class or X2 is the best X-Men movie, but DOFP is probably the most intense X-Men to date. I also would've preferred a total reboot instead of attempting to have any sort of cohesive storyline with the original movies due to X3's debacle, but they managed to make it work. Having said all this, the time traveling element was believable and the acting is top notch.
There are always some inconsistencies with what powers each individual mutant posses and how they deviate from the comic book (e.g. Shadowcat, Mystique) but they didn't bother me that much. My only suggestion would've been to give the Sentinels a more prominent role in the 1970s storyline. Not only would it have been cool to see more Sentinels, it would explain how certain events in the 1970s could've occurred.