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Moana (2016)

July 21, 2017

Starring: Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Jemaine Clement
Director: Ron Clements (Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Hercules)

Bottom Line: Walt Disney Animated Studios had a pretty massive year as both Zootopia and Moana are arguably the best films the studio has produced since Tarzan all the way back in 1999 (Note: Walt Disney Animated Studios and Pixar are NOT the same company). Moana is a spectacular blend of Polynesian mythology and coming-of-age story thanks to a large team of writers collaborating on a great script with amazing songwriting contributions from famed Hamilton playwright Lin-Manual Miranda. Miranda’s work here cannot be understated: I was singing the songs from Moana for days after watching the movie and immediately added the soundtrack to my Apple Music library. Miranda has proven that he is a master songwriter and a true genius and I am actually quite sad that he didn’t win an Oscar for “How Far I’ll Go.” He even makes Dwayne Johnson sound good!

Infused with a smart, funny script seeped with mythology, memorable characters, solid vocal performances from Cravalho and Johnson, and unforgettable songs, Moana continues Disney’s best run of animated features since the early-to-mid 90s.

Replay Value: This is one of my favorite recent Disney movies. I’d be happy to watch it again today and it will be a must own when we have kids.
Sequel Potential: A theatrical sequel for a Disney animated film used to be unheard of: Winnie The Pooh and The Rescuers are the only Disney originals that got sequels in theaters. Tradition seems to be changing, however, as recent Disney films Wreck-It Ralph and Frozen both have sequels scheduled for theatrical release in the next two years. Straight-to-video sequels are common for Disney, so it will be interesting to see what happens with Moana.
Oscar Potential: Nominated for Best Animated Feature and Best Song, but lost to Zootopia and La La Land, respectively.

Grade: 7.5/10 (highly enjoyable/must see)

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War For The Planet Of The Apes (2017)

July 20, 2017

Starring: Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson
Director: Matt Reeves (Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, Let Me In, Cloverfield)

Bottom Line: Chalk up another win for the rebooted Apes franchise. War For The Planet Of The Apes continues the franchise’s trend of combining amazing visual effects with storytelling that pulls on the heartstrings and another phenomenal motion-capture performance from Andy Serkis. Caesar really has become one of the best film heroes of the past decade and it is largely because of Serkis’ nuanced acting. This role probably won’t get him that elusive Oscar nomination, but many have said it’s his best work yet. Woody Harrelson provides a worthy villain, one that will make you hate him and actively root for the apes against the humans.

The latest Planet Of The Apes trilogy has had a great run, breaking ground with its motion-capture performances and awesome CGI, while developing plenty of non-human characters. I still think the first film with James Franco was the strongest, but the last two entries have been very enjoyable as well, although not quite as memorable. This is an obvious must see if you are a fan of the franchise and an all around strong sci-fi sequel.

Replay Value: It will be cool to watch all three in sequence, but the first one is by far my favorite.
Sequel Potential: Obviously this is a franchise that will always have possibilities, but I don’t know if there are plans to continue with any of these characters.
Oscar Potential: A shoo-in for a Visual Effects nomination but the series is yet to get a nod for anything else and Andy Serkis will likely be ignored again.

Grade: 7/10 (highly enjoyable)

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The Mummy (2017)

July 13, 2017

Starring: Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, Sofia Boutella, Annabelle Wallis, Jack Johnson
Director: Alex Kurtzman

Bottom Line: Universal continues to struggle to jump start their Dark Universe, a connected cinematic world featuring all their classic movie monsters, ala the formula Marvel has made famous. Dracula Untold was the first false start and now The Mummy is supposed to finally get things moving forward but… it sucked. Okay, maybe it didn’t suck, but it was very dull and unmemorable.

We are introduced to Sofia Boutella’s mummy and Russell Crowe’s Dr. Jekkyl here and there are allusions to vampires and other possible monsters, but there was very little to be excited about. You kind of hope you get to see Crowe’s Jekkyl turn into his alter-ego Mr. Hyde, but when it happens it’s kind of an “oh boy” moment. I feel like I can confidently predict there will never be a Dr. Jekkyl and Mr. Hyde movie starring Russell Crowe – the transformation was incredibly lame.

Tom Cruise does a fine job as the renegade hero and Sofia Boutella’s mummy is whatever. You’d think that a mummy movie in 2017 would be much better than the version that came 15 years before, but it’s not. The Mummy starring Brendan Fraser had a lot more of an adventurous feel to it and the lighthearted humor made it a lot more enjoyable than this one. There are some funny moments as Cruise and Jack Johnson have some pretty good chemistry, but it’s clear that the tone of this version of The Mummy is meant to be much more serious than its predecessor and it just doesn’t work that well.

The Mummy wasn’t scary and it wasn’t all that entertaining. I don’t think it was terrible and it’s not like I wanted to leave the theater, but I wouldn’t really recommend it. Not even to huge fans of monster movies. I think Universal has no choice but to move forward at this point, but they are yet to get their cinematic universe off to the start their vault of classic monsters deserve. It’s brutal to recommend a reboot after the first movie, but I don’t want to see this mummy in future movies and I have no desire to see Crowe’s Dr. Jekkyl again. The future looks grim for Universal’s Dark Universe.

Replay Value: I would never watch this again.
Sequel Potential: This is supposed to be the first in a long series of connected monster movies. However, as of this writing, only The Bride Of Frankenstein (a weird choice for the second film) has a scheduled release date and that is two years away! Johnny Depp is reportedly going to be The Invisible Man and Javier Bardem is allegedly the Frankenstein Monster, but there’s not much on the horizon. Universal doesn’t seem to have a very good plan and after two rough starts maybe this thing never really takes off.
Oscar Potential: None.

Grade: 3.5/10 (skip it/forgettable)

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Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

July 10, 2017

Starring: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Zendaya
Director: Jon Watts

Bottom Line: I loved it. Tonally, this is the Spider-Man movie we’ve been waiting for: a high school kid that looks and acts like a high school kid and is clearly in the rookie year of his superhero adventures, despite briefly dipping his head in the majors in Captain America: Civil War. While Spider-Man might have a high tech suit capable of amazing things thanks to Tony Stark, he’s still just a kid looking to help out around his borough and hoping not to be a loser at school, while waiting around hoping The Avengers come calling or he stumbles across something big.

Tom Holland crushes the role. We got a glimpse that he might be the right actor for the job in Civil War but now there’s no doubt about it. Holland is charismatic and hilarious and does some great physical comedy in the film. I think it’s safe to say that we will be seeing him as Spider-Man for at least the next decade and that’s a very good thing. He is perfect for the job and it will be fun to watch him grow up with the character.

The script in this movie was fantastic. I’ve heard people call it the funniest Marvel movie yet and maybe it is – it was basically nonstop laughs for two hours and all the jokes landed successfully. Michael Keaton plays Spidey nemesis Adrian Toomes, a.k.a. The Vulture, and, as expected, does a great job, bringing an everyday person element to the character that is usually missing from comic book villains. Toomes is a regular guy whose company strikes a huge deal to cleanup the aftermath of the first Avengers movie only to have a Tony Stark subdivision come in and take things over with little apology, despite Toomes pouring all his financial resources into the project. It’s a smart way to weave The Vulture into the MCU and screenwriters make some other genius decisions with this character as well.

Spider-Man: Homecoming is exactly what you want from a Spider-Man movie: great action, lots of laughs, a charismatic and funny hero, and a formidable villain with some emotional resonance. The film works incredibly well considering it doesn’t introduce Spidey staples like Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane Watson, or Harry Osborn. Most movies, even when they are good, you still want to end at some point, but I could’ve watched Tom Holland play Spider-Man for several more hours and I’m really looking forward to more sequels and Avengers appearances in the future.

Replay Value: I’d watch it again now and it will be a must own in my movie collection.
Sequel Potential: Avengers: Infinity War is due out next year and a Spidey sequel is announced for 2019.
Oscar Potential: Great performances from Holland and Keaton, but not really Oscar fare here. Of all the 2017 films I’ve seen so far, I’d give this one the edge in Visual Effects.

Grade: 7.5/10 (highly enjoyable/must see)

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July Movie/Music Preview

June 30, 2017

Anticipation Meter
6 – Epic
5 – Very High
4 – Strong
3 – Moderate
2 – Low
1 – Nonexistent

As I noted last month, I’m going to make these previews a bit more succinct – no more box office predictions.

MOVIES

Spider-Man: Homecoming (7th) – One of the most popular superheroes of all-time finally comes home to Marvel Studios. Tom Holland and his new Spider-Man had a great small appearance in last year’s Captain America: Civil War, blending in seamlessly with the rest of Marvel’s Avengers and setting the tone for a much younger and mouthy Spidey. Early reviews for this film have been stellar, with plenty of stuff like “best Spider-Man movie ever” and “one of the best Marvel films yet” being tossed around. I love the casting of Michael Keaton as The Vulture. I expect this movie to be hilarious and lots of fun – it has long been one of my most anticipated 2017 releases. Anticipation Meter – 5

A Ghost Story (7th) – Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara in a movie about a deceased husband returning as a ghost in a white bed sheet. The cast here is strong enough to garner my interest, but the director’s last film was Pete’s Dragon, so… Anticipation Meter – 2.5

War for the Planet of the Apes (14th) – The Planet of the Apes franchise has had an incredibly strong reboot thanks to a phenomenal motion-capture performance from Andy Serkis, a great lead character in Caesar, and some very good screenplays. The first two films in this trilogy were wonderful and early word is this third entry is right on par. Anticipation Meter – 4

Wish Upon (14th) – Joey King stars as a teenage girl that receives a music box that grants her wishes to be wealthy, popular and desired – and then the people closest to her start dying. I like horror movies, but I haven’t seen or heard anything about this one that has made me want to see it. Anticipation Meter – 1

Dunkirk (21st) – Christopher Nolan’s latest film focuses on the Allied troops that were trapped in the French city of Dunkirk during World War II. Nolan regulars Tom Hardy and Cillian Murphy are joined by Kenneth Branagh and Oscar winner Mark Rylance. After Inception, Nolan was easily my favorite filmmaker, but his last two movies, The Dark Knight Rises and Interstellar were relatively disappointing. I’m not a huge fan of the war genre and the footage I’ve seen of Dunkirk doesn’t have me particularly amped, but Chris Nolan is still on my short list of favorite directors so I’m cautiously optimistic. Anticipation Meter – 3

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (21st) – I don’t know much about this comic book adaptation from Luc Besson, the director of The Professional and The Fifth Element, but it looks visually ambitious. Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne are the stars in this sci-fi space adventure. The trailers I’ve seen look interesting enough and it seems like a movie that should be seen in theaters if you’re going to watch it. Anticipation Meter – 3

Girls Trip (21st) – R-rated comedy starring Queen Latifah, Regina Hall, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and Tiffany Haddish about a group of lifelong friends that travel to New Orleans and get into various high jinks. Sounds like another version of The Hangover and a pass to me. Anticipation Meter – 1

Atomic Blonde (28th) – You’d think a movie that has Charlize Theron playing a secret agent that’s kicking ass and making out with another woman in its trailer would be an easy sell, but I feel like I’ve seen the whole story already – the trailers have been playing in front of basically every film I’ve seen in the past two months. I will probably skip this unless it gets strong reviews. Anticipation Meter – 2

The Emoji Movie (28th) – Huh? How is this even happening? I’m not surprised though – everything’s exploitable these days. I just watched the trailer and it looks cut from the same cloth as Pixar’s Toy Story and Inside Out in that it creates a secret universe for inanimate/intangible objects – in this case, the emojis in our cell phones. On the surface, it looks like a kid’s movie made for kids, so it remains to be seen if it will have the heart and soul that can appeal to adults like the best animated features do. I’ve been surprised before though (i.e. The Lego Movie). Anticipation Meter – 1.5

MUSIC

Jay-Z – 4:44 (7th) – Technically, this is out already, but rumor has it that it will be widely available next Friday and that will likely be the first time that I hear it. Initially, I was skeptical: I hadn’t heard much from Jay recently that moved the meter, so a new album seemed like it could easily disappoint. However, word is this is pretty spectacular and is one of Jay’s most personal albums ever. At worst, Jay-Z is a top five rapper ever and there are very good arguments to be made that he’s #1, so any new album from him is a must listen, and early rave reviews have increased my excitement. The Ruler’s back! Anticipation Meter – 5

There’s a 21 Savage (7th) album coming out in July, but I can’t say I’m a fan. The only other names I recognize are Lana Del Ray (14th), Coldplay (21st), and Arcade Fire (28th), none of which I care about. Sounds like a good month to catch up on all the music I didn’t get a chance to digest in June.

Notable Netflix Additions

Best In Show (1st)

The Mighty Ducks (1st)

E.T. (1st)

Punch Drunk Love (1st)

Titanic (1st)

Castlevania, Season One (7th) – Haven’t looked into this at all, but love the concept.

Lion (9th)

Friends From College, Season One – interesting cast, featuring Keegan-Michael Key, Fred Savage, Cobie Smulders.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – kind of a big deal

Lastly, Netflix will be removing all Futurama content tomorrow which is some seriously disappointing news.

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Wonder Woman (2017), Baywatch (2017), 47 Meters Down (2017)

June 23, 2017

In the interest of catching up, I’m going to keep these short and sweet.

Wonder Woman (2017) – I loved it. This movie made me incredibly happy. The DC film universe looked in grim shape after Dawn Of Justice but Wonder Woman was a huge win for them – both critically and in its record-breaking box office performance. Gal Gadot does a GREAT job. Not only is she absolutely stunning in the titular role, but she is convincingly HEROIC. I’ve seen the movie twice and the scene in No Man’s Land gave me goosebumps and a huge smile both times. Wonder Woman might have a slow build to this epic moment, but there’s no hesitation in Diana’s resolve: she says she wants to go where the war is and she doesn’t think for a second before jumping right into the line of fire. Chris Pine is a great addition to the cast, as he has plenty of chemistry with Gadot and adds a nice dose of humor. The script does a great job of infusing small bits of comedy into a serious war time setting, without taking anything away from the gravity of the situation. I do think the climax got a little bit… extravagant and silly… but the rest of the movie was fantastic. Wonder Woman is a great comic book film and the best superhero origin movie since Iron Man in 2008.

Replay Value: I saw it twice during opening week and I’d be happy to watch it again right now. It will be a must own in my movie collection.
Sequel Potential: You don’t make heaps and not get sequels. I’m sure DC will fast track another Wonder Woman movie, but first up we will get the two Justice League films and I’m still concerned about those movies, even with Wonder Woman‘s success and the involvement of Joss Whedon.
Oscar Potential: It’s a very good superhero movie, but not really Oscar bait. There is always a chance for technical nominations but most likely it will just whiff entirely.

Grade: 7.5/10 (highly enjoyable/must see comic book movie)

Baywatch (2017) – I was really hoping Baywatch would be a solid 21 Jump Street imitation, but it’s not nearly as clever or as smart. In fact, Baywatch is nothing more than your average stupid, raunchy comedy. The script is absolutely terrible, but at least Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron give their roles some life, as less charismatic leads would render this movie completely unwatchable. The supporting cast range from totally forgettable to borderline bad and while Jon Bass has some funny moments, his character really shows no indication he would actually make the cut in the stiff competition there is to become a Baywatch lifeguard. So the reason he makes it is so we can laugh at his ineptitude and misfortune. Baywatch is a stupid, silly movie that you can safely skip in the theaters and wait until Red Box if you must see it. For what it’s worth though, the three people I saw it with seemed to be pretty satisfied.

Replay Value: Once was enough for me.
Sequel Potential: Baywatch hasn’t exactly smashed at the box office and it got destroyed by the critics, so it’s sequel chances are pretty low.
Oscar Potential: I could see some Razzie potential for the script.

Grade: 4.5/10 (forgettable/watchable)

47 Meters Down (2017) – This is a movie that I probably would have never seen in my life under any other circumstances, but after All Eyez On Me got demolished by the critics, the friends I was staying with in Vegas decided they wanted to see this instead. I basically had no expectations for what looked like a B-level Jaws ripoff starring Mandy Moore, so anything north of horrible was going to be a surprise to me and, well, I was surprised. The plot is trite and silly: two sisters vacation in Mexico after one of them has a big breakup and they wind up on a sketchy-looking boat with a sketchy-looking crew and then go underwater in a sketchy-looking cage so they can go shark-gazing and prove how not boring they are. I have to admit, 47 Meters Down made me incredibly uncomfortable. I’m claustrophobic and watching these girls not only be trapped in a cage, but also submerged underwater with a depleting air supply really hit my weak spots. I seriously had thoughts of walking out of the theater – that’s how much the situation was making me squirm. Just thinking of myself in that situation was unbearable – I’d be dead in minutes because of a panic attack – but I detached and got through it. Oh yeah, there are sharks in this movie! And they are actually well used, with the dark and murky water creating some tense and scary scenes. 47 Meters Down isn’t groundbreaking or particularly good – and the ending was kind of questionable – but it made me uncomfortable enough to get a thumbs up from me.

Replay Value: Not much, but I suppose I could watch it again.
Sequel Potential: The Sharknado sequels won’t stop coming, so maybe?
Oscar Potential: None

Grade: 5.5/10 (watchable/recommended)

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Alien: Covenant (2017)

May 27, 2017

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride
Director: Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Alien, Blade Runner)

Bottom Line: Count me among the many that enjoyed, but was somewhat disappointed, by Ridley Scott’s Alien prequel Prometheus in 2012. I only saw it once and if you’re thinking about seeing Alien: Covenant soon, I’d recommend taking another look at Prometheus first. Covenant picks up about ten years after the Prometheus’ ill-fated mission, with the crew of the Covenant landing on the same planet to investigate a signal that sounds like it could have a human origin. Having not revisited the previous film, I found myself confused about a number of things. Particularly, there’s a rather strange scene in the middle of this film that involves the alien DNA and it wasn’t clear to me whether it was some sort of dream sequence or an actual revelation. I felt like this scene was meant to tell us where the aliens really originated from, but it seemed so bizarre I wasn’t sure if we were meant to believe it. I can’t really expound on this confusion without getting too spoilery, but I’ll just say watching Prometheus again will definitely increase your enjoyment of this film.

Unlike Prometheus, Convenant is an Alien prequel through and through. If fans of the series were disappointed with Prometheus‘ audacity to veer off course and try to be something different, they will probably be happy with this film. After introducing us to the crew of the Covenant and sending them to the planet containing the alien pathogen, it’s not long before we have things exploding from abdomens and covering human faces. I have to say Ridley Scott does a great job of maximizing the tension, considering everyone in the audience understands the threat this time around. The alien scenes might not be scary, exactly, but they are taut and exhilarating and the film’s score really adds to the atmosphere.

I really have to give credit to the film’s creators for taking what started out as a very simple creature, the alien, one of the horror genre’s most notable monsters, and giving it an origin that is complex and interesting. It’s the kind of treatment that I hope Freddy Krueger gets one day. Am I the only one that thinks that there’s a great Freddy Krueger origin story out there somewhere? Additionally, Scott and the writers weave the events of Prometheus seamlessly into this film and makes them totally relevant, despite the fact that it was a film that stood completely on its own.

Michael Fassbender’s performance in Prometheus as the android David was universally acclaimed and he returns here as a new android named Walter that has some updated modifications to make him more compliant and Fassbender once again delivers top notch work. I’d go as far as to say he’s even better in this film and continues to rise of my list of favorite current actors. The rest of the cast is kind of unremarkable, but it’s worth noting that Danny McBride is in this film and he’s not trying to be funny. It’s weird and it feels miscast, but I didn’t hate him in the movie and he actually does a decent job of doing dramatic acting. Katherine Waterston’s Daniels is basically a clone of Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley and it’s kind of hard to ignore the similarities – or the failure to measure up. In a way, it’s actually kind of insulting.

Alien: Covenant lacks the originality of its predecessor, but it should give fans of the Alien franchise exactly what they are looking for. It’s fun, exciting, and, like Prometheus, beautifully shot. With great action and all the tropes you’d expect from the series, plus another fantastic performance from Fassbender, Alien: Covenant is a fun, if not amazing, time at the movies.

Replay Value: Prometheus has more replay value, but I never watched that again. I suppose at some time in the future, I will watch both films again…
Sequel Potential: …because there should at least one more movie before going full circle and reaching the events of Alien. It doesn’t look like anyone is officially attached at the moment, but it’s certainly in the works.
Oscar Potential: Prometheus got a Visual Effects nom, so I guess this should be drawing live at the same category. It would be strange for Michael Fassbender to get an acting nomination for a prequel sequel, but his work here is plenty noteworthy.

Grade: 6/10 (Recommended)

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June 2017 Movie Preview

May 24, 2017

Anticipation Meter
6 – Epic
5 – Very High
4 – Strong
3 – Moderate
2 – Low
1 – Nonexistent

Wonder Woman (2nd) – Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman was one of the few bright spots in the beleaguered Dawn Of Justice, so I had some anticipation that this could actually be good and break the current losing streak that DC films have been on. This will be an origin story and a period piece that finds Princess Diana of the Amazons embracing her destiny when a fighter pilot played by Chris Pine crashes on her shores and brings news of major conflict in the outside world. I’ve watched a trailer or two and, while my expectations have been tempered a bit, I still think this has a chance to be good and some early word indicates that it is. It’s worth noting that director Patty Jenkins hasn’t directed a feature film since 2003’s Monster and the main screenplay writer has a resume that consists largely of multiple episodes for “Party Of Five,” “Sex and the City,” “The O.C.,” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” In other words, let’s hope Wonder Woman is the best thing he’s ever written. When considering box office success, it’s hard to find films to compare Wonder Woman to as there hasn’t been a superhero movie with a female lead since Catwoman and Elektra both bombed in the mid-2000s. Wonder Woman won’t do The Hunger Games numbers, but it should do significantly better than female-led action franchises like Resident Evil and Underworld – the most successful film in either of those franchises grossed a modest $62 million. Wonder Woman could approach that kind of number in it’s first weekend. I’ll say $43 million opening weekend with a total gross of $157 million. Anticipation Meter – 3.5

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2nd) – I don’t know much about this except that it’s an animated film from DreamWorks that features the vocal talents of Kevin Hart, Jordan Peele, and Ed Helms and the plot synopsis says two kids hypnotize their principal into thinking he’s a superhero. Sounds fun to me. Box office is hard to gauge here. I would never guess that The Secret Life Of Pets would do a whopping $373 million. Meanwhile, a movie like The Croods, which I enjoyed substantially more, only grossed $178 million. Kids have terrible taste, so whether a movie is actually good or not doesn’t necessarily reflect it’s box office success. I’ll take a shot in the dark and say this movie puts up numbers similar to Big Hero 6 $56 million opening, $222 million total. Anticipation Meter – 2

The Mummy (9th) – After Dracula Untold failed to jump start Universal’s revamped shared universe (now officially called Dark Universe) for their classic monsters, The Mummy has become the new opening act. From the looks of the trailers, this reboot seems similar in appearance to the Brendan Fraser run that started in the late 90s – although I’ll guess it has less cheesy humor and hopefully more legit scares – with Tom Cruise taking over as the male lead and Sofia Boutella as the film’s mummy. Russell Crowe is also part of the cast, taking on the role of Dr. Henry Jekkyl, as in Dr. Jekkyl and Mr. Hyde. The trailer for this looks okay, but I’m hoping it winds up being good – I want to see this shared universe succeed. The best Fraser-led Mummy movie opened to $68 million and grossed just over $200M and the 2008 entry – which I don’t even remember – opened to $40 mil and did over $100 domestic. It’s weird… with inflation and the star power of Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe it would seem impossible for this movie not to do better than all previous Mummy flicks, but I just don’t sense a ton of excitement for it. It faces little competition, but I think it opens to around $50M and tops out around $175M. Anticipation Meter – 3

It Comes At Night (9th) – An interesting looking horror/mystery film that stars Joel Edgerton, who proved he can do creepy scary in The Gift. I expect a small opening and probably $30-$35M total. Anticipation Meter – 2

Cars 3 (16th) – I’m bewildered by this Pixar franchise. The movies have obviously performed well at the box office, but Cars and Cars 2 are probably my two least favorite movies the studio has produced… and here we are on film #3 while the far superior The Incredibles has taken 14 years to get a sequel. Pixar is actually on a little bit of a cold streak. While I did really enjoy last year’s Finding Dory, the studio hadn’t released a truly great film since Toy Story 3 in 2010 before that. This is going to be a skip for me but I suspect families will be heading out in droves to see it. I should perform similarly to the previous films, opening around $60M and finishing around $200M. Anticipation Meter – 1

All Eyez On Me (16th) – A Tupac Shakur biopic starring an unknown actor, written and directed by people that have done nothing noteworthy in their careers. I want this to be good and I’m interested in seeing Tupac’s story on the big screen, but I suspect the execution is going to be disappointing. Straight Outta Compton ($161 million) was a big hit and Tupac’s legacy is greater than anyone in N.W.A., but I think the lack of quality is already detectable here, so I think it will open to a disappointing $30M and fizzle around $75M total. As a hip hip devotee, lover of films, and fan of Tupac, I will see this even though it looks like it might suck. Anticipation Meter – 3

Rough Night (16th) – An R-Rated comedy starring Scarlett Johansson and Kate McKinnon as members of a bachelorette party that has to deal with the death of the stripper they hired. Seems like an enjoyable combination to me, if not box office fodder. Bridesmaids ($170M) is the obvious comparison, but this film won’t sniff that kind of success: $18M opening, $55M total. Anticipation Meter – 2

Transformers: The Last Knight (21st) – This is the 5th Transformers movie and I’m honestly not sure how many I’ve even seen – probably just the first three. The visual effects of the robots transforming have always been the best thing about this franchise, but I’ve seen it done enough times now that it’s not enough of a draw for me to see the movies anymore. The stories have been lacking for a while and Michael Bay is a deservedly panned director. I’m a Mark Wahlberg fan, but my interest in this franchise is pretty much over. The public still likes to pack theaters for Autobots and Decepticons and even though interest has somewhat waned over the last two films, the least successful entry still did $245 million. I’ll wager that trend continues and say The Last Knight has the worst opening weekend since the original ($70M)and finishes around $215M total. Anticipation Meter – 1

Baby Driver (28th) – A crime thriller about a young getaway driver hired by a crime boss with an interesting cast that features the likes of Kevin Spacey, Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, and Jon Bernthal. More importantly, it’s an Edgar Wright film, the writer/director that has given us gems like Shaun Of The Dead and Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. No Wright film has grossed more than $31.5 million, so it’s likely this will have a very small opening and finish right around that number. Anticipation Meter – 2.5

Despicable Me 3 (30th) – Reformed evil genius Gru and his adopted kids are still plenty of fun and even though last year’s Minions was total crap it was still a box office smash. In this entry, Gru meets a twin brother named Dru he never knew about. Steve Carell does some great voice work in this franchise and adding a twin brother could let his talent shine even brighter. My wife and I will go see this and it will be another megahit for DreamWorks: $105M opening, $325M total. Anticipation Meter – 3

Note: After spending several hours writing this (and planning separate entries for Netflix and music), I have to ask myself: is it really worth the time and effort to do stuff like this and the answer is a pretty easy no. My blog only gets a modest number of hits and I’ve struggled to expand my audience beyond my friends and family so I will be cutting the depth of my posts down considerably in an effort to spend my free time more effectively. My ultimate goal is to streamline my thoughts and opinions in a way that is still interesting but not as time consuming for me (or you).

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The Secret Lives Of Pets (2016) and 2017 Album Ratings

May 16, 2017

Added my rating for The Secret Lives Of Pets to the 2016 Movie Ratings page. I gave it a 5.5 which is somewhere between “Watchable” and “Recommended.” It was a cute, charming, and very short (80 minutes) kid’s movie, but make no mistake, kids are the target audience here. It’s not totally unappealing to adults, but it’s not nearly as clever or as funny as the Toy Story movies and it’s pretty obvious this movie wanted to be the pet version of Toy Story.

I have added a number of ratings for recent music releases to my 2017 Albums page and this seems to be the best way to organize them. I’m not really interested in writing full album reviews, but this is an easy way to see what I think the best albums are. I usually have to listen to an album two or three times to know how I really feel about it, so a number of new releases either take a while to get to that point or never do.

Thanks for all the awesome feedback on my DMX and Biggie profiles. The next artist I’m going to highlight is Brother Ali, one of the most overlooked emcees of all-time, fresh off another solid album release this month. I’m heading to Vegas for the WSOP in June and I’m going to try and be distraction free while I’m there, so the Brother Ali update won’t be published until July and it will be unlikely I make any posts while I’m in Vegas at all.

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Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

May 8, 2017

Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Michael Rooker, Kurt Russell, Vin Diesel (voice), Bradley Cooper (voice)
Director: James Gunn (Guardians Of The Galaxy, Slither)

Bottom Line: I’m kind of surprised at the overwhelmingly positive reviews Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 has received because it was kind of disappointing to me and the actual critics have a tendency to be harsher, particularly on popcorn flicks. Don’t get me wrong – it’s not bad. I mostly enjoyed myself while watching Vol. 2, but the biggest reason the first film was so fun was because of how fresh and original it was – and that was made clear when repeat viewings hardly matched the joy of watching it for the first time. The action/comedy hybrid approach still works well here and Vol. 2 is plenty funny – hilarious at times even – but it’s not as funny as it wants to be. There were more than a couple of jokes that elicited no response from the audience. Dave Bautista as Drax The Destroyer really brings the laughs this time around and pretty much any time Baby Groot is on screen, you can’t help but smile.

Where Vol. 2 comes up short is mostly in the story department. It’s funny a lot of the time and the characters are as charming as they were the first time around but, without getting too “spoilery”, 90 minutes into the movie I realized we had answered the question of “Who is Star Lord’s father” and little else. What’s the point of a Guardians Of The Galaxy movie if there’s nothing to “guard” against? And because of that lack of conflict, the movie seems to drag in the second act as Star Lord gets to know his dad and the action screeches to a halt. On the bright side, Michael Rooker’s Yondu – the blue-skinned dude with the whistling arrow – is given a much deserved expanded role and his character is a surprising highlight in the sequel.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 is a fun time at the movie theater and because of that, general audiences are probably going to love this movie. If you were a fan of the first film, this sequel probably won’t disappoint you. It’s funny and charming, plus it has some emotional edge to it, but most of the movie plugs along without any real conflict and while Kurt Russell is great, as always, the character he plays feels more like DC’s Green Lantern than the quality stuff we’ve come to expect from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Vol. 2 is plenty enjoyable, but all the comedy really overshadows the other weaknesses in the script and I suspect this will be more apparent on repeat viewings. And really, this movie could have used more Groot!

Replay Value: Just like the first film, this movie will never be better than the first time you watch it.
Sequel Potential: Vol. 3 already announced and release date is hinted at for 2020. Plus, the Guardians will be in the next Avengers movie.
Oscar Potential: Groot and Rocket look amazing, but the rest of the visual effects were kind of a let down. The first film got nominations for Makeup/Hairstyling and Visual Effects, but I’d say Vol. 2 probably won’t get any nominations.

Grade: 6/10 (recommended)

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