Space Jam - A New Legacy - 4/10 - Very meh, but it was somewhat entertaining, probably more so for the kids. There were little nods to the original - yes it is a sequel and the first movie did happen - which was kinda cool. I thought they might act like the original never happened, but they acknowledge it in several ways. Some surprise appearances were funny, but wasn't a fan of a similar intro about Lebron's life. Should've done something new. It felt at times as a worse reboot of the original, but if you see it as just a movie on its own then it did have its moments. I liked the reverse of the original where Lebron was a cartoon in their world as opposed to the original where they made the Looney's more human / 3D like. The morale of the story is good, the story itself not that much, but the original also had a silly setup. Don Cheadle tried his best, but lacked the villainous traits to sell his character. Lebron is probably the worst in terms of acting, which I expected, so that's another reason I like the cartoon. Unfortunately this changes for the game itself and the Goon Squad didn't look good or cool in my opinion. Dame Times was probably the worst scene of the movie. The biggest issues I had with it aside from Cheadle and Lebron are: the lack of certain Looney Tunes, lack of side stars and the basketball game. Let's start with the game, which didn't feel like a basketball game but just lots of gimmicks and fast paced scenes to show off animation. This ties in with the lack of Looney Tunes, as WB showed off a lot their own films and characters, which I didn't really have much of a problem with since the Looney Tunes still had a big part of this film. A common critique I disagree with is that the Looney Tunes don't play a big part, which was my worry, but that's not the case at all. There is however a lack of certain characters to shine, in my opinion Speedy Gonzales - voiced by Fluffy Gabriel Iglesias - should've gotten way more lines and while's he really tiny, him not appearing for long stretches was odd. The back and forth between Tweety and Sylvester lacked as well and Taz would've thrived in the craziness of the game, but they didn't capitalize on his 'talent'. Side stars in terms of people appearing as themselves or comedians to make it funny, like the original, was lacking. A certain NBA legend in terms of broadcasting making a significant appearance was cool though. That is another reason I would've loved more Speedy since Fluffy's lines are definitely the funniest of the movies. All in all, for children probably entertaining enough, but Lebron lacked MJ's charisma to really make this memorable, the Looney Tunes had their moments but could've been better, casting was a bit of a disappointment and the basketball players as the Goon Squad barely left a mark. Glad I was able to download it and not waste a few hours going to the theatre. Since I'm not a fan of WB and given how poor some of their own characters looked, it did feel a bit cheap to make all these references to their own products. The message of the movie was good even if poorly executed due to bad acting, but I managed to sit through it, so a 4 is in some ways very forgiving. Looney Tunes saved it from being a 2 or even a 1.
The Dawn Wall (Netflix) 8 out of 10. Great documentary of Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgenson planning out and executing on a free climb up the most difficult free climb up Yosemite's El Capitan. Now I have to see Free Solo.
A Quiet Place 2 Everyone in this movie is stupid. Who the **** says dive at a baseball game?! The deaf girl is stupid, the mom is stupid, the boy is borderline, the friend that was made mention of in the first film, was easily manipulated by the deaf girl and the mom is a ****ing moron. The opening scene is action packed but other than that this movie is a complete waste of time. 2/10 The Forever Purge Started off great but quickly turned preachy and dull. This concept has run its course. 1/10 Pig I don't know if this movie was supposed to be interpreted as funny as it did, not funny as in silly but funny as in the depth of it all. I found this film ridiculously amusing. I hadn't seen Nicolas Cage in anything since The Sorcerer's Apprentice so this was a real treat for me, he really committed to this role. I'm hoping there's a sequel so we can see more of the seedy restaurant underbelly. 7/10 Zola A brainless, raunchy adventure movie that lacks a true ending but maybe leaves room for a sequel. This is a story that must go on. 7.5/10
Jungle Cruise - 9/10 What a gem, I seriously think as a standalone film in similar types (Jumanji, Pirates of the Caribbean, Mummy, National Treasure) this is right up there with the 1st Pirates film and might top all of them from a visual standpoint. Loved the chemistry between Blunt and the Rock, the story, the magical setting and props, artefacts, one of the villains, the animals and it has everything: adventure, humour, tension, love, drama. Just one thing: one of the main villains. He's a fine actor, but personally would've loved either a more serious villain actor or someone who'd play the role sarcastically. The first actor who popped in my mind was actually Jack Black would've been great in this.
Good acting (for the most part), but very heavy handed..........and surprisingly, it's not Nic Cage overdoing it, but rather the director/writer. There's enough crazy stuff that goes on in the restaurant industry without having to write some of the crazy stuff that goes on in this movie. Lots of pigs in the movie.......only one swine. Pink Floyd did it better.
Don't Breathe 2 - I enjoyed the first one but this one moved into outright stupidity on multiple levels, major letdown.... D Free Guy - It's a weird mash up between The Lego Movie and They Live, its fun but it's been done better. Jodie Comer looks pretty great in the video game world. B- Respect: The Aretha Franklin Story - Jennifer Hudson is solid and her singing Aretha's songs are the high point but the rest of the movie is like Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story except it's stone cold serious. A real missed opportunity. C-
I had never even heard of it.......got to watch it now: https://deadline.com/2017/06/will-ferrell-lifetime-a-deadly-adoption-atx-1202110131/
The trailer reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry tries to not be funny. _____ Ferrell clearly has much affection for the project, calling it, “My little tribute to Andy Kaufman,” and “one of my favorite things I’ve ever made, partly because it completely baffles maybe 80 per cent of the audience.” “Every summer I grow my beard out,” he said, “and I went to a salon on Melrose, a kind of fancy one, and said, ‘Can you dye my beard and I don’t want it to match my hair.’” Calling the look, a “tribute to chuck Norris”
Well, with so many people in the world deprived and unhappy, it doesn't seem like it would be fair to be cheerful.
Sunshine- B+ Finally got around to watching this sci if movie on my watch list. I really loved the visuals, audio, and story up until the third act. The ending felt Spoiler a little Event Horizon-ish to me and I didn’t see that coming. I thought it changed the vibe of the movie negatively but still enjoyed it. Thought scene where they were traveling into the sun and gravity and time were being affected was really cool.
Saw Free Guy at the theater. It had some funny moments and kids loved it. 6/10 The Tomorrow War (Amazon) - Action scenes were pretty darn good. Acting wasn’t terrible. Reminded me of Battle Los Angeles which I liked as well. 7/10.
