We went to go see Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw tonight, and it’s awesome. You either love the F&F franchise or you don’t, and if you love it like we love it this movie is going to satisfy. All the hallmarks are there; insane vehicular action, Loony Tunes meets Three Stooges approaches to violence, suspension…
We went and saw “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”, the latest movie written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Margot Robbie. It’s not his best film, it’s certainly not his “worst”, but for us it’s extremely watchable throughout it’s nearly three hour run-time and when it finally goes off the rails in the last reel, hoo-boy. Brad and Leo are having a lot of fun, the film is as gorgeous as you’d expect, and Hollywood looks as magical as it ever has on screen. We’ll be back next week to check out Hobbes and Shaw, see you then!
Jim and A.Ron have seen the “live-action” remake of The Lion King, but why? Why was this film made? I mean, we know the rea$on$ The Mouse is jamming this joyless attempt at cinema down our throats, but really, why? A stellar vocal cast can’t even come close to making it worth it. It’s hard to think of a more pointless endeavor, and it’s \all down hill after the cold open. Stay at home, save your money, and put on your best copy of the original on your biggest screen and crank up the sound. Enough with this pretender. Long live the original King!
Jim and I had the pleasure of taking a European vacation with Spider-Man: Far From Home. Just when you wonder how Marvel will pick up the pieces and continue from Endgame, the drop a super fun Spider-Man sequel on us that manages to be just as delightful as the first with even more heart. Tom Holland was born to…
Frankly, we were prepared to be mildly disappointed and to cluck our tongues at the Mouse and wag our fingers at all of his hubris as we sat down to watch Toy Story 4. Nobody asked for this sequel. It was foolish to get this franchise out of the vault after you delivered an absolutely perfect trilogy with the most beautiful ending you could ask for. But you know what? They did it. Toy Story 4 can look it’s predecessors square in the eye as it has just as much humor, heart, and a wonderful, emotionally rewarding finale. Not to mention it’s the best looking Toy Story yet. This is a movie that was made for everyone, and it delivers the goods.
Jim and I have seen the latest installment in the long running Men in Black franchise, Men in Black: International. And it’s okay. It’s fun and entertaining, largely because Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth are fun and entertaining people who have an easy chemistry. The plot is twisty, but not very smart, and the whole thing just struggles to find the big red “hyperspace” button that would get it into orbit where it belongs. But if all you’re looking for is a bit of 90s nostalgia in a forgettable summer flick package, Men in Black: International will do.
Jim and I went to see the latest X-Men flick, Dark Phoenix. It’s not as bad as it’s Rotten Tomatoes rating would imply, but it’s certainly not good. And it’s unfortunately because once again a classic X-Men plotline is burnt (refried, in this case) and all-time great Magneto and Professor X performances by Fassbender and MacElvoy are wasted on a script with muddled characters and paper thin villains. Long time fans of the X-Men will enjoy some great stand alone moments with their favorite characters, and the core chemistry of Xavier / Magneto / Mystique work to get the film’s emotional heart a brief jump. But ultimately the film folds underneath the weight of apathy and ugly FX work.
Jim and I are both long-time fans of Godzilla, and we’re here to report that this here is a really great Godzilla… trapped in a really, really dumb film. Godzilla: King of the Monsters has never looked better, has never been more bad@ss, has never been a meaner lizard, the problem is the homo sapiens that keep interrupting the truly amazing kaiju action we’re getting here. If you can find a dumber lot of heroes and villains in a major motion picture, we’d like to see them. Worse, there are zero stakes because apparently it’s not possible for these morons to die unless they’re faceless extras or it’s the dramatically appropriate time for them to die, but again this film doesn’t understand drama or tension, so that doesn’t really work, either. This would be a really fun film to rip on and root for the monsters on a lazy Saturday with your best friends, but it ain’t worth the time going out to see it. We’ll hope for better next week with the X-Men as we get a first look at Dark Phoenix!
If you’re wishing for a three-way review of Disney’s latest live-action adaptation, Aladdin, then listener you’re in luck. Wish granted. Cecily, Jim, and I went to see it tonight with appropriately low expectations, but were very pleasantly surprised at how much fun and energy the movie provided. Better, the script smartly adapted the original, improving it’s pacing while also adding depth to Jafar’s intrigue and Jasmine’s character, making it smarter and more relatable to modern audiences. The Tomatometer is kinda brutal for Al and friends right now (59% as of this writing), so take our review with a grain of salt. And we’re still skeptical of the long term viability of these live-action adaptations, but we feel like this movie is proof that they aren’t necessarily doomed to be pointless wastes of time.
The Super Serious Film Fest: Fantasy reaches it’s thrilling conclusion with a look at 1998’s Willow. The brain child of one George Lucas, directed by protege Ron Howard, and starring the delightful Warwick Davis, Willow still struggles to this day to find an audience. It suffers from simultaneously being curiously dark for a family film, but far too simple, uncomplicated, and broad to hold much interest for adults. While it boasted some cutting edge special effects for our day, the best one might be the baby Elora herself, played by a suite of infants. It shouldn’t be possible for a baby to be this winsome and charming, but there it is.