Spiderman: Far From Home

MY RATING: 7

GENERAL INFORMATION

Release Info:  2 July 2019

Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Director: Jon Watts
Writer: Chris McKenna
Running Time: 2 Hours and 9 Minutes

Staring: Tom Holland, Samuel L. Jackson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, Zendaya, J.B. Smoove and Cobie Smulders

Rating? PG-13

SPOILERS? NO

STORYLINE

Peter Parkers world has changed a lot since the events of Avengers: Endgame and everyone asking who will be the next Iron Man. Peter is avoiding Nick Fury's calls and heads to Europe with schoolmates with plans to tell MJ he likes her. Hell breaks loose with a new villain in the alternate universe Elementals and the new semi-super hero Mysterio. Peter does not enjoy a peaceful trip as he has planned.

MY REVIEW

After a few bad movies in a row, it was nice to see one that I immediately did not regret paying to see. Was it the best movie of the summer? No. Was it a fun to watch? Yes! As someone who had the fortunate opportunity to live in Europe fro several years it was nice to see some of the places I remember so fondly. (Pics below of me in London and Venice).

I need to admit that I was more excited to see Jake Gyllenhaal. (Man candy if I do say so myself).  So, I'm giving it a solid 7. There were a few things that just lost me, but read my notes below and you'll see why I went with that.

What I DID LIKE about this movie:

• DIRECTION- Although this is the typical monster of the movie thing that mot marvel/DC universe movies use as a plot device, the pivots that change the dynamic of the story are pretty well done. I'm not giving it away when I say that this is the kind of story that I get. The monsters are within us all and occasionally the monsters are bigger for some people. I think they successfully told the story while retaining the idea of the teenage Spiderman and his never ending struggle to admit his love for the elusive MJ.
• SET DESIGN/LOCATION- I am ONE OF THOSE people who will tear a movie apart when the set designers and location folks don't get the details right. 
• CINEMATOGRAPHY- Some epic shots here. When you have locations as amazing as Venice and London, you have to let it all sink in without overindulging. I mean, I've stood on the top of the Campidoglio and took some great wide shots of the brick red roofline of the city. I think they did a great job filming in Venice and keeping it from being a vacation video.  Same with London. They stuck with the area near Tower Bridge and it looked and felt right.
• COSTUME DESIGN- I was surprised a little with the suit choices here. The one that he was wearing in the beginning with the meet and greet of the locals in NYC was super over the top. I'm glad they moved back to the typical one for his overseas shenanigans.
• SCORE/SOUNDTRACK-  What a sing-along movie this will be when I am watching this again at home. "I Will Always Love You" to start, a little "Back in Black" and finally a Go Go hit with "Vacation." I wanted to play the air drums a little, who am I kidding, A LOT!

What I DID NOT LIKE about this movie:

• I don't even know which category to put this in. Spiderman IS your neighborhood superhero. He's the home grown kid with the silly home made suit shooting webs from his hands. I think it bothered me that by the end of this movie he was on a Stark plane with Happy and unlimited access to Start Tech. THat's detracts from the selling point of Spiderman.
• EFFECTS- It's not that I didn't like it... but it's really effects heavy. I mean, it IS a superhero movie and it's not like you can just film stuff that doesn't exist, SOOO i get that they needed to use a lot of CGI and effects.
• SUB PLOT- Emotional Rollercoaster that derailed a bit for me. Here was a bit too much of the quirky teenage love will he/won't he was a bit much for me. 
• RIP TONY STARK- Okay, Tony Stark is dead. It seems to me that they were having a hard time letting him go. LET HIM GO. I did enjoy some of the little Tony Stark add in's like EDITH, but it was a bit Stark heavy for me.

On a more personal note..... 

This movie brought up a few great memories of when we lived in Europe. We had some great trips to some of the destinations in this movie and I thought I would share a few. Below is me on the London Eye, and on the Rialto Bridge and in Saint Mark's Square in Venice.

Avengers: Endgame

MY RATING: 7 of 10

GENERAL INFORMATION

Release Info: 26 April 2019

Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Director:Anthony Russo and Joe Russo
Writer:Christopher Markus
Running Time: 3 hours and 1 minute

Staring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner,  Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chadwick Boseman, Brie Larson, Tom Holland, Karen Gillan, Zoe Saldana, Evangeline Lilly. I can keep going! Who's NOT in this movie!

Rating? PG-13

SPOILERS? NO

STORYLINE

After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the universe is in ruins due to the efforts of the Mad Titan, Thanos. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers must assemble once more in order to undo Thanos's actions and undo the chaos to the universe, no matter what consequences may be in store, and no matter who they face...

MY REVIEW

I say this at the beginning of almost all of the Marvel Universe reviews.. Not a big Marvel fan. However, this was a fun movie, be it depressing and nonsensical in spots, but the story was good. I was nervous about the 3 hour timeline and got a seat at the end of a row to make sure I could escape to pee and at times it did feel like the longest movie on the planet.

I left the movie thinking that it was a 9 and by the time I sat down to write this, I got close to giving it a 6 and landed on a 7. Here's why..

What I DID LIKE about this movie:

• One word. THOR. I don't want to get into the specifics, but the THING that is going on with Thor is quite possibly the mot relatable thing that I have seen in any of the Marvel movies so far. It's humanizing and brings such a realism into the idea of what would happen if the poles shifted for some people. Some people just need to be needed. I love this piece. Well done.
• Ant-Man. Paul Rudd has had my heart since he was Josh in Clueless.
• Set and Costume Design
• CGI- A lot of money went into the CGI and it was a triumphant success. I hate it when the CGI pulls you out of a movie for being so badly done!
• I really enjoyed the way this movie brought all of the other Marvel movies together.  
• Last scene with Captain America made my cold heart pitter patter. Love!!

What I DID NOT LIKE about this movie:

• Editing- To be honest, the pacing could have been better. The first act seemed to drag unnecessarily and expended a lot of effort to show our heroes in emotional turmoil. The second and third acts did speed consecutively ending in a 45 minute action frenzy. ( I did like that)  
• Hipster Hulk
• With the epic list of people in this movie, that is indeed an issue. With that many A list actors, it's hard to give them all the screen time that they need or deserve. I think Hawkeye was given too much screen time.
• Brie Larsen was better, but still not great. 

What QUESTIONS do I now have?

• I have a serious issue with the idea of the timeline they try to alter. They say multiple times that changing the timelines is CHANGING another timeline. So, Tony Stark snaps his fingers and ends Thanos in THIS universe but what about the others? Is that really the end? If he sent Thanos et al back, how does he know not to send Gamora back from 2023? Does that mean 2014 Peter Quill never meets Gamora? Does that timeline still exist? How does Captain America know which lake to sit by? I want answers!!
• Thanos is really just a Eco-Warrior. He saw that there are too many people in the world and we could not sustain the numbers with the current levels of food, water and housing so he basically provided a plague to give those who are left a chance. I kind of appreciate that and in some regards, I don't think he's that bad for just trying to give us a hand. 

On a more personal note..... 

Did you guys know that I love my cats!? So much that I wear cat shirts and take selfies on SnapChat with cat ears! :)  

Bohemian Rhapsody

RATINGS

IMDB: 8.4

MY RATING: 7

GENERAL INFORMATION

Release Info: 2 November 2018
   Lynnhaven Mall AMC 23 Nov 2018

Genre: Biography, Drama, Music
Director: Bryan Singer
Writer: Anthony McCarten and Peter Morgan
Running Time: 2 Hours and 14 min

Staring: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton and Gwilym Lee

Rating? PG-13

SPOILERS? NO

STORYLINE

A chronicle of the years leading up toQueen's legendary appearance at the Live Aid concert in 1985.

MY REVIEW

This was a good movie. Don't get me wrong in the rating of 7. It was good, but it could have been better. The theme should have earned this an R. They just slightly touched on the the heart of Freddie Mercury; drug use, homosexuality, multiple sex partners, etc. If you didn't sing along then you're dead inside!

What I DID LIKE about this movie:

• Rami Malek did an amazing job playing Freddie. (Thanks to Canadian Marc Martel for lending his voice to the icon himself). He only resembles Freddie on a very base level, but he did a wonderful job with his manner and his body language. It was perfection. Love!
• The music- All EPIC!
• I did like the story itself. I am a huge fan of beginning at the end and ending at the beginning if that makes sense. 
• Favorite scene: The part where Ray Foster (Mike Myers) tells the boys that Bohemian Rhapsody is NOT the type of song that kids will sing along to in their cars. All I could see was the scene in Waynes World and smile.

What I DID NOT LIKE about this movie:

• This was not the movie that it COULD have been. It truly needed an R rating to really bring Freddie to the big screen.  This was a sugar-coated pretty story that could. All surface, not a great deal of substance.
• This movie was touted as a biopic. This was not the case. This was a retelling of a story with edits and modifications that were made to make the movie watchable and less "controversial."

On a more personal note..... 

A SnapChat Selfie, a New Car and a New Shot for the Blog!

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Season 1)

RATINGS

IMDB: 7.8 of 10

MY RATING: 7

GENERAL INFORMATION

First Episode Air Date:  28 October 2018

Seasons? x1 right now, 3 in the works.
Watched Where and When: Netflix
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Staring: Kiernan Shipka, Ross Lynch, Lucy Davis, Chance Perdomo, Michelle Gomez and a whole ton more.

Rating? TV-14

SPOILERS? YES

STORYLINE

Reimagined story of the adventures of Sabrina the Teenage Witch as a dark coming-of-age story that traffics in horror, the occult and of course witchcraft. Totally in the vein of Rosemary's Baby and the Exorcist. In this adaptation we find Sabrina Spellman wrestling to reconcile her dual nature of half witch and half mortal, while standing against the evil forces that threaten her and her family and the whole daylight world that humans inhabit.

MY REVIEW

I was not quote young enough to have really enjoyed Sabrina when it was out in the late 90's with Melissa Joan Hart. I did watch a few, but they were too bubble-gum and rainbows for my dark little heart to enjoy. Which is why it was with trepidation that I watched the first episode of this reboot. I liked the idea of a darker and more sophisticated retelling. I watched the first one and then the second episode and then the third and right through the whole eleven episodes in about 2 days. It was not perfect by any means but it was funny, dark and just a ridiculous enough to keep me interested!

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa created an amazing little slice of something that really worked. He was also known for Riverdale, Carrie (2013)m Supergirl and some episodes of Glee and Big Love. Most of the episodes were directed by Rob Seidenglanz, You might know him from some of his little projects like Blindspot, the Following, Jack and Bobby, Party of Five and Suits.

What I DID LIKE about this movie:

• Direction and Storytelling- There were several producers, EP's, AP's and a ton of other P's involved in this tv show and it was the combination of all of those professionals that created the environment that felt like a real story. They were able to get good performances and some great performances from their actors. I liked the dark path, a LOT!
• DARK!! (Not dark enough though, see below)

What I DID NOT LIKE about this movie:

• Did someone watch Harry Potter a little too much? I think the school of dark magic that is masked with some sort of spell that cloaks it from view. Really not unique.
• I would have appreciated a little more darkness. (Did I mention that I do have a dark little heart!?) Come on with the Satanism! Most intelligent people know that wicca/ witchcraft and most other practitioners of the darker arts are NOT satanists. They worship the earth or earth gods that have nothing to do with Satan or even god for that mater! 
• If they worship the Dark Lord, let's get real, I needed more. It's still a bit too bubble-gum.
• I read this somewhere else, but i laughed when I did because it was SOOO true!! "When someone is killed by rope around the neck the word is hanged. When the 13 were hung, it implies they were dangling in a tree and were not murdered by hanging. Really really annoying."

Solo: A Star Wars Story

GENERAL INFORMATION

Release Info: 25 May 2018

Director: Ron Howard
Writer:Jonathan Kasdan and Lawrence Kasdan
Running Time: 2 Hours and 15 Minutes

Staring: Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Joonas Suotamo, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Paul Bettany and Jon Favreau

Rating? PG-13

SPOILERS? NO

REVIEWS

IMDB: 7.2 of 10

MY RATING: 7

STORYLINE

During an adventure into the criminal underworld, Han Solo meets his future co-pilot Chewbacca and encounters Lando Calrissian years before joining the Rebellion.

MY REVIEW

I don't know if you guys know this, but I am a huge Star Wars nerd! Crazy right?!?! Well, This movie was much anticipated and the lingering questions for me were: 1) was Alden Ehrenreich going to be acting like Harrison Ford acting like Han Solo or was he going to place his own stamp on the role. Answer Below. 2) What foolishness was Disney going to do to my Han? Again, answers below.

For me, this was a fun ride. Yes, I did find some of it a little over the top and it could have been a little better, hence the 7 and NOT a 10!!

What I DID LIKE about this movie:

• It told a story. I will give it that. It was not overly complicated. It was not overly dramatic. It was a story. This is why I give it a 7. Could have been better. I know this was a point of contention and the re-writes were plentiful, even causing almost a year of additional filming. Good job, but you did not wow me Ron Howard.
• Personal Letter to Alden Ehrenreich. You did a good job with Han. I was truly afraid that you were going to be acting like Harrison Ford playing Han Solo. You did not. You brought yourself to the role and I personally enjoyed your spin. It was subtle, but it was Han.  
• Personal Letter to Disney. Okay, you did just about right with this one. Please keep the the middle of the road and DON'T fuck up the rest. 
• Solo/Chewy chemistry.

What I DID NOT LIKE about this movie:

• As a Star Wars fan, I did find the fact that they overplayed the moment when Han gets his gun. I mean, seriously, I get it. His gun, I seeee it!! 
• A bit on the predictable side. The story is a bit less dramatic than I would have liked. I understand they are pandering to a  whole new generation of Jedis who don't have the years and YEARS of watching Episodes 4, 5 and 6 a billion times.
• Khaleesi needs to go back to Game of Thrones. Yeah, not a huge fan of her portrayal of Qi'ra.

On a more personal note..... 

So, good for me that I had a special tee shirt to wear to the opening of Solo. It's my swag from Star Wars Celebration last year in Orlando. Star Wars 40th Anniversary. Needless to say... you can see from the pics that I was adorably cute to see Solo!! Perfect timing to get the Perfect middle seat that I love and get my obligatory "shoes on the seat" photo before the movie started.

Slasher- The Executioner

GENERAL INFORMATION

Release Info: 2016 Canadian TV Show available in Netflix

Creator: Aaron Martin
Running Time: 8 Episodes, 45-55 minutes each

Staring: Katie McGrath, Brandon Jay McLaren, Christopher Jacot, Steve Byers, Patrick Garrow, Dean McDermott and Jefferson Brown

Rating? Unrated, Made for TV

SPOILERS? NO

REVIEWS

IMDB: 6.6 of 10

MY RATING: 7

STORYLINE

A young woman returns to the small town where her parents were murdered, only to find the past re-emerging as a new series of murders begin.

MY REVIEW

BINGE-WORTHY tv horror. No, it's not the greatest thing in the world. No, it
s not going to win an Emmy. But, the story is decent, the casting is average and the gore is above board.

What I DID LIKE about this movie:

• Violent. Not for kids. This was perfect. Just not a great dinner-time watch!
• It was definitely a fun watch. For those of us who enjoy trying to figure out the "real killer" behind the masked ones. This was an enjoyable task over 8 episodes. It was a little obvious close to the middle, but it was good. I guessed wrong for the first half!

What I DID NOT LIKE about this movie:

• Katie McGrath is Irish and it was pretty obviojs
• It's B-level, Canadian Horror TV. Enough Said.

IT (2017)

GENERAL INFORMATION

Release Info: 7 September 2017

Director: Andy Muschietti
Writer: Chase Palmer and Cary Fukunaga
Running Time: 135 Minutes

Staring:  Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Lieberher, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer and Wyatt Oleff

Rating? R

SPOILERS? NO for the most part but if you DON'T want SPOILERS, stop reading when I say SPOILERS!!

REVIEWS

IMDB: 8.3 of 10

RT: Critics: 88% Audience: 91%
MY RATING: 7

STORYLINE

In the town of Derry, the local kids are disappearing one by one, leaving behind bloody remains. In a place known as the Barrens, a group of seven kids are united by their horrifying and strange encounters with an evil clown and their determination to kill IT.

MY REVIEW

This was one of my favorite re-adaptations I've seen in a while. This was a good blend of Horror and Comedy with just enough to keep your eyes interested and your head engaged in the story. 

Thanks to my friend Joe for the SPOILER LADEN review after mine!!

What I DID LIKE about this movie:

• Acting- I RARELY like movies that star massive amounts of children. I am not a fan of them (kids) in general and  that's just a thing for me. But this worked! The child actors acted their little black hearts out for this movie! 
• Cinematography- There was some amazing framing in this movie. There were a few times when the camera would pan out and around to show one of the characters and then a larger empty hall or open field that left an uneasy feeling of emptiness that was unsettling. After I realizing it was Chung-hoon Chung, the same cinematographer as Oldboy and The Handmaiden, I was not surprised
• Score and again, this was not a surprise as Benjamin Wallfisch was the same genius behind Hidden Figures, 12 Years a Slave and V for Vendetta.
• Bill Skarsgård, just like your awesome brother, Alexander Skarsgård, you sir, awe amazing. This was a truly terrifying and entertaining performance.

What I DID NOT LIKE about this movie:

• MIKE HANLON's part was not what I wanted to see at all. He was such a large part of the book and the first movie. His role was parsed out to various people in the new film and I just missed that person!
• It did feel rushed at times. I wanted more of the story and purely more of the 

SPOILERS- SPOLIERS- SPOLIERS

JOE'S REVIEW 

So having recently (within 3 months) reabsorbed the novel, a few things in the movie seemed off. Mainly, that a lot of Mike Hanlon's status and use to the loser's club was absorbed by Ben Hanscom. Mike was the historian of the team. He was the one that made them aware of It as a constant entity and it felt like they intentionally cut him down to a farmer from his original place.

He was also Henry Bowers' biggest target due to racism passed through the family. In the book, Henry Bowers kills Mike's dog in childhood. His family has a running hatred of the Hanlons because they are black and the Bowers blame them for all their failings. The movie skirted this entire subplot. Richie in the books is afraid of werewolves because of a movie he watches with Ben and Bev. This was also skirted in the movie for a fear of clowns, which seems like it was done for convenience. Most notable absence was the "everyone on the team has a purpose" aspect of the losers club. In the book, Bev is the fighter, Mike is the brain, Richie is the support, Stan is highly organized, Bill is the leader, and Eddie is the cautious hypochondriac. They all also take abuse which helps bond them.

Bill is alienated from his family after Georgie's death. Stan gets a lot of anti-Semitic abuse. Eddie is a Munchausen syndrome by proxy child that is constantly watched by his mother who hates the losers. Bev has a similar home life to the film but her mother is present and largely supporting the family on wait staff jobs. Mike gets Henry Bowers' abuse. His aunt, cousins, and Henry pick on Ben. Richie is a large target of Bowers because he talks back. Lastly, Mike does not kill Henry in the book. Henry is traumatized by IT and sent to an asylum after It kills Belch and Criss.

Patrick Hocksteader and Belch Huggins are bigger characters in the book with Patrick being a "rich kid playing with the wrong side of the tracks kids" is a psycho who also has homosexual urges (including jacking Henry off at one point). Some of the gang was written out, Moose Sadler and Vic Criss mainly.

The film did get a lot of things right. The kids are left on their own a lot, except Eddie who has to sneak out most of the time. Stan is the most hesitant of the group in the book because the chaos of It messes with his ordered mind the most. Bill does have a form of PTSD in the book from Georgie's death. Bev's abused home life is more implied than shown in the book. The bond of the losers club is more solid in the book but still captured well. The house on Neibolt Street is almost exactly as pictured in the book. The movie could not really capture a lot of the book because there is a LOT of history and world building in the book. There is more discussion of what IT is and why the town ignores it, leaving the "intentional or accidental" part up for debate.

I would also be remiss if I didn't point out some Easter eggs from the movie. There are multiple references to other King properties in the movie ranging from images on shirts (a car with teeth referencing Christine, multiple turtles referencing both the book and the Dark Tower, the Ford Pinto Eddie's mom drives is the same as the car from Cujo). Another deviation: In the book, the Bowers gang breaks Eddie's arm in retaliation for the rock fight, rather the Neibolt Street house. 

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Spiderman Homecoming

GENERAL INFORMATION

Release Info: 7 July 2017 (in theaters 23 July 2017)

Director: Jon Watts
Writers: Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley
Running Time: 2 Hours and 13 Minutes

Staring:  Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr., Marisa Tomei,  Jon Favreau ,  Hannibal Buress  and Zendaya

Rating? PG-13

SPOILERS? NO

REVIEWS

IMDB: 7.9 of 10

RT: Critics: 92% Audience: 90%
MY RATING: 7

STORYLINE

Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home, where he lives with his Aunt May, under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark, Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine - distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man - but when the Vulture emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened.

MY REVIEW

Truth be told, I am not a Spiderman fan. Never have been. Likely never will be. To me, Spiderman is always going to be Adam West however, this movie did not suck. I did enjoy it even though I was not sold on the idea of making Spiderman in High School. I mean, didn't we already have that one a long time ago?!?

What I DID LIKE about this movie:

• Michael Keaton! I think he may have been my favorite part of the movie. 
• Loved the new suit
• CGI was pretty decent 

What I DID NOT LIKE about this movie:

• I think some fat writing/Acting was lacking. The conversations in the majority of the dialogue heavy scenes felt forced. I felt like there were really only two decent actors (Holland and Keaton)
• Bad jokes that fell flat.
• As much as I LOVE Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) I feel like the Spiderman movie was extremely heavy on the Stark items.
• OMG Plot holes a-plenty! 

On a more personal note..... I was packing to go on a work trip and Rocket decided he was going to try to go with me. I called Terry to help me in the kitchen and he showed up wearing a Storm Trooper Helmet! And finally, I made a cake. Turned out pretty awesome!

ARQ

GENERAL INFORMATION

Release Info: 16 September 2016
Netflix Original Film
     Netflix 22 September 2016

Writer and Director: Tony Elliott (You may know him from Orphan Black)
Running Time: 88 Minutes

Staring:  Robbie Amell, Rachael Taylor and Shaun Benson

Rating? Unrated

SPOILERS? NO

REVIEWS

IMDB: 6.5 of 10

MY RATING: 7

STORYLINE

Trapped in a lab and stuck in a time loop, a disoriented couple fends off masked raiders while harboring a new energy source that could save humanity.

MY REVIEW

I read the story synopsis and at first I was like, great, another Groundhog Day movie. But it sounded interesting and I decided to give it a shot. I am very glad that I did. I think we've all had those nightmares where we relive the same day over and over and OVER again! This felt like one of those on steroids. It was enjoyable. Not great, but a decent hour and a half.

What I DID LIKE about this movie:

• Solid Writing, not A+, but good enough. Very cerebral. Definitely asks a lot of the watcher to be aware and actually pay attention. I did and I was happy.
• Did not treat the watcher like an idiot. I feel like the writer treated us like actual adults who were capable of rational thought. Thank you Mr. Elliot for using basic common sense with this one!
• That MUSIC!  Dear Sound Editors: You guys did an fucking amazing job! (Raises glass)

What I DID NOT LIKE about this movie:

• I did shake my head as it totally set up ARQ2. I hate it when it's that OBVIOUS!
• Shaky cam adjacent. It wasn't quite shaky, but it was annoying.

On a more personal note..... I was a little more than bored today. I ended up taking a lot of selfies on Snapchat. Here are a few of the ones that I enjoyed the most. 

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