Blade Runner 2049 manages to build upon the original film, along with telling its own story in a wonderful way. If you are a fan of the original, you will most likely enjoy this film. However, for most of the modern audience, the movie is seen as too slow. As someone who thoroughly enjoyed the original, I was looking forward to watching this. I was not disappointed… for the most part. Aesthetically, the film looks absolutely stunning. Roger Deakins, who also did the cinematography for 1917, did an amazing job with Blade Runner 2049. I was even so amazed that I was sometimes distracted from the movie itself, which is a problem, I suppose. The story is somewhat similar to the original, asking the same questions, but it also adds the new element of replicas giving birth. This new fact has the potential to start a war, without giving too much away, the plot finishes in a very pleasing way. However, I did find that although Ryan Gosling is a great actor, he felt really stiff in this movie. More stiff than Harrison Ford, and that’s saying something. The dialogue was also quite weak at times, but again, visually, it’s absolutely amazing. I could honestly pick any frame of this as a background, and it would work. It is really a piece of art in that sense. The way that it merges the old and the new kind of reminds me of The Force Awakens, but in a way, I do think that this movie is better. I love this movie in so many ways, it looks amazing and asks some interesting questions, however, the script is sometimes dull and Ryan Gosling is stiff. But still, it’s a wonderful thought provoking film that I would recommend, 8.2/10

Where can I find “Blade Runner 2049?”: Your normal place to buy/rent movies

Joker offers an incredibly interesting take on the super-hero movie by taking a character from Batman and putting them in an incredibly real world. That is this movie’s biggest strength. This movie really makes you think about our own world, and, in an industry full of CGI action movies, it is an important film. Obviously, Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of the Joker is the stand out of the movie. He is able to make the character saddening and threatening at the same time. And while it isn’t anything new, I really liked how they handled the bridge between reality and things inside of his head. Another strength is the use of visuals. I really enjoyed a lot of the shots in this movie and felt that it actually added to the tone of the movie. However, this movie does have it’s problems. For example, I feel that a lot of the violence did feel unnecessary. The movie could easily be PG-13, yet it feels like the studio wanted this movie to be an R. Which is fine, I just feel that a PG-13 rating would have opened it up to a wider audience and would have diminished some of the unnecessary violence in the movie. While a lot of the press is saying that this movie will cause violence, I don’t think it will. I think that the point of this movie is to emphasize that we should take time to think about how we treat people with disabilities in our culture. Another thing that somewhat annoyed me was the way a lot of Batman references were forced into the film. I feel that the movie could have easily done fine if they ditched the odd sub-plot between Arthur and Thomas Wayne. But again, this is an overall wonderful movie that I feel is getting a lot of unnecessary bad press. It gets an overall 8.4/10 from me.

Where can I get this?: You’ll need to buy/rent this one.

This movie is a lot of fun. I’m not a motorhead by any means, nevertheless, this movie made me feel in the moment and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I thought that the story was compelling enough, the characters were relatable enough, and the action was thrilling enough to make for an overall incredibly enjoyable experience. Personally, I thought Christian Bale’s performance was a huge standout. His portrayal seemed honest and caring with a sense of fun. However, other than that, I thought the acting with just about average. James Mangold did an incredible job with this movie. It’s crazy to think that this is the same guy that did Logan. Visually, I had no problems with it, the editing was the only real memorable take away in terms of technical stuff. But really, the action is what makes this movie works. All of the things mentioned above come together for the amazing action sequences and make the movie work. However, due to certain performances, some action sequences, and a few smaller problems, I give this movie a 7.7/10. Nevertheless, a really enjoyable experience.

Where can I find this?: You’ll need to buy/rent it

This review is going to be redundant. What will be said has already been said. This movie is too long. The story itself is great and I really enjoyed many of the performances, however, a lot of this movie could and should have been cut out. The movie sits at 3 and a half hours, it’s just like when your grandpa starts a story about “Back in my day.” It just goes on and on. Nevertheless, I found that many of the performances were great. And, although Scorsese may have made one of the longest films I’ve ever seen, I must applaud him for being able to direct the actors and keep it relatively fresh throughout, but, there were certainly scenes that weren’t needed. I will say that I probably have a bias, like many, I watched this in small chunks. I would like to see the movie as a whole, but time just doesn’t allow. So, I gave the movie the benefit of the doubt and gave it an extra half star bringing it to an overall 7.6/10

Where can I find this?: Netflix

1917 is fine. The movie itself looks fantastic. The way the movie was shot and edited to look like one shot, this was very deserving of the awards it received at the Oscars a few weeks back. The cinematography was incredible and was exactly what it should have been. However, when it comes to the story and the acting, it’s simply an incredibly generic war story. I am baffled that the script has gotten as far as it got in the nominations this year. I really enjoy the method Sam Mendez used and admire it, nevertheless, beautiful effects can’t make up for a generic story. Still, the movie was fun to watch and it definitely pulled you into the world. But, other than that, this movie doesn’t offer much. 7.9/10

Where can I find this?: On your typical place to buy/rent things

What can I say that hasn’t already been said? This movie is fantastic. Just about every aspect of this movie is amazing. The acting, the set design, the editing, the directing, basically, this movie is amazing. This review’s going to be a lot shorter than some of my other reviews because I have basically said all I need to say. Parasite’s commentary on class offers an interesting commentary on the lower and upper classes. What starts off as a dirty rotten scoundrels-Esque comedy quickly moves to a thriller. The idea of people going to these measures under the circumstances is simply astonishing. I was genuinely at the edge of my seat until the very end. I was legitimately terrified at certain moments, which I typically don’t enjoy. However, it really worked for me. Bing Joon Ho is definitely one of the best directors working today, I’m glad that this movie is getting him the proper recognition he deserves. While it isn’t my favorite movie of the year, I certainly think that it’s the best. It offers the best message of any film I’ve seen from any movie for a long time. Everything that makes movies great all comes together for this movie. Parasite has a solid 9.9/10 from me.

Where can I find this?: On your normal place to buy/rent things

Richard Ayoade’s “The Double” is one of the weirdest movies I’ve ever seen, that’s saying something coming from a Wes Anderson and Taika Waititi fan. This film is artsy, and I don’t say that lightly. The movie is about Simon James (Jesse Eisenberg) finding a doppelganger of himself, this character is James Simon (Jesse Eisenberg). Both of them realize that they have the same face, but only Simon seems to care, and nobody else seems to notice. Slowly, Simon’s entire life is thrown into chaos, James starts taking his life away from him, and it starts driving Simon mad. I loved Richard Ayoade in the IT Crowd, (which, if you haven’t seen it, it’s a brilliant British comedy available on Netflix) I was expecting the same comedy in this. Boy was I wrong, this movie was dark and twisted, and I actually really liked that. The way the film was shot really emphasizes this. All of the characters are the only thing the light touches, other than that, most of the screen is quite dark. This adds to the tension and mystery of the film. The fact that this movie has so many big names baffles me, this seems like such a small project, but at the same time, it really is such a large scale thing. In a lot of ways, it reminds me of Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil” (Yet another thing you should watch in case you haven’t). The movie is quirky and bizarre, yet also really dark and dramatic. Simon’s love for a girl also eventually drives him mad. Really, it’s about a decent into madness in a strangely beautiful way. It was quite odd, because this is one of those movies where you really don’t know where to laugh, which I think is quite appropriate. My biggest complaint would be that sometimes it was hard to tell the difference between Simon and James, which, I know is kind of the point, but this questioning of who’s who (and also wondering how and why there is a doppelganger out of nowhere) often left me distracted from important points in the film. Worst of all, some of these questions are never answered. Another smaller complaint would be how the attempts at comedy can seem forced. But that doesn’t take away from the wonderful suspense that is incredibly prominent throughout the rest of the movie. I really enjoyed this movie, but it did have some major fall backs. Still, it was a great twisted movie to watch if you’re already feeling out of it. 8.2/10 (I know, so specific).

Where can you find “The Double?”: It is free with ads on Youtube and Tubi. Just get an adblock though, it works.

Kevin Smith’s ‘Dogma’ is a wonderful spoof on religion, that offers a fresh story in one of Kevin Smith’s best films. The story focuses on a group of angels (Matt Damon and Ben Afflek) that were banished to Wisconsin, which has been deemed worse than hell. They find a loop hole in the system allowing them to get back into heaven through the Christian Wow! campaign, which tries to get Christianity back into the cool, hip, public. Meanwhile a woman who works at a fertility clinic is confronted by Metatron (Alan Rickman) who tells her she is the only one who can stop the angels. Overall, it seems like the plot is convoluted, which it is, but really, it is just a fun and enjoyable movie. The comedy and writing in this movie is great, and some of the stars in the movie are pretty good. There are a quite a few moments that stand out to me, I don’t want to spoil anything, but there are a few. But for the most part, it’s honestly quite forgettable. This doesn’t, though, take away the enjoyment of Kevin Smith’s brilliant writing and style. While writing is Kevin Smith’s major strong suits, the way the movie looks has never been one of them. The look of the film wasn’t bad by any mean, but it did leave me wanting more. The characters are all unique and fun, along with the story. However, the visuals were somewhat lacking, and the plot did become slightly convoluted, but really, genuinely, this is one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in a while. I laughed out loud quite a few times, and really, that’s what the purpose of entertainment is, isn’t it? For that, I’ll give it a solid 8.0/10

The Englishman Who Went up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain, is a long title with a great overall premise. However, I found that the dialogue and most of the characters fell flat making the movie fail. The story is about an Englishman who is going around the country surveying land masses to calculate mountains for the king’s map. When he comes to a small Welsh village claiming that they have the first mountain in Wales, he calculates that it is only a hill. In response, all of the villagers pile dirt on the hill to make it a mountain. It’s a moving premise, but really, that’s all it has going for it. The acting is mostly stale and the romantic sub-plot is incredibly unnecessary and dull. At first, I thought it was just the Welsh accent, but no, this is genuinely bad acting. But that can’t take away from the sometimes funny story to it all. Overall, there really isn’t much to say about this one. It’s kind of dull, but if you’re looking for an inspirational film (Which, in these times, we all king of are) you will be relatively please, but overall, generally disappointing by the major mistakes of this movie. 4.6/10

Where can I find this?: On your normal places to rent/buy things

Wes Anderson’s most recent film, Isle of Dogs, is a wonderful story that is intriguing and different, along with a strong emotional impact. The story follows Atari, the mayor’s son, as he escapes home to save his lost dog, Spot. The government has banned all dogs from the city after a deadly strain of snout flu breaks out. The script is mediocre, however, the overall look of the movie more than makes up for it. Since this is an animated movie, Wes Anderson is able to play with a much larger scale than all of his other movies. This is done by making the film more of a science fiction, large scale, action film. As mentioned, the movie is visually spectacular. This movie isn’t Wes Anderson’s first attempt at an animated feature, Fantastic Mr. Fox was (for lack of a better term) fantastic, and this movie has a very similar quality. The art takes a key element from Japanese culture, which made the movie world very vibrant and exciting. A lot of the voice acting is wonderful, Bill Murray and Edward Norton being stand outs. The language barrier between the dogs and Atari was different from other movies featuring the same kind of language barrier. The dogs have a hard time understanding Atari, ergo allowing us to connect more with the dogs. The dogs themselves are all very unique, and each one ends the perfect way. Though, as I mentioned, the script is only mediocre. The dialogue certainly wasn’t the best of Anderson’s movies, although dialogue has never been one of his large strengths, though don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t call any of the dialogues in his films ‘bad.’ I’m not okay with admitting how long it took me to figure out the pun in the name, but it was worth it. In the end, Isle of Dogs is a wonderful, fantastical, animated movie by Wes Anderson. And while the script isn’t always the best, nearly every other aspect of it is really enjoyable. It’s a very fun watch, and I would highly recommend it. 8.2/10 from me

Where can I find this?: On your normal places to rent/buy things