A Surprise To Be Sure But A Necessary One.

Now this took a bit of time to work out, and I can strongly say I feel this is the right decision. With the huge impact this month is taking on me, several films being pushed months back, work hours being cut, this whole social distancing thing closing what little time I actually get out of the house, I do truly feel I need to take some time off. Now I'm perfectly fine, healthy as possible, nothing bad has happened. But I am thinking logically of this, usually I take my break in September when no new movies have come out and I can plan for the only constant in this ever shifting review schedule, October, and square away a schedule leading into the new year, but with this utter and complete train wreck of a month I feel some time needs to be taken off to plan a solid form of action. Now I'm not taking the whole month off, I'll be gone for about 3 weeks and be right back at it on my birthday week showcasing the movies of my favorite childhood actor Jim Carrey. That gives me time to figure out new release schedules for movies, plan a schedule for the reviews, and review some backlog material that can be posted for months to come. In fact, with this course of action I will have not one but two big surprises for you coming this fall which will more than make up for this lost upcoming month. So I'm sorry I couldn't wheel and deal for a full month but new shit has come to light and steps have to be taken to help keep this going. 3 odd weeks and I'll have schedules for May and June, probably even July, plus the off time to square away stuff and get some reviews said and done just waiting to be posted. Which gives me more time to plan later on for the big events coming before and after October and I can't wait to share it with you. I definitely appreciate you and hope this won't bum you out but just know I'll be working regardless and getting out more stuff for the rest of the year. With a heavy heart I step away from this as I normally do every year. And on that bombshell it is time to leave, thank you so much for joining me, good night.

Superman Red Son

This was goooood! Oh it was so good!

I am serious man if I had to rank my favorite animated DC movies this is top 5 if not even top 3, no joke this was an amazing movie. Top 3 favorite DC animated movies goes as follows, The Dark Knight Returns, Batman Mask Of The Phantasm, Superman Red Son, and I can't even believe the lukewarm reception this little feature has gotten, with most scores being an average of 3/5 or 6/10. Whaaaat?? This is 8/10 if not 9/10 material, I friggin' loved this movie it is so damn awesome! Which is funny because while I never had an issue with the idea of an elseworlds Superman story about him growing up in the Soviet Union instead of the States, it didn't sound that terribly interesting. So if the book is anything like this I'm reading it immediately! It is a fascinating concept, what if not only Superman was russian but also Batman and even Wonder Woman has strong ties to Russia? And I greatly enjoy how the film handles it, it doesn't spend an indiscriminate amount of time with Superman as an adult, we go through the history of the USSR from 1946 to 1983 experiencing several aspects of the Cold War throughout from Stalin, to the Berlin Wall, to Lex Luthor being elected President after Kennedy is assassinated, and it all works so incredibly well. I had zero complaints through the whole movie, no edgy adult humor or unnecessary swear words just a great story being told. And I can actually roll with everything the movie throws at me because it's an elseworlds story, yeah I can see Lois Lane marry Lex Luthor, I can see Jimmy Olson being a G-man for the government, I can totally buy we get Wonder Woman, Brainiac, and the Green Lantern's in the same story, and it never once feels crowded or rushed. For a movie barely under 90 minutes, it takes it's time to flesh out this reality and make it incredibly believable, I was having a grand time enjoying the story, picking out more references than you can shake a stick at, being surprised and even kind of emotionally connected to certain scenes. The cast is amazing with my man Jason Isaacs being a pretty grand Superman in my eyes, and I appreciate the fact that he still has the same morals as our Superman but bent ever so slightly to fit his growth in a totally different society. Vanessa Marshall is still a queen and I just love that they made Wonder Woman an ambassador again, on good terms with the two largest superpowers in the world and only wants peace, Gail Simone would be proud. Diedrich Bader is a great Lex Luthor, so very different from more popular iterations of the character but still the Lex we love to see and I just love that we have ginger Lex Luthor, a fact which most people never knew about the character. You get the real sense that the writers knew Superman backwords, forwards, inside and out not just simply on a character basis but the lore basis, you see bits from comics, from the Christopher Reeve movies, from the animated series, it's kind of a love letter to hardcore Superman fans. The only reason this does not get a perfect 10/10 is simply because while I liked the idea of a cloned Superman to fight for the americans it did come from out of nowhere and the title they gave him is...wow. Like a colossal unimaginative wow. And he's only there for a handful of scenes so it was a bit superflous but certainly not bad. I could not recommemd this higher if you are a comic book fan, a Superman fan, or just greatly enjoy different takes on classic stories. 4 stars, a very high 9/10 and if I did decimal points on a regular basis it gets a 9.5/10, this is a fantastic movie and well worth buying without a doubt.

What will come next week? Even I'm not too sure but rest assured the show will continue on as usual.

It's Our 5th Anniversary!!!!

Holy hot damn. I'd never thought I'd see the day. 5 years, 5 amazing years. I can scarcely believe it! I'll freely admit I had no idea how long this was going to go, I was hoping for a long time, at least one decade but was hoping to make it at least 5 years.

622 reviews written, from Birdman to Jojo Rabbit. And I would like to share the numbers with you on this huge moment, not to gloat but to share how much this little passion project that pays me pennies a month has meant to me. 84 reviews written in 2015, when it was just something I wanted to do but wasn't quite sure how to properly do it. 106 reviews written in 2016, when I was getting used to it and started reviewing movies in theaters. 119 reviews in 2017 when I began to solidify my own stream of concious style of reviews while still going on my tangents and rants. 135 reviews in 2018, breaking my highest new movie reviews record with 30 in theater reviews and still going strong. An all time high of 142 reviews written just last year, a number which I'm not sure I can top this year or like...ever. And currently 37 reviews as of March 25th 2020. And if you've been there at all in those past 5 years, whether from the proto-years or just have stuck around for the past month or so, I really and truly have to say thank you. I may not get to be a well known critic and that's fine by me, I don't do this to be famous or rich or influential, nor will I ever. I just like talking about movies and sharing my thoughts and experiences. I know I'm a very counter culture beast, with my fair share of unpopular opinions but when movies are good I have to praise them. Hell if I helped somebody from not seeing a bad movie and they took a recommendation of mine and liked a movie which I thought was good, that's all I ever want or need in life. You know, I'm not a very talkative person, I'm a much better listener than anything, I'm bad with names and sometimes faces, I forget things so easily when I don't mean to, I've lost track of the movies and shows I've talked about on numerous occasions, I've come to realize opinions can change and looking at things in retrospect can be handy. And while it's not always easy to talk about, I am on the spectrum, I am autistic, I always tell people I'm good at two things: Talking about movies, and giving my opinion, which is kinda true. I go through volleys of jobs and positions because no place has ever really fit me as an individual, who I am in my heart of hearts, not because of cruel or malicious people or demanding work habits but because I do things in my own way and I speak my mind. This is the only real place I can be myself, and feel very comfortable just doing what I love to do and what I can do. I feel that the world does need film critics, or movie critics, or whatever you want to call them quite possibly more than any other medium though I appreciate all forms of art with great respect and admiration. Simply because movies are everywhere, everybody goes to the movies, everybody wants to watch movies, and I feel that you shouldn't have to waste precious hours of your life on something you won't like. When it comes to either time or money, time wins every single way. Do you have to agree with me? God no. Should you always take my recommendations? Of course not. You be you, but if I got you to see something you might not have at first glance or maybe just talked about a movie that you really love and can agree on my opinions, then that means the world to me. It's not a profession that needs to exist or be filled, but it's a profession that certain people gravitate toward and simply want to do. And I was hesitant at first, not sure how to even begin or if I should do it at all. But I got news for you, I would not want my life to go any other way. And I highly encourage people to do their passion project even if for no other reason than just to do it, whether it's art, science, history, politics, mechanics, whatever. Just see where it takes you. I've invested hundreds of dollars and no doubt months of my life just to watch a movie or a show and tell you about it. Do I regret it? Never. And before I wanted to go I just wanted to say you are fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. And do you know what? So am I.

Jojo Rabbit

Well I feel like an ass for not seeing this earlier.

When I saw the trailers for this I knew one day I was going to see it, if for no other reason than just to see what Taika Waititi would do with this material. And I can safely say I'm not disappointed at all, Jojo Rabbit is a pretty dang good movie! It's not so heavy on the comedy that there isn't any emotional or quiet moments, believe me there is, but it's also not so heavy on drama that you can't get a chuckle out of it. I really have no idea how he can blend comedy and drama so well, but the juxtaposition is felt throughout. Just the basic idea of a young boy just 10 years of age who is a fanatic for nazi Germany and even has an imaginary friend of Adolf, who is very much confronted about his beliefs by a young jewish girl is interesting cinema and grabs your attention in a death grip almost from start to finish. It genuinely is very funny, the film almost deconstructs nazism during that time during the waning months of World War 2, not exactly picking the holes of the ideology but just the individuals who participate in it. I mean the writing is really good stuff, complete class but without these specific performances I don't think it would have had that strong an impact. Roman Griffin Davis is a great lead despite his age, simultaneously capturing that patriotic spirit of Germany at that time and yet you can clearly see it's not blind faith and that he doesn't agree with everything that they do. It's really something special. Taika Waititi being a very colorful, random, and bizzare imaginary Adolf Hitler has great moments that made me laugh and you can tell he's having fun just being a parody of this man and the fact he himself is of jewish descent makes it that much better. Scarlett Johansson is off her rocker in this movie, she is so odd and yet incredibly endearing and amazing, I mean you know I loved her. Sam Rockwell playing a degraded natzi who isn't near the war effort is as funny as it thinks, this guy is a bit camp, totally non-serious, and kind of is fun to watch no matter what scene he's in. But Thomasin McKenzie just nails it, I daresay she's the best written character in the movie as Elsa and the acting is amazing, you kinda think the relationship between Jojo and Elsa would be more akin to say, The Boy In The Striped Pajamas where they meet and become friends only for the tragedy of war and evil to rip them apart. Far from it actually, they don't get along, they bicker and call each other names, they really get under each other's skin and you can see she enjoys spinning tales for this kid that she can't stand, it's a very conflicted relationship as you think it would be and it takes almost the whole movie for them to put aside their differences. Which is I something I really like, it would have been easy to make them friends and not confront the stigmas of the time period but they didn't do that. I will say the movie hit me and it hit me friggin' hard man, mainly because I had no idea it was coming and when it did it was like someone threw daggers into me, I was shocked incredibly so, I suspected something bad would happen but not really sure what. And while the movie ended on a very upbeat note, I couldn't help but think what would come next for Jojo after all the war ended and the nazi's as one newspaper headliner once put it "call it quits", it reminded me a bit of Grave Of The Fireflies with the young boy just fuming that Japan surrendered despite the cataclysmic horrors that befell the country before that decision. It just really makes you think about that turbulent time for the world, and how much we've moved on since then and I can't really recall a war movie did that for me. This was a great movie, an easy 4 stars, 8/10, I highly recommend this movie and we got one more before the week is out.

Knives Out

Well Rian I sorta liked it.

Now as just an entertaining little mystery movie I think this film does a good job, I don't think it's trying to be this great crime movie and just wants to be entertaining for 2 hours. And I can safely say I was very much entertained, I had a great time with this movie! The star power worked though even I was shocked how little time anyone got besides Ana de Armas and Daniel Craig, but they all have their individual moments to shine. I felt the mystery aspect was very involved and while you don't exactly need a pen and paper for it, it did take me awhile to learn names but that's because I forget things easily. It's your standard mystery fare, somebody finds the body of a very rich man in his mansion soon after a party, which soon leads to everyone becoming a suspect and a renowned detective tries to crack the case. This is very much a tribute to the movie Clue, which if you've read my review on it is one of my favorite movies but it by no means is a rehash of it, it does it's own thing and in it's own style which works very well. Rian both wrote and directed this movie, and I'll be honest I was totally running with everything and throwing my own theories and statements out which shows that he knows how to do engaging and interesting stories but there was one part....it was the smallest thing but it was the dumbest thing I've seen in a movie for a long time. Trust me, you'll know it when you see it and it made me utter one of my personal favorite quotes, "There's suspension of disbelief and then there's insulting my f***ing intelligence.". Yeah. I just, hwhat the french toast? But beyond that major/minor point, it was a good movie! I'm not sure what accent I like Daniel Craig doing more, the one in Knives Out or Logan Lucky, but he was easily my favorite character. Though Ana de Armas was incredibly likable and great too, very much the normal person in this cast of eccentrics. It's definitely worth a rental, the overall construction of plot works and not just with the reveals, it's a movie that encourages audience interaction, has good production and actors, and is worth your time to see if you can guess who did it. To be perfectly frank, I called the ending and yet still was a bit surprised. Now that's how you do it! 3 stars, 7.5/10, and I will see you tomorrow.

Damage Report!

Well....shit.

You know this absolute bollocks going on with this virus I was ready to deal with long term. I didn't care about what I had to do to stay healthy but I was gonna go to the movies opening day and take that risk every damn time. Because while I have significant caution and self-preservation qualities, I wouldn't let it impede my work. And then the theaters shut down. Indefinitely. How the hell am I supposed to review Mulan now? I was gonna do a compare and contrast on two fronts, I was going to tell you how much Beauty & The Beast is a wonderful piece of cinema and tell you how the bullf*** remake was completely unnecessary and beyond terrible, quickly followed by doing the same for Mulan except with hopefully better outcomes in the remake department. Not anymore. I got nothing for this week and I have a plan for April but I feel it will be an almost impossible task with the time I have and the resources I have, meaning I need to scrap it (for now) and desperately try to garner material for the majority of next month. I'm not saying if the theaters didn't close in my town it would have fixed everything like the wave of a magic wand, but it would have made at least this week easier. Thankfully there's probably quite a few movies out on Redbox that I actually haven't watched and could easily get me through this week, but April is looking f***ing grim and I need a miracle to get that project going so I can give you a plethora of content for just one month. And I'm not trying to over exert myself, this was the plan all along, and it's certainly not impossible to put it on hold and do it later this year so I can plan more carefully for the coming weeks but I hate that such a severe setback has occured. So I'll sift through the Redbox and grab a few things for this week but after that it's just up in the air. Not unless the space gods are kind and get my theater opened back up before Friday, then I'll have one more week to plan and act accordingly. Stay tuned to find out, same time same channel, with this warning: the wildest is yet to come!

Cabaret

Holy hell that was good.

It was an interesting experience to watch Cabaret, I knew nothing about it and only heard the name mentioned in passing, so I decided on a whim to review it when I had other contenders because I wanted to know more about it. At first I found the style and direction a bit odd, but as the movie progressed I became more in tune with the movie and greatly appreciated it to the point where when the credits rolled I was thoroughly impressed. But it wasn't so much the story, or characters, or dialogue, or any singular aspect of the film, but all the elements combined as a whole. The story is really bare bones with a british writer living in 1930s Berlin with an american performer who works at a cabaret as a friendship and soon romance build between them. Now that might sound so uninteresting but when you see the film it makes sense. The best and only way I can describe it is the main characters very much live in a bubble of their own, never acknowledging the grim meathook realities of Germany at that time and living absent mindedly. Which is personified in Liza Minelli's character Sally who I totally loved but also at the same time I couldn't fully grasp her character, not in a bad way by any stretch of the imagination because the performance and writing is really good, but she seems very scatter brained and has dreams of becoming rich and an actress while having a very wild personality. It's so different but she feels like a incredibly real person, you don't know everything about the friends and people in your life, unlike in films where every bit of information is dolled out to us, there's for lack of a better word ambiguity to her just like a real world human being. Michael York is quite good too, more or less a blank slate that we see this town and these characters through his eyes but fine work regardless. I would absolutely classify this as a unconventional musical, there are a handful of songs throughout and they do reflect upon certain aspects of the plot, but every musical number is performed at the cabaret or a venue, there is no elaborate song and dance numbers on a sidewalk or a bedroom, everything you see is done diegetically in the real world. Which is not what you would normally consider a musical, and to be honest the best songs are done by Liza but the thing is, a cabaret venue is not where you go to listen to great music, outstanding vocals, or dramatic performances. It is escapist entertainment of the common kind. Which I genuinely appreciate, and the film flat out says you come to the cabaret to forget your lives and troubles and that life itself is a cabaret. That is more accurate now than back then in the 30s. Do you have any idea how much media exists today where it's just there for brief entertainment that encompasses all types of variety? That practically embodies YouTube. And the one song that isn't performed at the cabaret, Tomorrow Belongs To Me caught some heat back then because people thought it was a pro-nazi song and granted you hear this quite nice song being performed by a young boy with a really good voice only to discover he's part of the Hitler youth is kind of chilling, and that entire scene could be a microcosm of Germany at that moment of time. You just don't expect that. And that's how I would sum Cabaret up, an unexpected pleasure. Yes, it's always great fun to talk about the movies you love and enjoy but in my humble opinion the movies you walk out of with so much more than you expected, are the best movie going experiences. I thoroughly enjoyed this film and understand why it practically almost swept the Oscars in 1973, winning almost every category it was nominated for except for Best Picture and Best Script. An easy 4 stars, 8/10! A strong end to this week but what will come next? Difficult to see, always in motion is the future so join me this weekend to discuss plans of action.