I’m torn on this.

Alex Garland’s next film film following his beloved sci-fi film Ex Machina is Annihilation, and I’m not sure what to think about it.

On one hand, the film has some really good pieces of science fiction and looks marvelous.  On the other hand, Annihilation has stretches of boredom and feel too long.  It has an interesting cast, but most of the characters do not receive ample development.  Either the dangling plot points are areas that are open to interpretation and discussion or plot holes that the film never properly addresses.

Lena (Natalie Portman) is a biologist whose husband Kane (Oscar Isaac) disappeared a year ago and she is trying to come to grips with the loss.  One night, her husband returns, but there is something wrong with him.  On the way to to the hospital, they are hijacked by government agents and taken to an isolated area.

Here, Lena discovered that her husband had volunteered to lead a mission into a strange place called the Shimmer.  It is an area in swamp land that is surrounded by a shimmering wall that blocks radio waves and attempts to searching within.  Every attempt to go inside the Shimmer lead to everyone dying…except for one man.

Lena joined with a group of women to head into the Shimmer to try and find answers to the puzzle.  The other women were played by Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez and Tuva Novotny.

Now the film starts off in the future with Lena telling Benedict Wong about what happened in the Shimmer.  I did not like this at all because she tells you in the first five minutes exactly what happens to the other women who went into the Shimmer and it tells you that nothing was going to happen to Lena.  I’m like SPOILERS, y’all.  I do believe that flashback format was a mistake in story telling.  Why am I going to get invested in any of these other characters if I know they are all doomed from the start?

The relationship between Oscar Isaac and Natalie Portman seemed sweet and loving…that is until it wasn’t.  Let’s just say that there was something tossed into the story that felt like it was added late that did not fit with what I was seeing and felt wrong for these characters.

When the women went into the Shimmer, the first part of this was fairly tense and dramatic.  There were some interesting creatures seen in the Shimmer and the scene flashing back to Oscar Isaac brandishing a knife was creepy as all get out.  However, the longer they were in the Shimmer, the less interested I was.

Then the ending seemed to fall flat.  It seemed as if it was painfully clear what had happened and the film just kept on dragging its feet.

Annihilation is very inconsistent.  Parts of the film were wonderfully done and it was certainly beautiful to look at, but there are other areas that were too long, boring and lacking development.  There will be plenty of people who find this film amazing and several others that think it is a disappointing step down after the great Ex Machina.  Me?  Drop me right in the middle.

2.9 stars

I had been looking forward to this film since I first saw the trailer.  I found that trailer to be very funny, but I will say that I approached it with trepidation because I was fearful that we saw everything really funny in said trailer.

Thankfully, that was not the case and Game Night is an extremely funny film that I enjoyed from beginning to end.  While not a perfect movie, Game Night was an enjoyable romp and a very funny movie, and humor will always help cover weaknesses.

Let’s look at what was great about this movie.  First off, Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams play the lead couple, Max and Annie.  Max and Annie were very competitive people who met, fell in love and got married.  As a couple, they continued to host “game nights” with their friends.  When Max’s jerk and much more successful brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler) comes to visit, things start being problematic.  Brooks sets up his own game night, setting up a live-kidnapping mystery.  Unfortunately for him, Brooks is in actual trouble with criminals and gets kidnapped for real.  However, none of the game night crew realized that the real kidnapping wasn’t the fake one.

All of the cast is wonderful here.  Kevin and Michelle (Lemorne Morris and Kylie Bunbury) are a fun couple with a secret that comes out during a round of “Never Have I Ever.”  Billy Magnussen was Ryan, a fairly dumb but lovable guy, who in order to prove that he did not just date the same type of blonde haired air heads, invited Sarah (Sharon Horgan) who was smart and witty and British– everything he usually did not go for.  Jesse Plemons plays Gary, Max and Annie’s neighbor, who used to be included in their game night when he was married to their better friend Debbie, but now is ostracized since his divorce.  Gary may be a police officer, but he is one weird person, fixated on game night.  Jesse Plemons (from Breaking Bad) was just amazing as this over-the-top cop who loved Sebastian, the cat.

The other big time winning aspect of this film is the writing.  The dialogue really pops in the film.  It was quick and sharp and funny.  I sat in the theater and marveled at how clever and entertaining the dialogue was, especially between Bateman and McAdams.  They became an easy couple to root for.

There were also a bunch of movie allusions and quotes that really helped make this a treat for me.  When Annie quoted Honey Bunny from Pulp Fiction, I nearly fell out of my seat.  Then, later, Max not only referenced “Tony Stark” but also “Jarvis.”  It was as funny because I am sure there were bunches of people who had no idea to what he was referring with that one.

Another winner here was the soundtrack, which featured some awesome songs that fit beautifully in the film.  The music was very eclectic and the sound of Queen was just a great surprise.

The film was pretty dark at times, but it really was entertaining.

Now, where the film almost lost me was it really started to become zany with some of the story.  I mean, there were some things that happened that were a REAL stretch of realism.  Credibility was strained to its limits several times.  However, just when I thought that the film was going to go too far and become too cartoonish, it pulled back and focused on the characters involved.  And of course, it was funny.  Most of the ridiculousness in this movie was really funny and that helped keep it from ruining the film.

Game Night had some lapses in logic, but a series of fun performances with extremely witty and clever banter that was simply funny, makes this film engaging and energetic.

3.85 stars

I saw the previews for this animated movie and I thought it looked terrible.  Then, I saw that it was at 81% on the Tomatometer and I thought that maybe this was going to be a great surprise, the way Ferdinand was last year.

Nope, hated it.

Within the first five minutes of this film, I was checked out, wishing that I had not bought this ticket.

I will say that I do like the claymation animation style that the film uses, so it is not the animation that I disliked.  That was fine.

This was such a stupid, predictable and dull tale of cavemen who survive the meteorite that killed the dinosaurs and these cavemen took up residence in the cavern remaining form the impact.  And they started playing football (aka to we Americans “soccer”) with the actual meteorite.  Yup, I did not mistype that.  They started playing football with the still hot meteorite.

As the years passed, the cavemen continued to live in their isolation in the “valley” and the world started to advance around it, arriving in the Bronze Age.  Men from the Bronze Age attacked and took over the cavemen’s valley and chased them away.

Led by weird little Dug (Eddie Redmayne). the cavemen wind up playing a game of football against the Bronze Age people (who, by the way, are experts in football) for the right to the valley.

Wanna guess who won?  No spoilers here, but I bet you can guess…

There were so many stupid puns and poor writing that these characters were nothing more than one dimensional creations.  I don’t know how many times I completed the sentence during the film and was absolutely right.

I fought with myself to keep me in the theater.  I was very close to leaving the theater several times.  I did get a short little nap in during the film which was the best part of the movie.

There is a great voice cast here including Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston, Maisie Williams, and Richard Ayoade.  That’s about all I can say.

I hated this film.

0.5 stars

There is a lot riding on the release of the newest Marvel Studio film, Black Panther.  Not only is this the last MCU film before the release of the massive 10-years-in-the-making Avengers: Infinity War, but the Black Panther has become a culturally significant tent pole film, kicking off the first MCU film with a black super hero as the lead.  That’s a lot of pressure, so Marvel apparently knew that they had to get this one right.

And they really got this one right.

Marvel loaded this cast with amazing African-American actors, starting with Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa, and Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger.  Throw in an astounding supporting cast with such stars as Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Sterling K. Brown, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Martin Freeman and Andy Serkis.

Then, they gave the film to one of the hottest young filmmakers in Hollywood today.  Ryan Coogler has had two great films on his resume, Fruitville Station and Creed.  Black Panther would make his third great film.

Picking up after the events of Captain America: Civil War, we see T’Challa preparing to take his rightful place as the monarch of Wakanda, a country hidden in Africa that the world believed to be a third world nation, but, in reality, is a thriving, industrious, technologically advanced country built upon a mound of vibranium, a metal that landed in Africa upon a meteor.

Wakanda has hidden its advanced technology from the world for years.  However, the chance to capture the renegade villain Ulysses Klaw sent the Black Panther out of Wakanda and toward the world as a whole.

Klaw was not alone, though.  He was stealing antiques made of vibranium from a museum with Erik Killmonger.  Killmonger had a desire to get to Wakanda as a way to gain revenge for past deeds against him.  I don’t want to go into much detail here to avoid any spoilers.

The story is extremely amazing.  It is so full of depth and layers that it feels rich and developed.  It keeps you off balance and never feels predictable. These characters are fully realized and developed and you understand their motives.  Each character has their chance to shine.  This is a true ensemble film and this ensemble does a tremendous job.

Fact of the matter is this… the film is not just about Black Panther.  This film is about Wakanda.  The country itself is as much of a character as anyone in the film.  Coogler amazingly weaves the culture and history of Wakanda into the film and you feel the life.  The country feels lived in.  Even though this is a setting unlike any other in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you never feel like an outsider.  The film takes some time to introduce you to the five tribes that make up the Wakandan country and these intros pay off big time.

The cinematography is gorgeous and exploring this world of Wakanda and the after life involved in breathtaking in its loveliness.  The score of the film, along with the soundtrack, are another strength of this film.

The film may have started just a little slow, but it picked up the pace and, after the beginning, I absolutely did not feel as if I were sitting there for 141 minutes.

Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger is one of the best Marvel Cinematic Universe villains we have had because we can see why he is doing the evil things that he does and we understand it.  In fact, there are probably many people who can completely justify the anger Killmonger rocks in this film.

The women of Black Panther are completely kick ass.  Oyoke, the general of the Dora Milaje, Black Panther’s female royal guard, is one of the great characters of the film and shows off her ability with a staff throughout the film.  Young Letitia Wright, who plays T’Challa’s sister Shuri, is a breath of fresh air and provides much of the film’s Marvel humor.  Shuri is a technological genius on the level of a Tony Stark, but she has not lost the wide eyed innocence of youth.  Lupita Nyong’o shines across the screen as the super spy Nakia, and a love interest for T’Challa.  These women really are as important to the film as Black Panther is and they step up their game fully.

I really do not have much in way of criticism for this movie outside of a couple of minor nitpicks.  The CGI in the third act had some moments where it did not look great.  It certainly did not live up to the rest of the film.  The other criticism I have would be a major SPOILER  SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER. The fact that both Killmonger and Klaw die in the film makes me unhappy.  Yes, I believe that Killmonger’s death scene was one of the most lovely and powerful moments of the film, but I really did not want Killmonger to die.  Both Klaw and Killmonger were remarkably entertaining and tremendous and losing them both in the film brought it down just a little bit.  END OF SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER.

Black Panther is long overdue in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  It gives a section of the public a hero to look up to.  Someone who looks the same as they do.  This allows people of color a chance to see themselves in a super hero for the first time.  Sure, there was Blade, who is really the first African-American comic book movie, but Black Panther is first in the new age of comic book movies as a massive film genre.  There is an absolute audience built in as the box office will attest to (Black Panther made over 25 million on Thursday night alone).  It is one of the strongest introductions in the MCU and feels like something new and different for that decade spanning franchise.

4.85 stars

This is an amazing, real-life story told the most boring and unappealing manner.  Director Clint Eastwood made several choices here that I just do not understand.

Of course, the biggest and most apparent choice made by the Oscar winning director was taking the real-life heroes from this major news event and have them play themselves. Childhood friends Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler star in this movie based on their heroism of one day on a train from Amsterdam to Paris.  On that train, the trio, along with a few train customers, stopped a terrorist from hijacking the train and most likely saved the lives of everyone on the train.

This portrayal of this heroic event took all of ten minutes to show and play out. These ten minutes at the end of the film were amazing and suspenseful.  Unfortunately, the previous 75 minutes of the film was filled with boredom, questionable narrative choices, truly awful writing and dialogue, and wooden delivery from the entire cast, not just the inexperienced men playing themselves.

The film starts by showing the three boys as children in school, which accomplishes nothing narratively, except, perhaps, to allow Eastwood to comment on his obvious dislike for the educational system.  We are shown that these three boys are constantly getting into trouble, although most of the time it is the teachers and the administrators who are to blame because of their unfair accusations toward the boys.  We are introduced to Anthony (young Anthony played by Paul-Mikél Williams) as a smart-mouthed troublemaker who appeal to the outcast boys Spencer(William Jennings) and Alek (Bryce Gheisar).  They become friends, do stuff together, until Anthony decides he is leaving the all-boy Christian school to get a girlfriend.  He does I guess.  Then, there is more trouble and Alek is sent to live with his father out of town.  This was apparently tough for Spencer,but we do not see it.  As soon as Alek is taken away, we flash forward to older Spencer, who is back with Anthony (sans girlfriend, oh well).

At this point, Spencer has made a decision to join the Air Force and texted Alek, who does not return that text, implying that there is some distance between them, though Spencer was confused by it.

None of the story with the children actors is ever dealt with or returned to, nor does it factor in to anything that the threesome decide to do in the second half of the film.  It is literally just a time filler.

We see Spencer fail in his attempt to earn the positions in the Air Force that he wanted, and to be asked to leave.  Again, though, none of that carried any stake for the remainder of the film.  It was just something that happened and is never mentioned again.

Just a few scenes after being tossed out from the Air Force, Spencer is convincing Anthony (who we know next to nothing about) to accompany him on a trip across Europe.  The pair engage on the “selfie-tour” across Europe, eventually meeting up with Alek in Germany because he wanted to spend time with a girl he had met (though, I believe he made her up since we never see her at all and he acts later as if he is completely free of a relationship).

During this whole trip, you cannot imagine how wooden and awkward the scenes with these three are.  There seemed to be very little acting skill on display, and even if they had great skills this dialogue was unlike that spoken by human beings.

There was only one scene in the entire movie, prior to the train sequence, that made me think it was important for later and that was when Spencer was learning some first aid in the Air Force.  Practically every other scene in the film could be tossed aside.

The train sequence was thrilling and very compelling.  I do not understand why the remainder of the film could not have been this interesting or could have built better to this ending scene.

I feel bad for Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler because they are true heroes who put their lives on the line to help save people without a second thought for their own safety.  A film of this incident should have highlighted this more than this film did.  I do not know what Clint Eastwood was thinking through most of this film, but it was surely a shame.

1.2 stars

This was another film that I did not want to see.  The trailer made this film look so crappy that I had zero anticipation for it and almost skipped it.  But the chance of having the ultimate double feature (Fifty Shades Freed and Peter Rabbit) got me into the theater.  Plus, the Paddington trailers looked terrible as well and both of those movies are gold, so could the same thing happen for Peter Rabbit?

Eh.. not so much.  It was okay.

I will say that if you are 10 years old or under, this is probably going to be a great time at the theater, and in that case, it reaches what is its target audience and that should make it a success.  I would even say that the parents can sit through this with their kids without wanting to tear out their eyes.

This film is based on the children’s series by Beatrix Potter.  Peter Rabbit (James Corden) and his family of rascally rabbits are trying to steal vegetables from the garden of Old Mr. McGregor (Sam Neill), when the old man died of a heart attack.  A relative named Thomas (Domhnall Gleeson) takes over the garden and picks up in a rivalry with the clever creatures.  The neighbor Bea (Rose Byrne) loves the rabbits, tries unsuccessfully to paint, and falls for the new McGregor.  Peter became jealous of the attention Bea gives Thomas and swears that he must go.

So,yes, Peter Rabbit is a giant asshole.

The film is reasonably fun.  It has about three or four running jokes that they string together throughout the entire film that work, at least initially.  The CGI is extremely well done as these rabbit appear to be real creatures.

There is some good chemistry between Gleeson and Byrne and because of that, you want to root for Gleeson to turn away from his crazed ways and embrace the good side.  Of course, one could argue that Peter drove him to do everything that he does.

It did feel pretty long and the story was definitely paint by the numbers predictable, but that does not hurt when the target audience is in the single digits of age.  It moved from scene to scene quickly and had enough heart to be charming.

Yes, the running jokes were driven into the ground.  Yes, the main characters are both jerks.  Still there is enough for children here and it is not the worst time at the theater for an adult.  It certainly hit what it was intending to do. Paddington is still 100% better, but you could do way worse than Peter Rabbit.

3 stars

I debated with myself about going to this movie.  Last year, a friend of mine posted to my review on Facebook asking why I go to the movie when I knew I was going to hate it.  That was Fifty Shades Darker, of course, which I abhorred.  I responded with some platitude like “taking a bullet for my readers” or “you never know.”  I think I referenced how I hated the first Ouija movie but loved Ouija: The Origin of Evil.  The real answer is that I see myself as a movie critic and I want to review the movie.

However, after how much vile I had for Darker, I truly considered skipping the “climax” (ha ha…yeah, real funny marketing there) of the trilogy.  I knew I was going to hate it.  Why put myself through it?  Of course, I thought to myself, how could I honestly compile a list of worst movies of the year without having experienced the final chapter (thank god, by the way).

I was still torn when we had a snow day from school today, but the roads were not too bad.  This opened the day up and I made the final decision.  I would attend the final film.

And you know what… I did not come out of the film with the same self-loathing for seeing Fifty Shades Freed as I did seeing Darker.  I did not want to put a hot poker through my head like I wanted last Valentine’s Day.

The movie is still shit, mind you, but it was less obscene as Darker, so there is that.  Just sayin’.

There is not much of a plot here.  The movie is a soft-Rated R-porno with a plot just a little more developed.  Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) and her hunky billionaire Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) get married at the very opening of the film.  Then, they have marital problems and there is a stalker (Eric Johnson).

That’s about it.

Of course, this relationship is meant  to be the heart of the film,but it is such a toxic relationship, it is really difficult to cheer them on.

The dialogue is atrocious.  The acting is below average.  I do think you can see the light in the eyes of Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan as they know that their contracts are up and they do not have to be these characters any longer.  I think they are both, at the very least, competent actors, but the scripts that they are given are just so bad that it is bordering on funny.

I feel for these two.  How many years did it take for Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson to shake off the stink of Twilight, allowing people to see that they were solid actors?  Will Johnson and Dornan have the same time frame?

This was better than Fifty Shades Darker.  It had some decent moments of unintentional humor that helped entertain me.  It is a bad movie, but it is most likely not the worst movie of the year.

1.2 stars