After seeing the new movie Crawl, I know one thing for damn sure.  I ain’t never going to Florida.  They’ve got hurricanes, floods, and giant killer alligators everywhere.

Count me out.  I have now learned that I am really damn scared of giant alligators trying to eat people.  Who knew.

This is a simple movie that is done so well.  It is tense and frightening.  It is a white-knuckle ride as soon as the alligators show up until the last minute of the movie.

As a hurricane is preparing to strike Florida, Haley (Kaya Scodelario), a top-line collegiate swimmer, hears from her sister that their father Dave (Barry Pepper) would not answer the phone.  Haley heads out to his house to try and find him.  She winds up trapped in the crawlspace of the house with him, flood waters rising threatening them with drowning, and several vicious alligators swimming around.

I was actually jumping in my seat throughout the movie.  Every time the alligator lunged at Haley or her father, I felt the stress and nerves.  This was the way jump scares were meant to be done.  You build up the tension and earn the release.  You don’t fake them, set them up and not pay them off.  This film does the jump scares so well, I wish other films would follow this blueprint.

The visual effects are tremendous in Crawl too.  The alligators look beautiful and every tooth is scary.  This had to be a rough job to work as the house continued to fill with water.

Yes, this is a simple story, but the movie does a great job of being what it is.  It is a thriller/horror film and it brings the fear and the suspense.  The performances from father/daughter, Scodelario and Pepper, are powerful, especially in the world of peril.  They display so many emotions and they shared a very strong and emotional scene dealing with their relationship that helped frame their characters better.

So long to Florida…

4.5 stars

I loved Kumail Nanjiani’s last major film, The Big Sick, which was basically the story of how he and his wife got together.  This one is not as much of a true story, or at least I hope it is not.

Kumail Nanjiani plays a mild mannered man named Stu, who uses a rental electric car to drive for Uber in hopes of making some extra money.  When he picks up Vic (Dave Bautista), a desperate police officer whose vision is blurry from eye surgery that day but who is anxious to investigate a lead he received about the man who killed his partner, little does Stu know that he is going to be dragged into a night of violence and danger.

Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista make a really good comedic team, as they have a very strong chemistry with one another.  They play off each other impressively throughout the film and both actors are so likable that you can overlook some of the ridiculous situations that the film drops them in.

While many of the moments are ridiculous, they are usually pretty funny and I have said it many times before.  Funny can make things better.  You can overlook flaws if you are laughing at them.  Stuber has some very solid jokes and situations that are funny.

Not only are they funny, there are actually a bunch of buddy cop film tropes that are flipped upside down, almost in an attempt to subvert them.  As soon as something looked like you knew where it was going, the film turned it around.  I appreciated the way the film tried to keep things original.  It was not always successful, but the attempt was welcomed.

One of the problems was Kumail Nanjiani got a little annoying at times.  His characterization of Stu was somewhat over-the-top, leading to a lot of yelling.  I have had problems with other actors whose performances wind up being just yelling (Kevin Hart, Will Farrell, Melissa McCarthy etc) and bringing the volume down some would help make it more subtle.

Dave Bautista has improved every time he is on screen and this is a big step for him as he is a co-lead of the movie.  Bautista has thrived lately in the supporting cast, but this is a good turn for the big man.  He shows that he has some decent comedic timing as well.

The supporting cast was strong too.  Natalie Morlaes played Vic’s daughter Nicole, whose big art opening was the same night as the chaos that was happening.  Vic is not shown in much of a positive light and you can see how his partner’s death devastated him.  Betty Gilpin is Becca, Stu’s friend and secret love.  Jimmy Tatro (from American Vandal) was Richie, Stu’s boss at the store he worked at and who tormented Stu constantly.

Iko Uwais (from The Raid series) is the villain Tedjo, but there is little to the character and is there simply to fight with Bautista.  Unfortunately, there is too much shaky cam going on here for the fight scenes to be worthwhile.

To be fair, Vic breaks so many laws and police officer conduct that I can’t believe that he is allowed back on the job after the night, but that is best not mentioned or thought about.

I had a good time watching Stuber mainly because of Bautista and Nanjiani.  It is not a film with a plot that can hold up to a ton of scrutiny, so just sit back and enjoy the humor.  Otherwise, the plot may just ruin the film for you.

3.5 stars

Uuuuuuuuuuuugggggggggg

The new A24 film Midsommer is a horror movie that disturbed the heck out of me.  Honestly, I feel that I need a shower after seeing it.

Not saying that it was bad.  I am having so much trouble processing how I feel about it.  This is from the director Ari Aster, who also directed last year’s Heredity.

Dani (Florence Pugh) and Christian (Jack Reynor) are a couple who are having problems with their relationship.  After a terrible tragedy in Dani’s life, they go with a bunch of friends on a midsummer festival in a remote Swedish village.  It does not take long to discover that there are some horrific traditions beneath the surface at the village that you would not expect.

The setting of the mysterious village is amazing.  It is beautifully shot and the bright light around the area sets a fascinating contrast with the darkness happening among the people of the village.  The people feel very much like a cult and some of the traditions and rituals are skin-crawling.

The acting is fine, but I do have to say that I found Florence Pugh’s crying to be way over the top.  There were two instances of it and I found both to be very unlikely that anyone cries like that.  Still, the rest of the time, she is great and it is through her eyes that we see some of the worst things that happen.

One of the worst parts of it is inside your own mind.  There are plenty of pictures drawn on walls in this village, like hieroglyphics or such and they are disgusting and creepy.  Then, you see places in the film where things are happening that may be echoing the pictures on the wall, but the film does not confirm it.   It is like, wait…what?  and the film just keeps on going.  It takes the horror inside the mind of the viewer.

I thought the film dragged a bit.  It was a long film and I think it helped introduce the village, but there were too many spots that felt unimportant.

I am still processing what I feel about Midsommer because of some of the visceral images that we get in the film.  The movie tells the story of the eventual break up of our main characters and it takes it into a path that you simply do not expect.  It is a beautifully shot film but it is a challenging and difficult watch.

I liked the movie, but I do not know if I am going to continue to like it as I process more.

3.2 stars 

The Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 3 has ended with the 23rd film in the franchise, Spider-Man: Far From Home, which not only has to be a sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming, but it has to follow Avengers: Endgame and show what the world of the MCU was like moving forward.

I am happy to say that it was a tremendous success in both ways.

I loved this movie and I was laughing and thoroughly engrossed from the beginning, right through two MASSIVE post credit scenes.

Writing a review for this is going to be pretty challenging because I do not was to reveal any spoilers and the film is filled with them.  Do the best you can to go into the film as fresh as you can be.  Of course, you need to have seen Avengers: Endgame because this takes events directly from that movie.

Peter Parker (Tom Holland) fresh off the events of Endgame, is back as Spider-Man.  However, Peter and his classmates are taking a school science trip to Europe and Peter wants to go on vacation from his web head alter ego.  Ignoring a phone call from Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Peter wants to tell MJ (Zendaya) that he likes her and he is planning how he is going to do that.

Fury arrives in Europe to recruit Peter to help them fight these monsters from another multiverse called the Elementals.  Fury wants Spider-Man to join forces with a hero from that other multiverse, Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal), who gets dubbed Mysterio by the media.

That’s about all I can give you without spoiling it.  This info was in the trailers but there is so much more here.

Tom Holland is the best Peter Parker/Spider-Man we have ever had.  He is so charismatic and funny that you connect with him easily.  You understand the internal struggle Peter is having between wanting to have a normal life and tell the girl he likes that he likes her and the responsibility of being Spider-Man, a hero seemingly handpicked by Tony Stark to be the next big hero.

Jake Gyllenhaal as Quentin Beck is perfect.  I absolutely love the characterization of Mysterio in this movie.  I don’t want to go into any details for those who may not know much about Mysterio so that you may remain in the dark.  Gyllenhaal brings such a gravitas to the role and you believe the relationship that develops between Peter and Quentin.

Zendaya’s MJ really takes a gigantic leap forward from the background/comedic character that she was in Homecoming.  MJ is someone who could now be a leading woman in this franchise.  She is so beautiful in every shot she is involved in and I loved the reasoning for her to develop.  She and Tom Holland have undeniable chemistry and the early awkwardness makes you believe this is a high school romance.

The rest of the cast is great too.  The running gag of the romance between Ned  (Jacob Batalon) and Betty (Angourie Rice) was cute and felt real.  We get some more subtle development for Flash Thompson (Tony Revolori).  Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) and May (Marisa Tomei) have a relationship that makes Peter feel a bit uneasy.  The cast in fantastic.

The visuals are brilliant, especially in the action scenes.  The visuals at the end literally had me sitting in the theater with my mouth agape.  It was a Spider-man scene that I so loved and made me realize how important that aspect of the character was to me.  The originality of the film’s action was truly a gutsy attempt.

Director Jon Watts deserves a ton of credit for his second Spider-Man movie.  I have seen many people comparing this to Homecoming.  To me, while I love Homecoming and I think that Michael Keaton’s Vulture is brilliant, Far From Home exceeds Homecoming in many different manners.

Post credit scenes… there are two… and they are mind blowing, including a couple of shocking cameos.  No spoilers here, but they were both epic and changed the way the MCU will be moving forward.

The only criticism I have is a spoiler so I cannot reveal it here.  Let’s just say it is something that happens in the third act and is a fairly disappointing trend.

Spider-Man is going to be a huge factor in the Phase four of the MCU, and this film does a lot to show that is the case.  The acting is spot on, the action is special and well designed, the CGI is exceptional, and the story does well in capturing the ideas of Spider-Man and Mysterio.  Stay through the credits.

Spider-Man: Far From Home is so much fun and filled with drama, humor and excitement.  This is the second coming of age story featuring Spider-Man and his ensemble and it is the best one yet.

5 stars

(Yes, I may not be as unbiased as I should be, but it is a great movie)

Yesterday…all my troubles seemed so far away.  Now it looks as though they’re here to stay.  Oh I believe …in Yesterday.

Prophetic words for Jack Malik (Himesh Patel), the main character in director Danny Boyle’s newest film about a world where everyone, except for Jack, has forgotten who the Beatles were and had never heard any of their music.

As a Beatles fan, the idea is just horrible.  Just the idea that the world would not be able to listen to “Hey Jude”, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” or “Yellow Submarine” is a thought that would bother me to no end.  That is, of course, what Jack is faced with.  What would you do?

After a freak worldwide blackout, Jack is hit by a bus and ends up in the hospital.  When he awakes, he is missing his two front teeth and the rest of the world has lost the memory of George, Paul, John and Ringo.  Not a fair swap.

Jack, who is a failing musician, suddenly realizes that he has access to some of the greatest songs ever written and nobody would be the wiser so he begins recreating the songbook of the Beatles.

I’m torn by this movie.  Most importantly, I love the music of the Beatles and it was great listening to these songs throughout the film.  Himesh Patel does a great job performing these songs.  Many times I hate it when I hear people doing the Beatles because…well, just because.  I did not mind Patel’s versions of these songs.  Obviously, that would have been a death knell for the movie had I not liked the songs.

However, there are just so many plot holes or things left open that, in retrospect, tear apart this reality.  Other musicians are referenced, but how about all those musicians who had been inspired by the Beatles?  When they were not there, what happened to them?  This was just one thing that popped into my head while watching the movie.

There was another major question that comes along late in the third act that would constitute a spoiler so I will not mention it, but let’s just say that, after Jack visited this specific person, I really wondered what was going on.

Lily James played teacher and part time manager for Jack, Ellie and she was charming and lovely.  They had a great deal of chemistry with one another, but the way their relationship worked through felt very odd and not natural.  I did not like the development of that story arc.  On the whole, I enjoyed both Patel and James’ performances, but I would have preferred a different resolution to the story.

One performance that I was not overly fond of, unfortunately, was Kate McKinnon who played Debra, an agent who is looking to cash in with Jack’s musical skills.  The best description I have heard of this performance was from Collider Live host Kristian Harloff who stated that she was “in such a different film.”  That was exactly the way to say it because she was so over-the-top that she pulled me out of the film every time.

There were some very funny jokes in the film though.  There was a running joke about other items/people who the world had forgotten besides just the Beatles and that worked every time.  Ed Sheeran has a cameo throughout the movie that really work as well.  He has a great self-deprecating way about himself in the film and he embraces the jokes well.

Yesterday had several positives going for it, and it has its share of problems.  When I wasn’t thinking too hard about it, I enjoyed the movie, but when I was thinking back, more holes and problems came up.  I think the positives out weigh the negatives and, as I was walking out of the movie, I felt satisfied.  That is certainly the long and winding road to a recommendation.

3.6 stars 

The Conjuring Universe has another entry.  Quietly, the Conjuring Universe has had two Conjuring movies, two previous Annabelle movies, the Nun, The Curse of La Llorona and now, the third in the Annabelle series, Annabelle Comes Home.  The quality of the films have varied over this time frame, but since they have low budgets, they make a lot of money at the box office.

As for Annabelle, the first film was just terrible and the second one was really good.  With Annabelle Comes Home, the film is way better than the first one, but not quite up to the quality of the second one.

Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) bring the doll Annabelle back to their house and place her into their room of evil things to protect the world from the demon within it.

Time passes and the Warrens are on a case, so they need their daughter Judy (McKenna Grace) to have a babysitter.  They use a babysitter named Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman).  Mary Ellen’s friend Daniela (Katie Sarife) invites herself over to the Warren house for her own reasons.  Daniela finds her way into the room of evil things and, without understanding what she was doing, accidentally frees Annabelle.  Chaos ensues.

Ed and Lorraine are not in the film much.  It really is about the three girls, Judy, Mary Ellen and Daniela, and their own problems.  These three girls do a solid job in the film.  I enjoyed their performances.  They felt like good pieces of a horror movie.

There were a bunch of jump scares here, maybe too many.  They certainly use the horror tropes fully.  It is basically a haunted house movie turning on the people inside the house.  There are some pretty decent ghosts/creatures here besides Annabelle and I wonder if the Ferryman or the Hellhound or the Bride are going to be  future installments in the Conjuring Universe.  That thought is going through my mind as I am watching this movie.

The other thought that is going through my head is how much this movie was like Ghostbusters, in particular, the scene in Ghostbusters where Walter Peck has the containment unit shut down and all kinds of ghosts explode from it.  I had that in my head the whole time I watched Daniela going through the evil room of things.

I did like the message that the film was going for with Daniela and her arc in the movie.  She was dealing with the loss of her father and her own feeling of the situation and there were some emotional moments dealing with the story.  I think I liked this more than I liked the sub plots of the other girls in the house, which is important because Daniela also does most of the stupid things while there.  I understand the pain behind it though and that helps me from just believing that she is the stereotypical dumb horror movie character.

There was some odd comedic beats in the film as well, especially with the boy Bob (Michael Cimino), whose got balls.  Bob lived across the street from the Warrens and had a crush on Mary Ellen and wound up in the strangest situations as the movie went along.  He did not necessarily feel as if he were in the same movie as the girls were in.  The tones seemed to be different depending on which characters were being featured.

I liked this for the most part.  It is not the greatest film ever, but it was an entertaining time.  I liked the characters and I liked the creatures.  There could have been more of Annabelle, to be honest.

3.7 stars

Luc Besson has had several successful films over the years:  Leon: The Professional, The Fifth Element, and Valerian.  He has also had several films, including The Fifth Element that features a kick ass female character.  These films include Lucy, La Femme Nikita and now Anna.

Sasha Luss plays the titular character, a Russian woman forced into the KGB to escape from the horrors of her life, who has but one wish…to be free.  However, the KGB and the CIA wind up in a game of international espionage with Anna caught in the middle.

I have to say that for a good chunk of the movie, I was bored.  The action never stands out, Anna is beautiful but hardly a deep or original character and the film didn’t really have much so say.  Something about weaponizing beauty I suppose.

Then, multiple times, the story employed a tactic of flashbacks showing what were important pieces of the narrative that was left out of the first viewing to explain something unexpected that had just happened.  Only a few of these flashbacks showed us anything special and then they even became heavy-handed, which made what we saw moving forward more predictable, not less predictable.

Helen Mirren is here and I usually love her, but her appearance in this movie was, at best, meh.  It felt as if I had seen this performance from her before, and not as good.  Luke Evans was here too, and his character was conflicted in all the wrong ways.  I never bought any connection between Anna and Evans’ Alex.  Of the supporting characters, I liked Cillian Murphy’s Lenny Miller from the CIA the best.  He felt like the realest character on the screen and I understood his motivation the most.

Sasha Luss was very good as Anna.  I believed that she was a cold-hearted Russian assassin and she does a decent job proving it.  She does not emote a lot of charm, however, and her emotional moments were not the film’s strong ones.  I did enjoy her beating the crap out of one obnoxious fashion photographer, which felt like a too close to home example for this film.

Several plots threads were left unfinished.  Anna gets involved in a gay relationship with fellow model Maud (Lera Abova) and we never have any wrap up of that storyline.  This entire part of the plot could have been edited out and would have helped with the length of the movie.  Speaking of the length of the movie, it was too long.  Almost two hours was just longer than this should have gone.

This was not a great film and we have seen most of it done better in other places.  Helen Mirren feels wasted and I did not buy much of the story.  The flashbacks actually make the story even more predictable, which is not a good thing.

2.4 stars 

Be careful what you say to Alexa because you never know when your Amazon virtual assistant may take it the wrong way.

I just watched the original Child’s Play a few months ago in preparation for the release of the new rebooted version from director Lars Klevburg.  I enjoyed the original Child’s Play, but I did not feel the need to watch all of the other sequels that followed it.

The new version of Child’s Play was fine.  I liked it.  Some of the changes that they made did not wind up bothering me because I did not have the deep connection to the series as other may have had.  I can understand, however, why some people might be unhappy with the film.

Karen (Aubrey Plaza) picks up one of the Buddi dolls for her son, Andy (Gabriel Bateman) to help ease the transition from moving into a new place.  Andy has trouble making friends and she believes that the doll would help his spirits.  Little did she know that the doll was defective (sort of) and was sentient.  Naming himself Chucky (Mark Hamill), the doll bonds quickly with Andy a little too closely.

Chucky is an iconic figure in horror movies, and some people are not happy with the new look of the doll.  Another aspect that many people disapprove of is the fact that this Chucky is no longer possessed by the serial killer, and is instead technology turning on the human race.  Sure we have seen that all the time, but neither of these differences cause an issue for me.

The movie knew what it wanted to be.  There was a definite cheesy part of the film, and that makes sense, since this is a killer doll.  There should not be a full out dramatic version of Chucky.  However, there were some times when the cheese factor may have gone a bit too far and felt out of place, especially when dealing with the other kids in Andy’s neighborhood.

I do like the motivation of this Chucky.  Whereas the original film’s character was being motivated by this killer spirit to become human again, the new Chucky is motivated by the relationship with Andy.  He wanted to protect Andy and to be the whole world to Andy.  Chucky did not want to share his “best friend forever” with anyone else and that feeling of loneliness and drive for connection is something that  everyone can relate with.

Mark Hamill is one of our generations greatest voice actors and his new turn as Chucky is as great as you would expect it to be.  Hamill’s voice portrayal helps to create the creepiness of the character in the new movie.

I also really loved the work of Gabriel Bateman as Andy.  The young kid had a lot of this movie placed on his shoulders and he came through like a champion.  You can see the conflict within Andy as these horrible things begin to happen and how he does not know what to do.  His fear and pain feels real and well done.

The aspect of the doll being an AI works very well when Chucky is able to interface with other technological items and use them against his victims.  This helps with one of the film’s main themes of how technology can control our lives and puts into a danger of becoming too enthralled.  The film also has some things to say about consumers and their attempt to grab the newest thing, even if it is bad for them.  The third act brings back memories of Jingle All the Way.

The film is very bloody and has some seriously gory scenes.  It certainly earned its R rating.  I found that there were less times in this movie where I would be thinking, “This is just a doll, destroy it” to the people Chucky was attacking.  I had those thoughts many times in the original so that says that the kill scenes were reasonably well done to me.

I enjoyed the relationship between Andy and his mom.  It felt like a real relationship.  I enjoyed the scenes involving Detective Mike Norris (Brian Tyree Henry), especially his interactions with Andy and Mike’s own mother Doreen (Carlease Burke).

There were several relationships that either did not work or were weaker than these ones.  I already mentioned the other kids in the neighborhood and all of them are simply one-note characters there for background.  The only exception I would make is Beatrice Kitsos who played Falyn.  This character was intriguing but they never really dive into what makes her special.  She is visually appealing.  Then, Karen’s boyfriend, Shane (David Lewis) was a terrible character with little redeeming qualities at all.  He was there to be the conflict with Andy and not much else.

The film was quick and short (90 minutes) and it moved by quickly.  I was reasonably entertained by Child’s Play and I was not offended by the changes from the original.  It is not the best horror movie of the year and I do not think it is trying to be.  I think it is trying to be a fun and tense film with a heavy dose of creepiness.  While it is far from perfect, the new Child’s Play succeeds in what it is trying to be.

3.5 stars

I was very worried about Toy Story 4 because I did not see the purpose of the movie.  Toy Story 3 is one of my favorite movies of all time and it felt like the perfect way to tie up the Toy Story franchise.  Plus, I was unimpressed with the promotional material for Toy Story 4.  Nothing jumped out at me as being a worthwhile addition to what could be argued as one of the best trilogies in movie history.

However, the word of mouth has been positive so I was hopeful once again.

I never should have doubted Toy Story.  Toy Story 4 was fantastic.

The young girl Bonnie (Madeleine McGraw) who was given the group of Andy’s toys is on the way to Kindergarten. Woody (Tom Hanks) sneaks into her backpack to help her through the day despite the fact that he has been regulated to the closet during playtime for much of the previous week.  Woody pulled some shenanigans and helped Bonnie through the day.  Bonnie made her own toy at school out of an old spork that she named Forky (Tony Hale), and Woody made it his mission to make sure that Forky was there for Bonnie.

However, Forky considered himself trash and kept trying to throw himself away.

Toy Story 4 was one of the funnier entries in the franchise.  There was several very great new characters.  Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele reunited as Ducky and Bunny.  Christina Hendricks voices the new villain Gabby Gabby.  And the wonderful Keanu Reeves appears as Duke Caboom, Canadian stunt motorcyclist in the vein of Evel Knievel.

Duke Caboom is one of my favorite parts of the new film.  Keanu is the perfect voice for the role of Duke Caboom.

Annie Potts returned to the series as Bo Peep, the lost toy.  Bo Peep and Woody are a cool pairing and have some chemistry, for an animated pairing.  It was nice to see Bo Peep back as the kick ass female toy.

The story moves quickly and, everything works so well.  The new characters all fit right into the rest of the cast.  Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) is here again and, although not as used as Woody, is still an important supporting character.

One of my doubts was that Toy Story 3 wrapped up the franchise in a perfect bow.  After seeing Toy Story 4, I am readjusting my thoughts.  Toy Story 3 is the perfect wrap up of the Andy story.  Toy Story 4 does the perfect job of wrapping up the story of Woody and the toys.  This is definitely Woody’s movie and it was worth it.

The animation, surprise surprise, was amazing.  Pixar’s animation only seems to get better each time.

This was a tremendously fun movie that I had a great time with.  If I were rating it, I would still put Toy Story 3 first, then the original.  Four would be the third place and Toy Story 2 was my least favorite.  They are all amazing though.

Anyone worried that Toy Story 4 would not live up to the trilogy, don’t.  It’s awesome.

4.25 stars