I think this is my opinion on it
Ant-Man and the Wasp is a fun summer movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s a good one to wash the dark taste of The Avengers: Infinity War from your mouth. This is a romp with very light stakes. A fun time. A rip-roaring fun time. Then if you stay until the end credits, the MCU darkness creeps back in. But overall, so fun.
4 of 5 stars.
I believe that the first Incredibles movie was one of the best films of the 2000s. It’s Pixar’s best movie. It is one of the only few movies that had me exiting the theatre feeling exhilarated. So the bar is high for Incredibles 2. Sadly, judged against its predecessor, it falls short. It is still a good movie, but…
3 of 5 stars.
Finally, I get to Ready Player One, the last movie from March/the beginning of April I saw.
I’m not a gamer. I don’t care about games. I saw a better smarter film in the anime, Summer Wars.
2 of 5 stars.
Isle of Dogs is fine at first. Then you think about the yellow washing. More in particular, you think about the grandparent who brought their little grandchildren to a puppet movie who end up laughing at the strange stuff Japanese people do. “Let’s all point and laugh at this wacky society.”
Don’t. It wasn’t a movie for kids and none of it was funny because of the funny stuff Japanese people do.
And that could be the problem with the film. It’s like a minstrel show. Without any context, the audience points and laughs.
Damn. I just knocked a star off of this because of that.
2 of 5 stars.
Yo! My Blockers review and several others (you’ll know when I complete them) have been sitting in draft for the longest time. Like three weeks when I saw them in early April. Now, here we are and it’s just about may and I’m gonna fill them out. Each post was just the title. Now I have to put a review or talk about the movie but it has been so long. I’m not sure what I want to say.
Of course, it’ll get a star count. They’ll each be the same. And if you’ve been following me for a long time, then you’ll know what the star count is.
For Blockers, I was hoping for mayhem like Project X, Neighbors, or even Beerfest. What I got was a sweet movie about parenting. I wanted for a sex movie from the female perspective. I got parents worrying about parenting and noticing that they did an alright job if their children turned up a-ok.
Mayhem! No, sweet parenting. It wasn’t bad, but I didn’t pay for this. Of course I did like it fine.
3 of 5 stars.
This review of Black Panther is several weeks old, but since it is still doing boffo business at the box office, then this review is still relevant.
I still liked Thor better, but this MCU movie is good too. I teared up at the death of Killmonger. Why’d he have to die. He should’ve been rehabilitated and put to use in the MCU.
Watch it.
4 of 5 stars.
Mary and the Witch’s Flower is the first film from some of the animators from Studio Ghibli after the chief anime director Hayao Miyazaki stopped making films. They had to do something. They did this.
The film is very similar to many of the Ghibli films you have watched. I’m not sure if that’s on purpose. It is based on an English children’s book which many of Ghibli films were: Arrietty, Howl’s, Marnie. This one’s based on a book called, “The Little Broomstick.” A story of a young girl finding herself in a magical world. Sounds familiar right? There is flying, too! And a broomstick and cat familiar! Studio Ghibli is alive!
Now if you think that it was a good idea to follow the Ghibli template, you will like this movie. Many Ghibli fans will be pleased. I was a little. But I wish to see more from my anime. I think Studio Ponoc, the film makers, have a bright future. They can stick with the tried and true, but I know that they have something in them to make an anime masterpiece.
Overall, I’ll watch most anime flicks that come to the States just because I want more of them to come to the States. You should, too. If this comes to a theatre near you, please watch it.
3 of 5 stars.
The Shape of Water feels like a referendum on the times we are living in. In particular, the antagonist feels like today’s man. Doing what he wants and not caring for anyone else like a Republican. No need for women. No need for workers. All American. No to fish men.
The Shape of Water secured tons of award nominations. I’m very doubtful that it deserves it. It’s decent, but the director has done better. I think it may win a few of those awards, but not the big one, Best Picture.
3 of 5 stars.
This past Christmas I was fortunate to hold the final number in our annual Kris Kriminal game. Apple AirPods had been revealed already so I stole ’em. Luckily, I ended up the night with them. Most likely the best Kris Kriminal present I had chanced into. So, with that, you know this review will be mostly positive.
Once they were officially mine, I opened the box, pulled them out of the charging case, put them in my ear, and pressed play. Music came through smoothly. I was mostly amazed that the pairing happened almost instantly. It wasn’t as quick as my description lets on, but it wasn’t a hassle. I didn’t even have to open the Blue Tooth settings to start the pairing. It just happened.
I really only tried it that night once and left them in my gift pile for the next few weeks. It wasn’t until the new year that I decided to put them to the test. I have kept them in my pocket for the last two weeks. I don’t use them every day, but I do pull them out once in a while to listen to Nogizaka jams during work. I am always in amazement that they fit in the ear just right and do fall out. Admittedly, I have not exercised with them in but they feel snug, never loose or ready to fall out. YMMV.
I love the carrying case. It fits in your pocket and also doubles as the charger. You can keep it forever in your pocket, ready to deploy at a moments notice.
My only problem so far is pairing with other devices. I believe you have to erase its knowledge of the previous device in order to add a new one. I think. I didn’t read the directions.
Anyhow, it’s pretty neat and should make up for the lack of input jack on the newer iPhones.
No 5 star movies. Mainly 4 stars. Although, to be honest, Your Name should be five stars. And perhaps Jedi and Spiderman should be demoted to three. Beyond that I think most of these were pretty good. Surprising that there’s a few super hero movies here. Sadly, the state of the industry is such that only super hero movies are being made.
You should check out both Lady Bird and 20th Century Women on a double bill because they deserve to be seen back-to-back.
Blade Runner will again become a beloved classic. Thor: Ragnarok as well.
Here’s my list of the best films I saw in the theatre for the year 2017.
Lady Bird
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Spiderman: Homecoming
Thor: Ragnarok
Blade Runner 2049
Your Name
Get Out
Logan
20th Century Women
