Movies

7 Days in Hell

It's a pretty funny movie. You can see how it inspired Popstar. It feels a little rushed in parts of the story. HBO likely told them to keep it under 45 minutes. Worth watching at least once if you're into the type of humor that Popstar and Hot Rod provide.

About Time

• Romance: 👍👍
• Story: 👍👍
• Cinematography: 👍
• Music: 😐

A Man Called Otto

• Cinematography: 👍
• Story: 👍
  • Does a good job handling sensitive topics

Buddy Games

This is a movie you watch with your drunk college buds. It’s a raunchy comedy and not much else.

Bullet Train

• Action: 👍
• Cinematography: 👍👍
  • Some scenes are akin to Kill Bill and related action movies
• Story: 👍

Casino Royale

• Action: 👍👍
• Cinematography: 👍👍
  • Some beautiful scenery
• Story: 👍👍
  • Drags a little at the beginning, but is otherwise entertaining

Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door

• Watch this after episode 22 of the anime.
• Basically a really long episode of the show, and that’s not a bad thing.
• Kinda a shame this is the only place Elektra shows up.

Demon Slayer: Mugen Train

I understand now why they went with a movie over a second season for this story arc. It would've felt cut up and disconnected in an episode format. The story and animation are both top notch. Only a few days later I want to watch it again. I'm happy that more of the series is coming after this. Ending to quickly would've felt strange. I need more of the special flame form in my life though.

Detective Pikachu

'This is the second time I’ve watched this movie. It’s a fun movie to watch. Hits that nostalgia bone in your body if you’ve grown up with Pokémon.

Don't Look Up

It's a bit scary how close to reality this movie feels. The commentary on social media, politics, and current (~2020's) society is frustratingly accurate. Nothing in today's world can be a fact. Someone will always say it's a lie and some other people will back them up. Even when a meteor is staring people in the face they won't believe it's real.

Encanto

• Songs feel a little forced and out of place. Probably because there are so many of them. It’s a little overboard. Many sacrifice musical structure have the lyrics be dialog. The lyrics should’ve been dialog to begin with.
• The solution to their problem is…? Not even the movie knows!
• Fine if you want a feel good movie, but it has very little substance. Definitely for kids.

Enola Holmes 2

• Characters: 👍👍
• Cinematography: 👍
• Mystery: 👍

Escape from Pretoria

• Story: 👍; no depth, but based on a true story
• Cinematography: 😐
• Acting: 👍; Tim Jenkin (Daniel Radcliffe) is the only character that says or does much

Everything Everyone All at Once

• Cinematography: 👌
• Story: 👍👍
  • Tells a cohesive story without sacrificing humor or story beats
• Comedy: 👍👍
  • Fantastic absurdist humor

Fatherhood

Kevin Hart does a nice job, especially considering it’s not a comedy. It’s a heartfelt movie about being a single father. It's an enjoyable watch.

Fargo

• Despite the opening, it’s not actually based on a true story.
• Entertaining to watch at least once. The acting are story are both good.
• What’s up with the Mike Yanagita subplot? Doesn’t seem to add much.

Fight Club

• Cinematography: 👍👍
  • The settings used give character and context to the filmography
• Story: 👌
  • Commentary on consumerism and advertising that is still relevant today
  • The narrator’s condition is handled wonderfully

Free Guy

• How would AI feel about how humans "treat" NPC's in games and other interactive media?
• Pretty funny with a creative setting.
• Ryan Reynolds isn't annoying.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

• Characters: 👍👍
• Cinematography: 👍
• Mystery: 👍

Indian Horse

This movie's goal is to educate people on discrimination of natives in the 50s-60s. That's an important topic, but the movie doesn't do much to push the narrative. Two characters kinda randomly die, the kids parents leave out of the blue, and there's child molestation thrown in there for shock factor. When the movie focuses on the main characters hockey career, it's a decent movie. Otherwise it's nothing special.

Mr. Right

• Comedy: 👎
  • Martha is annoying
• Cinematography: 😐
• Story: 👎
  • The story fails to suspend disbelief

Napoleon Dynamite

• Comedy: 😐
• Cinematography: 😐
• Story: 😐

Office Space

• Comedy: 👍
• Cinematography: 👍
• Story: 👍

Scoob

A fun, modern take on Scooby-Doo’s origin story.

Scooby-Doo

• Story: 👍
• Characters: 👍
• Cinematography: 👍

Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed

• Story: 👍
• Characters: 👍
• Cinematography: 👍

Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders

It's a Scooby-Doo movie with aliens. Does a good job of keeping the mystery alive until the end.

Se7in

• Neo-noir aspects give the movie a distinct tone and visual style.
• First half is a bit of a slow burn. Things pick up rapidly after Mills and Sumerset get the book list from the FBI.
• Characters take reasonable actions based on what happening around them.
• It was eye opening to realize more than cops have to deal with trauma from crimes. Coroners, doctors, and more are involved (‘’something I thought of while watching).
• The movies runtime is 2 hours and 7 minutes.

Semi-Pro

• Comedy: 👍
• Cinematography: 👍
• Story: 👍

Shaun of the Dead

• Comedy: 👍
• Cinematography: 😐
• Story: 👍

Shutter Island

• The tension kicks in almost immediately. The movie spares little time getting you thinking about possibilities.
• Is Teddy actually insane, or is he part of an elaborate conspiracy? I believe Teddy/Andrew is insane. However, the conspiracy explanation has merit.

Slap Shot

• Manages to illicit a few good laughs.
• The small bits of hockey action are done well, but everything else is boring.
• Reggie Dunlop's (main character) subplot with his wife is downright confusing.

Space Jam

The scene with Michal Jordan as a kid practicing has been in my head on and off over the years. I could never remember where it was from, but now I do. No idea why that scene stuck with me.

This movie is decidedly B tier in it's production. Some questionable audio at times really gives it away. Most of the money seems to have been spent on Jordan and the animations. It's fun for a kids movie, maybe even worth watching once a decade, but it's status as a "classic" is incorrect.

Spirited

• Cinematography: 👍
• Music: 👍
• Story: 👍👍

Super Troopers

Easily understandable why this became a cult classic. It's a raunchy comedy with some great jokes, and a good story. One of those movies that can be watched multiple times and still be enjoyable.

Tenet

”I slept on my thoughts before writing this.” Let’s start with the bad. The ending battle is weird. The “good” guys have a large force, but you never see who they’re shooting. Takes away some of the tension.

The "okay" is the overall story. While everything important is explained in one way or another, it’s not always an in depth explanation. The fantastic is the premise of the movie. Reverse entropy is a really cool idea. How they show it on screen is fantastic. More media playing with that idea would be great to see.

The Big Year

This is a feel good movie, and it was right up my alley. Bird watching isn’t something that there are a lot of movies on. Quite the cast as well. Lots of people that I recognized.

The Departed

• Acting: 👍👍
• Cinematography: 👍👍
• Story: 👍

The Other Woman

Could be referred to as a reverse rom-com. Instead of a couple falling in love, 3 women realize the same man is cheating on them. They decide to work together to get revenge. While a decent popcorn flick, the movie isn't anything particular special. That said it does manage to tell a cohesive story and trigger a few laughs.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

• Animation: 👍👍
  • Clean looking, for better or worse
• Audio: 👍👍
  • The pop songs feels forced and out of place
  • Mario music is much more fitting
  • Voice acting ranges from Fantastic (Toad [Keegan-Michael Key], Luigi [Charlie Day], Bowser [Jack Black]), to good (Mario [Chris Pratt], Peach [Anya Taylor-Joy]), to alright (DK [Seth Rogan])
• Story: 👍

The Tomorrow War

It's not good. Has some interesting ideas, but execution is bad.

The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf

Much better than expected. Wasn’t a cliche story about Vesemir traveling with some mage and they hate each other. Instead we got a look at how Kaer Morhen fell, and why the Witcher’s are dwindling. It’s also animated well (Studio Mir). Tetra is a bitch and effective villain (voiced by Lara Pulver (Mirana)).

Tropic Thunder

Such a strange movie. It has a few points that are funny, but also a lot of down time between the humor. It's debatable on whether or not the story in the down time is enough.

Uncharted

• Story: 👍
• Action/Adventure: 👍👍
• Enjoyment For Uncharted Fans: 👍👍
• Acting: 👍

Your Name

AKA 君の名は

• Your emotions go on a roller coaster ride that's ultimately worth it.
• Very pretty animation.
• The story leaves a lasting effect. It's something you'll be thinking about the next days, weeks, months, and probably even years later.
• Make sure to use subs that translate text. There's a fair amount of screens and notes that provide context.

Movie Collections

• DC Comics Movies & TV
• Evangelion Movies & TV
• Marvel Cinematic Universe

End of Evangelion

It would be accurate to consider this movie a bit of a mind-fuck. A lot happens in 80 minutes, and not all of it is clear as day. With that in mind, End of Evangelion is a much better finale for the series than episodes 25/26 of the show. Apparently both endings are canonical, and that’s pretty cool. Lots of people dying isn’t exactly a surprise considering the stakes of everything. This is a series that needs to be watched to be appreciated (maybe some extra reading after too). The final scene is confusing (Shinji choking Asuka? WTF), but it’s actually a continuation of Shinji’s dream(?) of him and Asuka in the kitchen. There’s a lot going on here, but the rollercoaster is worth it.

Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone

The story is almost exactly the same as the first six episodes of the original anime. A few scenes have been moved around, the English dub is updated, and we see Kaworu at the end. These adjustments help make the story easier to digest. That plus the modern animations makes the movie quiet formidable when compared to the original anime. "I personally enjoyed the movie more than the first six episodes."

Additional thoughts

• Would someone new to the show understand the story better if they watched this first instead of the original anime?
• Watching this made me re-recognize that the first half of the show is really good. It's the second half that starts to slip.

  Make sure to watch the end credit scene!

Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance

This movie covers much of the same content as episodes 7-12 of the original show. That said, it diverges in a number of fresh ways. It's at least as good as 1.11.

Make sure to watch the end credit scene!

Evangelion: 3.33 You Can (Not) Redo

Watch the end credit scene(s) from 2.22, otherwise 3.33 is more confusing than necessary. The biggest issue with 3.33 is that the plot goes nowhere. Shinji is essentially in the same place (mentally) at the beginning and end of the movie.

Make sure to watch the end credit scene!

Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time

After much reflection, it’s time to write down my thoughts on this movie (and to a degree the franchise). The ending of the original show is confusing. The ending of End of Evangelion is better, but still confusing. The ending of Thrice Upon a Time is the least confusing. All three endings are canon, which is something I think is really neat. After reading some discussion online, the ending starts to make more sense. This is a movie they should be watched at least twice to really understand what’s going on.

I’m still a big fan of all the characters. They’re mostly one note, but it’s done in a way to show their growth, strengths, and weaknesses. All of which drive the story.

• Discussions On Evangellion's Ending

Want To Watch

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