Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker

The constant barrage of emotional moments is a bit much, but aside from that, I liked the tone of The Rise of Skywalker. There isn't a whole lot to the plot, but the characters are likeable and it looks good, which is about all I expect from a Star Wars movie.

I wasn't really into the first six movies, so I don't have any allegiance to what "Star Wars" is supposed to be. I did like the two new ones, though.

I can appreciate that it's a closing of the arc, but I didn't like how every 5 seconds they hit you with saying goodbye to another big character. There was also a constant barrage of triumphant moments. Somebody described the movie as being waterboarded. Sure you like water, but that's too much water. I kind of agree.

Leia looked kind of weird. I always like Rey's outfit, though. I liked the new droid, but it's kind of weird that they keep introducing new ones.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is a fully "okay" movie. I still like the magic and the creatures. It raises some questions about characters I previously thought of as "good," like Dumbledore and Queenie. I'm interested to see where they go with the rest of the series.

I had a lot of problems seeing Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. I wanted to see it in a theater on my birthday. It was only playing into theaters by then, one in Shoreline, and one in Tacoma. The one in Shoreline only had one showing a day. I don't see movies in theaters very often (in fact, it's about once a year, on my birthday). I didn't realize that a lot of the theaters have switched over to having you pick your seat when you buy the ticket.

I didn't get to the theater until about five minutes before the movie started. The only tickets that were left were in the front row. I tried it out, but it was impossible to see anything. I should have just seen a different movie, but I wound up not seeing anything at all, which really sucked.

I wound up waiting until Grindelwald came to the $4 theater to try again. I normally sit in the back row of the theater, but the screen at the Crest was so small that I wanted to sit in the middle. I ended up not being able to do that, even though there were open seats where I wanted to be. So I had to sit all the way in the back. For about the first third of the movie, I felt like I couldn't even see it, and I kept missing a bunch of dialogue because I couldn't hear it, either.

I read a review that said Newt's affect gets really annoying. Maybe my perception was just colored by that, but I definitely agreed. Like, just stand up straight at least.

Ready Player One

Ready Player One is a really simple movie, and there are a lot of things about it that don't make sense, but it was still fun to watch.

I haven't read Ready Player One. A lot of people hated the movie, but it seemed like something to see, anyway.

Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange looks good and the magic stuff is fun to see, but it’s still a pretty unremarkable movie, and Dr. Strange himself is a jerk.

I didn't know anything about Doctor Strange before I saw this movie, other than his scenes in Thor: Ragnarok. They really set him up in the beginning of the movie as a complete jackass.

The Beaches of Agnes

Beaches of Anges really gives you a feel for who Agnes Varda is. I loved listening to the way she narrates this documentary about her life, and seeing all the fanciful, whimsical images she comes up with.

Beaches of Agnes is basically about Agnes Varda remembering some stuff that happened to her around beaches. I just like Agnes Varda. It's interesting to see the things that she comes up with. They're so fanciful and whimsical. The mirrors at the beach at the beginning are so cool.

Faces Places

Faces Places is an enchanting French documentary about the beauty of life and everyday people. It's not exactly thrilling, but it's worth seeing.

I've seen 13 documentaries, and Faces Places is only the third that's gotten at least 3/5. So you could practically call it a 5, relatively speaking. I like the idea of it. Agnes and JR are such an unlikely couple. I like the way the narrative is laid out, starting with how they met each other first through their art. I liked the narration of them reminiscing about their travels.

It was cool getting to see different people and places in France. The pictures looked neat on the buildings and things, too. Kind of reminded me of Banksy's work. The score was great. It turns out Agnes was very involved in making it. She also did the editing. So in a lot of ways, it was really her movie. 

X-Men 2

Nothing really astounding happens in X-Men 2, but I haven't seen an X-Men movie yet that I didn't like (except maybe The Wolverine), and I enjoyed it.

It's been like two weeks since I watched X-Men 2, so this definitely isn't the optimal time to be writing my thoughts. I saw the first X-Men movie when it came out. I guess this one just didn't grab my interest, because I hadn't seen it. I think I like watching pretty much anything X-Men related. Hugh Jackman looks so young here compared to in Logan. He's like a little baby. I didn't really like Halle Berry's Storm. I like it better when they go a more African direction with Storm. Rogue's Lousianan accent was cool.

I loved the interaction between Xavier and Magneto. I think watching First Class and Future Past before this one added some depth to their relationship, and also to Mystique's character. I still think Rebecca is a million times better as Mystique than Jennifer.

If I came in expecting it to be some epic Blockbuster movie, I would probably be disappointed. But a lot of cool stuff happened. And it's perfectly enjoyable as just another episode of the overall X-Men story.

Dark City

Dark City is super weird and unique, but in a way that still holds together and makes sense. You don't hear much about it, but it feels like a classic that everyone should see.

I had a hard time finding the theatrical release of Dark City. I own the DVD, but for some reason I only know where the case is, and not the disc. You can only torrent the director's cut. The library catalog lists only the theatrical release, but when you get it, it turns out to be the director's cut.

I thought it would be easy to rent it from YouTube, but it took me an hour to get it to work on my Apple TV, only to find out that that's the director's cut, too. So I rented the theatrical version from iTunes, and spent another hour getting *that* to play. And then realized after I saw the movie that I should have kept the library version so I could a. see the differences in the director's cut and b. hear the commentary. But I don't have it in me to request it again and wait another six months for it to come in.

You don't hear a lot about Dark City. I really only knew about it because I had a friend that liked it. The movie is super weird. I feel like everybody should see it just to have the experience.

Thor: Ragnarok

Thor: Ragnarok isn't as great as the trailer makes it out to be. The humor is different, but it felt too much like it was from a gag reel instead of an actual movie. Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" is basically the best part of the movie.

I haven't seen either of the first two Thor movies, and I don't really feel like I need to. The trailer for Ragnarok looked cool, probably mostly because they used Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song." That song pretty much made the entire movie, too. At least it's apropos, since it's about Vikings. It's also crazy that it came out *50* years ago.

The movie had a weird sense of humor. You could say it's because the director is from New Zealand, but the writers were American. A lot of the jokes seemed like they were from the gag reel, even the opening one with Thor twisting on the chains. And they kind of overdid it when they kept going with that joke.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Star Wars: The Last Jedi doesn't do a lot to advance the plot considering the length of the movie, but it still feels pretty epic in places.

I didn't really know what Star Wars: The Last Jedi was going to be about before I saw it. I guess it's not really about much of anything. It definitely feels like a middle movie. I didn't like the old Star Wars movies, although I don't really remember them, so I should probably watch them again. But I do like the new ones.

This one seemed really "big," like it was a spectacle, and I was glad I saw it at the theater. There were a couple of times when the music went up and you felt the grandiosity of things, and it was nice.

I liked what they did with Kylo and Rey connecting. Kylo really is a lackluster villain, though. He always just seems whiny and weak. The entire First Order seems pretty hackneyed, especially that red-headed general they featured so much this time.

They went really heavy on the animals, with the big donkey horses, and the ice foxes, and the bird things. It just stood out, it didn't really blend well.

Science Fiction Volume One: The Osiris Child

The acting and the dialogue in Science Fiction Volume One: The Osiris Child aren't always the greatest, but I enjoyed it anyway.

I didn't know that Science Fiction Volume One: The Osiris Child was a small-budget movie. I just saw a trailer for it and thought it looked interesting. The trailer kind of misrepresents what it is. It basically shows the first 10 minutes of the movie, but there's a lot more to it than that.

The timeline is kind of crazy. It's all over the place. But I liked it. It kept things interesting. And I liked the chapter headings. The only thing that didn't work at all was the slo-mo during the jail fight. That was super weird.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

I've liked all of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and Dead Men Tell No Tales is no different. It's not going to win an Oscar or anything, but Javier is appropriately menacing, the plot holds things together well enough, and overall it's fun and familiar.

I like the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. I used to like Johnny Depp, but that's getting more difficult with all the "personal life" stuff that's been happening with him recently. I like the tone of the movies, though. And they're so familiar, with the music and everything. I like the "pirate adventure" angle, and seeing Jack running around doing crazy stuff.

The witch was super weird. I couldn't get behind her at all, or figure out if we were supposed to remember her from one of the other movies. They kind of overdid it with the makeup on the pirates. They all looked like they had some hardcore sun damage going on, and I felt like it wasn't necessary.

In Order of Disappearance

In Order of Disappearance isn't flashy, but it has a certain novelty factor just by virtue of being Norwegian, and it is interesting to watch how everything plays out.

In Order of Disappearance wasn’t supposed to be very good, but I wanted to see it anyway. I watched it on Netflix, and at first the sound didn’t sync up with the video at all, and it was really confusing. But then we figured out that was the dubbed version, and luckily we were able to change it to “Norwegian audio, English subtitles,” which was a lot better.

Best of Enemies

Best of Enemies: Buckley vs. Vidal is a documentary about some televised debates that took place between a liberal and a conservative in the '60s, which doesn’t sound that interesting, but it’s actually fascinating to watch. You get all kinds of insights into the time period and their motivations, and we’re still facing the same issues they were then.

I wanted to see Best of Enemies: Buckley vs. Vidal when it came out, but the library didn’t get it. And then eventually I checked Netflix and there it was. I didn’t have any idea who either person was beforehand, but luckily they set everything up in the opening of the movie. It’s interesting how they said the country was so divided then. Nothing changes.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a little campy, and I’m still not a fan of the makeup, but there’s something likeable about the characters, and I enjoyed the story.

I got to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in the theater, which was pretty cool, although I had to sit closer than I would’ve liked (even though we got there almost an hour early and there were seats available in the back). It does kind of make you feel like you’re more “in” it when you sit six rows back, I guess.

I’m still not a fan of the bold colors. I guess that’s just the look they’re going for. But the greasepaint aspect is annoying. Groot looked pretty good. He didn’t really stand out as CG. I guess everything is a little cartoon-y, so he blended in. Rocket looked super scruffy.

I do like all the characters, especially Drax for some reason. Mantis’ outift was cool. I liked how it resembled an insect. They kind of lost me in the opening scene. I felt like the level of camp or just the general vibe wasn’t my thing. But I either got used to it or they toned it down, because I didn’t notice it after that.

Logan

Logan was pretty decent. It works well as another chapter in the X-Men series, even if it is a sad one. The relationships between the characters are engaging, and Pierce is a cool villain.

As you know if you read my posts, I like X-Men. And I was probably the only person who liked Origins: Wolverine. I didn’t see the point of The Wolverine before or after I watched it. But I like Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Which is probably why I didn’t enjoy seeing him being all old in this one.

Kiki’s Delivery Service

There’s nothing really spectacular about Kiki’s Delivery Service, but it holds up well for something that’s 27 years old, and it’s interesting seeing how everything plays out.

Kiki’s Delivery Service holds up pretty well for a movie that’s old as hell. I didn’t have any idea it was so old when I watched it. It’s weird that they translated the term to “witch.” I guess it makes sense with the broom and the familiar and the black and everything. But it sounded like they were saying something more like “mage.” I feel like there’s probably a more positive term they could have used/could have been using other than “witch.” I’m sure the dialogue as a whole was better in Japanese. It’s always a bit weird in the subtitles.

Layer Cake

Layer Cake is your typical crime movie, but there are some interesting shots, characters, and events here and there, so it's worth watching if that's your thing.

Off to a slow start this year with only one movie a month so far. I don't know if I've ever actually known anyone who liked Layer Cake, but it's a name you hear thrown around, so I figured I should see it. I didn't know anything about it, but I do like Daniel Craig. His eyes are crazy blue. I wound up turning the subtitles on about a third of the way through, which I probably should've done to begin with, because it helped a lot.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

There isn't a whole lot more to the plot of Fantastic Beasts than "the guy has to get his creatures back," but I do always like the world of Harry Potter, and it's interesting to see it in a different country, in the '20s, without Harry Potter or any kids at all. It's a pleasant starting point for the series.

Last movie of 2016, in which I saw eight more movies than 2015. Still didn't quite hit my goal of one a week. I'm glad I saw Fantastic Beasts in the theater, although a lot of the CG was slightly off. I wasn't expecting much, and it delivered on that; another one of those where it's pretty much all in the trailer. Newt was a likeable character. He reminded me of The Doctor, probably because of the hair, the blue coat, and being British. All of the characters were likeable, though, especially Queenie and Jacob.

The Raid: Redemption

There are some interesting action pieces in The Raid: Redemption, but the tone is way off, and it feels more like a first writing/directorial effort than the third that it is.

A friend recommended The Raid about a year ago, and I just got around to watching it. I usually don't like the same things he does, but I figured you couldn't go wrong with a pure action movie. The tone was pretty weird. The director said in the commentary that he was going for kind of a horror/suspense vibe, which I didn't get at all, and a lot of the scenes he thought were funny didn't come across that way to me. So it just seemed really uneven and amateur.

This was the writer/director's third movie. It comes off more like a first. The title makes it seem like it's a sequel. It's actually not, but there is a sequel out now. I'd kind of like to see it to find out if he was able to learn anything from this one/improve the next one. Somebody else did the screenplay for the sequel, so that could potentially help.