Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1

Ethan Hunt and the IMF team must track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity if it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than the mission -- not even the lives of those he cares about most.

These movies just honestly don't disappoint.  This movie was just like the others.  Amazing action, great bad guys against the characters that you have grown to love.  The pacing was perfect.  Did it have to be 3 hours long?  Probably not.  But honestly you don't really feel it because you are more than hooked by the movie.   Just an awesome popcorn movie.

I definitely recommend people checking this out.   It is a great ride and watch and another installment in an excellent all around franchise.

Blue Beetle

Jaime Reyes suddenly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology called the Scarab. When the Scarab chooses Jaime to be its symbiotic host, he's bestowed with an incredible suit of armor that's capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the superhero Blue Beetle.

I mean it might have been the bottom of the barrel expectations for this movie but this was a pretty enjoyable watch.  It was very basic, simple and formula but a good origin story for this superhero - especially by DC's standards.  

I would actually recommend people checking this out.  It's not a must watch or anywhere near the best comic book movie ever made but it was a pretty good watch and that is a major plus for a DC movie as far as I'm concerned.  

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3

Members of the Portokalos family reunite in Greece for a hilarious and heartwarming trip full of love, twists and turns.

This movie was a decent watch / continuation of the quirky greek family from the first two movies.   I don't know that there was remotely any demand or need for it whatsoever but it you like the characters it is a decent continuation and short enough to avoid being painful.  

I would not really recommend anyone rushing to see this.  It's not a bad watch but is kind of just there and not really worth the time/money.

Retribution

While driving with his two kids, a man receives a phone call from an unknown assailant who claims there is a bomb in the car. Unable to exit the vehicle, he must now follow a series of twisted instructions while trying to figure out how to survive.

This is literally Taken in a car.  There is honestly nothing more to say than that.  It's what you thought from the trailer and it's exactly what you got.  Taken in a car.

I wouldn't really recommend anyone rushing to watch this.  It's decent enough and is less than 90 minutes long.  But it really is just Taken in a car.  

The Meg 2: The Trench

Jonas Taylor leads a research team on an exploratory dive into the deepest depths of the ocean. Their voyage spirals into chaos when a malevolent mining operation threatens their mission and forces them into a high-stakes battle for survival. Pitted against colossal, prehistoric sharks and relentless environmental plunderers, they must outrun, outsmart and outswim their merciless predators.

This was absolute trash.  Like complete and total trash.  I was excited to see this because the first one turned out to be a pretty good guilty pleasure movie.  This one massively dropped the ball.   There wasn't even any sea creature shit really until like the last 20-30 minutes.   Like there were humans talking for 90 minutes before anything good.  Nobody.  I repeat nobody is seeing this movie for that nonsense.

I would not recommend that anyone bother with this movie.  It's a complete waste of time and very disappointing even for a movie that was expected to be guilty pleasure bad already.

Barbie

Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans.

I really don't know how to feel about this movie.  Like if I say I didn't like it does that make me anti-feminism because I'm not.  And the whole girl power thing was not the problem with the movie.  It was honestly just that the movie couldn't decide what it wanted to be.  Like when it was campy and silly it was actually pretty good.  Similar to Free Guy with the being in a video game or The Lego Movie.  I enjoyed all of the Barbie world schtick.  But then they would switch to trying to be deep and human and heartfelt and then I would get kind of annoyed.  It was just a very disjointed movie.

I would not really recommend people seeing it but I feel like everyone already has.  The marketing was absolutely genius but the payoff of the movie just didn't match the hype for me I guess. 

Haunted Mansion

A woman and her son enlist a motley crew of so-called spiritual experts to help rid their home of supernatural squatters.

This movie was a decent family watch based on the Disney ride.  Lots of fun call outs to the ride throughout and it was much better than the Eddie Murphy version they did a few years back.  My only issue was that there was no reason for this to be two hours long.   You could have easily trimmed 20-30 minutes off of this and the movie would have been so much better.

I would still recommend people checking it out because it is a good watch.   Just a little bit too long for me.

The Last Voyage Of The Demeter

The crew of the merchant ship Demeter sets sail from Carpathia to London to deliver a cargo of 50 unmarked wooden crates. However, they soon discover they're not alone as Dracula's unholy presence turns the trip into a nightmarish fight for survival.

Why is it so hard to make a memorable Dracula movie.  I feel like they always miss the mark and this one was more of the same.  Not sure who was remotely asking for this movie to be made but it is beyond forgettable.  I honestly waited too long to write this review and barely remember the movie.  That is how forgettable it is.

I would not recommend anyone bother with this movie.  It is a pretty big waste of time.

Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts

Optimus Prime and the Autobots take on their biggest challenge yet. When a new threat capable of destroying the entire planet emerges, they must team up with a powerful faction of Transformers known as the Maximals to save Earth.

I know I said I was done with the Transformers franchise after the last massive turd that I walked out on but I thought that with it being free that I would give it another shot.  I even tried nooning up so that maybe the buzz could make me laugh at it.  Nope.  Walked out half way through after doing nothing but shaking my head in disgust and saying What? over and over again for the first hour.   Unreal how bad this franchise is and that it keeps going.

I would not recommend anyone watch this.  I am the king of enjoying the turn off your brain action movies that are over the top and ridiculous (I'm looking at you Fast & Furious) but there is something that just massively triggers me with these Transformers movies that I can't get by.

Strays

Abandoned on the mean city streets by his lowlife owner, Doug, a naive but lovable dog named Reggie falls in with a fast-talking, foul-mouthed Boston Terrier and his gang of strays. Determined to seek revenge, Reggie and his new canine pals embark on an epic adventure to get him home and make Doug pay for his dirty deed.

I'm not going to lie.  I had pretty high hopes for this movie.  And I think that those high hopes definitely skewed my feelings about it.  Like the movie was funny and had some big laughs but I just wanted it to be much funnier than it was I guess.   

I would somewhat recommend people checking this out.  It's not too long and there were some good laughs.  I just didn't think that there were enough of them.  

The Boogeyman

High school student Sadie Harper and her younger sister, Sawyer, are still reeling from the recent death of their mother. They're not getting much support from their father, Will, a therapist who's dealing with his own intense pain. When a desperate patient unexpectedly shows up at their house seeking help, he leaves behind a terrifying supernatural entity that preys on families and feeds on the suffering of its victims.

Movies like this rely on two things.  First is the suspense build up and jump scares.  This movie did a good job of that.   Second is the reveal of the monster.  This one dropped the ball big time on this.   The second you see the monster and how ridiculous it looks the scare factor is massively watered down.  They might have been better off not showing it except for the beady eyes thing.

I would somewhat recommend people checking this out.  It's not a terrible watch but it is not as good at all once you see the monster.

Talk To Me

When a group of friends discovers how to conjure spirits by using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill -- until one of them unleashes terrifying supernatural forces.

This was a better than average horror movie.  I was definitely surprised.  It was definitely due to some creepy self mutilation visuals throughout but it held my interest a lot more than I thought it would.  

I would recommend people checking this out.   It was better than expected and not too long of a watch.