The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent

Unfulfilled and facing financial ruin, actor Nick Cage accepts a $1 million offer to attend a wealthy fan's birthday party. Things take a wildly unexpected turn when a CIA operative recruits Cage for an unusual mission. Taking on the role of a lifetime, he soon finds himself channeling his most iconic and beloved characters to save himself and his loved ones.

This movie was ALOT of fun.  They didn't take themselves seriously and it made the movie so entertaining because of it. What should have honestly been a SNL skit or a punchline somehow turned into a pretty well done movie with a ton of laughs and the perfect role for Nicolas Cage at this point in his career.  

I would definitely recommend people checking this movie out.   It is a very enjoyable watch all around.

Morbius

Biochemist Michael Morbius tries to cure himself of a rare blood disease, but when his experiment goes wrong, he inadvertently infects himself with a form of vampirism instead.

Dear lord.  I think that the Sonyverse might be competing with DC for what can be a bigger joke.   The movie itself was just kind of there.  Felt like it was written by a 13 year old.  The editing job was horrible and it just jumped from random scene/location way too much.   The timeline made no sense with how important it was for him to keep drinking the synthetic blood.  And honestly there was just no reason to care about the character or anything.  Like at all.   And then the credit scenes just completely infuriated me because they will take the whole multiverse thing that Marvel is massively and specifically crafting and just kind of wing it with theirs with nothing making any sense whatsoever.

I would not recommend anyone bothering with this.  This movie was so lame that it managed to make Venom a better movie basically by default.  

Ambulance

Needing money to cover his wife's medical bills, a decorated veteran teams up with his adoptive brother to steal $32 million from a Los Angeles bank. However, when their getaway goes spectacularly wrong, the desperate thieves hijack an ambulance that's carrying a severely wounded cop and an EMT worker. Caught in a high-speed chase, the two siblings must figure out a way to outrun the law while keeping their hostages alive.

This movie was just high octane and adrenaline fun.  This was a throwback to Michael Bay's pre-Transformers movies.   Well built characters through banter and over the top acting, crazy action with the right slow motion scenes at the right time to build drama/intensity, and you can just turn your brain off and enjoy the ride.  These have always been my favorite kind of movies to see in the theater.

I would definitely recommend people who like action movies checking this out.  It's beyond predictable and corny at times but if you just turn your brain off you honestly don't care. 

Father Stu

When an injury ends his amateur boxing career, Stuart Long moves to Los Angeles to find money and fame. While scraping by as a supermarket clerk, he meets Carmen, a Sunday school teacher who seems immune to his bad-boy charm. Determined to win her over, the longtime agnostic starts going to church to impress her. However, a motorcycle accident leaves him wondering if he can use his second chance to help others, leading to the surprising realization that he's meant to be a Catholic priest.

This was a surprisingly good watch.  Probably one of Mark Wahlberg's better overall performances.  Is it sometimes too heart string pulling?  Yes.  Is it beyond the realm of predictable?  Yes.   But even for someone who has very questionable levels of faith, this was a good watch and made you care about the character's and the side characters' journeys.

I would sort of recommend people checking this out.  It's not a must see by any means but it was a better than average watch.  

The Northman

Prince Amleth is on the verge of becoming a man when his father is brutally murdered by his uncle, who kidnaps the boy's mother. Two decades later, Amleth is now a Viking who raids Slavic villages. He soon meets a seeress who reminds him of his vow -- save his mother, kill his uncle, avenge his father.

This movie played kind of weird for me.  It was good BUT it felt too much like it should have been a tv series instead of a film and the movie was all about the filming style not the substance.  Don't get me wrong because the filming style was SO GOOD and made the movie worth watching just because of how it was done visually.  However, that being done led to the story not being as strong or making you care about the character's journey.

I would somewhat recommend people checking this movie out.  It a decent overall watch and a great watch filmmaking wise but was too lacking to get a total endorsement.

The Batman

Batman ventures into Gotham City's underworld when a sadistic killer leaves behind a trail of cryptic clues. As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator's plans become clear, he must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued the metropolis.

First going to make the major knock against this movie.  There was ZERO reason for this to be 3 hours long.  That being said, I have no other complaints about this movie.  It was really really great.  The cast across the board was awesome - especially Dano as the Riddler.  The action was great.  The story was great.  The character development and setting things up for sequels was great.  This was probably my third favorite Batman movie after The Dark Knight and the original Batman with Nicholson.  Still could have used a bunch of editing to shorten it but when that is your only complaint about a DC movie is that it was too long that is so much better than the usual.

I would definitely recommend people checking this out.  It was a great watch with great casting.  Definitely worried about how DC moves forward with any connections to the other pieces that they have in motion but as a standalone this movie was great.  

X

A group of actors sets out to make an adult film in rural Texas under the noses of their reclusive hosts, but when the elderly couple catches their young guests in the act, the cast finds themselves in a desperate fight for their lives.

This was a really good throwback horror movie.  Like you legit feel like you are in the 70s watching this and it captures all those sight scares, creepy music brewing intensity and then the violence/gore stuff.  The elderly couple was a little bit unrealistic but you pretty much don't care and just enjoy the scary journey.  

I would definitely recommend horror fans checking this out.  It was a great throwback with the style and camera work along with what I mentioned before. 

Studio 666

Members of the rock band Foo Fighters move into a mansion to record their 10th album. Once in the house, singer Dave Grohl finds himself grappling with supernatural forces that threaten both the completion of the album and the band members' lives.

How is this a movie that was ever made?  Like honestly.  This was not only made but also got a theatrical release.  Few things will ever baffle me more than this.  The Foo Fighters are lucky that I will not hold this against them musically and will happily still keep rocking to that.  This movie was just a giant turd and not even worth any details.  

I would absolutely not recommend anyone ever watching this.  It is a total waste of time.

Licorice Pizza

Alana Kane and Gary Valentine grow up, run around and fall in love in California's San Fernando Valley in the 1970s.

This is one of those movies that is definitely effected by so much advance hype from awards consideration and what not.  It's a very enjoyable movie and you can absolutely feel like you are growing up with the characters in the 70s because of the very genuine overall feel.   There are tons of laughs - especially Bradley Cooper's hilarious part.  I just kind of felt myself thinking why did all the critics say this was so great all along and I feel like it took away from it a bit.  

Regardless, I would definitely recommend people checking this out.  It is a very enjoyable coming of age story with some really great characters. 

Uncharted

Nathan Drake and his wisecracking partner Victor "Sully" Sullivan embark on a dangerous quest to find the greatest treasure never found while also tracking clues that may lead to Nate's long-lost brother.

This movie was great at being what it was supposed to be.  This was a over the top adventure movie like National Treasure with sarcastic dialogue and constant backstabbing.  This was just a fun, turn your brain off for two hours break from the world.  There will always be a big part of my movie fandom for movies like this.

I would definitely recommend people checking this out and just enjoying the ride.  Tom Holland continues to be one of the more enjoyable up and coming actors regardless of what he is doing.

Dog

With a dog named Lulu by his side, Army Ranger Briggs races down the Pacific Coast to make it to a soldier's funeral on time. Along the way, Briggs and Lulu drive each other completely crazy, break a handful of laws, narrowly evade death, and learn to let down their guards to have a fighting chance of finding happiness.

This movie was exactly what you thought it would be from the trailer.  Dog and human bond over the course of the road trip and there is a lot of heart string pulling along the way.  What honestly made the movie was Channing Tatum's physical reactions to the dog.  He really nailed a lot of facial WTF moments that had me cracking up.  

I would very lukewarmly recommend this movie to people.  It couldn't possibly be less of a must see but its not a bad movie.  It ends up being a decently enjoyable watch and actually a must for any animal lovers.

The Cursed

In rural 19th-century France, a mysterious, possibly supernatural menace threatens a small village. John McBride, a pathologist, comes to town to investigate the danger and exorcise some of his own demons in the process.

This was a surprisingly creepy horror movie.  I'm usually not a fan of anything 19th century.  I was skeptical even more about a good horror movie from that time period but this one kind of worked better than I thought it would.  Some good camera angle scares and then some really creepy effects at time too.

I would somewhat recommend people checking this out.  It's not a must see by ay means but it is a decent watch.

Turning Red

Mei Lee is a 13-year-old girl who is torn between being her mother's obedient daughter and the chaos of her youth. As if that were not enough, when she gets too excited, she turns into a big red panda.

This was one of Pixar's weirder movies.  Not bad at all.  I mean they honestly don't know how to do bad.  This was just one of the most specific target audience movies that they have ever made.  Like this was legit for young teenage girls of Asian descent.  Does that mean it sucks for everyone else?  No.  Not at all. I enjoyed the movie alot but was definitely thrown for a loop with how targeted it was for that audience when Pixar has always done such an incredibly job of their movies being for all audiences.  Still very cute message and lots of laughs.  

I would definitely recommend people checking this out because like I said Pixar doesn't make bad movies.  Just a heads up that it is very specifically targeted much more than all their other movies.

Blacklight

Travis Block, a shadowy government agent who specializes in removing operatives whose covers have been exposed, uncovers a deadly conspiracy within his own ranks that reaches the highest echelons of power.

There is honestly no reason to even bother reviewing this.  It's Taken 28 basically.  I don't know that Liam Lesson has done anything other than Taken knockoff movies since doing Taken.  They are the same movie over and over again and this one is really no different.

I wouldn't recommend anyone bothering with this.  The movie was barely marketed.  It's like even the studio is like whatever - just throw it out there and it will bring in the same shrunken base crowd.

The Outfit

Leonard is an English tailor who makes suits on London's famous Savile Row. He must outsmart a dangerous group of criminals to survive a fateful night.

This movie was a pretty decent espionage film.  I mean you kind of know where its going and stuff but its still good because of the simple characters and the setting never leaving the shop.  It actually felt more like the movie could have easily been a play instead.  

I would somewhat recommend people checking this movie out.  Not a must by any means but it's a decent and short enough watch.