La La Land is a heartfelt, upbeat romantic musical.
The plot revolves around a struggling actress (Emma Stone) and a struggling pianist (Ryan Gosling) who meet and fall in love. Both of these roles are played very well, and the stars have great chemistry.
This movie is essentially a tribute to a bygone era. It is in the style of the movie musicals of the thirties and forties, with similar music, choreography, and a similarly upbeat story. There is a clear love for the movies and music of old on display here. It is evident that the writer and director is passionate about these things, especially since his last film, Whiplash, is also about jazz.
The musical numbers are very well done, with well written dialogue and excellent choreography. There is also a very heartwarming love story to go along with these performances. The tone of the movie is very happy and colorful throughout.
I am not putting as much effort into this review as many of my others, since you've probably already heard a lot about it, considering it has swept the Oscar nominations. But I'm just going to write that it is a fun, uplifting film with heart. If you want to feel good at the movies, I recommend this one.
The Lego Batman Movie is only the first what will probably be many spin-offs and sequels to the original 2014 hit. In fact, this isn't even the only Lego Movie we're getting this year. But it continues to set the groundwork for what may be an amazing franchise.
The movie follows Batman (Will Arnett) as he accidentally adopts a young orphan named Richard Grayson (Michael Cera). This happens while the Joker (Zach Galifianakis) is hatching a plan to destroy Gotham City, and Richard gets pulled into the conflict, and becomes Robin.
This movie is just as fun as the original. Throughout the movie, there is plenty of action, humor, and vibrant energy. Even the opening logos are entertaining. Its style and humor could be appreciated by both children and adults. Put simply, this is a fun adventure featuring almost every Batman character, and even a great deal of characters from various other movie franchises.
But it also has heart, displaying themes of friendship and family. While these elements may not be as effective as the heart in The Lego Movie, they still help to elevate the narrative. But the vast majority of the movie is not serious
The cast also gives great performances. Will Arnett delivers Batman's lines with a humorous level of narcissism that elevates the movie. Michael Cera also delivers a stand-out performance as Robin, giving him a strong sense of childlike wonder and energy. Galifianakis' take on the Joker is very interesting, as a villain who's main motivation is simply to have Batman acknowledge him as his worst enemy. This creates a more likeable Joker, who is perfect for this Lego universe.
While this movie isn't always as good as The Lego Movie, it fully retains its sense of fun and humor. This is a great movie for Lego and comic book fans of all ages.
Growing up, I was a fan of the book series, A Series of Unfortunate Events, by Lemony Snicket. So, when I found out Netflix was developing a series based on it, I was immediately interested,
The series follows the Baudelaire orphans, three children who lose their parents and are chased by the sinister Count Olaf, played excellently by Neil Patrick Harris. The first season is based on the first four books, on a strict schedule of two hour-long episodes for each book. I think that this is a good schedule, giving each book what could be considered a movie length adaptation. The series stays very faithful to the source material, even including the humorous dedications at the start of each book, but also includes many story-lines that were not included in the original series.
This show does a great job of capturing the darkly comedic tone of the books. It is shot in a very Wes Anderson-ish way, which adds a colorful feel to the dark story. And there are plenty of good silly jokes, even some that happen at the darkest moments.
Also, the characters are portrayed very well. While the child actors playing the Baudelaires acting may fall flat at times, the adult actors bring a colorful and energetic performance to all the characters. Neil Patrick Harris's performance sticks out in particular. He gives an energetic and fun performance as Count Olaf. Over the course of the season, Olaf wears many disguises, playing different characters, which Harris is able to do with ease.
In conclusion, this is a faithful and highly entertaining adaptation of the popular children's book series. It may be somewhat aimed for children, but I could see it being enjoyed by adults just as much. Though not all of the jokes hit, there are a lot of good ones with great delivery. This is essential for fans of the books.
All right, now it's time to look toward all of the bad movies of this year.
Now, I just want to say that there is a chance that some of these movies may be good. I haven't seen Ouija: Origin of Evil yet, but I've heard enough good things about it to know I was wrong to put it at number two on this list last year. This is just the list of movies that I have the least faith in. And if you're looking forward to any of them, then good for you. Don't let my opinion ruin your excitement. I'm just some guy on the internet with nothing better to do.
So without further ado, let's get into this thing.
10. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter Trailer The Resident Evil movies has been pretty cheesy from the beginning, and it's final installment probably won't be much different. The reason this movie ranks so low on this list is because it might become a guilty pleasure for me.
9. Friday the 13th
And so we get yet another Friday the 13th reboot. This is the thirteenth installment in this horror franchise which had run out of steam a long time ago. After almost thirty years, I think it's time to lay this franchise to rest.
8. Saw: Legacy And now we come to yet another horror sequel nobody asked for. Despite the statement that 2010's Saw 3D would be the last one, Hollywood is still eager to squeeze as much money as they can out of this dead franchise. I have never been a fan of this franchise's brand of torture based horror, even though I liked the psychological horror of the original movie. This movie will probably follow the sequels' formula of violence over terror, despite how the horror audience's tastes have shifted. So this is another horror franchise that needs to be laid to rest... again.
7. Power Rangers Trailer
Power Rangers is a show that does not hold up well, watching it as an adult. However, I do believe that a reboot might have worked, if it was aware of the show's campy nature, and focused on being fun. But this movie intends to take a darker, more serious tone. As a result, the trailer for this movie looks very dull, and almost like the much hated Fantastic Four reboot.
6. Captain Underpants I'll admit I was a fan of these books as a kid. But I am highly skeptical that they could work as a film. I feel like they worked best as short chapter books aimed mostly at children, rather than a full length animated movie aimed at families. I mean, if it wasn't for nostalgia, would you be eager to sit through a children's movie called Captain Underpants?
5. Amityville: The Awakening Trailer
This movie was also on last year's Least Anticipated list. You see it was originally set to be released last year, but it's release was pushed back to this January, and later to the summer. In addition to this, it wasn't even originally supposed to premier last year either. It was first set for release in the January of 2015, as the linked trailer says, but was pushed back multiple times. That is over two years this movie was delayed. In the movie business, this is a bad sign. Oh, and it's also an unnecessary sequel to a badly received horror remake.
4. The Nut Job: Nutty By Nature This sequel to the crappy 2014 family film. I'll admit to having not seen the original, but the bad reception of it is enough for me to be disinterested.
Another reboot of the popular 80's cartoon, this time completely animated. While I'll admit this looks better than the previous two movies, I have never been a fan of The Smurfs, and probably will never see this.
Yo, what up! I'm a Hollywood executive, and I'm down with the young ones! I know kids love emojis, so we got emojis! We have an entire movie about them! Come see it! It will make you LOL, and say OMG and... a bunch of other things that kids say these days! It's radical!
It was very difficult to decide which would get the top spot between this and The Emoji Movie. However, I had to go with this one, because despite how dreadful The Emoji Movie looks, I think that it could probably still entertain better than this one. This will probably be another equally plot-less, poorly acted piece of garbage. The books' main appeal lies in the sex scenes, which are certain to be toned down in the movies to keep an R-rating. This will probably be one of the worst movies of the year, and it is definitely my least anticipated film.
This is my first post in over a year. I have decided to start posting again, and will update at least once every two weeks in 2017. And I will start with the list of my most anticipated films for this year.
Now, this list is made up mostly of blockbusters, mostly because that's mainly what I hear about most often. There may be a few smaller movies that belong here, but I have not heard of them yet, and I don't know what they are. So, without ado, here are the movies that I am excited for right now.
10. Blade Runner 2049 Trailer
The long belated sequel to the sci-fi classic. Harrison Ford is set to reprise his role, and Ryan Gosling will also have a starring role. Ridley Scott, director of the original, will only be an executive producer, and the role of director will go to Denis Villeneuve, director of Arrival. This probably won't live up to the high standard set by the original, but I'm sure it will be a great movie nonetheless.
Christopher Nolan directs this World War II film, based on a true story. I like Nolan as a director, and would like to see what he could do with a war film.
8. Logan Trailer
Logan is set to be the last time Hugh Jackman will play Wolverine, and this looks like a fitting send-off for him. If the trailer is any indication, this movie will be a much different tone than any other superhero movie, and I am eager to see how it turns out.
The Lego Movie was surprisingly one of my favorite movies of 2014. This spinoff will feature Will Arnett reprising his role as Batman, with Michael Cera as Robin, and Zach Galifianakis as the Joker.
6. Alien: Covenant Red Band Trailer
Ridley Scott goes back to directing his iconic horror franchise. This film is set after the events of Prometheus, but will focus on the xenomorphs from the original film. The trailer looks effectively creepy, and I am excited to see this.
5. Kong: Skull Island Trailer
King Kong isback and in another movie. However, this is a much different Kong than you're probably thinking. He is much taller, made this way to face Godzilla in the upcoming Godzilla vs Kong. While this could be just a cash grab, I think that this would still at least be a fun movie to watch.
4. Kingsman: The Golden Circle Kingsman: The Secret Service was a surprise hit, and a movie that I really enjoyed watching. This sequel will have Colin Firth reprise his role, despite the original movie's ending, and will also feature Channing Tatum, Jeff Bridges, Juliane Moore, Halle Berry, and Elton John. I would love to see it if it could recapture the energy and humor that made the original great.
3. War for the Planet of the Apes Trailer
The third movie in the Planet of the Apes prequel trilogy. The first two delivered a great balance of action and emotion, and I am hoping that this one will keep up that tradition.
Guardians of the Galaxy was one of the better flicks in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The trailers suggest that this movie might retain the humor and excitement of the original, and could be one of the most fun movie of the year.
1. Star Wars: Episode VIII I didn't want to place this at number one, considering the fact that I place a Star Wars movie at the top of all my Most Anticipated lists. However, I feel like I would be wrong to put any other film here. I am interested in how the story will continue after The Force Awakens, and want to see more of the action that only Star Wars can deliver.
And those are the movies that I am most looking forward to in 2017. I will also make a Least Anticipated list, so you can look for that within the next few days. Until then, I wish you all a good 2017.
Last week, I published my list of my most anticipated movies of the year. Now, I'm going to be a little more pessimistic.
For this list, I looked through the release schedule for this year, and chose those the ones that I have the least interest in. These are the cash grabs and unnecessary sequels that I don't think are worthy of the benefit of the doubt. Of course there may be some movies that I haven't heard of yet that might be worse, but out of all the movies I know right now, these are the worst.
I may be a little hard on this movie by putting it on this list, but there isn't anything else that I think deserves to be on this list. The 5th Wave is another movie in the onslaught of teens-in-a-dystopian-future movies that have been made to cash in on the success of the Hunger Games. While it doesn't look like the worst thing ever, it still looks cheesy and probably won't do much to distinguish itself from similar movies. 9. Ice Age: Collision Course
The Ice Age franchise has been done to death. While it is obviously still making money almost fifteen years after the first movie, I personally think it's getting old. 8. Fifty Shades of Black I will admit I have a soft spot for parody movies, which is the main reason this isn't lower on this list. Unfortunately, this genre has been lacking in terms of quality recently. Which will probably be the case for this parody of Fifty Shades of Gray starring Marlon Wayans. 7. Trolls This movie is based on the popular toy line Troll dolls. Um... why? This is a movie based around a toy with no backstory at all in an attempt to bring in money from brand recognition. Although this has worked with The Lego Movie, spurring both critical acclaim and box office success, I doubt that lightning will strike twice and that this will be more than just a cash grab. 6. Chicken Soup for the Soul Another case of trying to adapt something with no story into a movie for brand recognition. This is based off a popular series of books that consists of inspirational true stories. I haven't heard anything about how they are going to adapt this to the big screen, but the best case scenario will probably be a corny, sentimental movie that tries to profit off a well-known name. 5. Norm of the North
Rob Schneider's career is not turning around. His latest project is as the title charactor of this awful-looking family film. The trailer is stupid, with bad writing and terrible animation. If you look at the Flixster page for this movie, it has, by the apps usual standard, an abysmally low percentage of people who want to see it. I don't blame them. 4. Cabin Fever
A remake of the 2002 Eli Roth film. Does this film really deserve to be remade? The response to the original was mixed, and, let's face it, the movie isn't even old enough to be remade yet.This seems set for disaster. 3. Amityville: The Awakening The sequel to the crappy 2005 remake of the Amityville Horror. I did not see the remake so I can not say whether the bad reviews were deserved or not. But I can say that good horror sequels are rare, and sequels to horror remakes are even rarer, especially to badly received ones. 2. Ouija 2 As some of you may remember, Ouija was a 2014 horror movie about a Ouija board. It has a seven percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and instead of a consensus, the website simply wrote "Slowly, steadily, although no one seems to be moving it in that direction, the Ouija planchette points to NO." However, it still made good money at the box office, so we're getting a sequel. Even though I've never seen the original, it doesn't take a genius to realize this isn't going to go well. 1. God's Not Dead 2
Two years ago, a faith based movie called God's Not Dead became a surprise hit at the box office. It was panned by critics, and even some Christian groups called it out for its questionable approach to its message of faith. The savage criticisms of the original movie had convinced me that it was a movie that I definitely do not want to see, and seeing how most sequels are, this will probably be worse.
And that is the list of my least anticipated movies of the year 2016. Lets hope that the year's best movies outshine these. Which they probably will.
Another year has passed, and now its time once again to count down my most anticipated movies of 2016.
This list is mostly blockbusters, because that's most of what I hear about. These probably won't all be the movies that I would rank among my favorites at the end of the year, but until I see what the Oscar bait this year will be, this is what I'm most interested in.
The sequel to one of Pixar's best. The trailer was sort of underwhelming, but I was never expecting it to be as good as the original. This could still be a great movie, or at least adequate entertainment. 9. Bourne 5
Matt Damon is back as Jason Bourne in the untitled next chapter in the Bourne saga. This could be a nice return to form for the series. 8. Hail Caesar
The smallest movie on this list, this movie is directed by the Coen brothers. It tells the story of a movie producer who needs to get the lead actor of his movie back from kidnappers. It looks like what we have come to expect from this team, and what we love about them. 7. Captain America: Civil War
The next movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe will pit Captain America against Iron Man. This could be an exciting movie, and I would like to see who will win. 6. Suicide Squad
And now for the other side of the comic book movie spectrum, DC Comics. Very few movie franchises have come across more controversy than their planned cinematic universe. This movie is no exception. While it may not be as controversial as their other movie coming out this year (more on that later), many people hated the look of Jared Leto's Joker. However, the trailer has definitely sold me with its visuals and tone, and I am eager to see this movie. 5. X-men Apocalypse
The next chapter in the X-men franchise is directed once again by Bryan Singer, the director of the first two and Days of Future's Past. I really liked all of these movies, and would like to see him do another X-men movie. 4. Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them
So we actually managed to get another Harry Potter movie. This one is based on a textbook in the Harry Potter universe that JK Rowling got published in real life. Um... okay. The main reason I'm anticipating this movie so much, instead of just passing it off as another cash grab, is that the screenplay is written by Rowling herself. I think that this will mean that it will maintain the magic of the original books and movies. 3. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
This movie had been through a lot. During production, pretty much every casting choice was criticized. The final trailer gave away a lot of the story. Add that to mixed reviews for Man of Steel, and you have got a recipe for disaster. However, as somebody who enjoyed Man of Steel, I am still looking forward to this. I think Ben Affleck has already convinced us he is a believable Batman, and would like to see if Jesse Eisenberg and Gal Gadot can prove themselves as well. I am hoping that this will be an exciting and interesting movie. 2. Deadpool
Everything they have put out to promote this movie has been amazing. I have seen the first trailer so many times I probably know it by heart. I am a fan of good action movies, especially those that have the guts to go for a hard R rating. I also like humor that breaks the fourth wall, which I hear the comics have a lot of. The combination of violent action and witty comic dialog seems to work extremely well in the trailers and I can't wait to see the whole movie. 1. Rouge One: A Star Wars Story
The first Star Wars spin-off movie is directed by Gareth Edwards, best known for directing the 2014 Godzilla reboot, and the independent hit Monsters. The release of The Force Awakens has proven that Star Wars is back, and I'm excited to see the next chapter. So for the second year in a row, the number one spot goes to Star Wars.
