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I came into this movie having absolutely no idea what to expect. And I think that was the right way to go about things. There are a lot of mysteries to this movie and I think that if I had been spoiled beforehand I definitely wouldn't have enjoyed this as much as I did.
10 Cloverfield Lane focuses on a young woman who wakes up from a car crash locked away in a bunker. Her first thought is that she has been kidnapped by a serial killer of some sort, but she is in for a big surprise.
Her captor (played wonderfully by John Goodman) tells her that aliens have attacked the Earth and poisoned the air outside. He forces her to live an uncomfortable, on edge life down in this bunker with himself and another captor. The whole movie we question whether he is telling the truth or is just a crazy bastard. But maybe the answer is both?
I won't spoil the movie but I thought this was really, really good. I was in no rush to watch the movie because while I liked the original Cloverfield, I didn't think it was the world's greatest movie or anything. But I like this much, much more. Some people seem put off by the film's slow pace, but I didn't mind it one bit. The whole movie keeps you guessing and if you like mysteries you should enjoy this. I thought it was fantastic.
With the exception of Quantum of Solace I have been a big fan of the Daniel Craig Bond movies. So I came into this movie fully expecting to love it. However, I did not.
I don't know what it was about this movie that put me off so much. The special effects are great, the action is high flying. The music is on point. Technically it is a well done movie. But as far as the story line goes I found myself bored throughout the entire film. A lot of old characters kept getting introduced that we were supposed to remember from past films (I did not). Too many big leaps were made in the plot that didn't make sense one bit to me. Admittedly I wasn't as focused on the movie as I should have been because I was doing other things, but a lot of the movie didn't make sense to me.
As much as I wanted to love the movie, I did not. Maybe if someday I watch all the Daniel Craig Bond movies again I will pay closer attention and I will like it. But in 2016, I didn't enjoy it much at all.
I'm a fan of the Ratchet and Clank video game series, but the parts that I hate most about the games are the cutscenes. I couldn't care less about the storyline of these titles. They are silly and childish and for the most part really boring to me.
But even though I feel this way about the games I was still willing to give the movie a shot. And it turns out I actually did like the movie. Which is strange because it is basically the same thing as watching the games' cutscenes.
Perhaps because it is when I am playing the game, I have an itchy trigger finger and I am ready to go blast some shit. But watching this as a movie, I know I am not going to get to play so I allow myself to sit back and enjoy the show. Anyway, this isn't an incredibly deep movie. It is very silly and goofy. Really tailor-made for kids. The story is fun but nothing too groundbreaking. It is ultimately forgettable in the long run.
But still, I had a decent time watching this. Although I liked it, it is still going to be hard pressed to make my top five for the month though. Kid movies really aren't my thing, no matter how well done this film happens to be.
This movie was a pleasant surprise. Just like with 10 Cloverfield Lane, I came in to the movie with absolutely no idea what to expect and I ended up having a really great time.
This movie is about a crappy little rock band that is on tour, taking gigs for basically whatever money they can get. They agree to play at an out of the way club that is infamous for its dangerous white supremacist clientele. The whole time they are there playing, you can feel this mounting sense of dread in the air like things aren't going to go well. They actually make it through their show unscathed, but on their way out they see a murder take place in the green room.
The club's management is desperate to cover up the murder, so they hold the band hostage while they attempt to sort things out. Eventually things spiral out of control and the whole movie becomes a game of cat and mouse between the band members and the white supremacists. The movie is shockingly brutal and very horrifying and intense. I loved it. This film is basically a lock to make my top five for the month.
My only complaint is that Patrick Stewart is such a great actor, I feel he was a bit subdued in the movie and could have been utilized in a much better way. But still, I loved the film.
Juno has been out for a long time now and I have always wanted to see it. But for some reason, I had never gotten around to it. Well I had just finished the game Beyond Two Souls and I was curious to see more of Ellen Page's work, so I finally jumped on the opportunity to check this movie out.
This is a very simple movie that focused on a teenager named Juno who gets knocked up the first time she ever "does the deed" so to speak. Initially she wants to abort the baby, but has a change of heart and decided to do something good and give it up for adoption to a loving couple that can't have a baby of their own. The movie mainly focuses on Juno's relationship with her family, the baby's daddy, and the couple she is going to give her child to. Juno herself makes the movie work with her spunk and sassy personality.
It is a very simple movie, very straightforward. There are a lot of funny parts in the movie and some sad ones as well. I will admit that man tears were shed towards the end of the film. Ultimately though I feel that the movie might have perhaps been TOO simple for its own good? I liked the movie but it just doesn't do quite enough to stand out for me. There are 3 films this month that are locks to make the top five (Green Room, 100 Cloverfield Lane, and SPOILER ALERT: Captain America Civil War). Juno could potentially fill out one of the last two spots, it just all depends on how I feel about all the "in between" movies coming up. And Juno definitely counts as an in between movie for me.
I thought this sounded pretty intriguing - a documentary focusing on the mysterious circumstances surrounding Kurt Cobain's apparent suicide. As it turns out, this wasn't nearly as interesting as I had hoped.
Sure, this film brought some light to inconsistencies surrounding the suicide. Inconsistencies in several of Courtney Love's actions and statements. But it brings nothing concrete to the table. Just a bunch of hearsay that doesn't really amount to anything. In the end after watching the movie I felt I knew just as much about the suicide as I did before: which was really nothing.
There were a few interesting moments in the film, but for the most part I just kind of sat around waiting for a bombshell to drop that never happened. I found this to be pretty boring and unsatisfying. Would not recommend.
While I really don't care much for Superman, I am a huge Batman fan. I have been wanting to see this movie since it came out, despite the mostly poor reviews it received. But I was willing to be patient and wait for it to show up at my library so I could watch it for free, which it finally did in October.
The poor reviews were pretty accurate for the most part. I don't necessarily think that the movie was quite as bad as people were making it out to be, but I didn't like it too much. There are some strong points to the movie. Mostly revolving around Batman and his character. I actually didn't mind Ben Affleck too much in the role, although Bruce did come across as a dick more often than in other Batman films. But perhaps that could be because we know that Superman has good intentions, while Bruce questions his character.
The special effects are great, I love the action scenes. I love Wonder Woman's appearance and the nod to other DC characters who will be receiving their own movies soon. I did enjoy the dark and ominous tone of the movie.
The plot was a little bit of a mess in points. Some leaps in deduction were hard to follow. I couldn't tell what the characters were thinking half the time. Some parts of the movie bored me greatly. I think that the length of the movie (2 and a half hours) played a factor in this. If it could have been cut down and condensed into even just 2 hours, I think this film could have worked a lot better. But maybe not. Captain America Civil War was the same length as this movie and I thought it was fantastic.
I really wanted to like the movie. And there are parts I did enjoy. I am thinking I will have to come back to this in a year or two with a more open mind and I think I will like it a lot more. But for now I can't see this cracking my top five for the month. Sorry!
I am a fan of the 5th Wave book series. I know that most movies based on books are never as good as the source material - and I expected that coming in. And it is true, I didn't like this as much as the first book.
I couldn't quite put my finger on why I wasn't a huge fan of this, because for the most part it is a pretty faithful retelling of the story. Maybe it is the acting? Maybe it is the tone of the film? I don't know. I mean, it is not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination. I did mildly enjoy it for the most part. Maybe it is too faithful in its retelling? I knew every plot twist, every action before it happened. That kind of makes it harder to enjoy something when you can see what is coming a mile away. But at the same time, I had read the Hunger Games books before seeing the movies - and I enjoyed those.
I don't know. All I can say is that I found this to be enjoyable but mediocre. Not good enough to crack my top five for the month.
I had never heard of this movie until seeing it appear as a Netflix suggestion. I added it to my queue a few months ago, but then completely forgot about it. Surfing through my list late at night looking for a short movie to watch a few weeks ago, I came across this again. And I decided to give it a go.
This movie was a pleasant surprise. It focuses on a group of fifty people who are standing in a circle in a mysterious, dark room. They are each on a little red pad, and if they move off of the pad, they die. Every two minutes, one of the fifty is randomly killed. Eventually the survivors find out that they can actually vote for who is next to die based on the way they move their hands. Everyone starts talking, trying to figure out a way to make it through this.
Survivor fans should like the movie. Voting blocs are formed, strategies take place. Spoilers! Eventually the group decides to let a pregnant woman and a small child be the final two so that one of them can survive. But a man manipulates his way into the final 3 and the finds a way to dispatch the two of them so that he survives. When the game ends, he finds his way back in the "real world", only to see that aliens have apparently taken over the planet. And then the movie ends. I would have liked a little more explanation but it is what it is.
Overall I found this to be pretty enjoyable. This movie has an outside chance of making the top five. It just all depends how I feel about some of the movies to come.
Similar to my experience with Circle. this is a movie that has been lingering on my Netflix queue for months now. I decided to give it a shot late at night because I was looking for a short movie and this looked interesting.
Also as with Circle, I really enjoyed this movie too. This film focuses on a group of people that are offered an opportunity to play a game that if they win, will help them out in life with things like outstanding medical expenses and whatnot. But they don't know what the game is going to be. They arrive at a mansion for an elaborate dinner, and at the end the host (a fabulously creepy Jeffrey Combs) explains the game. The contestants must make grisly decisions on things they would rather do. If they refuse, they are out of the game. But out of the game here means that they are killed. So it is play or die, essentially.
Decisions involve things like: would you rather electrocute yourself or someone at the table? But eventually they escalate. Stab someone or whip someone? Hold your breath underwater for two minutes or pull a mystery card? Hint: don't pull the mystery card. They are all awful.
It is a very disturbing and somewhat gruesome movie. I loved every second of it. Not the deepest movie or anything I will probably remember in two years. But I had a really good time watching it.
I've been slowly watching all the Friday the 13th movies for about a year now. I had stopped after six because I didn't like the direction the movies had been taking - more of a funny, comical kind of route. But I was pleased to see that with the seventh installment of the film, the series had taken more of a turn back to its serious horror roots.
In this movie, a girl accidentally frees Jason from his watery prison using her psychic powers (yeah really) and he returns to terrorize the people out in the woods celebrating a birthday party. The psychic power twist seemed lame at first, but it grew on me as it gave Jason a worthy adversary for once and leveled the playing field a little bit. This move wasn't as good as the first two in the series, which I thought were classics. But it was definitely one of the best since. I enjoyed it. But will it be good enough to make my top five?
I have been itching to see this movie since it first came out, but somehow I never got around to seeing it in the theater. I finally got my grubby hands on it in October, and I must say that I really, really, REALLY loved this movie. I don't think it is an overstatement to say that this is the best Marvel universe movie to date.
The world is growing concerned about all the catastrophic events taking place over the world in the last several years since super powered people started "coming out". There has been too much destruction and too many innocent people losing their lives as collateral damage in these giant battles around the glove. They want to regulate all the superheroes so that they can't act on their own, they need permission from the government to go out and fight the bad guys.
Captain America and several other heroes are opposed to this. When a peace treaty is bombed by an assassin that looks like Bucky Barnes (the Winter Soldier), this puts both sides of the issue at conflict with one another. The two groups (pro sanction and anti sanction) grow in numbers and start to fight each other. I love all the Marvel characters that are brought into the equation. Black Panther, the new Spider-Man, Antman, Hawkeye, and many others. This is much more than just a Captain America movie. It is almost a third Avengers film in its own right.
The action is high flying. The fight scenes are intense. But what really makes the movie go is its plot, which is fantastic. I haven't had this much fun with a Marvel movie in a while now. I really thought this was great. Not only is it a lock to make the top five for the month, it may make my top five for the entire year!
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My decision has been made. Moving on from October are:
Green Room
Captain America: Civil War
10 Cloverfield Lane
Circle
Would You Rather
It was a close call, but Juno and Friday the 13th Part 7 don't make the cut. Maybe next year? Well, probably not.
So ten months are now over and done with. Five movies from each month brings us to a grand total of fifty movies now. At the end of the year, sixty will stand, and I will begin ranking the best films I watched in 2016. For now, here are all the films to make the cut:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Cake
American Sniper
Predator
Friday the 13th Part 2
Locke
Evil Dead
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
Elysium
Snowpiercer
Room
Manson Family Vacation
Deadpool
Goodnight, Mommy
Unforgiven
Big Driver
The Martian
Pixels
JFK: The Smoking Gun
Crimson Peak
It
Creed
The Revenant
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
No Good Deed
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Krampus
The Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition
The Night of the Living Dead
Mad Max: Fury Road
Forrest Gump
The Little Rascals
Deliverance
The Two Towers
Zombieland
Coming to America
American History X
Ghostbusters
Darkman
Return of the King
ARQ
Quills
The Visit
Platoon
Saving Private Ryan
Green RoomCaptain America: Civil War
10 Cloverfield Lane
Circle
Would You Rather
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