Recently Reviewed Movies

It’s mostly a schlocky 90s action computer thriller, but it does make some precient points about how much of "truth" lives in computers and how badly that can go if they start lying. Ther eare better hacker movies and Sandra Bullock never really plays it convincingly, but it had its tense moments.

It’s basically "Wet Hot American RomCom". I loved its commitment to subtle (or not) absrudity and it’s wildly large ensemble. Tightly written too, no lines were wasted. Perfectly captures 90s NYC romcoms.

Pitt and Clooney carry this dark action comedy hard. The story is simple (and makes a little less sense the closer you squint), but it didn't stop me enjoying the ride. The cast is focused (good!), the shootouts minimal (also good; more time for dialogue!), and the runtime 20 minutes longer than it needed to be (oops!). Great to see them both back together though.

A chilling adaptation of a great book. broadly focuses on the right things. Every casting is perfect and Rosamund Pike is superbly unsettling.

If you can look past the central joke is all about prison rape (a big if), you're rewarded with a genuinely funny movie. Dense with jokes across a variety of topics. Kevin Hart doesn't do a _lot_ to break out of his small-loud-sidekick role, but he has some good acting moments.

As a comedy of errors, leans more heavily into errors than comedy. There _are_ a wild series of errors though, so the writing gets a plus. They come relentlessly though, which makes it sort of an exhausting watch up until we reach the film's classic ending which saved the whole thing.

Has great heart. Silly, but not in a way that detracts from the story. Sort of more fun on the second viewing- you get to sit back and let it wash over you.

Always a classic. Curry is a champ.

Funny, british, and charming. Great leads and a fun supporting cast. A classic for a reason.

A well-produced concert with a good mix of laughs, weird things, and great performances. Pleasant time all around.

I don't usually think much about the musical performances on SNL. But this was a thoughtful documentary about how impactful they've been over the years and the careers they've launched. Great performances, interviews, and editing.

Charming, yet more modern feeling. Lots of great jokes. Pacing was a little slow and the story was less focused than it could have been. That's what happens when you translate 30 min movies into a 90 minute one. Felt like they could have tightened it up a fair bit.

A bit more story paired with the same great animation is a winning formula

Great little villain and some impressively expressive eyebrows. It's always cool how much they say without dialogue.

Very cool animation. Does a lot with a little.

Holds up remarkably well for as old as it is. Jokes land, there's more plot than you'd expect, and the costuming is very cool. It's also stuffed to the gills with cameos, which is pretty fun.

Plot wise, it’s like a really wet Jurassic Park? I didn’t love the really slow first half and unremarkable characters. Some good action pieces and some good cast members though.

No one does spectacle like John M Chu. Does a great job exploring and expanding the story without straying too far. Costumes and sets were beautiful and the whole production just oozed vibrancy.

Pretty dumb, but goodhearted and not to overwrought.

Continues to be a fun twist on Christmas Carol. Great cast, catchy music!

no additional notes, see rating and/or other watches.

Wild to think that they made a novelization of this Christmas classic. Seriously though, Caine acts his butt off.

A charming premise supported by characters who are very patient and good sports about it all. Weird lack of chemistry between the leads, but not a bad time!

A decent premise that was never quite fun enough to be truly fun. Wasn’t much christmas magic. Chenoweth is great as always and it’s nice to see Lohan doing things again.

Lovely fight choreo, music, and a touching story make this a worth follow up to one of the world’s greatest movies.

A delightful comedy of errors with a blast of an 80s cast. Fun to see ZAZ write/direct something with a single plot running through it.

Does psychologically unstable yet relatable villains better than any other superhero film.

Campy and fun, with a great cast and pretty decent story. Always a blast.

Exhausting theater kid energy. Had some interesting perspectives on everyone's journey through their art and the paths that can take. But, felt disjoint, with too many characters. It also just seemes like drama for drama's sake- they just kept throwing bad things at these kids and everyone seemed miserable. It's ending was especially unsatisfying- it's a song where the ensemble pretends like everyone is fine when all evidence from the film points to the exact opposite. Whole thing was a real slog.

Cute concept and some nice social commentary, but felt fairly formulaic otherwise

Incredibly charming. Nicely paced, great cast, touching story. Captures the Christmas spirit better than any other

Tense and well acted. Fun inside look to the way NYC trains work. Heavy action, but keeps it moving. Could have maybe done more with the characters (and thinks about it) but it still works as a mostly-action outing.

It's a fun premise and a decent cast, but the lack of chemistry and an odd but not-fun performance out of Milligan left us out in the cold.

Maybe the world's foremost Thanksgiving movie.

Tight, funny, and densely packed with classic gags. Some of the references don't resonate today and a few of the jokes are bumpier than I remembered. But, it has such a good nature that I couldn't help but grin the whole time.

Cheesy and contrived, but has good bones. Occasionally tense, some goofy lines, and generally good performances. It's remarkable how much of Airplane! came straight from this.

Has some good gags, but the pacing felt off. Some segments are dense, but others are more air than joke. Most of the time, it felt silly for silly's sake. You can see the inspirations for Airplane, but it definitely wasn't there yet.

Surprisingly touching. Mixed drama and comedy well. Good performances out of a young cast. Had low expectations, but really enjoyed it.

Watched with the director's commentary podcast, which was fun! Annoying to keep in sync manually, but had some good bonus trivia.

Timeless, clever, silly, and delightful as always.

no additional notes, see rating and/or other watches.

Well acted, atmospheric. Definitely creepy, with cool lighting and cinematography. Story was pretty good but I'm not sure the solve was fair.

Perfect mix of gory, funny, and heartfelt. One of the all-time classics of this genre. Tudyk is top-notch as always!

A cute premise paired with a good cast and some fun killings. Does a good job playing with the summer camp slasher genre and exploring what it’s like to be in a movie. Light and fun!

A small "bottle" movie with surprisingly little blood for its subject matter. Tense, interesting, and mysterious. Great performances all around.

Well-tread premise that has a few tricks up its sleeve. Ok performances and a predictable plot mostly let it down, but it picks up some steam in the back half.

no additional notes, see rating and/or other watches.

Beautifully Hawaiian movie. Hits pretty hard emotionally, but does a good job peppering in jokes to not make the whole thing too heavy.

A pretty perfect movie to kick off a honeymoon in hawaii. Keeps you on your toes even if it doesn't totally deliver on its premise. Great performances out of Zahn and Olyphant

A neat concept that doesn’t quite deliver on its potential. Strong cast though.

Better than I remembered. Great cast and a good number of layers

Gripping pace but unlikable characters. A sort of interesting plot, but didn't do it for me. Very cool lighting though!

Fun cast, silly premise, but done well.

Has some really touching stories about the immigrant experience and family dynamics, but the whole thing is let down by its otherwise uninspired writing. Absolutely stunning graphics though, and some charming worldbuilding.

Cute extension of the original's concept. I liked the literal emotional complexity on this one

A fun behind-the-scenes. A ton of detail and work went into this thing. If only the movie were better!

Cute story with a good supporting cast. Comfort food, basically.

I enjoyed the heck out of this one. Though the actual plot and villain don't bring a lot to the table, it never forgets to have fun. I'm not sure it would stand on its own if you'd never seen any other marvel things, it rewards that familiarity with great payoffs. It was great to see Hugh Jackman back in the saddle. The dialogue was funny and the references right up my alley, but YMMV. More than any other recent Marvel movie, it feels like it understands what makes these franchises worth watching.

Probably the best X-Men movie. Great emotional payoffs building on an entire franchise. Always fun seeing the ensemble cast together.

Has some emotional payoff from the last couple of movies, but is significantly less fun than them. A fitting climax, but leaves somethign to be desired.

I like the plot and acting a little less than the first one, but it’s fun to see budget and care put behind the franchise.

A fun romp that's ultimately about marriage, and that's very sweet. Snappy writing and cinematography that punches way above its weight

A light and charming coming-of-age for the ages.

no additional notes, see rating and/or other watches.

A little dry and the sets don’t all look great, but the casting is top-notch and the story has some high points. A good way to start off a franchise

Hit me harder than normal. The emotional climax does a great job with the family drama.

A great feel-good movie

Does many things that make prequel movies fun. Lots of nods to the franchise as a whole, too.

This movie is so dang fun

Liked it more than I thought I would. Charismatic cast and a fun premise, plus some fun face acting.

Pretty hokey, but it was earnest. It’s fun seeing 1960s SF and Vicky liked how many whales there were. I’m not totally onboard with the emotional climax being 100% whale noises, but it was a good watch overall.

Sort of a fascinating movie. Felt longer than it was. I generally liked Keaton, but I didn't feel like we got much of him compared to Nicholson. Felt totally unfocused, bouncing between big action set pieces and goofy joker dances. Art direction was pretty good, but won't go down as a better Batman

no additional notes, see rating and/or other watches.

So good hearted, which paves over any other issues (of which there are few)

Stacked cast, tight screenplay, and a good story. Truly an all-timer.

Crowded cast let down by clumsy writing and uncanny CGI. Not as bad as everyone says it is, but not great.

A fun plot and some stellar performances make this a great watch.

Packed cast, great music, and somec cool staging help this stand the test of time.

Really holds up in its pacing and writing. Good ensemble and lots of slow moments let it not hit you over the head with action (like some later movies).

Some cute intertwined love stories, big spectacles, and great music pull the whole thing together. Great cast too. Big summer vibes.

The pacing and CGI really hold up, as do the sense of fun about the whole thing. Action is good, writing is snappy, world is well-developed. A fitting start to the franchise.

Defenitely deserves its cultural sensitivity warning preroll. Story is decent and bits are funny, but largely fell flat for me. That said, I liked the orchestration, especially how they timed it with the action.

Stellar cast and a fast-moving plot make help this movie stay pretty fun throughout. Bits of it are dated in interesting ways, but that’s what you get.

Drop-dead gorgeous and a great soundtrack. Story is what it is and there’s not much of a supporting cast, but it holds up more than I remembered.

Stacked cast and a surprisngly compelling story. Decent action and intrigue (if a bit predictable). Nice to have an atypical protagonist.

no additional notes, see rating and/or other watches.

Holds up remarkably well. Great jokes, decent animation, fun references. The full package.

Well cast and paced. Was like 10% less fun than I wanted, but it's still a good time. The plot is weirdly straightforward and conflicts are easily resolved. Also the chatacters lack any emotional depth or background. It was also missing his characteristic flair, weirdly.

Light and charming; not a bad watch but doesn’t say a lot. It’s mostly a sillly thing about how out of place he is, but he sells it.

A decent enough romp, but a little too joyless for my tastes. Other movies have done adventure better since and there wasn’t enough fun tying it to the games.

The most remarkable thing this movie did was star both John Cena and Alison Brie yet be so boring and un-funny. The dictator was sort of the emotional core of the whole thing, which leads to some complicated messaging.

no additional notes, see rating and/or other watches.

Sort of knew what was coming, but the movie did a good job humanizing the disaster and exploring the social implecations of the whole thing. Glad I finally saw it.

A fun concept reasonably presented. Felt a little light on actual plot resolution, but it's a fun watch if you like birds.

Pretty dumb, but I love the layers of parody at play. They really pack in the references and cameos.

A tasteful update to a classic. Music was fun but not especially memorable. All of the cast was super funny though.

Carries the trademarked Wes Anderson flair and tells a cute story with a great cast and set design.

Has some pretty dumb bits, but also some fun one. a decent follow-up to a goat

no additional notes, see rating and/or other watches.

Extremely Brown Movie and always a fun watch.