All Recommended Movies
Showing reviews of movies that I broadly recommend. Those I've seen a bunch may not have text reviews.
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*- this is my first logged watch, but I had seen the movie before. - 🍿 - watched in a theater.
- 🎃 / 🔎 / 🎭 / ☀️ / 🎄 / 💸 - Member of a collection.
- 🥇 / 🥈 / 🥉 - Favorite of the Year honoree.
Tucker and Dale vs Evil
(2010)Perfect mix of gory, funny, and heartfelt. One of the all-time classics of this genre. Tudyk is top-notch as always!
The Final Girls
(2015)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!
Knock at the Cabin
(2023)A small "bottle" movie with surprisingly little blood for its subject matter. Tense, interesting, and mysterious. Great performances all around.
Lilo & Stitch
(2002)Beautifully Hawaiian movie. Hits pretty hard emotionally, but does a good job peppering in jokes to not make the whole thing too heavy.
A Perfect Getaway
(2009)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
The Adjustment Bureau
(2011)A neat concept that doesn’t quite deliver on its potential. Strong cast though.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
(2022)Better than I remembered. Great cast and a good number of layers
Bodies Bodies Bodies
(2022)Gripping pace but unlikable characters. A sort of interesting plot, but didn't do it for me. Very cool lighting though!
Inside Out 2
(2024)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!
Sweet Home Alabama
(2002)Cute story with a good supporting cast. Comfort food, basically.
Deadpool & Wolverine
(2024)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.
X-Men: Days of Future Past
(2014)Probably the best X-Men movie. Great emotional payoffs building on an entire franchise. Always fun seeing the ensemble cast together.
X2
(2003)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.
Game Night
(2018)A fun romp that's ultimately about marriage, and that's very sweet. Snappy writing and cinematography that punches way above its weight
X-Men
(2000)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
Crazy Rich Asians
(2018)Hit me harder than normal. The emotional climax does a great job with the family drama.
X-Men: First Class
(2011)Does many things that make prequel movies fun. Lots of nods to the franchise as a whole, too.
Hit Man
(2024)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.
So good hearted, which paves over any other issues (of which there are few)
Holes
(2003)Stacked cast, tight screenplay, and a good story. Truly an all-timer.
Big Fat Liar
(2002)A fun plot and some stellar performances make this a great watch.
Chicago
(2003)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).
In the Heights
(2021)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.
The Philadelphia Story
(1941)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.
Pocahontas
(1995)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.
The Accountant
(2016)Stacked cast and a surprisngly compelling story. Decent action and intrigue (if a bit predictable). Nice to have an atypical protagonist.
Shrek
(2001)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.
Crocodile Dundee
(1986)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.
Titanic
(2023)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.
The Big Year
(2011)A fun concept reasonably presented. Felt a little light on actual plot resolution, but it's a fun watch if you like birds.
Not Another Teen Movie
(2001)Pretty dumb, but I love the layers of parody at play. They really pack in the references and cameos.
Mean Girls
(2024)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
Probably her best yet - jokes are tight, strikes the right chords, kept it fresh.
The Holdovers
(2023)A sweet exploration of the relationship between a boy and a teacher. Small cast goes a long way.
Great examination of what makes a rivalry and how it's differentiated from enemies. And there's a lot of great Michigan history in this one, which is fun.
The Departed
(2006)Ran a little long, but was a pretty gripping drama. Unbelievable cast, twists and turns, quite a ride.
Come from Away
(2021)Absolutely spectacular. The staging adds a lot to the show and the music and stories are superbly presented. There’s a lot going on but there’s a lot of heart. I was a mess at the end. Beautifully done.
The Menu
(2022)It was unhinged, but I sort of loved it. At some points it felt twisted for twisted's sake, but there was clearly thought put into every bit of the staging and story.
American Fiction
(2024)Great mix of acerbic, funny, and heartfelt. I really like it as a reaction to the past few years of american media/culture.
Whiplash
(2014)Extremely intense. Unbelievable performance out of Simmons. The examination of ambition and perfection is interesting, but all the characters come off as assholes who didn’t learn anything. Maybe that's "leaving it up to the viewer", but it left me with a sour taste. Definitely earned its intensity badge though.
Anyone But You
(2023)Extremely cute movie. Charismatic cast and some great comedy. You could tell they were having a good time on that set and it shines through. Light and fun, top to bottom.
Valentine's Day
(2010)I’m a sucker for a stacked ensemble and I just love how this shows so many versions of love.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
(2015)Great cast and a well-paced plot keeps this spy thriller moving nicely.
Mean Girls
(2004)Held up much better than I thought it would. Not all the jokes still land (or are worth making), but its message is largely there. Great script overall and some inspired casting.
The Road to El Dorado
(2000)Is really just one of my favorite movies. Soundtrack jams, characters are fun, villains rock. It’s the complete package.
Family Switch
(2023)Funny movie, but not actually very christmasmy. A worthy add to the pantheon of Body Swap movies.
The Holiday
(2006)A great movie about finding and losing love. Stellar cast, decent pacing, very fun vibes.
No Hard Feelings
(2023)I’m shocked at how much I liked this one. It managed to be funny, touching, and everything inbetween. It struck that balance incredibly well, knowing exactly what it was every step of the way.
Elf
(2003)A stellar cast and a genuinely nice message really do cement this as a modern classic.
Pretty silly, but it's a fun format. I also like how you can actually solve the mystery. Everyone seemed like they were having fun.
Meet Me in St. Louis
(1945)Bits of it were very funny and a lot of the songs felt out of place. Nice, in an old-timey way.
Falling for Christmas
(2022)Great as far as stupid christmas movies go. Cast is nice, Lohan seems like she’s doing well, scenery is pretty. A worthy dumb watch.
Stellar music and a star-studded lineup make this a delightful Christmas watch
Sort of shockingly touching. Fun little watch, and good music!
You've Got Mail
(1998)Still very charming! Funny what's still relevant (and what's not)
Enemy of the State
(1998)Tense and twisted. Maybe too many chase / action scenes. But, remarkably prescient- I would have sworn it was a post 9/11 movie.
WALL·E
(2008)Does so much with so little, dialogue wise. Delightful story and hopeful messaging.
The Devil Wears Prada
(2006)There’s a lot of layers here, but it’s ultimately a good movie. Interesting pull between friends and career, plus I learned a bit about fashion.
Aladdin
(2019)Probably the strongest of the live-action remakes. It’s interesting - the parts of it that were new from the original were great. It’s a worse musical, you can’t replicate that. But it expanded the world and characters very effectively. Glad we watched it.
Aladdin
(1992)Really holds up. Great art, songs, and plot (more complex and twisty than I remembered). Robin Williams steals the show, but could be a little much for some of his scenes. Easily a top-tier movie though.
Still hard to sympathize with Steve Martin, but it’s a little easier to enjoy the comedy of errors this time around. Plus, one of the rare Thanksgiving movies.
Beauty and the Beast
(2017)Did the most expansion of any of the other Disney remakes we’ve watched so far. It was largely good - fleshing out the world, places, and characters. The CGI was… competent, but not pleasant to look at. Great cast but worse music (which is to be expected).
Beauty and the Beast
(1991)Still gorgeously animated and heartfelt. Music is good, jokes land, the works. I can see why it’s remained such a classic.
The Little Mermaid
(1989)Interestingly worse than I remember. The animation is rough, closer to "Rescuers Down Under" than it is to "Lion King". The sotry is a little dated and the characters are pretty shallow. Great music and villians though.
Fun little concert. They do the music from the movie and some other songs too. Some fun dancing and great costumes.
Ready or Not
(2019)Absolute delight. Gross, tense, exciting, game-related. The works.
The Babysitter
(2017)Light and stupid, but a fun take on a slasher movie. Writing felt like the weak point, but it was weirdly charming.
The Addams Family
(1991)Creepy, yet extremely charming. Great performances bring new life to a classic family. Some absolutely knock out jokes, too.
Sleepy Hollow
(1999)Suitably Halloween-y. Great cast, decent plot, lots of beheadings.
Happy Death Day
(2017)Low budget and fairly simple, but fun. Good time loop, decently spooky.
The Breakfast Club
(1985)Interestingly timeless, despite how dated parts of it are.
The Lion King 1½
(2004)Not a showstopper, but it’s a pretty fun retelling of the story.
Barbie
(2023)Super funny. A great mix of parody (of like, society itself?) and actual adventure. Manages to be both light and heavy all at the same time. Stellar cast, too.
Too long, but had a good cast and some decent action. Fun continuation of a long-running series.
Great parody, consistently funny, stellar cameos. Light, but nice.
Se7en
(1995)Tense, creepy, gross, and well acted. There's a lot going on, and while I did like it, I'm not sure what exactly it was trying to say
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
(2007)no additional notes, see rating
no additional notes, see rating
How to Train Your Dragon 2
(2014)Cheesier than the first, but a generally good time
How to Train Your Dragon
(2010)Animation was worse than I remembered and some of the jokes are a little flat, but the heart is there.
Raiders of the Lost Ark
(1981)Watching this twice in two weeks was probably a mistake. Really beats you over the head with the action.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
(2023)Super great up until the part where it didn't have an ending
no additional notes, see rating
The Sandlot
(1993)Saccharine, but captures the essence of a summer with the boys wonderfully.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
(2023)Surprisingly heartfelt. Felt more serious and gross than the others and it was better for it.
Better than I remembered. Pays off some emotional things they’ve been setting up for a while.
Aged surprisingly well. A great swashbucking adventure.
Strange World
(2022)Light and a little predictable, but colorful and interesting.
Spirited Away: Live on Stage
(2023)Really cool to see how they translate a cartoon to the stage. The effects were great and the art direction inspired.
Spirited Away
(2001)Scarier than I remembered, but a very charming story throughout.
Bullet Train
(2022)Extremely fun. Great cast and motion- felt like an old Guy Ritchie movie. Superb top to bottom.
The Italian Job
(2003)Most of the jokes didn’t age well, but the heist itself is good and it’s a great cast.
Oliver & Company
(1988)Great music and cast. Decent story and nice art. Scary for a G rating, but very charming.
Great cast, cute worldbuilding, saccharine plot and light story moments, but a nice outing.
History of the World: Part I
(1981)Inconsistent, but it certainly landed some of its jokes (and showed its age)
The Court Jester
(1955)Extremely silly throughout. Lots of great jokes and choreo. Very fun.
Limitless
(2011)Sort of doofy, but a decent action flick. Dumb presime, but a fun watch.
Magic Mike XXL
(2015)Huge improvement on the first. Fun, cute, great ensemble. Cute message, too. Lighter on the story, but that’s not bad.
Magic Mike
(2012)Had a fun vibe, but veered into more serious drama, and that wasn’t fun. Maybe just a case of missed expectations, but I wish it had just been fun.
The Lost City
(2022)Great setup that the rest of the movie couldn’t quite deliver on, but it was decently fun throughout.
King Kong
(2005)Long, with a lengthy middle, but overall good. A few too many threads, but does a good job making Kong sympathetic. Great cast, too.
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
(2018)Cuter than I remember. Stellar cast, decent music. They certainly look like they’re having a good time.
Valentine's Day
(2010)Still very cute. Interesting how perspectives change over time.
The Bad Guys
(2022)Great heist movie, suitably twisty, great cast, delightful animation.
High School Musical
(2006)Cheesy, but charming. I can see why it was so popular. A lot of songs hold up, even it the jokes and characterizations don’t, so much.
Anastasia
(1997)There’s a great family story buried in a boring adventure movie.
Star Trek Into Darkness
(2013)Ultimately lacks the charm of the first one. More if "just an action movie" with a great cast.
Violent Night
(2022)Extremely gory, but had a surprising amount of heart. Great themeing and performances. Enjoyed the heck out of it.
Love Actually
(2003)It hoenstly grew on me. Each of the stories winds its way through love in a novel path. Heartfelt in the right ways. A little dated with some jokes, but it pulls it off.
A Castle for Christmas
(2021)Remarkably charming. Strong supporting cast. Throwaway plot, but I was engaged.
Has a consistently decent cast and cute enough storylines. They’re dumb, but they’re fun. Vanessa Hudgens crushes it.
Spirited
(2022)Very charming. Like most of Ryan Reynolds movies, his charm carries a lot of it. Great cast too though, and the music was catchy.
Klaus
(2019)Absolutely stellar. Charming characters, great art direction. Some odd musical choices, but the whole thing was great.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
(2022)Did the modern marvel ring of Tons of Characters, but they did a nice job with Chadwick and the themes of death and vengeance.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
(2022)Delightfully twisted mystery. Stacked cast and music. Cool setting. Definitely a "Last of Shiela" vibe. Great follow up to Knives Out.
Sherlock Holmes
(2009)Decent plot, great cast, bad sound balance. Fun overall though.
He's Just Not That Into You
(2009)Great cast, pretty cheesy, some genuinely funny bits. Dated in interesting ways, but overall very thoughtful.
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
(2022)Totally unhinged, but such a blast. Great cast and jokes.
V for Vendetta
(2005)He's a little more cringey romantic than I remembered, but still definitely worth a watch.
Enola Holmes 2
(2022)Cute sequel. Did its job- expanded the universe, built on the characters. Good mystery, great cast.
Tucker and Dale vs Evil
(2010)A strong entrant to "movies that are equal parts gory and hysterical". Strong leading performances and a great premise deliver a great movie that's full of heart.
A step up from her others. Flowed well. Pretty funny
RRR
(2022)Extreme stylistic spectacle. Long, but paced well. Wild set pieces throughout. Consistently over the top. What a blast.
Clue
(1985)One of my favorites. Irreverent, slapstick, and boasting a superb ensemble. There's something new to catch in every viewing!
The Bob's Burgers Movie
(2022)Extremely charming. Glad they had time and money for more detailed animation, looked great. Really great to see what they can do with this ensemble we've grown to love.
Werewolf by Night
(2022)Atmospheric, fun, tense in the right ways. A good watch.
Dude writes a great set. Heartfelt and hilarious all at once.
Hocus Pocus 2
(2022)Improved on pieces of the original, worse in others. Correctly focused more on the witches this time around. Had its charms, but fell flat in a few places.
Thor: Love and Thunder
(2022)Great vibes, cinematography, and cast. The plot felt a little... formulaic? Had the same beats as most action movies, especially Marvel. Good watch and is ultimately touching, but felt a little too well-trod.
Logan Lucky
(2017)Superb cast, decent heist. Good vibes, but I could have used a little more from it.
Enchanted
(2007)Silly and charming. Music is fine, but cast is great. Sort of funny to see how unhinged a disney princess running around the real world would be.
Vengeance
(2022)Interestingly touching. Showcased a small story in a big world. Had vibes of A Very Fatal Murder, which I dug. Fun cast, too.
Lightyear
(2022)Surprisingly charming! Well placed and a pretty interesting story.
Unhinged, but touching and delightful. One of his best.
Gunpowder Milkshake
(2021)Great production and cast. Story was _fine_, but I enjoyed it overall.
The Gray Man
(2022)Great cast, fine plot, nonstop action (some of which was good). Could have used more breathing room.
Contact
(1997)One of my favorites. I love the intersection of religion, science, and politics that feels as fresh today as it did in the 90s. Stellar ensemble cast and examination of our place in the universe.
no additional notes, see rating
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
(2007)no additional notes, see rating
Expands on the world created in the first. Feel grand, epic, and rewarding. What a fun movie.
no additional notes, see rating
Big Sam Raimi energy. Mostly felt like a setup for other things, but stood on its own well enough. Stellar worldbuilding.
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
(2022)Forgettable plot, but great attention to detail and volume of Easter eggs. I had a fun time with how self-aware it was!
Sonic the Hedgehog
(2020)Childish, but generally charming. Some of the support cast is superb, others are more forgettable.
The Dark Knight Rises
(2012)Was a little less consistent than its predecessors, but wrapped everything up very nicely. Fitting end to the trilogy.
Batman Begins
(2005)Cheesy in interesting ways, but awesome is most others. A product of its time, but totally holds up.
Moulin Rouge!
(2001)Visually stunning and fun music, but overly long and some weird dramatic frame rate issues.
The Goonies
(1985)A little hokier / more frantic than I remembered, but it's got a great cast and a lot of heart
Recess: School's Out
(2001)Definitely a kid's movie, but the core of it is timeless.
Mission: Impossible III
(2006)Intense, well acted, fun, and good plot. Enjoyed it top to bottom.
Everything Everywhere All at Once
(2022)Intense and thrilling. Great performances all around. Production design was incredible. I thought the story was a little too heady and unresolved. There were a lot of bits happening and it felt like it lacked focus. Parts were weird for weirdness sake. But it was also really funny in bits. Lots to like.
Uncharted
(2022)I expected very little and it met those expectations. Fun action movie, good set pieces, etc
Moneyball
(2011)Well told and interesting story, but it had a lot of padding. Great cast though.
The Batman
(2022)Did the hard boiled detective side well, but the Batman side was less compelling. Great cast, beautifully shot. But, overlong, and with a few too many plot threads.
Miss Sloane
(2016)Intense thriller with basically no action. Enjoyed it. Lot to follow.
Guardians of the Galaxy
(2014)Wanted to watch after just having finished the videogame. I think it just puts in sharp relief how _good_ the performances were in the game. I liked some of the directorial choices, but the movie characters still just don't vibe with me. Except John C Reilly. Dude carries the movie.
Well balanced, cool stunts, decent plot. Good spy stuff.
Death on the Nile
(2022)Nicely told, well acted and shot. Not sure I could have figured it out, but I had a nice time.
CODA
(2021)Very charming movie. Touching, if a little chiched. But, it was touching.
Windfall
(2022)Very good at building old school tension. I don't know that it quite justified itself, but it was well shot and acted.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
(2021)Really stellar. Glad to see it for real. Great cast and balance with all the characters.
Deathtrap
(1982)A little more of a thriller than a mystery, but it was tightly told and enjoyable!
The Last of Sheila
(1973)A tight, if a little dated, story. Great cast. Good plot that unravels slowly.
Anastasia
(1997)Odd, because the whole antagonist plotline here doens’t matter at all.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle
(2017)Enjoyed it more than I remembered. Great action choreo. A little weaker on the character development, but great music and cast.
Crazy Rich Asians
(2018)End still makes me dang emotion. Great characters too.
Heartfelt, many battles, very long
Pretty long, heartfelt, and well acted. There’s a lot of movie here.
Not Another Teen Movie
(2001)A great parody that’s clever in all the right ways. Fun cast, too!
Friends with Benefits
(2011)They had great chemistry and the jokes were consistent and great. But, there were good heartwarming parts too. Really landed!
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
(2008)Fun execution, stacked cast, surprisingly touching.
Certainly good, but pretty confusing if you don’t really know what’s going on.
What Happened to Monday
(2017)Interesting one. Had some neat ideas and good acting. Action was mostly boring or too gorey, but I enjoyed it well enough.
Cheesy, a little trite, but largely fun.
The Harder They Fall
(2021)Intense, stellar cast, beautifully shot. Brutal, but satisfying.
Big Fish
(2003)Really stellar story about a man and his father. Fun spin on the telling of a tall tale. Great cast.
Don't Look Up
(2021)A little heavy handed, but enjoyable. I liked the move away from the documentary style. Stellar cast. Fair amount to mull over.
The French Dispatch
(2021)Basically a parody of a Wes Anderson movie. 4 stories loosely tied together. Spoken very quickly. Bits were good, others were slow.
Crazy, Stupid, Love.
(2011)Great woven plot. Some of the gender politics are a little outdated, but I liked the way the characters came together. Fun any funny.
Romancing the Stone
(1984)Bits of it were charming, the plot was ok, cast was pretty good. An adventurous romp, for sure.
Very nicely put together
The Matrix Resurrections
(2021)Very cool! Feels like what they did w/ Star Wars ep 7, where they remade an old, beloved movie in a more modern presentation just to prove they could. It was fun, a little goofy, good cast. Decent figh choreo. They definitely got some spark back.
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
(1992)Cute snapshot of New York. Treads a lot of the same ground as the first, but in a touching way. Good package all around.
Encanto
(2021)Cute. I liked the house as a character. I thought the ensemble was a little too big, but there were some very funny facial animations and stuff. Definitely a fun one. Music was fine and catchy, but not something I’m going to come back to, i don’t think.
White Christmas
(1954)Great dancing and decent music. Cast was good and story was suprisingly engaging.
Christmas with a Prince
(2018)Trite, but had some actual plot and nearly semi-realistic romances.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
(2021)Really great movie. Explored the emotional depth of the character(s). Top tier.
More of the same, but lax and enjoyable.
Kung Fu Panda
(2008)After all this time, still just the best movie. The music, story, fight choreo, animation, everything. Perfection.
Robin Hood: Men in Tights
(1993)Really pointed parody of “Prince of thieves”, which we just saw.
Long, but swashbuckling and fun. Good cast, too.
No Time to Die
(2021)Fittingly touching and good. Both more serious and more accessible than most bond movies. Went out on a high note.
no additional notes, see rating
Red Notice
(2021)The charisma of the leads carried this a long way. Fun plot, not too serious, good twists and turns. Loved the cast.
Dune
(2021)Interesting adaptation. Definitely lost some nuance, but adapted the big parts well.
Spectre
(2015)Sort of a forgettable one. Some cool scenes, but the villain didn't really land
Interview with the Vampire
(1994)Sprawling historical epic. Sort of a seminal take on vampires. Pretty neat, if not a little meandering. Stacked cast.
Howl's Moving Castle
(2005)Gorgeous, as always. Story was fine, but sort of hard to follow. Consistently a fun journey though
Freaky
(2020)Honestly great! Pretty gory, but fun about it. Swapped actors did a great job.
Quantum of Solace
(2008)Definitely a bond movie. Had a nice time, but it was sort of forgettable. It was a nice build towards people not trusting him, which is always a cool spy trope.
Muppets Haunted Mansion
(2021)Some cute jokes, good vibes, great cast. Not super compelling, but enjoyable.
Very awesome fight choreo. Mostly a weak supporting cast, but with some bright spots. Story felt pretty well-tread, but the production design made up for it. All of the details, as usual, were great.
Blackbeard's Ghost
(1968)Slapstick and cute. Probably very cool effects at the time, but very dated now.
Parasite
(2019)Intense and interesting. Great cinematography. Pretty tense plot. Some interesting social commentary
F9
(2021)Pretty stupid, but it was sort of a fun ensemble. They could bring a lot of people back. Continally pretty doofy and dramatic though.
The Little Hours
(2017)Some deeply funny moments and a lot of time between them. I liked the anachronisms. Good cast, too.
The Suicide Squad
(2021)I had very low expectations and they were met. Cool cinematography, good soundtrack, good balance of action and humor.
Jungle Cruise
(2021)Cute! Liked it more than I thought I would. Felt like a light version of the Mummy, which isn't a bad thing. Good chemistry between the rock and Emily blunt.
no additional notes, see rating
George of the Jungle
(1997)Cuter than I remember. Most of the gags are sort of dumb, but the narrator and guides were hilarious.
Killing Gunther
(2017)Cute movie. I liked the mockumentary format. Cast was good and there were some great gags. Pacing felt long and there was a lot of just, screaming. But, cool overall.
Black Widow
(2021)Great choreography and humor. Decent cast. Otherwise, fairly run of the mill. But, enjoyable.
The Change-Up
(2011)Stupid but cute. Had its moments. Pretty good acting. Even a touching message buried in there.
Freaky Friday
(2003)Impeccably acted. Fun watch, paced well. Cute way to put oroblems in perspective.
The Bank Job
(2008)A little bit too widespread for my taste, but it had its moments. Deeply British.
The Sandlot
(1993)Does a great job capturing the essence of boyhood and summers and baseball
Spontaneous
(2020)Simultaneously very cute and hilariously dark. Funny and dark.
No Sudden Move
(2021)A little bit light on the heist and heavy on the parallel threads. Cool vibe, but pretty tough to follow. Stacked cast though.
The Hitman's Bodyguard
(2017)A little long, but a good cast and decent writing. Funny enough, good enough action.
Very cute behind the scenes about a great movie.
Luca
(2021)Deeply cute. Great vibe, good story. Enjoyed it way more than I expected.
Wet Hot American Summer
(2001)Stellar cast. Weirder than I remember, but cool. A little dated in weird ways.
In the Heights
(2021)Vibrant and joyous. Great cast and dancing. A fun snapshot of the neighborhood (I assume)
The Avengers
(2012)Holds up better than I thought! Funny, paced well, good script. Costumes and lighting felt a little dated, but it's a good watch.
Good Morning, Vietnam
(1987)Robin Williams, unsurprisingly, is the best. Good supporting cast. It didn't feel like it had a consistent message on the war and how we should be feeling about that. Had a lot of interesting montages of locals. Some good drama interspersed, but wasn't satisfying about it.
Very silly. Some cheap jokes, but I enjoyed it a lot
Better than expected! Lots of cute little jokes. Too many climaxes, but otherwise cute.
A true love letter to these comics and characters. Unreal animation.
Captain Marvel
(2019)Liked it more than I did the first time. Good vibe and cast.
Seven Psychopaths
(2012)Good ensemble, good pacing. Good action, but not too much. I liked the meta aspect of it, where they're making a movie about making a movie
Spider-Man
(2002)It's got great bones. Action doesn't totally hold up, but it sets the stage foe a whole genre.
Deeply weird and sort of fun. Very bizarre, but in a cool way.
Blazing Saddles
(1974)Over time, it's hard to remember the context of this movie, but it is a fun one.
The Shape of Water
(2017)Certainly an original take on a love story. Great period work, decent characters. Uneven pacing. Good vibe, but sort of light on actual things happening.
The Social Network
(2010)Does a better job than I remember of not treating him like the hero. Snappy writing, good characters.
The Gentlemen
(2020)What a ride. Great frame story, great cast, good plot. Good music and pacing, too. Dense as heck.
The Tiger Hunter
(2017)Cute enough. Had a great soundtrack and visual design. Good cast and nice ensemble. Nothing groundbreaking, but enjoyable.
Hannah Gadsby: Douglas
(2020)Superb comedy. Wide ranging, yet tight. Fun all the way through.
Bad Times at the El Royale
(2018)Really loved the shots in this one. Great ensemble. Cool setup. Pretty wide ranging plot, but mostly came together. Great music.
Mr. Right
(2016)Actually pretty cute. Good hearted in a way I didn't expect. Hard to keep the characters straight and everyone was sort of nuts, but there was great fight choreography
Sleuth
(1972)Tense movie. Some bits didn't age as well and the focus on the toys was weird, but the escalating tension was good and the performances were superb. It wasn't as good hearted as I might have liked it to be- it felt sort of cruel. But, not everything needs to be.
Coming 2 America
(2021)It was light and didn't have much of the same bite as the first, but it was cute. A good spectacle.
Raya and the Last Dragon
(2021)Drop dead gorgeous. Good story with a good message. Decent ensemble with a very weird baby character. Cool action scenes.
D2: The Mighty Ducks
(1994)The story on this one was weaker, but I was more invested because we'd gotten time to know the characters. Perfectly serviceable sequel.
Mae West: Dirty Blonde
(2020)Neat documentary! There's a lot of interesting historical context there.
Cinderella
(1997)Cute, stacked cast, cool sets. Music was ok, story wasn't really novel in any way, but it's a fun watch.
Super interesting. There's a few layers to it, plus some good magic. I like that it's unusual. It talks a lot about how you see yourself and our perception of ourselves and the world around us. Definitely worth a watch, but pretty odd.
Anastasia
(1997)Didn't really need Rasputin, but the story with the grandmother is cute.
Great story, good characters, cool animation. I can see why it's a classic.
Tenet
(2020)I enjoyed it, but boy was it a lot to take in. Wild story, good cast, great action. Interesting all around. Maybe too heady. Good though!
The Lego Batman Movie
(2017)Strikes a great balance between heartfelt and hysterical. Great references to past Batman movies, too.
Very strong finish. Climax was great, the world felt big and dangerous.
Boy is it a lot of camping. Shows the darker side of the world well, and the cast is always great.
A much stronger and easier to follow movie than previous ones. Great performances.
Catch Me If You Can
(2002)Almost a heist, but good character development too. You root for him the whole time.
Moonstruck
(1988)Liked it more than I thought. Cast is great, some genuinely funny bits. Good story in there, though it's definitely a style.
Death to 2020
(2020)Deeply dry parody of what a year this has been. Good way to pinch it off.
Horrible Bosses
(2011)Pretty funny all around. Stellar cast. Maybe too many rape jokes. But, solid movie.
Baby Driver
(2017)Story is decent, but the best part is the timing of the music and the action. Superb cast, too.
Triple Frontier
(2019)Liked it more than I expected! Starts heavy on the Army propaganda but the back half is more of a character drama than a heist. Suffice it to say, stuff goes wrong. Great cast too. Wish it had more music.
Love Actually
(2003)I love all the different takes on love. Some of the jokes don't age as well, but I still like it.
The Take
(2016)Decent, if chaotic, heist. Very action heavy, but pretty ok. Definitely the lowest common denominator. Some cool pickpocketing scenes.
Soul
(2020)Very cute and stylish movie. Feels good. Understandably great music.
Some bits I liked- performances, music, sets and costumes. Story was weak and over-long. Great cast too!
Pulled a lot of stuff out of the book, but dang if the time heist isn't fun. I'd be real confused if I hadn't read the books. Not a lot of resolution.
Definitely a good one, but the pacing felt off and the effects didn't hold up as well as those from the first. One of my favorite books, though.
CGI holds up well. The kids are great actors. Sets a lot of good things up.
Iron Man 3
(2013)Very funny at the right moments. Some good twists. Good character growth.
The Muppet Christmas Carol
(1992)You know what you're getting into, but it's good!
The Santa Clause
(1994)Paced oddly, but cute and a couple of the scenes really carry the movie.
Home Alone
(1990)Paced differently than I remember, but still a very touching movie.
Noelle
(2019)Pretty cheesy and most of the characters weren't great, but its was cute enough
The Ghost Writer
(2010)Pretty good, definitely on the slow side. Good cast, but it's a fun watch.
The Hunt for Red October
(1990)A little hard to follow at points, but tense as heck with a super stacked cast.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
(1988)Actually pretty good! Mix of very deadpan and wacky, which mostly fit the tone.
My Neighbor Totoro
(1990)Super cute, but lighter on the story and resolution than a lot of other Ghibli movies.
Onward
(2020)Plot is a little trite, but the worldbuilding is great. Good music and atmosphere, but weak on the character side.
Toy Story 4
(2019)Cute, but totally unnecessary. Had its moments and it's a testament to the team that this was even a 3/4, but you're not missing much if you don't see it.
Finding Dory
(2016)Honestly a cute and tight story. The supporting cast isn't as good as the first, but they did a great job with dory's journey of discovery.
Monsters University
(2013)Cheesy, but cute. Good cast and music. Shoddy pacing and pretty well-trodden plot, but a good watch.
Toy Story 3
(2010)Heist movie! Plus they confront their mortality. Well paced, emotional, a perfect ending.
Up
(2009)Lots of cute moments. Pacing was a little odd and I think the overall story wasn't as strong as some of the other top choices. Still a cute movie though.
WALL·E
(2008)Really amazing. A lot of subtle storytelling. Does a lot story without a lot of dialogue.
Ratatouille
(2007)Cute, but not as tight or gripping as many of the others. Also, rats in kitchens is always gross
10 Things I Hate About You
(1999)Ages surprisingly well. Everyone is so young
Cars
(2006)Cute movie, interesting world building, surprisingly emotional climax, but the rest of it was a little weaker than others
The Incredibles
(2004)Great setting and period design. Reaches emotional depth that others don't. Really nailed the 50's spy vibe.
Finding Nemo
(2003)Cute, decent plot and chataceters. Fun adventure, but I didn't care for the setting as much.
Toy Story 2
(1999)Great jokes and environments. Builds well on the first and surpasses it in most ways.
A Bug's Life
(1998)Some cute jokes, but too many little threads and a little too unfocused. Great ensemble cast though.
Toy Story
(1995)Animation is a little scary, but the jokes and pacing are great. A really holds up.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
(2015)Great cast and humor. Action was decent but the plot and twists are great.
Addams Family Values
(1993)Very silly. A little goofier than the first, but still great. Great cast, too. Summer camp scenes were a delight.
Not as creepy as I remembered, but nice to have a different pace of spooky movie.
Great cast, good songs. Oddly, the opening CGI of blood flowing looked really dated. Holds up pretty well though!
Zombieland
(2009)Very stylized. Breakneck pace that could have used a little more breathing room. Pretty cute and a bit touching
Love and Monsters
(2020)Loose writing and we didn't spend enough time with the characters we were interested, but the whole thing was adequate.
The Way I See It
(2020)Really great look behind the scenes of the white house and the function of journalism
Us
(2019)Definitely had it's creepy parts. Phenomenal performances all around. Good pacing and a smattering of jokes. Liked it less than Get Out. Nice SC locations though! Definitely spooky.
What We Do in the Shadows
(2014)Cute, but doesn't really go anywhere. Some good scenes, some fine ones. The show is better, but couldn't exist without this, of course.
Kiki's Delivery Service
(1998)Very cute. Light story, but a neat world. Gorgeous animation, per usual
Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island
(1998)Characters were more grating than I remember, story is a little doofy, but it is a good watch
The Cabin in the Woods
(2012)Probably my favorite spooky movie. A brilliant parody of the horror genre while embracing it wholeheartedly. Whip smart and unexpected at every turn, this delights with jokes, gore, and mystery.
Hocus Pocus
(1993)Still holds up, is cute tnough. Some bits age funny and there's definitely a 90's bullying vibe, but it's some light fun.
Yesterday
(2019)The ending is still odd, but it's a fun movie and well done overall
Enola Holmes
(2020)Very cute! Mystery was decent. Characters were good and the action scenes were good. Cinematography was great, talking right to the screen was neat.
The Rock
(1996)High octane fun. Great characters and cast. Holds up well. A little on the long side, but enjoyable throughout
Chicken Run
(2000)Honestly amazing. Paced well, great jokes, claymation aged great, unknown yet talented cast. One for the ages.
EverAfter
(1998)Cute! She has much more personality in this than most other Cinderella's
I think most of the action scenes don't hold up that well, but the core of the movie is great. Stellar cast, too.
The Social Dilemma
(2020)Identifies a lot of very good issues with the design of social media. Has some sort of hokey drama on the side that doesn't really resolve. There's also not a lot of solutions offered, besides "just quit"
The Martian
(2015)Really great all around. Definitely space mistakes, the movie.
Generic plot, but definitely cute. Catchy music and a good cast. Hard to go wrong.
Bill & Ted Face the Music
(2020)Definitely cute! Nothing groundbreaking, but paced pretty well and a good collection of plot lines
Into the Woods
(2014)It doesn't change anything big from the show, but it does bring it to a wider audience!
So many great little touches. What a delight. Neck and neck with Homecoming for best Spider-Man
Magic Camp
(2020)Pretty dumb and too many storylines and too cheesy, but not altogether bad
The Rescuers
(1977)The kid is very cute. The animation style feels dated, but not bad.
Castle in the Sky
(1989)Gorgeous movie. Storyline is straightforward and there's a cool cast.
The Hateful Eight
(2015)I liked how slow and methodical it is. Good pacing and tension.
The Sword in the Stone
(1983)Weird pacing, but cute enough. Nice, old-school animation.
Psych 2: Lassie Come Home
(2020)Had some cute psych moments, but felt a little too true to life for the actor who plays lassie. Shawn and Gis haven't aged a day.
Paced worse than I remember, but genuinely very funny
A Knight's Tale
(2001)Way goofier costuming and music than I remembered. But it's honestly a sweet, if not basic, story
Really funny, great cast, good action. Didn't quite click for me, maybe cause of the boring plot. Everything else was great.
The Fate of the Furious
(2017)Definitely the best one. Most interesting writing and plot. Good villain and character teamups. Also some good environments. Very solid all around.
Furious 7
(2015)The movie itself is decent. They've distilled the formula pretty well. Also had a truly touching tribute to Paul walker at the end, which I quite liked. They did a good job with stunts.
Fast Five
(2011)Actually a decent, if not too tough, heist movie. A bunch of extra junk, but there's also a pretty cool heist going.
The Fast and the Furious
(2001)Very cheesy dialogue but actually some decent action. Very 90s.
(500) Days of Summer
(2009)JGL is sort of a nightmare in this. I liked the presentation and use of music though! Great direction and framing.
Spaceballs
(1987)Saw this for the first time as an adult and I'm getting a lot of the sci-fi references that I never picked up before
The Old Guard
(2020)Faithful adaptation of the comic. Great fight choreography. Didn't have a distinct visual style like a lot of similar movies, but super well done.
Wild Wild West
(1999)Very goofy and honestly pretty great jokes. Really cool world building and honestly a stupendous cast.
Palm Springs
(2020)Fun movie! Good take on a time loop. Quite funny. Cool visual style.
Better than I remember, but still only fine. Less history, plus I didn't like the redemption arc on the villain
Ocean's 8
(2018)Still fine. Certainly had its parts, but it's much less compelling than the others.
Hamilton
(2020)They did a great job with the adaptation. The show itself is obviously great.
Ocean's Thirteen
(2007)No crazy twists, but everything played nicely and there was a much more focused plot.
Ocean's Twelve
(2004)Too many plot lines with too little impact. Plus like, 3 mini heists. Shows that more isn't better. Had some bright spots thought, and I'm glad the actors all came back.
Out of Sight
(1998)A mostly chill heist/romance. Blended them pretty well. Sort of a cross between snatch and ocean's 11
How to Steal a Million
(1966)Charming old movie. Definitely a different style than today's heist movies, but definitely enjoyable.
Jurassic Park III
(2001)Better than the second. Fewer characters, more focused. Some good action and moments.
Trading Places
(1983)Really funny and honestly has some very relevant bits. But also there's literal blackafce and some bad racism. Still pretty funny overall though. Sad they didn't do more with Jamie Lee Curtis. Her arc was weird and shallow.
The Thomas Crown Affair
(1999)Pretty good, but the pacing was strange. Not a lot of minutes of actual heists. Lots of sexy goings-on though
22 Jump Street
(2014)Didn't take itself too seriroisly. A few really great scenes and a bunch of fine ones.
Game Night
(2018)Hysterical. Great action while being so funny. Great cast and arcs. Surprisingly cute, too.
Weird and fun. Not as in my alley as home of his other movies, but enjoyable.
The Lovebirds
(2020)Cute, but sort of all over the place. Plot was fine, but secondary.
An Extremely Goofy Movie
(2000)Clearly lower budget than the first. Some goofy parts, but also much more forgettable than the first one. Holds up ok, but doesn't pay a lot of attention to the continuity of the first one.
A Goofy Movie
(1995)Cute, paced well. Mostly forgettable songs, except the ones that aren't.
Avengers: Infinity War
(2018)I think this ages well now that we know it's just a part 1. It felt more emotional this time around
Paced weirdly and definitely puppet filled, but decent
Snowpiercer
(2014)Liked it more the second time around. Caught on to more of the world building. Quite a concept.
Miss Congeniality
(2000)The 2000's sexism didn't age well, but the rest of it was decent!
Kill Bill: Vol. 2
(2004)Interesting tonally. Also sort of an interesting path. I enjoyed it though. Good foil to the first.
Kill Bill: Vol. 1
(2003)Some weird and cheesy bits, but very cool sound work and fight choreography. Some sexual violence that didn't really add anything. Satisfying and gorey though.
Apollo 13
(1995)Basically "Space Mistakes, the movie", but it was good! Very white and lots of people probably have nostalgia for it.
Sonic the Hedgehog
(2020)Cute. Robotnik was surprisingly unlikable. Little too meme heavy, but it is a kids movie. Action was good and there were a bunch of cute game references. Enjoyable!
Star Trek Into Darkness
(2013)Fun, nothing wildly special. Cumberbatch was good, but his part felt a little small
Onward
(2020)Cute and clever. Not the best Pixar by far, but charming and goofy.
A little silly, but largely good. Good cast!
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
(2007)no additional notes, see rating
no additional notes, see rating
no additional notes, see rating
The Mummy Returns
(2001)Honestly, more swashbucklingly fun than the first! Kid was funny. Horrible CGI, worse than the first. But it sort of made it charming
Robot & Frank
(2012)I liked the way then cared for each other. Cute little heist.
Frozen II
(2019)Cute! Great animation and ok story. Music is catchy and the gags are pretty good.
Valentine's Day
(2010)A little more heavy handed than I remember, but still real fun.
Cute and some weird fun jokes, but lacked cohesion and consistency.
Singin' in the Rain
(1952)Some cute scenes and good gags. Also some weird, sort of pointless scenes. Ages pretty well though! Good dancing throughout.
Jumanji: The Next Level
(2019)Surprisingly cute and a worthy follow up of the first. They coaxed superb character work out of these actors. It's fun seeing them play each other. The old guys were good additions.
Such a gorgeous movie. Good humor. Really one of my favorites.
Lengthy opening scene but better plot arcs in this one. A lot of setup for the finale.
Definitely feels dated. Has a good core, but it's strength today lies in its world building. I'm sure it was mind blowing at the time, but feels itsvage a little now. Charming cast though. This doesn't take into account the unreal amount of cultural impact this movie had, but simply a neural viewing in modern day
Of the prequels, has the least bad dialogue. Ties the prequels to the OT wonderfully. Great musical tie ins, too. Best action as well.
Mostly bad dialogue, but great action. Much less silly than ep 1. Paced well, too!
Has some dumpy dialogue but honestly has some great and important parts.
Knives Out
(2019)Great whodunit. Awesome cast, good humor mix, amazing performances. Just a delight.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
(2019)It was... interesting. I feel like I missed something? It was a very slow burn but it didn't really go anywhere. No one really had a character arc and it felt unfocused. Cool period piece, but it was all flash and no bang. Very well stilized, but the plot itself was underwhelming. Beautiful cinematography though, and some geniuinely funny scenes. It was definitely a love letter to Hollywood and, as a series of largely unrelated scenes it has good moments, but it's no masterpiece
My Cousin Vinny
(1992)Really hysterical. Sometimes in big ways and sometimes in small. Always a pleasure though
The Farewell
(2019)Good. A little slow, but beautifully shot. Nicely examines the role of family and happiness.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
(2016)Really phenomenal story about. A journey and family. Pretty funny.
The Art of Self-Defense
(2019)Maybe the most dry movie I've ever seen. It certainly has a style. There we some funny bits, but totally it was... odd. I dunno. I think the ending brought it all together, but the pacing was odd. Some very good commentary on masculinity, but in a muted way.
Definitely, Maybe
(2008)Really cute fun movie. I liked the woven tale and not quite knowing who was who. Good cast, too. Makes you really think about love. Fun HIMYM vibe, but stuck the landing
Avengers: Endgame
(2019)Has some slow bits and hand wavy timey-wimey stuff, but it lands overall and thrives on its small moments with characters we've grown to love.
Spider-Man: Far from Home
(2019)Didn't quite have the charm of the first, but really, what does? Gyllenhal was great, as was favreau and starr. They really stood out. Good action and music. Great visuals. Pretty fun all around.
Yesterday
(2019)Really cute movie and I loved the premise. In the end I didn't feel like it quite landed on a story level, but it was pretty fun nonetheless. Music was understandably good.
Toy Story 4
(2019)I'm not sure they needed a sequel, but they did about as well as we dojo's have hoped. There was a lot to like, some great jokes, and touching moments.
Toy Story 3
(2010)Reaches emtotional heights that the other movies don't, but there are fewer jokes. There's also a heist section, which is great! Overall just a really great movie.
Toy Story 2
(1999)Builds and expands on the original. Great location and jokes. Good story too.
Toy Story
(1995)Animation is dated, but the story is good. Darker the I remembered. Also, there's a ton of very silly jokes and references I never picked up on before.
Recess: School's Out
(2001)A little cheesy, but enjoyable and nostalgic. Surprisingly good message and voice cast.
The Sandlot
(1993)Not quite as good as I remember, but there's a lot of charm. I like how it's all told through the lens of these kids and captures the nostalgia of a great summer.
Argo
(2012)Well shot. Intense. A little over dramatic for drama's sake (especially a the end), but overall pretty good!
Always Be My Maybe
(2019)Very cute, if not a little cliched. Fun though! Great cast and jokes.
Now You See Me
(2013)A little too clever for its own good. More flash than bang. Still pretty fun and well produced with a great cast, but doesn't really stand to scrutiny
Pokémon: Detective Pikachu
(2019)Cute. Neat to see a more fully realized Pokemon world. Story and characters were decent. Pikachu one-liners felt forced. Overall enjoyable.
Some bad faith jokes and not a lot of cohesion/narrative, but a lot of very funny one liners.
Long Shot
(2019)Pretty cute! Definitely had its moments. Some good jokes. Story ended up being heartfelt. Lots of shouting obscenities. Some very on the nose politics. Overall enjoyable.
Avengers: Endgame
(2019)Really enjoyable. Packed a lot into a limited amount of time. The snapped characters felt a little shoehorned and some bits were cheesy, but the entire time heist segment was golden.
Avengers: Infinity War
(2018)Still pretty good. A lot of character moments and build up for what's next.
Mostly good interviews and clips, some very distracting artistic choices.
The Secret of Kells
(2009)Art and music were great. Story was fine and the movie itself felt pretty slow.
The Birdcage
(1996)Mostly cute! Fairly timeless with the conservatism. A little aged otherwise. The son sucks, but Nathan Lane is a champion.
Mad Max: Fury Road
(2015)Visually cool. Lots of action. Dialogue was a little tough to grok at times. Good color use. Lots of weird cool worldbuilding. Lots of weird gross stuff. Overall, neat.
Captain Marvel
(2019)Great pacing, fun style and story. Lean, hard hitting, and well animated.
Star Trek
(2009)Pretty fun romp. Great cast. Too much action, but there are good character moments sprinkled in there.
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
(2019)Didn't quite relive the absurd humor of the first one, but it was fun! A few choice amazing jokes. Not paced quite as well either and had more standard kid movie tropes. Lots of good happening though.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
(2018)Really nice. Slow, ponderous, beautiful. Definitely my favorite Coen brothers movie so far.
What Men Want
(2019)Cute movie. A little heavy handed on themes, but also some nice messaging. I really liked the boyfriend character and the themes of family
The Nice Guys
(2016)Real fun. Paced really well. Lots of great comedy, fun cast. Highly recommend
Vice
(2018)As entertainment, it was good. It ran long but the performances were astounding. It was interesting to see more context around events I lived through but didn't really have context on at the time.
Smallfoot
(2018)Surprisingly cute! Some good jokes. Bad songs though. Light, defo a kids movie.
The Big Sick
(2017)Some really funny parts and some very heartfelt ones. It was an interesting look at family dynamics and parenthood that didn't feel like it quite came together in a wholly satisfying way, but it was pretty good.
Elf
(2003)Honestly a really charming movie. Though disjoint, the pieces felt like they came together well.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
(2018)Awesome animation and story. Really good outing
Kung Fu Panda 2
(2011)The art direction for this is really stupendous. Great action and performances all around.
Green Book
(2018)Super cute movie. Definitely a holiday feel good thing. Pretty self contained; not quite sure what they always us to come away with. But, it was enjoyable all the way through.
Definitely some weird parts. Pretty good cast. I liked the visualization of the internet, but a lot of the meme stuff won't age well. The pile of Ralphs was horrifying.
Wreck-It Ralph
(2012)Still very fun. Gorgeous movie. Didn't realize how much it was like Toy Story. I'm a little slow sometimes.
Mission: Impossible
(1996)A little kitschy, but there were some very cool shots and decent stunts.
Dogma
(1999)Jay sucks, but everyone else is great. Good cast, fun story. It was very "good omens", but more crass.
Solo: A Star Wars Story
(2018)It was fine. Not unenjoyable, but feels... manufactured? It's hard to put into words. It was fine. There were a bunch of cute references to the rest of the movies, which was fun. Story was mostly forgettable though. I wonder what it would have been if Howard directed the whole thing.
Bohemian Rhapsody
(2018)Great performance, energy, and pacing. What a wide. This is the movie Star is Born wanted to be.
Murder by Death
(1976)Totally ridiculous. Felt a little like clue. Great cast. Story was fine, if not a little nonsensical. Peter Sellers as a Chinese dude was really uncomfortable; that's the biggest mark against it. Liked the parodies of other great detectives.
The Old Man and the Gun
(2018)It was cute. A bit of heist, a bit of romance. Slow and deliberate. Felt spread a little thin, but it was pleasant.
Accepted
(2006)Definitely aged, but still pretty charming! At the core, there's some good concepts and great weird gags. Really useless female characters, but that's my biggest complaint.
Black Panther
(2018)Michael B Jordan is just so so good. I'm also still impressed by the pacing of this movie.
Free Solo
(2018)Emotionally intense. Really cool, great graphics. A neat look at relationships and death backdropping what's otherwise an intense movie.
The Road to El Dorado
(2000)Really fun. Great music, fun characters, great art. Enjoyable and light
The Princess Diaries
(2001)Cute enough! Has definitely aged and has some problematic parts, but Hathaway is great and the rest of the cast is pretty good. Best friend is the worst though.
A Simple Favor
(2018)Pretty interesting movie. Tonally, it felt really strange? Started out funny, got real serious, then got funny again and basically ruined any thriller aspect it had. A weird mix of Gone Girl and Game Night. Performances and set were great. I wouldn't pick this over any of the aforementioned movies, but it definitely had its moments.
Role Models
(2008)Better than I expected, but not much was spectacular. Enjoyable story and cast.
Searching
(2018)Really cool! Shot incredibly interestingly. Good plot and performances. Good tension. John Cho rocked.
Juliet, Naked
(2018)Some cute moments but nothing standout. Enjoyed the story overall
Crazy Rich Asians
(2018)Amazingly cute movie. Great cast, lots of great jokes, amazing sets and costumes. Really touching story about family. Great supporting cast too. Can't understate the representation aspect, either. Really a delight.
BlacKkKlansman
(2018)Lots of well-crafted tension. Great performances all around. Some pretty direct modern parallells, almost too direct. Definitely well crafted and affecting.
The Death of Stalin
(2018)a very interesting mix of hilarious and fairly serious. Mostly a farce. Had a good time. Pretty good cast. Some really really funny scenes, some ok scenes, and some dramatic parts that were fine, but tonally confusing. Needs more Jon Ham
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
(2002)Gorgeous movie. Music was great, pretty fun characters. Some good payoff for fans of the show. Story was pretty good, probably the weakest part. Good action too.
Really funny, but I had heard a lot of the bits before. He continues to be great though.
Sleeping with Other People
(2015)Pretty cute. I liked the depiction of intense, fun relationships. Good cast. Some good jokes and good emotional arcs.
Get Smart
(2008)Surprisingly funny! Definitely not perfect but great cast and a lot of great moments. Definitely worth catching.
Avengers: Infinity War
(2018)Much better the second time, knowing this is really just part 1. There's a lot of good character work that happens, with especially big payoff for those who have followed these characters for such a long time. Some great small interactions. Pretty good action, but with so many characters we didn't get a lot of good time with really anyone.
Three Identical Strangers
(2018)Intense, but well presented. Not as happy go lucky as I thought it would be, but it raises some interesting ethical questions. They did an amazing job with the interviews and clips.
Hannah Gadsby: Nanette
(2018)Really powerful. Incredibly well written. Blends a lot of subject areas very well. Quite funny too.
Ant-Man and the Wasp
(2018)Way better than the first one! Ok antagonists (lots of them), much better action. Quantum stuff a little hand-wavy and the plot was pretty wide. Lots more fun though.
The Belko Experiment
(2016)Gory, messy, but fun. I liked the concept but the movie didn’t do anything wild with it. Lots of shouting, great cast. Nothing too wild, but if you want fighting check this out.
Ocean's 8
(2018)A light and fun movie. Most of the characters were pretty boring except the hustler, who was great. Hit a lot of the same beats as 11, which is tough because it's worse. The style is also similar, but a little less polished. Some weird plot holes and there's surprisingly little tension, but the former didn't bother me at time of writing. There's a line about the movie being for little girls who want to be criminals. I get that and appreciate the representation angle, but I wish girls had better movies to look up to.
Election
(1999)Weird, but sort of fun. Neat seeing the past and future arcs of the characters
Tag
(2018)Unexpectedly touching! Some great action scenes and fun. Pretty good dialogue and a great cast. I am left happy.
Pitch Perfect 3
(2017)a little all over the place but there's a lot of funny dialogue. Characters are fine and all of the other groups are basically non existant, but it's fun. After what was a very boring part 2, the third is the sequel we should have always had. It took fun stuff and expanded on it.
Incredibles 2
(2018)Really fun! Explored legality a little bit, but it was more of a set piece than anything else. Great action, lots of cute scenes. A very worthy sequel.
The Incredibles
(2004)Looks a little more dated than I thought it would, but the story is still great
Everest
(2015)Not a fun movie, certainly. Shot well. Pretty intense and emotionally draining. It's... a surprisingly small story, and it’s told pretty well. Points off for lack of much humor and how replaceable most of the characters are. They’re hard to tell apart and don’t have a lot of personality anyway.
Deadpool 2
(2018)Pretty fun! Worse than the first in a lot of areas, but still great. Domino stole the show. Didn't care about the kid, really. Pretty good fights and jokes. Lacked some of the charm of the first, but did have some really stellar jokes.
Casablanca
(1942)It was good! Very dramatic. I didn't realize Rick's in AA was a reference to this. Lots of famous lines. Pretty enjoyable though, especially for such an old movie. Pretty wild that they didn't know how WWII would end when they filmed it.
The music and cinematography are amazing. So many great shots. The humor was funny, if not a little out of place. There was some weird writing and the porgs are a bit much. Definitely fun, but room for improvement.
Pretty funny. Reused some material from snl, but this was probably filmed first. Structure is a little weird and I would have chosen a different final joke, but he's undoubtedly a funny dude
Avengers: Infinity War
(2018)Like, it's a lot. Not a lot of small scenes. GoT problem of tons of switching scenes constantly. Definitely ends on a grim note. More than anything, it felt like we're missing the resolution. We got our first half and and are waiting for the second half. I think it'll be better on a second viewing while I'm not trying to process the action and the emotions, because there were some good ones in there.
Black Panther
(2018)Better than I remember. The killmonger story is really intense and the supporting cast did a great job
Thor: Ragnarok
(2017)Really funny throughout, didn't drag. Still had good action! Hiddleston is always great. Honestly a really great job all around.
Doctor Strange
(2016)Visually very cool. The story was fine, mostly good action. Pacing a little strange, but not unenjoyable.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
(2015)Pretty good, but missing some of the magic of the other movies. A few good moments, but seems like mostly extra parts.
Guardians of the Galaxy
(2014)Light, fun. Decent action, good humor that I hate less than I did when I first saw it. Doesn't really excel at anything but it builds a cool world.
So great. Good action, some actual mystery, good writing, good build into MCU as a whole. A shining light in what is otherwise a very dim Phase 2.
Iron Man 3
(2013)Some good emotional development. Stuff came together. Good twists. less compelling side characters, no black widow. Does more than IM1, but not as good as some of the others.
The Avengers
(2012)Everything finally comes together. The humor, the action, the small parts. Better than the sum of its heroes.
Lots of good. Moved well, helped sympathize with the characters. A cool setup for things to come. Natalie Dormer and Jenna Coleman!
Iron Man 2
(2010)Better character work than the first one. Sam Rockwell is great and plays well with Mickey Rourke. Good action, good fall from grace for Tony, Natasha had a great intro. Fun all around.
Iron Man
(2008)It was good. Feels a little dated insofar as the movies have gotten so much better around it. Still great though, and a worthy way to start it all
Ready Player One
(2018)Fun movie. Visually stunning. Story was light, but fun. Lots of IPs used. Pretty impressive.
Hook
(1991)Some very weird moment and some "off" pacing, but a pretty fun movie.
The Disaster Artist
(2017)Franco is great. Definitely some funny parts, definitely a lot of weirdness. The side by side is great, they did a pretty phenomenal job recreating it. Great supporting cast
Edge of Tomorrow
(2014)Continues to be fun. Good time loop, doesn't get slow. Good action, but also slow parts!
Pacific Rim: Uprising
(2018)Pretty fun movie. Pacing was relentless. Lots of fighting, not much for character development, didn't really care about characters. Fights were food and the humor was there. Definitely some cute moments. Felt like some important scenes got cut. Still, decently fun.
Love, Simon
(2018)Really cute and inspiring. Great take on modern high school. Glad for a movie that's happy
Game Night
(2018)Light, funny. Decent action, very self aware. Some good jokes with pretty good payoff. Some threads that felt pointless. All together pretty fun.
Coco
(2017)Such an emotional movie. The music was great and the art and culture was such a joy. The story was good and really makes you care about the characters
Black Panther
(2018)Amazing art. Great story. Good acting. Cool characters and fights. So important for the representation and cultural aspect. The biggest thing holding it back were the predictability, pacing, and writing. Seriously a lot to like here though.
Molly's Game
(2017)Fun movie, some good character work. Started big with the winning, got sadder, ended on a pleasant note. Unrelated, moviepass was down, paid out of pocket.
Murder on the Orient Express
(2017)Some really neat shots. Awesome ensemble that didn't really live up to potential. Great source material, so it was enjoyable at the very least.
Pretty fun for a sequel. Neat puzzles, though not as good as the first. Some weird storytelling, but not unenjoyable!
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
(2017)Really fun and light movie. Jack Black stole the show acting as a teenage girl. Them acting through a videogame was a neat frame. Pretty funny, moves well. Good chemistry with the leads - they capture the mannerisms of the kids well.
National Treasure
(2004)Not as clever as I remember, but still a ton of fun. Some neat American history in there!
Really well crafted piece of comedy. He misses the point a bit on some of his stances, but he's an undeniably funny dude
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
(2017)Phenominally acted. Characters had great growth and the writing made you care for each character. Story flowed well, everyone seemed realistic. Amazing.
The Post
(2017)Amazing cast. Very relevant, good performances and music. A little repetitive with some of the drama and situations, but enjoyable. The implication that they were a part of a larger fight for the freedom of the press was surprisingly emotional.
What We Do in the Shadows
(2014)Basically a series of weird sketches, but not unenjoyable. Watiti definitely has a style
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Logan Lucky
(2017)There was a lot to like. It was slow and the low key environment was a good change of pace. The characters were great and the cast was unreal. Great roles all around. The plot got a little confusing, but mostly got explained. Not the best heist movie, but not a terrible one.
Psych: The Movie
(2017)Weak plot, but great humor and wodnerful to have the cast all together again.
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The Princess and the Frog
(2009)awesome art direction, catchy music. decent animation.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
(2010)So many little details! Everything is perfectly crafted. The art blends in with the music in with the action seamlessly.
Power Rangers
(2017)definitely had issues, but it ultimately came together for a satisfying package. It was made by fans of the show and they clearly cared how it tuned out. It kept a lot of the same charm as the show. While that doesn't always translate to the big screen, you won't be sad you watched the movie.
The Avengers
(2012)Nice coming back to an old favorite after seeing a bunch of new favorites. Some of the lines don't age great (characters felt wooden in parts), but the action and small moments are still top notch.
Hackers
(1995)This one is sort of all over the place. Very stylized, lots of 90s computer graphics. Pretty goofy, but had some actual (if not convoluted and forced) plot thrown in. I can see what it's a cult classic
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
(2007)no additional notes, see rating
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Amazing. Probably my favorite of the whole series. Great action, music, and character development.
A fun romp, but it misses some of the great character development that happens in the later films.
Surprisingly not awful. There were some fun moments and I liked the cast.
Guardians of the Galaxy
(2014)Liked it better this time around. Ready for GotG2!
Into the Woods
(2014)I backfilled this and also don't remember watching it at this time, but Plex says I did.
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Hocus Pocus
(1993)Weird, but charming. Fun cast and a little absurd, but it pulls it off.
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no additional notes, see rating
no additional notes, see rating
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The Rocky Horror Picture Show
(1975)This movie is objectively bad, but it's fun to see with friends and in a crowd
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Goldfinger
(1965)I didn't remember having seen this, but I've got a journal entry that says I did.
Take Me Home Tonight
(2011)Special screening with Dimitri Martin and Topher grace. Q and A after. Movie was light, but cute.
