Classic.

 

Blue Velvet is stupendous.

Anthrax fans will also be reminded of a classic song, "Now it's Dark." Beware, lyrics not for the youth, but if you've seen the movie, you're good to go. It's mostly quotes straight from it.

 

Varan - 8/10

 

Decided to rewatch all of the live action Transformers movies:

Transformers (2007) - 9.5/10.0 - Still enjoy watching this one and still my favorite.

Transformers ROTF - 7.0/10.0 - Of all the movies, I was dreading watching this one the most. However, I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked it this time around. I mean it still has its flaws (mainly the crappy plot) but ROTF does have some truly great moments - like the Shanghai opening scene and the forest battle. Plus, I really like Jetfire. The writer strike really hurt this movie. It's too bad. Another thing that I despise is how some robots were re-used that died in the first movie (like Bonecrusher for example).

Transformers DOTM - 7.5/10 - I really like the space theme and the Sentinel Prime twist. Didn't care for Dylan Gould or Bruce Bezos. The Chicago battle was way too long. Not a bad movie, but could have been better if they had just trimmed things out and tightened things up. I wish Megan Fox was in the movie (although I thought Rosie as Carly was fine) and I wish the series ended here as a trilogy. Another movie that re-used robot designs from other movies (like the big "Ravage" on Cybertron).

Transformers AOE - 4.0/10 - Ugh. I had a hard time watching this movie again - I kept falling asleep. The only things that I liked about the movie were the Autobot characters (including the Dinobots/Grimlock) and Lockdown. The scenes on Lockdown's ship were cool. I absolutely HATE "Transformium". I hated most of the human characters this time around especially Attinger, Savoy, Shane, and whoever T.J. Miller's character was. Probably my least favorite Transformers live action movie.

Transformers TLK - 4.0/10 - Another crappy plot. Did not like Cogman. The opening "King Arthur" scenes were cool though.

Bumblebee - 9.5/10.0 - Travis Knight did awesome - I really like this movie. It is probably 1b to Transformers 2007 (1a) as far as my favorite Transformers live action movie goes. The Cybertron scenes were fantastic. Hailee was great as Charlie. I really hope that we get a sequel to this film.

 

Maverick-7/10
An awesome comedy western.

 

I love that movie

 

Transformers: The Last Knight - 6/10. maybe even a 6.5/10.

I'll do a "Good, Bad, and Mediocre" angle for this review. Like "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" introduces the latter first, I'll start with the "mixed."

The Mixed:

Here's an uncomfortable truth for many members of this fandom. This movie really isn't any more stupid than the Transformers movies fans like more. It's really no different from the 2007 movie. The humor isn't any worse. The dialogue isn't worse. The McGuffins aren't worse. Actually, I think the Talisman is a lot cooler than the stupid glasses. The logic isn't any worse.

The Bad:

One thing that is worse than its predecessors is how scenes and sequences build. There's very little build up, or when there is build-up, the resulting "climax" is over too quickly. Consequently, this movie has lots of scenes or events that are great by themselves, but don't have the "oomph," because they don't have the build-up before that would be beneficial.

The other major problems of this film compared to the others is that this film sucks as a sequel, for two main reasons.

1) The previous film established concepts and threads that are ignored or minimized in this film. Galvatron is never or shown mentioned. It's never made clear if Quintessa is actually one of the "Creators," and that angle, which is far more interesting than the Earth being Unicron in my opinion, is never explored. If anything, the previous film makes the Bayverse seem larger, and this movie seems to make it as if Earth and Cybertron are the only planets that matter in the universe.

2) This film has too many pointless rehashes of earlier scenarios. Cybertron coming to Earth AGAIN. An ancient, evil, powerful, teleporting Prime with unclear motivations and an arguably Egyptian-inspired design wants to destroy Earth and humanity AGAIN. Human paramilitary hunting all Transformers AGAIN. And in each of those cases, I think it was more memorable and impactful in the previous movies.

And, like RotF, this film has too many characters, robot and human. And, related to being a sequel, too many pointless cameos that add nothing to the movie.

The Good:

I was entertained and never bored. That's a major plus. It's like a live action version of "Madman's Paradise." I'd rather have a Transformers movie that embraces the insanity and ridiculousness of the brand than a movie that is boring and mundane.

I like how unique the score is compared to the others.

Megatron, even if his presumed transition from Galvatron is never shown or explained, is a delight when on screen. Welker's voice acting is fantastic, as it was for Galvatron in AoE.

The Knights are really neat as a group of Transformers, even if they aren't distinctive as individuals, and aspects aren't consistent with what Lockdown said about them.

Izzy was neat but underused.

Anthony Hopkins is having a blast, and he and Cogman are lots of fun. I like how devoted he is to saying and doing ridiculous stuff.

Hot Rod, while quite unlike the 1986 version, is actually really cool, as I like Omar Sy's voice, his banter with Vivian, and his time-slowing gun.

I like how a repeating subject is the importance of having a home. You see it in several characters. Optimus Prime. Cade. Megatron. Izzy.

TL; DR: This movie is seriously flawed. Should it have been much, much better? Absolutely, but I was still plenty entertained, and that's why I can't rate it too lowly either.

Ironically, AoE was my favorite of the movies for the reason I just bolded. Plus, I liked most of the humans, and I LOVED Transformium and the cube transformations!

 

House on Haunted Hill 1999-7/10 Still a fun romp. I have yet to watch the original.

 

Aquaman 7/10
Just a cheesy fun romp for 2 hours.

 

I was watching a movie last night called Contamination .7, it's about how some big company built a nuclear power plant near a small town (see where this is going?) And buried it's toxic wastes near a forest where the radiation mutated the plants into blood-thirsty mutant killer roots.

At the end, the people thought the whole was destroyed by the army. Some time later, it's Christmas and the lead actress is talking on the phone with a friend in L.A. while the Christmas tree behind her starts to twitch. She slowly turned around and to her shock the tree was a mutant as well. FADE TO BLACK! CREDITS ROLL! THE END!

Complete shit, 1/10, only good part is a horse who was like: I'm a horse, I don't give a fuck what's
going on here, I'm gone!

 

Lol that horse sounds like a better actor than the people!

 

yay!

 

King Kong Lives:
This had potential to be good. Granted, it opened with a farfetched premise of Kong somehow surviving the previous movie and giving him an artificial heart to revive him for some purpose, it did grasp my attention and I was really into the story of Kong and Lady Kong acknowledging how campy it is, but when the plot changed to another generic monster movie with the army and separating the Kongs apart it was really boring until they reunited again and my interest was back up.

This movie was campy compared to the previous movie and the effects took a nosedive after the impressive looking operation scene. coupled with the boring midsection then it's no wonder this wasn't a fondly remembered Kong movie. Though on the other hand, this movie felt like a Western attempt at creating a Showa Toho Kaiju movie. It got the campiness and cheapness it almost passes as one.

But yeah, I don't think I'll watch it again.

5/10

 

I don't even plan on watching it so it doesn't ruin Jeff bridges Kong

 

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (9/10): Was a nice feel good movie. Tom Hanks does a great job bringing the gentleness needed to be Mr. Rogers. The main character in the movie is very cynical person who I think many of us even if we can not relate to his specific reason for being cynical can probably recognize we have been or someone we know has at some point in our lives. Then with just the uplifting presence of Mr. Rogers this cynical world the movie creates is able to be uplifted and given hope and joy. There is just something simple and great to that.

 

Rise of Skywalker - 9/10

I liked the saga, some films were just disappointing but I enjoyed the universe it creates. This film was predictable, plot holes but I loved it. Fun throughout and lots of throwbacks. Looking forward to watching it again

 

Brave (8.5/10) I think think movie was very solid movie that was overdue to be seen. I feel like it has gotten lost in the shuffle of Disney and Pixar movies from the past decade but thinks it should get some credit. The characters are enjoyable, animation is great, has a lot of heart but what else do you expect from Pixar. Merida was a great lead for the movie and her relationship with her mother and making her own fate was well done. Yes, it is something we have seen before with kids and parents fighting over their future but it is still done well. Just not a fan of of the whole turning into a bear thing but that just a personal nitpick and I did not know where the movie was going. I like how that ties all together though with Mor'du at the end who was creepy looking and a good final boss fight in a sense for the movie. My favorite part of the movie though was early on when Merida shows up everyone with her archery but that just the wanna be show off in me who enjoys seeing a character show what they are capable of in front of others who would not expect it.

 

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades 7/10 it is a very funny series.

 

I'll admit the first time I watched it, I didn't care for it much, but I think that was due to me having expectations the movie would have been more action-packed than it was. Once I saw the movie for what it was trying to be, I loved it!

 

I think that what happened to a lot of people that watched it judging from some You Tube reviews. It is a good movie but the twist it takes after the first act can turn people off from it. When I was watching it last night and saw the direction it was going in I was off put and did bump the movie down a bit. I was expecting something different but I am trying to judge the movie for what it is not what I thought it be. I still think the characters are strong enough to carry it through a plot that I was not a big fan of. Plus because of the route it did do a sweet mother and daughter relationship which is something different in these movies so I give it credit for doing something different.

Wreck it Ralph (8/10) A good movie overall but lost me in the middle now knowing the whole movie would mostly be on Sugar Rush. Was hoping for maybe more jumping around to different games. Still great animation especially on Hero's Duty and I love the joke when Felix loves how HD the sergeant was and how she was given such a dark typical video game back story. Ralph and Vanellope are of course two likable characters and have funny moments. Also was worried this movie would feel like Toy Story but with video games but it did not. Will like to watch Ralph Breaks the Internet at some point.