"Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" Review

Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is a superhero film that has been in production for several years, with its controversial cast being announced all the way back in the fall of 2013. Since then, due to the hiring of Chris Terrio to help write the screenplay, the film was pushed back a full year to fully realize the greatness that is America's two biggest superhero icons duking it out to the death. The film is directed by Zack Snyder (Watchmen, Man of Steel, 300, Sucker Punch), written by Chris Terrio (Argo) and David S. Goyer (Batman Begins, Blade), and stars Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman, Gal Gadot was Wonder Woman, Jeremy Irons as Alfred, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, and Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane, and Holly Hunter play other characters. The story centers on the controversy in Metropolis surrounding the man-god Kryptonian savior Superman in the aftermath of the events of 2013's Man of Steel, a film that was lambasted for compromising its protagonist's heroic image with his blind destruction of the vast majority of the city in the name of beating up one dude he didn't like, resulting in thousands of civilian casualties and probably a couple 9/11's worth of property damage. This was a problem that Batman v. Superman promised to address, as Bruce Wayne/Batman, resident and vigilante protector of the neighboring and similarly crime-ridden Gotham City, sees the destruction firsthand, and thinks Superman is flaunting a lot of unchecked power and posing as a hero without understanding the consequences of his other-worldly power. The United States government seems to agree with Batman on this one, as a Kentucky senator is trying to propose (incredibly vague) restrictions on Superman's hero activity. Superman has problems with the Bat as well, criticizing his vigilante justice practices. So, they have a little spat. Add a ton of other shit and you have this movie.

Batman v. Superman is an absolute mess. I want to make that clear from the get-go. Let me first, though, say the things that this movie does well (don't worry, this won't take long). First of all, the casting of Ben Affleck, which three years ago seemed to some as a sin against humanity, ends up being the most reliably good thing in this movie. Affleck brings his A-game, as does Irons as his assistant Alfred, who provides all two of the amusing parts of the entire movie. The cinematography has Zack Snyder's signature touch, in that it's dark and often very pretty, and yes, there is ample slow-mo. The action sequences are hit or miss (more on that later), but a number of them are fairly well-done, curiously all of them having Batman at their center. Not only is Batman an inherently more interesting and malleable character, but also seems to make for much more compelling action. The actual fight with Superman is suitably tense and pretty exciting, as are the scenes, both real and imagined, of Batman throwing down with armored baddies - even if they are a tad excessive in brutality. The score is also decent, even if the choir sections are pretty ridiculous.

The film, probably thanks to having one-half of its writing team be a pretty good screenwriter (Terrio), does have a story that lends itself to some themes that are interesting on paper, and are what primarily got me excited about the movie in the first place. The idea of essentially an indestructible god being among humankind and how mankind would deal with that is inherently intriguing, as is the theme of what limits should be placed on and what litigation should be allowed in regards to the activities of superhumans (although this idea was much better examined already in The Incredibles). Especially in the first half of the movie, these themes are given some light as we get to know the motivations behind Batman and Superman and try to understand their philosophical squabble. This is where the list of the good things about the movie ends. On to the excrement.

Now, like I just said, this movie's story, when handled well, lends itself to some inherently very thought provoking themes regarding the relation between gods and men, conflicting ideas of justice, and the political implications of a superhero in the modern world. The first 100 minutes or so of this movie are largely action-free and are almost entirely devoted to setting up these ideas. The remaining 50 minutes are mostly allocated toward brainless, poorly put together action sequences underscored by character decisions that not only completely bury any semblance of cohesion or conclusiveness to the themes harped on so aggressively in the first act, but also actively make these themes make no sense at all.

One of the most intriguing things about BvS's premise was its seeming legitimizing of the mind-numbing pointless cataclysm at the climax of Man of Steel. It almost covered up for one of that movie's biggest flaws by making it the starting point for the entire plot, seeing as how Batman sees that destruction as reason enough to try and destroy Superman. Unfortunately, the ethical codes of these characters are completely muddled and nonsensical in the last two-thirds of the movie. Batman suddenly becomes a vicious, remorseless murderer despite his claims for superhero accountability for collateral damage, and Superman (with the help of Batman and the two minutes Wonder Woman pretends to matter on screen) causes and/or facilitates arguably even wider destruction and casualties in his "heroic" efforts, yet these are conveniently glossed over. Lex Luthor had the opportunity to have an interesting motivation regarding his borderline atheism and fear of a godlike creature, but it ends up getting lost in Jesse Eisenberg's weird, twitchy monologues that end up coming off goofy instead of menacing the majority of the time. When your main villain's haunting final scene gets laughs from the audience, your villain is not working.

All of these motivations and themes are completely devoid of cohesion, and the film instead elects partway through to pull a complete 180 from a tense, dark, outwardly political (not necessarily good) superhero movie to a loud, obnoxious video game. My mind has become completely numb to almost all computer generated imagery, and yet these superhero movies seem to be having a contest to one-up each other with how many virtual fireworks displays they can shoehorn to the film's climax. The already pretty muddled and empty attempts at depth made in BvS are made even more shallow and pointless as the third act tries scene by scene to best itself by how much shit it can clutter the frame with. The inky Instagram filter lighting, break-neck editing, and smudgy punk rock color palette turn the majority of the latter half's action sequences into pure sensory overload, and by the end the action had become so tensionless and numbing to me that I was really just waiting for the credits to start because I'd already basically decided how I felt about the movie.

If the irksomely under-realized thematic material wasn't enough to drag the already thin plot to its knees, there's also the fact that Snyder's self-indulgent slow-motion and inclusion of repeats of pretty imagery we saw before bloat the already insultingly huge running time even further, and the one potentially risky story move toward the end (and also the only thing about the entire movie not shown in the trailer) is completely negated in the sequel-guaranteeing final shot. Oh yeah, we also have some sequels to set up for, which results in a number of incredibly rushed, forced, and groan-inducing flash-forwards to the Justice League that honestly felt really hammy. Remember how Age of Ultron was like the middle-point movie for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and had to kind of move all one thousand of its characters' stories along by like an inch so they can each have their own movie, and as a result it was kind of a big jumbly mess? Yeah, well the DC Cinematic Universe has already had that movie now and we're only two movies in, which is not a promising foundation for your dozen-odd-film meta-franchise.

Speaking of the Marvel movies, let's use them as a means of illustrating what is probably the biggest surface-level problem with this movie - it's not fun. At the very least, Age of Ultron was quippy, fast-paced, and had some characters we liked. Even if the action grew tiresome, the thought-provoking themes weren't explored very well, and it was kind of overstuffed and overlong, at the very least I can say it's a fast, fun movie to sit through. Batman v Superman tries to take a page from the Nolan Batman trilogy and take superhero stories more seriously, but somehow translates that into making the film overly grim, dark, and completely devoid of fun - yes, Batman v Superman makes Christopher Nolan seem subtle by comparison. Besides some small quips by Alfred (which seem super out of place within the rest of the movie), the only fun things are the cool action bits the trailers spoiled for us and unintentionally funny lines by the villain. Especially after seeing a movie like Deadpool, it's really hard watching a superhero movie that doesn't just take itself seriously, but is just brooding and dull and dreary. It's dudes in spandex punching a swamp demon. You're not directing fucking Hamlet, Zack Snyder. Have some fun with it.

Overall, Batman v Superman raised my expectations in its first act with some clever writing and themes and even some good action sequences, then proceeded to instead deliver exactly what the trailers made me believe beforehand that I would get, and also usurped all fun and advertised future movies in the process, all while completely ditching its potential to be powerful and drowning it in an incoherent, inconclusive 40-minute eyefuck. This movie isn't complete shit. It's just a blockbuster that tries to be ambitious, gives up, then tries to go by the numbers, and then gets the numbers wrong. Good thing I'm not a comic book fan so I only see this as a shitty movie and not some kind of act of sacrilege.

On my way out of the theater, I saw a 12-year-old girl walking out next to me that had a Batman shirt on that said, "That was probably the best movie I've ever seen." And that's a pretty good way to look at it. This movie will probably satiate the hunger of the least demanding of die-hard comic fans, and will probably give Zack Snyder fans a huge boner to add to his trophy room, but if you don't fit in one of those categories, I don't think it's worth the trip to the theater. Just wait for Civil War like I'm doing.

Grade: C-

"10 Cloverfield Lane" Review

10 Cloverfield Lane is a sci-fi mystery thriller film directed by Dan Trachtenberg (a former fellow Temple University film student, and his feature directorial debut) and starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, and John Gallagher, Jr. It was originally titled The Cellar, but during production was put under the Cloverfield moniker and edited to make itself a spin-off/spiritual successor of sorts to 2008's Cloverfield when it was picked up by J.J. Abrams's Bad Robot production company. Like the first Cloverfield, this movie was essentially made in secret, in that no one knew it existed until about a month ago. There's also been basically zero marketing for this movie, with only one trailer that I can remember that still kept everything pretty tightly under wraps. Now, if you're a big fan of the first Cloverfield and are getting ready to see more alien destruction and shaky-cam monster action, then I'm sad to report that, for the most part, you're probably going to be super disappointed with 10 Cloverfield Lane. I honestly don't know whether or not putting it under the Cloverfield label was completely warranted, but it does very loosely tie in to the franchise universe, and if Abrams and company are going the route I'm thinking they're going with the franchise from here, I'm interested in the idea, as it's pretty unorthodox. However, if you're like me and are pretty indifferent to the first Cloverfield and like new things and risk-taking, then you'll probably really enjoy 10 Cloverfield Lane, so long as you keep in mind that this is a thriller with some sci-fi elements and not some big action monster movie.

Winstead plays a young woman who, after breaking up with her boyfriend, gets into a car accident and wakes up in the doomsday bunker of a paranoid, mysterious man named Howard, played by John Goodman. John Gallagher, Jr. plays a fellow survivor in the shelter. Howard informs Winstead's Michelle that the three of them are the lone survivors of a huge, catastrophic attack of unknown nature or origin, and that the air above is toxic to breathe. Various mysterious events ensue that make Winstead and Gallagher question the legitimacy of Goodman's claims, and what unfolds is a tense, tightly wound thriller with an intriguing sci-fi twist.

Once again, if you're like me and generally prefer small-scale, well-told thrillers instead of big, broad, scary monster movies, then 10 Cloverfield Lane is a near-perfect experience at the movies. This is a brilliant debut for Trachtenberg, and I'm excited to see what else he produces as an up and coming director. Both on the levels of writing and actual film structure, this is a consistently well executed and affecting mystery thriller. Trachtenberg lets the mystery unfold languidly with dynamic camerawork and tight editing, as well as a really surprisingly engrossing score that I was surprised to find wasn't written by a veteran composer. The movie is claustrophobic and slow-burning, and the tension is palpable.

That, and the script is smart. There are so many subtle set-ups and pay-offs that work really nicely throughout the movie concerning characters' interests, former occupations, etc. They work logically in the series of events, and the entire plot feels concise, smart, and well constructed... until the end, which I'll address in a moment. The characters are also well-written. Gallagher's character unfortunately sort of falls by the wayside despite some respectable backstory to the much more fleshed out characters played by Winstead and Goodman.

And, oh man, the performances in this movie are sublime. Winstead is aggressively likable in the lead, and plays an actually smart, competent, and clever character with some actual dimension, and an arc that actually pays off really well. Goodman definitely steals the show, though. No joke - John Goodman should get talk for an Oscar nomination for this movie (which would be looooong overdue). So often do tinfoil hat-wearing, doomsday bunker-building, paranoid, government skeptic characters in movies turn into caricatures, and this kind of character that constantly teeters between cuddly, inviting teddy bear and terrifying monster could have easily become a cartoon character. But the screenplay is written smartly enough and Goodman is a gifted enough character actor that he manages to perfectly balance his character's mix of "damaged and troubled" and "legitimately scared". Goodman also does a great job playing a villain that isn't aware that he's a villain, and actually thinks he's helping the other characters even when doing some pretty dire things - and not for any vague sociopathic reason; he legitimately cares for them and believes his own position so much that he is convinced he knows what he's doing. Seriously, Goodman's character and performance are the best thing about this movie. If you need a reason to see it, it's John Goodman.

And now for inarguably the worst part of the movie - the ending, which I won't spoil for you. There were about four times in the space of the last ten minutes that I thought the movie was ending, some of them feeling better than others. Overall, the time at which it did end did tie up a story arc nicely as well as further establish the film's dubious position in the Cloverfield franchise, but I wish the film had continued its subdued brilliance that it demonstrates through literally 95% of its runtime, until the very end. I'm able to look past it because it's just intriguing enough to still give me reason to legitimize it, but I think I would've preferred it to end differently. I'll have to see it a second time though.

Overall, 10 Cloverfield Lane is a brilliant sci-fi mystery whatsit that slightly falters at its attempt to make itself canon(?) with the first Cloverfield film, but as a slow-burning thriller, it is pretty fucking flawless. Winstead is great, John Goodman's performance is absolutely phenomenal, the script is well-written and clever, the characters are interesting, and the tension is built up slowly and beautifully. It's an amiable directorial debut for Dan Trachtenberg, and a twisty, expectation-bending sci-fi mystery that is definitely worth checking out.

Grade: A-

Top 10 Favorite Movies of 2015

So, this is pretty late. 2015 ended two and a half months ago, and I'm already pretty deep into 2016, having reviewed five movies from this year already. And it's not even awards season anymore (alas), so I can't use that as a crutch either. Regardless, I like compiling little lists and stuff, and I wanted to have something to write while I have some downtime. I still plan on seeing The Witch, which I'm super excited for, but with the new Cloverfield movie coming out this weekend, I'm already getting piled up with new movies I need to see, so apologies if that review ends up being super late. I'm hoping I don't have to push it back to when I can catch it on Blu-Ray. ANYWAY, 2015 was a pretty great year for film all things considered, and I unfortunately didn't get to see all the movies that I wanted to that had a good chance of ending up on this list. Notable exclusions include It Follows, Son of Saul, The Assassin, Boy and the World, When Marnie Was There, Victoria, Kingsman, Krampus, What We Do In the Shadows, and Macbeth. So yeah, this list is subject to change over however much time it takes me to finally see those movies, which is dependent completely on my (poor) time management skills and free time. Regardless, I told myself I'd make this list before the Oscars, and I feel bad not at least half-assedly fulfilling promises that are pretty easy to fulfill. But, just keep all that mind when looking at this list.

Also, I find it worth mentioning that I've gone out of my way to make it clear that these are my favorites of 2015. It's why this post isn't called "top 10 best movies of 2015" like every other critic and blogger's list. The position of any movie on this list doesn't necessarily have any bearing on the actual quality or importance of the filmmaking of that movie, but rather just that movie's appeal to my personal taste. I didn't see many movies last year compared to actual critics, something I wish would change soon but I'm a student and lazy so not everything can be perfect. So, with all that aside...

I hate leaving good movies out, so let's start with some honorable mentions. These ones came in just under the wire, and I recommend you check them out fo sho.

Honorable Mentions

Honorable Mention - Turbo Kid

If you're a fan of trashy 1980s shlock films like I am, Turbo Kid is an absolute hoot. Featuring almost entirely no-name directors and actors, Turbo Kid is a parody/homage to those cheap Mad Max knockoffs of the late 80's that featured scrappy heroes, spunky love interests, comically evil antagonists, post apocalyptic landscapes, DIY weaponry and props, gleefully gory and over-the-top violence, and most hilariously, an undying sense of self-seriousness. Turbo Kid finds a great balance of taking subtle jabs at and simultaneously lovingly embracing the ridiculousness of these types of films, using all of those characteristics in full force. Its low-budget special effects add to the homemade, ridiculous charm, and at least in my mind, whether or not it's doing way too good a job poking fun at and emulating bad movies or is just genuinely a bad movie, its brilliance is in how unabashedly it embraces the insane logic of its own world and in how intelligently it pulls off its "badness". If it is in fact a bad movie, it's a flavor of bad that is completely plucked out of another time, which makes it, in my opinion, great fun to watch. Of all the movies on this list, this film has the most mixed reception from both critics and audiences, and it's definitely not going to be for everyone, but if you've found yourself a fan of other films that take their ridiculous inspirations seriously in pursuit of strange, semi-ironic comedy (a la Black Dynamite or The Brady Bunch Movie), or are a fan of creatively gory deaths underscored by Tron-esque synthopop score, you'll find a lot to enjoy in Turbo Kid. It's on Netflix; give it a shot.


Honorable Mention - Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief

It's a general unwritten rule of top 10 lists of movies to not include documentaries, and there's a reason it's an unwritten rule - it's kind of dumb. At least in my opinion. Documentaries are feature films that play in theaters that are eligible for the same technical Oscars as features, and Rotten Tomatoes counts them in their yearly rankings, so fuck you, I include documentaries. I sort of lost my doc junkie card this year as I've only seen a few, but this was a very early contender for my list when it premiered in March (I saw it on HBO, but it did play in select theaters). I'm personally not religious, but I've always found religion to be incredibly interesting, and perhaps especially interesting to me are cults and cult-like religions. And Going Clear convinced me that Scientology is, in fact, a cult, as well as the result of an ongoing morally corrupt business venture. The attention to detail and filmmaking prowess of director Alex Gibney are mere highlights to the luxury the film has of telling an inherently intriguing story. The misunderstood and twisty story of how L. Ron Hubbard founded the Church of Scientology, as well as the controversial inspiration for his book Dianetics, are all incredibly interesting, but it's when the film enumerates the modern-day actions of the Church towards high-profile individuals that Going Clear becomes actually haunting. I believe it's still on HBO Go if you're lucky enough to have a subscription, so if you have the chance, please give Going Clear a look. And while I'm at it, if you're into controversial documentaries about religion, give Deliver Us From Evil and Jesus Camp a look too.


Honorable Mention: Inside Out

I'm sure there'll be people who are surprised this is only an honorable mention, especially considering the very high praise this movie's gotten from critics and audiences. I'm not completely in love with Inside Out, but saying that I don't love it quite as unequivocally as most is still pretty high praise for a movie, in my view. This really is a return to form for Pixar, which in reality wasn't really "gone" for very long, and between The Good Dinosaur and Finding Dory (which I have a nagging feel won't be amazing), it doesn't look like they're completely back on the winning streak. Despite detractors' insistence that the screenplay isn't original because of Herman's Head, what makes this movie notable is what it does with the "voices in your head" concept, knocking out entertaining and clever visual representations of psychological concepts at a mile and a minute, all while imparting a delightfully unconventional message, the latter of which Pixar does extremely well. The voice acting is good, Michael Giacchino's musical score is great as always, and it's got that Pixar animation quality that we've all come to expect. Some of my favorite critics vehemently hate this film, and I accept and understand their criticisms, some of which I agree with, but this is still a respectably great effort from Pixar. Where it ranks in their filmography will depend on the test of time.


Honorable Mention: Tangerine

 If I watch this movie again, it could very well move into the actual top 10. Tangerine is an indie comedy-drama film directed and written by Sean Baker that follows two transgender prostitutes on Christmas Eve in Los Angeles who look for the pimp that broke one of their hearts. The film was also notably filmed completely on an iPhone 5. The result is a really entertaining film with beautiful cinematography and fully realized characters that completely blind-sides the viewer with just how disturbing and poignant it can be. Tangerine explodes with crackling energy, and is one of the best cinematic depictions of L.A. that I've ever seen. I remember when The Danish Girl came out, it was selling itself as a super progressive (and transgressive) pro-LGBT film that would break stereotypes and say something really important about transgender people. I disagree - this is that film. Tangerine is tolerant, relevant, and humanistic in incredibly and admirably subtle ways, and all of its characters are treated respectfully and playfully in equal measure. This is a movie that refuses to apologize for anything in the same way that its protagonists do, while also acknowledging the problems that come with such a nature, whether at the fault of others or the protagonists themselves. This is a progressive, didactic film that doesn't pander - it kneads its values seamlessly into its face-value product, which is itself very entertaining. It really is an accomplishment, and it really did just come under the wire here. It's on Netflix; I recommend it.

All right, on to the actual top 10.

Top 10

#10 - The Gift

 This movie was a huge surprise. I didn't know how I felt about the trailer when I first saw it. It looked like one of those psychological thriller movies that seemed like it had an interesting premise but I was expecting it to fuck it up and it usually does, kind of like The Purge. But man, The Gift really took me by surprise. It's directed and written by Joel Edgerton (his debut doing both), who plays a man who keeps coming into the lives of a married couple played by Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall, leaving them gifts and acting just a little too friendly after meeting Bateman's character, with whom he went to school, at the store. They start seeing him everywhere and getting concerned with what he's trying to do, and Bateman's character even believes that he's trying to get his wife to cheat on him. Bateman's character then puts into motion an investigation of sorts to find out what the guy is about, and the motivations and history of Edgerton's character and his relationship with Bateman's character begin to unravel. The result is absolutely chilling. This is a thoughtful, well written, and brilliantly paced thriller that is very slow-burning and continually defies expectations, and it's also led by a great trio performances, including Jason Bateman in what I believe is his career best so far. I look forward to seeing what else Edgerton has in store as a filmmaker.


#9 - Creed

If there's one word I'd like to use to describe this year in movies, it's "throwback". A Mad Max movie, a Jurassic Park movie, a Star Wars movie, a Cinderella reboot - and now a sequel/soft reboot of the Rocky franchise via Creed, directed by Ryan Coogler, who is proving himself to be one of the most promising young filmmakers working right now (I'm excited to see how he handles Marvel's upcoming Black Panther movie). Michael B. Jordan (another promising young talent) plays Adonis Creed, the son of world-famous boxer Apollo Creed, old boxing opponent and later beach-running partner of the now retired Rocky Balboa. Adonis wants to get out in the ring professionally, both to follow in his father's footsteps while also creating a namesake for himself apart from his father. I'll admit, they kind of muddled the motivation there, but the Rocky films have never been very heady ventures in filmmaking to begin with. Besides, the real thing to phone home about here is the performance of Sylvester Stallone as Rocky, playing the ultimate comeback role. This isn't just a cameo or a redesign of Rocky as a mentor - Rocky's still the big lovable dummy he was in the 70's, with a little wisdom through aging as well as some new dimensions to his character added in this film. That, and the fight scenes are amazingly choreographed and edited, and Maryse Alberti does some great camerawork. Creed is by no means a complex picture, but it's kinetic, stylish, and loads of fun.


#8 - Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the film equivalent of a perfect homemade chocolate chip cookie. There's nothing spectacularly complicated or unexpected about it, but it's exactly how it should be and it was created with visible love and care, to the point that its simplicity is charming, welcome, and makes you feel all warm inside. Brooklyn, the story of a young Irish woman's immigration to New York City in the 1950s, is a delightfully restrained romantic drama in a highly revisionist era of filmmaking. Like I said, this year was certainly "throwback", not only in the old franchises being revived this year, but also in the number of films that succeeded so much specifically because of how little they strayed from formula. I love risk-taking and playing with rules, but some stories are meant to be told the old-fashioned way, and Brooklyn pulls this off beautifully. Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, and Julie Walters provide fabulously engrossing performance and show beguiling chemistry throughout the movie, and the film's restraint in its universal themes of homesickness, young love, uncertainty, and coping with life changes is admirable. Its scope is narrowed, but it highlights and presents its themes and characters in such a smartly written, charming, and entertaining way that it's hard not to recommend. It's nothing you'll shout on the top of a mountain for people to go see, but I can't remember a movie recently that was this sweet and enjoyable. I left Brooklyn with a goofy smile (if that word wasn't italicized, I think I'd be the first person on Earth to say that). If you're ever caught hanging out with your grandmother, pop this movie in and you'll have the most adorable day together.


#7 - Spotlight

Tired of hearing about all these gooey, feelings-y, happy movies? I've got you covered - here's a movie that is a huge fucking bummer. Spotlight could very well have been a glorified TV movie (although don't knock TV movies - Pirates of Silicon Valley is better than the Ashton Kutcher movie about Steve Jobs), and while this movie doesn't have a whole lot filmmaking-wise going on, which is the only thing making me reconsider my A+ rating for it, sort of like Brooklyn, this movie absolutely dominates in its simplicity. I think, if anything, my top 10 list this year just shows that sometimes going simple and smart can yield way better results than going complex and ambitious (I'm looking at you, most Christopher Nolan films). Spotlight, this year's Best Picture winner, follows the team of journalists at the Boston Globe who exposed the cover-up of sexual abuse of children by priests in the Catholic Church in Boston, and subsequently all over the world. A movie that is the epitome of the phrase "slow build", I guess I can see how some people were bored of this movie, but I personally was invested from minute one, mostly due to some masterful screenwriting, brilliant editing, and most of all, an absolutely amazing cast. Really, across the board the performances are outstanding, but I think the top three go to Liev Schreiber, Rachel McAdams, and Michael Keaton. There is complexity in the simplicity here, and these characters feel real and finely wrought. The movie makes no attempts to oversell its protagonists, and does a great job at exemplifying the universality in the ability to both receive, inflict, or even ignore pain. If you can stomach the more lurid details of its subject matter, I definitely recommend giving it a watch.


#6 - Call Me Lucky

Hey, look, another documentary - and another bummer. To be fair, this movie is way more accessible than Spotlight, at least in my mind. It's a movie about a comedian told by comedians, so it's bound to be at least a little funny, in its own dark way. I want to say very little about Call Me Lucky, because I had a great time being completely surprised by it. The film follows the life and work of stand-up comedian Barry Crimmins, who was known for his passionate, angry, ranting sense of humor, as well as for his constant criticism of the American government and the Catholic Church. Essentially, Crimmins is unbelievably depressed and pissed off, and it's mostly due to the fact that he feels the weight of the entire world's problems on his shoulders, constantly calling out abuse, corruption, greed, exploitation, racism, sexism, fraud, warmongering, oppression, you name it. It is when Crimmins details why he feels this way that the movie enters a realm of true poignance. My favorite documentaries are the ones where the real-life subjects feel like characters, where the filmmaker chose a subject so inherently fascinating and complex that it almost feels like they were written for the screen. Crimmins is definitely that character, and director Bobcat Goldthwait masterfully peels away the layers of Crimmins' past and and present, making Call Me Lucky a funny, fascinating, and heartbreaking character study. It's on Netflix, and it is a great, great watch. I sincerely love this movie. I also recommend the rest of Goldthwait's filmography, namely World's Greatest Dad, which is also on Netflix. If you like some challenging themes and close-to-home commentary with your dark comedy, his work is for you.


#5 - Ex Machina

Ex Machina has been out for nearly a year now and it gets better each time I watch it. By far the most surprising Oscar winner of this year, Ex Machina tells the story of a computer programmer (played by Domnhall Gleeson) who is sent to a remote location to learn about a secret new project by a scientist named Nathan (played by my husband Oscar Isaac). It turns out Nathan is creating the first fully-functioning AI with their own human-like personalities, the most successful thus far of which is Ava (played by my wife Alicia Vikander). Nathan has Gleeson's Caleb undergo a Turing test with Ava to test whether she can pass as a legitimate consciousness instead of just a computer. The result is a mind-bending sci-fi thriller exploring the question of what makes something "alive", and more importantly "human", as well as man's use of technology and to what ends we should accept it. Instead of getting into the themes themselves here (which is a pretty fruitless effort in a paragraph), I'll just say to watch the movie a couple times and let those themes gel in your mind for a while. To this day I still read compelling analyses of this film, and each one is smart and expertly executed by director/writer Alex Garland, who I'm hoping as a fruitful career as a sci-fi director. Isaac delivers what is in my opinion the best supporting male performance of the year, Vikander is brilliant, and the film is a visual marvel on top of being tense and extremely thought-provoking. It's timely, well constructed, and genuinely intriguing. I just got done praising simplicity, but Ex Machina is where ambition and complexity, when handled by a competent and smart filmmaker, can pay off immensely. Check it out.


#4 - Star Wars: The Force Awakens

There are probably some people who are mad at how far up this movie is on my top 10 list, or more notably what films I've put it over. But remember, idiots, this is my personal opinion, and my personal opinion is that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is fantastic. It's not complex on a thematic level, nor is it groundbreaking filmmaking or touch on any important social issue. But The Force Awakens is, in my opinion the third-best Star Wars film, and the best fantasy film of the decade. In my mind, The Force Awakens needed to do three things: establish the old characters' place in the story while introducing new characters, revive the best of the franchise while breathing new life into it, and make me excited for the rest of the probably hundreds of Star Wars films that Disney will be giving us, or at least the main trilogy. It's done all of those things wonderfully, and J.J. Abrams has produced a film that's fast, entertaining, smartly put together, engrossing, and tons of fun. The new characters are fun and interesting (especially the villain), the lore and world of the Star Wars universe has been expanded in fine form, the visual effects are top-notch and impressive, the story is an intriguing kick-off to the sequel trilogy, and it more than atones for the sins of the prequel trilogy, and includes all the best elements of the originals while bringing some freshness in as well (giving what I think, notably, is the funniest Star Wars film). Cry unoriginality or fanservice all you want; I think this film accomplished all it needed to. I pre-ordered the deluxe Blu-Ray.


#3 - Room

Its title bares a hilarious similarity to Tommy Wiseau's 2003 masterpiece (which was super funny to hear glittery non-film-savvy red carpet paparazzi accidentally name-drop), but Room is legitimately a near-perfect drama. It's an understated effort, but this movie is engrossing, heartbreaking, and superbly acted. Lenny Abrahamson's last film, Frank, was actually on my top 10 list last year, so you could say he's turning out to be a favorite director of mine if he keeps this up. Room follows a young mother and son who are trapped in a tiny room since the latter's birth, and that's all I'll tell you. The mystery of Room's existence, the characters' place in it, and everything that happens from that point on is amazingly interesting to watch unfold, to the point that I never really knew where this movie was going, which is a great quality. Most notable, for sure, though, are the performances of Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay, the latter of whom delivers possibly the best child performance I've ever seen in a movie. Themes of motherhood, loss of innocence, and adjustment permeate the brilliantly written script (adapted from the screenwriter's own novel), which Abrahamson directs masterfully. I can't recommend this movie more; it's sad in such a pure and non-manipulative way. It's the only movie on this list that made me tear up.


#2 - Anomalisa

If you saw the poster, trailer, or plot synopsis for this movie and immediately thought it was hipster trash, or generally think that of the work of Charlie Kaufman, please skip to #1. Anomalisa is a stop-motion animated comedy-drama film directed and written by Charlie Kaufman (and co-directed by Duke Johnson of Community fame), It follows a middle-aged man named Michael Stone who has felt an unending detachment from other people, believing everyone to be exactly the same as everyone else. That is, until he has a chance encounter in a hotel with an exceptional woman that changes his perspective. Now, for the most part, I'm going to mostly leave it at that and let you see the movie and figure out everything else on your own, but this movie is really brilliant. Kaufman is known for his existentialism and themes of loneliness, love, and social detachment, and never has it been more strongly on display than in Anomalisa. There are a few stylistic decisions in the movie that are made concerning the voice actors and facial designs of the characters that you'll notice early on and may take some time to realize the point of, but once you do, their relevance to the film's themes really become apparent. As someone who myself deals with sometimes becoming bored with other people and slipping into a dangerous mentality that I'm somehow exceptional to them, this movie really hit home as a reminder that everyone is an individual with their own experiences and personalities, and it can be easy to think we're the only one who's as smart or experienced or has felt as much pain as we have. This is an extremely humanist film, reminding us how universal much of the human experience is, including the selfishness that comes with our inability to realize that sometimes. It's an interesting movie that's only gotten more interesting the more I think about it, and in typical Kaufman fashion deals with some profoundly personal themes that I find intriguing. If you're not into all that thinky shit, then maybe skip this one, but I think it's fantastic.


#1 - Mad Max: Fury Road

This should surprise no one that's been paying attention to me the last year. I don't really know how to sell this movie to anyone who isn't already sold on it. Mad Max: Fury Road is absolutely fantastic, and it's the best action movie of the 2010s without a doubt. Once again, just like Creed and Star Wars, we see a director truly understanding the successes of the old way of doing things, and nowhere is that more perfectly embraced than in Fury Road. A post-apocalyptic sci-fi action epic, Fury Road follows Max and Furiosa and their journey to help a group of enslaved wives escape the citadel of a violent oppressor, with his army of religious fanatics on their tail at every moment in an explosive, non-stop ride of vehicular combat that is essentially a feature-length car chase scene. This is not simple style over substance, though; there is a method to director George Miller's madness. Mad Max has fairly little dialogue and prefers more often to tell its story visually, using its brilliantly directed action sequences to move its story along and reveal things about its characters and the world in which it takes place, building a believable and intriguing post-apocalyptic world to tell a simple but extremely well-constructed humanist story of the equality and codependence among people of all creeds and kinds necessary to fight oppression and ensure the survival of the human race. All of this is enriched by an amazing blend of computer imagery and brilliant practical stunts and effects work, beautiful camerawork by John Seale, brilliant musical score of Tom Holkenborg, and all-around great performances from its cast, most notably from Charlize Theron. Mad Max: Fury Road is fast, frenetic, gorgeous, strange, enthralling, and brimming with 80's-era action-packed delirium to complement its ambitiously crafted narrative, and is truly the best documentary short film of 2015.


There you have it, my favorites of last year. Tune in every year for the rest of time for more lists like this one.

"Zootopia" Review

Zootopia is an animated comedy film from Walt Disney Animation Studios directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore and featuring the voice talents of Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, J.K. Simmons, Don Lake, Bonnie Hunt, Tommy Chong, Octavia Spencer, and Alan Tudyk. It follows Judy Hopps (voiced by Goodwin), a bunny who moves from her small rural town to the bustling city of Zootopia, a place where animals of all different species have renounced their predator/prey natures and have learned to live together in some form of harmony, where she goes on to become the city's first bunny cop. Though assigned as a meter maid, Judy finds herself in the middle of a missing animals case involving the disappearance of an otter among thirteen other animals - all predators - who have mysteriously vanished. Joining her is a sleazy hustling fox named Nick Wilde (voiced by Jason Bateman) who reluctantly decides to help her track down the kidnapper. This takes them all around the ecologically diverse Zootopia and has them meeting all kinds of crazy characters. If this movie sounds like boring, almost parodical animated kiddie fare from the description and the trailers, then congratulations, you're exactly like me up until a couple hours ago. I went and saw this movie based on the vague recommendation of one person and on the pretense that it would at least be funny, as evidenced by the hilarious sloth DMV scene shown in the trailer (which is actually even longer and funnier in the movie).

Holy shit, was I surprised. Zootopia is the best Disney animated film in years, and will probably up with my favorite movies of this year. I was absolutely shocked at how good this movie was, and the shitty part is that I barely even want to go into detail as to why it's so good, because I want people to have the experience I had of being completely floored once they realize what this movie's going for and, more importantly, how brilliantly it pulls it off. I'll go into that toward the end of the review, so if you want to be surprised and are convinced by my enthusiastic recommendation alone, stop here and go see this movie. If you don't care, I'll go into detail.

Let's get the obvious out of the way - this movie is gorgeous to look at. I noticed it the last time I saw the sloth trailer play in the movie theater (for about the 400th time - not complaining because it's a fun trailer but one of the downsides of going to the movies almost every week is you get super burnt out on trailers for popular movies). The level of detail in the design as well as the actual animation of the characters is impressive, especially considering this is actually one of the lower-budgeted Disney films of the last decade. And the world that they've created here, just on a pure visual level, is breathtaking. I'm usually one to hate introductions to locations in movies set to poppy upbeat music, but I can completely forgive it here because Zootopia - the actual place - is beautiful. There are lots of small bits of practicality thrown in around the universe that add some believability to the notion of having animals of all these different sizes and immunities in one place, which is refreshing from a filmmaking standpoint and makes the world feel more lived-in, but also serves the themes of the story very well, which again, I'll get into in a minute.

These characters are really fun too, specifically the two leads in Nick and Judy. Everyone in the cast does a pretty great job, but Goodwin and Bateman give great voice performances that are funny, believable, and charismatic. The story, while massively benefiting from its themes, is slightly formulaic, with a bit of kid-pandering exposition at the beginning that could've been more gracefully shown and not told as well as the cliche of the two protagonists having a brief disagreement at the turn of the third act before very quickly resolving it that we see in every buddy cop movie (because essentially that's what it is). But again, the subtext is so well-realized, the characters are so much fun, and the movie is fast and funny enough that these things can mostly be overlooked. These are by no means huge problems, but minor nitpicks.

I've heard a few critics express this and I agree with the assessment that, from a visual and filmmaking standpoint, this movie mostly stands out during its action sequences, which are fun, fast-paced, colorful, and well edited. Everything is kept visually interesting and the visual gags (along with the more subtle ones, including a really unexpected Breaking Bad reference) keep coming at a fast pace, and the beautiful environments are engaging and utilized well. It's just an overall fun time for pretty much anyone. Kids will like the bright colors and silly characters, and adults will probably appreciate the legitimate cleverness in some of these scenes. However, I think there's something that I think adults will appreciate much more...

A great family-friendly movie does a sort of dual-packaging for its message - it more obviously gives the simplistic, agreeable message that children can understand and embrace, but then it simultaneously gives a subtle, much more mature and thought provoking message that in essence is the same thing but means something different when you apply it in a mature setting. Zootopia does this beautifully. If you haven't heard or figured out, Zootopia is essentially an allegory for modern Western racism and xenophobia. Who would've thought that this silly animated comedy about a bunny cop with a trailer featuring a sloth trying to enter a license plate number would have some of the most thoughtful and intelligent commentary on media sensationalism, xenophobia, police and government corruption, social stigmas, multiculturalism, and even the fucking drug war? And I'm not reading into this too deep - this stuff is all just subliminal enough for kids to not quite catch it exactly (but still get the general message), but just at the forefront enough that it's pretty obvious to older teenagers and adults, yet never preachy or overbearing.

Watching this movie play out was amazing. The ails of society that this film touches on are so unbelievably timely and well-rounded - how the media will misconstrue or misread facts to suit an agenda, how political leaders can use fear as a tactic to stay in power while pitting people against each other for their differences, how the criminal justice system and social stigmas can make certain races validate other people's phobias of them, how figures in pop culture will weigh in on political polarization, how a society reacts aggressively in the face of tragedy. Some people have been asking legit questions about how animals procreate in Zootopia (and therefore why we never see any horrible hybrid animals), and the great part is the movie covers this by showing us the ways in which multiculturalism and trying to include every kind of person and way of life isn't always fun for everyone or practical. Judy is severely put off by some of the stuff she sees, despite considering herself an open-minded person. But, as Nick explains, with the freedom to "be whatever you want to be", some people choose to be weird shit that we have to learn to deal with, adapt to, or regulate thoughtfully. The movie doesn't promote blind tolerance even when it's of something actually negative, but rather it makes the argument that just because trying to be as tolerant as possible is difficult doesn't mean we shouldn't try.

These themes are all dealt with in such clever and thought provoking ways, and I really cannot believe that this movie did what it did, and when it did. This movie has had a March 2016 release date for three years, and the fact that it's making these points as well as it is in this political climate where the Republican frontrunner for president is talking about banning all Muslims from America and building walls to keep out Mexicans, it's almost a miracle how timely and dare I say even important this movie is. And it succeeds it wonderfully. This isn't a political film; at its very core it just promotes a message of being what you want to be and trying to accept people who are trying to do the same, and adjusting accordingly if need be. It makes the case that society needs to be a team effort, and we need to be able to work with each other to truly overcome the most "animalistic" parts of our nature. And that's what's great about Zootopia - it does all of this just subtly enough that it never feels overbearing. It's just genuine, honest, and thoughtful, and it respects its audience to be mature enough to be able to apply it to what they're seeing in real life.

You know, I had some great animated movies while I was growing up, and we can all groan about the horrible soulless cash-in that will be The Angry Birds Movie or the screaming garish cancer that is Minions or the absolute messes of noise like the Smurfs movies and their ilk, but really - between this, Big Hero 6, The Lego Movie, Inside Out, Wreck-It Ralph, and some of these other animated films that have such well-rounded themes and messages, I'm actually kind of jealous of little kids today that they get to grow up with such smart movies. Whether films like those are diamonds in the rough or fairly easy to come by is up to you, but I'm sincerely grateful for movies like Zootopia making thoughtful messages for kids that aren't preachy and lame, and also don't pander to them.

Overall, Zootopia was an absolute shock of a movie, and I cannot believe I'm considering giving it an A+. I'm holding back until I see it again next week, but this one is really, really good, and I highly recommend it. It's fast, silly, and colorful enough to keep the younger kids entertained, but underneath it has a really smart and awesome message that's cleverly and intelligently presented, not to mention incredibly timely. This is truly the Animal Farm of Disney animated movies, and one of their very best in a long while in my opinion.

Grade: A

Look Ahead: 2016 in Movies (March-August)

I was going to do this much earlier in the year but what with the Deadpool after-hype and the Oscars pre-hype (I was going to offer my thoughts, but eh, do we really need another blog post about #OscarsSoWhite?), it's been pushed to now. Disregarding movies that already came out or open this weekend (I plan on seeing Zootopia and Whiskey Tango Foxtrot). I'm gonna start with March 11th and go through every release I have something to say about. Should be a fun time.

10 Cloverfield Lane (March 11th)

I saw the first Cloverfield movie yeeeeeaaars ago, so I'm not entirely sure what to expect out of this movie. The trailer was decent enough, and John Goodman is in it for an indeterminate amount of time, and he's God, so there's that. The only little bit of trivia I know about this movie is that it's directed by an alumnus of my school's film program, so isn't that neat. Anyway, I'll most likely be giving this movie a look because it looks competently made at least. I don't think I'll be seeing it in IMAX though because that would probably give me a gigantic headache.

The Brothers Grimsby (March 11th)

This movie has waded in and out of my interest. At first I just heard that Sacha Baron Cohen was doing another Sacha Baron Cohen movie, and it was going to take place in some shitty town and it was gonna make fun of it and the locals were worried about their image. From that, I thought it was a Borat-type movie and I got kind of excited. Then I learned it was just a straightforward action comedy, and saw the lackluster trailer, and quickly forgot this movie was happening. Then a video blew up on YouTube of Jimmy Kimmel showing an outraaaaaageous clip from the movie that was deemed too hot for TV, and it piqued my interest. Then I found out that it's a scene of them hiding in an elephant's vagina whilst said elephant gets fucked by a male elephant, and I said, "Okay, hopefully the rest of the movie is good because I want to at least know what that scene looks like." And so far, all I've heard is that this movie is a silly action comedy whose best scene was given away to Jimmy Kimmel's audience. So I'm still on the fence about seeing this movie. Maybe on DVD. While drunk.

Midnight Special (March 18th)

There is a trailer for this movie, and I have not seen it. Not for any particular reason, as I am excited for this movie on paper - I just never really found the time to. And now, I figure, why not just be totally surprised by a movie for once? So, this movie could be completely expected shit and I won't know it till I see it, but oh well. It's got a competent director and an interesting (albeit vague) premise. When I heard it, I thought of E.T., and I'm hoping it delivers on that. But really, I have no idea what to expect from this.

Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (March 25th)

Yet another movie that has floated in and out of my interest. The teaser trailer for this movie actually looked pretty awesome to me. I was never really concerned with the whole Batfleck controversy because A) I like Ben Affleck, and B) I'm not a comic book nerd and don't give a shit. Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor is still kind of an iffy choice to me, and even after seeing a few glimpses of him in the trailers, I'll need to see the movie to be convinced, but in principle I like what they're trying for, making him a snobby millennial billionaire instead of the classic distinguished billionaire man. Then the first trailer happened and I realized that we're just going to give away that Batman and Superman eventually stop fighting and I got pretty bummed. Then the running time was announced to be nearly three hours, and I actually appreciated the movie for its lofty narrative goals, and I think it has some serious potential to be interesting. Then the last trailer came out and I was sold by most of the fight sequences - I think this movie will be at least decent. The DC Cinematic Universe is still young and has time to prove itself, and we'll have the first real cinematic appearance of Wonder Woman, so that's neat-o.

Hardcore Henry (April 8th)

I want this movie to be good, because the whole "let's make a first-person shooter movie" idea is one that I think could be really awesome, and some of the test footage I've seen from this film actually look really well put together. What I've heard from festival-goers thus far is that it's slick, dopey fun, and that's about all I could ask for. I also am thankful they changed the name from Hardcore to Hardcore Henry. I can imagine it'd be pretty awkward to try and google "hardcore pov movie" while looking for showtimes.

The Jungle Book (April 15th)

I have no idea how I feel about this movie. The director of Iron Man and Elf gives us one of two reboots of The Jungle Book coming in the next couple years, the other being from Andy Serkis, of all people. Anyway, Jon Favreau is a proven good director, and the cast is... interesting. Bill Murray as Baloo? Totally. Scarlett Johansson as Kaa? Whaaaaat. I don't know. The effects look pretty, and I doubt it'll be a complete piece of shit, but I really am gonna have to see the movie to get where they're going with this, because the promotions have not helped one bit. The posters make it look like one of those Disney animal documentaries that come out on Earth Day. Speaking of which, this movie comes out around Earth Day. I might be on to something here.

Keanu (April 29th)

This movie actually looks surprisingly awesome. It's written by and stars Keegan Michael-Key and Jordan Peele, and I'm a pretty big fan of their show and general sense of humor. This movie was actually sold to me on the pretense that Bill Hader would be playing their drug dealer, and I was down just from that. Then I found out that it's about them trying to save their cat who's named because of the characters' love for the movie John Wick, and simultaneously about their subverting racial stigmas. What a weird smattering of things for a comedy movie, put together by two people who continually prove themselves adept at comedy. I'm excited.

Captain America: Civil War (May 6th)

The first "summer" release (because summer starts seven weeks early in movie land) is Captain America: Civil War. I've been pumped for this movie since... well, since Captain America: The Winter Soldier, also known as Captain America: The Good One. This is the movie that Age of Ultron set up for, and by no surprise, the trailer looks like it will be much better put together than that film, or at the very least much more focused. Between this and Batman v Superman, looks like comic book movies are going all-out on interdenominational philosophical battles between dudes in suits (both featuring one in spandex vs. one in mechanical armor - small world!). This one looks like it might handle its (simplified) subject matter a little smarter, especially seeing as how Zack Snyder has always favored style over substance, but at the very least looks like a very well-directed action film from the Russo brothers.

Money Monster (May 13th)

I don't know what this movie is about. I think it's about a dude who holds up a TV show about money or corporate something? And I think George Clooney sympathizes with him or something? I dunno, it's directed by Jodie Foster and features the toothy girl from Mystic Pizza, I guess that's cool. I'll probably check this movie out just to put to bed its extremely early Oscar talk, which I don't understand because it's coming out in May - then again, the most trophies this year went to a movie that came out in May. Call me crazy, though, but I don't think Money Monster will achieve quite the same for its genre as Mad Max did. You never know, though. We live in a world where one of Scott Pilgrim's ex-girlfriends has an Oscar and a sentient nacho cheese monster is a presidential frontrunner; anything can happen.

The Angry Birds Movie (May 20th)

This movie is going to suck. And I'm gonna go see it so you can laugh at me making fun of it. I'm willing to bet on both of these things. The animation is good and it has a decent voice cast, but really, I can't see this movie being even okay, really. Half of the last trailer was a pissing joke, and Norm of the North all but eviscerated my level of tolerance for piss in children's films. Also, why was this movie made? Does anyone play Angry Birds anymore? I know they greenlit this movie in like 2012 when it was still relevant, but at this point why even go forward with it? If you're going to capitalize on a stupid trend, at least do it while it's still a trend. Fucking Sony doesn't even know how to sell out properly anymore.

Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (May 20th)

Hit or Miss Jokes: The Movie. Or at least I'm assuming. I actually don't find Seth Rogen insufferable, or Zac Efron for that matter, and I enjoyed the first Neighbors movie, and the trailer for this one looked good enough. I mean, this movie's pretty redundant, but if anything it'll make a good distraction when it comes on cable. At least Rose Byrne is still hot.

X-Men: Apocalypse (May 27th)

I'm not gonna talk about Alice Through the Looking Glass because I'm not gonna see it. I'll be honest, I've never been a huge fan of the X-Men. I've seen a lot of the movies, and I think they're fine, but I've never been super invested in any of the stories, and I honestly have no intelligent explanation as to why that is. This movie looks good though, and my boyfriend Oscar Isaac plays the villain and it looks like he's gonna be pretty dope, so we'll see how it goes.

Warcraft (June 10th)

So, between this, the Ratchet and Clank movie, and the Assassin's Creed movie coming out in December, I guess 2016 will be the year that we put to bed the rule that video game movies are all terrible, because the latter two at least look like they have potential. I'm not counting The Angry Birds Movie because that movie was a bad idea from day one. Anyway, I don't give a shit about any of these video game series, so I don't have a dog in this fight from a fan standpoint, and I have absolutely no idea how this movie is gonna turn out. It's got some neat effects, but it could be really, really dumb. I'm gonna guess it's gonna be really, really dumb. I'll probably see it though because I'm a fucking idiot.

Finding Dory (June 17th)

I want to be really excited for this movie and I'm... not really. It looks fine. I dunno, this was always a weird idea to me. With the exception of Coco, in terms of Pixar movies, I'm basically just waiting for The Incredibles 2 at this point. But hey, the director of this directed my favorite Pixar movie, so maybe they'll pull through in their Pixar-y way. I wasn't too pumped for Inside Out based on the trailer, and that shit was great.

Independence Day: Resurgence (June 24th)

Please let this movie be filled with unabashed 90s cheese. If there's one thing Hollywood is lacking lately in its mainstream blockbusters, it's well-done cheese. I love cheese. Anyway, Jeff Goldblum is in this so I'm definitely seeing it even if it sucks dick.

The Legend of Tarzan (July 1st)

Am I the only one who thinks this movie looks really good? Like, I think this movie could be way better than it should be. David Yates is a bad-ass director, having directed the second best Harry Potter movie, the supporting cast is amazing (Samuel L. Jackson, Christoph Waltz, and Margot Robbie), and the visuals look great. I dunno, I'm kinda pumped for this honestly.

The Purge: Election Year (July 1st)

I think I judged The Purge too quickly. The premise doesn't make a whole lot of sense when the details come into play, but I'm willing to let premises to horror movies be kind of silly as long as the movie itself is well-made. The first Purge turned out to be a really generic home invasion thriller instead of making use of its at the very least interesting premise, and I decided to sign off the second one. But, with the trailers for the second movie and now Election Year, I think if you force yourself to know that these aren't really horror movies, it looks like they're getting better with each entry. This movie doesn't look very scary, but it looks like it could be fun. I don't understand the people on social media elevating these movies to be some brilliant social commentary, but I guess given the narrative complexity of most popular horror movies, by comparison this shit is pretty great. I dunno, I might give it a look.

The BFG (July 1st)

This is one of my most anticipated movies of 2016. This looks like classic Steven Spielberg, whose next three films including this one sound great, the others being Tintin 2 and Ready Player One. John Williams seems to have provided yet another brilliant score, the visuals look great, and I just got an E.T. feel from the trailer. It looks like after a decade of serious historical dramas, Spielberg might be taking a brief detour back into the fun movies he's known for. I am down.

The Secret Life of Pets (July 8th)

I'm seeing this because Louis C.K. is playing a dog in a children's movie and I want to be part of that world. The Kevin Hart bunny will probably annoy me. I hope this movie is good and they don't force a bunch of Minions shit into it.

LIGHTNING ROUND

Ghostbusters (July 15th) - Already covered this shit.
La La Land (July 15th) - Musical comedy starring Emma Stone, J.K. Simmons, and Ryan Gosling directed by the guy behind Whiplash. I am more than sold.
Star Trek Beyond (July 22nd) - I do not give a fuck about this movie.
Ice Age: Collision Course (July 22nd) - There are FIVE of these now.
Suicide Squad (August 5th) - This is either gonna suck or be amazing.
Sausage Party (August 12th) - The sausage character is gonna fuck the donut in the hole. I'm willing to bet money on this.
Kubo and the Two Strings (August 19th) - It's by the studio behind Coraline. I'll probably want to make love to this movie.


I'll be making a second edition of this in August to cover September through December once we get word on some Oscar contenders coming out around then. There are plenty of movies coming out in March through August that I didn't talk about, but I got the big ones I wanted out of the way. Tomorrow - Zootopia review! Next week - others!