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Toy Story 4
When I first heard that a "Toy Story 4" was being filmed, I immediately laughed and (ridiculously) jumped to the conclusion that Disney simply wanted to make money off of the franchise, rather than offer another well-crafted masterpiece. I felt that Toy Story 3 was a beautiful and perfect ending to the Toy Story trilogy, and that a fourth movie simply wasn't needed. The first twenty minutes of Toy Story 4, though, proved my theory wrong.

Pros
- As with all the other Toy Story films, the plot is amazing and oozes with interesting details, settings and situations. I really found the "Road Trip" aspect of the story to be interesting, as the characters weren't in Andy's backyard anymore; they had to deal with unfamiliar topography and unfamiliar faces, bar Bo Peep.

- I found the reunion of Bo Peep and Woody feeling authentically heartfelt and tender. It was truly a moment that tugged at the soul.

- Toy Story 4 is loaded with satire, nostalgic moments and jokes. Since I watched the 3 other Toy Story movies last week to catch myself up before this one, I caught most of the Easter eggs to the past in the forms of quotes, objects and references.

Cons
I felt that a lot of the original Toy Story gang (Slinky, Jessie, Rex, Ham, and even Buzz to an extent) didn't get a fair amount of screentime. Instead, they were swapped out with new characters like Duke Kaboom, Forky and Giggles as well as the comedic duo of Ducky and Bunny - to be fair, the new characters weren't bad, but I felt that a stronger emphasis on the older toys was needed.

MAJOR Toy Story 4 Spoilers Ahead!
Although to many the ending of Woody leaving the gang for a life of adventure with Bo Peep was a total shock, I kind of expected it from the beginning. I knew that a Toy Story movie would never feature a character's death, especially the main protagonist's, but I also knew that Woody would be reluctant to leave the love of his life after losing her for 9 years. Still, this movie was a pivotal point in wrapping up the story of Woody and his friends - pretty much everyone got what they wanted. Bonnie got Forky back, Woody was reconnected with the love of his life, and Jessie got to take on a role of leadership.

All in all, Toy Story 4 is a must-watch for anyone who even partially enjoyed one of the 3 other Toy Story films. It's fun for young children all the way to adults, as well as everyone in between.
 
Spider-Man: Far From Home - This film makes me happy, so many great moments and the two end credit sequences completely change things up. It takes a little while to really get going but it's still a fun journey and there's plenty of laughs and character development. Everything to do with Mysterio is just fantastic, some really cool and imaginative sequences. Will be going to see this again.
 
Saw a few films at the weekend. First was Men In Black: International. This was so much better than I was expecting, I hadn't heard much about it, didn't really hear anyone talk about it so thought it must have been bad. Instead I got quite a fun Sunday afternoon blockbuster with some great vfx and some decent moments of humour. It's not great but it's fun and expands the MIB franchise quite organically.

Midsommar - Not being a fan of the director's previous film, Hereditary, I was a little hesistant to see this but I do love the cult horror vibe it was going for. Overall I think it's ok, it is shot nicely and the cast are pretty good. I also quite liked the setup even if it is a tad predictable in terms of where it is going. However I have issues with the random "jump" edits, pretty sure they're in there to unsettle you but I just found them annoying, I will give them bonus points for the subtle crazy picture manipulation going on in the background etc in certain scenes.

Anna - Hmm this film should be called flashback or whiplash because that's all it does. The structure of the film is just a mess to the point where the audience was laughing at yet another card saying "3 years ago". Some of the action sequences are fine/good (best one can be watched by basically watching the trailer) but everything else going on was just dull and boring.
 
The Lion King (2019) - I only saw this as I work in vfx and I wanted to see the incredible work the vfx teams did on a big screen. They really did do an outstanding job with everything, the sand dunes <3 The score on Dolby Atmos sounded absolutely phenomenal, made me happy that I bothered to see it. The new song from Beyonce that was randomly chucked in was woeful. Most of the voice acting was good (I thought the kids did a really good job) but there were a few that really stuck out. I've seen comments about Scar not being great and honestly I think for the most part he's really good, very intimidating in certain scenes but occasionally something is off. The animals talking, something feels weird there too which I think ruins it a bit, I think that stems from them trying to make it all photo-real.

Overall, you know the story and songs, if you love that you won't have a bad time but maybe they would have been better off just re-releasing the original?
 
More films. First was The Current War which I've been looking forward to. I liked it, some of the camera lens/angles I didn't like but I enjoyed the cast and the story. It might have benefited from being a series instead but at least this managed to cram in a lot of plot points without feeling overwhelming.

Horrible Histories: The Rotten Romans - Loved the kids TV show and the books. They really tried to capture the brilliance of the TV show but trying to keep to a main plot with main characters ruins the entire concept. The songs also feel more out of place here and the budget/quality wasn't really ramped up. It was interesting seeing so many good actors turn up for this and when I saw the poster I laughed and thought the big names would only be small cameos but for the most part I was wrong! Overall it's not very good but it did have the odd moment that made me chuckle.
 
Me again. Saw Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw last night. It was exactly what I was expecting it to be, stupid fun with some outlandish action sequences. It's top-tier leave your brain at the door entertainment. There's several really surprising cameos and it looks like they're setting up at least one of them to return for the inevitable sequel. There's THREE credit sequences because apparently they think they're Marvel now. Oh and one of them includes spoilers for the end of Game of Thrones if you haven't caught that yet.
 
Once Upon A Time in Hollywood: Best movie I saw all year. Quentin said to not spoil anything, so go see it yourself!
 
Went to see this last night - Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.

MINOR SPOILERS
It's total tripe.

MAJOR SPOILERS
Okay, to be fair it is absolutely beautiful to look at. The cars, scenery, sets, and colour of the movie are gorgeous (particularly the cars). Brad Pitt is wonderful. The last ten minutes are excellent. That's about it.

However, good lord it's dull. It takes the best part of three hours to tell a 90 minute story. No idea what Margot Robbie's story arc added, it was weirdly filmed (on purpose jump cuts with continuity errors, wtf?), very very slow. Oh it was SO boring.

I have a feeling I might be a bit too young (or uneducated about Hollywood history) to 'get' it properly. Or maybe I need to watch it again. Oh god, do I have to?

People will say it's amazing 'cos it's Tarantino, but I was thoroughly unimpressed. It felt too much like some strange personal project or joke on his part. Without a doubt the worst he's done.
 
^ Hmmm. Saw it this afternoon and I can see what you are saying. Was OK IMHO but yeah, really slow - no great plot. Style over substance. Enjoyed it, but not on the same level at all as his earlier stuff.
 
13 Cameras.

Kind if a weird lower budget Netflix film but I found myself fairly involved even if my level of being involved hoping all the characters would be killed since they were all so annoying. Still, decent enough I guess and didn't drag on forever.

6.5
 
Saw a few films at the weekend. First was Dora and the Lost City of Gold. I didn't grow up with the TV show but was aware of its existence. I LOVED it! I thought it was very funny, the references to her asking the audience to repeat the word cracked me up every time. There are a few times where it starts to drag just a little but I don't think it affected the overall film. I enjoyed the action sequences too, just a fun family adventure film.

Good Boys - There are some very funny moments in this film but overall it was a bit lame? I'm not sure what it was but something felt off and it dragged in quite a lot of places.


Once upon a time in Hollywood - The recreation of 60s Hollywood is amazing and I felt immersed in that World. I was surprised that a particular character that is introduced is only seen once and then just referred to for the rest of the film as being "away". I know the ending relates to real life events but no idea on the real details, something I want to delve into (funnily enough its referred to in the latest season of Mindhunter too).

@Hixee mentioned the random jump cuts/continuity errors. This felt a bit jarring to me but I can only imagine it's a reference to something.

I liked it but it's not a very re-watchable film imo, but it was nice to just delve into this World and meet some interesting characters.
 
Saw Once Upon in Hollywood twice and yeah I feel the same way. As someone who has studied film, I liked some of the references, but to be honest that's what the film felt like, a collection of references the 60s and to the golden age of Hollywood. The chemistry between Leo and Brad was great, you felt like as if these characters had been friends for a long time even if the story didn't tell you that. I agree with @Hixee the story is all over the place and the film is twice as long as it should be, Margot Robbie pretty much does nothing. Trying to avoid spoilers, but the ending just felt like Tarrantino had to do his thing, just so you knew it was him, unlike his previous films the brutal violence just doesn't fit the tone of the comedic story. I would say I enjoyed it overall, but it's a disappointment considering the talent involved.

6.5/10
 
I guess it's been a minute since I updated, been a slow 2 months...

Far From Home

Enjoyed it. Saw it twice and yeah. Smash smash.

Stuber

One of the worst movies of the year. It was trash. The schtick is old after a few minutes.

Lion King

I'm already tired of the remakes. I was killing time before a flight, otherwise I wasnt gonna bother. That about sums it up.

Hobbs and Shaw

Wife wanted eye candy and I needed a mental break and she was the lucky one who fell asleep. How do people enjoy this trash? Just awful, awful movies. The ribbing they did at each other was si forced and unfunny.

Good Boys

I kinda agree with peep. My issues were the big moments were in the trailer. They could have added a tad of depth but they stopped at the edge. Considering I deal with this age group daily, some of the jokes got me dying. The calling someone a try hard as a huge insult was a perfect touch.

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Went to see Crawl yesterday.

If you haven't heard of it Crawl is a disaster/horror film where a father and daughter are caught in Hurricane while they are being hunted by alligators. For the type of movie that it is, it does almost everything effectively. The set up is straight forward, maybe a little too much as you are given all the character information in the first 10 minutes, but still it gets to the point and for the most part this film is a thrill ride, it's intense and uses it's sense of claustrophobia well as the characters are trapped in a basement which is quickly flooding as alligators swim into the basement via the sewage pipes (makes more sense in the film) lots of actually scary and intense moments in this film and it's more gory then I was expecting it to be. The gators look realistic in some parts, but look fake in others parts so it takes a bit of suspension of disbelief, but the sound design really sells that they are there. Like most horror films there is a few stupid decisions here and there, but for the most part you don't have to turn your brain off to enjoy it.

7.5/10
 
Last week, through no fault of my own, I watched "Angel Has Fallen".

F**king dreadful. I didn't mind the others in the series too much, but this one was dire. Just so utterly, utterly predictable.

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Went to see IT: Chapter 2 on Friday. It was ok, very funny in places. Most of the "scary" bits were just really loud jump scares. It's super long and I felt bored in sections of the film, especially in the section of quite predictable sequences. The first scene is quite tough to watch, got a bit angry about it but not at the film, just the situation/characters. Overall it's fine and if you like the first part then you'll at least get some entertainment from it.
 
Watched "It: Chapter 2"

I actually preferred it to the first a lot of people who I know disagree with. Enjoyable film overall but it does feel repetitive and it is too long at almost 3 hours.

7/10

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Ad Astra

Pretentious and boring. That just about sums it up. But it's more fun to talk about it in detail. I'll try to avoid spoilers, but I can tell you right away that pretty much nothing happens in the end anyway, so I'm not sure how much there even is to spoil.

Anyway, we meet Brad Pitt either giving a completely emotionless performance or starring in a completely emotionless role. A bad exposition dump (complete with the hallmark line "as you know", which is always a telltale sign that the script writer just gave up at some point) tells us that he is a really super, great guy. So does every other character in this movie, by the way. Brad Pitt is the one that doesn't need to take drugs to stay focused on a long-haul spaceflight, he's the one who survives when others die in action scenes, he's the one who can land a spaceship better than the captain of said ship. And if something goes wrong, not only is Brad Pitt the only one who knows what to do, we're told whatever actions he takes are completely justified.

So yeah, spaceships. A lot of time is spent on them, and the visuals are great, but the writers really miss the mark when it comes to the physics of this sci-fi movie. Notable examples include a scene in zero G inside a spaceship during a launch, an echo-free chamber whose acoustics are compromised by a large glass window, lunar gravity only being a thing outdoors, antimatter being conjured out of nowhere, a large pool of water full of leaves on Mars, and a message being broadcast to Neptune with 30 seconds being considered a long wait for a reply (Neptune is almost three light-hours from Earth even when the planets are perfectly aligned). Oh, and Neptune's rings are apparently only a couple hundred meters thick. You can park a ship on one side of the rings, see another ship on the other side, and jump between them. Don't worry of you bump into a few rocks on the way, you're likely to land on the other ship at a greater speed than you jumped off with.

All right, bad science can still happen in a good movie (even Gravity is full of bull and I love that one), but in this case the movie would have been just as bad if it got all of it right. It's just the little details that add up to show they didn't really pay attention. In case that wasn't obvious from the actors' performances.

Yeah, this movie tries to be deep. Each line is delivered slowly in a low voice. As if everything said is profound and important. As if the words have a weight to them. As if the actors were given each line on a separate slip of paper and told to read them without emotion for a few takes before they went on to the next line, without ever being told in what context the lines were delivered. There is hardly a single scene with believable human interactions, no emotion ever shown. As a result, everybody seem bored out of their minds all the time, a perfect reflection of the viewers.

And the narration. God, the narration. Spoon-feeding viewers what they already saw on the screen two minutes ago. Brad Pitt's voiceover saying "I'm alone on a spaceship" right after a scene where we saw how he came to be alone on a spaceship. Saying "It ended in tragedy" right after showing said tragedy. Saying "I am calm" when he is calm. I presume this is done for the sake of viewers who are about to fall asleep in their chairs.

It all reminded me of another movie. Does anyone remember that Mr. Bean's Holiday movie from a few years ago? That one where he goes to the Cannes film festival, where they are showing that ludicrously pretentious and slow art film? Ad Astra is like that movie-within-a-movie. Slow, boring, self-indulgent and shallow. I rate films on a three-point scale, and I can safely say it's among the worst third of movies I've ever seen. 1/3.
 
Hustlers - I enjoyed it, Constance Wu is great in the lead role. There's the occasional use of some interesting audio design which was neat.

The farewell - Really great, the entire cast is brilliant and I loved a lot of the dialogue exchanges. It felt like peering into a slice of this families' life and it was fascinating. It was funny, sad and heartwarming and I highly recommend everyone checks it out.

The Kitchen - It was fine, well made and the lead actors did a great job (always like seeing Melissa McCarthy in more serious roles). It got a bit tedious in the middle and it got really silly towards the end, to the point where I no longer cared about any of the characters. If you enjoy gangster films you'd probably get at least some enjoyment out of it but it's not perfect.


On Netflix I watched Between two ferns: The movie. I enjoyed this, some good chuckles throughout. The end credit gag reel was hilarious.
 
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