Hereditary

Man, I was not ready. I should of been. I only heard about this film because of Chris Stuntmans review on YouTube. He was blown away so I thought I should see it because I want to be blown away too. Man, I had no idea.

I've read nothing about this film. Didn't even see the trailer. I went in totally blind. This is kinda a good thing. I wasn't sure if this was a psychological thriller or straight horror film. Well ladys and gentlemen it's both.

This film is a slow creepy burn. We meet this Gramham family on the day the funeral of Annie's,Toni Collettes character's mother. Annie is miniature artist and it's easy to see she wasn't very happy even before her mom died. The whole family seem to be melancholy to the core. The dad of the family seem to be the one keeping the family together while his wife Annie is working on her art and daughter Charlie wander around and make her own figures. The son played by Alex Wolff.

Early on we get hints of a haunting going on but then nothing happens. A lot of nothing happens in the first act. Just a whole lot of tension and creepy silence. The mood of the film is so dark and haunting but even after a jaw dropping horrific event happens to the two teen kids of this family it fells like nothing is really supernatural is gonna happen. The family start to unravel and frankly that was horrifying enough. I started to think the family was going to turn on each other and that would be the end game. I was so right and so damn wrong at the same time.

I laughed at parts where I'm not sure the film maker wanted people to laugh at but i wasn't alone. I wonder if what the film maker was thinking about when crafting this whole film. I have no desire to rewatch this film, it creeped me the hell out but if there's a commentary by the director I might.  I'll just covered my eyes again and just listen. I had no idea where it was truly going from one scene to the next. I have a lot of questions. When I left the movie my friend had to explain  a lot of the things I apparently missed. I guess there was a lot of foreshadowing that went right over my head. This movie is on some 6 Senses type of shit. You really have to pay attention to what is being said especially by Annie. But it's was hard for me because I was too scared and creeped out. 

Please see this movie. I can't even say I loved it but it was so beautifully made and acted. The climax was sharp and shocking but the ending was let down. However, it was stunning just the same.  It wasn't like a paint by numbers horror film Hollywood just keep shitting out. Maybe if we keep supporting original unique films more filmmakers can make original and unique films. But what usually happens thou is a unique film makes a splash and then they make inferior sequels and knockoffs but a girl can dream. B+

Ocean's 8

Ocean's 8 the 4th film in the Ocean's franchise. It's a reboot/sequel in my book. Saundra Bullock plays the lead as Debbie Ocean, sister to George Clooney's Danny Ocean. And just like Danny, Debbie is a sharp con artist with a passion for elaborate heist.

This is a film I've been looking forward to seeing since I heard in was in production. And the wait was not worth it. It's okay. Good knows I love a female driven film. I don't care what anybody say about movie being remade or rebooted with women replacing men. I'd definitely prefer a original film with women in the lead but films get rebooted and remade all the damn time. Or they just change the names and situation. Tell me The Fast and The Furious wasn't a Point Break remake. More recently we got Den of Thieves cheap remake of HEAT. Why can't women get in on being unoriginal? 

But this is supposed to be a direct sequel to the other Oceans movie. And it's styled after the other film especially the original. Not the "original" original starring Frank Sinatra but the 2001 film versions. Yeah, it was a remake.Debbie like Danny is getting out of prison at the start of the film and even have a blonde #2 that helps assemble her team just like Danny. The cinematography, the transitions, the music is all very Oceans 11. We even get the 2nd layer of the con reveal at the end. And that's it.

It's just like the 2001 Ocean's 11 but with women but subtract the snappy dialogue, and the tension of will they or won't they get caught. At one point they find that there is a security device require to remove the necklace they are planning to steals within hours but they immediately have solution in the next scene. There is no real bad guy to truly hate. Or anyone on to Debbie's plan. It felt like there was no risk of them getting caught. We learn Debbie ex thru her under the bus for a con they did together and that why she was in prison but it still wasn't enough there to care about. The team as whole was just there. Everybody played there part but there was no chemistry. I don't blame the actors but the flat script. In the 2001 Ocean 11 the team has obstacles while planning the big heist and they ham it up together while figuring shit out. We never got the curveball that screws up the plan and the comedic relief of them dealing with it. There were scene were I suppose they thrown a curveball but the solution was a snap and no very funny. Everything so went smooth. In a Heist a work around should be a long shot and we the audience, step on the edges of our seats anticipating the outcome. We should be worried for our protagonist getting caught but that wasn't factor here. Maybe that's the effect of having women running the con but it makes for a boring movie

The women were stylish as the men of the other films but the dialogue was not on the same level. Man, I wanted to love this but it just wasn't funny or slick enough. How can you make a boring  film about a group of women criminal? C

Solo the Orginal Space Cowboy

I not gonna qualify my opinion and go on and on about what about the original trilogy meant to me. Okay I am.
     I seems to be a requirement for a Solo review. I was born in 1979 and I don't know of a world without STAR WARS. But I truly don't remember watching the movies as a kid. But it was in the air and apart of life. I do remember watching all of the prequels in the theater with various degrees of boredom. The only thing I loved was the fight  between Anakin and Obi-wan at the end of Clone Wars. I didn't really watch the originals until my son was 6 or 7 and would watch all 3 over and over when I bought as set from target on a whim. He loved those damn movie. My dad watched him while I was at work and he let him play them all day until I got home. On my days off I refused to put them on but one day I relented and sat down and watched with him. They were good but I wasn't blown away. Mostly I was confused at to how bitch ass Anakin and bad ass Darth Vader was the same dude.  And I did notice the weird unnecessary digital updates.  And in spite of having no attachment to the prequels I was happy that I got to take my son to see Episode 1 The Phantom Menace for his 1st time when they re released in theaters in 2012. He loved the pod racing. His mind was blown. He was 8, so don't judge him. But watching him watch it, that was everything. Up their with him meeting Minnie Mouse at Disneyland when he was 5. And of course I was then forced to buy him all the prequels and they immediately went in the rotation with the original trilogy.
     So I guess you can say I was never STAR WARS fangirl. More like a fanMom raising a fanboy. A pure fanboy with nothing but love for all 6 flims. His love for the films and character's is all I cared about. I've bought the t-shirts, toys, and Halloween costumes. And we when news of new STAR WARS movie were coming he was overjoyed and I was so happy and excited about taking him to see them. And yeah he had the Kylo Ren costume the Halloween before The Force Awakens was even out.  (Force Awakens A+, The LAST JEDI B and Rogue One B)

     But when we heard of Solo we weren't that excited and the trailer didn't look all the great. Who the fuck wanted  a HAN Solo movie? Ewan McGregor is still young so we all just knew he would get a stand alone Obi-wan movie for sure.

     Man, I haven't even started to review this damn thing. My bad. It's just a stupid forgettable space cowboy movie about the orignial OG space cowboy. They didn't need to make it and its so disrespectful to the fans. Yes I loved Donald Glovers's Lando and his civil rights fighter droid L-3 but that's about it. We saw it in a damn near empty Memorial Day weekend. And frankly I'm happy it didn't make the money  they expected. I hope to God they take this as a lesson that you can't just slap STAR WARS on something people come running. A lot of people are attributing this to The LAST JEDI being a disappointment to "diehard" fans. But I think not.  How did they expect people to watch and love a character for 40 years and then give them a cheap imitation. Harrison Ford is Han Solo, period. If they just had to make this film they need a actor that would basically do a spot on Harrison Ford impersonation at the very least. This Alden Ehrenreich was amazeballs in Hail, Caesar but in Solo he was just there. If this wasn't STAR WARS connected and his character had different name, it more than like I wouldn't have seen it until it came out at Redbox and I would have scrolled IG the whole time. I dare say it would have made half of what it did. It was just one forgettable scene to the next scene to the next and call backs to things he said before. Not very ambitious but safe and impersonal. So many character died as soon as they were introduced. So we never got connected and their death had no weight.

Sometime I wonder to these film makers ever watch all the originals before they work on the new films bc it don't seem like they do. They're so disconnected. Hell TLJ is disconnected from TFA the film right before it. Hopefully this will force them to take a better look at the whole SW universe. Maybe learn from Marvel and get a game plan together. This movie was serviceable but a serviceable movie for a Iconic film character as Han Solo it's a slap in the face. Especially for FanMom that's been paying into the STAR WARS  machine for years. Even if they spent my hard earned money on a CGI Han and paid Ford a fortune to just voice it would have been light years better and still not good enough. C-

DEADPOOL 2

2nd Best Deadpool movie ever made. A-

2018 So Far

Again, I've been slacking. I've seen every movie on my Most Anticipation Films of 2018 that's came out, but only reviews 2. So this is gonna be a short run down of the film's that I've seen so far this year.

1. READY PLAYER ONE Um, it's been a minute since Ive watched this so bare with me. It moved me but was corny as hell. The ending in the game should have been it. The real world ending was too long and drawn out for no reason. I can't wait to see it again at home so I can get all the video game references. B

2. BLACK PANTHER. The hype was unreal and I was totally into it. T'achalla is sexy as hell and his cuz Killmonger equally charismatic. The whole 1st and 2nd act had me. But the 3rd act not so much. The CGI fight scene was unfortunate. Shuri was the best thing in the film. Looking forward to the inevitable sequel. B+

3. ANNIHILATION This was a syfy thriller starring Natalie Portman. It was very intense and refreshing do to the fact that I could not guess what was gonna happen from one scene to the next.  Moreover I can not tell you how it ended even if I want to. My mind was blown and the moment I thought I got the pieces back together they fell right out my hands. I definitely need to read the book and the rest of the series by Jeff VanderMeer called the Southern Reach Trilogy. B

4. AVENGER: INFINITY WAR Okay so I saw this twice. The first time I was in awe of the scale of it all. The A1 characters team ups, the fight scenes, the death and destruction. I could not believe the awesomeness of it all. So on 1st viewing it as an A++ easy. The 2nd time the shine had worn off. Manly the the tone was all over the place. Marvel films have always been heavy with comedy but this time it was just too heavy considering the steaks. Another fail was the CGI of Thanos. He looked like a video game character and didn't do him justice at all. He was hands down the best comic book movie villain since Heath Ledger's Joker . I don't care what nobody says Killmonger was just a black Magneto. And at the killed off half the characters but it was hard to care because we know it's a part 4 and there is a time stone so all the have to do is hit rewind and boom everybody's back. B+

The Post

The Post is the latest film from Steven Spielberg. The film documents the behind the scene drama of the Washington Post decision to publish top secret papers that outlined a cover-up that spanned several presidential administrations, which sparked an unprecedented battle between the government and the free press back in 1971. Obviously with the current administration that has been so openly hostile towards the press one can’t help make parallels.

The film stars Meryl Steep as Katharine “Kay” Graham the publisher in process of takin The Washington Post public, further adding to the drama. Tom Hanks is Editior Ben Bradlee whom is in the middle of butting heads with over editorial choices when all hell breaks loose. The New York Times published a story with top secret information from the Pentagon leaked by a former military analyst. Bradlee and his reporters are on the hunt for more leads. Tom Hanks kills it as the seasoned, relentless newsman. He, like Will Smith, is master playing a lovable jerk. Meryl Steep is Meryl Streep, so yeah she great. Her character has the most to lose if they publish additional “Pentagon papers” making easy not to sympathize with her struggle to do it, even thou we know she’s gonna do it.

There’s no doubt that some of the scenes were over dramatized to make the movie more suspenseful. The climax when Graham makes the decision, she’s seemed to miraculous grow a back bone after spending most of the film as a doormat. That was the only fault I found. People in the audience cheered and clapped for her. I must have been the only one there that thought it played out melodramatically. It’s a high steaks drama starring Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep and directed by Steven Spielberg, so I expected some over the top scenes when three powerhouses get together.  9/10

Wonder Woman Revisited

So, I bought the Blu-ray of Wonder Woman. It was on sale for $10 and I have Man of Steel and Batman vs. Superman so I needed to complete the Trinity. I'm sentimental like that. So today I finally watch it for the first time since I saw it in the theater last June. When I initially reviewed it I was not impressed. It felt like  my childhood super hero was wronged by a mediocre and corny adaptation.

I don't know how but after see it now I fucking love it. Almost all of it. The weakest part are the supporting characters like Eddie, the shooter that can't shot. He was a pointless character.  I think his only purpose was to so how compassionate Diana is. Actually Steve Trevor's whole team could have been better fleshed out. Felt like they didn't want them to be more interesting than Trevor. I understand some characters are supporting character that let the leads shine but come on, they were the definition of lame.

But I digress, she was amazing, the action was amazing. To have another super hero besides Captain America that not brooding or sarcastic or silly is nice especially a woman.  I pretty sure the only thing I truly like during the 1st viewing was Wonder Woman/Gal Gadot. She was perfectly cast and I don't care about her accent. There was a sincerely to her that we just don't see in films anymore unless its a fairy tail. Even thou she's a feminist icon she doesn't have the baggage of the struggle for equality. She's a fish out of water. She don't know about being treated like a second class citizen. She not fighting that sexist battle, she just trying to save the world. So when the old white guys make bad decisions she just say what she thinks no matter how hard Steve tries to stop her. She has a purpose and those fools couldn't stop her.

I could go on and on but you get the point. Maybe I was in a bad mood when first saw it. Maybe my hopes were so high I couldn't not be disappointed not matter what. I didn't hate it before I  thought I was okay but not worthy of the praise it received. I guess everybody was right and I was wrong. Who knew? Now its definitely my favorite in the DCEU. Which is not that big of a compliment. 9/10