Downton Abbey (2019)

Like so many people, I fell in love with the Downton Abbey tv show. So as you can imagine I’ve been looking forward to this movie for a long time. I’m happy to say it did not disappoint. 

This is definitely a movie for the fans. Not that people who’ve never seen the show wouldn’t like it. But there’s something really special about seeing the characters that you’ve invested so much time in and what they’re up to now. 

The show was always gorgeous wether it be the cinematography or the costumes. But now that it’s a movie and has a bigger budget it’s even more so. Definitely see this on the big screen. It gave me chills seeing it along with hearing the classic theme. 

Is the story simple? Yes. But there’s nothing wrong with that if done well. 

With all the sadness and hate going on in the world, it’s nice to have a movie like this where you can escape. Even if it’s just for a few hours. I walked out of this feeling really good and with a huge smile on my face. This is definitely one of my favorite movies this year. 

My Rating: 10/10

Hustlers

Pros:

•If you go into this expecting nothing but two hours of stripping and poll dancing then you’re going to be disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, all of that is there. But it’s only a VERY small part of it. At the heart of this is a fascinating and well made crime drama that’s “inspired by a true story”. I’m not sure what really happened and what they made up but honestly? It didn’t matter. I was throughly entertained the whole time. 

•For the longest time I’ve been hearing a lot of Oscar buzz for Jennifer Lopez and now I see why. She was great in this! I had forgotten how good of an actress she can be. 

•I enjoyed Constance Wu’s performance as well. 

•Moved at a decent pace. 

•Fun soundtrack 

•Good direction and cinematography. 

Cons:

•Aside from Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu, the other characters weren’t all that well developed. That’s my only major complaint. I definitely recommend everyone check this movie out. 

My Rating: 8/10

It Chapter Two

Plot:

Twenty seven years after their first encounter with Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård), The Losers Club returns to Derry as adults and tries to stop him once and for all. 

2017’s It was a surprise for me. I went into the movie (having not watched the original mini series since I was a kid) expecting it to be good and ended up being one of my favorites that year. One of the few horror movies in recent years to truly terrify me. So I’ve been very much looking forward to Chapter Two. So is it as good as the first one? Well.... not quite. But I still enjoyed it quite a bit. 

One of the best things about both movies is the casting. They were pretty spot on and I enjoyed the older actors just as much as the younger ones (who you get to see again through use of flashbacks). I actually gave a shit about these characters. 

I also thought the scares were very effective.  Even though there is plenty of blood and gore, it doesn’t depend on that the way a lot of horror movies do. It’s mostly a lot of disturbing images that mess with your head which I think is way more effective. 

The movie is not without its faults, however. For one, even though the movie kept me mostly engaged, it didn’t need to be almost three hours long. There were times especially in the first hour or so where I felt the length. Some of that could’ve been trimmed down a bit. Also, the ending felt anticlimactic and a little cheesy. I definitely rolled my eyes a few times. 

Oh and don’t bother seeing this in IMAX. It adds nothing to the experience other than really noticing a few scenes that had some terrible cgi. See it on a regular screen and you’ll be fine. 

If you liked Chapter One I think you’ll like this as well. This was certainly better than most horror movies you’ll see these days. 

My Rating: 7.5/10