Rocketman

Pros:

•One of the things I appreciated most was that this is not your standard biopic. All that stuff is there yes but it’s a musical as well. 

•Taron Edgerton... wow!!! He was absolutely amazing. Really transformed himself. I didn’t see him, I saw Elton John. And it turns out he’s a damn good singer. It was a bit weird at first hearing someone else sing these classic songs, but I soon got over it. 

•Very strong supporting cast, especially Jamie Bell. 

•Theres a lot of really cool shots and visuals. Dexter Fletcher did a good job directing. 

•Doesn’t shy away from showing you the downside of fame. 

•If you’re a huge fan of Elton John (like me) then you’re going to love this. It really did him justice. 

•Fun and very rewatchable. I’ll definitely be getting a copy of this when it come out on Blu-ray. 

Cons:

•Does drag slightly in the beginning. 

•A few very minor technical issues that really aren’t worth going into details about. 

My Rating: 9/10

Aladdin (2019)

Pros:

•The costumes and sets are absolutely gorgeous! I could easily see their hard word getting some recognition come award season. 

•I appreciate that this wasn’t just a shot for shot remake of the original. I mean, a lot of it is but they also made some changes which I liked. Especially with the character of Jasmine. 

•Mena Massoud was fine as Aladdin. I thought he and Naomi Scott had good chemistry. They had some sweet moments. His best scenes however, were with Will Smith. 

•I was one of those people that was totally okay with Will Smith being cast as the genie. Listen, nothing was ever going to top Robin Williams. But I liked Will Smith’s version for the most part. 

•While I most likely won’t watch this again, it is worth seeing once. 

Cons:

•Jafar was terrible. This version had zero personality and the actor spoke in the same tone pretty much the whole time. 

•As charming as Will Smith is, he can’t sing. Rap? Yes. Sing? Hell no! Don’t even get me started on the “hip hop flavor” he brought to the movie. 

•One of the things that gave me serious doubts about the movie was when I heard Guy Ritchie was directing. He’s not a bad director (I like some of his movies) but his track record has been bad as of late. I knew Disney wouldn’t let him fuck up too much but there were a few moments where he started to go crazy in the third act. Luckily, the Mouse was able to rein him in. 

•That DJ Khalid song that played during the credits. What the fuck was that?! 

•Guy Ritchie just couldn’t resist throwing in tears me of his signature movies where he does a shot in slow motion, speeds it WAY up, and then it’s back to slow motion again. 

•As I said I liked Will Smith as the genie. But I should specify that I liked him when he wasn’t blue. As gorgeous as this movie is, those special effects were awful. Whoever did them should be fired. 

My Rating: 6.5/10

Peterloo

Plot:

The story of the events surrounding the 1819 Peterloo Massacre. 

Pros:

• The last 20 minutes or so where they show the actual massacre was interesting yet heartbreaking at the same time. Very moving. 

•This was slightly better than the last Mike Leigh movie I saw, Mr. Turner. It didn’t make me angry at least. 

•Is a great cure for insomnia. 

Cons:

•Slow... slow.... slow! Boy did I struggle to stay awake throughout most of this film. It’s a little over two and a half hours. For the first two hours or so all it really was was a bunch of guys sitting around talking or making speeches. I get that you want to take your time setting things up but damn. This was hard to sit through. 

•While most of the actors did the best they could (a few were WAY too over the top), their characters were mostly two dimensional. 

•Poorly shot. Not only in terms of choreography but the lighting as well. Some scenes were so dimly lit you could barely make out who was who. 

•The movie was based on a MASSACRE. You would think they would’ve made it bloodier. Maybe they didn’t want to go for an R rating. I get that. But still, you can get away with quite a bit with a PG-13 if you know what you’re doing. 

•The ending was very abrupt and unsatisfying. 

•I can’t say that I recommend this movie at all. Even if you’re into history and this time period, there are far better movies out there. Don’t waste your time with this. 

My Rating: 4.5/10

Poms

Plot:

A group of women form a cheerleading squad at their retirement home. 

Pros:

•The strongest part of the movie for me was definitely the cast, especially Diane Keaton and Jacki Weaver. Was it their best roles? Of course not. But the chemistry was there and they looked like they were having fun. 

•A very inspiring message 

•A lot of really heartfelt moments. 

•Moves very quickly. The whole thing I believe was only an hour and a half. 

•If you’re looking for something to take your Mom or Grandma to, this movie would be perfect. 

Cons:

•Very predictable 

•Weak script 

•Had a (slightly better than ) TV movie quality look to it. Not the worst I’ve seen however. 

•While I got a few chuckles out of it, most of the humor fell a bit flat. 

My Rating: 6.5/10

Detective Pikachu

Pokémon first became big when I was in my early teens I believe. I remember spending hours playing the game on my Game Boy and even watched tv show for awhile as well as the first movie (didn’t really watch any of the movies after that). When Pokémon Go was released nearly three years ago I was all on that. However,  when they announced this I was very hesitant given the current history of video game movies. But after seeing the trailer I was intrigued. I’m glad I gave it a chance because Detective Pikachu was a lot of fun. 

All of the people behind this movie clearly love Pokémon. A great deal of care went into not only the design of all the Pokémon but creating a world where they coexist with humans and have it be believable. There’s also a lot of Easter eggs for the fans but it never feels forced. 

The movie is not without a few faults. For one, the story itself is not great. It’s not bad by any means just a little... weak. Also, it did drag a bit for me especially in the third act. 

Overall, I definitely recommend seeing this in theaters. You’ll have a good time. 

My Rating: 8/10

Artic

Plot:

A man (Mads Mikkelson) is stranded in the Artic after a plane crash. 

I’ll admit, I had never hear of this movie until maybe a week ago when the film club announced this would be the Sunday matinee. I’m glad they picked it because if they hadn’t, I would’ve missed out on this amazing movie. 

Yes, it’s about survival and you see a lot of the same cliches that you would see in other movies of this type. But what separates Artic from those are one, Mads Mikkelson’s brilliant performance. He’s pretty much the only character you see (aside from a woman he rescues, but she’s barely conscious the whole time) and the emotion he’s able to convey using very little dialog is inscredible. And two, unlike other survival movies his character actually isn’t stupid and makes smart decisions. He does the best he can given the situation. 

It’s also well directed and has amazing cinematography. Major props to director Joe Penna. This is his first feature length film. Before this he mainly worked in tv and did some shorts. I can’t wait to see what he does next. 

I highly recommend this, especially if you’re into survival films or you’re a fan of Mads Mikkelson. If it happens to be playing anywhere near you definitely check it out. 

My Rating: 8.5/10