First Reformed

Plot:

A priest (Ethan Hawke) at a small church in Upstate New York deals with his tormented past. 

Pros:

•Just to warn you, this is not a face paced movie. At all. A majority of it is people sitting around and talking. This might bother some but I didn’t mind it at all. Infact I thought this was a great movie. Very well made and thought provoking. One of the best I’ve seen this year so far. 

•Excellent direction by Paul Schrader. 

•Ethan Hawke, whom I’ve always been a fan of, gives one of the best performances I’ve seen this year. I’m not sure how the rest of the year will play out but I’d love to see him get nominated for an Oscar. 

•Strong supporting cast as well including Amanda Seyfried and Cedric the Entertainer. 

•Beautiful locations. I believe it was filmed in the area so that’s always cool to see. 

•Normally I’m not a big fan of narration but I felt like it made sense here. 

•Strong dialog. 

•The ending. Not everyone is going to like it I’m sure but I give the director credit for not going the predictable route. 

Cons:

•While overall it’s a well directed there are a few moments where I felt like he lingered on a shot just a little too long. 

•There’s a scene towards the end and while I wouldn’t call it bad it just felt out of place. It took me out of the movie for a split second. 

My Rating: 9/10

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Plot:

Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is trying to balance his life as a father and as Ant-Man. Suddenly, he gets an urgent mission in which he teams up with the Wasp (Evangeline Lily). 

Pros:

•I wasn’t really looking forward to this movie at first. After the greatness that is Infinity War there’s no way you could top that. Now having seen Ant-Man and the Wasp I can tell you that this was exactly what we needed after Infinity War- something lighthearted and fun. Marvel you really do know what you’re doing. 

•Paul Rudd was perfect casting. He really nails down this character. I also thought he had decent chemistry with Evangeline Lily. 

•The villain actually wasn’t as bad as I thought she might be. Not the best certainly but once you learned more about her you totally understand why she’s doing what she’s doing. 

•Great supporting cast including Michael Douglas and Michael Peña. 

•I got several genuine laughs out of this. 

•Amazing post credit scene. Technically there’s two but thanks to my friends at Double Toasted I found out the second one is nothing really and there’s no need to see it. But definitely stick around for the first one. 

Cons:

•There’s nothing really bad about it. I had a good time. However, when you compare it to the other Marvel movies, it’s not something I would watch again. The story itself wasn’t all that remarkable. Still, I’d say check it out. 

My Rating: 7.5/10

Sicario: Day of the Soldado

Plot:

The cartels have begun trafficking terrorist across the US border. To fight the war, federal agent Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) once again teams up with Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro). 

Pros:

•Benicio Del Toro was once again amazing. Josh Brolin was good as well. 

•Tense action scenes that had me on the edge of my seat and my eyes glued to the screen the entire time. Be warned though, like the first movie it’s extremely brutal. I was totally fine with it but if you’re squeamish you may want to avoid it. Then again odds are if you want to watch this you’ve already seen the first and know what to expect. 

•Isabela Moner didn’t annoy me like I thought she would. She’s surprisingly decent. Her scenes with Benicio Del Toro were some of my favorite parts of the movie. 

•While I wouldn’t necessarily call this his best work, I’m still a fan of Taylor Sheridan and will watch pretty much anything he’s written. 

•I’m always impressed when a movie is able to do a lot with such a low budget. It’s certainly a good looking movie. 

•If you enjoyed the first movie I would definitely check this out. 

Cons:

•Not as focused as the first. 

•Very weird editing. 

•Didn’t care for the subplot. Every time it would cut to this I was like, “God damn it!! No! Get back to Benicio Del Toro.”

•There’s something that happens near the end that had me going, “How?!?!!”

•The way the movie just kind of ends and the epilogue that totally felt like an after thought.   It was as strange. 

My Rating: 8/10

RBG

Plot:

Documentary about the life and work of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 

Pros:

•I went into this movie theater obviously knowing who Ruth Bader Ginsburg is but not knowing all that much about her. I really learned a lot watching this. Wow!!! What an amazing woman. 

•Very insightful interviews with her family and friends as well as the many people she has inspired over the years. 

•Great soundtrack

•Moves at a good pace. 

Cons:

•I honestly can’t think of any. If this movie is playing anywhere near you I highly recommend you see it if you haven’t already done so. 

My Rating: 10/10

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Plot:

Takes place four years after the events of Jurassic World. When the island’s long dormant volcano suddenly becomes active, Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) attempt to rescue the remaining dinosaurs. 

Pros:

•Going into this movie I had very low expectations. I figured as long as I saw some bad ass dinosaurs tear shit up I’d be happy. And that’s exactly what I got. 

•Yes, the movie is dumb. Like on Fast & Furious level dumb. It annoyed me a bit at first but eventually I just rolled with it and had fun. 

•Great CGI

•No annoying kid characters this time. There’s only one kid in the movie and honestly she was okay. 

•I was never bored. 

Cons:

•One of the laziest scripts I’ve seen in awhile. I know what kind of movie this is and it’s not that I was expecting award winning writing but holy shit they could’ve at least tried. 

•Jeff Goldblum is completely wasted here. 

•Franklin... one of the most annoying characters I’ve seen in awhile. 

My Rating: 6/10

Let The Sunshine In

Plot:

Isabelle (Juliette Binoche), a divorced mother, is looking for love again. 

Pros:

•I’ve always been a fan of Juliette Binoche. She does a decent job here, especially given the material she has to work with. 

•It’s nicely shot I’ll give it that much. 

Cons:

•The movie is only about an hour and a half but boy did it feel longer. I caught myself nodding off several times. 

•Very little character development. 

•Nothing really happens. It’s just a bunch of scenes of people talking, occasionally with scenes of Juliette Binoche sleeping with one of the many men in her life. 

•Gèrard Depardieu out of nowhere shows up at the end. His character rambles on and on for so long that I saw several people get up and walk out of the theater. 

•I really can’t recommend this at all. It didn’t make me mad or anything and there’s far worse movies you could see, but I just didn’t see the point of it all. What exactly was it trying to say?

My Rating: 5/10

Ocean’s 8

Plot:

Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) gathers a group of women together to attempt a heist at the Met Gala. 

Pros:

•Going into this I wasn’t expecting much but I ended up really enjoying this movie. Is it perfect? No, far from it. But I thought it was fun. 

•If you’re into heist movies I think you’ll like this. 

•The cast list is pretty impressive. The ones that really stood out to me were Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett. They had great chemistry. I enjoyed Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway as well. 

•Gorgeous dresses and jewelry

Cons:

•Aside from the actresses I mentioned above, the rest of the cast was pretty forgettable. 

•Drags a bit at first. Luckily it picks up in the second half. 

•Story is fairly predictable. 

My Rating: 7/10