Joker Movie Review

Hype is a dangerous beast. It's great to feel the rush and excitement for something to arrive, but it also can lead to disappointment when the thing you are excited turns out to not be what you expected. I hate saying it but Joker falls into this category.

Joker tells the story of a man named Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) who is constantly beat down by those around him and how it pushes him to reach his breaking point and become the classic comic book villain, the Joker.

Even though Joker didn't reach my expectations, there is still a lot to like about this movie. First off, Joaquin Phoenix is amazing in this movie. It shouldn't come as that big of a surprise that Joaquin is great since he is great in every movie he is in, but with this performance he takes it to another level. Joaquin's character suffers from a condition that forces him to laugh, even when it's not appropriate and the way Joaquin pulls this off is stunning. He does a great job of showing in his face how he struggles to hold the laughs in and up doing so brings him to tears and even chokes on occasion. There is also a great physicality to the performance. Joaquin often dances his way through scenes when his character is feeling confident or has to sulk and walk with a limp when he is down. Joaquin's performance also does a great job of making you feel sorry for his character when he is getting beat down, but also fearful of him when he starts to snap and turn into the Joker.

Another great aspect of Joker is the score by Hildur Guðnadóttir. The work Hildur does in this movie is truly remarkable and easily one of the best scores of the year. Her score adds this intensity and darkness to the movie that ratchets up the dread that is throughout the movie. While watching the movie I couldn't help but think of another score that I enjoy, Jóhann Jóhannsson's score for Arrival. It turns out Hildur as actually worked with Jóhann on a few of his scores.

Joker is also gorgeous to look at. The cinematography by Lawrence Sher is truly spectacular. In the poster above you can see a sample of how he frames and lights his scenes. Gotham City, where the movie takes place, is going through a garbage strike, so throughout the movie there is garbage everywhere and this helps add to the dirty feeling that the movies main character gives off.

So with all the praise I've given the movie, what didn't I enjoy? One is just how much time we actually get to spend with the Joker. Arthur doesn't actually turn into the Joker until the final thirty minutes of the movie. Those thirty minutes are truly outstanding and I just wish we got to see more of him. I understand that that critique is more on me than the movie itself. I also felt that some of the scenes were cut together oddly. For example, at the beginning of the movie, Arthur is at his job as a clown, the next scene he is with his counselor and it looks like he cleaned all the make-up off his face, but in the next scene, he has some makeup still on his face. This left me wondering what order these events had taken place. This wasn't the only time this happened. Another part that really annoyed me with the movie was the use of a "jock jam". The scene in which it was used was made up to be this iconic moment, but it just gets ruined by the use of this song.

Joker is a movie that has a lot going for it. The central performance by Joaquin Phoenix is outstanding, the score is dark and intense, and the technical merits of the movie are top notch. But this movie is more of a deep, slow, dark character study that leaves you feeling dirty when it ends. If you are looking for a typical comic book action movie that is centered around one of the greatest comic book villains, this movie will probably not be one that you enjoy. I do think this movie is worth seeing, just know it may not be what you are expecting.

3 1/2 out of 5 Stars

47 Meters Down: Uncaged Review

Sometimes a movie comes out that you don't really want to see, but you like the genre so you decide to see it anyway. That my friends, can be a big mistake and 47 Meters Down: Uncaged is proof of that.

47 Meters Down: Uncaged is a "sequel" to the 2017 shark survival movie, 47 Meters Down. I use the quotation marks because it's hard to call it a sequel since no actors from the first movie return and the events of the first movie are never brought up. The people that do return for it though are the writer/director, Johannes Roberts, and his co-writer, Ernest Riera. 47 Meters Down: Uncaged tells the story of four girls who go scuba diving in this underwater Mayan city and along the way end up getting hunted by some sharks.

I have to be honest with this one, there wasn't much I liked about it. If I had to pick something I guess it would be the premise. I like shark movies and I like watching the destruction they can cause. Watching a group of people in a claustrophobic environment, trying to get away from sharks, should make for an interesting and fun movie. Unfortunately, 47 Meters Down: Uncaged is neither interesting or fun.

I really don't like being negative and ripping a movie, so I'm going to keep this short. Since this movie takes place in an underwater city with tight corridors, at times it is extremely hard to tell what is going on. When the shark first appears, the characters kick up all this dirt from the ocean floor making it impossible to see anything except for their flashlight beams. When this happened, the inability to see was just annoying and didn't add any sort of suspense. You couldn't see the characters nor the shark so if something was going to happen it wouldn't matter because us as the audience wouldn't be able to see it. You also never get a sense of where the characters actually are. They swim down these tight corridors that the shark tries to swim through to get them, but can't fit, but magically somehow the shark ends up in the next section of the city. In a similar movie that came out this summer, Crawl, the movie set up the places the gators could and could not go to, so it made sense when the gators got to a place that the characters had entered. With 47 Meters Down: Uncaged, you just have to suspend any kind of logic and just try to accept that the shark can get from one area of the city to another.

The last third of this movie just becomes completely laughable. For some reason, when the sharks attack the people, the movie enters these horrendous slow motion sequences. I don't know if the intention of the director was to try and have these cinematic scenes that are cheesy as someone gets attacked or if he was trying to be serious and have the scenes be intense. Whatever he was going for it didn't work at all.

I'm sure a lot of people worked hard on this movie and are proud of what they accomplished, so here a some additional quick negatives. The acting is not that great and the fact that they are wearing scuba masks the entire time, you can't really get a sense of the fear they are experiencing. The characters aren't that likable at the beginning of the movie so once the shark starts to attack them, you end up rooting for the shark.

47 Meters Down: Uncaged is just a bad movie and it's not one of those it's so bad, it's fun to laugh at movies. The movie is not scary or tense. The sharks look horrendous. The acting is subpar. You can't see what is going on and when the sharks do try and attack someone, the director uses this horrible slow motion technique. I say skip this movie.

1 out of 5 Stars

The Lion King (2019) Review

The 2019 version of The Lion King is considered to be live action remake even though the entire movie was generated by computers. This movie shouldn't be considered live action, because the entire movie feels completely dead.

The Lion King is a remake of the 1994 animated classic and everyone pretty much knows what it's about. For those that don't, The Lion King tells the story of a lion cub named Simba, who must deal with the loss of his father, Mufasa. While Simba is away, recovering from this tragedy, he runs into Timon and Pumba, a meerkat and warthog, who try and teach him how to live a carefree life. As Simba gets older, life starts to catch up with him and he must return home and take what is rightfully his.

Let's start with what I like about The Lion King. The first one is pretty obvious, but it's the visuals. This movie looks fantastic. For most of the movie, it's impossible to tell that all of it is computer generated. It looks just like one of those Disney Nature documentaries that come out every year. I loved the way the animals moved and would interact with one another. It was all just so life like. Also baby Simba was absolutely adorable. Every time he showed up on screen, I couldn't help but let out a little "Awwwwww, he's so cute!".

Another thing I really enjoyed about The Lion King was Timon and Pumba. They were voiced by Billy Eichner and Seth Rogan and they couldn't have been more perfect for these roles. They brought this energy to the movie that was severely lacking before they showed up roughly halfway through the movie. For the most part all of their jokes landed and their rendition of The Lion Sleeps Tonight was absolutely wonderful.

I also surprisingly really enjoyed Chiwetel Ejiofor's performance as the villainous Scar, Simba's uncle. When the first trailer came out, I was part of #NotMyScar, but after seeing this version, I am no longer a part of that hashtag. He did a great job of being menacing and commanding the screen whenever he was around.

Now let me get to the part that hurts me the most, what I didn't like about The Lion King. Unfortunately for me, there is a lot that didn't work with this movie. The first thing was the way the animals looked when they talked. The mouth movement for the most part did not match what was coming out of their mouths. At times it was really distracting and would take me out of the movie. Also, there was no emotion coming from the animals. The worst part was when Simba's dad dies and Simba is extremely distraught. The look on his face was completely flat, he looked just like he had previously in the movie when he was happy. There wasn't any sort of movement in the ears or eyes that normally appear when an animal is sad.

Another disappointing part of the movie was the lack of energy during the first half of the movie. All of the musical numbers that take place in the first half felt flat, there was no life to them. It was one of those things where I felt like the writers should have done some rewriting and completely remove the songs and find a way to tell the story without them. The musical score by Hans Zimmer also did not help with this. By itself, the score is great, but it did not work with what was happening on the screen. It never seemed to match up with the characters movements on the screen or the emotion of the scenes.

Overall, The Lion King was really disappointing. Yes, it's gorgeous to look at and contains a few solid performances, but as a whole it doesn't work. The animals don't show any emotion and the mouth movement when talking is super distracting. This is one of those movies, where I'm not sure I can recommend people go see this in theaters. You most likely own the animated version and would be better served to just watch that one from the comfort of your home. Maybe when this new one comes to a streaming service, you can give it a watch at home.

2 1/2 out of 5 Stars

Crawl Movie Review

Movies dealing with natural disasters or creatures tend to be movies I gravitate towards. So obviously, if you combine those two, changes are I am going to love the movie. Not surprisingly that ended up being the case with Crawl.

In Crawl, a Category 5 hurricane is bearing down on Florida and Haley Keller (Kaya Scodelario) can't reach her dad, Dave (Barry Pepper). Haley starts to panic and decides to drive to her childhood home to see if she can see what he is up to. When she gets to the house and can't find him anywhere, she decides to check the crawlspace where she finds her dad, who is now injured, as well as a couple of giant alligators that are protecting the only way out. With the hurricane intensifying, the crawlspace starts to flood so Haley must find a way to save herself as well as her dad.

The thing I love most about Crawl is the havoc that the gators cause. When it comes to creature movies, I go in to them looking forward to seeing the carnage they create and seeing the body count rise. With Crawl, I was not disappointed. The setting is contained mainly to the house, but the gators are still able to find ways to eat or badly injure a fair amount of people. That probably comes across a little twisted, but that's what these movies are for. One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when someone is swimming in the water and the camera moves into the air and you just see 5 gators swarm around him and just grab on to a few different body parts and enjoy some lunch.

Another aspect I enjoy was the father/daughter relationship between Haley and Dave. Early on in the movie, there are flashbacks that show Dave being Haley's swim coach. Because he spent so much time focusing on coaching her, his marriage became strained and Haley ends up feeling like she is guilty for causing her parents marriage to end. I really enjoy seeing Barry Pepper in movies and felt he did a great job playing Dave. He is wonderful at playing that broken dad that is willing to do anything to protect his daughter. Kaya is also fantastic has Haley. The movie mainly focuses on her and if she doesn't sell the paranoia and fear it would fall apart. Luckily, Kaya does a great job and the scenes with her father get pretty emotional at times.

The only real criticism I have for Crawl is the same one most of these types of movies have, characters just make stupid decisions or have injuries that should be pretty life-threatening, but they just act like it was a bug bite within 5 minutes of it occurring. It's a minor nitpick that just comes with the territory of movies like this.

Overall, I really enjoyed Crawl. The relationship between Haley and Dave was believable and helped fill in the slow periods between the action. The gator action was a blast to watch and at times pretty intense and gory. Also, the movie gets extra points for having the main character's last name be Keller. Crawl is a fun time at the movies and does a great job of filling in the gaps between all the franchise blockbusters out this summer. I recommend it.

4 out of 5 Stars

My Mid-2019 Movie Rankings

Here is my ranking for all the movies I saw in theaters during the first half of 2019:

1. Apollo 11 (5 Stars)
2. Avengers: Endgame (4 1/2 Stars)
3. If Beale Street Could Talk (4 1/2 Stars)
4. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (4 1/2 Stars)
5. Roma (4 Stars)
6. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (4 Stars)
7. Us (4 Stars)
8. Cold War (4 Stars)
9. Toy Story 4 (4 Stars)
10. Late Night (4 Stars)
11. Booksmart (3 1/2 Stars)
12. Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (3 1/2 Stars)
13. Captain Marvel (3 1/2 Stars)
14. The Kid Who Would Be King (3 1/2 Stars)
15. Arctic (3 1/2 Stars)
16. Shazam! (3 1/2 Stars)
17. Rocketman (3 1/2 Stars)
18. Long Shot (3 1/2 Stars)
19. Yesterday (3 1/2 Stars)
20. Alita: Battle Angel (3 1/2 Stars)
21. Aladdin (3 1/2 Stars)
22. John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum (3 1/2 Stars)
23. The Mustang (3 1/2 Stars)
24. Pet Sematary (3 1/2 Stars)
25. Capernaum (3 1/2 Stars)
26. Hotel Mumbai (3 1/2 Stars)
27. On the Basis of Sex (3 1/2 Stars)
28. Fighting With My Family (3 Stars)
29. Happy Death Day 2U (3 Stars)
30. Child's Play (3 Stars)
31. Men In Black: International (3 Stars)
32. Gloria Bell (3 Stars)
33. Dark Phoenix (3 Stars)
34. The Dead Don't Die (3 Stars)
35. Missing Link (3 Stars)
36. Greta (3 Stars)
37. Brightburn (3 Stars)
38. Ben is Back (3 Stars)
39. Tolkien (3 Stars)
40. High Life (3 Stars)
41. Glass (2 1/2 Stars)
42. Five Feet Apart (2 1/2 Stars)
43. Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2 1/2 Stars)
44. Dumbo (2 1/2 Stars)
45. The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2 1/2 Stars)
46. The Beach Bum (1 1/2 Stars)
47. Hellboy (1 1/2 Stars)

Predictions for the 2019 Academy Awards

Here are my predictions for the 2019 Academy Awards that take place tonight:

Best Picture: Roma
Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)
Best Actor: Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)
Best Actress: Glenn Close (The Wife)
Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali (Green Book)
Best Supporting Actress: Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk)
Best Original Screenplay: The Favourite
Best Adapted Screenplay: BlacKkKlansman
Best Film Editing: Vice
Best Cinematography: Roma
Best Original Score: If Beale Street Could Talk
Best Original Song: Shallow (A Star Is Born)
Best Sound Editing: First Man
Best Sound Mixing: Bohemian Rhapsody
Best Visual Effects: First Man
Best Production Design: Black Panther
Best Costume Design: Black Panther
Best Makeup & Hairstyling: Vice
Best Animated Feature: Spider-man: Into The Spiderverse
Best Documentary Feature: Free Solo
Best Foreign Language Film: Roma
Best Live Action Short: Marguerite
Best Animated Short: Bao
Best Documentary Short: Period. End of Sentence

If Beale Street Could Talk Review

Some times when you go to the movies you just watch a movie, other times, you watch a beautiful piece of art that leaves you breathless. If Beale Street Could Talk is one of those pieces of art.

If Beale Street Could Talk is written and directed by Academy Award winner Barry Jenkins and is based on a novel written by James Baldwin. It is a story about a young couple, Tish (KiKi Layne) and Fonny (Stephan James), who are dealing with the harsh reality of Fonny being in jail after being falsely accused of rape and Tish being pregnant with their first child. The movie interweaves the story by showing what happens when Tish and Fonny first start dating along with Tish trying to get Fonny out of jail.

There is a lot to love about If Beale Street Could Talk. The first thing is the relationship between Tish and Fonny. The chemistry between them is electric and when they are on screen you can't help but be blown away by what you are watching. At first Tish seems a little timid, but as the movie moves along you start to see her fall more and more in love with Fonny and you can just feel your own heart warming up. The scenes where Tish visits Fonny in prison will just break your heart. The look on Fonny's face is filled with so much hope that he may soon get out of prison, but you know that that is probably not going to happen. And you can tell that his love for Tish is why he has that hope. The look on Tish's face shows that she can tell Fonny is having a rough time in prison. You can't help but want that glass wall that is separating them to be taken away so they can at least hug each other.

 Another fantastic aspect of If Beale Street Could Talk is the score by Nicholas Britell. The musical score just adds to the emotion of each scene. Some of the musical cues will fill you with hope and love while others will make you feel despair and sadness.

If Beale Street Could Talk is also beautifully shot. Pretty much every scene of the movie could be framed and hung on your wall. Right from the very first scene you could tell this movie would be special visually. From the way Tish and Fonny's clothes are color coordinated to the way scene is framed with them walking down a stair well, you could see that director Barry Jenkins knows how to shoot a movie.

Because the chemistry between Tish and Fonny was so strong, when they weren't on screen, I got a little impatient and wanted to see them back on screen. There were a couple of moments throughout the movie that involved Tish's parents and while they were good moments, I wanted the movie to go back to focusing on Tish and Fonny. There were also a couple of side stories that never seemed to wrap up. One involved Fonny's friend, Daniel, being a key witness and how the prosecutors were probably going to try and get him to flip and it ended up not really going anywhere. Another dealt with Fonny's mom. When she first finds out that Tish is pregnant, she becomes angry since the child will be born out of wedlock. You never find out if she ends up caring for the baby or just stays angry. These are really two minor gripes and do not take away from the overall quality of the movie.

If Beale Street Could Talk is a beautiful movie that will break your heart and make you fall in love multiple times throughout. The score is fantastic and each scene is absolutely stunning. I highly recommend everyone goes to see this movie. If Beale Street Could Talk is one of those rare movies that isn't just a movie, but a beautiful piece of art.

My 2018 Movie Rankings

Here is my ranking for all the movies I saw in theaters in 2018:

1. Annihilation (5 Stars)
2. First Man (5 Stars)
3. Anna and The Apocalypse (4 1/2 Stars)
4. Phantom Thread (4 1/2 Stars)
5. Searching (4 1/2 Stars)
6. A Star is Born (4 1/2 Stars)
7. Black Panther (4 1/2 Stars)
8. I, Tonya (4 1/2 Stars)
9. Mission: Impossible - Fallout (4 1/2 Stars)
10. Ready Player One (4 1/2 Stars) * 2
11. Creed II (4 1/2 Stars)
12. Eighth Grade (4 1/2 Stars)
13. Free Solo (4 1/2 Stars)
14. Widows (4 1/2 Stars)
15. Crazy Rich Asians (4 Stars)
16. Molly's Game (4 Stars)
17. The Shape of Water (4 Stars) * 2
18. Paddington 2 (4 Stars)
19. Hearts Beat Loud (4 Stars)
20. Ralph Breaks The Internet (4 Stars)
21. Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse (4 Stars) * 2
22. Hostiles (4 Stars)
23. You Were Never Really Here (4 Stars)
24. American Animals (4 Stars)
25. Lean on Pete (4 Stars)
26. Leave No Trace (4 Stars)
27. Tully (4 Stars)
28. Won't You Be My Neighbor (4 Stars)
29. The Hate U Give (4 Stars)
30. Wildlife (4 Stars)
31. First Reformed (4 Stars)
32. The Post (4 Stars)
33. A Quiet Place (4 Stars)
34. Incredibles 2 (4 Stars) 
35. Game Night (3 1/2 Stars)
36. A Simple Favor (3 1/2 Stars)
37. Aquaman (3 1/2 Stars)
38. Blackkklansman (3 1/2 Stars)
39. The Sisters Brothers (3 1/2 Stars)
40. Assassination Nation (3 1/2 Stars)
41. Tag (3 1/2 Stars)
42. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (3 1/2 Stars) * 2
43. Solo: A Star Wars Story (3 1/2 Stars)
44. Ant-man & the Wasp (3 1/2 Stars)
45. Deadpool 2 (3 1/2 Stars)
46. Can You Ever Forgive Me? (3 1/2 Stars)
47. Hereditary (3 1/2 Stars)
48. Avengers: Infinity War (3 1/2 Stars) * 2
49. The Old Man & The Gun (3 1/2 Stars)
50. Isle of Dogs (3 1/2 Stars)
51. Tomb Raider (3 1/2 Stars)
52. Love, Simon (3 1/2 Stars)
53. The Meg (3 1/2 Stars)
54. The Favourite (3 1/2 Stars)
55. Blockers (3 1/2 Stars)
56. Upgrade (3 1/2 Stars)
57. Bumblebee (3 1/2 Stars)
58. Juliet, Naked (3 1/2 Stars)
59. Green Book (3 1/2 Stars)
60. Christopher Robin (3 1/2 Stars)
61. Overlord (3 1/2 Stars)
62. Mary Queen of Scots (3 1/2 Stars)
63. Mary Poppins Returns (3 1/2 Stars)
64. Adrift (3 1/2 Stars)
65. Operation Finale (3 1/2 Stars)
66. Vice (3 Stars)
67. The Wife (3 Stars)
68. Sorry to Bother You (3 Stars)
69. Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot (3 Stars)
70. Colette (3 Stars)
71. Mid90s (3 Stars)
72. Vox Lux (3 Stars)
73. Halloween (3 Stars)
74. Sicario: Day of the Soldado (3 Stars)
75. A Wrinkle in Time (3 Stars)
76. Chappaquiddick (3 Stars)
77. Unsane (3 Stars)
78. Ocean's 8 (3 Stars)
79. The Spy Who Dumped Me (3 Stars)
80. Boy Erased (3 Stars)
81. Papillon (3 Stars)
82. Puzzle (3 Stars)
83. The Front Runner (3 Stars)
84. The Equalizer 2 (3 Stars)
85. Uncle Drew (3 Stars)
86. Rampage (3 Stars)
87. 12 Strong (3 Stars)
88. Early Man (3 Stars)
89. Bohemian Rhapsody (3 Stars)
90. Thoroughbreds (2 1/2 Stars)
91. White Boy Rick (2 1/2 Stars)
92. Beirut (2 1/2 Stars)
93. Red Sparrow (2 1/2 Stars)
94. Skyscraper (2 1/2 Stars)
95. Alpha (2 1/2 Stars)
96. Beautiful Boy (2 1/2 Stars)
97. The Girl in the Spider's Web (2 1/2 Stars)
98. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2 1/2 Stars)
99. Robin Hood (2 1/2 Stars)
100. Pacific Rim: Uprising (2 1/2 Stars)
101. The Predator (2 Stars)
102. The Death of Stalin (1 1/2 Stars)