"Solo: A Star Wars Story"

I followed this movie throughout its rocky production, and I even feared that Ron Howard's touch would break off from the traditional B-rated sci-fi flick we love from the Star Wars franchise. Well, I don't have to worry about that because it sucked anyway. I thought that the trailer told a very different, and more fun, story than the actual movie.

The trailer opens up with Woody Harrelson saying he's got a job, and he's putting together a crew. That means Jabba is involved. The crew involved recruiting Lando and his iconic ship. But then we watch the movie and it's the generic separated/must get back together story. And what didn't really help was that they shoehorned everything we know about Han Solo into this thing, so there was no time to enjoy the movie.

L3-37 was probably the most disappointing character in the Star Wars universe. She went from an adventurous droid in the trailer to an advocate for droids that no one wanted. That's like having Yoda fight Count Dooku for a bit and then asking to talk about the plight of tiny aliens in the galaxy. 

I don't hate Alden's take on the scruffy nerf herder, but I feel he was too cocky like a blue flame special. And he basically accidentallies himself in and out of situations that gets him where he is today. I mean the dude happened to speak Wookie so he can be friends with Chewie.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but after seeing this movie, does that mean Han Solo single-handedly took out the Empire? Let's review the list of events that lead to the fall of the Empire. 

1. Gave 60 Million credits of refined coaxium to a band of thieves starting a rebellion 

2. Provided passage for a droid carrying the stolen Death Star plans

3. Rescued an important figurehead from said Death Star

4. Aided Luke Skywalker by taking out multiple bogies on his tail so Luke can fire the fatal shot on the Death Star 

5. When Luke went missing on Hoth, and no one else was willing to find him, he faced the dropping temperatures to find Luke still alive

6. When the Hoth rebel base fell to the Empire, he rescued an important figurehead AGAIN, even though his own ship was disabled 

7. When betrayed by his ally, he sacrificed himself to save the others by being put into carbon freeze

8. Despite suffering from hibernation sickness, he was able to aid in escaping Jabba the Hutt, including taking out the notorious Boba Fett and saving Lando Calrissian

9. Led a team to disable the shield generator that was protecting the Death Star II

10. Provided his precious, yet reliable, ship to the team in charge of taking down Death Star II 

This had so many twists and turns that it wasn't enjoyable. You know Han was going to betray Woody Harrelson, and I was kind of hoping Q'ira was going to die to we can tie off that loose and get Han together with Leia. But, noooo, she's a pawn in Darth Maul's master plan. I loved Darth Maul as much as the next guy, but I watched him get b*tch killed by a younger, more inexperienced Jedi. He didn't deserve to come back. Granted, I was a child when he died, and I didn't know any better, but I stand by that statement. Any reason to bring him back is a big middle finger to those who moved on, and I'll give one right back.

Lando and Han's relationship never took off, no matter much you spin it from a certain point of view. Now, their meeting on Bespin will forever be the "Hey, remember the time I cheated at cards and won your ship?" scene instead of the "Your ship? Hey, I won her fair and square" scene.

Oh, and the biggest letdown of the whole damn thing is the Kessel Run. For years, I thought it was a passage everyone knew. A small cluster of asteroids that hover near the planet Kessel and Han maneuvered the route in less than 12 parsecs, a thing of legend. Instead, it was a race against time to get from Kessel to that one place I forget now because I don't care. So no, Ben Kenobi would not have heard of the Millenium Falcon, the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, especially if you're the only one bragging about it.

Should the sequel get greenlit, fingers crossed that it doesn't, maybe the writers should think about how Han turns into the scruffy nerf herder we know and love.

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I hope you liked this. Be sure to subscribe and leave a comment about what you thought or if you want to recommend a movie for me to review. Thank you for reading. I'll return next week with another movie. See you then.

If you liked Movie Thoughts, check out my other blog, Before I Go See It, where I give upcoming movies the same treatment based on their trailers.

Released On: May 25, 2018

Rating: PG-13

Stars: Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Paul Bettany

Director: Ron Howard

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 70%

IMDb Score: 7.0/10

Awards

Academy Awards

• Best Visual Effects Rob Bredow, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan, and Dominic Tuohy - Nominated

(Click here to view more awards for "Solo: A Star Wars Story")

Videos

CinemaSins - Everything Wrong with Solo: A Star Wars Story

Screen Junkies - Honest Trailers - Solo: A Star Wars Movie

How It Should Have Ended - Solo: A Star Wars Story - HISHE Review (SPOILERS & THEORIES)

The People v. Suzie

In the last month, we've gone from hating Hopper to hating Max, and now we're hating Suzie.
One of the biggest bombshells Stranger Things 3 had to offer was that Dustin has a girlfriend. The running joke throughout the season is that Dustin made her up...until it becomes convenient because she provides the key to shut down the gate to the Upside Down.
That's where people have been going off the rails. In order for her to give the key, Suzie requested that Dustin should sing the Neverending Story theme song, which, at first glance,  rekindled the spirits of the young at heart. But had she given the key upfront, the gate would have been shut sooner, and Hopper and Billy would have likely lived.
I never went as far as blaming Suzie for their deaths, but I did think it was sad that Suzie probably thought Dustin was pretending.
Dustin has let the world know that he is a self-proclaimed nerd, and everyone he talks to thinks he has an active imagination. He asked how to make a sensory deprivation tank, and his teacher thought nothing of it. With that being said, Suzie probably thought Dustin was playing a complicated version of Dungeons & Dragons where one of the clues was Planck's Constant.
Also, you have to think of this from Dustin's perspective. He really can't come out and say he's fighting monsters from alternate dimensions, or the Russians have invaded the U.S. When he said it her, she brushed it off, going back to my imagination point from earlier.
One other thing. Suzie hasn't heard from Dustin since they left Camp Knowhere. We, as the audience, know he's crazy about her. But when she finally talks to him, it's a test for her to make sure he's serious about their relationship, and it wasn't just a fun story from camp. Recently, I have discussed Hopper's behavior as shown in Season 3 and how it changed. Suzie has proven to show that she's a strong independent woman who won't let anyone boss her. Dustin tries to reason with her about the song, but it obviously doesn't work. It also kind of shows that Dustin is a Yes Man to Suzie, her love slave if you will.
Even if Suzie had given the key right away, there is still a possibility that the knock off T-1000 could have shown up and foiled Joyce and Hopper's plan. There are a ton of ways closing the gate could have been difficult.  When El closed the gate in Season 2, it was kind of anticlimactic. Don't get me wrong, it was a bitchin' thing to watch. She was screaming, blood running from her nose, she was levitating, she closed that sh*t up tight. But it was too easy. I'm sure there was no way the Duffers would use that tactic two seasons in a row.
Other possibilities to slow down closing the gate could be that it was more complicated than Alexi remembered. The other scientists could have changed the setup. The key may not have been Planck's Constant after all. The T-1000 could have already been inside the room or had a henchman waiting. Closing the gate could have taken the same amount of time the Death Star took to fire its super laser in the third act of A New Hope, causing the T-1000 show up sooner. I think the Duffers thought killing Billy and maybe  Hopper would create the highest emotional impact out of all the possible scenarios, and it pays off. Had Hopper and Billy lived, there is a possibility that viewers may not want to tune in to the final(?) season. The post-credit scene in the finale may have a negative reaction instead of brewing theories about the unnamed American and why are the Russians feeding prisoners to a Demogorgon.
Should the Duffers decide to bring Suzie into the Stranger Things family, and I hope they do, they might address this issue. Maybe Suzie will realize she may have caused two deaths in her cute stunt.
Wherever you stand on the issue, just know that these are the decisions made by the writers, the directors, the actors, and all the people who represent Netflix.

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Hopper's Season 3 Behavior: Love It or Hate It

I'd like to give a shout out to anyone who thinks a dated fantasy series needs to be woke in 2019.
Jim Hopper is a very complex character who isn't exactly known for showing his feelings to people let alone controlling them. It is a stepping stone for him to be able to confront people without getting too violent or angry. But when people, like Mike Wheeler, turns his stepping stone into a stumbling block that's when he starts to come unhinged a bit.
First of all, he shows a trait that a lot of dads, both in TV and movies and in real life, share. He feels very protective of Eleven, and this little daughter-stealer thinks he's a bumbling idiot. So he emits fear into the child and drives the two apart. Thinking that he has won, he decides to celebrate with Joyce over dinner only to be stood up himself by Joyce. She didn't mean to, but he doesn't take it lightly. What he did was not right, I admit. But the hostility he shows to Joyce, the following day, will be something that you would expect from a guy like him. It could have been a lot worse. He could throw her against the wall beat her, hit her, but he doesn't appear to be THAT kind of guy. He was just hurt and angry. Plus, he feels like he's fighting a losing battle because he doesn't want Joyce to leave Hawkins.
Joyce has probably known hostility from the opposite sex for much of her life given the relationship she has with her ex-husband, Will and Jonathan's father. So she was likely used to Hopper's behavior. Bob, in Season Two, was probably the most normal boyfriend she ever had, and his sudden demise really rattled her. She is likely not in the mood to get back into the dating game so soon. Plus, she was too interested in what would drive the main plot of the season to focus on starting a relationship with Hopper.
Now, Mike isn't exactly in the clear in this situation. If you really think about it, he's a bit of a dictator. He has considered himself the leader of the group, and he feels a little threatened when anyone tries to challenge his authority. That is shown several times throughout Season Two when Max keeps butting into the group despite him saying no to her. But it nearly destroys Mike when Eleven dumps him. And she wasn't convinced by Max either; that was her own decision. Even when Mike tells the truth about why he was distant, Eleven defends Hopper, and it scares the hell out of Mike. For the first time, the one person that depended on him for everything from food and shelter to just being a friend, the one person he cared about suddenly had a mind of her own.
Both Mike and Hopper learn to trust and respect Joyce and Eleven respectively. Hopper realizes Joyce had a reason for standing him up, and she was not going to apologize and beg him for forgiveness. Mike learns that Eleven isn't going to join him when she finds out they've been duped.
Eleven learns to be a strong independent woman, and that she isn't going to let anyone hold her back. She still loves Mike, but she needs to make sure that he can trust her and respect her. Mike, fortunately, learns that pretty quick, which may explain his behavior in the season finale, for which I hate with a burning passion. He was terrified of losing her again, and he is treading lightly. He lost her trust when he lied to her; he wouldn't want to do it again. I hope that's the reason. He could just be an a-hole for all I know.
Joyce has evolved from a stressed-out single mother to a woman who won't take no sh*t from anyone, supernatural or not. She has a soft spot for Hopper, but she needs to make sure that he knows that she isn't some floozy that he can push around. That, I think, may have helped hit Hopper's departure harder, because he trusted Joyce to do the right thing.
Were Hopper's actions justified? Probably not. But what would have if he hadn't gone this route? If he had remained calm, would Eleven still do everything Mike said? Would Joyce get on her knees and beg for Hopper's forgiveness? These are choices made by the writers, by the directors, by the actors, and by the people who represent Netflix. I gotta be honest. The show's pretty woke as it is.
Go ahead and hate all you want. I still think Steve Harrington is a d-bag for his actions in Season One, even though I see him grow and change every day.

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"Stranger Things 3"

My eighties nostalgia is starting to wear thin as I'm picking up NINETIES references. We are five years away from Twin Peaks premiering on ABC. We are seven years away from Alien 3 hitting the theaters. We are thirteen years away from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone hitting the shelves in the US.
I felt that this season had excellent momentum, filled with humor and suspense, but then it kind of fell flat at the very end, mostly because of little things I didn't like. For one, I didn't like how dumb Mike is becoming. His now rocky relationship with Eleven was hilarious throughout the season, but then he really didn't patch things up with her in my opinion. In one angry rant, he admits that he loves her, but she was out of the room. Later she asked him about that day, and he was like "Oh that was soooooo long ago." What the hell are you doing? She wants to hear you say it, you little sh*t. <Sighs> Max is right; there's more to life than just stupid boys.
I really don't think anyone saw Hopper's fate coming at all. I loved how he starts the season watching Magnum, P. I., and then he becomes Magnum, P. I. searching for clues to Mayor Kline's behavior, which includes sporting a Hawaiian shirt and commandeering a convertible. Over the course of the season, I kept thinking that he would allow Mike to take Eleven on a real date. In fact, I imagined that the entire party would like to go mini golfing. Mike would hang out with Eleven, Lucas and Max would team up, Dustin and Will would fly solo together, and then they would peak around the corner and find Joyce and Hopper making out. Well, I guess that will never happen.
Dustin and his Mormon girlfriend absolutely adorable together. I don't care if that was a nostalgia trap, that was awesome. But the more I think about it, the more I wonder if Dustin's love would become the new center of the story. He and Erica, Lucas' sassy little sister, really bounced off one another, especially when he discovers that she is a nerd just like the rest of them. And that My Little Pony thing? I'm not sure if it really was meant to describe fans in the eighties or fans of today, but I was like DAMN!
Seeing Billy make the ultimate sacrifice was kind of heartbreaking because we never really get to see him be a good guy. He says sorry to Max in the end but that was all that he could say. I wonder how Max was able to explain this to her parents.
Steve and his new friend Robin were actually cute, but sadly, it was never meant to be. When Robin said that she was not like any other Steve ever dated, I wondered if she had a tiny room covered wall to wall with pictures of Steve because she said she was obsessed with him. But she was obsessed because she was jealous that a girl, SHE liked, liked Steve. I felt a little sad because that was strike three for Steve Harrington getting a girl. Like many of you, I really hated Steve in Season One. Fighting the Demogorgon wasn't redeemable. He was kind of cool in Season Two, but I still haven't forgiven him for being such a douchebag. This season kind of explains everything. He represents a popular kid realizing that once high school is over you're not that popular anymore. In fact, some of the ladies were probably thinking that he was kind of a schmuck for not going to college. They're like how sad. Heehee.
The villains in this season were kind of cartoonish, and it really pisses me off. I've seen Red Dawn, which they reference, and it pisses me off that Russians think they could come into our country that easily and stay. In real life, the US military would blow Hawkins off the f*cking map. The Mind Flayer was kind of whatever, but I was kind of bummed that Nancy wasn't able to prove her worth in finishing the story about the rabid rats and missing fertilizer. That was mostly because of half the staff becomes drones for the Mind Flayer before being sucked into one massive being. You know, I'm starting to realize that this has Men in Black written all over it. The people of Hawkins don't seem to realize that they are a hub of paranormal activity. They're like "Will disappeared in the woods. That guy killed my crops. The mayor stole my job."
Overall, this season was fun, but I kind of want it to end. I want Mike and Eleven to work their crap out, I want the party to stay together like rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong, I want to Joyce to find happiness, and I want people to stop interfering with the Upside Down.

I hoped you guys liked this. I've missed doing this, this was fun. I'll be back in a few weeks with more reviews, but for now, enjoy your summer. Remember to subscribe and leave a comment of what you would like for me to review next.

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Released On: July 4, 2019

Rating TV-14

Stars: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Saide Sink, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Dacre Montgomery, Cara Buono, Maya Hawke

Directors: The Duffer Brothers, Shawn Levy, Uta Briesewitz

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90% Certified

IMDb Score: 9.1/10 (Average)

Awards

Primetime Emmy Awards

• Outstanding Drama Series - Nominated

Creative Primetime Emmy Awards

• Outstanding Interactive Extension of a Linear Program (Scoops Ahoy: Operation Scoop Snoop) - Nominated
• Outstanding Music Supervision (Nora Felder) - Nominated
• Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series (Dean Zimmerman and Kathryn Naranjo) - Nominated
• Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour) (Craig Henighan, William Files, Ryan Cole, Kerry Dean Williams, Angelo Palazzo, Katie Halliday, David Klotz and Steve Baine) - Winner
• Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour) (Michael Rayle, Mark Paterson, William Files and Craig Henighan) - Nominated
• Outstanding Special Visual Effects (Paul Graff, Gayle Busby, Tom Ford, Michael Maher Jr., Martin Pelletier, Berter Orpak, Yvon Jardel, Nathan Arbuckle and Caius Man) - Nominated
• Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Drama Series, Limited Series or Movie (Hiro Koda) - Nominated

(Click here to view more awards for "Stranger Things 3".)

"Stranger Things 2"

New season means new characters and new hairstyles. Hopper's police buddy went from Egon to Weird Al, Eleven sports an Ellen Ripley, and nobody puts Nancy in a corner.
This new season has started to drift from the horror and the science fiction and towards the teen drama. Nancy seems to have it figured it out with Steve, but when Will's predicament sends her on a mission with Jonathan, she isn't sure anymore. Nancy is also torn with Barb's death, and it becomes a central part of the story where the conspiracy starts to leak into Hawkins. The drama between Mike and the Party also begins to take shape from young kids to awkward teens.
Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will meet tough girl, Max, also nicknamed Mad Max, and she is everything they could dream of in a girl: she plays video games, she rides a skateboard, and she is bullied by her older stepbrother. Okay, maybe not that last part, which I thought that whole thing was kind of generic. Generic older sibling bullies younger sibling so the younger sibling's friends help find the courage to fight back. And by the way, these boys encountered a girl with psionic powers. It should be no surprise that a girl can kick their ass at Dig Dug.
There is still a lot we don't know about the relationship between Max and Billy, her stepbrother. All we know is that they hate each other. Towards the end of the season, we see that Billy is also bullied by his father, so it makes sense to see why he's hard of Max; he is taking his anger out on her. I had several theories about how Max and Billy's relationship would change once she stood up to him. I thought that Billy would be just inherently evil, and he gets eaten by the Demodogs. Or he does a Steve from Season One and fights the Demodogs. Or she establishes dominance and controls him. Wanna take a guess what was picked? Since Billy lives, there is a possibility that they may reconcile their relationship and depend on each other. There is a tease in Season Three that Billy may be involved with the bad guy, but who knows if that will happen?
I began to think about this. Billy has been antagonizing Steve throughout the series, even before he punched him out for hiding Max. There was a shower scene, after basketball practice, in which Billy got really close to Steve and says that there are plenty of fish in the sea. On the surface, he is referring to the breakup with Nancy. But below, what if Billy is interested? That's right, I think Billy is gay. It's hard to know at this point because of a lot of guys in the eighties, I'm guessing from movies, sported some kind of earrings, ass hugging jeans, and a messy mullet. And even some rubbed their genitals with cologne. But I found that last one extra weird because I've never seen it done. Suppose Billy is jealous because Steve just broke up with the hottest girl in Hawkins High, and he's not interested in Billy. Even more tragic? His dad knows he's gay. I really would like to see this explored.
Max is a great new addition to the group. It was actually hilarious that Lucas and Dustin are fascinated by Max's hobbies and demeanors. I was kind of hoping that Dustin would wind up with Max with his pearls, but they went with Lucas and Max being the couple. It was a nice development for Lucas. He went from being a skeptical kid wanting some excitement to becoming a young man that wants a relationship with Max. Dustin was bummed that Max isn't fascinated by his discovery that will turn against them later, so he develops an unlikely relationship with Steve on how to get girls, of which involves embarrassing beauty products. We all have something we use that we want to keep secret. I use whatever shampoo there is in the shower, so I'm not afraid to say that some of them were Dove, Garnier, and TRESemmé. I've used some of that manly sh*t, Dove for Men and Nivea, and it destroys my hair.
Will may be back, but he still has nightmares about the Upside Down. But then, the nightmares turn real and he becomes a host to a new baddy who threatens the safety of Hawkins. This is a good turn because we get to experience more with Will and how he adjusts to life in Hawkins. But it's short-lived because of the Mind Flayer controlling him.
Mike is lashing out because he wants to be with Eleven. Ever since her disappearance he draws into himself thinking that there is nothing left to look forward to as she remains radio silent. But when Will needs help, Mike lights back up with determination to save him.
Eleven is now seeking refuge in a distant cabin with Hopper, and she is turning into a moody teen haunted by her past and equally tormented for not being able to be with Mike. The relationship with Eleven and Hopper blossoms as Hopper adjusts to being a dad again, and Eleven adjusts to learning how to be with a parent that isn't experimenting on her. He wants to keep her safe so that she isn't taken again, but he also wants to teach her to be a part of a family. He doesn't want to lose her like he lost Sarah. She wants to go out into the world and grow up like a normal child. She discovers she is not alone with her abilities. It turns out there was another girl with the power to create illusions for people. In a stand-alone episode, Eleven meets her and her gang as they battle people who experimented on them at Hawkins Lab. But Eleven, now wanting to be called Jane, soon realizes that she belongs with Mike and the Party. She returns to help close the gate and save Hawkins. And to top the cake, a birth certificate was created, and Hopper adopted Jane.
Joyce has a new boyfriend, and now you can die knowing that a Heather dated a Goonie in a TV series set in the eighties with a plotline from Gremlins and kind of Ghostbusters, and they deal with Carter Burke from Aliens, an eighties mashup you didn't know you wanted. It is very sad that Bob the Goonie had to bite the dust, but it opens up the possibility that Joyce and Hopper may rekindle a fling they once had. If you watched Beyond Stranger Things, you may find that Millie Bobby Brown and Noah Schnapp are delighted by the possibility of becoming siblings in the show.
The finale was probably the best episode to date, and it's all because Mike got to take Jane to the Snow Ball. The last scene was just pure joy. Lucas and Max dancing together, Nancy dancing with Dustin after he fails to get a girl, even Zombie Boy Will got to dance. I thought Nancy dancing with Dustin was a nice callback to the very first episode when he offered her some pizza. It shows that likes him back, just maybe not in a dating way. But who knows?
Then the moment we've been waiting FOREVER FOR, Mike and Jane dancing. Season Three better have more Mike and Jane moments. I NEED MORE MIKE AND JANE MAGIC IN MY LIFE! I actually went to the Snow Ball when I was in high school, in Indiana now less, so this scene is very dear to me. My first year, my date refused to dance at all, so I danced with someone else. The second year I went stag and had a lot of fun. My date now has a child with her boyfriend, so I'm sad because of what Mike and Jane have and I didn't. I didn't really have a middle school/high school romance. You can probably guess that from these post.
Well, enough about me. Season Two was awesome, and I can't forget Season Three to drop tomorrow, July 4th. I probably won't get around to right away because my family has plans. I hope you do too. You're outside burning burgers and not inside burning WiFi.

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Released On: October 27, 2019
Rating: TV-14
Stars: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Dacre Montgomery, Cara Buono, Sean Astin, Paul Reiser
Directors: The Duffer Brothers, Shawn Levy, Andrew Stanton, Rebecca Thomas
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94% Certified Fresh
IMDb Score: 8.6 (Average)

Awards

Primetime Emmy Awards

• Outstanding Drama Series - Nominated
• Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series David Harbour - Nominated
• Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series The Duffer Brothers - Nominated
• Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series The Duffer Brothers - Nominated
• Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series Carmen Cuba, Tara Feldstein, and Chase Paris - Nominated
• Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (One Hour) Tim Ives - Nominated
• Outstanding Music Supervision Nora Felder - Nominated
• Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series Kevin D. Ross - Nominated
• Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series Bradley North, Craig Henighan, Tiffany S. Griffith, Jordan B. Wilby, David Werntz, Antony Zeller, David Klotz, Zane Bruce & Lindsay Pepper - Nominated
• Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour) Joe Barnett, Adam Jenkins, Michael P. Clark & Bill Higley - Nominated
• Outstanding Visual Effects Paul Graff, Christina Graff, Michael Maher, Fred Raimondi, Seth Hill, Joel Sevilla, Alex Young, Steven Michael Dinozzi & Caius Man - Nominated

Golden Globes

• Best Television Series Drama - Nominated
• Best Supporting Actor Series, Miniseries, or Television Film David Harbour - Nominated

Screen Actors Guild Awards

• Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series - Nominated
• Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series David Harbour - Nominated
• Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series Millie Bobby Brown - Nominated
• Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Drama Series - Nominated

(Click here to view awards for the series.)

Videos

Screen Junkies - The COMPLETE Stranger Things Recap | CRAM IT!

"Stranger Things"

I revisited the first season for a little refresher before diving into Season Two. Which is dumb, I know, Season Two has been out for a while. My family and I watched Season One a couple years ago, and they didn't want to continue. I did, however. I wanted to know what happens to Mike after Eleven disappears with the Demogorgon. Then Will puked up the wormy slug thing. It's like what the F? So, here we go.
I've been wondering if we are relying too much on nostalgia that we no longer can tell a compelling story as a whole. I'm not against nostalgia at all, but there's got to be a balance; subtle references instead of it being in your face. This show is a perfect example of that balance. There are plenty of references throughout this series, but they are placed where they aren't distracting. There are times when Dustin would compare the situation to something in pop culture, and it worked because they're a bunch of nerds, so it's not out of place.
The story itself is brilliantly told, blending the many threads together to keep us engaged on a number of characters.
Mike's relationship with Eleven was probably the most compelling and the most tragic. His kindness allowed her to trust him, especially when he was able to adapt to her fears, like when she was afraid of closing the bathroom door. He still gave her privacy while leaving the door partially open. When she changed the compasses' directions away from the lab, he was really mad, and we feel alongside Eleven that she has lost his trust. But it takes true friendship to keep your even if seems lost. When Mike and Dustin were trapped at the quarry, Mike trusted Eleven, who ran away, to save him.
Speaking of trust, Lucas is a kid that is always trying to fit reality in the situation. When he broke off to find the lab himself, he was still willing to radio the others and warn them about the bad men, proving that he was not okay with letting his friends get caught.
Dustin is a gift from God, and you can't change my mind. His brilliant comedic timing helps bring light into their dark situations. When everyone brought various weapons to defend themselves, Dustin brought snacks. Later, he announces to the bullies that Eleven was their friend and "she's crazy." He was also able to get them out of unimaginable situations with Mr. Clarke, the most unobservant teacher ever. It doesn't occur to him how strange it is that a mysterious girl, he's never met, could be related to the destruction of his ham radio, the boys are interested in how to travel across dimensions, and they want to build a sensory deprivation tank for "fun."
Outside the group, there is an array of teen dramas. Nancy, Mike's sister, is your average teen from the eighties. She is secretly rebelling from her parents and is caught in a like/love triangle with two boys: Steve, an equally rebellious teen with a Harry Styles wig who thinks it's okay to sexually molest young girls, which Nancy tragically enjoys, and Jonathan, a mysterious teen who thinks it's okay to watch. Nancy is internally torn between bullying Jonathan, for the spying on their secret party, and defending Jonathan when Steve and his cronies tease Jonathan over Will's disappearance.
Jonathan definitely has a strong relationship with his younger brother, Will, so we could relate the guilt he has when Will was gone. But lucky for him, their bond in music helped keep Will alive because Eleven channeled Will singing "Should I Stay or Should I Go?", and they know he's alive.
Joyce, Jonathan and Will's mother, showed growth in courage over the course of the season. She went from being delirious over Will's disappearance to facing death in the Upside Down to rescue Will. She stopped at nothing to bring Will back even if it meant turning against friends and family because she knows her son was there, and it was tearing her up that she couldn't get to him.
Lucky for her, there was Chief Hopper at her side. The bored chief of police started to take interest in the disappearance of Will Byers when it began to link with the activity at Hawkins Lab. His tragic back story was unknown throughout much of the season but seemed to coincide with Joyce's misery because he actually lost his child to cancer. Throughout the series, he kept saying his distant daughter was bright and she understood all that science crap, and the irony is that he at first was stating that Joyce was making up Will's presence to cope with her loss; he has been doing the exact same thing. Then it all comes to light as he and Joyce travel to the Upside Down to retrieve Will. The flashbacks give the audience more reason to fight for Hopper because, like him, we don't want to lose another child.
I love how this show was balanced between adventure, science fiction, horror, and traditional drama that it keeps you engaged and wanting more. I want more. I can't wait to get to Season Two.

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Released On: July 15, 2016
Rating: TV-14
Stars: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Cara Buono, Matthew Modine
Directors: The Duffer Brothers, Shawn Levy
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96% Certified Fresh
IMDb Score: 8.9 (Average)

Awards
Primetime Emmy Awards

• Outstanding Drama Series - Nominated
• Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series David Harbour - Nominated
• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Millie Bobby Brown - Nominated
• Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series The Duffer Brothers - Nominated
• Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series The Duffer Brothers - Nominated
• Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series Shannon Purser - Nominated
• Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Period Program (One Hour or More) Chris Trujillo, William Davis& Jess Royal - Nominated
• Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series Carmen Cuba, Tara Feldstein & Chase Paris - Nominated
• Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (One Hour) Tim Ives - Nominated
• Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series Dean Zimmerman - Winner
• Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series Kevin D. Ross - Nominated
• Outstanding Hairstyling for a Single-Camera Series Sarah Hindsgaul & Evelyn Roach - Nominated
• Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic) Myke Michaels & Teresa Vest - Nominated
• Outstanding Music Supervision Nora Felder - Nominated
• Outstanding Sound Editing for a Drama Series Bradley North, Craig Henighan, Jordan Wilby, Jonathan Golodner, Tiffany S. Griffth, Sam Munoz, David Klotz, Noel Vought & Ginger Geary - Winner
• Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour) Joe Barnett, Adam Jenkins, Chris Durfy & Bill Higley - Nominated
• Outstanding Main Title Design Michelle Dougherty, Peter Frankfurt, Arisu Kashiwagi & Eric Demeusy - Winner
• Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music Michael Stein & Kyle Dixon - Winner
• Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media within a Scripted Program Stranger Things VR Experience - Nominated

Golden Globe Awards

• Best Television Series Drama - Nominated
• Best Actress in a Television Series Drama Winona Ryder - Nominated

Screen Actors Guild Awards

• Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Main Cast - Winner
• Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series Winona Ryder - Nominated
• Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series Millie Bobby Brown - Nominated

(Click here to view more awards for Stranger Things, and here to view awards for the series.)

Videos
Screen Junkies - Honest Trailers - Stranger Things
TV Sins - Everything Wrong with Stranger Things Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers
TV Sins - Everything Wrong with Stranger Things Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street
Screen Junkies - The COMPLETE Stranger Things | CRAM IT!

"Avengers: Endgame"

I don't care how big a movie will be in the future. I will never sit through a three-hour movie again. The second I saw "Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo", I fled to the bathroom.
However, since it's still fresh in theaters and not everyone has seen it yet, I will try to make this as spoiler-free as I can. #DontSpoilTheEndgame
The universe is mourning for the loss of everyone. And no one is feeling it more than the Avengers. That's kind of redundant, I know. It's been like that for a year.
The Snap, even though it got rid of some lives, it brought back familiar faces. Clint Barton returns, and he's sporting a new weapon, obviously.
There were moments where I thought the movie was a little cheesy, but it was a necessary cheesy to help break the tension, stirred by Infinity War. It actually helped the audience give moral support to the Avengers even though they didn't know it.
Much like Infinity War, a lot of ground was covered. This kind of required knowledge from all the previous movies. I even had extra knowledge from watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which added some more scary assistance tension in one particular sequence.
I wondered at the end of Infinity War and I kept wondering throughout this movie what a snap sounds like through a metal glove. I still don't think they got it right. But I never heard a proper snap in a metal glove, so what do I know?
The Stan Lee cameo was probably the shortest and definitely the saddest of them all, knowing that it's his last one. You will have to br attentive to catch it. Even though he is physically no longer here, there will probably be ways where he could still be present in future movies. There are photos, archive footage; this is possibly career suicide, but what about motion capture? Someone posing as Stan Lee?
Those of you who stayed with me on this journey, you know my feelings on Tony Stark. I hate him with all my guts. I don't know if Tony's actions are justifiable. Yeah, it wound up okay, but I don't think it redeems everything he's done. It's like he destroys property on three different continents and claims millions of lives over the years, and he expects everything to be okay when he snaps his fing---Oops!
Well, I guess my time is up, I've said too much. It was great. It is worth the watch. Just maybe not in the theaters or else you may face an exploding bladder. But if you're up to the challenge, go.

Now, before I go, I have an announcement. I will be taking an indefinite break from blogging about movies. I have been spending a lot of time criticizing movies rather than enjoying them. Watching them just isn't fun anymore. I need to retrain myself on how to enjoy movies and TV shows again.
I also need to step away from the computer now that summer is approaching. A lot of beaches to hit near me. A lot of exciting movies are coming to my local drive-in, and surprise, I've never been. So that's definitely on my bucket list.
I also have been out of college for a year, and I'm looking to get back in. I have been accepted to three universities, so I will be heading to those colleges and will be making my decision.
I thank you all for staying with me these last eight months, especially since Thanksgiving. It has been a wild ride, and I to see so many movies. I was really glad to share them with you. What started as a fun idea became a part of me, and I am grateful.
I hope you enjoyed this. Thank you all once again. Have a great summer. I'll see you next time.

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Released On: April 26, 2019
Rating: PG-13
Stars: Robert Downey, Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Don Cheadle, Bradley Cooper, Brie Larson, Josh Brolin
Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96% Certified Fresh
IMDb Score: 8.9/10

Awards
Academy Awards

• Best Visual Effects Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken & Dan Sudick - Nominated 

Videos
How It Should Have Ended - Avengers Endgame - HISHE Reviews (SPOILERS)
How It Should Have Ended - How The Avengers Endgame Trailer Should Have Ended
How It Should Have Ended - How Avengers: Endgame Should Have Ended
How It Should Have Ended - Avengers: Endgame Alternate HISHE
How It Should Have Ended - Behind the Scenes Avengers: Endgame HISHE
CinemaSins - Everything Wrong with Avengers: Endgame in Time Travel Minutes or Less
Screen Junkies - Honest Trailers | Avengers: Endgame