"Klaus"

Before we begin, check out my post on Klaus on my other blog, Before I Go See It.
Now, on with the show.
If you haven't checked out this brand new Christmas gem on Netflix, check it out now.
I said it before, and I'll say it again. This is the remake to the Ranken & Bass story we deserve. It is filled with outstanding humor, gut-punching moments, and heart-warming moments that will make you tear up inside.
The animation is absolutely beautiful. It almost had a magical feel it despite being almost devoid of magic.
It is really nice that it didn't rely on much narration and exposition dumps. There was enough narration to set up the story and rest unfolded on its own. The little tidbits that Santa Claus is known for were placed where they weren't forced. They just happened on accident, and it stuck. That was a nice touch not really seen in other films.
It was a touching story that kept the spirit of Christmas high while delivering what I hope to become a new Christmas classic. Plus it teaches young children how one selfless act of kindness can always spark another.

Released on Netflix: November 15, 2019
Rating: PG
Stars: Jason Schwatzman, J. K. Simmons, Norm Macdonald, Rashida Jones
Directors: Sergio Pablos, Carlos Martínez López
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%
IMDb Score: 8.2/10

Awards
Academy Awards

• Best Animated Film - Nominated

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"The Fugitive" (1993)

To quote SNL's New York City Correspondent, Stefon, this movie has everything. Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, suspence, a legal drama but without the legal drama, and the question that's on every young person's mind: Holy sh*t, is that Jane Lynch? Yes, it is.

The movie wastes absolutely no time in getting to the action. It spent twenty minutes setting up the story, and off we go because that's what we came to see. Not the blah-blah-blahs that The Constant Gardner put in to hide the fact that it's the same story. And then it's over. Once the bad guy was caught, it was over. There was no blah-blah-blah afterwards about what happened to Dr. Kimble next because you don't care about that. He won, we're satisfied.
But in all honesty, the film never really focused on Kimble; it was U. S. Marshall Sam Gerard. It was really about him tracking down the titular fugitive. Sure it looks focused on Kimble, but Kimble hardly says anything. Any words out of his mouth was only said because he needed to say them. Gerard, on the other hand, just loves to talk. He had a snide comment about everything from moving the investigation forward to staring down Kimble on the dam. Whatever he says, it's so cool. So cool that he garnered his own movie before that was cool.
Though I have not seen the TV show this movie is based on, I could tell the elements that made up the show. The Fugitive would hide somewhere inconspicuous and gather information to bring him closer to his wife's killer. But when the U.S. Marshall gets close, the fugitive has to move on by doing the hide in plain sight gimmick.
The one problem I had with the film is the timeline of the events. First off, the film can't decide whether or not to snow. But then the St. Patrick's Day parade happened, so I figure that it's springtime. I get it. I've been to Chicago in the spring; the snow gets wonky in March. But when Kimble found out that the killer was meant for him and he found who it was, the guy who ordered the hit died in a car accident the previous year. Either Kimble was on the run for a year or someone doesn't have their facts straight.

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.

Released On: August 6, 1993
Rating: PG-13
Stars: Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones
Director: Andrew Davis
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96% Certified Fresh
IMDb Score: 7.8/10

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Awards
Academy Awards

• Best Picture - Nominated
• Best Supporting Actor Tommy Lee Jones - Winner
• Best Cinematography Michael Chapman - Nominated
• Best Film Editing Dennis Virkler, David Finfer, Dean Goodhill, Don Brochu, Richard Nord & Dov Hoenig - Nominated
• Best Original Score James Newton Howard - Nominated
• Best Sound Donald O. Mitchell, Michael Herbick, Frank A. Montaño & Scott D. Smith - Nominated
• Best Sound Editing John Leveque & Bruce Stambler - Nominated

(Click here to view more awards for "The Fugitive")

"Frozen II"

Before we begin, check out my post on Frozen II on my other blog, Before I Go See It.
Now, on with the show.

While this film answered some questions, it raised some more. Where did Elsa really get her powers? What did she really conquer? How do Arendelle's coronation rules work? And who does Elsa's eye makeup? They deserve a raise.
So the queen was apparently a resident of the Enchanted Forest, and when the relationship of the forest and Arendelle went south, she saved the prince. Then they got married and had two daughters, one of which have powers. The queen doesn't have powers, does she? Was she supposed to be the bridge, but, because she left, the balance of nature shifted and trapped those in the forest? The prince was enchanted by the young queen. Did she like him back? Is that why she saved him? Or did she just thought he was okay, and then grew to love him? I just want to know her motive in saving him besides restoring the relationship between the two nations. Also, the prince never figured that his wife was the one who saved him, and she was a member of the Enchanted Forest. Well, at least we know where they were going when their ship went down; they weren't going to attend Rapunzel's wedding.
When Elsa woke up the spirits of the Enchanted Forest, what did she do exactly? All she did, that I understand, was answer the Baby Shark call. I call it that because I can't get it out of my head, and it's worst with the Panic! at the Disco version. Then she mastered the elements with absolute ease. She pulled a Jean Grey in exploding the twister, broke the water horse, and sprinkled snow on the fire salamander. Anna really mastered the earth giants, proving the theory that she also part of this, as Elsa suggested. The film played with a theme of growing up and apart. Anna didn't want Elsa to leave. Elsa didn't either, but she really wanted to discover her powers on her own. Maybe what helped strengthened theoretically understanding of each was that Elsa called for Anna's help when she needed it. Without hesitation, Anna swooped in and helped restore the balance.
When the king and queen died at sea, they waited three years before Elsa was eligible to be crowned Queen of Arendelle. But when the king, as a young prince, returned from the Enchanted Forest, he was immediately crowned King of Arendelle. He had to be the same age Elsa was when Daddy Backstabber went over the cliff. Was it some sexist thing? Should the next heir to the throne be a woman, make her wait three years while the kingdom falls into turmoil. However, should the heir be a man, crown him immediately so the kingdom shall not fall. Yeah, that makes sense.
I was just being funny about Elsa's eye makeup, but seriously, who does it? She slept and was submerged in the deep sea three times, and her eyes shadow remained smudge free. That's some tough ass makeup.
A third film is inevitable, so I'm already speculating what it could entail. There was a rumor, back when a sequel was first announced, that Elsa would get a girlfriend. Is that still on the table? Is something going to happen between her and Honeymaren? I'm feeling Die Hard 3 vibes in which Hans could return to challenge Anna and Elsa with a set of powers he mustered. Would Anna have powers of her own or is she already powerful with her undying love for her mutant sister? The way they placed Anna behind Elsa, could she be the next main villain? Anna is doing the villain pose. Would Elsa lose her powers? Of course Kristoff and Anna are now getting married, so we now have to see their wedding.
It was a decent follow up. This franchise begrudgingly became special to my family because it was my little brother's first film in the theater, so it was great to take him to see the sequel.

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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.

Released On: November 22, 2019
Rating: PG
Stars: Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad
Directors: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 76% Certified Fresh 
IMDb score: 7.3/10

Awards

Golden Globe Awards

• Best Animated Feature Film - Nominated
• Best Original Song "Into the Unknown" - Nominated

Academy Awards

• Best Original Song "Into the Unknown" - Nominated 

Videos
CinemaSins - Everything Wrong With Frozen 2 in Delayed Sequel Minutes
Screen Junkies - Honest Trailers | Frozen 2
How It Should Have Ended - How Frozen 2 Should Have Ended

"Dark Phoenix"

Before we get started, check out my post on Dark Phoenix at my other blog, Before I Go See It.
Now, on with the show.

While it could have been better, this film is better than you think. The Last Stand was so busy with the X Gene cure plotline that the Phoenix Saga was crammed into the second half of the film.
This film, however, shows more a little more of the birth of the Phoenix...ish. We see how Jean Grey struggles with her telepathic powers to the point that she is responsible for her mother's death. More on that later. Then she absorbs the killer cosmic rays that botched a space mission, and it unravels all of Charles' hard work of being the worst grief counselor ever. Rather than working through her troubled past and her powers, he built mental walls to shut out part of it. She is a little representation of someone who shoved their grief and sorrow way down, and then it all exploded on her friends and family.
Even though it was the central plot of the whole movie, it felt kind of rushed. She gets the phoenix powers, she rebels, she saves the X-Men, that's it. I think they should make a film series, a trilogy, on the Phoenix Saga.
How awful of a dad must you be when you consider it hopeless to raise a gifted daughter? And he had the balls to hurt her with the fact that she killed Mom. I hope Jessica Chastain killed him when she interrogated him.
A lot of fans keeps complaining about the time jumps despite the actors not aging. And they complain about how Magneto would turn from Michael Fassbender to Ian McKellen in ten years. Well, I have a theory. Remember, the first X-Men Trilogy all start with the lower third text crawl, saying "Set in the Near Future." I always assumed that, since the first X-Men came out in 2000, it was set in 2010. As of November 18, 2019, Michael Fassbender is 42. Ian McKellen was 61 when X-Men was released. With that in mind, Fassbender and McKellen had an 19 year difference, and 1992 and 2010 are 18 years apart. Let's do another one. Patrick Stewart was 60 at the time of X-Men's release. James McAvoy is currently 40. Hmm? Mystique may have the same healing powers as Wolverine. Rebecca Romijn was 28, and Jennifer Lawrence is 29. Okay, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.
I have grown tired of the X-Men. I am excited that they are joining the MCU in the near future, which means they are already here, but I want them to stay away for a long time. Let's wait twenty years before we see the Mutants again.

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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.

Released On: June 7, 2019
Rating: PG-13
Stars: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Sophie Turner, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Jessica Chastain, Not Hugh Jackman...weird
Director: Simon Kinberg
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 23%
IMDb Score: 5.8/10

Awards

Golden Raspberry Awards
Worst Supporting Actress Jessica Chastain - Nominated
Worst Remake, Ripoff, or Sequel - Nominated


Videos
CinemaSins - Everything Wrong with Dark Phoenix in Plenty of Minutes
Screen Junkies - Honest Trailers | Dark Phoenix

"Ad Astra"

I felt a lot of vibes from sci-fi movies of the past. In this film I saw Avatar, Blade Runner, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. I also saw a bit of Apocalypse Now.
Brad Pitt was the only one doing all the heavy work in the film. Everyone else just existed to move the plot along. Liv Tyler was the worst cast advertising since Meryl Streep was starring in the Mamma Mia! sequel.
Aside from that, I see it as an Oscar contender. The cinematography is fantastic. The sound design wasn't like anything I heard in space films. It may be the first space film I've seen that implements the lack of sound in space. I can't imagine another movie where pirates can sabotage an escort in complete silence except for the musical score playing underneath, which I can get behind in winning an Oscar.
I wish they didn't have the space pirates in the trailer because it made it sound like the pirates were part of the plot. Also despite being so believable in the science of space exploration, the movie completely rides on the myth that you explode in space.
If you really want to see this movie, I'd wait until it comes on TNT or something. It is just not worth it to rent or buy. And if How It Should Have Ended is listening,  I want you to redo the ending in which the explosion, that blows up the ship, be the global killing surge that causes Brad to go into space in the first place. I was hoping for that in the last ten minutes of the movie.

Released On: September 20, 2019
Rating: PG-13
Stars: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Liv Tyler, Ruth Negga, Donald Sutherland
Director: James Gray
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83% Certified Fresh
IMDb Score: 7/10

Awards
Academy Awards

• Best Sound Mixing Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson & Mark Ulano - Nominated 

Videos
Saturday Night Live - Space Mistakes

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"Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"

I was glad this beat out Incredibles 2 at both the Golden Globes and the Oscars, but then I watched the movie and I'm like HOLY SH*T! This film was mind-blowing and a lot of fun. To the dozen or so people who dragged this film's score down on Rotten Tomatoes, shame on you!
You can go ahead and watch the other movies. I know I have six to knock off my bucket list, but this should be the first on your list if you're a newcomer to the spectacular hero. Or last maybe, if you don't want to be bored watching a Spider-Man movie.
I have only heard of Miles Morales, so this was a helpful tool to learn who he really is. Then it kicks it up a notch to introduce other versions of Spider-Man that I never heard of. I knew there was a Spider-Woman out there; there's always a female version of a beloved superhero: Supergirl, Batgirl, Lady Thor. I'm not hating, but it feels less exciting when there are multiple versions of the same hero. I realized that contradicts this movie. Moving on.
I think it was weird that Gwen Stacy is the only Spider-person whose name isn't a variation of Peter. I mean we got Penni Parker, the anime child, Peter Parker, that goes to Noir and the Peter we're accustomed to, and Peter Porker, the Looney Toons one. Though I haven't seen it yet, I know Gwen was Peter's girlfriend in the Amazing Spider-Man films. but knowing that, what she supposed to possess spider skills and fight crime with Peter? We'll never know since she died in the second one. Hey, it's on the Internet and I read it.
I got to know a little bit about Kingpin/Wilson Fisk through the Netflix series, Daredevil. To this day, I still don't understand why Vanessa ended up with him in either universe and have a child with him. She had a nice life in the art gallery. She knew he was a criminal, so what the F? I'm getting off track. Kingpin's quest to bring back his family was a little heartbreaking because he fails to see the monster he's become when he fights Spider-Man. When the Spider-Man in Miles' dimension tried to reason with Kingpin, he refuses to listen and kills the web-slinger. And he still hasn't learned his lesson when he tried to kill Miles too, which becomes his major flaw in his plan. His tunnel vision clouds his judgment and hides who he truly is.
All this talk and no Mile-age. Miles is a quirky young kid from Brooklyn who struggles with his demanding father and caring mother. When he becomes bitten by a radioactive spider and Peter dies, he is thrust into the responsibility he spent years trying to hide from. His new skills help him man up and take the lead position, much like his dimensional counterparts. I think it's adorable that he and Gwen have something going on, but if you think about it, are they the same person since they live in alternate dimensions where something is different? Miles is a boy, and Gwen is a girl. Would they even able to be together or will they be forever apart? I'm all for them so I want to know before I get my hopes up.
The other Spiders were fun to see on screen, but now they need their own films, particularly Noir and Penni Parker. I especially want to see Peter Parker fight crime in a noir style film. The film did a fantastic job introducing them all, all you don't really feel lost in the commotion. I really want a movie on the Noir character, and I'm down on the Spider-Woman movie. I hope this film really sets the stage for future comic book movies to bring some lesser-known characters onto the big screen.

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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.

Released On: December 14, 2018
Rating: PG
Stars: Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Liev Schreiber, Lily Tomlin, Nicolas Cage, John Mulaney, Kimiko Glen, Chris Pine
Directors: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97% Certified Fresh
IMDb Score: 8.5/10

Awards
Academy Awards

• Best Animated Film - Winner

Golden Globes

• Best Animated Feature Film - Winner

(Click to view more awards for "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse".)

Videos
CinemaSins - Everything Wrong with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Screen Junkies - Honest Trailers - Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
How It Should Have Ended - How Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Should Have Ended

"Heathers"

This movie is f*cked up. Let me just say that right now. And I thought The Breakfast Club was edgy. 

Winona Ryder stars as a little mule for three of the evilest girls on the silver screen until Mean Girls, Heather, Heather, and Heather. I'm sure the writer had a little fun writing them to mess with people. But he must have been a magician because you were never confused with which Heather is being referred. Back to this, Winona forges notes to ruin people's lives for the Heathers' amusement. She hates her life. That is until she meets Christian Slater, a rebellious teen moving from place to place. Together they start causing mayhem by murdering people and posing them as suicides. First, it was the blond Heather who was hungover from a party. Slater gives her a cocktail of drain cleaner and orange juice, claiming that it's some get well juice. Heather crashes into the glass coffee table. Next, Winona and Slater kill the two evil jocks and pose it as a murder-suicide because of their "secret passion for each other."

Their school then responds to the suicides by trying to teach the children that there is nothing wrong with speaking about their issues. This doesn't bode well with Winona. The people they kill are more popular dead than they are alive. But then it starts to get serious when a woman bullied for being fat tries to kill herself by walking into traffic and fails. Winona wants to stop, but there was something much more sinister happening. Slater teamed up with the brunette Heather and made a school-wide suicide pact unbeknownst to the entire school. Slater's father is an architect and amateur demolition expert so he sets up a couple charges under the bleachers and sets a bomb in the boiler room under the gym so that the school would blow up in an ironic sort way that the school would commit mass suicide in an anti-suicide rally.

Winona has had enough, so she swoops in and saves the day shooting Slater's finger off and shutting off the bomb. Then she steps out to breathe, and here comes Slater, bleeding out. He's strapped the bomb to himself and decides to blow himself up to atone for their sins. He blows up and dies, and Winona dethrones all the remaining Heathers and becomes the ruler of the whole school.

I initially thought they were going to kill all the Heathers, and they almost do it. The brunette Heather tried to OD on pain pills in the bathroom because she can't handle the pressure of being the leader and that her boyfriend "killed himself for being gay." The redhead was kind of nonexistent the rest of the movie. But I guess it's called Heathers because it all starts with the Heathers. These evil b*tches are tormenting their lives, and so when one of them suddenly dies it's sort of a wake-up call that even popular kids are depressed. Normally, someone would find out that they're just straight up murders, or maybe Winona even fess up. Everyone knows that Winona works for the Heathers forging letters. But this movie does something different. Everyone is oblivious to what is happening. It never comes to mind that maybe Winona is behind it. She's miserable with the Heathers, and suddenly she's cynical when one of them dies. This movie worked because the police weren't involved.

I wonder what would if this story was told today. It wouldn't happen, that's the point. Oh...wait.

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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.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94% Certified Fresh

IMDb Score: 7.3/10