Early Man

LANDON **1/2
I've always enjoyed Aardman Studio's animation and style.  Stop-motion animation and British wit are a charming combination.  While "Early Man" isn't quite as good as the likes of "Chicken Run" or Wallace & Gromit," it's still a decent addition to their library.  Like I said, the animation is awesome and fun to watch, it's irresistibly charming and witty, and there's a cast of likable characters here.  My only real gripe with this film is the plot.  What seems like a unique movie about cavemen vs. bronze-men turns out to be a movie about....soccer?  Yes, that's right.  At the end of the day, this is a soccer movie disguised as a caveman film.  It's surprising, and not really in the best way.  It's cliched and rather disappointing in that sense.  Again though, this is still a decent film.  There's plenty to still enjoy about it.  Just don't expect to come out loving it.

LOGAN **1/2

BANGERANG SCORE: **1/2

Black Panther

CHASE ***
In "Captain America: Civil War," we were introduced to two new characters that made me want to see their individual movies.  While I don't think it's as good as "Spiderman: Homecoming," "Black Panther" it pretty solid.  Taking place in the fictional land of Wakanda, T'Challa (the Black Panther) becomes the new king while some villains arise that could potentially tear the country apart and it is up to Black Panther and his crew to stop them.  The best part of the movie is the dichotomy between the main hero and the main villain.  T'Challa is a cool character that has a strong sense of dignity and heroism that make him very likable.  The main villain reminds me of someone that would come out of a Greek tragedy.  He's despicable, but I understand where he's coming from, making him more sympathetic than most villains.  The movie is also one of the more unique superhero films because it is not just about the hero, but features the people of Wakanda in a significant way, which makes it fresh.  However, the movie doesn't have the same kind of polish that other great Marvel movies have had.  Some of the humor is lacking and even some action scenes felt a little clunky.  It also felt a little slow in the beginning, but it did pick up and ultimately became a very enjoyable movie.  This is a cool movie and a good one to watch.

LOGAN ***

BANGERANG SCORE: ***

Maze Runner: The Death Cure

LANDON **1/2
I've enjoyed all of the "Maze Runner" films just fine.  And while this one is still enjoyable, it's the most frustrating film in the series.  On the one hand, all of the great characters are still great here.  The set pieces are terrific.  The overall visual imagery here is very pleasant to watch.  And it's fairly entertaining.  However, it falls pretty flat on the narrative scale.  The whole thing is just one giant climax that refuses to conclude.  It drags on.  It doesn't help that it tends to be a bit over-dramatic at times.  If you like the other "Maze Runner" films, you'll probably like this one as well.  If you've never been a big fan, than you won't be a big fan of this one either.

Paddington 2

LANDON **1/2
A lot of the same qualities that are apparent in the first "Paddington" film are found here as well.  It features the same lovable cast of characters, it's contagiously charming and it's really funny.  "Paddington 2" offers all of this packaged in a worthwhile film for the whole family.  My biggest gripe that keeps it from a three star rating is it's emotional core, a similar flaw from the original film.  While it attempts to tug at your heart strings, it never really quite earns that merit.  Especially since it's so scattered throughout the film instead of being the overarching drive of the story.  But if you're looking for a decent, wholesome, family film, look no further than this pleasant film.

Phantom Thread

LOGAN **1/2
Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel-Day Lewis collaborate together again to make "Phantom Thread."  This best picture contender tells the story about a dress-maker who meets someone that he thinks is perfect for trying on the dresses he makes, and the two form a relationship.  Well, sort of.  The narrative felt a little off at times, with the first thirty minutes of the movie being unbearably boring, and the connection between the two feels off at times.  That being said, most of the actors do well, in particular Daniel-Day Lewis, who is always terrific in everything he's in.  The music is very nice and creative and the production values are incredibly impressive.  It is a different kind of movie, and a slow one at that.  It's not exactly my cup of tea.

CHASE **1/2

BANGERANG SCORE: **1/2

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

LANDON ***
This one surprised me.  From a distance, it appears to be a cheap-knockoff of the original film, but upon viewing, it turns out that's a pretty fun film.  Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, and Jack Black all work really well off of each other, convincingly portraying teenagers stuck inside a video game.  It's funny, exciting, and, again, fun.  I give this one a solid recommendation.

LOGAN **1/2
To keep this one brief, I was only mildly entertained.  It was a better film than I originally anticipated, and it is well-casted, but I simply didn't find the movie that funny, and upon working it out in my head, I think they could've easily done this movie without the title "Jumanji."  I didn't like it as much as Landon did, but it is still a good movie when you look past the absurd concept.

BANGERANG SCORE: **1/2

The Greatest Showman

LANDON **
I imagine my reaction to this film is pretty similar to the reaction most people had with P.T. Barnum's own circus show.  I was a bit mixed.  It's certainly a pretty interesting spectacle.  Barnum's life is glamorized in a light-hearted musical.  It's actually an idea I somewhat appreciate, but it doesn't work very well.  On the one hand, the music and songs are all great.  They're written by the same writers of the "La La Land" soundtrack, so you know you have something good here.  It's a pretty remarkable soundtrack.  Everyone does a good job acting here as well, especially the always infectious Hugh Jackman.  The story on the other hand, brings the film down a few notches.  There's a couple of splitting narratives that are all clumped together into one form of entertainment.  The best word I can think of to describe it is "messy."  And while there's a good message by the end of it, it drags a lot of clutter to get to that point.  Plus, it's really historically inaccurate, which normally wouldn't bother me if there were a few things that weren't accurate, but there's a lot of inaccuracies.  Want my diagnosis?  Skip the movie and buy the soundtrack.  Great soundtrack, not a great movie.

LOGAN **1/2

BANGERANG SCORE: **

Darkest Hour

LOGAN ***1/2
The new Joe Wright movie focuses on the first month of Winston Churchill's prime ministry, and man, what a movie it is.  The clear star of this film is Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill, who gives quite possibly the best performance this year.  Not only is the makeup impressive on him, but his raw, emotional performance grabs you by your collar and demands attention.  The other actors do good as well, the music is captivating, it is shot incredibly well and for the most part, it is paced very well, despite a couple of slow parts. It's interesting, it's technically well-made, it's one of my favorite movies this year.

BRYCE ***
CHASE ***
LANDON ***

BANGERANG SCORE: ***

The Man Who Invented Christmas

CHASE ***
This is one of the more interesting Christmas movies out there.  As much as we have seen many "A Christmas Carol" stories been told and retold, we never get to see the story behind the story.  Hence comes "The Man Who Invented Christmas," which follows Charles Dickens and how he wrote the famous "A Christmas Carol."  Everything that's done in the movie is done extremely well.  Everyone is well acted (especially Dan Stevens as Charles Dickens), the production is well-designed and the screenwriting is pretty solid.  It also helps that finding out the story behind the classic is inherently interesting, and it's fun to see the characters from the book who interact with Charles Dickens during his writing process.  The movie is done in such a way where we get to see how Charles' life had influenced his story.  My only criticism is that while everything is done well, there's not really anything that felt outstanding to me.  But overall, I enjoy "The Man Who Invented Christmas" and for those who love "A Christmas Carol" should definitely give this one a go.

LANDON **1/2
I agree with Chase on just about everything.  This film does a lot of good things, but not a lot of great things.  Dan Stevens is great and it's a pretty interesting narrative.  The reason why I teetered down to my current star rating is its ending, where everything just seems rather piled together in a similar fashion to Dickens' acclaimed  novel.  Instead of resonating, it comes off as pretty sappy.  Nevertheless, this is a very decent film and one I think audiences everywhere would like.

BRYCE ***
LOGAN ***

BANGERANG SCORE: ***

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

CHASE ***1/2
The wait is finally over as we have the eigth episode of the "Star Wars" saga with "The Last Jedi."  The million dollar question is: is it any good?  The answer is a total yes.  Taking place directly after "The Force Awakens" we see the Resistance trying to escape from the First Order while Rey is trying to get Luke to join the fight.  The strongest points in the movie, by far, are any scenes that have to do with (coincidently enough) the Force users: Rey, Kylo Ren, and Luke.  Mark Hamill is excellent reprising his role as the aged Luke Skywalker and his performance feel raws and authentic and I think his character has a great arc.  The stuff with Rey and Kylo Ren is just great as we learn more about both of those characters and what their connection is.  It left me wanting to see what happens to both of them in the next one.  I love how they expand the universe of "Star Wars" in ways that feel surprising, yet right at the same time.  The space battles were exciting, and I like how Poe's character has his own arc in the story.  While I think there is a lot to love about it, it unfortunately doesn't live up to "The Force Awakens."  The first problem is the pacing which felt a little bit wonky.  This movie is probably a lot longer than it needs to be and it could benefit from shaving off a few minutes.  There are some moments that feel a little bit silly for me, even by "Star Wars" standards.  Especially in the Canto Bite part of the movie, where some parts are pretty enjoyable while others felt a little weird.  Lastly, I felt like that Finn and Rose's arcs didn't feel as satisfying as they should be.  Despite these complaints, however, the strong points are just too strong for me and I love a lot of it.  This is definitely one that is worth checking out.

BRYCE **1/2
LANDON ***1/2
LOGAN ***

BANGERANG SCORE: ***

Goodbye Christopher Robin

LOGAN **1/2
"Goodbye Christopher Robin" can be summed up in two words: It's nice.  That's basically all I can say about it.  The story focuses on the creation of the beloved children's story "Winnie-the-Pooh," and does so in a charming, innocent way.  The actors do a very good job portraying their roles both emotionally, and even in comical moments.  The film's editing, on the other hand, can sometimes come out of left field, especially with Domhnall Gleeson's character experiencing PTSD throughout the film.  It can suck you out of the experience pretty fast. Other than that, nothing really stood out to me very much.  It's your average run-of-the-mill biopic, but a nice one at that.  If that's your type of movie, you'll definitely enjoy this one.  It's nice.

CHASE ***

BANGERANG SCORE: **1/2

Wonder

LANDON **1/2
Based off the book by the same name, "Wonder" tells the story of a 10-year old boy born with Treacher Collins syndrome going to a public school for the first time and struggling to make friends and fit in.  At least that's what it's mostly about.  This is where the film loses a lot of steam for me.  It insists that it must also tell the story of the boy's older sister and her perspective of neglect from her parents.  And even a little of perspective from her best friend as well.  This all would've been fine if it had been wrapped together in a unified conclusion, but it never does.  It's pointless filler.  It's only purpose is to fill in time.  It also doesn't help that when it does focus on our young protagonist, it's usually very syrupy and aggressively-sweet.  I hate to make it sound like I'm ragging on this movie, because this is by no means a mediocre film.  It has a cast of very good actors and actresses (especially Jacob Tremblay, quickly becoming a star after his brilliant performance in "Room").  And even with the syrup, it does manage to bring out some pretty raw emotion.  It doesn't resonate as well as it should have, but you understand why most characters act the way they do.  I guess that is the goal of the filmmakers is to help audience understand these people, so they accomplished their goal.  This a very decent film honestly.  If you liked the book or if you want a wholesome movie to bring your family or a date to, this is probably a good choice.

BRYCE ***
Yeesh.  I'm surprised you gave it two and a half stars after that review!  To me, the fact that the story focused on other key people in the boy's life was actually a strength and not filler.  I think a typical movie in this vein would've focused entirely on the plight of the boy, with everyone else relegated to the periphery.  I think the film is effective in showing how having this kind of physical abnormality is really challenging not just for him, but for everyone close to him.  Some people handle it really well, some handle it terribly and most are somewhere in between.  That being said, I agree that it was a bit syrupy and trite at times, especially towards the end as is common in these kinds of family-friendly dramas.  It's nothing groundbreaking, but I thought it was engaging and sincere and definitely worth checking out.

BANGERANG SCORE: **1/2

Coco

LANDON ***
I don't know what it is about Pixar, but they seem totally incapable creating anything that's less than decent (save for "Cars 2").  "Coco" is no exception, and while it may not be one of the best the studio has to offer, it's a very good addition to their library.  Perhaps my favorite thing about it is its cast of lovable characters, especially Miguel, our young hero with a love for music and his family.  The animation is gorgeous.  There are shots in this film that will take your breath away.  It's fun to watch and it has a very good, touching story.  The things that keep it from being a great film, however, are mainly in the ways it presents itself.  It's very predictable.  Not to be confused with clichéd, but you can pretty easily guess what's going to happen next.  And there are some plot points that are placed very conveniently in important moments.  It unfortunately doesn't mesh with the overall picture very well.  With that being said, I really enjoyed this movie and would recommend it people of all ages.  It's a good movie.

BRYCE ***1/2
I think you're selling this one short.  This is absolutely among Pixar's best and the best film I've seen all year.  This is, as you point out, a gorgeous movie with a richness and depth of field you don't see very often in any movie, animated or otherwise.  But beyond that, this is a profound story about the bonds of family through the generations told with an uncommon amount of humor and heart.  It all culminates in an incredibly poignant conclusion that dares you to hold back the tears.  I agree that a couple of the plot points leading up to that conclusion were a little too convenient, but the final impact completely overshadowed that for me.  It's a fantastic movie.

CHASE ***
LOGAN ***

BANGERANG SCORE: ***

Justice League

LANDON **
Here we are.  The much-awaited (depending on who you talk to) "Justice League" film is here to counter Marvel's "The Avengers."  And what a counter.  Every film in this franchise save for the very good "Wonder Woman" has been mediocre.  And I am going to put most of the blame on Zack Snyder.  The man is apparently incapable of directing an engaging narrative.  Even his visual spectacle, which most audiences give him praise for, is totally cluttered and feels completely fake.  This movie is all kinds of boring.  It's flat story, monotonous villain, lack of character depth; all completely boring.  It does keep itself from being bad with, admittedly, some action scenes that can be pretty entertaining.  Nonetheless, this film is not worth it.  It's a whole lot of nothing.  I don't recommend it.  In fact, I recommend giving up on the franchise altogether because it's not going places anytime soon.

LOGAN *1/2
I have to say: even though I had my expectations low for this one, it was actually worse than I thought it would be.  I agree with everything Landon says except for the action, which I didn't find that entertaining.  The reason being that since the movie is so boring, and we don't know anything about most of these characters, there isn't any weight to the action that would have me invested in it.  I didn't care about hardly ANYTHING that was happening in "Justice League" for that reason.  Some technical aspects are pretty neat, but in terms of characters, action and story, I didn't care.  I have a feeling that DC is not going to impress again anytime soon.

CHASE **

BANGERANG SCORE: **

Murder on the Orient Express

LANDON ***

I must admit I've never seen the original "Murder on the Orient Express" film, nor have I read Agatha Christie's famous novel the movies are based off of.  So my knowledge of tale is fairly minimal, but I can tell you that I enjoyed my time watching this film.  Kenneth Branagh has crafted a surprisingly investing story about a mysterious murder and about a dozen possible suspects.  It's entertaining enough and Branagh is fantastic in the lead role.  Everything narrows down to a surprisingly emotional conclusion.  Not particularly surprising, but effective all the same.  Even with all of this though, Branagh has this strange method for telling the story.  He stylizes it, and not in a good way.  There's a fair amount of CGI that serves only as a means supplement lazy production.  It ends up making the film feel smaller than it really is.  It also doesn't help that the camerawork is overly ambitious, making the cinematography incredibly nauseating.  With all that said, this is a movie that's worth watching especially if you like murder-mysteries.

A United Kingdom

LANDON **1/2
One of the most fascinating stories in the sad history of racism (at least in my opinion) is presented in "A United Kingdom" starring David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike.  The film is about Seretse Khama, heir to the throne of Bechuanaland, who marries a simple, white, British woman, Ruth, and racism ensues.  This story is fascinating in the fact that both of the homelands of our two protagonists are furious at them for marrying not only outside of their nation, but outside of their skin color.  Oyelowo and Pike are fantastic in the lead roles.  They perform delicately and with a lot of emotion, expertly portraying the struggle in this real-life event.  Despite this, the movie does play out pretty generically.  It strikes all the beats you would come to expect from this type of film.  It also drags out its narrative a little too much.  The filmmakers could've easily cut this film down to half an hour shorter and could've been equally as effective.  Still, this is not a bad movie by any means, and if you enjoy a sweet love story and some interesting history, this movie might be worth checking out.

Thor: Ragnarok

LANDON **
I am without a doubt the dissenting opinion here.  Not just on this blog, I am probably the only dissenting opinion anywhere you look.  But I really don't get it.  Especially after the success of two really good Marvel movies in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" and "Spider-Man: Homecoming."  Where did this film go wrong for me?  In spite of roping in young indie-director Taika Waititi (who directed the hilarious "Hunt for the Wilderpeople"), his directing style just doesn't work for Thor.  It's Marvel's attempt at bringing a much more light-hearted approach to an otherwise (allegedly) boring character.  The switch doesn't work.  I wasn't laughing for a lot of it.  I found myself just staring at a screen with a pathetic narrative, terrible villain, trying hard to play for laughs.  That's not to say this film is bad though.  There is still plenty of that super spectacle Marvel is known for.  To its credit, I never found myself bored.  This new direction Marvel took is just not my cup of tea.

CHASE ***
I, for one, really enjoyed this film.  I really like the new direction that they took with the character of Thor.  They've taken a lot out of inspiration from "Guardians of the Galaxy" and I believe it ultimately paid off.  I found my myself laughing a lot throughout the movie and it was super entertaining.  It has a lot of energy and it's hard for me not to get swept up in it.  Even with all of that energy, I do feel like that it's a tad bit too long and it could've benefited from cutting a little bit.  Plus, as one would expect with a lot of attempted comedy, there are a few duds.  But despite all of this, "Thor: Ragnarok" is a really entertaining film and it's another mark on Marvel's admittedly impressive string of recent movies.

BRYCE ***
LOGAN ***

BANGERANG SCORE ***

Despicable Me 3

LANDON *
Allow me to set one thing straight.  I've never really enjoyed the "Despicable Me" movies.  The first outing was poor at best, and the sequel, while an improvement, is still pretty mediocre.  However, this one blows them all out of the water.  It's the worst one by a comfortable margin.  It maintains all the worst qualities of the other films in the series and then some.  It's not even a little funny, the villain is really bizarre, and it pathetically attempts to tug at your heart strings and completely fails to do so.  Plus, it plugs in a ridiculous character addition in the form of Gru's long lost (and utterly obnoxious) twin brother.  It not only feels like a desperate move on the filmmakers part, but they've also not managed to make him even a little likable.  This whole movie is ridiculous and doesn't deserve to be viewed in any setting.  It sucks.  Don't watch it.

LOGAN *

BANGERANG SCORE: *

Dunkirk

LOGAN ***1/2
Christopher Nolan returns for his latest outing which is probably his most ambitious movie yet.  "Dunkirk" is about the famous evacuation from Dunkirk in World War II, and I was absolutely enthralled by what I was watching.  From a technical standpoint, everything in this film creates this tension and realism that I've never experienced before.  Watching "Dunkirk" felt real.  The suspenseful music by Hans Zimmer, and the jaw-dropping cinematography from Hoyte Van Hoytema are big highlights of the film, and are a testament to how visually outstanding Nolan can be with his movies.  However, even though the technicality and tension are there, and I was invested in it, the writing is lackluster.  There was some dialogue between certain characters that, while well-acted, fell a little flat.  The movie is edited in a way that different timelines are happening simultaneously throughout the film, and it left me confused and not too invested with the personal side of the characters.  But if you know me, I am a geek for movies that are amazing from a technical standpoint, and this movie hits all of the right buttons.

CHASE ***
It’s not so much that the characters where lackluster, it’s more that there was no attempt to flesh any of them out.  Usually when I go into a war time movie like “Dunkirk”, I like to at least connect to one character that I want to root for and it doesn’t felt like they delivered on that.  Despite this major weakness however, almost everything else is really strong.  Throughout its entire runtime, there is a certain sense of unease in the story that is largely attributed to how the action scenes were directed as well as the unsettling music playing.  This helps create tension, but I think what would've made it even better is if there were at least a few characters that we wanted to pull for.  What potentially could’ve been a great movie is simply a really good movie.  It’s worth checking out, but I believe that there are better Nolan movies out there.

BRYCE ***
LANDON ***


BANGERANG SCORE: ***

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie

CHASE **1/2
Out of all the movies that have come out so far this year, "Captain Underpants" has got to be the most difficult to get a grasp on.  Growing up, I was a huge fan of the books that it was based off of and Dreamwork's adaptation is surprisingly faithful. The best way that I can describe this movie is to imagine that it was written by some elementary school kids, and I mean that in a surprisingly positive way.  There is a 10-year-old part of me that enjoys and laughs at this movie, but there's also an adult side of me that felt like I'm too old for this story.  This leads me to the middle ground that, for what it's worth, had me kind of enjoying it.  It helps that the animation style really fits the tone of the movie and while I wasn't the biggest fan of having adult actors playing the kid characters, I got used to it after a while.  Overall, "Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie" is an odd one, but I do think it has some merit that makes it kind of good.  If you want to feel like a kid again, this is probably good one to check out.

LANDON **1/2
LOGAN **1/2

BANGERANG SCORE: **1/2