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[Iyouboushi]

Another year, another new topic.  Welcome to the 2019 movie thread.  Talk about the movies you've seen here

[Iyouboushi]

Well we really don't get a lot of time together to watch movies any more but this year we've watched Avengers: Endgame (2019) and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017).  I think we've watched a few other things too but lolmemory.  If I remember I'll come post lol.

 

Avengers: Endgame

After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the universe is in ruins. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers assemble once more in order to undo Thanos' actions and restore order to the universe.

 

To say anything more is to discuss spoilers and I don't want to spoil this movie for anyone.  I really enjoyed it though.  The movie starts off super fast paced, lulls a little after (for reasons I can't discuss) and then is basically a non-stop roller coaster of excitement, fear and celebration.    If you liked Infinity War you will most likely enjoy this film too so definitely see it before you get spoiled (if it's even possible any more).

 

My rating: 9/10

IMDB Rating: 8.8/10

 

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

In a brand new Jumanji adventure, four high school kids discover an old video game console and are drawn into the game's jungle setting, literally becoming the adult avatars they chose. What they discover is that you don't just play Jumanji - you must survive it. To beat the game and return to the real world, they'll have to go on the most dangerous adventure of their lives, discover what Alan Parrish left 20 years ago, and change the way they think about themselves - or they'll be stuck in the game forever.

 

I'll be honest.. I was not expecting this to be a good movie.  When the previews for it came out I thought this was going to be a horrible bomb.  The premise seemed dumb, it obviously didn't have Robin Williams (who, let's face it, really made the first Jumanji movie) and overall it just seemed very tropey.  However, after watching it.. my opinion is completely changed.  It was actually a really good movie.  It made me laugh out loud at points, the acting is well done (Jack Black really nails his character, and even The Rock is pretty good) and overall it was just enjoyable.  I'd recommend it.

 

My Rating: 7.5/10

IMDB Rating: 7/10

[Iyouboushi]

Went to the movie theater yesterday and practically lived there for the day lol.   We watched Endgame (2019) and Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019).   I've already mentioned Endgame, see the post above, and my opinion of it didn't change this time around so not much I can really say without spoilers on that.

 

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu

The story begins when ace detective Harry Goodman goes mysteriously missing, prompting his 21-year-old son Tim to find out what happened. Aiding in the investigation is Harry's former Pokémon partner, Detective Pikachu: a hilariously wise-cracking, adorable super-sleuth who is a puzzlement even to himself. Finding that they are uniquely equipped to communicate with one another, Tim and Pikachu join forces on a thrilling adventure to unravel the tangled mystery. Chasing clues together through the neon-lit streets of Ryme City--a sprawling, modern metropolis where humans and Pokémon live side by side in a hyper-realistic live-action world--they encounter a diverse cast of Pokémon characters and uncover a shocking plot that could destroy this peaceful co-existence and threaten the whole Pokémon universe.

 

When we saw the trailers for this movie we both said "this looks ridiculous but I am so down for it."  Before I say anything more I should probably just say that the only Pokemon games I've played are a little bit of Yellow and Pokemon Go so I don't have this deep connection to the franchise like some people did growing up.  I was at the end of high school when the first game came out and I just never really got into it.  Even when I played Yellow I never got too far into it (I think I beat the first gym and that was it lol).  Also never watched the anime.  But thanks to Pokemon Go I do know a lot of the Pokemon.

 

Anyway, the film is made for both fans and people who have never heard of Pokemon.  Yes your enjoyment will probably be more if you know at least a little bit about Pokemon but the film doesn't really require it.  It's an old fashioned mystery: what happened to Tim's dad? Why can Tim understand Pikachu? Why does this Pikachu have amnesia?  Who is behind the mysterious gas "R" that causes gentle Pokemon to go rabid?

 

The actual plot was entertaining but it did remind me a little bit of Zootopia.  There are some parallels there but it's different enough that it wasn't like we were watching the same movie over again.  The CGI was pretty good 95% of the time.  The Pokemon are all recognizable (assuming you know the Pokemon of course, but Pikachu looks like Pikachu, Charmander looks like Charmander, etc).  It had some pretty good humor and I found myself laughing out loud a number of times.  Overall, I really did enjoy it.  I think Bri did too.  It's not the movie of the century like Endgame was but it's worth the two hours to watch.  I'll probably buy it when it comes out. 

 

My rating: 7/10

IMDB Rating: 6.9/10

 

I have to mention that Psyduck has always been one of my favorite Pokemon and he's in this movie a lot.  Some of the best humor is when him and Pikachu are together.

[KuroMa]

Glad Psyduck gets lots of screen time, he's one of the few emoticon on the board I've memorized

I'm probzbly not gonna watch DP on the movie theater though.

[Iyouboushi]

Last Friday we did another double header at the theater and watched The Lion King (2019) and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019).

 

The Lion King

Lion Hamlet.  After the murder of his father, a young lion prince flees his kingdom only to learn the true meaning of responsibility and bravery.

 

Okay, this is the "live action" version of Lion King that just came out a week or two ago.  If you've seen the animated version then you've already seen this movie.  It's literally the same plot.  Most of the dialog is pretty much the same too.  There might be a few things changed here or there but it's not much.  So, you're asking yourself, if everything is the same then why on earth would you go pay money to see this if you've seen the animated version?   The answer lies in the visuals.

 

The movie was done to look like real life.  Every animal on screen looks just like its partner in the real world.  However it's all done with computer graphics.  As far as I know there isn't a single thing on screen that is actually real.  However it really, really looks like it.  It's almost impossible to tell that it's all computer generated.  I've never seen anything like it in terms of looking realistic.  It's absolutely amazing to me how far we've come with visuals.  I imagine in another 10 years or so we'll have technology so advanced that we might not even need real actors any more, we'll just be able to animate them.

 

Also Bri and I love the Lion King and we've seen the animated version a million times (it's her favorite animated movie, it's probably top 5 for me).  So of course we had to go see it.  We also saw it in 3D Imax and man, it was incredible.  Having said that, I don't really like Beyonce and I miss some of the original voice actors.  The animated one is probably still better just because in cartoon you can have better animated emotions. While it looked great, real lions don't emote all that much.   Still, I'd say check it out if you want to be impressed by how realistic every animal looks and if you like Lion King.

 

IMDB Rating: 7.2

My Rating: 7.5/10

 

 

Spider-Man: Far From Home

Our friendly neighborhood Super Hero decides to join his best friends Ned, MJ, and the rest of the gang on a European vacation. However, Peter's plan to leave super heroics behind for a few weeks are quickly scrapped when he begrudgingly agrees to help Nick Fury uncover the mystery of several elemental creature attacks, creating havoc across the continent.

 

This is the last Marvel movie of phase 3 (I believe) and the movie that directly follows the events of Endgame.  This movie is an adventure and unlike Lion King, I really didn't know what was going to happen.  The visuals in this one are also really good but for entirely different reasons.  Mysterio makes an interesting character and I loved how they managed to pull him off. 

 

It's always hard to talk about Marvel movies when I see them and they're still fairly new.  I don't want to really spoil anything in case you guys want to watch them and a movie like this definitely works better if you're not spoiled.  Even if some plot points are probably obvious to fans who follow the comics, there's at least a few surprises in the movie that would definitely work better if you didn't know in advance about them.

 

Having said that...  the mid credit scene is going to make the next Spider-Man really interesting and the after-credits scene makes me wonder where Marvel is taking phase 4.    When the movie is out on digital or blu-ray or whatever and everyone has seen it then I might come post a full review here and we can talk about it.  Until then I'll just say you should see it if you like Spider-Man.  But don't watch it before you see Endgame or else there are some major spoilers lol.

 

IMDB Rating: 7.9

My Rating: 8/10

[Iyouboushi]

We finally got around to watching Murder on the Orient Express (2017).   As a huge Poirot fan, I'm kind of ashamed that it took me this long lol.

 

When a murder occurs on the train on which he's traveling, celebrated detective Hercule Poirot is recruited to solve the case.

 

At this point I think MotOE is pretty much common knowledge.  It's probably one of the most famous of Agatha Christie's novels.  If you don't know who Poirot is, I'd say just go read the book first before you check out this movie. 

 

It's been a number of years since I last read it but I still remember who was murdered, why and who did it.  The movie almost stays faithful to the book in that regard.  There is one change to the who part of it though.  As for the rest, my memory is a bit fuzzy so I can't say that it's a 99% faithful recreation of the book but it's close enough I guess.

 

As for Poirot himself, I still think Suchet is THE Poirot although Kenneth Branagh does a fairly decent job.  His mustache, however, is really over the top and almost distracting lol.  The other characters were all good and were played by some big named actors/actresses.  Such is the way with big American movies I guess lol.

 

The ending of the film sets up a sequel, of sorts, although in the order of the novels the sequel would take place before this one.  I guess I could just outright say that the sequel is going to be Death on the Nile but they've changed some order of events so I'm not sure how they're going to go about doing it.  In the books, Poirot was on the boat that was traveling on the Nile when the murder happens, here the murder has already happened and he's being called in after-the-fact to solve it .  The sequel is set to come out in 2020, for whatever that's worth lol.

 

Anyway, this isn't the best review in the world.. it's kind of late and I'm pretty tired.  I'll just say that I enjoyed it.  Both the Suchet and this version of MotOE both take various liberties and change a few things so it might be worth watching both if you haven't already, but both are enjoyable on their own merits.  If you like murder mysteries, give it a shot.

 

My Rating: 7/10

IMDB Rating: 6.5/10

[Iyouboushi]

We have watched so many movies over the last few days and I've forgotten to come talk about all of them lol.  Briefly will just mention them:

 

It Chapter 2 - The second part of the It movie, this one focuses on the adults as they are forced to come back to deal with It one more time.  It was better than the made-for-TV movie but the ending was still kind of meh to me.   Maybe a 7/10 for me.  Hard to say.   I liked part 1 a lot more though.

 

Moana - the latest Disney movie.  Saw it before a year ago ish.  Still enjoy it.  The music is still catchy with "You're Welcome" still being the most catchy earworm of the film (to me at least).  Expect to have that stuck in your head for days.   I don't remember what I rated it last time.. so 8/10 this time lol.

 

The Conjuring 2 - Also saw it a few years ago.  I still like it more than the first Conjuring mainly because they introduced the element of doubt.  I like the fact that for a while you're not sure if the kids were making it all up (as the case was IRL).  Of course it's a movie so the ghosties are real but it just made for a more interesting movie.  Also introduced the villain of The Nun.   Don't remember what I rated it last time..  maybe 6/10.  It wasn't really scary but was interesting to me.

 

Snow White & The Huntsman (the first one) - Hemsworth was the best part of the whole film, not surprising.  It was a pretty average film with a fairly average plot.  Nothing really surprising here.  Not to say it was bad but it wasn't really great either.  Kind of glad I never paid big money to see it in the main theater. I'd be a little upset if I had.   5/10.

 

Men in Black 1-3 - Saw all 3 before, enjoyed all 3 again.  First one was easily an 8/10 for me while the others were somewhere between 6/10 and 7/10.  The first one is probably still the best, followed by 3, then 2.

 

Men in Black International - The new one that just came out with Hemsworth (he's in a lot of stuff now lol).  It didn't do well in theaters but I thought it was just as good as #2.  K and J aren't in it though there is a small nod to them in the film.  O is in it, continuing her role from #3.   6/10.   See it if you like MiB but don't expect anything more than what they are.

 

Guardians of the Galaxy - We rewatch this film all the time.  Still my favorite of the Marvel films.  I think a lot of that has to do with the music in the film (those 70's songs, man).   Still easily a 9.5/10 for me.  Such an awesome movie and is definitely one that I'll probably see a million times and never get bored or tired of it.

[Iyouboushi]

And again I've forgotten to come update this thread.  We've watched a lot of movies lately, though most of them were old/repeats (it's Halloween season after all so we bust out all the classics).  Really the only one that was new, I think, that we haven't watched before was Escape Room (2019) so that's the one I'm going to talk about here.

 

Six strangers are given mysterious black boxes with tickets to an immersive escape room for a chance to win tons of money. Being locked in several rooms with extreme conditions, they discover the secrets behind the escape room and must fight to survive and to find a way out.

 

Escape Room takes the real life fun that is escape rooms and turns it into a pretty good psychological thriller.  This movie is less oogie-boogie, horror villain slasher, and more Saw traps meets psych horror.  Despite the PG-13 rating, the film does a really good job (at least in my opinion).  Each of the various rooms that the cast enters are interesting and different ranging from heat, to ice, to heights and the storyline becomes more interesting as the movie progresses.  You eventually discover why these six people were chosen for this and what's going on.

 

To be honest, I really wasn't expecting much out of this film. It doesn't have any real big actors/actresses in it, the plot on paper sounds kind of silly, and it's PG-13 (which for horror usually equates to being awful).  I truly thought it would end up being a BMM candidate but like I said, I was really surprised at how good it was.  The height room literally had my palms sweating the entire time (I hate heights) so that's something, I guess.  If I had any main issue with it, it'd be the ending. They left it open so that they could do a sequel at some point but it's kind of ridiculous so I kind of hope they won't.  In any case, I'd definitely recommend watching it if you can.

 

My rating: 7.5/10

IMDB Rating: 6.3/10