Tag movie reviews

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO WARNER BROS I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON THOSE I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at Warner Bros (their home page is here) had sent me codes to some of their movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. For the first part of this series we talked about Scoob, Birds of Prey, The Way Back, Goonies 4K, Beetlejuice 4K, Full Metal Jacket, Sherlock Holmes 4K and Sherlock Holmes A Game of Shadows 4K. Part 2 ‘twas massive and discussed V for Vendetta 4K, 300 4K, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy 4K, The Hobbit Trilogy 4K, Blade 4K, Bill and Ted Face the Music, Tenet and The Wolf of Snow Hollow. Part 3 talked about Wonder Woman 1984, The Little Things and Judas and the Black Messiah. Part 4 is here to discuss Tom and Jerry the Movie and Godzilla Vs Kong!

Tom and Jerry the Movie

This film starts as you’d expect, following one of our human characters and no Tom or Jerry to be seen. Chloe Grace Moretz hustles her way into a position at a swanky hotel so she can catch a glimpse of her favorite social media couple. This is about when our animated duo are brought into the story, Jerry Mouse sneaks into the same hotel and Tom is hired on to remove the mouse from the building. As to be expected things go pear shaped quite quickly and the two must redeem themselves to make things right. This isn’t one of those films where you are going to marvel at the performances or even the animation quality but if you are looking for a film that perfectly captures the look and feel of a classic Tom and Jerry feature then this will be a great film to watch with the family.

Godzilla Vs Kong

Since the last Godzilla movie the planet has been heading closer to utopia and the other titans are helping it do so. The threat of these titans though is always there- when will one of them attack or level a city? Some big corporations are afraid of the answer to this question and begin constructing a weapon capable of taking the King of the Monsters down. The same time this is going on Kong himself wants free of his containment and some scientists devise a way to transport him, knowing that the moment Kong is free Godzilla will hunt him down. This story feels more like a true sequel to the recent Kong movie with a Godzilla cameo than a sequel to the more recent Godzilla movies. There is some fascinating science discussed in the film such as Hollow Earth theory that inspired me to do some research of my own. Overall this was an enjoyable action film that put the focus on the wrong titan, or at least that’s my opinion.

SO WHICH WARNER BROS FILMS DID YOU SEE? WHICH DID YOU ENJOY?

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO WARNER BROS I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON THOSE I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at Warner Bros (their home page is here) had sent me codes to some of their movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. For the first part of this series we talked about Scoob, Birds of Prey, The Way Back, Goonies 4K, Beetlejuice 4K, Full Metal Jacket, Sherlock Holmes 4K and Sherlock Holmes A Game of Shadows 4K. Part 2 ‘twas massive and discussed V for Vendetta 4K, 300 4K, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy 4K, The Hobbit Trilogy 4K, Blade 4K, Bill and Ted Face the Music, Tenet and The Wolf of Snow Hollow. We’ve returned with Part 3 to talk about Wonder Woman 1984, The Little Things and Judas and the Black Messiah!

Wonder Woman 1984

Gal Gadot returns for the sequel to perhaps the best movie in the current DC Cinematic Universe. Diana is a museum curator in 1984, their staff procures a mystical artifact that makes your deepest wish comes true. The pacing of the film was much slower than expected or compared to the original film. The acting and effects were top notch and this film was quite good despite the pacing.

The Little Things

Washington plays a former homicide detective that joins an up and coming detective (Malek) on the hunt of an emerging serial killer. This killer targets young women, it’s been done before, and after a false lead the two picks up on Leto’s trail. For a murder mystery it feels like too many answers are given without having to really search for them resulting in a slow film that is missing the incentives to keep watching despite a fantastic cast.

Judas and the Black Messiah

This film follows the rise of a former car thief through the ranks of the Black Panthers in Chicago to become the bodyguard of Fred Hampton, the chairman of the Illinois chapter and founder of the Rainbow Coalition. As the name of the film implies Fred is the Messiah and the car their, William O’Neil, the Judas of the story and eventual informant for the FBI. Both of these leading actors deliver a commanding performance as I expected and delivered an enjoyable film that gives us a fresh look at the organization of the Black Panthers.

SO WHICH WARNER BROS FILMS DID YOU SEE? WHICH DID YOU ENJOY?

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO DISNEY STUDIOS I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON A FEW THAT I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at Disney Studios (their home page is here) had sent me codes to several of the movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. With Part 1 we were taking a look at the live action version of Mulan and have returned with Part 2 to discussed Soul and Raya and the Last Dragon!

Soul

Joe is a musician that dreams of playing the music he loves while stuck teaching it instead. One day he receives the call of his career, landing a gig with Dorothea and oblivious to the world around him, he falls to his death. Realizing he has passed he refuses to to accept his fate and begins an adventure to try to return to his body and along the way helps 22 find her spark. The story was similar to the film Inside Out it is a bit deep for a children’s film but manages to deliver a meaningful message, to enjoy the little things and that your dream isn’t always all that it is cracked up to be.

Raya and the Last Dragon

The timing of this film could not have been better, in a time where Asian hate is at a high delivering a wonderful film full of Asian characters and cast was a fantastic coincidence. The movie had been in production long before Covid but somehow managed to be released when it was needed. The story follows Raya in a world where creatures made of purple smoke turn any they touch to stone. She must find a way to stop them and bring he father back. Following tales of the last dragon being at the end of the river she searches for the one creature that might save them all. The film in it’s entirety was absolutely fantastic. Some of the best animation from Disney to date.

This is what my youngest had to say about Raya:

Have you had a chance to see this film from Disney Studios?

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO WARNER BROS I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON THOSE I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at Warner Bros (their home page is here) had sent me a code to one of the movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on it with you. For the first part of this series we talked about Scoob, Birds of Prey, The Way Back, Goonies 4K, Beetlejuice 4K, Full Metal Jacket, Sherlock Holmes 4K and Sherlock Holmes A Game of Shadows 4K. We are back again with Part 2 to talk about V for Vendetta 4K, 300 4K, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy 4K, The Hobbit Trilogy 4K, Blade 4K, Bill and Ted Face the Music, Tenet and The Wolf of Snow Hollow.

V for Vendetta 4K

This movie follows a dystopian future of the United Kingdom where church and state are one and the same. Evie breaks curfew and is recued by a secretive hero- V. V spends the next year on a path to tear down the corrupt government that created him. It has always been an all time favorite film of mine and managed to look even better in 4K!

300 4K

300 is one of those guilty pleasure storylines for me. I have always loved the look and style of the Spartans and when Frank Miller wrote the comic I had to pick it up. When this film first hit theaters I was able to go and enjoyed it. Seeing it again but in 4k on my big screen made me wish I made some popcorn because it had that same feeling I missed with going to theaters.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy 4K

This is Peter Jackson’s trilogy as it is meant to be seen in glorious 4k. It comes with both the original theatrical release and the extended versions. These films have always been visually stunning with a fantastic cast and story. The extended cuts though add many scenes I’ve never seen that add some depth to the story that was not necessary but made for a great time anyway.

The Hobbit Trilogy 4K

This is the second Tolkien trilogy and once again comes with both the theatrical releases and the extended versions. The first two I was able to enjoy in theater but never saw the third. Until we received our review copies I still hadn’t seen it. This was the perfect chance. We sat down and began watching one after the other (focusing more on the extended cuts) and had a great time. Of course the extras are not essential to the story but there were some great moments that we hadn’t seen before.

Blade 4K

This was the first Marvel film I had ever seen and even then had no idea he was even a Marvel character. All I knew was he was a badass hero that killed vampires. This movie is a bit dated (last time I saw it was on DVD) but the 4k edition looks so much better than I expect from a film that came out in the 90s. It was so much fun I hope that Warner Bros does the same with the two sequels.

Bill and Ted Face the Music

With the Bill and Ted franchise there will always be a soft spot in my heart. It was what first got me interested in the concept of time travel. The first two films you get to hear about this show that unites the world but this film promises we will get to see it. They know that they are approaching the deadline to have it ready and decide to travel through time once again to steal it from themselves. My expectations were quite low for this film. Trailers did not truly do it justice. I absolutely loved this film and thought it was the perfect ending to the series.

Tenet

Tenet is a spy film that lays the fate of the world on the shoulders of one man, but it has one defining characteristic that makes it stand out. Conceptually it is very much time travel film without the same control of time travel. Several scenes are replayed multiple times from different angles as time moves weirdly through the film. The cast is fantastic and as always Nolan tells a brilliant film. Well worth the watch.

The Wolf of Snow Hollow

Written and starring Jim Cummings this horror film follows a small mountain community dealing with either a brutal killer or a monster. They slowly piece together that the marks on the victims are similar to a dog or wolf and the town starts to think a werewolf is on the hunt. It can be a bit campy at times but handles the serious scenes quite well. Cummings does both a brilliant job as the Sheriff and writer of this film, I’m honestly surprised it wasn’t better known. In fact I have yet to see anyone really talking about the film and that’s too bad.

Starting next time we will be listing only the coverage we have done as part of the Nerd Cult when it comes to Warner Bros. SO WHICH WARNER BROS FILMS DID YOU SEE? WHICH DID YOU ENJOY?

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO DISNEY STUDIOS I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON A FEW THAT I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at Disney Studios (their home page is here) had sent me codes to several of the movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. With Part 1 we are taking a look at the live action version of Mulan!

Mulan

Growing up (and this will tell you approximately how old I really am) I was able to see the original Disney Masterpiece that was Mulan in theaters and did so multiple times. To this day it is still one of my favorites. I have also heard that this adaptation was good so my expectations and hopes were quite high. There were two facts I had been informed of prior to seeing the film and that was that there were none of the original songs being sung by the characters and that the film would be missing the comedic relief by removing Mushu from it entirely. Knowing both of these were crucial because had I expected them I would have been disappointed. Having watched the film I can say that it exceeded all expectations I had. The action was well choreographed, acting top notch and cinematically beautiful. This was by far the best of the live adaptations.

Have you had a chance to see this film from Disney Studios? What were your thoughts? Let us know on our facebook page!

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON A FEW THAT I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios- their home page is here) had sent me codes to several of the movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. Part One of this article I discussed The Shape of Water, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Red Sparrow. Part Two discusses Maze Runner: Death Cure, Alien Covenant and Love, Simon. Part three covers Super Troopers 2 and Murder on the Orient Express. Part Four discusses Sorry To Bother You and Darkest Minds. Part Five discussed The Predator and Bad Times at the El Royale. Part Six covered Bohemian Rhapsody, The Hate U Give and Once Upon a Deadpool. Part Seven talked about The Sisters Brothers, London Fields, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Widows and the Favourite! Part Eight covered Destroyer, The Prodigy, Alien 40th Anniversary Edition, Vice, The Kid Who Would Be King and If Beale Street Could Talk, and Part Nine we discussed Missing Link and Alita Battle Angel. Part Ten we discussed Tolkien, Booksmart, X-Men Dark Phoenix and Stuber. Part 11 discussed The Art of Racing in the Rain, Where’d You Go, Bernadette, Ad Astra, and Ready or Not. Part 12 talked about Ford v Ferrari, Spies in Disguise and A Hidden Life.  Part 13 was the last part I did with PNTV and discussed Downhill and The Call of the Wild. Part 14 (forever referred to as Part 1 on this site and our first with the Nerd Cult) was all about Underwater and we are back with the New Part 2 with The New Mutants!

The New Mutants

The New Mutants is intended as a horror film within the X-Men universe and begins with Danielle Moonstar as she runs from something chases her into the forest and almost immediately kills her father in front of her. She is knocked out almost immediately after and awakes in some form of hospital for mutants that looks more like a psychiatric facility or the medical ward of a prison. It film successfully gives a solid creepy vibe and handles some of the dark tones from Illyana’s past quite well but fails to hit the point of actually being a scary film. As a darker drama it works quite well and handles the universe around it quite well, making several nods to it without relying on having seen any of the other films. When the true villains are revealed however it relies more on an intimate knowledge of the comics to know how bad things have gotten and left the rest of my family confused by the implications. I felt the film was quite solid and really enjoyed it but the rest of the family (not knowing the same comic history as myself) thought it was worthy of only 2.5 out of 5 stars, I gave it a solid 3.5.

WHICH OF THESE FILMS FROM 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS HAVE YOU SEEN? WHICH WAS YOUR FAVORITE?

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO WARNER BROS I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON THOSE I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at Warner Bros (their home page is here) had sent me a code to one of the movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on it with you. Part One discussed Teen Titans Go To The Movies, The Nun and The Meg. Part Two was discussing A Star is Born and Part Three focused on Creed 2, Aquaman and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Crimes of Grindlewald. Part Four talked about Imax Pandas, Lego Movie 2 and The Mule. Part Five discussed A Star is Born Encore Edition, Shazam, The Curse of La Llorona and Pokemon Detective Pikachu. Part Six discussed The Sun is Also a Star, Annabelle Comes Home, Gremlins Anniversary Edition  and Godzilla King of the Monsters. With Part Seven we talked about The Goldfinch, Blinded by the Light, IT Chapters One & Two, Joker, Doctor Sleep and The Kitchen. Part Eight discussed Motherless Brooklyn, Just Mercy and Richard Jewel. For the first part of this series here at Nerd Cult Online (and overall Part 9) we are talking about Scoob, Birds of Prey, The Way Back, Goonies 4K, Beetlejuice 4K, Full Metal Jacket, Sherlock Holmes 4K and Sherlock Holmes A Game of Shadows 4K! 

Scoob

Starting with the first meeting between Shaggy and Scooby the film shows how they join Mystery Inc to later become separated and chased by none other than Dick Dastardly. Dastardly is looking for a way to bring back his lost friend from some hellscape. Believing Scooby to be the descendant of some great dog Dastardly spends most of the movie collecting mystical skulls and attempting to capture the dog. Animation for the film was fantastic and writing was rather solid for an animated movie. My only real complaint was that Shaggy’s voice was just plain wrong. Will Forte is great in several films but his voice just does not work as a replacement for Casey Kasem. 

Birds of Prey

Before I will discuss my thoughts on this film I gotta say the name was utterly ridiculous. Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is just too long winded. They should have left it as either Birds of Prey or Harley Quinn. Now as far as the film goes I am very conflicted. While watching I thought it was trying too hard to be it’s own thing but the character just couldn’t carry the film. At the same time though I still enjoyed it.

The Way Back

I used to think Ben Affleck would never amount to much as an actor but these last few years had proven me wrong on many occasions. His character must battle his addictions and issues with his father in order to come back a better person and try to lead his team to victory. A bit formulaic but Affleck’s performance saves this film.

Goonies 4K

Goonies never say die and neither will this film. I watch it as often as I can and OF COURSE I just had to get the 4K version of it. I was worried that the age of the film would not respond well to the 4k quality but after seeing this version I can honestly say it was like seeing it for the first time. The age of the film holds up quite well.

Beetlejuice 4K

Growing up this was a defining movie for me and thanks to Lego Dimensions my son was curious about watching it. I immediately purchased it on Vudu and we watched it together. The 4k release is the exact film we know and love but in crystal clear 4k definition.

Sherlock Holmes 4K

Start to finish this is a fantastic movie in every regard. Brilliant acting, directing and visually. Robert Downie Jr and Jude Law (Holmes and Watson) must stop Lord Blackwood as he’s come back from the dead to use magic to take over all of England. As those that have seen the film may recall there is of course no magic and only sciences that are used creatively. It was a joy watching this film again.

Sherlock Holmes A Game of Shadows 4K

Holmes and Watson return to try to take down Professor Moriarty and his attempt to start a world war. I honestly thought they wouldn’t have been able to top the original but they knocked this film out of the park out of the damn park. On top of it, the film has never looked better than in 4k.

Full Metal Jacket 4K

This is the classic film by Stanley Kubert. Surprisingly I had never seen this film before the 4K release. My father in law warned that this is essentially two films, the lead up to the Vietnam War and then the war itself. He was right, each half of the film was fantastic and looks better than I would have expected in 4k.

Starting next time we will be listing only the coverage we have done as part of the Nerd Cult when it comes to Warner Bros. SO WHICH WARNER BROS FILMS DID YOU SEE? WHICH DID YOU ENJOY?