Coco

Pixar's Coco is all about a young Mexican boy, Miguel Rivera, who wants to become a musician despite his family's objection. Through an incident during the Day of the Dead, he ends up in the Land of the Dead wherein Miguel meets long gone family members and figure out how to get back to the living world. The animation, as always with Pixar, is truly breathtaking in capturing both Mexican culture and the entire Land of the Dead. Coco really respects Mexican society especially since a lot of the music is inspired by that of Mexico and the voice actors are mostly all of Mexican or even Hispanic descent. One negative thing I do have to say is how the reveal of the villain felt too much like past Disney films as well as that Miguel's dog was suddenly his spirit animal just came out of nowhere, though it does explain one plot hole early in the film. Over all: 100%
2017 top lists so far:
1. Baby Driver
2. It
3. Coco
4. Thor: Ragnarok
5. Wonder Woman
6. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
7. Logan
8. Spider-Man: Homecoming
9. Professor Marston and the Wonder Woman
10. Blade Runner 2049
11. Dunkirk
12. War for the Planet of the Apes
13. Alien: Covenant
14. John Wick: Chapter 2
15. The Lego Batman Movie
16. Saban's Power Rangers
17. The Foreigner
18. Justice League
19. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
20. Kong: Skull Island
21. Split
22. Kingsman: The Golden Circle
23. The Fate of the Furious
24. Beauty and the Beast 2017
25. Transformers: The Last Knight

Pop Culture Guy episode 36: Transformers The Last Knight and Baby Driver...

Justice League

DC and Warner Bros's attempt to catch up with Marvel's Cinematic Universe continues with Justice League. After Batman discovers a plot to invade and change all of Earth by alien forces known as Parademons as led by New God Steppenwolf, he and Wonder Woman must unite with other heroes to form a team to stop them. While Justice League does fix and improve on some of the problems that Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad had it is in no way as good as Wonder Woman was and still have some problems here and there. The cast is perfect and all have really great chemistry as one of the most well loved superhero teams with Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Godot as Wonder Woman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as Flash, and Ray Fisher as Cyborg. While the pacing is better it still has trouble going from scene to scene and giving everyone their own story, especially since they have to deal with so much of their backstories that should have been done in their own movies. It's easy to tell that the film was meant to be way longer than it actually is due to not only the pacing but some things that aren't well explained or feeling rushed. The action scenes themselves are really fun especially the final battle between the alien army and the heroes with a newly resurrected Superman joining in. While the film does have fun moments there are darker moments one can easily tell just don't fit together due to the reshoots. The effects are really good for the most part, except for the reshoot effects of trying to hide Cavill's mustache. I honestly don't have a problem with Steppenwolf though his design is very basic and his ability to turn people into Parademons is only seen once. Over all: 86%
2017 top lists so far:
1. Baby Driver
2. It
3. Thor: Ragnarok
4. Wonder Woman
5. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
6. Logan
7. Spider-Man: Homecoming
8. Professor Marston and the Wonder Woman
9. Blade Runner 2049
10. Dunkirk
11. War for the Planet of the Apes
12. Alien: Covenant
13. John Wick: Chapter 2
14. The Lego Batman Movie
15. Saban's Power Rangers
16. The Foreigner
17. Justice League
18. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
19. Kong: Skull Island
20. Split
21. Kingsman: The Golden Circle
22. The Fate of the Furious
23. Beauty and the Beast 2017
24. Transformers: The Last Knight

Incredible Hulk (1999-2007) #92: Planet Hulk Part One

This is the first comic I ever read that both I downloaded online, a free comic after going to see a movie and given a code to use after, and my first Hulk solo comic. Incredible Hulk (1999-2007) #92: Planet Hulk Part One was the first part of the Planet Hulk storyline from Marvel in which parts of Thor: Ragnarok was inspired by. The comic opens with the Hulk being shot out into space by several Marvel heroes who see him as too dangerous on Earth. Hulk breaks out of his chains and damages the ship to the point it heads to a wormhole where he lands in an alien planet where he is forced into a gladiatorial ring. The artwork is very vibrant and detailed and I absolutely loved the design of all the aliens in Sakaar and how many of them have their own beliefs about each other. Seeing the Hulk out of his element and getting knocked out so easily at times is both interesting and surprising. The fact that Hulk is all to happy to fight in death matches and exited about being sent to his execution in the cliffhanger makes me want to read more in to this storyline. While it did take me a while to get used to the online reading I eventually warmed up to it and exited to read many more that I got before this one. Over all: 95%
Top list so far for 2nd set of comics:
1. Incredible Hulk (1999-2007) #92: Planet Hulk Part One
2. Tate's Not At Comic Con Local Indy Anthology #8

Thor: Ragnarok

Seventeen films and Marvel has once again proven itself to be able to both craft huge blockbuster films and well told stories without ever feeling old and worn out. With Taika Waititi in the director's chair of Thor: Ragnarok, he surpasses even James Gunn in making a strange and fun movie that isn't afraid to go all out as a comic book based film. In Ragnarok, Thor has to fight against her sister, Hela, the goddess of death who wants to take over Asgard and conquer all of the universe with an undead army. Trying to fight her the first time, Hela manages to destroy Mjolnir and sends Thor and Loki to another planet wherein Thor is forced to fight in a gladiatorial match against the Hulk and manages to convince him, Loki, and former Asgardian warrior Valkyrie to come back to Asgard and fight against Hela and her forces. Focusing more on comedy than the previous two Thor films, this MCU installment is balls to the wall fun. Cate Blanchett makes for an awesome villain and Jeff Goldblum as the Grandmaster is a great secondary antagonist in all his fun, campy glory. Waititi himself plays an alien through motion capture and is absolute fun, though at times can try a bit too hard in being comedic. While Anthony Hopkins returns as Odin and does a great job in portraying him one last time, his death scene itself felt very anticlimactic. While I do love the scenes taking place in Sakaar, even I feel that it's a bit too coincidental that Thor happens to land where both Loki, Hulk, and Valkyrie eventually are. One aspect I absolutely loved is the use of Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song at the beginning and end of the film during huge fighting sequences. The chemistry between Thor and both Hulk and then Bruce Banner makes for a really great buddy movie. Thor's revelation that he never needed the hammer and he always had his own lightning powers while awesome to watch feels like it was rushed a bit. Great acting, fun and well told story with some flaws, amazing visuals inspired by the comics, and comedy that most of the time works but sometimes feels like there's too much is why Thor: Ragnarok is so memorable. Over all: 100%
2017 top lists so far:
1. Baby Driver
2. It
3. Thor: Ragnarok
4. Wonder Woman
5. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
6. Logan
7. Spider-Man: Homecoming
8. Professor Marston and the Wonder Woman
9. Blade Runner 2049
10. Dunkirk
11. War for the Planet of the Apes
12. Alien: Covenant
13. John Wick: Chapter 2
14. The Lego Batman Movie
15. Saban's Power Rangers
16. The Foreigner
17. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
18. Kong: Skull Island
19. Split
20. Kingsman: The Golden Circle
21. The Fate of the Furious
22. Beauty and the Beast 2017
23. Transformers: The Last Knight