Yesterday

Yesterday is a romantic comedy directed by Danny Boyle, written by Richard Curtis, and starring Himesh Patel, Lily James, Ed Sheeran, and Kate McKinnon. Patel plays Jack, a struggling singer, while James as Ellie is his manager and childhood best friend who try to become the next big singer. After lights from all over the world suddenly turn off for a few seconds and Jack is hit by a bus, the singer wakes up to a world where the Beatles and their songs never existed. Being able to remember their songs, Jack writes and performs the band's entire discography and becomes the next sensation, gaining a new manager and befriending Ed Sheeran. Despite this new found fame, Jack feels empty due to believing that he didn't create the songs himself and realizing he loves Ellie. One thing about the film is that right from the trailer and the story it tells I expected it to end in a very obvious way, but it surprisingly ends in a totally different way that is unique. Curtis's script is well done but a bit of the pacing is very slow throughout it, and the moment Jack gets hit by the bus feels too fast. Sometimes the comedy can either feel forced, occur too often, or are very obvious just before they happen. The performances from everyone involved is definitely really strong, though McKinnon's character is way too over the top at times. Ellie and Jack's relationship and the chemistry between the actors is the most enlightening aspect of Yesterday. Besides his acting, Patel is an amazing singer as shown every time he performs either one of Jack's original songs or one by the Beatles. Danny Boyle tells the story very well, though there are certain scenes where he has the camera in an odd angle that feels unnecessary. Despite only happening four times throughout the whole film, Jack learning what other things were also erased from history is the funniest running gag. It's a well made film with an interesting story but doesn't take full advantage of what it really wants to tell. Over all: 93%

2019 top list so far:
1. Avengers: Endgame

2. Toy Story 4

3. Shazam!

4. Rocketman

5. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

6. John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

7. Godzilla: King of the Monsters

8. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

9. Us

10. Aladdin 2019

11. Pokemon Detective Pikachu

12. Captain Marvel

13. Yesterday

14. Pet Sematary 2019

15. The Upside

16. Dark Phoenix

17. Cold Pursuit

18. Glass

Toy Story 4

Pixar and Disney once again prove that they can make a children's animated movie that can also speak to adults watching in the fourth film of the Toy Story series. Taking place some time after the third entry, it sees Woody and Andy's old toys still adjusting to their new life playing with Bonnie. As she goes into kindergarten, Bonnie makes her own toy out of a spork and other items which somehow comes to life. Seeing how important Forky is to their new owner, Woody and the other toys do everything they can to protect him even as they lose him at a carnival where they reunite with Bo Peep and face a doll who wants Woody's voice box. As is always with Pixar's animated films, the animation is not only spectacular but shows how far computer animation has come since the first Toy Story in 1995. Most of the cast return along with new memorable characters like Duke Caboom as voiced by Keanu Reeves, comedic duo Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele as stuffed animals Ducky and Bunny, and Tony Hale as Forky who's constantly trying to get into garbage. Toy Story 4 has a well told story, an ending that's just as emotional and gut wrenching as 3, and incredibly funny moments that are hard to forget. A few things that did bother me were how Woody had to constantly get back into an antique store in order to rescue Forky and the toys's methods of keeping Bonnie's family from leaving the carnival by sabotaging their RV. One big change that makes this entry different from the last films is that Gabby Gabby, the antagonist voiced by Christina Hendricks, isn't an all out villain as she has a good reason for what she does and actually does get a happy ending that you root for. Whether or not this is the last entry as the third was believed to be, much like childhood and the toys you have, one ending can lead to a new beginning. Over all: 100%

2019 top list so far:
1. Avengers: Endgame

2. Toy Story 4

3. Shazam!

4. Rocketman

5. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

6. John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

7. Godzilla: King of the Monsters

8. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

9. Us

10. Aladdin 2019

11. Pokemon Detective Pikachu

12. Captain Marvel

13. Pet Sematary 2019

14. The Upside

15. Dark Phoenix

16. Cold Pursuit

17. Glass

Rocketman

Having previously been hired to finish directing Bohemian Rhapsody after Bryan Singer was fired, Dexter Fletcher takes on the entire process of another biopic about a legendary and loved musician from the same era with Rocketman. Where as Rhapsody told its story in a typical way as Queen came up with songs, this film takes Elton John's life and tells it through both regular storytelling and musical numbers all based around his great hits up until the mid to late 80s. With Elton serving as executive producer of his own biopic, Rocketman tells its true story as accurate as it can, even with some liberties, in such a unique way that makes the tagline of being based on a true fantasy so true due to the singer's eccentric and over the top style. Much like last year's big musical biopic, the strongest aspect of this movie is the performance of the lead actor, in this case Taron Egerton, and capturing the broken but always needing to perform personality of the musician. Jamie Bell as Bernie Taupin, Elton's best friend and writing partner, is just as great due to how he always tries to be by the eccentric singer's side even when talked down upon. Even if you don't like all of his songs, the musical numbers themselves are a wonder to watch and the songs that are used not only continue the story but also provide perfect metaphors for what's going on in Elton's life. Although while it's a better film storytelling, for me Rhapsody is a much more memorable film as I'm more familiar with Queen then I was with Elton John but I'm a great admirer of both and their excellent films. Something else to give Rocketman great credit is the bold move for a big studio to have a gay sex scene, even if it's very short and not so graphic. Over all: 100%

2019 top list so far:
1. Avengers: Endgame

2. Shazam!

3. Rocketman

4. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

5. John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

6. Godzilla: King of the Monsters

7. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

8. Us

9. Aladdin 2019

10. Pokemon Detective Pikachu

11. Captain Marvel

12. Pet Sematary 2019

13. The Upside

14. Dark Phoenix

15. Cold Pursuit

16. Glass

Dark Phoenix

With Disney buying Fox and Kevin Feige announcing that the Marvel Cinematic Universe will reboot the X-Men franchise and start fresh, Dark Phoenix is the last film in the main series that first began in 2000. While The New Mutants is scheduled to be released in 2020 and Ryan Reynolds's version of Deadpool will still have his own films, this entry is the swan song for everything we have witnessed for the last twenty years. Dark Phoenix sees Jean Grey absorb the powers of an alien entity made of pure energy, thus increasing her already strong abilities and changing her personality as an unknown group tries to use her for their own agenda. This is the directorial debut of Simon Kinberg, who has written for past films in the series including The Last Stand which was also adapting the Dark Phoenix Saga. Most of the cast from the last three films return such as Sophie Turner as Jean, James McAvoy as Xavier, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, Michael Fassbender as Magneto, Evan Peters as Quicksilver, and Tye Sheridan as Cyclops. Despite being more faithful to the Chris Claremont and John Byrne story than the 2006 film and being foreshadowed during Apocalypse, the focus on the power of the Phoenix and what it could do is very minimal and rushed. Knowing that the producers were planning to make a trilogy with this as the first but changing its ending during reshoots due to Disney's acquisition one can tell that there was supposed to be more. While everyone gives great performances and much of their chemistry does work, a lot of the things with Jean, Cyclops, and Storm don't work as well due to being only introduced in the prior film and not a lot of focus is given on them when there should have been. The effects and action sequences are all done really good, particularly the final fight in a military train. It's very obvious this is Kinberg's first directing job due to some odd camera placements and angles that linger for too long. His writing is just as troublesome due to how certain characters just make some odd choices that don't fit with what we know from them, like Beast wanting Jean dead for killing Mystique despite knowing it wasn't intentional. There's also certain dialogue that is either trying too hard to be modern that it is condescending, like Mystique's speech to Xavier about X-Men being changed as it has women, or forced, like Cyclops getting to use the one PG-13 "F" bomb when no one even noticed. This and several other issues is why for an ending to the series, despite not being made to do so, it's very lackluster. But there still are some great things in Dark Phoenix that make it worthwhile and gives hope to how the MCU will handle this franchise, so while not the greatest it's still an okay film. Over all: 75%

2019 top list so far:
1. Avengers: Endgame

2. Shazam!

3. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

4. John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

5. Godzilla: King of the Monsters

6. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

7. Us

8. Aladdin 2019

9. Pokemon Detective Pikachu

10. Captain Marvel

11. Pet Sematary 2019

12. The Upside

13. Dark Phoenix

14. Cold Pursuit

15. Glass

Wonder Woman: Rebirth (2016) #1

The last of the Wonder Woman film's digital comic promotion, Wonder Woman: Rebirth (2016) #1 is the lead up to The Lies storyline wherein Diana starts to remember her many lives due to the many times the DC universe has been rebooted. She remembers both versions of her origins, the one where she was a clay figure brought to life and the one where Zeus is her father. After being able to crush the helmet of Ares with her bare hands, something that was considered impossible, Wonder Woman begins her adventures to seek answers of her past. Greg Rucka's writing and Liam Sharp's artwork excel at capturing Diana's struggle at wondering who she really is through the narration and her body language. More about the drama, the few action scenes we do get are done really well especially at the end with the heroine struggling a bit with some Olympian defenses. Though a lot of the artwork is done well, there are a few times where it could have definitely been improved. The idea for any of the DC heroes being able to recall what happened to them before the reboots is a very interesting concept that I hope to keep reading one day. Over all: 100%
Top list so far for 2nd set of comics:
1. Deadpool Kills Deadpool
2. Wonder Woman: Rebirth (2016) #1
3. The Tick: Free Comic Book Day 2018
4. Free Comic Book Day 2018: James Bond 007-VARGR
5. Free Comic Book Day 2018 Invader Zim: Floopsy Bloops Shmoopsy
6. The Legend of Wonder Woman (2015-2016) #1
7. Free Comic Book Day: The Legend of Korra & Nintendo ARMS 2018
8. Ant-Man (2015) Vol. 1 #1: Second-Chance Man Part 1
9. Batman/The Flash: The Button
10. The Adventures of Superman Vol. 1 #500
11. The Unworthy Thor (2016-2017) #1
12. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #5
13. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #6
14. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #4
15. Thor: God of Thunder Vol. 1 #1
16. Wonder Woman Free Comic Book Day 2017 Special Edition (2017-) issue #1
17. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #2
18. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #1
19. Incredible Hulk (1999-2007) #92: Planet Hulk Part One
20. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #3
21. Wonder Woman (2006-2011) #1
22. The Astonishing Ant-Man (2015-2016) #1
23. Star Wars: Rogue One Adaptation #1
24. Tate's Not At Comic Con Local Indy Anthology #8

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

The sequel to 2014s Godzilla and the third film in the MonsterVerse series by Legendary Pictures, Godzilla: King of the Monsters sees the legendary kaiju return along with many old and new monster from the long running franchise. Besides Godzilla, you get to see modern and updated versions of Mothra, Rodan, and the main antagonist King Ghidorah. The main plot is started by an ecological terrorist wanting to free a frozen Ghidorah so that the fight between the monsters could help heal the world from the human's natural destruction, but because the three headed monster is an extraterrestrial being that wants to destroy the world, humanity allies with Godzilla to help defeat their similar enemy. While the first film focused more on the humans than the actual monsters and their fighting, this one has a better balance of the two. The monster fights are intense, fun, and everything you'd ever want in a giant kaiju rumble, although one drawback is that most of the fights are done at night and not very colorful. While everyone involved gives a very good performance, from returning favorites like Ken Watanabe to new additions such as Millie Bobby Brown, a lot of the humans are very stereotypical and not as well developed as a few others, while certain actions don't make sense from what we learn later. Director Michael Dougherty, replacing Gareth Edwards, does a great job with the very simple but very thin story. One big flaw is that while the cinematography is good and clear, certain parts are very dark and murky which happens a lot with the monster fight and their designs are great but hard to tell what their color is. While there are numerous references to the mythology of Godzilla and the other monsters, sometimes there are just too many that occur too often and can feel forced. One has to wonder with how intense the events of the film are, what will the MonsterVerse show in the future without becoming stale. A film like this should have been done a little later after a few other films with Godzilla and other monsters. But if Legendary manages to figure out how to keep the films interesting then I hope they do a good job. A big flaw with King of the Monsters is that we're repeatedly told that there are now seventeen confirmed Titans, with more being unearthed, but most of those we don't see fully other than in the news. This entry is not as great as the first film, but it does manage to become fun and enjoyable with better action scenes. Over all: 99%

2019 top list so far:
1. Avengers: Endgame

2. Shazam!

3. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

4. John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

5. Godzilla: King of the Monsters

6. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

7. Us

8. Aladdin 2019

9. Pokemon Detective Pikachu

10. Captain Marvel

11. Pet Sematary 2019

12. The Upside
13. Cold Pursuit
14. Glass