Sunday, August 25, 2019

Ready or Not

Ready or Not is a black comedy horror film about a newly-wed woman who must survive her spouse's ritual of hunting her down until sunrise. The film stars Samara Weaving, Mark O'Brien, Adam Brody, Henry Czerny, Andie MacDowell, and Melanie Scrofano, with Devil's Due co-helmers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett directing. Every actor involved gives fantastic performances, especially as Weaving's character goes through so much by the end that you truly believe the pains she goes through. The story is well told and you have a lot of fun watching the hijinks that the Le Domas family goes through even if what they're doing is horrible. One of the best parts of the movie is definitely the ending that looks at what happens to the family when they fail the ritual and it is both hilarious and shocking. While Weaving's character, Grace, is great especially because of her performance, one problem I do have is that there are moments or things she does that's the complete opposite of what I expect but would have been smarter to do. Even with this small issue, Ready or Not is a fantastic film with such an original and unique premise. Over all: 100%
2019 top list so far:
1. Avengers: Endgame
2. Ready or Not
3. Toy Story 4
4. Shazam!
5. Spider-Man: Far From Home
6. Rocketman
7. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
8. John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
9. Godzilla: King of the Monsters
10. Once Upon a Time In Hollywood
11. Hobbs & Shaw
12. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
13. Us
14. Aladdin 2019
15. Pokemon Detective Pikachu
16. Captain Marvel
17. The Lion King 2019
18. Yesterday
19. Pet Sematary 2019
20. The Upside
21. Dark Phoenix
22. Cold Pursuit
23. Glass

Sunday, August 11, 2019

Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness

Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness is my first horror themed comic book, first crossover between Marvel and another company, and my first in the Evil Dead franchise. The limited series takes place early on in the then recently created Marvel Zombies story set in a universe where a zombie virus affects nearly all of its version of superheroes. Having been chucked out of Heaven, Ash Williams lands in a version of the Marvel Universe wherein he must fend off against heroes who have been turned into zombies. With some help from the likes of Spider-Man, Punisher, Scarlett Witch, and even Doctor Doom, Ash has to figure out whether the virus is due to the Necronomicon or something else entirely and whether it can be cured. The crossover does mostly a good job at balancing the Marvel heroes' and Ash's different personalities. As this version of Ash is the same from his own comic book series, he's written very similar to how Bruce Campbell portrayed him in the movies. One problem, though, is how he ogles and lear at many of the female heroes, which could have been limited. Still, the artwork and writing do a great job at presenting both terror and humor when flesh eating zombies are involved. The gore is over the top and fun, and the ways some of the zombie heroes are killed off are inventive. Unlike many other crossovers, Marvel and Dynamite created a story that could easily fit in the middle of their continuities and expand on them. Horror is one of the most fun and imaginative genres, and Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness proves that. Over all: 100%
Top list so far for 2nd set of comics:
1. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Crisis in a Half Shell #3
2. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Crisis in a Half Shell #1
3. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Crisis in a Half Shell #2
4. Deadpool Kills Deadpool
5. Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness
6. Wonder Woman: Rebirth (2016) #1
7. The Tick: Free Comic Book Day 2018
8. Free Comic Book Day 2018: James Bond 007-VARGR
9. Free Comic Book Day 2018 Invader Zim: Floopsy Bloops Shmoopsy
10. The Legend of Wonder Woman (2015-2016) #1
11. Free Comic Book Day: The Legend of Korra & Nintendo ARMS 2018
12. Ant-Man (2015) Vol. 1 #1: Second-Chance Man Part 1
13. Batman/The Flash: The Button
14. The Adventures of Superman Vol. 1 #500
15. The Unworthy Thor (2016-2017) #1
16. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #5
17. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #6
18. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #4
19. Thor: God of Thunder Vol. 1 #1
20. Wonder Woman Free Comic Book Day 2017 Special Edition (2017-) issue #1
21. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #2
22. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #1
23. Incredible Hulk (1999-2007) #92: Planet Hulk Part One
24. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #3
25. Wonder Woman (2006-2011) #1
26. The Astonishing Ant-Man (2015-2016) #1
27. Star Wars: Rogue One Adaptation #1
28. Tate's Not At Comic Con Local Indy Anthology #8

Friday, August 9, 2019

Hobbs & Shaw

The first spinoff in the Fast and Furious franchise, Hobbs & Shaw centers around Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham's characters and thus takes focus out of race cars and heist tropes and more on end of the world and spy fiction stories. Despite this change of focus and story, this film still keeps the over the top nature that the previous entries have been known for. The titular characters have to stop a tech obsessed and enhanced terrorist from unleashing a deadly virus that would wipe out millions of people. Shaw gets involved due to his sister injecting herself with the virus and thus has only a few days before it's activated inside of her, with Hobbs being assigned due to his past with the Shaw family. Right from the beginning, the film pulls no punches at showing us how different this spinoff is from the rest of the series as Idris Elba plays a villain who is super strong, very durable, and can see the many variables that could happen in a fight with his enhanced eyes. With David Leitch directing, the action scenes are very well done and the choreography is pulled off just as smoothly as his previous works. With a run time of about two hours and fifteen minutes, Hobbs & Shaw tries to fit in way too much in it and not all of it goes smoothly as the pacing is never exact. The comedy does work, but often tries to put in way too much that it can get old at times and ruin some moments. Not only do Johnson and Statham give great performances that enhance their competitive chemistry, but everyone else involved gives it their all, whether it's Elba as the villain, Vanessa Kirby as Shaw's sister, or even the small role that Helen Mirren provides. The story is so over the top and filled with so much absurdity that you don't always mind when it doesn't make sense. By far, the highlight of the film is the final action scene that takes place in Samoa wherein Johnson's Luke gets help from his family to fight the villains. Managing to expand on a franchise that began in 2001, Hobbs & Shaw is a fun extravaganza that while great to watch has very obvious flaws layered throughout its over the top nature. Over all: 99%
2019 top list so far:
1. Avengers: Endgame
2. Toy Story 4
3. Shazam!
4. Spider-Man: Far From Home
5. Rocketman
6. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
7. John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
8. Godzilla: King of the Monsters
9. Once Upon a Time In Hollywood
10. Hobbs & Shaw
11. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
12. Us
13. Aladdin 2019
14. Pokemon Detective Pikachu
15. Captain Marvel
16. The Lion King 2019
17. Yesterday
18. Pet Sematary 2019
19. The Upside
20. Dark Phoenix
21. Cold Pursuit
22. Glass

Thursday, August 1, 2019

Once Upon a Time In Hollywood

Quentin Tarantino's ninth film, Once Upon a Time In Hollywood is a comedy drama set in 1969 Los Angeles and mainly focuses on the life and career of fictional struggling television actor Rick Dalton and his friendship with his stunt double Cliff Booth, played respectively by Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt. The other story that the film tells is mostly random things that Sharon Tate does at the same time that Dalton and Booth are doing something important. While the two men that Tarantino focuses on are fictional, many of the people they meet, shows and movies they work on, and events they take part in are either real, exaggerated, or are references to the actual versions. Hollywood is nearly three hours and most of it is either filled with Dalton acting in shows as the villain, Cliff doing random odd jobs, or just showing what the characters do on a regular basis in their lives. As expected with Tarantino and his writing, the small attention to details and the quick jumps to reveal something major are the strongest aspects. While Margot Robbie gives a good performance as Tate, she doesn't do that much and much of what she does do doesn't advance the plot. Just like the last time Tarantino tackled a huge historical event, that being killing Hitler earlier in Inglourious Basterds, here he handles the murder of Tate and her friends by Charles Manson's followers. What he does, instead, makes this so far not as the usual Tarantino violence and turns it up in the last few minutes and it is so fun and glorious. Once Upon a Time In Hollywood is well written, provides amazing performances, and the look at an older Los Angeles is fun, though it takes too long to understand what exactly it is about, certain moments feel unneeded and could have been removed, certain characters are not portrayed properly compared to real life, and it feels like it wants to say something deep and profound it just feels like there's too much to actually say it. Over all: 99%
2019 top list so far:
1. Avengers: Endgame
2. Toy Story 4
3. Shazam!
4. Spider-Man: Far From Home
5. Rocketman
6. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
7. John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
8. Godzilla: King of the Monsters
9. Once Upon a Time In Hollywood
10. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
11. Us
12. Aladdin 2019
13. Pokemon Detective Pikachu
14. Captain Marvel
15. The Lion King 2019
16. Yesterday
17. Pet Sematary 2019
18. The Upside
19. Dark Phoenix
20. Cold Pursuit
21. Glass