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Reviews
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
I Really Wanted To Like It
I admit I had fairly high expectations for this movie, but in this instance I find it justified given the buildup to this particular movie.
To put it shortly, it is inferior to Infinity War in every way. I've seen infinity war probably 8 times now and Endgame makes me appreciate it even more. The pacing and execution of Infinity War is incredible in comparison. Infinity war felt like a much more mature movie in that there are moments that still make me feel sadness for the characters and the pacing of the movie was far better. Endgame felt all over the place. There were moments I wanted to tear up but the scenes didn't feel adequate to really draw a reaction. They moved on far too quickly and the movie itself was choppy. It was hard to really relate to the characters. When I first saw Infinity War I wondered how they would handle so many characters in one film and be able to still have the audience empathize with them, but any doubts were laid to rest. This movie is pretty much the worst case scenario for how to handle many characters.
Don't get me wrong, there were parts that were quite satisfying, which is hard to go into further detail about without divulging too much information.
All in all this movie was saved by particular scenes and those few moments of feeling resolution. It felt more childish in execution and appeal and Infinity War felt more mature than the typical Marvel movie. When I saw Captain Marvel I really disliked it, but I thought it was a one off and they would be redeemed with Endgame. This was not the case.
Definitely see it, and see it in theatres if you can, just don't go in with the highest of expectations.
A Star Is Born (2018)
Something strange happened to me with this movie
This movie is good, but could have been great. Some people found it dragged on, personally I feel that if it was 20-30 minutes longer it would have served well. I just didn't feel the incredible bond between the two characters. I felt there wasn't enough build. There wasn't enough build into the struggle or the backstory. It made the movie sort of shallow in that regard. Don't get me wrong, what was shown was enough to be good and the movie certainly did leave some sort of lasting emotional impression about me. It's been 4 days since I've seen it and I'm still thinking about it a lot. It did leave a lasting impression. But if there was more more time for that development to get really attached to the characters and involved in the story, this would be a movie I would love.
I really liked the movie and I've contemplated watching it again but I don't see myself doing so anytime soon.
The Late Bloomer (2016)
6.5/10
I don't really get why this movie got so much hate. I almost didn't watch it because of all the negative reviews. I'm not a huge fan of overly stupid humor, but I found this to be quite funny. I compare it to Role Models for the level of humor. I saw at least one other reviewer state that the supporting cast was excellent, and it truly was. It was worth the watch alone for the lead's two best friends. An easy watch, not long or tedious, funny dialogue and banter, some good cameos and supporting cast. IMDB doesn't let me do half star ratings but a solid 6.5/10 for me.
Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
What Did I Just Watch?
I will preface this by saying that I am a 30 year old minority male, and I quite enjoy a good romance movie/chick flick.
I saw the reviews on this movie were great and I began watching it thinking it would be entertaining and funny. It wasn't either. At all. I don't think I smiled once. There are two people in it who are funny in other works, but not at all here. The plot is dry and simplistic and boring. At the halfway point I kept telling myself it would get better. At this point almost nothing of substance happened. Then when I reached to ten minutes left, I shut it off. I rarely ever just stop watching a movie with so little time left, out of sheer curiosity and a personal need for completion. But I just couldn't stand it anymore. It was so formulaic and basic, I knew how it ended.
Now I am left to wonder how a movie that seems like it was written by a 14 year old girl, fairly poorly acted, overly long and lacking a sense of coherence or character development got a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. Are critics now required to like a movie simply because it features minority characters and stars? This mindless drivel should have been seen as just that. Completely lacking thought and with one of the most clichéd messages in story telling: wealth doesn't bring happiness, love triumphs all.
Wedding Crashers has a better plot and more entertainment value than this nonsense. What a complete waste of almost two hours of my life.
Upgrade (2018)
Blown Away
First off, I hadn't heard of this movie at all. It popped up on Showbox as a new movie available so I came to IMDB to check out the reviews. It certainly got good reviews from the few I skimmed, but I still watched it with not very high expectations having noted it was a small budget film.
According to IMDB this movie had a budget of 5 million. In my opinion it appeared like it could have easily had a budget of five times that amount.
It was really the story that blew me away though. It was so well executed and I found the ending to be somewhat haunting. It's a movie that I'm going to be thinking about for a while. It has just the right mixture of drama, action and humour. It truly does take the best of other sci fi films and creates it's own story. If you're on the fence about watching it, give it a chance. With a runtime of only around 1.5 hours, it's not a huge thing to lose on the off chance you don't like it. I only took a point off because of a couple of cheesy moments and brief moments of somewhat hollow acting but this is more than well worth the watch.