Movies Page

Blade Runner 2049

The official "He's literally me" movie. In Blade Runner 2049, Ryan Gosling plays me from the future where Palantir and OpenAI won and the most powerful person on the planet is a pedophile. The world of Blade Runner is a total dystopia where synthetic humans are made to do our shitty jobs and lonely dudes talk to AI generated girlfriends. Kinda sounds like the world we are living in now. Watching this movie, I couldn't help but see it as a prediction of the world we are heading too. That's what makes a good cyberpunk setting; exaggerating all the contradictions and developments in a hypercapitalist world through the lens of a technological future. Just like it's predecessor, the world building in Blade Runner 2049 is great, and the visuals are one of the best I have seen in a movie. Ryan Gosling is great as K, the replicant who hunts replicants, and Harrison Ford does great as well as Rick Deckard from the first movie. I much prefer this Blade Runner to the first. The story is kind of a neo-noir like the last one, but It is way more entertaining and interesting, and never gets to any of those boring moments. This is easily one of my favorite movies. The plot; incredible, the visuals; stunning, the music; banging, the Ryan; Gosling. Some may say that it is too long, but I disagree, I think it works perfectly the length it is. Watch this if you haven't, probably don't watch it if you are a lonely guy who is in love with Ana de Armas.

Blade Runner

This is a weird movie. Maybe weird in a good way, and maybe in a bad way too. I've always heard that this was a great movie and some movie heads stand by this. However, after watching it, I am a little mixed. I did like this movie, it is cool, but I do have some issues with it. First, this is a slow movie. Being a neo-noir film that is expected, but I think parts drag a little too slow and get pretty boring at times. And I think that is my main problem with this movie, too much is not interesting. I liked Rick Deckard as a character, and Harrison Ford does a great job portraying him. He's a highly skilled detective "Blade Runner" who tracks and kills replicants, and I like his character arch about how he views them. My problem with Deckard is that the film doesn't include more of him, even though he is in it plenty, but I wished he would have more to say and develop as a character. The plot for the most part is entertaining, watching Deckard track down the replicants, but some parts I was waiting for something to happen. This is also a beautiful movie cinematographically, these scenes are lit gorgeously and the set design is incredible. What makes this movie I think is the set design and the world building. This movie basically made cyberpunk as a genre and aesthetic, and you can't deny the clear inspiration from other projects that are taken from this movie.

The Odyssey

I'm just going to get into it, this movie is incredible. A big juicy steak of a movie. It's 3 hours but it never feels too long or too rushed, or that its missing anything. The entire cast does an amazing job, most notably Robert Pattinson and Anne Hathaway. I was impressed by everything I saw, and the fact that most of the film is shot on location with practical effects just adds to the grand scale of the project. The cinematography is great, and these scenes are shot beautifully. There's some nice horror elements in the scenes with the cyclops and Circe, and they are more impressive knowing that its using practical effects. Nolan goes for a more modern interpretation of The Odyssey and I think he succeeds. A huge theme of the movie is on "Zeus's Law" or goodwill towards guests and hospitality and how breaking these norms lead to the downfall of civilization. The Greek army attacks Troy under false pretenses to "secure trade routes" and Odysseus and his men pillage and kill their way back home, only for Odysseus to realize that the "sea people" destroying civilization were him and the Greeks all along. I can see the parallels to modern conflicts and how the people waging war think they are doing the right thing all while breaking a rules based world order and causing the atrocities they claim to have been fighting. Not to say that The Odyssey is a "we killed your people and it made our soldiers cry" movie or anything. On the dialogue, its modern language, but the way they speak gives it almost a much older feeling that I found interesting. I loved the ending too, just a great reward of catharsis after a 3 hour wait.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

When this movie was announced, I really wanted to see it. But after it was released, it had mixed reception and I decided to pass on it. After watching the other 4 movies, I got around to finally watching this one. I had no idea what to expect from this movie, and after seeing it I can say that this movie is just boring. It starts out in a flashback to 1945 with a de-aged Harrison Ford, and this first 20 minutes is the best in the movie. It felt as entertaining as the originals. The de-aged Harrison Ford looked a little animated, but it didn't take away from the scene. The rest of the movie though, just never gets anywhere as close to the previous movies. First, this movie is extremely long, at a staggering 2 and a half hours long and it never justifies this length. Most of the movie is chase scenes that are really just not that interesting to watch. None of the characters are interesting as well. Indiana Jones has none of the charm or wit he has in the originals, and he is just a bit of a grumpy old man here. The female lead, Helena Shaw, I just did not at all like her character. Her motivations are completely confusing; at first she's gushing with Indiana about archeology, then she betrays him to steal and artifact and sell it illegally, then she goes back to helping Indiana with no explanation for the switch in motivation. She's also very cocky and egotistical, but she suffers no consequence for this at all. Indiana Jones is cocky too, but he constantly is getting punched, knocked out, shot at, poisoned, captured. But Helena, I don't think she even gets hit here, and she just comes off as an asshole who can't fail. Say what you want about "Mutt" Williams, but the writers for Crystal Skull knew not to make his character constantly show up the guy who the movie is named after. Speaking of Mutt, they decided to kill of him off which I found a bit insulting to his character. But I wouldn't really mind had it mattered to the story, because nothing really matters. What I dislike about this movie the most is that it does not explore these characters at all. They never develop or grow or anything at all. There's 2 and a half hours of movie and none of it is dedicated to examining Indiana Jones as a character. There are so many ideas and subplots that are never resolved or are forgotten completely. And how this movie ends, just left me bewildered. Just a big let down.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I first saw this movie at 9 years old when the movie came out in 2008. I didn't remember much of it other than the fridge scene and the giant ants. Recently I got to re-watch this movie. I always heard just how terrible this one was, and I was worried it would be a very poorly made 2008 movie. But after seeing it again, I don't get the hate for it, I actually enjoyed this movie. Its not as good as Raiders or Last Crusade, but I enjoyed it more than Temple of Doom. There are some scene that are too ridiculous, like Shia swinging with monkeys or the protagonists falling of 3 waterfalls and not dying. But none of it really ruined the experience for me. And about the fridge scene, I thought it was so dumb that it kind of looped around to being awesome. The cgi is bad in some scenes, and I didn't like that the aliens were "trans-dimensional beings". This movie is filmed just like the other ones, with all the charm and wit the other three have. Harrison does just a good job as Indiana Jones here, and Shia LaBeouf's character pairs well with Indiana. Maybe all the negativity surrounding this movie gave me much lower expectations for it, but I came out enjoying it.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is my favorite Indiana Jones movie. Its got everything you could ever want in an adventure film; action, thrill, mystery, humor. I really like it in movies when the characters solve clues and unravel riddles. This movie is a lot like Raiders of the Lost Ark, both in terms thematically and spiritually. Even though Last Crusade comes after Temple of Doom, its more of a sequel to Raiders. The inclusion of Sean Connery as Indiana's father, puts this movie a bit above Raiders for me. I like the dynamic the two have here, and their relationship throughout the movie provides a nice element that adds to all the action and adventure. Last Crusade is also a huge improvement from Temple of Doom, with characters that are actually interesting and the best plot in the series in my opinion.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Coming into this movie, I didn't know anything other than it had Ke Huy Quan as Short Round in it. After seeing it, I have some mixed feelings but I overall enjoyed it. This movie has the thrills and adventure you would want out of a movie like this, and It has the added bonus of being more darker and more horrifying than Raiders, which was the reason for the creation of the PG-13 rating back in the day. Harrison Ford is great as Indiana Jones, and I'm thankful for that as he is the only character I really like in this movie. Short Round is ok, but he is just a kid and hearing him go "DOCTA JONES" so often gets tiring. Indie's female companion "Willie", I just hated her character. All she does is whine and complain the whole movie, and her "romance" with Indiana just felt forced. I also didn't like the structure of the story, as it just moves from scene to scene too fast to develop the story well. There's also one dinner scene where the cultist eat eyeball soup and monkey brains and it just comes off as pretty racist. That being said, the action scenes are good and thrilling, and Indiana Jones carries this movie.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Raiders of the Lost Ark is a movie that slaps hard. Harrison Ford does an excellent job portraying Indiana Jones, the by-day professor of archeology and by-night the titular "Indiana Jones", a globe trotting adventurer and treasure hunter. He is such a fun character, and I don't think he could be played by anyone but Harrison Ford. Harrison bring in a necessary charm to the character that would otherwise leave him as a sort of asshole if played by other actors. Indiana's friend/love interest Marion, is also a good character, considering she can hold her own as a woman and isn't just some dainty damsel in distress. What sets this movie apart from others is just how witty and humorous it is. The action scenes are great and iconic, but they are also funny at times too, which makes them way more enjoyable to me. I also love the archeology and seeing Indiana decipher the Ark's location before the Nazis. Speaking of Nazis, it is so awesome seeing them get punched, shot at, blown up, and killed, especially at the end. When I first saw the ending, I was horrified, but on my second watch I couldn't help but laugh. It was so funny watching all these fascist burn alive and explode. Really just an excellent movie all around.

Backrooms

I remember watching Kane Parson's original backrooms video on YouTube many years ago and I thought it was really good and the backrooms to be an interesting concept. While watching it I would have never thought that those videos would lead to one of the most interesting horror movies I have seen. Backrooms is a great movie and it succeeds because it is so different than what mainstream Hollywood would produce. This movie stays true to what made Kane Parson's original videos so good. Most of the movie is brightly lit and takes place in mundane looking office rooms, but this setting creates the unique creepy and of putting atmosphere that makes this movie work. And Backrooms is plenty scary, with the use of found footage and the unexplainable beings found. The found footage aspects are the best scenes of the film and got me real scared. What I also liked about this movie is how a lot of this movie actually takes place in the real world; where we learn about these characters and how their past and personalities tie into the meaning behind the backrooms themselves. And just like how there is a labyrinth to explore in the backrooms, there is plenty to explore in this movie, with the film's messaging about the mind and memories, how we deal with them in regard to our atomized lives, and so on. Backrooms is really a movie you should watch, and is probably my favorite horror movie.

Queen & Slim

I saw this movie because of my friend, who picked this out at a dvd store for me to watch solely because it had Daniel Kaluuya on the cover. I had no idea what I was getting into when I saw this movie, but thankfully it was a good watch. The plot of this story is about two people on the run after one shoots a cop in self defense. In a way, this movie reminded me of One Battle After Another with the structure of the plot. However, this movie in no way has the weird sexualization of black women that OBAO had, even though "Queen" is still somewhat sexualized here. The story basically consists of the two meeting with different black people and their opinions on the shooting, ranging from radical solidarity to silent disagreement. This movie came out in 2019 and is heavily inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, but I came out wishing it was more political as the politics present are just a bit too basic. This movie also features black cops and does the awful thing of exonerating them and treating them like good guys who just disagree with how police treat black people. That had me rolling my eyes man, black cops do not give a fuck, they are cops at the end of the day and they will defend their own. The story though is good, especially the section with Queen's uncle, but at other times it gets dull and feels like they tangent off from the main urgency that the plot presents. One thing I didn't like is how little we get to know about Daniel's character "Slim". Jodie's character is explored and has significant plot dedicated to her, but Slim we barely know about other than he wants to call his dad.

Spotlight

I watched this movie at my brother’s request, as he said it was one of his favorites. Spotlight is a movie about the real life journalist team that uncovered the Catholic priest sex abuse scandal in 2003. It portrays the team’s investigation of priests as they realize there is a bigger cover up and they slowly unravel all the evidence. I did enjoy this movie. Spotlight successfully handles the seriousness of the subject matter and a dramatic and suspenseful movie that doesn’t trivialize or sensationalize the real world events. Like the plot suggests, Spotlight covers real world abuse cases, and doesn’t shy away from portraying the cruelty of the Catholic Church nor the trauma of the victims. As the story plays out, the viewer will learn more and more of how big the Church’s cover up really is. What I liked the most from this film is the acting. Spotlight has a star cast, featuring the likes of Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, and Rachel McAdams. The actors do a good job of portraying the different journalists' personalities and their handlings during their entire investigation.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

I am putting this game into the movies category since, 1. I watched my friend play it, and 2. This game has the longest cutscenes in a video game I have ever known. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is the dramatic conclusion to Solid Snake’s story. Snake, now an old man by the name of Old Snake, must travel around the world in a desperate attempt to finally stop his rival and twin brother, who is actually just an arm that is controlling another guy, from launching a nuke to destroy a secret illuminati AI that would then allow his own super advanced AI program to take control of all economic and political affairs on the planet, all while Old Snake is slowly dying of a modified virus that left unchecked will cause a global pandemic, and also there is a vampire. If none of that made any sense to you, don’t worry, It hardly makes any sense to me and I read the plot synopsis twice before writing this. MGS4 is a great conclusion to this series and Snake’s story. I think it was a smart choice to make these characters old now, as they still fight the same fights and are continuously haunted by their past. And haunted by their past they actually are, as there are multiple flashbacks that literally feature events of the previous games, in their old graphics and all. Gameplay wise, I can’t really comment on it since I didn’t play it, but what my friend was doing, it looks like it plays like msg3. I could tell Kojima had watched a lot of movies, as this game's cinematic cutscenes are a movie themselves, with their cinematography and run time. The story features plenty of wacky characters and bosses, and probably the most in depth lore dump expositions in the series. If there are any unanswered questions you may have from the previous games, they will all get answered here, just hope you can understand it all.

One Battle After Another

This movie showed me that I could not handle real ass revolutionary shit. If I ever had to blow up a bank, the second a cop even says hello to me on the street, I would die of cardiac arrest on the spot. One Battle After Another is about a member of an underground revolutionary group, Bob Ferguson, who has been in hiding from the authorities for years and has become a paranoid shut-in, until one day when he has to go on the run from the police and try and find his daughter. The first 30-ish minutes show Bob’s time in a far left group, the French 75, and how they commit crimes and free undocumented immigrants. Bob has a love interest in the French 75, Perfidia, who is so sexual in her scenes to the point that it gets uncomfortable to watch. This movie really is “one battle after another” as the pacing almost never stops and Bob is constantly moving from scene to scene and evading cops at every turn. The tension and suspense basically never stops and kept me interested the entire run. This film is also blatantly pro immigrant and left wing movements. Much of the movie depicts the organization of left wing militants and sanctuary cities. Bob gets helped by Sergio, a karate sensei and organizer who helps evacuate undocumented immigrants. Sergio was my favorite character in the film; he stays so calm and professional during high stress moments and he just seems so cool. As much as I enjoyed this movie, I do not think it has any business being this long. One Battle After Another comes out to 2 hours and 40 minutes long, and the movie still is good, just not good enough to really justify being so lengthy of a film.

Friendship

I saw Friendship with two of my close friends, which is exactly how this movie should be watched. Friendship is a black comedy film emphasized by cringe humor and insane antics. Tim Robinson stars as Craig who is a socially awkward loner, and whose insecurities manifest into self destructive and unpredictable behaviors. Paul Rudd also is a gem here. He plays Austin, the cool and sociable next door neighbor to Tim Robinson’s character. He’s so likable in this movie, that I also wanted to be his friend. The story involves Craig’s desire for authentic friendship mixed with his lack of social skills and terrible decision making. He will continue to make good progress in his life, only to sabotage himself due to his insecurities and impulses. This movie will make you feel the social anxiety and stress, but the absurdist humor prevents Friendship from becoming an unwatchable cringe fest. As per the title, Friendship also portrays the issues of male friendships and loneliness in the face of inadequacy. Craig and his battle against loneliness is at times sympathetic and at others frustrating. This film also comments on social acceptance and expectations on men, with how people treat Craig, especially Austin whose acceptance of others gets tested. Friendship is a balance of absurdist dark humor and sincere social commentary and a good watch.

Sound of Metal

This is my one of my favorite movies, and maybe my #1 favorite. Sound of Metal tells the story of a drummer for a metal band who suddenly loses his hearing and has to cope with his new disability. It's a really great movie about struggling to live with your reality and not so subtlety about drug addiction. This movie is tragic and depressing, but it has the most beautiful ending to a movie that I have ever seen. There is not much I should say about the story, because it is one that you need to watch for yourself I think. Also, being a movie about music, the sound design is top notch. There is a lot of care and intention in the sound design, so you can really understand what the protagonist is going through. I heard that watching this movie with headphones is a better experience, but I have not tried it, next viewing I will though!

The Voice of Hind Rajab

Writing this review was difficult. I mean what can you say about the murder of a 6 year old child and her entire family. The Voice of Hind Rajab is a docu-drama about the very real murder of a 6 year old Palestinian child by Israeli forces in 2024. The contents of the film are reenacted by actors, but it features the actual audio of the phone call Hind Rajab made the day she was killed. The film is very well done and I could tell there was much care and dedication to create this film as best as possible to honor the life of Hind Rajab and portray the brutality of Israel and the struggles of the Palestinian people. What the Palestinian people have to go through on a daily basis is unacceptable. The amount of work getting a single ambulance to one location requires so much communication and planning on the Palestinian end, but that is the point. Israel wants the Palestinian people to die, even the children. You don’t fire over 300 rounds at a child by mistake, or shoot the ambulance when you specifically green lit the route. I'm truly speechless at what Western Imperialism is willing to do.

Whiplash

Whiplash is one of my favorite movies of all time. This story asks how much are you willing to endure to achieve greatness and if that goal itself is even worth the suffering. Whiplash is about a highly ambitious drum student Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller) and an abusive and strict jazz instructor Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons). J.K. Simmons delivers the best performance I have seen from him in this movie. His award for best supporting actor at the Oscars is much deserved. Fletcher’s abuse towards his students is so extreme it becomes so unbelievable and tense. Nieman’s desire to be the greatest drum player convinces him to endure all this abuse, and he slowly becomes obsessed with improving to the point he almost dies. The ending is really great as well, and also pretty scary. Watching this movie, I couldn’t help but almost agree with Neiman’s view; That if I had a teacher who was a bit this strict and brutal, maybe I would have been a much better artist. If only my art teacher in college was willing to throw a chair at my face. Of course, the movie tells you, if anything, that this is a self destructive mind set. Great Movie.

Marty Supreme

Marty Supreme dares to ask what if a white boy had a little bit of swagger on him, what if his thang was thanging, what if a white boi was quirked up and goated with the sauce. Marty Supreme tells the story of a scumbag hustler who tries to lie and cheat his way to the top, and god damn did I want him to win everytime. Going into this movie, I knew nothing about it other than that Timothée Chalamet was in it, which is enough for me. Did you know this movie was about a 1950’s ping pong player? Did you know people get shot and killed too? This movie is similar to Good Time by the same director, and I assume Uncut Gems too (I haven’t seen it yet, I know I know). In Marty Supreme, Marty lives in a hustle or be hustled world. Marty scams the people closest to him, not because he doesn’t care about them, but because he is so confident in himself that he feels that future success is guaranteed and he will be able to make it up to everyone. It is this huge ego and desire to carve his own path to success that ultimately brings Marty’s life down. Timothee Chalamet is outstanding in this movie, and just like Marty, he proves he has the skills to back up his ambition. He might be one of the greats one day. Also, check this out

Midsommar

Man White People are craaazyyyy!!! I really like how this movie builds up the horror over time. It reminds me of Get Out a lot. Obviously you know there is some nefarious shit happening from the beginning, but seeing all the clues appear and watching how strange people are acting as the tension builds is great. And of course, seeing the cast dwindle over time as they are killed one by one. By the end I was screaming “get out!” at the tv to the last guy left. There’s also the not so subtle white supremacy aspect of the cult. The first people they kill are brown, they kill all the brown people, and although this cult tries to accept new commers to boost their population, they are all white people, really makes you think. Further evidence that they are white supremacists is that their cult is clearly a neo pagan movement and not authentic. Their “traditions” are based on myths and misinterpretations and they never mention any actual Scandinavian gods or beliefs.

Parasite

After years of hearing how great this movie was, and how many awards it has won, I finally got a chance to see Parasite. I knew this movie was something about wealth inequality, but I was surprised when this movie was way more nuanced than I had assumed. The Kim family (the poor family) are portrayed so negatively as scammers, and the Park family (the rich family) are portrayed as much kinder and positive. But I think that is the statement the movie is making about class differences. The Kim family’s behaviors stem from their poverty, they have to lie just to survive. And the Park family, they can afford to be nice, but their financial status also allows them to be ignorant to the struggles of the impoverished. As per the name of the movie, the Kims are parasites as they feed off the success of the Parks, but the Parks are also parasites as their way of life can only exist with the exploitation of the Kim’s labor. There are also some motifs that are really nice, especially stairs that represent class position.

Weapons

When I first saw the teaser for this movie I was not impressed at all. But then, reviews for this movie were extremely possitive. And when I saw the trailer, I knew I had to see this movie. Unfortunately, Weapons did not live up to the hype and expectations I had. Not to say that this movie is bad, It is nice, but fails to build the mystery it had into anything interesting. The story is split into multiple story lines. The first half of this movie has the two leads, Archer and Justine, and their plots were very interesting and engaging. Half way through the movie it swaps to Marcus's section, and while his part has the most intense and thrilling scenes, the rest of the movie fails to reach these moments. The movie loses all momentum when it swaps over to Paul and James (the cop and homeless man). Their sections don't develop the plot at all and are not at all scary for a horror movie. Anyway, the central mystery about what happened to all the children did not really interest me too much, and was underwhelming for the build up the movie was having prior to the reveal. For a horror movie, this film had more funny moments than scary, and for a mystery movie, its mystery is fails to match the build up. Good movie, but very flawed in the second half.

Superman

After watching a slew of garbage from the Zach Snyder DC extended universe, I was excited for a DC movie to be actually good. With James Gunn's filmography in mind, I was certain this film would be a much higher quality than the previous iterations, but this still was the same company that approved of Jared Leto Joker soooo... Anyway, I entered this movie with high expectations and was happy to see them achieved. Superman 2025 is a superhero movie that finally breaks away from the slop flicks that DC and Marvel have been phoning in the past several years. What makes this movie stand out is the focus on exploring these characters. The personality of these characters, and their interpersonal relationships outshines the fight scenes and cgi evironments that superhero movies are known for. Superman's motivations are made believable and inspiring, and suporting characters like Guy Garner and Mister Terrific almost steal the spotlight from Superman's own film.

And I can't talk about this movie without mentioning the very clear allegory to Palestine and Israel. Jarhanpur and Boravia are blatantly based off of Palestine and Israel respectively. Jarhanpur is portrayed as the impoverished nation of brown people in the desert who are trapped behind a fence, and Boravia is the US ally who are funded by American weapon companies and have secret plans to annex Jarhanpur. The interview between Superman and Lois Lane could be taken from a real world conversation about Palestine, talking point for talking point. The ending scene of the liberation of Jarhanpur is made much more satisfying to watch. Unfortunately, we don't have a real life Justice Gang or Superman to save us, and as my one friend has put it: "We all have to be Superman".