Movies Seen in 2021

[od0_ital]

Spoiler: Movies Seen in January, February & March

Fatale - AMC Nacogdoches
News of the World - AMC Nacogdoches
Alien (1979) - AMC Tyler
WW84: Wonder Woman 1984 2D- AMC Lufkin
The Marksman BigD - AMC Tyler
Bad Boys (1995) - AMC Tyler
The Emperor's New Groove (2000) - AMC Lufkin
Superman: Red Son - HBO Max
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) - AMC Longview
The Maltese Falcon (1941) - AMC Willowbrook
The High Note - HBO Max
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight - HBO Max
Dr. No (1962) - Cinemark Lufkin
The Little Things - AMC Lufkin
Earwig and the Witch - AMC Lufkin
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - 4 Star Cinema Kilgore
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings (2001) IMAX - AMC Willowbrook
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) IMAX - AMC Tyler
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) IMAX - AMC Tyler
Batman: Soul of the Dragon - blu ray
Superman: Man of Tomorrow - HBO Max
Wonder Woman: Bloodlines - HBO Max
Batman Ninja - HBO Max
Nomadland - AMC Lufkin
Judas and the Black Messiah - AMC Lufkin
Raya and the Last Dragon IMAX - AMC Tyler
Chaos Walking IMAX - AMC Tyler
Vixen - HBO Max
Land - Cinemark Lufkin
Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks - DVD

Greyhound - Apple TV+
Boogie - AMC Tyler
The Mauritanian - AMC Tyler
On the Rocks - Apple TV+
The Courier - AMC Longview
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) - HBO Max
Nobody - AMC Lufkin
Godzilla vs Kong 2D - AMC Longview
Mortal Kombat (2021) 2D/IMAX - AMC Lufkin/AMC Tyler
Minari - AMC Tyler
Demon Slayer: Mugen Train - Cinemark Lufkin
Here Today - AMC Tyler
Wrath of Man IMAX - AMC Tyler
Finding You - AMC Lufkin
Those Who Wish Me Dead - AMC Lufkin
Profile - AMC Lufkin
The Mitchells vs the Machines - Netflix
Thunder Force - Netflix

Movies seen in April & so far in May!

Signed up for a free week trial from Apple TV. Used it to watch Greyhound and On the Rocks. I was interested in both because of their stars Tom Hanks and Bill Murray and wound up being disappointed by both. Ah, well...

Boogie was a predictable coming of age sports movie. I thought the culture would make for an interesting twist, but no.

The Mauritanian and The Courier were interesting "based on true story" movies.

Did not care much for the Zack Snyder cut overall. There was some stuff I liked, a lot I didn't, and some I actually missed from Joss Whedon's version.

Took my sister, her husband, the youngest nephew & the niece to see Nobody. They liked it, and it was an interesting action movie, but I didn't care much for the ending.

Took the oldest nephew to see Godzilla vs Kong, he liked it, said it was the first Godzilla movie he had watched all the way through. I thought it was on the level of the previous movies of the current franchise.

Mortal Kombat was alright, nice callbacks to the videogame series.

Went to see Minari the day it won Oscars. I thought it was an interesting family drama.

The Cinemark in Lufkin has been open during the week for the last couple of weeks. Was running errands, came home to find the power out, went back to Lufkin & Demon Slayer: Mugen Train was the only movie showing that I hadn't seen at an AMC with my Stubs membership. Without having seen the tv series prior, I was able to keep up with what's what thanks to the flashbacks. And it was a pretty decent anime film, too.

Here Today was good, but sad. Nice to see Billy Crystal still making movies - starring, directing & co-written. And I liked that the flashbacks were from his characters first person perspective.

Wrath of Man was on my list of top ten to see this summer, because I liked The Gentlemen so much. This one was disappointing. I think it got bogged down by showing the one armor truck robbery three times, from three perspectives.

Finding You was mindnumbingly predictable.

Those Who Wish Me Dead has a good cast, lots of familiar faces for genre fans, but I think I dozed off a bit somewhere in the middle. May have to watch it again, either in theaters or via HBO Max.

Profile was filmed with an interesting style, all done as if looking at the main character's laptop. And it actually got suspenseful there towards the end.

The Mitchells vs the Machines was really funny, enjoyed that one quite a bit when I watched it on Netflix last night.

Thunder Force was pretty stupid. But at least it had Jaseon Bateman in a supporting role.

I have tickets reserved to see A Quiet Place Part II IMAX and Cruella on Friday.

 

[Starbreaker]

23. Mortal Kombat - 6
24. Woman in the Window - 5
25. Oxygen - 7
26. Army of the Dead - 6
27. Voyagers - 4
28. Before I Fall - 3
29. You Get Me - 1

 

[od0_ital]

Spoiler: Movies Seen in January, February, March, April & May

Fatale - AMC Nacogdoches
News of the World - AMC Nacogdoches
Alien (1979) - AMC Tyler
WW84: Wonder Woman 1984 2D- AMC Lufkin
The Marksman BigD - AMC Tyler
Bad Boys (1995) - AMC Tyler
The Emperor's New Groove (2000) - AMC Lufkin
Superman: Red Son - HBO Max
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) - AMC Longview
The Maltese Falcon (1941) - AMC Willowbrook
The High Note - HBO Max
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight - HBO Max
Dr. No (1962) - Cinemark Lufkin
The Little Things - AMC Lufkin
Earwig and the Witch - AMC Lufkin
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - 4 Star Cinema Kilgore
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings (2001) IMAX - AMC Willowbrook
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) IMAX - AMC Tyler
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) IMAX - AMC Tyler
Batman: Soul of the Dragon - blu ray
Superman: Man of Tomorrow - HBO Max
Wonder Woman: Bloodlines - HBO Max
Batman Ninja - HBO Max
Nomadland - AMC Lufkin
Judas and the Black Messiah - AMC Lufkin
Raya and the Last Dragon IMAX - AMC Tyler
Chaos Walking IMAX - AMC Tyler
Vixen - HBO Max
Land - Cinemark Lufkin
Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks - DVD
Greyhound - Apple TV+
Boogie - AMC Tyler
The Mauritanian - AMC Tyler
On the Rocks - Apple TV+
The Courier - AMC Longview
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) - HBO Max
Nobody - AMC Lufkin
Godzilla vs Kong 2D - AMC Longview
Mortal Kombat (2021) 2D/IMAX - AMC Lufkin/AMC Tyler
Minari - AMC Tyler
Demon Slayer: Mugen Train - Cinemark Lufkin
Here Today - AMC Tyler
Wrath of Man IMAX - AMC Tyler
Finding You - AMC Lufkin
Those Who Wish Me Dead - AMC Lufkin
Profile - AMC Lufkin
The Mitchells vs the Machines - Netflix
Thunder Force - Netflix

A Quiet Place, Part II - AMC Lufkin
Army of the Dead - Netflix

Had to cancel my plans for Friday.

So, I wound up going to watch AQP2 earlier tonight at a regular 2D showing, instead of IMAX. That was a pretty good followup to an awesome original film. Picking up immediately from the end of the first one, it shows the family moving on from their home and going out to look for other survivors. The Day One prelude, some of which has been the highlight of the trailers, was really good, too.

On my couch now, watching Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead via Netflix. Its kind of a stupid zombie apocalypse movie.

 

[Danny99]

Hillbilly Elegy - A
The Hitman's Bodyguard - A
Strange But True - C-
Room - C-
Taken 2 - B+
Taken 3 - B
Law Abiding Citizen - B+
Run - B+
Molly's Game - B+

Performances by Jessica Chastain & Idris Elba elevate a story that could be dreadfully boring and cliché if not handled properly.

Cold Pursuit - A-

Once I figured out the writers were going for some kind of Fargo-esque style and playing for laughs and dark humour, I throughly enjoyed myself. Tom Bateman stands out as the main bad guy, who is more than a little odd, but there really isn't a weak link. Don't get into it looking for some higher meaning, but enjoy the ride.

 

[od0_ital]

Spoiler: Movies Seen in January, February, March, April & May

Fatale - AMC Nacogdoches
News of the World - AMC Nacogdoches
Alien (1979) - AMC Tyler
WW84: Wonder Woman 1984 2D- AMC Lufkin
The Marksman BigD - AMC Tyler
Bad Boys (1995) - AMC Tyler
The Emperor's New Groove (2000) - AMC Lufkin
Superman: Red Son - HBO Max
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) - AMC Longview
The Maltese Falcon (1941) - AMC Willowbrook
The High Note - HBO Max
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight - HBO Max
Dr. No (1962) - Cinemark Lufkin
The Little Things - AMC Lufkin
Earwig and the Witch - AMC Lufkin
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - 4 Star Cinema Kilgore
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings (2001) IMAX - AMC Willowbrook
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) IMAX - AMC Tyler
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) IMAX - AMC Tyler
Batman: Soul of the Dragon - blu ray
Superman: Man of Tomorrow - HBO Max
Wonder Woman: Bloodlines - HBO Max
Batman Ninja - HBO Max
Nomadland - AMC Lufkin
Judas and the Black Messiah - AMC Lufkin
Raya and the Last Dragon IMAX - AMC Tyler
Chaos Walking IMAX - AMC Tyler
Vixen - HBO Max
Land - Cinemark Lufkin
Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks - DVD
Greyhound - Apple TV+
Boogie - AMC Tyler
The Mauritanian - AMC Tyler
On the Rocks - Apple TV+
The Courier - AMC Longview
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) - HBO Max
Nobody - AMC Lufkin
Godzilla vs Kong 2D - AMC Longview
Mortal Kombat (2021) 2D/IMAX - AMC Lufkin/AMC Tyler
Minari - AMC Tyler
Demon Slayer: Mugen Train - Cinemark Lufkin
Here Today - AMC Tyler
Wrath of Man IMAX - AMC Tyler
Finding You - AMC Lufkin
Those Who Wish Me Dead - AMC Lufkin
Profile - AMC Lufkin
The Mitchells vs the Machines - Netflix
Thunder Force - Netflix

A Quiet Place, Part II 2D/BigD- AMC Lufkin/AMC Tyler
Army of the Dead - Netflix
Dream Horse - AMC Longview
Cruella - AMC Longview
Michael Che Matters - Netflix

I went out to Longview the other day, since it was the only location showing Dream Horse. I'm a fan of Damian Lewis (NBC's Life), and Toni Collette is usually pretty good. Kind of hard to get invested in the story of a race horse, though, since I know nothing about horses or racing. Surprised to see classic Doctor Who actor Peter Davison in a small supporting role.

Followed that with Cruella, since its such a long drive, and seeing one movie is a waste of the time. I didn't care much for the softening of Cruella DeVil, since she's best known for wanting to kill puppies to make clothing. And I read recently that there may be a sequel? Really?

Saturday night, I rewatched A Quiet Place on blu ray. FIrst time I watched that one since it was in theaters.

And then I went out to AMC Tyler Sunday night & watched A Quiet Place, Part II again, this time on their BigD screen. Better sound quality than AMC Lufkin, I was actually able to understand that first conversation between Emily Blunt & Cillian Murphy.

The first movie is still brilliant, and the sequel is a really good followup.

Been watching clips of Michael Che on YouTube for the last few days, watched his Netflix special Sunday night. I thought it was pretty funny,

I've got a ticket to see Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard Friday night for an early access screening.

 

[Danny99]

Hillbilly Elegy - A
The Hitman's Bodyguard - A
Strange But True - C-
Room - C-
Taken 2 - B+
Taken 3 - B
Law Abiding Citizen - B+
Run - B+
Molly's Game - B+
Cold Pursuit - A-
Hidden Figures - B+

I understood the gravity of the history of these three women, but it seemed just a little too "Disney" for me (we did find it on Star on Disney+). Any moments with a hint of racism were very gently massaged to be minimally upsetting. Having not read the source material, I felt there was too many scenes for Costner, Parsons and Dunst to make them seem like they were sympathetic, given the climate of the time.

 

[od0_ital]

Spoiler: Movies Seen in January, February, March, April & May

Fatale - AMC Nacogdoches
News of the World - AMC Nacogdoches
Alien (1979) - AMC Tyler
WW84: Wonder Woman 1984 2D- AMC Lufkin
The Marksman BigD - AMC Tyler
Bad Boys (1995) - AMC Tyler
The Emperor's New Groove (2000) - AMC Lufkin
Superman: Red Son - HBO Max
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) - AMC Longview
The Maltese Falcon (1941) - AMC Willowbrook
The High Note - HBO Max
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight - HBO Max
Dr. No (1962) - Cinemark Lufkin
The Little Things - AMC Lufkin
Earwig and the Witch - AMC Lufkin
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - 4 Star Cinema Kilgore
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings (2001) IMAX - AMC Willowbrook
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) IMAX - AMC Tyler
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) IMAX - AMC Tyler
Batman: Soul of the Dragon - blu ray
Superman: Man of Tomorrow - HBO Max
Wonder Woman: Bloodlines - HBO Max
Batman Ninja - HBO Max
Nomadland - AMC Lufkin
Judas and the Black Messiah - AMC Lufkin
Raya and the Last Dragon IMAX - AMC Tyler
Chaos Walking IMAX - AMC Tyler
Vixen - HBO Max
Land - Cinemark Lufkin
Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks - DVD
Greyhound - Apple TV+
Boogie - AMC Tyler
The Mauritanian - AMC Tyler
On the Rocks - Apple TV+
The Courier - AMC Longview
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) - HBO Max
Nobody - AMC Lufkin
Godzilla vs Kong 2D - AMC Longview
Mortal Kombat (2021) 2D/IMAX - AMC Lufkin/AMC Tyler
Minari - AMC Tyler
Demon Slayer: Mugen Train - Cinemark Lufkin
Here Today - AMC Tyler
Wrath of Man IMAX - AMC Tyler
Finding You - AMC Lufkin
Those Who Wish Me Dead - AMC Lufkin
Profile - AMC Lufkin
The Mitchells vs the Machines - Netflix
Thunder Force - Netflix

A Quiet Place, Part II 2D/BigD- AMC Lufkin/AMC Tyler
Army of the Dead - Netflix
Dream Horse - AMC Longview
Cruella - AMC Longview
Michael Che Matters - Netflix
Early Access Screening Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard - AMC Tyler
12 Mighty Orphans - AMC Lufkin
In the Heights 2D - AMC Lufkin

I went out to Tyler to watch HWB a week early, at a Friday night showing. Turns out it was only a few days early, since the movie opened the following Wednesday. Dammit.

The movie was alright, I laughed quite a few times. My oldest nephew wants to see it, so I may be going again.

A few days later, I went out to Lufkin for a double feature. The AMC and Cinemark there are now open seven days a week while AMC Tyler is only open on weekends for another month.

12MO is based on a true story of an underdog Texas football team during the Great Depression. I didn't care much for the narration, and really surprised Robert Duvall gets above the title billing for one scene. The story was well done, and I did like the life summaries for the coaches & players over the end credits.

ItH was on my list of ten movies to see this summer because I liked Hamilton so much when I watched it on Disney+. I was pretty disappointed with this movie, though. Some of the song lyrics were difficult to understand. I didn't like how the movie lies to the audience. And I could have done without the countdown to the blackout, maybe that should have been a surprise when it happens? I dunno.

I've already bought tickets to take the whole family - my sister, her husband, all three nephews & the niece - to see F9: The Fast Saga this coming Friday night.

 

[Danny99]

Hillbilly Elegy - A
The Hitman's Bodyguard - A
Strange But True - C-
Room - C-
Taken 2 - B+
Taken 3 - B
Law Abiding Citizen - B+
Run - B+
Molly's Game - B+
Cold Pursuit - A-
Hidden Figures - B+
Stowaway - B+

Our first movie with our new Amazon Prime subscription. It was a perfectly alright movie. It shows Anna Kendrick has more range that I believe people believe she has. Daniel Dae Kim continues to be an underrated actor.

The problem here was the story. The crew was fairly quick to jump to trying to get the stowaway to commit suicide as the only option, even after one of the characters begs to use the time they have left to find a different choice. One character is pretty quick to offer the guy a lethal injection. At points, the movie felt like several vignettes strung together and the mission to Mars seems more important to them than this guy's life. The actor's act the hell out of it and make it a B+.

 

[Danny99]

Hillbilly Elegy - A
The Hitman's Bodyguard - A
Strange But True - C-
Room - C-
Taken 2 - B+
Taken 3 - B
Law Abiding Citizen - B+
Run - B+
Molly's Game - B+
Cold Pursuit - A-
Hidden Figures - B+
Stowaway - B+
6 Underground - A-

The minute you see "Directed by Michael Bay," you know what kind of movie you're in for, Luckily, Ryan Reynolds delivers another solid performance, surrounded by a great supporting cast that make this movie a great watch.

There are several little things, mostly based around Bay's frenetic direction and how cartoonish and over the top the villain is, but its kept light enough in some places, just serious enough in others to make it work.

 

[EmoBorg]

The Tomorrow War.

 

[Sentience]

Chasing Liberty
6/10

Thought I'd take out some time with a romantic comedy - not usually my thing but this one caught my eye.

A weak beginning finds the president's daughter searching for teenage freedom from her ever-encroaching secret service body guards. The film then takes a detour to Europe where the president is speaking in Prague. Our character decides to jump ship and go backpacking across Europe with a newly found lover boy, and it's here that the film is at its strongest, with a bubbly love story set to the beautiful scenery of Europe.

This film threatens to be something, but overall gives a taste of cheap production.

 

[Danny99]

Hillbilly Elegy - A
The Hitman's Bodyguard - A
Strange But True - C-
Room - C-
Taken 2 - B+
Taken 3 - B
Law Abiding Citizen - B+
Run - B+
Molly's Game - B+
Cold Pursuit - A-
Hidden Figures - B+
Stowaway - B+
6 Underground - A-
The Tomorrow War - B+

The Tomorrow War has been heavily promoted and has been on my list to watch. This really would've worked better as a mini-series or two movies. The movie as it stands is over two hours and rushes to get Chris Pratt to where he needs to be to really tug on the heart strings. It really survives on its cast. Chris Pratt is his lovable self. JK Simmons also plays to his strengths at the gruff father. All of the supporting cast play well too. Don't look for anything too deep or thought provoking, but it is a good action movie.

Greenland - B

Greenland wins the award for the most realistic portrayal of how people are going to react during an extinction level event. Looting, shooting, stealing children to get onto the airplanes to survival, racists trying to fight someone remotely different than them because they got chosen. There are a lot of scenes that make you feel incredibly uncomfortable. I know it's a trope of the genre, but the protagonists fall into a lot of luck. I also have a strong dislike for Morena Baccarin, maybe out of dislike of Adria from SG1 and not really liking her in Homeland either. Another strong movie that you don't have to have your mind turned on for.

 

[Danny99]

Hillbilly Elegy - A
The Hitman's Bodyguard - A
Strange But True - C-
Room - C-
Taken 2 - B+
Taken 3 - B
Law Abiding Citizen - B+
Run - B+
Molly's Game - B+
Cold Pursuit - A-
Hidden Figures - B+
Stowaway - B+
6 Underground - A-
The Tomorrow War - B+
Greenland - B
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers Of Benghazi - B

Like Black Hawk Down, it was difficult to follow what was exactly going on as the script tries to cover every piece of what was going on. The production team tried to put a bunch of exposition in writing in the first minutes of the movie, but there is still a lot to digest.

Any characters besides John Krasinski's main character are relegate to their assigned stereotype and even his character gets very little. James Badge Dale looks so much like Max Martini that it is sometimes difficult to tell who was who.

The movie already has a long run time of over two hours and frankly, I don't know what you can sacrifice to develop character. You have to keep your CIA characters given that they become important later.

 

[od0_ital]

Spoiler: Movies Seen in January, February, March, April & May

Fatale - AMC Nacogdoches
News of the World - AMC Nacogdoches
Alien (1979) - AMC Tyler
WW84: Wonder Woman 1984 2D- AMC Lufkin
The Marksman BigD - AMC Tyler
Bad Boys (1995) - AMC Tyler
The Emperor's New Groove (2000) - AMC Lufkin
Superman: Red Son - HBO Max
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) - AMC Longview
The Maltese Falcon (1941) - AMC Willowbrook
The High Note - HBO Max
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight - HBO Max
Dr. No (1962) - Cinemark Lufkin
The Little Things - AMC Lufkin
Earwig and the Witch - AMC Lufkin
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - 4 Star Cinema Kilgore
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings (2001) IMAX - AMC Willowbrook
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) IMAX - AMC Tyler
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) IMAX - AMC Tyler
Batman: Soul of the Dragon - blu ray
Superman: Man of Tomorrow - HBO Max
Wonder Woman: Bloodlines - HBO Max
Batman Ninja - HBO Max
Nomadland - AMC Lufkin
Judas and the Black Messiah - AMC Lufkin
Raya and the Last Dragon IMAX - AMC Tyler
Chaos Walking IMAX - AMC Tyler
Vixen - HBO Max
Land - Cinemark Lufkin
Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks - DVD
Greyhound - Apple TV+
Boogie - AMC Tyler
The Mauritanian - AMC Tyler
On the Rocks - Apple TV+
The Courier - AMC Longview
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) - HBO Max
Nobody - AMC Lufkin
Godzilla vs Kong 2D - AMC Longview
Mortal Kombat (2021) 2D/IMAX - AMC Lufkin/AMC Tyler
Minari - AMC Tyler
Demon Slayer: Mugen Train - Cinemark Lufkin
Here Today - AMC Tyler
Wrath of Man IMAX - AMC Tyler
Finding You - AMC Lufkin
Those Who Wish Me Dead - AMC Lufkin
Profile - AMC Lufkin
The Mitchells vs the Machines - Netflix
Thunder Force - Netflix

A Quiet Place, Part II 2D/BigD- AMC Lufkin/AMC Tyler
Army of the Dead - Netflix
Dream Horse - AMC Longview
Cruella - AMC Longview
Michael Che Matters - Netflix
Early Access Screening Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard - AMC Tyler
12 Mighty Orphans - AMC Lufkin
In the Heights 2D - AMC Lufkin
F9: The Fast Saga 2D/IMAX - AMC Lufkin/AMC Tyler
Black Widow IMAX/BigD/2D - AMC Tyler/AMC Lufkin
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions - AMC Lufkin
The Forever Purge - AMC Lufkin

So, my younger nephew (my sister's youngest of two sons) was home from South Korea a couple of weeks ago. He told his mother that he wanted to see a movie with an American theater, and she left that to me for the one night I had off from work that we could go. I got us all tickets to see F9 on opening night. It was a stupid fun sequel to a twenty year old franchise. Over the top dumb action and the laws of physics clearly don't apply. When I was telling a coworker about it, he made a joke that in the next one, they would probably have to go to space. I told him they did that in this movie already! Plenty of character cameos from previous films, and there was a bonus scene midway through the movie. It was my sister, my niece, her second son & me for the opening night show - my oldest nephew had to work, my brother in law & youngest nephew weren't feeling well. That's why I wound up taking the youngest nephew & my niece to see it in IMAX a few days later.

I went out to Tyler to watch Black Widow twice on opening day. For the IMAX screening, I got the free comic book AMC was offering. And then followed that on their BigD screen. The first day I watched it, I thought it was pretty good until the ending. I did not care for how that went at all. I took my sister, two of the nephews (oldest & youngest) and the niece to see it in 2D a few days later. They all said they liked it, the youngest one saying it was in his top three for Marvel's movies. He really liked the sister Yelena.

And we did stay for the bonus scene at the very end of the credits, and then my oldest nephew & I had to explain it, since the other three have not been watching the Disney+ shows.

I tried to see it in 3D last week, but the theater had two power outages in the first hour, so I left. I was going to go earlier today, but decided instead to wait until Wednesday so that I will have seen it in all the available formats as I have for previous MCU releases.

Went to the AMC for a double feature on Sunday.

I actually kind of liked the first Escape Room when it came out a couple of years ago. Did not care as much for this sequel. Missed the first few minutes, since I was running late, but don't feel like I missed that much of the story. Two characters from the original get trapped in a new series of escape rooms along with four others. The subway and bank were my favorite of the rooms, did not care so much for the beach or street. If there's a third one, I may check it out if I can use the AMC Stubs, but I'm not in a big rush for another one. Didn't know much about this one 'til the trailers started.

I followed that with The Forever Purge. The first movie of the franchise came out when I worked for the Alamo Drafthouse, so I was able to see it for free, and thought it was a pretty cool idea, and I remember being impressed with it. I've seen all the sequels. The big thing that this movie has going for it is that its set in Texas, but doesn't actually insult Texans, which was nice. Also, unlike previous films, it doesn't show much of Purge Night itself, but gives a look at the aftermath. Kind of surprising folks just walk past dead bodies and hose down blood into the gutter the morning after. This movie was kind of cool, an okay sequel to a decade old franchise.

I've reserved tickets to see Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins IMAX and Old BigD this Friday at AMC Tyler. And I will try to get to Black Widow 3D at Cinemark Lufkin Wednesday.

 

[dupersuper]

After two failed attempts to get some still gunshy about public gatherings friends to go to the theater, I broke down and watched Black Widow at home.

 

[od0_ital]

Spoiler: Movies Seen in January, February, March, April & May

Fatale - AMC Nacogdoches
News of the World - AMC Nacogdoches
Alien (1979) - AMC Tyler
WW84: Wonder Woman 1984 2D- AMC Lufkin
The Marksman BigD - AMC Tyler
Bad Boys (1995) - AMC Tyler
The Emperor's New Groove (2000) - AMC Lufkin
Superman: Red Son - HBO Max
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) - AMC Longview
The Maltese Falcon (1941) - AMC Willowbrook
The High Note - HBO Max
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight - HBO Max
Dr. No (1962) - Cinemark Lufkin
The Little Things - AMC Lufkin
Earwig and the Witch - AMC Lufkin
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - 4 Star Cinema Kilgore
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings (2001) IMAX - AMC Willowbrook
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) IMAX - AMC Tyler
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) IMAX - AMC Tyler
Batman: Soul of the Dragon - blu ray
Superman: Man of Tomorrow - HBO Max
Wonder Woman: Bloodlines - HBO Max
Batman Ninja - HBO Max
Nomadland - AMC Lufkin
Judas and the Black Messiah - AMC Lufkin
Raya and the Last Dragon IMAX - AMC Tyler
Chaos Walking IMAX - AMC Tyler
Vixen - HBO Max
Land - Cinemark Lufkin
Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks - DVD
Greyhound - Apple TV+
Boogie - AMC Tyler
The Mauritanian - AMC Tyler
On the Rocks - Apple TV+
The Courier - AMC Longview
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) - HBO Max
Nobody - AMC Lufkin
Godzilla vs Kong 2D - AMC Longview
Mortal Kombat (2021) 2D/IMAX - AMC Lufkin/AMC Tyler
Minari - AMC Tyler
Demon Slayer: Mugen Train - Cinemark Lufkin
Here Today - AMC Tyler
Wrath of Man IMAX - AMC Tyler
Finding You - AMC Lufkin
Those Who Wish Me Dead - AMC Lufkin
Profile - AMC Lufkin
The Mitchells vs the Machines - Netflix
Thunder Force - Netflix

A Quiet Place, Part II 2D/BigD- AMC Lufkin/AMC Tyler
Army of the Dead - Netflix
Dream Horse - AMC Longview
Cruella - AMC Longview
Michael Che Matters - Netflix
Early Access Screening Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard - AMC Tyler
12 Mighty Orphans - AMC Lufkin
In the Heights 2D - AMC Lufkin
F9: The Fast Saga 2D/IMAX - AMC Lufkin/AMC Tyler
Black Widow IMAX/BigD/2D/3D - AMC Tyler/AMC Lufkin/Cinemark Lufkin
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions - AMC Lufkin
The Forever Purge - AMC Lufkin
Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins 2D - AMC Lufkin
Old - AMC Lufkin

Went out to Cinemark Lufkin this past Wednesday for their last showing of Black Widow 3D. Had Theater 2 all to myself, too.

Cancelled my tickets for AMC Tyler, settled for the 2D shows of this week's new movies at AMC Lufkin last night.

Snake Eyes was actually pretty good, enjoyed it quite a bit. The two main guys worked well together, and Henry Golding was especially entertaining as Snake Eyes. I don't think Baroness or Scarlet were particularly important to the movie, but were clearly included to set up sequels. And the ending & midcredit bonus scene establish that Paramount wants sequels.

I've reserved a new ticket to see it in IMAX on Wednesday.

Followed that with Old. It isn't M Night's best movie, that dude will never top The Sixth Sense, but it was one of the better ones he has written & directed. He basically co-stars, as well, playing the bus driver for the island resort. There was a bit of creepiness in the middle, and some body horror. The twist to the ending, why it was all happening to these people, actually makes sense in a weird way.

Probably won't watch it again any time soon.

 

[Danny99]

Hillbilly Elegy - A
The Hitman's Bodyguard - A
Strange But True - C-
Room - C-
Taken 2 - B+
Taken 3 - B
Law Abiding Citizen - B+
Run - B+
Molly's Game - B+
Cold Pursuit - A-
Hidden Figures - B+
Stowaway - B+
6 Underground - A-
The Tomorrow War - B+
Greenland - B
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers Of Benghazi - B
7500 - B+

7500 was an interesting new take on the airline hijacking movie that has been constant for thirty or so years. With the movie never leaving the cockpit keeps you locked in with the pilot and doesn't try to build a villain or heroes of the passengers or the flight attendants.

It's not an action movie, but more of a character piece. I'd love to know more about the character, but I don't know where you could insert it without compromising the story as it is. Yes, the terrorists are once again Muslim, which is a tired stereotype, but once again, there isn't time to really build up any other kind of threat backstory without ruining the flow of the story. Unfortunately, when viewers hear "Allah Akbar," they can easily identify what is going on.

It's a good way to spend an hour and a half.

 

[od0_ital]

Spoiler: Movies Seen in January, February, March, April & May

Fatale - AMC Nacogdoches
News of the World - AMC Nacogdoches
Alien (1979) - AMC Tyler
WW84: Wonder Woman 1984 2D- AMC Lufkin
The Marksman BigD - AMC Tyler
Bad Boys (1995) - AMC Tyler
The Emperor's New Groove (2000) - AMC Lufkin
Superman: Red Son - HBO Max
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) - AMC Longview
The Maltese Falcon (1941) - AMC Willowbrook
The High Note - HBO Max
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight - HBO Max
Dr. No (1962) - Cinemark Lufkin
The Little Things - AMC Lufkin
Earwig and the Witch - AMC Lufkin
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - 4 Star Cinema Kilgore
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings (2001) IMAX - AMC Willowbrook
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) IMAX - AMC Tyler
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) IMAX - AMC Tyler
Batman: Soul of the Dragon - blu ray
Superman: Man of Tomorrow - HBO Max
Wonder Woman: Bloodlines - HBO Max
Batman Ninja - HBO Max
Nomadland - AMC Lufkin
Judas and the Black Messiah - AMC Lufkin
Raya and the Last Dragon IMAX - AMC Tyler
Chaos Walking IMAX - AMC Tyler
Vixen - HBO Max
Land - Cinemark Lufkin
Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks - DVD
Greyhound - Apple TV+
Boogie - AMC Tyler
The Mauritanian - AMC Tyler
On the Rocks - Apple TV+
The Courier - AMC Longview
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) - HBO Max
Nobody - AMC Lufkin
Godzilla vs Kong 2D - AMC Longview
Mortal Kombat (2021) 2D/IMAX - AMC Lufkin/AMC Tyler
Minari - AMC Tyler
Demon Slayer: Mugen Train - Cinemark Lufkin
Here Today - AMC Tyler
Wrath of Man IMAX - AMC Tyler
Finding You - AMC Lufkin
Those Who Wish Me Dead - AMC Lufkin
Profile - AMC Lufkin
The Mitchells vs the Machines - Netflix
Thunder Force - Netflix

A Quiet Place, Part II 2D/BigD- AMC Lufkin/AMC Tyler
Army of the Dead - Netflix
Dream Horse - AMC Longview
Cruella - AMC Longview
Michael Che Matters - Netflix
Early Access Screening Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard - AMC Tyler
12 Mighty Orphans - AMC Lufkin
In the Heights 2D - AMC Lufkin
F9: The Fast Saga 2D/IMAX - AMC Lufkin/AMC Tyler
Black Widow IMAX/BigD/2D/3D - AMC Tyler/AMC Lufkin/Cinemark Lufkin
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions - AMC Lufkin
The Forever Purge - AMC Lufkin
Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins 2D/IMAX - AMC Lufkin/AMC Tyler
Old - AMC Lufkin
Space Jam - HBO Max
Tig Notaro: Drawn - HBO Max
Tig Notaro: Boyish Girl Interrupted - HBO Max
Space Jam: A New Legacy - HBO Max

I watched the first Space Jam for the first time the other day. Never really have had an interest in the movie, but it is one of my oldest nephew's favorite movies, so I decided to finally check it out. It was not very good. The live action / animated interaction was not as good as Who Framed Roger Rabbit? which came out years prior. And I thought Bill Murray would have had a bigger role based on the trailer, not just three scenes.

Watched two of Tig Notaro's standup specials.

Drawn is a new take on it, with animation in place of live action, and the stories shown instead of just told. Pretty interesting way to do it. And there were a few laughs, too.

Boyish Girl Interrupted, filmed in Boston six years ago, was alright, but I'll be honest, it made me really uncomfortable when she took her jacket & shirt off and performed the last half of the special completely topless. Of course it was after her cancer diagnosis, and the surgery.

And then I watched the SJ sequel, which was just horrible. A clear commercial for Warner Brothers defunct properties with twenty year old pop culture references and no clear way to understand how scoring works because it isn't a basketball game, but a jacked up videogame version of basketball.

I went to AMC Tyler yesterday, and watched a matinee of Snake Eyes IMAX. Had the theater all to myself, too.

Trying to figure out how to use my AMC Stubs tickets this weekend. There are three new ones to watch, just need to figure out the schedule & locations.

 

[Starbreaker]

30. The Tomorrow War (6)
31. Fear Street 1994 (7)
32. Fear Street 1978 (8)
33. Fear Street 1666 (7)
34. Happy Birthday to Me (4)
35. The Forever Purge (4)
36. Willy's Wonderland (5)
37. Werewolves Within (5)
38. Castle Freak (2020) (1)
39. In the Earth (7)
40. Anything for Jackson (8)
41. Black Widow (7)
42. The Wolf of Snow Hollow (7)

 

[CaptainWacky]

Going backwards, might forget some things, sorry if this isn't the correct thread format.

Shadow In The Cloud - Chloe Grace Moretz did a good job as the lead. Movie starts out with her on her own just talking to the other characters over the radio, then completely abandons this in the last half hour and goes utterly insane. Which I kind of respected! It's silly and doesn't obey the laws of physics at all but I enjoyed it somehow? It certainly wasn't boring (well you might find the talking over radio bit boring.)

Guns Akimbo - The one where Daniel Radcliffe has guns bolted to his hands and has to fight Samara Weaving to the death. Not quite as funny as it should have been, but still some fun to be had and just the idea of Harry Potter with guns bolted to his hands gives it appeal. Samara Weaving was great as always but her character had the depth of a puddle. Not good enough to reach cult classic status but probably worth watching if you want something dumb where lots of people get shot for 90 minutes.

Black Widow - It was pretty good (posted about it in its thread) but I wish the MCU movies had a bit more individual personality.

The Favourite - Excellent, Oscar winning historical comedy drama. Great performances from Emma Stone, Olivia Colman and Rachel Weisz. Highly recommended.

Army Of The Dead - First ten minutes were the best part, didn't really care much for it after that.

Stowaway - Watch it because Anna Kendrick was in it, barely remember it now. Not bad but clearly not memorable.

Palm Springs - Best Groundhog Day alike I've ever seen. Very funny, great lead performances by Andy Samberg and Cristian Milioti, and manages to do the time loop thing in a fresh way. Strong recommendation to all!

Godzilla Vs. Kong - It delevired what I wanted: Godzilla and Kong having a fight. There were some human characters of dubious quality too, I guess, but the giant monster action was all that mattered and I liked that part!

Zack Snyder's Justice League - I liked it a lot more than I thought I would, nice to see a more serious, epic-feeling superhero movie. Some spectacular visuals. Will probably skip the final twenty minutes when I rewatch it though.

Umm, I'm sure i must have watched some other stuff too.