laurenreviewsmovies

[laurenreviewsmovies]

Love Lies Bleeding

Director: Rose Glass

Cast: Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian, Jena Malone, Dave Franco, Ed Harris

Release Date: March 8, 2024

Rating: 6/10 (scratched the surface but I kept wanting MORE)

A crime drama and a PSA about the dangers of steroids. With some lesbian romance peppered in.

Much more plot driven than character driven. I thought it would be much more focused on the character development than it was. Especially with how the movie started. Felt like I was watching an episode of one of my favorite podcasts, ‘Small Town Murder’, play out on the big screen. I had an entertaining time watching it, and it was beautifully and artistically shot. I just could never truly get my heart behind any of the characters.

What the fuck was that ending?????????

#love lies bleeding #love lies bleeding review #movie review #movies #movie #kristen stewart #katy o'brian

[laurenreviewsmovies]

This year exhausted me, but I met my new movie goal from 2023, which was 100 new movies. I watched 140!

Most of them I watched from, but I did got to the movie theater 48 times this year, and saw 39 new movies in theaters. Of the 140 movies watched this year, 37 were in franchises, and 63 were horror movies. Got really into horror this year.

There will be no movie goal for 2024. I’ll still track the movies I watch throughout the year, but there’s no one-a-week goal like there been for the last 3 years. Going to focus more on books and tv shows this year.

[laurenreviewsmovies]

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

Director: James Wan

Starring: Jason Mamoa, Patrick Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Randall Park Nicole Kidman, Amber Heard, Temuera Morrison, Dolph Lundgren

Release Date: December 22, 2023

My Rating: 6/10

My Review (MINIMAL SPOILERS):

Did this movie need a sequel? No, it didn’t. Not really. I love the first aquaman movie. I loved its use of classic literary archetypes and the Arthurian legend storyline. I believe I gave it a 10/10? I would’ve been fine with just that movie and nothing more, as I’m not a justice league or even a DCEU fan for that matter.

That being said…this movie was fun. It was really cheesy at some points (how many times do we need to yell, “GET AWAY FROM MY [insert family member here]???). The plot was really simple to follow, even though I definitely had to look up why Black Manta was mad at Aquaman before going into the movie because I had forgotten over the *five years* between the movie. The villain has absolutely no arc - he was just evil and rebuffed the hero’s attempt of mercy in the end. It was a very straightforward superhero movie. It felt like watching the Fantastic Four movies from the 2000s if that makes sense. It wasn’t groundbreaking by any means. It had a ton of action sequences that went on a little long, an infallible hero, and very basic drama.

Amber Heard’s Mera has a really decreased role in this movie. I really enjoyed Mera in the original Aquaman. If her decreased role was a result of the actress’s legal battles and negative press…I can understand that. But if they just didn’t know what to do with her character and reduced her to lower than a supporting role for that reason, I have some issues.

I loved that I finally got a movie that did a brother battle redemption story RIGHT. Either the writer, director, Patrick Wilson, or all 3 really understood Orm as a character because he was the best part of the movie. I really believed his “return to the light side”. His interactions with Arthur were so great and often really funny, but they also held a solid amount of emotional weight. Maybe it’s my love for Patrick Wilson talking, but I just couldn’t get enough of Orm in this movie. Patrick Wilson should play more villains, he plays them so richly…Patrick Wilson should just be in more movies.

This movie was just a pretty solid movie if you know what to expect going in. Like I mentioned before, it’s nothing super exciting or groundbreaking. But it follows the instructions for a superhero action movie and does it well enough. As the last movie of the DCEU…it is what it is. The DCEU isn’t going out with a bang, that’s for sure, but it isn’t going out with a fizzle either. I don’t think I’d recommend it for people that don’t really already love the genre but if you like superhero movies…this one will do just fine.

#movie review #movies #movie #dceu #dc comics #aquaman #aquaman and the lost kingdom #aquman review

[laurenreviewsmovies]

Dumb Money

Director: Craig Gillespie

Starring: Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Vincent D'Onofrio, America Ferrera, Nick Offerman, Anthony Ramos, Sebastian Stan, Shailene Woodley, and Seth Rogen (+ bonus Dane DeHaan with a rattail)

Release Date: September 29, 2023

My Rating: 5/10

My Review (NO SPOILERS):

I mean...it got the job done? The preview led me to believe this would be a funnier and more dramatic movie than it actually was. Felt like it just did the minimum...everything the movie would *almost* get there, and I'd think they're going to break the barrier and go a bit deeper, it would cut away. Still, it told a story about the STOCK MARKET (ew) in a way that wasn't boring. It was no Wolf of Wall Street, but it kept my interest so I'll give it that.

It explained the whole Game Stop situation in a way that mostly made sense to someone who knows very little about the stock market and the situation going on. It explained why it was bad for the rich guys and good for the rich guys. I didn't leave the movie completely understanding the stock market, or even the Game Stop incident entirely, but I could at least explain to someone else in very basic terms what it was about. I think.

It was a fun enough movie. I don't know if I'd recommend that you go out and see it in theaters or even rent it, but it'd be an interesting enough movie to watch if it's ever streaming for free somewhere.

#dumb money #dumb money movie #game stop #dumb money review #movie review #movie #movies #paul dano #seth rogen #shailene woodley #stocktrading #stock market #pete davidson

[laurenreviewsmovies]

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Director: James Gunn

Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter, Elizabeth Debicki, Maria Bakalova

Release Date: May 5, 2023

My Rating: 8.5/10 (solidly)

My Review (NO SPOILERS):

I found Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 to be kind of anticlimatic. And it also came out 6 years ago. I came into this movie with low expectations. I was very pleasantly surprised.

This movie packed such an emotional punch. It was an emotional roller coaster from start to finish. I cried, I laughed, I cried more, I gasped, I ended the movie with my hand over my heart.

This movie had a lot of heart. From Rocket’s emotional backstory, to the team dynamics, to the character development, to one of the perfect endings that Marvel has ever produced. It was a movie so unique and new, but it drew a lot on the foundation of the previous movies. It was a great blend. 

Plus the villain? One of Marvel’s best. He didn’t even have a motive to help the universe or galaxy in some twisted form of logic. He was just evil because he’s, at his core, and evil person. And he was so perfectly acted! Of course his actor is a Shakespearean actor. OF COURSE.

I took some points off my overall grade of this movie for only a few reasons. One - the movie was too long for the amount of plot that there actually was. I was surprised it was 2.5 full hours...it didn’t feel like all too much happened in terms of the story. The story was still good though. A few plot holes but nothing too bad.

Furthermore, there was just waaaaaay too much animal cruelty for me. I get that that’s a necessity for Rocket’s backstory, but my soft heart couldn’t take it. Sad and scared animals jut don’t do it for me.

Lastly...Adam Warlock. He was fun to watch but we had a 6 year wait to get to him. I read up on his comic book version and was so excited to see him dominate the MCU. He was fun to watch in this movie, don’t get me wrong. I just expected something different and was kind of disappointed with the direction they went with him.

Overall, a fantastic movie. The rightful beginning to Phase 5 of the MCU (sorry Ant-Man). What a great end to the trilogy.

#guardians of the galaxy vol 3 #gotg vol 3 #gotg 3 #guardians of the galaxy vol 3 review #marvel review #movie review #marvel #guardians review #gotg review #gotg 3 review #spoiler free #peter quill #starlord #drax #mantis #gamora #nebula #cosmo the space dog #gotg #guardians of the galaxy

[laurenreviewsmovies]

Creed III

Director: Michael B. Jordan

Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Jonathan Majors, Tessa Thompson

Release Date: March 3, 2023

My Rating: 7.5/10

My Review (NO SPOILERS)

Okay, so I still haven’t seen Creed I; take everything I say with a grain of salt. I did see Creed II, but I saw it opening night, four and half years ago, and haven’t ever watched it again.

Whenever a threequel comes around, I get worried that it won’t live up to its predecessors. That’s not an issue with this movie. Then again, I’ve not seen the original, so I’ve been judging these sequels solely on their own merits.

This movie had a lot of great fighting sequences, and packed a heavier emotional punch than I can remember Creed II delivering. The stakes didn’t feel quite as high, but they were certainly a lot more personal. The characters felt a bit underdeveloped and static, but I guess you could also maybe expect that with a third movie in a franchise, when the characters were already developed in the previous two movies.

The plot was coherent but felt a bit jumbled and rushed at some points. Right as the movie would started to dip into something deeper, it would change directions. It kept toeing the line of being something *more*, but it just never fully crossed that like.

Furthermore, even though I only saw it once, the final fight sequence of Creed II was so incredible. The sound mixing, the shots, the action? I was nearly standing up out of my seat cheering. I felt like I was there in the arena. The final fight in this movie…it got a little two symbolic for me. The imagery was over the top (Good guys in white, bad guys in black? Give me a break). Without spoiling too much, you’re really taken out of the boxing match atmosphere and it’s all focused on the boxers in almost a sort of dream sequence. It was interesting at the very beginning but then began to drag and went on a bit long. The fighting atmosphere only came back for the final round. The final fight just didn’t live up to the final match from Creed II in my opinion.

That being said, I really did have a great time watching this movie. It made me laugh, gasp, cry, smile, and hide behind my hands (I’m a bit squeamish, sue me). The acting was phenomenal, and the resolution was very fitting. It wrapped up the Creed trilogy nicely, and actually kinda of set up the possibility of a next generation Creed story. I found myself really hoping for that possibility.

If you liked the other Creed movies, this one is definitely worth seeing as well.

#movie review #creed #creed iii #adonis creed #creed iii review #creed review #michael b jordan #jonathan majors #tessa thompson #rocky movies #apollo creed #dame Anderson

[laurenreviewsmovies]

Cocaine Bear

Director: Elizabeth Banks

Starring: Keri Russell, Ray Liotta, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Alden Ehrenreich, Margo Martindale, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Aaron Holliday

Release Date:  February 24, 2023

My Rating: 8/10 (great for what it’s supposed to be)

My Review (NO SPOILERS (except for if any animals die)):

This movie was just fun. Whatever you think Cocain Bear is going to be like? That’s it. A gory thrillride. Like Jaws, but without the heavy drama and also it’s on land. If you’re like me, you actually might find yourself cheering for the bear.

For me, personally, it was a little too gory. But I’m also just pretty squeamish when it comes to that kind of stuff so maybe don’t take my word for it? But there’s a lot of blood, brain matter, and severed limbs.

I loved that it was set in the mid 80s. That made for great fashion and great music. The entire cast was great - even the kids were hilarious. If anything, I wish there was a bit more plot because the characters were pretty interesting and the actors were all so great. But it’s a man versus bear movie, and so that doesn’t leave a ton of room for exposition nor does it need it.

No animals die - THANK GOD. I wouldn’t have been able to handle any of the animals dying, and thankfully none of them do. Not only was I was rooting for the bear, but she was also very cute and I just kind of wanted to cuddle her.

If you saw the preview and thought “that looks kinda fun”. It is. Go see it. It’s jsut what you’re expecting and it’s fun fun fun.

#cocaine bear #cocaine bear review #movie review #elizabeth banks #keri russell #ray liotta #alden ehrenreich #oshea jackson jr #cocaine bear movie

[laurenreviewsmovies]

2023 - 52 Weeks of New Movies

Week 1 (January 2 - January 8) - Hail, Caesar!

Week 2 (January 9 - January 15) - Air Force One

Week 3 (January 16 - January 22) - Back to School

Week 4 (January 23 - January 29) - Jennifer’s Body

Week 5 (January 30 - February 5) - The Craft

Week 6 (February 6 - February 12) - Groundhog Day

Week 7 (February 13 - February 19) - Honor Society

Week 8 (February 20 - February 26) - Zoolander

Week 9 (February 27 - March 5) - Creed III

Week 10 (March 6 - March 12) - Rocky III

Week 11 (March 13 - March 19) - Scream 2

Week 12 (March 20 - March 26) - Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Week 13 (March 27 - April 2) - Not Okay

Week 14 (April 3 - April 9) - Final Destination

Week 15 (April 10 - April 16) - Air

Week 16 (April 17 - April 23) - Creed

Week 17 (April 24 - April 30) - Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Week 18 (May 1 - May 7) - The Mask

Week 19 (May 8 - May 14) - The Fast and the Furious

Week 20 (May 15 - May 21) - 2 Fast 2 Furious

Week 21 (May 22 - May 28) - The Fate of the Furious

Week 22 (May 29 - June 4) - Insidious: Chapter 2

Week 23 (June 5 - June 11) - Coraline

Week 24 (June 12 - June 18) - We Are Marshall

Week 25 (June 19 - June 25) - The Blackening

Week 26 (June 26 - July 2) - Asteroid City

Week 27 (July 3 - July 9) - No Hard Feelings

Week 28 (July 10 - July 16) - Insidious: The Red Door

Week 29 (July 17 - July 23) - Fargo

Week 30 (July 24 - July 30) - Haunted Mansion (2023)

Week 31 (July 31 - August 6) - Gone Girl

Week 32 (August 7 - August 13) - Red, White & Royal Blue

Week 33 (August 14 - August 20) - Deep Blue Sea

Week 34 (August 21 - August 27) - A Life Less Ordinary

Week 35 (August 28 - September 3) - The Descent

Week 36 (September 4 - September 10) - Old

Week 37 (September 11 - September 17) - Alien

Week 38 (September 18 - September 24) - Get Out

Week 39 (September 25 - October 1) - The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

Week 40 (October 2 - October 8) - The Exorcist

Week 41 (October 9 - October 15) - Trick ‘r Treat

Week 42 (October 16 - October 22) - The Strangers

Week 43 (October 23 - October 29) - Corpse Bride

Week 44 (October 30 - November 5) - Nope

Week 45 (November 6 - November 12) - The Thing from Another World

Week 46 (November 13 - November 19) - The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

Week 47 (November 20 - November 26) - The Nightmare Before Christmas

Week 48 (November 27 - December 3) - Saltburn

Week 49 (December 4 - December 10) - Black Christmas (2006)

Week 50 (December 11 - December 17) - The Menu

Week 51 (December 18 - December 24) - Sleepaway Camp

Week 52 (December 25 - December 31) - Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

Additional Movies

1. M3GAN

2. 13 Hours

3. A Man Called Otto

4. Bring It On: All or Nothing

5. Hereditary

6. Alice, Darling

7. No Escape (Follow Me)

8. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

9. Cocaine Bear

10. 2001: A Space Odyssey

11. West Side Story (2021)

12. Rocky

13. Rocky II

14. Rocky IV

15. 65

16. Scream 3

17. Scream 4

18. Scream 6

19. Renfield

20. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

21. Baby Driver

22. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

23. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

24. Fast & Furious

25. Fast Five

26. Fast & Furious 6

27. Furious 7

28. F9

29. Fast X

30. The Little Mermaid

31. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

32. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

33. Joy Ride

34. Oppenheimer

35. Barbie

36. Barbarian

37. Meg 2: The Trench

38. Signs

39. The Wolf of Wall Street

40. Talk to Me

41. The Cabin in the Woods

42. The Out-Laws

43. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

44. Bottoms

45. I Know What You Did Last Summer

46. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

47. Alone at Night

48. Fresh

49. Pearl

50. Predator

51. Us

52. Dumb Money

53. It Lives Inside

54. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

55. Train to Busan

56. Hoosiers

57. Terror Train

58. Titane

59. When a Stranger Calls (1979)

60. When a Stranger Calls (2006)

61. Totally Killer

62. Friday the 13th (2009)

63. Five Nights at Freddy’s

64. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

65. Priscilla

66. The Thing (1982)

67. The Thing (2011)

68. The Marvels

69. Spirited

70. Black Christmas (1974)

71. The Abyss

72. Final Destination 2

73. Final Destination 3

74. The Final Destination

75. Final Destination 5

76. Orphan

77. Orphan: First Kill

78. The Final Girls

79. May December

80. Megamind

81. Poor Things

82. Paranormal Activity

83. Paranormal Activity 2

84. Paranormal Activity 3

85. The Muppet Christmas Carol

86. Night of the Living Dead (1968)

87. It Follows

88. The Iron Claw

#movies #2023

[laurenreviewsmovies]

I kept my goal of watching 75 new movies this year, watching at least one new movie every week of the year. I watched 80.

The goal for next year is 100 new movies (again, watching at least one a week).

#2022 #movies

[laurenreviewsmovies]

Black Panter: Wakanda Forever

Director: Ryan Coogler

Starring: Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Dominique Thorne, Tenoch Huerta, Martin Freeman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Angela Bassett

Release Date: November 11, 2022

My Rating: 9/10 (I still think it could’ve packed a little bit more of a punch, but it was still very satisfying)

My Review (no spoilers):

I saw it 3 times in 5 days. The second time I saw it, I went in *needing* to see it again because I wasn’t super impressed by it my first time around. I think that’s because I built it up so much in my head over the past 4 and a half years...I was able to recognize that I’d probably like it a bit better the second time. And I did. In fact, I downright loved it the second time around.

The story is solid. The acting is phenomenal. The new world that is introdcued with Talokan and Namor is breathtaking. I actually really like how the antogist and protagonist ended up...but I was hoping for Namor to be more of a badass villain. He was a fantastic antihero/antagonist to watch though, and all of the action sequences with Namor and Talokan were so beautiful. 

I really liked how this movie focused on pitting Wakanda against someone as powerful (if not more) as them. It wasn’t infighting like the last movie. There was still that element of grief and emotional turmoil and growing as a person. I think I cried four times during the movie and once on the drive home - that’s the most emotional I’ve ever gotten over a Marvel movie. And I really liked how the antagonists weren’t the villains, not really. The end scene where the protagonist has to make the huge decision was a little cheesy but also really highlighted the big theme of the movie - that the two different groups of people really aren’t that different.

I’m really excited to see this movie for a fourth time, and to see how all of the characters continue to flourish in the MCU.

#wakanda forever review #black panther wakanda forever review #black panther review #movie review #review #wakanda forever #black panther wakanda forever #marvel #marvel review

[laurenreviewsmovies]

Thor: Love and Thunder

Director: Taika Waititi

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Taika Waititi

Release Date: July 8, 2022

My Rating: 8/10 (you gotta go in expecting a fun, silly superhero movie. If you don’t take it too seriously, you’ll love it!)

My Review (no spoilers):

This movie was just as goofy and silly as Thor: Ragnarok. Let me say that straight out of the gate. I’ve seen people saying that this movie made a mockery out of Thor? No. I’d argue that the goddamn Russo brothers did that with Fat Thor in Endgame. This movie very quickly gets rid of that character nonsense and puts Thor back on his path from Endgame...shows him dealing with the realistic outcomes (on his personal life) of Infinity War and Endgame. If anything, it’s a little less silly than Ragnarok, as it has some heavier darker scenes and moments as well. It also provides a nice littel redemption arc for Jane Foster, who I loved in the original Thor, and who they RUINED in Thor: The Dark World when they reduced her to a mere damsel in distress after she spent the first movie being a realistic scientific badass.

Finally, a Marvel movie with strong and clear themes and narratives. he themes result in an ending that FELT RIGHT, narratively. Too often nowadays, the ending of movies are so crazy and out of left field, just for shock value. This ending felt right and you could feel it coming towards the end but it was still asatisfying surprise when the movie ended like it did.Thematicallyy and naratively, this story and its ending just. made. sense. The motivations and the actions of the characters? Also made sense.

Speaking of the characters? Loved ‘em. Let’s talk about the ladies first.

I wish Valkyrie could’ve gotten more screen time but I also kind of get why she didn’t...the pacing of this movie is pretty straightforward, and I’m not sure how much more we could focus on her without making the movie longer or taking it in a different direction. While I wish we had more of her, what we got of her was still great. I’m so happy they brought Natalie Portman back, and I think that they handled her character very well. Natalie Portman herself didn’t really want to come back unless there was a good story...Jane Foster’s story in this movie was 1) good enough for Natalie Portman (meaning it’s good enough for me) and 2) sends Jane on her merry way, so that viewers aren’t stuck wondering what ever happened to her. So I’m really happy with how they handled her.

Now onto the gentlemen. I don’t care if people think Thor was a joke in this movie. I’ve been a Thor fan since 2011. For the longest time, he was my favorite Avenger. I’ve loved every Thor movie, even The Dark World. I, like the majority of MCU fans, loved Ragnarok. I liked the fun character turn that Thor got. This movie just expands upon that. I don’t want to go into it further less I spoil it. But just like how Ragnarok was about Thor coming into his own power and realizing he’s strong enough and fit to lead but also that his own power comes from within himself, not from his hammer? There’s a similiar thing going on in this movie.

AND GORR!!! Oh my goodness. This movie reminded me why I had a Christian Bale obsession back in junior high school. I saw a review during the early release of this movie that Gorr was one of the best Marvel villains and honestly? I wholeheartedly agree. Gorr made me feel genuine anxiety and fear for the ‘good guys’ that I haven’t fealt since Thanos. And while Thanos’s endgoal might have been worse (he wanted to kill 50% of EVERYTHING, Gorr just wants to kill all the gods), Gorr’s motive and backstory was a lot more believable and sincere. Gorr felt more genuinely (at his core) motivated than Thanos and the explanation at the beginning of the movie as to why Gorr is the way that he is? He almost had me agreeing with him. His actions, in his mind, are actually helping people. So not only is Gorr an outstanding villain on paper, but on SCREEN he was breathtaking. Christian Bale delivered. I feel like sometimes, these big-name actors will be in Marvel movies and then they don’t even get to perform to their full potential (Kurt Russell as Ego, for example). But Christian Bale really killed it in this role and I’m so happy he was a part of the movie.

So yeah, I really enjoyed the movie, and I’m not going to let anyone else steal my joy. I think I still like Ragnarok a bit better, but this was a fun pick-me-up from Marvel that was sorely needed. The second act of the movie is freaking awesome. Zeus? Who I forgot was going to be in this movie? Amazing. The humor was just like Ragnarok. Visually, this movie was absolutely stunning. The two postcredit scenes were great. One wrapped something up really nicely, and the other got me excited about Thor’s future. 

I really, really, liked this movie. Stop taking Marvel too seriously and just go watch it for simple enjoyment. It’s fun and if you don’t have fun watching it, you’re watching it wrong.

#thor #thor love and thunder #thor: love and thunder #thor review #thor love and thunder review #thor: love and thunder review #marvel #marvel movie #marvel review #marvel movie review #movie review #chris hemsworth #natalie portman #Taika Waititi #Christian Bale #gorr #gorr the god butcher #valkyrie #the mighty thor #jane foster

[laurenreviewsmovies]

Elvis

Director: Baz Luhrmann

Starring: Austin Butler, Tom Hanks

Release Date: June 24, 2022

My Rating: 9/10 (it’s so freaking great...so long as you understand what a ‘Baz Luhrmann film’ entails)

My Review (no spoilers):

I love pretty much any Baz Luhrmann film (at least all the ones I’ve seen), so I recognize that I might be a bit biased in my praise. But this film was perfect in nearly area except for the plot/pacing…and even that was near perfect. Visually it was breathtaking and you could feel the sound in your chest. It was a complete sensory delight and everything I wanted from a Baz Luhrmann movie and more. Perfection, in those areas.

My only issue with this film, and it wasn’t even that big of an issue, was the pacing. The pacing at the beginning was perfect but it started to lag in the middle part. The pacing thankfully picked back in the last part of the movie, towards the end of the Elvis’s career. The movie tried to tell the story of the Elvis’s two decade career…I understand that this isn’t a documentary but I would’ve loved to learn more about everything that went on. You kind of need to know a bit about Elvis before going into this movie, otherwise you might be a bit confused when the movie glosses over certain events. I left the movie wanting to buy an Elvis biography so I could read it and feel like I got the complete story. The story also dramatized Elvis’s life story quite a bit but since I didn’t know any better going into the movie, I ate it all up and thought it made for a fantastic story.

The story was smartly told though, I will say. I liked the framing of it, for the most part. From an outside, second-party point of view. It wasn’t just an Elvis biopic…it was told by someone who was standing in the wings of his entire career - his manager. But it wasn’t the story OF his manager…like his manager states in a voiceover at the beginning, it’s the story of both of them and their business relationship. It’s very much Elvis focused, but you kind of get to watch his whole story from the outside looking in.

Also, speaking of Elvis and his manager? Austin Butler and Tom Hanks. They were PERFECTION. Tom Hanks is so recognizable, it’s quite hard to make me forget when he’s in a movie. Even with prosthetics or elaborate costumers, it’s just so obviously Tom Hanks. He’s the reason I can’t watch Captain Phillips or Sully. But I got so into this movie and into the characters and the story, that I legit forget it was Tom Hanks until I started to write this.

And I know Elvis was problematic in a couple of way (appropriation, getting together with Priscilla when she was underage, etc). So this might be an unpopular opinion, but I kind of appreciate that this movie was sympathetic to Elvis. Maybe that’s a personal fault, but I think that tone made for a better movie. It’s a blingy, colorful, loud and fast retelling of the life of America’s first rock star. Being critical of those aspects of Elvis would’ve detracted from the tone. There’s already parts of this movie that were fabricated to make for a more intersesting movie. But Elvis’s family and friends themselves approved of this movie, so I’m not going to get upset about how anything was portrayed (or wasn’t portrayed).

The movie had a lot of heart. Not gonna lie, I cried a couple of time. It packs a lil emotional punch. I couldn’t recommend this movie more, so long as you know what a Baz Luhrmann is supposed to be like. He delivered once again.

#elvis #elvis movie #elvis 2022 #elvis 2022 review #elvis review #elvis movie review #austin butler #tom hanks #movie review #baz luhrmann #baz lurhman

[laurenreviewsmovies]

Morbius

Director: Daniel Espinosa

Starring: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, Tyrese Gibson

Release Date: April 1, 2022

My Rating: 3/10 (It’s not 100% irredeemable, but it’s definitely not good)

My Review (with MINOR spoilers, but nothing huge):

Here’s what I liked about Morbius: The cinematography in some scenes was actually really cool, the graphics at the beginning and end of the movie are gorgeous, and the final battle was pretty fun to watch. There’s even a couple of solid jump scares. That’s where the compliments stop.

Usually when it comes to critics vs. audience, I tend to side with the audience - especially with Sony Marvel movies. I loved both the Venom movies. However...Morbius was exactly as bad as the critics have been saying. I saw one review that said something like “this movie feels like it was written by a middle-aged crisis, recently divorced Gen X-er who hadn’t seen a superhero movie since 2002″ and that’s pretty much it. This movie is far from the worst movie I’ve seen...but it is in no way a good movie.

The movie starts out kind of strong and then goes downhill quickly from there. There’s no plot development. There’s not even really a plot? He’s working on a cure to his illness, it backfires, he has to stop his friend who also tried the cure, the end. There’ no plot and there’s no character development either. The characters are all surface level and sooooo boring. Matt Smith’s character was the best part of the movie and even his character was flat and one-dimensional.

Jared Leto overacted and then some, and Matt Smith’s acting was WASTED on this movie. There’s one female character and she’s laid up in the hospital for half the movie, and is in distress every other time she’s on screen. The special effects and makeup that make the guys look like vampires? Laughable. That’s not an exaggeration, I actually laughed. The scene where full-vamp Matt Smith is running towards Leto? They have him run in slow-mo and it goes on so much longer than it needs to that it actually starts to look silly. The special effects are also a bit too campy for the serious tone of the movie.

Overall Takeaway: The trailer was better. The actual movie had no plot, no deep connection to the characters, no concrete ending (seriously, the ending was so dumb, as were the post-credit scenes). The pacing was all over the place. I was on my phone for parts of it because I was so bored. Definitely will not be watching ever again, I’m good.

#morbius #morbius review #morbius movie review #morbius movie #jared leto #matt smith #marvel #marvel review #sony #sony review #movie #movies #movie review

[laurenreviewsmovies]

2022 - 52 Weeks of New Movies

Week 1 (January 3 - January 9) - The Lost Boys

Week 2 (January 10 - January 16) - Sixteen Candles

Week 3 (January 17 - January 23) - The Lovebirds

Week 4 (January 24 - January 30) - The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Week 5 (January 31 - February 6) - Palm Springs

Week 6 (February 7 - February 13) - Step Up

Week 7 (February 14 - February 20) - Clueless

Week 8 (February 21 - February 27) - Breaking News in Yuba County

Week 9 (February 28 - March 6) - The Batman

Week 10 (March 7 - March 13) - Vampire Academy

Week 11 (March 14 - March 20) - X

Week 12 (March 21 - March 27) - Adventureland

Week 13 (March 28 - April 3) - Morbius

Week 14 (April 4 - April 10) - Everything Everywhere All at Once

Week 15 (April 11 - April 17) - The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Week 16 (April 18 - April 24) - The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Week 17 (April 25 - May 1) - X-Men

Week 18 (May 2 - May 8) - Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Week 19 (May 9 - May 15) - Senior Year

Week 20 (May 16 - May 22) - Life After Beth

Week 21 (May 23 - May 29) - The Bob’s Burgers Movie

Week 22 (May 30 - June 5) - Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar

Week 23 (June 6 - June 12) - The Wedding Singer

Week 24 (June 13 - June 19) - Top Gun: Maverick

Week 25 (June 20 - June 26) - Elvis

Week 26 (June 27 - July 3) - The Fifth Element

Week 27 (July 4 - July 10) - Thor: Love and Thunder

Week 28 (July 11 - July 17) - The Great Gatsby

Week 29 (July 18 - July 24) - Best in Show

Week 30 (July 25 - July 31) - Vengeance

Week 31 (August 1 - August 7) - Bullet Train

Week 32 (August 8 - August 14) - Bodies Bodies Bodies

Week 33 (August 15 -August 21) - Fall

Week 34 (August 22 - August 28) - The Invitation

Week 35 (August 29 - September 4) - Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.

Week 36 (September 5 - September 11) - Erin Brockovich

Week 37 (September 12 - September 18) - See How They Run

Week 38 (September 19 - September 25) - Don’t Worry Darling

Week 39 (September 26 - October 2) - The Royal Tenenbaums

Week 40 (October 3 - October 9) - Sohiva Baby

Week 41 (October 10 - October 16) - Bros

Week 42 (October 17 - October 23) - Black Adam

Week 43 (October 24 - October 30) - Poltergeist (1982)

Week 44 (October 31 - November 6) - The Conjuring 2

Week 45 (November 7 - November 13) - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Week 46 (November 14 - November 20) - tick, tick... BOOM!

Week 47 (November 21 - November 27) - Glass Onion

Week 48 (November 28 - December 4) - Blazing Saddles

Week 49 (December 5 - December 11) - The Phantom of the Opera

Week 50 (December 12 - December 18) - Grease 2

Week 51 (December 19 - December 25) - The Whale

Week 52 (December 26 - December 31) - Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody

Additional Movies

1. The 355

2. Scream V

3. Doctor Sleep

4. Uncharted

5. The Lost City

6. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1

7. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2

8. Crush

9. The Devil Wears Prada

10. Dazed and Confused

11. The Monuments Men

12. Little Miss Sunshine

13. The Truman Show

14. Moonrise Kingdom

15. Gettysburg

16. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2

17. Moonage Daydream

18. Do Revenge

19. Amsterdam

20. Buffy the Vampire Slayer

21. Arachnophobia

22. Ghostbusters

23. Midsommar

24. Ticket to Paradise

25. The Old Guard

26. Thoroughbreds

27. Planes, Trains and Automobiles

28. Babylon

[laurenreviewsmovies]

I reached my 2021 goal of watching 52 new movies, one movie a week. I actually ended up watching 53 new movies in 2021.

For 2022, I want to repeat that goal and watch at least 52 new movies, one movie a week. On top of that, I want to see if I can watch 23 additional movies (at anytime) to see if I can get up to 75 movies for the year.

[laurenreviewsmovies]

Eternals

Director: Chloé Zhao

Starring: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Harish Patel, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, and Angelina Jolie

Release Date: November 5, 2021

My Rating: 9/10 (it may not be everyone’s cup of tea but it’s a solid 7/10 or 8/10 in general. It personally checked all of my boxes, so it gets a higher rating than that)

My Review (ABSOLUTELY NO SPOILERS):

I’m still so in my head about this movie, four days later. So I apologize in advance for this review...it’s a lot more “stream of consciousness” than usual. But I just loved this movie so much and I don’t think it deserves the hate it’s been getting online

I will admit that after a day or so, and after another viewing, the movie lost some of its magic. It’s still a great, solid movie. I still really enjoyed all the characters and the plot. But there was something so MAGICAL about it...I was sooo drawn in during that first viewing. And time away from that first viewing hasn’t made me change my mind about how I feel about the movie. It’s shining a little less brightly but it’s still undeniably a gem. Even though my heart isn’t racing because of how awesome it was anymore...I did in fact raise my initial rating of the movie after a second viewing. It’s just a solidly GOOD movie.

My biggest compliment for this movie is how impressively it dealt with an ensemble cast. It’s hard to do a good ensemble cast movie. Guardians of the Galaxy spent half the movie explaining who all these team members were and how they all got together. The Avengers had 5 movies preceding it, explaining the characters that were going to be involved in the team. We already knew them before the movie started...and even then, Hawkeye and Black Widow were undeveloped and kind of set to the side. Neither group became a “team” until the end of the movie. I wasn’t confident that Eternals would be able to get us behind a team that had already been a team for 7000 years, I didn’t know if they could dive into the backstory efficiently without bogging down the progression of the plot. More than that, I didn’t think they’d be able to equally include 10 people in a story. I have never been happier to have been proven wrong.

Every single Eternal was an integral part of the story. The story didn’t focus on half the team and have the other half be on the sidelines, only being brought in when the plot required it (looking at you, Avengers, Guardians). Every single character is important to this story. You can’t take one out, or the whole story has to be rewritten. Every single character had emotional depth. Every single character was important and developed and complex. Not a single one of them is black and white. And even though we only got a couple of snapshots of the Eternals in the past, they were the perfect instances chosen to show how the group functioned together and what had happened to bring them to the point where they were today, in the modern day MCU. I loved them all so much, individually and as a group. Best group movie that the MCU has ever produced because it focused on the GROUP. Yeah, there are certainly ‘main’ characters out of the bunch, but every single other character played a pivotal role.

Eternals uses its runtime better than almost any other MCU movie. The pacing of this movie was outstanding. There wasn’t a single moment where a scene felt slow or unneeded. The flashbacks weren’t confusing (as much as I love Shang-Chi, that was one of my main critiques - the constant back and forth). The movie flowed extremely well and was well balanced between action sequences and exposition. My friend I went with the second time asked when a good time for a bathroom break was and honestly, there isn’t a good time. It’s a movie where every single minute needs to be watched in order to get the full experience. Eternals uses every single minute of it’s 2.5 hour runtime, and it does so very efficiently.

OVERALL TAKEAWAY:

This movie intertwines mythology, history, theology and ethics...all within the world of superheroes! That’s all I can really say without spoiling too much, but how awesome is that?! It’s not just a “here’s some superpowered people, here’s a villain trying to take over/destroy the world” film like a lot of Marvel movies have been. It’s an epic, plain and simple. It was everything I didn’t know I wanted or needed in a film. If not for the references to specific MCU events, this movie easily could’ve stood on its own as a new sci-fi story.

With two awesome bonus scenes and an ending that blatantly sets up for a sequel in a way we haven’t seen since Thor: Ragnarok where Thanos’s ship just shows up out of nowhere...this movie is definitely worth seeing.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN IMPROVED:

I had a couple critiques, of course. They all have to do with the plot. There were a few parts of the story where some actions taken by characters felt like cop-outs. I didn’t like the explanation for the one Eternal missing the final fight. They straight up have that Eternal explain why they’re skipping the fight but it just felt like the writers couldn’t find a way to fit that Eternal into the final battle so they just had them leave instead. I also didn’t like how they resolved the emotional turmoil another Eternal is going through AFTER the final fights. Both instances kind of just felt like cop-outs. The ending made sense, and was epic...I just feel like it could’ve been MORE. I didn’t hate it, I didn’t even dislike it...it just felt kind of weak compared to the rest of the film. Furthermore, the B plot, regarding the secondary antagonists...I want to say that they weren’t needed but they WERE. They needed to be in the story...it just felt like, at times, they weren’t serving a purpose. But then the next scene would happen and I’d change my mind again. I kept flip-flopping on them. You’ll know what I’m talking about when you see the movie.

WHAT I LOVED:

• The acting. All the performances were amazing.

• The plot. The story was fresh and new, especially when you compare it to the other stories in the MCU. A couple of plot twists that I didn’t see coming, that genuinely surprised me and filled me with joy.

• The complexity of the characters. They’re all GOOD, but every single character is also pretty flawed. The family dynamics...the only thing I love more than quality family dynamics are when they occur in a found family.

• The CGI. I saw some technical film people complaining online about the CGI but for a basic person like me? Who just loves consuming media? It was great.

• The sound and the visuals...if you go see any movie in IMAX or Dolby, let it be this one. I saw the movie first in IMAX and second in digital, and the digital version couldn’t compare. It quite literally felt like a dull version of the masterpiece I saw in IMAX. There aren’t a lot of movies where I can notice a huge difference, but this might be one of them. This movie was absolutely stunning and it deserves to be experienced

• The relationships. Whether they be familial or romantic. They were very emotional, believable, and relatable. Even the “love triangle” didn’t even seem like a petty battle. It was deeper than that. All the relationships were just so very visibly intimate.

• A female-male friendship. Literally. Best friends. No romance. It was beautiful.

• Men showing their emotions. Emotions outside of pride and anger. It really shouldn’t be that big of a deal that more than one man cries during this movie but it was refreshing to see nonetheless.

• The comedic relief. I was concerned when I saw Kumail get cast, because he’s been one of my favorite stand-up comedians for a decade now...I know him as the funny man. I figured they cast him to be the comedic relief. While he does provide some comedic relief...it’s very organic. And he’s not the only one who provides it. There’s enough comedic relief in this movie to lighten the mood but not enough that it feels like it’s trying too hard to provide a joke every minute. At its core, this movie is an action-drama.

#movie review #marvel #eternals #eternals review #eternals movie review #chloe zhao #richard madden #ikaris #gemma chan #sersi #angelina jolie #thena #gilgamesh #sprite #kumail nanjiani #barry keoghan #druig #makkari #lauren ridloff #salma hayek #ajak #mcu

[laurenreviewsmovies]

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Director: Destin Daniel Cretton

Starring: Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Meng'er Zhang, Fala Chen, Michelle Yeoh, Tony Leung

Release Date: September 3, 2021

My Rating: 7/10 (solidly good movie)

My Review (WITHOUT spoilers):

Ever seen a movie that’s actually a YA novel? I’m not talking about a movie that was based off of a YA novel (like the Hunger Games or Divergent)...I’m talking about a standalone movie you watch and leave the theater going “dang, this would make an awesome YA novel”. That’s what Shang-Chi felt like to me. The plot was, simultaneously, very basic and very intriguing. Nothing shocked me but I felt engaged the entire time. It was an entertaining story set in a freaking awesome world.

This movie didn’t feel like a Marvel movie, but in a good way. It was fantastical and more steeped in fantasy than the majority of the MCU (Thor kind of gets an exception but not really. Too much raging testosterone and magical robots and aliens). Even the Ten Rings themselves are these mythical weapons that no one really knows the origin of. It just felt like an awesome modern-historical fusion fantasy novel. Think Black Panther but with less technology and more magic. I got Thor, Black Panther, and Doctor Strange vibes from this movie.

OVERALL TAKEAWAY:

Definitely a wonderfully fun time. It’s a solid Marvel movie. I don’t feel super strongly about it one way or the other but I had a great time watching it in the moment.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN IMPROVED:

The acting left a bit to be desired. Half the cast was great, the other half was “meh”. The pacing/structure of the movie really wasn’t my cup of tea. They kept jumping around in time. Looking back, after I’ve processed it a bit, I don’t know how else they could’ve told the story effectively without doing that. It was just a bit disorienting, got a bit old after a while, and just wasn’t something I’d seen in any Marvel movie before.

WHAT I LOVED:

The fight sequences are the best fight sequences I’ve ever seen in the MCU. Even just the visuals of the fights and the final battle were breathtaking. Absolutely beautiful and very exciting to watch. I said that half that cast delivered brilliant performances? Awkwafina and especially Shang-Chi’s Dad were absolutely amazing. His Dad is the reigning champion of the Marvel DILF competition...to be eligible for this competition, you cannot be the main character/hero of the story who is also a dad. You have to be a dad on the periphery (so Scott Lang, Tony Stark, they don’t count). I’m seriously in love with Tony Leung now holy cow, he was very handsome and his character was freaking awesome and his performance was outstanding.

SPECIAL FOCUS:

The family drama! This movie has the best family drama of any Marvel movie I’ve seen. It, alongside Thor and Black Panther, round out the “Family Drama Holy Trinity” of Marvel. Thor’s family drama is a little too heavy (dad is the king of the cosmos, one brother is adopted and was lied to his entire life and was actually the son of the ENEMY, they all live for 5000+ years, everyone keeps dying, Thor’s kind of a douche at the beginning...aka, daddy issues) and Black Panther is, while entertaining for sure, a little too reserved (his core family unit is actually incredibly healthy and it’s just the bombshell that “oh hey, my uncle kind of went a little to far, dialogically, and now he also has a son we didn’t know about? Interesting, let’s address that”...aka, cousin-issues). You’ll see it when you see the movie, but the family drama in Shang-Chi has so many layers!! Every single member of the family is caught up in the drama and it’s so complex that you can’t even find any member of the family completely at fault for the way they acted. It’s very much grey instead of black and white and it was just fascinating to watch and uncover. Very well rounded, as far as family issues go.

AS IT COMPARES TO THE OTHER MCU MOVIES:

I’ve been spoiled by all of the crossovers and team ups in Marvel over the past decade that whenever I go see an origin movie, I have to remind myself that it’s not going to live up to Infinity War or Thor Ragnarok or whatnot. It doesn’t have the built up story already in place - it’s starting from scratch. This movie is certainly strong enough to stand on its own. If they didn’t mention a couple of MCU events and such, and if I didn’t previously know that Shang-Chi was a Marvel character, I would've just assumed this was a cool new fantasy action movie. There’s easter eggs that enhance the fun for sure, but it’s pretty strong all on it’s own. It’s certainly more exciting than Captain America: The First Avenger or Thor. I’d say, as far as Marvel origin stories go, this movie is firmly in the middle of the ranks, if not more towards the top.