Movie Review: Chef

Details: Released in 2014. About two hours long. Stars Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson. Written and directed by Jon Favreau.

Chef is a lighthearted, fun, easily digestible drama about a… chef.

Movie Review: Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Details: Released in 2017. About two hours and twenty minutes long. Stars Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne, Clive Owen. Directed by Luc Besson.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets comes from the director of The Fifth Element and obviously so. If you’ve seen The Fifth Element, then you can clearly see the influences in art direction from that film, except updated with the computer effects of today. Also like The Fifth Element, Valerian is a beautiful movie with incredible imagery, but a mostly nonsensical plot.

Movie Review: Get Out

Details: Released in 2017. Directed and written by Jordan Peele. Stars Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford. About an hour and forty-four minutes long.

According to imdb.com, this film is officially a film of the horror, mystery, and thriller genres. But what I think makes this film so unique is that it is also very much a dark comedy on race relations in America, specifically between blacks and whites who do not perceive themselves as racist. It is that comedic aspect that takes this film and raises it above most other thrillers in recent memory.

Movie Review: The Greatest Showman

Details: Released in 2017. About an hour and forty-five minutes long. Stars Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Zac Efron. Songs by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

If you look up The Greatest Showman on rottentomatoes.com, you’ll find that it scored a 55% from critics while it scored an 89% from non-critic reviewers. And that’s a pretty accurate description of the movie. Technically speaking, The Greatest Showman is a mess. It’s got a flimsy plot and a nonsensical, historically inaccurate story. The segues from dialogue into music are often jarring. However, despite this movie being very fluffy and cheesy, in light of the divisiveness going right now in America, The Greatest Showman had exactly the kind of music, message, and themes that I needed to see. I enjoyed The Greatest Showman quite a bit.

Movie Review: Coco

Details: Released in 2017. About an hour and forty-five minutes long. Stars Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt.

I found the vast majority of Coco to be exceedingly predictable and yet, by the end of the movie, I could not help but shed a few tears. Coco is a great, emotional movie that belongs up there with the other great Pixar movies. Whatever secret ingredient it is that makes a Pixar movie great, Coco has it.

Movie Review: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

Details: Released in 2017. About two hours long. Stars Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is the sequel to the 1995 film, Jumanji. Unlike the original Jumanji which was a fairly serious children’s movie that dipped its toes into the horror genre, Welcome to the Jungle is not that serious at all and is instead a fun little adventure with lots of laughs.

Movie Review: Black Panther

Details: Released in 2018. About two hours and forty minutes long. Directed by Ryan Coogler. Stars Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o.

Despite all the glowing reviews I’ve seen all over the place claiming that this film is a cultural phenomenon, this is simply a good movie. It’s not a masterpiece. It’s not even close to being the best Marvel film ever released in my opinion (that goes to Captain America: Winter Soldier).

Movie Review: Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Details: Released in 2017. Directed by Rian Johnson. Stars Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Mark Hamill. Around two and a half hours long.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi was an okay movie. It’s not bad, but suffers from a fragmented story with too many characters and too many ideas. It’s a film with a lot of great individual moments, but lacking the buildup necessary to make those moments really payoff. No spoilers ahead.

Movie Review: Justice League

Details: Released in 2017. About two hours long. Stars Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa. Directed by Zac Snyder and partially by Joss Whedon.

I had a lot of fear and low expectations walking into this movie. Though not a masterpiece by any margin, Justice League is a fun movie for fans of the superhero/comic book genre and a nice opportunity to shut off your brain and enjoy some special effects and pretty shots.

Movie Review: Thor: Ragnarok

Details: Released in 2017. Directed by Taika Waititi. Stars Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett. Over two hours long.

Among Marvel’s movie properties, I think Thor is the franchise that they’ve had the hardest time figuring out how to approach. The last two films weren’t great, at least not as good or character redefining as Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Thor: Ragnarok takes the franchise in a different direction and does it mostly successfully. This new direction feels like they took Guardians of the Galaxy and mashed it with that comedic short clip where Thor moves in with Darryl the office worker. I’ll provide the clip below.