Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

POSITIVES

  • If you’re caught up with the MCU and am a fan of anything Marvel in general, then there are no ifs or buts, you should go watch this movie. It’ll reward you for being a fan. 

  • The pacing, the energy, the plot progression, the visual storytelling, the magic, the sheer wondrous spectacle of it all, were all just non-stop and did not let go of your attention. Wow, that was a fun ride of a movie. 

  • It’s easy to take them for granted, but the casting for these MCU characters are just amazing. Kudos to Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, and new to this world Xochitl Gomez who is simply awesome in this. More of America Chavez please! 

  • Fan Service. Some glorious fan service that should excite you. Thank you Kevin Feige. 

  • Loved the fact that there were multiple sequences that absolutely drew from Director Sam Raimi’s film making sensibilities. 

NEGATIVES

  • Absolutely not a movie that you can just “jump-in'' without prior knowledge from the previous movies as well as the many MCU TV series on Disney+. 

  • I know that “plot convenience” is an easy negative for me to criticize a movie with, but there are some sequences where I just have to raise an eyebrow and think “well the movie would really have been over now if they actually applied the logical action to that sequence.” 

  • There are plot directions (some were pretty brutal) that you may not be happy that they went there. 

  • Alright, for several of the CG effects, you can tell that they aren’t going to age well years down the line. 

  • For a movie with “multiverse of madness” in the title, there just wasn’t enough “multiverse” or “madness” in this film for my preference. 

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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness - watched in IN THEATERS

The Fabulous Filipino Brothers

POSITIVES

  • Charming and sweet light-hearted family drama that has a narrative covering some very distinctly different Filipino-American brothers. 

  • Filipino-Americans will find a lot to relate with here. Those who want to know more about Filipino-Americans and the culture should watch this. Plus food. Gotta love those Filipino foods. 

  • One of the best strengths of this movie is the dialogue. Love the conversations found here. 

  • Humorous entertaining sequences, like the Rooster thing, the Church scene, or that eating seductively bit. 

  • Good cast overall, with Derek Basco, Dante Basco, Solenn Heussaff, Darion Basco, Dionysio Basco, Liza Lapira, and more. 

NEGATIVES

  • Not exactly the most exciting movie. 

  • Production isn’t exactly huge and it kinda shows. 

  • Questionable plot developments and conveniences. 

  • Humor and comedy are generally hit or miss. 

  • I wish it was more friendlier for kids to watch too, as the cursing and certain subject matters are more adult. I feel like this could be educational to the younger Filipino-Americans. 

loveditenjoyedit LIKED IT itsokayitsmehitsterrible

The Fabulous Filipino Brothers - watched it on VIDEO ON DEMAND

Crush

POSITIVES

  • While high school teen coming of age romantic comedies are very derivative, there's a comfortable satisfying appeal to watching them for fans of this sub-genre, and this movie is no different. 

  • Solid cast overall. Kudos to Rowan Blanchard, Auli'i Cravalho, Tyler Alvarez, Teala Dunn, Isabella Ferreira, Megan Mullally, Aasif Mandvi, and more. 

  • Romantic part of this rom-com is cute and adorable enough. Young love! 

  • The comedy part of this rom-com is pretty amusing, with Blanchard doing the physical humor, plus Aasif Mandvi and Michelle Buteau getting some good laughs from me. 

  • Liked the whole KingPun subplot (plus the artwork that comes with that), and having it be this ongoing mystery for the movie. 

NEGATIVES 

  • Like I implied, it's not too far at all from your typical high school teen coming of age romantic comedies, so expect the usual tropes, like unrequited loves, sports, horny teens, and them illegally drinking... 

  • About seven minutes into the movie, you pretty much already know where one of the main story lines are going. It's just one of those generally predictable movies. 

  • Not exactly the most ambitious or highly produced film. Cinematic this ain’t. 

  • Mother character is a little much. Seriously, calm down with her openness. 

  • Not really a negative to me, but there are those who won't be into the whole queer romance and social awareness. Sorry, it's unfortunately the world we live in, and that's the real negative. 

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Crush - watched it on HULU

Memory

POSITIVES

  • Solid premise for a dark and gritty subject matter in this dramatic crime thriller. 

  • Narrative is generally interesting in that it’s compelling enough to see how they conclude this story, what with all the different parallel plot threads and characters that it juggles with. 

  • Besides Liam Neeson always entertaining as a badass, the rest of the cast is good too, from Guy Pearce, Taj Atwal, Harold Torres, Ray Stevenson, to Monica Bellucci. 

  • Several of the action scenes, the cat and mouse sequences, to the part that will make John Rambo proud are entertaining to watch. 

  • While the story’s thematic commentary is pretty cynical, I think they are absolutely important to think about. 

NEGATIVES

  • It’s a decently standard plot that is kinda middle-of-the-road and doesn’t exactly go above and beyond as a movie. 

  • This story takes a while to really get going. Don’t be too impatient now. 

  • Several of the subject matters addressed might be too triggering for some people. 

  • Conclusion may not be as satisfying as some might want it to be. 

  • As a movie with this production value when considering today’s standards, it seems like there are TV show dramas with more ambition and budget. 

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Memory - watched in IN THEATERS

Bubble

POSITIVES

  • It has an appealing setting and general premise of this world that’s filled with Peter Pan’s Lost Boys, the Little Mermaid angle, and parkour. 

  • As an anime movie, I love the colorful visuals, sleek animation, and the cool character designs. 

  • The parkour sequences are one of the main reasons to see this movie, as it provides the most exciting action for this story. 

  • This movie shines with its chase camera that gives us an exhilarating experience following those action beats.  

  • There are some excellent montage scenes, but the third act overall is a wonderful spectacle that only this movie could give you. 

NEGATIVES 

  • Oh those familiar tropes and typical archetypes that just makes this anime feel so unoriginal. 

  • It even has your typical idealized audience surrogate male protagonist and the cute manic pixie dream girl. Try harder movie!  

  • Somehow the narrative is heavily filled with so much exposition and at the same time shows us some highly illogical, physics defying, impossible unexplainable things.  

  • Messaging and commentary doesn't really stick the landing and comes off kinda superficial in what it’s trying to say. 

  • Weird how it opens like it's a TV show. I had to double check to make sure that this was still a movie I was watching. 

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Bubble - watched it on NETFLIX

The Northman

POSITIVES

  • This movie goes to many interesting places, throws curveballs at you, and challenges your opinions. The premise. Setting and time period. Those surreal imagery. Very weird moments. Epic set pieces. Fascinating sequences. The narrative and plot progression overall. All that adds up to an experience that grips you from beginning until the end. 

  • If you’ve come here for the action, this film is able to provide that for you, and they are quite brutal. There is also a sweet looking sword to go along with all that violence too. 

  • Cinematography, the visuals, and production design are all top notch here. Kudos especially to those great tracking shots that can be found multiple times in this film. 

  • Performances are excellent all around. Great work by Alexander Skarsgård, Anya Taylor-Joy, Claes Bang, Nicole Kidman, Gustav Lindh, Ethan Hawke, and more. 

  • There are themes and commentaries here to really contemplate, but I particularly liked the message that this story wants to teach us. It’s a bit nuanced and some people may not even see that messaging, but I appreciate that the movie gets there with what it wants to say. 

NEGATIVES

  • I know this movie looks visually great and all, but some of those scenes filled with heavy dark shadows maybe need just a little more lighting for us to completely see what’s going on?  

  • Brutality. Violence. Gore. Grotesque deaths. Animals are constantly getting killed. Might go a little too far for some people’s sensibilities. 

  • Some of the plot conveniences seemed like too much of a cheat just to keep the story going. 

  • There are many things that happen in the movie that might come off as very off-putting. 

  • How much male testosterone can you handle? 

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The Northman - watched in IN THEATERS

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

POSITIVES

  • You go into this movie to see Nicolas Cage being outrageous by being an outrageous Nicolas Cage, and that is what you get! There’s a lot here that Nic Cage fans will appreciate. 

  • Not to be outdone, but Pedro Pascal is also awesome in this! The pairing of Cage with Pascal is just fantastic and a huge draw to seeing this movie. 

  • Gotta hand it to the premise, which is the general gimmick itself, for being a highly entertaining watch. It is also much funnier than I expected it to be too. 

  • Excellent scenes to see here, from the bit on the cliff, avoiding security, a particularly trippy segment, all that pop culture references, the exciting third act, to the sequences involving some deep fakery, plus more. 

  • Some solid messaging and commentaries, but there is one particular theme that is directly aimed at movie fans that I got to applaud. 

NEGATIVES

  • This movie has a lot of nonsense that might not work for everybody. 

  • I didn’t particularly care for the attempt at fake outs in parts of the story. 

  • Certain plot conveniences also come off as too illogical or contrived. 

  • Not sure if I would say that one of the big plot reveals is either an uninspired cop out, or just too conventional than what I wanted. 

  • At a certain point I realized that the general plot progression to this movie is very similar to another (honestly better) Nic Cage film. While it may or may not have been done on purpose, it did detract from this movie’s fresh factor.  

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the Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent - watched in IN THEATERS

Choose or Die

POSITIVES

  • Compelling enough horror premise involving a video game. Plus CURS>R is a pretty good name for a game. 

  • Some of those scenes when playing the game, like in the opening bit with the Dad, the diner scene, or that sequence with the rat, were all pretty solid for what they were. 

  • Iola Evans and Asa Butterfield are good leads in this. More so Iola who really carries this film. 

  • Has a generally efficient progression with the plot. Only 85 minutes long. Both plusses in my book. 

  • For a low budget film, I admire the creative visual directions they made work with the narrative. 

NEGATIVES 

  • If you're looking for traumatic horror or jump scares, this is not that movie. 

  • It's not exactly a cinematic wonder, but don't hold that against the movie too much. 

  • There's quite a bit of suspension of disbelief that's required from you to be entertained by the movie. 

  • Questionable decisions might frustrate you into shouting "why don't you just…" multiple times. 

  • I don't think it quite sticks the landing on the thematic commentaries it is trying to make. 

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Choose or Die - watched it on NETFLIX

Fantastic Beasts : The Secrets Of Dumbledore

POSITIVES

  • Genuinely liked the premise of this rag-tag ensemble group that’s tasked to take on one of the most villainous villains the world has apparently ever seen. 

  • The ensemble cast of actors that make up this movie are all quite solid in their roles. Kudos to Eddie Redmayne, Jessica Williams, Dan Fogler, Jude Law, Alison Sudol, Callum Turner, and of course Mads Mikkelsen, plus several more. 

  • Out of all the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts movies, I really thought this particular entry showcased the most visually spectacular and creative use of magic I’ve seen on screen in this franchise yet. It’s all magic magic magic every time, and it’s a joy to see.

  • There are stand out scenes worth checking out here, from a conversation over coffee, a search for a particular magical creature in a forest mountain, that whole set piece involving the magical arthropods, to several magical action sequences.

  • I’m sure it was tempting to diverge from the whole “fantastic beasts” angle as soon as Jude Law as Dumbledore was introduced a movie ago, but I applaud this for applying relevant and logical reasons to constantly include all those fantastic magical creatures into the story.

NEGATIVES

  • So many seemingly pointless plot sequences that don’t seem to really add up to anything truly significant. 

  • Final act just comes off as incredibly illogical, unbelievably dumb, or ridiculously convenient. Disappointing. 

  • There are several plot details that don’t get the resolutions or the follow-ups that you hoped this movie would actually provide. 

  • Boggles my mind, but this movie showcases the worst security systems over and over and over again. 

  • Dumbledore? More like Dumbledore Ex Machina. Howabout, a character that the screenwriters clearly love just a little too much to the detriment of the narrative’s believability. 

loveditenjoyedit LIKED IT itsokayitsmehitsterrible

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore - watched in IN THEATERS

Dual

POSITIVES

  • Fascinating and provocative premise for a story that explores the philosophical science-fiction concepts that examines who you are or who you could be as a person. 

  • The whole tone of the film is very off kilter, which works really well with the weird plot progression, odd world, and darkly comedic sense of humor. It really keeps you on your toes, as you aren’t always sure what you’re going to see or hear next. 

  • Karen Gillan is absolutely fantastic as Sarah, and completely handles the nuanced performance required of her role. 

  • From the opening sequence with Theo James, that big reveal of a turn of events, the whole training plot thread with Aaron Paul, to the eventual confrontation with Sarah, this movie keeps you engaged with all the compelling things that happen. 

  • I was rather entertained by the unique decision to make the dialogue and characters have this very matter-of-fact and tactless thing going for them.  

NEGATIVES

  • Some people are just not going to vibe with the tone of this movie, or the moments of vulgarity, or the surprising content of blood and gore. 

  • The humor in this movie isn’t exactly of the laugh-out-loud variety. Wait, hold on, those were supposed to be jokes and comedic bits that I saw in the movie right? 

  • I assume it really was done on purpose but the acting in this film felt very stilted in a somewhat distracting way. It’s like they were Vulcans (from Star Trek), or robots, or a race of humans who haven’t fully learned how to fully express their emotions externally. 

  • You may or may not completely agree with the conclusion of the movie. 

  • doesthedogdie.com 

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Dual - watched it IN THEATERS