Nikolai McCon's Movie Log

This is my Movie Log, there are other Movie Logs like it, but this one's mine.

I'll try my best not to spam up too often, and more often than not, I won't have very much to spam anyways. I was thinking, perhaps, every five films I watch. Last year, I only watched 128 films, a far cry from the 282 and 279 of previous years. My hope is to improve on my total in a month-by-month basis. Shouldn't be too difficult.

Last January, I only watched 11 films.


1.) The Mummy (1932 film) - Bad
Review: - The Mummy is the most ridiculous of the Universal Monster Horror films I have watched, but just doesn't really have anything unique or worthwhile to say for itself. The Invisible Man Returns is an example of a Universal film that's fun without a whole lot of unique ideas, and Frankenstein is an example of one that has a lot of really great ideas but isn't executed that well. This film has mediocre acting, a mediocre story-line, and just didn't really capture my attention.


2.) I Love You Phillip Morris - Good
Review: - From a technical standpoint, this film is really messy. A lot of **** goes down in a very short time and it hurts the message it wants to convey. All the same, .... it's also a lot of fun and boasted by strong performances. Jim Carrey is really good in it, and while this film doesn't meet the extreme heights of something like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, this definitely falls somewhere with The Truman Show as a strong one from him. The ridiculousness of it is really amusing, and the fact that it all allegedly is based on truth is icing.


3.) Tales from the Dark Side: The Movie - Bad
Review: - This film sucked.


4.) The Curse of Frankenstein - Decent
Review: - This is my first of the older Hammer Horror films, and it was a mostly pleasant result. Curse has some going for it, including a solid performance from Peter Cushing as Victor Frankenstein. Funny enough, I actually thought he'd make a good Sherlock Holmes, sure enough, turns out he has played him before. The issues with this flick deal with a lot of the changes. Strangely, there's a subplot between Victor and his housekeeper, and also, Victor's much more maniacal this time around. The subplot and all these extra little details really clog up the film, and while this film positioned itself much better than the original film, it doesn't handle Victor's transition into madness well at all. Frankly put, it isn't seamless at all and is very under-cooked.

Funny story, Christopher Lee does the role of The Monster in this film. Of course, Lee's contribution to Hammer is most significantly his role as Dracula. Bela Lugosi played Dracula in the old Universal films and was meant to play The Monster in the original Frankenstein. However, Bela Lugosi refused, saying, "I was a star in my country, I will not be a tree in yours!" or something of that extent. In other words, Christopher Lee was the better sport.


5.) Rogue One - Decent
Review: Full disclosure, I am not a Star Wars fan. I like the idea, I always respect a well-made universe with established lore. But, when it comes to the individual films, I find myself disinterested. I enjoyed Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but I wasn't blown away by it. Rouge One, on the other-hand, I downright deem a plodding, colossal bore of a film. The film isn't badly made. It looks fantastic and the cinematic score is on-point! The film doesn't have bad performances. Rather, the film follows a trend that I discovered in Force Awakens, it is an extremely safe, extremely predictable, and extremely ho-hum film.


6.) Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Good
Review: I like this film. I saw this film in theaters and bought it for my girlfriend for her birthday. I've read the book as well. It isn't without its flaws, suffering from a lot of the same plights as many young-adult book adaptations, in that, it really fails at building a sincere emotional connection among the characters. I mean, for instance, the main-character arrives inside the loop and meets a girl named Emma, and literally, in the very next scene after meeting her, a guy named Finlay says something to the extent of: "If you're thinking about staying because you like Emma, save your breath." That's one way to establish the main-character's love interest, isn't forced or inorganic at all! Like I said, it suffers from some weak storytelling, but all in all, it's a very unique and clever concept, and while it doesn't necessarily hit greatness, it's a fun film with stylish visuals and enjoyable characters.

... need to watch:
- The Horror of Dracula (2nd Hammer Horror film!)
- Evil Dead II
- The Bride of Frankenstein (7th Universal Monster film!)

Looking forward to this thread. Too bad you didn't like Curse of Frankenstein more though.

The variables I liked best about Frankenstein were the obliviousness of The Monster and the obsession of Frankenstein. "Knowledge is knowing that Frankenstein isn't The Monster, wisdom is knowing that Frankenstein is The Monster," a thought that has made its rounds a lot, and honestly, it perfectly summarizes what I like about the concept. The 30s film was messily thrown together and wasn't boasted by performances capable of really capturing the essence of the source material, whereas the 50s film did have a capable cast, but added subplots and unneeded distractions. The first chunk of the film, I thought I was in the midst of a really, really good film, but it shoots itself in the foot.

The interpretation I like best about Frankenstein is that he is a mostly good bloke in-terms of politeness and decency, but he has a very technical and distant perspective. He sees his advancements as to the scientific benefit of mankind, but is also egotistical and wants his name in the history books for his contribution. In the end, he delves too deep and his obsession skews his perceptions. He has his principals, but they can be deterred in the name of Science. I think the film fails at capturing the character's progression into obsession and really, it has him as a baddie archetype, doing bad things because he's a bad person with no good in him. And, even that, I think would be fine, but the subplots with him and the housekeeper and things like that are too time-consuming for a film that is short in itself.

Update:
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
- Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

I've taken a small hiatus from films, this is what I've done instead....

Video-Game Log: -
1/12/17: Beat Castlevania: Lords of Shadow on Hard Mode (Second play-through) (Great)
1/31/17: Beat Resident Evil VII on Normal Mode. (Okay)
2/13/17: Beat Resident Evil VII again on Normal Mode.
2/28/17: Beat Outlast on Hard Mode. (Third play-through) (Good)
3/10/17: Beat Silent Hill 2 on Normal Mode. (Decent)
3/16/17: Beat Silent Hill 3 on Normal Mode. (Decent)
4/18/17: Beat BioShock Infinite on Hard Mode. (Second play-through) (Great)
4/26/17: Beat Voodoo Vincent on Normal Mode. (Decent)
4/27/17: Beat Catherine on Normal Mode (Second play-through) (Great)
5/1/17: Beat Outlast 2 on Normal Mode (Good)
5/12/17: Beat Outlast 2 again on Hard Mode
5/23/17: Beat Portal. (Good)
5/28/17: Beat Skylar & Plux. (Decent)
6/6/17: Beat Tales from the Borderlands (Great)
6/16/17: Beat BioShock on Hard Mode. (Third play-through) (Great)
6/21/17: Beat Borderlands (Good)
7/4/17: Beat Get Even (Decent)
7/21/17: Beat Wolfenstein: The New Order (Good)
7/26/17: Beat DmC: Devil May Cry (Decent)
8/3/17: Beat ReCore (Bad)
8/7/17: Beat Quantum Break on Hard Mode (Good)
8/15/17: Beat Borderlands 2 (Great)
8/18/17: Beat Alan Wake (Good)
9/11/17: Beat Mad Mad on Normal Mode (Decent)
9/22/17: Beat The Evil Within on Survival Mode (Third play-through) (Good)
10/27/17: Beat The Evil Within 2 on Survival Mode (Decent)
10/22/17: Beat Cuphead on Normal Mode (Great)
10/27/17: Beat Gears of War on Normal Mode (Third play-through) (Good)
12/11/17: Beat Kingdom Hearts II on Normal Mode (First play-through) (Decent)
12/13/17: Beat the remastered Crash (First play-through) (Good)
12/15/17: Beat Uncharted on Normal Mode (Second play-through) (Good)
12/18/17: Beat Uncharted 2 on Normal Mode (Second play-through) (Very Good
12/24/17: Beat Uncharted 3 on Normal Mode (Second play-through) (Great)


TV Series Log: -
- Completed fourth season of Sherlock
- Completed first season of The O.A.
- Completed second season of Ash vs. the Evil Dead
- Completed Breaking Bad (second-time viewing)
- Completed Thirteen Reasons Why
- Completed The People vs. O.J. Simpson
- Completed Season Five of Orange is the New Black
- Completed Season One of Orange is the New Black (second-time viewing)
- Completed Season Two of Orange is the New Black (second-time viewing)
- Completed first season of Ozark
- Completed Season One of Rick and Morty
- Completed Season Two of Rick and Morty
- Completed Season Three of Rick and Morty

7.) The Monster - Decent
Review: Decent enough film, I watched it and Under the Shadow because they were both well-received horror films that I missed out on from 2016. I don't fully recommend this film, because it doesn't bring a whole lot to the table, but you could definitely do worse for yourself.


8.) Under the Shadow - Below Average
Review: I wanted to like this film. Didn't like this film. Not a lot happens. Just keep moving...


9.) Justice League: Dark - Bad
Review: This marks the 19th film I've seen in the DC Animated Universe. I don't know why I keep watching these films, they don't ever seem to deliver on any level. I like the willingness to pursue various storylines, but these films lack highly in performances and good characters. Thus far, the only films of the whole series I can recommend are Justice League: Doom, Batman: Attack on Arkham, The Dark Knight Returns (Part 1 and 2), and, especially and most definitely, Batman: Under the Red Hood.


10.) A Monster Calls - Very Good
Review: The trailers made the narrative very obvious, and the concept itself is a little formulaic and familiar, but I still really liked this film. It worked its concepts very well, bolstered by good performances, directing, and visual effects, and left me moved by its narrative.


11.) The Lego Movie - Very Good
Review: Very good film. As I re-watched it, I think it fell from greatness, however. The only real issue I had is the live-action scenes were a little on-the-nose and didn't really apply that well with the live-action characters involved. The film itself is funny and charming, however, and I liked it a lot.

Well said @Mc, impressive. Thinking about today which movies I will watch, what do you recommend?

__________________
Ovoo - Cannot wait

Far from impressive, 11 is a puny total for an entire month. Incidentally, it is the exact amount I had this time last year.

Depends on how you intend on watching it, The Nice Guys was my favorite film from last year, other films from last year I'd recommend are Swiss Army Man, Nina Forever, and 10 Cloverfield Lane.

If you're looking for something a bit different, there's a documentary called The Impostor, about a man from, I believe, Spain, who comes to America and impersonates a boy who had been missing for a few years. The man is around 23 years old, in-comparison to the boy, who should've been about 17 by that time, looks absolutely nothing like the boy, with a different eye-color and an accent and everything, and the documentary features the impostor as the spokesperson for the narrative. Very intriguing and entertaining film.

12. The Blood of Dracula - February 2nd
13. The Edge of Seventeen - February 2nd
14. The Wailing - February 4th
15. Dead Silence - February 9th
16. Lego Batman Movie - February 14th
17. Sinister - February 15th

I decided, because I don't have it in me to go scavenging cover-work, I'll do a paragraph of what I thought about each of these films.

The Blood of Dracula was the film I wanted to see most out of the Hammer Films, but now, after watching it, I am beginning to think that the Universal Monster films and Hammer films, as well, are simply not an interest of mine. I don't like much of the dialogue, I think the sequences are oftentimes illogical and badly written, with Dracula and Frankenstein, it seems to me that they took the great concepts of the books and really bastardized them or under-cooked the ideas.

The Edge of Seventeen was good. The critics called it the new Juno are, in my opinion, mistaken, but it was an alright film, it captured the over-dramatic life-events of an introverted teenager going through high-school. The best part is that she wasn't really too likable, she definitely had that likable charm that Emma Stone had in Easy A or Ellen Page had in Juno, but she was bratty too and was completely oblivious to her faults. I think that's a realistic portrayal of a lot of teenagers, all of them, not the new generation or anything like that, but rather, suggestive that teenagers are still developing and don't recognize their mistakes because they haven't fully matured.

The Wailing was really dull. I can complain about the characters, or say that I don't think they were built the way I'd like, but, really, what it comes down to is that I was really bored and was never made to care about the characters. And, for a film over 2 and a half hours, I believe an hour of it could have been left on the cutting room floor and it'd have benefited.

Dead Silence is bad. I already knew it was bad before I watched it for what might be the third time in my life. It's that damn saying, "Beware the stare of Mary Shall," that made me come back to it again, thinking it might have something more to say for itself. Nah, really predictable plot, bad scares, and the victims looked ridiculous.

Lego Batman Movie was great. I really liked and had a lot of fun with it. The film was, in my opinion, funnier than The Lego Movie, and while it might not be as well-constructed from the story perspective, I enjoyed it a great deal. Might even go see it a second-time on Monday.

Sinister is one of my favorite horror films. I love the tension and the acting, the sounds and the imagery, I really like the film, and, at this point, I've watched it four or five times, so I'm pretty comfortable praising it.

18. John Wick: Chapter Two - February 16th (Good)
19. La La Land - February 20th (Decent)
20. Central Intelligence - February 24th (Bad)
21. Moana - February 28th (Can't Remember)

23. Trolls - March 1st (Decent)
24. Doctor Strange - March 1st (Good)

John Wick: Chapter Two started off in a very ho-hum fashion, but I enjoyed the world-building in the mean-time, and when the action took off, it took off well. I don't think either John Wick or the sequel is what I'd call a great film, but the end of the second film has me thinking that the third film has the chance to be downright great.`

La La Land was a decent film. I liked it. I didn't love it though, which is what I expected with all the praise that it received. I was really excited for it.

Central Intelligence was bad. Not terribly so, but nothing I can really think of anything nice to say about.

Moana was good from what I saw. I work nights on Friday night and the week ends on Monday morning, I am also going to college. I woke up at around 5pm on Monday and just sort-of stayed up until 9am when I attended my Ethics and Math class, which kept me til about 2pm. After that, I went to my girlfriend's house for the night and just sort-of stayed up as long as I could. I drifted off at about 30 minutes into Moana and woke up for the last half. I'll re-watch it soon.

Trolls was decent. The songs were nice and the story was simple, but fine, no complaints, just not a super-great film.

Doctor Strange, I'd seen before in theaters. I thought it was decent then, and now, I think I'll go out on a limb and call it "Good."

25. Split (Above Average)
26. Sing (Decent)
27. Stork (Bad)
28. Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them (Decent)
29. Secret Life of Pets (Bad)
30. Kong: Skull Island (Good)
31. The Demolisher (Bad)


Sing, Stork, and Secret Life of Pets are all three films I had little to no interest with. My girlfriend was interested, however. Sing was my favorite of the bunch, but none of the films were any good. The story-lines were all recycled and generic.

Split was above average. McAvoy did fantastic as the antagonist and while the story itself was formulaic and the conclusion was a little anticlimactic, I enjoyed the film.

I expected more from Fantastic Beasts. I love the Harry Potter films, but this film felt like a very formulaic and uninspired affair. The whole film underwhelmed me on most levels. I have hope for the future installments, but my enthusiasm has been diminished.

The Demonlisher was bad, didn't know what it was, watched it with a friend.

I didn't expect much from Kong: Skull Island. I only hoped it'd be better than the ho-hum experience that Godzilla was. Turns out, Kong: Skull Island was a lot of fun. I wouldn't say they made the most out of their extremely capable cast, but I definitely enjoyed the performances in the film. The action-scenes were a lot of fun and it had a handful of highlight reel moments that had me laughing in the theater. Definitely a fun film that had me more excited for the eventual Kong vs. Godzilla film.

33. The Jungle Book (Good) - March 14th
34. Trick R Treat (Good) - March 14th
35. Superbad (Decent) - March 15th
36. Siren (Above Average) - March 17th
37. The Autopsy of Jane Doe (Above Average) - March 17th



The Autopsy of Jane Doe was an above average horror flick. The acting was good enough, and the premise was enjoyable, the only reason I don't peg it as downright good is because it starts to swallow its tail towards the end.

Siren was above average as well. I enjoyed it a fair bit, but the acting left a lot to be desired. Still, it had some enjoyable effects and an interested and unique narrative. It was ambitious, I liked it.

I re-watched The Jungle Book which I had seen in theaters (this is the new live-action one), I liked it a bit the first time, but I really enjoyed it the second go around. I think a lot of that had to do with the company I had. Leaving the theater, I remember my best friend telling me how much he hated it, whereas, while watching it with my girlfriend, she kept saying how great it was and how much she loved it. I think it's a good story with good characters and is very well made. I really look forward to the sequel, which, I think, if done right, could be even better. Also look forward to the Lion King film they'll be shooting back-to-back with it.

Trick R Treat was a film I watched alone the first time. I thought it was alright then, but, watching it the second time, I like it a lot more. The film just really did it for me as a fun horror film that embraces the spirit of Halloween with a nice anthology-style narrative.

Superbad is decent. I don't love it as much as when I first watched it though. The humor always comes off more crude than observational, with it seeming a little too over-the-top for my taste. It isn't bad, a few moments are still pretty funny, but I didn't walk away thinking it was "that" funny or great like I did.

Logan was a really solid film. I was excited for it, but I tried my best to keep my expectations in check and reasonable. The film has a lot going for it. The darker, more rugged approach really works in its favor and is a long time welcome for a mainstream superhero film. The narrative itself wasn't completely perfect (I don't believe Laura and Wolverine created such a good emotional connection like the film tries to suggest), but it's pretty damn good with the scenes involving Professor X and Wolverine being fantastic. The closing minutes were fantastic as well, and, in my opinion, this is where X-Men should end. (with X-Force and Deadpool taking over.)

39. Scream 2 - March 24th
40. Saw - March 28th
41. Let the Right One In - March 29th
42. The Suicide Tourist - March 30th
43. Splice - March 30th

44. Wolf Children - April 5th
45. The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - April 5th


- Scream 2 is still good. It isn't a contender for my favorite horror film, but it is enjoyable and entertaining, I'd call it an improvement over the first film from an entertainment standpoint, but, not necessarily a narrative one.

- I love the story of Let the Right One In, but the film itself generally leaves something to be desired, mostly because it has a slow-pace and doesn't make great use of a lot of its time, which could have been spent developing more of a rapport between Eli and Oskar. I hope the eventual television show takes its time with these elements of the story.

- The Suicide Tourist is a depressing and sad look into an individual who takes their life through physician assisted suicide, it's a documentary that features him talking about his final moments.

- Splice is a good film. I liked it even more after watching it again. It isn't without the occasional lull, but I think it is a story well-told with a lot of ambition.

- Wolf Children was enjoyable. The concept is really unique and I like a lot of what they did with it. The only complaints about the film are that I think it's good enough to be a two-part film where they wouldn't have to rush some of the character development, and, also, it's bizarre that the mother isn't more prepared to raise the children than what she is.

- The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was one of my all-time favorite films for a while. I think, more than anything, it hit me at the right time. Furthermore, after re-watching it, while I definitely enjoy the film and think it has a terrific concept, the scenes with Ruffalo, Dunst, and the entire sub-plot with Elijah Wood take away from what should have been a more coherent narrative focusing on the relationship of the two central characters.

46. The Void
47. Beauty and the Beast
48. 1408

- The Void was disappointing as a film. The film wasn't dreadful, but, for some reason or another, I was anticipating more from it. I think a lot of that is because the reception it has received from many horror news outlets I frequent. The film was decent, if a little clunky towards the final quarter and never really amounted to too much of a break out film.

- Beauty and the Beast was a decent enough film. I don't really have much to say about it. I really saw it because my girlfriend wanted to, and it amounted to just about everything I expected for it.

- 1408 is a horror classic, I think. I really enjoy this film. It isn't without at least one or two moments I could have done without or wish could have been done better, but, overall, I really, really like this film.

Hey, I liked The Monster, too. I'm also a fan of Zoe Kazan ... she did great in that mother role.

I thought 1408 was total crap, though I like John Cusack and Samuel L a lot.

49. The Boss Baby
50. The Circle


Last Night at the Theater: - The Circle & The Boss Baby



The Circle and The Boss Baby are two films I had no real prior intention of seeing at the theaters. The Circle has received a godawful response from critics and has generated no interest at the box-office, whereas, The Boss Baby has received a mixed-at-best response and delivered at the box-office quite well (I anticipate The Bossiest Baby will be scheduled shortly). I decided to watch them, mostly, because I wouldn't be seeing my girlfriend as much this week because of our work schedules, college, etc., and so, we figured we'd go out to eat and take a trip to the movie-theater.

The first and foremost was The Boss Baby, a film that, when I first saw trailers for, I thought looked like a stupid and pitiful offering from Dreamworks, which has recently reduced itself to Trolls, Home, and Penguins of Madagascar, with the enjoyable Kung Fu Panda and terrific How to Train Your Dragon series receiving installments on occasion. However, the reviews and audience-reception had me expecting an entertaining enough romp, and, for what it's worth, that's about what was received from the film. The film was, at best, a cute film for kids, with the occasional bit of humor that I found myself smirking at. This isn't a Pixar film or How to Train your Dragon, which carries themes that feel just as much presented for a mature audience as a small child, this film is downright targeting the (very) young demographic, and it writes its material with that demographic in mind. Thereby, while it isn't a great film, I can't really bring myself to bash it too harshly. The biggest criticism I'd say I have is that it was too sentimental, and the sentiments it did have, felt like they were a little under-cooked or paint-by-the-numbers with their execution. The small child a few rows in-front of us loved it to pieces though, and with the occasional sprouts of visual inspiration and the ability to embrace its own ridiculousness, The Boss Baby is a good enough addition in Dreamwork's catalog.

The Circle was next. I definitely expected very little from this film. In-terms of critical response, The Boss Baby might as well have been Get Out (99% on Rotten Tomatoes) in-comparison to The Circle (around 10% on Rotten Tomatoes). Turns out, The Circle wasn't too bad either. The film basically carries the narrative of a woman, played by Emma Watson, that joins a company, aptly named The Circle, that eventually finds itself, perhaps, overstepping too far in its connection with its users. The concept is timely and certainly intriguing, carrying that "Big Brother is Watching" paranoia with it, but it's definitely rushed.

In a very minor spoiler, I remember one instance in-particular where one character tries to suggest Emma Watson's character is becoming too obsessed with The Circle, when, in-fact, she hasn't been with the company for very long and has shown no real signs of obsession with it. It almost felt like this accusation was meant at a later part of the film, but they didn't have enough time to space everything out.

I enjoyed some of the cinematic visuals and I enjoyed the concept, even if it was over-the-top and exaggerated. I think one critic in-particular regarded it as a romp comparable to one of the Da Vinci films, and that seems about right, in my opinion. I also enjoyed the end, which, I believe, went a different way than what I was expecting, which would have been the predictable route. All in all, while The Circle is too flawed to be considered a good film, it isn't a godawful film either, it suffers from pacing issues and its story could have used a couple of edits before starting production.

I can't particularly recommend either The Boss Baby or The Circle to the average person, that isn't to say I don't think you could enjoy them or that I don't think you should check them out when they come out on home-video, but, more to say that there are better films out at the theater I think will be more worth your time.

51. Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2
52. Hotel Transylvania 2
53. Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
54. Patch Town

- Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is a very fun film. Albeit, granted, it features a run-time of only a little more than forty-five minutes, I found it incredibly entertaining and I have went back to it many, many times since first seeing it years ago.

- Hotel Transylvania 2 is nothing special. My girlfriend really enjoys it, and I can, at least, say it isn't awful, but I can't really say much more than that. The comedy targets a very young demographic, and while the horror themed setting is something I could get into, the film itself feels thrown together and ultimately lackluster as far as animations are concerned.

- Patch Town was an interesting film. The film features a very strange concept that involves children being frozen into Cabbage Patch (actually a knock-off) dolls and it has musical components integrated into it as well. The film is very zany and silly but it never really fully fleshes out its concept or completely capitalizes on its own novelty. I appreciate the ambition that went into the film, however, if nothing else, and that it tried to play up its ridiculousness with as straight a face as possible, which, I think, adds to its charm. It's not quite what I'd call a good film, but it's a unique one.

- Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 was a lot of fun. I'll have to write up a full analysis over what I thought of the film sometime or another, but I can say I enjoyed it. The plot itself was scattered and seemed a little jumbled during some instances, but the characters are so charming and lovable that it makes me more willing to excuse certain shortcomings like that. I enjoyed the antagonist, and that final half of the film, I believe, is the best we've gotten of the Guardians' characters so far in-terms of storytelling momentum.

55. Get Out
56. Captain Underpants
57. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
58. Alien: Covenant
59. The Devil's Candy

- Get Out was a film I was looking forward to, especially considering the critical acclaim it has received from critics. I kept my expectations in-check as well as I could. I was concerned that the critical reception might have been in-part because of the socially relevant commentary on racism and not necessarily because the quality of the film itself. I was also concerned that I would feel like I was on the outside looking in as a viewer, that I would appreciate the film, but that the subject-matter might not resonate with me as well as it might with black audiences. Thankfully, I think the film does resonate very, very well and it carries a weary instilled paranoia that I think everyone can relate to. The film's very enjoyable with a great lead actor, managing to be funny, surreal, and also does well as a horror film.

- Captain Underpants was a film I was mildly excited for. I always really enjoyed the book series when I was a kid, having read a lot of the books, and while I didn't really remember a lot of the plot itself, it was nostalgic to see the familiar faces again. As for a film, the humor is ridiculously juvenile and childish, like the books were, and that might make it off-putting to a lot of audiences. For me though, it had a sense of charm and silliness that was infectious. I've written a few novels in my life, and how I really started with that passion is by writing out comic-book panels and crudely drawn storybooks by myself and with friends. The film isn't a downright emotional classic of the highest order or anything like that, but it's the perfect adaptation of the Captain Underpants books, for sure.

- I can't say I was really excited for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. The Pirates series is one that critics rip apart, but I've always loved seeing Johnny Depp reprise the role of Jack Sparrow. It's often agreed that the first film is the best, however, I enjoyed the first three films quite a bit. Stranger Tides is when the series began to lack and my interest started to wane, Dead Men Tell No Tales might be a mild improve over that film, but it's so close in-terms of quality that I don't believe it has much to celebrate. The film spends too much time on characters I don't care about. What I want is a smaller film about Jack Sparrow being a pirate, focus on the jokes and swordplay, don't make it more complicated than it needs to be. I am certain your budget will be very grateful as well, considering the box-office returns on this one.

- I was excited for Alien: Covenant. I enjoyed the first two Alien films, however, I disliked 3, Resurrection, and Prometheus. Still, I really had hopes that this film would have everything back on track. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. In-fact, Alien: Covenant may very well be my least favorite installment in the series as a whole. Simply put, the biggest criticism I have for the film is how ho-hum and bland it is. The characters themselves were underdeveloped, unworthy of even being considered as archetypes, these characters more closely resemble blank slates that wander around expecting me to care about them. The characters felt so lifeless and lacked any real direction to them, which is especially frustrating when you consider that so little happens in the first half of the film. Alien drags and drags and drags, yet it never really seems to get anything accomplished with its plodding scenes. Even in the final stretch where everything starts to pick up, I find myself too apathetic to be excited about it. Michael Fassbender's role as David is solid, but the film itself practically depends on it and it alone to carry the entire film, with nobody and nothing else, not even the aliens themselves, allowed to substantiate anything worthwhile to the film. After Prometheus, I thought Ridley Scott deserved a second-chance to create his vision, after Covenant, however, I think it's best we either have a new person helm it, or have nobody else at all.

-The Devil's Candy clocks out at about an hour and fourteen minutes and is directed by Sean Byrne, the same guy that directed a film called The Loved Ones that I enjoyed. I'll start off by saying that, like his previous effort, Devil's Candy is a well-made and enjoyable horror. The faults are in the little amount of chances it takes from a narrative perspective, everything's mostly mundane and conventional. Little about Devil's Candy actually instilled any new ideas to its concept. The actors are enjoyable, as are the characters they portray, coming off as likable and refreshingly unique from the walks of life we usually see portrayed in horror films. The characters and the film itself is heavily influenced by heavy-metal, but instead of the Rob Zombie approach of making the characters ridiculous, unlikable archetypes, they're actually characters I could get behind and root for. The visual imagery and portrayal of the antagonist, however, made it difficult to invest myself into. The antagonist seems a little cookie-cutter and by-the-books, and most of the scenes involving him carry the same sentiment. On the bright side though, I will mention that closing fourteen minutes of the film are really entertaining and remind me a lot of what I liked about The Loved Ones, a very balls-to-the-wall approach that wraps everything up well. Even if I didn't absolutely love this film, I thought it was enjoyable and better than most horror films with the same resources. I'd like to see more from Sean Byrne, and I hope I don't have to wait as long for it.

60. A Cure for Wellness - June 10th
61. Wonder Woman - June 27th
62. John Dies at the End - June 28th
63. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 - June 29th
64. Resident Evil: Vendetta - June 29th

65. The Belko Experiment - July 1st
66. A Dog's Purpose - July 5th

- A Cure for Wellness was a dull affair. I had originally expected to see this film back when it was still in theaters, but through happenstance, ended up seeing La La Land instead. My friends and I have a rule about not seeing a film if we're too late to see the credits, and usually show up like thirty minutes early. This time though, we were a little late. As for the film, it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't anything I could really get into.

- Wonder Woman will actually be one of the videos I do on my YouTube channel in October, and so, I'll keep my opinion under-wraps til then.

- John Dies at the End had several entertaining moments to it, but it was also a little rough-around-the-edges in-terms of pacing and storytelling approaches. A little messy is probably what I'd say, but I still had a good time with it. My friend spent a lot of the film telling me how much the books did it better and that seems to be the sentiment for a lot of the series' fans.

- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 was bad. I've always been told that it's the "funnest" film of the series because of its zany and more comedic approach. However, I found it was, plain and simple, a particularly bad film. I'm not a very big fan of the series in-general, but I actually had hopes for this film to provide me with a similar level of entertainment as the older Full Moon movies do, instead, this film simply failed on almost all levels.

- Resident Evil: Vendetta isn't a film I had much expectations for. I've always known that the animated Resident Evil films were supposedly really bad and directionless, and I watched it anyway. The film doesn't have much character development and its action-scenes didn't really do all that much for me either, but it looked pleasant enough and I was mildly engaged throughout it. Think of it as a particularly long cut-scene from one of the Resident Evil games and you basically know what to expect.

- The Belko Experiment is another movie I will be doing a review for in October.

- A Dog's Purpose was really, really cheesy, sugary sentiment, and it was done to intoxicating levels. In-terms of story-line, everything's basically run of the mill and paint by the numbers, with direct-to-DVD relationships and archetypes that anchor it down heavily in the conventional. It has a lot of "dog suffering" moments, ones that will probably tug at the heart-strings of animal lovers, but, ultimately, everything's done to intoxicating excess. My girlfriend loved it, and she's the only real reason I watched it myself, but, personally, I did not.