The full review vlogs can be seen on YouTube at weirdkitty07, Kal Kat Reviews Channel 2.
"Hidden Figures"
Oscar bait feel good movie about 1960s NASA space program electing to hire black women as engineers to do the math to fly the rockets. A cute movie that doesn't offend and tells a message about tolerance, even if the fog of decades has made it seem like civil rights drama was littrle more than handing hammer to a guy to break a washroom sign and everything was cool. Still there were some decent acting performances and one Oscar worthy one. It is worth owning.
"Monster Trucks"
This review was a double. Kal Kat reviewed it with James Kurtz of the church group. A movie perfect for preteen boys into monsters and trucks, with a cast of all too aged alleged teenager adults. The lead is a guy who finds that a monster that eats oil has become the engine of his truck through some gear head logic, and will make him a hero. The monster though wants to rescue his family from the evil oil men who want to destroy their habitat. It's a fine movie, if nota little silly, and is worth a rental.
"Split"
M Night Shalayaman returns to form in this follow up to Unbreakable where a manic multiple personality man kidnaps young women to invoke his inner Beast, and a head shrink attempts to find out what he's hiding. The first truly scary movie of 2017 and recommended to own, as it is actually worth it. The review on the web site is also quite hilariously dark.
"Resident Evil The Series"
Based on the zombie fighting game Bioshock and Resident Evil, it's the whole series in a review. With the completion of the Alice series, the action zombie fighting series comes to an end with Alice fighting the final boss, which is about time, in the main lair. She is aided by the queen, who for some reason is retconned into someone else. They are all pretty silly, but not boring, and are worth renting The final one is kind of confusing, but okay.
"La La Land"
A review also seen with others, La La Land is an Oscar bait movie that by accident nearly won best picture. It is about old Hollywood in the time of the great films, but done in modern times for Millennial couples, with a pretty pair of leads. They are not Astaire and Rogers, but they do okay. Gosling is no Kelly either. Stone is no Gracie. At least she hands in an Oscar worthy performance playing a misanthrope. It is worth owning, but if you prefer, a rental now and then. It had great set pieces though. Oddly, a white guy explaining Jazz is like a while guy explaining Soul, but okay, whatever. Just go with it.
"The Lego Batman Movie"
This is one of the most fun Batman adaptations ever, and a terrific nod to a genre, and dc love letter. It is the move DC should make as a live action flick. They won't though. This is a must buy. It stars a cast of Batman heroes and villains threatening to use Superman's back story phantom zone to destroy Gotham, which sounds scary, but it's a kids movie, so it's not. It's just a lot of fun.
"The Great Wall"
Reverse white washing happens when a white hero lead is cast in a mythical story of China where they use the Wall to stop dinosaur like Mongol things from destroying the city. The story has no right to make sense, but tends to be fun and entertaining even though it is so bizarre. It is like an old Kung Fu movie meets an old WW1 movie with a little Godzilla.
"Rock Dog"
This bizarre roadie movie about a male dog guard who fails at guarding his village and discovers his true calling might be music via a guitar and a radio, is one of the oddest ideas for a movie. It isn't a good movie, but isn't horrible. it does have an evil corporate wolf mob led by a comedian, and a stuck up jerky Ozzy like dog singer down on his luck, who exploits the new dog in town. It should really not be that much fun, but there are some scenes that work. The problem is a lot of it fails. It's like a string is out of tune on this one, or two.
"Logan"
The Old Man Wolverine story is put to film as a western redemption tale, done with an R rating, and is one of the finest X Men movies every made. Thus far, this movie is Oscar worthy for 2017. Stewart and Jackman are spot on perfect. This movie is dark, brooding, cowboys and bad guys, action packed fun. It is dark though. The future Wolverine must get Professor X out of town when a band of bad guys comes looking for a lost girl, who turns out can handle herself because she is also a mutant, who happens to be a 'daughter' of Wolverine. They go on the run and wreck some stuff, but it's deeper than the usual fare, and as good as Deadpool from last year. Own in.
"Beauty and the Beast"
This 2017 live action remake of the 1991 Disney movie strikes all the right notes, even if lead Watson is not the original actress, and the person they have singing the main song is no Celine Dion, but that's okay. The other characters are all better and elevate Belle's just okay performance by being in the mood and having so much fun. Gaston and LaFou are perfect. The Beast is good too. Watson is not usually stale in acting roles. This was odd. It likely was not necessary to do this live action remake.
"Kong Skull Island"
In this 1970s set story, a prequel to the Godzilla film from a few years back, in a way, a Vietnam era group is sent to Skull Island to find Kong, and oh do they! Well it's one heck of an action film, and the story wavers from your typical Vietnam war movie to your bizarre fantasy with giant monsters, giant ape, and crazy humans, and a lot of gunfire. It is a lot of fun as an action picture with some surprise stars cast in it.
"Saban's Power Rangers"
It is Morphin Time again, as the third theatrical Power Rangers film is back, with a kind of origin reboot. After a dozen seasons spread out over most of the 1990s and 2000s, with Saban and Disney, and now Saban again, this one seems more of a nod to the later darker ones. Five teens discoverey = the super powered space vessel of Zordon as the evil Rite Repulsa is pulled from the sea, and threatens Angel Grove once more. The five must work together to learn to be Power Rangers, if their attitudes don't derail that The buildup is actually decent and doesn't become boring. The final boss fight is kind of silly, and the Megazord is ugly, but the story works. It is odd that product placement is so obvious in the film though. Krispy Kreme must have paid them a lot.
"Life"
In the future, a Mars probe is brought aboard the space station in Earth orbit, but an alien life form begins to grow and to take out the crew. It's a decent horror movie nod, and a space movie.
"Ghost in the Shell"
This overdone 2017 live action remake of a classic anime from the 1990s white washes the lead but makes everyone else properly Japanese. Still it is not a bad adaptation, tends to copy the dubbed cartoon, and is true to some of the source material. The Major is a cyborg in a future Kong Kong sent to stop a syndicate of evil guys, and a hacker puppet master who seems to be playing both sides.It seems socially relevant today at the adolescence of the information age. Worth a rental.
"Fate and the Furious"
The Fast and Furious is the Grand Theft Auto of movies. In this installment it is number 8, they battle the Cypher, a super hacker. This flick seems like they did this plot before, as one of the fast talking gear-heads turns rogue and the gang has to take him down and bring him in. It might be worth owning if you have the other seven. It does have some interesting stars, and a guest star villain chewing scenery. It also has plenty of things blowing up.
"Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2"
Kat reviewed the sequel to Guardiands of the Galaxy just recently. It is still in theaters. Cards saw it later. They both liked it a lot, and it is as good as the first. Star Lord finds his Father, but he is not what hae seems. The antics continue as the MCU leads toward an epic showdown, but first, the Guardians must battle a stuck up band of golden people, and a living planet!
"Jesus, Bro!"
Walkaway, Stoned Gremlins and Chnnel Awesome created a fun and snark filled spoof of bad Christian films in this online fan film also for DVD. The film is included here because it was a film. In the story, an atheist vlogger has a near death experience after a drink, and imagines he has met Santa Christ, and later, the Devil. He must turn people to Jesus orlose his vlog, or his girlfriend. This is a high satire and a lowbrow nod to bad videos. It is well done, well acted, and is suprisingly on point.
