The Last Full Measure

Based on the true story of a present-day cover-up investigation, "The Last Full Measure" follows young Pentagon investigator Scott Huffman (Stan) as he battles the political machine in Washington. He reluctantly teams with veterans of Operation Abilene to convince Congress to award the Medal of Honor to a courageous Air Force medic, William Pitsenbarger, who is seen saving the lives of over 60 Marines ambushed in one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War. As the battle waged on, and after the last helicopter left, he continued to save lives until his own was sacrificed.

This movie felt more like a documentary.  I'm not saying it was a bad movie.  It was a decent movie if you are into history/politics but outside of that its just there.  There is no big story or hook.  It's one of those movies that are just telling you about this thing that happened.  

I wouldn't really recommend anyone rushing to see this or paying money for it.  You can just catch it whenever its on tv or something.  It's not a bad movie but its really just kind of there.  I'm actually pretty surprised this even got a wide theatrical release.

The Turning

Based on Henry James’s famous novella "The Turn of the Screw." For more than 100 years, a deeply haunting tale has been passed down to terrify audiences. "The Turning" takes us to a mysterious estate in the Maine countryside, where newly appointed nanny Kate is charged with the care of two disturbed orphans, Flora and Miles. Quickly though, she discovers that both the children and the house are harboring dark secrets and things may not be as they appear.

This is literally just another lame January PG-13 horror movie.  I was never scared.  I was never hooked to the story.  It was just there and something I watched for 90 minutes.  I hate that 3-4 of these come out every January and I always am left disappointed because they manage to make the trailer look somewhat decent.

I wouldn't recommend anyone bothering with this.  It's just there and 90 minutes of your life that you can't get back.

Bad Boys For Life

The new installment centers on the Miami PD and its elite AMMO team’s attempt to take down Armando Armas (Jacob Scipio), head of a drug cartel. Armando is a cold-blooded killer with a vicious, taunting nature. He is committed to the work of the cartel and is dispatched by his mother to kill Mike Lowery.

This is honestly one of my favorite and most enjoyable movie franchises ever.  Loved the first movie and have seen it a million times.  The second one is probably one of my favorite sequels ever and I've probably watched it even more.  This one did not disappoint at all especially considering how much time had gone by between movies.  The chemistry was still off the charts.  The action was awesome.  The laughs were huge.  And they gave so many shoutouts to classic moments from the previous two movies that made it even better.  I was super psyched for this movie and it did not disappoint at all.

I would absolutely recommend people checking this movie out.  This is the type of movie that made me fall in love with going to theaters in the first place.  Just an awesome ride.

Dolittle

Robert Downey Jr. brings a signature new take on a very particular genius in the Untitled Doctor Dolittle Project, a sweeping adventure directed by Academy Award winner Stephen Gaghan and based on the enduring tales imagined by Hugh Lofting.

I couldn't even make it through this whole movie.  What was the idea?  Just a bunch of voices and throw Robert Downey in there and it would work?  Because they were wrong.  This movie was so mailed in and came across as a 100% money grab.  Very disappointing.

I wouldn't really recommend anyone bothering with this.  It's really just a waste of time and had no substance whatsoever.

Like A Boss

Best friends Mia and Mel (Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrne) are living their best lives running their own cosmetics company they’ve built from the ground up. Unfortunately, they’re in over their heads financially, and the prospect of a big buyout offer from a notorious titan of the cosmetics industry Claire Luna (Salma Hayek) proves too tempting to pass up, putting Mel and Mia’s lifelong friendship in jeopardy. The beauty business is about to get ugly. LIKE A BOSS also stars Billy Porter, Jennifer Coolidge, Ari Graynor, Natasha Rothwell, Jessica St. Clair and Karan Soni.

Another January release that is exactly what you thought it would be.  But it followed the most important rule of simple comedies - they kept in short.  It wasn't even 90 minutes long so didn't run the simple plot and laughs into the ground.  There were some decent laughs and was watchable for what it was.

I wouldn't recommend anyone rushing out to see this.  It's not a must see by any means but it is short enough and had enough laughs to make me able to be okay with it.

Underwater

A crew of underwater researchers must scramble to safety after an earthquake devastates their subterranean laboratory.

This movie is exactly what you would think it was from the trailer.  It's a wannabe Aliens - deep underwater with a horribly miscast lead in Kristen Stewart.  There are so many actress options in Hollywood and I will never understand why they keep trying to force her as a leading actress.  She very much is not.  And most of the "alien" moments in this were too dark or shaky camera work anyway.

I wouldn't recommend anyone bothering with this.  It's a just there movie that really leaves you unimpressed.

The Gentlemen

The Gentlemen (formerly titled Toff Guys) follows American expat Mickey Pearson (McConaughey) who built a highly profitable marijuana empire in London. When word gets out that he’s looking to cash out of the business forever it triggers plots, schemes, bribery and blackmail in an attempt to steal his domain out from under him.

If you are a fan of textbook Guy Ritchie movies - this movie will absolutely not disappoint.  It had the quick and witty banter.  It had a ton of side characters that were equal parts entertaining and intriguing.  And the intensity of it all just keep escalating throughout giving you a fun - although sometimes crazy - play out and ending.

I would definitely recommend people watching this.  I've been a fan of most of his movies and this is pretty much more of the same with a really awesome cast.

The Informer

Written by Matt Cook (Patriots Day) based on the novel “Three Seconds” by Roslund/Hellström, the film follows an ex-special forces agent and convicted felon (Kinnaman) as he works undercover with the FBI to bring down a Polish drug syndicate in New York to earn a fresh start at life. However, when he’s asked to go back to prison by the mob boss and his corrupt FBI handlers, he must fight for his life as a drug deal goes wrong and his handlers consider outing him as the mole.

I just assumed that this was your textbook straight to bluray kind of movie and was very pleasantly surprised.  This movie had a really good and pretty intense storyline and a lot of great performances.  I really enjoyed this movie a million more times than I thought I would.

I would actually recommend people checking this bad boy out.  This was a very enjoyable watch.

The Grudge

Director Nicolas Pesce ("Eyes of My Mother," "Piercing") is reimagining "The Grudge" with a new adaptation of the blockbuster supernatural thriller -- titled "Grudge" -- which he will direct for Ghost House and Good Universe.

First of all - I feel as if any sort of reboots should have a minimum amount of time before they are done.  Like there were three different guys playing Spider-Man in the same decade.  That is nonsense.  And don't get me started on all things Batman that are not connected to Christopher Nolan.  But at least in those cases - they were attempts at rebooting an excellent franchise.  But The Grudge?  I fell like I just saw this movie and the sequels were garbage.  Was there a need for this to be rebooted?  Who exactly was eager for this?  And the movie was beyond lamer than the original.  Why is with the making of reboots and having them actually be noticeably lesser than the original?  I'm looking at you Child's Play.  Anywho - this movie was garbage.

I wouldn't recommend anyone bothering with this movie.  It was total trash and a waste of time.

The Ten Best Movies Of 2019

Honorable Mention - Netflix movies
I don't blog about Netflix movies but I'm starting to think that I have to.  If I did - The Irishman and Marriage Story would absolutely be on the top 10 list.  I have no doubt that both of them will be scoring major awards in the next couple of months and rightfully so.

10 - Knives Out
Way to redeem yourself, Rian Johnson.  This movie was so much fun to watch, had a great cast and played out so entertainingly that it managed to squeeze itself on to the list.

9 - Us
Nowhere near as good as Get Out but still a great showing for Jordan Peele who has pretty much become a must see director and not just a flash in the pan.

8 - Good Boys
Easily the funniest movie of the year for me.  This movie had me crying from laughing so many times.  I still get giggle fits thinking about the one kid from the movie randomly screaming.

7 - The Art Of Racing In The Rain
Massive and blatant heartstring pulling movie but I still absolutely loved it.  Any person who has had a pet that they loved more than anything in the world will love this movie.

6 - Toy Story 4
I was very skeptical about this movie because I thought that Toy Story 3 was the greatest finale for this franchise.  But this movie was very enjoyable and it introduced Forky who might actually end up being my favorite character in the whole franchise now.

5 - A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood
I really can't explain why this movie connected with me so much but it just did.  I thought Tom Hanks did an amazing job and I loved how it was like Mr Rogers for adults.

4 - The Peanut Butter Falcon
Another movie that I really can't explain why this movie sucked me in so much.  I was glued to this one and loved the chemistry between the two leads.  Taking away emotional connections to other movies - this would have actually been the best movie of the year for me.

3 -How To Train Your Dragon: Hidden World
Few movies have connected with me on a heavier level than the How To Train Your Dragon ones.  Toothless is seemingly a cartoon version of my cat J.  I cried my eyes out so many times in this movie.  The story was beautiful.  The animation was beautiful.  It was an absolutely perfect ending.

2 - Parasite
Holy crap!  Never thought I could watch a North Korean movie with subtitles and be so mind blown by it and so into it like I was with this movie.  This was absolutely amazing on so many levels.  I loved it as one type of movie and then the last 20 minutes or so had me yelling WTF over and over again.  Stunned!

1 - Avengers: Endgame
Kind of laughed that this ended up being my favorite movie of the year.  Was it the best Marvel movie?  No.  Was it the best Avengers movie?  No.  But was it an amazing ending to the most amazing overall storytelling I have ever seen in cinema spanning 10 years and 22 movies?  100000000000% yes.  And for that it earned this spot.  I don't know that we can ever see something on such a massive scale and be so exceptional in every way like this ever again. 

The Ten Worst Movies of 2019

Dishonorable Mention - Ma
Had to include this for my best friend.  But let's be honest - how in the blue hell are multiple academy award winners in a movie this basic/stupid?  This was an ID channel movie.

10 - The Lighthouse
This is one of those movies that I never understand.  Every critic raves about it artistically blah blah blah but I couldn't possibly find a single person that actually saw it and would say the same thing.  The public had a universal what the hell is this reaction just like me.

9 - Black Christmas
Easily the most unscary movie of the year.  I hate "horror" movies with no horror.  There are always a couple of spots on my Bottom 10 that seem reserved for this.

8 - Charlie's Angels
One of two completely not needed and utterly craptastic reboots on this years list.  Who wanted this?  And if they did - your main star is Kristen Stewart!?!   Would love to be have footage of the thought process for this one.

7 - Playmobil: The Movie
A massively lame attempt at cashing in on the pull of the Lego Movies.  However, there was effort and humor put into those for kids and adults.  This was just a horrible money grab for families this year.

6 - Child's Play
The second reboot to make the list.  How in the blue hell do you make a movie about a killer doll 20 years later and make everything special effects about the doll actually look worse?  This movie was just plain awful.  Like I was getting annoyed watch it.  And for the record - I loved the original Child's Play.

5 - Stuber
How in the blue hell is this an actual movie?  This was like a slapstick, stupid 90 minute ad for Uber.  Better question - HOW IN THE BLUE HELL WAS THIS A WIDE RELEASE IN THE SUMMER!?!  If that doesn't speak volumes about how bad this year was for movies then I don't know what does.

4 - Serenity
Much like Ma - how do you have this cast and produce a movie this bad.  This is actually a theme for this year as we still have another one for me to rant this same thing about.  But this movie was a massive snoozefest with literally no suspense.  I pretty much stared at my watch the whole time.

3 - Little
This is a very tired story from back in the 80s and 90s.  Some were good (Vice Versa is still one of the funniest movies ever) but the story kind of ran itself into the ground.  I thought that maybe this one would be decent since enough time had gone by.  After not laughing once in the first 45 minutes I pulled the plug on this and left.

2 - Cats
I legit watched this movie with a WTF face on from beginning to end.  What was the plan here?  How in the blue hell did anyone think this was a good idea?  Why have them all made into cats but keep their human hands?  How did this cast and this director come together and actually spend months filming this and nobody questioned how NOT GOOD of an idea this was?   Only one thing could prevent this from having a stranglehold on worst movie of the year . . . . . . . . .

1 - Midsommar
What in the actual f was this movie!?!?!  How in the actual f is it showing up on a ton of top 10 movie list for critics!?!?!   This movie was downright brutal.  It was like 7 hours long.  You kept hoping that it would get better but it never did.  Not only that - but they just kept escalating the absurdity that my friend had to physically stop me from running out of the theater.  This was beyond rough and will be a personal punchline for us for years.