Motor City

Set in 1970s Detroit, the film follows a man framed by a gangster for loving his girl, who returns from prison for revenge, featuring intense, stylized action.

I had no idea that this movie had next to zero dialogue going in.  That threw me for a bit of a loop but honestly - it kind of worked.   It was all body language, facial expressions and action and the three main cast members were all really good at expressing that.  

I would surprisingly recommend this movie to people.   It was a great action movie / revenge story with the weird hook of minimal dialogue.

Young Washington

Young Washington tracks an ambitious, 22-year-old George Washington (William Franklyn-Miller) in the mid-1750s. Denied a royal commission in the British Army due to his colonial background, he secures a role in the Virginia Militia through his half-brother Lawrence.  Tasked with surveying the Ohio territory, Washington confronts encroaching French forces. His early military miscalculations lead to harsh frontier defeats—including the Battle of Fort Necessity—which spark a wider global conflict. Guided by the counsel of his mother, Mary Ball Washington (Mary-Louise Parker), and mentors like Lord Fairfax (Kelsey Grammer), the young officer must learn from his heavy losses, overcome immense odds, and find the resilience required to forge a new American identity.

This was a decent idea and effort for a historical biopic.  That's just not really my thing so my interest in this while watching was always kind of eh.   I thought it was going to be more mailed in than it was so that was a bonus that they were definitely taking themselves seriously with zero known actors and what not.   

I would recommend this to history buffs so they could either enjoy it or point out and analyze what was accurate and what wasn't but I really wouldn't recommend it outside of that.  It's not a must see by any means even though it was a decent overall watch.

The Odyssey

The Odyssey follows veteran warrior Odysseus on his grueling journey home from the Trojan War.  Facing mythical monsters and divine wrath, he struggles to return to his kingdom, where his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland) fight to save their home from ruthless suitors.

This movie was amazing on every level.   The acting from an incredible and massive cast.   The telling of two stories and bringing them together.   The set pieces and chapters of action.   And most of all the filmmaking of Christopher Nolan using no CGI in a movie that could have called for it throughout and made it much easier.   It really made the movie that much more genuine.   Did it need to be 3 hours long?   Of course not.   It could have been 15-20 minutes shorter but honestly I didn't care because it was a truly excellent movie.

I would definitely recommend people checking this out.  It is filmmaking at its finest and really establishes Nolan as the second coming of Spielberg in my lifetime.

Moana

In Disney's live-action reimagining of the beloved animated adventure, Moana (Catherine Lagaʻaia) answers the Ocean's call and, for the first time, voyages beyond the barrier reef of her island of Motunui. Accompanied by the infamous demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson), she undertakes an unforgettable, action-packed voyage to recover the heart of Te Fiti, restore the prosperity of her community, and fulfill her ancestors' quest to become a master wayfinder.

This is by far Disney's biggest money grab of a live action remake.   First off - the original only came out 10 years ago and just had an animated sequel last year.   It is waaaaaaaaaay too soon to do the live action version of this and I can't help but think it was The Rock's ego needing to play the live action Maui that got this fast tracked like it was.   And then for the movie to be a carbon copy of the animated version that feels like it just came out makes it even more pointless.   But worst of all is that going from an animated movie to live action but still using so much CGI instead of all the location stuff feeling genuine at least makes it such a rip off.

I honestly wouldn't bother recommending this to people.  Just rewatch the original animated version that is much better in every way.

The Invite

Joe and Angela's marriage is on thin ice. When they invite their enigmatic upstairs neighbors for an evening dinner party to address the loud noises coming from their apartment, the night quickly spirals into unexpected places. What begins as a polite gesture turns into a hilarious puree of confessions, flirtations, and relationship revelations that forces both couples to confront uncomfortable truths about love, fidelity, and intimacy.

A very random and simple movies about two couples having dinner.   The chemistry between all of them felt very genuine and there were a ton of laughs coming out of the judging commentary like script.  The movie eventually got serious which knocked it down a bit because of how funny it was for a while but it still kept the genuine feeling of the couples and their relationships going.

I would recommend people checking this out.   It's a fun little watch that all seems very real.

Evil Dead Burn

After the tragic loss of her abusive husband, Alice seeks refuge and closure by joining her American in-laws for a post-funeral gathering at a dilapidated family home. Hidden away in the house is a collection of macabre occult books and artifacts left behind by the family patriarch.  When a dark, residual evil is inadvertently unleashed, the relatives transform into bloodthirsty Deadites one by one. Turning a routine family reunion into a nightmare from hell, Alice must fight the forces of darkness and gain the courage to survive until dawn.

This is quite honestly just more of the same.   Gruesome over the top violence.   The jump scares are pretty much gone at this point of the franchise and it's just the gore.   And this movie supplied plenty of it.   Even towards animals which I hate seeing.   So that was one of several times that I looked away because of how nasty it honestly got at times.   

If you are a fan of the franchise there is no reason for you not to watch this.  If you are not then there is also absolutely no reason to start now.

Minions & Monsters

The creators of Despicable Me expand their universe with this tale of the Minions, who, while attempting to make a 1920s Hollywood movie, accidentally summon real monsters using a stolen spell book. The yellow crew must now stop the resulting chaos and save the world.

I'm not really looking for something fresh or new with the Minions movies.  You either love the or you don't.   I happen to massively love and enjoy them so I figured I would like this movie regardless.  What I wasn't expecting was a very interesting storyline about making movies that made this movie better than the other Minion prequel movies.   That was an incredibly pleasant surprise.

I would definitely recommend people checking this movie out.   It's easily the best of the Minions prequels and might be only second in the whole Despicable Me universe after the original Despicable Me.   I was shocked and how the making a movie in the 1920s bit provided such an extra spark for the movie.