The Lost City of Z is a biographical film about the explorer Percy Fawcett. I don’t know how accurate the movie is, but it showcases Charlie Hunnam brilliantly. Though he is still playing the same kind of “tough guy” as seen in his Sons of Anarchy days, Percy is a dynamic character and Hunnam is fantastic here. The movie tells of Percy’s several forays into the Amazonian jungle, first as a cartographer and surveyor for England, and later on his own explorations, searching for a fabled “lost city”, or his version of El Dorado. The film has an almost old-timey “journey to the center of the earth” kind of feel, with Percy finding clues here and there but never finding his goal, though it is more of a drama-driven movie than an action flick. The movie ends just as Percy’s real life did, shrowded in mystery. A good film.

As You Are is a very low budget, independent film, written and directed by young filmmaker Miles Joris-Peyrafitte. The title references the famous Nirvana song, and the film is a look at a group of 3 teenage friends trying to survive the early 90’s. Jack and Mark are forced together when their single parents start dating each other. They two young men become close quickly. Jack hides his homosexuality from everyone, as many high-schoolers were doing in the early 90’s, but he opens up to Mark, who responds in kind. However, they drift apart a bit when their parents break up, and each end up dating the same girl, fellow friend Sarah. This film has a nice premise, but ultimately the shifts in dialogue and choppy editing take away from overall performance. The two leads are very good for young actors. Fellow children of the 90’s like myself might fight enough to wax nostalgic about.

A United Kingdom is another biographical drama, this one telling the story of Seretse Khama and his wife Ruth, a black man and heir to the throne of the kingdom in southern Africa, and a white woman from England. Seretse has been in England getting a proper education before claiming his thrown, where he falls in love with Ruth. This union stirs opposition on both sides. The British are eager to keep that African area as a territory of theirs, and with Apartheid developing just south of them, the black inhabitants want their rulers to be of the same background. There is very strong acting from the leads of David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike, but the story felt bland for me, and didn’t reach the heights that similar movies in the last couple years have.

There are slow movies (which I don’t necessarily mind), there are bad movies (which can be entertaining in their own way), and then their are just slow, dull movies, which are maybe the worst kind. Their Finest isn’t really a bad movie. The acting by the lead (Gemma Aterton) is actually really great, but the movie is just boring. Taking place during World War II, Catrin is brought on board to lend a female voice to a propaganda film team in England, a team that is trying to help boost morale. The movie shows a microcosm of gender relations at home and in the work environment at this time. Should be fairly interesting to history nerds like myself, but after the first hour I found myself browsing my phone while half-heartedly watching the rest of the film. Unfortunately a movie behind the backdrop of a major wear really should be more exciting.

The Zookeeper’s Wife is just OK, and that’s coming from someone that generally likes historical dramas. About the hiding of jews in the Warsaw Zoo by its owners during World War II, this film is fronted by lauded actor Jessica Chastain, who seems to have a knack for finding these kinds of roles. She and her husband take progressively riskier steps in saving more than 300 Jews from Warsaw ghetto. However, the film doesn’t get as engrossing as it probably should have, and I never felt the “edge of the knife” so to speak, as I did for similar story The Book Thief from a couple years ago, though that one is fiction while Zookeeper is based on fact. A good film from the perspective of learning a historical tidbit, but otherwise fairly forgettable unfortunately.

Get Out is a pretty great movie. On the surface it is a fairly simple horror film with an almost absurd premise, but deeper in it is a biting look at how many Americans continue to look at race, despite most of ours ideas of how far we’ve come. Interracial couple Chris and Rose go to meet her parents for the weekend. Chris is worried what they’ll think, but Rose assures him they are not racist and all will be ok. When they arrive, the parents do seem to be very good with the situation, but Chris gets bad vibes immediately. The “help” (groundskeeper and maid) are black and act very weird, almost robotic but with a tense, aggressive feel. Obviously things are not ok, but I’ll let you watch to get the story. This movie opened my eyes too. I saw the white family doing things that I can see in myself and friends of mine, and when it was pointed out as racist in the movie, it was a sharp slap to my senses. Seems I have a long way to go as well.

Before I Fall is a new take on Groundhog Day, but with teenagers instead of adults, and no Bill Murray humor. I’m not often into teenage dramas, but I enjoyed this one. Zoey Deutch is great as Sam, a senior in high school. She is one of the popular ones, and a real bitch to the uncool kids. After a hectic Valentine’s Day at school, which really shows the lines between popular and unpopular at school, and the subsequent party at a friend’s house, Sam and her friends are in a car accident on the way home. Sam wakes up reliving that day over and over again, and finally seeks to be a better person for herself and to those around her. Though you can see the ending coming a mile away, it is still a worthy journey, with tremendous acting in the lead role.

20th Century Women is a coming-of-age art film. And if you didn’t know that, it beats you over the head with that fact every 15 minutes, with slow, singing background music, and black and white stills showing the time period (1979). The movie is about a 15 year old boy (Jamie, played by Lucas Jade Zumann) being raised by his single mom (Annette Bening). Other women influencing him include a 20-something boarding at their house (Greta Gerwing), and his major crush, a somewhat loose girl 2 years older who is his best friend (Elle Fanning), much to Jamie’s chagrin, as he is still a virgin. His mom is a forward thinking woman for her generation, but not prepared for the changing society and feminism pushed by Gerwig’s character. Not a bad film. Bening is incredible, and this is the first time I’ve seen Gerwig play a more demanding role that what she normally does. However, like many other independent films, it constantly tries to remind the viewer how deep it wants to be, when in reality, it is the actors’ strong performances that make this movie.

Elle is a French film starring renowned actress Isabelle Huppert, for which she won a César Award last year (the French equivalent of an Oscar, for which Huppert was also nominated here in the states). She plays Michele, a somewhat cold, detached woman, living alone after her husband has left her for a younger woman. She runs a successful video game company and is very standoffish with her employees, with just a single close friend. The movie begins with her being attacked and raped in her own house, and the film unfolds with Michele continually being harassed by her unknown attacker, via phone messages and continual break-ins to her home. Michele is a brave woman, not letting it deter her, but we find near the end that she is pretty messed up herself, perhaps related to her psychopathic father. Very strong acting from Huppert, and some decent twists (though the most obvious one is readily apparent early in the film). A great movie for foreign film lovers. Poking around online, it looks like this movie was originally intended to be an American film with English-speaking actors, but the violent nature (the film shows rapes after all) caused American A-listers to stay away. I think Huppert ended up being perfect for the role.

The Lego Batman Movie is a followup the wildly successful Lego film a couple years ago, though this one is set entirely inside the Lego world without an “outside” human presence. It sounds more cutesy than it is, and there are actually plenty of laughs for adults as well as kids. Many of the best jokes are probably way over young kids heads, such as cultural references and lots of gags about past batman (and other) films. There are puns galore, and who doesn’t enjoy a good pun? The story involves a lonely Batman who is forced to realize it is important to have friends (and even enemies) in your life for it to have meaning. Well written and well voice-acted, this one is a lot of fun.

I’m a little late in writing this one, as I saw it about a week ago. Time swings by faster than Spidey! (hardy har har)

Unless you aren’t a fan at all, you’ve heard a lot about the background dynamics of this film. Marvel sold the film rights to Spider-Man and his associated characters back in the ’80’s, which have been owned by Sony since at least 2002 when their first Spider-Man (with Tobey Maguire) came out. Sony made 5 films on their own, before coming to an agreement a couple years ago to bring the character back under the Marvel umbrella. It is a bit of a convoluted deal, with Sony still owning the rights, but his character is sort of “on loan” to appear in Marvel’s far-reaching Cinematic Universe, having first appeared in Captain America: Civil War. In Spider-Man: Homecoming, this new version of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man starring Tom Holland, he gets his first full film.

I liked this one. I liked the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield films too, but this one feels fresh, and Holland is the right mix of hero and teenage-driven angst that fills the character out. I also liked that for the first time in a long time, there’s a Marvel MCU film where the character isn’t saving the world. One of the reasons I really dig the Netflix shows in this series, is the heros are making their corner of the city better, but aren’t facing off against the end of mankind. This newest Spider-Man has that same sort of feel.

If you are a fan of the genre, I’m sure you’ve seen this one all ready, and if not, you probably don’t care, so I won’t write up anything about the actual movie. Suffice it to say, it takes Spider-Man in a strong direction for the future. I think the lines will be blurred between “canon” MCU films, like this one, and other Marvel films Sony has planned with their licenses (upcoming Venom) which will not fall in the same timeline. Either way, it is a good start to this reboot.

Lion is a gut-wrenching movie, and doubly so for being based on a true story. Saroo is a young boy in India when he accidentally falls asleep on a train, which takes him over 1000 kilometers away from his village. He’s at that age where he knows his home’s name, but doesn’t know his own last name, and offers little help to those who (mostly half-assedly) try to help him. He is one of the lucky ones though, and is quickly adopted by an Australian couple. He flies there and grows up in a solid and secure middle class family. 20 years later and now an adult, Saroo wants to find his birth mother, to tell her he survived and that a loving family found him and raised him. The two leads of Dev Patel as Saroo and Nicole Kidman as adopting mother Sue are equally captivating, and the film does a spendid job of walking the line of tugging at your emotions without clobbering you with dramatic cliches.

Let’s face it, you don’t generally see a Keanu Reeves movie for the acting. John Wick 2 is a typical Reeves film. He shows us about 2 different dramatic faces (admistering and receiving pain), and all the other characters are as one dimensional as he is. But damn if it isn’t an entertaining romp. As most action movie sequels go, the body count goes up, the ridiculous factor goes up, and it sets itself up for yet another sequel. At this point, sign me up, I’m in.

Okja is (I think?) the second English language film from Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho, following Snowpiercer from a couple years ago. I thoroughly enjoyed Snowpiercer, and this film is a lot like that one in feel and direction. Okja is a giant “super pig”, bred to help feed the overpopulating earth. The pig is raised on a remote farm in Korea by Mija and her grandfather. After 10 years on the farm, the time has come for the pig to head back to its owners for butchering, and Mija cannot let Okja go. With insanely over-the-top characters (Paul Dano as an extremely non-violent extremist, Jake Gyllenhaal as a wacky tv star, Tilda Swinton as the emotionally unstable head of the company), like Snowpiercer this film has the feel of an Asian anime brought to live film. Under all the layers, there is a gripping story, and young Mija and the computer-generated Okja are the stars of the screen.

I really wanted to like Life, as sci-fi space adventure is right up this geek’s alley. The trailer seemed great. Unfortunately the film was a let-down for me. The backdrop is a team on the International Space Station grabs a probe returning from Mars to look for past life in the soil samples. They find not only past life, but a microorganism that has been in hibernation and is brought back to life again. This discovery is celebrated at first, but of course things go wrong when the tiny Martian lashes out at the humans. If it had stayed a tiny bug or parasite, I’d be down, but instead it grew to this flying super-strength Alien-esque monstrosity, that seemed damn near indestructible and more intelligent than our greatest minds. At the same time, these well trained astronauts made some pretty poor, rash decisions in the heat of the moment, that put their whole mission and lives at risk. Far fetched even by sci-fi standards, which ruined what could have been a great film.

Let’s end on a great one though. Logan is the (supposedly final) Wolverine film starring Hugh Jackman. Long the centerpiece of the X-Men movie franchise (17 years strong, for the most part), Jackman’s Wolverine has been through a lot. I don’t think I’m giving anything away when I say this film is the end of it all (it has been billed as such). Set in 2029, Wolverine and Professor Charles Xavier are pretty much all that is left of the mutants on Earth, and we don’t find out why until later in the film. Not sure which timeline this falls in, hard to keep that up unless you are a super fan, but you can set that aside and just enjoy this film. Logan is old and all of his life-long battles are finally catching up with him. He doesn’t heal as fast as he used to, he feels a lot more pain that he used to, and he seems to know he isn’t going to get to ride off into the sunset peacefully. A new government team has been breeding new mutants as weapons, and Logan reluctantly becomes involved to stop them. This is a violent film, rated R and rightfully so. It has gory, glorious action sequences, but it also has something that not every super-hero film does, and that is heart. This is a great one, and a fitting end to Wolverine’s run.

I found La La Land enchanting, but not simply because it is a revival of the musical genre and I’m a nut for the classic musicals. It is just a really good film. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling play a respective struggling actor and jazz musician, trying to make it big in Los Angeles. Mia goes to audition after audition, but rarely even makes call-backs. Sebastian loves the straight ahead jazz of a bygone era and is reluctant to play other types of music which may pay the bills. The two meet, and support each other to continue to reach for their goals, despite what it may do to their relationship. A beautiful film, with stunning scenery, wonderful songs, strong acting, and most importantly, a heartwarming tale, though maybe not one you are expecting. Well worthy of all the awards it received last year.

I went into A Monster Calls not really knowing anything about it, other than it had a decent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Sometimes it is those films that you aren’t expecting anything from which suprise you the most. This is a heart-breaking, yet ultimately uplifting film about a boy, Conor, who is “too old to be a kid and too young to be a man” as the opening describes. His mother is fighting cancer and getting worse instead of better. Conor’s emotions over this ordeal are causing him to variously withdraw and/or lash out. He is visited by a fantastical beast, a living tree called “the monster,” who tells Conor he will tell him 3 tales, after which Conor must tell his own story. As with real life, the stories are complex without clear good and bad guys, which enlightens Conor, and ultimately helps him deal with the very real possibility of losing his mother. The only real fault in the film, and minor at that, is that it hammers home those “ah-ha” moments, so younger viewers won’t miss the true meaning, yet I believe much of the growth Conor makes can only be appreciated by adults. Still, a very fulfilling movie, especialy for those who may have lost someone at a young age.

I found the newest Harry Potter film (and apparently the start of a new franchise) Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them to be fairly ho-hum until the climax in the end. Most of the film is OK I guess, though it seemed like it was purely made for fanboys until the latter stages. A prequel to the Harry Potter films, the outstanding Eddie Redmayne plays Newt Scamander, an English wizard visiting 1920’s New York. He brings with him a magical trunk carrying a host of magical creatures, some of which escape in the city. The American wizard federation blames Newt for the crazy happenings in the area, when in reality something much more sinister is in play. If you can hold your attention through the admittedly slower first half, you’ll be rewarded by a very satisfying denouement. I can’t quite shake the feeling that the movie feels like a cash grab (it made over $850 million worldwide), but it isn’t a bad film.

Hidden Figures is a great movie on its own merit, regardless the racial element it brings to the table. I had a good friend downplay the film (without having seen it), saying there were many people behind the scenes during the space missions, so why single out these 3 women just because of the color of their skin. The obvious answer of course is these three had to work that much harder to have their voices heard. Telling the true story of three women (Katherine G Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson) working at NASA during the “space race” with Russia to put a man in space, this is a strong film for both its acting and story. With plenty of dramatic liberties taken, it isn’t entirely accurate, but it is still a wonderful film. You can’t help but root for them, and the team as a whole, to be successful at putting John Glenn in space.

Blah blah blah. That’s the first thing I think about 3 Generations. It is one of those movies with great subject matter (let’s be honest, Oscar-worthy subject matter), and the filmmakers know it. Know it so well, that they repeatedly ram it down our throats. It stars Elle Fanning as transitioning teenager Ray (born a girl but feeling like a boy all of his life), with a single mom and a lesbian grandmother. Unfortunately the dramatic moments are pushed so incredibly hard, and it would be nice to let the viewer breathe a little. The comedic respites just make the film feel choppy. The framework of the movie is good, but strong acting by all involved can’t hide poor directing and so-so dialogue.

Put me squarely in the camp of (possibly few?) people that really enjoyed Alien Covenant. The sequel-to-the-prequel that came out a few years ago, this new film bridges a bit of the gap that comes between Prometheus and the original 1979 Alien film that started it all.

Set about 10 years after Prometheus, the ship Covenant is carrying 2000 sleeping humans, enroute for a new start on the remote planet of Origae-6. A space shock wave wakes up the crew of 15, who repair the ship, and decide to explore a nearby planet which may be able to support life, saving 7 years off their trip. Upon landing, they quickly come in contact with the Alien virus, brought to this planet by Prometheus survivor David after the events of the last film. David claims to be barely getting by on the planet alone, after Shaw was killed in the crash and the Alien virus killed all the local inhabitants. Obviously there is more going on here, and what is left of the crew quickly realize they need to get off the planet as soon as they can.

This movie brings back a lot of the creepy, tense, and suspenseful feel of the first 2 Alien films. Though the ending is predictable, it is no less exhilirating. I hope the franchise continues on for at least another film or two, so we can see where the story goes and how it concludes.

Kate Winslet is a great actress, unfortunately her talents are wasted in The Dressmaker. This film can’t decide what kind of movie it wants to be, at various times a quicky comedy and at others a fairly serious drama. Kate’s character, Tilly, moves back to the backwater Australian town where she grew up. The inhabitants are all a bit off the rocker, including her mom Molly who seems to be the craziest. We learn that Tilly was sent away as a girl for having killed a boy, but she doesn’t remember doing it, and knows something else was up. She spends the movie trying to get the town to like her again, trying to bring her mom back from the edge, and trying to unravel the mystery of her past. Parts of the film were fun in a Wes Anderson-like style, others just a little too far out there. Kate’s performance is great as always.

Talk about a snooze fest. In French film Things to Come, literally nothing happens. It is the “story” of a woman for whom life hits a bunch of snags, but without an overarching plot, it might as well have been reality tv. Nathalie (renowned actress Isabelle Huppert) seems to have it all as a philosphy teacher who writes her own highly regarded textbooks, with a successful husband and two well-rounded adult children. In short order though, her mentally ill mother gets worse and then dies, her husband leaves her for a younger woman, and her books, while highly thought of in inner circles, are changed and later cancelled due to slumping sales. Unfortunately there is no “aha” moment at the end. Nathalie may finally accept her new life, but the viewer just wonders why they wasted 2 hours.

Split as a film is really just so-so, and isn’t the return to force for M Night Shyamalan that you may have heard. However, it is worth seeing for James McAvoy’s performace. In it, three teenage girls are kidnapped by Kevin, who we quickly learn houses 23 distinct personalities in his head. The film is mostly about the disease he carries around with him, with each “person” vying for control of the body they share. The “thrilling” scenes unfortunately follow the same pattern as every Shyamalan movie to date, right down to some of the same camera angles, but McAvoy is brilliant. The changes in his face, demeanor, and body language come in rapid succession towards the end of the film as the battle inside him rages. I was a McAvoy fan before this, but Split really shows off his skill.

I’m sure Paterson is brilliant. All the critics say it is brilliant, and it is highly rated among average film watchers as well, but it isn’t a very accessible film. Paterson is both a man and the city in which he lives. He is a city bus driver, but more important than all, he is a poet. He finds poetry all around him in his mundane, day-to-day life, and writes it all down in the notebook he carries with him. His life seems very dull except for his vibrant wife, who encourages Paterson’s writing, and he in turns indulges her eccentricities. That is this film in a nutshell. No big plot, nothing really happens, the movie is just a week in this man’s life. If you sit back and watch it comfortably, taking it all in in the same way Paterson takes in his day-to-day’s, its impact will warm and encompass you, but you’ve got to be in the mood for contemplation to really get the most from it.

The Founder is one of those well-directed, well-written, well-acted historical dramas that feels more like a documentary than a movie. The story of the beginning of the McDonald’s chain and focusing on businessman Ray Kroc (played by Michael Keaton), it shows how Kroc took the original McDonald brothers’ idea and turned it into an international success. It’s a good movie, interesting and as I said, well done in all aspects, but it isn’t the kind of film that leaves a lasting impression or one you’d probably want to watch again. Keaton does a great job of playing the ruthless entreprenuer who will do anything to advance the business and his profits, yet still remaining fairly likable to others (and viewers) right up to the very end.