Blog Archives
What I Watched In… July 2017
In the interest of full disclosure (and to generate a little content here) I thought I’d present a regular tally of what movies I managed to see in the previous month. Some of them I’ve written or talked about, most of them I haven’t. This list includes movies I saw for the first time, movies I’ve seen a thousand times, movies I saw in the theater, movies I watched at home, direct-to-DVD, made-for-TV and anything else that qualifies as a movie. I also choose my favorite of the month among those movies I saw for the first time, marked in red. Feel free to discuss or ask about any of them!
July’s favorite of the month is a rare tie. Dunkirk was an excellent war movie. The Big Sick was a romantic comedy that struck me on a remarkably personal level. The two films are so different from one another that I simply couldn’t rank one above the other.
- Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989), C
- Invasion of Astro-Monster aka Godzilla Vs. Monster Zero (1965), B+
- Mothra Vs. Godzilla aka Godzilla Vs. the Thing (1964), B+
- Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975), B-
- Godzilla’s Revenge aka All Monsters Attack (1969), F
- Godzilla Vs. Destoroyah (1995), B-
- Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003), B
- Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964), B+
- Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), B+
- Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001), B
- Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle For Earth aka Godzilla Vs. Mothra (1992), B+
- Despicable Me 2 (2013), B
- Minions (2015), B
- The Secret Life of Pets (2016), B+
- Rodan (1956), B+
- Airplane! (1980), A
- The Lego Batman Movie (2017), A
- Dr. No (1962), B
- Harvey (1950), B+
- From Russia With Love (1963), B
- Doomed! The Untold Story of Roger Corman’s the Fantastic Four (2015), B+
- The Time of Their Lives (1946), B+
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), A-
- Goldfinger (1964), B+
- The Amazing Spider-Man (1977), C
- Sing (2016), B+
- The Car (1977), D
- Thunderball (1965), C
- Return of the Fly (1959), C
- Godzilla 2000 (1999), C
- Father of the Bride (1950), A
- Jaws (1975), A+
- Airplane II: The Sequel (1982), C-
- Bratz (2007), D
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), A-
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), A
- Spider-Man Strikes Back (1978), C-
- You Only Live Twice (1967), B
- T.J. Miller: Meticulously Ridiculous (2017), C-
- Gymkata (1985), F
- War For the Planet of the Apes (2017), B+
- The Big Sick (2017), A+
- Galaxy Quest (1999), A
- Summer Magic (1963), B+
- Spaceballs (1987), B+
- Lifeboat (1944), A-
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), A
- Kong: Skull Island (2017), B
- Dunkirk (2017), A
- Ducktales: Treasure of the Golden Suns (1987), B+
- Ducktales The Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp (1990), B+
- Daffy Duck’s Movie: Fantastic Island (1983), B-
- The Man Called Flintstone (1966), B
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), B-
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011), A-
Looking ahead to 2017…
We’ve got 12 months of movies ahead of us. Now that we’ve looked back at 2016, let’s see what’s coming out this year that’s got me excited…
- The LEGO Batman Movie (Feb. 10). The first LEGO Movie was one of the most unexpected gems of the last few years. The trailers for this first spinoff look to be unfettered fun.
- John Wick Chapter 2 (Feb. 10). Another unexpected hit was the first John Wick movie. I can’t wait for the sequel.
- Logan (March 3). Hugh Jackman’s final turn as Wolverine looks like it’s going to be a much darker, more intense take on the character than we’ve seen before.
- Kong: Skull Island (March 10). With Legendary planning an MCU-style connection between this and their Godzilla franchise, I’m really looking forward to the new take on King Kong.
- Beauty and the Beast (March 17). Disney’s rash of live-action remakes of their classic animated films has been hit or miss for me, but Emma Watson as Belle is perfect casting. I’ve got high hopes for this one.
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (May 5). After a thrilling, joyful first film, I’m hoping director James Gunn can do the same with this one.
- Wonder Woman (June 2). It’s almost a crime that it’s taken this long for there to be a live-action Wonder Woman movie. Gal Gadot stole every scene of Batman V Superman, and I can’t wait to see this one.
- The Mummy (June 9). Universal is hoping to revive its classic monster franchise with (again) an MCU-style shared universe. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it works.
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (July 7). Marvel and Sony coming to an agreement for Spider-Man is the best thing that could have happened for the character. Tom Holland rocked in Captain America: Civil War, and I’m hoping for more of that in this film.
- War For the Planet of the Apes (July 14). The first two films in the new Apes franchise were phenomenal — deep, thoughtful films with mesmerizing performances. I feel very good about this next one.
- Dunkirk (July 21). Christopher Nolan doing a World War I epic. How can you not be excited?
- The Dark Tower (July 28). Stephen King’s self-proclaimed “Magnum Opus” is a work that has a need personal meaning for me. I want this movie to be great. The casting is spot-on, although the information that’s come out so far leaves me wondering exactly what angle they’re intending to take on the material.
- It (Sept. 8). Another Stephen King adaptation. Although not as personal to me, it’s still a great book that had an okay TV adaptation. Can any film truly capture the novel?
- Thor: Ragnarok (Nov. 3). Although the Thor movies gave the MCU its most charismatic villain, they aren’t quite as memorable as the rest of the franchise. This time out, having Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk and Benedict Cumberbatch’s Dr. Strange along for the ride may finally give us a great Thor movie.
- Justice League (Nov. 17). I’ve been waiting for this movie since I was a kid, and the promotional materials have looked fantastic. I can’t wait.
- Star Wars Episode VIII (Dec. 15). Little independent movie. You probably haven’t heard of it.
What I Watched in… January 2014
In the interest of full disclosure (and to generate a little content here) I thought I’d present a regular tally of what movies I managed to see in the previous month. Some of them I’ve written about, most of them I haven’t. This list includes movies I saw for the first time, movies I’ve seen a thousand times, movies I saw in the theater, movies I watched at home, direct-to-DVD, made-for-TV and anything else that qualifies as a movie. Feel free to discuss or ask about any of them!
1. Muppets From Space (1999), B
2. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007), A
3. Bill Cosby: Far From Finished (2013), B+
4. Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966), D; RiffTrax Riff, B
5. The Wizard of Oz (1939), A; RiffTrax Riff, B+
6. Rocketship X-M (1950), D; MST3K Riff, B
7. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), B
8. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013), B
9. Cinderella (1950), A
10. The Pod People (1983), F; MST3K Riff, B+
11. JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time (2014), B+
12. Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1956), B
13. Godzilla Versus the Sea Monster (1966), C; MST3K Riff, B
14. American Hustle (2013), B+
15. Stranded in Space (1973), D-; MST3K Riff, B-
16. Revenge of the Creature (1955), C; MST3K Riff, B-
17. Where the Toys Come From (1984), C-
18. Lincoln (2012), A-
19. 21 & Over (2013), C
20. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013), C
21. Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony (2012), B-
22. Jedi Junkies (2010), B
23. Lovelace (2013), C-
24. Big Trouble in Little China (1986), A-
25. King Kong (1933), A
26. King Kong Vs. Godzilla (1962), B
Reel to Reel 