Alex | Pop Culture Brain
popculturebrain
Joined 2015
83
Movies28
Shows474
Episodes
- The Life of Chuck
Do not let anyone spoil this movie for you Because if you can go in cold, you’re in for an amazing experience I saw The Life of Chuck So here's the good and the bad without spoilers This is a huge cliche, but this movie is literally why we go to the movies To see humanity and the human condition reflected back at us Mike Flanagan, using Stephen King’s source material has delivered The profound, expansive, and magical type of film I am always looking for Simply put, The Life of Chuck Deeply is moving perhaps soul rattling filmmaking When the credits stopped rolling, I could feel my heart pounding Just from the sheer magnitude of it King and Flanagan pull off this magic trick Where the writing affects you in one way in the first half of the movie But then it all grows and deepens after you've taken everything in The meaning and themes unfold and reveal themselves in these resonant circular ripples That just really got me — But that was also because I knew absolutely nothing going in I hadn’t seen a single trailer or even read a logline And that is the best way to see this movie, because the surprises are wonderful The whole cast is really instrumental in pulling this off Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillen, Mia Sara, Mark Hamill, Carl Lumbly But shout ot to Matthew Lillard who really shocked me with his one scene If I had to find flaws, the movie relies a bit heavily on narration Though they've got Nick Offerman doing it, so that's a plus And the pacing felt a tad sluggish in the third act But those are such minor nitpicks For what is easily one of my favorite movies of the year so farThe Life of Chuck - How to Train Your Dragon
How to Train Your Dragon is exactly what we need right now I saw the live action How to Train Your Dragon So here's the good and bad without spoilers Finding the balance when making a live action remake is tough If you change too much or misunderstand the original, you risk alienating the fans But if you don’t bring enough new to the table, you risk boring them How to Train Your Dragon is probably the best case scenario for a remake such as this As it’s very true to the original, carrying over its spectacle and heart But felt fresh and engaging enough to warrant its existence The CGI and the action scenes looked amazing You could tell a lot of time, money, and effort was put into the visuals And they did not disappoint Toothless and the other dragons were especially well rendered And as performances go, Gerard Butler, and Nick Frost were solid But most importantly I'm glad this movie arrived when it did Because its message of de-escalating violence, of turning away from tribalism And finding humanity in the scapegoats you've been told to demonize is pretty important. And there’s a lot to learn from and appreciate in How to Train Your Dragon at this particular moment As for the what didn't work Mason Thames and Nico Parker's acting felt kinda flat to me And the original 2010 dialogue wasn't doing them any favors Also because the script follows the original closely It moves quickly through major reversals and story changes Those beats are easier to swallow in animation But in live action I was left questioning some of the story logic and motivations But the bottom line is this movie is a worthy rehash That's entertaining popcorn fare, worth revisitingHow to Train Your Dragon - Jumanji
Jumanji - Toy Story
Toy Story - Casino
Casino - Se7en
Se7en - Empire Records
Empire Records - The Usual Suspects
The Usual Suspects - Babe
Babe - Clueless
Clueless - Pocahontas
Pocahontas - Braveheart
Braveheart - Friday
Friday - A Goofy Movie
A Goofy Movie - Bad Boys
Bad Boys
