2022 May
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Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness:
- fun, trippy and very "comic book" movie
- better if you have seen Wandavision
- don't bring kids, they might get scared
Moon Knight:
- some beautiful shots of varied locations
- great performances
- plot was ok, episode 5 was weird but probably the best one
- ending a bit weak
- probably enjoy it more if you're into the comics
2022 January
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Finally got to watch Eternals since it was already got a streaming release. (Sadly still unable to go out and watch films in the theater.) This film had mixed reviews, and I can see why. For me, the main problem is that the film tries to do too many different things, and doesn't execute any of them particularly well. This is largely an offshoot of having such a large ensemble cast (there are TEN main characters!), each of whom are new to the MCU and thus are in need of backgrounds, personalities and character arcs. The problems are complicated by
2021 August
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THE SUICIDE SQUAD spoiler-free review:
- great, fun, violent, hilarious, possibly best of DCEU so far
- trailers have spoiled waaaay too much of this movie
- first act was ok, second act felt a bit meh, third act was great
- hard to comment on actor performances without spoiling things, but Daniela Melchior was great and Idris Elba took the role seriously
- there is a post-credits scene
Full review on the blog later
2021 April
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A number of people I follow have been raving about Ted Lasso for a while, so I thought I'd give it a try. My thoughts: Season 1 is 10 episodes, each episode 30 minutes long. I finished all of the episodes over the span of one day! I didn't know much coming in: I knew it was about sports, and I knew it was supposedly a comedy. For some reason I assumed it was about American football. It turns out to be about English association football, i.e. soccer! Wikipedia claims the series is a comedy, but it's not a "ha-ha
2021 March
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#WandaVision spoiler-free review: Overall, I really liked it, and I think they did well with the one-episode-per-week format. The show certainly would not have been this hyped if it all came in one drop Really difficult to not spoil. If you have somehow avoid being spoiled by the internet until it all dropped, good for you! A very emotional story of Wanda dealing with the aftermath of Infinity War/Endgame good usage of the sitcom tropes fantastic performance by Elisabeth Olsen lots of fan service for comic book fans to dig into. Maybe too much even; don't overthink or overhype it
2020 March
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(Too late for the theatrical release, but it's tradition for comic book movies, so here we are.) Overall: Totally watchable, maybe slightly better than Suicide Squad for me. Somehow still fits into some kind of DCEU continuity (after Suicide Squad) the movie is really centered around Harley, to the detriment of the other characters. I can understand why they titled it the way they did, and I can appreciate the effort to have Harley carry a Birds of Prey introduction to the masses. But I think it could have worked a lot better titled and marketed strictly as a Harley-centric
2020 January
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#CrisisOnInfiniteEarths spoiler free review: low budget, pacing and writing issues, but idc because all the dc comics fan service kept making me smile
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Quick WITCHER S1 #spoiler-free-review:
- great season, but what a tease
- I like Henry Cavill in this role more than as Superman
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although he plays the titular Witcher, the season's plot largely involves Ciri and Yennefer's origins as well
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I wish I had watched this before playing the Witcher games, it's the great backstory recap I never had
- looking forward to S2!
2019 December
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RISE OF SKYWALKER Spoiler-free review:
- the movie is fine and entertaining to watch
- It's a Star Wars movie, so you pretty much know what to expect, space wizards and space battles and such
- pacing is frantic in the first act, and a bit in the second. Abrams has a lot of things he wants to do and limited time to do it, so things happen in rapid succession
- the third act is basically an ode to Return of the Jedi, as a parallel to The Force Awakens' ode to A New Hope. In fact, there is a lot of fanservice for original trilogy fans sprinkled throughout the movie.
- it is not the best ending I could have imagined for the sequel trilogy, but it is an ending
- there are a few twists and turns in the movie, but because it's Star Wars, you largely know what to expect from the overall plot
- magugustuhan ba ni Mama: The movie is generally family-friendly (outside of the violence), but my mom doesn't like space battles and she would probably be confused by the rapid pace of events and all these characters she's not familiar with, so no.
- I watched in IMAX 3D, but I don't think there was much noticeable 3D, the movie is probably perfectly fine without IMAX
- there is no post-credits scene
- I think I liked The Last Jedi more than this one
I have a bit more spoilery comments posted here.
(Click photos to view full-size)
2019 October
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JOKER spoiler-free review:
- very dark movie, not like any previous superhero movies at all; don't bring your kids
- it is violent and potentially disturbing, but strangely not as much as the hype made it out to be
- Joaquin Phoenix definitely gives a pretty good performance, but IDK about the supposed "Oscar-worthy" hype
- some of the shots feels like the director definitely had a lot of fun bringing this story to life
- I would have liked less connection to the Batman mythos so that this movie is more stand-alone. I mean, it is pretty much stand-alone, but it does remind you where it's set and direct connections to the Mythos exist
- I think a lot of the story and plot elements are handled well, any concerns I have would largely be nitpicking
- No post credits scene
- i didnt watch in imax and don't think it would be relevant
- magugustuhan ba ni mama: sure NO
- Ultimately, I still prefer that Joker's origin story remain undetermined, as it makes him more akin to a natural force of chaos, but I accept this movie as a version that even canon Joker could have told and that might have been believable
- it's definitely a better movie overall than Suicide Squad, Man of Steel or Dawn of Justice or Justice League, but it's also a different completely type of movie, so the comparison is difficult
- I still like Ledger's Joker the best, the character is best opposite Batman
2019 April
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I liked this movie, it had good heart, fun kid-friendly humor, and a strong message about family basically the story of a kid with a messed up life being stupid and trying to be better john glover is here! does he now hold the record for portraying the most number of parents of bald supervillains? that’s not a spoiler right? this movie is kid-friendly, aside from the violence and the occasional swear word there is a mid credits scene and the post credits scene. one is sillier than the other
2019 March
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movie was pretty good, no major issues doesnt follow the typical MCU origin story ‘formula’ some weird pacing issues in a few places, but that just might be because of the chosen story direction lots of little call-outs and tie-ins to the other MCU movies (although I feel like they could have done a bit more in some spots) I am not a cat person. But if you are a cat person, you might like this: there is a cat. There’s some parts that made it obvious they were aiming for that Wonder Woman audience, so the movie may be
2019 January
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BUMBLEBEE Spoiler-Free review!
- attached image summarizes the plot. loljk (credit: Transformers (1985 - Marvel) #2)
- I’m a big Transformers fan, more G1 than Bayverse (I didn’t even watch the last Michael Bay one). If you are like me, you will probably enjoy the film
- if you grew up in the 80s like me, you will enjoy the film a bit more. Props to the 80s soundtrack
- the plot is simple, straightforward and unambitious, unencumbered by any of Bayverse Megatron’s super-complicated plans that he has been plotting for million of years in case he gets stranded on earth
- not having a plethora of autobot and decepticon characters to develop on each side means the transformers are more distinctive and easier to identify, a big problem I had with the later bayverse films
- i didnt understand some scenes where it looked like the characters were talking to some kind of human soldier but I can’t see him?
- foolish humans!
- there is a “mid-credits” scene; I say “mid-credits” because they really only show the director credit before immediately going into the “mid-credits” scene
- magugustuhan ba ni mama: no, she’s not into giant robots. the movie is family-friendly, other than the violent explosions
- after the movie, I went to the CR to pee, and I overheard two kids talking: “Ano pangalan nung autobot na pula? Christopher?” “Cliffjumper!”(Click photos to view full-size)
2018 December
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Into the Spider-Verse spoiler-free review
- this is a great animated comic book movie, it makes me happy
- I may have been a bit overhyped by the early reviews, but it was very entertaining, funny and had brilliant presentation, melding the medium of movies with comic books in a way that has never been seen before
- again, the presentation is fantastic, the animation is great and intentional and the funky alternate universe stuff is represented well
- IDK if I would call it the best comic book movie of all time, or even the best Spider-Man movie of all time, but definitely one of the best animated movies of all time, for a comic book fan (highly specific lol)
- in fact, much respect to the writers who dared to bring this story to life. imagine the challenge of pitching a story idea to Sony about not just one new Spider-man, but several alternate universe versions of them. It’s not exactly comparable to a Disney movie plot after all, but they pulled it off
- between this movie and the PS4 game, I’m happy that Miles is making further inroads into the cultural zeitgeist
- Miles appearance here reminds me of Hey Arnold’s black friend lol
- maybe I would have appreciated the movie a bit more if I was into hip-hop or such
- comic book fans will be happy to know that this movie does *not* follow the actual Spider-Verse comic book arc along with its convoluted background of the inheritors. The plot and the opposition are much more straightforward
- Will Mama like it? Well …like all animated movies, with enough viewings at home by my nieces/nephews, maybe.
- This movie has the best post-credits scene of all time(Click photos to view full-size)
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Aquaman Spoiler-Free review!
- I came in with low expectations (given DC's history), but the movie turned out pretty good, even though it wasn't the best comic book related thing I've seen this week (see previous post)
- it's fun and action-packed, some fun set pieces and action sequences. Lots of CGI (as can be expected)
- the plot is fairly predictable, I've seen similar story arcs for this character more than once, things pretty much happen as you expect
- also the plot kinda feels a bit like black panther, except in reverse? does that make sense?
- the first act felt a bit longish, but not really draggy or anything, it's just that there's a lot of set up to be done
- the director's horror movie background shines through a bit in one of the sequences around the second act
- I had the urge to pee about 1 hour in, but I had to hold it in until the end of the movie, I didn't want to miss stuff. So much water didn't help!
- Arthur's dad looks like a Pinoy lol
- I didn't watch in IMAX3D, but I suspect there's a lot of 3d given the volume of CGI
- there is one mid-credits scene
- I'd say it's family-friendly even though there is quite a bit of bloodshed
- magugustuhan ba ni Mama. Eh, maybe? Not really her type of movie, but maybe if I explain it a bit?
Spider-verse this weekend!
(Click photos to view full-size)
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Arrowverse Elseworlds crossover spoiler-free review!
- if you’re not aware, episode 1 - Flash S05E09, episode 2 - Arrow S07E09, episode 3 - Supergirl S04E09
- I don’t usually review TV show crossovers but TBH I can’t recall any other any TV show crossovers and I just really, really enjoyed this one
- basically a love letter to DC comics fans, a celebration of dc comics/TV/movies from the past four decades, and apparently a prelude of things to come. Non-comicbook fans might not be as happy as me lol
- all three episodes were great (middle episode slightly worse because Arrow lol), I was smiling all the time and apploauding all the references- frankly not everything made sense, but I’ll forgive it (I mean, have you *read* crisis on infinite earths? lol
- bonus: for more zaniness, also watch this week’s Legend’s of Tomorrow, they didn’t want to be outdone!
- I also watched Aquaman today, and that was fine (review later) but I decided to write a review of this crossover first!
- tonight’s reading list (image attached)(Click photos to view full-size)
2018 October
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Daredevil Season 3 spoiler-free review
- This season is amazing. I was planning on watching the season over a period of 3-4 days. Instead I ended up finishing it all in one day, ending at 3 in the morning. The pacing was tight and there was no good place to stop as you always wanted to know what happens next
- The entire cast gave great performances
- Wilson Fisk comes out strong to carry the season, looming over Hell's Kitchen and presenting a sinister, cunning, and apparently unstoppable criminal mastermind
- Wilson Bethel's Ben Poindexter is seemingly unbeatable in combat and gives us some great fight scenes and a fantastic performance
- Ugh, I wish I could write spoilers lol
- I used to consider Daredevil S1 to be the best of the Marvel/Netflix seasons so far; I think I have to crown a new champion
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VENOM spoiler-free review:
- I wasn't sure if I would watch this, given the poor critical response, but it's an ok movie overall, fun to watch but nothing to write home about (though I wouldnt spend extra for Imax). I would say comparable with Thor: Dark World or Iron Man 2
- the first 15 mins or so felt draggy, but after that things happen quickly
- overall plot slightly predictable, and not too long, very straightforward
- a tiny bit of humor thrown in, not enough to make it feel like an MCU movie
- not sure if there's something with the sound editing or some of the actors weren't delivering their lines properly, but I had trouble with understanding the lines in some scenes
- the Venom symbiote seems to have some extra powers here (as compared to the comics)
- Tom Hardy does a good job here, I feel like he was having fun during this movie
- There is a mid-credits scene and a post-credits scene
- Would Mama like it? Hard no.
2018 July
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Ant-Man and the Wasp Spoiler Free Review!
- this movie is great; it's fun and and action-packed and there's even more Luis than you thought you wanted; go watch it
- it's like the first movie, except better and more fun
- best new character: FBI Agent Jimmy Woo played by Randall Park (sorry Michelle Pfeifer)
- there are two mid/post-credit scenes. One of them is better than the other
- I watched in Imax. Some scenes were nice, but it's probably more of a nice-to-have
- Magugustuhan ba ni Mama: Pwede, but kelangan ng kasama to explain things. Baka ok lang pag tagalized na sa tv
2018 May
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Deadpool 2 SPOILER-FREE REVIEW:
- entertaining enough; kind of a popcorn movie. i kinda liked the first movie better
- if you watched the first movie, you kinda know what to expect in terms of tone and humor and all
- dont bring your kids. but if it matters to you, there is significantly less sex in this movie than the first one
- the plot did go in ways i was not expecting
- i did not watch in imax, it seemed fine
- there is a mid credits scene. well, scenes. like five of them strung together
- there is no end credits scene but there is a... small bonus near the end if you pay attention
- would i recommend na panoorin ni mama: definitely not