Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Sony did it. They made an amazing Spider-Man film!!!

We get the origin of Miles Morales. We get Spider-Gwen. We get Spider-Man Noir. We get Spider-Ham. Let me repeat that. We get Spider-frickin-Ham. Sounds crazy, right?

Get this. It works. The story weaves all these crazy characters together and hits some real emotional moments.

Starring: Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry, Lily Tomlin, Luna Lauren Velez, Zoe Kravitz, John Mulaney, Kimiko Glenn, Nicholas Cage, Kathryn Hahn, Liev Schreiber, Chris Pine

Synopsis (from Google): Bitten by a radioactive spider in the subway, Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales suddenly develops mysterious powers that transform him into the one and only Spider-Man. When he meets Peter Parker, he soon realizes that there are many others who share his special, high-flying talents. Miles must now use his newfound skills to battle the evil Kingpin, a hulking madman who can open portals to other universes and pull different versions of Spider-Man into our world.

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Aquaman

Had some misses in the middle. But a good Hero’s Journey. Very King Arthur.

Of the recent batch of Warner Brothers DC movies, it is second only to Wonder Woman. But it does meander some in the middle. I appreciated the way Arthur’s young life is sprinkled throughout the film in small bits.

Aquaman is set after the events of Justice League. There is a mid-credits scene, but it is not needed. It basically tells you what you expect. Remember, if you do not see the body, they are not dead.

Synopsis from IMDB:
Arthur Curry learns that he is the heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, and must step forward to lead his people and be a hero to the world. And prevent war between land and sea.

Starring: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Nicole Kidman, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Temuera Morrison, Ludi Lin

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Overlord

Overlord



Overlord is a good WWII movie. With monsters. You will leave this movie and want to immediately watch Band of Brothers. I like to think of Overlord as its prequel.

Synopsis:

STOP THE UNSTOPPABLE

On the eve of D-Day during World War II, American paratroopers are caught behind enemy lines after their plane crashes on a mission to destroy a German Radio Tower in a small town outside of Normandy. After reaching their target, the paratroopers come to realize that besides fighting off Nazi soldiers, they also must fight against horrifying, bloody, and violent creatures that are a result of a secret Nazi experiment.

Starring: Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, Mathilde Ollivier, Pilou Asbæk, John Magaro, Iain De Caestecker, Jacob Anderson, Dominic Applewhite, Erich Redman

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Halloween, 2018



Halloween 2018 is a sequel to the original Halloween from 1978. The other sequels and remake do not exist in this continuity. They are treated as embellished stories .

Michael, the Shape, is more brutal and violent in this entry. Body count is definitely higher than the original. You get nods aplenty to the original. No pet deaths. The only nudity is a bit of a flashback to Michael killing his sister from the first movie. But no one is safe from Michael. No one.

This movie also gives us a broken, but determined Laurie Strode. Someone dubbed “the new Loomis” who unfortunately does exactly what you expect him to. It is nice seeing 3 generations of Strodes on screen.

The movie does end with the possibility of a sequel in one fashion or another.

Synopsis: Laurie Strode comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.

Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, James Jude Courtney, Nick Castle, Will Patton, Haluk Bilginer, Rhian Rees, Jefferson Hall, Toby Huss, Virginia Gardner, Dylan Arnold, Miles Robbins, Jibrail Nantambu, Omar J. Dorsey

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Venom



Venom is an ok movie. I loved the interactions between the symbiote and Eddie Brock. Whether it was the conversations Eddie would appear to be having by himself as he walked down the street or to the symbiote’s input when Eddie is talking to another person.

The symbiote scenes are CGI. But not terrible CGI. Passable.

Thankfully, they did not try to force a spider symbol on his chest since this version of Venom has no real connection to Spider-Man. Sure Eddie is a West Coast transplant from New York. A former reporter for the Daily Globe (not the Bugle). And one of the astronauts from the beginning is named Jameson, but that is it. At least that I can remember.

The main villain, Carlton Drake, is your typical God-Complex, super rich, megalomaniac.

The plot is nothing to write home about. It gets the job done. It sets up Venom as an anti-hero. I like where the movie ends up. I think a sequel can focus more on the antics of Venom. And needs to not be symbiote-heavy.

Starring: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze, Reid Scott, Jenny Slate

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