Most Anticipated Movies

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Well....it certainly does what Nintendon't....in that Nintendo seems to be releasing an actual competent Pokemon movie while Sega seems to be setting video game movies back another ten years.

[Avaitor]

Figured I should look over my most anticipated movies from this year, as we're wrapping it up now.

10- Frozen 2- Yes, the hype was annoying. Yes, the first one wasn't that good, and the shorts are meh cashgrabs. Yes, we don't really need a sequel. But I do still like the film, and I'm at least more curious about this than the remakes Disney has planned for this year.

I liked it, didn't love it, same as the first. Just like that one, there are some elements that I really like, but it ultimately feels kind of hollow in comparison to some of Disney's best, even from this period.

9- Toy Story 4- Speaking of a sequel I don't 100% see the need for, but will be there opening day regardless. And it's funny, while the third was my favorite for a while, nowadays I prefer the loving simplicity and charm of the first. I doubt we're going back to this, but it'll be nice to see Bo Peep again I guess.

So I didn't end up seeing this one in theaters, but I did get around to it later. Like Frozen 2, I liked it, but didn't love it, but this time I'd consider it easily the weakest film in the franchise. I just don't buy most of the emotional payoffs here the same way I did for previous Toy Storys, and I'm really hoping that we don't make it to a fifth film. That said, I thought Bo was cool here, and I liked her chemistry with Woody throughout.

8- How to Train Your Dragon 3- A sequel I'm definitely more interested in, although I just know Toothless is going to leave Hiccup, and idk if I'm ready to see that. Still, the first two were as good as Dreamworks gets, and if this is nearly as good as those, I'm stoked.

My favorite animated movie of the year, and a terrific send off to a terrific franchise. I'm already sad to see it lose to Toy Story or Frozen at the Oscars.

7- Missing Link- But this is where my money is currently going animation wise. Laika does it better than anyone else currently in the game, and while this is looking like another Boxtrolls as opposed to a Kubo, there's nothing wrong with a lighter film here and there. Especially if it means this gets to be the one that goes big for them.

So this one didn't go big for them at all, and I kind of get it. The emotional stakes and storytelling aren't as strong as Laika at their best, and it doesn't commit to a broad enough kind of humor to click with a mass audience. This might be my least favorite of theirs, but I do still like it. Susan is a very likable character, and they just continue to top themselves in the animation game with each entry. Let's just hope audiences come to the next one.

6- Us- I'm a little worried about us putting all of our eggs in the basket for Jordan Peele just for Get Out to be a fluke, but this definitely sounds interesting enough for me to come with open arms. Let's do it!

I'm really glad to see Peele didn't prove to be a Chazelle-esq fluke (although his Twilight Zone revival was only so-so, IMO), because this was excellent! And I thought its house at Universal's Halloween Horror Nights was perfect, bringing it to life almost exactly as I imagined it. I'll definitely be around for what he does next.

5- Spider-Man: Far From Home- This is more or less ranked third because of a coin toss, and also because second parts haven't proven to be the MCU's strong suit (Cap's is the closest to an improvement that I can think of, parts of Dark World and Ultron aside). I really liked Homecoming though, and I like the idea of not only Jake Gyllenhaal as Mysterio, but Keaton's Vulture returning. Plus, being the first post-Endgame film is going to make this an essential to see where things go from there.

I was right when I expected this to be a downgrade of a sequel, like most of the MCU's (although besides Winter Soldier, Guardians Vol 2 only seems to get better as time goes by). I did mostly enjoy it, primarily Gyllenhaal's Mysterio and that cameo at the end, but I do wish these Spidey movies were less like Iron Man spin-offs. I'm hoping the next one will fix that, but we'll see.

4- Captain Marvel- I really like the idea of an MCU prequel, the return of Coulson in the movies, and more Fury. Plus Brie Larson looks like a good call as Carol.

I can't say this one was much more than fine. I don't think Larson was the problem, as I generally like her take on Carol, but besides her chemistry with Fury, there wasn't much to this one. Somehow, they made Ronan the Accuser even less interesting than he was in Guardians.

3- Avengers: Endgame- Not sure what else to say here. Let's see Cap, Tony, Thor, Natasha, Bruce, etc die!

A pretty satisfactory ending to one of the most ambitious and exciting experiments in film history. I wouldn't call it the best of these movies, but it went out on a high enough note for nothing else to matter.

2- John Wick Chapter 3- As much as I like the Marvel movies, these movies are where the best action scenes are going nowadays, and will probably be more worth my time in theaters. I regret seeing the first two only on my TV, but I'm not making that mistake here.

In hindsight, I'd call the second film the best balance between action and world building, as this one went a little too far in the latter direction and almost sloshed the pacing. But it did have some A-tier fight scenes, and still keeps me hungry for more of this world. I'm glad that last-minute cliffhanger was tagged on!

1- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood- What can I say, Tarantino still owns my soul. Although I'll grant that Hateful Eight hasn't resonated with me in any conceivable way since it came out, but that doesn't change my hype factor.

Probably my favorite film of the year thus far, but I still have a few more to catch, with Parasite being my biggest blindspot based on my tastes. But it's a damn good (possibly) penultimate film for Tarantino, and you could make a case for basically everyone there making one of their best performances.

I'm not making a most hyped list this year, for a combination of a lack of excitement for 2020's offerings, and for much of anything in general. Even with my usuals, neither of the MCU offerings this year sound all that exciting, which I'm not that surprised, since Endgame was a successful enough finale. I'm also not all that excited for either of Pixar's movies, whose trailers look so-so and the premises aren't all that hot. That said, I've learned to not take Pixar's trailers by face value before, and Soul especially has a high chance of being good, being a Pete Docter project and all. And I am interested in Raya and the Last Dragon, but there's just not enough information to grasp at yet. Which is usual for Disney, so we'll see how things go.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, even as someone who really enjoyed (and still do) Homecoming, Far From Home has only diminished in quality with me over time. I still think it's alright, but as both a Spider-MSN movie and epilogue to Endgame, it's rather safe and boring in it's lack of general creativity. It feels like any other superhero movie, which again, is enjoyable, but after something like Spider-Verse, it kind of comes off as sub-standard.

I won't do a ranking list, but here's all of the movies that I saw released from this year in categories ranging from bad to great:

Vomit-Inducing:
Hellboy
The Curse of La Llorona

Bad:
Aladdin
The Lion King
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
X-Men: Dark Phoenix
Annabelle Comes Home
Brightburn
Child's Play

Meh:
Captain Marvel
Spider-Man: Far From Home
Rocketman
Jumanji: The Next Level
Blinded By The Light
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
Ad Astra
Joker (I feel like I can't say this anywhere else without being attacked for it or treated like I have some extreme political view....I just think it's a mediocre Scorcese-wannabe flick: not terrible, but kind of overrated)

Guilty Pleasure:
Glass
It: Chapter Two
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Crawl
Pokemon: Detective Pikachu

Solid:
Fighting With My Family
Ready or Not
Knives Out
Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark
Ford V. Ferrari
Toy Story 4

Very Good:
Avengers: Endgame
Marriage Story
El Camino
The Irishman
John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum
How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
Us
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Great:
Weathering With You
Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood
Shazam!
Jojo Rabbit
1917
The Lighthouse
Uncut Gems

Favorite of the Year:
Parasite

Still planning on seeing:
Richard Jewell
The King
The Two Popes
Midsommar
The Nightingale
Dark Waters
The Report
Waves
Missing Link

[Avaitor]

We're more or less on the same page with what I've seen. I'd probably put Captain Marvel and Far From Home at solid, maybe also Rocketman depending on my mood, and tbh probably Shazam! as well. I do agree about Joker not being all that, and finding Glass enjoyable, if not necessarily very good.

I haven't seen as many movies as I'd have liked to. I miss MoviePass, and while I considered signing up for the Regal equivalent, but we don't have Regals down here. Luckily, we have CinemaWorld, which has cheap matinees, and I've been able to knock a couple of movies off my list with them, including getting to see The Irishman on the big screen. However, we don't get that many smaller films down here, so I'll need to be back in Orlando for a bunch of them. Or wait for Oscar season. I do plan to watch all of the Best Picture nominees again this year, and after that, I'll end up making my best of list.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Why is Robert Pattinson playing Christopher Nolan?

[Dr. Insomniac]

In lighter but still sad film news, Sylvester Stallone plans to edit out the robot in Rocky IV.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The hype must flow: https://youtu.be/n9xhJrPXop4

I'm biased, of course, but I'm stoked for Villeneuve's take on Frank Herbert's vision.

[Dr. Insomniac]

According to David Chase in this interview for Many Saints of Newark, Tony fucking hates Led Zeppelin.

[Avaitor]

I like how discerning David Chase is about Tony's music taste. Apparently Mountain is one of the few bands both would listen to, for instance.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Chase is an interesting guy, even if it's clear his personality can be very difficult for others. Like that Talking Sopranos interview where they confirmed James Gandolfini wanted nothing to with him late in his life, another said Gandolfini referred to him as "Satan" or "a vampire", or why the only thing Chase's made between Sopranos and Many Saints is a fairly obscure rock band movie called Not Fade Away despite some other old interviews I read indicating he was interested in making more films.

[Dr. Insomniac]

You know, I'm not expecting The Matrix 4 to be a good movie, I appreciated the sequels more as dumb pulpy fun than as a philosophical experience, but I am expecting it to be an interesting one. One of my favorite authors is co-writing the script, and some critics who watched an early screening say it's more akin to the Wachowskis' previous film Cloud Atlas than their other film where Channing Tatum played a dog-man. That said, I loved the trailer. All these cool shots set to Jefferson Airplane, you can tell it's a whole different world from the movies 18 years ago, but still familiar enough through blink and you'll miss it shots.

I do have some nitpicks from the trailer, and the biggest is they don't bother to differentiate Neo's look from John Wick's. Sure, the John Wick directors likely didn't want Keanu to shave for another movie since they'd have to give him an obvious fake beard and wig for their own film, and Lana Wachowski didn't want to CGI the hair off and create another Cavill situation, but they could've found some workaround. Another thing is I hope there's a real good reason for why they recast Morpheus, and it better not be because the video game's canon.

[Mustang]

I don't know how I feel about Matrix 4. It got me intrigued for sure though. Guy at my job thinks it looks stupid. I won't go that far, but like I said, it's got me interested. Might be because I'm just a fan of Keanu to give him the benefit of the doubt.

[GregX]

In the world of making prequels, there's two paths that lead to two doors. Behind one door is "Better Call Saul"; open the other and you get the Star Wars prequels.

I have hope that David Chase, with Many Saints of Newark, is on the correct path to the right door.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Speaking of Sopranos, and since I mentioned Talking Sopranos, I wish Michael Imperioli partnered up with Steven Van Zandt or somebody more willing to engage with the show than Steve Schirripa. The guy always interrupts Michael whenever he attempts to say something astute with another one of his "When I was a bouncer in Vegas..." stories. He's annoying. Almost makes me glad Eric Andre mocked his sauce.

[Dr. Insomniac]

While waiting for No Time To Die to come out, I found a video essay on Quantum of Solace that reveals a lot of subtlety in the film. Too much subtlety, resulting in the viewer required to freeze-frame the film to find out there are actually running gags in the background.