Glass

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Glass serves as a sequel to both Unbreakable and Split, and is effectively the final chapter of M. Night Shyamalan’s Eastrail 177 Trilogy. Following the events of Split, David Dunn (played by Bruce Willis) is hunting Kevin Wendall Crumb a.k.a. The Horde (played by James McAvoy). When they cross paths, both men are captured and institutionalized alongside Elijah Price a.k.a. Mr. Glass (played by Samuel L. Jackson). While the three are institutionalized, they are studied by a a doctor (played by Sarah Paulson). Her goal is to convince them that they are not super powered, like they believe they are. First things first, the performances in this film are excellent all around. The one that I think makes me the happiest is Bruce Willis. In the past several years, the man seems to have stopped caring. So, I’m happy that David Dunn is a character that Willis himself seems invested in. One of the biggest criticisms I have heard levied toward this movie is that there isn’t enough of Glass in this movie. I can certainly understand that criticism, but I personally don’t agree with it. Glass is sort of the mastermind, pulling strings behind the scenes for a lot of the events within the movie. The other criticism I have heard levied heavily against this film is the ending. The ending for this film didn’t bother me either. If anything, it felt bittersweet to me. Neither Unbreakable nor Glass were particularly happy movies to begin with, so the ending to the film actually made sense in my eyes. The trailer actually makes this film look a little more action-packed than it actually is. Don’t go into Glass expecting this to be a major action film. I will admit that some of Shyamalan’s awkward dialogue does slip here and there. Fortunately, it feels incredibly limited in this movie. I have to give Glass a recommendation, though I would advise cautious optimism due to this movie’s divisive nature. 

9 / 10   

Top 15 Most Anticipated Movies of 2019

Honorable Mentions:

Happy Death Day 2U, It: Chapter Two, Kingsman: The Great Game, Are You Afraid of the Dark, Joker, The New Mutants, Dark Phoenix, Alita: Battle Angel 

#15: Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw: I am a fan of the Fast and Furious franchise. That said, the budding bromance between the Rock and Jason Statham was the best part of The Fate of the Furious. Naturally, giving these two a spin-off is going to interest me. To top it off, Idris Elba has been cast as the movie's main villain.

#14: Us: Us is about a family that has to fight off dopplegangers of themselves. This is the horror movie follow-up from Jordan Peele. I loved Get Out, so I'm curious to see how this film goes for him.

#13: Hellboy: While I wish Hellboy III would have happened, I will still take what I can get. David Harbour looks like he'll be a good replacement for Ron Perlman, and I kind of love the idea of casting Milla Jovovich as the villain. Whether it turns out to be good or bad, I'm still interested in seeing what the final product turns out to be.

#12: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World: I kind of look at the How to Train Your Dragon films as the animated version of Lord of the Rings. Here's hoping that the size, scope, and scale continues in this third and final entry of the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy.

#11: Men in Black: International: This movie seems keen on expanding the world of Men in Black. Instead of bring back J and K, the film will focus on new characters played by Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth (who have already proven to have good chemistry in Thor: Ragnarok). The movie's also going to be directed by F. Gary Gray. Yeah, I'm definitely curious to see how this is going to go.

#10: Captain Marvel: Captain Marvel is set to take place in the 1990s. Captain Marvel herself is supposed to be the most powerful hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The plot feels like it's only told me what I need to know, and nothing more.

#9: Shazam!: Zachary Levi is kind of the perfect choice to play Shazam in my opinion. More importantly, I'm excited to see this movie because it looks like it could be the superhero version of the movie Big, and I really have to see what that's going to look like.

#8: John Wick 3: Parabellum: The John Wick franchise feels like the best homage we've got to the action movie cult classics of the '80s and '90s. This one looks like it might be the last film in the John Wick series. Whether this is true or not, I can't wait to see this one.

#7: Godzilla: King of the Monsters: This sequel to 2014's Godzilla is going to be directed by Michael Dougherty (the same man who directed Trick 'r Treat and Krampus), and I want to see what he can do with a big budget feature. The cast features Millie Bobbie Brown and Vera Farmiga. Godzilla is going to fight the likes of King Ghidora and Mothra.

#6: Spider-Man: Far From Home: With this one, we're right back to the MCU. I don't know a lot about the plot, and except that it's going to follow the events of Avengers: Endgame and that Jake Gyllenhaal is supposed to play the main villain in the movie. Supposedly, it's going to be Mysterio.

#5: Glass: Glass is the crossover sequel to both Unbreakable and Split. That's about all I needed to know to be on board with this movie. I also am happy that I can start feeling somewhat confident in M. Night Shyamalan as a filmmaker again. 

#4: Zombieland Too: I absolutely love the first Zombieland movie, and I have been waiting to see this for close to ten years now. The plot rumors say that our heroes from the first film may have to deal with new survivors and mutated zombies. No matter what, I am completely on board for this movie.

#3: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: This is as high on the list as it is for one simple reason. It's the new movie from Quentin Tarantino. This movie's also going to deal with the Manson Family murders and Sharon Tate in some way, shape, or form.

#2: Star Wars: Episode IX: This is going to close out the Star Wars sequel trilogy. How is that going to happen? I have no idea. I love these characters, and I am really excited to see how J.J. Abrams wraps the trilogy up.

#1: Avengers: Endgame: Endgame is set to follow the events of Infinity War. How are the Avengers going to stop Thanos for good? Who knows? What deaths will and won't stick in this one? We'll just have to wait and see.  

Top 10 Worst Movies of 2018

Yesterday, I went through my favorite movies of the year. Today, I'm doing the opposite. These are the 10 movies I saw this year that I hated the most.

Dishonorable Mentions:

Woody Woodpecker, Billionaire Boys Club, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, Terminal, Acrimony, Chokehold

#10: The Predator: I honestly didn't expect to be putting The Predator in this number 10 spot. It was probably the movie that disappointed me the most this year, especially coming from someone as talented as Shane Black.

#9: Fifty Shades Freed: Am I being a little kinder to this one because it's supposedly the last movie in this franchise? Yes. Don't get me wrong. All of the flaws that were there for the first two films are still here. At the very least, this one got some unintentional laughs out of me.

#8: A Wrinkle in Time: This was one of the hardest movies for me to sit through this year. The visuals are nice. Storm Reid and Chris Pine are really good in the film. Those are probably the positives I could muster out of this movie. The rest of it just felt kind of empty. It comes off as trying to be the next big family movie instead of just trying to be a good movie.

#7: Deep Blue Sea 2: This is a movie I kind of contemplated on whether or not to put on the list. Did I really feel okay with picking on a direct to video movie like this? Yes. Yes I did. The effects are awful. The acting is atrocious. The writing is garbage. This feels like a near carbon copy of Deep Blue Sea without any of the guilty pleasure charm that the first movie had.

#6: Truth or Dare: Truth or Dare was one of the absolute worst horror movies of the year. However, it was also one of the best comedies of the year. If you do happen to watch this movie, you'll enjoy yourself if you go into it expecting a comedy. The faces that the characters make when they offer "truth or dare" are some of the funniest things I have ever seen try and fail to be scary.

#5: Robin Hood: Robin Hood was, hands down, the most misguided movie of 2018. Almost every decision felt wrong in some way. The movie relied on gimmicks that are about ten years old. The cast is clearly trying, but they seem to have nothing of actual substance to work with. The filmmakers also desperately wanted this to be the launching pad for a cinematic universe (even if it doesn't fit Robin Hood).

#4: Nobody's Fool: I personally found Tyler Perry's Acrimony to just be sort of bland. I can't say the same about his other movie that came out in 2018. Nobody's Fool suffers from the same problems that all of Tyler Perry's movies tend to suffer from. This isn't funny. It's just obnoxious.

#3: Gotti: From the very first frame, Gotti was a mess of a movie. It was badly written and badly acted. But, this movie's crowning achievement of awfulness has to be Kevin Connolly's directing. Gotti seemed to be inept on just about every level possible.

#2: Slender Man: As bad as Truth or Dare was, at least it was entertaining. The same can not be said of Slender Man. This was a dull, plodding waste of time. The character of Slender Man is interesting enough to have a horror movie of his own. I just wish it could have been something better than a xerox of the far superior The Ring. 

#1: Show Dogs: I said in my review for this movie that "there isn't a single frame of this movie that can be enjoyed on any level." I first watched this in mid-November. I hated when I first saw it for the lazy piece of shit that it was. My opinion has only grown more negative the the more I thought about it.

Top 10 Best Movies of 2018

These are the 10 movies I saw this year that I personally enjoyed the most. There are going to be movies you agree with. There are going to be movies you disagree with. It's all just my personal opinion

Honorable Mentions:

These are the movies I really liked, but they just didn't make the cut

Bumblebee, Deadpool 2, A Star Is Born, Creed II, Ready Player One, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Sorry to Bother You 

#10: Black Panther: Black Panther had some really solid scope to its story, and some of the battle sequences. You understood where both our hero and our villain came from in their sides to the same argument. The movie is chock full of standout performances (most notably Michael B. Jordan as the villain Killmonger).

#9: Incredibles 2: This may be the Pixar movie I was anticipating the most, and I am so happy it didn't disappoint. Once again, these movies prove to be the Fantastic Four movies that fans want. The family dynamic, animation, heart, action, and comedy all manage to blend together nearly perfectly

#8: A Quiet Place: This may have been one of the most tense viewing experiences I have ever had in a movie. I like that this movie really made me think about how I would fare in a situation like the one presented in this movie. I also find it interesting just how capable comedians have been proving themselves to be with horror.

#7: Widows: I am somebody who enjoys a solid heist film, and this may have been the best one of the entire year. Every performance is strong. Daniel Kaluuya and Elizabeth Debicki really prove to be the standouts. The heist itself is really interesting, especially because you have these characters who honestly have no idea what they are doing because they aren't professionals.

#6: BlacKkKlansman: In my eyes, BlacKkKlansman deserves a spot on this list because it is such a unique (and completely true story). Drama and comedy are so well blended thanks to how unbelievable this story is. The acting from John David Washington, Adam Driver, and Topher Grace is excellent, made all the better with Spike Lee's direction and script.

#5: Halloween: I feel like Halloween did everything I wanted it to do. David Gordon Green and Danny McBride took the franchise back to basics, and really wanted to just make a Halloween movie. It was tense. It was funny. It was scary. It was really well acted. It is probably the best film in the series since the original.

#4: Bad Times at the El Royale: This movie is how you do a Tarantino clone right. There are intertwining stories in this film held together by the performances by the cast and Drew Goddard directing and writing this film. Special notice should be given to Chris Hemsworth as the film's villain Billy Lee.

#3: Mission: Impossible - Fallout: Fallout may just be the best film in the Mission: Impossible franchise yet. The action is still incredible. Tom Cruise is as committed as ever. The way things left off with this movie feels like it closed off one chapter of the franchise with room for a new one to grow, and I can't wait to see where this franchise goes from here. How many franchises can you say that about when you're six movies in.

#2: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: I've let this one sit with me for the last couple of weeks, and I just keep loving it even more. The animation is so unique and stylish. The characters all get their moments to shine (while the movie never takes away from the fact that this is a Miles Morales movie through and through). There are some really funny, goofy moments. But, this film also isn't afraid to delve into some of the more serious dramatic moments because the filmmakers know how important they are.

#1: Avengers: Infinity War: I saw Infinity War on opening night back in April. Nothing really came around that dethroned it as my favorite movie of the year. This movie gives your typical hero's journey arc (and some of the most emotional moments) to Thanos. Josh Brolin is incredible in the role. As usual, the action is amazing. The characters all have this back and forth that is really nailed throughout the entire thing. This movie feels like the first Avengers movie times ten, and truly delivered on everything it promised.