Geeky Watcher

I have to be honest: after Revenge of the Fallen , I haven't seen the other Transformers movies that followed it because it was starting to become old with the loud noises, racial stereotypes, and lame jokes. I didn't even want to give Michael Bay the satisfaction when he said the people who hate his films will still go see them. But after 11 years, back when the first one came out, it seemed like things would turn around when they announced a spin-off centering around Bumblebee and having a new director, Travis Knight, who worked in LAIKA and directed Kubo and the Two Strings.  It starts off in an exciting way on the planet Cybertron where the Autobots are in a battle with the Decepticons. Bumblebee, who at this point is known as B-127, is ordered by Optimus Prime to retreat to the planet Earth as a safe haven. Along the way, his vocal cords get damaged, rendering him speechless. He hides as a Volkswagen where he is found by 18-year-old Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld). Would...

After the disastrous outcome of Justice League , it seemed like Warner Bros. was truly in deep with their DCEU franchise. Have they learned their lesson in how they planned out this universe? Would their next film, Aquaman , help them get back on their feet? For the most part, the answer is yes. We follow Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) as he fights his half-brother Orm for the throne to Atlantis. With the help of Mera (Amber Heard), he goes on his hero's journey to prove his worth to stop a war between the underworld world and the surface world led by Orm. Of course, Aquaman has been the butt of jokes due to his initial look, but the comics and later the DCEU would attempt to add some machismo to the character. But even without that aspect, director James Wan has brought so much ambition and epicness to this film. The world of Atlantis is amazing in all its visual glory. Most of it may be CGI, but I like how they had a balance of that and some practical effects su...

Green Book portrays the real-life friendship between Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen), an Italian-American bouncer and Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), an African-American pianist. Tony gets a job to drive Doc for a music tour in the South where he learns what Doc had to go through in an insightful manner and how to be a better man and a better husband. This comes from Peter Farrelly, one half of the team of brothers who gave us Dumb and Dumber and There's Something About Mary . So this is a complete change of pace for Farrelly! While it is funny and highly enjoyable, this has some really good heart and drama. Both Mortensen and Ali shine in Oscar-worthy performances. Mortensen plays Tony Lip as someone narrow-minded, as described by Doc. However, this job for him becomes a journey of reflection as he is taught by the discrimination Doc has to go through and being a real gentleman. Ali plays Doc as a man who is torn between two worlds as he is a respected musician but also part of...

Based on the British mini-series, Widows follows three women in Chicago who have to pay a debt left behind by their deceased husbands, so they put together a heist plan to get the money since their lives depend on it. Directed by Steve McQueen ( Hunger, 12 Years A Slave ), this film takes a more mainstream approach but at the same time, his craft is displayed throughout it. You got Viola Davis as Veronica leading the cast and this movie and she does a magnificent job, showing vulnerability but a savage determination to take control of her life. Another standout was Elizabeth Debicki as Alice, not just acting wise but also being perhaps the tallest cast member, standing at 6 ft. 3 in! She practically towers over anyone in this film! There's also Brian Tyree Henry as Jamal Manning whose money got stolen by Veronica's husband (Liam Neeson), so he threatens Veronica, along with his deadly brother (Daniel Kaluuya), to repay him for his campaign for alderman against Jack Mulligan ...

Does the world need another version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas ? A lot of people didn't think so, and I did initially, but I was on board with it when they announced Benedict Cumberbatch would voice the green curmudgeon. I've always loved Dr. Seuss, reading his books and watching the TV specials. That love has resurfaced when I became an adult, reading some of those classic books to my little brother. Looking forward to this new movie made me feel like I was nine years old again when the Jim Carrey version was coming soon. The only difference was I wasn't filled with fear as a child because the trailer for the live action movie freaked me out. That extreme close up of Jim Carrey as the Grinch when Cindy Lou encounters him in the mailroom still haunts me. Having seen that version one hundred too many times, I was in favor of another version, but the animated special by Chuck Jones was still near and dear to my heart. You all know the story, so I'll just say w...

Bohemian Rhapsody depicts the formation of the band Queen, their success, all leading up to their career high point performing at Live Aid. While I'm not an avid listener, I've always enjoyed the music of Queen, especially when it was featured in Edgar Wright's films ("Don't Stop Me Now" in Shaun of the Dead , and "Brighton Rock" in Baby Driver .) Rami Malek plays Freddie Mercury in a very electrifying performance. He captured the movements and showmanship of the famous rock figure while showing vulnerability in his identity crisis and eventual illness. And the other members of the band are played well by men having a good resemblance to the real members. The highlights were mainly the sequences of them making their greatest hits from "Bohemian Rhapsody" to "We Will Rock You." My favorite was the latter because of this invigorating visual of the audience stomping their feet. That is until we got to the finale involving the ba...

A Star is Born Venom Once again, Sony attempts to launch another Spider-Man based franchise by having a movie centering around Eddie Brock and how he became Venom without Peter Parker involved. For most people, this movie could go either two ways: fail or EPIC fail. And for critics, it's the latter, but for general audiences...it's a different story. Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) makes a living as a reporter.  He even has his own web series. Okay, I'll bite. He investigates some inhumane experimentation involving alien symbiotes from a meteor. Eddie gets one of the symbiotes absorbed in him and his life gets turned upside down. He starts hearing a voice in his head and gets these super abilities which have its ups and downs. He can defend himself from any threat but the symbiote makes him such a savage beast that he isn't so keen about this change. As skeptical as people have been initially, a good number of them thought it wasn't as bad as critics say. And I...

Peppermint Jennifer Garner returns to the action movie genre with Peppermint where she plays a mother whose husband and daughter get killed. Now she's out for revenge against those who wronged her and get in her way. I didn't expect much from this movie, so when a friend invited me to see it with her, I said OK. This is one of three movies released by STX Films that I've seen so far this year, the others being Mile 22 which I found absurd and ridiculous yet entertaining in its messy style and unlikable characters, and The Happytime Murders which was an underwhelming attempt to add raunchy humor to puppets. But compared to those movies, even though it has flaws, I felt Peppermint was the most competent STX film this year. To start things off, Jennifer Garner delivers a solid performance, once again playing a mother that turns rogue after being wronged. Her transformation is pretty cool and his path to vengeance was entertaining. Heck, the last two-thirds made the...

The second spin-off from Disney's Star Wars line-up focuses on Han Solo's early life and his path to becoming the lovable scoundrel we know. Like Rogue One , this film's production history was met with some troubling issues from directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller leaving due to creative differences and reshoots by replacement director Ron Howard. With a lot of people predicting total failure for this movie, I, on the other hand, was muchly curious about what it would be like, but I had some doubts. I couldn't picture anyone else playing Solo other than Harrison Ford, but my optimism remained. After watching it, I walked out feeling apathetic. I was really hoping this would be the Stars Wars spin-off film I would enjoy since I did not like Rogue One , but Solo is kind of on the same level as it for me. Alden Ehrenreich had some huge and I mean HUGE shoes to fill, playing Solo. A lot of fans love to be judgemental and nitpicky, while I aimed to be supportiv...

The Disaster Artist is the unbelievable account of how The Room , one of the most beloved bad movies ever, got made. Much like Tommy Wiseau, James Franco not only portrayed The Room’s bizarre auteur but he also directed it. I became aware of The Room when it was reviewed by my favorite Internet reviewer, Doug Walker, the Nostalgia Critic. I was in awe of the bad acting, dropped subplots, and just about everything else. It wasn’t until recently that I decided to watch the entire movie and many would agree with me that it is one of the most unusual and memorable experiences you can have with a movie. I was snickering consistently and giddily anticipating the best moments like “ YOU’RE TEARING ME APART, LISA! ” Man, that is gold! Not only that, when the first trailer dropped, I was completely dumbfounded. It showed the making of the infamous scene when Tommy’s character Johnny says “I did not hit her. It’s not true! It’s Bullshit. I did not hit her. I did NAHHT! Oh hi, Mark.” But ...