Terrible Plan! Movie Reviews

What I liked: The three things you need for any murder is the means, motive, and opportunity. I was delighted that they pointed that out and even made a little chart to narrow down the suspects. If only there had also been a scene of the murderer using it as a checklist to see if they could commit the murder, then I would have be superbly happy. The mom. The mom is definitely the best character. Followed closely by the friend who is just visiting. I think we all need to acknowledge how wonderful Blanc's swim suit is. The movie set itself very firmly in 2020 for the first 20 minutes. I liked seeing all the different characters' approaches to their masks and watching them play among us. It was both a bit of a time warp and a very fast way to learn a lot about these people. I liked the caricatures of influential people and cheered for Andi's approach to opening the box. Unlike the last one, that had creepy little skulls hidden everywhere, this one had glass sculptures hidden e...

What I liked: The premise is absurd. A complete dumpster fire of a person from New York teams up with a Texan red neck to avenge the death of the sister. ... by making a podcast. If that approach to revenge is not the most terrible revenge plan I'm not sure what is. Oh wait, it's Dracula kidnapping a historian to catalog his personal book collection, but that is off topic. Along they way the character gets wildly out of his depth and does things that are definitely bad plans. Like meet with a cartel leader alone in a shed, drive a Prius, visit a music producer, more than once, and give an off the cuff eulogy. Certainly at the beginning it carries the awkward discomfort of The Office but it quickly expands to explosions and the conviction to a podcast found only among the certain portion of the coffee shop population. I thought they did a good job of picking fun at both the rural Texans and the big city New Yorkers. I think they really nailed the "intellectual" bros in...

What I liked: The goats. The chaotic energy of 12ft tall screaming flying goats exactly encapsulates the energy of this movie. They tie in well with Norse mythology, they tie in with the comics, they make sense to include. But. They make no sense and are completely absurd. There was a lot of anticipation about Lady Thor and I liked her with a few caveats but what no one was expecting as was much more enjoyable was Bunny Thor. Lady Thor's hammer was very cool and did a good job of distinguishing her from Thor. The court of the gods was fun to see, of course the Greek gods were front and center but I enjoyed gods from other mythologies that I recognized. I liked the battle in the Shadow Realm, very cool visuals. And the battle in the court of the gods and the opening battle. Ok, I liked all the battles including the very brief Thor fashion battle. The shadow monsters were ok but could have been much creepier.  What I didn't: The god butcher had very reasonable motivations and see...

What I liked: The opening scene was great. If you have ever wondered what watching a movie is like in my head, this is pretty much it. Where did the snakes come from? Are they your snakes? Who feeds them? I liked Harry Potter as the bad guy, the overly enthusiastic, billionaire, charcuterie loving bad guy. I liked the very intentional absurdity from the trainer, to the model's travel accessories, to the sequin jumpsuit, to the very excellent chair chase scene. This is the best chase scene where one of the characters does not leave their chair that you will see, unless Jackie Chan did one. Then that one is almost certainly better. I liked the surprising things that they did, they surprised me which I found impressive, especially in a movie like this that could have been extremely formulaic. I liked that they manage to stay just normal people (well a best selling romance author and her cover model) who are very very out of their depth for most of the movie and don't magically tra...

What I liked: Never since 1986 have the dudes with the flashlights who direct planes looked so cool. I like the airplanes. There are airplanes that go super duper fast. There are moderately new airplanes. There are old airplanes. There are friendly airplanes and enemy airplanes. Airplanes that land on ships and airplanes that land on land. Even some airplanes that try to land on snow. You see the outside of the airplanes and, most importantly, you seed the inside of the airplanes while they are flying. With those cool air streams coming off the wings. I liked that ejecting in high altitude at extreme speeds is a ok. It seems like NASA should really take note, we could save a lot on an updated reentry plan. I liked that Maverick and Iceman are still friends and I'm glad that at least one of them got a little bit responsible. I also liked that the romance was much better than last time, still not great mind you, but better. The call backs to the original were fun and I'm glad tha...

What I liked: The laser shield. It really shouldn't have taken them 60 years to come up with that plan. The moment Buzz realizes his elite team is not quite who he thought they were. The zap squad. The best I can tell is they are the special forces unit that does nothing besides run around yelling zap. That seems like exactly my level of military service. The tranquilizer dart. The seemingly correct use of time dilation, including "C." That Buzz was a stereotypical '50-'60s test pilot, complete with the deep distrust of computer calculated trajectories. The music accompanying Buzz's stirring speech. That Buzz and Cmd Hawthorne were just friends. The demolitions expert who was generally crotchety and disappointed to not get to blow everything up.  What I didn't: The fundamental take home message of the movie is that it is better to work with other people than to insist on doing everything yourself. The message is itself sound. However, almost every example ...

What I liked: For too long dinosaurs have been restricted to only a very specific subgenre of films. Jurassic World: Dominion seeks to rectify the situation by introducing dinosaurs into all types of film at once. Spy thriller? We have assassin dinosaurs and excessive, unnecessary globe hopping. Family drama? I give you the quaint ranch complete with dinos dozing in the logging encampment and neighbor dinosaurs. Heist? We have dino smuggling, dinosaur black market, and breaking into secret dinosaur labs. Monster Movie" We've got giant dinosaurs squaring off to battle. Natural disaster? It's a long story but we've got dinosaurs being pelted with flaming duck sized grasshoppers and world famine, again related to the duck sized grasshoppers. No, I know that doesn't sound like a natural disaster but trust me. Romance? There are kisses. Nature documentary? Beautiful shots of dinosaurs living peacefully with non-dinosaur animals. It's like the creative team sat down ...

What I liked: This Batman is different than any other Batman, it feels very different from the very first shots all the way through to the end. I still like other Batmans better, but I do applaud the film makers in making something completely different and presenting new version of very well known characters. This Batman fully embraces the gothic aesthetic. It doesn't just nod to it, it embodies it. Bruce Wayne, as far as I can tell lives in a gothic cathedral as does the mayor and the orphanage. Many of the buildings in Gotham have flying buttresses. This Batman is all about the dramatic spectacle. He poses a lot, which is kind of cool because it makes him look just like panels from a comic book, it's also a little absurdly funny. The Riddler did an excellent job of being manically homicidal. He was creepy and unnerving and much sneakier than Batman. The fights were all interesting, especially the hallway one, and I liked the contrast between Batman and Catwoman's styles. ...

What I liked: This had all the tings that you know and love from cartoons: cute animated characters, absurd antics, physics defying movement. The human cast did a good job of interacting with the animated characters and I thought they were funny. I liked the animal tornado and Colin Jost's increasingly absurd wedding presents. The skateboard chase scene rivals  the only three other skateboard chase scenes I know, all of which are the exact same scene from the three Back to the Future movies.  What I didn't: Apparently that the original cartoons were limited to about 10 minutes was a good idea. I was pretty satisfied with the cartoon shenanigans by 10 minutes and over it by 30. The movie, however, was not over. It seems like in a movie with the overall message of there are consequences to actions and cooperation is important, there were very few long term consequences for anyone. Despite the plot, I was rooting for the wedding to be called off, I guess this is why Romcoms and I...

What I liked: Cars are pretty useful and I like to learn about them. Every time I see a fast and furious movie I learn many new things about cars that I never knew before. For example, I learned that you can mount a fighter jet engine that shoots blue flames on that back of you car remote controlled. I learned that if you drive really really fast through a mine field the mines will just blow up the car behind you and that mines have very large visible red buttons so you know if your car is about to fall on one. I learned that you can take your car bungee jumping and that if you drive at full speed off a cliff a passing jet can pick you and your car up without changing its flight trajectory. I learned that you can drive a giant electromagnet with no negative functional consequences from driving an electromagnet. I learned that there must be a specialized car rental place that carries bullet proof sports cars and tanks so that you can have the same car on multiple continents without the ...

What I liked: There were monsters. The monsters smashed things. Lots of things. The smash building things, and boat things, and airplane things, and tunnel things so we have all areas of the planet covered. The monsters smashed each other. There were bright colorful lights and music. There was no singing to summon a giant moth. So pretty much this is everything you have ever wanted in a monster movie.  What I didn't: I feel that when developing a giant mechanical monster there are a few things to consider. First, lab placement. I would recommend that R&D for the giant mechanical monster not be located in major cities with large populations like, for example, Hong Kong. This is important for several reasons 1) available realestate. You will need a very large hanger to build a robot the size of, say Godzilla, and your budget will cover much more if you choose somewhere in the middle of nowhere where land prices are much lower. 2) If, each time you test your giant robot monster, y...

What I liked: I liked Guy. That is in fact the point but I like how happy, carefree, and wholesome he is in what is essentially Grand Theft Auto. I like what the NPCs decide to focus on as they achieve consciousness. I liked the ridiculous YouTubers getting all philosophical about Guy and how he radically changed game play. I liked that so much of the game economy was about silly skins, just like a real game, and how that completely confused the NPCs. I liked the fight between Dude and Guy and its resolution, it managed to stay very on theme. The item cameos were fun, like seeing the Portal gun, or the Fortnite piñata. I liked guy finding the med kit and building up an inventory.  What I didn't: I am not be a lawyer but I am suspicious that there maybe more efficient ways of obtaining evidence of copyright violation than playing 12 hours of a computer game every day. With that in mind I think the evidence points to the heroine enjoying the game far more than she lets on. On the top...

What I liked: The widows were pretty awesome. I got good Jason Bourne vibes from the first scene we see them in. This is the coolness factor I was hoping for from Charlie's Angles. I am now invested in a crossover between the widows, Charlie's Angles and the Amazons. I don't really care if they are working together or fighting each other, it would just be cool. I liked that we got more of Blackwidow's bewildering interrogation techniques and mission impossible masks.  I'm glad that someone finally addressed superhero poses. The Red Guardian was the main comic relief and he did a good job. I liked his action figure, his pep talk, and that they incorporated his rivalry with Captain America as tall tales. Alexi the pig was a fun addition. I like that they took skydiving without a parachute and managed to increase the difficulty by adding obstacles.  What I didn't: These people have not seen land before time clearly a treestar is a maple leaf. I liked the distrust o...

What I liked: The explosions are fun. The gadgets are cooky. All of the spies are surprisingly ept, breaking the rule of N=n+1 for spy movies. I thought Venice was very well represented, though I remember there being about twice as many pigeons there.  What I didn't: However, for being surprisingly good at their jobs they also are surprisingly bad, like not knowing that the target has a sports car, airplane, and submarine and not knowing the parking location for said vehicles. Also, I believe that by the end of the film IRB would mandate far far harsher penalties for our little inventor's approach to testing his gadgets. Let's just say robust testing and informed consent were a bit subpar. I did not find the bird sidekicks particularly funny. I wasn't in a theater so couldn't tell if this was me being the wrong audience or if the birds were just not funny. Finally, as far as strategies go, putting all of your high value assets in a single location is bad. Especially...

What I liked: As with the other two installments, I loved the sheep. They have much less screen time than maybe they should but this time they have little dragon costumes so that they blend in on an island that is now completely overrun with dragons. I also liked that all of the too many dragons living on the island live in enormous colorful birdhouses. It gave the island a very Caribbean/Norse fusion feeling. I like the discussion of dreams. Mostly just the statement "This is your dream maybe. Mine is less crowded and more sanitary." I feel like that is a great dream for anyone and am especially impressed that it was the dream of a perhaps less than hygienic viking. I liked the hoards of purple toad dragons and the flock of tiny glowing dragons. Dragons under black lights look really cool which it think could spark two great spin off series. One with a dragon DJ working raves and one with a dragon dance troupe. I would absolutely go see a dragon dance group perform. I liked ...

What I liked: I liked the light saber battles. No surprise here but I particularly appreciated the coolness of whatever the force projection was. Now the characters weren't limited by being in the same place, they could have light saber fights across the galaxy and bring back souvenirs. This is particularly important in a situation where you have a hard deadline and several hundred years worth of lightspeed travel to get to all the places you need to visit. Not to mention it looked really cool. I liked the cavalry charge. At first I thought that maybe horses need breathable air, gravity, and to not be on something likely moving at hundreds of miles an hour; but then I remembered these are space horses and it was alright. I liked that they caught a sand worm from Dune. Rey continues to learn the force stuff remarkably fast, with no real teacher. So, I am left to wonder, why did we bother training Jedi in the past? Maybe they would have been more effective just figuring things out ...

What I liked: I liked that we finally have an explanation for why all the main characters are impervious to bullets: super lightweight bullet proof clothing that conveniently looks like normal t shirts. And some mysterious genetic bioengineering on the bad guy. I also liked that all the bad guys loudly and spontaneously identified themselves as bad guys. In those exact words. I liked the smart repelling ropes that automatically attached to the bad guys jumping of the roof. I liked that the Rock went to his home and that we got an epic Haka and fire fight. I liked that the virus incubation time was exactly 48 hours and that the car mechanic was the only person in the world who could repair the virus removal machine. I'm glad that not only are the main characters safe from bullet wounds but they are also entirely unhurt by tumbling off a several hundred foot tall cliff into a rocky ravine. What I didn't: My main complaint about this movie is that someone added dialog. There is...

What I liked: The in memoria opening. It was not quite as amazing as the selfie video that opened the previous Spiderman movie but it was fairly phenomenal. The candle shot was particularly nice. I liked that they finally addressed some of the troubling logistics that resulted from Endgame and the basketball game was entertaining. The spidey senses or "Peter tingle" battle was very cool. Nick Fury was far less competent than one might expect. Ah how the mighty have fallen, Nick.  The customs lady didn't even blink, I'm glad she was there to protect Italy from dangerous bananas. The bus driver. I think he used to live in Atlantis and is Aquaman's short relative. He didn't do much but what he did was effective. MJ is pretty much awesome. She is very weird and very awkward and it is great. What I didn't: I agree with Spiderman, there are lots more people who could be called on to save the world before you get to Spiderman. Remember how we had about 800 he...

What I liked: This is in essence a 3 hour long curtain call for the Avengers. I happen to have liked the last 11 years of superhero movies, so I liked revisiting that world. The small fight scenes were mostly fun and the epic fight scenes were satisfyingly epic. We got all the catch phrases we wanted and in mostly entertaining circumstances. I enjoyed zen Hulk and as always the Hulk smash. I was surprised to learn that fixing your hair by lightning turns out better than I thought it would. It didn't look great mind you, but much better than anticipated. That thing we've been waiting for finally happened and it was awesome. The powers were still not balanced or consistent but I was glad that some of the characters that I was very disappointed in before got to have much better power displays. Also stairs, cheeze-whiz, and "it was him or a tree." What I didn't: Lord of the Rings gets a bad rap for having about 85 endings that took up the last hour of the movie. E...

What I liked: If you have been laying awake at night wondering where you can find a Lord of the Rings style battle sequence featuring lava lobsters, mosasaurs, and lasers,  this is the movie for you. Also if you have been dying to see more of the giant mysterious sea monsters from Phantom Menace (one of the few acceptable parts of that movie besides the light saber dual), you have come to the right place. The movie is packed full of over the top ridiculousness, explosions, and bright colors. I liked the underwater world that they created. All of the modes of transportation are pretty cool. I can't decide if I would rather ride a freaky seahorse dragon or a mosasaur. There were also sea turtle, shrimp, and manta ray shaped boat/car/spaceships. Black Manta had just an ok submarine but he did have awesome armor. Any other villain might say, "oh my super cool laser gun works great in my hand, far away from essential body parts." Not Black Manta. But whatever the high probab...