Weird Year, Same Routine, Very Late - 2021

 I only remember going to this blog when it's the first month of the year. As I like to remind myself, I've been doing this list since 2009. Used to be on Facebook, I think it has been here since 2011. I haven't found another platform to do this that is safe for me hahaha.

Basically this is a watchlist for the year. I included films that are interesting to me and label which ones are must-sees. But because of the pandemic, last year's list was thrown out of the window. It's FIVE months late but with this year's release dates are constantly being shuffled, I have finally found the time to do this. Looks like studios have firmly set their movies' release dates. There are some big movies that are currently still undated because they are slated for Netflix and other streaming services.

Let's do this:

JANUARY

One Night in Miami Leslie Odom Jr, Aldis Hodge, Regina King (director)

Nomadland Frances McDormand, David Straithairn, Chloe Zhao (director)

The Dig Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, Simon Stone (director)

The Little Things Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, John Lee Hancock (director)

Locked Down Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anne Hathaway, Doug Liman (director)

The Marksman Liam Neeson, Robert Lorenz (director)

FEBRUARY

Judas & The Black Messiah Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Shaka King (director)

Minari Steven Yeun, Alan Kim, Lee Isaac Cheung (director)

Malcolm & Marie Zendaya, John David Washington, Sam Levinson (director)

Space Sweepers Kim Tae-Ri, Song Jong Ki, Sung he jo (director)

MARCH

Zack Snyder's Justice League Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Zack Snyder (director)

Raya & The Last Dragon Kelly Marie Tran, Gemma Chan

Nobody Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, Ilya Naishuller (director)

Godzilla vs Kong Alexander Skarsgard, Rebecca Hall, Adam Wingard (director)

APRIL

Without Remorse Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, Stefano Sollima (director)

Mortal Kombat Lewis Tan, Joe Taslim, Simon McQuoid (director)

The Mitchells vs The Machines Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Mike Rianda (director)

Stowaway Anna Kendrick, Toni Colette, Joe Penna (director)

MAY

Army of the Dead Dave Bautista, Zack Snyder (director)

A Quiet Place Part II Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, John Krasinski (director)

Those Who Wish Me Dead Angelina Jolie, Taylor Sheridan (director)

Wrath of Man Jason Statham, Holt McCallany, Guy Ritchie (director)

The Woman in the Window Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, Joe Wright (director)

Cruella Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Craig Gillespie (director)

JUNE

F9 Vin Diesel, John Cena, Justin Lin (director)

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Michael Chaves (director)

In The Heights Anthony Ramos, Jon Chu (director)

Luca Pixar!

JULY

Black Widow Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, Cate Shortland (director)

Escape Room 2 lol dont care who's in it. I'm watching.

Old Gael Garcia Bernal, Vicky Krieps, M. Night Shyamalan (director)

Jungle Cruise Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Jaume Collet Serra (director)

The Tomorrow War Chris Pratt, Adam McKay (director)

Snake Eyes Ursula Corbero, Samara Weaving, oh the lead is Henry Golding

AUGUST

The Suicide Squad Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, James Gunn (director)

Reminiscence Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson, Lisa Joy (director)

Don't Breathe 2 Stephen Lang, Rodo Sayaguez (director)

Free Guy Ryan Reynolds, Shawn Levy (director)

SEPTEMBER

Shang Chi & The Legend of Ten Rings Simu Liu, Destin Daniel Cretton (director)

Malignant Annabelle Wallis, James Wan (director)

Dear Evan Hansen Ben Platt, Julianne Moore, Stephen Chbosky (director)

Infinite Mark Wahlberg, Antoine Fuqua (director)

Venom: Let There Be Carnage Tom Hardy, Woody Harrelson, Andy Serkis (director)

OCTOBER

No Time to Die Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, Cary Fukunaga (director)

Dune Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Denis Villeneuve (director)

Last Night in Soho Anya Taylor Joy, Edgar Wright (director)

The Last Duel Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Ridley Scott (director)

NOVEMBER

Eternals Angelina Jolie, Gemma Chan, Chloe Zhao (director)

Top Gun: Maverick Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Joseph Kosinski (director)

House of Gucci Adam Driver, Lady Gaga, Ridley Scott (director)

Resident Evil Kaya Scodelario, Hannah John-Kamen, Johannes Roberts (director)

King Richard Will Smith, Jon Bernthal, Reinaldo Marcus Green (director)

DECEMBER

Spider-Man: No Way Home Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jon Watts (director)

The King's Man Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Matthew Vaughn (director)

The Matrix 4 Keanu Reeves, Carrie Anne-Moss, Lana Wachowski (director)

West Side Story Ansel Elgort, Steven Spielberg (director)

Downton Abbey II Michelle Dockery, Maggie Smith, Simon Curtis (director)

And as usual, here are the top 10 movies that I'll be watching for 2021. Most of them are from 2020 though.

10. Army of the Dead - Snyder!!!

9. Old - Shyamalan!!

8. Top Gun Maverick - Cruise in cinemasss

7. Last Night in Soho - Edgar Wright! Anya Taylor Joy!

6. Black Widow

5. Eternals - great cast + Chloe Zhao!

4. F9 - Fam bam!

3. Dune - let's gooo

2. No Time to Die - we were a few months away from this last year!

1. Zack Snyder's Justice League - watched this, amazing!

The Annual Calendar Continues! 2020!

The blog is basically non-existent by now. It's dead. I've killed it (unintentionally). As per Ben Solo's wishes, I may be letting the past die. But as Ben Solo said in The Rise of Skywalker, that's bullshit and people dig nostalgia. Nevertheless, 2020 is the year I don't make resolutions about this blog. I've said I wanted to continue after Infinity War. Well, even Endgame had passed. Anyway, I have a good reason (or not), I'm on Letterboxd nowadays. So please--i cannot stress this enough--make an account there so I know what you're watching and what you think about it. I really don't care about your life in 15 seconds of Instagram story. I really don't. But I care about what you watch and what you think about it.

I have been doing this particular post since 2009. Yep even before the last decade. So naturally, something pushed me to do this. It's for no one. Only me (say that in the nuclear scientist's voice from The Dark Knight Rises--look a reference made only for me). I have been doing things for me last year and I like it. Deep down my resolution for 2020 is "don't give shit 2020." I have a feeling that won't fly with society, so I'm only publicizing it here. Where it's dead and no one's reading. I sincerely hope no one's reading. But if you do, please make a Letterboxd account. Don't make an Instagram account. Without further ado, let's get on with the list. (Personally, I think this list is getting harder to make with the streaming services dropping movies just a month before)

JANUARY

1917 George McKay, Colin Firth, Sam Mendes (director)

The Gentlemen Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Guy Ritchie (director)

Underwater Kristen Stewart, Vincent Cassel, William Eubank (director)

The Rhythm Section Blake Lively, Jude Law, Reed Morano (director)

The Last Thing He Wanted Anne Hathaway, Willem Dafoe, Dee Rees (director)

Falling Viggo Mortensen! (director)

Bad Boys For Life Will Smith,  Martin Lawrence, not Michael Bay (director)

FEBRUARY

Birds of Prey Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Cathy Yan (director)

Fantasy Island Michael Pena, Maggie Q, Jeff Wadlow (director)

Guns Akimbo Daniel Radcliffe, Samara Weaving, Jason Lei Howden (director)

Downhill Will Ferrell, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash (directors)

Emma Anya Taylor-Joy, Autumn de Wilde (director)

The Photograph Issa Rae, Lakeith Stanfield, Stella Meghie (director)

MARCH

A Quiet Place Part II Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, John Krasinski (director)

Mulan Liu Yifei, Donnie Yen, Niki Caro (director)

Onward Chris Pratt, Tom Holland, Dan Scanlon (director)

The Way Back Ben Affleck, Gavin O'Connor (director)

Resistance Jesse Eisenberg, Ed Harris, Jonathan Jakubowicz (director)

First Cow A24!

Saint Maud A24!

APRIL

No Time To Die Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, Cary Fukunaga (director)

The New Mutants Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams, Josh Boone (director)

Antlers Keri Russell, Jesse Plemons, Scott Cooper (director)

Promising Young Woman Carey Mulligan, Alison Brie, Emerald Fennell (director)

Antebellum Janelle Monae, Jena Malone, Gerard Bush & Christopher Renz (directors)

MAY

Fast & Furious 9 Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Justin Lin (director)

Black Widow Scarlett Johansson, FLORENCE PUGH, Cate Shortland (director)

The Woman in the Window Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, Joe Wright (director)

Personal History of David Copperfield Dev Patel, Armando Ianucci (director)

SpongeBob Movie 3 Spongebob Squarepants, Patrick Star, Tim Hill (director)

Greyhound Tom Hanks, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Aaron Schneider (director)

Covers Dakota Johnson!, Nisha Ganatra (director)

JUNE

Wonder Woman 1984 Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Patty Jenkins (director)

Top Gun: Maverick Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Joseph Kosinski (director)

In the Heights Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Jon M. Chu (director)

Soul Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Pete Docter (director)

JULY

Tenet John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Christopher Nolan (director)

Jungle Cruise Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Jaume Collet-Serra (director)

Free Guy Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Shawn Levy (director)

AUGUST

Malignant Annabelle Wallis, Jake Abel, James Wan (director)

Infinite Mark Wahlberg, Antoine Fuqua (director)

The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Hughes (director)

SEPTEMBER

Last Night in Soho Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Edgar Wright (director)

The Trial of the Chicago 7 Aaron Sorkin (director)

The King's Man Ralph Fiennes, Harris Dickinson, Matthew Vaughn (director)

The Conjuring 3 Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Michael Chaves (director)

Without Remorse Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, Stefano Sollima (director)

Monster Hunter Tony Jaa, Milla Jovovich, Paul WS Anderson (director)

OCTOBER

Death on the Nile Kenneth Branagh, Gal Gadot, Kenneth Branagh (director)

BIOS Tom Hanks, Miguel Sapochnik (director)

Those Who Wish Me Dead Angelina Jolie, Tyler Perry, Taylor Sheridan (director)

Respect Jennifer Hudson, Forest Whitaker, Liesl Tommy (director)

Snake Eyes omg Ursula Corbero & Samara Weaving are in this

Venom 2 Tom Hardy, Woody Harrelson, Andy Serkis (director)

NOVEMBER

The French Dispatch Timothee Chalamet, Lea Seydoux, Wes Anderson (director)

Escape Room 2 Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Adam Robitel (director)

The Eternals Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Chloe Zhao (director)

Godzilla vs Kong Millie Bobby Brown, Kyle Chandler, Adam Wingard (director)

Deep Water Ben Affleck, Ana de Armas, Adrian Lyne (director)

DECEMBER

Dune Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Denis Villeneuve (director)

West Side Story Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Steven Spielberg (director)

Army of the Dead Dave Bautista, Chris D'Elia, Zack Snyder (director)

News of the World Tom Hanks, Paul Greengrass (director)

The Last Duel Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Ridley Scott (director)

Mank Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, David Fincher (director)

The Tomorrow War Chris Pratt, JK Simmons, Chris McKay (director)

In the spirit of "don't give shit 2020" here are some movies I couldn't care less as of now:
- Dolittle: talking animals are so 2000.
- Bloodshot: looks bad but I'll probably watch for Eiza Gonzalez. You win, Diesel!
- Scoob: Why don't we do a serious sequel with the live-action cast?
- Ghostbusters: this IP should die
- Morbius: hahah that leaked image looked ugly. I probably just need a trailer. *update* just saw the trailer. Still a no.

In the spirit of "don't give shit 2020" part II, here are some dumb movies I probably will enjoy, and I won't be listening to your judgment:
- Escape Room 2: the first one was a great surprise. I hope they go crazy like Happy Death Day 2
- Monster Hunter: Paul WS Anderson's dumb movie is exactly the kind of dumb fun I expect.
(Fast & Furious 9 is not included here because it's a goddamn masterwork in action cinema)

And lastly, here are my Top 10 anticipated films of this year. Just missed out the list are Snyder's Army of the Dead, Wes Anderson's French Dispatch, Black Widow, and films from Spielberg, Paul Greengrass, Ridley Scott, Taylor Sheridan.

10. Birds of Prey - Margot's Harley Quinn!

9. Fast & Furious 9 - Ride or die 

8. In the Heights - This is the closest I'll be to watching Hamilton

7. The Trial of Chicago 7 - Sorkin!

6. Last Night in Soho - Edgar Wright!

5. Top Gun: Maverick - Cruise x McQuarrie!

4. Wonder Woman 1984 - Yas DCEU

3. No Time To Die - YAS

2. Dune - Villeneuve and the crazy cast

1. Tenet - NOLAN

See you in the Oscars annual post (which didn't happen last year)

The Only 2019 Calendar I Care About

2018 was obviously the worst. I only posted 5 posts--with one of them promising the 'rebirth' of this blog. Pretty sure people are not using blogger anymore. But I have been doing this watchlist thing for so long (2009 I think--wait, I HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR 9 YEARS? DOES THAT MEAN I DID NOT GROW CHARACTER-WISE). Fuck it, I'm not doing this for anyone else but me anyway.

Anyway just quick update: I managed to do my 2018 resolution which is to log all movies and series that I saw, Soderbergh-style. Well, I managed to do the movies--logged 206 movies, thanks to Letterboxd (YES FIND ME THERE), the series are behind and probably wouldn't catch up, ever. But have been seeing a lot of great new series, which I think they should all stop creating so much. I can't even be bothered to follow the second seasons.

Uh, so this was planned since January 10. But I was lazy. So here's to being late for 2 months rather than nothing at all.

JANUARY

Glass James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, M. Night Shyamalan (director) 

Serenity Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Steven Knight (director) 

Escape Room literally will watch just for Deborah Ann Woll

FEBRUARY

Alita: Battle Angel Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Robert Rodriguez (director) 

The Lego Movie 2 Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Mike Mitchell (director) 

Cold Pursuit Liam Neeson, Laura Dern, Hans Peter Moland (director) 

Happy Death Day 2U Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Christopher B. Landon (director) 

Isn't It Romantic Rebel Wilson, Liam Hemsworth, Todd Strauss-Schulson (director)

MARCH

Us Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Jordan Peele (director) 

Captain Marvel Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck (directors)

Triple Frontier Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac, JC Chandor (director)

The Beach Bum Matthew McConaughey, Jonah Hill, Harmony Korine (director) 

Dumbo Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Tim Burton (director) 

Wounds Dakota Johnson, Armie Hammer, Babak Anvari (director) 

Chaos Walking Tom Holland, Daisy Ridley, Doug Liman (director) 

APRIL
Avengers: Endgame Chris Evans, Josh Brolin, Russo Brothers (directors) 
Shazam! Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, David F. Sandberg (director) 
The Curse of La Llorona Linda Cardellini, Raymond Cruz, Michael Chaves (director) 
Hellboy David Harbour, Milla Jovovich, Neil Marshall (director) 

MAY

John Wick Chapter 3 - Parabellum Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Chad Stahelski (director) 

Godzilla: King of Monsters Millie Bobby Brown, Vera Farmiga, Michael Dougherty (director)

Ma Octavia Spencer, Luke Evans, Tate Taylor (director)

Aladdin Mena Massoud, Will Smith, Guy Ritchie (director)

Rocketman Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Dexter Fletcher (director)

Brightburn Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, David Yarovesky (director)

Tolkien Nicholas Hoult, Lily Collins, Dome Karukoski (director)

Ad Astra Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, James Gray (director)

JUNE

Dark Phoenix Sophie Turner, James McAvoy, Simon Kinberg (director)

Toy Story 4 Tim Allen, Tom Hanks, Josh Cooley (director)

Ford v Ferrari Christian Bale, Matt Damon, James Mangold (director)

Yesterday Himesh Patel, Lily James, Danny Boyle (director)

Men in Black International Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, F. Gary Gray (director)


JULY


Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Quentin Tarantino (director)
Spider-Man Far From Home Tom Holland, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jon Watts (director)
The Lion King Chiwetel Ejiofor, Donald Glover, Jon Favreau (director)
Annabelle 3 Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Gary Dauberman (director)



AUGUST

The New Mutants Anya Taylor Joy, Maisie Williams, Josh Boone (director)
Where'd You Go Bernadette Cate Blanchett, Richard Linklater (director)
Angel Has Fallen Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Ric Roman Waugh (director)
Hobbs & Shaw Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, David Leitch (director)
Dora The Explorer Isabela Moner, Michael Pena, James Bobin (director)



SEPTEMBER

It: Chapter Two James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Andy Muschietti (director)
Downton Abbey Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Michael Engler (director)



OCTOBER

Joker Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Todd Phillips (director)
The Woman in the Window Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, Joe Wright (director)
Zombieland Double Tap Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Ruben Fleischer (director)
Gemini Man Will Smith, Clive Owen, Ang Lee (director)



NOVEMBER

Knives Out Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Rian Johnson (director)
Doctor Sleep Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Mike Flanagan (director)
Kingsman: The Great Game Daniel Bruhl, Ralph Fiennes, Matthew Vaughn (director)
Terminator Dark Fate Linda Hamilton, Mackenzie Davis, Tim Miller (director)
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood Tom Hanks, Marie Heller(director)
The Rhythm Section Blake Lively, Jude Law, Reed Morano (director) 



DECEMBER

Star Wars: Episode IX Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, JJ Abrams (director)
Little Women Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Greta Gerwig (director)
Cats Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift, Tom Hooper (director)
Call of the Wild Harrison Ford, Dan Stevens, Chris Sanders (director) 

Top 10 Most Anticipated Movies

10. Joker - Curious for Phoenix' performance

9. Glass - Shyamalan's biggest film! (doesn't disappoint!)

8. Knives Out - look at the cast!

7. Yesterday - Danny Boyle's films are always YES

6. Us - Whatever Jordan Peele makes I'm game

5. It Chapter Two - the cast is so goood

4. Avengers: Endgame - hmmm

3. Once Upon A Time in Hollywood - also crazy cast 

2. Alita Battle Angel - I broke down some factors on why I was excited

1. Star Wars: Episode IX - I hope it's something new and exciting

So, to review my 2018. I think I picked really bad movies among the top 10 most anticipated. I picked The Cloverfield Paradox and Robin Hood among the top 10, Cloverfield was even on number 3. In my defense, I solely picked them because of the talent involved (still does not justify choosing them over Widows).

For 2019, there are movies that I couldn't care less, like Jumanji 2 (I hated The Rock's Jumanji), Detective Pikachu (I don't play Pokemon), or Frozen 2 (Frozen fatigue after that revolting 20-minute short). Even I'm not that excited for some big movies I listed here, like Godzilla 2 (I sighed after knowing their endgame is to have Godzilla vs Kong--I didn't like Skull Island), Hellboy (why would you take over from Guillermo del Toro?), or MIB International (dated IP, but will watch for Hemsworth and Thompson).

Let's see how 2019 plays out. So far I'm liking the films. Escape Room was unexpectedly good. Alita is a bit disappointing. Serenity... please watch it before you get spoiled! It has... interesting choices.

Summer Recap 2018

If it were not for these regular posts, this blog would be dead. I mean, there's Letterboxd, where I post (lazier) reviews/comments on the films that I watch. I use Medium to rant about some things. Where does that leave this blog?

Anyways, this one comes a bit late. But here is Summer 2018 films recap! Most of this year's summer films have been verging on the 'uh, okay' like Solo, Ocean's 8, Equalizer 2 (but super awesome Denzel). At least it's better than the trainwrecks last year. I'm omitting the 'most surprising film' because there isn't any.

Top 3 Films

1. Mission Impossible: Fallout

Overall, this film isn't better than the next two. But, in terms of big blockbuster summer movies, this one takes the crown. Great action scenes. Amazing in IMAX. Committed performance from Tom Cruise. Christopher McQuarrie is now officially top-tier director. This film deserves all the universal praise its getting.

2. Hereditary

Firstly, the film's biggest achievement is its marketing. It's misleading by design. Once you think was gonna happen didn't happen, you were left with pure horror. Oscar nom for Toni Colette and such a promising debut feature by Ari Aster. You don't need jumpscares, just terror.

3. Searching

Searching's valuable assets are inventive direction, strong screenplay, John fucking Cho, and the producers' learning lessons from Unfriended. The opening montage is just behind the heartbreaking opening scene from Up. Such a modern, unique thriller that will definitely spawn copycats but will remain far above them.

Honorable mentions

- Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, for being pure joy regardless of its continuity holes.

- Deadpool 2, better, more focused, funnier.

- Crazy Rich Asians, it's above the 'uh, okay' but the film's just really fun and historic.

Most Disappointing Film

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Not as disappointing as the films previously mentioned in this section but it's such a wasted potential. The confined third act was a weird one especially when the title includes the words 'world' and 'kingdom'. I already forgot that it actually came out this summer.







Honorable mention
- Solo: A Star Wars Story, which shouldn't have been made because this ain't it, mate.


Worst Film

Mile 22
Peter Berg-Mark Wahlberg combo's worst so far. Bad direction, stupid story and even worse, incoherent editing. This film also dedicated a subplot for a divorce app where people can decide to limit interactions. Wtf. A waste of time and talent.